"and he stopped going to church entirely, because there seemed no point now in even contemplating prayer for his soul. Besides, the parish church near Kilmartin dated to 1432, and the crumbling stones certainly couldn"t takea direct strike of lightning. And if God ever wanted to smite a sinner, he couldn"t do better than Michael Stirling. Michael Stirling, Sinner. He could see it on a calling card. He"d have had it printed up, even--his was just that sort of black sense of humor--if he weren"t convinced it would kill his mother on the spot. Rake he might be, but there was no need to torture the woman who"d borne him."