"Gentlemen," said the Pope, still addressing the Swiss Guard, "if the
civil authorities attempt to arrest this young man, you may tell them
they can only do so by giving a written promise of safety for life and
limb."
Rossi's wild eyes began to melt. "You are very good," he said, "and I
will not deceive you. Although I am innocent of the crime they charge me
with, I have broken the law of God and of my country, and if you have
any fear of the consequences you must turn me out while there is still
time."
"Gentlemen," said the Pope, "instead of taking this young man to your
quarters, let him be lodged in the empty apartment below my own, which
was formerly occupied by the Secretary of State."
Rossi broke down utterly and fell to his knees. The Pope raised two
fingers and blessed him.
"Go to your room and rest, my son, and God grant you a little repose."
"Father!"
By an impulse he could not resist, Rossi had risen from his knees, taken
two or three steps forward, knelt again by the side of the bed, and put
his lips to the Pope's hand.
With wet eyes that gleamed under his grey brows the Pope followed the
young man out until, surrounded by the Swiss Guard, he had passed from
the room. Then he rose and turned into his private chapel for his early
Mass.
II
Less than half-an-hour afterwards a rumour swept through the Vatican
like the gust of whistling wind that goes before a storm. The Pope met
it as he was coming from Mass.
"What is it, Gaetanino?" he asked.
"Something about an assassination, your Holiness," said the valet, and
the Pope stood as if thunderstruck, for he thought of Rossi and the
King.
After a while the vague report became more definite. It was not the King
but the Prime Minister who had been assassinated.
The Pope's private room began to fill with pallid faces. The Cardinal
Secretary was there, the Maestro di Camera, and at length the little
Majordomo. By this time a special message had reached the Vatican from
one of its watchers outside, and they were able to discuss the
circumstances. The Prime Minister had been found dead in his official
palace in the Piazza Navona. He had dined at the Quirinal and remained
there for the opening of the State Ball, therefore he could not have
reached the Palazzo Braschi before eleven or twelve o'clock. Two shots
had been heard about midnight, and the body had been discovered in the
early morning.