So I came on here."
"Very kind, I'm sure," murmured Benis.
"How did you guess?" began Desire, and then she dimpled. "Oh, of
course,--Benis wasn't in church."
"How did he know that?" asked Benis sharply. "He wasn't there, was
he?"
The doctor looked conscious. Desire laughed. "His presence did seem
to create a mild sensation," she admitted.
"Well, you see," he explained, "in the summer I am often very busy--
"
"In the cellar," murmured Benis.
"But no one happened to need me today and, besides, my freezer is
broken. This, combined with--"
"An added attraction," sotto voce from the professor.
"Oh, well--I went, anyway."
"I saw you there," said Desire, ignoring their banter. "I thought
you might have gone for the sermon. The subject was one of your
specialties, wasn't it?"
The doctor twirled his hat.
"Better tell him what the subject was," suggested Benis unkindly.
"Didn't you listen?" Desire's inquiring eyebrows lifted. "That's one
of the things I don't understand about people here. Church and
church affairs seem to play such an important part in Bainbridge.
Nearly everyone goes to some church. But no one seems at all
disturbed about what they hear there. Is it because they believe all
that the minister says, or because they don't believe any of it?"
Her hearers exchanged an alarmed glance.
"What do you want them to do?" said John uneasily. "Argue about it?
Besides, this morning was very exceptionally hot.
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