‘What’s wrong? Temptation? I’ve got two apples – not just one. Eve’s got nothing on me.’
She pulled the shorts up, still unable to contain a wince, but claiming to be much more comfortable now.
‘So what are we up to tonight, vicar?’ she asked, leaning against the desk, still unwilling to sit. ‘The Ten Commandments again? I’ve broken most of ’em. Especially the one about coveting my neighbour’s ass. I covet my neighbour’s ass all the time.’
She giggled and Adam wanted to grab her and shake the profanity out of her. He would do it. That day would come.
‘I want to discuss your conduct,’ he said stiffly.
‘That ain’t in the Bible.’
‘No, but there are exhortations to chastity and condemnations of fornication that you would do well to heed.’
‘Are there?’ She blinked. ‘I’ll take your word for it, since I understood about three words of that.’
‘You are ruining yourself. Do you set no value on yourself at all?’
Evie pursed her lips. ‘This again? I think we’ll have to agree that we have different ideas of what that value is. My self-worth ain’t tied up in my fanny and I don’t know why you think it should be. If you carry on with this, you and I are going to fall out. Now, let’s do some proper Bible stuff. Some of that’s quite interesting. Can we do the bit about Sodom and Gomorrah?’
But Adam made her sit down and squirm over the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians instead, with particular reference to chapter seven.
‘It is better to marry than to burn,’ he quoted, looking Evie directly in the eye.
‘He had some funny ideas, that St Paul,’ she said, but her voice was soft, lilting. She held his gaze, never looking away, until Adam’s hand trembled on the page.
‘What he means is, if you can’t control yourself, you should get married. Then it doesn’t matter. You have a person available to satisfy your – needs.’
‘He thought everyone should live like a monk. He sounds hung up to me. Where does he think the next generation of Christians is coming from?’
‘Look at it, Evie – he accepts not everyone is cut out for monastic life. That’s why he recommends marriage. It channels the sinful urges into a productive outlet.’
‘Yeah, very productive. All the kids those poor cows had to churn out.’
He essayed a weak smile. ‘Well, things are bit different now …’
‘No thanks to St Paul. He’s the type to think contraception’s wicked.’
‘He was a man of his time, Evie.’
‘Yeah, well, his time sucked.’
‘But many of his ideas, many of his recommendations hold good today.’
‘Like marrying off the girls like me?’
‘“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.”’
‘So if I marry a, I dunno, a godly man – I get saved. Is that it?’
‘It’s what Paul implies.’
‘Why are you looking at me like that, vicar?’
‘I’m not aware that I’m … Like what?’
‘Like a man with a plan. You know I’m beyond redemption, don’t you?’
‘Nobody is beyond redemption.’