“To you, of course, it would sound absurd, it does to me too, but it was a little change, it was the only thing I could think of. We have some pieces written for two voices, but I can hardly get them sung. I have to teach the sisters the parts separately. Till they know them by heart, I can’t trust them. It is impossible sometimes not to lose one’s temper. If we had a few good voices, people would come to hear them, the convent would be spoken about, and some charitable people would come forward and pay off our mortgages. I’ve lain awake at night thinking of it; the Reverend Mother agrees with me. But in the way of voices we’ve been as unlucky as we could well be. I’ve been here eight years—there was one, but she died six years ago of consumption. It is heartbreaking. I play the organ, I b
