"Oh, Bertha! Bertha!" cried her sister, breaking into sobs.
It seemed to her that a murmur echoed back these sobs, and in that murmur she fancied that she heard the name of "Mary!"
She was in the corridor; the door of the cell was closed behind her.
"Oh, let me see her!" she cried. "Let me see her once more,--only once!"
But the nun stretched out her arms and barred the way.
"I submit," said Mary, blinded by her tears. "Take me where you choose, sister."
The nun led her to an empty cell, the occupant of which had died the night before. Mary saw through her tears a prie-dieu surmounted by a crucifix, and she went, half stumbling, to kneel there.
For an hour she remained absorbed in prayer. At the end of an hour the nun returned and said, in the same cold impassible voice:--
"Mère Sainte-Marthe is dead."
"May I see her?" asked Mary.