peating his
phrase of the evening before:

"The Prussian officer sends to ask if Mademoiselle Elisabeth Rousset has
changed her mind."

Boule de Suif answered briefly:

"No, monsieur."

But at dinner the coalition weakened. Loiseau made three unfortunate
remarks. Each was cudgeling his brains for further examples of
self-sacrifice, and could find none, when the countess, possibly without
ulterior motive, and moved simply by a vague desire to do homage to
religion, began to question the elder of the two nuns on the most
striking facts in the lives of the saints. Now, it fell out that many
of these had committed acts which would be crimes in our eyes, but the
Church readily pardons such deeds when they are accomplished for the
glory of God or the good of mankind. This was a powerful argument, and
the countess made the most of it. Then, whether by reason of a tacit
understanding, a thinly veiled act of complaisance such as those who
wear the ecclesiastical habit excel in, or whether merely as the result
of sheer stupidity--a stupidity admirably adapted to further their
designs--the old nun rendered formidable aid to the conspirator. They
had thought her timid; she proved herself bold, talkative, bigoted. She
was not troubled by the ins and outs of casuistry; her doctrines were
as iron bars; her faith knew no doubt; her conscience no scruples. She
looked on Abraham's sacrifice as natural enough, for she herself would
not have hesitated to kill both father and mother if she had received
a divine order to that effect; and nothing, in her opinion, could
displease our Lord, provided the motive were praiseworthy. The countess,
putting to good use the consecrated authority of her unexpected ally,
led her on to make a lengthy and edifying paraphrase of that axiom
enunciated by a certain school of moralists: "The end justifies the
means."

"Then, sister," she asked, "you think God accepts all methods, and
pardons the act when the motive is pure?"

"Undoubtedly, madame. An action reprehensible in itself often derives
merit from the thought which inspires it."

And in this wise they talked on, fathoming the wishes of God, predicting
His judgments, describing Him as interested in matters which assuredly
concern Him but little.

All was said with the utmost care and discretion, but every word uttered
by the holy woman in her nun's garb weakened the indignant resistance of
the courtesan. Then the conversation drifted somewhat