MAD3PAD 355-357

[David Payne]

Toby Levy defined interprebendary: “Not in the dictionary, prebendary is described as someone who receives a stipend from a cathedral or collegiate church in England. Perhaps Wicks used this word because he was receiving stipends from more than one church.”
 
 
I agree, but I wonder, too, if Wicks is dropping hints ("between preferments" and "interprebendary") that he has money in order to impress the young ladies who just joined the coach. His descriptions of the pair certainly sound the praise of man smitten. Notice, too, that he apologetically brushes over his use of the terms ("I could only mumble and blurt, before the radiance of these young Piests")--and that he references breaking a promise to "a Certain Deity that [he] would refrain" from using the term "interprebendary." 
 
I suspect Wicks feels some rivalry with Mr. Edgewise, fueled by his gambling loss, but extended towards the attentions of the Redzingers. Read thusly, Wicks' contrasting portraits of a sinful Edgewise vs. a saintly pair of Redzingers grows somewhat comical as the chapter progresses. Note, for example, on the previous page, Wicks says that Edgewise, introduced “himself in a mucilaginous voice” – mucilaginous, meaning “slimey,” and Edgewise, therefore, a slimeball?
 
Seems odd to accuse a Rev. of such motivations... Does this reading seem a reasonable interpretation? Anyone see this differently?
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