"Begone, thou ill woman," replied Lilian contemptuously; "I will go, and I dare thee to stay me."
"Then," rejoined Beatrix spitefully, "remember the barred windows, the bolted gates, and the good stone walls. Pooh, maiden, take tent and bide where ye are; for I swear ye can never go from hence, but at the pleasure of my lord."
"Insolent! Know ye who I am?" asked Lilian.
"The young lady of Bruntisfield," answered Beatrix coldly; "a wayward lass with a braw tocher, it seemeth,--one who prefers a younger cap and feather than my lord. Ha! hath he not sworn--(and mark me, maiden, he never swears in vain!)--that he will compel thee yet to beg his love at his hand as a boon, even as humbly as he now sues thine."
"In sooth!" retorted Lilian, with angry surprise. "He will surely have the aid of some such witch as thee to work so modern a miracle."
"Witch, quotha!" replied Beatrix, whose withered cheek began to redden with passion. "Lilian Napier, there was a time when these grey grizzled locks were once as bright and as glossy as thine; when this brow was as smooth, this faded form as round, yea, and as beautiful; this step as light, and this poor face as fair, as thine now are. So beware thee of taunts, maiden; for the time is coming (if thou art spared) when thou mayest be loathsome as I now am, and loathing as I now do. That hour is coming; for Clermistonlee hath an evil eye, beneath whose baleful influence all that is good and beautiful in woman will wither and die. Oh! Lilian Napier, what a tale of love and weakness, shame and misery, sin and horror, would the history of my life reveal! But my hour of revenge is coming. Yes----"
Again three knocks louder than before rang on the almery; and Beatrix, trembling, ceased to talk, and busied herself in laying a supper on the hall-table.
"Oh, Walter! Walter!" murmured Lilian, "if you knew of this--if you were here to protect me!" Her tears flowed freely.
"Walter!" reiterated Beatrix musing; "can it really be the same? No, it is impossible; and yet, why not?--He is your lover, then, this Walter?" she asked in a low voice, while laying some cold grilled meat, confections, and wine from a buffet. "I know he is--that blush tells me (when did my cheek blush last?) He is young and handsome, I warrant?"