t last she was finished, and, turning to the maiden, she handed her a
little phial containing a deep red-coloured mixture.

"Swallow it all at once," she chuckled, "when thou requirest the spell
to work. 'Twill last three days, and then thou wilt wake up as fresh as
a lark."

Next morning the Duke and his seven sons were going a-hunting, and the
courtyard rang with merry laughter as one after another came out to
mount the horses which the pages held ready for them. The ladies were on
the terrace waiting to wave them good-bye, when, just as the Duke was
about to mount his horse, his eldest daughter, whom he loved dearly, ran
into the courtyard and knelt at his feet.

"A boon, a boon, dear father," she cried, and she looked so lovely with
her golden hair waving in the wind, and her bright eyes looking up into
his, that he felt that he could not refuse her anything.

"Ask what thou wilt, my daughter," he said kindly, laying his hand on
her head, "and I will grant it thee. Except permission to marry that
Scottish squire," he added, laughing.

"That will I never ask, Sire," she said submissively; "but though thou
forbiddest me to think of him, my heart yearns for Scotland, the country
that he told me of, and if 'tis thy will that I marry and live in
England, I would fain be buried in the North. And as I have always had
due reverence for Holy Church, I pray thee that when that day comes, as
come it must some day, that thou wilt cause a Mass to be sung at the
first Scotch kirk we come to, and that the bells may toll for me at the
second kirk, and that at the third, at the Kirk o' St Mary, thou wilt
deal out gold, and cause my body to rest there."

Then the Duke raised her to her feet.

"Talk not so, my little Katherine," he said kindly. "My Lord Marquis is
a goodly man, albeit not too young, and thou wilt be a happy wife and
mother yet; but if 'twill ease thy heart, child, I will remember thy
fancy." Then the kind old man rode away, and Katherine went back to her
sisters.

"What wert thou asking, girl?" asked her jealous step-mother with a
frown as she passed.

"That I may be buried in Scotland when my time comes to die," said
Katherine, bowing low, with downcast eyes, for in those days maidens had
to order themselves lowly to their elders, even although they were
Duke's daughters.

"And did he grant thy strange request?" went on the Duchess, looking
suspiciously at the girl's burning cheeks.

"Yes, an' it please