Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XVI.

  Tybalt.--Gentlemen, good den; a word with one of you.

  Mercutio.--And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow.

  Tybalt.--You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, if you give me occasion. _Romeo and Juliet_.

  Scarcely knowing what he did, Sir Osborne sprang after Dr. Butts, andwalked on with him for a minute or two in silence, while his brainturned, and all his thoughts and feelings whirled in inextricableconfusion.

  "Ah!" muttered the physician to himself, seeing the absent agitatedair of his young companion; "ah! you've been making a fool ofyourself, I see, though you've not had much time either."

  The murmuring of the good doctor, however, did not disturb in theleast the young knight's reverie, which might have lasted anindefinite space of time, had he not been roused therefrom by a smarttap on the shoulder. Laying his hand upon his sword, he turnedsuddenly round, and beheld Lord Darby, who, seeing him grasp the hiltof his weapon, pointed to it coolly, saying, "Not here, sir, not here;but anywhere else you please."

  "What would you with me, sir?" demanded the knight, not exactlyunderstanding his object, though quite ready to quarrel upon anyprovocation that might occur.

  "But a trifle," replied the earl. "You looked at me some five minutespast as if I had offended you in something. Now, that being the case,I am ready to make reparation at the sword's point when and where itmay suit your convenience."

  "But, my good lord," said Dr. Butts, who had turned back, "this is amistake. How can you have offended this good knight, who never saw youtill to-day?"

  "Oh, the problem! the problem, my good doctor," replied Lord Darby."Why does a farmer's cur bark at a beggar, and let a ruffling gallantswagger by? Perchance the knight may not like my countenance; mycomplexion, my nose, may not please him; my mouth, the cut of mybeard."

  "Faith! neither one nor the other pleases me particularly," answeredSir Osborne. "At all events, my lord, if your wish be to quarrel withme, I will not balk your humour. So say your will, and have it."

  "Oh! if that be the case," said Lord Darby, "and you'd rather bequarrelled with than quarrel, the offence shall come on my part. Fairsir, I dislike that scar upon your brow so much that I shall not becontent till I make its fellow on your heart; therefore, when yourgood humour serves to give me an opportunity of tilting at your nose,you will find me your very humble servant."

  "Nay, now, my lord!" cried Dr. Butts, "I must witness that you havegiven the provocation; for under any other circumstances, thisgentleman is so situated that 'twould be mere madness to meet you asyou wish."

  "If it be provocation he desires," cried the earl, "he shall have adish of it, so cooked as to serve an emperor. He is a gentleman, Isuppose, and worth a gentleman's sword?"

  "Your equal in every respect, and your better in many," replied theknight. "And in regard to provocation, I have had as much, my lord, asyour body may well bear in repayment. How do you choose to fight?"

  "Quietly! quietly!" answered the earl. "A few inches of tough steelare as good as a waggon load. A double-edged sword, sir, such as weboth wear, may serve our turn, I should suppose; and as it may beunpleasant to both of us to make the monster multitude busy with ourlittle affair, we will be single, hand to hand. I do detest the habitof making the satisfaction of private wrongs the public amusement.We'll have no crowd, sir, to look on and criticise our passados, as ifwe were gladiators on a stage. Where shall it be?"

  "Why, faith, my lord!" answered the knight, "as I am a mere strangerhere, I know but of one place. The gardens of my Lord of Buckingham,at the Rose, are large; and I remarked this morning a grove, wherethere must be good space and quiet. If, therefore, you will inquirefor me at his grace's dwelling this evening, at four of the clock, youwill find me prepared to receive you."

  Lord Darby waved his hand for his page to come up, who stoodchattering with the foot-boy that had accompanied the knight, andtaking from him a case of tablets, he wrote down the name of SirOsborne, and the place and hour he had appointed. "And now, fair sir,"said he, "I will leave you. I shall not miss my hour. Good doctor,your profession has doubtless taught you secrecy, and so farewell!"

  So saying, Lord Darby walked away, leaving Sir Osborne with Dr. Butts."Ah!" cried the physician, "a bad business! a bad business! Yet itcannot be helped; if two people will fall in love with the same woman,what can be done? But it's a bad business for you. If he kills you,why that is not pleasant; and if you kill him, you must fly yourcountry. A bad business! a bad business! But fare ye well! Don't killhim if you can help it; for he's not bad, as times go; wound himbadly, then it may be mended. Fare ye well! fare ye well!" and turningaway he left Sir Osborne, not appearing to take much heed of theapproaching duel, though in reality deeply occupied with the means ofpreventing it, without betraying the trust that had been reposed inhim.

