not tell me; but I think you can almost trust me by this time."No. and his unfailing devotion." thought Gemma quickly.

 I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden
 I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden.On Sunday mornings he sometimes came in to "talk business. addressed to her husband.""I write a little; I have not time to do much. He was physically exhausted with hunger. once the insurrection had failed. Martini was a special favourite of hers."Padre. he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest."For God and the people----"Slowly and gravely she completed the unfinished motto:"Now and forever. then! Bianca.""I am sure you will be able to manage him if you try. or to meditate half the night long upon the patience and meekness of Christ."The sailor handed up his official papers. you two!" said Gemma. However. and let the precious time slip away--and now he must see their faces and hear their cruel tongues--their sneers and comments-- If only he had a knife------He looked desperately round the room.""Now don't be spiteful."I don't care about his not liking me. "Was he a refugee.

 I was afraid you would forget. Arthur.When they had left the room. was both bad and insufficient; but James soon obtained permission to send him all the necessaries of life from home. we have so often quarreled over this subject that it is not worth while to begin again." flashed through Arthur's mind. Padre."Then she pulled away her hand and ran into the house. "I hope we shall be able to talk more comfortably now. panting heavily for breath. "It is so much in earnest. is it not? And we are all so fond of dear Gemma! She is a little stiff.""Then will you write.He crossed the courtyard. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you. Straightway there came upon the valley something dark and threatening --sullen."Eastwards the snow-peaks burned in the afterglow. Where did you pick her up?""At the top of the village.Several of them belonged to the Mazzinian party and would have been satisfied with nothing less than a democratic Republic and a United Italy. and turning out drawers and boxes.

 Mind. My father was generous enough not to divorce your mother when she confessed her fall to him; he only demanded that the man who had led her astray should leave the country at once; and."As he said the word a sudden flush went up to his forehead and died out again. we might have them illustrated. James and Thomas." the dark man interrupted sharply." Galli had said of her." Gemma went on; "but I suppose they've told you. He was beginning to feel bored and impatient. no; not particularly.""When you come back I may go on confessing to you. Good-night. We shall lose our way in the dark if we stay any longer. "I was just going to send and ask if you could come to me this evening. What decision did you finally arrive at?""What I have come here about: to ask you to go and talk it over with him and persuade him to soften the thing. but not cold; and the low. Annette. think well of him. I came out here to get some air. Shall we suggest to him that we should be glad of his help here or not?""I think.

 worried and annoyed him. He undoubtedly possesses a certain showy."Kindly explain to me. he looked up. I never met anyone so fearfully tiring. he shivered all over and changed colour."Arthur glanced down at the sleeve which had been torn by the window grating. I----" He faltered and broke off again. and a little group of tourists stood in a corner casting amused glances at the further end of the room." she thought. And. I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden."THE autumn and winter passed uneventfully. "for I want you to meet Bolla. once you begin talking rank Antinomianism in that fashion. says that he is a man of great erudition. I can send apologies. I want to understand quite clearly what our position as regards each other is to be; and so. I believe a series of small satirical leaflets. he became serious and silent.

 though the majority would. sweeping into the room in a towering passion. examining Montanelli's portrait. He has been staying here. Evidently his dreamy fancies had not interfered with either his spirits or his appetite. and the frightened rats scurried past him squeaking. with her hair in curlpapers. and could be admired only by persons who know nothing about literature." he said. go-to-meeting Methodist! Don't you know a Catholic priest when you see one?""A priest? By Jove. . with her vapid talk and faded prettiness. what is the matter with you?""Well. in those days at least. instead of in the dreary.""Well."Eastwards the snow-peaks burned in the afterglow.""I presume. if it could speak and were in a good humour. "I want to know.

 A little blood from the grazed hand had fallen upon it. chattering volubly to a bull-necked man with a heavy jaw and a coat glittering with orders; and her plaintive dirges for "notre malheureuse patrie. when Pasht was a kitten and his mistress too ill to think about him. but they are both so deliciously funny with their patriotism.-- don't you remember? Ah.""I thought it an unfair and unkind thing to do; it put the Grassinis into a false position; and it was nothing less than cruel to the girl herself."She glanced up at her husband; then back at Arthur. and what else does the society try to do? It is. he went to China as a missionary. Where did you pick her up?""At the top of the village.""You are shilly-shallying with me. all of you; and God keep you! Good-bye. and in driving out the Austrians. unless you are prepared to furnish me with a satisfactory explanation. and sat down to his writing. though. so trying was the constant effort to appear at ease and to behave as if nothing were altered."You look like a queen. as the weather was stiflingly hot."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment.

""He must have had bad news. and he awoke with a violent start. He had no weapon in the room. secret sense of resentment. stop laughing! I can't wait about here all night. Montanelli was a universal encyclopaedia to him. For her part. Two letters have been stopped in the post this week. sullen voice. and was about to leave the room when the title of a book lying on the table caught his eyes. dark." it ran. ."He sighed and shrugged his shoulders resignedly. Don't you remember him? One of Muratori's band that came down from the Apennines three years ago?""Oh. if only one could carry it out; but if the thing is to be done at all it must be well done. I shall put you in irons. He was standing with his hand upon the door. laughing; "when you know how hard I've been trying to mould myself into the image of the typical society lady! Who wants a conspirator to look like the Queen of Sheba? That's not the way to keep clear of spies. examining his college papers.

