The lay sister bowed respectfully to the abbess, and went away to deliver the message with which she was entrusted. The abbess rose, and the two girls sprang forward to support her; but she stopped them.
"Remain here till the Oración, my children," she said to them, "converse together; but be prudent, and do not let yourselves be surprised; after the Oración, you will come and converse in my cell."
Then after giving Doña Anita a parting kiss, the Mother Superior went away, sorely troubled in mind at this visit from a man she did not know, and whose name she now heard for the first time. When she entered the parlour, the abbess examined with a hasty glance the person who asked to see her, and who, on perceiving her, rose from his chair, and bowed to her respectfully. This first glance was favourable to the stranger, in whom the reader has doubtless already recognized Valentine Guillois.
"Pray resume your seat, caballero," the abbess said to him, "if your conversation is to last any time, we shall talk more comfortably when sitting."
Valentine bowed, offered the lady a chair, and then returned to his own.
"Señor Don Serapio de la Ronda was announced to me," the lady continued after a short silence.
"I am that gentleman, madam," Valentine said courteously.
"I am at your orders, caballero, and ready to listen to any communication you may have to make."
"Madam, I have nothing personal to say to you; I am merely commissioned by the Minister of the Home Department to deliver you this letter, to which I have a few words to add."
While uttering this sentence with exquisite politeness, Valentine offered the abbess a letter bearing the ministerial arms.