As for Fiona, having been named for an Irish princess, she talked by the hour about kings, queens, and castles, and the royal times she hoped to enjoy some day; while Kathleen listened as if she were enchanted. It was useless for the twins, Hannah and Anna, to try to entice her away for a game. She preferred to listen while Feena told stories, or read aloud from some old book of the time when Ireland was ruled by "a king with flowing golden hair, his crimson cloak held at the breast by a magnificent jewelled brooch, his shirt interwoven with gold threads, and his girdle sparkling with precious gems." Columba, too, was sadly disappointed at not finding a playmate in Kathleen. He had even given way to his temper one day when, instead of going for a ride in the trap with him, she had chosen to walk along the bank of the River Nore with Feena to see the beautiful ivy-covered Kilkenny Castle. He went to Connemara, or "Captain Conn" as she was always called, with his grievance. "She's gone off with Feena again," he said wrathfully, "and here I've been planning to show her St. Canice's Church and the Round Tower ever since she came. I can tell her plenty of stories about the old Round Tower, if it's stories she wants." "Perhaps she would not like your stories," suggested Connemara. "Feena would never tell her that great stones were dropped from the top of the Round Tower, down one hundred feet on the heads of men, murdering Danes though they were." "Well, the Danes deserved all the trouble they found; they made enough for us, the spalpeens!" said Columba, the gentle dove. "We were a peaceable nation, content to fight among ourselves, when the Danes came crowding into the land. I'm glad Brian Boru was man enough to drive them out again. "But then," he added, "if she doesn't like to hear about the priests carrying stones to the top of the tower to drop them on the heads of the Danes, I can tell her that they carried their precious books into the tower for safety; and that they used to stand at the four little windows at the top looking out over the country to watch for the approach of an enemy. "Or I can take her down to Kilkenny Castle and tell her how Strongbow, the Governor of Ireland, built his fortress there nearly a thousand years ago, and brought his bride, the daughter of the King of Leinster, to live in the Castle. Then I can show her St. Canice's Cathedral, where the soldiers of Cromwell's army, when they were besieging the city in 1650, used to amuse themselves by smashing the beautiful windows and throwing the bells down out of the tower."