"But if there were one, deem you, that the harlot-blood which flowed in the veins of her mother and all the women of her house would be sanctified by time, a damp convent-cell, and a rosary?"
"I know nothing of a surviving limb of that lightning-blasted trunk."
"Did not the direct line of Marozia end with John XI, whom she succeeded in placing in the chair of St. Peter, ere she herself was banished to a convent, where she died?" questioned Benilo.
"So it is reported! And this woman's name is?"
"Theodora!"
"You know her?"
Benilo met Eckhardt's gaze unflinchingly.
"I have visited her circle," he replied indifferently.
Eckhardt nodded. He understood.
Dexterously changing the subject Benilo continued after a pause.