Maurice drew back.
"I am a man, to think for myself. I must be honest with my reason. The church cannot take for me the place of honesty and conviction."
The Father Superior dropped the hand he held.
"Then you insist on putting your own will and your own wisdom above that of the church?"
"I must do the thing that seems to me right."
The priest's face hardened. It was as if over the surface of a pool a film of ice formed. He sank back in his chair, and when he spoke again it was in a voice so hard and cold that the young man started.
"When do you leave?" the Father Superior asked.
"I meant to wait until after nones so as to say good-by to Philip."
"I prefer that you should go at once."
"You mean that you prefer that I should not see him?" Maurice demanded quickly.