Monsignor, you couldn’t leave me a little bit? After all, it’s Christmas Eve.”
“It belongs to his Excellency the archbishop” answered the priest. “He needs it in a few hours. His Excellency already lives like a saint, you cannot expect that he now does without God as well! And besides, I have never been Monsignor.”
“Not even a little, Reverend? There is so much! His Excellency would not even notice!”
“I’ve said no… You can go… The cathedral is closed to the public” and he dismissed the poor man with a five lire note.
But in the very same instant the wretch left the church, God disappeared. Dismayed, Don Valentino looked around, scrutinising the gloomy vaults: God was not even up there. The showy display of columns, statues, canopies, altars, catafalques, chandeliers, drapes, normally so mysterious and potent, had suddenly become inhospitable and sinister. And in a few hours, the archbishop would come down.
In agitation, Don Valentino set ajar one of the exterior doors and looked onto the