As she passed momentarily out of sight behind some trees that sheltered the gate of the courtyard, Mrs. Burgoyne crossed the loggia, and called to her maid.
'Marie—be so good as to tell Miss Foster when she comes in that I have gone out; that she is not to trouble about me, as I shall soon return; and tell her also that I felt unusually well and strong.'
Then she turned and beckoned to Father Benecke.
'This way, Father, please!'
And she led him down the little stair that had taken Lucy to the garden the night before. At the foot of the stairs she paused. The wall of the garden divided them from the courtyard, and on the other side of it they could hear Lucy speaking to the massaja.
'Now!' said Eleanor, 'quick I—before she discovers us!'
And opening the garden door with the priest's help she passed into the field, and took a wide circuit to the right so as to be out of view of the loggia.
'Dear madame, where are you going?' said the priest in some alarm. 'This is too fatiguing for you.'
Eleanor took no notice. She, who for days had scarcely dragged one languid foot after another, sped through the heat and over the broken ground like one of the goldfinches in the convent garden. The old priest followed her with difficulty. Nor did she pause till they were in the middle of the Sassetto.
'Explain what we are doing!' he implored her, as she allowed him to press his old limbs for a moment on his stick, and take breath.