Canon Tallis pushed his empty coffee cup across the counter. "How many people can you trust here in New York?"

Dr. Austin looked about him at the unknown people seated at the counter, at the little tables crowded along the wall. "I believe that people become trustworthy only by being trusted."

The priest gave a startled smile at hearing his own words come back at him from this gentle doctor so completely different from himself.

Dr. Austin continued, "I know that I'm infinitely more trustworthy because of my wife's faith in me. I know that there are all kinds of things I'll never do or say because she trusts me, and so do my children. But how sure am I of myself, really? Haven't you ever spoken when you should have kept your mouth shut, or not spoken when you should have stood up to be counted?"

The Canon looked somberly into the dark dregs remaining in his cup. "I am constantly being reminded by my own behavior that I am a fallen human in a fallen world."

The Doctor smiled. "You sound like my father-in-law, who is not far from being a saint-"

"I am," the Canon put in.

"He would add that when we fall, as we always do, we pick ourselves up and start again. And when our trust is betrayed the only response that is not destructive is to trust again. Not stupidly, you understand, but fully aware of the facts, we still have to trust." He turned on his stool to look at the priest. "You're not sure you trust me."

Canon Tallis returned the look. "Nor you me."

-Madeleine L'Engle, The Young Unicorns