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The Eternal City, a novel by Hall Caine |
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Part 7. The Pope - Chapter 10 |
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_ PART SEVEN. THE POPE CHAPTER X The Pope had begun the day with the long task of administering the sacrament to the lay members of his household, yet at eight o'clock he was back in his library in the midst of his morning receptions surrounded by a bevy of camerieri, monsignori, and messengers. First came a Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda to report the doings of his congregation; then an ambassador from Spain to tell of the suppression of religious orders; and finally the majordomo to recite the official programme for the public ceremonies which the Pope had ordered for Holy Thursday. It was now ten o'clock, and Cortis, the valet, brought the usual plate of soup. Then came a large man with bold features and dark complexion, wearing a purple robe edged with red and a red biretta. It was the Cardinal Secretary of State. "What news this morning, your Eminence?" said the Pope. "The Government," said the Cardinal Secretary, "has just published a proclamation announcing a jubilee in honour of the King's accession. It is to begin on Monday next, and there are to be great feasts and rejoicings." "A jubilee at a time like this! What a wild mockery of the people's woes! How many poor women and children must go hungry before this royal orgy has been paid for! God be with us! Such injustice and tyranny in the Satanic guise of clemency and indulgence is almost enough to explain the homicidal theories of the demagogues and to justify men like Rossi.... Any further news of him?" "Yes. He is at present in Paris, in close intercourse with the leaders of every abominable sect." "You have seen this man Rossi, your Eminence?" "Once. I saw him on the morning of the jubilee of your Holiness, when he attempted to present a petition." "What is he like to look upon--the typical demagogue; no?" "No. I am bound to say no, your Holiness. And his conversation, though it is full of the jargon of modern Liberalism, has none of the obscenities of Voltaire." "Some one said ... who was it, I wonder?... some one said he resembled the Holy Father." "Now that you mention it, your Holiness, there is perhaps a remote resemblance." "Ah! who knows what service for God and humanity even such a man might have done if in early life his lines had been cast in better places." "They say he was an orphan from his infancy, your Holiness." "Then he never knew a father's care and guidance! Unhappy son! Unhappy father!" "Monsignor Mario," said the low voice of a chamberlain, and at the next moment the Pope's messenger to the Prime Minister was kneeling in the middle of the floor. In nervous tones and broken sentences the Monsignor told his story. The Pope listened intently, the vertical lines on his forehead deepening and darkening every moment, until at length he burst out impatiently: "But, my son, you do not say that you said all this in addition to your message?" "I was drawn into doing so in defence of your Holiness." "You told the Minister that my information came through the channel of a simple confidence?" "He insinuated that the Holy Father was perhaps breaking the seal of the confessional...." "That my informant was a non-Catholic and a woman?" "He implied that your Holiness had only to command her to reveal the conspiracy to the civil authorities, and therefore...." "And you said she was here on Saturday morning?" "He hinted that the Holy Father was an accomplice of criminals if he had known this without revealing it before, and that was why...." "And she came in at that moment, you say?" "At that very moment, your Holiness, and said she had met me on Saturday morning." "Man, man, what have you done?" cried the Pope, rising from his seat and pacing the room. The chamberlain continued to kneel in utter humility, until the Pope, recovering his composure, put both hands on his shoulders and raised him to his feet. "Forgive me, my son. I was more to blame than you were. It was wrong to trust any one with a verbal message in the cabinet of a fox. The Holy Father should have no intercourse with such persons. But this is God's hand. Let us leave everything to the Holy Spirit." At that moment the Papal Majordomo returned with a letter. It was the Baron's letter to the Pope. After the Pope had read it he stepped into a little adjoining room which contained nothing but a lounge and an easy-chair. There he lay on the lounge and turned his face to the wall. _ |
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