"It sounds admirable," Lucy said, "but where is the penance?"
"My one ambition since I was a little girl has been to get away from living in a little market town; coming to Leys was my passport to freedom."
"I see."
"Believe me, Miss Pym, it would be penance. But it wouldn't be a barren one. It wouldn't be just personal flagellation. I would be doing something useful with my life, something that would-would make it good value for exchange."
"Yes, I see."
There was another long silence.
The five-minute bell rang, but for the first time since she came to Leys Lucy was unconscious of a bell.
"Of course you have nothing but my word for it-"
"I would accept your word."
"Thank you."