登陆注册
5250500000078

第78章 THREE 1929-1932 Paddy(10)

Father Ralph shook his head, smiling. "It's a Norman name, Your Grace, very old and honorable. I am a direct descendant of one Ranulf de Bricassart, who was a baron in the court of William the Conqueror. In 1066 he came to invade England with William, and one of his sons took English land. The family prospered under the Norman kings of England, and later on some of them crossed the Irish Sea during the time of Henry the Fourth, and settled within the Pale. When Henry the Eighth removed the English Church from Rome's authority we kept the faith of William, which meant we felt we owed our first allegiance to Rome, not to London. But when Cromwell set up the Commonwealth we lost our lands and titles, and they were never restored to us. Charles had English favorites to reward with Irish land. It is not causeless, you know, the Irish hatred of the English.

"However, we descended to relative obscurity, still loyal to the Church, and to Rome. My older brother has a successful stud farm in County Meath, and hopes to breed a Derby or a Grand National winner. I am the second son, and it has always been a family tradition that the second son embrace the Church if he feels the wish for it. I'm very proud of my name and my lineage, you know. For fifteen hundred years there have been de Bricassarts." Ah, that was good! An old, aristocratic name and a perfect record of keeping the faith through emigrations and persecutions. "And the Ralph?"

"A constriction of Ranulf, Your Grace."

"I see."

"I'm going to miss you greatly, Father," said Arch- bishop Cluny Dark, piling jam and whipped cream on half a scone and popping it whole into his mouth.

Father Ralph laughed at him. "You place me in a dilemma, Your Grace! Here I am seated between my old master and my new, and if I answer to please one, I must displease the other. But may I say I shall miss Your Grace, while looking forward to serving Your Grace?"

It was well said, a diplomat's answer. Archbishop di Contini-Verchese began to think he might do well with such a secretary. But too good-looking by far, with those fine features, the striking coloring, the magnificent body. Father Ralph lapsed back into silence, staring at the tea table without seeing it. He was seeing the young priest he had just disciplined, the look in those already tormented eyes as he realized they were not even going to let him say goodbye to his girl. Dear God, what if it had been him, and the girl Meggie? One could get away with it for a while if one was discreet; forever if one limited women to the yearly vacation away from the parish. But let a serious devotion to one woman enter the picture and they would inevitably find out.

There were times when only kneeling on the marble floor of the palace chapel until he was stiff with physical pain prevented him from catching the next train back to Gilly and Drogheda. He had told himself that he was simply the victim of loneliness, that he missed the human affection he had known on Drogheda. He told himself nothing had changed when he yielded to a passing weakness and kissed Meggie back; that his love for her was still located in realms of fancy and delight, that it had not passed into a different world which had a distracting, disturbing wholeness to it the earlier dreams had not. For he couldn't admit anything had changed, and he kept Meggie in his mind as a little girl, shutting out any visions which might contradict this.

He had been wrong. The pain didn't fade. It seemed to grow worse, and in a colder, uglier way. Before, his loneliness had been an impersonal thing, he had never been able to say to himself that the presence in his life of any one being could remedy it. But now loneliness had a name: Meggie. Meggie, Meggie, Meggie . . .

He came out of his reverie to find Archbishop di Contini-Verchese staring at him unwinkingly, and those large dark eyes were far more dangerously omniscient than the round vivid orbs of his present master. Far too intelligent to pretend there was nothing causing his brown study, Father Ralph gave his master-to-be as penetrating a look as he was receiving, then smiled faintly and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say: Every man has sadness in him, and it is no sin to remember a grief. "Tell me, Father, has the sudden slump in economic affairs affected your charge?" the Italian prelate asked smoothly.

"So far we have nothing to worry about, Your Grace. Michar Limited isn't easily affected by auctuations in the market. I should imagine those whose fortunes are less carefully invested than Mrs. Carson's are the ones who stand to lose the most. Of course the station Drogheda won't do as well; the price of wool is falling. However, Mrs. Carson was too clever to sink her money into rural pursuits; she preferred the solidity of metal. Though to my mind this is an excellent time to buy land, not only stations in the country but houses and buildings in the major cities. Prices are ridiculously low, but they can't remain low forever. I don't see how we can lose on real estate in years to come if we buy now. The Depression will be over one day." "Quite," said the Archbishop Papal Legate. So not only was Father de Bricassart something of a diplomat, he was also something of a businessman as well! Truly Rome had better keep her eye upon him.

