MS-WU-MSS008-3-50-2

[2272] was done^[₰], he who never smoked. [2273] And everyone said he was most broadminded. ^broad.
[2274] I asked him if he had noticed my son at the last mass. [2275] Certainly, he said,
we even spoke together. [2276] I must have looked surprised. [2277] Yes, he said, not
seeing you at your place, in the front row, I fr^eared you were ill. [2278] So I
called for the dear child, who reassured me. [2279] A most untimely visitor,
I said, whom I could not get rid of ^{shake off} in time.

[2280] So your son explained to me,
he said. [2281] He added, But let us sit down, we have no train to catch. [2282] He
laughed and sat down, hitching up his heavy cassock. [2283] May I offer you a
little glass of something? he said. [2284] I was in a quandary. [2285] Had Jacques let
slip an allusion to the lager. [2286] He was quite capable of it. [2287] I came to ask
you a favour, I said.

[2288] Granted, he said. [2289] We observed each other. [2290] It's
this, I said, Sunday for me without the Body and Blood is like —. [2291] He
raised his hand. [2292] Above all no profane comparisons, he said. [2293] Perhaps he
was thinking of the kiss without a moustache or beef without mustard. [2294] I
dislike being interrupted. [2295] I sulked. [2296] Say no more, he said, a wink is as
good as a nod, you want to take^[₰] communion. [2297] I bowed my head. [2298] It's a little
unusual, he said. [2299] I wondered if he had fed.

[2300] I knew he was given to
prolonged fasts, by way of mortification certainly, and then because his
doctor advised it. [2301] Thus he killed two birds with one stone. [2302] Not a word
to a soul, he saiee^d, let it remain between us and —. [2303] He broke off,
raising a finger, and his eyes, to the ceiling. [2304] Heavens, he said, what is
that stain? [2305] I looked in turn at the ceiling. [2306] Damp, I said. [2307] Tut tut, he
said, how annoying. [2308] The words tut tut seemed to me the maddest I had heard[.]

[2309] There are times, he said, when one is tempted to abandon hope ^{[⁁]feels like weeping.}. [2310] He got up.
[2311] I'll go and get my kit, he said. [2312] He called that his kit. [2313] Alone, my hands
clasped until it seemed my knuckles would crack, I asked the Lord for
guidance. [2314] Without result. [2315] That was some consolation. [2316] As for Father
Ambrose, considering ^{in view of} his alacrity to fetch his kit, it seemed evident to me