"He is not a father ?" Jeanne repeated.
Noemi trembled at the strange ring in her friend's voice.

She herself had not noticed the figure standing erect in the shadow of the wall.
"Who ?" she asked.
The monk, who, in the meantime, had opened the gate, misunderstood her, and thought she referred to something that had been said before.
"No," he answered.

"The authentic portrait of St.Francis is not here.
Lower down there is a St.Francis painted by the Cavalier Manente.

You will see it presently.

Please come in." "What is it ?" Noemi said softly to Jeanne.