Balthazar dimly realised that though this god of the Jews offered no remedy for the contracting fingers, he might offer some remedy for the apprehension with which he himself regarded the future and also, almost equally important, something to fill the emptiness within him. When Eliezer said, ‘In my heart’, Balthazar had understood, because his need was the need of all men, all the temple-frequenters, the sacrifice-offerers, the need to feel that somebody, somewhere saw you as an individual and cared.
