he wife of his grace
the Duke of Hereward?"

"Ay, just!" replied Rose Cameron, pertly. "Gin ye hae ony understanding
at a', and gin ye are na the auld daft idiwat ye luke, ye'll understand
me to say I am the lawfu' wedded wife o' the Duk' o' Harewood. Him as
was marrit o' Tuesday last to the heiress o' Lone! Gin ye dinna believe
me, I hae my marriage lines, gie me by the minister o' St. Margaret's
Kirk, Weestminster, where he marrit me! Ou, ay! and I wad hae tell ye a'
this in the beginning, only I kenned weel, if I _did_, ye wad na hae
let me gae on gie' ony teestimony agin me ain husband. De'il hae him! But
noo, as ye hae heerd the truth anent the grand villainy up in Castle
Lone, I dinna mind telling ye wha I am. Ay, and ye may set aside my
witness, gin ye like! But the whole coort hae noo heard it. Ay, and the
whole warld s'all hear it, or a' be dune! And noo I am thinking ye'll een
let the puir mon in the dock just gae free; and pit my laird, his greece,
the nubble duk', intil the prisoner's place. Ye'll no hae to seek him
far," added the woman, suddenly whisking around and facing the young Duke
of Hereward, with a perfectly fiendish look of malice distorting her
handsome face. "There he sits noo! he wha marrit me and afterwards marrit
the heiress o' Lone! he wha betrayed me intil a prison, and wad hae
betrayed me to the gallows, gin I had na been to canny for him! There he
is noo, and he can na face me and deny it!"

The Duke of Hereward did not deign to deny anything. He passed the fly
leaf, upon which he had written some lines, on to the old lawyer,
Guthrie, who looked over it, nodded, and then rising in his place,
addressed the Bench:

"My lord, we desire that the witness, who is now transcending the duties
and privileges of the stand, be ordered to sit down."

"Oh! I'll sit down!" pertly interrupted Rose Cameron. "I hae had my ain
way, and I hae said my ain say, and now I'll e'en gae--gin this auld fule
be done wi' me."

"We have done with you; you can stand down," replied Mr. Keir, in
mortification and disgust.

Rose Cameron stepped down from the stand with the air of a queen
descending from her throne. In look and motion she was graceful and
majestic as the antelope. You had to hear her speak to learn how really
low and vulgar she was.

She darted one baleful blast of hatred from her blue eyes, as she passed
the Duke of Hereward, and was then conducted back to the sheriff's room,
where she was to be