"When you come away bring me the key," said the wise Minerva, and went off, softly closing the door behind her.
"Where is Anna?" asked Stella.
"She is still up there," said Laura.
"What is she doing?"
"Weeping, or praying, or thinking. I don't know."
"Poor Anna," sighed Stella.
How long did Anna remain on her knees before the image of the Virgin and the portrait of her mother? No one disturbed her. She kept murmuring: "Oh, Holy Virgin! Oh, my mother!" alternately.
When she came away, having closed the windows and locked the door, she was so pale that Stella said:
"You have stayed up there too long. It has done you harm."
"No, no," Anna answered; "I am very well; I am so much better. I am glad we have come here. I should like to live here always."