IV + 

Maddalena took him down to the Italian church⁠—St. Peter’s in Hatton Garden. And there he must talk with old Father Antonio, Aunt Ottavia’s confessor. For to please Maddalena, Gian-Luca had consented in the end to be married in a church. “I would have a blessing on our love,” she had said. And because of the gratitude he felt towards her, he had been unwilling to grieve her. He had told her that he did not believe in God, and at that she had only smiled. “You may not believe in Him yet,” she had said, “but remember that He believes in you.” + 

“A man should believe in himself,” he had replied; “he should not be dependent on his God.” + 

Gian-Luca had not disliked Father Antonio, a kindly old fellow, with very blue eyes, who on his part had not disliked Gian-Luca, in spite of the latter’s lack of faith. Father Antonio was a fisher of men, and he sometimes cast his net in strange waters. “One never knows whom one may catch,” he would argue; “it is always worth taking a risk.” And so, when Gian-Luca had faithfully promised that his children should be given to the care of Mother Church, Father Antonio had consented to the marriage being performed at St. Peter’s. Aunt Ottavia got very voluble and busy. + 

“I will go and light candles at once,” she told Gian-Luca; “I will go and light candles for my nephew’s conversion; I will also make a Novena to Saint Joseph.” + 