Belle Rose: A Romance of the Cloak and Sword — page 256: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

240 THE LAST HOUR. harmony that charmed the ear and lulled the heart. When mass had been celebrated, the work of renunciation began. A sister detached the flowers which decorated the forehead of the young fiancee of heaven, and let them fall upon the marble; another untied the pearl necklaces and diamond bracelets; and the jewels, which recalled the vanities of this world, strewed the slabs of the choir; the knots of ribbon were untied, and Gabrielle’s luxuriant hair was scattered over her naked shoulders. A ray of sunshine, gliding through the windows, enveloped her bowed head with an aureole and played in the floating tresses of her long blonde hair. A sister took them in her left hand, and with the right she cut off the curls, which soon covered the dress and cushion. The archbishop raised the cross toward heaven, and with his extended fingers blessed the crowd; the sisters prayed in chorus, and the organ rolled forth its waves of sound. When the last curl of hair was cut off, Mother Evangélique threw a vail over Gabrielle’s head, the songs burst forth, and the grated door of the choir fell back upon its hinges. Gabrielle no longer be- longed to the world. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE LAST HOUR. The day after Gabrielle had taken the vail, Suzanne en- countered Monsieur de Charny upon the terrace of the convent; Monsieur de Charny made her a profound salute. Suzanne bowed and passed on. The sight of this man in- spired her with an invincible horror, and caused her to shudder like a child who has stepped on a serpent. On her awakening the following morning she found upon one of the chairs in her room a complete novice’s outfit; the dress, the vail, the chaplet. Her clothing of the evening before had disappeared; some one had entered during her sleep and carried it off. Suzanne hesitated a moment be- fore dressing herself, but it was not in her character to revolt for small things. To the wretched annoyances of which she was the object, she opposed unceasingly a calm forehead and a pious resignation. Since the day on which Mademoiselle de Mesle had taken the vail, her health, already bad, grew constantly worse. Each morning Suzanne was frightened to notice the change aa Nn