"I cannot hold the position yet!--" he said, at last--"That is to
say, I am too numb and stricken with fear to realize what has
happened! See you! That picture is marvellous!--a wonder of the
world!--it will crown my girl with all the laurels of a lasting
fame,--but what matter is it to me,--this shouting of the public,--
if she dies? Will it console me for her loss, to call her a
Raffaelle?"
"Nay, but we must not give up hope!"--said the Cardinal soothingly--
"Please God, you will not lose her! Be glad that she is not dead,--
and remember that it is almost by a miracle that she lives!"
"That is true--that is true!" murmured old Sovrani, ruffling his
white hair with one hand, while he still stared abstractedly at his
daughter's picture--"You are very patient with me, brother!--you
have all the kindness as well as all the faithfulness of your
sister,--the sweetest woman the sun was ever privileged to shine on!
Well, well! What did you say to me? That this picture must have been
the cause of the attempted murder? Maybe,--but the poor hard-working
fellow who made the frame for it, could not have done such a deed,--
he has been a pensioner of Angela's for many a long day, and she has
given him employment when he could not obtain it from others.
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