ous,--only, _work_; but do not attack religion in your books.
Moreover, remember that you owe a debt."

And he handed him an envelope thick with the bank-notes he had counted
out. The tears were in Victor de Vernisset's eyes; he kissed Madame de
la Chanterie's hand respectfully, and went away, after shaking hands
with Monsieur Alain and Godefroid.

"You have not obeyed madame," said the goodman Alain solemnly, with a
sad expression on his face that Godefroid had never before seen there;
"and that is a great wrong; if it happens again we must part. This may
seem hard to you after we had begun to give you our confidence."

"My dear Alain," said Madame de la Chanterie, "have the kindness for my
sake to say no more about this piece of thoughtlessness. We ought not
to ask too much a new arrival, who has been spared great misfortunes
and knows nothing of religion; and who, moreover, has only an excessive
curiosity about our vocation, and does not yet believe in us."

"Forgive me, madame," said Godefroid; "I do desire, from this time
forth, to be worthy of you. I will submit to any trial you think
necessary before initiating me into the secrets of your work; and if the
Abbe de Veze will undertake to instruct me I will listen to him, soul
and mind."

These words made Madame de la Chanterie so happy that a faint color
stole upon her cheeks. She took Godefroid's hand and pressed it, then
she said, with strange emotion, "It is well."

That evening, after dinner, visitors came in: a vicar-general of the
diocese of Paris, two canons, two former mayors of Paris, and one of
the ladies who distributed the charities of Notre-Dame. No cards were
played; but the conversation was gay, without being vapid.

A visit which surprised Godefroid greatly was that of the Comtesse de
Cinq-Cygne, one of the highest personages in aristocratic society, whose
salon was inaccessible to the bourgeoisie and to parvenus. The presence
of this great lady in Madame de la Chanterie's salon was sufficiently
surprising; but the manner in which the two women met and treated
each other seemed to Godefroid inexplicable; for it showed the closest
intimacy and a constant intercourse which gave Madame de la Chanterie
an added value in his eyes. Madame de Cinq-Cygne was gracious and
affectionate in manner to the four friends of her friend, and showed the
utmost respect to Monsieur Nicolas.

We may see here how social vanities still governed Godefroid; for up to