Tommaso handed it to him, silent but wondering.

"Now lock the door," said the cardinal, "and give me the key."

Tommaso complied. The cardinal put the cup under his robe and started
down the aisle.

"Tommaso," he said, "you are now closed for the annual cleaning. You
understand, do you not?"

"Perfectly, your eminence," replied Tommaso, and then he added--"When a
stranger gives me two hundred and fifty lire it is time to lock my
door."

The cardinal went out of the church, the turquoise cup under his
cassock. He crossed the Piazza slowly, for he was both limping and
thinking. He came to the shop of Testolini, the jeweller, under the
North arcade, paused a moment, and entered. The clerks behind the
counters sprang to their feet and bowed low.

"Signor Testolini?" asked the cardinal; "is he within?"

"Yes, your eminence," said the head clerk. "He is in his bureau. I will
summon him."

"No," said the cardinal, "if he is alone I will go in," and he opened
the door at the back of the shop and closed it behind him. In ten
minutes he came out again. Signor Testolini followed, rubbing his hands
and bowing at each step.