The prior was somewhat embarrassed by the piercing glance I turned
on him, but he immediately started on one of those exhibitions of
simplicity which are the supreme resource of rogues:

"Mon Dieu! my dear son," he exclaimed, "you do not know, then, the
immense consolation a pious soul can derive from the possession of
worldly wealth? Just as perishable riches must be despised when they
represent vain pleasures, even so must they be resolutely defended by
the upright man when they afford him the means of doing good. I will
not hide from you that if I were the holy Trappist I would not yield my
rights to any one; I would found a religious society for the propagation
of the faith and the distribution of alms with the wealth which, in the
hands of a brilliant young nobleman like yourself, is only squandered on
horses and dogs. The Church teaches us that by great sacrifices and
rich offerings we may cleanse our souls of the blackest sins. Brother
Nepomucene, a prey to holy fear, believes that a public expiation is
necessary for his salvation. Like a devout martyr, he wishes to satisfy
the implacable justice of men with blood. But how much sweeter for you
(and safer, at the same time) to see him raise some holy altar to the
glory of God, and hide in the blessed peace of the cloister the baleful
lustre of the name he has already abjured! He is so much swayed by the
spirit of his order, he has conceived such a love for self-denial, for
humility and poverty, that it will need all my efforts and much help
from on high to make him agree to this change of expiations."

"It is you, then, prior, who from sheer goodness of heart are
undertaking to alter this fatal resolution? I admire your zeal, and I
thank you for it; but I do not think there will be any need of all these
negotiations. M. Jean de Mauprat claims his share of the inheritance;
nothing can be more just. Even should the law refuse all civil rights