"You love her?"
"I do."
"Truly?"
"With heart and soul, both."
"And there is no changing your faith?"
"No way."
"There isn't any short-cut, any quick trail over the mountain, any bridle-path? A fellow cannot get an Indulgence—nothing of that sort?"
"I wish—I wish deeply that one might; but—no."
"No," said Jim with a little sigh, "I suppose not nowadays. I looked that up, too. Public opinion is pretty strong, and as wrong as usual." He seemed to shake the subject from him. "And," he ended, "now that I have bored you with my cheap pedantry, I remember that I have been a bad host: I have not asked you your errand."
What change was coming over the madman now?