ll be seen from the above that His Grace the Archbishop of
Bordeaux, in his enlightened and generous exercise of justice, had
foreseen and provided for every possible contingency; so that as soon
as his orders were made known to the exorcists the possession ceased at
once and completely, and was no longer even talked of. Barre withdrew to
Chinon, the senior canons rejoined their chapters, and the nuns, happily
rescued for the time, resumed their life of retirement and tranquillity.
The archbishop nevertheless urged on Grandier the prudence of effecting
an exchange of benefices, but he replied that he would not at that
moment change his simple living of Loudun for a bishopric.

CHAPTER VIII

The exposure of the plot was most prejudicial to the prosperity of the
Ursuline community: spurious possession, far from bringing to their
convent an increase of subscriptions and enhancing their reputation, as
Mignon had promised, had ended for them in open shame, while in private
they suffered from straitened circumstances, for the parents of their
boarders hastened to withdraw their daughters from the convent, and the
nuns in losing their pupils lost their sole source of income. Their fall
in the estimation of the public filled them with despair, and it leaked
out that they had had several altercations with their director, during
which they reproached him for having, by making them commit such a great
sin, overwhelmed them with infamy and reduced them to misery, instead
of securing for them the great spiritual and temporal advantages he had
promised them. Mignon, although devoured by hate, was obliged to remain
quiet, but he was none the less as determined as ever to have revenge,
and as he was one of those men who never give up while a gleam of hope
remains, and whom no waiting can tire, he bided his time, avoiding
notice, apparently resigned to circumstances, but keeping his eyes fixed
on Grandier, ready to seize on the first chance of recovering possession
of the prey that had escaped his hands. And unluckily the chance soon
presented itself.

It was now 1633: Richelieu was at the height of his power, carrying out
his work of destruction, making castles fall before him where he could
not make heads fall, in the spirit of John Knox's words, "Destroy the
nests and the crows will disappear." Now one of these nests was the
crenellated castle of Loudun, and Richelieu had therefore ordered its
demolition.

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