Toohey’s indifference to religion was the only flaw that disturbed him in the person of his friend and mentor. But everything Toohey preached seemed in line with God’s law: charity, sacrifice, help to the poor. Hopton Stoddard felt safe whenever he followed Toohey’s advice. He donated handsomely to the institutions recommended by Toohey, without much prompting. In matters of the spirit he regarded Toohey upon earth somewhat as he expected to regard God in heaven.
But this summer Toohey met defeat with Hopton Stoddard for the first time.
Hopton Stoddard decided to realize a dream which he had been planning slyly and cautiously, like all his other investments, for several years: he decided to build a temple. It was not to be the temple of any particular creed, but an interdenominational, non-sectarian monument to religion, a cathedral of faith, open to all. Hopton Stoddard wanted to play safe.
He felt crushed when Ellsworth Toohey advised him against the project. Toohey wanted a building to house a new home for subnormal children; he had an organization set up, a distinguished committee of sponsors, an endowment for operating expenses–but no building and no funds to erect one. If Hopton Stoddard wished a worthy memorial to his name, a grand climax of his generosity, to what nobler purpose could he dedicate his money than to the Hopton Stoddard Home for Subnormal Children, Toohey pointed out to him emphatically; to the poor little blighted ones for whom nobody cared. But Hopton Stoddard could not be aroused to any enthusiasm for a Home nor for any mundane institution. It had to be “The Hopton Stoddard Temple of the Human Spirit.”
He could offer no arguments against Toohey’s brilliant array; he could say nothing except: “No, Ellsworth, no, it’s not right, not right.” The matter was left unsettled. Hopton Stoddard would not budge, but Toohey’s disapproval made him uncomfortable and he postponed his decision from day to day. He knew only that he would have to decide by the end of summer, because in the fall he was to depart on a long journey, a world tour of the holy shrines of all faiths, from Lourdes to Jerusalem to Mecca to Benares.
A few days after the announcement of the Aquitania contract Toohey came to see Hopton Stoddard, in the evening, in the privacy of Stoddard’s vast, overstuffed apartment on Riverside Drive.
“Hopton,” he said cheerfully, “I was wrong. You were right about that temple.”
“No!” said Hopton Stoddard, aghast.
“Yes,” said Toohey, “you were right. Nothing else would be quite fitting. You must build a temple. A Temple of the Human Spirit.”
Hopton Stoddard swallowed, and his blue eyes became moist. He felt that he must have progressed far upon the path of righteousness if he had been able to teach a point of virtue to his teacher. After that, nothing else mattered; he sat, like a meek, wrinkled baby, listening to Ellsworth Toohey, nodding, agreeing to everything.
“It’s an ambitious undertaking, Hopton, and if you do it, you must do it right. It’s a little presumptuous, you know–offering a present to God–and unless you do it in the best way possible, it will be offensive, not reverent.”
“Yes, of course. It must be right. It must be right. It must be the best. You’ll help me, won’t you, Ellsworth? You know all about buildings and art and everything–it must be right.”
“I’ll be glad to help you, if you really want me to.”
“If I want you to! What do you mean–if I want…! Goodness gracious, what would I do without you? I don’t know anything about…about anything like that. And it must be right.”
“If you want it right, will you do exactly as I say?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes, of course.”
“First of all, the architect. That’s very important.”
“Yes, indeed.”
“You don’t want one of those satin-lined commercial boys with the dollar sign all over them. You want a man who believes in his work as–as you believe in God.”
“That’s right. That’s absolutely right.”
“You must take the one I name.”
“Certainly. Who’s that?”
“Howard Roark.”
“Huh?” Hopton Stoddard looked blank. “Who’s he?”
“He’s the man who’s going to build the Temple of the Human Spirit.”
“Is he any good?”
Ellsworth Toohey turned and looked straight into his eyes.
“By my immortal soul, Hopton,” he said slowly, “he’s the best there is.”
