Chap.34(2)

{Nonetheless, there it is,} he thought as Castel Gandolfo came into view, rising against a star-filled November sky. From the access road, Gandolfo resembled a great stone monster pondering a suicidal leap. Perched at the very edge of a cliff, the castle leaned out over the cradle of Italian civilization—the valley where the Curiazi and Orazi clans fought long before the founding of Rome.

Even in silhouette, Gandolfo was a sight to behold—an impressive example of tiered, defensive architecture, echoing the potency of this dramatic Cliffside setting. Sadly, Aringarosa now saw, the Vatican had ruined the building by constructing two huge aluminum telescope domes atop the roof, leaving this once dignified edifice looking like a proud warrior wearing a couple of party hats.

When Aringarosa got out of the car, a young Jesuit priest hurried out and greeted him. “Bishop, welcome. I am Father Mangano. An astronomer here.”

{Good for you.} Aringarosa grumbled his hello and followed his host into the castle’s foyer—a wide-open space whose décor was a graceless blend of Renaissance art and astronomy images. Following his escort up the wide travertine marble staircase, Aringarosa saw signs for conference centers, science lecture halls, and tourist information services. It amazed him to think the Vatican was failing at every turn to provide coherent, stringent guidelines for spiritual growth and yet somehow still found time to give astrophysics lectures to tourists.

“Tell me,” Aringarosa said to the young priest, “when did the tail start wagging the dog?”

The priest gave him an odd look. “Sir?”

Aringarosa waved it off, deciding not to launch into the particular offensive again this evening. {The Vatican has gone mad.} Like a lazy parent who found it easier to acquiesce to the whims of a spoiled child than to stand firm and teach values, the Church just kept softening at every turn, trying to reinvent itself to accommodate a culture gone astray.

The top floor’s corridor was wide, lushly appointed, and led in only one direction—toward a huge set of oak doors with a brass sign.


BIBLIOTECA ASTRONOMICA


Aringarosa had heard of this place—the Vatican’s Astronomy Library—rumored to contain more than twenty-five thousand volumes, including rare works of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Secchi. Allegedly, it was also the place in which the Pope’s highest officersheld private meetings…..those meetings they preferred not to hold within the walls of Vatican City.

According the door, Bishop Aringarosa would never have imagined the shocking news he was about to receive inside, or the deadly chain of events it would put into motion. It was not until an hour later, as he staggered from the meeting, that the devastating implications settled in. {Six months from now!} he had thought. {God help us!}

Now, seated in the Fiat, Bishop Aringarosa realized his fists were clenched just thinking about that first meeting. He released his grip and forced a slow inhalation, relaxing his muscles.

{Everything will be fine,} he told himself as the Fiat wound higher into the mountains. Still, he wished his cell phone would ring. {Why hasn’t the Teacher called me? Silas should have the keystone by now:}

Trying to ease his nerves, the bishop meditated on the purple amethyst in his ring. Feeling the textures of the mitrecrozer appliqué and the facets of the diamonds, he reminded himself that this ring was a symbol of power far less than that which he would soon attain.

これで Chapter 34は終りです。つぎは　Chap.35に向かいます。

「半年以内に猫神さまが現れると、星に出てる」とか♡

フランスの地図。 http://www.jalcityguide.com/world/paris/map.html