'Shall I talk with him before you meet?' asked the churchman presently.
Sister Giovanna did not answer at once; she seemed to be thinking.
'You know better than any one what my life has been,' she said at last. 'It was to you that I went for advice five years ago, and again before I took the veil. If you had thought it even distantly possible that he might be alive, you would not have let me take final vows.'
'Heaven forbid!' answered Monsignor Saracinesca very earnestly.
'Though I believed him dead, you knew that I loved him with all my heart.'
'Yes. As dearly as when you had last seen him alive.'
'I love him still. Is that wrong?'
'No.'
He said the word without hesitation, in all sincerity and true conviction, but the nun had expected another answer; a quick movement of the head showed that she was surprised.
'Are you sure?' she asked in a low and wondering tone.