uch love. We miss you greatly at
Wych. Esther seems happy in her convent and will soon be clothed as
a novice.

When Mark read this letter, he was prompt to admit himself in the
wrong; but he could not bear the least implied criticism of Father
Rowley.

St. Agnes' House,

Keppel Street,

Chatsea.

Dec. 3.

My dear Mr. Ogilvie,

I'm afraid I must have expressed myself very badly in my last
letter if I gave you the least idea that Father Rowley was not
always charity personified. He had probably come to the conclusion
that the young man was not much good and no doubt he deliberately
made it impossible for him to stay on at the Mission House. We do
get an awful lot of mere loafers here; I don't suppose that anybody
who keeps open house can avoid getting them. After all, if the
young man had been worth anything he would have realized that he
had made a fool of himself and by the way he took his snubbing have
re-established himself. What he actually did was to sulk and clear
out with a sneer at the work done here. I'm sorry I gave you the
impression that I was triumphing so tremendously over his
discomfiture. By writing about it I probably made the incident
appear much more important than it really was. I've no doubt I did
triumph a little, and I'm afraid I shall never be able not to feel
rather glad when a fellow like that is put in his place. I am not
for a moment going to try to argue that you can carry Christian
charity too far. The more one meditates on the words, and actions
of Our Lord, the more one grasps how impossible it is to carry
charity too far. All the same, one owes as much charity to Father
Rowley as to the young man. This sounds now I have written it down
as if I were getting in a hit at you, and that is the worst of
writing letters to justify oneself. What I am trying to say is that
if I were to have taken up arms for the young man and supposed him
to be ill-used or misjudged I should be criticizing Father Rowley.
I think that perhaps you don't quite realize what a saint he is in
every way. This is my fault, no doubt, because in my letters to you
I have always emphasized anything that would bring into relief his
personality. I expect that I've been too much concerned to draw a
picture of him as a man, in doing whic