d Donna Tullia, and the reply pacified the old
man; but she herself was thinking what supreme reticence Giovanni had
shown in the matter of his marriage, and she wondered whether the Prince
had ever heard of it.

CHAPTER XXII.

Anastase Gouache worked hard at the Cardinal's portrait, and at the same
time did his best to satisfy Donna Tullia. The latter, indeed, was not
easily pleased, and Gouache found it hard to instil into his
representation of her the precise amount of poetry she required, without
doing violence to his own artistic sense of fitness. But the other
picture progressed rapidly. The Cardinal was a restless man, and after
the first two or three sittings, desired nothing so much as to be done
with them altogether. Anastase amused him, it is true, and the statesman
soon perceived that he had made a conquest of the young man's mind, and
that, as Giovanni Saracinesca had predicted, he had helped Gouache to
come to a decision. He was not prepared, however, for the practical turn
that decision immediately took, and he was just beginning to wish the
sittings at an end when Anastase surprised him by a very startling
announcement.

As usual, they were in the Cardinal's study; the statesman was silent and
thoughtful, and Gouache was working with all his might.

"I have made up my mind," said the latter, suddenly.

"Concerning what, my friend?" inquired the great man, rather absently.

"Concerning everything, Eminence," answered Gouache "concerning politics,
religion, life, death, and everything else which belongs to my career. I
am going to enlist with the Zouaves."

The Cardinal looked at him for a moment, and then broke into a low laugh.

"_Extremis malis extrema remedial!_" he exclaimed.

"Precisely--_aux grands maux les grands remedes,_ as we say. I am going
to join the Church militant. I am convinced that it is the best thing an
honest man can do. I like fighting, and I like the Church--therefore I
will fight for the Church."

"Very good logic, indeed," answered the Cardinal. But he looked at
Anastase, and marking his delicate features and light frame, he almost
wondered how the lad would look in the garb of a soldier. "Very good
logic; but, my dear Monsieur Gouache, what is to become of your art?"

"I shall not be mounting guard all day, and the Zouaves are allowed to
live in their own lodgings. I will live in my studio, and paint when I am
not mounting guard."

"And my portrait?" inquire