How you got there, is a marvel to me; and how you escaped, without creating a scandal, an even greater wonder.

Yet I think it wise, for the present, not to know too much.

I merely required to be certain that you had actually found your lost betrothed, made her aware of your proximity, your discovery, and your desires.

I gathered that you had succeeded in so doing; for, two days ago, the Prioress herself sent to beg a private interview with me, in order to ask whether, under certain circumstances, I could approve the return of a nun to the world, and obtain absolution from her vows." The rubies on the Knight's breast suddenly glittered, as if a bound of his heart had caused them all to leap together.

But, except for that quick sparkle, he sat immovable, and made no sign.
The Bishop had marked the gleam of the rubies.
He lifted his Venetian goblet to the light and observed it carefully, as he continued: "The Prioress--a most wise and noble lady, of whom I told you on the day when you first questioned me concerning the Nunnery--has been having trouble with a nun, by name Sister Mary Seraphine.