“Master Bernard de Brocas, I award this treasure to Raymond de Brocas, the true lord of Basildene, to whom and to whose heirs shall be secured this house and all that belongs to it.  Into your hands I now intrust the gold and the lands, to be kept by you until the rightful owner appears to lay claim to them.  Let a part of this gold be spent upon making fit this house for the reception of its master and this fair maiden, who will one day be the mistress here with him.  Let it be thy part, good Master Bernard, to remove from these walls the curse which has been brought upon them by the vile sorceries and cruelties of this wicked father and more wicked son.  Let Holy Church do her part to cleanse and purify the place, and then let it be made meet for the reception of its lord and lady when they shall return hither to receive their own.”

The good Bernard’s face glowed with satisfaction at this charge.  It was just such a one as pleased him best, and such as he was well able to fulfil.  Nobody more capable could well have been found for the guardianship and restoration of Basildene; and with this hoard to draw upon, the old house might well grow to a beauty and grandeur it had never known before.

“Gracious Prince, I give you thanks on behalf of my nephew, and I will gladly do all that I may to carry out your behest.  The day will come when Raymond de Brocas shall come in person to thank you for your princely liberality and generosity.”

“Tush, man, the gold is not mine; and some of it may have been come by honestly, and belong fairly enough to the Sanghurst family.  You say the mother of these bold Gascon youths was a Sanghurst:  it follows, then, that Basildene and all pertaining to it should be theirs.  Raymond de Brocas has suffered much from the Sanghursts.  By every law of right and justice, it is he who should reap the reward, and find Basildene restored to its former beauty before he comes to dwell within it.”

“And he shall so find it if I have means to compass it,” answered the uncle, with glad pride.

His eye was then drawn to another part of the hall; for Sir Hugh Vavasour had just come galloping up to the door in hot haste, having heard all manner of strange rumours:  the first being that his daughter had been found, and was in hiding at Basildene; the second, which had only just reached his ears, that Peter Sanghurst was dead —­ hanged by order of the Prince, and that Basildene had been formally granted as the perpetual right of Raymond de Brocas and his heirs.

“And Raymond de Brocas is the plighted husband of thy daughter, good Sir Hugh,” said Master Bernard, coming up to help his old friend out of his bewilderment —­ “plighted, that is, by themselves, by the right of a true and loyal love.  Thy daughter will still be the Lady of Basildene, and I think that thou wilt rather welcome my nephew as her lord than yon miscreant, whose body is swinging on some tree not far away.  Thou wert something too willing, my friend, to sell thy daughter for wealth; but fortune has been kind to her as well as to thee, and thou hast gained for her the wealth, and yet hast not sacrificed her brave young heart.  Go to her now, and give her thy blessing, and tell her she may wed young Raymond de Brocas so soon as he comes to claim her hand.”