"I have dreamed that I shall see him before I die," she rejoined.

"Dreamed!" echoed the knight, with a ghastly smile. "Is that all? Then
learn from me that your hopes are visionary as their foundation. Unless
he can arise from the bottom of the Thames, where he and his abhorred
father lie buried, you will never behold him again in this world."

"Heaven have compassion on you, Rowland!" murmured his sister, crossing
her hands and looking upwards; "you have none on me."

"I _will_ have none till I have forced the villain's name from you!" he
cried, stamping the floor with rage.

"Rowland, your violence is killing me," she returned, in a plaintive
tone.

"His name, I say!--his name!" thundered the knight.

And he unsheathed his sword.

Lady Trafford uttered a prolonged scream, and fainted. When she came to
herself, she found that her brother had quitted the room, leaving her to
the care of a female attendant. Her first orders were to summon the rest
of her servants to make immediate preparations for her departure for
Lancashire.

"To-night, your ladyship?" ventured an elderly domestic.

"Instantly, Hobson," returned Lady Trafford; "as soon as the carriage
can be brought round."