But it was 1930, and Drogheda knew all about the Depression. Men were out of work all over Australia. Those who could stopped paying rent and tying them- selves down to the futility of looking for work when there was none. Left to fend alone, wives and children lived in humpies on municipal land and queued for the dole; fathers and husbands had gone tramping. A man stowed his few essentials inside his blanket, tied it with thongs and slung it across his back before setting out on the track, hoping at least for handouts of food from the stations he crossed, if not employment. Humping a bluey through the Outback beat sleeping in the Sydney Domain.

同类推荐
  • 毗尼日用切要

    毗尼日用切要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 外官新任辑要

    外官新任辑要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道行般若波罗蜜经

    道行般若波罗蜜经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 吏学指南

    吏学指南

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 孙子批注

    孙子批注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 杂烩饭摊

    杂烩饭摊

    从前有条街,街上开着店,店里有个怪厨子,怪厨子做饭很好吃。从前有条街,街上开着店,店里有个怪厨子,怪厨子做饭没菜单。从前有条街,街上开着店,店里有个怪厨子,怪厨子喜欢听故事。从前有条街,街上开着店,店里有个怪厨子,怪厨子自己有故事。从前有条街,街上开着店,店里有个怪厨子,怪厨子开店讲故事......
  • 无上剑尊

    无上剑尊

    一剑山河动,一剑抚太平!无上剑尊,叶天,重生而归,横剑万族,立剑诸界!九州万里,剑为尊!
  • 三国之铁骑无双

    三国之铁骑无双

    铁血三国,战骑无双,颖川陈玉,生于世家,从傻X成为绝顶聪明之人,收猛将,得谋士,娶美人,一揽众美在三国,建至强骑兵,铁骑所向,扬威无敌!
  • 网游之近身高手

    网游之近身高手

    英雄不问出处,高手快意恩仇;纵横千军万马,风云雄霸天下;即使天地之差,对于高手来说,也不过弹指挥间。叶开,失业青年一枚;信仰,玩家们卸下头盔之后的首款手机游戏,一切就从这里开始了……
  • 都市极术鬼才

    都市极术鬼才

    【火热免费新书】街角一位带着墨镜的算命先生仔细端详着面前的祭晨:“小伙子,你身份扑朔,悟值看起来一般,也没有什么特殊的慧根,更加没有无敌系统,就你这样还想称霸华夏国?”“人总归是要有梦想的嘛,不如来看看没有系统的我如何在都市混出一番天地?”祭晨笑的是那么的人畜无害。
  • 妾舞凤华:邪帝霸宠冷妃

    妾舞凤华:邪帝霸宠冷妃

    前世她被同父异母的妹妹陷害,容颜尽毁,葬身火海。今生穿越为相府之庶出大小姐,凤凰湮灭,浴火重生。她,已经不是曾经那个她,玩阴的,要毒的,尽管放马过来。妖娆倾世,美人谋略,舞出一世风华。“陛下,你已经出局了。”叶青宁望着那个昔日高高在上,不可一世的男人,冷冷地道。“一生一世,你终是朕的女人,朕绝不放手!”他以为谋倾江山,拥有天下最大的权力,一切尽在算计中,却被这个女人算走了心。“帝王也懂爱?你有那么多女人,不少我一个。”“朕愿为你,后宫无妃。”
  • 四圣真君灵签

    四圣真君灵签

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 忍者

    忍者

    在今日,忍者(NINJA)与寿司(SUSHI)、艺妓(GEISHA)一样,已经成为国际通用语。在西方人的眼中,忍者属于神秘的东方文化,可与欧洲中世纪的骑士、黑暗时代的巫师、十六世纪的吸血鬼相提并论,而比起骑士的豪情、巫师的邪气、吸血鬼的阴冷,忍者则显得更为冷峻、敏锐而诡异。
  • 太后悠着点

    太后悠着点

    不想当太后的清穿女不是好清穿女,皇帝什么的太麻烦了,浪费时间又浪费精力,就算让你当了皇后,底下那些小妾还会想法子算计你,还不如直接架空皇帝当太后,这才是宫斗最正确的打开方式。青菀本想学一回冰凝,架空皇帝当太后,没想到一穿过来就是太后,这可肿么破?
  • 长宫赋

    长宫赋

    *【绿草长,正值春】十二岁,正是年少情窦初开的时候,懵懵懂懂,不知晓什么叫做喜欢,收到了谁的好,就能对谁送去“喜欢”。*【树成荫,已半夏】十六岁,少女及笄一年。懵懂到心智成熟了,又在感情里迷了方向,经历悲欢离合终于找到出路,却早已阴阳两隔。*【金叶落,满城秋】二十岁,少年及冠,少女已成他人妇。前后十一年,物是人非,满是沧桑,她孤独的站在燃着烈火的城墙,看这江山作为他们的陪葬慢慢更替。