ooked as horrified as the old servants, but they were more to
be dreaded; they possessed the power of reprimanding and punishing, and
what punishment would they think too severe in this extreme case? Sister
Agatha spoke. Her tone was milder than Zuleika had expected.

"Oh! mademoiselle," she said, reproachfully, "what is this? A meeting
with a lover, and within these holy precincts dedicated to celibacy,
chastity and sacred things! What will your father, the Count of
Monte-Cristo, say when your conduct is reported to him? You are young,
and allowance must be made for youthful blood and passionate impulses;
but still you have done wrong, very wrong! Is this man, who signs
himself Giovanni and who just left you, your betrothed?"

"He is," murmured Zuleika, blushing and holding down her head.

"With your father's permission, mademoiselle?"

"My father does not object to him," replied the girl evasively.

"In that case your fault is not so great as I at first supposed," said
the nun. "You are pardonable for receiving the man, who, with your
father's consent, is in time to become your husband; but, nevertheless,
in meeting him within the convent grounds you are censurable for lack of
discipline, and also for conniving at a breach of our rule which
excludes all male visitors, save parents or guardians."

Zuleika bowed her head in submission.

"The punishment," continued Sister Agatha, "shall be as light as
possible, however, if you have never before met this man within the
convent grounds."

"I have never met him here before," said Zuleika, "and I only met him in
this instance because--because--"

She hesitated and burst into tears.

"Because what, my poor child?" asked the nun, kindly.

"Because I love him so, and because I was afraid, if I did not meet him,
in his desperation he would seek me out in face of you all!"

"Have you ever written to him since you have been in this school?"

"Never!"

"Has he ever written to you before?"

"You hold his first letter to me in your hand!"

"How was this letter delivered, by what means did it reach you?"

Her face one mass of crimson, trembling from head to foot, Zuleika told
the whole story of her adventure at noon that day. How she had strayed
from her companions without any definite intention; how she had seated
herself within the screening branches of the elm to meditate; how she
had heard the singular noise in the chestnut tree, and, finally, how the
letter, f