Eibhlin, eighteen, was the only one with a religious calling. She
had been such a quiet little thing that they hadn’t even suspected her
piety until the boy to whom she was to be wed succumbed to an
attack of measles the year Eibhlin was twelve. As O’Malley con-
sidered a possible replacement bridegroom for his fourth daughter*
Eibhlin begged to be allowed to enter a convent. She genuinely
desired that life. Because her uncle Seamus, now bishop of Muirisk,
was present for the talk, Dubhdara O’Malley was forced to give his
consent. Eibhlin entered her convent at thirteen, and had just recently
taken final vows.

Sine O’Malley Butler was sixteen, wed three years, and the
mother of one boy. She was eight months pregnant but she would
not have missed Skye’s wedding.

The married sisters were dressed in simply cut, full-skirted silk
dresses with bell sleeves and low, scooped necklines. Moire was in
a deep, rich blue, Peigi in scarlet, Bride in violet, and Sine in golden
yellow. The lacy frill of their chemises peeked elegantly up through
the low bodices.

Eibhlin struck the only somber note. Her all-covering black linen
gown was relieved only by a severe white starched rectangular bib,
in which was centered an ebony, silver-banded crucifix. About her
waist the nun wore a twisted silk rope, also black, which hung in
two plaits to the hem of her gown. One plait, knotted into three
knots, symbolized the Trinity. The other, knotted in the same man-
ner, symbolized the estates of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By
way of vivid contrast, her sisters wore chains of wrought gold or
silver about their waists, and each woman had attached to her chain
a rosary, a needlecase, a mirror, or simply a set of household keys.

Because this was an informal home garthering, the married sisters
wore their hair loose, parted in the center. Sine and Peigi had added
pretty arched linen caps. And of course Eibhlin, whose hair had
been cut when she took her vows, wore starched and pleated white
wings over her white wimple.