Lent

by Jo Walton

“There are always new things coming out of Florence. No good will come of it!”

Some people can be shamed into doing good, the Lukewarm need to be shamed out of doing evil.

“If I’d been a man I’d never have lost control of the city and it would be you coming to ask me for favours, Brother Girolamo.”

These moneylenders are often Jews, as the business is forbidden to Christians, but often enough unscrupulous and evil-minded Christians take it up too.

“All flat surfaces are for piling books,”

“How many times, I wonder?”