It seems to me, my dear penitent, that I undertook a rather difficult task too [?] lightly. You present me with doubts to resolve, in my capacity as casuist—if I knew theology, perhaps I could manage it. I would refer to incomprehensible matters, which I myself would not understand; I would speak of heaven and hell, of mysteries, of free will which leaves us the option of doing good or evil—although it is certain that we can do only the one or the other, and that we will be punished or rewarded for the one or the other, which we were free to choose, but which we nevertheless could not choose, without destroying God’s prescience. As you see, there would be so much to say that hope and reason would lose their way entirely. If we were to do our reasoning in terms of natural law, we would be a little more at ease; let us start from where we are. You are a man, I am a woman, and while we might think along the same lines, we must speak and act differently. Perhaps there is no great harm in a man having desires and yielding to them; a woman may have desires, but she must not yield. You have kept two very pleasant commandments religiously; you have broken another, one easily violated. My friendship, and a touch of vanity, perhaps, prompt me strongly to pardon you; but I dare not decide the question without consulting that neighbor whose wife you covet, because he is a far better casuist than I am. And then, too, as Poor Richard would say, In weighty matters, two heads are better than one. Farewell, my dear penitent; before closing, I want to confess to you in all humility that in the matter of desire, I am as great a sinner as yourself. I have desired to see you, desired to know you, desired your esteem, desired your friendship. I have even given you mine at the very outset, in the hope of receiving a little of yours. And now, I desire that you may love me forever; this desire grows day by day in my heart and it will last all my life. But such is the compassion of God, it is said, that I have not the slightest doubt that all our desires will eventually lead us to Paradise! I have the honor to be, my dear penitent, with the most inviolable attachment, your very humble and very obedient servant