"I'm sorry to lose you, my dear boy," said Father Burrowes. "Very sorry.
We are just going to open a priory in London, though that is a secret
for the moment, please. I shall make the announcement at the Easter
Chapter. Yes, some kind friends have given us a house in Soho.
Splendidly central, which is important for our work. I had planned that
you would be one of the brethren chosen to go there."
"It's very kind of you, Reverend Father," said Mark. "But I'm sure that
you understand my anxiety not to lose any time, now that I feel
perfectly convinced that I want to be a priest."
"I had my doubts about you when you first came to us. Let me see, it was
nearly two years ago, wasn't it? How time flies! Yes, I had my doubts
about you. But I was wrong. You seem to possess a real fixity of
purpose. I remember that you told me then that you were not sure you
wanted to be a monk. Rare candour! I could have professed a hundred
monks, had I been willing to profess them within ten minutes of their
first coming to see me."
The Father Superior gave Mark his blessing and dismissed him. Nothing
had been said about the dispute between the Prior and the Chaplain, and
Mark began to wonder if Father Burrowes thought the results of it would
tell more surely in favour of his own influence if he did not allude to
it nor make any attempt to adjudicate upon the point at issue.
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