now,' he said,
rising as he spoke, 'nothing remains for me but to thank you for seeing
me, and to take my leave. Will you give me back my ring, Reverend
Mother?'

He stood before her, holding out his hand with the palm upward to
receive the token, and he laid a little stress on the title as he
pronounced it. But there was no irony in his tone, for, young as she
still was, it had been conferred upon her quite as much for her holy
life as for her high descent, in an age when noble blood had great
weight in such matters. He was certainly not speaking ironically;
perhaps, amidst the tatters of his honour, some rag still covered a spot
that could feel shame, and the monstrous deed, in doing which he had
entrapped the nun to help him unawares, seemed foul beside the purity of
her intention and the saintliness of her own life.

The emphasis he gave to the two words was, therefore, at once respectful
and sad, and did not offend her. She had put on the old brass ring
herself when the portress had sent it up to her with his message; she
took it off now and gave it back to him, careful that not even the tips
of her fingers should touch his palm. Then she led the way, and he
followed her.

'May you never put it to a worse use than to-day,' she said, stopping
and letting her eyes meet his for a moment. 'Good-bye.'

'Pray for me,' he said instinctively when he opened the door for her.

She said nothing, but she bent her head a little as she passed out,
perhaps meaning that she would do what he asked. He watched her tall
retreating figure as she went up the middle of the staircase, till she
turned past the dividing wall at the first landing and disappeared
without having once looked back. Then he himself went away through the
high corridor and the dark lodge, and the portress let him out in
silence.

He did not go back to the inn at once, for the distance was very short,
and he judged that Trombin could hardly have procured Stradella's
liberation in so short a time. He wished to be alone a little while,
for, in spite of what he had come to be, his interview with the Mother
Superior had disturbed him strangely. He had thought himself far beyond
that bitterness of remorse and that sickness of shame which she had made
him feel, and he wished to forget both before he met his companion to
discuss the execution of the deed they had promised to do together, and
could not now put off doing much longer. The nun's burning eyes still
ha