"Thou art very ignorant." The discussion slumbered until they rose from supper; when Eularia seated Beatrice beside her on the settle, and offered to instruct her in the use of the rosary. "What a pretty necklace! I thought nuns did not wear ornaments?" "Ornaments! Of course not." "Then what do you do with that?" "We pray by it." "Pray--by--it! I do not understand." "We keep count of our prayers." "Count!--why?" "Why, how could we remember them else?" "But why should you remember?" "Poor ignorant child! When thou comest to make confession, thou wilt find that the priest will set thee for penance, so many Aves and so many Paternosters." "What are those?" "Dost thou never pray?" gasped Eularia. "I never say so many of one thing, and so many of another," answered Beatrice, half laughing. "I never heard anything so absurd. The holy prophets did not pray in that way." "Of course they did!" exclaimed Eularia. "How could they obtain help of our Lady, without repeating Ave and Salve?" "How could they, indeed, before she was born?" was the retort. "Oh dear, dear!" said Eularia. "Why, thou knowest nothing." Beatrice privately thought that she would prefer not to know all that rubbish. Plenty of it was served up to her before she left the convent, by the holy Sisters of Saint Clare. It was nearly three weeks before Bruno came for her, and very weary of her hosts she was. They were no less astonished and dismayed by her. The ignorant heathen would not worship the holy images, would not use holy water, would not kneel before the holy Sacrament, would not do this, that, and the other: and, not content with this series of negations, she actually presumed to reason about them! "What dost thou believe?" despairingly demanded Sister Eularia at last. "I believe in God," said Beatrice gravely. "And I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Sent of God." "And in the Holy Ghost?" asked Eularia. "If I understand you, certainly. Is it not written, `The Spirit of God hath made me'?" "And in holy Church?" "I do not know. What is it?" "How shocking! And in the forgiveness of sins?" "Assuredly." "And in the resurrection and eternal life?" "Undoubtedly." "And in the invocation of the holy saints?" "I believe that there have been holy men and women." "And dost thou invoke them?" "Do you mean, pray to them?" "Dost thou beg of them to intercede for thee?" "No, indeed, not I!" "Did I ever see such ignorance! And thou wilt not learn." "I will learn of my father, and no one else. I am sure he does not believe half the rubbish you do." "_Sancta Hilaria, or a pro nobis_!" "What language is that?" innocently asked Beatrice. "The holy tongue, of course." "It is not our holy tongue." "Have Jews a holy tongue?" responded Eularia, in surprise. "Yes, indeed,--Hebrew." "I did not know they believed any thing to be holy. Have they any relics?" "I do not know what those are." Eularia led the way to the sacristy.