The abbot did not eat with us, but sat and charmed us with his conversation, for charming it was.
He talked with that fascinating fluency which one would have expected to find in a travelled man of the world rather that in a cloistered monk. He held us during all that meal, giving zest to each dish that came, with anecdotes of every country, and yet he spoke with a refined simplicity and perfect innocence of thought. His clear-cut and healthy face, his bright blue eyes and white teeth, the exceeding sweetness of his face and expression are with me now as I write.
When it was over and we had parted from him and were flying back to
Valoro and modernism, I turned to Don Juan and spoke my thoughts.
"And where," I asked, "can the Order of Trappists have gained such a wonderful recruit from?"
The old man's face, which had been smiling, turned very grave; he shook his head and sighed.
"Ah! I wish I could tell you!"
That was his answer.
CHAPTER XVI
THE CONFESSION OF BROOKS
We left Valoro a few days after the great festival of the New Year, which came as a fitting finale to all our gaiety.