Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/59



commencement of the scholastic year was close at hand, and I agreed with Tiberge that we should enter the Seminary of St. Sulpice together—he to complete his theological studies, and I to begin mine. His merits, which were well known to the Bishop of the Diocese, obtained for him a living of considerable value from that prelate, previous to our departure.

My father, believing me to be quite cured of my passion, made no difficulty about letting me go. We duly arrived at Paris, where the ecclesiastical garb took the place of the Cross of Malta, and the title of the Abbé des Grieux that of Chevalier. I gave myself up to study with such application that I made remarkable progress within a few months. I devoted a portion of the night to it, and lost not a moment of the day. I gained so brilliant a reputa-