Solene had gone to the hospital in Martinique and the surgeon had done his best, but her injured nose healed with an ugly, disfiguring twist and a stretched left eyebrow, hooding the eye.
Solene"s father couldn"t hide his guilt from himself. His Catholic conscience tortured him by day, and brought nightmares when he slept. Shame for what he"d done to his daughter crushed him. The ignominy became as hard to bear as the grief suffered at losing his wife. He went to Father Andre, preferring to confess to an old-fashioned pastor, supportive of fathers over daughters.
Confessing his sins to Father Andre did not lift the burden of guilt. Fabien"s whispered, guilty Act of Contrition and his conscience gave him hell. The priest"s perfunctory forgiveness of his sins—the meagre penance, a trivial
