He could
not conceive how he could possibly leave the church.
His wife became as it were the representative of all that held him
helpless. She and he had never kept secret from one another any plan of
action, any motive, that affected the other. It was clear to him that
any movement towards the disavowal of doctrinal Christianity and the
renunciation of his see must be first discussed with her. He must tell
her before he told the world.
And he could not imagine his telling her except as an incredibly
shattering act.
So he left things from day to day, and went about his episcopal
routines. He preached and delivered addresses in such phrases as he knew
people expected, and wondered profoundly why it was that it should be
impossible for him to discuss theological points with Lady Ella. And one
afternoon he went for a walk with Eleanor along the banks of the Prin,
and found himself, in response to certain openings of hers, talking to
her in almost exactly the same terms as Likeman had used to him.
Then suddenly the problem of this theological eclaircissement was
complicated in an unexpected fashion.
He had just been taking his Every Second Thursday Talk with Diocesan
Men Helpers.
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