"At what time were you there?"
"Frae ten till twal o' the clock."
"Were you alone?"
"For a guid part of the time I waur my lane i' the castle court."
"What took you out on the castle grounds alone at so late an hour?"
"I went there to keep my tryste with the Markis of Arondelle," answered the witness, with a sly, malignant glance at the young nobleman whose name she thus publicly profaned!
The Duke of Hereward started, and fixed his eyes sternly and inquiringly upon the bold, handsome face of the witness.
Her eyes did not for an instant quail before his gaze. On the contrary, they opened wide in a bold, derisive stare, until she was recalled by the questions of the examiner.
"Witness! Do you mean to say, upon your oath, that you went to Castle Lone at midnight to meet the Marquis of Arondelle?"
"Aye, that I do. I went to the castle to keep tryste wi' his lairdship, the Marquis of Arondelle. He wha was troth-plighted to the heiress o' Lone. Ae wha is noo ca'd his grace the Duk' o' Harewood!" said the witness, emphatically, triumphantly.