of,' said the knight; 'a fair course enough for you;
but look you, you must have good luck indeed to be in a state to marry
within ten or fifteen years,--very likely not then--having nothing of
your own, and my wench but little, for Lucy's portion cannot be made
equal to her sisters', her mother having been no heiress like Dame
Nan. And would you have me keep the maid unwedded till she be thirty or
thirty-five years old, waiting for your fortune?'

Mericour looked terribly disconcerted at this.

'Moreover,' added the knight, 'they will all be at me, so soon as those
poor lads come home--Heaven grant they do--to give her to Berenger.'

'Sir,' said Mericour, looking up with a sudden smile, 'all that I would
ask is, what you are too good a father to do, that you would not put any
force on her inclinations.'

'How now? you said you had never courted her!'

'Nor have I, sir. But I see the force of your words. Should she love
another man, my dream were, of course, utterly vain, but if not---' He
broke off.

'Well, well, I am no man to force a girl to a match against her will;
but never trust to that, man. I know what women are; and let a fantastic
stranger come across them, there's an end of old friends. But yours is
an honest purpose, and you are a good youth; and if you had anything to
keep her with, you should have Lucy to-morrow, with all my heart.'

Then came the further question whether Mericour should be allowed an
interview with Lucy. Sir Marmaduke was simple enough to fancy that she
need not be made aware of the cause of Mericour's new arrangement, and
decided against it. The young man sorrowfully acquiesced, but whether
such a secret could be kept was another thing. To him it would have been
impossible to renew their former terms of intercourse without betraying
his feelings, and he therefore absented himself. Lady Thistlewood
triumphed openly in Sir Marmaduke's having found him out and banished
him from the house; Lucy looked white and shed silent tears. Her
father's soft heart was moved, and one Sunday evening he whispered into
her ear that Dame Nan was all wrong, and Mericour only kept away because
he was an honourable man. Then Lucy smiled and brightened, and Sir Duke
fondly asked her if she were fool enough to fancy herself in love with
the man.

'Oh no, how should she, when he had never named love to her? She was
only glad her father esteemed him.'

So then foolish, fond Sir Marmaduke told her all th