"It must be for some one else," thought she; and she pulled the knocker violently.
After several minutes had elapsed, she heard footsteps, the door was half opened and a nun appeared.

The good sister, with an air of compunction, told her that "she had just passed away." And at the same time the tolling of Saint-Leonard's increased.
Felicite reached the second floor.

Already at the threshold, she caught sight of Virginia lying on her back, with clasped hands, her mouth open and her head thrown back, beneath a black crucifix inclined toward her, and stiff curtains which were less white than her face.

Madame Aubain lay at the foot of the couch, clasping it with her arms and uttering groans of agony.

The Mother Superior was standing on the right side of the bed.