“Most surely he knows; but what would’st thou have? It hath ever been the part of the Church to embrace sinners with open arms lest they repent. A man leaves wrath behind him when he flees hither; but should he set foot in the city without, he is the law’s, and no man may gainsay it.”
“Nay, sir, but these look far from repentance,” said Hilarius.
“Ay, ay, true eno’,” rejoined the other cheerfully, “but then ’tis not for nothing Mother Church holds the keys. Man’s law may fail to reach, but there is ever hell-fire for the unrepented sinner.”
Hilarius nodded, and his eyes wandered over the squalid place with the North Porch of the Abbey for its sole beauty.
“It must be as hell here, to live with robbers and men with bloody hands.”
“Nay,” said the old man hastily, “many of them are kindl
