Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/124

 like a two-edged sword, wounding and bringing death to all unskilled hands which dare wield it. I will explain to you such portions of the Bible as are necessary for a right interpretatio of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith.”

The carriage had now arrived which was to convey them to their destination. Madame La Tour hoped and prayed that their stay in the convent might be brief. She knew the character of these places by reputation, and the reports which were rife among the Huguenots, while exaggerated, were not lacking in a foundation of fact which furnished just material for condemnation.

In a short time they traversed the distance between their boarding place and the convent of the Sacred Heart. It was located in close proximity to the House of the Jesuits. The grounds were enclosed by a brick wall from twelve to fifteen feet in height.

The ladies alighted from the carriage, and Monseigneur Ryder rapped three times in quick succession on the wall. Immediately a door was opened by a portress, who invited the guests to enter. Katharine gave a cry of pleasure at the view before her. The convent was an old stone building, partially covered with clinging vines. The neatly trimmed shrubbery, the gravelled walks, beds filled with a riotous profusion of flowers, murmuring fountains, and the pleasant shadow of trees,