Do not put a gulf between us.
If you loved me, you would already have read 'The Imitation of Jesus Christ.'" The Phellion class, sons of the "Constitutionnel," dislike the priestly mind.

Felix had the imprudence to reply to this sort of prayer from the depths of an ardent heart:-- "You are repeating, Celeste, the lessons your confessor teaches you; nothing, believe me, is more fatal to happiness than the interference of priests in a home." "Oh!" cried Celeste, wounded to the quick, for love alone inspired her, "you do not love! The voice of my heart is not in unison with yours! You have not understood me, because you have not listened to me; but I forgive you, for you know not what you say." She wrapped herself in solemn silence, and Felix went to the window and drummed upon the panes,--music familiar to those who have indulged in poignant reflections.

Felix was, in fact, presenting the following delicate and curious questions to the Phellion conscience.
"Celeste is a rich heiress, and, in yielding against the voice of natural religion, to her ideas, I should have in view the making of what is certainly an advantageous marriage,--an infamous act.

I ought not, as father of a family, to allow the priesthood to have an influence in my home.

If I yield to-day, I do a weak act, which will be followed by many others equally pernicious to the authority of a husband and father.