The Betrothed

Chapter 13

Too much rest is rust,

There's ever cheer in changing;

We tyne by too much trust,

So we'll be up and ranging.

OLD SONG.

Early on the subsequent morning, a gallant company, saddened

indeed by the deep mourning which their principals wore, left the

well-defended Castle of the Garde Doloureuse, which had been so

lately the scene of such remarkable events.

The sun was just beginning to exhale the heavy dews which had

fallen during the night, and to disperse the thin gray mist which

eddied around towers and battlements, when Wilkin Flammock, with

six crossbowmen on horseback, and as many spearmen on foot,

sallied forth from under the Gothic gate-way, and crossed the

sounding drawbridge. After this advanced guard, came four

household servants well mounted, and after them, as many inferior

female attendants, all in mourning. Then rode forth the young Lady

Eveline herself, occupying the centre of the little procession,

and her long black robes formed a striking contrast to the colour

of her milk-white palfrey. Beside her, on a Spanish jennet, the

gift of her affectionate father,--who had procured it at a high

rate, and who would have given half his substance to gratify his

daughter,--sat the girlish form of Rose Flammock, who had so much

of juvenile shyness in her manner, so much of feeling and of

judgment in her thoughts and actions. Dame Margery followed, mixed

in the party escorted by Father Aldrovand, whose company she

chiefly frequented; for Margery affected a little the character of

the devotee, and her influence in the family, as having been

Eveline's nurse, was so great as to render her no improper

companion for the chaplain, when her lady did not require her

attendance on her own person. Then came old Raoul the huntsman,

his wife, and two or three other officers of Raymond Berenger's

household; the steward, with his golden chain, velvet cassock, and

white wand, bringing up the rear, which was closed by a small band

of archers, and four men-at-arms. The guards, and indeed the

greater part of the attendants, were only designed to give the

necessary degree of honour to the young lady's movements, by

accompanying her a short space from the castle, where they were

met by the Constable of Chester, who, with a retinue of thirty

lances, proposed himself to escort Eveline as far as Gloucester,

the place of her destination. Under his protection no danger was

to be apprehended, even if the severe defeat so lately sustained

by the Welsh had not of itself been likely to prevent any attempt,

on the part of those hostile mountaineers, to disturb the safety

of the marches for some time to come. In pursuance of this

arrangement, which permitted the armed part of Eveline's retinue

to return for the protection of the castle, and the restoration of

order in the district around, the Constable awaited her at the

fatal bridge, at the head of the gallant band of selected horsemen

whom he had ordered to attend upon him. The parties halted, as if

to salute each other; but the Constable, observing that Eveline

drew her veil more closely around her, and recollecting the loss

she had so lately sustained on that luckless spot, had the

judgment to confine his greeting to a mute reverence, so low that

the lofty plume which he wore, (for he was now in complete

armour,) mingled with the flowing mane of his gallant horse.

Wilkin Flammock next halted, to ask the lady if she had any

farther commands.

"None, good Wilkin," said Eveline; "but to be, as ever, true and

watchful."

"The properties of a good mastiff," said Flammock. "Some rude

sagacity, and a stout hand instead of a sharp case of teeth, are

all that I can claim to be added to them--I will do my best.--Fare

thee well, Roschen! Thou art going among strangers--forget not the

qualities which made thee loved at home. The saints bless thee--

farewell!"

The steward next approached to take his leave, but in doing so,

had nearly met with a fatal accident. It had been the pleasure of

Raoul, who was in his own disposition cross-grained, and in person

rheumatic, to accommodate himself with an old Arab horse, which

had been kept for the sake of the breed, as lean, and almost as

lame as himself, and with a temper as vicious as that of a fiend.

