THE DOOM OF JOHN CASTELL His evidence finished, the Marquis of Morella sat down, whereon, the king and queen having whispered together, the head alcalde asked Betty if she had any questions to put to him.

She rose with much dignity, and through her interpreter said in a quiet voice: "Yes, a great many.

Yet she would not debase herself by asking a single one until the stain which he had cast upon her was washed away, which she thought could only be done in blood.

He had alleged that she was a woman of no character, and he had further alleged that their marriage was null and void.

Being of the sex she was, she could not ask him to make good his assertions at the sword's point, therefore, as she believed she had the right to do according to all the laws of honour, she asked leave to seek a champion--if an unfriended woman could find one in a strange land--to uphold her fair name against this base and cruel slander." Now, in the silence that followed her speech, Peter rose and said: "I ask the permission of your Majesties to be that champion.