230 THE MASTER OF THE HOUNDS. 



a sneer. " The letter addressed to your guardian, Mr. Har- 

 court, by Lord Vancourt, containing the proposal, was, I pre- 

 sume, submitted to your perusal, and the answer which was 

 returned % " 



" No, sir. I neither saw nor knew the contents of the letter 

 written by my guardian in reply ; but, when asked by my aunt 

 what answer should be returned, I told her most distinctly that 

 nothing should ever induce me to accept the addresses of Lord 

 Vancourt. 



" Very strange, Miss Douglas, when Mr. Harcourt's letter 

 appears to me to warrant our arriving at a very opposite con- 

 clusion." 



"I shall prove, sir," exclaimed Mr. Whalley, suddenly 

 starting up, " by another witness, that Miss Douglas did, posi- 

 tively and unconditionally, refuse Lord Vancourt's proposals : 

 and also the base, nefarious plot concocted at Mervyn Castle to 

 impose such a worthless person as Lord Vancourt upon an art- 

 less, unsuspecting young lady ; into which, I am sorry to add v 

 Miss Douglas's guardian was unwittingly dragged by the falst 

 representations made to him there of Lord Vancourt's high 

 character ana large fortune ; the latter, no doubt, of gr< 

 weight with guardians generally." 



During this short address, Serjeant "Wrangler sat down: 

 and Mr. Whalley, politely apologising to Miss Douglas for the 

 annoyance she had experienced from her cross-examination, said 

 she was now at liberty to rejoin her friends. Poor Blanche, as 

 soon as handed down from the witness-box to a seat below, 

 occupied by her aunt and Constance, overcome by the excessive 

 heat of the court, as well as overpowered by her outraged feel- 

 ings, fell into a swoon, from which Malcolrn and Mrs. Gordon 

 were attempting to rouse her, when Beauchamp (followed by 

 Stiles and young Hazel) sprang to her relief. 



Without a moment's hesitation, and before Malcolm could 

 guess his intentions, the fainting form of Blanche Douglas was 

 quickly raised in Beauchamp's arms (the two bold yeomen 

 making way for his advance) carried out of court, and placed 

 on a sofa in the magistrates' waiting-room. 



" Quick, neighbour Hazel," cried Stiles, " for a jug of cold 

 water, whilst I throw up the windows." 



Blanche, unconscious of what had occurred, soon revived by 

 the cold air and still colder water applied to her forehead and 

 face, and Mrs. Gordon's carriage being in waiting, she was driven 

 immediately home to the Priory, accompanied by her aunt and 



