The finest and supreme test of love is to purge it of the last subtle admixture of sexual feeling and then measure its strength. As a rule this is wholly impracticable—Mr. W. Platt has a remarkable paper on the subject in his _Women, Love, and Life_—but in the case of Abélard the test was applied in supreme rigour, and with a satisfactory issue. There was indeed another consideration impelling Abélard, when he sought out his nun-wife. The desertion of the Paraclete had cost him many a heavy thought. The little estate was still his legal property, but it was insufficient to support a priest and companion at the oratory. He would assuage both anxieties by installing Heloise and such companions as she chose in his old home. But the course of the story will reveal more clearly the deep affection he had for Heloise. It was faithfulness to the views he held since his conversion, faithfulness to the ideal of the best men of the time, as well as a dread of the ever ready tongue of the calumniator, that separated him so long and so sternly from her. In 1129, therefore, the year in which the plague ravaged Paris, Abélard revisited the quiet valley of the Arduzon. Thither he invited Heloise and some of her companions, to whom he made over the legal possession of the estate. Poor Heloise must have been disappointed. The ardour which she reveals in her letters was evidently met by a great restraint and formality on his side. He was severely correct in the necessary intercourse with his ‘sisters in religion.’ Later events showed that, ridiculous as it may well seem, he had good reason for this deference to detractors. However, Heloise soon won universal regard and affection in Champagne. ‘The bishops came to love her as a daughter,’ says Abélard, ‘the abbots as a sister, and the laity as a mother.’ They lived in deep poverty and some anxiety at first, but nobles and prelates soon added generously to the resources of the new foundation. Noble dames, too, brought rich dowries with them in coming to ask for the veil in Heloise’s respected community. The priory grew rapidly in importance and good repute.