"Monsieur le Comte, you know little Jacques Gaux, the son of La Grenouille?...But he is a good little boy, Monsieur le Comte, and he cannot help it about his mother. You know she neglects him, and just now he is very badly off for shoes. I am knitting him some stockings, but the shoes we cannot manage."
Cecile makes a genuine effort to guarantee that Jacques will have novel shoes and stockings. Manifestly, she is an archetypal guardian Angel who cares for Jacques. She appeals to Monsieur le Comte’s Pathos by citing Jacques' mother’s negligence. Her argument depicts her as a judicious and compassionate girl. Her philanthropic mission succeeds since Comte offers her the cash for Jacques’ shoes.
“He (the apothecary) did not look at Auclair or the several others who came and went, being entirely absorbed in his devotions. His lips moved inaudibly, he knelt and rose slowly, clumsily, very carefully, his cap under his arm. Though all his movements were so deliberate, his attention did not wander,—seemed intently, heavily fixed. Auclair carefully remained in the shadow, making no sign of recognition. He respected the child's seriousness.”
Jacques’ religiosity and prayerfulness validates that he has a conviction about God’s providence. He seeks solace from God especially when he feels abandoned by his mother. Had he not been religious, he would have been vulnerable to vices. Religion liberates Jacques from his mother’s adverse inspiration.
“This morning, as Auclair watched Jacques at his devotions, it occurred to him that the boatmen who brought the merchants up from Montreal to see the Count were doubtless staying with La Grenouille. Likely enough something rowdy had gone on there last night, and the little boy felt a need of expiation. The apothecary went out of the church softly and took up his basket. All the way up the hill he wondered why La Grenouille should have a boy like that.”
Cather insinuates that Jacque’s mother (La Grenoullie) is sexually immoral; she devotes her time to different lovers at the expense of her son. Jacques is a causality of his mother’s recklessness and immorality. The arrival of sailors is unfavorable for Jacques; hence, he seeks a home in the church.
