I want to marry her.' 'My dear boy! I had not the slightest idea of this.

It is one of the most extraordinary things--or perhaps extraordinary is not exactly the proper word--one of the most surprising things I----' The Canon stopped abruptly and sat stroking his chin with his forefinger in the effort to adjust his mind to the new situation presented to it.
It was characteristic of the man that the thought of Hyacinth's poverty was not the first which presented itself.

Indeed, Canon Beecher was one of those unreasonable Christians who are actually convinced of the truth of certain paradoxical sayings in the Gospel about wealth and poverty.
He believed that there were things of more importance in life than the possession of money.

Fortunately, such Christians are rare, for their absurd creed forms a standing menace to the existence of Church and sect alike.

Fortunately also, ecclesiastical authorities have sufficient wisdom to keep these eccentrics in the background, confining them as far as possible to remote and obscure places.