Betwixt the rider and the horse was a constant misunderstanding,

testified on Raoul's part by oaths, rough checks with the curb,

and severe digging with the spurs, which Mahound (so paganishly

was the horse named) answered by plunging, bounding, and

endeavouring by all expedients to unseat his rider, as well as

striking and lashing out furiously at whatever else approached

him. It was thought by many of the household, that Raoul preferred

this vicious cross-tempered animal upon all occasions when he

travelled in company with his wife, in order to take advantage by

the chance, that amongst the various kicks, plunges, gambades,

lashings out, and other eccentricities of Mahound, his heels might

come in contact with Dame Gillian's ribs. And now, when as the

important steward spurred up his palfrey to kiss his young lady's

hand, and to take his leave, it seemed to the bystanders as if

Raoul so managed his bridle and spur, that Mahound jerked out his

hoofs at the same moment, one of which coming in contact with the

steward's thigh, would have splintered it like a rotten reed, had

the parties been a couple of inches nearer to each other. As it

was, the steward sustained considerable damage; and they that

observed the grin upon Raoul's vinegar countenance entertained

little doubt, that Mahound's heels then and there avenged certain

nods, and winks, and wreathed smiles, which had passed betwixt the

gold-chained functionary and the coquettish tirewoman, since the

party left the castle.

This incident abridged the painful solemnity of parting betwixt

the Lady Eveline and her dependents, and lessened, at the same

time, the formality of her meeting with the Constable, and, as it

were, resigning herself to his protection.

Hugo de Lacy, having commanded six of his men-at-arms to proceed

as an advanced-guard, remained himself to see the steward properly

deposited on a litter, and then, with the rest of his followers,

marched in military fashion about one hundred yards in the rear of

Lady Eveline and her retinue, judiciously forbearing to present

himself to her society while she was engaged in the orisons which

the place where they met naturally suggested, and waiting

patiently until the elasticity of youthful temper should require

some diversion of the gloomy thoughts which the scene inspired.

Guided by this policy, the Constable did not approach the ladies

until the advance of the morning rendered it politeness to remind

them, that a pleasant spot for breaking their fast occurred in the

neighbourhood, where he had ventured to make some preparations for

rest and refreshment. Immediately after the Lady Eveline had

intimated her acceptance of this courtesy, they came in sight of

the spot he alluded to, marked by an ancient oak, which, spreading

its broad branches far and wide, reminded the traveller of that of

Mamre, under which celestial beings accepted the hospitality of

the patriarch. Across two of these huge projecting arms was flung

a piece of rose-coloured sarsanet, as a canopy to keep off the

morning beams, which were already rising high. Cushions of silk,

interchanged with others covered with the furs of animals of the

chase, were arranged round a repast, which a Norman cook had done

his utmost to distinguish, by the superior delicacy of his art,

from the gross meals of the Saxons, and the penurious simplicity

of the Welsh tables. A fountain, which bubbled from under a large

mossy stone at some distance, refreshed the air with its sound,

and the taste with its liquid crystal; while, at the same time, it

formed a cistern for cooling two or three flasks of Gascon wine

and hippocras, which were at that time the necessary

accompaniments of the morning meal.

When Eveline, with Rose, the Confessor, and at some farther

distance her faithful nurse, was seated at this silvan banquet,

the leaves rustling to a gentle breeze, the water bubbling in the

background, the birds twittering around, while the half-heard

sounds of conversation and laughter at a distance announced that

their guard was in the vicinity, she could not avoid making the

Constable some natural compliment on his happy selection of a

place of repose.

"You do me more than justice," replied the Baron; "the spot was

selected by my nephew, who hath a fancy like a minstrel. Myself am

but slow in imagining such devices."

Rose looked full at her mistress, as if she endeavoured to look

into her very inmost soul; but Eveline answered with the utmost

simplicity,--"And wherefore hath not the noble Damian waited to

join us at the entertainment which he hath directed?"

"He prefers riding onward," said the Baron, "with some light-

horsemen; for, notwithstanding there are now no Welsh knaves

stirring, yet the marches are never free from robbers and outlaws;

and though there is nothing to fear for a band like ours, yet you

should not be alarmed even by the approach of danger."

