t he was proof against her woman's wiles, but while
we're on earth we're only human, Freddy, and he was afraid of his own
weakness. He called to me. We arranged to help each other--we were
always to try our best to reach each other when we felt troubled. Love
is not such a simple thing as it seems. I used to think that when once
one was engaged to the man one loved, one would just be at anchor in a
divine calm."

"You believe in dreams and all that sort of thing too much. Michael's
led you off--he's to blame."

"There are some things one must believe in, Freddy. Our development is
in other hands."

"What are they? Mere old wives' tales and charlatans' prophecies."

"Oh, Freddy!"

"Well, Michael's religion's got so mixed, he doesn't know what he is or
what he believes in and doesn't believe in. He has a fine scorn for
the old order of things. The beliefs of our forefathers have kept the
Lampton men pretty straight and made splendid wives and mothers of
their women, and I think that's good enough for this everyday,
practical world!"

"Has it been their belief that has done it, Freddy, or their family
traditions? I think we Lamptons are as true ancestor-worshippers as
any Shintoists in Japan. I was never taught anything about my higher
self as a child, or made to see that religion was a vital part of our
existence. It was the shades of our ancestors, nothing more or
less--what would Uncle John have thought, or what would Aunt Anna
think? It was never what would your own soul think--was it now? It
was pure Shinto. Our god-shelf bore the family-portraits."

"A jolly good worship, too. You can't do anything very far wrong if
you never disgrace the honour of your ancestors. I think it's as good
a principle, and far more practical and restraining than Michael's
mixture of Akhnaton's Aton worship and I don't know what else. I get
lost when he expounds his idea of God."

"It annoys you that his God is too big for any church. The Lamptons
have always been ardent upholders of the Established Church of England."

"Let him enlarge his church, build his God a bigger one."

"That's just what he has done, that's just what he says the Protestant
church has failed to do. Their church has never expanded. People's
minds have grown, while the Church of England--and, in fact, all
churches--have stood still."

"Michael can't do things in moderation--he's just an enthusiast about
his religion, as he has been a