Lord Warburton walked beside her
and talked of Saint Sophia of Constantinople; she feared for
instance that he would end by calling attention to his exemplary
conduct. The service had not yet begun, but at Saint Peter's there
is much to observe, and as there is something almost profane in the
vastness of the place, which seems meant as much for physical as for
spiritual exercise, the different figures and groups, the mingled
worshippers and spectators, may follow their various intentions
without conflict or scandal. In that splendid immensity individual
indiscretion carries but a short distance. Isabel and her
companions, however, were guilty of none; for though Henrietta was
obliged in candour to declare that Michael Angelo's dome suffered by
comparison with that of the Capitol at Washington, she addressed her
protest chiefly to Mr. Bantling's ear and reserved it in its more
accentuated form for the columns of the Interviewer. Isabel made the
circuit of the church with his lordship, and as they drew near the
choir on the left of the entrance the voices of the Pope's singers
were borne to them over the heads of the large number of persons
clustered outside the doors.
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