human
Who has done this? he demanded.
gpt
What lover of this girl has dared to enter the fortress, to stab one of my guards, and carry her off beneath my eye?
human
I am no reader of riddles, said St Agapit.
gpt
I came here to reason with the maid, because it seemed to me that her heart, young as it is and tender, must surely respond to the message of love. Why she refuses the only faith by which mortals may be saved passed my understanding. But now I know that she has been driven into heresy by the neglect of a father and the unnatural spirit of a mother, and strengthened in her sin by the persecution of a cousin.
human
Father, I loved her.
gpt
Not so. You shall find at your heart passion, but not the warmth of love. It is not the ice which produces the plant and the flower. It is the warm rain and the sunshine. You offered her the storm, and wondered because she desired the sun.
human
Where has she gone?
gpt
To freedom. My blessing follows her, unbeliever though she be.
human
Bless me also, cried Roussilac, catching at his skirt.
gpt
Father, I have done much evil. Bless me before you go.
human
I may pity where I may not bless,