l be honoured in an unusual way; that at
least should be a great comfort to thee; but I promise, no matter how
the Council act in these matters of thine, thou shalt soon enjoy the
comfort of thy new estate at Ellswold."

CHAPTER XXIII

THE COCOANUTS OF THE KING'S CELLAR

Matters at Crandlemar were comparatively quiet. There was nothing
unusual, unless indeed it was the assiduousness of the young Duchess,
who from morning until night ceased not to offer hecatombs for the
safety and freedom of her lord. She prayed, fasted and sacrificed for
her every desire. She gave alms, offering condolence and sympathy.
In her petitions she threw aside all contumely, calling the poorest,
sister. She allowed not her thoughts to go astray, striving
continually for a pure and meek heart, begging forgiveness for her
untowardness toward her husband. Perhaps one of the most remarkable of
her acts was the one performed at twilight--discovered by Janet, the
wise.

The nurse went to seek her one evening, and found the young woman in
a dense cloud of blue that emanated from a costly thurible, which she
was swinging before the crucifix in the Chapel. Ascending with the
sweet incense was a psalm of contrition uttered from a truly penitent
heart. A tall candle burned, lighting up the white-robed figure, and
the filmy incense that enveloped it to a saintly vision. Though Janet
watched her mistress thus environed with sacredness, yet the deep
impression was somewhat charged with a sense of humour; "for," she
opined to herself, "people are so much more ridiculous in mending a
breach than they are in making it!" But Janet was not a Catholic, and
beside, she made few mistakes and could condone an offence only when
made by one she loved. Knowing Katherine as she did, she admired the
outward show more than the spirit, and thought of the two the former
was more stable. Katherine often prayed aloud, and Janet hearing her,
caught the burden of her prayer, and there was actual pain in her
voice when she cried out that Cedric might be forgiven for the murder
of Christopher. Now Janet knew that the lad had only been slightly
injured by Hiary and had fully recovered, and she determined to send
for him, and at the Vesper service introduce him into the Chapel and
thereby cause to cease her mistress' plaints. And so it came about in
the late autumn, when Crandlemar was about to receive its new master
from Wales, and the plate and all belongings of the