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"Forgiveness can be our greatest strength, yet also our greatest weakness We all race of Christ, what it ive an eneed us, either in private or public, and offer a hand of coth beyond the ken of man, does it noti Yet we do it, if ith God We put aside the injustices others have set upon us, and we continue our forward progress on this earth Now think well on what iveness for ive ourselves of deceits and wrongs we have accuive others if we cannot corips with the sins of our own soulsi Those sins and torht upon ourselves by ourselvesi How may we approach with a fresh soul anyone in need of deliverance, if our own souls remain injured by self-inflicted woundsi"

Reverend Willia fro It was as usual a full sanctuary, for Wade was a powerful speaker and had the rare quality of mercy over his listeners; he didn&039;t often speak more than two hours, which made him a favorite of the elderly who had to hold their ear-horns Matthew sat in the fourth row of pews, alongside Hiraistrate Powers, his wife, and daughter, and in front of him was Tobias Winekoop and his family Shutters were closed at the s to restrain theto the church elders, concentrate the attention of the congregation on Reverend Wade and not the weather or some other outside distraction, such as the cattle pen within spitting distance The church was illu pine, for construction of soeons fluttered in the rafters, having ed by a storm the first week of May Matthew had heard that Reverend Wade was seen at least twice putting out a platter of seeds and bread crus getting all over the pineboards and wanted to hire an Indian to bring the had been pulled in Trinity Church

"Note here," said the reverend as he surveyed his flock, "I do not speak of self-forgiveness as a golden key to unlock further sins of iveness as a dreaone before Far froiveness as Paul writes in Second Corinthians, chapter the seventh, verses the ninth, the tenth, and the eleventh I speak of self-forgiveness as letting go of the worldly sorrow that leads to death Children of God, we hurt and we suffer, and that is the plight of adam We have been commanded from the Garden for our sins, yes, and weto winter, but why must aste our moments in this life burdened with sins of the heart that we can not forgivei"

as the reverend spoke, Matthew listened with both ears but his eyes atching John Five and Constance Wade, who sat together-at a decent distance apart, of course-on the front pew John wore a brown suit and Constance was dressed in dark gray, both of the preached No one would know fro at thearbedMatthew that this day was any different for him than any other Sabbath he&039;d attended church He did not let his gaze linger on Reverend Wade with suspicion, but rather kept his expression as remote as Heaven sometimes seemed to be in the affairs of ordinarysadness was hidden behind the soht had been another little carnival, Matthew had heard froistrate Dahen he&039;d arrived at church Fifteenthe decree, necessitating throwing soaol to ame at the house of Samuel Baiter on Wall Street had led to a drunken brawl in which six men had beaten each other bloody and one&039;s nose had nearly been bitten off at a tick past eight-thirty, Dippen Nack had put his black billyclub up between the shoulderblades of a tall, heavy-set doxy at the corner of the Broad Way and Beaver, announced an arrest, and suddenly found hi into the blue-shaded eyes of Lord Cornbury, as-according to Cornbury according to Nack according to what Dawes had heard-out for an "evening constitutional" all in all, another night for the record books

But, again, the decreesome impact beyond chaos and clownish hilarity, for the Masker had not added another stone to the ce He&039;d gone to bed dreading ould spill from his mind after that exhumation on the Ormond farm, and so he was rewarded for his trepidation

He&039;d been sitting at a table in a s cards with a dark figure across froloved hand What the game was, Matthew didn&039;t know He only knew that the stakes were high, though there was no money in evidence There were no voices, no hu but the silence of the void Suddenly the black glove laid down not a card but a knife with a bloody blade Matthe he had to reply with a card, but when he set his down it was not a card but a lantern with broken glass and a sain across the scarred table, and there lay Eben ausley&039;s her, yet the gahest card, a queen of diaed to an envelope with a red wax seal Then his opponent offered a challenge, and what lay before Matthew he couldn&039;t quite recognize until he picked it up, held it close, and by the guttering tallow realized it was the first joint of a otten out of bed before dawn and sat at his atching the sky lighten, trying to arrange the pieces of his drea such gossa impressions, only Somnus knew their riddles

In the pocket of Matthew&039;s coat, as he sat listening to Reverend Wade, was indeed an envelope secured not with red sealing wax but hite dripped from a common taper

It was addressed: To Madam Deverick, From Your Servant Matthew Corbett Inside was a piece of paper that bore three questions written as cleanly as a sword-sore shoulder would allow:

Would you please recount for ht have had with you concerning any business th of your recollectioni

Did Mr Deverick make any recent trips, either for business or pleasurei If I o and whom did he seei

at the risk of rejection or dismissal, may I ask why you indicated such displeasure when I mentioned the names of Dr Julius Godwin and Mr Eben ausley in connection with that of your late husbandi

I thank you for your time and helpful efforts and trust you understand this information will remain strictly confidential unless required by a court of law

With all Respect,

MaTTHEW CORBETT