tell my lady she be de bad woman."

Geordie heard all this with calmness and silence.

"It's o' sma importance to me," he resumed, "whether yer leddyship
comply wi' my request or no; for, indeed, though politeness made me ca'
it a favour conferred upon me, the favour is a' the ither way. Let yer
leddyship be silent, an' I'll prove that yer leddyship bore the bairn;
but ye maun ken that Geordie Willison has nae power ower the law--when
the seals are broken, the judgment will come; and I canna prove the
birth o' the bairn without, at the same time, and by the same prufe,
proving that ye attempted to strangle it, and left it for dead in the
hedges o' Warriston. Here is yer leddyship's necklace, whilk I took fra
the craig o' the struggling cratur, and here are the claes it had on,
marked wi' draps o' blude that cam frae its little mouth. I show thae
things no as proofs on whilk I mean a'thegither to rest, but only to
testify to ye what ye sae weel ken, that what I say is true. Speak, noo,
my leddies--your lives are i' the hands o' the idiot cratur Geordie
Willison. If ye gang to the court, ye are saved--if ye winna, ye are
lost. Will ye gang, or will ye hang?"

The women were both terrified by the statement of Geordie. Reluctant to
make any such admission, they struggled with the various emotions of
indignation, pride, and fear, which took, by turns, possession of their
bosoms. Lady Maitland fainted, and Louise was totally unable to render
her assistance; for she lay in a hysterical state of excitement on the
floor. Geordie locked the door, and kept his eyes fixed on the females.
He yielded them no aid; but stood like a destroying angel, witnessing
the effects of his desolation. Lady Maitland at last opened her eyes,
and having collected her senses, resolved to comply with Geordie's
request. She said to him, that, provided nothing was asked beyond the
questions, whether she bore the child on the day mentioned, and whether
Jessie Maitland, whom she had secretly seen, was that child--she would
answer them in the affirmative. This satisfied Geordie, and he departed.

On the day of the service of Ludovic Brodie, a brief was taken out in
name of Jessie Warriston or Maitland, as heir female of taillie to the
estate and title of Maitland of Castle Gower. Brodie and his agents had
no notice of the brief until they came into court.

The briefs being read, Brodie's propinquity was proved, and no person
had any idea that the exist