"I have indeed seen but too much of it lately," said Eveline; and

relapsed into the melancholy mood from which the novelty of the

scene had for a moment awakened her.

Meanwhile, the Constable, removing, with the assistance of his

squire, his mailed hood and its steel crest, as well as his

gauntlets, remained in his flexible coat of mail, composed

entirely of rings of steel curiously interwoven, his hands bare,

and his brows covered with a velvet bonnet of a peculiar fashion,

appropriated to the use of knights, and called a _mortier_,

which permitted him both to converse and to eat more easily than

when he wore the full defensive armour. His discourse was plain,

sensible, and manly; and, turning upon the state of the country,

and the precautions to be observed for governing and defending so

disorderly a frontier, it became gradually interesting to Eveline,

one of whose warmest wishes was to be the protectress of her

father's vassals. De Lacy, on his part, seemed much pleased; for,

young as Eveline was, her questions showed intelligence, and her

mode of answering, both apprehension and docility. In short,

familiarity was so far established betwixt them, that in the nest

stage of their journey, the Constable seemed to think his

appropriate place was at the Lady Eveline's bridle-rein; and

although she certainly did not countenance his attendance, yet

neither did she seem willing to discourage it. Himself no ardent

lover, although captivated both by the beauty and the amiable

qualities of the fair orphan, De Lacy was satisfied with being

endured as a companion, and made no efforts to improve the

opportunity which this familiarity afforded him, by recurring to

any of the topics of the preceding day.

A halt was made at noon in a small village, where the same

purveyor had made preparations for their accommodation, and

particularly for that of the Lady Eveline; but, something to her

surprise, he himself remained invisible. The conversation of the

Constable of Chester was, doubtless, in the highest degree

instructive; but at Eveline's years, a maiden might be excused for

wishing some addition to the society in the person of a younger

and less serious attendant; and when she recollected the

regularity with which Damian Lacy had hitherto made his respects

to her, she rather wondered at his continued absence. But her

reflection went no deeper than the passing thought of one who was

not quite so much delighted with her present company, as not to

believe it capable of an agreeable addition. She was lending a

patient ear to the account which the Constable gave her of the

descent and pedigree of a gallant knight of the distinguished

family of Herbert, at whose castle he proposed to repose during

the night, when one of the retinue announced a messenger from the

Lady of Baldringham.

"My honoured father's aunt," said Eveline, arising to testify that

respect for age and relationship which the manners of the time

required.

"I knew not," said the Constable, "that my gallant friend had such

a relative."

"She was my grandmother's sister," answered Eveline, "a noble

Saxon lady; but she disliked the match formed with a Norman house,

and never saw her sister after the period of her marriage."

She broke off, as the messenger, who had the appearance of the

steward of a person of consequence, entered the presence, and,

bending his knee reverently, delivered a letter, which, being

examined by Father Aldrovand, was found to contain the following

invitation, expressed, not in French, then the general language of

communication amongst the gentry, but in the old Saxon language,

modified as it now was by some intermixture of French.

"If the grand-daughter of Aelfried of Baldringham hath so much of

the old Saxon strain as to desire to see an ancient relation, who

still dwells in the house of her forefathers, and lives after

their manner, she is thus invited to repose for the night in the

dwelling of Ermengarde of Baldringham."

"Your pleasure will be, doubtless, to decline the present

hospitality?" said the Constable De Lacy; "the noble Herbert

expects us, and has made great preparation."

"Your presence, my lord," said Eveline, "will more than console

him for my absence. It is fitting and proper that I should meet my

aunt's advances to reconciliation, since she has condescended to

make them."

