Chapter 3 Summary

Jaime stands just inside a cathedral door. He looks like a timid country boy as he begins walking down the aisle. The cathedral was built with a simple design, but it was later decorated with elaborate embellishments of jewels, marble, and carvings. Jaime prays before a painting of St. Jeronimo, which portrays a statue of a wolf with children reaching for its teats in the background.

Jaime enters a confessional and tells the priest he is not there to confess. He needs help. Jaime is afraid that a girl will die unbaptized.

The priest at the cathedral will not help Jaime, and eventually another priest takes Jaime to see Severo, the Cardinal and Prince of the island, in Cuidad. Severo has a palace, but he prefers to live in simplistic quarters above the cloisters. Jaime does not realize who Severo is because of...