obey though the Englishmen muttered that
the delay was in order to cast the expense upon the rich abbeys, and to
muster all the resources of Lorraine and Provence to cover the poverty
of the many-titled King.

The Abbey where the gentlemen were lodged was so near Nanci that it was
easy to ride into the city and make inquiries whether any tidings had
arrived from Scotland; but nothing had come from thence for either the
princesses, Sir Patrick, or Geordie of the Red Peel, so that the strange
situation of the latter must needs continue as long as he insisted on
being beholden for nothing to the English upstart, as he scrupled not
to call Lord Suffolk, whose new-fashioned French title was an offence in
Scottish ears.

The ladies on their side had not the relaxation of these expeditions.
The Abbey was a large and wealthy one, but decidedly provincial. Only
the Lady Abbess and one sister could speak 'French of Paris,' the
others used a dialect so nearly German that Lady Suffolk could barely
understand them, and the other ladies, whose French was not strong,
could hold no conversation with them.

To insular minds, whether Scottish or English, every deviation of the
Gallican ritual from their own was a sore vexation. If Lady Drummond had
devotion enough not to be distracted by the variations, the young ladies
certainly had not, and Jean very decidedly giggled during some of the
most solemn ceremonies, such as the creeping to the cross--the large
carved cross in the middle of the graveyard, to which all in turn went
upon their knees on Good Friday and kissed it.

Last year, at this season, they had been shut up in their prison-castle,
and had not shared in any of these ceremonies; and Eleanor tried to
think of King Henry and Sister Esclairmonde, and how they were throwing
their hearts into the great thoughts of the day, and she felt distressed
at being infected by Jean's suppressed laughter at the movements of the
fat Abbess, and at the extraordinary noises made by the younger nuns
with clappers, as demonstrations against Judas on the way to the Easter
Sepulchre.

She was so much shocked at herself that she wanted to confess; but
Father Romuald had gone with the male members of the party, and
the chaplain did not half understand her French, though he gave her
absolution.

Meantime all the nuns were preparing Easter eggs, whereof there was
a great exchange the next day, when the mass was as splendid as the
resources of t