Ah well, I suppose that’s the problem with trying to make others follow your own beliefs: what starts out as spiritual ardor too often becomes arrogance and bigotry.

I smiled ruefully to myself, knowing I had already experienced a far greater and deeper union with this man than that which propriety was so busy guarding against. I had seen and accepted our fate...

My voice was a bare rasp of fear. “In the weaving room, the women say it’s never been this bad before…” “They always say that when things get difficult,” she answered softly. Then she sat...