Then the old woman said, "To-morrow is Easter Day; go to Mass, pray as you never prayed before, and take the blessed bread, proving that you are numbered with His children for ever." The girl consented, and went to the Church of Saint Peter on Easter morning.

She knelt, with her chaplet of beads, among the rest, imploring Heaven's mercy.

But she knelt alone in the midst of a wide circle.

All the communicants avoided her.

The churchwarden, Marcel's uncle, in his long-tailed coat, with a pompous step, passed her entirely by, and refused her the heavenly meal.