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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: "So many strangers come here," answered his wife.
"But," said the notary, "strangers never come to look at a church like
ours, which is less than two centuries old."
Ernest remained in the porch throughout the service without seeing any
woman who realized his hopes. Modeste, on her part, could not control
the trembling of her limbs until Mass was nearly over. She was in the
grasp of a joy that none but she herself could depict. At last she
heard the foot-fall of a gentleman on the pavement of the aisle. The
service over, La Briere was making a circuit of the church, where no
one now remained but the punctiliously pious, whom he proceeded to
subject to a shrewd and keen analysis. Ernest noticed that a prayer-
 Modeste Mignon |