De Lacy's brow was slightly clouded, for seldom had he met with

anything approaching to contradiction of his pleasure. "I pray you

to reflect, Lady Eveline," he said, "that your aunt's house is

probably defenceless, or at least very imperfectly guarded.--Would

it not be your pleasure that I should continue my dutiful

attendance?"

"Of that, my lord, mine aunt can, in her own house, be the sole

judge; and methinks, as she has not deemed it necessary to request

the honour of your lordship's company, it were unbecoming in me to

permit you to take the trouble of attendance;--you have already

had but too much on my account."

"But for the sake of your own safety, madam," said De Lacy,

unwilling to leave his charge.

"My safety, my lord, cannot be endangered in the house of so near

a relative; whatever precautions she may take on her own behalf,

will doubtless be amply sufficient for mine."

"I hope it will be found so," said De Lacy; "and I will at least

add to them the security of a patrol around the castle during your

abode in it." He stopped, and then proceeded with some hesitation

to express his hope, that Eveline, now about to visit a kinswoman

whose prejudices against the Norman race were generally known,

would be on her guard against what she might hear upon that

subject.

Eveline answered with dignity, that the daughter of Raymond

Berenger was unlikely to listen to any opinions which would affect

the dignity of that good knight's nation and descent; and with

this assurance, the Constable, finding it impossible to obtain any

which had more special reference to himself and his suit, was

compelled to remain satisfied. He recollected also that the castle

of Herbert was within two miles of the habitation of the Lady of

Baldringham, and that his separation from Eveline was but for one

night; yet a sense of the difference betwixt their years, and

perhaps of his own deficiency in those lighter qualifications by

which the female heart is supposed to be most frequently won,

rendered even this temporary absence matter of anxious thought and

apprehension; so that, during their afternoon journey, he rode in

silence by Eveline's side, rather meditating what might chance to-

morrow, than endeavouring to avail himself of present opportunity.

In this unsocial manner they travelled on until the point was

reached where they were to separate for the evening.

This was an elevated spot, from which they could see, on the right

hand, the castle of Amelot Herbert, rising high upon an eminence,

with all its Gothic pinnacles and turrets; and on the left, low-

embowered amongst oaken woods, the rude and lonely dwelling in

which the Lady of Baldringham still maintained the customs of the

Anglo-Saxons, and looked with contempt and hatred on all

innovations that had been introduced since the battle of Hastings.

Here the Constable De Lacy, having charged a part of his men to

attend the Lady Eveline to the house of her relation, and to keep

watch around it with the utmost vigilance, but at such a distance

as might not give offence or inconvenience to the family, kissed

her hand, and took a reluctant leave. Eveline proceeded onwards by

a path so little trodden, as to show the solitary condition of the

mansion to which it led. Large kine, of an uncommon and valuable

breed, were feeding in the rich pastures around; and now and then

fallow deer, which appeared to have lost the shyness of their

nature, tripped across the glades of the woodland, or stood and

lay in small groups under some great oak. The transient pleasure

which such a scene of rural quiet was calculated to afford,

changed to more serious feelings, when a sudden turn brought her

at once in front of the mansion-house, of which she had seen

nothing since she first beheld it from the point where she parted

with the Constable, and which she had more than one reason for

regarding with some apprehension.

The house, for it could not be termed a castle, was only two

stories high, low and massively built, with doors and windows

forming the heavy round arch which is usually called Saxon;--the

walls were mantled with various creeping plants, which had crept

along them undisturbed--grass grew up to the very threshold, at

which hung a buffalo's horn, suspended by a brass chain. A massive

door of black oak closed a gate, which much resembled the ancient

entrance to a ruined sepulchre, and not a soul appeared to

acknowledge or greet their arrival.

"Were I you, my Lady Eveline," said the officious dame Gillian, "I

would turn bridle yet; for this old dungeon seems little likely to

afford food or shelter to Christian folk."

