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about half past ten or eleven, I got a telephone call from Senator Thomas, who of course was in the same hotel. We were all parked there. He was a very polite, slightly unctuous man, very intelligent and very sensible in many ways, but sort of pompous. He said, “Now, I'm calling up you, Miss Perkins, because I have a great privilege and I would like to share this privilege with you. I've been invited to go to Rome to have an audience with the Pope--a private audience with the Pope.”

I was a little surprised. This was wartime--or, you know, a time when the War was barely over. Nothing was normal, nothing was running, there wasn't any petrol, there wasn't any anything. Nothing went regularly. I said, “Oh, really? And how are you going to manage that?”

He said, “Oh, the military will take me in a military plane.”

I said, “Oh, yes,” seeing a great light--it was true. I said, “Well, that's very nice, I'm sure.”

“Well, I have called you to ask you if you would not care to go with me. We'll be leaving at 8:00 o'clock tomorrow morning, and we will be in Rome by night, in a military plane.” We were to fly to someplace in the South of France. Then they had to fly over the Alps somewhere, I don't know where they did it, and then we'd go to Rome.

I said, “I don't see how I can go, Senator.”

“I'd be very happy if you'd go.”