n misery for a long
while, and during his solitary confinement he made a vow that if he ever
returned to his native land he would found a convent and dedicate his
daughter as its first nun.

Some time later the Saracens' stronghold was attacked by Christians and
the knight set free. In due course he returned to Ruedesheim, where he
was welcomed by Gisela, and the day after his arrival a young knight
named Kurt of Falkenstein begged him for her hand. Gisela avowed her
love for Kurt, and Broemser sadly replied that he would willingly
accede to the young people's wishes, for Falkenstein's father was his
companion-in-arms, were he not bound by a solemn vow to dedicate his
daughter to the Church. When Falkenstein at last understood that the
knight's decision was irrevocable he galloped off as if crazed. The
knight's vow, however, was not to be fulfilled; Gisela's reason became
unhinged, she wandered aimlessly through the corridors of the castle,
and one dark and stormy night cast herself into the Rhine and was
drowned. Broemser built the convent, but in vain did he strive to free
his conscience from remorse. Many were his benefactions, and he built
a church on the spot where one of his servants found a wooden figure of
the Crucified, which was credited with miraculous powers of healing.
But all to no purpose. Haunted by the accusing spirit of his unfortunate
daughter, he gradually languished and at last died in the same year that
the church was completed.

Further up the river is Oestrich, adjacent to which stood the famous
convent of Gottesthal, not a vestige of which remains to mark its former
site. Its memory is preserved, however, in the following appalling
legend, the noble referred to being the head of one of the ancient
families of the neighbourhood.

The Nun of Oestrich

Among the inmates of Gottesthal was a nun of surpassing loveliness,
whose beauty had aroused the wild passion of a certain noble. Undeterred
by the fact of the lady being a cloistered nun, he found a way of
communicating his passion to her, and at last met her face to face,
despite bars and bolts. Eloquently he pleaded his love, swearing to free
her from her bonds, to devote his life to her if only she would listen
to his entreaties. He ended his asseverations by kneeling before the
statue of the Virgin, vowing in her name and that of the Holy Babe to be
true, and renouncing his hopes of Heaven if he should fail in the
least of his promises. The