He possessed an artistic sense of the fitness of things, and the
suggested _Soeur de Charite_ appealed to him as being quite out of the
picture. Besides Arithelli had no respect for priests or nuns; Emile
remembered her inimitable descriptions of the spying "Children of
Mary," and she should not be worried with either if he could help it.
Yes, certainly the incapable old landlady would be preferable to a
white-capped _religeuse_, for the latter, though not likely by virtue
of her training to be scared by the physical atmosphere, would
undoubtedly be appalled by the mental and moral one. Most likely she
would take advantage of Arithelli's weakness to persuade her of the
danger of her present way of living. The Church of Rome is never slow
at seizing the chance of making a convert, and the power of the Church
in Spain is a byword.
Though Emile had a profound scorn for conventions, he had at one time
had his place among that class of human beings that calls itself
"Society," and he knew its rules and ways as he despised its
hypocrisies.
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