A word spoken by you has given me life, but your departure will kill me.

Repeat that word to me; say it for _me_, for me alone." "What word ?" "You were with the _Signor Arciprete_, the parish priest, I was in the next room with the servant, and the door was open.

You said that a man may deny the existence of God without really being an atheist or deserving eternal death, if that God, whose existence he denies, be placed before him in a shape repugnant to his intellect, and if he love Truth, Virtue, and his fellow-men, and by his life give proof of his love." Benedetto was silent.

Yes, he had said this, but to a priest, and not knowing another person (perhaps one not capable of understanding) was listening.

She guessed the cause of his silence.
"I am not the person in question," she said.