"And after you grew up, Nicholas?"

"I went through the usual phases, I suppose. I remember telling my tutor, when I left school, that I was an atheist."

Nicholas stopped and looked humorously at his wife, and they both laughed.

"Good! I was beginning to think I'd married a little saint. Atheism is a common complaint amongst the very young, I imagine."

"What are you now, Nicholas?"

"I suppose an agnostic," said Nicholas reflectively. "I can hardly imagine any thoughtful person, over a certain age, being anything else. Though I suppose that's nonsense, when one thinks of the number of deeply religious people that exist in all denominations."

"I suppose you'd call Father a religious man?"

"He ought to have been a Trappist monk," declared Nicholas.

"But that's Roman Catholic! Father is very much prejudiced against Roman Catholics."

"I know he is."