From the beginning of the story to the very last chapter we see that Nicholas Barber is searching for a father figure. Unfortunately he is not only extremely religious but also very idealistic, which makes it difficult for him to find someone who can live up to his standards.
When we first meet Nicholas, he is running away from his first father figure and into the arms of the second. On page 13 he explains why he left the church: "I had been sent to act as a secretary to Sir Robert de Brian [...] who set me to transcribing his voluminous verses [...] The birds were singing with full thr…
