Carlino had in his mind some inspired thoughts to which he would give utterance, concerning this mystic sense which attracts the girl of four and twenty to the man of ninety; a priest, on the verge of the grave, but upheld by an indomitable spirit--unconquered as often happens by the ravages of time.

But how is all this to end?
Neither Noemi nor Jeanne could imagine.

Well, Carlino had said from the first that the fig and the bee could neither get up nor down.

One consolation, however, there was--the idea that a book must have a fitting end was a mere vulgar prejudice.

What is there in the world that really has an end?
That is all very well, said the girls, but the book must certainly have some ending.