LADY CLARE By Alfred Tennyson 22 illustrations by Alfred Fredericks, Granville Perkins, Frederic B. Schell, Edmund H. Garrett, F. S. Church and Harry Fenn LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: Lady Clare, by Alfred Fredericks Lady Clare, by Alfred Fredericks Headpiece, by Edmund H. Garrett Vignette, by Edmund H. Garrett "It was the time when lilies blow", by Frederic B. Schnell "Lily-white doe", by Frederic B. Schnell "I trow they did not part in scorn", by Alfred Fredericks "He does not love me for my birth", by Frederic B. Schnell "In came old Alice the nurse", by Alfred Fredericks "'Oh, God be thanked!' said Alice the nurse", by Granville Perkins "Are ye out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse", by Alfred Fredericks "Falsely, falsely have ye done", by Frederic B. Schnell "'If I'm a beggar born,' she said", by Alfred Fredericks "'Nay now, my child.' said Alice the nurse", by Granville Perkins "Yet give one kiss to your mother, dear!", by Alfred Fredericks "She clad herself in a russet gown", by Alfred Fredericks "The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought", by F. S. Church "Down stepped Lord Ronald from his tower", by Granville Perkins "If I come dressed like a village maid", by Alfred Fredericks "'Play me no tricks,' said Lord Ronald", by Edmund H. Garrett "Oh, and proudly stood she up", by Harry Fenn "He laughed a laugh of merry score", by Alfred Fredericks "If you are not the heiress born", by Edmund H. Garrett LADY CLARE It was the time when lilies blow, And clouds are highest up in air. Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe To give his cousin, Lady Clare. I trow they did not part in scorn: Lovers long betrothed were they; They two will wed the morrow morn; God's blessing on the day! "He does not love me for my birth Nor for my lands so broad and fair; He loves me for my own true worth, And that is well," said Lady Clare. In there came old Alice the nurse, Said, "Who was this that went from thee?" "It was my cousin," said Lady Clare; "To-morrow he weds with me." "Oh, God be thanked!" said Alice the nurse, "That all comes round so just and fair: Lord Ronald is heir of all your lands, And you are not the Lady Clare." "Are ye out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse," Said Lady Clare, "that ye speak so wild?" "As God's above," said Alice the nurse, "I speak the truth: you are my child. The old earl's daughter died at my breast; I speak the truth, as I live by bread! I buried her like my own sweet child, And put my child in her stead." "Falsely, falsely have ye done, O mother," she said, "if this be true, To keep the best man under the sun So many years from his due." "Nay now, my child," said Alice the nurse, "But keep the secret for your life, And all you have will be Lord Ronald's, When you are man and wife."