‘I doubt it myself, Faltonia. But I confess I had hoped for more from you than a critical analysis of my situation—in other words, some advice.’
‘You are wrong, Probus, to expect such a thing from me. This is an ecclesiastical matter, concerning the very highest things, and you know that in the Church the woman should be silent. Whether it would not better serve the Church if rational women had some voice in it, that we will not discuss.’
‘Your bitterness troubles me, Faltonia. But it is probably the case that your habit of confining yourself to the theoretic analysis of things does not permit you to come to a conclusion and so you take cover behind the ruling that the woman be silent in the Church.’
‘Very shrewd. It seems, dear Sextus, that today you are living the whole day above your
