“‘Then Lawrence is a false name—he is the king’s bastard?’ said the colonel.
“‘He is,’ said Ashton.
“‘Then he shall never marry my daughter,’ said Colonel Temple. “No bastard shall ever enter my family!’
“And so speaking he left the apartment, with a flushed face, and Ashton remained alone by the bedside of his wounded comrade, who was sighing in his troubled dreams and moaning.
“Memories of years past flitted through his troubled brain, and the image of his adored one, Clare Temple, held supreme possession of all his faculties.
“He had seen and known her when but a child.
“She used to pass the college gardens on her way to school, with books and slate and dimity sun-bonnet trimmed with blue.
“Years had passed.
“She grew into girlhood, and short frocks and sun-bonnet gave place to a seminary uniform of blue-gauze and white chip quaker scoop, and her light and airy manner changed to that of a studious seminarian in her teens.
“He had spoken to her, but met with no response.