\"But what hath Venice to fear from a Pope who is paralyzed for the first two months of his reign by a reading of a horoscope!\" exclaimed one of the company scornfully.
\"Nay, then,\" said Donato, who had seen much of the world; \"it is a petty superstition of the age; it is not the fault of the man, who hath sterling qualities. And by that same potency of credulity have his fears been set at rest. It is a proof of weakness to undervalue the strength of an adversary—for so at least he hath recently declared himself on this question of temporal power, by his petty aggressions and triumphs in Malta, Parma, Lucca, and Genoa.\"
\"I crave pardon of the Cavalière Donato,\" Antonio Querini responded hotly. \"May one call the action at Genoa petty ?—the compulsion of the entire vote of a free city, the placing of the election of the whole body of governing officials in the power of the Society of Jesus?\"
\"And it was under threat of excommunication, which made resistance a duty from the side of the government,\" Giustinian Giustiniani asserted uncompromisingly.
\"But impossible from the Church''''s point of view. It is the eternal question,\" Leonardo Donato answered gravely.
\" The solution is only possible by precisely ascertaining the limits within which each power is absolute ,\" the friar announced, with quiet decision.
A momentary hush fell upon the company, for the words were weighty and a surprise.
\"It is well to know the qualities we have to fear,\" said Andrea Morosini, \"and we have listened in the Senate to letters from our ambassador at Rome which bespeak his Holiness of a presence and a dignity—save for over-quickness of temper—which befit a Pope; and that he hath reserved himself from promises, to the displeasure and surprise of some of those who created him.\"
\"It was rumored in Rome,\" said the younger Giustinian, \"that the learned Bishop Baronious, in the last conclave, by his persistence found means to save the Consistory from the election by ''''adoration'''' of another candidate whose life would bear no scrutiny and who never darkened the doors of his own cathedral! By this election the Church hath verily been spared a scandal.\"
\"Therefore, let it be known,\" said Fra Paolo, with deep gravity, \"lest the nearness of such a scandal should breed confusion—and I speak from knowledge, having been much in Rome—we have now a Pope blameless in life; in duty to his Church most faithful and exemplary and concerned with her welfare, as to himself it seemeth; of an unbending conscience and a will most absolute; moreover, of marvelous reading in certain doctrinal writings which seem to him the only books of worth, and with the training of a lawyer wherewith to assert them. This is the man with whom we have to contend.\"
\"Are there no faults?\" thundered Giustinian Giustiniani, while the others listened disconcerted. \"A soldier seeks for weak spots in the armor.\"
\"I know him,\" said Leonardo Donato, \"and there is one fault. It limits his power to achieve; it increases his absolutism. It is near-sightedness—smallness of vision.\"
\"Draw him strongly,\" said Giustinian, in a tone of concentrated wrath. \"There are no books Borghese hath not read; there is no point of view but that which he doth teach, no appeal from the law as he interpreteth it. It is a fault of unity . One power—the Church; one duty—its aggrandizement; one prince—temporal and spiritual alike; one unvarying obedience. All is adjusted to one centre; it is the simplification of life!\"
There was an ominous silence and an evident wish to change the theme, and the company readjusted itself by twos and threes. The Senator Morosini turned graciously to Marcantonio. \"It hath been told in Venice,\" he said, \"that the Lady Marina was received in Rome with marks of very special favor.\"
\"The introduction of our Reverend Father Paolo had preceded her,\" the young secretary answered lightly, bowing in the direction of the friar, who sat apparently lost in thought. But Morosini repeated Marcantonio''''s speech with some amusement, for the scholarly friar had never been known to have a friend among the women—old or young.
\"I do not understand,\" he said, with no perception of any humor in the situation.
\"It was the gift of the Reverend Father Paolo to the chapel of the Servi,\" Marcantonio explained. \"The Madonna del Sorriso was well known in Rome.\"
\"Ah, I recall now the face of your lady, though I have not known her,\" the friar responded courteously, yet he hesitated a moment before accepting the seat which the secretary rose to offer him. \"If it is the face which the Veronese hath painted, her spirit must be fair. It should make a home holy,\" he added, after a moment''''s pause.
Marcantonio''''s face flushed with pleasure. The friar was still regarding him with a gaze so penetrating, yet apparently so guiltless of intentional rudeness that it ceased to be an impertinence, and amused the young Venetian by its unconventionality. \"Is there anything it would please Fra Paolo to ask of me?\" he inquired affably.
\"If there are children—\" the friar pursued quite simply.
\"Our little son was baptized in Saint Peter''''s in Rome; he had sponsors among the cardinals and a private audience and benediction from his Holiness, Pope Clement,\" the young nobleman replied, trying to repress a pleasurable sense of importance. \"It was a pleasure to the Lady Marina—she is devoted to the Church, and his Holiness was always most gracious to her.\"
\"As was fitting for the lady of a Venetian representative, and due to Venice,\" the elder Giustinian hastened to explain, \"his late Holiness was ever courtly and a gracious diplomat.\"
He had been aware from his little distance how the talk had turned, and he was alert to give it the coloring he liked best. For while the young people were still in Rome, Signor Agostino Nani, watchful as an ambassador well might be of the interests of so princely a house, had confided to the \"Illustrissimo Giustiniani,\" in a private and friendly letter, that courtesies so unusual had been extended to this noble young Venetian lady—so devoted to the Church, so gentle and unsuspicious, so incapable of counter-plotting—that it would be wise to guard against undue influence by a too prolonged stay at the Roman court; and the honorable recall of the Secretary Giustiniani had soon thereafter been managed.
The friar''''s face had grown stern, but he did not resume the conversation until the elder Giustinian had strolled away with his host. Then he turned to Marcantonio, speaking earnestly. \"Simplicity is no match for subtlety,\" he said, \"and much favor hath been shown to her. You will pardon me, Signore, not because you are young and I am old, but because the face of your lady hath moved me with a rare sense of unworldliness. There should be no flattery in an act our Lord himself hath taught by his example, and an old man like Pope Clement might well bestow his blessing on your little child. But the times are not free from danger; the home is best for the little ones—do not send him from his mother to the schools.\"
\"He is but learning to speak,\" the young man answered, smiling at the friar''''s earnestness; \"only his baby word for his mother''''s name.\"
\"There are schools for the sons of noblemen in which he will forget it,\" said the friar bitterly; \"where they teach disloyalty to princes and unmake men to make machines—and the mainspring is at Rome. Gentle women are won to believe in them by the subtle polish of those who uphold them, and the marvelous learning by which their teachers fit themselves for office. And among them are men noble of character and true of conscience—but bound, soul and body, by their oath; the system of the Jesuit schools in Venice is for nothing else but the building up of their order—at all costs of character or happiness. Let her keep her little son, for her face seemed wise and tender; the favor which hath been shown her may have a meaning.\"
\"Will not my father some time come to the palazzo Giustiniani? The Lady \"Nay, I thank you,\" the friar answered, instantly resuming his habitual reserve. \"Such gentle friendships form no part of my duty. I spake but in friendly counsel. We, from without, see how the home should be more. The orders are many to maintain the Church—they need no urging—but the home hath also its privileged domain of childhood to be defended.\"