Lady Roos looked as if she would fain interrupt her mother, but she was too much under her subjection to offer a remark.

“It is time to undeceive you, Madam,” said Lord Roos, wholly unmoved by what was said.  “I am not in the strait you suppose; and have not the slightest intention of soliciting Lady Roos’s pardon, or making any promise to her.”

“O mother! you see that even you fail to move him,” said Lady Roos, tearfully.  “What is to happen to me?”

“You will make me chide you, daughter, if you exhibit this weakness,” cried Lady Lake, angrily.  “Let me deal with him.  In spite of your affected confidence, my lord, you cannot be blind to the position in which you stand.  And though you yourself personally may be careless of the consequences of a refusal of our demands, you cannot, I conceive, be equally indifferent to the fate of the Countess of Exeter, which that refusal will decide.”

“I am so little indifferent to the safety of the Countess, Madam, that I cannot sufficiently rejoice that she is out of the reach of your malice.”

“How, my lord!” exclaimed Lady Lake, astounded at his assurance.  “Out of reach, when she is here!  You cannot mean,” she added, with an undefinable expression of satisfaction, “that she is dead?”

“Dead!” ejaculated Lady Roos; “the Countess dead!  I thought she was only in a swoon.”

“What riddle is it you would have us read, my lord?” demanded Lady Lake.

“No riddle whatever, Madam,” replied Lord Roos.  “I only mean to assert that the person you behold upon that couch is not the Countess of Exeter.”

“Not the Countess!” exclaimed Lady Roos.  “Oh, if this were possible!  But no, no!  I cannot be deceived.”

“I now see the reason why her face has been covered with a ’kerchief,” cried Lady Lake.  “But it shall not save her from our scrutiny.”

So saying, she advanced towards the couch, with the intention of removing the covering, when Lord Roos barred her approach.

“Not a step nearer, Madam,” he cried, in a peremptory tone.  “I will not allow you to gratify your curiosity further.  You and Lady Roos may make the most of what you have seen; and proclaim abroad any tale your imaginations may devise forth.  You will only render yourselves ridiculous, and encounter derision in lieu of sympathy.  No one will credit your assertions, because I shall be able to prove that, at this moment, Lady Exeter is in a different part of the palace.”

“This bold falsehood will not serve your turn, my lord.  Whoever she may be, the person on that couch shall be seized, and we shall then ascertain the truth.”

And she would have moved towards the door, if Lord Roos had not caught hold of her arm, while at the same time he drew his sword.  Thinking from his fierce looks and menacing gestures that her mother might be sacrificed to his fury, Lady Roos fell on her knees before him, imploring pity; and she continued in this supplicating posture till Lady Lake angrily bade her rise.