Chapter XII: Act III

Miss Violet takes from the Countess her tone;
She agrees to meet Norman "by moonlight alone,"
And slip off to his bark, "The night being dark,"
Though "the moon," the Sea-Captain says, rises in Heaven
"One hour before midnight," _i.e._ at eleven.
From which speech I infer,-- Though perhaps I may err--
That, though weatherwise, doubtless, 'midst surges and surf, he
When "capering on shore" was by no means a Murphy.

He starts off, however, at sunset, to reach
An old chapel in ruins, that stands on the beach,
Where the Priest is to bring, as he's promised by letter, a
Paper to prove his name, "birthright," &c.
Being rather too late, Gaussen, lying in wait,
Gives poor Father Onslow a knock on the pate,
But bolts, seeing Norman, before he has wrested
From the hand of the Priest, as Sir Maurice requested,
The marriage certificate duly attested.--
Norman kneels by the clergyman fainting and gory,
And begs he won't die till he's told him his story;
The Father complies, Re-opens his eyes,
And tells him all how and about it--and dies!