Illa.—"He is silent also—now he speaks again."
Hæc.—"What says he then?"
Illa.—"The wisdom of God is silent."
The abbess repeats the words, while the priest falls back against the wall, as white as chalk, and exclaims—
"Your angel is right. I feel as if a mouse were running up and down through my body. Alas! now the bones of my chest are breaking. Farewell, dear sisters; in heaven we shall meet again. Farewell; pray for me. I go to lay my head upon my death-pillow."
And he was scarcely gone out at the door when a great cry and weeping arose amongst the sisters present, and the abbess asked, weeping likewise—
"Is this, too, Sidonia's work?"
Illa.—"Whose else? She hath never forgiven him because he rejected her love, and hath only delayed his death to a fitting opportunity."
Hæc.—"Merciful God! and will this murderous nun be brought to judgment?"
Illa.—"Yes, when her hour comes, she will be burned and beheaded—not many years after this."