"Maude Clare":--and hid his face.
She turned to Nell: "My Lady Nell,
I have a gift for you;
Though, were it fruit, the bloom were gone,
Or, were it flowers, the dew.
"Take my share of a fickle heart,
Mine of a paltry love:
Take it or leave it as you will,
I wash my hands thereof."
"And what you leave," said Nell, "I'll take,
And what you spurn, I'll wear;
For he's my lord for better and worse,
And him I love, Maude Clare.
"Yea, though you're taller by the head,
More wise, and much more fair;
I'll love him till he loves me best,
Nell is the only character to say these words. She appears to have her own quiet brand of strength. Or it may be defiance.  It suggests that Rossetti was presenting a situation in which all the protagonists suffer; there is no hero/heroine and no villain.
Maude Clare