The Turquoise Cup, and, the Desert

  III

  The following day was a busy one for the cardinal. While Pietro wasshaving him he parcelled out the hours.

  "What time is it, Pietro?" he asked.

  "Three minutes past seven, your eminence."

  "Good," said the cardinal; "at half-past I make my mass; at eight, Itake my coffee; from eight to ten, my poor--by the way, Pietro, is thereany money in the house?"

  "Yes, your eminence," said Pietro; "there are eight hundred lire in yourdesk."

  "Take fifty of them to Signor Testolini, in the Piazza, with my thanks,"said the cardinal, "and put the rest in my purse. Where was I, Pietro?"

  "Your eminence had reached ten o'clock," replied Pietro.

  "From ten to eleven," continued the cardinal, "audience for the laity;from eleven to half-past, audience for the clergy; half-past eleven, myegg and a salad. Keep all who look hungry, Pietro, and ask them to take_dejeuner_ with me; at twelve, see the architect who is restoring thealtar-rail at St. Margaret's; take time to write to the Superior at St.Lazzaro in reference to the proof-sheets of the 'Life of Eusebius'; fromone to three, my poor--we must get some more money, Pietro; from threeto four--"

  "There, your eminence!" exclaimed Pietro, "I have cut you."

  "Yes," said the cardinal; "I was about to mention it. Where was I?"

  "Your eminence was at four o'clock," replied Pietro.

  "Four o'clock already!" exclaimed the cardinal, "and nothing done; fromfour to half-past four, interview with the treasurer of the diocese.That's a bad half-hour, Pietro. At half-past four I wish the barca to beat the landing. Have the men wear their least shabby liveries. I am tovisit the English yacht that lies over by St. Giorgio. You must dress mein my best to-day."

  "Alas, your eminence," said Pietro, "your best cassock is two yearsold."

  "How old is the one I wore yesterday?" asked the cardinal.

  "Four years at least," said Pietro. "You have your ceremonial dress, butnothing better for the street."

  "I caught a glimpse of myself in one of Testolini's mirrors yesterday,"said the cardinal, "and I thought I looked rather well."

  "Your eminence," said Pietro, "you saw your face and not your coat."

  "Pietro," said the cardinal, rising, "you should have turned your handto diplomacy; you would have gone far."

  At half-past four o'clock the cardinal's barca drew up to the molo. Theoarsmen were dressed in black, save that their sashes and stockings werescarlet. The bowman landed. It was as though a footman came off the boxof a brougham and waited on the curb. While the figures on theclock-tower were still striking the half-hour, the cardinal came limpingacross the Piazza. The gondoliers at the molo took off their hats anddrew up in two lines. The cardinal passed between them, looking each manin the face. He beckoned to one, who left the ranks and came up to him,awkward and sheepish.

  "Emilio," said the cardinal, "I have arranged your matter. You are topay four lire a week, and are to keep out of the wine-shops. Mind, now,no drinking." To another he said, "I have looked into your case, Marco.You are perfectly right. I have employed counsel for you. Attend to yourbusiness and forget your trouble. It is my trouble, now." To a man towhom he beckoned next he spoke differently. "How dare you send me such apetition?" he exclaimed. "It was false from beginning to end. You neverserved in the legion. The woman you complain of is your lawful wife. Youmarried her in Padua ten years ago. You have been imprisoned for petittheft. You got your gondolier's license by false pretences. Mark you,friends," he said, turning, "here is one of your mates who will bearwatching. When he slips, come to me," and he stepped into his barca.

  "To the English yacht," he said.

  When they arrived they found the Tara dressed in flags, from truck todeck; Lady Nora stood on the platform of the boarding-stairs, and thecrew were mustered amidships.

  "Your eminence," cried Lady Nora, "you should have a salute if I knewthe proper number of guns."

  "My dear lady," said the cardinal, taking off his hat, "the Churchmilitant does not burn gunpowder, it fights hand to hand. Come for me atsix," he said to his poppe.

