Anna! is he hurt?
No. It didn't even come near him. But what a thing to happen! What on earth could have made her do such a thing! We were friends—we were all such good friends. I do not understand anything.
Try and think, Anna: did she say anything when she fired at him, or before she fired?
That's the strangest of all. You won't believe me. She called out: The devil is here. The devil has come into this room. At the Cardinal!
What had he been saying?
Nothing! Merely everyday things. We had been telling stories about the peasants. He had been telling us about some peasants he had come across on his walks outside S. Pancrazio.
Suddenly Alix appeared: Elizabeth, go to her quickly. She wants to see you. She is alone.
Miss Grier hurried out.
Alix turned to me:
Samuele, you know the majordomo better than we do. Will you go and tell him that Astrée-Luce has had a nervous breakdown. That she thought she saw a burglar at the window, and that she fired at him. It is so important for the dear Father's sake that no hint of this gets about.