They were at the return on the stairs when Brigid heard the Mother General say behind her, ‘Good morning, I trust you both slept well. Isn’t it a beautiful morning?’

‘Good morning, Mother General.’ Brigid glanced behind her to look at her Superior.

‘Last night’s storm has passed.’ The Mother General looked at Brigid kindly as they continued into the Oratory. ‘We will walk together,’ she said as Marie-Hélène opened the door and stood back to allow the two Reverend Mothers to precede her.

The candles on the altar reflected their flickering light in the beautiful stained-glass window of the Holy Family, and Sister Anthony’s organ music rippled around the lamp-lit, peaceful room where several of the nuns were already kneeling in prayer. It had been Brigid’s intention to take a seat at the back, but with the Mother General’s firm pressure under her elbow, she was ushered to the front row and knelt beside her to pray. Her knees were shaking but a wave of relief and gratitude enveloped her at the support of stalwart friends.

When Lauds was over, they all trooped into the refectory where Una was ready to serve breakfast. Brigid found herself surrounded by her fellow Sisters, everyone asking if she was all right, telling her not to worry about the previous night, and urging her to enjoy her retirement. There was not one word of judgement, not one snide remark. As she sat nibbling on a piece of toast – all she could manage to eat – Brigid realized her harshest critic was, and always would be, herself . . . and of course Imelda.

Later, when it was time for the French nuns to depart, Brigid stood in the small parlour thanking Mother Aloysius. ‘Brigid, if everyone in our Order was even half as conscientious and dedicated as you have been, we would be doing very well indeed. My last instruction to you as your Mother General is to enjoy every second of your well-deserved and hard-earned retirement. This is your time now. Use it well. And spend every penny your brother gifted you on yourself,’ she added, laughing.

‘Thank you, I’m so grateful for your understanding and kindness, and so sorry for—’

The Mother General laid a gentle finger on her lips. ‘We all have secrets, Brigid,’ she murmured.

Standing on the front step, waving at her fellow nuns as the pale wintery sun made a dazzling appearance from behind the hills on the horizon, Brigid heard the words pop into her head: A new dawning. It was almost as though a voice had said it to her.

It was a new dawning in her life, and today was the beginning of it. She had the strangest sense of liberation.