For a long time there was silence between the two, then the younger spoke.
“Do you intend to take any action regarding your unauthorized imprisonment?”
“Oh, no,” replied the forgiving monk.
“Is it certain that this dissolute young man will be chosen Emperor?”
“There is a likelihood, but not a certainty.”
“Would not the election of such a person to the highest position in the State prove even a greater misfortune to the land than the continuance of the present regime, for this young man adds to his father’s vice of drunkenness the evil qualities, of dishonesty, cruelty, ribaldry, and a lack of respect for the privileges both of Church and nobility?”
“Such indeed is my opinion, daughter.”
“Then is it not your duty at once to acquaint the three Archbishops with what you have already told me, so that the disaster of his election may be avoided?”
“It is a matter to which I gave deep thought during my journey thither, and I also invoked the aid of Heaven in guiding me to a just conclusion.”
“And that conclusion, Father?”