He had spent the whole
morning at the Vatican, and the manner of his reception there had
been so curiously divided between flattery and reproach that he had
not known what to make of it. The Pope had been tetchy and
querulous,--precisely in such a humour as one naturally expects so
aged a man to be when contradicted on any matter, whether trivial or
important. For with such advanced years the faculties are often as
brittle as the bones, and the failing powers of the brain are often
brought to bear with more concentration on inconsiderable trifles
than on the large and important affairs of life. He had questioned
the Cardinal closely concerning the miraculous cure performed at
Rouen, and had become excessively angry when the honest prelate
earnestly disclaimed all knowledge of it. He had then confronted him
with Claude Cazeau, the secretary of the Archbishop of Rouen, and
Cazeau had given a clear and concise account of the whole matter,
stating that the child, Fabien Doucet, had been known in Rouen since
his babyhood as a helpless cripple, and that after Cardinal Bonpre
had prayed over him and laid hands on him, he had been miraculously
cured, and was now to be seen running about the city as strong and
straight as any other healthy child.
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