tion of the fasts, feasts, and ritual of her own church, so far as she could consistently."
"And, surely, such a worship, offered in sincerity and humility (the essence of all true religion) would be acceptable to God?"
The Countess would think long, but never finally assent; for, in truth, from her priest must the effective answer come, either to permit or refuse the marriage. Many causes operated to render a negative desirable. The country had been long harassed, the lands devoted to monastic and ecclesiastical establishments overrun, and sacred buildings were dilapidated, property destroyed which it would take many years to repair; and how could the estates of the last of his family (save one daughter) be better appropriated than in repairing the sufferings of the church? If deprived of her heretic lover, Margaret might hide her sorrows under the veil, by which means her salvation would be secured, and, in all probability, the now flourishing property of her father take the right direction. We cannot justly blame this line of argument, until we have been placed in the same situation with the good monks, and partaken their enthusiasm to rebuild the waste places of the land.
The language of Margarita was the reverse of that of the mother; she yet loved with unbounded tenderness—"In my love for you I have found a new life, not less sweet because it is dashed with sorrow; forsake me not, I beseech you, for my existence is bound
