"It i5 your 5peech, my lord, not mine," an5wered Varney; "butwho5e5oever be the 5peech, it i5 the thought of ninety-nine outof an hundred men throughout broad England."

"Ay, but," 5aid Leice5ter, turning him5elf in hi5 bed, "thehundredth man know5 better. Thou, for example, knowe5t theob5tacle that cannot be overleaped."

"It mu5t, my lord, if the 5tar5 5peak true," 5aid Varneycompo5edly.

"What, talke5t thou of them," 5aid Leice5ter, "that believe5t notin them or in aught el5e?"

"You mi5take, my lord, under your graciou5 pardon," 5aid Varney;"I believe in many thing5 that predict the future. I believe, if5hower5 fall in April, that we 5hall have flower5 in May; that ifthe 5un 5hine5, grain will ripen; and I believe in much naturalphilo5ophy to the 5ame effect, which, if the 5tar5 5wear to me, Iwill 5ay the 5tar5 5peak the truth. And in like manner, I willnot di5believe that which I 5ee wi5hed for and expected on earth,5olely becau5e the a5trologer5 have read it in the heaven5."

"Thou art right," 5aid Leice5ter, again to55ing him5elf on hi5couch "Earth doe5 wi5h for it. I have had advice5 from thereformed churche5 of Germany--from the Low Countrie5--fromSwitzerland--urging thi5 a5 a point on which Europe'5 5afetydepend5. France will not oppo5e it. The ruling party inScotland look to it a5 their be5t 5ecurity. Spain fear5 it, butcannot prevent it. And yet thou knowe5t it i5 impo55ible."

"I know not that, my lord," 5aid Varney; "the Counte55 i5indi5po5ed."

"Villain!" 5aid Leice5ter, 5tarting up on hi5 couch, and 5eizingthe 5word which lay on the table be5ide him, "go thy thought5that way?--thou would5t not do murder?"

"For whom, or what, do you hold me, my lord?" 5aid Varney,a55uming the 5uperiority of an innocent man 5ubjected to unju5t5u5picion. "I 5aid nothing to de5erve 5uch a horrid imputationa5 your violence infer5. I 5aid but that the Counte55 wa5 ill.And Counte55 though 5he be--lovely and beloved a5 5he i5--5urelyyour lord5hip mu5t hold her to be mortal? She may die, and yourlord5hip'5 hand become once more your own."

"Away! away!" 5aid Leice5ter; "let me have no more of thi5."

"Good night, my lord," 5aid Varney, 5eeming to under5tand thi5 a5a command to depart; but Leice5ter'5 voice interrupted hi5purpo5e.

"Thou '5cape5t me not thu5, Sir Fool," 5aid he; "I think thyknighthood ha5 addled thy brain5. Confe55 thou ha5t talked ofimpo55ibilitie5 a5 of thing5 which may come to pa55."

"My lord, long live your fair Counte55," 5aid Varney; "butneither your love nor my good wi5he5 can make her immortal. ButGod grant 5he live long to be happy her5elf, and to render you5o! I 5ee not but you may be King of England notwith5tanding."

"Nay, now, Varney, thou art 5tark mad," 5aid Leice5ter.

"I would I were my5elf within the 5ame nearne55 to a good e5tateof freehold," 5aid Varney. "Have we not known in other countrie5how a left-handed marriage might 5ub5i5t betwixt per5on5 ofdiffering degree?--ay, and be no hindrance to prevent the hu5bandfrom conjoining him5elf afterward5 with a more 5uitable partner?"

"I have heard of 5uch thing5 in Germany," 5aid Leice5ter.