Sentence:  What had he said, what had he done, after all, to give them the right to fasten on him the charge of <WSD>apostasy</WSD>? He had always been a free critic of everything, and it was natural that, on certain occasions, in the little parlour in Lisson Grove, he should have spoken in accordance with that freedom; but it was only with the Princess that he had permitted himself really to rail at the democracy and given the full measure of his scepticism. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The renunciation of a belief or set of beliefs.