The Cardinal looked startled.
Then his eyes searched Peter's face for a second, keenly interrogative. Then they softened; and a wonderful clear light shone in them, a wonderful pure, sweet light.
“Benedicat te Omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus,” he said, making the Sign of the Cross.
XXVII
Up at the castle, Cardinal Udeschini was walking backwards and forwards on the terrace, reading his Breviary.
Beatrice was seated under the white awning, at the terrace-end, doing some kind of needlework.
Presently the Cardinal came to a standstill near her, and closed his book, putting his finger in it, to keep the place.
“It will be, of course, a great loss to Casa Udeschini, when you marry,” he remarked.
Beatrice looked up, astonishment on her brow.