New Gods of North America.

Chapter 563 Tacit understanding
The ball ended at midnight, and on the carriage ride home, the partners, as usual, shared news of their successes.
These days, thanks to the spread of "gentlemanly spirit" or "chivalry," the social and familial status of ladies has become quite high, and the concept of "ladies first" is deeply ingrained in daily life.

However, to be honest, women in this era still generally do not have much of a voice. They are not eligible to vote in elections, and their role in social interactions is often limited to "building relationships." It is difficult for them to directly participate in or influence the exchange of interests among men.

In a sense, it has the flavor of being "highly praised" but actually being "shelved".

Women like Inessa or Lena, who appear to be successful "working women," represent a new emerging group within the female population.
Some wealthy women scoffed at this, believing that participating in such mundane affairs was beneath their dignity; however, many other ladies began to yearn for "having their own job or career."

There's no hope for voting rights for now, but participating in charitable work and serving as directors or board members in companies or organizations has become a new trend among wealthy women—although most of them are still only responsible for "socializing" or simply "occupying a position commensurate with their status," without being responsible for specific management.

Conversely,
Since the ladies and young women do not directly participate in those insider operations, but their right to know is not low, the information they inadvertently reveal is still worth collecting.

"It seems that Richmond's high society has reached some kind of tacit understanding or consensus regarding what happened at the church. At first, some people would try to find out the inside story, but now almost everyone keeps quiet about it—tonight, a lady wanted to ask us about it, but after her mother glanced at her, she immediately changed the subject."

Lina's recent persona is probably that of a "carefree social butterfly." Some uninformed people might think that her status as a partner simply stems from her "coincidentally investing in shares of the detective agency."
In the past few days, quite a few people have come to her to inquire about inside information. The detective agency is currently basically "listening without speaking or asking" about what happened "that night," but this does not prevent the partners from assessing the situation in reverse.

Wayne's side confirmed a similar situation: "Tonight's 'Beeton's dad' also confirmed this. At least the Beeton family was involved in the incident, and the federal army may also be involved. Combining this with previous rumors, at least some politicians, state militias, and Richmond City Hall are all directly involved."

Inessa is considered quite "worldly" by nature, but even she seems to have never seen anything like this before:
"This is really strange. If it's a 'rebellion,' then the cathedral's reaction is too lukewarm; they haven't even tried to investigate the supporters and indirect participants behind the rebels. But if the cathedral wants to control the situation, then many priests from the plains parishes of Virginia have been purged."

"Judging from the newspapers alone, those people are just a short list of names. However, in a parish, the impact of a pastor familiar to the believers suddenly becoming a rebel is actually quite significant, but the cathedral did not take that into consideration. Normally, even when the Hunter Association purges out-of-control individuals, the publicly announced news is mostly 'sudden death from illness'."

Lina had initially suspected that this might be a conspiracy by the cathedral to purge dissidents, but this suspicion was quickly challenged.
First, Bishop Corleone himself died in the incident, and then his successor, Priest Tyrell, didn't seem to be "the same kind of person" as Bishop Corleone. It's normal to play tricks, but the victor of a trick should always "gain something." How can someone "sacrifice themselves and not replace their successor"?

Fortunately, Wayne is generally "forward-looking": "Since people from all sides are involved, and everyone is starting to tacitly choose to ignore this matter, and the situation is not currently directed at us, let's just continue to focus on our own affairs."

In a sense, the current situation is actually "beneficial" for the detective agency.
It's clear that Priest Tyrell wanted to use the Detective Agency, but he actually delegated more power than Bishop Corleone. And after the cathedral changed bishops, the local intelligence agencies didn't seem to retaliate against the Detective Agency, or even raise any potential rumors.

Wayne didn't think this situation would last forever, but as long as there was time and opportunity, Virginia didn't seem to be in a situation where she "couldn't make it"—in fact, she seemed to have a better chance of success.

……

“Corleone is trampling on everyone’s agreement and tacit understanding! Many people may not know about his illness, but we all do. To allow him to be publicly buried as a bishop after doing such a thing is the real ‘rebellion’.”

At a manor in Prince William County, Virginia, several local priests hosted a dinner for Bishop Jonathan Krantz, who was passing through the area.

Because the bishop, who was on his way to preside over a ceremony in Richmond, had been traveling and arrived late, the "casual chat" after the dinner had only just begun. Compared to the local priest, who seemed quite indignant, Bishop Jonathan Krantz's reaction was rather calm: "The bishops' conference has reached a consensus that there is no room for further discussion on this matter."

The voices of rebuttal rose instantly: "What bishopric? They're all a bunch of northerners! They're totally on Corleone's side, of course they're happy to see us southerners suffer."

Whispers arose around the table where the food had been replaced with various desserts and fruits.
In contrast to the political arena, slave owners could represent "many votes," including those of their slaves, yet they themselves remained "a believer" in civilized society. Factory owners, while unable to designate which politician their workers would vote for, could have "dozens or even hundreds of believers" in a single factory.

In the church, influence is determined to some extent by the number of believers within the parish.
Of course, there is a financial impact, but it is clear that the wealthy are unlikely to donate 10 percent of their income to the church every year, while devout ordinary believers are likely to do so, perhaps even more so—the latter are far more numerous than the former, and they are often more willing to provide various services and voluntary labor to the church without expecting anything in return.

Therefore, by broadening the perspective and looking at it holistically, the church would obviously pay more attention to the northern states, which had larger populations and relatively more developed industries.

If pastors can effectively govern dioceses with larger numbers of believers and more complex circumstances, their chances of becoming bishops and joining episcopal conferences will naturally be greater.

As one of the few remaining "Southern" bishops in the episcopal conference, Bishop Jonathan Krantz's attitude at this moment seems rather ambiguous:

"Did you suffer a loss? Are you trying to say that Tyrell isn't one of us southerners?"

The other person hesitated for a moment, then said, "That's not what I meant, but..."

Bishop Jonathan Krantz cut him off calmly:
"In any case, the fact that the position of bishop has returned to us Southerners is a kind of 'progress' for Virginia. We can all understand what Corleone is doing, of course, but there's no point in dwelling on it now."

The other party accepted this 'reality' with some resignation, but still couldn't help but argue, "Does maintaining the dignity of the church mean that Corleone's actions will go unpunished? Must Bazzini and the others be called 'traitors' from now on?"

"Let me just share my private opinion."

Bishop Jonathan Krantz took a sip of red wine. "That was Corleone's personal behavior, not the fault of the local cathedral. You can have your own 'personal behavior' as well. But I am unaware of it and will not participate."

"However, you need to be careful. You should all know what many of the so-called 'Northern Priests' have been through. Corleone has been in Virginia for so many years, and even if he's dead, his men might still be able to produce evidence of your crimes."

"Don't point the finger at the entire 'church,' don't get yourself involved, and don't embarrass me during the ceremony."

(End of this chapter)