Edwards was not inclined to go into any abstract argument

“I will do what I have been appointed to do,” he said, curtly; “but that cannot prevent my wishing that it had not to be done at all.”

“And who knows?” said Calabressa, lightly.  “Perhaps, if you are so fearful about your small share, your very little share—­it is no more than that of the garcon who helps one on with his coat:  is he accessary, too, if a rogue has to be punished?—­is he responsible for the sentence, also, if he brushes the boots of the judge?—­or the servant of the court who sweeps out the room, is he guilty if there is a miscarriage of justice?  No, no; my dear friend Edouarts, do not alarm yourself.  Then, I was saying, perhaps it may not be necessary, after all.  You perceived, my friend, that when the proposal of his eminence the Cardinal was mentioned, the Secretary Granaglia smiled, and I, thoughtless, laughed.  You perceived it, did you not?”

By this time they were in the Chiaja, beyond the Villa Reale; and there were fewer people about.  Calabressa stopped and confronted his companion.  For the purposes of greater emphasis, he rested his right elbow in the palm of his left hand, while his forefinger was at the point of his nose.

“What?” said he, in this striking attitude, “what if we were both fools—­ha?  The Secretary Granaglia and myself—­what if we were both fools?”

Calabressa abandoned his pose, linked his arm within that of his companion, and walked on with him.

“Come, I will implant something in your mind.  I will throw out a fancy; it may take root and flourish; if not, who is the worse?  Now, if the Council were really to entertain that proposal of Zaccatelli?”

He regarded his friend Edouarts.

“You observed, I say, that Granaglia smiled:  to him it was ludicrous.  I laughed:  to me it was farcical—­the chatter of a bavard.  The Pope become the patron of a secret society!  The priests become our friends and allies!  Very well, my friend; but listen.  The little minds see what is absurd; the great minds are serious.  Granaglia is a little devil of courage; but he is narrow; he is practical; he has no imagination.  I:  what am I?—­careless, useless, also a bavard, if you will.  But it occurred to me, after all, when I began to think—­what a great man, a great mind, might say to this proposal.  Take a man like Lind:  see what he could make of it!  ‘Do not laugh at it any more, Calabressa,’ said I to myself, ‘until you hear the opinion of wiser men than yourself.’”

He gripped Edwards’s arm tight.

“Listen.  To become the allies of the priests it is not necessary to believe everything the priests say.  On the other hand, they need not approve all that we are doing, if only they withdraw their opposition.  Do you perceive the possibility now?  Do you think of the force of that combination?  The multitudes of the Catholics encouraged to join!—­the Vatican the friend and ally of the Council of the Seven Stars!”