“Were you?”

Beale tilted his head. “To some extent, I suppose I was. But you must understand, our church’s worship is governed by the Book of Common Prayer, and our policy by the Episcopal Constitution and Canons. They say the rector runs the show, plain and simple. I tried to give Paul as much autonomy as possible, but when there were liturgical issues of importance involved, such as when choosing the proper hymn to accompany and amplify the readings, I had to intervene. That was, bottom line, my job.”

Christina nodded. “Was there anything else, Father Beale, that contributed to your problems at the church?”

“Yes.” His head lowered, and for the first time, there was a sense of regret, a perforation of his resilient, intellectual stance. “I… have a temper. A bad one. I’m aware of it, and I have sought counseling for it.” He shook his head. “But these are excuses. Far too often I allowed my ardor to be expressed in anger. Yelling, shouting, even threatening. Unforgivable in any human being, but especially in a parish priest.”

“How many times did these temper outbursts occur?”

“Too many to count. Toward the end, barely a vestry meeting went by without some expression of hostility by me, often returned by others. It was a bad situation all around.” His hands, resting on the railing, tightened into fists. “And yet, I can’t express to you how intensely… frustrating this was for me. I felt I was doing what was right for the church and for God. I was answering a call, a bishopric appointment. I had thought and considered and weighed every decision. And despite all that, to be met with opposition at almost every point, no matter how trivial, for no better reason than that you’ve had the audacity to do things differently than the last priest did-” His hands began to tremble. “My frustration and disappointment was uncommonly… palpable. I simply can’t describe it in a way that gives any indication how strongly and passionately I felt.”

And Ben didn’t particularly want to hear about how passionately he felt, either. Looking at his hands and face, Ben worried that they might witness a temper tantrum right on the stand, which would sink their case once and for all. Fortunately, Christina changed the subject.

“Father Beale,” Christina said, slowly and deliberately, “much has been said by the prosecution witnesses about the Liberated Christians group. Including your somewhat unusual theories regarding sexual activity by consenting adults. I know this may be somewhat uncomfortable for you, but would you please explain this to the jury?”

“Of course,” he said. “I don’t mind at all.” And indeed, to look at him, he didn’t seem to. His body loosened, his hands fell, his face relaxed. “Liberated Christians is, quite simply, a group of adult couples who are trying to move beyond-to liberate themselves from-the oppressive and negative images of human sexuality that are promulgated by our society, and especially by religious groups, even though, for the most part, they have no basis in the Bible whatsoever.”

And they were off. Ben knew Christina wasn’t looking forward to this frank discussion of aberrant sexual practices before a jury of middle- and lower-class Oklahomans, many of them members of one Bible-thumping church or another. But in preparation, she and Ben had both eventually realized that it would be better if she handled this all-important direct examination. Coming from Ben, there was a chance it might come off too good-ol’-boy sounding, like locker-room talk. Two guys swapping stories about all the hot chicks they bagged down at the Episcopal Church.

With Christina in charge, there was no chance of that happening. With Christina asking the questions, Father Beale would be forced to be delicate. There was also a chance her presence might soften the juror response to the subject, sort of on the theory that if she’s not repulsed…

“Is this a philosophy you invented yourself, Father?”

“Oh, heavens no. There are many such groups, all across the country. The world, in fact. Lifestyle couples-that’s the preferred term at present. Wife-swapping, obviously, is a sexist phrase, and implies some unspoken impropriety. Swingers suggests a casual decadence that ignores the strong philosophical underpinnings. In fact, there are over three hundred formally affiliated clubs for lifestyle couples in at least twenty different countries. Millions of couples are active participants. They have their own travel industry, arranging vacations and seminars catering to their special interests. There are hundreds of magazines published on the subject, and I couldn’t even guess how many Web sites. I know of eleven major conventions held for lifestyle couples every year in major U.S. cities, including the largest, the three-day Lifestyles convention in San Diego that draws over thirty-five hundred people a year. Oh, no-this clearly did not start with me.”

“What kind of people are these… lifestyle couples?”

“In the main, they are no different from you or me. They do tend to be well-educated-over two-thirds have college degrees. They tend to be somewhat affluent. But beyond that, they cover all walks of life. There are even some Republicans.”

Nice try, but there was nary a titter in the jury box. As Ben had muttered on more than one previous occasion-God save me from witnesses who want to be comedians.

“Is this a relatively recent phenomenon?”

“Not remotely. After all, the Bible tells us that erotic rites were common in Canaan when God made His covenant with Abraham-the great Hebrew leader chosen by God, who would later prostitute his wife Sarah and have an adulterous fling with Hagar. The fertility goddess Asherah welcomed orgies in her temples; it was not until she was destroyed by the Hebrews that a new morality was established. For the early Hebrews, you must understand, reproduction was survival; hence, they disfavored or outlawed any form of nonreproductive sexual activity-masturbation, homosexuality, abortion, sex during menstruation. Sex outside marriage was similarly outlawed. This restrictive morality, formulated by primitives over four thousand years ago, would come to dominate the lives of the world’s more than 2.3 billion Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

“Still and all, that isn’t the whole world. According to a recent anthropological survey, even well into the twentieth century, ‘extramateship liaison’ was an approved custom in thirty-nine percent of all world cultures. Think of that-thirty-nine percent! And though it’s kept a low profile, it’s becoming increasingly common in this country, too. Through these lifestyle organizations, millions of married Americans are able to express their erotic fantasies, and in the process, strengthen their marriages.”

Erotic fantasies. Somehow, Ben was willing to wager, the entire time she sweated through law school, Christina never envisioned that she would be standing in a courtroom talking about erotic fantasies. “I’m sure many people would imagine that these unusual practices would have just the opposite effect on a marriage. Would you please explain that last statement, Father?”

“Certainly. Lifestyle couples are firm believers in family values.” He’d been coached not to look at the judge as he said it; that would just be too obvious. “We believe we live in a manner that melds responsible family values-like matrimony, children, and emotional monogamy-with the erotic cultivation of marriage through the practice of rites we find fun and natural. After all, the most important thing for a family is the marriage; how can anything that strengthens the marriage be bad?”

“I would imagine there are some people who would disagree with what you’ve said. Who would find these practices disturbing-or even sinful.”

“And you would be right.” Beale straightened, adopting an almost professorial pose. “Let’s face it-the world is still plagued with morality squads, people who spend their lives running around passing judgment on the activities of others. But every psychological study on the subject has shown that lifestyle couples are quite normal, not at all deviant. Indeed, some have suggested that sexual monogamy may be the more deviant, more unnatural lifestyle.”