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regard them with indifference; it is the inadequacy of the sum total.’

‘Do you think the story of Christ inadequate?’

‘I think that the story of Christ would gain in beauty could it be purged of much that is inconsistent, and more that is incredible. But the moral teachings of Christ are one thing, and the Bible as an authentic account of the origin and history of the universe quite another.’

‘Mr. Fletcher says that where the Bible is in conflict with our idea of what is probable, it is so as a trial of our faith.’

‘That is a way of explaining it, of course. But you have mentioned Mr. Fletcher: if our own reason in these matters is to be distrusted, where is the justification for relying on the reasoning of another? Or is reason to be appealed to only when her answer is likely to be in the affirmative, and disregarded on all other occasions?’

Eve looked uneasy, then she laughed. ‘Your arguments are more penetrative than mine,’ she said; ‘but for all that, I feel within me that the Bible is true. Would you not be glad to think so?’

Geoffrey hesitated a long while before he replied. ‘Even to that,’ he said unwillingly at last, ‘I must say no. I have, like most men who have dipped into modern ideas, a picture of the universe such as is conformable with reason, and could I be convinced that the Hebraic account was the correct one, I should feel that I had suffered a loss, not reaped an advantage. The difference between the two shapes itself to me as though a house built for kings should have come by misadventure into the hands of a misshapen dwarf.’