a wife from her husband without his knowledge or consent."
The porteress seemed staggered. "What you assert (replied she) seems very strange and improbable; I will, however, report it to the Abbess, which is all I can do in the business."
She shut the grate, and left him overwhelmed with vexation. He was now convinced that Claudina was here, and could he see her, and obtain from her satisfaction relative to her self-accusation, and a confession of the real motives which had induced her to leave the Castle under such an appearance of mystery, he concluded that he should be much easier in his mind, and submit patiently to a separation which seemed to have been commanded, though why at that particular period he could not conceive, and was what he supposed a conversation with her would clear up. During the absence of the porteress, his mind dwelt on these circumstances; the grate was at length opened, and the old woman appeared.
