llon left a letter with his second, M. de
Lamoignon, to the effect that he had offered Orange "intolerable
insults" which "no man of honour" could have suffered. Mrs.
Parflete's name did not transpire, but Prince d'Alchingen and
others gave speculation no industry on the matter. We were at no
loss to know the real cause of the quarrel. Orange applied for the
Chiltern Hundreds and went into strict retreat for six months.
During that time he saw no friends, wrote no letters, read none. I
remember his conduct was severely criticised, because the death of
Parflete opened out other possibilities of action. He was not a
man, however, whom one could order to be this, that, or the other;
still less could one reproach him for not being this, that, or the
other. It was his faith to believe that salvation rests on the
negation and renunciation of personality. He pushed this to the
complete suppression of his Will, tenderly considered. I need not
detain you on the familiar dogmas of Christianity with regard to
the reign of nature and the reign of grace. Your view may be
expressed thus:--

"_Puis-qu'il aime a perir, je consens qu'il perisse,_"

and you will think that Orange said of Mrs. Parflete, as Polyeucte
of his wife:--

_"Je ne regarde Pauline
Que comme un obstacle a mon bien."_

This would be an injustice. Orange was, to me, a deeply interesting
character. I saw little of him after he entered the priesthood, but
his writings, his sermons, and the actual work he accomplished
proved conclusively enough that he was right in following--and we
were wrong in opposing--his true vocation. The Church received her
own again. Rome did not smile at him at first. A de Hausee, however,
never yet tapped long at any gate. The family--which had been
stirred to fury by his father's trespass--welcomed the son as a
prodigal manque. His aunt, the Princess Varese, left him half of her
large fortune. He lived himself in great seclusion and simplicity,
and died, as you are aware, of over-work last year. The one friend
he corresponded with and occasionally saw was Lady Fitz Rewes. Sara
de Treverell did not marry the Duke of Marshire, but three years
before Orange's death she took the veil, and is now a Carmelite nun.
Many people were amazed at this, but I was not. Mrs. Parflete,