I have the honour to wish your Eminence
farewell!"
"Farewell, my son!" said the Cardinal mildly, "Benedicite!"
Moretti bent down, as custom forced him to do, under the gently
uttered blessing, and the extended thin white hand that signed the
cross above him. Then with a furtive under-glance at Manuel, whose
quiet and contemplative observation of him greatly vexed and
disturbed his composure, he left the room.
There was a short silence. Then Abbe Vergniaud, somewhat
hesitatingly, approached Bonpre.
"I much fear, my dear friend, that all this means unpleasantness for
you at the Vatican," he said, "And I sincerely grieve to be the
means of bringing you into any trouble."
"Nay, there should be no trouble," said Bonpre quietly, "Nothing has
happened which should really cause me any perplexity--on the
contrary, events have arranged themselves so that there shall be no
obstacle in the way of speaking my mind. I have journeyed far from
my diocese to study and to discover for myself the various phases of
opinion on religious matters in these days, and I am steadily
learning much as I go. I regret nothing, and would have nothing
altered,--for I am perfectly confident that in all the things I
meet, or may have to consider, my Master is my Guide.
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