222 THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 



occupied that honoured chamber where none of a less degree 

 than a mitred abbot had hitherto been permitted to repose 

 no slumber sealed his lids, nor was the beautiful novice foi 

 a moment absent from his thoughts. Cormac More hac 

 declined many a splendid alliance ; the Lord of Offaly prof- 

 fered him an only sister, with a princely dower ; and O'Nia 

 himself courted him for a son-in-law, and promised hirr 

 the barony of Orier, and Blanche, his fairest daughter. But 

 till now, Cormac had never loved : the beauteous cup-bearei 

 seemed to him a being of another world ; the more he dwell 

 upon her image, the more his passion was excited ; alliances 

 with lords and princes were overlooked, disparity of rank anc 

 fortune was forgotten, and, ere the morning sun had lightec 

 the storied window of the Bishop's chamber, the Knight's 

 determination was formed, and matins were scarcely over wher 

 he demanded an audience of the Lady Abbess. 



Never was there greater surprise than that, with whicl 

 the holy mother heard Cormac More express his passion foi 

 the novice of the Ursulines. Joy sparkled in her eyes as 

 the noble Lord of Iveagh confided the secret of his love 

 entreated her powerful intercession, and begged for hei 

 sanction to his nuptials. As Rose was still unprofessed, there 

 existed no spiritual barrier to her marriage. Flattered by the 

 high honour conferred upon her house by the proudest Baror 

 of the Pale selecting a bride from the holy sisterhood, the 

 Superior willingly acceded to his request ; his offers wen 

 accepted, and, ere the vesper-bell had tolled, the preliminaries 

 were completed, and the fair novice had consented to become 

 the bride of Cormac More. 



But, alas ! the wild ardour of the good Knight, and the 

 carnal motives of the Abbess, caused both to neglect con- 

 sulting another personage, namely, the blessed Ursula herself 

 in thus disposing of one devoted to her service from the 

 cradle ; and the saint felt the oversight. That night the 

 Abbess was tormented with fearful and portentous dreams : 

 the Lord of Iveagh tossed restlessly upon the Bishop's bed ; 

 and, if the novice closed an eye, her slumbers were broker 

 with strange and incoherent visions. In vain, next day, 

 the Knight hunted from sunrise to curfew his hounds 

 were eternally at fault, and his followers appeared besotted 

 or bewitched ; the deer, when pressed to the utmost, va- 

 nished on the bare moor ; and knight, squire, and yeoman 



