You
can't interfere with my making another will. I shall leave the Vange
property to the Church, and I shall appoint you one of the trustees. You
can't object to that."
Father Benwell smiled sadly.
"The law spares me the ungracious necessity of objecting, in this case,"
he answered. "My friend, you forget the Statutes of Mortmain. They
positively forbid you to carry out the intention which you have just
expressed."
Romayne dismissed this appeal to the law irritably, by waving his hand.
"The Statutes of Mortmain," he rejoined, "can't prevent my bequeathing
my property to an individual. I shall leave Vange Abbey to You. Now,
Father Benwell! have I got the better of you at last?"
With Christian humility the Jesuit accepted the defeat, for which he had
paved the way from the outset of the interview. A t the same time,
he shuffled all personal responsibility off his own shoulders. He had
gained the victory for the Church--without (to do him justice) thinking
of himself.
"Your generosity has conquered me," he said. "But I must be allowed to
clear myself of even the suspicion of an interested motive.
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