CHAPTER

       I. The subterranean way
      II.  Sister Mary Antony discourses
     III.  The prioress passes
      IV.  “Give me tenderness,” She said
       V. The wayward nun
      VI.  The knight of the bloody Vest
     VII.  The Madonna in the cloister
    VIII.  On the wings of the storm
      IX.  The prioress shuts the door
       X.  “I know you for A man”
      XI.  The years roll back
     XII.  Alas, the pity of it! 
    XIII.  “Send her to me!”
     XIV.  Farewell here, and now
      XV.  “Sharpen the wits of Mary Antony”
     XVI.  The echo of wild voices
    XVII.  The dimness of Mary Antony
   XVIII.  In the cathedral crypt
     XIX.  The Bishop puts on his biretta
      XX.  Holly and mistletoe
     XXI.  So much for Seraphine
    XXII.  What brother Philip had to tell
   XXIII.  The midnight arrival
    XXIV.  The pope’s mandate
     XXV.  Mary Antony receives the Bishop
    XXVI.  Love never faileth
   XXVII.  The woman and her conscience
  XXVIII.  The white stone
    XXIX.  The vision of Mary Antony
     XXX.  The harder part
    XXXI.  The call of the curlew
   XXXII.  A great recovery and restoration
  XXXIII.  Mary Antony holds the port
   XXXIV.  Mora de Norelle
    XXXV.  In the arbour of golden roses
   XXXVI.  Strong to act; able to endure
  XXXVII.  What mother Sub-prioress knew
 XXXVIII.  The Bishop keeps vigil
   XXXIX.  The “Splendid knight”
      XL.  The heart of A nun
     XLI.  What the Bishop remembered
    XLII.  The warning
   XLIII.  Mora Mounts to the battlements
    XLIV.  “I love thee”
     XLV.  The song of the thrush
    XLVI.  “How shall I let thee go?”
   XLVII.  The Bishop is taken unawares
  XLVIII.  A strange chance
    XLIX.  Twice deceived
       L. The silver shield
      LI.  Two noble hearts go different ways
     LII.  The angel-child
    LIII.  On the holy mount
     LIV.  The unseen presence
      LV.  The heart of A woman
     LVI.  The true vision
    LVII.  “I choose to ride alone”
   LVIII.  The warrior heart
     LIX.  The Madonna in the home
      LX.  The convent bell

The White Ladies of Worcester

CHAPTER I

THE SUBTERRANEAN WAY

The slanting rays of afternoon sunshine, pouring through stone arches, lay in broad, golden bands, upon the flags of the Convent cloister.

The old lay-sister, Mary Antony, stepped from the cool shade of the cell passage and, blinking at the sunshine, shuffled slowly to her appointed post at the top of the crypt steps, up which would shortly pass the silent procession of nuns returning from Vespers.