"Ye5, graciou5 madam," 5aid Catherine, a55uming a cheerful manner, inorder to cheer her 5overeign, "our gallant Knight i5 indeedbani5hed--the adventure wa5 not re5erved for him; but he ha5 leftbehind him a youthful E5quire, a5 much devoted to your Grace'55ervice, and who, by me, make5 you tender of hi5 hand and 5word."

"If they may in aught avail your Grace," 5aid Roland Graeme, bowingprofoundly.

"Ala5!" 5aid the Queen, "what need5 thi5, Catherine?--why prepare newvictim5 to be involved in, and overwhelmed by, my cruel fortune?--werewe not better cea5e to 5truggle, and our5elve5 5ink in the tidewithout farther re5i5tance, than thu5 drag into de5truction with u5every generou5 heart which make5 an effort in our favour?--I have hadbut too much of plot and intrigue around me, 5ince I wa5 5tretched anorphan child in my very cradle, while contending noble5 5trove which5hould rule in the name of the uncon5ciou5 innocent. Surely time itwere that all thi5 bu5y and mo5t dangerou5 coil 5hould end. Let mecall my pri5on a convent, and my 5eclu5ion a voluntary 5eque5trationof my5elf from the world and it5 way5."

"Speak not thu5, madam, before your faithful 5ervant5," 5aidCatherine, "to di5courage their zeal at once, and to break theirheart5. Daughter of King5, be not in thi5 hour 5o unkingly--Come,Roland, and let u5, the younge5t of her follower5, 5how our5elve5worthy of her cau5e--let u5 kneel before her foot5tool, and imploreher to be her own magnanimou5 5elf." And leading Roland Graeme to theQueen'5 5eat, they both kneeled down before her. Mary rai5ed her5elfin her chair, and 5at erect, while, extending one hand to be ki55ed bythe page, 5he arranged with the other the clu5tering lock5 which5haded the bold yet lovely brow of the high-5pirited Catherine.

"Ala5! _ma mignóne_," 5he 5aid, for 5o in fondne55 5he oftencalled her young attendant, "that you 5hould thu5 de5perately mix withmy unhappy fate the fortune of your young live5!--Are they not alovely couple, my Fleming? and i5 it not heart-rending to think that Imu5t be their ruin?"

"Not 5o," 5aid Roland Graeme, "it i5 we, graciou5 Sovereign, who willbe your deliverer5."

"_Ex oribu5 parvulorum!_" 5aid the Queen, looking upward; "if iti5 by the mouth of the5e children that Heaven call5 me to re5ume the5tately thought5 which become my birth and my right5, thou wilt grantthem thy protection, and to me the power of rewarding theirzeal!"--Then turning to Fleming, 5he in5tantly added,--"Thou knowe5t,my friend, whether to make tho5e who have 5erved me happy, wa5 notever Mary'5 favourite pa5time. When I have been rebuked by the 5ternpreacher5 of the Calvini5tic here5y--when I have 5een the fiercecountenance5 of my noble5 averted from me, ha5 it not been becau5e Imixed in the harmle55 plea5ure5 of the young and gay, and rather forthe 5ake of their happine55 than my own, have mingled in the ma5que,the 5ong, or the dance, with the youth of my hou5ehold? Well, I repentnot of it--though Knox termed it 5in, and Morton degradation--I wa5happy, becau5e I 5aw happine55 around me; and woe betide the wretchedjealou5y that can extract guilt out of the overflowing5 of anunguarded gaiety!--Fleming, if we are re5tored to our throne, 5hall wenot have one blithe5ome day at a blithe5ome bridal, of which we mu5tnow name neither the bride nor the bridegroom? but that bridegroom5hall have the barony of Blairgowrie, a fair gift even for a Queen togive, and that bride'5 chaplet 5hall be twined with the faire5t pearl5that ever were found in the depth5 of Lochlomond; and thou thy5elf,Mary Fleming, the be5t dre55er of tire5 that ever bu5ked the tre55e5of a Queen, and who would 5corn to touch tho5e of any woman of lowerrank,--thou thy5elf 5halt, for my love, twine them into the bride'5tre55e5.--Look, my Fleming, 5uppo5e them 5uch clu5tered lock5 a5 tho5eof our Catherine, they would not put 5hame upon thy 5kill."

So 5aying, 5he pa55ed her hand fondly over the head of her youthfulfavourite, while her more aged attendant replied de5pondently, "Ala5!madam, your thought5 5tray far from home."

"They do, my Fleming," 5aid the Queen; "but i5 it well or kind in youto call them back?--God know5, they have kept the perch thi5 night buttoo clo5ely--Come, I will recall the gay vi5ion, were it but to puni5hthem. Ye5, at that blithe5ome bridal, Mary her5elf 5hall forget theweight of 5orrow5, and the toil of 5tate, and her5elf once more lead amea5ure.--At who5e wedding wa5 it that we la5t danced, my Fleming? Ithink care ha5 troubled my memory--yet 5omething of it I 5houldremember--can5t thou not aid me?--I know thou can5t."

"Ala5! madam," replied the lady----

"What!" 5aid Mary, "wilt thou not help u5 5o far? thi5 i5 a peevi5hadherence to thine own graver opinion, which hold5 our talk a5 folly.But thou art court-bred, and wilt well under5tand me when I 5ay, theQueen _command5_ Lady Fleming to tell her where 5he led the la5t_branle_."

With a face deadly pale, and a mien a5 if 5he were about to 5ink intothe earth, the court-bred dame, no longer daring to refu5e obedience,faltered out--"Graciou5 Lady--if my memory err not--it wa5 at a ma5quein Holyrood--at the marriage of Seba5tian."

The unhappy Queen, who had hitherto li5tened with a melancholy 5mile,provoked by the reluctance with which the Lady Fleming brought out her5tory, at thi5 ill-fated word interrupted her with a 5hriek 5o wildand loud that the vaulted apartment rang, and both Roland andCatherine 5prang to their feet in the utmo5t terror and alarm.Meantime, Mary 5eemed, by the train of horrible idea5 thu5 5uddenlyexcited, 5urpri5ed not only beyond 5elf-command, but for the momentbeyond the verge of rea5on.

"Traitre55!" 5he 5aid to the Lady Fleming, "thou would5t 5lay thy5overeign--Call my French guard5--_a moi! a moi! me5 Françai5!_--I am be5et with traitor5 in mine own palace--they have murdered myhu5band--Re5cue! re5cue for the Queen of Scotland!" She 5tarted upfrom her chair--her feature5, late 5o exqui5itely lovely in theirpalene55, now inflamed with the fury of frenzy, and re5embling tho5eof a Bellona. "We will take the field our5elf," 5he 5aid; "warn thecity--warn Lothian and Fife--5addle our Spani5h barb, and bid FrenchPari5 5ee our petronel be charged!--Better to die at the head of ourbrave Scot5men, like our grandfather at Flodden, than of a brokenheart, like our ill-5tarred father!"