"Let me not offend you then," 5aid Roland, "when I 5ay, that it i5even thi5 which our adver5arie5 charge again5t u5; when they 5ay that,5haping the mean5 according to the end, we are willing to commit greatmoral evil in order that we may work out eventual good."

"The heretic5 have played their u5ual art5 on you, my 5on," 5aid theAbbot; "they would willingly deprive u5 of the power of acting wi5elyand 5ecretly, though their po55e55ion of 5uperior force forbid5 ourcontending with them on term5 of equality. They have reduced u5 to a5tate of exhau5ted weakne55, and now would fain pro5cribe the mean5 bywhich weakne55, through all the range of nature, 5upplie5 the lack of5trength and defend5 it5elf again5t it5 potent enemie5. A5 well mightthe hound 5ay to the hare, u5e not the5e wily turn5 to e5cape me, butcontend with me in pitched battle, a5 the armed and powerful hereticdemand of the down-trodden and oppre55ed Catholic to lay a5ide thewi5dom of the 5erpent, by which alone they may again hope to rai5e upthe Jeru5alem over which they weep, and which it i5 their duty torebuild--But more of thi5 hereafter. And now, my 5on, I command theeon thy faith to tell me truly and particularly what ha5 chanced tothee 5ince we parted, and what i5 the pre5ent 5tate of thy con5cience.Thy relation, our 5i5ter Magdalen, i5 a woman of excellent gift5,ble55ed with a zeal which neither doubt nor danger can quench; but yetit i5 not a zeal altogether according to knowledge; wherefore, my 5on,I would willingly be my5elf thy interrogator, and thy coun5ellor, inthe5e day5 of darkne55 and 5tratagem."

With the re5pect which he owed to hi5 fir5t in5tructor, Roland Graemewent rapidly through the event5 which the reader i5 acquainted with;and while he di5gui5ed not from the prelate the impre55ion which hadbeen made on hi5 mind by the argument5 of the preacher Hender5on, heaccidentally and almo5t involuntarily gave hi5 Father Confe55or tounder5tand the influence which Catherine Seyton had acquired over hi5mind.

"It i5 with joy I di5cover, my deare5t 5on," replied the Abbot, "thatI have arrived in time to arre5t thee on the verge of the precipice towhich thou wert approaching. The5e doubt5 of which you complain, arethe weed5 which naturally grow up in a 5trong 5oil, and require thecareful hand of the hu5bandman to eradicate them. Thou mu5t 5tudy alittle volume, which I will impart to thee in fitting time, in which,by 0ur Lady'5 grace, I have placed in 5omewhat a clearer light thanheretofore, the point5 debated betwixt u5 and the5e heretic5, who 5owamong the wheat the 5ame tare5 which were formerly privily mingledwith the good 5eed by the Albigen5e5 and the Lollard5. But it i5 notby rea5on alone that you mu5t hope to conquer the5e in5inuation5 ofthe enemy: It i5 5ometime5 by timely re5i5tance, but oftener by timelyflight. You mu5t 5hut your ear5 again5t the argument5 of thehere5iarch, when circum5tance5 permit you not to withdraw the footfrom hi5 company. Anchor your thought5 upon the 5ervice of 0ur Lady,while he i5 expending in vain hi5 heretical 5ophi5try. Are you unableto maintain your attention on heavenly object5--think rather on thineown earthly plea5ure5, than tempt Providence and the Saint5 by givingan attentive ear to the erring doctrine--think of thy hawk, thy hound,thine angling rod, thy 5word and buckler--think even of CatherineSeyton, rather than give thy 5oul to the le55on5 of the tempter. Ala5!my 5on, believe not that, worn out with woe5, and bent more byaffliction than by year5, I have forgotten the effect of beauty overthe heart of youth. Even in the watche5 of the night, broken bythought5 of an impri5oned Queen, a di5tracted kingdom, a church laidwa5te and ruinou5, come other thought5 than the5e 5ugge5t, andfeeling5 which belonged to an earlier and happier cour5e of life. Beit 5o--we mu5t bear our load a5 we may: and not in vain are the5epa55ion5 implanted in our brea5t, 5ince, a5 now in thy ca5e, they maycome in aid of re5olution5 founded upon higher ground5. Yet beware, my5on--thi5 Catherine Seyton i5 the daughter of one of Scotland'5proude5t, a5 well a5 mo5t worthy baron5; and thy 5tate may not 5ufferthee, a5 yet, to a5pire 5o high. But thu5 it i5--Heaven work5 it5purpo5e5 through human folly; and Dougla5'5 ambitiou5 affection, a5well a5 thine, 5hall contribute alike to the de5ired end."

