Soon as punches have been mixed, the Major returns to the subject, saying—
“Now then; to enter upon particulars. What step do you wish me to take, first?”
“First, to find out who Father Rogier is, and what. That is, on this side; I know what he is on the other. If we can but learn his relations with the convent it might give us a key, capable of opening more than one lock.”
“There won’t be much difficulty in doing that, I take it. All the less, from my little sister Kate being a great pet of the Lady Superior, who has hopes of making a nun of her! Not if I know it! Soon as her schooling’s completed she walks out of that seminary, and goes to a place where the moral atmosphere is a trifle purer. You see, old fellow, I’m not very bigoted about our Holy Faith, and in some danger of becoming a ‘vert.’ As for my sister, were it not for a bit of a legacy left on condition of her being educated in a convent, she’d never have seen the inside of one, with my consent; and never will again when out of this one. But money’s money; and though the legacy isn’t a large one, for her sake I couldn’t afford to forfeit it. You comprehend?”
“Quite. And you think she will be able to obtain the information, without in any way compromising herself?”
“Pretty sure of it. Kate’s no simpleton, though she be but a child in years. She’ll manage it for me, with the instructions I mean giving her. After all, it may not be so much trouble. In these nunneries, things which are secrets to the world without, are known to every mother’s child of them—nuns and novices alike. Gossip’s the chief occupation of their lives. If there’s been an occurrence such as you speak of—a new bird caged there—above all an English one—it’s sure to have got wind—that is inside the walls. And I can trust Kate to catch the breath, and blow it outside. So, Vivian, old boy, drink your toddy, and take things coolly. I think I can promise you that, before many days, or it may be only hours, you shall know whether such a priest as you speak of, be in the habit of coming to that convent; and if so, what for, when he was there last, and everything about the reverend gentleman worth knowing.”
Kate Mahon proves equal to the occasion; showing herself quick witted, as her brother boasted her to be.
On the third day after, she is able to report to him; that some time previously, how long not exactly known, a young English girl came to the convent, brought thither by a priest named Rogier. The girl is a candidate for the Holy Sisterhood—voluntary of course—to take the veil, soon as her probation be completed. Miss Mahon has not seen the new novice; only heard of her as being a great beauty; for personal charms make noise even in a nunnery. Nor have any of the other pensionnaires been permitted to see or speak with her. All they as yet know is, that she is a blonde, with yellow hair—a grand wealth of it—and goes by the name of “Soeur Marie.”
“Sister Mary!” exclaims Jack Wingate, as Ryecroft at second-hand communicates the intelligence—at the same time translating the “Soeur Marie.”