Then comes a bribe: Girolamo would be made a cardinal if he came to Rome. It is easy to refuse when he knows it means his death, but it means his death either way. If he accepts the bribe, Pope Alexander would know he could be bribed, and was not truly a man of God. If he does not, then the Pope will try harsher measures. He sees quite clearly the choice before him—he can be martyred soon, in Rome, or later, in Florence. He chooses Florence. He refuses the cardinal’s hat, just like his namesake saint, Jerome. Also like Jerome, he writes.
I love the prose here.
