The Bishop of D----, in spite of the gentle and candid air which never deserted him, sometimes did things that were grand, bold, and magnificent, without seeming to have even a suspicion of the fact.

They trembled, but they let him alone.

Sometimes Madame Magloire essayed a remonstrance in advance, but never at the time, nor afterwards.

They never interfered with him by so much as a word or sign, in any action once entered upon.
At certain moments, without his having occasion to mention it, when he was not even conscious of it himself in all probability, so perfect was his simplicity, they vaguely felt that he was acting as a bishop; then they were nothing more than two shadows in the house.

They served him passively; and if obedience consisted in disappearing, they disappeared.
They understood, with an admirable delicacy of instinct, that certain cares may be put under constraint.