"Who did it?"

"Nay, I know not. I dared not ask; for I should hate the hand that did
it, ay, till my dying day. My poor Margaret! The butchers, the ruffians!
Six months' work cut out of my life, and nothing to show for it now.
See, they have hacked through your very face; the sweet face that every
one loves who knows it. Oh, heartless, merciless vipers!"

"Never mind, Gerard," said Margaret, panting. "Since this is how they
treat you for my sake--Ye rob him of my portrait, do ye? Well, then, he
shall have the face itself, such as it is."

"Oh, Margaret!"

"Yes, Gerard; since they are so cruel, I will be the kinder: forgive
me for refusing you. I will be your wife: to-morrow, if it is your
pleasure."

Gerard kissed her hands with rapture, and then her lips; and in a tumult
of joy ran for Peter and Martin. They came and witnessed the betrothal;
a solemn ceremony in those days, and indeed for more than a century
later, though now abolished.



CHAPTER X

The banns of marriage had to be read three times, as in our days; with
this difference, that they were commonly read on week-days, and the