MOTHER MARGUERITE, SISTER MARTHA, SISTER CLAIRE, and other SISTERS.

[They go out. DE GUICHE and ROXANE come forward in silence, and stop close to the embroidery frame.]

SISTER MARTHA:

[to MOTHER MARGUERITE] Sister Claire has looked in the mirror not just once but twice today to see how her head-dress looks on her!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

[to SISTER CLAIRE] That's not good.

SISTER CLAIRE:

But I saw Sister Martha steal a plum out of the tart!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:
[to SISTER MARTHA] That was a bad deed, my sister.

SISTER CLAIRE:

Just a little glance!

SISTER MARTHA:

And just a little plum!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

I'll tell this to Monsieur Cyrano.

SISTER CLAIRE:

Oh, please don't! He'll make fun of us!

SISTER MARTHA:

He'll say that we nuns are vain!

SISTER CLAIRE:

And greedy!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

[smiling] Yes, and kind!

SISTER CLAIRE:

Is it not true, Mother Marguerite, that he has come to the convent every Saturday for ten years?

MOTHER MARGUERITE: Yes, and even longer than that. Ever since the day his cousin was brought here, wearing her widow's veil among our white habits and looking like a blackbird among a flock of white doves. That was fourteen years ago now.

SISTER MARTHA:

He's the only one who can distract her from the terrible grief she still feels every day.

ALL THE SISTERS:

He's so funny!—It's cheerful when he comes!—He teases us!—We like him so much!—He enjoys our pastries!

SISTER MARTHA:

But he is not a faithful Catholic!

SISTER CLAIRE:

We will convert him!

THE SISTERS:

Yes! Yes!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

I forbid you to attempt that, my daughters. He might grow tired of it and come here less often.

SISTER MARTHA:

But God—

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

Do not fear! God knows him well!

SISTER MARTHA:

But, every Saturday, when he arrives, he tells me, “Sister, I ate meat on Friday!”

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

Oh, is that what he says? Well, the last time he came, he hadn't eaten for two whole days!

SISTER MARTHA:

Mother!

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

He's poor.

SISTER MARTHA:

Who told you that, dear Mother?

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

Monsieur Le Bret.

SISTER MARTHA:

No one helps him?

MOTHER MARGUERITE:

He won't permit anyone to help him. [In an alley at the back ROXANE appears, dressed in black, with a widow's coif and veil. DE GUICHE, imposing-looking and visible aged, walks by her side. They saunter slowly. MOTHER MARGUERITE rises.] It's time we go in. Madame Madeleine walks in the garden with a visitor.

SISTER MARTHA:

[to SISTER CLAIRE, in a low voice] It's the Marshal of Grammont, isn't it?

SISTER CLAIRE:

[looking at him] Yes, I think so.

SISTER MARTHA:

It's been many months since he came to see her.

THE SISTERS:

He's so busy! What with the Court, the Army—

SISTER CLAIRE:

His worldly concerns!