'Three years ago I had not yet reached my present standpoint. In several directions I was still narrow. But her prime characteristic was the tendency to spiritual growth. She would have accompanied me step by step. In very many respects I must regard myself as a man favoured by fortune,--I know it, and I trust I am grateful for it,--but that loss, my dear Peak, counterbalances much happiness. In moments of repose, when I look back on work joyously achieved, I often murmur to myself, with a sudden sigh, _Excepto quod non simul esses, caetera Iaetus_!' He pronounced his Latin in the new-old way, with Continental vowels. The effect of this on an Englishman's lips is always more or less pedantic, and in his case it was intolerable. 'And when,' he exclaimed, dismissing the melancholy thought, 'do you present yourself for ordination?' It was his habit to pay slight attention to the words of anyone but himself, and Peak's careless answer merely led him to talk on wide subjects with renewal of energy. One might have suspected that he had made a list of uncommon words wherewith to adorn his discourse, for certain of these frequently recurred. 'Nullifidian', 'morbific', 'renascent', were among his favourites. Once or twice he spoke of 'psychogenesis', with an emphatic enunciation which seemed to invite respectful wonder. In using Latin words which have become fixed in the English language, he generally corrected the common errors of quantity: '_minnus_ the spiritual fervour', 'acting as his _loccum tennens_'. When he referred to Christian teachers with whom he was acquainted, they were seldom or never members of the Church of England. Methodists, Romanists, Presbyterians appeared to stand high in his favour, and Peak readily discerned that this was a way of displaying 'large-souled tolerance'. It was his foible to quote foreign languages, especially passages which came from heretical authors. Thus, he began to talk of Feuerbach for the sole purpose of delivering a German sentence. 'He has been of infinite value to me--quite infinite value. You remember his definition of God? It is constantly in my mind. "_Gott ist eine Trane der Liebe, in tiefster Verborgenheit vergossen uber das menschliche Elend_." Profoundly touching! I know nothing to approach it.' Suddenly he inquired: 'Do you see much of the Exeter clergy?' 'I know only the Vicar of St. Ethelreda's, Mr. Lilywhite.' 'Ha! Admirable fellow! Large-minded, broad of sympathies. Has distinctly the scientific turn of thought.' Peak smiled, knowing the truth. But he had hit upon a way of meeting the Rev. Bruno which promised greatly to diminish the suffering inherent in the situation. He would use the large-souled man deliberately for his mirth. Chilvers's self-absorption lent itself to persiflage, and by indulging in that mood Godwin tasted some compensation for the part he had to play. 'And I believe you know the Warricombes very well?' pursued Chilvers. 'Yes.'