Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the cloister.djvu/184

 apparently money imposed duties upon its possessor not to be shirked. She must go out into the world, make her début, and become a part of society. She had been dreaming long enough, her guardian added, as he went on to outline more definitely the career that awaited her. She listened quietly, hearing above his precise utterances the murmur of girlish voices down in the garden, the soft ringing of the chapel bell, the almost noiseless footfalls of shadowy figures moving along the halls. This was home, and she must leave it. But under the regret that she felt and the homesickness that already assailed her there was a semi-conscious thrill of expectancy. After all, she was young; and a new and promising experience awaited her which might bring some of the happiness that had heretofore seemed exclusively the portion of others. Who could tell?

Yet when the moment of parting came she clung to the dignified Mother Superior.

"I do not wish to go!" she cried, in a sudden melting of her habitual reserve. "And I will come back if you will take me, Reverend Mother, when I am of age and my own mistress. You will take me, will you not?" she had asked, with a sudden doubt. The Superior had reassured her gently, smiling with the