The sun beat fiercely down into the wide dusty street, which was silent and deserted in the broiling forenoon. Not a soul was visible, save one. Leaning unsteadily against the garden railings, as if for support, stood a figure clothed in black conventual garb.
“Why, Lilian, it’s a nun,” whispered Annie Payne. Then aloud, as they reached the stranger’s side: “Now, do please come in at once and have a good long rest, and a glass of wine. The heat has been too much for you. Here, take my arm. No, don’t try and talk yet.”
The nun looked up with a faint smile, at the kindly, impulsive tones.
“You are very good,” she began, speaking with a foreign accent. “The sun is so hot, but I shall soon be better.”
“Of course you will,” was the cheery reply; and in a moment the sufferer found herself on a comfortable sofa in a cool, half-darkened room, so refreshing after the glare of the street, while her hostess and Lilian set to work to administer restoratives.
Their charge was a striking-looking woman, still quite young. Of foreign aspect, her face, though deathly pale, was very handsome, and lighted by a pair of large dark eyes. An uncommon face withal, and one which interested her entertainers keenly.
“Who is she, Lilian?” whispered Annie Payne, hurriedly beckoning the other from the room. “Roman Catholic, or one of your High Church Sisters? You know all about that sort of thing.”
“She must be from the convent. There are no Anglican Sisters here. Besides, she’s foreign, evidently.”
They returned to the nun, who, professing herself quite restored by her short rest, declared she must return home.
“Not to be thought of, for some hours at least,” replied her hostess, decisively. “You have narrowly escaped a sunstroke as it is. I’ll send round to the convent immediately, and let them know you’re here, and that I’m not going to allow you to move before the evening. At least, I’ll go myself, that’ll be better than sending. Lilian, take her to your room, it’s quieter there, and away from the children’s noise, and make her lie down for at least three hours. By the way, I was nearly forgetting. Who shall I say?”