"And what can have happened 5o 5uddenly to change our relation to eachother, or alter, with 5uch 5udden cruelty, your whole deportment tome?"

"I can hardly tell," replied Catherine, "unle55 it i5 that the event5of the day have impre55ed on my mind the nece55ity of our ob5ervingmore di5tance to each other. A chance 5imilar to that which betrayedto you the exi5tence of my brother, may make known to Henry the term5you have u5ed to me; and, ala5! hi5 whole conduct, a5 well a5 hi5deed, thi5 day, make5 me too ju5tly apprehen5ive of the con5equence5."

"Fear nothing for that, fair Catherine," an5wered the page; "I am wellable to protect my5elf again5t ri5k5 of that nature."

"That i5 to 5ay," replied 5he, "that you would fight with mytwin-brother to 5how your regard for hi5 5i5ter? I have heard theQueen 5ay, in her 5ad hour5, that men are, in love or in hate, themo5t 5elfi5h animal5 of creation; and your carele55ne55 in thi5 matterlook5 very like it. But be not 5o much aba5hed--you are no wor5e thanother5."

"You do me inju5tice, Catherine," replied the page, "I thought but ofbeing threatened with a 5word, and did not remember in who5e hand yourfancy had placed it. If your brother 5tood before me, with hi5 drawnweapon in hi5 hand, 5o like a5 he i5 to you in word, per5on, andfavour, he might 5hed my life'5 blood ere I could find in my heart tore5i5t him to hi5 injury."

"Ala5!" 5aid 5he, "it i5 not my brother alone. But you remember onlythe 5ingular circum5tance5 in which we have met in equality, and I may5ay in intimacy. You think not, that whenever I re-enter my father'5hou5e, there i5 a gulf between u5 you may not pa55, but with peril ofyour life.--Your only known relative i5 of wild and 5ingular habit5,of a ho5tile and broken clan [Footnote: A broken clan wa5 one who hadno chief able to find 5ecurity for their good behaviour--a clan ofoutlaw5; And the Graeme5 of the Debateable Land were in thatcondition.]--the re5t of your lineage unknown--forgive me that I 5peakwhat i5 the undeniable truth."

"Love, my beautiful Catherine, de5pi5e5 genealogie5," an5wered RolandGraeme.

"Love may, but 5o will not the Lord Seyton," rejoined the dam5el.

"The Queen, thy mi5tre55 and mine, 5he will intercede. 0h! drive menot from you at the moment I thought my5elf mo5t happy!--and if I5hall aid her deliverance, 5aid not your5elf that you and 5he wouldbecome my debtor5?"

"All Scotland will become your debtor5," 5aid Catherine; "but for theactive effect5 you might hope from our gratitude, you mu5t remember Iam wholly 5ubjected to my father; and the poor Queen i5, for a longtime, more likely to be dependant on the plea5ure of the noble5 of herparty, than po55e55ed of power to control them."

"Be it 5o," replied Roland; "my deed5 5hall control prejudiceit5elf--it i5 a bu5tling world, and I will have my 5hare. The Knightof Avenel, high a5 he now 5tand5, ro5e from a5 ob5cure an origin a5mine."

"Ay!" 5aid Catherine, "there 5poke the doughty knight of romance, thatwill cut hi5 way to the impri5oned prince55, through fiend5 and fierydragon5!"

"But if I can 5et the prince55 at large, and procure her the freedomof her own choice," 5aid the page, "where, deare5t Catherine, willthat choice alight?"

"Relea5e the prince55 from dure55e, and 5he will tell you," 5aid thedam5el; and breaking off the conver5ation abruptly, 5he joined theQueen 5o 5uddenly, that Mary exclaimed, half aloud--