On her approach the gipsy drew herself up suddenly, and fixing her wild eyes piercingly upon the trembling girl, gasped out in the harsh, discordant tones which her failing breath hardly softened; "What do you want with me, pale Primrose? Will you have me curse you ere I die--you, the daughter of the accursed house, which shall surely perish on the day I let loose the river-spirit from his prison? I shall die here like a dog, but my spirit shall haunt the Bryn Afons till my day of judgment is come, and I am avenged! Then beware of the gipsy's vengeance! I bade the lily-knight beware of the pale Primrose, but he would not heed my warning, and thinks he can undo the curse, poor fool, that his forefather laid upon you! And he defies me e'en now as I lie, and tortures me with his pure and holy face, which is like the face of One I may ne'er look upon, whose name I dare not utter. I am mad, girl, and your fathers drove me to madness! They killed my child with the terror of their drunken furies. It was your grandsire, girl, whose death-bed turned her brain and killed her, and I have vowed vengeance. Will you marry the lily-knight, and hand down the curse from generation to generation? I tell you none shall escape it, for Ap Gryffyth, who was betrayed to his death by your forefather, in a fit of drunken folly, bade, with his dying breath, the curse to cleave unto him and his seed for ever; and so these hundreds of long years it has been fulfilled. Ah, you wince and shudder, girl! They thought to hide from you the shame of the curse, and thought the old gipsy knew it not! But she had vowed her vengeance, and did but bide her time. Drink--drink! One after another the Bryn Afons have perished horribly through drink! Now go--put on your white bridal robes, and bid the lily-knight take you to his heart and defy the curse, if he dare! Yet my poor mad soul feels a little pity for you in your youth and beauty, and would spare you the worst. You shall not die a death of raving terrors, but the river-spirit shall have you for his prey, and shall lull you to sleep on his breast. In the dark river--in the dark river"--and her harsh voice sank to such a feeble whisper that poor tortured Shanno could but just catch the words--"the Primrose and Lily shall sleep!"