An unflinchingly earnest examination of a Catholic conscience in which Hilary Devoise, in his late 40's, debates his dedication to the faith which cost him marriage to the woman he loved, some twenty years ago. For after the failure of his marriage to Mirian, Hilary could not marry Eleanor without excommunication, and the lonely years that followed left room for doubt, even though his work as co-founder of a Catholic lay magazine brought great spiritual satisfaction. And it is finally after a second exposure to Eleanor that he not only surmounts his passive acceptance of the fact that he cannot remarry but finds that this choice is a happy one...A time of personal probation which is considerably less ardent in its handling than its doctrine.