"A—nay, 'twill wound thy ears!"
"Speak—I fear not—for I know thou canst lay no crime to his charge!"
"A bastard!" she said, laying a deliberate stress upon each syllable.
"Evil woman! away! Leave me!"
"It may be proved that he is not only this, but—"
"Away! Oh that I should listen to thy foul and slanderous speech."
"Lowborn!"
"In the name of Heaven, woman, cease! and give me way out, or I will alarm the castle, and have thee punished for this insolence!"
As the indignant girl spoke she prepared to pass her, when the woman laid her hand firmly on her wrist and detained her, while she said, in a serious and imperious manner,
"Maiden, hear me! I am not mocking thee! What if I can prove him to thee to be a lowborn bastard—the son of a peasant-girl, and palmed on Lady Lester as her own?"