  "Surely," said Lady Nora, "you will dine with us. We have ices with thePapal colors, and we have a little box for Peter's pence, to be passedwith the coffee. I shall be much disappointed if you do not dine withus."

  "Wait!" called the cardinal to his barca. The oarsmen put about. "TellPietro," he said, "to feed the pigeons as usual. Tell him to lay crumbson the balcony railing, and if the cock bird is too greedy, to drive himaway and give the hen an opportunity. Come for me at nine."

  "Thank you," said Lady Nora; "your poor are now provided for."

  "Alas, no," said the cardinal; "my pigeons are my aristocraticacquaintance. They would leave me if I did not feed them. My real poorhave two legs, like the pigeons, but God gave them no feathers. They arethe misbegotten, the maladroit, the unlucky,--I stand by that word,--the halt, the blind, those with consciences too tender to make theirway, reduced gentlefolk, those who have given their lives for the publicgood and are now forgotten, all these are my poor, and they honor me bytheir acquaintance. My pigeons fly to my balcony. My poor never comenear me. I am obliged, humbly, to go to them."

  "Will money help?" exclaimed Lady Nora; "I have a balance at mybanker's."

  "No, no, my lady," said the cardinal; "money can no more buy off povertythan it can buy off the bubonic plague. Both are diseases. God sent themand He alone can abate them. At His next coming there will be strangesights. Some princes and some poor men will be astonished."

  Just then, a woman, short, plump, red-cheeked and smiling, came towardthem. She was no longer young, but she did not know it.

  "Your eminence," said Lady Nora, "I present my aunt, Miss O'Kelly."

  Miss O'Kelly sank so low that her skirts made what children call "acheese" on the white deck.

  "Your imminence," she said, slowly rising, "sure this is the proud dayfor Nora, the Tara, and meself."

  "And for me, also," said the cardinal. "From now until nine o'clock Ishall air my English speech, and I shall have two amiable and friendlycritics to correct my mistakes."

  "Ah, your imminence," laughed Miss O'Kelly, "I don't speak English. Ispeak County Clare."

  "County Clare!" exclaimed the cardinal; "then you know Ennis? Fifty oddyears ago there was a house, just out of the town of Ennis, with irongates and a porter's lodge. The Blakes lived there."

  "I was born in that house," said Miss O'Kelly. "It was draughty, but italways held a warm welcome."

  "I do not remember the draught," said the cardinal, "but I do rememberthe welcome. When I was an undergraduate at Oxford, I made a little tourof Ireland, during a long vacation. I had letters from Rome. One of themwas to the chapter at Ennis. A young priest took me to that house. Iwent back many times. There was a daughter and there were severalstrapping sons. The boys did nothing, that I could discover, but huntand shoot. They were amiable, however. The daughter hunted, also, butshe did many other things. She kept the house, she visited the poor, shesang Irish songs to perfection, and she flirted beyond compare. She hadhair so black that I can give you no notion of its sheen; and eyes asblue as our Venetian skies. Her name was Nora--Nora Blake. She was themost beautiful woman I had ever seen--until yesterday."

  "She was my mother!" exclaimed Miss O'Kelly.

  "And my grandmother," said Lady Nora.

  The cardinal drew a breath so sharp that it was almost a sob, then hetook Lady Nora's hand.

  "My child," he said, "I am an old man. I am threescore years and ten,and six more, and you bring back to me the happiest days of my youth.You are the image of Nora Blake, yes, her very image. I kiss the imagesof saints every day," he added, "why not this one?" and he bent andkissed Lady Nora's hand.

  There was so much solemnity in the act that an awkward pause might havefollowed it had not Miss O'Kelly been Irish.

  "Your imminence," she said, "since you've told us your age, I'll tellyou mine. I'm two-and-twenty and I'm mighty tired of standin'. Let's go
aft and have our tay."

  They had taken but a few steps when Lady Nora, noticing the cardinal'slimp, drew his arm through her own and supported him.

  "I know the whole story," she whispered. "You loved my grandmother."

  "Yes," said the cardinal, "but I was unworthy."