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"
Your
Eminence
,
it
does
n't
matter
,
"
said
Dane
softly
.
"
What
you
say
does
n't
make
you
any
less
my
conception
of
the
perfect
priest
.
I
think
you
do
n't
understand
what
I
mean
,
that
's
all
.
I
do
n't
mean
an
inhuman
automaton
,
above
the
weaknesses
of
the
flesh
.
I
mean
that
you
've
suffered
,
and
grown
.
Do
I
sound
presumptuous
?
I
do
n't
intend
to
,
truly
.
If
I
've
offended
you
,
I
beg
your
pardon
.
It
's
just
that
it
's
so
hard
to
express
my
thoughts
!
What
I
mean
is
that
becoming
a
perfect
priest
must
take
years
,
terrible
pain
,
and
all
the
time
keeping
before
you
an
ideal
,
and
Our
Lord
.
"
The
telephone
rang
;
Cardinal
Ralph
picked
it
up
in
a
slightly
unsteady
hand
,
spoke
in
Italian
.
"
Yes
,
thank
you
,
we
'll
come
at
once
.
"
He
got
to
his
feet
.
"
It
's
time
for
afternoon
tea
,
and
we
're
to
have
it
with
an
old
,
old
friend
of
mine
.
Next
to
the
Holy
Father
he
's
probably
the
most
important
priest
in
the
Church
.
I
told
him
you
were
coming
,
and
he
expressed
a
wish
to
meet
you
.
"
Отключить рекламу
"
Thank
you
,
Your
Eminence
.
"
They
walked
through
corridors
,
then
through
pleasant
gardens
quite
unlike
Drogheda
's
,
with
tall
cypresses
and
poplars
,
neat
rectangles
of
grass
surrounded
by
pillared
walkways
,
mossy
flagstones
;
past
Gothic
arches
,
under
Renaissance
bridges
.
Dane
drank
it
in
,
loving
it
.
Such
a
different
world
from
Australia
,
so
old
,
perpetual
.
It
took
them
fifteen
minutes
at
a
brisk
pace
to
reach
the
palace
;
they
entered
,
and
passed
up
a
great
marble
staircase
hung
with
priceless
tapestries
.
Vittorio
Scarbanza
,
Cardinal
di
Contini-Verchese
was
sixty-six
now
,
his
body
partially
crippled
by
a
rheumatic
complaint
,
but
his
mind
as
intelligent
and
alert
as
it
had
always
been
.
His
present
cat
,
a
Russian
blue
named
Natasha
,
was
curled
purring
in
his
lap
.
Since
he
could
n't
rise
to
greet
his
visitors
he
contented
himself
with
a
wide
smile
,
and
beckoned
them
.
His
eyes
passed
from
Ralph
's
beloved
face
to
Dane
O'Neill
and
widened
,
narrowed
,
fixed
on
him
stilly
.
Within
his
chest
he
felt
his
heart
falter
,
put
the
welcoming
hand
to
it
in
an
instinctive
gesture
of
protection
,
and
sat
staring
stupidly
up
at
the
younger
edition
of
Ralph
de
Bricassart
.
Отключить рекламу
"
Vittorio
,
are
you
all
right
?
"
Cardinal
Ralph
asked
anxiously
,
taking
the
frail
wrist
between
his
fingers
,
feeling
for
a
pulse
.
"
Of
course
.
A
little
passing
pain
,
no
more
.
Sit
down
,
sit
down
!
"
"
First
,
I
'd
like
you
to
meet
Dane
O'Neill
,
who
is
as
I
told
you
the
son
of
a
very
dear
friend
of
mine
.
Dane
,
this
is
His
Eminence
Cardinal
di
Contini-Verchese
.
"