“And the sister at the post?”
“She will not turn round.”
“But she will hear.”
“She will not listen. Besides, what the cloister knows the world learns not.”
A pause ensued. The prioress went on:—
“You will remove your bell. It is not necessary that the sister at the post should perceive your presence.”
“Reverend Mother?”
“What, Father Fauvent?”
“Has the doctor for the dead paid his visit?”
“He will pay it at four o’clock today. The peal which orders the doctor for the dead to be summoned has already been rung. But you do not understand any of the peals?”
“I pay no attention to any but my own.”
“That is well, Father Fauvent.”
“Reverend Mother, a lever at least six feet long will be required.”
“Where will you obtain it?”
“Where gratings are not lacking, iron bars are not lacking. I have my heap of old iron at the bottom of the garden.”
“About three-quarters of an hour before midnight; do not forget.”
“Reverend Mother?”