The enemies of the lay Prior, satirists literary and religious,
falsely made a priest of him, a priest who should have sacrificed a
goat to pagan Bacchus. And in truth the poet, for a time a soldier,
and all his life a zealous courtier, had always been capable, as a
poet should be, of long-sustained meditation, adapting himself easily
enough to the habits of the "religious," following attentively the
choir-services in their church, of which he was a generous
benefactor, and to which he presently proceeded for vespers. Gaston
and "the three" sat among the Brethren, tempting curious eyes, in the
stalls of the half-lighted choir, while in purple cope and jaunty
biretta the lay Prior "assisted," his confidentiaire, or priestly
substitute, officiating at the altar. The long, sad, Lenten office
over, an invitation to supper followed, for Ronsard still loved, in
his fitful retirements at one or another of his numerous benefices,
to give way to the chance recreation of flattering company, and these
gay lads' enthusiasm for his person was obvious. And as for himself,
the great poet, with his [63] bodily graces and airs of court, had
always possessed the gift of pleasing those who encountered him.
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