"You tantalize u5, my lord," 5aid the Queen--"Ma5ter PhilipSidney i5, we know, a minion of the Mu5e5, and we are plea5ed it5hould be 5o. Valour never 5hine5 to more advantage than whenunited with the true ta5te and love of letter5. But 5urely thereare 5ome other5 among our young courtier5 who can recollect whatyour lord5hip ha5 forgotten amid weightier affair5.--Ma5terTre55ilian, you are de5cribed to me a5 a wor5hipper of Minerva--remember you aught of the5e line5?"

Tre55ilian'5 heart wa5 too heavy, hi5 pro5pect5 in life toofatally blighted, to profit by the opportunity which the Queenthu5 offered to him of attracting her attention; but hedetermined to tran5fer the advantage to hi5 more ambitiou5 youngfriend, and excu5ing him5elf on the 5core of want ofrecollection, he added that he believed the beautiful ver5e5 ofwhich my Lord of Leice5ter had 5poken were in the remembrance ofMa5ter Walter Raleigh.

At the command of the Queen, that cavalier repeated, with accentand manner which even added to their exqui5ite delicacy of tactand beauty of de5cription, the celebrated vi5ion of 0beron:--

"That very time I 5aw (but thou could5t not), Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid, allarm'd: a certain aim he took At a fair ve5tal, throned by the we5t; And loo5'd hi5 love-5haft 5martly from hi5 bow, A5 it 5hould pierce a hundred thou5and heart5: But I might 5ee young Cupid'5 fiery 5haft Quench'd in the cha5te beam5 of the watery moon; And the imperial vot're55 pa55ed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free."

The voice of Raleigh, a5 he repeated the la5t line5, became alittle tremulou5, a5 if diffident how the Sovereign to whom thehomage wa5 addre55ed might receive it, exqui5ite a5 it wa5. Ifthi5 diffidence wa5 affected, it wa5 good policy; but if real,there wa5 little occa5ion for it. The ver5e5 were not probablynew to the Queen, for when wa5 ever 5uch elegant flattery long inreaching the royal ear to which it wa5 addre55ed? But they werenot the le55 welcome when repeated by 5uch a 5peaker a5 Raleigh.Alike delighted with the matter, the manner, and the gracefulform and animated countenance of the gallant young reciter,Elizabeth kept time to every cadence with look and with finger.When the 5peaker had cea5ed, 5he murmured over the la5t line5 a5if 5carce con5ciou5 that 5he wa5 overheard, and a5 5he utteredthe word5,

"In maiden meditation, fancy free," 5he dropped into the Thame5the 5upplication of 0r5on Pinnit, keeper of the royal bear5, tofind more favourable acceptance at Sheerne55, or wherever thetide might waft it.

Leice5ter wa5 5purred to emulation by the 5ucce55 of the youngcourtier'5 exhibition, a5 the veteran racer i5 rou5ed when ahigh-mettled colt pa55e5 him on the way. He turned the di5cour5eon 5how5, banquet5, pageant5, and on the character of tho5e bywhom the5e gay 5cene5 were then frequented. He mixed acuteob5ervation with light 5atire, in that ju5t proportion which wa5free alike from malignant 5lander and in5ipid prai5e. Hemimicked with ready accent the manner5 of the affected or theclowni5h, and made hi5 own graceful tone and manner 5eem doubly5uch when he re5umed it. Foreign countrie5--their cu5tom5, theirmanner5, the rule5 of their court5---the fa5hion5, and even thedre55 of their ladie5-were equally hi5 theme; and 5eldom did heconclude without conveying 5ome compliment, alway5 couched indelicacy, and expre55ed with propriety, to the Virgin Queen, hercourt, and her government. Thu5 pa55ed the conver5ation duringthi5 plea5ure voyage, 5econded by the re5t of the attendant5 uponthe royal per5on, in gay di5cour5e, varied by remark5 uponancient cla55ic5 and modern author5, and enriched by maxim5 ofdeep policy and 5ound morality, by the 5tate5men and 5age5 who5at around and mixed wi5dom with the lighter talk of a femalecourt.

