“I beg of you,” she said, “to let me go: I will soon return.”
“By Our Lady!” said he, “you shall not go in now.”
“By my oath!” she replied, “it is compulsory. I must go in, but I will not stay. If you are in a hurry to get home, go on, and I will follow you directly.”
“Get on! get forward!” he said, “you have nothing to do here. If you want to say a Pater noster, or an Ave Maria, there is plenty of room at home, and it is quite as good to say it there as in this monastery, which is now as dark as pitch.”
“Marry!” said she, “you may say what you like, but by my oath, it is necessary that I should enter here for a little while.”
“Why?” said he. “Do you want to sleep with any of the brothers.”
She imagined that her husband knew that she paid the tithe, and replied;
“No, I do not want to sleep with him; I only want to pay.”
“Pay what?” said he.
“You know very well,” she answered; “Why do you ask?”