before the council."

"My generous friend!" said Ravenswood; and with that brief word,
which the Keeper had often lavished upon him, but which he himself now
pronounced for the first time, he gave to his feudal enemy the full
confidence of an haughty but honourable heart. The Master had been
remarked among his contemporaries for sense and acuteness, as well
as for his reserved, pertinacious, and irascible character. His
prepossessions accordingly, however obstinate, were of a nature to give
way before love and gratitude; and the real charms of the daughter,
joined to the supposed services of the father, cancelled in his memory
the vows of vengeance which he had taken so deeply on the eve of his
father's funeral. But they had been heard and registered in the book of
fate.

Caleb was present at this extraordinary scene, and he could conceive no
other reason for a proceeding so extraordinary than an alliance betwixt
the houses, and Ravenswood Castle assigned for the young lady's dowry.
As for Lucy, when Ravenswood uttered the most passionate excuses for his
ungrateful negligence, she could but smile through her tears, and, as
she abandoned her hand to him, assure him, in broken accents, of the
delight with which she beheld the complete reconciliation between her
father and her deliverer. Even the statesman was moved and affected
by the fiery, unreserved, and generous self-abandonment with which the
Master of Ravenswood renounced his feudal enmity, and threw himself
without hesitation upon his forgiveness. His eyes glistened as he looked
upon a couple who were obviously becoming attached, and who seemed made
for each other. He thought how high the proud and chivalrous character
of Ravenswood might rise under many circumstances in which HE found
himself "overcrowed," to use a phrase of Spenser, and kept under, by
his brief pedigree, and timidity of disposition. Then his daughter--his
favorite child--his constant playmate--seemed formed to live happy in
a union with such a commanding spirit as Ravenswood; and even the fine,
delicate, fragile form of Lucy Ashton seemed to require the support of
the Master's muscular strength and masculine character. And it was not
merely during a few minutes that Sir William Ashton looked upon their
marriage as a probable and even desirable event, for a full hour
intervened ere his imagination was crossed by recollection of the
Master's poverty, and the sure displeasure of Lady Ashton. It is