“I shall indeed; but I am very glad, for all that.”
“Are you? I don't know that I am.” He sat down at the table with a weary look on his face; not the look of a man who is expecting high promotion.
“Are you busy this afternoon, Arthur?” he said after a moment. “If not, I wish you would stay with me for a while, as you can't come to-night. I am a little out of sorts, I think; and I want to see as much of you as possible before leaving.”
“Yes, I can stay a bit. I am due at six.”
“One of your meetings?”
Arthur nodded; and Montanelli changed the subject hastily.
“I want to speak to you about yourself,” he said. “You will need another confessor in my absence.”
“When you come back I may go on confessing to you, may I not?”
“My dear boy, how can you ask? Of course I am speaking only of the three or four months that I shall be away. Will you go to one of the Fathers of Santa Caterina?”
“Very well.”