she made a new rule or revived an old one she
practised it secretly herself long before she asked any of her nuns to
adopt it. At this time she was torn between the advice of two of the
Capuchin monks, one of whom urged her to lay down her burden and to
enter as a sister in some other convent; while the other, the father
Bernard, who had alarmed the nuns by his zeal, at last seemed to
understand the position of Angelique, and told her that, having put her
hand to the plough, she must not draw back.

Angelique was only sixteen and in great trouble of mind, and in her sore
distress she did some foolish things in the way of penances which she
afterwards looked on with disapproval, for she never encouraged her nuns
to hurt their bodies so as to injure their minds. Indeed, her character
was too practical for her to adopt the follies which were the fashion in
some of the religious houses not wholly given over to worldly pleasures.
She had no wish to become famous or to be considered a saint when she
knew how far she was from being one, and prayed earnestly and sensibly
never to be allowed to see visions--the visions which she was well
aware were often the result first of fasting, and next the cause of
vanity, with its root in the praise of men.

* * * * *

As usual, the early autumn proved a trying season for Angelique, and she
again fell ill of a fever, and spent some weeks at Andilly with her
troop of brothers and sisters. But she could not shake off the sad
thoughts which were pressing on her, and was glad to go back to the
convent, taking with her little Marie Arnauld, then seven years old. The
winter passed before she could decide what to do, and her illness was
increased by the damp vapours arising from the ponds and marshes around
the abbey. She was worn out by thinking, and at length the prioress was
so alarmed by her appearance that she begged the abbess to do whatever
she thought right, as the sisters would submit to anything sooner than
see her in such misery.

The relief to Angelique's mind was immense, and she instantly called on
the whole community to assemble together. She then spoke to them,
reminding them of the vow of poverty they had taken, and showing them
how, if it was to be kept, they must cease to have possessions of their
own and share all things between them. When she had finished, a nun rose
up and silently left the room, returning in a few minutes with a little
pa