Page 291 of 1118

"I am here," began Gertrude; but, about to utter the words which

were to decide her destiny irrevocably, she felt her heart fail,

and hesitating, she fixed her eyes on the crowd before her. She

beheld there the well-known face of one of her companions, who

regarded her with looks of compassion and malice, as if to say,

"They have caught the brave one." This sight required all her

courage, and she was about to give a reply very different from

that which was expected from her, when, glancing at her father,

she caught from his eye such an anxious and threatening

expression, that, overcome by terror, she proceeded, "I am here

to ask admittance into this monastery, where I have been

instructed so kindly." The abbess immediately expressed her

regret, that the regulations were such as to prohibit an

immediate answer, which must be given by the common suffrage of

the sisterhood; but that Gertrude knew well the sentiments they

entertained towards her; and might judge what that answer would

be.