"What message from my lord of D'Aulney," she asked, "procures me the
honor of this interview? or is it too bold for a woman's ear, that you
remain thus silent? I have but brief time to spend in words, and would
quickly learn what brave service he now demands of me?"

"My lord of D'Aulney," replied the officer, "bids me tell you, that he
wars not with women; that he respects your weakness, and forgives the
injuries which you have sought to do him."

"Forgives!" said the lady, with a contemptuous smile; "thy lord is
gracious and merciful,--aye, merciful to himself, perhaps, and careful
for his poor vessels, which but yesterday shivered beneath our cannon!
Is this all?"

"He requires of you," resumed the officer, piqued by her scornful
manner, "the restoration of those rights, which the lord of la Tour hath
unjustly usurped; he requires the submission of this garrison, and the
possession of this fort, and pledges his word, on such conditions, to
preserve inviolate the life and liberty of every individual."

"Thy lord is most just and reasonable in his demands," returned the
lady, sarcastically; "but hath he no threats in reserve, no terrors
wherewith to enforce compliance?"

"He bids me tell you," said the excited messenger, "that if you reject
his offered clemency, you do it at your peril, and the blood of the
innocent will be required at your hands. He knows the weakness of your
resources, and he will come with power to shake these frail walls to
their foundations, and make the stoutest heart within them tremble with
dismay."