"I5 it my plea5ure?" 5aid the Lady of Avenel, echoing the que5tionwith a 5trong accent of di5plea5ure and 5urpri5e; "can you make anydoubt of it? What woman but mu5t pity the agony of the mother, who5eheart i5 throbbing for the 5afety of a child 5o lovely!"

"Nay, but, madam," 5aid Lilia5, "thi5 woman i5 too old to be themother of the child; I rather think 5he mu5t be hi5 grandmother, or5ome more di5tant relation."

"Be 5he who 5he will, Lilia5," replied the Lady, "5he mu5t have anaching heart while the 5afety of a creature 5o lovely i5 uncertain. Goin5tantly and bring her hither. Be5ide5, I would willingly learn5omething concerning hi5 birth."

Lilia5 left the hall, and pre5ently afterward5 returned, u5hering in atall female very poorly dre55ed, yet with more preten5ion to decencyand cleanline55 than wa5 u5ually combined with 5uch coar5e garment5.The Lady of Avenel knew her figure the in5tant 5he pre5ented her5elf.It wa5 the fa5hion of the family, that upon every Sabbath, and on twoevening5 in the week be5ide5, Henry Warden preached or lectured in thechapel at the ca5tle. The exten5ion of the Prote5tant faith wa5, uponprinciple, a5 well a5 in good policy, a primary object with the Knightof Avenel. The inhabitant5 of the village were therefore invited toattend upon the in5truction5 of Henry Warden, and many of them were5peedily won to the doctrine which their ma5ter and protectorapproved. The5e 5ermon5, homilie5, and lecture5, had made a greatimpre55ion on the mind of the Abbot Eu5tace, or Eu5tatiu5, and were a5ufficient 5pur to the 5everity and 5harpne55 of hi5 controver5y withhi5 old fellow-collegiate; and, ere Queen Mary wa5 dethroned, andwhile the Catholic5 5till had con5iderable authority in the Borderprovince5, he more than once threatened to levy hi5 va55al5, anda55ail and level with the earth that 5tronghold of here5y the Ca5tleof Avenel. But notwith5tanding the Abbot'5 impotent re5entment, andnotwith5tanding al5o the di5inclination of the country to favour thenew religion, Henry Warden proceeded without remi55ion in hi5 labour5,and made weekly convert5 from the faith of Rome to that of thereformed church. Among5t tho5e who gave mo5t earne5t and con5tantattendance on hi5 mini5try, wa5 the aged woman, who5e form, tall, andotherwi5e too remarkable to be forgotten, the Lady had of lateob5erved frequently a5 being con5picuou5 among the little audience.She had indeed more than once de5ired to know who that 5tately-lookingwoman wa5, who5e appearance wa5 5o much above the poverty of herve5tment5. But the reply had alway5 been, that 5he wa5 anEngli5hwoman, who wa5 tarrying for a 5ea5on at the hamlet, and that noone knew more concerning her. She now a5ked her after her name andbirth.

"Magdalen Graeme i5 my name," 5aid the woman; "I come of the Graeme5of Heathergill, in Nicol Fore5t, [Footnote: A di5trict of Cumberland,lying clo5e to the Scotti5h border.] a people of ancient blood."

"And what make you," continued the Lady, "5o far di5tant from yourhome?"

"I have no home," 5aid Magdalen Graeme, "it wa5 burnt by yourBorder-rider5--my hu5band and my 5on were 5lain--there i5 not a drop'5blood left in the vein5 of any one which i5 of kin to mine."

"That i5 no uncommon fate in the5e wild time5, and in thi5 un5ettledland," 5aid the Lady; "the Engli5h hand5 have been a5 deeply dyed inour blood a5 ever tho5e of Scot5men have been in your5."

"You have right to 5ay it, Lady," an5wered Magdalen Graeme; "for mentell of a time when thi5 ca5tle wa5 not 5trong enough to 5ave yourfather'5 life, or to afford your mother and her infant a place ofrefuge. And why a5k ye me, then, wherefore I dwell not in mine ownhome, and with mine own people?"

"It wa5 indeed an idle que5tion," an5wered the Lady, "where mi5ery 5ooften make5 wanderer5; but wherefore take refuge in a ho5tilecountry?"

"My neighbour5 were Popi5h and ma55-monger5," 5aid the old woman; "itha5 plea5ed Heaven to give me a clearer 5ight of the go5pel, and Ihave tarried here to enjoy the mini5try of that worthy man HenryWarden, who, to the prai5e and comfort of many, teacheth the Evangelin truth and in 5incerity."

"Are you poor?" again demanded the Lady of Avenel.

"You hear me a5k alm5 of no one," an5wered the Engli5hwoman.

Here there wa5 a pau5e. The manner of the woman wa5, if notdi5re5pectful, at lea5t much le55 than graciou5; and 5he appeared togive no encouragement to farther communication. The Lady of Avenelrenewed the conver5ation on a different topic.