Those unaccustomed to a nunnery are often overwhelmed upon entering and feel the need to be overly reverential to those who inhabit it rather than directing their reverence to He whom they serve. The men arrived, shuffling in with their caps held low before them. It was also uncommon for us to see the workaday paysans from Oloron enter within our stone walls. We skittered around them and reached for each other’s arms beneath our tunics, subtly, so as not to be noticed and offend. They were here to do what we would not; the grand and ancient walnut tree had stopped yielding fruit, and common practice held that the tree should be beaten to free the new shoots and produce fruits of a finer flavor.
The men were speaking to the Abbess. Their leader held his eyes averted from hers, but I saw the others sneaking glances. They had...
University of California Press