Three Cheers For The Paraclete by Thomas Keneally Read Free Book Online Page B

published, he said, ‘What else can a person expect in a country like this?’ He added, ‘In a Church like this?’
    ‘I beg your pardon.’
    ‘Did Nolan send you to see me?’
    ‘Monsignor Nolan is not my keeper.’
    ‘You found out yourself.’
    ‘No. The Grand President of the Knights of Saint Patrick drew my attention to it, and we thought you might be willing to study the book. Being a historian, you see.’
    From the balcony door Maitland watched car lights blink and shift behind the beach in pin-points and beams and smudged radiances that brought the message home to him. Egan was not exposing him, but merely talking about books.
    He turned back to the defensor .
    ‘Forgive me, doctor. I misunderstood you … I don’t think we’re speaking about the same thing.’
    ‘I’ll show you.’
    Egan offered Maitland a page of Sunday paper which had come from his pocket. Maitland saw Miss Associated Canneries abundant in a two-piece and ‘90 Year Old Sires Twins’.
    ‘The other page.’
    The other page asked ‘God: Is He A Political Hoax?’ Among the normal Sabbath melange of misquotes, Maitland saw the names Mark Quinlan and The Meanings of God honoured in italics. A publisher’s agent had seen that the book, filleted for the press, had that same appeal which, at first sight, only Miss Associated Canneries and potent ancients possessed.
    ‘The secretary of the Knights,’ Egan explained, ‘who fancies himself as an apologist, bought a copy of this book, took some of his sick-leave, read it in two days, and then wrote a letter to the morning papers. Now it appears he used the name of the Knights without authorization. The next day a ferocious letter appeared in the press, written by a university man who admired the book.’ Maitland raised his eyebrows. ‘This man cited the letter from the Knight as an example of the general anti-humanist tendencies of the Church. It was at that stage that the president of the Knights telephoned and asked for help in the dialogue between the Knights and the scholar. You see, the secretary was silly enough to reply to the scholar on the third day.’
    ‘Armed with quotes from such high sources as the Sacred Heart Recorder , no doubt.’
    ‘Perhaps. Now it’s a very scholarly book and a dangerous one, mainly because the public won’t be able to see that when Quinlan says God he doesn’t mean exactly God in any pure sense.’
    Maitland smiled, too proprietorily. On one level, it was impossible not to be as gratified as a schoolboy.
    ‘What did you have in mind for me to do?’
    ‘The Knights have voted to print a pamphlet refuting both the don and, if possible, the book. I want to know whether you would consider reading the book, as an expert, and advising the Knights?’
    Maitland became immediately afraid of the farcical possibilities of the affair. ‘But I have already read it, Maurice,’ he said, and eliminated from the words all irony of the type that comes home to roost. ‘I own a copy, in fact. The hard-cover edition.’ His eyes hunted the shelves, and he could have been simply looking for yet another book worth keeping. Not that he did know exactly where it stood; still, it held the essence of thefreest years of his life, it was a young man’s book written happily, and the memory of having produced it was a vintage one. ‘I can’t find it,’ he said. ‘But I have to be honest, I suppose. Maurice, I found very little to challenge in it on the level of history; and on the level of theology, well, it simply doesn’t make direct judgments. Perhaps it is a dangerous book for the general public, but it was not written for them, and if they buy it, they won’t read it. As for the Knights, I’d advise them to lick their wounds and forget the business. I think Miss –’ he squinted at the paper – ‘Associated Canneries is a far more meet matter for the secretary to take his sick-leave over.’
    ‘You wouldn’t consider re-reading it? I know it’s an