And these transparent hangings were like flowers, redolent of sandal and pepper, fragrant with the subtle spices of the Magian kings; a perfumed flower-bed of hues culled at the cost of so much blood in the fields of Palestine; and here offered by the West, under the cold sky of Chartres, to the Virgin Mother in remembrance of the sunny lands where She dwelt and where Her Son chose to be born.

“Where could you find a grander shrine or a more sublime dwelling for Our Mother?” said the Abbe as he pointed to the nave.

This exclamation roused Durtal from his reflections, and he listened as the priest went on,—­

“Though this cathedral is unique as regards its width, in spite of its enormous height it cannot compare with the extravagant elevation of Bourges, Amiens, and more especially of Beauvais, where the vault of the roof rises to forty-eight metres from the ground.  That cathedral, it is true, was bent on outstripping its sisters.

“Springing into the air at one flight, when it reached the upper spaces it tottered and fell.  You know the portions which survived the wreck of that mad attempt?”

“Yes, Monsieur l’Abbe; and that sanctuary and that apse, so narrow and restricted, with columns so close together, and the iridescent light, like filmy soap bubbles, from walls which seem made of glass, disturb and bewilder you; on first entering it gives the impression of indescribable uneasiness, a sort of anxious and distressed anticipation.  And in truth it is neither quite healthy nor sound; it seems only to live by dint of aids and expedients; it struggles to be free and is not; it is long drawn and not ethereal; it has—­how shall I express it?—­large bones.  You remember the pillars?  They are like the smooth muscular trunks of beech trees, which have also the angular edges of reeds.  How different from the harp-strings which form the aerial skeleton of Chartres!  No, in spite of all, Beauvais, like Reims, and like Paris, is a fleshy cathedral; it has not the elegant leanness, the perennial youthfulness of form, the Patrician stamp of Amiens, and more especially of Chartres!

“And have you not been struck, Monsieur l’Abbe, by the way in which the genius of man has constantly borrowed from Nature in the construction of his basilicas?  It is almost certain that the arcades of the forest were the starting-point for the mystic avenues of our aisles.  And again, look at the pillars.  I was speaking of those at Beauvais as suggesting the beech and the reed; if you think of the columns at Laon, they have nodes all up their stems, resembling the regular swelling of bamboos, to the point of imitation.  Note also the stone flora of the capitals and the pendants of the vault, terminating the long ribs of the arches.  Here the animal kingdom seems to have inspired the architect.  Might we not conceive of a fabulous spider, of which the key-stone is the body and the ribs stretching under the vaults are the legs?  The image is so accurate as to be irresistible.  And then what a marvel is the gigantic Arachne, wrought like a jewel and heightened with gold, which might have spun the web of those three flaming rose windows!”