But, before the shrine of the Madonna, there lay, stretched upon the floor, the unconscious form of the old lay-sister, Mary Antony.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE BISHOP KEEPS VIGIL
Old Mary Antony lay dying.
The Bishop had not allowed her to be carried from the cell of the
Prioress, to her own.
He had commanded that the Reverend Mother's couch be moved from the inner room and placed before the shrine of the Virgin. On this lay Mary Antony, while the Bishop himself kept watch beside her.
The evening light came in through the open casement, illumining the calm old face, from which the soothing hand of death was already smoothing the wrinkles.
Five hours had passed since they found her.
It had taken long to restore her to consciousness; and so soon as she awoke to her surroundings, and recognised Mother Sub-Prioress, and the many faces around her, she relapsed into silence, refusing to answer any questions, yet keeping her eyes anxiously fixed upon the door.
Seeing which, Sister Teresa slipped from the room and ran secretly to tell the Lord Bishop, who had paid but a brief visit to the Palace and was now pacing the lawn below the cloisters.