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 hanging woods invited to meditation, which there was no sounds to interrupt, except the dashing of distant waterfalls, and the cawing of rooks: a thick mantle of grass covered the valley, and here the thistle shook its lonely head, and the moss that crept over the buttresses of the monastery whistled to the wind. This building communicated with the castle by means of a subterraneous passage, now never used on account of its vicinity to the burying vaults.

The vast magnitude and decaying grandeur of the chateau, impressed Madeline with surprise and melancholy; which were almost heightened to awe and veneration on entering a gloomy-vaulted hall of immense size, with small arched windows, and supported by stone arches, ornamented with rude sculpture, and hung with rusty coats of armour; while against the walls the ancient implements of war were placed in curious devices of suns, moons, and stars. At one