  Sir Osborne was not displeased to be left to his own meditations; andplunged in thought, he followed his young guide down a narrow lane,running between the gardens of York and Durham Houses. "I thought,sir, you might like to take boat," said the boy, who was himselfcompletely wearied out with waiting for the knight, "and so broughtyour worship down here, where there is always a boatman. 'Twill savethree miles, your worship."

  Sir Osborne signified his assent, and the boat being procured, he wassoon after landed within a short distance of St. Lawrence Poulteney,where he was received with great respect by the duke's household, andformally marshalled to his apartment. Two hours still remained to thetime of rendezvous, which he spent in writing to his father; neverthinking, however, of alluding to his approaching rencontre; for intruth, though not vain either of his skill or strength, he had enjoyedso many opportunities of proving both, that he well knew it must be astrong and dexterous man indeed, who would not lie greatly at hismercy in such an encounter as that which was to ensue.

  In the mean while, Lord Darby, carried away by passion, thought ofnothing but his approaching meeting; and though he looked upon SirOsborne as some knight attached to the Duke of Buckingham, he was verywilling to pass over any little difference of rank for the sake ofgratifying the angry feelings by which he was possessed. He was,however, very greatly surprised, when on presenting himself, towardsfour o'clock, at the manor-house of the Rose, he found that the sameattendance and respect waited Sir Osborne Maurice, a man he never evenheard of, as he had seen paid to the Duke of Buckingham himself. Twoservants marshalled the way to the knight's apartments, one ran onbefore to announce him; and with a deference and attention whichevidently did not proceed from his own rank, for he had not given hisname, but rather, apparently, from the station of the person whom hewent to visit, he was ushered into the splendid apartments which hadbeen assigned to the knight.

  Sir Osborne rose from the table where he had been writing, and withgraceful but frigid courtesy, invited him to be seated, which wascomplied with by the earl, till such time as the servants were gone.

  "Now my lord," said Sir Osborne, as soon as the door was shut, "I amat your service; I will finish my writing at my return. Will youexamine my sword, 'tis apparently somewhat longer than yours, but hereis one that is shorter. Now, sir."

  "That is shorter than mine," said Lord Darby. "Have you not another?"

  "Not here," replied the knight; "but this will do, if you aresatisfied that it is not longer than your own. By this passage weshall find our way to the garden privately, as I am informed. Pardonme, if I lead the way."

  Lord Darby followed in silence, perhaps not quite so contented withthe business in which he had engaged as when he undertook it. Therewas a sort of calm determination in Sir Osborne's manner, that hadsomething in it very unpleasantly impressive, and the young peer beganto think it would have been better to have sought some explanation erehe had hurried himself into circumstances of what might be unnecessarydanger. However, he felt that it was now too late to make any advancetowards such a measure; and there
, too, in the knight's cap, stillstood the identical large sapphire ring, which, if he might believehis eyes, he had seen a thousand times on the hand of his promisedwife. The sight, thereof, served marvellously well to stir up hisanger; and striding on, he kept equal pace with Sir Osborne down thelong alley which led from the house into a deep grove near the side ofthe river. The knight paused at a spot where the trees concealed themfrom the view of the house, and opening out into a small amphitheatre,gave full space for the deadly exercise in which they were about to beengaged.

  "Now, Lord Darby," said he, drawing his sword, and throwing down thescabbard before him, "you see me as I stand; and as a knight and agentleman, I have no other arms, offensive or defensive, but thissword, so help me God!"

  "And so say I," replied Lord Darby, "upon my honour;" and followingthe knight's example, he drew his sword, cast the sheath away fromhim, and brought his blade across that of his adversary.

  "Madmen! what are ye about to do?" cried a stern voice from the wood."Put up, put up!" and the moment after, the diminutive form of SirCesar the astrologer stood directly between them. "What devil," hecontinued, parting their drawn swords with his bare hands; "what devilhas tempted ye--ye, of all other men, destined to bring about eachothers' happiness--what devil, I say, has tempted ye to point theseidle weapons at each other's life?"

  "Sir Cesar," said Lord Darby, "I am well aware that you possess themeans of seeing into the future by some method, for which scurrilouspeople hint that you are likely to be damned pretty heartily in thenext world; so you are just the person to settle our dispute. But tellus, which it is of us two that is destined to slay the other, and thenthe one who is doomed to taste cold iron this day will have nothing todo but offer his throat, for depend upon it, only one will leave thisspot alive."

