Danger in the Dark - ZseZse

DANGER IN THE DARK. 173
"Yes."
" He'11 not know who I am, nor where I'm from."
" True."
"Nor whether I 'm a de'il or a saint."
" Very well! what then 1"
" I '11dress myself in mourning; put on a face like
a gravestone, and go to him with a doleful storysaying,
'My friends are dead, and the world has
becomea howling wilderness; and I've thoughts of
seeking repose in the cloister.' Beside, I'II intimate
that I have on hand a few thousand dollars, which,
perhaps, I may one day see it my religious duty to
appropriate to the church."
" And what will you accomplish by all that j"
"Why, I may gain an opportunity of seeing Maria
Gerard and Arabella May; and who knows but that
I might prevail upon them to leave the convent 1"
"But you can't have access to them without taking
the vows; and you must be a novice two years before
you're allowed to take the vows."
" I'm aware that's the rule; but nevertheless,
mark it, 1'11 gain admission to the black-vail department,
and have an interview with Anna and Arabella
without taking the vows, and even without becoming
first a novitiate."
"I see not how you can hope to succeed in that."
" Thus: Dupin has a pliant conscience-or rather,
perhaps, no conscience at all-and he's avaricious;
he'll believe that I have money, and will be ready to
humor my fancies and yield to my capriciousnell8-8n