Page:The Monk, A Romance - Lewis (1796, 1st ed., Volume 3).djvu/24

 when they were stopped by the return of an elderly woman, whom Theodore had not till then observed. Her mild countenance and respectable air prejudiced him immediately in her favour.

"Hah!" said the porteress, "here comes the mother St. Ursula with a basket."

The nun approached the grate, and presented the basket to Theodore: it was of willow, lined with blue satin, and upon the four sides were painted scenes from the legend of St. Genevieve.

"Here is my gift," said she, as she gave it into his hand: "Good youth, despise it not. Though its value seems insignificant, it has many hidden virtues."

She accompanied these words with an expressive look. It was not lost upon Theodore. In receiving the present, he drew as near the grate as possible.

"Agnes!" she whispered in a voice scarcely intelligible.

Theodore, however, caught the sound. He concluded that some mystery was con-