“He shall go in peace to the church,” she says. “I have waited for him twenty years, but he shall go to the church.”
Soon Falco comes by, walking with Donna Micaela’s hand in his. Passafiore and Biagio follow him. Falco is bent; it is plain that he is old and feeble. He alone goes into the church; the others remain outside.
Old Caterina has seen him very plainly, but she has not moved. She sits silent all the time Falco is inside the church. Her niece, who lives with her, believes that she is praying and thanking God because she has been able to conquer her thirst for revenge.
At last Caterina asks her to open a window. “I wish to see if he still has his snake shadow,” she says.
But she is gentle and friendly. “Take the gun, if you wish,” she says. And her niece moves the gun over to the other side of the table.
At last Falco comes from the church. The moonlight falls on his face, and Caterina sees that he is unlike the Falco she remembered. The terrible moroseness and arrogance are no longer visible in his face. He comes bent and broken; he almost inspires her with pity.
“He helps me,” he says aloud to Passafiore and Biagio. “He has promised to help me.”
The brigands wish to go, but Falco is so happy that he must first tell them of his joy.
“I feel no buzzing in my head; there is no burning, no uneasiness. He is helping me.”
His comrades take him by the hand to lead him away.