It sounds hateful, but of course it really was heroic.
D’you remember what he said to you about Holy Communion? Your father and I were a little disappointed that you didn’t stay for it yesterday.
It would have been such a great pleasure to both of us if we could all three have received it together.
Dear mother.... If you’re really going home to luncheon, Sylvia, I’ll walk back with you.
The Vicar has a Communion service on Wednesday morning. Would you come then? It’ll be the last opportunity before your marriage.
Oh, my dear, you’re not going to ask me to get up in the middle of the night? After all, one of the pleasures of coming home is to lie in bed in the morning. I don’t know how I ever tear myself out of those lavender-scented sheets.
[_Still trying to pass it off lightly._] Oh, my dear mother, d’you think it’s really necessary?
I should like it so much, my dear. You know, it means a great deal to us.
[_More gravely._] Don’t you think one should go to a ceremony like that in a certain frame of mind?
[_Good-humouredly._] Come, my boy, you’re not going to refuse the first request your mother has made you since you came back?
I’m awfully sorry, mother. I beg you not to insist.
I don’t quite know what you mean. It’s not like you to be obstinate.... Won’t you come, John?
I’ve been away a long time. There are some things one can’t help, you know. I’ve been through very terrible experiences.
[_Aghast._] Do you mean to say you’ve lost your--faith?
I’m awfully sorry to give you pain, dear.
[_Her eyes fixed on him._] You’ve not answered your mother’s question, John.
If you want a direct answer, I’m afraid it must be--yes.
That was just a formal ceremony. I assisted passively, as a Jew might assist at the wedding of one of his Christian friends.
You stood when we stood, and knelt down, and seemed to pray.
I would do that if I were in a Roman Catholic church. That seemed to me only good manners. [_With a smile._] Do you think it was very deceitful?
I don’t quite see why you should strain at a gnat.
I don’t. It’s the camel I can’t swallow. I knew it would distress you if I refused to come to church. I didn’t want to seem a prig. But the other seems to me different. When I’m asked to take an active part in a ceremony that means nothing to me it’s quite another matter. I’d rather not tell a deliberate lie. And surely from your point of view it would be blasphemous.