"No, no. He died at the end of the last century. I find he did write a little romance about Lourdes. There was even a copy in the library here. I hadn"t time to look at it; but M. Meurot told me it was one of those odd little attacks on religion that were popular once. That"s all I could find out."
Monsignor compressed his lips. Somewhere out of his abysmal memory there lurked a consciousness that Zola had once been of some importance; but he could add nothing to the discussion.
Dom Adrian stood up and stretched himself.
"It"s time for bed," he said. "Look" (he nodded towards the window), "the devotions are just ending."
From out of the luminous gulf beneath, beyond the tiers of roofs that lay, step-like, between this hostel and the river, rose up that undying song of Lourdes--that strange, haunting old melody of the story of Bernadette, that for a hundred and fifty years had been sung in this place--a ballad-like song, without grace of music or art, which yet has so wonderful an affinity with the old carols of Christendom, which yet is so unforgettable and so affecting. As the three stood side by side looking out of the window they saw the serpent of fire, that rope-coil of tapers that, stretching round the entire Place, humped over the flights of steps and the platforms set amongst the churches, writhes incessantly on itself. But, even as they watched, the serpent grew dim and patchy, and the lights began to go out, as group after group broke away homewards. They had wished their Mother good night, there in that great French town which has so wonderful an aroma of little Nazareth; they had sung their thanksgivings; they had offered their prayers. Now it was time to sleep under Her protection, who was the Mother both of G.o.d and man. . . .
"Well, good night," said Monsignor. "We shall meet in London."
"I hope so," said the young monk gravely.
"I am afraid that young man will be in trouble," said Father Jervis softly, as they came down the steps. "His book, you know."
"Eh?"
"Well, it"s best not to talk of it. We shall soon know. He"s as brave as a lion."
PART II
CHAPTER I
(I)
Monsignor Masterman sat in his room at Westminster, busy at his correspondence.
A week had pa.s.sed since his return, and he had made extraordinary progress. Even his face showed it. The piteous, bewildered look that he had worn, as he first realized little by little how completely out of touch he was with the world in which he had found himself after his lapse of memory, had wholly disappeared; and in its place was the keen, bright-eyed intelligence of a typical ecclesiastic. It was not that his memory had returned.
Still, behind his sudden awakening in Hyde Park, all was a misty blank, from which faces and places and even phrases started out, for the most part unverifiable. Yet it seemed both to him and to those about him that he had an amazing facility in gathering up the broken threads. He had spent three or four days, after his return from Lourdes, closeted in private with Father Jervis or the Cardinal, and had found himself at last capable of readmitting his secretaries and of taking up his work again. The world in general had been informed of his nervous breakdown, so that on the few occasions when he seemed to suffer small lapses of memory no great surprise was felt.
He found, of course, a state of affairs that astonished him enormously. For example, he discovered that as the Cardinal"s secretary he was an extremely important person in the country. He had not yet ventured much on private interviews--these were for the present chiefly conducted by the Cardinal, with himself present; but his correspondence showed him that his good word was worth having, even by men who were foremost in the government of the day. There was, for instance, an immense amount of work to be done on the subject of the relations of Church and State; for the Church, it must be remembered, while not actually established, stood for the whole religious sentiment of the country, and must be consulted on every measure of importance. There was, further, the matter of the restoration of Church property not yet finally concluded in all its details, with endless adjustments and compensations still under discussion. This morning it was on the University question that he was chiefly engaged, and particularly the question as to the relative numbers of the lay and clerical Fellows on the old Catholic foundations.
A bell struck a single note; and one of his secretaries, sitting at the broad table near the window, lifted the receiver to his ear. Then he turned.
"His Eminence wishes to have a word with you, Monsignor, on two matters."
Monsignor stood up.
"I"ll come now, if it"s convenient," he said. "I have to be at Westminster at twelve."
The secretary spoke again through the telephone.
"His Eminence is ready," he said.
The Cardinal looked up as the priest came in a minute later.
"Ah! good morning, Monsignor. Yes, sit down there. There are just two matters I want to have a word with you on. The first is as regards a heresy-trial of a priest."
Monsignor bowed. It was his first experience of the kind, so far as he could remember; and he did not yet fully understand all that it meant.
"I wish you to select the judges. You"ll look up the procedure, if you forget? A Dominican must be on it, of course; so you must communicate with the Provincial. The other two must be seculars, as the accused is a Religious. He has elected to be tried in England."
"Yes, your Eminence."
"He has behaved very reasonably, and refuses to take advantage of the _Ne invitus_ clause."
"I forget at this moment," began Monsignor, vaguely conscious that he had heard of this before.
"Oh! that gives him the right to suppress the book before publication. It"s part of the new legislation. He has sent the thesis of his book, privately printed, to Rome, and it has been condemned. He refuses to withdraw, as he is perfectly confident of his orthodoxy. I understand that the book is not yet completely finished, but he has his thesis clear enough. It is on the subject of the miraculous element in religion."
"I beg your Eminence"s pardon, but is the author a Benedictine by any chance?"
The Cardinal smiled.
"Yes: I was coming to that. His name is Dom Adrian Bennett. He is--or rather ought to be--a Westminster monk, but his return has been deferred for the present."
"I met him at Lourdes, your Eminence."
"Ah! He is a very clever young man, and at the name time perfectly courageous. . . . Well, you"ll look up the procedure, if you"re not perfectly clear? And I should wish to have the names of the judges by tomorrow night. The Canon Theologian of the diocese may not be well enough to act. But you will make arrangements."
"Yes, your Eminence."
"The second matter is exceedingly important." (The Cardinal began to play with the pen that lay on his desk.) "And no rumour of it must get out from this house. It may be made public at any moment, and I wish you to know beforehand in order that you may not be taken by surprise. Well, it is this. I have had information that the Emperor of Germany will be received into the Catholic Church to-night. I needn"t tell you what that means. He is quite fearless and quite conscientious; and there is not the slightest doubt that he will, sooner or later, make it impossible for the Socialists to congregate any longer in Berlin. That will mean either civil war in Germany--(I hear the Socialists have been in readiness for this for some time past)--or it will mean their dispersal everywhere. Europe, at any rate, will have to deal with them. However, that"s in the future. The important thing at the present is that we should be able to show our full strength when the time comes. There will be thanksgivings throughout England, of course, as soon as the news is published, and I wish you to be in readiness to make what arrangements are necessary. It was the Lourdes miracle, which you witnessed, that has finished the affair. As you know, the Emperor has been on the edge of this for months past."
The Cardinal spoke quietly and diplomatically enough; but the other could see how deeply moved he was by this tremendous development. The Emperor"s position had been the one flaw in the Catholic organization of Europe--and indeed of the world. Now the last stone was laid, and the arch was complete. The single drawback was that no statesman or prophet could conjecture with certainty what the effect on the Socialists would be.
"And how are you, Monsignor?" asked the Cardinal suddenly, smiling at him.
"I am getting on very well, your Eminence!"
"I should like to say that, for myself, I am more than satisfied," went on the other. "You seem to me to have regained all your old grip on things--and in some points to have more than regained it. I have written to Rome----" (he broke off).
"It"s the details that still trouble me, your Eminence. For instance, in this heresy-trial, I cannot remember the procedure, or the penalties, or anything else."
"That"ll all come back," smiled the Cardinal. "After all, the principles are the point. Well, I mustn"t detain you. You"re to be at Westminster at twelve."
"Yes, your Eminence. We"ve nearly finished now. The monks are very well satisfied. But the main body of them do not come to Westminster until they formally re-enter. Cardinal Campello has written to say that he will be with us on the 20th for certain."