I never quite liked or trusted the Abbe; but if all this
be true, he has risen a hundred per cent, in my opinion! As for
Cardinal Bonpre, one of the noblest and purest of men, you surely
cannot be in earnest when you speak of his having committed a grave
error!"
"You know the Cardinal?" asked Gherardi evading the question.
"I was presented to him in Paris the day before I left for
Florence," replied Aubrey, "at the studio of his niece, Donna Angela
Sovrani."
"Ah!" and Gherardi balanced a paper-knife lightly on the point of
his long forefinger, "An unpleasant woman that! One of the female
'geniuses' who presume nowadays to compete with men in art and
literature."
"In Donna Sovrani's case there can be no question of competition,"
answered Leigh quietly, "She is by far and away the best artist of
her time."
"You think so? Very good, very good!" and Gherardi laughed a little,
"You are very chivalrous! You have a touch of the American in you,
have you not?--there is a tendency in the men of the New World to be
always on their knees before women. Strange, very strange!"
"We begin our lives in that way," replied Leigh, "We kneel to our
mothers!"
A slight flush reddened Gherardi's yellow paleness, but he kept his
smile well in evidence.
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