"You need not speak.

I know by heart all the reproaches I deserve, and I know that no human being, much less a holy man like yourself, could possibly feel anything but horror at all this--" "I am very far from being a holy man," interrupted the priest.

"If I feel horror, it is for what has been, and may be, but not for you.
Bosio--" he hesitated a moment.

"Will you come with me to Muro, and leave all this ?" he asked suddenly.

"Will you come out of the world for a while?
No--I am not proposing to you to make a religious retreat.