"I thank you, Dame Hester, but I must stay till all is over," said the prioress. "You are a sailor's wife," (she had told us as much), "and you know that the captain should be the last in the sinking ship." "And that is true, madam, and what my husband always says. Well, then, we will bid farewell. Come, good mother, we will soon have you in safety." They went away, and I never saw the sister again. She did not live very long, but passed her days in great peace under the roof of Jonas and Hester Lee, who tended her like an honored parent, though they had plenty of scoffs and fault-findings from Hester's kindred, who had their eyes on the savings of the childless couple. As I was about to leave the room, the prioress detained me, sending Regina on some errand to the further end of the house. I was glad of that, for I was still very bitter against her, and believed her close attendance on the reverend mother to be that of a spy, in which belief I now think I did her injustice. She was simply one of those weak fools who are ready to be led by any one that will take the trouble—unless it be some one who has the right to govern them, and then they can be obstinate enough. "Loveday, I have something here which belongs to you," said she. As she spoke, she produced a packet of some size from her pocket, and with a great throb, I recognized my uncle's handwriting on the outside. "These are letters from your uncle and his family, which have come from time to time for the last six or seven years," said she. "There is no reason now why you should not have them." "And why did I not have them before?" was the hot question which rose to my lips. The habit of discipline was strong within me, and I did not ask it; but the prioress answered as if I had spoken. "Why were they not given to you? Because it was not thought best. It was the desire of my Lady Peckham, who was your legal guardian, that you should make this house your home, and be professed here. We saw that every letter you had from your uncle's family disturbed your mind and made you homesick," (that was true enough), "and therefore we thought it best to break off all such intercourse. My child, I see that you are thinking this very hard, but you must remember that any parent would have exercised the same right over a daughter's letters. Were it to do again, I might act differently. I see many things in a different light from what I did when you first came here. Here are your letters. You may learn from them something about the present state of your uncle's family, though I think the last is two years old."