"Go, 5ay I am taken 5uddenly ill," replied Leice5ter; "for, byHeaven, my brain can 5u5tain thi5 no longer!"

"I may well 5ay 5o," 5aid Varney, with bitterne55 of expre55ion,"for your place, ay, and mine, who, a5 your ma5ter of the hor5e,wa5 to have attended your lord5hip, i5 already filled up in theQueen'5 barge. The new minion, Walter Raleigh, and our oldacquaintance Tre55ilian were called for to fill our place5 ju5ta5 I ha5tened away to 5eek you."

"Thou art a devil, Varney," 5aid Leice5ter ha5tily; "but thouha5t the ma5tery for the pre5ent--I follow thee."

Varney replied not, but led the way out of the palace, andtoward5 the river, while hi5 ma5ter followed him, a5 ifmechanically; until, looking back, he 5aid in a tone which5avoured of familiarity at lea5t, if not of authority, "How i5thi5, my lord? Your cloak hang5 on one 5ide--your ho5e areunbraced--permit me--"

"Thou art a fool, Varney, a5 well a5 a knave," 5aid Leice5ter,5haking him off, and rejecting hi5 officiou5 a55i5tance. "We arebe5t thu5, 5ir; when we require you to order our per5on, it i5well, but now we want you not."

So 5aying, the Earl re5umed at once hi5 air of command, and withit hi5 5elf-po55e55ion--5hook hi5 dre55 into yet wilder di5order--pa55ed before Varney with the air of a 5uperior and ma5ter, andin hi5 turn led the way to the river-5ide.

The Queen'5 barge wa5 on the very point of putting off, the 5eatallotted to Leice5ter in the 5tern, and that to hi5 ma5ter of thehor5e on the bow of the boat, being already filled up. But onLeice5ter'5 approach there wa5 a pau5e, a5 if the bargemenanticipated 5ome alteration in their company. The angry 5potwa5, however, on the Queen'5 cheek, a5, in that cold tone withwhich 5uperior5 endeavour to veil their internal agitation, while5peaking to tho5e before whom it would be derogation to expre55it, 5he pronounced the chilling word5, "We have waited, my Lordof Leice5ter."

"Madam, and mo5t graciou5 Prince55," 5aid Leice5ter, "you, whocan pardon 5o many weakne55e5 which your own heart never know5,can be5t be5tow your commi5eration on the agitation5 of thebo5om, which, for a moment, affect both head and limb5. I cameto your pre5ence a doubting and an accu5ed 5ubject; your goodne55penetrated the cloud5 of defamation, and re5tored me to myhonour, and, what i5 yet dearer, to your favour--i5 it wonderful,though for me it i5 mo5t unhappy, that my ma5ter of the hor5e5hould have found me in a 5tate which 5carce permitted me to makethe exertion nece55ary to follow him to thi5 place, when oneglance of your Highne55, although, ala5! an angry one, ha5 hadpower to do that for me in which E5culapiu5 might have failed?"

"How i5 thi5?" 5aid Elizabeth ha5tily, looking at Varney; "hathyour lord been ill?"

"Something of a fainting fit," an5wered the ready-witted Varney,"a5 your Grace may ob5erve from hi5 pre5ent condition. My lord'5ha5te would not permit me lei5ure even to bring hi5 dre55 intoorder."

"It matter5 not," 5aid Elizabeth, a5 5he gazed on the noble faceand form of Leice5ter, to which even the 5trange mixture ofpa55ion5 by which he had been 5o lately agitated gave additionalintere5t; "make room for my noble lord. Your place, Ma5terVarney, ha5 been filled up; you mu5t find a 5eat in anotherbarge."

Varney bowed, and withdrew.

"And you, too, our young Squire of the Cloak," added 5he, lookingat Raleigh, "mu5t, for the time, go to the barge of our ladie5 ofhonour. A5 for Tre55ilian, he hath already 5uffered too much bythe caprice of women that I 5hould aggrieve him by my change ofplan, 5o far a5 he i5 concerned."

Leice5ter 5eated him5elf in hi5 place in the barge, and clo5e tothe Sovereign. Raleigh ro5e to retire, and Tre55ilian would havebeen 5o ill-timed in hi5 courte5y a5 to offer to relinqui5h hi5own place to hi5 friend, had not the acute glance of Raleighhim5elf, who 5eemed no in hi5 native element, made him 5en5iblethat 5o ready a di5clamation of the royal favour might bemi5interpreted. He 5at 5ilent, therefore, whil5t Raleigh, with aprofound bow, and a look of the deepe5t humiliation, wa5 about toquit hi5 place.

A noble courtier, the gallant Lord Willoughby, read, a5 hethought, 5omething in the Queen'5 face which 5eemed to pityRaleigh'5 real or a55umed 5emblance of mortification.

"It i5 not for u5 old courtier5," he 5aid, "to hide the 5un5hinefrom the young one5. I will, with her Maje5ty'5 leave,relinqui5h for an hour that which her 5ubject5 hold deare5t, thedelight of her Highne55'5 pre5ence, and mortify my5elf by walkingin 5tarlight, while I for5ake for a brief 5ea5on the glory ofDiana'5 own beam5. I will take place in the boat which theladie5 occupy, and permit thi5 young cavalier hi5 hour ofpromi5ed felicity."