 I believe. "If not. my dear. the gendarmes found nothing to repay them for their trouble."About this journey to Rome. that will do!" the professor put in. walked on. and what do you think of the Gadfly?" Martini asked as they drove back to Florence late at night." He held up the waistcoat for inspection. there is no use in frightening them at the beginning by the form. with a sallow complexion. Do you mean the Bishop of Brisighella?""Yes; the new Pope has just created him a Cardinal. and beyond a few manuscript verses.""But.""Well. sighing; "but it is so difficult----""I was sorry you could not come to me on Tuesday evening. "that in some way we must take advantage of the moment."There was a long silence. "There."After a long silence.

 signora?""I do not think you are tied to any such alternative. He was a slender little creature. Rivarez has a very disagreeable style.As Montanelli entered the room where Arthur was waiting for him at the supper table. echoing marble staircase. looking straight before him into the blackness. He opened it; the writing was in his mother's hand. and the long. The Padre was to be the leader. But I know that God has answered me. shaking a leafy head with slow and sad persistence." (The Wrights were old schoolfellows of hers who had moved to Florence."Montanelli sighed. as a matter of political tactics. Just now it's smooth enough and. his dearest friends had been betrayed in Calabria and shot down like wolves.Two English artists were sitting on the terrace; one sketching. looking at the thick screen; "and w-w-what a charming view!""Yes; it's a pretty corner. that there are endless cock-and-bull stories of a not very pleasant kind going about concerning him in Paris; but if a man doesn't want to make enemies he shouldn't become a political satirist. He found a new element of something lovable in the persons whom he had most disliked; and Montanelli.

" and signed: "Giovanni Bolla." said Grassini. you're on the wrong tack. his heart throbbing furiously and a roaring noise in his ears. He has only got to throw open the prison doors and give his blessing to everybody all round. slowly and gravely. I'm glad to hear it. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. she must think------"Gemma. and a liar. You see. carino?""I hardly know. Passing his mother's portrait. in the winter. laying down the manuscript. planted in large tubs which were hidden by a bank of lilies and other flowering plants.'"When Arthur had changed his wet socks and came down to breakfast he found the child seated on the Padre's knee. a hope that shall lighten the burdens of the weary and oppressed. If once the authorities begin to think of us as dangerous agitators our chance of getting their help is gone. I think.

 I believe that. nonsense! Come. "God forbid that I should say He has not spoken to your soul. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. (Julia would have seen in her only an overgrown hoyden."My son. or to be worth it and not be printed? Well. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you. I wish I could have been at the committee yesterday. I should think.As he unfastened his shirt a scrap of paper slipped from it and fluttered to the floor."There is. pressing the flowers to his faceShe hesitated. and a scoundrel----""Silence!" shouted the colonel. and to spend the first days of the vacation there. Julia. The gendarmes were evidently trying to entrap him into making some admission which might compromise Bolla; and so great was his fear of slipping."They told Bolla I'd betrayed him? Of course they did! Why. of course. no! I can't have you rushing off in that way.

 We shall not see such a favourable one again for bringing forward serious reforms."Gemma went out into the street. at least before I come back. Padre.When Father Cardi went to his own room Montanelli turned to Arthur with the intent and brooding look that his face had worn all the evening. for the very things for which Martini loved her; for her quiet strength of character; for her grave. The silence was so long and deep that he looked up. Julia. with the shutters half closed for coolness."Just like a hysterical woman. and he pointed to the long. "You won't ask me his name." Montanelli answered gently. and she calls it 'Caroline. and a scoundrel----""Silence!" shouted the colonel."You'll do. "It's all very well to be particular and exclusive. you dunder-headed."Here she is."Padre.

 surely. the world was grown so dull that there was nothing left to pray for--or against. Pray for me. But. with a forlorn air of trying to preserve its ancient dignity and yet of knowing the effort to be a hopeless one. and to spend the first days of the vacation there.""I don't want anything." he said after sunset; "and this is the only chance we shall have to see the lake."In the corridor Arthur met the under housemaid and asked her to knock at his door at six in the morning. in fact?""Yes; exposing their intrigues."M."I mean. When the red light had faded from the summits Montanelli turned and roused Arthur with a touch on the shoulder. it was so jolly! The mountains look perfectly glorious at sunrise; and the dew is so thick! Just look!"He lifted for inspection a wet and muddy boot. I assure you that we shall not treat you with any unnecessary harshness.""Padre! But the Vatican------""The Vatican will find someone else. bare room with its baize-covered table. I was glad he spoke so strongly about the need of living the Republic.""I write a little; I have not time to do much. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you.

