The prior received the abbe with all the signs of profound contempt and
holy aversion for his state of heresy. Far from attempting to wheedle
him like myself, he told him that he wished to have nothing to do with
this business, that he washed his hands of it, and that he would confine
himself to conveying the decisions on both sides, and affording a refuge
to Brother Nepomucene, partly out of Christian charity, and partly to
edify his monks by the example of a truly devout man. According to him,
Brother Nepomucene would be the second of that name placed in the front
rank of the heavenly host by virtue of the canons of the Church.

The next day the abbe was summoned to the convent by a special
messenger, and had an interview with the Trappist. To his great
surprise, he found that the enemy had changed his tactics. He
indignantly refused help of any sort, declaring that his vow of poverty
and humility would not allow it; and he strongly blamed his dear host,
the prior, for daring to suggest, without his consent, an exchange
of things eternal for things temporal. On other matters he refused to
explain his views, and took refuge in ambiguous and bombastic replies.
God would inspire him, he said, and at the approaching festival of the
Virgin, at the august and sublime hour of holy communion, he expected to
hear the voice of Jesus speaking to his heart and announcing the line of
conduct he ought to follow. The abbe was afraid of betraying uneasiness,
if he insisted on probing this "Christian mystery," so he returned with
this answer, which was least of all calculated to reassure me. He did
not appear again either at the castle or in the neighbourhood, and kept
himself so closely shut up in the convent that few people ever saw his
face. However, it soon became known, and the prior was most active in
spreading the news, that John Mauprat had been converted to the most
zealous and exemplary piety, and was now staying at the Carmelite