"Nay, surely!" said Amphillis, laughing. "Then seest not for thyself that there is a manner of belief far beside and beyond the mere reckoning that man liveth? Phyllis, dost thou trust Christ our Lord?" "For what, Mistress? That He shall make me safe at last, if I do my duty, and pay my dues to the Church, and shrive me [confess sins to a priest] metely oft, and so forth? Ay, I reckon I do," said Amphillis, in a tone which sounded rather as if she meant "I don't." "Hast alway done thy duty, Amphillis?" "Alack, no, Mistress. Yet meseemeth there be worser folks than I. I am alway regular at shrift." "The which shrift thou shouldst little need, if thou hadst never failed in duty. But how shall our Lord make thee safe?" "Why, forgive me my sins," replied Amphillis, looking puzzled. "That saith what He shall do, not how He shall do it. Thy sins are a debt to God's law and righteousness. Canst thou pay a debt without cost?" "But forgiveness costs nought." "Doth it so? I think scarce anything costs more. Hast ever meditated, Amphillis, what it cost God to forgive sin?" "I thought it cost Him nothing at all." "Child, it could only be done in one of two ways, at the cost of His very self. Either He should forgive sin without propitiation--which were to cost His righteousness and truth and honour. Could that be? In no wise. Then it must be at the cost of His own bearing the penalty due unto the sinner. Thy sins, Amphillis, thine every failure in duty, thine every foolish thought or wrongful word, cost the Father His own Son out of His bosom, cost the Son a human life of agony and a death of uttermost terribleness. Didst thou believe that?" A long look of mingled amazement and horror preceded the reply. "Mistress Perrote, I never thought of no such thing! I thought--I thought," said Amphillis, struggling for the right words to make her meaning clear, "I thought our Lord was to judge us for our sins, and our blessed Lady did plead with Him to have mercy on us, and we must do the best we could, and pray her to pray for us. But the fashion you so put it seemeth--it seemeth certain, as though the matter were settled and done with, and should not be fordone [revoked]. Is it thus?"