It was ten o'clock, and there was a chance that he might find him at home.

This cardinal resided on the first floor of a little palazzo in a dark, narrow street near San Luigi dei Francesi.* There was here none of the giant ruin full of princely and melancholy grandeur amidst which Cardinal Boccanera so stubbornly remained.

The old regulation gala suite of rooms had been cut down just like the number of servants.

There was no throne-room, no red hat hanging under a _baldacchino_, no arm-chair turned to the wall pending a visit from the Pope.

A couple of apartments served as ante-rooms, and then came a _salon_ where the Cardinal received; and there was no luxury, indeed scarcely any comfort; the furniture was of mahogany, dating from the empire period, and the hangings and carpets were dusty and faded by long use.