'Do you know, Dolly, I've orders to box your ears, and send you
in?' added Berenger, as he lifted his half-sister from her perilous
position, speaking, as he did so, without a shade of foreign
accent, though with much more rapid utterance than was usual in
England. She clung to him without much alarm, and retaliated by an
endeavour to box his ears, while Philip, slowly making his way back
to the mainland, exclaimed, 'Ah there's no chance now! Here comes
demure Mistress Lucy, and she is the worst mar-sport of all.'

A gentle girl of seventeen was drawing near, her fair delicately-
tinted complexion suiting well with her pale golden hair. It was a
sweet face, and was well set off by the sky-blue of the
farthingale, which, with her white lace coif and white ruff, gave
her something the air of a speedwell flower, more especially as her
expression seemed to have caught much of Cecily's air of self-
restrained contentment. She held a basketful of the orange pistils
of crocuses, and at once seeing that some riot had taken place, she
said to the eldest little girl, 'Ah, Nan, you had been safer
gathering saffron with me.'

'Nay, brother Berry came and made all well,' said Annora; 'and he
had been shut up so long in the library that he must have been very
glad to get out.'

'And what came of it?' cried Philip. 'Are you to go and get
yourself unmarried?'

'Unmarried!' burst out the sisters Annora and Elizabeth.

'What, laughed Philip, 'you knew not that this is an ancient