“I should have known there was a man behind this!” Sister Evangelina rose angrily from her chair and paced the room.

Sister Julienne watched from behind the safety of her desk. She knew better than to interrupt her Sister at a moment like this. Sister Evangelina was a bit like a volcano, once the big explosion passed, the anger would cool and reason would return.

“We should have known. We should have known ten years ago! She was too young to join the Order. She should have waited, lived a life on the outside first. She was never tested.”

“Sister, she was young, but we both know the challenges she’d already faced.”

The angry nun turned. “She knew sadness, of course, but what did she know of the real world? Barely twenty when she joined us, fresh out of nursing school, and the convent school before that. The Reverend Mother should have insisted she wait.”

Realizing her own disobedience, Sister Evangelina returned to her chair. “Forgive me. I should not have said such a thing. Of course the Reverend Mother made the best decision she could at the time.”

Silence descended upon the two nuns as each struggled with difficult emotions.

Sister Evangelina spoke first. “At least now we know she hasn’t lost her faith. Though I’m not sure this is much better. To have her head turned by a man!” She sighed heavily. “I must say I am stunned. I had more respect for Dr. Turner than that.”

“I do not think it was as you suspect, Sister. I do not believe that either one of them have behaved improperly.”

Sister Evangelina was doubtful. “How on earth could this have happened? She left us only weeks ago, not nearly long enough for something like this to happen.”

Sister Julienne put down the pen she had been nervously rolling between her fingers and clasped her hands. “I’m afraid this was not so sudden as it seems.”

“But you said-” the other nun interrupted.

Shaking her head, the calm nun continued. “I am convinced the relationship did not begin until our sister had already decided to leave us. For a very long time, I knew there was something troubling her, something she was unwilling to share. You, too, noticed, I think. Last autumn?”

Thinking back, Sister Evangelina recalled. “Yes. The deaths of the Gibney mother and babe. She took that very hard. She asked to be excused from services for days.”

“Yes. And assisting at the Mother House last winter, Mother Jesu sensed a resistance to some of the old ways.”

“I can’t say as I blame her for that,” shrugged Sister Evangelina. “Sister Dorothy Ann is the most officious nun I have ever met.”

“Yes, well, it certainly didn’t help our former sister. I believe she began to question her role in the religious life long before those challenges. She realized she was living the wrong life, and it was only then that she began to look elsewhere for happiness.”

Using the desk to prop her arm, Sister Evangelina rested her forehead against her palm. “We all have doubts at times. It’s not an easy life. I had hoped she was strong enough.”

Sister Julienne considered her sister’s words. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. “Thank you, my dear sister. Until now, I did not truly understand our friend’s journey.”

She reached across the desk and gripped her Sister’s hand. “It is not a question of strength, old friend. Every path is a difficult one, every path has it’s own sacrifices and joys.

“Sister, why do we serve the mothers of this community? Why do we feel they are so important? It is because they are the center of all life. They give birth, they care for their families, and must willingly put the needs of others before themselves. Shelagh has not made a selfish choice, she has merely exchanged one set of sacrifices and joys for another.”

Sister Evangelina straightened and held her sister’s hand between both of her own. Smiling in understanding, she nodded. “I suppose we must accept that everyone must make their own path in life. Even if we don’t understand it.”

“We do, indeed.”

“Well,” Sister Evangelina stood abruptly. “I’ll support her in whatever decision she makes. Shelagh Mannion has earned the right to live her own life. I will miss her, though. She’s a funny little thing. She’ll make Timothy an excellent mother, too. The boy certainly deserves her.”

She turned and opened the door. “Dr. Turner better watch it, though. I do not take kindly to foxes in the henhouse.”