‘You’ll excuse me, Reverend Mother.’
It was the Sister in charge of the laundry, and, seeing her crippled arm, Father Oliver remembered that her dress had become entangled in the machinery. He didn’t know, however, that the fault lay with Mary, who was told off to watch the machinery and to stop it instantly in case of necessity.
‘She can’t keep her attention fixed on anything, not even on her prayers, and what she calls piety I should call idleness. It’s terrible to have to do with stupid women, and the convent is so full of them that I often wonder what is the good of having a convent at all.’
‘But, Eliza, you don’t regret—’
‘No, of course I don’t regret. I should do just the same again. But don’t let us waste our time talking about vocations. I hear enough of that here. I want you t
