He leaned the folio on the edge of the chimneypiece, and his elbow beside it, supporting his head on his hand, and so read aloud to the _exigeante_ old lady, who liked to see people employed about her, even though little of comfort, amusement, or edification resulted from it.
The narrative which Lady Alice had selected was entitled thus:--
"CONCERNING A REMARKABLE REVENGE AFTER SEPULTURE.
"In the Province of Normandy, in the year of grace 1405, there lived a young gentleman of Styrian descent, possessing estates in Hungary, but a still more opulent fortune in France. His park abutted on that of the Chevalier de St. Aubrache, who was a man also young, of ancient lineage, proud to excess, and though wealthy, by no means so wealthy as his Styrian neighbour.
"This disparity in riches excited the wrath of the jealous nobleman, who having once admitted the passions of envy and hatred to his heart, omitted no opportunity to injure him.
"The Chevalier de St. Aubrache, in fact, succeeded so well--"
Just at this point in the tale, Beatrix, with her flowers, not expecting to find Guy Strangways still in attendance, entered the room.
"You need not go; come in, dear--you've brought me some flowers--come in, I say; thank you, Beatrix, dear--they are very pretty, and very sweet too. Here is Mr. Strangways--sit by me, dear--reading a curious old tale of witchcraft. Tell her the beginning, pray."
So Strangways told the story over again in his best way, and then proceeded to read as follows:--
"The Chevalier de St. Aubrache, in fact, succeeded so well, that on a point of law, aided by a corrupt judge in the Parliament of Rouen, he took from him a considerable portion of his estate, and subsequently so managed matters without committing himself, that he lost his life unfairly in a duel, which the Chevalier secretly contrived.
"Now there was in the household of the gentleman so made away with, a certain Hungarian, older than he, a grave and politic man, and reputed to have studied the art of magic deeply. By this man was the corpse of the deceased gentleman duly coffined, had away to Styria, and, it is said, there buried according to certain conditions, with which the Hungarian magician, who had vowed a terrible revenge, was well acquainted.