7

A letter from the bishop had been delivered at the nunnery earl y in the morning. “Did a young page come yesterday with a message from the general? Please tell the lady that, having been given a description of the actual circumstances surrounding her case, I am overcome by a rather surprising sense of remorse and guilt for what should have been an act of piety. There are numbers of things we must talk about. I shall visit you in the next few days.”

The bishop's sister, astounded, took the letter in to Ukifune. The girl flushed crimson. The rumor was abroad, finally, it seemed. The nun would be furious at her secretiveness. She could find no answer.

The nun was indeed reproachful. “You must tell me the truth. Your silence is cruel, that is the only word for it.” Still apprised of only a part of the truth, she was in great agitation.

“A message from the mountain,” came a voice at the gate. “A message from the bishop.”