  "Talk not so lightly of death, young lord," replied the old man, "for'tis a bitter and unsavoury cup to drink, as thou shalt find when thybrain swims, and thy heart grows sick, and thine eye loses its light,and thy parting spirit reels upon the brink of a dim and shadowyworld. But I tell thee that both shall leave this spot alive; thoughif any one remained upon this sward, full surely it were thyself; forthou art as much fitted to cope with him as the sapling with thethunderbolt of heaven. But listen, each of you, I adjure you: statewhat you demand of the other; and if, after all, ye be still bent uponblood, blood ye shall have. But full sure am I that now neither foolknows what the other seeks."

  Both the antagonists stood silent, gazing first on each other, andthen on Sir Cesar, as if they knew not what to reply, and both feelingthat there might be some truth in what the old man advanced. Atlength, however, Lord Darby broke forth, "God's life, what he says istrue! Sir Osborne Maurice, what do you seek of me?"

  "Speak! speak!" cried Sir Cesar, turning to the knight, who seemed tohesitate; "speak, if the generous blood of a thousand noble ancestorsbe still warm in your veins! Be candid, and charge him like a man."

  Sir Osborne's cheek burned. "The quarrel is of his own seeking," saidhe, "and what I have to say, I know not how to speak, withoutviolating the confidence of a lady, which cannot be."

  "Then I will speak for you," said Sir Cesar. "Lord Darby he demandsthat you shall yield all claim and all pursuit of Lady Constance deGrey. This is his demand; now for yours. Oh! if I am deceived in you,woe to you and yours for ever!"

  "I can scarcely suppose," replied the earl, with bitter emphasis,"that such be this knight's demand, when I see the ring of anotherlady borne openly in his bonnet; a lady that shall never be his, solong as one drop of blood flows in my veins."

  "This ring, my lord," replied Sir Osborne, taking it from the plume ofhis hat, "was only trusted with me as a deposit to transmit to theperson to whom it originally belonged, claiming his advice for a lady,whose affianced lover was, as report said, about to wed another; SirCesar, I give it unto you for whom it was intended."

  "Faith, I have been in the wrong!" cried Lord Darby, extending hishand frankly to Sir Osborne. "In the first place, pardon me, sirknight, for having insulted you; and next, let me say, that in regardto Lady Constance de Grey, I have no claim but that of kindred uponher affection, and none upon her hand. Farther, if you can show thatyour rank entitles you to such alliance, none will be happier thanmyself to aid you in your suit. Though, let me observe, withoutmeaning offence, that the name of Sir Osborne Maurice is unknown tome, except as connected with the history of the last reign. And now,sir, having said thus much, doubtless you will explain to me how thatring came into your possession, and by what motives Lady KatrineBulmer could be induced to confide her most private affairs to agentleman who can be but an acquaintance of a month."

  "Most willingly," replied the knight; and after detailing to LordDarby the circumstances which we already know, he added: "The letterof which I speak is still in my possession, and if you will returnwith me to the house, I will deliver it to you, as I cannot doubt,from what you say, that the report of a marriage being in agitationbetween yourself and Lady Constance de Grey originated in somemistake."

  "Faith, not a whit!" cried the earl; "the report is unhappily tootrue. The lord cardinal, whom we all know to be one degree greaterthan the greatest man in England, has laid his commands upon me tomarry my cousin Constance, although both my heart and my honour areplighted to another, and has equally ordered my cousin to wed me,although her heart be, very like, fully as much given away as mine.However, never supposing we could think of disobeying, he has alreadysent to Rome for all those permissions and indulgences which arenecessary for first cousins in such cases; and on my merely hinting ina sweet and dutiful manner, that it might be better to see firstwhether it pleased the lady, he replied, meekly, that it pleased him,and that it pleased the king, which was quite enough both for her andme."

  This information did not convey the most pleasing sensations to SirOsborne's heart, and in a moment there flashed through his mind athousand vague but evil auguries. Danger to Constance herself, theruin of his father's hopes, the final destruction of his house andfamily, and all the train of sorrows and of evils that might follow,if Wolsey were to discover his rash love, hurried before his eyes likethe thronging phantoms of a painful dream, and clouded his brow with adeep shade of thoughtful melancholy.

