*

'No, tell me again. I didn't listen properly the first time. I want to know my destiny'.

'I can't tell you that.'

'I thought it was written in my lines. I thought you believed in it.'

'Patterns can alter,' Fludd said. 'A soul is a thing in a state of flux. Your fate is mutable. Your will is free'. He reached across the table, and tapped once with his forefinger, urgently, in the palm of her hand, '...listen to me now. It is true that, in a way, I can tell the future. But not in the way you think. I can make you a map. I can indicate to you a choice of turnings. But I cannot travel the route on your behalf'.

~ Fludd
Hilary Mantel