They
had parted with a mutual desire for, and the promise of, another
meeting. The atmosphere surrounding the youthful monk, whose face seemed
illumined by the beauty of his soul, was a stimulus to Giovanni, and
the Benedictine had felt the fascination of his companion's religious
culture, and of the horizons of thought which this brief conversation
had opened up to his faith, eager for rational light. Giovanni had heard
them speak, at Subiaco, of a young man of noble birth who had taken the
habit of the Benedictines at Santa Scolastica after the death of the
woman he loved. He had no doubt that this was he. He had questioned
other monks about him without gaining any information; but he and Don
Clemente had since met repeatedly and had had long talks together.
Giovanni had lent the young man books, and Don Clemente had been to
Selva's house and made Maria's acquaintance. He had shown himself a
musician, and had once played a _Psalm of the Dawn_ to them, which he
had composed for organ and voices after having heard Giovanni liken the
sun in its slow progress from the first mist-enveloped gleam to the
triumphal glory of noonday, to the manifestation of God, as displayed in
the lightning-torn cloud on the rocky summit of Sinai, to the triumphal
glory--not even yet perfectly developed--in the mind of man.
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