d 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.

XI

At four o'clock in the afternoon the Pope and Father Pifferi were again
walking in the garden. The groves of Judas trees were shedding their
crimson blossoms and the path had a covering of bloom; the atmosphere
was full of the odour of honey-suckle and violet, and through the sunlit
air the swallows were darting with shrill cries and the glitter of
wings.

"And what does your Holiness intend to do?" asked the Capuchin.

"Providence will direct us," said the Pope with a sigh.

"But your Holiness will refuse the request of the Government?"

"How can I do so without exposing myself to misunderstanding? Suppose
the King is assassinated, what then? The Government will tell the world
that the Pope knew all and did nothing."

"Let them. It will not be an incident without parallel in the history of
the Church. And the world will only honour your Holiness the more for
standing firm on your sanctity of the human soul."

"Yes, if the confessional were in question. The world knows that the
seal of the confessional is sacred, and must be observed at all costs.
But this is not a case of the confessional."

"Didn't your Holiness say you would observe it as such?"

"And I shall. But what about the public? Accident has told the
Government that this is not a case of the confessional, and the
Government will tell the world. What follows? If I refuse to do anything
the enemies of the Church will give it out that the Holy Father is an
accomplice of a regicide, ready and willing to intrigue with the agents
of rebellion to regain the temporal power."

"Then you will receive the Prime Minister?"

"No! Or if so, only in the company of his superior."

"The King?"

"Yes."

The Capuchin removed his skull-cap with an uneasy hand, and walked some
paces without speaking.

"Will he come, your Holiness?"

"If he thinks I hold the secret on which his life depends, assuredly he
will come."

"But you are sovereign as well as Pope--is it possible for you to
receive him?"

"I will receive him as the King of Sardinia, the King of Italy, if you
will, but not as the King of Rome."

The Capuchin took his coloured handkerchief from his sleeve and rolled
it in his