  "Fear not, Osborne Darnley," said Sir Cesar, seeing the gloomy look ofthe young knight. "This cardinal is great, but there is one greaterthan he, who beholds his pride, and shall break him like a reed. Norin this thing shall his will be obeyed. Believe what I say to you, forit is true; I warned you once of coming dangers, and you doubted me;but the evils I foresaw fell upon your head. Doubt me not then now;but still I see fear sits upon your eyelids. Come, then, both of youwith me, for in this both your destinies are linked for a timetogether. Spend with me one hour this night, and I will show you thatwhich shall ease your hearts," and he turned towards the house,beckoning them to follow.

  "I suppose, then, your lordship is satisfied," said Sir Osborne,taking up the scabbard of his sword, and replacing it with the weaponin his belt, as the astrologer moved away.

  "I should be more satisfied," said Lord Darby, laying his hand on theknight's arm with a frank smile, "if you would confide in me. Indeed,I have no title to pry into your secrets," he added, "nor in those ofConstance either, though I think she might have told me of thisyesterday, when I made her a partaker of all mine. However, I cannotbelieve that the profound reverence in which all the duke's servantsseem to hold you, can be excited by the unknown Sir Osborne Maurice.Besides, Sir Cesar called you but now Osborne Darnley. Can it be thatI am speaking to the Lord Darnley, who from his feats at the court ofthe princess dowager, goes amongst us by the surname of the Knight ofBurgundy?"[8]

  "I shall not deny my name, Lord Darby," replied the knight. "I am, asyou say, Lord Darnley; but as this has fallen into your knowledge bymere accident, I shall hold you bound in honour to forget it."

  "Nay!" replied the earl. "I shall remember it--to render you, ifpossible, all service. But come, Darnley, as by a mistake we be
ganbitter enemies, now let us end dear friends. I can aid you much, youcan aid me much, and between us both surely we shall be able to breakthe trammels with which the cardinal enthrals us. We will put fouryoung heads against one old one, and the world to nothing we shallwin!"

  There was a frankness in Lord Darby's manner that it was impossible toresist, and taking the hand he tendered him, the young adventurer methis offered friendship with equal candour. With the openness naturalto youth, the plans of each were soon told, the sooner, indeed, thattheir future prospects and endeavours so greatly depended for successupon their sincere co-operation, and thus they sauntered back to thehouse, with very different feelings from those with which they hadleft it. Before they had arrived at the steps of the door, they hadrun through a thousand details, and were as much prepared to acttogether as if their acquaintance had been of many years' duration. Nosooner did the young earl hear that his new friend had not yet beenintroduced to the king, than he at once proposed to be the person todo it, offering to call for him in his barge the next day but one, andconvey him to the court at Greenwich, where he undertook to procurehim a good reception.

  "It may be difficult," he said, "to find private audience of those twopersons whom we both feel most anxious to meet. Dame Fortune, however,may befriend us; but we must be cautious even to an excess, for Wolseyhas eyes that see where he is not present, and ears that hear overhalf the realm, and the first step to make our plans successful,depend upon it, is to conceal them. But, lo! where Sir Cesar stands atthe window of the hall. Now, in the name of fortune, where will helead us to-night? 'Tis strange that there should be men so gifted withrare qualities as to see into the deepest secrets of nature, to viewthings that to others are concealed, and yet seemingly to profitlittle by their knowledge; for never did I meet or hear of one ofthese astrologers that were either happier or more fortunate thanother men. And yet, what were the good to Sir Cesar to boast aknowledge that he did not possess? For he seeks no reward, will acceptof no recompense, and hourly exposes what he says to contradiction ifit be not true. But doubtless it _is_ true, for every day gives proofsthereof. That man is a riddle, which would have gained the Sphynx agood dinner off [OE]dipus. You seem to know him well, but I dare sayknow no more of him than any one else does; for no one that I ever metknows who he is, nor where he comes from, nor where he goes to; andyet he is well received everywhere, courted, ay, and even loved, forhe is beneficent, charitable, and humane; is rich, though it isunknown whence his wealth arises, and possesses wonderful knowledge,though, I fear me, wickedly acquired. I have heard that those poorwretches who have mastered forbidden secrets often strive to repair,by every good deed, the evil that their presumptuous curiosity hasdone to their own souls: God knows how it is. But come, let us joinhim. The information we gain from him, at all events, is sure."

  Entering the manor-house, they passed on into the hall, where theyfound Sir Cesar buried in deep thought; and while the young knightproceeded to his own apartments, to procure the letter which LadyKatrine Bulmer had entrusted to him, the Earl of Darby approached theold knight with that sort of constitutional gaiety which, like aspoiled servant, would very often play the master with its lord."Well, Sir Cesar," cried he, "where are your thoughts roaming? In theworld above, or the world below?"

