The monastery; The abbot.

.THE ABBOT. 325
to direct his motions according to their own pleasure, And for the accomplishment of plans to which he was no party. This, he thought, was too
much; arguing reasonably enough, that whatever right his grandmother and
benefactress had to guide his motions, she was neither entitled to transfer
her authority or divide it with another, who seemed to assume, without cerexnony, the same tone of absolute command over him.
"But it shall not long continue thus," thought Roland; " I will not be
all my life the slave of a woman's whistle, to go when she bids, and come
when she calls. No, by Saint Andrew! the hand that can hold the lance is
above the control of the distaff. I will leave them the slipp'd collar in their
hands on the first opportunity, and let them execute their own devices by
their own proper force. It may save them both from peril, for I guess what
they meditate is not likely to prove either safe or easy the Earl of Murray
and his heresy are too well rooted to be grubbed up by two old women."
As he thus resolved, they entered a low room, in which a third female
was seated. This apartment was the first he had observed in the mansion
which was furnished with moveable seats, and with a wooden table, over
which was laid a piece of tapestry. A carpet was spread on the floor, there
was a grate in the chimney, and, in brief, the apartment had the air of being
habitable and inhabited.
But Roland's eyes found better employment than to make observations
on the accommodations of the chamber; for this second female inhabitant
of the mansion seemed something very different from any thing he had yet
seen there. At his first entry, she had greeted with a silent and low obeisance the two aged matrons, then glancing her eyes towards Roland, she
adjusted a veil which hung back over her shoulders, so as to bring it over
her face; an operation which she performed with much modesty, but without either affected haste or embarrassed timidity.
During this manoeuvre Roland had time to observe, that the face was that
of a girl apparently not much past sixteen, and that the eyes were at once
soft and brilliant. To these very favourable observations was added the
certainty that the fair object to whom they referred possessed an excellent
shape, bordering perhaps on enbonpoint, and therefore rather that of a Hebe
than of a Sylph, but beautifully formed, and shown to great advantage by
the close jacket and petticoat which she wore after a foreign fashion, the
last not quite long enough to conceal a very pretty foot, which rested on a
bar of the table at which she sate; her round arms and taper fingers very
busily employed in repairing the piece of tapestry which was spread on it,
which exhibited several deplorable fissures, enough to demand the utmost
skill of the most expert seamstress.
It is to be remarked, that it was by stolen glances that Roland Groeme
contrived to ascertain these interesting particulars; and he thought he could
once or twice, notwithstanding the texture of the veil, detect the damsel in
the act of taking similar cognizance of his own person. The matrons in the
meanwhile continued their separate conversation, eyeing from time to time
the young people, in a manner which left Roland in no doubt that they were
the subject of their conversation. At length he distinctly heard Magdalen
Grremne say these words - " Nay, my sister, we must give them opportunity
to speak together, and to become acquainted; they must be personally known
to each other, or how shall they be able to execute what they are intrusted
with?"
It seemed as if the matron, not fully satisfied with her friend's reasoning,
continued to offer some objections; but they were borne down by her more
dictatorial friend.
"It must be so," she said, "my dear sister; let us therefore go forth on
the balcony, to finish our conversation.-And do you," she said, addressing
Roland and the girl, "become acquainted with each other."
With this she stepped up to the young woman, and raising her veil, dis20