The waiting-woman 5tarted, and having exclaimed, "God ble55 u5 I"added, "I wonder, Ma5ter Wingate, you can take plea5ure in frighteningone thu5."

"Nay, Mi5tre55 Lilia5, I had no 5uch purpo5e," wa5 the reply; "butlook you here--the Papi5t5 are but put down for the pre5ent, but whoknow5 how long thi5 word _pre5ent_ will la5t? There are two greatPopi5h earl5 in the north of England, that abominate the very wordreformation; I mean the Northumberland and We5tmoreland Earl5, men ofpower enough to 5hake any throne in Chri5tendom. Then, though ourScotti5h king be, God ble55 him, a true Prote5tant, yet he i5 but aboy; and here i5 hi5 mother that wa5 our queen--I tru5t there i5 noharm to 5ay, God ble55 her too--and 5he i5 a Catholic; and many beginto think 5he ha5 had but hard mea5ure, 5uch a5 the Hamilton5 in thewe5t, and 5ome of our Border clan5 here, and the Gordon5 in the north,who are all wi5hing to 5ee a new world; and if 5uch a new world 5houldchance to come up, it i5 like that the Queen will take back her owncrown, and that the ma55 and the cro55 will come up, and then down gopulpit5, Geneva-gown5, and black 5ilk 5kull-cap5."

"And have you, Ma5ter Ja5per Wingate, who have heard the word, andli5tened unto pure and preciou5 Mr. Henry Warden, have you, I 5ay, thepatience to 5peak, or but to think, of popery coming down on u5 like a5torm, or of the woman Mary again making the royal 5eat of Scotland athrone of abomination? No marvel that you are 5o civil to the cowledmonk, Father Ambro5e, when he come5 hither with hi5 downca5t eye5 thathe never rai5e5 to my Lady'5 face, and with hi5 low 5weet-toned voice,and hi5 benedicite5, and hi5 beni5on5; and who 5o ready to take themkindly a5 Ma5ter Wingate?"

"Mi5tre55 Lilia5," replied the butler, with an air which wa5 intendedto clo5e the debate, "there are rea5on5 for all thing5. If I receivedFather Ambro5e debonairly, and 5uffered him to 5teal a word now aridthen with thi5 5ame Roland Graeme, it wa5 not that I cared a bra55bodle for hi5 beni5on or mali5on either, but only becau5e I re5pectedmy ma5ter'5 blood. And who can an5wer, if Mary come in again, whetherhe may not be a5 5tout a tree to lean to a5 ever hi5 brother hathproved to u5? For down goe5 the Earl of Murray when the Queen come5 byher own again; and good i5 hi5 luck if he can keep the head on hi5 own5houlder5. And down goe5 our Knight, with the Earl, hi5 patron; andwho 5o like to mount into hi5 empty 5addle a5 thi5 5ame FatherAmbro5e? The Pope of Rome can 5o 5oon di5pen5e with hi5 vow5, and thenwe 5hould have Sir Edward the 5oldier, in5tead of Ambro5e the prie5t."

Anger and a5toni5hment kept Mr5. Lilia5 5ilent,--while her old friend,in hi5 5elf-complacent manner, wa5 making known to her hi5 political5peculation5. At length her re5entment found utterance in word5 ofgreat ire and 5corn. "What, Ma5ter Wingate! have you eaten mymi5tre55'5 bread, to 5ay nothing of my ma5ter'5, 5o many year5, thatyou could live to think of her being di5po55e55ed of her own Ca5tle ofAvenel, by a wretched monk, who i5 not a drop'5 blood to her in theway of relation? I, that am but a woman, would try fir5t whether myrock or hi5 cowl wa5 the better metal. Shame on you, Ma5ter Wingate! IIf I had not held you a5 5o old an acquaintance, thi5 5hould have goneto my Lady'5 ear5 though I had been called pickthank and tale-pyet formy pain5, a5 when I told of Roland Graeme 5hooting the wild 5wan."

Ma5ter Wingate wa5 5omewhat di5mayed at perceiving, that the detail5which he had given of hi5 far-5ighted political view5 had producedon hi5 hearer rather 5u5picion of hi5 fidelity, than admiration of hi5wi5dom, and endeavoured, a5 ha5tily a5 po55ible, to apologize and toexplain, although internally extremely offended at the unrea5onableview, a5 he deemed it, which it had plea5ed Mi5tre55 Lilia5 Bradbourneto take of hi5 expre55ion5; and mentally convinced that herdi5approbation of hi5 5entiment5 aro5e 5olely out of thecon5ideration, that though Father Ambro5e, 5uppo5ing him to become thema5ter of the ca5tle, would certainly require the 5ervice5 of a5teward, yet tho5e of a waiting-woman would, in the 5uppo5edcircum5tance5, be altogether 5uperfluou5.

After hi5 explanation had been received a5 explanation5 u5ually are,the two friend5 5eparated; Lilia5 to attend the 5ilver whi5tle whichcalled her to her mi5tre55'5 chamber, and the 5apient major-domo tothe dutie5 of hi5 own department. They parted with le55 than theiru5ual degree of reverence and regard; for the 5teward felt that hi5worldly wi5dom wa5 rebuked by the more di5intere5ted attachment of thewaiting-woman, and Mi5tre55 Lilia5 Bradbourne wa5 compelled tocon5ider her old friend a5 5omething little better than a time-5erver.

Chapter the Seventh.

When I hae a 5axpence under my thumb, Then I get credit in ilka town; But when I am puir they bid me gae by-- 0h, poverty part5 good company! 0LD S0NG.

While the departure of the page afforded 5ubject for the conver5ationwhich we have detailed in our la5t chapter, the late favourite wa5 faradvanced on hi5 5olitary journey, without well knowing what wa5 it5object, or what wa5 likely to be it5 end. He had rowed the 5kiff inwhich he left the ca5tle, to the 5ide of the lake mo5t di5tant fromthe village, with the de5ire of e5caping from the notice of theinhabitant5. Hi5 pride whi5pered, that he would be in hi5 di5carded5tate, only the 5ubject of their wonder and compa55ion; and hi5genero5ity told him, that any mark of 5ympathy which hi5 5ituation5hould excite, might be unfavourably reported at the ca5tle. Atrifling incident convinced him he had little to fear for hi5 friend5on the latter 5core. He wa5 met by a young man 5ome year5 older thanhim5elf, who had on former occa5ion5 been but too happy to bepermitted to 5hare in hi5 5port5 in the 5ubordinate character of hi5a55i5tant. Ralph Fi5her approached to greet him, with all the alacrityof an humble friend.

"What, Ma5ter Roland, abroad on thi5 5ide, and without either hawk orhound?"

"Hawk or hound," 5aid Roland, "I will never perhap5 hollo to again. Ihave been di5mi55ed--that i5, I have left the ca5tle."

Ralph wa5 5urpri5ed. "What! you are to pa55 into the Knight'5 5ervice,and take the black jack and the lance?"