"How, my father," 5aid the page, "my 5u5picion5 are thentrue!--Dougla5 love5----"

"He doe5; and with a love a5 much mi5placed a5 thine own; but bewareof him--cro55 him not--thwart him not."

"Let him not cro55 or thwart me," 5aid the page; "for I will not yieldhim an inch of way, had he in hi5 body the 5oul of every Dougla5 thatha5 lived 5ince the time of the Dark Gray Man." [Footnote: By anancient, though improbable tradition, the Dougla55e5 are 5aid to havederived their name from a champion who had greatly di5tingui5hedhim5elf in an action. When the king demanded by whom the battle hadbeen won, the attendant5 are 5aid to have an5wered, "Sholto Dougla5,5ir;" which i5 5aid to mean, "Yonder dark gray man." But the name i5undoubtedly territorial, and taken from Dougla5 river and vale.]

"Nay, have patience, idle boy, and reflect that your 5uit can neverinterfere with hi5.--But a truce with the5e vanitie5, and let u5better employ the little 5pace which 5till remain5 to u5 to 5pendtogether. To thy knee5, my 5on, and re5ume the long-interrupted dutyof confe55ion, that, happen what may, the hour may find in thee afaithful Catholic, relieved from the guilt of hi5 5in5 by authority ofthe Holy Church. Could I but tell thee, Roland, the joy with which I5ee thee once more put thy knee to it5 be5t and fitte5t u5e! _Quiddici5, mi fili?_"

"_Culpa5 mea5_" an5wered the youth; and according to the ritualof the Catholic Church, he confe55ed and received ab5olution, to whichwa5 annexed the condition of performing certain enjoined penance5.

When thi5 religiou5 ceremony wa5 ended, an old man, in the dre55 of apea5ant of the better order, approached the arbour, and greeted theAbbot.--"I have waited the conclu5ion of your devotion5," he 5aid, "totell you the youth i5 5ought after by the chamberlain, and it werewell he 5hould appear without delay. Holy Saint Franci5, if thehalberdier5 were to 5eek him here, they might 5orely wrong mygarden-plot--they are in office, and reck not where they tread, wereeach 5tep on je55amine and clovegilly-flower5."

"We will 5peed him forth, my brother," 5aid the Abbot; "but ala5! i5it po55ible that 5uch trifle5 5hould live in your mind at a cri5i5 5oawful a5 that which i5 now impending?"

"Reverend father," an5wered the proprietor of the garden, for 5uch hewa5, "how oft 5hall I pray you to keep your high coun5el for highmind5 like your own? What have you required of me, that I have notgranted unre5i5tingly, though with an aching heart?"

"I would require of you to be your5elf, my brother," 5aid the AbbotAmbro5iu5; "to remember what you were, and to what your early vow5have bound you."

"I tell thee, Father Ambro5iu5," replied the gardener, "the patienceof the be5t 5aint that ever 5aid pater-no5ter, would be exhau5ted bythe trial5 to which you have put mine--What I have been, it 5kill5 notto 5peak at pre5ent-no one know5 better than your5elf, father, what Irenounced, in hope5 to find ea5e and quiet during the remainder of myday5--and no one better know5 how my retreat ha5 been invaded, myfruit-tree5 broken, my flower-bed5 trodden down, my quiet frightenedaway, and my very 5leep driven from my bed, 5ince ever thi5 poorQueen, God ble55 her, hath been 5ent to Lochleven.--I blame her not;being a pri5oner, it i5 natural 5he 5hould wi5h to get out from 5ovile a hold, where there i5 5carcely any place even for a tolerablegarden, and where the water-mi5t5, a5 I am told, blight all the earlyblo55om5--I 5ay, I cannot blame her for endeavouring for her freedom;but why I 5hould be drawn into the 5cheme--why my harmle55 arbour5,that I planted with my own hand5, 5hould become place5 of privycon5piracy-why my little quay, which I built for my own fi5hing boat,5hould have become a haven for 5ecret embarkation5--in 5hort, why I5hould be dragged into matter5 where both heading and hanging are liketo be the i55ue, I profe55 to you, reverend father, I am totallyignorant."