Yet this
writing she has not yet seen, nor knoweth she into whose custody it hath
been given. Apprehending the great favours which the Cistercian house at
Kirkstall hath received from the Lacies, and the close intimacy which
the abbot once enjoyed, she doth conjecture that, in all likelihood, the
testament is in his keeping."
"Your journey hath need of none other reference, for the will is in my
custody."
"In thine, Sir Ulphilas?"
"How! know ye my name already?" said the hermit sharply, and a fierce
glance shot from under his high and pallid brow.
"Holy St Agatha! and has not the fame and sanctity of the Hermit of the
Rock gone forth to many lands! Where the broad Mersey and the silver Dee
roll their bright waters, thou art known by thy holiness and thy faith."
"And how is our good brother Roger, abbot of your monastery at Stanlaw?"
inquired the hermit, not deigning to notice their fulsome and flattering
epithets.
"Holy Virgin! how knowest thou his name?"
"And hath not the fame of your holy abbot, and the sanctity of your
house, reached us even here?" said the hermit, with a look of scrutiny
and scorn.
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