And Biddy said that she would give him five pounds to help to build the church and fifty pounds for her window, and, she added, "If the best gilding and paint costs a little more I would be sorry to see the church short." "Well, you say, Biddy, you will give five pounds towards the church. Now, let us think how much money I could get in this parish." He had a taste for gossip, and he liked to hear everyone's domestic details. She began by telling him she had met Kate Kavanagh on the road, and Kate had told her that there had been great dancing last night. "But there was no wedding," said the priest. "I only know, your reverence, what Kate Kavanagh told me. There had been great dancing last night. The supper was ordered at Michael Dunne's, and the cars were ordered, and they went to Enniskerry and back." "But Michael Dunne would not dare to serve supper to people who were not married," said the priest. "The supper had been ordered, and they would have to pay for it whether they ate it or not. There was a pig's head, and the cake cost eighteen shillings, and it was iced." "Never mind the food," said the priest, "tell me what happened." "Kate said that after coming back from Enniskerry, Michael Dunne said: 'Is this the wedding party?' and that Ned jumped off the car, and said: 'To be sure. Amn't I the wedded man.' And they had half a barrel of porter." "Never mind the drink," said the priest, "what then?" "There was dancing first and fighting after. Pat Connex and Peter M'Shane were both there. You know Pat plays the melodion, and he asked Peter to sing, and Peter can't sing a bit, and he was laughed at. So he grabbed a bit of stick and hit Pat on the head, and hit him badly, too. I hear the doctor had to be sent for." "That is always the end of their dancing and drinking," said the priest. "And what happened then, what happened? After that they went home?" "Yes, your reverence, they went home." "Mary Byrne went home with her own people, I suppose, and Ned went back to his home." "I don't know, your reverence, what they did." "Well, what else did Kate Kavanagh tell you?" "She had just left her brother and Mary, and they were going towards the Peak. That is what Kate told me when I met her on the road." "Mary Byrne would not go to live with a man to whom she was not married. But you told me that Kate said she had just left Mary Byrne and her brother." "Yes, they were just coming out of the cabin," said Biddy. "She passed them on the road." "Out of whose cabin?" said the priest. "Out of Ned's cabin. I know it must have been out of Ned's cabin, because she said she met them at the cross roads." He questioned the old woman, but she grew less and less explicit. "I don't like to think this of Mary Byrne, but after so much dancing and drinking, it is impossible to say what might not have happened." "I suppose they forgot your reverence didn't marry them."