‘But why did you stay?’ ‘Once,’ the priest said, ‘I asked myself that. The fact is, a man isn’t presented suddenly with two courses to follow: one good and one bad. He gets caught up. The first year—well, I didn’t believe there was really any cause to run. Churches have been burnt before now. You know how often. It doesn’t mean much. I thought I’d stay till next month, say, and see if things were better. Then—oh, you don’t know how time can slip by.’ It was quite light again now: the afternoon rain was over: life had to go on.