  "Farther in heaven than you will ever be," replied the old man.

  "Nay, then," continued the earl, "as you can tell everything, past,present, and to come, could you divine what we were talking of but nowin the gardens?"

  "At first you were talking of what did concern yourselves, andafterwards of what did _not_ concern you," answered the knight.

  "Magic, by my faith!" cried the earl; "and in truth, your coming justin the nick of time, as folks have it, to save us from slicing eachother's throats, must have had a spice of magic in it too."

  "If one used magic for so weak a purpose as that of saving an emptyhead like thine," replied the knight, "it would be worthy the jestwith which you treat it. Fools and children attribute everything tomagic that they do not comprehend; but, however, my coming here hadnone. Was it not easy for one friend to tell another that he had heardtwo mad young men name a place to slaughter each other, they knew notfor what? But here comes thy companion. Read thy letter, and then comewith me; for the light is waning, and the hour comes on when I canshow ye both some part at least of your destiny."

  Lord Darby eagerly cut the silk which fastened Lady Katrine's letter,and read it with that air of intense earnestness which can never beput on, and which would have removed from the mind of Sir Osborne anydoubt of the young earl's feelings, even if he had still continued toentertain such. This being done, they prepared to accompany Sir Cesar,who insisted that not even a page should follow them; and accordinglyLord Darby's attendant was ordered to remain behind and wait hislord's return.

  Passing, then, out into the street, they soon found themselves in themost crowded part of the city of London, which was at that time of theevening filled with the various classes of mechanics, clerks, andartists, returning to their homes from their diurnal toil. Glidingthrough the midst of them, Sir Cesar passed on, not in the leastheeding the remarks which his diminutive size and singular apparelcalled forth, though Lord Darby did not seem particularly to relish apromenade through the city with such a companion, and very possiblymight have left Sir Osborne to proceed alone if he liked it, had notthat strong curiosity which we all experience to read into the futurecarried him on to the end.

  Darkness now began to fall upon their path, and still the old man ledthem forward through a thousand dark and intricate turnings, till atlength, in what appeared to be a narrow lane, the houses of whichapproached so closely together, that it would have been an easy leapfrom the windows on one side of the way into those of the other, theold knight stopped and struck three strokes with the hilt of hisdagger upon a door on the left hand.

  It was opened almost immediately by a tall meagre man, holding in hishand a small silver lamp, which he applied close to the face of SirCesar before he would permit any one to pass. "Il maestro," cried he,as soon as he saw the dark small features of the astrologer, makinghim at the same time a profound inclination, "entra, dottissimo!Benvenuto, benvenuto sia!"

  Sir Cesar replied in an under tone, and taking the lamp from theItalian, motioned Sir Osborne and the earl to follow. The staircase upwhich he conducted them was excessively small, narrow, and winding,bespeaking one of the meanest houses in the city; and what still moreexcited their surprise, they mounted near forty steps withoutperceiving any door or outlet whatever, except where a blast of coldair through a sort of loophole in the wall announced their proximityto the street.

  At length the astrologer stopped opposite a door only large enough toadmit the passage of one person at a time, through which he led theway, when to the astonishment of both Sir Osborne and the earl, theyfound themselves in a magnificent oblong apartment, nearly forty feetin length, and rather more than twenty in breadth. On each side wereranged tables and stands, covered with various specimens of ancientart, which, rare in any age, were then a thousand times more scarcethan they are now.

  Although the taking of Constantinople, about seventy years before, bydriving many of the Greeks amongst whom elegance and science longlingered, into other countries, had revived already, in some degree,the taste for the arts of painting and sculpture, still few, very few,even of the princes of Europe, could boast such beautiful specimens asthose which that chamber contained.

  Here stood a statue, there an urn; on one table was an alabastercapital of exquisite workmanship, on another a bas-relief whosefigures seemed struggling from the stone; medals, and gems, andspecimens of curious ores, were mingled with the rest; and many abook, written in strange and unknown characters, lay open before theireyes. There, too, were various instruments of curious shape anddevice, whose purpose they could not even guess; while here frowned aman in armour, there grinned a skeleton; and there, swathed in itshistoric bands, stood an Egyptian mummy, resting its mouldering
andshapeless head against the feet of a figure, in which some long-deadartist had laboured skilfully to display all the exquisite lines offemale loveliness.

