“But the Deity you talk of——”
“I beg your pardon, my lord: I talked of no deity; I talked of a living Love that gave us birth and calls us his children. Your deity I know nothing of.”
“Call him what you please:—he won’t be put off so easily!”
“He won’t be put off one jot or one tittle. He will forgive anything, but he will pass nothing—Will your wife forgive you?”
“She will—when I explain.”
“Then why should you think the forgiveness of God, which created her forgiveness, should be less?”
Whether the marquis could grasp the reasoning, may be doubtful.
“Do you really suppose God cares whether a man comes to good or ill?”
“If he did not, he could not be good himself.”
“Then you don’t think a good God would care to punish poor wretches like us?”