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[mansuetus]

[ Lucrezia is in one of the lounges! Sprawled on one of the sofas, fingers busy turning a pendent of gold in the shape of a sea-horse. There are no poems today, no joyful greetings, something is different. She looks more pensive than anything else but there is a shade of concern there as well as quiet annoyance.

When she speaks, her voice is devoid of any of it. Her eyes still focused on the sea-horse. ]

A riddle, Tranquility.

How to mourn for someone who does not deserve it?

If your duty demands it and you have no desire to - do all men need to be mourned for? Is it a a more grievous sin not to mourn than it is to speak false words of grievance?

[ a beat. ]

Perhaps I must fast again.

[ a moment later she puts down her necklace, smiles. ]

I would have a cup of wine with your answer, if any of you have some to spare. You will join me in the lounge.

[ and it is not a question. ]

Comments

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[A slight pause. For most others, he'd proudly proclaim himself an atheist; however, Lucrezia is good and sweet; for her, his answer is more cautious.]

I cannot speak about God.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

Few can.

There is no priest nor cardinal in this ship so I would be able to confess and be forgiven.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[Another slight pause, and then he decides to be bold:]

Is God good?

[voice]

[mansuetus]

What a question to ask a Pope's daughter.

[ but she chuckles. ]

Yes. God is Good.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[He nods.]

Then would he condemn someone for being true to her heart?

[voice]

[mansuetus]

I am not sure.

[ she thinks of it. ]

What if her heart is wicked and she is true to its wickedness?

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[He's quiet for a moment, but then speaks with certainty.]

Her heart is not wicked.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

The one who died thought she had. Because she was a Borgia, a thing to be ashamed of.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

And who was the one who died?

[voice]

[mansuetus]

Giovanni Sofrza. Lord of Pesaro. Her lord husband.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[Ah. Yes; that...fits.]

And tell me this: who was he to judge her?

[voice]

[mansuetus]

The man who bought me and loathed me all the same. We made our vows before God.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

That doesn't answer my question. Was he a righteous man?

[voice]

[mansuetus]

No.

[ not to her, not in her eyes. never. ]

He took me from my family and I - I hoped he will be sweet. Or amiable. Or kind. Yet he loathed us all and considered a Borgia wife a humiliation and i bore the marks of his punishment for weeks and weeks.

[ yet she punished him in return and now he is dead. ]

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[His lips tighten for a moment; he hasn't quite yet mastered his temper when he speaks, and as a result it's harsher and less careful than what he'll usually allow to those like Lucrezia.]

Then if your God is just, he's been sent to the Hell of which Christians speak. If your God is good, then he hates that man as much as any right-thinking human being would.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

We have spoken of forgiveness once, Miles Edgeworth. If I haven't forgiven him for what he had done to me -

If I shall never forgive him for what he had done to me, would I be wicked as well?

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

No.

[That answer is firm - but laced through with genuine venom.]

Frankly, I think it would just make you rational. Be kind; that's a good thing. But don't just extend forgiveness to those who have done wrong. There are evil people in the world, and they shouldn't simply be comforted and coddled because their victims are too kind to hate them as they ought to be hated.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

He was a poor husband and a poor man. It is not a great loss, not truly. I loathe him, I admit. Yet if the ship shall ever design to bring him here, he shall claim me to be his wife and property.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

He can try.

[That's said thoughlessly; he hesitates after a moment, and then adds, just a touch less brashly:]

If you would permit such interference, that is.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

I would not return to his side. I would have to be a fool to endure the beating from a man I am no longer committed to.

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[Good.]

Then if he were ever to show up, and if he were to try to interfere with you, he would quickly see the inside of a holding cell. Indefinitely.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

Can it be done, Miles Edgeworth? He is dead now and so I am widow and free from his clutches. Yet alive he has rights to me.

[ very carefully; it is a vow she had taken but it is undone now. And perhaps that is truly the heart of the matter. ]

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[Firmly:]

With your permission, and if you're all right with it in view of your religion, I can have you divorced from him.

[voice]

[mansuetus]

I heard of it, divorce. It is the same as having a marriage annulled is it not?

I would request you to do so. What must I do?

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[That was...easy. He expected some doubt, some uncertainty - Well; good.]

Sign some documents I'll prepare. I'll have to sit with you and ask you a few questions, as I'm not altogether familiar with the details of the law under which you were married, but it should be simple enough. The procedure of a few weeks and no more.