faltered when he came to the words" Delay not to shorten the time of trial for us both," and all the tenderness of his heart broke forth again; Dear, dear Catherine, I will not delay; I know what it costs you to decide thus boldly and firmly in my regard."

He now stopt at the entrance of the wood; in the meantime the fog had risen higher, filling up the intervals between the trees and mantling them with a cold, whitish grey, so that neither sky, nor earth, was to be seen, and every object, borne along as it were by the mist, seemed to float along in painful indistinctness,

Do you, then, withdraw yourselves from my farewell?" said Richard, looking towards the trees. How often with your murmurs have you whispered peace and quiet to this troubled heart! And to-day you only cast pale images of shadow on my recollection! Shall I then forget you? Shall I forget all, and even you too, poor falling England ?”

He

e drew the mantle more closely on his

VOL. I.

M

breast, as if to hide from himself that which spoke too powerfully there; and, pressing his hat deeper on his brows, hurried through the forest, over stock and stone, to the venerable old castle that commanded the plain with its lofty turrets.

All, that Barbican's walls enclosed, bore the beloved traces of his absent Catherine, the recollections of the only happy year that had gladdened a dark, unhappy life, her chamber, her picture, large as life, by the hand of a Dutch painter; her place by the fire; her harp, leaning against the high arms of the chair, with its velvet covering. Richard bolted the door, and flung himself down before the seat, with out-stretched arms, as if towards the lovely being who had here so often tenderly conversed with him in looks that he alone could understand, pouring calm and quiet into his soul; in fancy he called back those days, those hours, which, it was probable, would never return.

He had a hard battle to fight with his feel

ings. Oftentimes he was on the point of setting at nought Catherine's prudent plan, her earnest entreaties, his own danger, and every thing else that urged him away, and, hastening boldly up to London, make an open avowal of his opinions, resolved rather to suffer death than turn his back as a fugitive on Barbican. But when, in the pride of such a resolution, he amused himself with the images of its probable results, a single glance at Catherine's picture would at once beat him to the earth. A voice from within told him-" She herself is in peril; it is she that you are to save."-" Well," he repeated, "well." But still he stood there, hesitating and wavering, till Gilles, who had obeyed his first orders on entering the castle, announced that all was packed up in the boat, which lay ready by the landing-place, at the end of the garden. "Time," he added, as his mistress had frequently impressed upon him, "was of the first importance."

Good, Gilles; very good!" answered Richard,

but without being able to move from the spot. Gilles, however, returned every minute, knocking gently at the door and repeating his errand; till his master, tired by his perseverance, at last came out and asked, in an absent manner, if all were ready. Without attending to the answer, he armed himself with a sword, dagger, and pistols, which he examined carefully; and, beckoning to Gilles, left the castle without another syllable. Once again, when in the boat, he sent a longing look towards Barbican, and then turning his back upon it, glided gently down the river, gaily inciting the boatmen to sing one of their popular songs and joining as freely in the strain as if his heart were a stranger to sorrow.

CHAPTER VIII.

SCARCELY mistress of her tears, Catherine saw, the minutes and hours flit away without knowing more of Bertie than that he had left Barbican; but still the capricious behaviour of the Queen compelled her, for the time, to stay at court, and, by assumed indifference, deceive the wakefulness of suspicion. It seemed as if they had made it their business to try her patience no less than her faith. Every where the bishops pleased themselves with laying snares for her prudence; that mental rack, which, with a thousand envenomed points, breaks through the veil of our secret opinions, was managed by them in such a way, that the firmest resolution might well have been shaken by it. Gardiner in particular revenged himself for his former constraints by employing artifice against those