Page 234 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

only light thing which happened in this nightmarish time was unexpected and very
strong support of our friends, that forced Caraffa to be more careful in his accusations,
but it did not help me to break free from his dangerous claws.

Time went by and I knew that the dangerous moment, when Caraffa would attack,
came close. For the moment it was just an "ugly performance" which was played for
more than a year almost every day. According to them, it had to calm me down
somehow or even give some false tiny hope that everything would be finally over in the
end and that maybe I could "happily go home". They tried to "lull" me, apparently
wishing to strike even stronger. But Caraffa was wrong. I knew that he just waited for
something. I did not know yet – for what.
And this day came at last. In the morning I was informed that due to the extreme
importance of my "case" and the inability of the local inquisition to pass judgment on
it, I was sent to Rome, to rely on the Pope’s enlightened will, in order that he would
pronounce "just sentence" on me.

It was the end. Nobody in the world could help me, if I got into the hands of the
Roman Inquisition. Caraffa rejoiced! He celebrated victory. I was almost dead.

Isidora-2. Rome
In just a week I contemplated the "holy" city of Rome in the whole of its gloomy
"grandeur". Save the beauty of palaces, cathedrals and churches, the city was very
sullen and to my surprise, dirty. For me it was the city of my death, because I knew that
there I could not break free of Caraffa.

I was lodged in a very large palace without as much as a single word of
explanation, nothing at all. A mute maid served me, which portended nothing good.
But the fact that I was lodged in a castle and not in a prison cell gave me a tiny hope
of the possibility to defend myself.
I was wrong...

Caraffa appeared the next morning. He was fresh and very pleased which,
unfortunately, portended nothing good for me.
He sat in an arm-chair right in front of me without asking permission to do so, by
which he clearly demonstrated that he was master of the situation here and I was just
a prisoner in a beautiful cage...

– I do hope that your journey was pleasant, Madonna Isidora. – He said in a
deliberately- polite tone. – How do you find your apartment? Is there something you
need?
– Oh, yes! I would like to go home! – I answered, trying to fit in with his tone.
I knew that I had nothing to loose because my life was about to be over. Therefore,
I decided to deprive Caraffa of the pleasure of breaking me down and tried to do my

best not to show him how scared I was.
It was not death that I was afraid of. Most of all I was afraid of the thought that I
would never again see those who I loved so strongly and selflessly – my family; that,
most likely, I would never hug my little Anna again; I would not teach her what my
mother had taught me and what I knew myself; that I would leave her totally

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