“Not exactly, but I’ve learned from past experience it pays to overlook nothing. Father Benedict is an eccentric. He may be all right and probably is. All the same, it will be interesting to learn more about him.”
A little later, after agreeing to meet the next afternoon at two o’clock, Penny dropped Mr. Ayling at his hotel. In a high state of excitement, she then drove on home to report the day’s adventure to Mrs. Weems and her father.
“Mr. Ayling’s awfully nice and smart too!” she declared at the dinner table. “Together we’ll find Mrs. Hawthorne and solve the mystery of the monastery!”
“What mystery?” teased her father.
“I don’t know yet,” Penny admitted with a chuckle. “But give me time! I’ll find one! I can feel it bubbling in the air!”
Mrs. Weems, who came into the dining room with a platter of roast beef, observed: “If you take my advice, you’ll stay away from that place!”
“Oh, Mrs. Weems!”
“You only invite trouble by going there,” the housekeeper said severely. “Furthermore, it will distract you from your school work.”
“School teachers’ convention this week!” Penny reminded her. “We’re off tomorrow and next day too! Don’t worry about anything happening to me at the monastery, Mrs. Weems. Mr. Ayling makes a dandy chaperon.”
“If you’re going with him, I suppose I can’t protest,” the housekeeper gave in. “Mind, you’re home before dark.”