of the deliverer.


"A BLOT IN THE 'SCUTCHEON" is a tragedy in three acts, less intricate as
well as shorter than those which precede it; and historical only in the
simple motive, the uncompromising action, and the mediæval code of
honour, which in some degree fix its date. Mr. Browning places this
somewhere in the eighteenth century.

Lord Henry Mertoun has fallen in love with Mildred Tresham. His estates
adjoin those of Earl Tresham, her brother and guardian. He inherits a
noble name, and an unsullied reputation; and need only offer himself to
be accepted. But the youthful reverence which he entertains for Lord
Tresham makes him shrink from preferring his suit; and he allows himself
and Mildred to drift into a secret intimacy, which begins in all
innocence, but does not end so. Then his shyness vanishes. He seeks an
interview with the Earl, and obtains his joyful consent to the union.
All seems to be going well. But Mildred's awakened womanhood takes the
form of an overpowering remorse and shame; and these become the indirect
cause of the catastrophe.

Gerard, an old retainer of the family, has witnessed Lord Mertoun's
nightly visits to the castle; and, amidst a bitter conflict of feeling,
he tells the Earl what he has seen. Tresham summons his sister. He is
writhing under the sense of outraged family honour; but a still stronger
fraternal affection commends the culprit to his mercy. He assists her
confession with touching delicacy and tenderness; shows himself prepared
to share her shame, to help her to live it through--to marry her to the
man she loves. He insists only upon this, that Mertoun shall not be
deceived: and that she shall cancel the promise of an interview which