chbishop. None
of the nuns may leave the convent; though the great Saint, St. Theresa,
often left her cell. The Visitor or the Mothers Superior can alone give
permission, subject to an authorization from the Archbishop, for a nun
to see a visitor, and then especially in a case of illness. Now we are
one of the principal houses, and consequently we have a Mother Superior
here. Among other foreign sisters there is one Frenchwoman, Sister
Theresa; she it is who directs the music in the chapel."

"Oh!" said the General, with feigned surprise. "She must have rejoiced
over the victory of the House of Bourbon."

"I told them the reason of the mass; they are always a little bit
inquisitive."

"But Sister Theresa may have interests in France. Perhaps she would like
to send some message or to hear news."

"I do not think so. She would have come to ask me."

"As a fellow-countryman, I should be quite curious to see her," said the
General. "If it is possible, if the Lady Superior consents, if----"

"Even at the grating and in the Reverend Mother's presence, an interview
would be quite impossible for anybody whatsoever; but, strict as the
Mother is, for a deliverer of our holy religion and the throne of his
Catholic Majesty, the rule might be relaxed for a moment," said the
confessor, blinking. "I will speak about it."

"How old is Sister Theresa?" inquired the lover. He dared not ask any
questions of the priest as to the nun's beauty.

"She does not reckon years now," the good man answered, with a
simplicity that made the General shudder.

Next day before siesta, the confessor came to inform the French General
that Sister Theresa and the Mother consented to receive him at the
grating in the parlour before vespers. The General spent the siesta in
pacing to and fro along the quay in the noonday heat. Thither the priest
came to find him, and brought him to the convent by way of the gallery
round the cemetery. Fountains, green trees, and rows of arcading
maintained a cool freshness in keeping with the place.

At the further end of the long gallery the priest led the way into a
large room divided in two by a grating covered with a brown curtain. In
the first, and in some sort of public half of the apartment, where the
confessor left the newcomer, a wooden bench ran round the wall, and two
or three chairs, also of wood, were placed near the grating. The ceiling
consisted of bare unornamented joists and cross-beams of ilex wood