"Rejoice, my son, and sing with me _Hosannah! Hosannah!_ The ways of the
Lord are infinite.

"Your personal enemy, Saint Anastasius Gobin, Grand-Vicar, Arch-Priest,
Notary Apostolic and, like the ancient slave, as vile as anyone, _non tum
vilis quam nullus_, has just left Nancy secretly, and in disgrace, like a
guilty wretch as he is.

"Ah, my poor friend, let us veil our faces like the daughters of Sion. It
is written: 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.' Anastasius Gobin
has lived too much after the flesh. Alas! we know it, and you know it.
_Nemo melius judicare potest quam tu_, as Brutus said to Cicero; so you
will not share in the astonishment of the Cathedral worshippers. I will
relate the matter to you in private.

"_Ergo_. You are henceforth safe from his persecution for ever; it is now
only a question of regaining Monseigneur's favour. The serpent is no longer
there to whisper perfidious insinuations into his too complaisant ear. When
the beast is dead, the venom is dead.

"I hope that adversity has been of use to you. You have experienced what it
costs not to be sufficiently yielding. Now the future is yours; nothing has
been lost except a few years, and those few years have brought, I hope,
experience and knowledge of life. Courage then. _Filii Sion exultate et
laetimini in Domino Deo nostro_.

"I have faith more than ever in your lucky star, and I hope that you will
form the consolation and the pride of my declining years. Yes, my friend,
you will do honour to your old master. _Tu quoque Marcellus eris_!