Chapter 23
THE REVEREND HERBERT K. Laudermilk served St. Cuthbert’s-in-the-Woods for close to four decades. He was the ideal parson for an Episcopal church in foxhunting country: soft-spoken, erudite, mannerly, a gentle comforter, confident in his faith while never one to force his beliefs on others. He seemed to be a man constantly bemused by life, always aware of the ironies and injustices of this world, yet hopeful that there was some benevolent force at work that would eventually reveal itself and he would understand it all. One evening, alone in the parsonage study, he laid his head down and left this world to find out if that benevolent force does exist.
In his stead, the diocese sent a much-traveled fellow, the Reverend Doctor Daniel T. Davenport, who presented all the outward app
