‘Mère Brigid, I was expecting to hear from you.’ The soft birdlike tones of Mother General Perpetua came down the line. Perpetua might be tiny and birdlike but she’d a will of iron and ruled the Order with a steely determination that bordered on tyranny.

Summoning all the courage she had, although inwardly she was quaking, Brigid said coolly, ‘I’ve just spoken to my niece.’

‘Ah yes, Soeur Michael. Very unfortunate indeed. Luckily, she hasn’t taken her final vows. That would be an even greater disgrace.’

‘And it would be our disgrace, Mère Perpetua, if she was put on the street. Her mother won’t let her come home. She has nowhere to go.’

‘She’s not a professed nun. She can leave at any time,’ Perpetua said icily.

‘Nevertheless, she’s a nun of our Order and in our Order she will stay until she decides what to do after her baby is born.’

‘Are you telling me what to do, Mère Brigid?’ Perpetua couldn’t believe her ears.

‘If you will let me continue, I will propose a solution,’ Brigid heard herself say, equally coldly. Fortunately, her Superior couldn’t see the pen trembling in her hand. ‘I propose that Soeur Michael stay here in Limerick with me for the duration of her pregnancy and then we will see what is to become of her and the child. It is a solution I believe Our Lord and His Holy Mother would bless. We are, after all, an Order that gives succour,’ Brigid added slyly.

‘I couldn’t sanction that! She would be a bad example to the novices and postulants. Under no circumstances will I agree,’ Perpetua rallied.

As though a voice whispered to her, Brigid heard ‘the Four Winds’.

‘Very well, then. She can stay in the Four Winds, away from the postulants and novices.’ Brigid strove to keep the desperation out of her voice.

There was a long silence on the phone. ‘I’m very concerned that this would set a precedent. All those young nuns with their feminist views. Vatican Two was a catastrophe.’

‘Times are changing and we must change with them,’ Brigid said calmly.

‘I wonder, did I make a mistake in promoting you?’ Perpetua said snippily.

‘I’m trying to find a Christ-like, merciful solution, Mother General. I feel at fault in a way. It was because of me that my niece entered the convent.’

‘Very well, but under no circumstances is she ever to set foot in your convent in Limerick.’

‘Thank you, Mother General; I will make sure she doesn’t. Bonne journée.’ Brigid hung up immediately in case Perpetua changed her mind. She was taut with tension. She rested her head in her hands, taking deep, calming breaths before redialling the number. The nun on the switchboard in Paris must be wondering what on earth was going on, she thought as she asked to speak to Keelin.