CHAPTER XII.

  The royal way of the holy cross

He took up the book; a sentence of that noble chapter caught his eye like a flash of light:—­

  “He has walked before thee, bearing his cross; he died for thee,
  that thou mightest bear thy cross, and be glad to die upon it.

  “Go where thou wilt, seek what thou wilt, never canst thou find a
  nobler, surer path than the royal way of the holy cross.

“Dispose and order all things according to thy desires and thine own judgment and still thou shalt find trials to suffer, whether thou wilt or no; and so the cross is there; be it pain of body or pain of mind.

“Sometimes God will seem to leave thee, sometimes men will harass thee.  But, far worse, thou wilt find thyself a burden to thyself, and no remedy will deliver thee, no consolation comfort thee:  until it pleases God to end thy trouble thou must bear it; for it is God’s will that we suffer without consolation, that we may go to him without one backward look, humble through tribulation.”

“What a strange book!” thought Godefroid, turning over the leaves.  Then his eyes lighted on the following words:—­

“When thou hast reached the height of finding all afflictions sweet, since they have made thee love the love of Jesus Christ, then know thyself happy; for thou hast found thy paradise in this world.”

Annoyed by this simplicity (the characteristic of strength), angry at being foiled by a book, he closed the volume; but even then he saw, in letters of gold on the green morocco cover, the words:—­

  Seek that which is eternal, and that only.

“Have they found it here?” he asked himself.

He went out to buy the handsomest copy he could find of the “Imitation of Jesus Christ” thinking that Madame de la Chanterie would wish to read her chapter that night.  When he reached the street he stood a moment near the door, uncertain which way to take and debating in what direction he was likely to find a bookseller.  As he stood there he heard the heavy sound of the massive porte-cochere closing.

Two men were leaving the hotel de la Chanterie.  If the reader has fully understood the character of this old house he will know that it was one of the ancient mansions of the olden time.  Manon, herself, when she called Godefroid that morning, had asked him, smiling, how he had slept in the hotel de la Chanterie.

Godefroid followed the two men without the slightest intention of watching them; they took him for an accidental passer, and spoke in tones which enabled him to hear distinctly in those lonely streets.

The two men passed along the rue Massillon beside the church and crossed the open space in front of it.