Carmel and her mistress returned in silence to Eugénie’s room. Carmel closed the door, and promptly dropped to her knees. She didn’t have a rosary, but she knew the sequence of devotions well. Eyes closed tightly, her body trembling, she launched into the Lord’s prayer in her head, in French. Behind her, she could hear her mistress pulling her blankets over her head as the rain unleashed its curses upon the glass.
At a morning assembly several days later, after the storm had dissipated, the Mother Superior delivered a short verbal report on the state of the convent and grounds. She pointed out that according to the male servants, nearly two dozen people in the town, whole portions of which still lay under an icy blanket, had drowned. In fact, while conducting a walking inspection Hubert had come upon the body of the convent’s factotum Jacob Greaves, grounded like a barge in the creek’s new banks at the base of the hill. A waterlogged sack of his clothes and a few personal effects moored at his side. Though the convent had received no notice, Carmel overheard one white girl telling another, it appeared as though he was quitting not only their employ at the convent but his hometown as well. The nuns, Carmel later learned, had wanted to attend his funeral in town, but they had been warned not to set foot on the other side of the river; nevertheless, when the next priest came through they would ask him to say a special Mass for Greaves and the other deceased, which included one of the old milk cows. The students and most of the nuns, who were quite fond of Greaves, erupted in tears. Eugénie bawled inconsolably. Carmel, standing at the rear of the room with the other bondswomen, many of whom were weeping too, stared at her mistress, who briefly turned around; her face had contorted into a wet, stone grimace. Turning away, the slave girl noticed that her fellow slaves, through their tears, were observing her, their expressions a mix of emotions shifting so rapidly she couldn’t fully grasp them. She trained her eyes on her bare feet until the Mother Superior had finished her remarks. After a recitation of the rosary, the girls were dismissed to prepare for supper. Carmel waited until the nuns, the girls and the other slaves had departed, then she returned to the room.
She immediately thought of her work. Were anyone to find it, they would suspect the worst, and she might be punished and then sold off. She wasn’t even sure how Eugénie might respond. As far as she could recall she hadn’t experienced such an episode for the entire time that they’d been at the Academy of the Sisters of the Most Precious Charity of our Lady of the Sorrows. She entered the room cautiously. Eugénie did not acknowledge her. Silent, the white girl continued balling up her dirty clothes to be taken down to the washroom. Carmel perched on her cot and watched. When Eugénie was done with the clothes, she sat at her desk and began to brush her hair, which had come loose from its knot. Carmel did not move. When Eugénie had finished, she tied a brown ribbon around the ponytail, smoothed her frock, and sat back down. She still said nothing. Carmel crossed the room and started to re-sort the laundry when she felt something rap the back of her head. She looked up to see Eugénie stepping back, her forehead and cheeks dark as port, her eyes swollen.
“We never even got as far as the river,” she spat out, preparing to strike Carmel again. From the folds in her skirt Carmel withdrew her rosary. Instead of administering a beating, however, Eugénie pushed closer to the door, whispering only: “Parce que le diable ne s’arrête jamais.” Because, it is true, the devil, tireless, rests only for the devil. With that, Eugénie snatched the rosary and fled the room.
A dialogue
Are you going to waste yet another opportunity to save yourself?
[. .]
If you use your time wisely you’ll be ready to take action.
[. .]
You can take the wisdom you have at hand, scant as that is, or my counsel, which is to consider the consequences of repeatedly following the path you already know.
[. .]
the worst winter ever horrible cold mlle E still not speaking to me except orders fais ceci fais cela as always do this do that a pere
so v v cold the creek a knife of ice sky same color today we shovelld off the roadway down to the fence and the town mlle E sd to me but not to me bc she is not speakg to me parts of the town of Gethsiminy is froze over the nuns send some breads & soup down but the revd mayor refusd I polishd mlle E new boots from her tante Mme
Frigidissima haec hiems est I overhrd one Sr say that the govnr wd sending some help becouse the town sufferg so bad still they refuses bread and soup today we scrubd the cellar floors & the attic of the convent not to disturb the girls we clean the 1st and 2nd storeys on Satrday the other S did not speak to me but sd to each othr pointing to me why dont it save us the trouble and clean them with a spell they laughd mlle E still not speakg to me say I shd keep my nose out of all those books a ngr with a head full of figrs is as useful as a broom that know arithmetic I rolld my eyes mind yrself girl english sentences & 1 rosary bef slp
still so cold woke early almost dr but decide to read insted mlle E punishd bc she did not finish her french assignment had to sit the penance rm w SRS & pray ros which she nevr do save in chapel & mass even then she only mouth the wds I can say it in my lang french english latin & greek she did not speak when she return to rm but pulld my hair when my back was turnd etiam hieme cor gelatur today we washd down 2nd flr and 1st flr all the classrooms & workrooms & the ballroom where the Srs and the girls eat later after evening prayers fr MALESVAUX went down the hall & a little while later mlle E gone too latin & english sentences & 1 ros bef slp
V cold today Sunday mass I stood in the back w the other S I sd the whole mass to myself they fell aslp or touch their dresses or gossip aftwrds we had our theology class w the nuns of course Sr did not call on me but all my writ answers was correct later she sd to hrself but I heard her what a loss if only she were wht she might be worthy of taking vows later in the room mlle E order me to clean up I dustd everything swepd the floor refold all her clothes she did not speak later after lights out she gone english sentences & 1 ros bef slp
Finalement cold breakg at morng prayers Sr askd us to pray for townsp who died fr the cold she sd ten but i hear one S sd many more & they blame the convent if the Srs dont stop their wickedness there will be under siege again there is something or someone terrib evill up there sd the revd mayor then the S all look at me rolld my eyes washd cloths all day then hung to dry in cellar later mlle E & her friends JOSEPHINE & MARY MARGARET sitting on her bd J sd do you think your S ever get lonely & MM sd of course they seem human too but mlle E sd no bc they have us she refusd to nod off finally then english & latin sentences & 1 ros bef slp