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Page 79
"Do your clergy indeed speak with a clear voice?"
"They do; and we must, of course, listen. Truth is apt to be
painful. And how can we reconcile our aristocratic instincts with
our faith? I ask for information and you will forgive the
personality. I find myself in almost entire agreement with your
noble sentiments. But, as a good Christian, ought I to be so?
How do you stand with the one true faith in your heart and these
opinions in your head, signor?"
The old man twinkled and a boyish smile lighted his aged countenance.
"A good question--a shrewd thrust, Sir Walter. There can be only
one answer to that, my friend. With God all things are possible."
Henry laughed; his uncle was puzzled.
"You think that is no answer," continued the Italian. "But reason
also must have a place in the sun, though we have to hide it in
our pocket sometimes. So many great men would not extinguish their
light--and had it extinguished for them. A difficult subject.
Let us continue to think in compartments. It is safer so. If you
are over eighty years old, you love safety. But I love joy and
romance also, and is not religion almost the only joy and romance
left to us? It is affirmation remember, not negation, that makes
the world go round! The 'intellectuals' forget that, and they
are sterile accordingly."
Signor Mannetti's wits were something too nimble for his hearers.
He talked and talked--about everything but the matter in their
minds--until half-past ten o'clock, when his man came after him.
Thereupon he rose, like an obedient child, and wished them
"Good-night."
"Stephano is my guardian angel," he said--"a being of painful
punctuality. But he adds years to my life. He forgets nothing.
I wish you a kind farewell until to-morrow and offer grateful
thanks for your welcome. I breakfast in my room, if you please,
and shall be ready at eleven o'clock to put myself at your
service. Then you will be so gracious as to answer me some
questions, and I shall, please God, try to help you."
CHAPTER XI
PRINCE DJEM
The master of Chadlands was both drawn and repelled by his guest.
Signor Mannetti revealed a type of mind entirely beyond the other's
experience, and while he often uttered sentiments with which Sir
Walter found himself in cordial agreement, he also committed himself
to a great many opinions that surprised and occasionally shocked
the listener. Sir Walter was also conscious that many words
uttered flew above his understanding. The old Italian could juggle
with English almost as perfectly as he was able to do with his own
language. He had his country's mastery of the phrase, the ironies,
the double meanings, half malicious, half humorous, the outlook on
humanity that delights to surprise--the compliment that, on closer
examination, proves really to be the reverse. Mary's father voiced
his emotions when the visitor had gone to bed.
"If it didn't seem impossible," he told Henry, "I could almost
imagine that Signor Mannetti was trying to pull my leg sometimes."
"He tries, and succeeds," answered young Lennox. "He is built that
way. His mind is as agile as a monkey, despite his age. He's a
sly old bird; his thoughts move a thousand times faster than ours,
and they're a thousand times more subtle."
"But he's very fascinating," declared Mary.
"He's a gentleman," answered Henry--"an Italian gentleman.
They're different from us in their ideas of good form, that's all.
Good form is largely a matter of geography--like most other
manners and customs."
"I believe in him, anyway."
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