Then, after a pause, he said,--
"Thou art happy and peaceful here? There is naught that frights or disturbs you?"
A little flicker passed over the statue-like features. A slight tremor of the mouth, and a quiver of the eyelids, showed the nun was suffering from some not quite controlled emotion. Bending her head a little down, and keeping her eyes more than ever on the ground, she said, in her bell-like voice,--
"Noble sir, there is naught that frights us."
"And this girl, who is she?" asked the Captain.
"'Tis a child which hath been brought hither for our Prioress to tend."
"Hath she no relatives here?"
"Nay, I know not; but she is well with us," said the nun, looking at the child with affection. It was the first expression of softer feeling that had yet come into her face.
The child returned her look with love and bright confidence.
"Thou art happy here?" said Yolande.