“Monseigneur, I know, is old and ill; but those Canons!—­They look so weary, to be sure!  As I see them droning out the Psalms in their stalls, I wonder whether they know where they are and what they are doing; they always seem to me in a half unconscious state—­”

“The high winds of la Beauce induce lethargy,” said the Abbe, laughing.  “But allow me to assure you that though the Cathedral scorns Gregorian chants, here, at Chartres, at the little Seminary, at the church of Notre Dame de la Breche, and at the convent of the Sisters of Saint Paul, they are sung after the Use of Solesmes, so that you can alternately attend that church and those chapels and the Cathedral, since perfection is to be found in neither.”

“Of course.  Still, is it not horrible to think that the Hottentot taste of a few bawling old men can pursue the Virgin even in Her sanctuary with such musical insults?  Ah, there is the rain again,” said Durtal with vexation, after a short silence.

“Well, here we are.  We can take shelter in the church, and study the interior at our leisure.”

They knelt before the Black Virgin of the Pillar; then they sat down in the deserted nave, and the Abbe said in an undertone,—­

“I explained to you the other day the symbolism of the outside of the building.  Would you like me now to inform you in a few words as to the allegories set forth in the aisles?”

And on seeing Durtal agree by a nod, the priest went on,—­

“You are, of course, aware that almost all our cathedrals are cruciform.  In the primitive Church, it is true, you will find that some were constructed of a circular form and surmounted by a dome.  But most of these were not built by our forefathers; they are ancient temples of the heathen adapted by the Catholics, with more or less alteration, to their own use, or imitated from such temples before the Romanesque style was recognized.

“We need then seek in these no liturgical meaning, since that form was not a Christian invention.  At the same time Durand of Mende, in his Rationale, asserts that a building of rounded form symbolizes the extension of the Church over the whole circle of the universe.  Others explain the dome as being the crown of the Crucified King, and the smaller cupolas which occasionally support it as the huge heads of the Nails.  But we may set aside these explanations, which are but based on existing facts, and study the cruciform plan shown here, as in other cathedrals, in the arrangement of the nave and transepts.

“It may be noted that in a few churches, as, for instance, the abbey church of Cluny, the interior, instead of showing a Latin Cross, was planned on the lines of the Cross of Lorraine, two crosslets being added to the arms.—­Now, behold the whole scheme!” the priest said, with a gesture that comprehended the whole of the interior of the basilica of Chartres.