eternal temptation.

When he returned to the hotel, he found the Comtesse anxiously waiting for
him.

With a smile she handed a large packet, sealed with the episcopal arms.

It was his nomination to the Cure of St. Marie. He would have to take
possession of it immediately.

XCIV.

THE CHANGE.

"Prayer on that day is said within the gothic church,
The old men mourn beneath the ancient oak.
Resisted are the games but just begun.
The village maidens will no longer dance."

MME. DE GIRARDIN (_Elgire_).

The worshippers at Althausen were much surprised the next day to see a
priest whom they did not know, officiating without ceremony in the place of
their Cure. He was stout and plain, with an inflamed face, bloated lips, a
cynical look, and a thundering voice: he said Mass in such a hasty and
indecorous manner that they went away scandalized. The handsome Marcel
certainly was no longer there, with his sweet and unctuous voice, his
evangelic piety, and his eyes which stirred their hearts.

The report spread through the village that the handsome Cure had gone away,
and all the gossips at bay grouped in the market-place and watched for
Veronica to assail her with questions. But the old maid-servant to her
mortification knew no more about it than the gossips. She ventured to
interrogate her new master, but he slapped her on the back and sent her
away to her kitchen-stove.

--He is disgusting, this old fellow, she said. For my part I am not going
to remain here. I prefer the Corporal.

Durand had just sat down at table with his daughter, when Marianne with a
scared air, looked at Suzanne in a mysterious way, and said to the Captain:

--Do you know? Monsieur le Cure has gone away.

--Pleasant journey, said Durand.

--There is a new Cure already in his place. He said Mass this morning.

--A new Cure, cried Suzanne; then he has gone away not to return again?

--Gone away without hope of coming back, said the Captain, that is
discouraging! It surprises you then, little girl, that the handsome priest
has disappeared with neither drum nor trumpet, and with no touching
farewells to his flock. For my part, I am not surprised at it, and I wager
that he has committed some act of blackguardism, and has absconded.

--Oh, father!

--He has not absconded, Marianne said quickly; he went away on Friday very
quietly with another Cure.

--Let him go to the devil!

Suzanne had difficulty in hiding her pal