But on this day the great of the earth, beings much more unapproachable, as a rule, than the saints, were to visit the convent.

Honour was to be paid to ladies whose magnificence was guaranteed by worldly titles; to the Proconsuls of the far-off Imperial power, holders of the purse-strings of the richest nation upon earth; to Judges accustomed to sit in splendid robes and awful head-dresses, pronouncing the doom of malefactors; to a member of the Cabinet, a very mighty man, though untitled; and quite possibly--a glittering hope--to the Lord Lieutenant himself.
It was therefore no wonder that the nuns had decked their convent with all possible splendour.

On each side of the iron gateway was a flag-post.

From the top of one fluttered the green banner of Ireland, with its gold harp and a great crown over it.

From the other hung the Union Jack, emblem of that marriage of nationalities for whose consummation eight centuries have not sufficed.