The youngest of the three was to receive from a grand-aunt a good hundred thousand livres of income; the second was the heir by entail to the title of the Duke, his uncle; the eldest was to succeed to the peerage of his grandfather.

The Bishop was accustomed to listen in silence to these innocent and pardonable maternal boasts.

On one occasion, however, he appeared to be more thoughtful than usual, while Madame de Lo was relating once again the details of all these inheritances and all these "expectations." She interrupted herself impatiently: "Mon Dieu, cousin! What are you thinking about ?" "I am thinking," replied the Bishop, "of a singular remark, which is to be found, I believe, in St.Augustine,--'Place your hopes in the man from whom you do not inherit.'" At another time, on receiving a notification of the decease of a gentleman of the country-side, wherein not only the dignities of the dead man, but also the feudal and noble qualifications of all his relatives, spread over an entire page: "What a stout back Death has!" he exclaimed.

"What a strange burden of titles is cheerfully imposed on him, and how much wit must men have, in order thus to press the tomb into the service of vanity!" He was gifted, on occasion, with a gentle raillery, which almost always concealed a serious meaning.

In the course of one Lent, a youthful vicar came to D----, and preached in the cathedral.