Benedetto asked them to raise his head a little.

He wanted to see the great pine-tree, with its top bending towards the Coelian Hill.

The dark green crown of the pine cleft the stormy sky.

He gazed at it a long time.

When his head was resting on the pillow once more, he motioned to Dom Clemente to bend down to him, and whispered almost into his ear: "Do you know, when they brought me here from the villa I longed to be laid under the pine-tree, which we see from the window, so that I might die there.