"And I have done the impossible," he said. "I have ventured to come to
talk with you about the celibacy of the clergy."
He saw the face of the other change with a curious expression, and then
melt into a smile.
"And what am I, a married clergyman, expected to say on such a topic?"
Maurice smiled at the absurdity of his own words, and then with sudden
gravity broke out earnestly:--
"I am completely at sea. All things I have believed seem to be failing
me. I don't even know what I believe."
"Will you pardon me," Strathmore asked, "if I ask why you consult me
rather than your Superior?"
Maurice flushed and hesitated: yet he felt that nothing would do but
absolute frankness.
"I will tell you!" he returned. "I was to be a priest. I went into the
Clergy House supposing that that was settled. I see now that I really
followed a friend. If he went, I couldn't be shut out. Now I have been
among men, and"--
He hesitated, but the friendly smile of the other reassured him.
"And among women," he went on bravely; "and--and"--
"And you have discovered the meaning of a certain text in Genesis which
declares that 'male and female created He them,'" concluded Strathmore.
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