"Could you procure a strong iron bar between this and to-night?"
"Yes, Reverend Mother," Father Fauchelevent replied.
The prioress, without adding a syllable, rose and walked into the adjoining room, where the Chapter was assembled. Fauchelevent was left alone.
About a quarter of an hour passed ere the prioress came in again and sat down on her chair. The two speakers appeared preoccupied. We will do our best to record their conversation accurately.
"I have a little cage in it where I hear Mass and the offices."
"And have you gone into the choir for your work?"
"That is a job where two men would be useful."
"Mother Ascension, who is as strong as a man, will help you."
"We have only a woman to help you, and everybody does the best. Although Dom Mabillon gives four hundred and seventeen epistles of Saint Bernard, and Merlonus Horstius only gives three hundred and sixty-seven, I do not despise Merlonus Horstius."
"The merit is to work according to your strength. A convent is not a work-yard."
"And a woman is not a man. My brother is a strong fellow!"
"It is the only sort of key that fits such locks."
"All right, Reverend Mother, I will open the vault."
"And the four chanting mothers will help you."
"Give me your orders, most Reverend Mother."
"And to hold your tongue about everything."
There was a silence; and the prioress, after a pout of the lower lip, which looked like hesitation, continued,--
"You are aware that a mother died this morning."
"Nothing can be heard at the end of the garden."
"And besides, this morning the wind did not blow in my direction."
"It is Mother Crucifixion, a blessed saint."
The prioress was silent, moved her lips for a moment, as if in mental prayer, and went on,--
"Three years ago, through merely seeing Mother Crucifixion pray, a Jansenist, Madame de Béthune, became orthodox."
"Oh, yes, I hear the passing bell now, Reverend Mother."
"The mothers have carried her into the dead-room adjoining the church."
"No other man but you can or ought to enter that room, so keep careful watch. It would be a fine thing to see another man enter the chamber of the dead."
"Reverend Mother, I did not say 'more often than what,' but 'more often.'"
"I do not understand you; why do you say 'more often'?"