Do not judge
me too severely! I feel that I have a work to do,--and a lesson to
give in the work, when done. I may fail;--I may be told that as a
woman I have no force, and no ability to make any powerful or
lasting impression on this generation;--but at any rate I feel that
I must try! If priests of the Church were like you, how different it
would all be! But you always forget that you are an exception to the
rule,--you do not realise how very exceptional you are! I told you
before I showed you this sketch that you would probably disapprove
of it and condemn me,--but I really cannot help it. In this matter
nothing--not even the ban of the Church itself, can deter me from
fulfilling what I have designed to do in my own soul!"
She spoke passionately and with ardour,--and the Cardinal looked at
her with something of surprise and trouble. The fire of genius is as
he knew, a consuming one,--and he had never entirely realized how
completely it filled and dominated this slight feminine creature for
whom he felt an almost paternal tenderness. Before he could answer
her the Abbe Vergniaud spoke.
"Donna Sovrani is faithful to the truth in her sketch," he said,
"therefore, as a lover of truth I do not see, my dear Bonpre, why
you should object! If she has,--as she says,--some great aim in
view, she must fulfil it in her own way.
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