At first he could not bring himself to answer.
This princely figure, with his crimson robes and golden cross, so
visibly represented the power and authority of the Church.
His own intrusion into the Nunnery, his attempt to win away a holy nun,
suddenly appeared to him, as the most appalling sacrilege.
With awe and consternation in his own, he met the Bishop's eyes.
At first they were merely clear and searching, and the Knight sat
tongue-tied. But presently there flicked into them a look so human, so
tender, so completely understanding, that straightway the tongue of the
Knight was loosed.
"My lord, I have," he said. "All those things have I done. I have
been in heaven, Reverend Father, and I have been in hell----"
"Sh, my son," murmured the Bishop. "Methinks you have been in a place
which is neither heaven nor hell; though it may, on occasion,
approximate somewhat nearly to both. 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.
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