Eveline imposed silence on her indiscreet attendant, though

herself exchanging a look with Rose which confessed something like

timidity, as she commanded Raoul to blow the horn at the gate. "I

have heard," she said, "that my aunt loves the ancient customs so

well, that she is loath to admit into her halls any thing younger

than the time of Edward the Confessor."

Raoul, in the meantime, cursing the rude instrument which baffled

his skill in sounding a regular call, and gave voice only to a

tremulous and discordant roar, which seemed to shake the old

walls, thick as they were, repeated his summons three times before

they obtained admittance. On the third sounding, the gate opened,

and a numerous retinue of servants of both sexes appeared in the

dark and narrow hall, at the upper end of which a great fire of

wood was sending its furnace-blast up an antique chimney, whose

front, as extensive as that of a modern kitchen, was carved over

with ornaments of massive stone, and garnished on the top with a

long range of niches, from each of which frowned the image of some

Saxon Saint, whose barbarous name was scarce to be found in the

Romish calendar.

The same officer who had brought the invitation from his lady to

Eveline, now stepped forward, as she supposed, to assist her from

her palfrey; but it was in reality to lead it by the bridle-rein

into the paved hall itself, and up to a raised platform, or dais,

at the upper end of which she was at length permitted to dismount.

Two matrons of advanced years, and four young women of gentle

birth, educated by the bounty of Ermengarde, attended with

reverence the arrival of her kinswoman. Eveline would have

inquired of them for her grand-aunt, but the matrons with much

respect laid their fingers on their mouths, as if to enjoin her

silence; a gesture which, united to the singularity of her

reception in other respects, still farther excited her curiosity

to see her venerable relative.

It was soon gratified; for, through a pair of folding doors, which

opened not far from the platform on which she stood, she was

ushered into a large low apartment hung with arras; at the upper

end of which, under a species of canopy, was seated the ancient

Lady of Baldringham. Fourscore years had not quenched the

brightness of her eyes, or bent an inch of her stately height; her

gray hair was still so profuse as to form a tier, combined as it

was with a chaplet of ivy leaves; her long dark-coloured gown fell

in ample folds, and the broidered girdle, which gathered it around

her, was fastened by a buckle of gold, studded with precious

stones, which were worth an Earl's ransom; her features, which had

once been beautiful, or rather majestic, bore still, though faded

and wrinkled, an air of melancholy and stern grandeur, that

assorted well with her garb and deportment. She had a staff of

ebony in her hand; at her feet rested a large aged wolf-dog, who

pricked his ears and bristled up his neck, as the step of a

stranger, a sound so seldom heard in those halls, approached the

chair in which his aged mistress sat motionless.

"Peace, Thryme," said the venerable dame; "and thou, daughter of

the house of Baldringham, approach, and fear not their ancient

servant."

The hound sunk down to his couchant posture when she spoke, and,

excepting the red glare of his eyes, might have seemed a

hieroglyphical emblem, lying at the feet of some ancient priestess

of Woden or Freya; so strongly did the appearance of Ermengarde,

with her rod and her chaplet, correspond with the ideas of the

days of Paganism. Yet he who had thus deemed of her would have

done therein much injustice to a venerable Christian matron, who

had given many a hide of land to holy church, in honour of God and

Saint Dunstan.

Ermengarde's reception of Eveline was of the same antiquated and

formal cast with her mansion and her exterior. She did not at

first arise from her seat when the noble maiden approached her,

nor did she even admit her to the salute which she advanced to

offer; but, laying her hand on Eveline's arm, stopped her as she

advanced, and perused her countenance with an earnest and

unsparing eye of minute observation.

"Berwine," she said to the most favoured of the two attendants,

"our niece hath the skin and eyes of the Saxon hue; but the hue of

her eye-brows and hair is from the foreigner and alien.--Thou art,

nevertheless,--welcome to my house, maiden," she added, addressing

Eveline, "especially if thou canst bear to hear that thou art not

absolutely a perfect creature, as doubtless these flatterers

around thee have taught thee to believe."

