Поющие в терновнике

           "No,Dane,youcan’tlookuptomeasthat.I’mfarfromaperfectpriest.Ihavebrokenallmyvows,doyouunderstand?Ihadtolearnwhatyoualreadyseemtoknowinthemostpainfulwayapriestcan,throughthebreakingofmyvows.ForIrefusedtoadmitthatIwasfirstamortalman,andonlyafterthatapriest."

           "YourEminence,itdoesn’tmatter,"saidDanesoftly."Whatyousaydoesn’tmakeyouanylessmyconceptionoftheperfectpriest.Ithinkyoudon’tunderstandwhatImean,that’sall.Idon’tmeananinhumanautomaton,abovetheweaknessesoftheflesh.Imeanthatyou’vesuffered,andgrown.DoIsoundpresumptuous?Idon’tintendto,truly.IfI’veoffendedyou,Ibegyourpardon.It’sjustthatit’ssohardtoexpressmythoughts!WhatImeanisthatbecomingaperfectpriestmusttakeyears,terriblepain,andallthetimekeepingbeforeyouanideal,andOurLord."

           Thetelephonerang;CardinalRalphpickeditupinaslightlyunsteadyhand,spokeinItalian.

           "Yes,thankyou,we’llcomeatonce."Hegottohisfeet."It’stimeforafternoontea,andwe’retohaveitwithanold,oldfriendofmine.NexttotheHolyFatherhe’sprobablythemostimportantpriestintheChurch.Itoldhimyouwerecoming,andheexpressedawishtomeetyou."

           "Thankyou,YourEminence."