"Sir, I wish to resign from the seminar."
The Vicegerent detected a tremor of suppressed excitement. He looked keenly at Peter.
"What are your reasons?" he asked.
"I need more time for private reading."
"For example?"
"I am interested in the modern theatre."
Peter had intended merely to resign. He had not intended to offer reasons. But he could not resist this. The words shot rudely and clumsily out of him.
The Vicegerent saw a light in Peter's eye. He was a man of humour, and he smiled.
"H'm. This, I take it, is a sort of challenge?" he said.
"It is a protest," Peter suggested.