Then why should God's foreknowledge any more hinder our
free-will, when He chooses to communicate it to us?"
Robin was silent. He knew little or nothing of these things, except from
his theological reading. Yet he felt uneasy. The other said nothing.
"And the stars, too?" he asked.
"I hold," said Mr. Bassett, "that the stars have certain influences and
powers upon those that are born under their signs. I do not hold that we
are so ruled by these that we have no action of our own, any more than
we are compelled to be wet through by rain or scorched by the sun: we
may always come into a house or shelter beneath a tree, and thus escape
them. So, too, I hold, with the stars. There is an old saying, sir: 'The
fool is ruled by his stars; the wise man rules them.' That is, in a
nutshell, my faith in the matter. I have told Mr. Fenton's fortune here,
and Mr. FitzHerbert's, only they will never listen to me."
Robin looked round the room. It was dark outside long ago; they had
supped at sunset, and sat for half an hour over their banquet of
sweetmeats and wine before coming upstairs. And the room, too, was as
dark as night, except where far off in the west, beyond the tall trees
of the park, a few red streaks lingered. He felt oppressed and
miserable. The place seemed to him sinister. He hated these fumblings at
locks that were surely meant to remain closed. Yet he did not know what
to say. Mr. John had wandered off to one of the windows and was humming
uneasily to himself.
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