Page:The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg (1928).djvu/266

 with the body of a heretic. And there was always that ancient decree of Pope Sixtus IV issued against Saint Catherine of Siena, Sixtus IV holding that the miracle of the Stigmata was the exclusive monopoly of Saint Francis and that it was a censurable offense to report it of anyone else. The whole thing threatened to grow into a scandal. Miss Annie Spragg had no money, so Sister Annunziata was paying for the funeral. Did Mr. Winnery know who Sister Annunziata really was? Well, it turned out that she was born the Princess d'Orobelli, and she was put into a convent because her family saw no chance of ever marrying off so ugly a woman.

Maria paused for breath and then went on. Had Signer Winnery heard about Father Baldessare, that little fat priest attached to San Giovanni? Yes, the one who had witnessed the miracle and found Sister Annunziata lying senseless after she had been visited by Saint Francis. Well, Father Baldessare had left the Church and was going from town to town, on foot, to preach in the market places. He was going to purify Christianity, she said, and begin all over again. That was a silly idea. How could there be any Christianity without the Church? Wasn't the Church Christianity?

"He has always been a little cracked," she said, "and now he seems gone out of his mind."

She had heard all this at the market. "Ah," thought Winnery, who had quite forgotten that he was still clad only in an Italian night shirt, embroidered in red cotton, "no wonder she was late."

Maria walked to the window on the opposite side of the room and stood looking down into the market.