Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-26

I
! ly averted from the Marshal de Retz. and
once when ne touched her arm to call her
| attention 20 something she -snuddcrcI and
! moved a little nearer to the chAn,,ellcr
| Nevertheless, she obeyed her lnclc i'm
! plicitly and without question when he haGe
| her ride toward with them II receive The
| chancellor's guests.
! Crichton took 1t upon himself 10 rally the
| girl on her silence.
| ''Of what may you be thinkin., SO Sc
| r;Cusly?" he said
! "of thirty r:eces of silver she replied
| ins family.
And at these words the marshal turned
uEon the girl regard so black ana rnIert-
less that the chancellor en- luriu,y Il, On
counter II, shrank abashsd even as some
devilkin caught in faIlt might shr:nk
from the angry eyes of tie lnastar Of evil.
her kinsman.
OF what do you complain he asked Ter
! complain of nothing, she made him
answer II am that which 1 am. and am
| mat which you have made me, mine uncle.
| Fear not, / will do my part!'
hisht handsome looked the young Earl
OF Douglas as with flush of expectation
| ana pleasure On his face he rode up TO the
party of three VINO had come out TO meet
| him. He made his obeIsance to SybilIa frs
! with look of supremest happiness in his
eyes, winch many women had given their
| an 10 see there As he came close he leap
ed form his horse, and, advancing to his
LADY; he bent and kissed her hand.
| My Lady Syblla." he said, Il am as
| ever, your loyal servant
! The chancellor and the amba ssador had
Doth dismounted, not TO be outdone in cour-
tesy, and one after the other they greeted
| nm with what cordially they could muster
| The narrow, thin-bearded face of the chan
| celior and the palIid death mask of De Retz,
| out of which glit1ered eyes like no eyes of
human beng, furnished singular contrast
| with the uncovered head. crisp black curls
| slight mustache and fresh. olive complex
ion of the young Earl of Douglas
| And as often as he was not looking nj her
| the eyes of The Lady SVbiIta al 1
| Douglas with a strange expression in them
| i he color in her cheek came and went. The
| vermeil of ner lip flushed and paled alter
| rate from the pink of the wild rose leaf to
| the red of its autumnal berry.
| But presently at glance from her kins-
| man she seemed to recall herself with diff
| hcnity from land of dreams and with an
| obvious effort began to talk to William
| Douglas.
Whom have you brought to see me?" she
| said.
Only few men-at-arms. save Sholto,
| my squire, and my brother David" he made
| answer. Il did not wait for more. But LEI
! me bring the lad to you. Sholto you did
not like when he was plain archer of the
| guard, and | fear that. he will not have
| knight"
David Douglas willingly obeyed the sum-
| mons of his brother, and came forward to
| kiss the hand of Lady Sybilla.
Here, Sholto, cried his lord, come hith-
| err man. 1t will do your pride good to see
| lady who says that conceit hath eaten
| you up" Sholto came at the word and
| bowed before the lady as he was command
| ed, meekiy enough to all outward aspect
| But in his heart he was saying over and
| over to himself words that consoled him
! nnghtlly- "A murrain on her. The cozeu-
| ing madam. She will never be worth nam
ing on the same day as Maud Lindesavtr
| Nay, cried the Lady SybiIla, LAUGHING
J hdeed' said not that 1 disliked this
! young squire. What woman thinks the
| worse of lad of mettle that he doe not
/ ! holm R,S
| us pity that there is no fair. cruel maid
| TO nind his heart in chains and mako him
| ietch and carry to break his pride He
thinks overmuch of his swordplay and ar
| row skill -
| He must go to France for that" said
| the earl, gayiy. ''or else mayhap some day
a halc may come from France to break
| MS heart for him. The like hath been and
may be again"
| Il would that / had known there were
such gallant blades you three my lords
OF douglas and their knight signing Ia
| nave your hearts broke for the good of
your souls [ had then brought with me a
tlerce of damSeis. fair as cruel, who Would
nave done 1t in the flashing of a swallows
wing. But us contract too great for one
| poor maid,'
Yet you venture all alone into this realm
Oh forlorn and desperate mem" answered
| the earl, scarcely recking what he said nor
! caring, so that her dark eyes should con-
! tinue to rest on him alone with the look he
| had seen in them at his first coming.
All alone-yes, much much alone she
answered with a strange glance about her
| My uncle loves not womenkind and
neither in his castles nor yet in his COM
pany does he permit any of the sex long 10
| abide!''
| The men now mounted again. and The
| three rode back in the midst of that cava!-
cade of Douglas spears, the chancellor
talking as freely and confidently to the
earl as if he had been his friend for years
While the Earl of Douglas kept up the con-
verse right willingly SO long as. looking ar
the chancellor his eyes rested also for
r'oment on the deiicately poised head and
graceful form of the Lady Sybila
And behind them a horses length .hc
Marshal de Retz rode, smiling in the depths
OF his 5lue-black beard, and looking at
them out Of the corners Of his triangular
eyes.
Presently the towers of the castle Of
Crichton rose before them on its green,
iutting spur The Tyne valley sank b.
meath into the level meads and rich pas
lures, while behind the Moorfoots spread
brown and bare, without prominen: peaks
or distinguished glens, bat nevertheless
with large vaSueness and sOlemnity pc
Culiarly their own.
The fe,es with which the chancellor wei
coined his guests were many and splendid.
But in one respect they differed from those
which have been described at Castle
Thrieve. There was no military pomp Of
any kind connected with them. The chan
cellor studiously avoided all pretense of
any other distinction than that of a plain
man whom circumstances had raised
against his will to a position of RESPONSE
bility.
The thirty spears of the earl's guard in
deed constituted the whole military force
within about the castle of Crichton.
L am a lawyer my lord, plain lawyer
he said; all Scots lawyers are plain. And
| mt st ask you to garrison my bit peel
tower of CrichtCn In a manner more be-
fitting your own greatness and the honor
due to the ambassador of France than a
humble knight is able to do
So Sholto was put into command Of the
court aud battlements of the castle. and
posted and changed guard though he
had been at Thrieve. while the chancellor
BUSTED about, affecting more the style Of
rich and comfortable burgess than that
of feudal baron.
This is snug bit hoose,' he would say,
dropping into the countryside speech;
there's nocht fine within it from cellar 10
roof-tree, save only the provend and the
jolly Malmsey. And though L be hut
poor eater myself, | love that my betters
who do me the honor of sojourning within |
my gates should have the wherewithal to
be merry
And it was even as he said, for the tables
were weighted with delicacies such as were
hOarlS Of Thriarrp