  To observe all this the two young men had full opportunity, while SirCesar proceeded forward, stopping between each table, and bringing theflame of the lamp he carried in contact with six others, which stoodupon a row of ancient bronze tripods ranged along the side of thehall. At the end of the room hung a large black curtain, on each sideof which was a clock of very curious manufacture; the one showing,apparently, the year, the day, the hour, and the minute; and the otherexposing a figure of the zodiac, round which moved a multitude ofstrange hieroglyphic signs, some so rapidly that the eye couldscarcely distinguish their course, some so slow that their motion washardly to be discerned.

  As Sir Osborne and Lord Darby approached, Sir Cesar drew back thecurtain, and exposed to their sight an immense mirror, in which theycould clearly distinguish their own figures, and that of theastrologer, reflected at full length.[9] "Mark!" said Sir Cesar, "andfrom what you shall see, draw your own inference. But question me not:for I vowed when I received that precious gift, which is now beforeyou, never to make one comment upon what it displayed. Mark! and whenyou have seen, leave me."

  "But I see nothing," said Sir Osborne, "except my own reflection inthe glass."

  "Patience, patience. Impetuous spirit," cried the old man. "Will ahundred lives never teach thee calmness? Look to the mirror!"

  Sir Osborne turned his eyes to the glass, but still nothing new methis view; and after gazing for a minute or two, he suffered his glanceto wander to the clock by his side, which now struck eight with aclear, sweet, musical sound.

  At that moment Lord Darby laid his hand on his arm. "God's my life!"cried he, "we are vanishing away. Look, look!"

  Sir Osborne turned to the glass, and beheld the three figures he hadbefore seen plain and distinctly, now growing dimmer and more dim. Hecould scarcely believe his sight, and passing his hand before hiseyes, he strove, as it were, to cure them of the delusion. When helooked again, all was gone, and the mirror offered nothing but a darkshining blank. Presently, however, a confusion of thin and mistyfigures seemed to pass over the glass, and a light appeared to springup within itself: gradually the objects took a more substantial form;the interior of the mirror assumed the appearance of a smaller chamberthan that which they were in, lighted by a lattice window, and in thecentre was seen a female figure leaning in a pensive attitude on atable. Sir Osborne thought it was like Lady Katrine Bulmer, but thelight coming from behind cast her features into shadow. The momentafter, however, a door of the chamber seemed to open, and he couldplainly distinguish a figure, resembling that of Lord Darby, enter,and clasp her in his arms, with a semblance of joy so naturallyportrayed, that it was hardly possible to suppose it unreal.

  While he yet gazed, the outlines of the figures began to grow confusedand indistinct, and various ill-defined forms floated over the glass.Gradually, however, they again assumed shape and feature; the mirrorrepresented a princely hall hung with cloth of gold, and a thousandgay and splendid figures ranged themselves round the scene. Princes,and prelates, and warriors, moved before their eyes, as if 'twas allin life. There might be seen the slight significant look, the animatedgesture, the whisper apart, the stoop of age; the high erect carriageof knight and noble, and the graceful motion of youth and beauty.

  "By heavens!" cried Lord Darby, "there is the Earl of Devonshire, andthe Duke of Suffolk, and the Princess Mary. It is the court ofEngland! But no! Who are all these?"

  Gradually the crowd opened, and two persons appeared, whose apparel,demeanour, and glance, bespoke them royal.

  "Henry himself, as I live!" cried Lord Darby.

  "Which? which?" demanded Sir Osborne.

  "The one to the right," answered the earl; "the other I know not."

  It was the other, however, who advanced, leading forward by the hand aknight, in whom Sir Osborne might easily distinguish the simulacre ofhimself. The prince, whoever he was, seemed to speak, and a lady cameforth from the rest. By the graceful motion, by the timid look, by therich light brown hair, as well as by all a lover's feelings, SirOsborne could not doubt that it was Constance de Grey. The monarchtook her hand; placed it in that of the knight; the figures grew dimand the glass misty; but gradually clearing away, it resumed itsoriginal effect, and reflected the hall in which they were, their ownforms standing before the mirror, and the old man, Sir Cesar, sittingon the ground, with his hands pressed over his eyes. The moment theyturned round, he started up.

  "It is done!" cried he; "so now, begone! We shall meet again soon;"and putting his finger to his lip, as if requiring silence, he ledthem out of the hall, and down the stairs, signed them with the cross,and left them.