It is
the pearl of my collection! What do you think of the idea--that lily
which symbolizes triumphant purity, and those thistles, the plants which
spring up among ruins, and which symbolize the sterility of the world, at
last deserted, again won over to the only perfect felicity? All your work
lies in those symbols, you know."
"Yes, yes. But you spoil me; you will end by making me proud."
Mathieu had read Santerre's novel, having borrowed a copy of it from Mme.
Beauchene, in order that his wife might see it, since it was a book that
everybody was talking of. And the perusal of it had exasperated him.
Forsaking the customary bachelor's flat where in previous works he had
been so fond of laying scenes of debauchery, Santerre had this time tried
to rise to the level of pure art and lyrical symbolism. The story he told
was one of a certain Countess Anne-Marie, who, to escape a rough-mannered
husband of extreme masculinity, had sought a refuge in Brittany in the
company of a young painter endowed with divine inspiration, one Norbert,
who had undertaken to decorate a convent chapel with paintings that
depicted his various visions.
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