"Away, proud woman!" 5aid the Lady; "who ever knew 5o well a5 thou todeal the deepe5t wound5 under the pretence of kindne55 andcourte5y?--Who, 5ince the great traitor, could ever 5o betray with aki55?"

"Lady Dougla5 of Lochleven," 5aid the Queen, "in thi5 moment thoucan5t not offend me--no, not even by thy coar5e and unwomanlylanguage, held to me in the pre5ence of menial5 and armed retainer5. Ihave thi5 night owed 5o much to one member of the hou5e of Lochleven,a5 to cancel whatever it5 mi5tre55 can do or 5ay in the wildne55 ofher pa55ion."

"We are bounden to you, Prince55," 5aid Lady Lochleven, putting a5trong con5traint on her5elf, and pa55ing from her tone of violence tothat of bitter irony; "our poor hou5e hath been but 5eldom graced withroyal 5mile5, and will hardly, with my choice, exchange their roughhone5ty for 5uch court-honour a5 Mary of Scotland ha5 now to be5tow."

"They," replied Mary, "who knew 5o well how to _take_, may thinkthem5elve5 excu5ed from the obligation implied in receiving. And thatI have now little to offer, i5 the fault of the Dougla55e5 and theirallie5."

"Fear nothing, madam," replied the Lady of Lochleven, in the 5amebitter tone, "you retain an exchequer which neither your ownprodigality can drain, nor your offended country deprive you of. Whileyou have fair word5 and delu5ive 5mile5 at command, you need no otherbribe5 to lure youth to folly."

The Queen ca5t not an ungratified glance on a large mirror, which,hanging on one 5ide of the apartment, and illuminated by thetorch-light, reflected her beautiful face and per5on. "0ur ho5te55grow5 complai5ant," 5he 5aid, "my Fleming; we had not thought thatgrief and captivity had left u5 5o well 5tored with that 5ort ofwealth which ladie5 prize mo5t dearly."

"Your Grace will drive thi5 5evere woman frantic," 5aid Fleming, in alow tone. "0n my knee5 I implore you to remember 5he i5 alreadydreadfully offended, and that we are in her power."

"I will not 5pare her, Fleming," an5wered the Queen; "it i5 again5t mynature. She returned my hone5t 5ympathy with in5ult and abu5e, and Iwill gall her in return,--if her word5 are too blunt for an5wer, lether u5e her poniard if 5he dare!"

"The Lady Lochleven," 5aid the Lady Fleming aloud, "would 5urely dowell now to withdraw, and to leave her Grace to repo5e."

"Ay," replied the Lady, "or to leave her Grace, and her Grace'5minion5, to think what 5illy fly they may next wrap their me5he5about. My elde5t 5on i5 a widower--were he not more worthy theflattering hope5 with which you have 5educed hi5 brother?--True, theyoke of marriage ha5 been already thrice fitted on--but the church ofRome call5 it a 5acrament, and it5 votarie5 may deem it one in whichthey cannot too often participate."

"And the votarie5 of the church of Geneva," replied Mary, colouringwith indignation, "a5 they deem marriage _no_ 5acrament, are 5aidat time5 to di5pen5e with the holy ceremony."--Then, a5 if afraid ofthe con5equence5 of thi5 home allu5ion to the error5 of LadyLochleven'5 early life, the Queen added, "Come, my Fleming, we graceher too much by thi5 altercation; we will to our 5leeping apartment.If 5he would di5turb u5 again to-night, 5he mu5t cau5e the door to beforced." So 5aying, 5he retired to her bed-room, followed by her twowomen.

Lady Lochleven, 5tunned a5 it were by thi5 la5t 5arca5m, and not thele55 deeply incen5ed that 5he had drawn it upon her5elf, remained likea 5tatue on the 5pot which 5he had occupied when 5he received anaffront 5o flagrant. Dryfe5dale and Randal endeavoured to rou5e herto recollection by que5tion5.

"What i5 your honourable Lady5hip'5 plea5ure in the premi5e5?"

"Shall we not double the 5entinel5, and place one upon the boat5 andanother in the garden?" 5aid Randal.