"
"Because he spendeth himself in scheming for honors that belong
elsewhere," interposed a disaffected brother who had strolled up and
joined the group uninvited; he belonged to another chapter of the Servi,
and had but recently come among them; honors had passed him by and
duties attracted him less, and he had made no friends within the
convent, though he professed great interest in all that concerned Fra
Paolo, and had even offered to wait upon him in chapel or in his cell.
"Thou, Fra Antonio, seek thine own friends!" Fra Giulio retorted, with
unusual asperity; "for this tale is too good for thine hearing, being
another triumph for Fra Paolo in the days when he was only a frate of
the Servi."
"_Ebbene_, and then?" urged the eager auditors, crowding around the
speaker, for the incongruity of the grave padre, in his frayed and rusty
gown attempting to usurp a decoration, lent interest to the petty
happening.
"_Ebbene_, and then his Eminence of Borromeo--for it seemeth that only
the illustrious play parts in this farce"--Fra Giulio continued with
keen enjoyment, "his Eminence of Borromeo hath explained at Rome that
Fra Paolo was innocent of contempt of rule.
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