I could not get the thought out of my head how such a girl could sell herself, and I asked her again: "Do you do it from necessity?"
"At first," she answered, "I was deceived by a handsome young fellow. To spite him I got another one, and so I fell into the play. And now it happens many times that I do it for the sake of a piece of bread."
She said it quite simply and there was no pity for herself in her words.
"Do you go to church?" I asked.
She started and became red all over. "The way to the church is forbidden to no one."
I felt that I had offended her and added hurriedly:
"You misunderstood me. I know the gospels; I know of Mary Magdalene and of the sinner through whom the Pharisees tempted Christ. I only wished to ask you whether you were not angered against God for the life that you were leading; whether you did not doubt His goodness."
She frowned again, remained thoughtful, and said, surprised:
"I do not know what God has to do with it."
"How then?" I asked. "Is He not our Shepherd and our Father in whose mighty hand the destiny of man rests?"