‘Your friend Mrs West will have been taken to the Gethsemane Ward, which is for white ladies,’ Sister Agnes said. ‘I expect that you will be able to visit her later. But meanwhile, I will have you shown to your own accommodation. We have a small cottage in the garden which we usually give to visiting priests, but it is empty at the moment. It is very plain, I regret.’

Collis reached out his hand, palm upwards. In the shadowy hall-way, Sister Agnes appeared younger, and he could see for a moment what she must have looked like when she sailed from Antwerp, fresh and full of enthusiasm. She laid her hand gently in his, and her eyes, when she gazed at him, were lambent and understanding.

‘I admire you very much,’ he said. ‘It is very kind of you to have me here.’

She answered, ‘What you did, too, was admirable. You were the Good Samaritan.’

There was a moment’s silence. He kept hold of her hand.

‘I’m not really used to talking to women like this,’ he said uncertainly. ‘I usually flatter them, and tell them how pretty they are.’

‘I am a bride of God,’ said Sister Agnes quietly. ‘Perhaps if you were to treat me as if I were married, that would make it more comfortable for you.’

He looked away. ‘I don’t think so.’

Sister Agnes asked, with great delicacy, ‘Mrs West?’

He glanced back at her. ‘You’re very understanding.’

‘It isn’t all praying and burying the dead, being a sister here,’ she told him.

Collis smeared the sweat from his forehead. It was cool inside the hospital hall-way, and his perspiration had turned unpleasantly chilly. ‘Do you think a priest might help?’ he asked. ‘Do you think a priest would grant her absolution for what she’s been thinking about me?’

‘If she’s truly penitent.’

‘And do you think that might give her a little extra strength?’

‘It’s possible. It may have the opposite effect altogether. But mental strength is always an asset when someone is fighting la fièvre jaune.’

Collis coughed. ‘I don’t know. I think she’d be better off if she felt certain of what her future is going to be. At least, with her husband, she’s going to have security. With me, well, anything could happen. She’d be divorced and disgraced, and apart from all that I’m almost flat broke.’

Sister Agnes nodded. ‘You’d have to help,’ she said plainly.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s quite simple. If you have both been harbouring thoughts of adultery, then it is not enough to expect her to repent of her thoughts alone. You must do so, too, and tell her that you have done so.’

Collis bit at his nail.

‘I know that it will be painful,’ said Sister Agnes.

‘Yes. But if you think it could help her to live … well then, it had better be done.’

‘I’ll send for Father Xavier.’

Collis attempted to look cheerful. ‘That’s that, then. Perhaps I’d better go to my cottage.’