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88 was replacing him. Julien helped the good cure, and it occurred to him to write to Fouqué that the irresistible mission which he felt for the holy ministry had previously prevented him from accepting his kind offer, but that he had just seen an instance of injustice, and that perhaps it would be safer not to enter into Holy Orders.

Julien congratulated himself on his subtlety in exploiting the dismissal of the cure of Verrières so as to leave himself a loophole for returning to commerce in the event of a gloomy prudence routing the spirit of heroism from his mind.