She
told you all this! Why did you not say so? Why did you come to me?"

"Do not be displeased," I said, and as I spoke I seated myself beside
her on the stone. She made no objections. I think she was too much
agitated even to notice it. "I had no intention of keeping anything from
you, but I first wanted to hear what you had to tell me. Sylvia did not
tell me everything, nor have you."

"Met her, and talked with her!" ejaculated Mother Anastasia. "Will you
tell me how this happened?"

She listened with the greatest attention to my story.

"It is wonderful," she said, when I had finished. "It seems like a
tantalizing fate. But it is well you did not overtake Mrs. Raynor. It
would have been of no good to you, and the interview would have greatly
troubled her."

"Now tell me," I asked, "what I most want to know: what was the reason
of Sylvia's sudden determination?"

Mother Anastasia fixed her dark eyes on mine; they were full of a tender
sadness. "I thought of you nearly all last night," she said, "and I
determined that if you should ask me that question to-day I would answer
it. It is a hard thing to do, but it is the best thing. Sylvia's resolve
was caused by her conviction that she loved you. Feeling assured of
that, she unhesitatingly took the path which her conscience pointed out
to her."

"Conscience!" I exclaimed.

"Yes," said Mother Anastasia, "it was her conscience. She was far more
in earnest than we had thought her. It was conviction, not desire or
sympathy, which had prompted her to enter the sisterhood. Now her
convictions, her conscience, prompt her to crush everything which would
interfere with the life she has chosen. All this she has told me. Her
conscience stands between you and her, and you must understand that what
you wish is absolutely impossible. You must be strong, and give up all
thought of her. Will you promise me to do this?" and as she spoke she
laid her hand upon my arm. "Promise it, and I shall feel that I have
devoted myself this morning to as true a mission of charity as anything
to which our sisters vow themselves."

I did not respond, but sat silent, with bowed head.

"I must go now," said Mother Anastasia. "Reflect on what I have said,
and your heart and your practical sense will tell you that what I ask
you to do is what you ought to do and must do. Good-by," and she held
out her hand to me.

I took her hand and held it. The thought flashed into my mind that when
I rele