So saying, she at length arose, and saluted her niece with a kiss

on the forehead. She released her not, however, from her grasp,

but proceeded to give the attention to her garments which she had

hitherto bestowed upon her features.

"Saint Dunstan keep us from vanity!" she said; "and so this is the

new guise--and modest maidens wear such tunics as these, showing

the shape of their persons as plain as if (Saint Mary defend us!)

they were altogether without garments? And see, Berwine, these

gauds on the neck, and that neck itself uncovered as low as the

shoulder--these be the guises which strangers have brought into

merry England! and this pouch, like a player's placket, hath but

little to do with housewifery, I wot; and that dagger, too, like a

glee-man's wife, that rides a mumming in masculine apparel--dost

thou ever go to the wars, maiden, that thou wearest steel at thy

girdle?"

Eveline, equally surprised and disobliged by the depreciating

catalogue of her apparel, replied to the last question with some

spirit,--"The mode may have altered, madam; but I only wear such

garments as are now worn by those of my age and condition. For the

poniard, may it please you, it is not many days since I regarded

it as the last resource betwixt me and dishonour."

"The maiden speaks well and boldly, Berwine," said Dame

Ermengarde; "and, in truth, pass we but over some of these vain

fripperies, is attired in a comely fashion. Thy father, I hear,

fell knight-like in the field of battle."

"He did so," answered Eveline, her eyes filling with tears at the

recollection of her recent loss.

"I never saw him," continued Dame Ermengarde; "he carried the old

Norman scorn towards the Saxon stock, whom they wed but for what

they can make by them, as the bramble clings to the elm;--nay,

never seek to vindicate him," she continued, observing that

Eveline was about to speak, "I have known the Norman spirit for

many a year ere thou wert born."

At this moment the steward appeared in the chamber, and, after a

long genuflection, asked his lady's pleasure concerning the guard

of Norman soldiers who remained without the mansion.

"Norman soldiers so near the house of Baldringham!" said the old

lady, fiercely; "who brings them hither, and for what purpose?"

"They came, as I think," said the sewer, "to wait on and guard

this gracious young lady."

"What, my daughter," said Ermengarde, in a tone of melancholy

reproach, "darest thou not trust thyself unguarded for one night

in the castle of thy forefathers?"

"God forbid else!" said Eveline. "But these men are not mine, nor

under my authority. They are part of the train of the Constable de

Lacy, who left them to watch around the castle, thinking there

might be danger from robbers."

"Robbers," said Ermengarde, "have never harmed the house of

Baldringham, since a Norman robber stole from it its best treasure

in the person of thy grandmother--And so, poor bird, thou art

already captive--unhappy flutterer! But it is thy lot, and

wherefore should I wonder or repine? When was there fair maiden,

with a wealthy dower, but she was ere maturity destined to be the

slave of some of those petty kings, who allow us to call nothing

ours that their passions can covet? Well--I cannot aid thee--I am

but a poor and neglected woman, feeble both from s*x and age.--And

to which of these De Lacys art thou the destined household

drudge?"

A question so asked, and by one whose prejudices were of such a

determined character, was not likely to draw from Eveline any

confession of the real circumstances in which she was placed,

since it was but too plain her Saxon relation could have afforded

her neither sound counsel nor useful assistance. She replied

therefore briefly, that as the Lacys, and the Normans in general,

were unwelcome to her kinswoman, she would entreat of the

commander of the patrol to withdraw it from the neighbourhood of

Baldringham.

"Not so, my niece," said the old lady; "as we cannot escape the

Norman neighbourhood, or get beyond the sound of their curfew, it

signifies not whether they be near our walls or more far off, so

that they enter them, not. And, Berwine, bid Hundwolf drench the

Normans with liquor, and gorge them with food--the food of the

best, and liquor of the strongest. Let them not say the old Saxon

hag is churlish of her hospitality. Broach a piece of wine, for I

warrant their gentle stomachs brook no ale."

