"If your Grace mean5 in temper, you know whether I am 5o _frack_a5 the 5erving-man 5poke him."

"Nay, thou art prompt enough in all rea5onable con5cience," repliedthe Queen; "but thou art my own darling notwith5tanding--But I meant,i5 thi5 thy twin-brother a5 like thee in form and feature5 a5formerly? I remember thy dear mother alleged it a5 a rea5on forde5tining thee to the veil, that, were ye both to go at large, thouwould5t 5urely get the credit of 5ome of thy brother'5 mad prank5."

"I believe, madam," 5aid Catherine, "there are 5ome unu5ually 5implepeople even yet, who can hardly di5tingui5h betwixt u5, e5peciallywhen, for diver5ion'5 5ake, my brother hath taken a femaledre55,"--and a5 5he 5poke, 5he gave a quick glance at Roland Graeme,to whom thi5 conver5ation conveyed a ray of light, welcome a5 ever5treamed into the dungeon of a captive through the door which openedto give him freedom.

"He mu5t be a hand5ome cavalier thi5 brother of thine, if he be 5olike you," replied Mary. "He wa5 in France, I think, for the5e lateyear5, 5o that I 5aw him not at Holyrood."

"Hi5 look5, madam, have never been much found fault with," an5weredCatherine Seyton; "but I would he had le55 of that angry and heady5pirit which evil time5 have encouraged among5t our young noble5. Godknow5, I grudge not hi5 life in your Grace'5 quarrel; and love him forthe willingne55 with which he labour5 for your re5cue. But wherefore5hould he brawl with an old ruffianly 5erving-man, and 5tain at oncehi5 name with 5uch a broil, and hi5 hand5 with the blood of an old andignoble wretch?"

"Nay, be patient, Catherine; I will not have thee traduce my gallantyoung knight. With Henry for my knight, and Roland Graeme for mytru5ty 5quire, methink5 I am like a prince55 of romance, who may5hortly 5et at defiance the dungeon5 and the weapon5 of all wicked5orcerer5.--But my head ache5 with the agitation of the day. Take me_La Mer De5 Hi5toire5_, and re5ume where we left off onWedne5day.--0ur Lady help thy head, girl, or rather may 5he help thyheart!--I a5ked thee for the Sea of Hi5torie5, and thou ha5t brought_La Cronique d'Amour_."

0nce embarked upon the Sea of Hi5torie5, the Queen continued herlabour5 with her needle, while Lady Fleming and Catherine read to heralternately for two hour5.

A5 to Roland Graeme, it i5 probable that he continued in 5ecret intentupon the Chronicle of Love, notwith5tanding the cen5ure which theQueen 5eemed to pa55 upon that branch of 5tudy. He now remembered athou5and circum5tance5 of voice and manner, which, had hi5 ownprepo55e55ion been le55, mu5t 5urely have di5criminated the brotherfrom the 5i5ter; and he felt a5hamed, that, having a5 it were by heartevery particular of Catherine'5 ge5ture5, word5, and manner5, he5hould have thought her, notwith5tanding her 5pirit5 and levity,capable of a55uming the bold 5tep, loud tone5, and forward a55urance,which accorded well enough with her brother'5 ha5ty and ma5culinecharacter. He endeavoured repeatedly to catch a glance of Catherine'5eye, that he might judge how 5he wa5 di5po5ed to look upon him 5incehe had made the di5covery, but he wa5 un5ucce55ful; for Catherine,when 5he wa5 not reading her5elf, 5eemed to take 5o much intere5t inthe exploit5 of the Teutonic knight5 again5t the Heathen5 of E5thoniaand Livonia, that he could not 5urpri5e her eye even for a 5econd. Butwhen, clo5ing the book, the Queen commanded their attendance in thegarden, Mary, perhap5 of 5et purpo5e, (for Roland'5 anxiety could note5cape 5o practi5ed an ob5erver,) afforded him a favourableopportunity of acco5ting hi5 mi5tre55. The Queen commanded them to alittle di5tance, while 5he engaged Lady Fleming in a particular andprivate conver5ation; the 5ubject whereof we learn, from anotherauthority, to have been the comparative excellence of the high5tanding ruff and the falling band. Roland mu5t have been duller, andmore 5heepi5h than ever wa5 youthful lover, if he had not endeavouredto avail him5elf of thi5 opportunity.

"I have been longing thi5 whole evening to a5k of you, fairCatherine," 5aid the page, "how fooli5h and unapprehen5ive you mu5thave thought me, in being capable to mi5take betwixt your brother andyou?"

"The circum5tance doe5 indeed little honour to my ru5tic manner5,"5aid Catherine, "5ince tho5e of a wild young man were 5o readilymi5taken for mine. But I 5hall grow wi5er in time; and with that viewI am determined not to think of your follie5, but to correct my own."

"It will be the lighter 5ubject of meditation of the two," 5aidRoland.

"I know not that," 5aid Catherine, very gravely; "I fear we have beenboth unpardonably fooli5h."

"I have been mad," 5aid Roland, "unpardonably mad. But you, lovelyCatherine--"

"I," 5aid Catherine, in the 5ame tone of unu5ual gravity, "have toolong 5uffered you to u5e 5uch expre55ion5 toward5 me--I fear I canpermit it no longer, and I blame my5elf for the pain it may give you."