"But it would be extraordinary," Evelyn said, speaking to herself rather than to the nun.
"I have spoken to Mother Hilda and Mother Philippa on the subject, and they are agreed that if you are to remain in the convent it would be better for you to take the white veil."
"Or do they think that it would be better for me to leave the convent?"
"It would be impossible for us to think such a thing, my dear child."
"But what I would wish to understand, dear Mother, is this—have I to decide either to leave the convent or to take the white veil?"
"Oh, no; but you have been so long a postulant."
"But when I went to Rome my postulancy—"
"Even so, you have been a postulant for over a year; and, should you discover that you have no vocation, the fact of having been a novice, of having worn the white veil, will be a protection to you ever afterwards, should you return to the world."
"You think so, dear Mother?"
And the Prioress read in Evelyn's face that she had touched the right note.