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‘But she will hear.’
‘She will not listen. Besides, what the cloister knows the
world learns not.’
A pause ensued. The prioress went on:—
‘You will remove your bell. It is not necessary that the
sister at the post should perceive your presence.’
‘Reverend Mother?’
‘What, Father Fauvent?’
‘Has the doctor for the dead paid his visit?’
‘He will pay it at four o’clock to-day. The peal which or-
ders the doctor for the dead to be summoned has already
been rung. But you do not understand any of the peals?’
‘I pay no attention to any but my own.’
‘That is well, Father Fauvent.’
‘Reverend Mother, a lever at least six feet long will be re-
quired.’
‘Where will you obtain it?’
‘Where gratings are not lacking, iron bars are not lacking.
I have my heap of old iron at the bottom of the garden.’
‘About three-quarters of an hour before midnight; do
not forget.’
‘Reverend Mother?’
‘What?’
‘If you were ever to have any other jobs of this sort, my
brother is the strong man for you. A perfect Turk!’
‘You will do it as speedily as possible.’
‘I cannot work very fast. I am infirm; that is why I re-
quire an assistant. I limp.’
‘To limp is no sin, and perhaps it is a blessing. The Em-