"And what will be the good of your going on after that?"
"Only this good:—if the unfortunate man be convicted—"
"Which he won't," said Mr. Toogood, who thought it expedient to put on a bolder front in talking of the matter to the rural dean, than he had assumed in his whispered conversation with Mrs. Walker.
"I hope not, with all my heart," said the doctor. "But, perhaps, for the sake of the argument, the supposition may be allowed to pass."
"Certainly, sir," said Mr. Toogood. "For the sake of the argument, it may pass."
"If he be convicted, then, I suppose, there will be an end of the question. He would be sentenced for not less, I should say, than twelve months; and after that—"
"And would be as good a parson of Hogglestock when he came out of prison as when he went in," said Mr. Walker. "The conviction and judgment in a civil court would not touch his temporality."
"Certainly not," said Mr. Toogood.
"Of course not," said the doctor. "We all know that; and in the event of Mr. Crawley coming back to his parish it would be open to the bishop to raise the question as to his fitness for the duties."
"Why shouldn't he be as fit as any one else?" said Mr. Toogood.