gure moving about the parlour--now opening the window to let in the
fresh air of the morning; now arranging a bouquet of moss-roses; now
busying herself among the breakfast things, and all the while stealing a
glance at Sir Simon, to see if he were pleased with what she was doing.
He'll be over here by-and-by, to call on you; and, indeed, it is an
attention he seldom pays any one, for latterly, poor fellow, he is not
over satisfied with the world--and if the truth were told, he has not
had too much cause to be so.'

'You mentioned to him, then, that I was here?' 'To be sure I did; and
the doing so cost me a scalded finger; for Miss Louisa, who was pouring
out my tea at the moment, gave a jerk with her hand, and spilled the
boiling water all over me.--Bad cess to you, Mary, but you've spoiled
the toast this morning! half of it never saw the fire, and the other
half is as black as my boot.--But, as I was saying, Sir Simon knows all
about you, and is coming over to ask us to dine there--though I offered
to give the invitation myself, and accept it first; but he is very
punctilious about these things, and wouldn't hear of anything but doing
it in the regular way.'

'Did he allude to Mr. Ulick Burke's affair?'

'Not a word. And even when I wished to touch on it for the sake of
a little explanation, he adroitly turned the subject, and spoke of
something else. But it is drawing late, and I have some people to see
this morning; so come along now into my little library here, and I'll
leave you for a while to amuse yourself.'

The priest led me, as he spoke, into a small room, whose walls were
covered with books from the floor to the ceiling; even the very door
by which we entered had its shelves, like the rest, so that when once
inside you could see no trace of it. A single window looked seaward,
towards the wide Atlantic, and presented a view of many miles of coast,
indented with headland and promontory. Beneath, upon the placid sea, was
a whole fleet of fishing-boats, the crews of which were busily engaged
in collecting the sea-weed to manure the land. The sight was both
curious and picturesque. The light boats, tossing on the heavy swell,
were crowded with figures whose attitude evinced all the eagerness of a
chase. Sometimes an amicable contest would arise between two parties, as
their boat-hooks were fixed in the same mass of tangled weed. Sometimes
two rival crews would be seen stretching upon their oars, as they headed