"Expiation" is a short story written by Pulitzer prize winning author Edith Wharton. It was published in 1904 as one of the stories in the collection, "The Descent of Man and Other Stories". The Bishop of Ossining is announced at the home of Mrs. Fetherel, his niece. And when he is ushered in he has a polite request to make of her. A request she is all too willing to accede for the wellbeing of her soul…