Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief when she dropped the topic. The truth was that Gabriel had originally come to town after Father Kemble had served here, and he had not been satisfied with what he had seen. He didn't like Kemble much at a personal level either. But during the past few month he had been confronted with his own vanity and weaknesses to such an extent that he dared not trust such opinions anymore. Should he not take the humbler part, and see the difficult parts of the man's character as a chance to grow? Perhaps the little irritations were a sign that he was still too vain.

When she returned with the flowers, Gabriel was glad to have something to devote his attention to. He looked at the flowers. "Well... yes... Perhaps these in a flowerpiece. Perhaps with something purely white and purely purple?"