to see her."

"Her" was, of course, Marie Delhasse. The duchess assigned to her the
sinister distinction of the simple pronoun.

"Surely he will take means to get you to go back?" I exclaimed.

"If he could have caught me before I got here, he would have been glad.
Now he will wait; for if he came here and claimed me, what he proposed to
do would become known."

There seemed reason in this; the duchess calculated shrewdly.

"In fact," said I, "I had better go back to the hotel."

"That does not seem to vex you much."

"Well, I can't stay here, can I?" said I, looking round at the nunnery.
"It would be irregular, you know."

"You might go to another hotel," suggested she.

"It is most important that I should watch what is going on at my present
hotel," said I gravely; for I did not wish to move.

"You are the most--" began the duchess.

But this bit of character-reading was lost. Slow but sure, the Mother
Superior was at our elbows.