mercy in the loving, then. some grace, too.

From The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

‘The great thing is to have lots of love about. I don’t see,’ she went on, ‘at least I don’t see here, though I did at home, that it matters who loves as long as somebody does. I was a stingy beast at home, and used to measure and count. I had a queer obsession about justice. As though justice mattered. As though justice can really be distinguished from vengeance. It’s only love that’s any good. At home I wouldn’t love Mellersh unless he loved me back, exactly as much, absolute fairness. Did you ever. And as he didn’t, neither did I, and the aridity of that house! The aridity*…

*only in the movie Enchanted April Lottie, instead of aridity, says oh the emptiness of it all!

What is loving if it's not caring? And what is caring if it doesn't include sharing?
And tit for tat trading isn't love, either. It's trade. Loving is never more real and true then when not exactly deserved.