that he had resolved henceforth, for the sake of his wife, to spend a great part of his time in his old Welsh castle in spite of the malediction upon its walls, during which seasons Percival should continue to act as his chaplain in addition to his new duties. Such plans for the future had the earl determined, bent upon the union of his beloved chaplain with the Fair Maid of Gwynnon, and knowing well Percival's secret desire to make the Gwynnon Vale some day the starting-point of his own unwearied labours in the cause of temperance and sobriety. And, all unaware the while of the strange events which had lately come to pass within his own household, his own ideas curiously furthered the development of those of his wife and of the lovers themselves. It was Lady Bryn Afon's desire, after much cogitation on the matter and consultation with Rhiwallon previously held, that upon Percival's appointment to Cwmfelin in the ensuing year, the earl should be informed of his daughter's existence, and his consent obtained, as a father, to her marriage with his chaplain, which he had so long desired while ignorant of her birth, and to which his wife assured the lovers he would raise no objection after the true state of the case was made known to him. Her wish, further, was that the marriage should then take place without delay, her express desire being that, owing to the circumstances of the case, her daughter should be spared the necessity or probability of spending any time beneath her father's roof, which he would surely desire her to do, were any interval permitted to elapse between the event of her being made known to him as his daughter and her marriage.