The alcalde came to rejoin his guest, and found him bathed in tears at the elevation of the Host which was chanted by the nun.  Surprised to find such devotion in a French officer, he invited the confessor of the convent to join them at supper, and informed the general, to whom no news had ever given such pleasure, of what he had done.  During the supper the general made the confessor the object of much attention, and thus confirmed the Spaniards in the high opinion they had formed of his piety.  He inquired with grave interest the number of the nuns, and asked details about the revenues of the convent and its wealth, with the air of a man who politely wished to choose topics which occupied the mind of the good old priest.  Then he inquired about the life led by the sisters.  Could they go out?  Could they see friends?

“Senhor,” said the venorable priest, “the rule is severe.  If the permission of our Holy Father must be obtained before a woman can enter a house of Saint Bruno [the Chartreux] the like rule exists here.  It is impossible for any man to enter a convent of the Bare-footed Carmelites, unless he is a priest delegated by the archbishop for duty in the House.  No nun can go out.  It is true, however, that the Great Saint, Mother Theresa, did frequently leave her cell.  A Mother-superior can alone, under authority of the archbishop, permit a nun to see her friends, especially in case of illness.  As this convent is one of the chief Houses of the Order, it has a Mother-superior residing in it.  We have several foreigners,—­among them a Frenchwoman, Sister Theresa, the one who directs the music in the chapel.”

“Ah!” said the general, feigning surprise:  “she must have been gratified by the triumph of the House of Bourbon?”

“I told them the object of the Mass; they are always rather curious.”

“Perhaps Sister Theresa has some interests in France; she might be glad to receive some news, or ask some questions?”

“I think not; or she would have spoken to me.”

“As a compatriot,” said the general, “I should be curious to see—­that is, if it were possible, if the superior would consent, if—­”

“At the grating, even in the presence of the reverend Mother, an interview would be absolutely impossible for any ordinary man, no matter who he was; but in favor of a liberator of a Catholic throne and our holy religion, possibly, in spite of the rigid rule of our Mother Theresa, the rule might be relaxed,” said the confessor.  “I will speak about it.”

“How old is Sister Theresa?” asked the lover, who dared not question the priest about the beauty of the nun.

“She is no longer of any age,” said the good old man, with a simplicity which made the general shudder.

     III

The next day, before the siesta, the confessor came to tell the general that Sister Theresa and the Mother-superior consented to receive him at the grating that evening before the hour of vespers.  After the siesta, during which the Frenchman had whiled away the time by walking round the port in the fierce heat of the sun, the priest came to show him the way into the convent.