two angelic natures. Nothing could exceed the fervency with which he
longed to meet a woman angel. And who better than he could inspire or
feel love? If anything could give an impression of an exquisite
nature, was it not the amiability and kindliness that marked his
feelings, his words, his actions, his slightest gestures, the conjugal
regard that united us as boys, and that we expressed when we called
ourselves _chums_?

There was no distinction for us between my ideas and his. We imitated
each other's handwriting, so that one might write the tasks of both.
Thus, if one of us had a book to finish and to return to the
mathematical master, he could read on without interruption while the
other scribbled off his exercise and imposition. We did our tasks as
though paying a task on our peace of mind. If my memory does not play
me false, they were sometimes of remarkable merit when Lambert did
them. But on the foregone conclusion that we were both of us idiots,
the master always went through them under a rooted prejudice, and even
kept them to read to be laughed at by our schoolfellows.

I remember one afternoon, at the end of the lesson, which lasted from
two till four, the master took possession of a page of translation by
Lambert. The passage began with _Caius Gracchus, vir nobilis_; Lambert
had construed this by "Caius Gracchus had a noble heart."

"Where do you find 'heart' in _nobilis_?" said the Father sharply.

And there was a roar of laughter, while Lambert looked at the master
in some bewilderment.

"What would Madame la Baronne de Stael say if she could know that you