for him than that he should be disappointed; and he
added so much more to the same effect, with so many emphatic
repetitions, that the Mother Superior promised to break all rules and
come herself within an hour if no other Sister were available. For she
had a very high regard for him, in spite of his rough tone and harsh
voice.

Her difficulty was a very simple one. The only nurse who was free that
evening was Sister Giovanna, who had returned just before mid-day from
a case that had ended badly, and she had been asleep ever since. But
the Mother Superior knew how the Princess had treated her niece and
robbed her of her fortune, and she could not foresee what might happen
if the young nun took charge of the case. After giving her somewhat
rash promise to the doctor, she sent for her, therefore, and explained
matters.

'I do not think that my aunt will recognise me,' said Sister Giovanna.
'She has never set eyes on me since I was a girl of eighteen in deep
mourning. Our dress changes us very much, and I must have changed,
too, in five years. Even my voice is not the same, I fancy.'

The Mother Superior looked at her keenly. She was very fond of her,
but it had never occurred to her to consider whether the young
Sister's appearance had altered or not. Yet her own memory for faces
was good, and when she recalled the features of the slim, fair-haired
girl in black whom she had first seen, and compared the recollection
with the grave and almost saintly face before her, closely confined by
the white wimple and gorget, and the white veil that bound the
forehead low above the serious brow, she really did not believe that
any one could easily recognise the Angela of other days.

'I suppose I never realise how changed we all are,' she said
thoughtfully. 'But do you not think the Princess Chiaromonte may
remember you when she hears your name?'

'Many Sisters have taken it,' Sister Giovanna answered. 'And, after
all, what harm can there be? If she recognises me and is angry, she
can only send me away, and meanwhile she will be taken care of, at
least for the night. That is the main thing, Mother, and one of the
Sisters will surely be free to-morrow morning.'

So the matter was settled. Sister Giovanna got her well-worn little
black bag, her breviary, and her long black cloak, and in half-an-hour
she was ascending the grand staircase of the palace in which she had
lived as a child.

She felt more emotion than she had expec