, the
wonderful sweetness of her voice, the passion, the power, the loveliness
of her face, began to tell upon her; she could not help owning to
herself that she had seen nothing so marvelous as this wonderful girl.

"Then," said Leone, calmly, "I have appealed to you in vain?"

"Quite in vain," replied my lady. "Remember that against you personally
I have nothing to say, neither have I any dislike; but if you have
common sense, you will see that it is utterly impossible for my son to
take the future Countess of Lanswell from a farmhouse. Now try and act
rationally--go away at once, leave my son, and I will see that you have
plenty to live upon."

"Whatever may be said of the class from which I spring," cried Leone, "I
believe in the sanctity of marriage, and I would scorn to barter my love
for anything on earth."

"Yes, that is all very pretty and very high-flown," said the countess,
with a contemptuous laugh; "but you will find a few thousand pounds a
very comfortable matter in a few years' time."

"You said you would rather see your son dead than married to me, Lady
Lanswell; I repeat that I would rather die of hunger than touch money of
yours. I did not know or believe that on the face of God's earth there
was ever a creature so utterly hard, cold and cruel as you."

The light of the setting sun had somewhat faded then, and it moved from
the proud figure of the countess to the lovely young face of Leone, but
even as the light warmed it, new pride, new energy, new passion seemed
to fill it. The prayer and the pleading died--the softened light, the
sweet tenderness left it; it was no longer the face of a loving,
tender-hearted girl, pleading with hot tears that she might not be taken
from her husband--it was the face of a tragedy queen, full of fire and
passion. She stood, with one hand upraised, like a sibyl inspired.

"I have done, Lady Lanswell," she said; "you tell me that Lord Chandos
is free to marry as he will when he is twenty-one."

"If you can find any comfort in that statement, I can verify it," she
replied; "but surely you are not mad enough to think that, when my son
is of age, he will return to you."

"I am sure of it," said Leone. "I believe in my husband's love, and my
husband's constancy, as I believe in Heaven."

"I hope your faith in Heaven will be more useful to you," sneered the
countess. "I have womanly pity enough to warn you not to let your hopes
rest on this. I prophesy that Lord Ch