Among the Church dignities grouped about
his Highness was Father Ignazio, the late Duke's confessor, now Prior of
the Dominicans, and said to be withdrawn from political life. Seated on
his richly-trapped mule he observed the scene with impassive face; while
from his place in the long line of minor clergy, the abate Crescenti,
with eyes of infinite tenderness and concern, watched the young Duke
solemnly ascending the Cathedral steps.
In the porch the Bishop waited, impressive as ever in his white and gold
dalmatic, against the red robes of the chapter. Preceded by two
chamberlains Odo mounted the steps amid the sudden silence of the
people. The great bronze portals of the Cathedral, which were never
opened save on occasions of state, swung slowly inward, pouring a wave
of music and incense out upon the hushed sunlit square; then they closed
again, engulphing the brilliant procession--the Duke, the Bishop, the
clergy and the court--and leaving the populace to scatter in search of
the diversions prepared for them at every street-corner.
It was not till late that night that the new Duke found himself alone.
He had withdrawn at last from the torch-lit balcony overlooking the
square, whither the shouts of his subjects had persistently recalled
him. Silence was falling on the illuminated streets, and the dimness of
midnight upon the sky through which rocket after rocket had torn its
brilliant furrows. In the palace a profounder stillness reigned.
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