Pursued by Madame Mesurat, who insisted on dealing him one more blow with the clothes-brush, he rushed downstairs, and was soon at his friend's door.
Madame Bavoil, who opened it, appeared in a cap all askew and hair loose, up-turned sleeves and scorched arms, with cheeks crimson from the kitchen fire.

She confessed to the concoction of a dish of beef _a la mode_ softened by calf's foot jelly and strengthened by a dash of brandy, and fled, alarmed by the impatient call of a saucepan, of which the contents were boiling over on the hot plates of the stove, with a noise like cats swearing.
Durtal found the old Abbe tormented by rheumatism, but as ever, patient and cheerful.

They talked a little while; then, seeing that Durtal was looking at some little lumps of gum lying on his writing table, the Abbe said,-- "That is incense from the Carmel of Chartres." "Indeed!" "Yes, the Carmelites are accustomed to burn none but genuine true incense.

So I begged them to trust me with a specimen that I might procure the same quality for our cathedral." "It is everywhere adulterated, I suppose ?" "Yes.

This substance is found in commerce under three forms: male incense, which is the best if unadulterated; female incense, which is mixed with reddish fragments and dry grains called _marrons_; finally incense in powder, which is for the most part a mixture of inferior resin and benzoin." "And what have you there ?" "This is male incense; do you see those oblong tears, those almost transparent drops of faded amber?
how different from that which they use at Notre Dame; it is earthy, broken, full of scraps, and it is safe to wager that those knobs are crystals of carbonate of lime and not beads of pure resin." "Why," said Durtal, "this substance suggests to me the idea of a symbolism of odours; has it ever been worked out ?" "I doubt it; but in any case it would be very simple.