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'Never did you err in your wisdom, O Fionn, answered Diarmid, 'and truly, I and Grania are here. Then, in presence of them all, he kissed Grania three times. 'Thou shalt give thy head for those three kisses, said Fionn. So Fionn and the four hundred that were with him surrounded the quicken tree, and he bade them on pain of death not to let Diarmid pass through them.
So Angus flung his magic mantle around Grania, and on the wings of the wind they were carried to Bruga, unknown to Finn or his men. Then Dermat spake from the tree: 'Thou surely shalt not escape my vengeance, O Finn, nor shalt thou easily compass my death. Oft have I cleared the way for thee when thou didst go forth to battle, and oft have I sheltered thy retreat when thou didst quit the field.
Then for a while my road ran round an immense valley of magnificent rich turf bog, with mountains all round, and bowls where hidden lakes were lying bitten out of the cliffs. As I was resting again on a bridge over the Behy where Diarmuid caught salmon with Grania, a man stopped to light his pipe and talk to me.
'I am here, and with me is Grania, but none other shall come hither save with my leave. Now in the circle fence were seven doors, and at each door did Finn place strong men, so that Dermat should by no means escape. And Grania, when she heard Finn's voice, was filled with fear, and she trembled greatly. Then Dermat kissed her three times and bade her be of good cheer for all would yet be well.
He went straight to Tara, his mind bending rather to pagan than to Christian Ireland. Traces of Cormac's banqueting hall were pointed out to him, and he imagined what this great hall, built entirely of wood and hung about with skins, must have been. He was shown the Rath of Kings and the Rath of Grania.
All over Ireland there are cromlechs, and the people point to those as the places where the lovers had rested in their flight. Grania became one of Ned's heroines, and he spoke so much of her that Ellen grew a little jealous. They talked of her under the ruins of Dun Angus and under the arches of Cormac's Chapel, the last and most beautiful piece of Irish architecture.
When Angus and Grania had gone, Dermat girded on his armour, and, deep in thought, he walked to one of the seven doors and asked who was without. And the answer came, 'True friends are we, and no harm shall befall thee, shouldst thou venture forth. But Dermat answered, 'I seek the door guarded by Finn, and by none other shall I leave this place.
'The guilt of that was not mine, O Fionn, but Grania besought me, else I would not have failed to keep my charge for all the bonds in the world. And well do I deserve you should give me a drink, for many is the day since I came among the Fenians in which I have perilled my life for your sake. Therefore you should not do me this foul treachery.
The King had made ready a splendid feast, and welcomed the new-comers gladly, and they ate and drank together. When the feast was over the Druid Derry sang songs before Grania, and she, knowing he was a man of wisdom, asked him why Fionn had come thither. 'If you know not that, said the Druid, 'it is no wonder that I know it not. 'I wish to learn it from you, answered Grania.
On his right hand sat Finn and on his left the Queen. And next the Queen sat Grania. Now it chanced that the chief who sat on the other side of Grania was a story-teller, and the Princess listened gladly to the tales he told. But when he ceased from his tales Grania asked, 'Wherefore is it that Finn hath come hither to feast?
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