her hands over them, and in spite of herself a look of pain was for an
instant visible on her always pale face. She rose quickly and walked
across the room, and crossed it twice before she came again to the
window.

"You don't understand me to-day," said Elise impetuously; "and I don't
want you to." But Elise would not have spoken at all had she looked at
Sister Benigna.

A silence of many seconds, which seemed much longer to Elise,
followed her words. She did not dare to go on. What was Sister Benigna
thinking? Would she never speak? Had she nothing to say? Elise was
about to rise also, because to sit still in that silence or to break
it by words had become equally impossible, when Sister Benigna,
approaching gently, laid her hand upon her and said, "Wait one moment:
I have something to tell you, Elise."

And so Elise sat down. She could not summon the strength to go with
that voice in her ear and the touch of that hand arresting her.

"I once had a friend as young as you are, of whom you often remind
me," said Benigna. "She had a lover, and their faith led them to
seek a knowledge of the Lord's will concerning their marriage. It
was inquired for them, and it was found against the union. You often
remind me of her, I said, but your fortunes are not at all like hers."

"Sister Benigna, why do you tell me this?" asked Elise quickly, in a
voice hardly audible. She was afraid to listen. She recalled Albert's
words. She did not know if she might trust the friendly voice that
spoke.