nne du Mont, the Tour Saint
Jacques, are put out of countenance by the deplorable mass of newer
edifices. And I am not at all eager to contemplate that specimen of the
art of the maker of toilet articles which l'Opera is, nor that bridge
arch, l'arc de la Triomphe, nor that hollow chandelier, the Tour Eiffel!
It's enough to see them separately, from the ground, as you turn a
street corner. Well, I must go and dine, for I have an engagement with
Hyacinthe and I must be back before eight."

He went to a neighbouring wine shop where the dining-room, depopulated
at six o'clock, permitted one to ruminate in tranquillity, while eating
fairly sanitary food and drinking not too dangerously coloured wines. He
was thinking of Mme. Chantelouve, but more of Docre. The mystery of this
priest haunted him. What could be going on in the soul of a man who had
had the figure of Christ tattooed on his heels the better to trample
Him?

What hate the act revealed! Did Docre hate God for not having given him
the blessed ecstasies of a saint, or more humanly for not having raised
him to the highest ecclesiastical dignities? Evidently the spite of this
priest was inordinate and his pride unlimited. He seemed not displeased
to be an object of terror and loathing, for thus he was somebody. Then,
for a thorough-paced scoundrel, as this man seemed to be, what delight
to make his enemies languish in slow torment by casting spells on them
with perfect impunity.

"And sacrilege carries one out of oneself in furious transports, in
voluptuous delirium, which nothing can equal. Since the Middle Ages it
has been the coward's crime, for human justice does not prosecute it,
and one can commit it with impunity, but it is the most extreme of
excesses for a believer, and Docre believes in Christ, or he wouldn't
hate Him so.

"A monster! And what ignoble relations he must have had with
Chantelouve's wife! Now, how shall I make her speak up? She gave me
quite clearly to understand, the other day, that she refused to explain
herself on this topic. Meanwhile, as I have not intention of submitting
to her young girl follies tonight, I will tell her that I am not feeling
well, and that absolute rest and quiet are necessary."

He did so, an hour later when she came in.

She proposed a cup of tea, and when he refused, she embraced him and
nursed him like a baby. Then withdrawing a little, "You work too hard.
You need some relaxation. Come now, to pass the time