"I saw," said the old friar at length, speaking with his eyes again closed--"I saw the dead body of the woman who had passed the church towards the Pineta in the morning, brought back by six men from the forest. They passed by the western front of the church, and I saw that the body was the body of the woman I speak of." The Commissary shut up his note-book with a gesture of provoked disappointment, and shrugged his shoulders impatiently. "If that is all you have to tell us, frate, you need not have made so much difficulty about it," he said; "we knew all that before, and need not have come here to be told it. Plenty of people saw the bringing in from the forest of the body of the murdered woman, and would give evidence to the fact without making so much ado about it. Is that all you saw?" "Did you not see," said the lawyer, again motioning his companion to be patient; "did you not see another young woman in the forest yesterday morning?" "Not in the forest," replied the friar without any difficulty. "Not in the forest; I saw another young woman here yesterday, but it was in the church. She came here to make copies of some of the mosaics. I had been previously told to expect such an one." "Did she come to the church before the time when you saw the other lady pass towards the forest?" asked the lawyer. "Yes; about half an hour or more before," answered the friar. "And where was she when the second lady passed, going towards the Pineta?" asked the lawyer again. "She was on the scaffolding in the church, which had been prepared for her to make her copies of the mosaics." "Do you know whether she saw, or was aware that the second lady had passed the church to go towards the Pineta?" "I know that she was aware of it; I was with her on the scaffolding. We both together saw the woman who was afterwards brought back dead pass in a bagarino with the Marchese Ludovico di Castelmare, towards the Pineta." The lawyer looked hard at the Commissary; and the latter in obedience, as it seemed, to the look, took out his note-book again, and made a note of the declaration. "And what did the young lady who came to copy the mosaics do afterwards? Where did you part with her?" resumed the lawyer. "She left the church, and walked in the direction of the forest. I parted from her at the door of the church." "And did you see her any more in the course of that morning?" asked the lawyer again. "I did not: I saw her no more from that time to this," replied the friar. During the whole of this interrogation, he had appeared far less distressed and disturbed than he had been before speaking of his having seen the body of La Bianca carried past the church towards the city. He had answered all the questions concerning Paolina readily and without hesitation.