Get thee back to
thine own household, for I plight thee the word of a true warrior that I
will not carry thee from thy father's house.'
'Neither is there need,' answered Grania, 'for my father's horses are in a
fenced meadow by themselves, and chariots also will ye find there. Yoke
two horses to a chariot, and I will wait for thee on this spot until thou
overtake me again.'
Then Dermat did as Grania said, and he brought the horses and the chariot,
and they drove forth.
But when they came to the banks of the river Shannon, Dermat said, 'Now
that we have the horses it is easier for Finn to follow in our track.'
'Then,' said Grania, 'leave the horses on this spot and I will journey on
foot henceforth.'
And Dermat, when he saw that the Princess would not be moved, told her how
great was his love for her, and how he would defend her even with his life
from the wrath of Finn.
And Dermat wed Grania, and they vowed solemn vows that they would be
faithful each to each even unto death.
Then tenderly did Dermat lift his wife in his strong arms and bear her
across the ford, and neither the sole of her foot nor the hem of her
mantle touched the stream.
Afterwards Dermat led one of the horses across the ford, but the other he
left on the far side.
Dermat and Grania then walked until they came to a thick wood, and there
Dermat lopped branches from the trees and made a hut, and he made for
Grania a bed of the soft rushes and of the tops of the birch.
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