Berwine, her huge bunch of keys jangling at her girdle, withdrew

to give the necessary directions, and presently returned.

Meanwhile Ermengarde proceeded to question her niece more closely.

"Is it that thou wilt not, or canst not, tell me to which of the

De Lacys thou art to be bondswoman?--to the overweening Constable,

who, sheathed in impenetrable armour, and mounted on a swift and

strong horse as invulnerable as himself, takes pride that he rides

down and stabs at his ease, and with perfect safety, the naked

Welshmen?--or is it to his nephew, the beardless Damian?--or must

thy possessions go to mend a breach in the fortunes of that other

cousin, Randal Lacy, the decayed reveller, who, they say, can no

longer ruffle it among the debauched crusaders for want of means?"

"My honoured aunt," replied Eveline, naturally displeased with

this discourse, "to none of the Lacy's, and I trust to none other,

Saxon or Norman, will your kinswoman become a household drudge.

"There was, before the death of my honoured father, some treaty

betwixt him and the Constable, on which account I cannot at

present decline his attendance; but what may be the issue of it,

fate must determine."

"But I can show thee, niece, how the balance of fate inclines,"

said Ermengarde, in a low and mysterious voice. "Those united with

us by blood have, in some sort, the privilege of looking forward

beyond the points of present time, and seeing in their very bud

the thorns or flowers which are one day to encircle their head."

"For my own sake, noble kinswoman," answered Eveline, "I would

decline such foreknowledge, even were it possible to acquire it

without transgressing the rules of the Church. Could I have

foreseen what has befallen me within these last unhappy days, I

had lost the enjoyment of every happy moment before that time."

"Nevertheless, daughter," said the Lady of Baldringham, "thou,

like others of thy race, must within this house conform to the

rule, of passing one night within the chamber of the Red-Finger.--

Berwine, see that it be prepared for my niece's reception."

"I--I--have heard speak of that chamber, gracious aunt," said

Eveline, timidly, "and if it may consist with your good pleasure,

I would not now choose to pass the night there. My health has

suffered by my late perils and fatigues, and with your good-will I

will delay to another time the usage, which I have heard is

peculiar to the daughters of the house of Baldringham."

"And which, notwithstanding, you would willingly avoid," said the

old Saxon lady, bending her brows angrily. "Has not such

disobedience cost your house enough already?"

"Indeed, honoured and gracious lady," said Berwine, unable to

forbear interference, though well knowing the obstinacy of her

patroness, "that chamber is in disrepair, and cannot easily on a

sudden be made fit for the Lady Eveline; and the noble damsel

looks so pale, and hath lately suffered so much, that, might I

have the permission to advise, this were better delayed."

"Thou art a fool, Berwine," said the old lady, sternly; "thinkest

thou I will bring anger and misfortune on my house, by suffering

this girl to leave it without rendering the usual homage to the

Red-Finger? Go to--let the room be made ready--small preparation

may serve, if she cherish not the Norman nicety about bed and

lodging. Do not reply; but do as I command thee.--And you,

Eveline--are you so far degenerated from the brave spirit of your

ancestry, that you dare not pass a few hours in an ancient

apartment?"

"You are my hostess, gracious madam," said Eveline, "and must

assign my apartment where you judge proper--my courage is such as

innocence and some pride of blood and birth have given me. It has

been, of late, severely tried; but, since such is your pleasure,

and the custom of your house, my heart is yet strong enough to

encounter what you propose to subject me to."

She paused here in displeasure; for she resented, in some measure,

her aunt's conduct, as unkind and inhospitable. And yet when she

reflected upon the foundation of the legend of the chamber to

which she was consigned, she could not but regard the Lady of

Baldringham as having considerable reason for her conduct,

according to the traditions of the family, and the belief of the

times, in which Eveline herself was devout.