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 buzzing in my ears like an army of infuriated gnats, and
those mighty deeds are so much alike--who is that?"