Page 300 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

behalf! – He got up, obviously intending to withdrow.

I hated Caraffa’s manner of talking about himself as "we", but this was a privilege
of Popes and kings and, naturally, nobody ever tried to dispute it. Such exaggerated
accentuation on his importance and exceptionality sickened me. But, certainly, it
perfectly suited those who had such privilege without causing any negative feelings in
them whatsoever. Paying no attention to Caraffa’s words, the cardinal easily went
down on bended knee and upon kissing the "ring of sinners", he rose; looking very
intently at me with his bright cornflower blue eyes. They reflected unexpected delight
and obvious interest... which Caraffa did not like it at all.
– You’ve come here to see me, not to break beautiful ladies’ hearts! – The Pope
discontentedly croaked. – Have a pleasant trip, Morone!

– I would like to have a word with you before I undertake anything, Your Hоliness.
– Not being at all confused, Morone pronounced with all the politeness in the world. –
An error on my part can cost us very dearly. Therefore I ask you to give me a bit of
your precious time before I leave you.
I was surprised at the trace of prickly irony in "your precious time"... It was very
subtle; nevertheless, it surely was there! Therefore I decided to take a closer look at
the unusual cardinal, being surprised at his boldness. In fact nobody dared to joke and,
moreover, sneer at Caraffa, which showed in this case that Morone was not afraid of
him. I decided to find out the reason for his confident behaviour, because I never
missed the least opportunity to get to know any person who could be of any help to me
in the elimination of "His Holiness"... Regrettably, I was not lucky then... Caraffa took
the cardinal into his study, ordering me to wait and even giving me no chance to say
goodby to the cardinal. For some reason I had a strange feeling of regret, as if had I
missed an opportunity to get somebody’s support...
Usually the Pope did not let me be in his study when he received people there. But
sometimes, for one or another reason, he suddenly "commanded" me to follow him. I
obeyed, thus trying to avoid yet greater troubles, otherwise it would be unreasoning
behaviour from my side and, besides, there was no serious grounds to do so. That is
why I always went with him, knowing that as usual the Pope would observe my reaction
to one or another invited person with some incomprehensible interest. It was absolutely
all the same to me why he needed this kind of "entertainment", but those "meetings"
allowed me to divert my attention a little from my situation and therefore his odd
invitations were worthy of not objecting to.

I never met Cardinal Morone again and soon I forgot about him. And now he sat
on the floor in front me, covered with blood, but proud as usual, and he again got my
admiration with his ability to keep his dignity even in the most unpleasant
circumstances.

– You are right, Morone. I don’t have a serious reason to torture you... – He
smiled. – But do we really need it? Besides, not all tortures leave visible signs, do they?
I did not wish to stay! I did not wish to see how the monstrous "Holiness" would
display his "talents" on an innocent person. But also I perfectly knew that Caraffa
would not let me go until he enjoyed my torment too. Therefore, I pulled myself
together, as far as my shattered nerves allowed me and prepared myself for watching...

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