Herrick alone did not ridicule Nancy's wish.
"Why shouldn't she be a nun if she wants?" he asked Kuei-lien, when the girl jokingly mentioned his daughter's new ambition.
"You encourage a freakish ambition like that?" exclaimed Kuei-lien, unable to believe her ears.
"I don't say I encourage it; I haven't thought of it at all. But if Nancy with all her heart chooses to be a nun, I shouldn't stop her."
"Nuns are bad, dissolute women."
"Some may be, but not all."
"'Ten nuns: nine bad, and one mad,'" scoffed the concubine.
"Are you happy?" asked the man, giving the argument a disconcerting shift.
"Madly happy," Kuei-lien replied, hiding by a smile of curious irony not only all signs that the question had startled her but every hint as to what she meant by her answer.
"Well, I am not, and I'm sure I don't wish to deny Nancy her own way of seeking peace when mine has failed."