Good, I am already at the little church of 'Domine, quo vadis.'-- ["Lord, whither art thou going ?"]--I might say to myself: 'Juliane, quo vadis ?' 'To perform an act a little better than the majority of my actions,' I might reply." That impressionable soul which vibrated at the slightest contact was touched by the souvenir of one of the innumerable pious legends which nineteen centuries of Catholicism have suspended at all the corners of Rome and its surrounding districts.

He recalled the touching story of St.Peter flying from persecution and meeting our Lord: "Lord, whither art thou going ?" asked the apostle.

"To be crucified a second time," replied the Saviour, and Peter was ashamed of his weakness and returned to martyrdom.

Montfanon himself had related that episode to the novelist, who again began to reflect upon the Marquis's character and the best means of approaching him.

He forgot to glance at the vast solitude of the Roman suburbs before him, and so deep was his reverie that he almost passed unheeded the object of his search.