D'Aulney," replied the officer, "bids me tell you, that he
wars not with women; that he respects your weakness, and forgives the
injuries which you have sought to do him."

"Forgives!" said the lady, with a contemptuous smile; "thy lord is
gracious and merciful,--aye, merciful to himself, perhaps, and careful
for his poor vessels, which but yesterday shivered beneath our cannon!
Is this all?"

"He requires of you," resumed the officer, piqued by her scornful
manner, "the restoration of those rights, which the lord of la Tour hath
unjustly usurped; he requires the submission of this garrison, and the
possession of this fort, and pledges his word, on such conditions, to
preserve inviolate the life and liberty of every individual."

"Thy lord is most just and reasonable in his demands," returned the
lady, sarcastically; "but hath he no threats in reserve, no terrors
wherewith to enforce compliance?"

"He bids me tell you," said the excited messenger, "that if you reject
his offered clemency, you do it at your peril, and the blood of the
innocent will be required at your hands. He knows the weakness of your
resources, and he will come with power to shake these frail walls to
their foundations, and make the stoutest heart within them tremble with
dismay."

"And bid him come," said the lady, every feature glowing with indignant
feeling, and high resolve; "bid him come, and we will teach him to
respect the rights which he has dared to infringe; to acknowledge the
authority which he has presumed to insult; to withdraw the claims, which
he has most arrogantly preferred. Tell him, that the lady of La Tour is
resolved to sustain the honor of her absent lord, to defend his just
cause to the last extremity, and preserve, inviolate, the possessions
which his king hath intrusted to his keeping. Go tell your lord, that,
though a woman, my heart is fearless as his own; say, that I spurn his
offered mercy, I defy his threatened vengeance, and to God, the
defender of the innocent, I look for succor in the hour of danger and
strife."

So saying, she turned from him, with a courteous gesture, though her
manner convinced him that any farther parley would be useless; and
endeavoring to conceal his chagrin by an air of studied civility, the
dissatisfied messenger was reconducted to the boat.

The vessels of M. d'Aulney left their anchorage below the fort, at an
early hour in the morning; but it was reported, that they still lay near
t