A tall nun, of commanding figure but benign aspect, received the
two ladies with the utmost affection, as well-known friends.
Mere Esther wore a black robe sweeping the ground. It was bound at
the waist by a leathern girdle. A black veil fell on each side of
the snowy fillet that covered her forehead, and half covered the
white wimple upon her neck and bosom.
At the first sight of the veil thrown over the heads of Amelie and
Heloise, and the agitation of both, she knew at once that the time
of these two girls, like that of many others, had come. Their
arrival was a repetition of the old, old story, of which her long
experience had witnessed many instances.
"Good mother," exclaimed Amelie, throwing her arms around the nun,
who folded her tenderly to her bosom, although her face remained
calm and passionless, "we are come at last! Heloise and I wish to
live and die in the monastery. Good Mother Esther, will you take us
in?"
"Welcome both!" replied Mere Esther, kissing each of them on the
forehead. "The virgins who enter in with the bridegroom to the
marriage are those whose lamps are burning! The lamp of Repentigny
is never extinguished in the Chapel of Saints, nor is the door of
the monastery ever shut against one of your house.
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