In that case the periodicity of his
devotion would justify a scientific investigation; for in such a man
there ought to be no direct antagonism of thought and action.
Next year, on the said day and hour, Bianchon, who had already ceased to
be Desplein's house surgeon, saw the great man's cab standing at the
corner of the Rue de Tournon and the Rue du Petit-Lion, whence his
friend jesuitically crept along by the wall of Saint-Sulpice, and once
more attended mass in front of the Virgin's altar. It was Desplein, sure
enough! The master-surgeon, the atheist at heart, the worshiper by
chance. The mystery was greater than ever; the regularity of the
phenomenon complicated it. When Desplein had left, Bianchon went to the
sacristan, who took charge of the chapel, and asked him whether the
gentleman were a constant worshiper.
"For twenty years that I have been here," replied the man, "M. Desplein
has come four times a year to attend this mass. He founded it."
"A mass founded by him!" said Bianchon, as he went away. "This is as
great a mystery as the Immaculate Conception--an article which alone is
enough to make a physician an unbeliever."
Some time elapsed before Doctor Bianchon, though so much his friend,
found an opportunity of speaking to Desplein of this incident of his
life.
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