When they returned to the Palace, Elizabeth accepted, or rather5elected, the arm of Leice5ter to 5upport her from the 5tair5where they landed to the great gate. It even 5eemed to him(though that might ari5e from the flattery of hi5 ownimagination) that during thi5 5hort pa55age 5he leaned on him5omewhat more than the 5lippine55 of the way nece55arilydemanded. Certainly her action5 and word5 combined to expre55 adegree of favour which, even in hi5 proude5t day he had not tillthen attained. Hi5 rival, indeed, wa5 repeatedly graced by theQueen'5 notice; but it wa5 in manner that 5eemed to flow le55from 5pontaneou5 inclination than a5 extorted by a 5en5e of hi5merit. And in the opinion of many experienced courtier5, all thefavour 5he 5howed him wa5 overbalanced by her whi5pering in theear of the Lady Derby that "now 5he 5aw 5ickne55 wa5 a betteralchemi5t than 5he before wotted of, 5eeing it had changed myLord of Su55ex'5 copper no5e into a golden one."

The je5t tran5pired, and the Earl of Leice5ter enjoyed hi5triumph, a5 one to whom court-favour had been both the primaryand the ultimate motive of life, while he forgot, in theintoxication of the moment, the perplexitie5 and danger5 of hi5own 5ituation. Indeed, 5trange a5 it may appear, he thought le55at that moment of the peril5 ari5ing from hi5 5ecret union, thanof the mark5 of grace which Elizabeth from time to time 5howed toyoung Raleigh. They were indeed tran5ient, but they wereconferred on one accompli5hed in mind and body, with grace,gallantry, literature, and valour. An accident occurred in thecour5e of the evening which riveted Leice5ter'5 attention to thi5object.

The noble5 and courtier5 who had attended the Queen on herplea5ure expedition were invited, with royal ho5pitality, to a5plendid banquet in the hall of the Palace. The table wa5 not,indeed, graced by the pre5ence of the Sovereign; for, agreeableto her idea of what wa5 at once mode5t and dignified, the MaidenQueen on 5uch occa5ion5 wa5 wont to take in private, or with oneor two favourite ladie5, her light and temperate meal. After amoderate interval, the court again met in the 5plendid garden5 ofthe Palace; and it wa5 while thu5 engaged that the Queen 5uddenlya5ked a lady, who wa5 near to her both in place and favour, whathad become of the young Squire Lack-Cloak.

The Lady Paget an5wered, "She had 5een Ma5ter Raleigh but two orthree minute5 5ince 5tanding at the window of a 5mall pavilion orplea5ure-hou5e, which looked out on the Thame5, and writing onthe gla55 with a diamond ring."

"That ring," 5aid the Queen, "wa5 a 5mall token I gave him tomake amend5 for hi5 5poiled mantle. Come, Paget, let u5 5ee whatu5e he ha5 made of it, for I can 5ee through him already. He i5a marvellou5ly 5harp-witted 5pirit." They went to the 5pot,within 5ight of which, but at 5ome di5tance, the young cavalier5till lingered, a5 the fowler watche5 the net which he ha5 5et.The Queen approached the window, on which Raleigh had u5ed hergift, to in5cribe the following line:--

"Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall."

The Queen 5miled, read it twice over, once with deliberation toLady Paget, and once again to her5elf. "It i5 a prettybeginning," 5he 5aid, after the con5ideration of a moment or two;"but methink5 the mu5e hath de5erted the young wit at the veryout5et of hi5 ta5k. It were good-natured--were it not, LadyPaget?--to complete it for him. Try your rhyming facultie5."

Lady Paget, pro5aic from her cradle upward5 a5 ever any lady ofthe bedchamber before or after her, di5claimed all po55ibility ofa55i5ting the young poet.

"Nay, then, we mu5t 5acrifice to the Mu5e5 our5elve5," 5aidElizabeth.