What had she done? What sin had she committed? She felt like crying but she couldn't. She was terrified at the questions that ran through her imaginative mind. She feared punishment for whatever she had done, and she dearly wished that she knew what that may be. "Will there be anything else, Holiness?" asked the Nasino. "Yes. Bring food and drink within the hour!" "Yes, Holiness." said Cardinal Levy, then left them both in his office. The ArchBishop stayed silent as he looked-over the beautiful young woman. He stepped closer to her, but she inched backward and up against the door. She held the veil that she wore over her head and shoulders, tightly in her hands. He stopped his advance towards her, to let himself take-in the full extent of her pure, young beauty; the tresses of gold that hid beneath the veil, the soft roundness of her form and the delicate prettiness of her bare feet and shapely legs. Her large, sky-blue eyes, reflected the objects in the room and shone like sapphires when they caught the sunlight that beamed in, from the outside. The choir still chanted in the Cathedral. The voices of all those men rose into the groins of the chapel within, and then echoed out towards the town. The ArchBishop grinned at the girl and asked her name but she did not answer. Her fright robbed her of her speech and after he asked her twice, in a soft and kindly manner, he at last boomed harshly. "What is your name, my child?" he ordered and moved closer to her. She showed nervousness when pinned up against the door with nowhere else to move. She began to speak, her melodic voice trembled and stuttered. "My name is Mercedes, Holiness! -- Please, please do not hurt me! I don't know what sins I have committed but please, I repent them!" He smiled again and put his hands on her shoulders. He assured her that he would not hurt her. However, he soon began to fondle her, rubbing her shoulders and neck with his fore-fingers. She said nothing. She stood still as if frozen, her heart jumping inside her while the choir crescendoed into the finale of their 'Hymn To The Virgins!' He reckoned her, his sparkling evil eyes sized-to-mind and personal passions, her plump and full mouth that glistened with the juices of youth. "Sh-h-h-h!" he commanded her in mock gentleness. "You are not here to be punished, my darling child. You are here to be blessed." By the gentle, fatherly sound of his voice, he quelled the fright from her, and from her confused, unsure expression, emerged a trifle, but still apparently trusting smile. "Bless me, Holiness? I do not understand. Why bless me? I am no one!" she told him in a half-happy, half-honoured tone. He smiled at her as he affectionately took her dainty chin into his hand and told her the reason for her being brought to him. "But you are someone, darling Mercedes. You have been chosen on this day, from all the fair maidens of this land, to mother my Holy Child."