"I will keep the promise I have made you."
"All?"
"All."
"Well, do not distress yourself about anything; but—giving, giving?"
"That's agreed."
"Now, come; they expect you. This long stay may excite suspicion; more than ever, prudence is necessary."
They proceeded. At the moment when they entered the first cloister, a black figure came away from an obscure corner, which, until that moment, it had remained shrouded in darkness; and after having made a threatening gesture to the portress, it appeared to vanish like a fantastic apparition, so rapidly did it glide through the corridors.
Arrived at the door of the superior's room, the portress knocked gently twice without receiving any answer; she waited a moment, and then knocked again.
"Adelante," was then answered from within.
She opened the door, and announced the stranger.