Del Ferice shuddered, and drew his heavy cowl over his head as he began to walk quickly towards the Porta Maggiore.

Then he took the inside road, skirting the walls through the mud to the Porta San Lorenzo.

He was perfectly safe in his disguise.

He had dined abundantly, he had money in his pocket, and he had escaped the clutches of the Holy Office.

A barefooted friar might walk for days unchallenged through the Roman Campagna and the neighbouring hills, and it was not far to the south-eastern frontier.