"Go and tell her you are sorry, my lord—that will be enough for her."
"Ah! but there's more than her concerned."
"You are right, my lord. There is another—One who cannot be satisfied that the fairest works of his hands, or rather the loveliest children of his heart, should be treated as you have treated women."
"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.