anced at the writer, who had drawn near. And when
he saw him examining the book and looking quite moved by the compliment
paid to it, he exclaimed: "My dear fellow, the binder brought it here
this morning, and I was awaiting an opportunity to surprise you with it.
It is the pearl of my collection! What do you think of the idea--that
lily which symbolizes triumphant purity, and those thistles, the plants
which spring up among ruins, and which symbolize the sterility of the
world, at last deserted, again won over to the only perfect felicity?
All your work lies in those symbols, you know."

"Yes, yes. But you spoil me; you will end by making me proud."

Mathieu had read Santerre's novel, having borrowed a copy of it from
Mme. Beauchene, in order that his wife might see it, since it was a book
that everybody was talking of. And the perusal of it had exasperated
him. Forsaking the customary bachelor's flat where in previous works he
had been so fond of laying scenes of debauchery, Santerre had this time
tried to rise to the level of pure art and lyrical symbolism. The story
he told was one of a certain Countess Anne-Marie, who, to escape a
rough-mannered husband of extreme masculinity, had sought a refuge
in Brittany in the company of a young painter endowed with divine
inspiration, one Norbert, who had undertaken to decorate a convent
chapel with paintings that depicted his various visions. And for thirty
years he went on painting there, ever in colloquy with the angels, and
ever having Anne-Marie beside him. And during those thirty years of love
the Countess's beauty remained unimpaired; she was as young and as fresh
at the finish as at the outset; whereas certain secondary personages,
introduced into the story, wives and mothers of a neighboring little
town, sank into physical and mental decay, and monstrous decrepitude.
Mathieu considered the author's theory that all physical beauty and
moral nobility belonged to virgins only, to be thoroughly imbecile, and
he could not restrain himself from hinting his disapproval of it.

Both Santerre and Seguin, however, hotly opposed him, and quite a
discussion ensued. First Santerre took up the matter from a religious
standpoint. Said he, the words of the Old Testament, "Increase and
multiply," were not to be found in the New Testament, which was the true
basis of the Christian religion. The first Christians, he declared, had
held marriage in horror, and with them the Holy Virgin