my Lady, visit not my sins on this young maid."

Had one compassionate sensation remained in the mind of the Countess
towards Elaine, that unlucky speech would have extinguished it at once.
She did not, as usual, condescend to answer her lord; but she turned to
Elaine, and in a voice of concentrated anger, demanded the repetition of
every word which had passed. Diana gave it, for Elaine seemed almost
paralysed with terror. Clarice, on the demand of her mistress,
confirmed Diana's report as exact. The Countess turned back to Elaine.
Her words were scarcely to be reported, for she lost alike her temper
and her gentlewomanly manners. "And out of my house thou goest this
day," was the conclusion, "thou shameful, giglot hussey! And I will not
give thee an husband; thou shalt go back to thy father and thy mother,
with the best whipping that ever I gave maid. And she that shall be in
thy stead shall be the ugliest maid I can find, and still of tongue, and
sober of behaviour. Now, get thee gone!"

And calling for Agatha as she went, the irate lady stalked away.

Of no use was poor Elaine's flood of tears, nor the united entreaties of
her four companions. Clarice and Diana soon found that they were not to
come off scatheless. Neither had spoken to the Earl, as Elaine readily
confessed; but for the offence of listening to such treachery, both were
sent to bed by daylight, with bread and water for supper. The offences
of grown-up girls in those days were punished like those of little
children now. All took tearful farewells of poor Elaine, who dolefully
expressed her fear of another whipping when she reached home; and so she
passed out of their life.

It was several weeks before the new bower-maiden appeared. Diana
suggested that the Countess found some difficulty in meeting with a girl
ugly enough to please her. But, at last, one evening in November,
Mistress Underdone introduced the new-comer, in the person of a girl of
eighteen, or thereabouts, as Felicia de Fay, daughter of Sir Stephen de
Fay and Dame Sabina Watefeud, of the county of Sussex. All the rest
looked with much curiosity at her.

Felicia, while not absolutely ugly, was undeniably plain. Diana
remarked afterwards to Clarice that there were no ugly girls to be had,
as plainly appeared. But the one thing about her which really was ugly
was her expression. She looked no one in the face, while she diligently
studied every one who was not looking at