All this my aunt related to my mother in a half whisper, not altogether unheard by the beautiful culprit on the cushion whom, as I perceived as I closely watched her, could hardly restrain her laughter. She didn't act very afraid of Father Eustace, I thought, and I was right – she wasn't.

At last he arrived, but before paying any attention to the naked girl huddling in the corner, he saluted the Lady Abbess with what I suppose he considered a “holy kiss” on her lips. Then he turned to my Mother with delight and surprise. “My dear Madame d'Ermonville, what brings you here? And who is this – this – young lady?”

This he said with some emphasis and I saw in a moment that he had found me out.

But my mother prevented any outbreak at the moment; she drew him to one side and spoke to him in a whisper. This conversation was not long. At its end he said, “Then, Henriette, will you promise? If so, I will not only keep the secret, but do my best for you in the bargain!”

This agreement was ratified by half a dozen kisses given and taken, which somehow seemed to me to be less chaste than they should have been. But I supposed my mother knew best.

“Now I think, Father Eustace, that poor girl has been on her knees waiting her penance long enough,” she remarked, “and in common charity you ought to inflict her punishment, whatever it is. Only don't be too severe upon her!”

“If only for your sake I will not, lovely Lady d'Ermonville,” replied the monk, whom I perceived was a man of gallantry. “You shall be witness for yourself.”

I must say that he was a very handsome man, but for his monkish vestments. The brown serge gown he wore, open in front, and merely fastened by a girdle, was not a becoming costume. What seemed strange to me was that he wore no breeches, or undergarments of any description. But I soon found out that this was intentional.

Turning around, and regarding with lustful complacency the lovely posteriors and perfect charms displayed by the kneeling girl, Father Eustace briefly asked the Abbess if she had confessed her sin and promised repentance.