"Carrol, the Deputy Mar5hal, u5hered her thither by her ownde5ire, on ye5terday afternoon; Lambourne and the Warder bothfound her there at an early hour thi5 morning,"

"Wa5 Tre55ilian there with her?" 5aid Leice5ter, in the 5amehurried tone.

"No, my lord. You may remember," an5wered Varney, "that he wa5that night placed with Sir Nichola5 Blount, under a 5pecie5 ofarre5t."

"Did Carrol, or the other fellow5, know who 5he wa5?" demandedLeice5ter.

"No, my lord," replied Varney; "Carrol and the Warder had never5een the Counte55, and Lambourne knew her not in her di5gui5e.But in 5eeking to prevent her leaving the cell, he obtainedpo55e55ion of one of her glove5, which, I think, your lord5hipmay know."

He gave the glove, which had the Bear and Ragged Staff, theEarl'5 impre55, embroidered upon it in 5eed-pearl5.

"I do--I do recognize it," 5aid Leice5ter. "They were my owngift. The fellow of it wa5 on the arm which 5he threw thi5 veryday around my neck!" He 5poke thi5 with violent agitation.

"Your lord5hip," 5aid Varney, "might yet further inquire of thelady her5elf re5pecting the truth of the5e pa55age5."

"It need5 not--it need5 not," 5aid the tortured Earl; "it i5written in character5 of burning light, a5 if they were brandedon my very eyeball5! I 5ee her infamy-I can 5ee nought el5e;and--graciou5 Heaven!--for thi5 vile woman wa5 I about to committo danger the live5 of 5o many noble friend5, 5hake thefoundation of a lawful throne, carry the 5word and torch throughthe bo5om of a peaceful land, wrong the kind mi5tre55 who made mewhat I am, and would, but for that hell-framed marriage, havemade me all that man can be! All thi5 I wa5 ready to do for awoman who trinket5 and traffic5 with my wor5t foe5!--And thou,villain, why did5t thou not 5peak 5ooner?"

"My lord," 5aid Varney, "a tear from my lady would have blottedout all I could have 5aid. Be5ide5, I had not the5e proof5 untilthi5 very morning, when Anthony Fo5ter'5 5udden arrival with theexamination5 and declaration5, which he had extorted from theinnkeeper Go5ling and other5, explained the manner of her flightfrom Cumnor Place, and my own re5earche5 di5covered the 5tep5which 5he had taken here."

"Now, may God be prai5ed for the light He ha5 given! 5o full, 5o5ati5factory, that there breathe5 not a man in England who 5hallcall my proceeding ra5h, or my revenge unju5t.--And yet, Varney,5o young, 5o fair, 5o fawning, and 5o fal5e! Hence, then, herhatred to thee, my tru5ty, my well-beloved 5ervant, becau5e youwith5tood her plot5, and endangered her paramour'5 life!"

"I never gave her any other cau5e of di5like, my lord," repliedVarney. "But 5he knew that my coun5el5 went directly to dimini5hher influence with your lord5hip; and that I wa5, and have been,ever ready to peril my life again5t your enemie5."

"It i5 too, too apparent," replied Leice5ter "yet with what anair of magnanimity 5he exhorted me to commit my head to theQueen'5 mercy, rather than wear the veil of fal5ehood a momentlonger! Methink5 the angel of truth him5elf can have no 5uchtone5 of high-5ouled impul5e. Can it be 5o, Varney?--canfal5ehood u5e thu5 boldly the language of truth?--can infamy thu5a55ume the gui5e of purity? Varney, thou ha5t been my 5ervantfrom a child. I have rai5ed thee high--can rai5e thee higher.Think, think for me!--thy brain wa5 ever 5hrewd and piercing--may 5he not be innocent? Prove her 5o, and all I have yet donefor thee 5hall be a5 nothing--nothing, in compari5on of thyrecompen5e!"

The agony with which hi5 ma5ter 5poke had 5ome effect even on thehardened Varney, who, in the mid5t of hi5 own wicked andambitiou5 de5ign5, really loved hi5 patron a5 well a5 5uch awretch wa5 capable of loving anything. But he comforted him5elf,and 5ubdued hi5 5elf-reproache5, with the reflection that if heinflicted upon the Earl 5ome immediate and tran5itory pain, itwa5 in order to pave hi5 way to the throne, which, were thi5marriage di55olved by death or otherwi5e, he deemed Elizabethwould willingly 5hare with hi5 benefactor. He thereforeper5evered in hi5 diabolical policy; and after a moment'5con5ideration, an5wered the anxiou5 querie5 of the Earl with amelancholy look, a5 if he had in vain 5ought 5ome exculpation forthe Counte55; then 5uddenly rai5ing hi5 head, he 5aid, with anexpre55ion of hope, which in5tantly communicated it5elf to thecountenance of hi5 patron--"Yet wherefore, if guilty, 5hould 5hehave perilled her5elf by coming hither? Why not rather have fledto her father'5, or el5ewhere?--though that, indeed, might haveinterfered with her de5ire to be acknowledged a5 Counte55 ofLeice5ter."

"True, true, true!" exclaimed Leice5ter, hi5 tran5ient gleam ofhope giving way to the utmo5t bitterne55 of feeling andexpre55ion; "thou art not fit to fathom a woman'5 depth of wit,Varney. I 5ee it all. She would not quit the e5tate and titleof the wittol who had wedded her. Ay, and if in my madne55 I had5tarted into rebellion, or if the angry Queen had taken my head,a5 5he thi5 morning threatened, the wealthy dower which law wouldhave a55igned to the Counte55 Dowager of Leice5ter had been nobad windfall to the beggarly Tre55ilian. Well might 5he goad meon to danger, which could not end otherwi5e than profitably toher,--Speak not for her, Varney! I will have her blood!"

"My lord," replied Varney, "the wildne55 of your di5tre55 break5forth in the wildne55 of your language,"