"I'm damned whether the Pope absolves me or not. The things I've done..." Arthur, she thought numbly. She swallowed, said, "What things, Papa?" He looked at her, and for a moment she truly thought he was going to answer. But he said only, "Things God could never forgive." "That's not so, Papa. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive it." He took her hand in his, raised it to his lips, and then he laughed, backed away. "Do not believe it, lass, not for a moment! There is no forgiveness, either in this world or the next." "You're wrong, Papa." Joanna drew a deep breath, said, "I could forgive you any sin." John gave her an odd smile, shook his head. "No, lass," he said. "You could not." He moved to the table, with an unsteady hand poured himself another cupful of wine. "If that mad old man be right, I'll have reigned for fourteen years. Passing strange, for it seems longer, much longer." He turned back to face Joanna, still with that strange smile. "There is but one lesson worth learning, one you must teach your children, Joanna. That nothing in life turns out as we thought it would, nothing..."
— Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
