u are comfortable, and if any one examines or lays his
hand upon one only of these threads, you are troubled, and
afraid it will snap, because very probably its neighbour will
snap also, and after that one, another; and so, to your great
fright and pain, your fragile bed will come tumbling down from
the sky to the earth. I know this fright and this pain, I know
that the satisfaction of walking on solid ground must be
purchased at this cost, and therefore I am not deterred by a
pity that would be false from discussing with you. But I may
be mistaken, and perhaps it may be you who will lift me up, up
to your resting place of fragile threads and air. Maria is not
equal to this task. If Maria makes me believe in God, it does
not follow that she can make me believe in the Church as well.
And you yourself believe in the Church above all things.
Therefore try to convince me, and I also will listen in
suspense, and though I do not pray, at least I can hope,
because now my longing for a perfect union with you is stronger
than ever before. Now, together with my old affection, I feel a
new admiration for you, a new gratitude towards you.

"Will you take offence at this outpouring of mine? Remember
that you must have found a letter from me in your handbag,
eight months ago, and that I have waited eight months for an
answer!

"The Professor and Ester now meet at our house as fiances.
They, at least, are happy. She goes to church and he does not,
and neither of them thinks any more about it than they do about
the difference in the colour of their hair. And I believe nine
hundred and ninety-nine couples in a thousand do the same."

"I embrace you. Write me a long, long letter.

"LUISA."

This letter did not leave Lugano until September 26th, and Franco
received it on the 27th. On the 29th, at eight o'clock in the morning,
he received the following telegram, also from Lugano:

"Child dangerously ill. Come at once.

"UNCLE."

FOOTNOTES:

[N] _Tota_ is Piedmontese for young girl, often used in the sense of
_grisette_. [_Translator's note._]

[O] It must be remembered that Padua and its university were at that
time dominated by the Austrians, and that patriotism drove this "already
famou