After the infirmary quiets, the Matron permits Lewis a short escorted visit to the chapel before evening duties resume. The attendant accompanies him, while Parsley remains under her direct medical care.
The Matron
You will go directly there and return directly here. The attendant will remain with you, and you are still confined under observation.
The attendant leads Lewis through the stone corridors into the chapel. Evening light lies across the ordered rows of seats, where hymnbooks wait beneath the silent authority of expectation.
Smewgy is already at the front, arranging hymnbooks with exacting care. His grey head and large spectacles remain turned toward the page until the footsteps reach him.
Smewgy
Good evening, gentlemen. Do you intend to attend the service, Lewis, or merely to observe it? The distinction may prove more important than the seating plan.
The attendant waits discreetly by the chapel door. Between the prescribed prayers, the numbered seats, and Smewgy’s measured courtesy, private uncertainty acquires the shape of a public question.
Smewgy
Forms inherited from others can carry a boy toward belief, or merely teach him how belief is expected to look. Which possibility brings you here?
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether the chapel permits honest questioning of inherited belief