[Illustration] Fair Margaret by H. Rider Haggard Author of “King Solomon’s Mines,” “She,” “Jess,” etc. WITH 15 ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. R. SKELTON London: HUTCHINSON & CO. Paternoster Row 1907 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. HOW PETER MET THE SPANIARD. CHAPTER II. JOHN CASTELL. CHAPTER III. PETER GATHERS VIOLETS. CHAPTER IV. LOVERS DEAR. CHAPTER V. CASTELL’S SECRET. CHAPTER VI. FAREWELL. CHAPTER VII. NEWS FROM SPAIN. CHAPTER VIII. D’AGUILAR SPEAKS. CHAPTER IX. THE SNARE. CHAPTER X. THE CHASE. CHAPTER XI. THE MEETING ON THE SEA. CHAPTER XII. FATHER HENRIQUES. CHAPTER XIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE INN. CHAPTER XIV. INEZ AND HER GARDEN. CHAPTER XV. PETER PLAYS A PART. CHAPTER XVI. BETTY SHOWS HER TEETH. CHAPTER XVII. THE PLOT. CHAPTER XVIII. THE HOLY HERMANDAD. CHAPTER XIX. BETTY PAYS HER DEBTS. CHAPTER XX. ISABELLA OF SPAIN. CHAPTER XXI. BETTY STATES HER CASE. CHAPTER XXII. THE DOOM OF JOHN CASTELL. CHAPTER XXIII. FATHER HENRIQUES AND THE BAKER’S OVEN. CHAPTER XXIV. THE FALCON STOOPS. CHAPTER XXV. HOW THE MARGARET WON OUT TO SEA. ENVOI. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS “A DOVE, COMRADES!—A DOVE!” CASTELL DECLARES HIMSELF A JEW “YOU MEAN THAT YOU WISH TO MURDER ME” MARGARET APPEARED DESCENDING THE BROAD OAK STAIRS IN ANOTHER MOMENT THAT STEEL WOULD HAVE PIERCED HIS HEART THE GALE CAUGHT HIM AND BLEW HIM TO AND FRO “LADY,” HE SAID, “THIS IS NO DEED OF MINE” A CRUEL-LOOKING KNIFE AND A NAKED ARM PROJECTED THROUGH THE PANELLING “MY NAME IS INEZ. YOU WANDER STILL, SEÑOR” “THERE ARE OTHERS WHERE THEY CAME FROM” “TO-DAY I DARE TO HOPE THAT IT MAY BE OTHERWISE” A MAGNIFICENTLY ATTIRED LADY OF MIDDLE AGE “WAY! MAKE WAY FOR THE MARCHIONESS OF MORELLA!” “WE ARE PLAYERS IN A STRANGE GAME, MY LADY MARGARET” “YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT ME FIRST, PETER” FAIR MARGARET CHAPTER I. HOW PETER MET THE SPANIARD. It was a spring afternoon in the sixth year of the reign of King Henry VII. of England. There had been a great show in London, for that day his Grace opened the newly convened Parliament, and announced to his faithful people—who received the news with much cheering, since war is ever popular at first—his intention of invading France, and of leading the English armies in person. In Parliament itself, it is true, the general enthusiasm was somewhat dashed when allusion was made to the finding of the needful funds; but the crowds without, formed for the most part of persons who would not be called upon to pay the money, did not suffer that side of the question to trouble them. So when their gracious liege appeared, surrounded by his glittering escort of nobles and men-at-arms, they threw their caps into the air, and shouted themselves hoarse.