Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 1.djvu/215

Rh How can one he like that? How often one asks himself that question?

Thus, madam, Madame de Piennes thought much about Mademoiselle Arsène Guillot, and said to herself: "I will rescue her."

She sent her a priest, who exhorted her to repentance. Repentance was not difficult for poor Arsène, who, with the exception of a few brief hours of pleasure, had known only the miseries of life.

Say to one who is unhappy: "It is your fault," and he is only half convinced, but if at the same time you soften your reproach with a little consolation, he will bless you, and promise everything for the future. A Greek has said somewhere, or rather Amyot puts it into his mouth:

Which returns in simple prose to this aphorism: Misfortune makes us as gentle as lambs. The priest said to Madame de Piennes that while Mademoiselle Guillot was very ignorant, she was not bad at heart, and that he had great hopes of her salvation.

In truth, Arsène listened to him with respectful attention. She read the passages marked for