Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation (32 page)

‘
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
, I think. You always did know what to say, Sidney.’

‘You will be such a loss to the Church.’

‘But not, I hope, to my friends.’

‘Never that.’

‘I will still try to lead a good life. I don’t intend to go to the dark side. But I can also pray and I can help others; people who are afraid, victims of prejudice. Perhaps I can do more outside the Church than I ever could as a priest.’

‘And you will do well, Leonard.’

‘I hope so.’

‘I think you know, just as I do, that human loving, however odd it may seem to some, and however differently it might appear from socially accepted norms, is always a pale, imperfect and sometimes distorted reflection of the love of God.’

‘I will still walk in His light.’

‘You will. Because whenever we see love or find love – love that seeks faithfulness, acts tenderly, is patient and good and kind and true – then we are glimpsing, and reaching out for nothing less than the eternal love that is at the heart of our faith.’

‘Thank you, Sidney, for all that you have done.’

Sidney rose from his chair. It was time to go home. ‘I should thank you for all that you have taught me. I am humbled by you, Leonard.’

‘Don’t. You will make me cry again.’

‘I will try to be a better priest in your absence; and I will try to make the Church a more caring and a more tolerant place.’

Leonard reached out and the two men grasped each other by both hands. ‘St John of the Cross once wrote: “In the evening of our life, we shall be judged by our loving.”’

‘Goodbye, Leonard. But not for long.’

*    *    *

Sidney was back in Ely by the middle of the afternoon. It had rained while he had been away but the clouds had cleared and there was enough blue in the sky to patch a sailor’s shirt. On the Dean’s Meadow, above the host of white and golden daffodils, the trees were coming into leaf. This was the greening of the year, the beginnings of buttercups, clover, docks and nettles. He could see the first buds on the roses in the gardens and wondered if one of them, climbing across a ruined medieval wall, was a ‘Rambling Rector’. It was a pity to be sad on such a beautiful day. It made him feel ungrateful.

These had been strange times for his friends; with Ronnie Maguire’s return and death, Amanda’s divorce, and Leonard leaving the Church. Sidney needed to get back to his wife and child but, before he did so, he could not help but stop to take in the spring, and worry about all those he loved; their hopes and doubts, their faults and frailties.

He knew that, whatever happened, he had to keep caring for them as truthfully and as loyally as he could. They held him together and they were one fellowship. He would never abandon them and he was nothing without them.

In the evening of our life
, he remembered,
we shall be judged by our loving
.

A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

James Runcie is an award-winning film-maker and the author of eight novels.
Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death
, the first in ‘The Grantchester Mysteries’ series, was published in 2012, soon followed by
Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night
,
Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil
and
Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins
. In October 2014, ITV launched
Grantchester
, a prime-time, six-part series starring James Norton as Sidney Chambers. James Runcie lives in Edinburgh.

jamesruncie.com

grantchestermysteries.com

@james_runcie

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

The Discovery of Chocolate

The Colour of Heaven

Canvey Island

East Fortune

The Grantchester Mysteries

Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death

Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night

Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil

Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins

Bloomsbury USA

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First published in Great Britain 2016

First U.S. edition 2016

© James Runcie, 2016

This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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ISBN: HB: 978-1-63286-619-6

         TPB: 978-1-63286-566-3

         ePub: 978-1-63286-567-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

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