THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 231 



dark moustache and the belt which once held a hunting- 

 blade, supported now a goodly brand. 



The strange effect of the melody upon the lady, and the 

 minstrel's sudden indisposition, could not escape remark; a 

 startling suspicion flashed across the minds of the company, 

 and, after a painful silence of some minutes, Hubert de 

 Moore rose from his seat, and bowing to the very table, thus 

 addressed the lady of the castle : 



" Wilt thou forgive the humblest but most devoted of thy 

 suitors, if he presume to remind you that the hour has long 

 since passed when your election should have been made? 

 Far be it from me, noble dame, to seem importunate ; but 

 suspense is irksome to those that love, and I and my brother 

 nobles pray to you to signify your pleasure, and end uncer- 

 tainty at once." 



While De Moore was speaking, Rose Roche appeared to 

 recover her self-possession wonderfully ; her eye brightened, 

 her colour came again, and the compression of her lips 

 proved that she was nerving herself for some determined 

 effort. She rose slowly and gracefully, while a dead silence 

 pervaded the hall ; faint and tremulous as the first words 

 were, they were distinctly heard by those remotest from the 

 dais.* 



" Noble lords," she said, " I own and thank your cour- 

 tesy : I ask this holy churchman if I am to exercise free 

 choice in this affair, unshackled with bar, or condition, save 

 my own leasure : and if he whom I shall place here," and 

 she pointed to the vacant seat beside her own, which had 

 been reserved for the successful wooer, " shall be supported 

 in all the rights and properties which he shall obtain 

 through me ?" 



"All this," said the Prior, "is fairly stipulated in the 

 intents of this scroll." 



"Then will I not trespass on your patience, noble lords 

 there stands the object of my choice ; and thus do I install 

 him in this seat, as lord and master of Dim Castle !" 



She turned to the astonished minstrel as she spoke, and 

 ere her words were ended, the youth was seated at her side. 



A scene of wonder and wild confusion followed most of 

 the barons protested loudly aganst her choice ; angry looks 



* The place of honour in a Baronial Hall. 



