The Lady of Blossholme

r fare passed her lips, for she was ill at ease. The man she loved had been dismissed from her because his fortunes were on the wane, and her father had go

ers, and her sister all in a single week, leaving her untouched. Then there were merry voices about the house where now was silence, and she alone, with naught bout a spaniel dog for company. Also most

d young and fair as she might be, almost she wished that

Stower, entered. She was still a handsome woman in her prime, for her husband had been carried off by a fever when she was but nineteen, and her baby with him, whereon she had been brought to the Hall to nurse Cicel

harge of the cattle. The tale was that in their early youth he had courted her, not against her will, and that when, after her parents' tragic deaths, as a ward of the former Abbot of

of tragedy. She paused at the door, fumbling with its latch, which was not h

cely in a shaken voice. "From

rd, rested one hand upon

they be true. Prepare

n," gasped Cicely. "Wh

, and Cicely sighe

Oh! was that

; you are

forward. Then she l

ve me all the tru

s to do with the Abbey y

; Thomas Bolle,"

that Sir John Foterell, your sire, was murdered last night

queried Cicely i

hroat was such as they make there. Jeffrey Stokes was hu

for it, the coward

ter's last orders, and, as he had seen too much and to linger here was certain death, if he lived, he woul

! What pape

d her broad

her was taking to London and did not desire to l

her had spoken of certain "deeds" which

air with her strong hand. "These things are decreed of God, and done wi

d her tear-s

ave you,"

s are over. What did you tell me your father said to you before he rode-about Si

trange indeed that at such a time I should visit a man in his own house. Send and tell

ick of law. It was as to them that your father quarrelled with him the other night; and with the land goes your wardship, as once mine went under this monk's charter.

reign Abbot and his hirelings, and an orphaned heiress is but a chattel to be sold. Oh! now I understand what my father meant

ight you will be a wife. If not, I'll kn

, turning crimson to her hair. "And my

meaning of these rumours, which will keep him still till nightfall; and another to Cranwell Towers, that we may find food and lodging there. Quick, now, and get your cloak and hood. I have the jewels in their case, for Maldon se

arflete, watching at his door, saw two women riding towards h

n of Cranwell, whom he had summoned from the vicarage. "I thought th

Lady Cicely here unaccompanied save by a waiting-woman. The qu

r, with a merry laugh. "Say now, Father, if it should

h the consent of the parents;

ere were n

of the guardian, the

an had been decla

e crack of doom unless the Pope annulled it, and, as you know, the Pope is out of favour in this

g towards the gate, so the old par

mlyn Stower riding on ahea

eetest?" he ask

, weeping, "my poor father is d

red! B

ing to Shefton to declare me his ward and thrust me into the Nunnery-that was Emlyn's tale. And so, altho

er; "I always thought well of her judgment. But

ry with you, bade me seek your help if there were need-and-oh! Christopher, I came because you swore you loved me, and, therefore, it seemed right. If I had gone to the Nunnery, although the Prioress, Moth

. A groom came to lead away the horses, touching his bonnet, and staring at them curiously; and, leaning on her lover's shoulder, Cicely passed through the arched doorway of Cranwell Towers into the hall, whe

aking in a nervous fashion, "I fear that you visit us

n why or by whom-and that the Abbot of Blossholme comes to claim me as his ward and immure me in Blossholme Priory, whith

t, nor am I a Benedictine. Therefore I will tell you the truth. I hold the man not honest. All is provender that comes to his maw; moreover, he is no Englishman, but a Spaniard

ds at Court, or s

father is gone, God knows how, though I thought for long that would be his end, who ever spoke his mind, or more; and you with your weal

cely, glancing sid

at's to

but a single friend-my father, though at times he was a rough one. Yet he loved me in his way, and I have obeyed his las

lost your judgment, I have kept mine, and here it is. Yonder, not two bowshots away, stands a church, and before me I see a priest and a pair who would serve for bride an

t what says Cicely? Oh! Cicely, wh

and, throwing her arms about his ne

spered, "and why should I fight against

say you?" asked Emlyn

if it should please you to come to the church in ten minutes' time you will find a candle on the altar

, hearing no dissent, walked do

s-being the rarest and the most ancient in all the countryside-she decked her with them. On her broad brow she set a circlet from which hung sparkling diamonds that had been brought, the story said, by her mother's ancestor, a Carfax, from the Holy Land, where once they were the peculiar treasure of a paynim queen, and upon her bosom a necklet of large p

ad been silent and unresisting,

this her

too, so I have been told. Also once before I wrap

ut how cam

I brought it, thinking that perhaps one day you might marry, when i

ou planned all this business, w

nning, dear, that His end ma

s is my shroud you wrap about me. In t

for many a long year-not till you are well-nigh as thin with age as he is. Oh! you'll have your troubles like all of us, worse than many, mayhap, but you are Luck's own child, who lived when the rest were taken, and you'll win through and take others on your back, as a whale does barnacles. So

him shyly, Cicely saw that he was clad in mail beneath his cloak, and that his sword was girded at his side,

they are happy, and some might try to break in upon them. Come now, my sweet lady;" and bowing before her he took her by

sky, and over against it the great moon rose above the round edge of the world. In the bushes of the garden, and the tall poplars that bordered th

e moon, the dull glow of the torches caught and reflected by her jewels and her lover's mail, the midwinter sound of birds, the barking of a distant hound, the black porch of the church that drew ne

e had spread about, for at least a score of people were standing here and there in knots, or a few of them seated on the oak benches near the chancel. All these turned to stare at them eagerly a

another sign, the pair rose, advanced to the altar-rails and again knelt down. The moonlight, flowing through the eastern windo

th a wistful and kindly interest. She made certain answers, a ring that was somewhat too small was thrust upon her finger-all the rest of her life that ring hurt her at times, but she would have neve

table, not very easily for he was no great scholar, and she signed also in her maiden name for the last time, and the priest signed, and at his bidding Emlyn Stower, who could write well, signed too. Next, as though by an afterthought, Father Roger called several of the congregation,

nything to do with the matter, and one and all of them mel

as done

them, extinguished his lantern and trudged off through the snow to the ale-house, there to discuss these nuptials and hot beer. Escorted by their torch-bearers Cicely and Christopher walked silently arm-in-arm back to the Towers, whi

it did not lack for heartiness, since the old clergyman proposed their health in a speech full of Latin words which they did not understand, and every member of the household who had assembled to hear him drank to

and in that may hold yourself a lucky man. Yet such deep joys seldom come without their pain, and

e answered anxiously. "The knot that

he world with the full consent of both parties and of the Holy Church. Moreover, before the dawn I'll send the record of it to the bishop's registry and el

lemnly, "yet perchance the sword can cut it. Sir Christopher,

surely, Nurse

ion must be made which is impossible at this hour. But to-morrow, if the roads are open to you, I think we should start

car, and Christopher, with whom wor

summon them all here at dawn, bidding them bring provision with them, and what bows and arms they have.

?" he asked, waki

he soul of dead Sir John knows now, or can use them as a cover to evil deeds. He'll not l

lentless man who sticks at nothing, having much wealth and many frie

Emlyn. "Meanwhile, Sir Christopher,

at which they looked very grave, but being true-hearte

r. The drawbridge was hoisted above the moat, the doors were barred, and a man set to watch in the gateway tower, while