tensity:

"_La lumiere est venue, mes freres--et si vous ne la suivez pas--vous
serez laisses seuls dans vos eglises._"

It is impossible to exaggerate the affectionate solemnity of this appeal
to his brother priests. The tragic note was relieved later by an amused
smile which rippled round the audience. This puzzled me until a kind
French lady sitting next to me explained that the audience were amused
by the "_tres chers freres_" (dearly beloved brethren), with which the
Abbe addressed them in this rather unorthodox lecture. It was evidently
looked upon as a curious bit of "professional survival."

On the following day (Thursday) I was invited to lunch with Lady
Caithness at two P.M., and being a punctual person, I arrived at that
hour. The powdered footman announced that his mistress had not yet
emerged from her bedroom, and showed me up into the dining-room
adjoining, where I awaited her. In a few minutes I was joined here by
the Abbe, who politely expressed his sorrow that he had not known of my
arrival earlier.

As we sat chatting together, he told me a curious experience of his of
the previous night, which will certainly "cause the enemy" to smile, if
not "to blaspheme."

He said (of course, in French): "I was sitting last night in my room,
which looks over the back of the house, and where I can hear no sounds
from the Avenue, and I was talking to 'La Reine.' Suddenly '_Elle m'a
frappe sur l'epaule_,' and then said she must leave me at once, in order
to meet the Duchesse, who had just returned home. At that moment twelve
o'clock struck from a neighbouring church, and I looked at my watch, and
found it was indeed midnight. When Madame la Duchesse comes in, I am
most anxious to find out whether she and the Duc were returning home at
that hour. You will be my witness, madame, that I have told you of this
occurrence before seeing the Duchesse."

I assured him that I would gladly testify to this; and in a few moments
the Duc de Pomar arrived, and almost immediately after him, Lady
Caithness emerged from her bedroom on the other side of the dining-room.

We sat down to luncheon, and I was much amused by the form of the Abbe's
question later in the meal.

"_Madame la Duchesse! puis je vous demander sans indiscretion, a quelle
heure vous etes revenue hier au soir?_"

Lady Caithness looked a little surprised, but answered readily enough:
"Well, it must have been past midnight; I did not notice very
specially."