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The cardinal let go the hand of the Unknown as they entered, and

taking the curate of the parish aside, related in few words the

facts of the story, asking him if he knew some kind female, who

would be willing to go to the castle in a litter, to remove Lucy

thence; a devoted, charitable woman, capable of acting with

judgment in so novel an expedition, and of exerting the best

means to tranquillise the poor girl, to whom deliverance itself,

after such anguish and alarm, might produce new and overwhelming

apprehensions. After having reflected a moment, the curate took

upon himself the affair, and departed. The cardinal then ordered

the chaplain to have a litter prepared, and two mules ready

saddled. The chaplain quitted the room to obey his orders, and

the cardinal was left alone with Don Abbondio and the Unknown.