ow;
exudation ceased and oil came out, at first white, limpid, and fragrant,
afterwards darker and of about the colour of amber. It filled more than
a hundred phials, each containing two ounces, several of them being
still preserved in the Carmels of Belgium; and her remains when buried
were not decomposed, but had assumed the golden brown colour of a date.

"A book might really be written on the life of this admirable woman,"
thought Durtal. "And then what a group of wonderful nuns were those
about her! The convents of Antwerp, Mechlin, and Oirschot swarmed with
saintly nuns. In the time of Charles V. the Order of Carmelites renewed
in Flanders the mystical prodigies which, four centuries before, in the
Middle Ages, the Dominicans had accomplished in the Monastery of
Unterlinden at Colmar.

"How such women as these carry one away and throw one, as it were! What
strength of soul we see in this Marie Marguerite! What grace must have
sustained her, that she could thus shed all the natural frenzy of the
senses, and endure so cheerfully and bravely the most overwhelming
sufferings!

"Well, now, shall I harness myself to a history of this venerable
Abbess? But then I must procure the volume by Joseph de Loignac, her
first biographer, the notice by the Recluse of Marlaigne, the pamphlet
by Monseigneur de Ram, the narrative by Papebroech; above all I must have
at hand the translation, made by the Carmelites of Louvain, of the
Flemish manuscript written while the Mother was still alive, by her
daughters. Where can I unearth that? In any case the search must be a
long one. No, I must set aside that scheme, which for the present is
impracticable.

"What I ought to do I know very well; I ought to put the article into
shape on Angelico's picture in the Louvre. I promised the paper at least
four months ago to the magazine which clamours for it every morning by
letter. It is disgraceful! Since I left Paris I have ceased to work; and
I have no excuse, for the subject interests me, since it affords me an
opportunity for studying the complete system of the symbolism of colour
in the Middle Ages. 'The Early Painters, and Prayer in Colour as seen in
their Works.' What a subject for thought! However, that is not the
immediate matter. I must not sit dreaming, but go to join the Abbe
Plomb; and the weather is clouding over again! I certainly have no
luck."

As he crossed the square he was lost again in meditations, captivated
once mor