nged and flapped, and
the fire roared fiercely and whirled out an angry cloud of smoke. In
the midst of the hall the Lady Grace was lying, surrounded by her
retainers, her warriors, and seamen, on a rude couch, piled with skins
of deer she had slain, but curtained with rich crimson drapery,
suspended from the ceiling by enormous antlers of elks. She was
dressed in her old way, except that she had no arms in her girdle, and
wore a rosary about her neck. By her side stood a venerable priest,
holding a crucifix and the Lady Grace was repeating after him very
devoutly a prayer for the dying; but when she saw Tristram, she forgot
both priest and prayer. She sprang up from her couch to meet him, with
a glad cry; and though she sank back at once, in weakness and mortal
pain, she was content, for her arms were about the neck of her darling.
She wiped the rain-drops from his face and pressed them out of his soft
brown hair, and gazed at him with a fierce joy of love in her great
dark eyes, which seemed larger and darker now, and shone with new
splendor, since her long black locks had turned to silvery white.

"It was noble and like thee, _mavourneen deelish_," she said, "to give
my dying eyes this last best blessing of life--beholding thee once
more. For this boon, I bestow upon thee the proudest legacy I have to
leave--this ring of most precious stones--the gift of my sister,
Elizabeth of England. With the ring, I would give thee my benison, but
that I fear the blessing of so sinful a woman might do thee harm. And
yet, as I have loved thee purely, as a mother might, the saints may
make it good. So, I _will_ bless thee, jewel of my heart!"

The young lord knelt reverently to receive her blessing, and after she
had ceased to murmur the fervent words, he still kept his place, for
her large hand yet pressed heavily upon his head. After a moment's
silence, she recommenced speaking, but rapidly and wildly, for her mind
was wandering. It seemed to have gone back to the night when she had
taken the heir of Howth from his nurse. She began railing against the
old Earl's churlishness, and vowing she would teach him a lesson in
hospitality Then she called out in loud, stern tones to her mariners to
set sail for Connaught, and laughed fiercely over her prize. But soon
her mood changed; she began to stroke the head of Tristram, and comfort
him by gentle words and kind promises. She did not seem to perceive
that the firm, manly