d to stand out afresh in the flames. "Your friend must be
a true woman, and it was very sweet of you to be so tender with
her." ... "There is always a little twinge when I read between the lines
of your letters. Are you not dissimulating?... to keep up my
spirits?" ... "You shall smile and recover all your girlish spirits....
I shall hear your silvery laugh again as I did on that glorious day in
the Campagna." ... "It shows how rightly I judged the moral elevation
of your soul, your impeccability, your spirit of fire and your heart of
gold."

While the letters were burning she felt herself to be under the
influence of a kind of delirium. It was almost as though she were
committing murder.

X

The Pope had begun the day with the long task of administering the
sacrament to the lay members of his household, yet at eight o'clock he
was back in his library in the midst of his morning receptions
surrounded by a bevy of camerieri, monsignori, and messengers. First
came a Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda to report the doings of his
congregation; then an ambassador from Spain to tell of the suppression
of religious orders; and finally the majordomo to recite the official
programme for the public ceremonies which the Pope had ordered for Holy
Thursday.

It was now ten o'clock, and Cortis, the valet, brought the usual plate
of soup. Then came a large man with bold features and dark complexion,
wearing a purple robe edged with red and a red biretta. It was the
Cardinal Secretary of State.

"What news this morning, your Eminence?" said the Pope.

"The Government," said the Cardinal Secretary, "has just published a
proclamation announcing a jubilee in honour of the King's accession. It
is to begin on Monday next, and there are to be great feasts and
rejoicings."

"A jubilee at a time like this! What a wild mockery of the people's
woes! How many poor women and children must go hungry before this royal
orgy has been paid for! God be with us! Such injustice and tyranny in
the Satanic guise of clemency and indulgence is almost enough to explain
the homicidal theories of the demagogues and to justify men like
Rossi.... Any further news of him?"

"Yes. He is at present in Paris, in close intercourse with the leaders
of every abominable sect."

"You have seen this man Rossi, your Eminence?"

"Once. I saw him on the morning of the jubilee of your Holiness, when he
attempted to present a petition.