"So we went down our stairs."—Chap. II.
Cecilia de Noël
BY
LANOE FALCONER
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
ST. MARTINS ST., LONDON
1910
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | |
| I | ATHERLEY'S GOSPEL |
| II | THE STRANGER'S GOSPEL |
| III | MRS. MOSTYN'S GOSPEL |
| IV | CANON VERNADE'S GOSPEL |
| V | AUSTYN'S GOSPEL |
| VI | MRS. MOLYNEUX'S GOSPEL |
| VII | CECILIA'S GOSPEL |
CECILIA DE NOËL
CHAPTER I
ATHERLEY'S GOSPEL
"There is no revelation but that of science," said Atherley.
It was after dinner in the drawing-room. From the cold of the earlyspring night, closed shutters and drawn curtains carefully protected us;shaded lamps and a wood fire diffused an exquisite twilight; we breatheda mild and even balmy atmosphere scented with hothouse flowers.
"And this revelation completely satisfies all reasonable desires," hecontinued, surveying his small audience from the hearthrug where hestood; "mind, I say all reasonable desires. If you have a healthyappetite for bread, you will get it and plenty of it, but if you have asickly craving for manna, why then you will come badly off, that is all.This is the gospel of fact, not of fancy: of things as they actuallyare, you know, instead of as A dreamt they were, or B decided they oughtto be, or C would like to have them. So this gospel is apt to look alittle dull beside the highly coloured romances the churches haveaccustomed us to—as a modern plate-glass window might, compared with astained-glass oriel in a mediæval cathedral. There is no doubt which isthe prettier of the two. The question is, do you want pretty colour ordo you want clear daylight?" He paused, but neither of his listenersspoke. Lady Atherley was counting the stitches of her knitting; I wastoo tired; so he resumed: "For my part, I prefer the daylight and theglass, without any daubing. What does science discover in the universe?Precision, accuracy, reliability—any amount of it; but as to pity,mercy, love! The fact is, that famous simile of the angel playing atchess was a mistake. Very smart, I grant you, but altogether misleading.Why! the orthodox quo