The right person to apply to for information is evidently my banker.  He has been a resident in Rome for twenty years—­but he is too busy a man to be approached, by an idler like myself, in business hours.  I have asked him to dine with me to-morrow.

March 2.—­My guest has just left me.  I am afraid Mrs. Eyrecourt will be sadly disappointed when she hears what I have to tell her.

The moment I mentioned Romayne’s name, the banker looked at me with an expression of surprise.  “The man most talked about in Rome,” he said; “I wonder you have not heard of him already.”

“Is he a priest?”

“Certainly!  And, what is more, the ordinary preparations for the priesthood were expressly shortened by high authority on his account.  The Pope takes the greatest interest in him; and as for the people, the Italians have already nicknamed him ‘the young cardinal.’  Don’t suppose, as some of our countrymen do, that he is indebted to his wealth for the high position which he has already attained.  His wealth is only one of the minor influences in his favor.  The truth is, he unites in himself two opposite qualities, both of the greatest value to the Church, which are very rarely found combined in the same man.  He has already made a popular reputation here, as a most eloquent and convincing preacher—­”

“A preacher!” I exclaimed.  “And a popular reputation!  How do the Italians understand him?”

The banker looked puzzled.

“Why shouldn’t they understand a man who addresses them in their own language?” he said.  “Romayne could speak Italian when he came here—­and since that time he has learned by constant practice to think in Italian.  While our Roman season lasts, he preaches alternately in Italian and in English.  But I was speaking of the two opposite accomplishments which this remarkable man possesses.  Out of the pulpit, he is capable of applying his mind successfully to the political necessities of the Church.  As I am told, his intellect has had severe practical training, by means of historical studies, in the past years of his life.  Anyhow, in one of the diplomatic difficulties here between the Church and the State, he wrote a memorial on the subject, which the Cardinal-Secretary declared to be a model of ability in applying the experience of the past to the need of the present time.  If he doesn’t wear himself out, his Italian nickname may prove prophetically true.  We may live to see the new convert, Cardinal Romayne.”

“Are you acquainted with him yourself?” I asked.

“No Englishman is acquainted with him,” the banker answered.  “There is a report of some romantic event in his life which has led to his leaving England, and which makes him recoil from intercourse with his own nation.  Whether this is true or false, it is certain that the English in Rome find him unapproachable.  I have even heard that he refuses to receive letters from England.  If you wish to see him, you must do what I have done—­you must go to church and look at him in the pulpit.  He preaches in English—­I think for the last time this season—­on Thursday evening next.  Shall I call here and take you to the church?”