Glamorous Powers III

Jon is shaken and embarrassed by his breakdown, in front of a crowd, but he tells Francis he must go to Anne at once. He Meets Alan Romaine at the hospital, the doctor who is Charles Ashworth's natural father. Anne has her baby, a boy, but the child is premature and having breathing difficulties. Jon baptises him and realises that he is going to die. He is shaken and grieved by the infant's short life. He talks to Alan and Francis, and tells Francis that he never got on with his own father. His father was a schoolteacher and wanted him to teach and he resented being pressured. Also his father did not send for him in time when his beloved mother died. when he sees Anne, he and she come to an understanding. She tells him she loves him - and he has always been scared that any woman he loved would leave him, like his mother did. Francis is sympathetic to Jon now, and tries to help him cope with the loss of the baby and his breakdown, but he advises his friend that he should go back to his role as parish priest and try and do better this time. Jon feels at first he cannot face the humiliation of having to admit his own folly and mistakes but Francis is insistent. He starts to try again to be a good husband to his wife and not to treat her like a child bride, and he returns to the parish work. He realises that he made mistakes in pursuing the healing services, that they were a boost for his ego but not really good for him. He also understands that he was wrong in trying to push his congregation into Anglo Catholic practices and he begins to adopt the Middle of the Road services that were more popular in the church of England.