Henry always carried Lily’s church stool for her, though she carried her own cushion to make sitting through the sermon less uncomfortable. But she did like the church—it had soaring great stone windows that gave her something interesting to look at while the ministers were speaking. They had two ministers, who led the services by turns. The senior one was Mr. Kay, who sometimes smiled at Lily when she passed him at the church door, but she did not feel that she could speak to him the way she had to Mr. Cant.

He preached well, though.

Today, this final Sabbath of the month of June, he took his sermon from the book of Timothy, and framed it round the verse beginning: “I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life…”

And this he turned to an impassioned speech of thanksgiving for King James and the queen and their new prince, born earlier this month at London. “When the king was yet the Duke of York, and his first wife did live, God rest her soul, and their two daughters, Princess Anne and Princess Mary, were but small, the duke and duchess did convert their minds and souls unto the Catholic church,” said Mr. Kay. “And yet our late King Charles perceived the danger of his brother’s path, and did prevail upon him to allow the princesses to be raised in the Church of England as Episcopalians. And so it was done. And now we see both princesses are grown and happy in their lives and have held to their faith, and King James gave to them his blessing to be wed to princes who are also Protestant, which proves he is no bigot. Let us pray God guide him to do likewise for this newborn prince, Prince James, and raise him not a Catholic but a true Episcopalian. Then will these wars and protests end, and we shall see our nation and our family reunited.”

Archie thought this most unlikely, and he said as much while they walked home after the sermon, under skies that, bright with sunshine, cast long shadows at their feet. “The Presbyterians hold different views from Mr. Kay, and they are over bold now they’ve got their own meeting house.”

At the beginning of last year King James had passed an act that cleared away the old laws persecuting those of other faiths, and allowing Catholics, Quakers, and those Presbyterians who were considered moderate and met not in fanatical field-meetings or conventicles but only in their meeting houses to practice their own religion. All the old oaths that had touched upon religion were dispensed with, and to hold an office in the country all a person had to do was swear allegiance to the king, so help him God—but how he answered to God was left to his conscience.