"
His sweet voice fell on the silence like a soft chime, and Henri,
for no particular reason that he could give, felt suddenly abashed.
Cardinal Bonpre listened to the words of this strange foundling with
a singular emotion,--an emotion too deep to find any outlet in
speech. Babette raised her brown trustful eyes, and timidly ventured
to put in her opinion.
"Yes"--she said--"I am sure that is true. You see Henri"--with a
wise glance at her brother--"you see it is always the same,--when
anyone suffers something unfortunate, there is certain to be some
cause for it. Now everybody says that if poor Martine had not put
Fabien in the cart to save herself the trouble of holding him on her
knee, he would not have tumbled out and been hurt. That was the
beginning of it. And that was not God's fault. Come Fabien!--we'll
take you back now."
At this, Madame Patoux started from her stricken condition of
horrified dumbness into speech and action.
"Ah yes, it is indeed time!" she exclaimed--"Enough trouble has been
given, I am sure, to Monseigneur, and if such a prayer as his does
not reach Heaven, why then there is no Heaven at all, and it is no
good bothering ourselves about it. And what things have been said by
my son!--MY son!--against the Holy Father! Ah, mon Dieu! The
wickedness of it!--The horror! And if thou learnest such blasphemy
from newspapers, Henri, thou shalt not read them--"
"Who is to prevent me?" demanded Henri, his eyes sparkling
defiantly.
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