generations? Could she ever bear to see him, whose one life-effort was to be the stemming of this particular vice and sin, endure the misery of seeing his own son or daughter a prey to its power--a victim to the curse which none had ever yet had power to undo? Yet Percival was about to marry her in full knowledge of the blight upon her house and name, in fuller knowledge of the evil and all its possible consequences than she could dream of, in knowledge gained through deep study of this very thing! If he were willing to brave all and make her his wife, why need she care? He was the stronger and the better able to judge, and, besides, the wedding-day was fixed and all was ready--his heart would break did she dare now, at the eleventh hour, to break the marriage contract! And her mother, who had given her own life-joy to shield her child from the curse, and whose youth had been renewed and the colour brought back to her cheek by the joy with which she looked forward to her union with one who would surely help her to build up anew the fallen fortunes of her house--how could she bring upon her this bitter disappointment? It would surely kill her--she could not do it! Yet, and the pitiless voice of conscience rang remorselessly in her shuddering ear: "Neither Percival nor your mother, nor even the learned Rhiwallon, in whom they place implicit confidence, know that you bear the weight of the curse. They believe that in you it has at last mercifully died out, that, owing to your special up-bringing and removal from its influences from your babyhood, you have grown up free from the smallest shadow or suspicion of the evil. Hence your mother's fond hopes for the future, and the crowning joy of marriage, with which your lover longs to cement in this present world your soul-union with him, without fear of evil. They do not know you have long borne, in your girlish ignorance, this secret shadow, which you now bear in knowledge!" "And they shall never know it!" cried the agonised human spirit in hasty answer. "What need ever to destroy their peace by revealing it? I have known the shadow, it is true, but never have I yielded to the evil. There is no danger after these years that I should ever yield to it, and if I ne'er succumb, what fear need I have for my children? I will ne'er confess to the dark shadow so long borne alone. For these two years past it has been utterly forgotten and blotted out in the joy of my love, and surely that joy will blot it out for ever! I will forget the gipsy, and the horror of her tale, and prepare for my bridal with a light heart as before."