Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Hello:

Any justification for having the past "went" followed by past perfect
"had done had been" in the following:  

-----
She went, numbed and terrified, to the Mother Superior of her
childhood's convent with the tale of Edward's infidelities with the
Spanish dancer, and all that the old nun, who appeared to her to be
infinitely wise, mystic and reverend, HAD DONE HAD BEEN to shake her
head sadly and to say:
"Men are like that. By the blessing of God it will all come right in
the end."
[The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford, Part IV, ch.I, p. 169]
-----

instead of what I would have expected, the past form:  
" ..., did was to shake her head ... ?"

Thank you,
Marius Hancu