“Oh!…”
“But he’s difficult to get. He doesn’t work except on certain conditions. You must observe them scrupulously. You must give him complete freedom. Tell him what you want and how much you want to spend, and leave the rest up to him. Let him design it and build it as he wishes. He won’t work otherwise. Just tell him frankly that you know nothing about architecture and that you chose him because you felt he was the only one who could be trusted to do it right without advice or interference.”
“Okay, if you vouch for him.”
“I vouch for him.”
“That’s fine. And I don’t care how much it costs me.”
“But you must be careful about approaching him. I think he will refuse to do it, at first. He will tell you that he doesn’t believe in God.”
“What!”
“Don’t believe him. He’s a profoundly religious man–in his own way. You can see that in his buildings.”
“Oh.”
“But he doesn’t belong to any established church. So you won’t appear partial. You won’t offend anyone.”
“That’s good.”
“Now, when you deal in matters of faith, you must be the first one to have faith. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Don’t wait to see his drawings. They will take some time–and you mustn’t delay your trip. Just hire him–don’t sign a contract, it’s not necessary–make arrangements for your bank to take care of the financial end and let him do the rest. You don’t have to pay him his fee until you return. In a year or so, when you come back after seeing all those great temples, you’ll have a better one of your own, waiting here for you.”
“That’s just what I wanted.”
“But you must think of the proper unveiling to the public, the proper dedication, the right publicity.”
“Of course…That is, publicity?”
“Certainly. Do you know of any great event that’s not accompanied by a good publicity campaign? One that isn’t, can’t be much. If you skimp on that, it will be downright disrespectful.”
“That’s true.”
“Now if you want the proper publicity, you must plan it carefully, well in advance. What you want, when you unveil it, is one grand fanfare, like an opera overture, like a blast on Gabriel’s horn.”
“That’s beautiful, the way you put it.”
“Well, to do that you mustn’t allow a lot of newspaper punks to dissipate your effect by dribbling out premature stories. Don’t release the drawings of the temple. Keep them secret. Tell Roark that you want them kept secret. He won’t object to that. Have the contractor put up a solid fence all around the site while it’s being built. No one’s to know what it’s like until you come back and preside at the unveiling in person. Then–pictures in every damn paper in the country!”
“Ellsworth!”
“I beg your pardon.”
“The idea’s right. That’s how we put over The Legend of the Virgin, ten years ago that was, with a cast of ninety-seven.”
“Yes. But in the meantime, keep the public interested. Get yourself a good press agent and tell him how you want it handled. I’ll give you the name of an excellent one. See to it that there’s something about the mysterious Stoddard Temple in the papers every other week or so. Keep ’em guessing. Keep ’em waiting. They’ll be good and ready when the time comes.”
“Right.”
“But, above all, don’t let Roark know that I recommended him. Don’t breathe a word to anyone about my having anything to do with it. Not to a soul. Swear it.”
“But why?”
“Because I have too many friends who are architects, and it’s such an important commission, and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.”
“Yes. That’s true.”
“Swear it.”
“Oh, Ellsworth!”
“Swear it. By the salvation of your soul.”
“I swear it. By…that.”
“All right. Now you’ve never dealt with architects, and he’s an unusual kind of architect, and you don’t want to muff it. So I’ll tell you exactly what you’re to say to him.”
On the following day Toohey walked into Dominique’s office. He stood at her desk, smiled and said, his voice unsmiling:
“Do you remember Hopton Stoddard and that temple of all faith that he’s been talking about for six years?”
“Vaguely.”
“He’s going to build it.”
“Is he?”
“He’s giving the job to Howard Roark.”
“Not really!”
“Really.”
“Well, of all the incredible…Not Hopton!”
“Hopton.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll go to work on him.”
“No. You lay off. I told him to give it to Roark.”
She sat still, exactly as the words caught her, the amusement gone from her face. He added: