[CHAPTER XXIII]
THE ADORER
III. Fumes of Incense
"Il y a un secret, Valérien, que je veux
le dire; j' ai pour amant un ange de Dieu,
qui, avec une extrême jalousie, veille sur
mon corps."
Bréviare romain,
Office de sainte Cécile.
"The incense! The incense!
"What incense there is in the censers!
"What fumes there are in the incense!
"That cloud is pagan, Virgin! Fie! to hide yourself in a cloud in order to love. But why? I see the wings of the angel whose whiteness shines under the fragrant cloud. It is with this, with so little, Virgin I fie! that he has intoxicated you to possess you. And you smile at him, I see your eyes whose splendor shines under the fragrant cloud, in the shadow of the white wings.