side of the line, are the
Little Sisters of the Poor."

And indeed the place swarmed with convents: Sisters of the Visitation,
Sisters of Providence, Sisters of Good Comfort, Ladies of the Sacred
Heart, all lived in hives close round Chartres. Prayer hummed up on
every side, rising as the fragrant breath of souls above a city where,
by way of divine service, nothing was chanted but the price-current of
grain and the higher and lower cost of horses in the fairs which, on
certain days, brought all the copers of La Perche together in the
_cafes_ on the Place.

Besides this walk on the old ramparts, the Convent of the Sisters of
Saint Paul was attractive by reason of its quiet and cleanliness. Down
silent passages the backs of the good women might be seen crossed by the
triangular fold of linen, and the click could be heard of their heavy
black rosaries on links of copper, as they rattled on their skirts
against the hanging bunch of keys. Their chapel was redolent of Louis
XIV., at once childish and pompous, too much bedizened with gold, and
the floor too shiny with wax; but there was an interesting detail: at
the entrance large panes of glass had been substituted for the walls, so
that in winter the sick, sitting in a warm room, could look through the
glass partition and follow the services and hear the plain song of
Solesmes which the Sisters had the good taste to use.

This visit revived Durtal's spirit; but he inevitably compared the
peaceful hours told out in that retreat with others, and his disgust was
increased for this town, and its inhabitants, and its avenues, and its
boasted Place des Epars, aping a little Versailles, with its surrounding
blatant mansions, and its ridiculous statue of Marceau in the middle.

And then the limpness of the place, hardly awake by sunrise and asleep
again by dusk!

Once only did Durtal see it really awake, and that was on the day when
Monseigneur Le Tilloy des Mofflaines was enthroned as Bishop.

Then suddenly the city was galvanized; projects were made, the various
bodies corporate sat in committee, and men came forth who had lived
within doors for years.

Scaffold poles were brought out from the masons' yards; blue and yellow
flags were hoisted on them, and these masts were linked together by
garlands of ivy-leaves sewn one over the other with white cotton.

Then Chartres was exhausted, and paused for breath.

Durtal, startled by these unexpected preparations and such an