In their Wisdom by C.P. Snow

In that Christmas season there was no one, except those at the hospital and Dr Pemberton, who knew of Hillmorton's state. There were, however, others who were having what some – though not Dr Pemberton – would have called crises of conscience. Dr Pemberton believed that persons' decisions were formed before they admitted them. They did what they wished to, and all the arguments with their consciences were so many minuets which never influenced actions by a millimetre.

That was not the view of the Symingtons, who had, since Swaffield's volte-face, been talking to each other about what was the right thing to do. On the night of Boxing Day, they were having another of those conversations, not arguments, for they were trying to reinforce each other. It had been a cheerful Christmas, the children had gone to bed, they were in their own bedroom, Alison lying back against the pillows before she undressed, her husband having drawn up a chair by the bedside. He looked with love at her blooming face: it was being a good pregnancy. But, though he looked at her with love, he spoke with exasperation.