Romola Chapter 10 - Under the Plane-Tree

In which the lively bustle of the San Giovanni festival serves as a backdrop to Tito’s compassionate rescue and tender companionship of the frightened young contadina named Tessa, whose hardships and simple hopes gently unfold beneath the shade of a great plane-tree. Their brief interlude is interrupted by a mysterious friar whose faint words and solemn gift summon Tito toward an unforeseen destiny, shadowed by distant sorrows and the haunting weight of a sealed message.