26o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



until, piqued by his neglect, the Abbess wished him a 

 fair repose, and retired in full state from the apartment, 

 preceded by a crucifix and taper, and followed by her 

 attendant nuns. 



Although the Knight lay upon the Bishop's bed, 

 and occupied that honoured chamber where none of a 

 less degree than a mitred abbot had hitherto been per- 

 mitted to repose, no slumber sealed his lids, nor was the 

 beautiful novice for a moment absent from his thoughts. 

 Cormac More had declined many a splendid alliance ; 

 the Lord of Offaly proffered him an only sister, with 

 a princely dower ; and O'Nial himself courted him for 

 a son-in-law, and promised him the barony of Orier, 

 and Blanche, his fairest daughter. But, till now, 

 Cormac had never loved : the beauteous cup-bearer 

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

 dwelt upon her image, the more his passion was excited, 

 alliances with lords and princes were overlooked, 

 disparity of rank and fortune was forgotten, and, ere the 

 morning sun had lighted the storied window of the 

 Bishop's chamber, the Knight's determination was 

 formed, and matins were scarcely over when he demanded 

 an audience of the Lady Abbess. 



Never was there greater surprise than that with which 

 the holy mother heard Cormac More express his passion 

 for 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 her 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 baron of the Pale 

 selecting a bride from the holy sisterhood, the Superior 



