se it seemed
to me that the bells were telling the world that Sister
Desiree-des-Anges was dead. I went on ringing too, because I hoped
that she would pop her beautiful face out of the window and say,
"That'll do, that'll do, Marie Claire."

Melanie pulled the rope out of my hands. The bell, which was up, fell
back all wrong, and gave a sort of groan. "You have been ringing for a
quarter of an hour or more," Melanie said. I answered, "Sister
Desiree-des-Anges is dead." Veronique went into the room after us.
She noticed that the white curtain was not drawn between the two beds,
and said that she thought it was disgraceful for a religious to let her
hair be seen. Melanie passed her finger over a tear which was rolling
down each of her cheeks. Her head was more on one side than ever, and
she whispered quite low, "She is even prettier than she was before."
The sunshine bathed the bed, and covered the dead woman from head to
foot.

I remained with her all day. Some of the sisters came to see her. One
of them covered her face with a napkin, but as soon as she had gone, I
uncovered it again. Melanie came and spent the night by the bedside
with me. When she had closed the window she lit the big lamp, "so that
Sister Desiree-des-Anges should not be in the dark," she said.

A week afterwards Ox Eye came to the kitchen. She told me to get ready
to go the same day. In the hollow of her hand she held two gold
pieces, which she put side by side on the corner of the oven, and,
touching one after the other with her finger, she said, "Our Mother
Superior sends you forty francs." I did not want to go away without
saying good-bye to Colette and to Ismerie, whom I had often seen at the
other side of the lawn; but Melanie assured me that they didn't care
for me any more. Colette could not understand why I was not married
yet, and Ismerie could not forgive me for being so fond of Sister
Marie-Aimee.

Melanie went to the gate with me. As we passed the old bench, I saw
that one of its legs was broken, and that one end of it had fallen into
the grass. At the gate I found a woman waiting. Her eyes were hard.
She said, "I am your sister." I didn't recognize her. It was twelve
years since I had seen her. Directly we got outside she caught hold of
my arm, and in a voice as hard as her eyes, she asked me how much money
I had. I showed her the two gold pieces which I had just received.
Then she said, "You will do bett