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.Very clever, Mendosa.” She took her tea and sat down.“I have been told there are those who disapprove of me serving tea to my guests.Why is that?”“Oh, more of the panoply you dislike so much, Magistrate Zhuang.We’re supposed to wait on you, not the other way around.You know what became of Cardinal Tayibha because there is someone at the Vatican who doesn’t know you very well.You see, there are those who would compete for the privilege of pouring your tea, if you would let them.Tell you what: if anyone else speaks against it, say you are doing it for humility; that ought to shut them up.” He stretched out his long legs and crossed his ankles.“Why would that succeed?” She sipped her tea, her black eyes fixed on him, alert and very determined.“Because humility is a virtue, and you can say that as Pope you seek to set an example of it.” His smile was wintery.“Who knows? Some of them might even take it to heart for a day or two.”Zhuang chuckled.“How on earth did you manage to become a Cardinal, with such an attitude?”He waved one hand negligently, grinning.“My uncle helped.He plowed several million dollars into building the Four Evangelists—my cathedral at home—and twice again as much into restoring and preserving historic Catholic churches in Europe and America.He let it be known that he would be thanked if his priest-nephew advanced.And I was politically desirable at the time of my first two promotions.” He reached over to get the tea.“And my vices are minor ones in the eyes of the Church.”“Your uncle is a wealthy man, then?” She appeared genuinely surprised.He regarded her.“Yes.So was my father.Two of my brothers are extremely rich.” Then he made a canny guess.“You were thinking I was a poor Mexican-American who had been able to pull himself out of poverty through the Church? Is that it?”She gave a single nod.“I have heard that Mexicans are very poor in Texas.”“Some of them are.More of them than ought to be are,” said Mendosa.“But Tex-Mex isn’t really Mexican, not the way you mean.I wasn’t born Carlos, I was born Charles.I have a sister named Kathleen, and one named Taylor, for her Godfather.I learned most of my Spanish in school and from my grandparents.My family has been in Texas for seven generations.That might not sound like a lot to you, Worthy Magistrate, but in Texas it’s quite a record.”“Then your position was bought?” she asked, sounding disappointed.He refused to be ashamed.“If I hadn’t been any good at the job, I wouldn’t be a Cardinal.There’s only so much rich relatives can do, and then you either”—he very nearly said “shit or get off the pot,” but modified it—“cut the mustard or you’re siphoned off to some unimportant work well out of harm’s way.” He took two gulps of tea and added the only thing that truly mattered to him.“Besides, I have always believed that I was supposed to be here.”A month ago such a statement would have appalled her.Now she shrugged.“You’re not another fanatic, Mendosa.You don’t have that hunger in your eyes I see in so many here.What is your ambition?”He looked directly at her and smiled, “To serve God, Worthy Magistrate, in the only place I can—the world.”She poured more tea and held the pot out to him.“I think my English is getting very good.”“Very good,” he seconded, making no comment on her abrupt change of subject; she would reveal what was on her mind in time.“Two hours of intensive instruction each day for four months has helped me, and watching American and British television.” She set the pot down.“Have more when you wish it.”“Thank you, Worthy Magistrate.” He remained still, watching for what she would say next.“I have a few questions I want to address to you.I am relying on you to give me the answers I need.I have asked my tutors and a few of the others—I will tell you who later—but not even Cadini will tell me what I wish to know.” She tapped one foot.“It is very disturbing to me that so many in this Church are not willing to speak openly.”“It’s habit, Worthy Magistrate.Most of them have forgotten how.” He got up and poured himself a little more tea.“It is very annoying to me,” she said as if she were in court.“I wish those serving me to be reliable.”“Tell them that,” suggested Mendosa, although he knew it was useless.“I have,” she said, the tone of her voice revealing how little good it had done.“They do not know what I mean.They are confused and…like one being attacked.”“Defensive,” Mendosa supplied.“Yes.So I am coming to you.You are the one I will depend upon once again.” She pursed her lips, a sure sign that she was about to ask something difficult.“What is it?” Mendosa asked, in pleasant dread.She set her cup aside.“Tell me why there are such stringent rules about marriage—why those who are married must always remain married and those who are in the Church are not permitted to marry ever.” She poured more tea and folded her arms once she set the pot down.“I don’t want to hear about Christ.I want to hear about the Church.They are not the same thing.”“No, Worthy Magistrate, they are not,” said Mendosa sadly.“And the stringency doesn’t limit itself to marriage.”Her hands tightened.“Well?”“Marriage first.” He went to the window and studied the dome of Saint Peter’s.“When the Church was beginning, those who were Christians worshipped in small groups.Often those groups didn’t agree about many things.Most of the early Christians wanted to live communally, sharing everything, including their bodies.Their Mass was a love feast, literally.They shared food and then they made love as a group.The Christians who were followers of the Apostle Paul didn’t think that way, and in time they became a large enough group to challenge the other Christians.” He turned back to her.“There was a Synod of Bishops.You know what that is.”“It is an official council meeting,” she said promptly.“At that time, Bishops set the policy of the Church.The Pope was supposed to tend to spiritual matters and leave the grubby job of running the Church to the Bishops.” He laced his fingers together.“This particular Council made a lot of decisions about dogma—the things all Christians must believe in order to be Christians—but they did a number of other things, as well, including editing the sacred texts so that they conformed to their own positions.They fixed the Church’s position on many things having to do with sex.”“And what has that to do with marriage and divorce?” She got up, going to sit behind the trestle table where she could take notes
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