The Abbe and his housekeeper were lodged in the episcopal palace, under the shadow of the Cathedral apse.  They occupied a first floor, with nothing over it, above some empty stables; a row of cold, tiled rooms which the Bishop had had redecorated.

Some time after their arrival at Chartres the Abbe had replied to Durtal, who had remarked that he was anxious,—­

“Yes, I am certainly going through a difficult time; I have had to live down certain prejudices—­but indeed I was prepared for them.  And that was another reason why I did not wish to leave Paris.  But the Blessed Virgin is good!  Everything is coming right—­”

And when Durtal persisted,—­

“As you may suppose,” said the priest, “the appointment of a Canon from another diocese was not looked upon with indifferent eyes by the clergy of Chartres.  Such suspicions with regard to an unknown priest brought by a new Bishop are not after all unnatural; it is inevitably feared that he may play the part of a ruler without a robe; each one is on his guard, and they sift his least word and pick over his least action.”

“And then,” said Durtal, “is it not another mouth to feed out of the wretched pittance allowed by the State?”

“So far as that goes, no.  I draw no stipend, and damage no man’s interest; in fact I would not accept it.  The only pecuniary advantage I derive from being about the Bishop’s person is that I have no rent to pay, since I am lodged for nothing in the episcopal building.

“I could not in any case have drawn a stipend, for the allowance granted to Canons by the Government has ceased to be given, since a measure was passed, on March 22nd, 1885, decreeing the suppression of such emoluments as the incumbents died off.  Hence only those who held such benefices before the passing of the law now draw on the funds devoted to the maintenance of the Church; and they are dying off one by one, so that the time is fast approaching when there will not be a single Canon left who is salaried by the State.  In some dioceses these lapsed benefices are compensated for by the revenues from some religious foundation, or, as you may call it, a prebend.  But there are none at Chartres.  The Chapter has at the utmost the use of a varying income which it divides among those who have no benefice, giving them, good years with bad, a sum of about three hundred francs each, and that is all.”

“And the Canons have no perquisites?”

“None whatever.”

“Then I wonder how they live.”

“If they have no private fortune they live more penuriously than the poorest labourers in Chartres.  Most of them simply vegetate; some perform Mass for Sisterhoods, or are convent chaplains, but that brings in very little, two hundred or two hundred and fifty francs perhaps.  Another holds the post of secretary to the diocese, by which he gets rooms and as much, perhaps, as six hundred francs.  Yet another conducts the services of the holy week known as the Voice of Our Lady of Chartres, and acts as precentor; and some find employment as the Bishop’s officials.  Each one, in short, has a struggle to earn his food and lodging.”