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casion to mention it, when he was not even conscious of it
himself in all probability, so perfect was his simplicity, they
vaguely felt that he was acting as a bishop; then they were
nothing more than two shadows in the house. They served
him passively; and if obedience consisted in disappearing,
they disappeared. They understood, with an admirable
delicacy of instinct, that certain cares may be put under
constraint. Thus, even when believing him to be in peril,
they understood, I will not say his thought, but his nature,
to such a degree that they no longer watched over him. They
confided him to God.
Moreover, Baptistine said, as we have just read, that her
brother’s end would prove her own. Madame Magloire did
not say this, but she knew it.