"An official from the post-office gave me these letters, and asked me if I could deliver them," said the young soldier.
"My son, my son, didn't you see that it was a trap?" said the Pope. "But no matter! Give them to me. We must leave all to the Holy Spirit."
IV
"The dress of a simple priest to-day, Gaetanino," said the Pope, when his valet came to his bedroom on the following morning.
After Mass and the usual visit of the Cardinal Secretary, the Pope called for the young Count de Raymond.
"We'll go down to our guest first," he said, putting into the side-pocket of his cassock the letters which the Noble Guard had given him.
They found Rossi sitting in a large, sparsely furnished room, by an almost untouched breakfast. He lifted his head when he heard steps, and rose as the Pope entered. His pale face was a picture of despair. "Something has died in him," thought the Pope, and an aching sadness, which had been gnawing at his heart for days, returned.
"They make you comfortable in this old place, my son?"
"Yes, your Holiness."
"And you have everything you wish for?"