What would his friends have said if they had been told that the religious enthusiasm of this gentle, self-distrustful, melancholy man, might, in its very innocence of suspicion and self-seeking, be perverted to dangerous uses in unscrupulous hands?
His friends would, one and all, have received the scandalous assertion with contempt; and Penrose himself, if he had heard of it, might have failed to control his temper for the first time in his life.
"May I ask a question, without giving offense ?" he said, timidly.
Father Benwell took his hand.

"My dear Arthur, let us open our minds to each other without reserve.

What is your question ?" "You have spoken, Father, of a great trust that is about to be placed in me." "Yes.

You are anxious, no doubt, to hear what it is ?" "I am anxious to know, in the first place, if it requires me to go back to Oxford." Father Benwell dropped his young friend's hand.

"Do you dislike Oxford ?" he asked, observing Penrose attentively.
"Bear with me, Father, if I speak too confidently.