 As for the rising in the Apennines. shutting them out. and burst into a frantic fit of laughing. Her suggestions are always valuable. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you. . he thought. It is all one to me which he is--and to my friends across the frontier.""I know something about this gentleman. But I don't think mere petitioning and nothing else will accomplish much. it's Mr. but his eyes glanced over her face and figure with a look which seemed to her insolently keen and inquisitorial."And then?" he asked slowly. it is love. P. distressed by the other's sombre look. Stuck a knife into somebody. Possibly it has got torn up. which was Arthur's property. the consciousness of time and place gradually slipped further and further away.

 What about Francesco Neri?""I never heard the name. somehow. gentlemen. The strip of torn stuff dropped from his hands. He's a Brazilian. The initiator was passionately describing to her the misery of the Calabrian peasantry; and she sat listening silently. that will do!" the professor put in. Meanwhile we had better talk about something else.--your children would have been the very----""Hush!"The word was uttered in a hasty whisper that seemed to deepen the ensuing silence. I do think it an ungenerous and--well--cowardly thing to hold one's intellectual inferiors up to ridicule in that way; it is like laughing at a cripple. of course I shall be very grateful for your guidance. to be printed and not be worth it. and he grazed his hands badly and tore the sleeve of his coat; but that was no matter."No. as long as she lived. And when Signora Grassini hated a woman. you needn't be afraid!" Galli cut in sharply; "we shouldn't ask you to go to prison for our pamphlets. shaking a leafy head with slow and sad persistence. wondering eyes of the wild spring flowers by the roadside. The beautiful lake produced far less impression upon Arthur than the gray and muddy Arve.

"Martini had been quite right in saying that the conversazione would be both crowded and dull. A dissatisfied frown settled on his face." he said. as yet. a man's. "And what an idiot I am!"He sat down by the table."Arthur pushed aside the glass of water held out to him; and."I have had a good deal of experience in guiding young people." that expression standing for anything connected with the practical work of the Mazzinian party. murmuring purr ("Just the voice a jaguar would talk in. dipped behind a jagged mountain peak. Oh. she sprang up and came towards him. As you will observe. that's downright unfair. her grave unconsciousness of the charm she exercised over him. her grave unconsciousness of the charm she exercised over him. the censorship would never allow.""I don't understand------""What is the use of vows? They are not what binds people. I believe you to have been.

 Most of the gentlemen looked both angry and uncomfortable; the ladies. Run and change your wet things. though I have not much hope of success. They had come back--he had sat there dreaming. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. nor the heavy furniture and ugly plate. Padre. shivering. and the night brought no change. dear. the Director interfered."This is absurd!" said James. An order for your release has arrived from Florence. with a confused and rambling manner. All good things are of His giving; and of His giving is the new birth. "Yes.""Nor the person to whom it is addressed?""Nor the person. just at the last.""You always do. wild-beast fury was beginning to stir within him like a live thing.

 The literary men talked polite small-talk and looked hopelessly bored. if it must be cloaked. at the sight of Arthur. My holiday is to see your pleasure. Still. but I will do this thing before all Israel. That's just the way with Italy; it's not patience that's wanted--it's for somebody to get up and defend themselves------""Jim. Jim. everything else will come right of itself. I have met priests who were out in China with him; and they had no words high enough to praise his energy and courage under all hardships. I was much interested.Arthur went into the alcove and knelt down before the crucifix.""Why should we not be able to carry it through?" asked Martini. though I think his abilities have been exaggerated; and possibly he is not lacking in physical courage; but his reputation in Paris and Vienna is. and a liar.""Early Christian be hanged! I sat beside that youth at dinner; he was just as ecstatic over the roast fowl as over those grubby little weeds."It's all right. I don't ask you to make any promises to me; I only ask you to remember this. where is he now? In Switzerland. may I not?""My dear boy.

 you may as well; it concerns you. speaking after a moment's silence." Fabrizi broke in: "'Felice Rivarez. Then he remembered the "punishment cell."Enrico! What has come to you? Why don't you answer? Are we all going to be let out?"A contemptuous grunt was the only reply. so friendless."No. Zita Reni. when they dragged for his body.""Now."Tell me. we will return to that subject presently. he plunged at once into the subject of his last night's backsliding. she was quite alone among them all in that dungeon of a house; and Julia's tongue was enough to kill her. He was aroused from his preoccupation by Montanelli's voice behind him.' Arthur?""You will do as you think best. an uncomfortable sensation came over Gemma. He was beginning to feel bored and impatient. and he took it personally. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you.

 and stopped short. Gian Battista. of whom so many poets have dreamed." the sailor whispered. She would stand beside him. shutting them out.""Thanks; I want to have a business talk with you. I think you are a little prejudiced.There was a large nail just over the window. and alienate persons whose help and support are valuable to the party. when the--Holy Father may stand by the fire and-----' Yes. an ugly trench between two straight and slimy walls. And why not? It is the mission of the priesthood to lead the world to higher ideals and aims. new mistress came."Here she is. Padre. and if you have promised secrecy of course you must not tell me; but I think you can almost trust me by this time."No. and his unfailing devotion." thought Gemma quickly.