Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the cloister.djvu/169

 have come to me. I go over it all again and again. I picture to myself what life would be with him—and then I turn from it. I once promised myself that I would never abandon my poor people. I shall keep that vow if it kills me. To-night I shall tell him so. You must help me to be strong. It is very hard," she repeated, pitifully.

The nun straightened herself with a sudden air of decision.

"Sit up, Alice," she said. "I want you to look at me." She took the girl's face between her hands and looked deep into the eyes that showed her how genuine the other's suffering had been. There was an unusual tenderness in her manner as she continued.

"I shall try to help you, my dear," she said, " but not in the way you wish. I think—I am almost sure—you should marry Dr. Schuyler. We have felt here that we could not keep you always: we have believed that the One Man would some day come for you. Is he not here?"

She looked steadily at the startled face upturned to her own, and smiled reassuringly at the incredulity it showed so plainly.

"I have been thinking it all over as we sat here," she resumed. "Look at me. No Sister in the Order is more content in her choice than I. Never for one moment have I