, and the
glow of her draperies, that his moral sense was able to reassert itself.
Then he knew that she had spoken wickedly. It might be right for an
Irishman to fight against England when he could. It might be justifiable
to seize the opportunity of England's embarrassment to make a bid for
freedom by striking a blow at the Empire. So far his conscience went
willingly, but that treachery and murder could ever be anything but
horrible he refused altogether to believe.

Another conversation in which he took part about this time helped
Hyacinth still further to understand the position of his new friends.
Tim Halloran and he were smoking and chatting together over the fire
when Maguire joined them.

'What's the matter with you?' asked Halloran. 'You look as if you'd been
at your mother's funeral.'

'You're not so far out in your guess,' said Maguire grimly. 'I spent the
morning at my sister's wedding. Would you like a bit of the cake?' He
produced from his pocket a paper containing crushed fragments of white
sugar and a shapeless mass of citron and currants. 'With the compliments
of the Reverend Mother,' he said. 'Try a bit.'

'What on earth do you mean?' said Hyacinth.

'Oh, I assure you the Sisters of Pity do these things in style,' said
Maguire. 'It's a pretty fancy, that of the wedding-cake, isn't it?
But you're a Protestant, Conneally; you don't understand this delicate
playfulness. I was present to-day at the reception of my only sister
into the Institute of the Catholic Sisters of Pity, founded by Honoria
Kavanagh. I've lost Birdie Maguire, that's all, the little girl that
used to climb on to my knee and kiss me, and instead of her there's a
Sister Monica Mary, who will no doubt pray for my soul when she's let.'

'What was the figure in her case?' asked Tim in a perfectly
matter-of-fact tone.

'Six hundred pounds,' said Maguire. 'It must have put the old man to the
pin of his collar to pay it. The only time he ever talked to me about
his affairs he told me he had got four hundred pounds put by for
Birdie's fortune, and that I was to have my medical course and whatever
the old shop would fetch when he was gone. They must have put the screw
on pretty tight to make him spring the extra two hundred. I dare say I
shall suffer for it in the end. He must have borrowed the money.'

Hyacinth felt intensely curious about this young nun. Like most
Protestants he had grown up to regard monasticism in all its forms as