The Abbot of Citeaux, general of the order, was councillor by right of birth in the Parliament of Burgundy. We do what we like with our dead. Is not the body of Saint Benedict himself in France at the Abbey of Fleury, called Saint Benedict, in the Loire, although he died at Monte Cassino in Italy, on Saturday, March 21, 543? All this is incontestable. I abhor the psallants, I hate the priors, I execrate heretics, but I should detest even worse any one who opposed my views in this matter. It is only necessary to read Arnoul Wion, Gabriel Bucelinus, Trithème, Maurolicus, and Dom Luc d'Achery." The prioress breathed, and then turned to Fauchelevent. "Father Fauvent, is it settled?" "It is, Reverend Mother." "Can we reckon on you?" "I will obey." "Very good." "I am entirely devoted to the convent." "You will close the coffin, and the sisters will carry it into the chapel. The office for the dead will be read, and then we shall return to the cloisters. Between eleven and twelve you will come with your iron bar, and everything will be performed with the utmost secrecy; there will be no one in the chapel but the four singing mothers, Mother Ascension, and yourself." "And the sister who will be at the post?" "She will not turn round." "But she will hear." "She will not listen. Moreover, what the convent knows the world is ignorant of." There was another pause, after which the prioress continued,-- "You will remove your bell, for it is unnecessary for the sister at the stake to notice your presence." "Reverend Mother?" "What is it, Father Fauvent?" "Has the physician of the dead paid his visit?" "He will do so at four o'clock to-day; the bell has been rung to give him notice. But do you not hear any ringing?" "I only pay attention to my own summons." "Very good, Father Fauvent." "Reverend Mother, I shall require a lever at least six feet long." "Where will you get it?" "Where there are plenty of gratings there are plenty of iron bars. I have a pile of old iron at the end of the garden." "About three quarters of an hour before midnight, do not forget." "Reverend Mother?" "What is it?" "If you have other jobs like this, my brother is a strong fellow for you,--a Turk." "You will be as quick as possible." "I cannot do things quickly, for I am infirm, and for that reason require an assistant. I halt." "Halting is not a crime, and may be a blessing. The Emperor Henry II., who combated the Anti-pope Gregory, and re-established Benedict VIII., has two surnames,--the saint and the cripple." "Two excellent surtouts," muttered Fauchelevent, who really was rather hard of hearing. "Father Fauvent, now I think of it, take a whole hour, for it will not be too much. Be at the High Altar with your crowbar at eleven o'clock, for the service begins at midnight, and all must be finished a good quarter of an hour previously."