small room, which looked like a deserted granary; and seating him beside
himself upon a black leather trunk, he said, warmly:

"Well, my son, whither go you? How came Madame la Marechale to allow you
to come here? Do you not see what they are doing against an unhappy man,
whose death alone will content them? Alas, merciful Heaven! is this the
first spectacle my dear pupil is to see? And you at that delightful
period of life when friendship, love, confidence, should alone encompass
you; when all around you should give you a favorable opinion of your
species, at your very entry into the great world! How unfortunate!
alas, why did you come?"

When the good Abbe had followed up this lamentation by pressing
affectionately both hands of the young traveller in his own, so red and
wrinkled, the latter answered:

"Can you not guess, my dear Abbe, that I came to Loudun because you are
here? As to the spectacle you speak of, it appears to me simply
ridiculous; and I swear that I do not a whit the less on its account love
that human race of which your virtues and your good lessons have given me
an excellent idea. As to the five or six mad women who--"

"Let us not lose time; I will explain to you all that matter; but answer
me, whither go you, and for what?"

"I am going to Perpignan, where the Cardinal-Duke is to present me to the
King."

At this the worthy but hasty Abbe rose from his box, and walked, or
rather ran, to and fro, stamping. "The Cardinal! the Cardinal!" he