'Did you write this?' Buckland inquired.
'Yes, I wrote it.'
'Then I wait for your explanation.'
'You mustn't expect me to enter upon an elaborate defence,' Godwin replied, taking his pipe from the mantelpiece and beginning to fill it. 'A man charged with rascality can hardly help getting excited—and that excitement, to one in your mood, seems evidence against him. Please to bear in mind that I have never declared myself an orthodox theologian. Mr. Warricombe is well acquainted with my views; to you I have never explained them.'
'You mean to say that my father knew of this article?'
'No. I have not spoken of it.'
'And why not?'
'Because, for one thing, I shouldn't write in that way now; and, for another, the essay seems to imply more than I meant when I did write it.'
'"Seems to imply"——? I understand. You wish to represent that this attack on M'Naughten involves no attack on Christianity?'
'Not on Christianity as I understand it.'