Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III ECLIPSES OEVERAL town councillors of the clerical O majority were to meet privately at the house of Doctor Z£upa, one of the members, at four o'clock. At five minutes to three a very gentle ring of the bell made the honest councillor start. Two individuals, a priest and a layman, entered with a somewhat mysterious air. The layman pulled out his watch, and said, addressing Zaipa: " Will that do?" Smiling, rubbing his hands, and making a series of jerky bows, Zaupa answered: " Most punctual! Most punctual!" and ushered his visitors into the sacred precincts of the parlour. The priest, a short, spare man, with a cunning face and eyes full of mockery, was one of the secret leaders of the party, one of the three or four who kept in the background and moved the victorious black pieces on the chess-board by means of hidden wires. The other, a fine-looking man of about forty, of gentlemanly bearing, and with an intelligent and benevolent countenance, was the Cavaliere Soldini, a Lombard, and the director of the clerical newspaper. "Well?" said Zaupa. His visitors smiled, and looked at each other in tacit interrogation. " You speak," said the priest. Then, as his colleague demurred, he explained to Zaupa that they were not precisely of the same opinion, and that he should prefer to speak last. Hereupon Soldini yielded, and began his discourse. "Well, this is how the matter stands. You must know that there is, unfortunately, much truth in the stories that are being circulated concerning our mayor and a certain lady. There is passion on both sides, and a passion that is not silent." "No, indeed!" the priest interposed. "Anything but silent! Kisses and embraces in the garden, cor am populo!" " We may say, coram nemori et lunae, if the story be true. Exit, a...