e
usurper to make the most of their advantage. He knows that the king would
at once upon his return annul the nomination of Sir Rudolph to the
earldom which had previously been bestowed upon me. But he may well think
that if before that time he can secure in marriage the person of the late
earl's daughter, no small share of the domains may be allotted to him as
her dowry, even if he be obliged to lay by his borrowed honours. You
will, unless I am greatly mistaken, hear from him before long."

The abbess looked grave.

"There is much in what you say, Sir Cuthbert; and indeed a certain
confirmation is given to it by the fact that only yesterday I received a
letter from Sir Rudolph, urging that now the Lady Margaret is past the
age of fifteen, and may therefore be considered marriageable, the will of
the prince should be carried into effect, and that she should for the
present be committed to the charge of the Lady Clara Boulger, who is the
wife of a friend and associate of Sir Rudolph. He says that he should not
wish to press the marriage until she attains the age of sixteen, but that
it were well that his future wife should become accustomed to the outside
world, so as to take her place as Castellan of Evesham with a dignity
befitting the position. I wrote at once to him saying, that in another
year it would, in my poor judgment, be quite time to think about such
worldly matters; that at the present the Lady Margaret was receiving an
education suitable to her rank; that she was happy here; and that unless
constrained by force--of which, I said, I could not suppose that any
possibility existed--I should not surrender the Lady Margaret into any
hands whatsoever, unless, indeed, I received the commands of her lawful
guardian, King Richard."

"You said well, holy mother," Sir Cuthbert said. "But you see the hawks
scent the danger from afar, and are moving uneasily already. Whether they
consider it so pressing that they will dare to profane the convent, I
know not. But I am sure that should they do so, they will not hesitate a
moment at the thought of the anger of the church. Prince John has already
shown that he is ready, if need be, to oppose the authority of the holy
father, and he may well, therefore, despise any local wrath that might be
excited by an action which he can himself disavow, and for which, even at
the worst, he need only inflict some nominal punishment upon his vassal.
Bethink thee, lady, whether it would