laurence a little awkwardly offered erasmus the dish of stewed plums , in lieu of an agreement which should have felt dishonest ; he was uneasily aware that he had not heard services for the better part of a year ; barring the sunday services on board , where mr. britten , the ship 's official chaplain , droned through his sermon with a notable lack of either inspiration or sobriety : and for those , laurence had often to sit beside temeraire , to keep him from interrupting .