At such times she was something sublime in Armand's eyes; she was
not acting, she was genuine; the unhappy lover was convinced that
she loved him. Her egoistic resistance deluded him into a belief
that she was a pure and sainted woman; he resigned himself; he
talked of Platonic love, did this artillery officer!
When Mme de Langeais had played with religion sufficiently to
suit her own purposes, she played with it again for Armand's
benefit. She wanted to bring him back to a Christian frame of
mind; she brought out her edition of _Le Genie du Christianisme_,
adapted for the use of military men. Montriveau chafed; his yoke
was heavy. Oh! at that, possessed by the spirit of contradiction,
she dinned religion into his ears, to see whether God might not
rid her of this suitor, for the man's persistence was beginning
to frighten her. And in any case she was glad to prolong any
quarrel, if it bade fair to keep the dispute on moral grounds
for an indefinite period; the material struggle which followed
it was more dangerous.
But if the time of her opposition on the ground of the marriage
law might be said to be the _epoque civile_ of this sentimental
warfare, the ensuing phase which might be taken to constitute the
_epoque religieuse_ had also its crisis and consequent decline of
severity.
Armand happening to come in very early one evening, found M.
l'Abbe Gondrand, the Duchess's spiritual director, established in
an armchair by the fireside, looking as a spiritual director
might be expected to look while digesting his dinner and the
charming sins of his penitent.
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