Giovanni wondered that Don Clemente
had never in the past told him anything of the character of this
under-gardener. He approved of the little sermon in the open air. He had
once mentioned the subject of it to Don Clemente, pointing out to Mm
that those words of Christ are neither properly observed, nor taught;
even the best of Christians apply them only to the use of the
sacraments. If the faithful realised that they must not enter the
church, bringing an impure heart, the Christian peoples would indeed
become examples to the world, and no one would then dare affirm that
morality is much the same everywhere, and has nothing to do with
religious beliefs.
He also highly approved of thus reciting "Our Father" in church, but he
did not approve of the miracles. He suspected weakness in a man who did
not know how to break resolutely with popular superstition when it was
flattering to himself.
What could Noemi say about this man's character? What opinion had she
formed of him from Jeanne's confidences? Noemi was embarrassed. All that
Jeanne had told her about him convinced her that Maironi had behaved
very badly to her friend, that he had never really loved her and at the
same time awoke in Noemi an intellectual curiosity, which, though she
struggled against it, was always returning--a curiosity to know if that
man would have loved her better than Jeanne.
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