"Suffer me, Mother, to answer for the younger Sisters, and I trust the Mothers will pardon me if I am over ready. Sure am I that the majority of my Sisters will consent to my reply. We will indeed pray that you may have the grace of perseverance in good works, and will strive to obey your holy directions in the right path. I ask every Sister who will promise the same to say `_Placet_.'" There was a storm of _Placets_ in response. But unless I was mistaken, Sister Ada and Sister Roberga were silent. It was while she was answering "_Placet_" that I caught sight of Margaret's face. What had happened to make her look thus white and wan, with the expressive eyes so full of tears behind them, which she could not or would not shed? I sat in pain the whole day until evening, and the more because she seemed rather to avoid me. But at night, when we had parted, and all was quiet in the dormitories, a very faint rap came at the door of my cell. I bade the applicant enter in peace: and Margaret presented herself. "Annora!" she said, hesitating timidly. I knew what that meant. "Come to me, little Sister," I said. She came forward at once, closing the door behind her, and knelt down at my feet. Then she buried her face in her hands, and laid face and hands upon my knee. "Let me weep!" she sobbed. "Oh, let me weep for a few moments in silence, and do not speak to me!" I kept silence, and she wept till her heart was relieved. When at last her sobs grew quiet, she brushed her tears away, and looked up. "Bless thee, Annora! That has done me good. It is something to have somebody who will say, `Little Sister,' and give one leave to weep in peace. Dost thou know what troubles me?" "Not in the least, dear Margaret. That something was troubling thee I had seen, but I cannot guess what it was." "I shall get over it now," she said. "It is only the reopening of the old wound. Thou hast not guessed, then, who Father Mortimer is?" "Margaret!"