t. The mighty house of
Istyn-ap-Dafyd-ap-Owain-ap-Caradoc-ap-Iltyd-ap-Penrhyn knoweth not
fear of living man, nor yet of death's mysterious charnel-house.'
'Wrong me not, gentle sir,' I cried, snatching off my helmet
and trailing its plumes upon the floor; 'I come in love, not
in destruction. Give me but thy daughter, O
Dafyd-ap-Owain-ap-Istyn-ap-Caradoc-ap-Iltyd-ap-Penrhyn, and thy castle
and thy lands, thy rocks and thy sea, are thine again, even as were
they before the beauty of the Lady Weir turned my blood to lava and
my heart to a seething volcano. Give me but thy daughter's hand, and
wealth shall flow into thy coffers, and the multitude of thy retainers
shall carry terror to the heart of thy foe. What say ye, my Lord
Caradoc-ap-Owain-ap-etcetera?' Whereupon the lord of Rhyd-Alwyn unbent
his haughty brows, and placing one narrow, white, and shapely hand
upon my blood-stained baldric, spoke as follows: 'Well said, young
Briton. Spoken like a brave knight and an honorable gentleman. My
daughter thou shalt have, my son thou shalt be, thy friends shall be
my friends, and thou and all of them shall be baptized Welshmen.' And
then he himself re-ascended the staircase and sought you in your tower
and led you down and placed your hand in mine. And the drums beat, and
the shields clashed, and once more the mighty storm shook the rooks
from the roof. But we heard it not, for on your finger I had placed
the betrothal ring, then thrown my brawny arms about you and forgot
that earth existed. Excuse my eloquence," he cried, as he lifted her
up and kissed her, "but your castle and yourself are inspiring."

"That was all very charming, however," she said, "if you only had
not such a reprehensible way of jumping from the sublime to the
ridiculous, like a meteor from world to world."

"Prettily said, sweetheart. But, trust me, if I ever reach the sublime
I will stay there. Now, to your ancestors! Great heaven! what an
array!"

They had entered a long, narrow room, against whose dark background
stood out darker canvasses of an army of now celestial Penrhyns; an
army whose numbers would have been a morning's task to count. The
ancient Penrhyns had been princes, like most of their ilk; and the
titles which Weir glibly recited, and the traditions of valor and
achievement which she had at her tongue's end, finally wrung from
Dartmouth a cry for mercy.

"My dear girl!" he exclaimed, "keep the rest for another day. Those
'aps' are b