The one thing evident was, that he must arrange to get a boat and to
station it at the end of some street going down to the river from the
neighbourhood of the convent. That part of the city being some distance
from the bridge, the streets would soon be deserted, and there would not
be a wild rush of fugitives to the boat, which would be the case were it
to be lying alongside anywhere near the bridge. Upon the other hand, it
would be less likely that the nuns would leave the convent if all was
comparatively quiet in that neighbourhood, and did they do so it would be
difficult in the extreme to carry off his cousin from their midst,
ignorant, too, as he was of her appearance. After looking for some time at
the convent, he returned to the more busy part of the town. Presently he
heard a great shouting; every window opened, and he saw a crowd coming
along the street. By the candles, banners, crucifixes, and canopies it was
evident that it was a religious procession. He was about to turn off into
a side street when the thought struck him that possibly it was the bishop
himself on his way up to the camp; therefore he remained in his place,
doffed his hat, and, like all around him, went down on one knee.
The procession was a long and stately one, and in the midst, walking
beneath a canopy, came the bishop himself.
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