my
conscience quite at peace."

Perhaps it is rare, and perhaps the Captain's conscience had no right
to be quite at peace. For certainly he had not told all the truth to
his dear friend, the Count of Fieramondi. Yet since no more was heard
of Paul de Roustache, and the Countess's journey remained an unbroken
secret, these questions of casuistry need not be raised. After all, is
it for a man to ruin the tranquillity of a home for the selfish
pleasure of a conscience quite at peace?

But as to the consciences of those two very ingenious young ladies, the
Countess of Fieramondi, and her cousin, Countess Lucia, the problem is
more difficult. The Countess never confessed, and Lucia never
betrayed, the secret. Yet they were both devout! Indeed, the problem
seems insoluble.

Stay, though! Perhaps the counsel and aid of the Bishop of Mesopotamia
(_in partibus_) were invoked again. His lordship's position, that you
must commit your sin before you can be absolved from the guilt of it,
not only appears most logical in itself, but was, in the circumstances
of the case, not discouraging.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Dieppe, by Anthony Hope

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN DIEPPE ***

***** This file should be named 28935.txt or 28935.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/3/28935/

Produced by Al Haines

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain