Fitz-Gilbert, the first Earl of Clare, came to see if he could persuade the maiden to join her fate to his. He was skilful in war, and equally skilled in music: and there were other things in which few could bear comparison with him. He was elegant in mind and person, yet he pleased not Ellen; and he took his rejection so to heart, that music became distasteful to him; and not until he heard of Cavendish's unsuccessful suit, did he become reconciled to his own loss. One of her greatest suitors was John Mowbray, from Framlingham Castle; a man so high and mighty, that he thought, with his splendid establishment, any woman would be glad to accept him. He cared not for books, or science, taste, or mind. He left such things to those who had any inclination for them. A rich dower he could offer, and he did not calculate upon having a refusal; but he was mistaken. Cove, of Covehithe, a very honest unassuming man, of good property, noble heart, and generous blood, made an offer of all he possessed; and Ellen much admired his principles and character, but did not accept him. Neither did she accept Sir John Bouville, Sir James Luckmore, nor Warner, of Wammil Hall. Tendering, of Tendering Hall, met with no better success--Lanham of Lavenham equally failed. Sir Robert Drury, who could break swords as well as words, and use both dexterously, was not sufficiently persuasive with his words to obtain the maid of Freston Tower. Neither Kedington nor Jermyn of Raesbrooke succeeded. If valorous conduct could have won her William Lord Helmingham must have been successful; for none of the warriors of Suffolk were braver than he. Sir Richard Broke, of Nacton, was his equal, but excelled him, neither in the warlike field, nor in the lady's bower. Sir Edward Edgar, of Glemham, was one of the last of the bold but unsuccessful Suffolk suitors. And now it was that people began to think she had sworn to live and die a recluse. But Ellen De Freston was not a cold and cheerless maiden, who evaded society and friends, and shunned her fellow creatures like a nun. She delighted not in the cloister to read books and tell beads, and to kneel before the Prior in the confessional, and vow allegiance to the Pope of Rome. Ellen was possessed of such true nobility that she was never afraid of losing or compromising her own dignity in conversing with a gentleman, though he was not so highly bred, but better read than many a noble. She was alike benevolent to all who visited her father's mansion, for life and love were in her soul, and she could behave ill to no one. She well knew the ignorant phantoms and fallacies of her day; and though she conformed to the church in most of its observances, she was by no means an admirer of its tricks and follies. She read the Bible in Latin and Greek; and drew therefrom the just laws of God, and could separate the dross of superstition from the good seed of religion.