Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman' - a 'Little Novel' by Wilkie Collins

The story is told by the clergyman to his brother as a later-life confession concerning a brush with the supernatural which he has kept a secret for many years. Before he joined the church he met and fell in love with Miss Jeromette, a Frenchwoman living alone in London. They enter into a relationship but she tells him candidly she loves another man who has deserted her. Miss Jeromette predicts the man will return to her but that she will die young and miserably. To please his dying mother the narrator becomes a clergyman and ends his association with Miss Jeromette, but exacts a promise from her that she will rely upon his support in a time of need.

'Little Novels' published in 1887 is a collection of fourteen short stories by Wilkie Collins. Revised by the author, these stories had appeared in various British and American periodicals over the previous 10 years, very often with different titles. They are stand-alone stories dealing with a variety of subjects: love, marriage, the supernatural, class, money, and murder; most of them contain a mystery or twist to the tale which is bound to delight fans of Collins' best-known novels, 'The Woman in White' and 'The Moonstone.'

''Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman' is the sixth story in the collection. It was originally published as 'The Clergyman's Confession' in 'The World' and the 'Canadian Monthly' in 1875.