And so,
Madeleine, we had better see of there is anything in the box
you wish to keep, and then it can be sent away. We shall
perhaps find some clothes that can be altered for you."
"Yes," said Madelon, on whom, in spite of her new schemes and
resolutions, that little sentence about sending the box away
had a chilling effect; it was like cutting off another link
between her and the world. Soeur Lucie went down on her knees
and began to uncord the trunk.
"Here is the key tied to it," she said; "now we shall see."
She raised the lid as she spoke, but at that moment a bell
began to ring.
"That is for vespers," she cried, "we must go; Madeleine, in a
few days you will be able to come to the chapel again; to-
night you can stay and take out these things. Ah, just as I
thought--there are clothes," she added, taking a hurried peep,
and then followed Soeur Marie out of the room.
Madelon approached the box with a certain awe mixed with her
curiosity. It was quite true that she had never seen what it
contained; she only knew that it had been her mother's, and
that various articles belonging to her had been put away in it
after her death.
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