"Would it be convenient for her to see me? Will you tell her that I have come to call on her?"
"Yes, monsieur."
The sister left the room. Theo gave a wink:
"I ought to have done that long ago," he said. "I am seizing the opportunity. The reverend mother is a sensible woman, twice as sensible as Mamma."
They waited. It was cold and shivery in the bare parlour. Lot shuddered and said:
"I couldn't do it. No, I couldn't do it."
"No more could I," said Theo.
The reverend mother was the first to enter: a short woman, lost in the spacious folds of her habit. Two brown eyes gleamed from under the white band over her forehead.
"M. van der Staff ..."
"Madame ..."