38/41 (There is no mystery coming: the doctor will not ultimately turn out to be Frank's father in disguise; Lord Talgarth still retains that distinction.) But it is plainly revealed by Frank's diary that he was drawn to this elderly man by very much the same kind of feelings as a son might have. And yet it is hardly possible to conceive two characters with less in common. The doctor was a dogmatic materialist--and remains so still--Frank was a Catholic. The doctor was scientific to his finger-tips--Frank romantic to the same extremities; the doctor was old and a confirmed stay-at-home--Frank was young, and an incorrigible gipsy. |