"Are you satisfied that your informant is correct
in his facts?" she asked after a moment.
"As to the irreproachable character of Monsignor
M-mon-t-tan-nelli's private life? No; but
neither is he. As you will observe, he puts in the
s-s-saving clause: 'So far as I c-can discover----
"I was not speaking of that," she interposed
coldly, "but of the part about this mission."
"I can fully trust the writer. He is an old
friend of mine--one of my comrades of '43, and he
is in a position which gives him exceptional
opportunities for finding out things of that kind."
"Some official at the Vatican," thought Gemma
quickly. "So that's the kind of connections you
have? I guessed there was something of that sort."
"This letter is, of course, a private one," the
Gadfly went on; "and you understand that the
information is to be kept strictly to the members
of your committee."
"That hardly needs saying. Then about the
pamphlet: may I tell the committee that you consent
to make a few alterations and soften it a little,
or that----"
"Don't you think the alterations may succeed
in spoiling the beauty of the 'literary composition,'
signora, as well as in reducing the vehemence
of the tone?"
"You are asking my personal opinion.
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