And the Clare estate with its wealth and pride
Devolved to the Bloets, Walter and Percy.
And years went by. And it happened that they
Ransacked the old castle; and so, one day,
In a lonesome tower uprummaged a chest,
From Flanders; of ebon, and wildly carved
All over with masks: a sinister crest
'Mid gargoyle faces distorted and starved:
Fast-fixed with a spring, which they forced and, lo!
When they opened it—Death, like a lady dressed,