Convent schools are cheap, you see, that's why we were
sent there. No, I'm not a Catholic. Most of the girls made their
abjurations, but I never did. They told lies there, and they spied. I
hated that. The nuns spied on the children of Mary, and the children
of Mary spied on the ones who were not the children of Mary, and--" she
stopped.
Emile told her to continue. "I should like to hear more about
your--your religious experiences," he said. "Besides, it will do you
more good to talk than to go to sleep."
Arithelli complied at once, with unruffled good nature. "Oh, of course
I'll tell you if you like," she said amiably. "I stopped because I
thought you would probably be bored, _ennuye_, you know."
She described the nuns mumbling their prayers, and punctuating them
with irate commands to the children; the many and various rules, the
_Mere Superieure_, the food, the clothes, the eccentricities of
_Monsieur le Directeur_. She had the rare and unwomanlike art of witty
description, though it assorted badly with her tragic face and
unsmiling eyes.
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