"I am a woman, Holy Father. What can a woman do to hinder anything?"
"In the history of nations it has sometimes happened that a woman has been able to save life and protect society by raising a little hand like this."
The Pope lifted Roma's quivering fingers from the table.
"If there is anything I can do, your Holiness, without breaking my promise or betraying my husband...."
"It is a terrible ordeal, my child. For a wife, God knows how terrible."
"No matter! If it will save my husband.... Tell me, your Holiness."
He told her the proposal of the Prime Minister and the promise of the King. His voice vibrated. He was like a man who was wounding himself at every word. She looked at him until he had finished, without ability to speak.
"You ask me to denounce my husband?"
"It is the only way to save him, my daughter."
She looked round the room with helpless eyes, full of a dumb appeal for mercy or the chance of escape.