Lord of the World

  CHAPTER VI

  I

  The volor-stage was comparatively empty this afternoon, as the littleparty of six stepped out on to it from the lift. There was nothing todistinguish these from ordinary travellers. The two Cardinals of Germanyand England were wrapped in plain furs, without insignia of any kind;their chaplains stood near them, while the two men-servants hurriedforward with the bags to secure a private compartment.

  The four kept complete silence, watching the busy movements of theofficials on board, staring unseeingly at the sleek, polished monsterthat lay netted in steel at their feet, and the great folded fins thatwould presently be cutting the thin air at a hundred and fifty miles anhour.

  Then Percy, by a sudden movement, turned from the others, went to theopen window that looked over Rome, and leaned there with his elbows onthe sill, looking.

  * * * * *

  It was a strange view before him.

  It was darkening now towards sunset, and the sky, primrose-greenoverhead, deepened to a clear tawny orange above the horizon, with asanguine line or two at the edge, and beneath that lay the deep eveningviolet of the city, blotted here and there by the black of cypresses andcut by the thin leafless pinnacles of a poplar grove that aspiredwithout the walls. But right across the picture rose the enormous dome,of an indescribable tint; it was grey, it was violet--it was what theeye chose to make it--and through it, giving its solidity the air of abubble, shone the southern sky, flushed too with faint orange. It wasthis that was supreme and dominant; the serrated line of domes, spiresand pinnacles, the crowded roofs beneath, in the valley dell' Inferno,the fairy hills far away--all were but the annexe to this mightytabernacle of God. Already lights were beginning to shine, as for thirtycenturies they had shone; thin straight skeins of smoke were ascendingagainst the darkening sky. The hum of this Mother of cities wasbeginning to be still, for the keen air kept folks indoors; and theevening peace was descending that closed another day and another year.Beneath in the narrow streets Percy could see tiny figures, hurryinglike belated ants; the crack of a whip, the cry of a woman, the wail ofa child came up to this immense elevation like details of a murmur fromanother world. They, too, would soon be quiet, and there would be peace.

  A heavy bell beat faintly from far away, and the drowsy city turned tomurmur its good-night to the Mother of God. From a thousand towers camethe tiny melody, floating across the great air spaces, in a thousandaccents, the solemn bass of St. Peter's, the mellow tenor of theLateran, the rough cry from some old slum church, the peevish tinkle ofconvents and chapels--all softened and made mystical in this graveevening air--it was the wedding of delicate sound and clear light.Above, the liquid orange sky; beneath, this sweet, subdued ecstasy ofbells.

  "_Alma Redemptoris Mater_," whispered Percy, his eyes wet with tears."_Gentle Mother of the Redeemer--the open door of the sky, star of thesea--have mercy on sinners._ _The Angel of the Lord announced it to Mary,and she conceived of the Holy Ghost_.... _Pour, therefore, Lord, Thygrace into our hearts. Let us, who know Christ's incarnation, risethrough passion and cross to the glory of Resurrection--through the sameChrist our Lord._"

  Another bell clanged sharply close at hand, calling him down to earth,and wrong, and labour and grief; and he turned to see the motionlessvolor itself one blaze of brilliant internal light, and the two priestsfollowing the German Cardinal across the gangway.

  It was the rear compartment that the men had taken; and when he had seenthat the old man was comfortable, still without a word he passed outagain into the central passage to see the last of Rome.

  The exit-door had now been snapped, and as Percy stood at the oppositewindow looking out at the high wall that would presently sink beneathhim, throughout the whole of the delicate frame began to run thevibration of the electric engine. There was the murmur of talkingsomewhere, a heavy step shook the floor, a bell clanged again, twice,and a sweet wind-chord sounded. Again it sounded; the vibration ceased,and the edge of the high wall against the tawny sky on which he hadfixed his eyes sank suddenly like a dropped bar, and he staggered alittle in his place. A moment later the dome rose again, and itselfsank, the city, a fringe of towers and a mass of dark roofs, prickedwith light, span like a whirlpool; the jewelled stars themselves sprangthis way and that; and with one more long cry the marvellous machinerighted itself, beat with its wings, and settled down, with the note ofthe flying air passing through rising shrillness into vibrant silence,to its long voyage to the north.

  Further and further sank the city behind; it was a patch now: greynesson black. The sky seemed to grow more huge and all-containing as theearth relapsed into darkness; it glowed like a vast dome of wonderfulglass, darkening even as it glowed; and as Percy dropped his eyes oncemore round the extreme edge of the car the city was but a line and abubble--a line and a swelling--a line, and nothingness.

  He drew a long breath, and went back to his friends.