"
"Come then with me," said Angela, "Come into the studio and we will
hear it more closely. Dearest uncle," and she knelt for a moment by
the Cardinal's chair, "Will you come there also when Monsieur l'Abbe
has finished talking with you?"
Cardinal Bonpre's hand rested lovingly on her soft hair.
"Yes, my child, I will come." And in a lower tone he added,--"Do not
speak much to Manuel,--he is a strange lad; more fond of silence and
prayer than other things,--and if such is his temperament I would
rather keep him so."
Angela bowed her head in acquiescence to this bidding,--then rising,
left the room with a gentle gesture of invitation to the boy, who at
once followed her. As the two disappeared a chill and a darkness
seemed to fall upon the air, and the Cardinal sank back among the
cushions of his fauteuil with a deep sigh of utter exhaustion. Abbe
Vergniaud glanced at him inquisitively.
"You are very tired, I fear?" he said.
"Physically, no,--mentally, yes. Spiritually, I am certainly
fatigued to the death."
The Abbe shrugged his shoulders.
"Helas! There is truly much in spiritual matters to engender
weariness!" he said.
With a sudden access of energy the Cardinal gripped both arms of his
chair and sat upright.
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