'And the Padre parroco? Does he not speak to him?'
Antonio laughed.
'When Don Teodoro passes him on the road he doesn't see him—capisce, Signorina? And so with all the other priests. When he comes by they have no eyes. The Bishop sent the word.'
'And everybody here does what the priests tell them?'
Lucy's tone expressed that instinctive resentment which the Puritan feels against a ruling and dominant Catholicism.
Antonio laughed again, but a little stupidly. It was the laugh of a man who knows that it is not worth while even to begin to explain certain matters to a stranger.
'They understand their business—i preti!'—was all he would say. Then—'Ma!—they are rich—the priests! All these last years—so many banks—so many casse—so many societâ! That holds the people better than prayers.'
* * * * *
When Lucy turned homewards she found herself watching the light in the far window with an eager attention. A priest in disgrace?—and a foreigner? What could he be hiding here for?—in this remote corner of a district which, as they had been already told at Orvieto, was Catholic, fino al fanatismo?
* * * * *