The German ladies exclaimed how kind he was, how he was able to do anything, to find a way out of every difficulty. They had taken endless trouble to bribe the Rospigliosi porter and they had not succeeded.
A little thin Englishwoman had taken her seat beside Cornélie.
"And for you, Miss Taylor, I have a card for a low mass in His Holiness' private chapel."
Miss Taylor was radiant with delight.
"Have you been sight-seeing again?" the pock-marked gentleman continued.
"Yes, Museo Kircheriano," said Miss Taylor. "But I am tired out. It was most exquisite."
"My prescription, Miss Taylor, is that you stay at home this afternoon and rest."
"I have an engagement to go to the Aventino...."
"You mustn't. You're tired. You look worse every day and you're losing flesh. You must rest, or you sha'n't have the card for the low mass."
The German ladies laughed. Miss Taylor, flattered, in an ecstasy of delight, gave her promise. She looked at the pock-marked gentleman as though she expected to hear the judgement of Solomon fall from his lips.