The Pope half rose from his chair. "You ask me to denounce him?"
The Baron bowed very low. "The Government does not presume so far," he said. "It only hopes that your Holiness will require your informant to do so."
"Then you want me to outrage a confidence?"
"It was not a confession, your Holiness, and even if it had been, as your Holiness knows better than we do, it would not be without precedent to reveal the facts which are necessary to be known in order to prevent crime."
The Capuchin's sandals were scraping on the floor, but the Pope raised his left hand, and the friar fell back.
"You are aware," said the Pope, "that the lady you speak of as my informant is married to the Deputy?"
"We are aware that she thinks she is."
"Thinks?" said the indignant voice of the Capuchin, but the Pope's left hand was raised again.
"In short, sir, you ask me to require the wife to sacrifice her husband."
"If your Holiness calls it so,—to perform an act that will preserve the public peace...."