Lord of as wide inheritance as thou, and yet a tenant only
in a narrow cell!"
"Thou speakest riddles;--thy meaning?"
"I was an outcast, though heir to a vast heritage. I vowed that if He,
whose prerogative it is, would cleanse me from my stains, my life should
thenceforth be His, and consecrate to Heaven. I was a leper; but my
prayer was heard. I washed in yonder holy well which gushes from the
rock, whose virtues had been reported to me. Washing daily, with faith
and prayer, I was healed. I found close by a convenient hermitage; and
many caverns and secret chambers, with hidden passages and
communications, had been dug therefrom, by which I could pass to and
fro, and thus visit the castle unseen. I was the confessor and companion
of Robert de Lacy. At my desire, he left the whole of his domains to the
Fitz-Eustace. But thou art not the eldest-born of thy father."
"My eldest brother has long been dead. He was a leper; his cruel disease
drove him from the haunts of men. The last we knew of him, he went forth
with cup and clapper as they are wont. Soon after news arrived of his
decease."
"Was he not driven forth by rude and cruel taunts, the rather?" said the
hermit, gazing with unaverted eye on the haughty chieftain.
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