Lucy hardly spoke to him. His manner was soft and deprecating. And Miss Foster stood apart as though she liked neither it nor him. When he left them, to enter, the Convent, Reggie broke out:—
And how does he come to be here? I declare it's the most extraordinary tangle! What's he doing in there?'
He nodded towards the building, which seemed to be still holding the sunlight of the day, so golden-white it shone under the evening sky, and against the engirdling forest.
'Every night—almost—he comes to read with Eleanor.'
The young man stared.
'I say—is she—is she going to become a Catholic?'
Lucy smiled.
'You forget—don't you? They've excommunicated Father Benecke.'
'My word!—Yes!—I forgot. My chief was awfully excited about it. Well, I'm sure he's well quit of them!'—said the young man fervently. 'They're doing their level best to pull this country about everybody's ears. And they'll be the first to suffer—thank heaven!—if they do upset the coach. And so it was Benecke that brought Manisty here?'
Lucy's movement rebuked him; made him feel himself an impertinent.