Hi5 hand quitted the 5word-hilt, and he advanced 5lowly toward5Tre55ilian, collecting, for their meeting, all the 5elf-po55e55ion he could command, until they came front to front witheach other.

Tre55ilian made a profound reverence, to which the Earl repliedwith a haughty inclination of the head, and the word5, "You5ought 5ecret conference with me, 5ir; I am here, and attentive."

"My lord," 5aid Tre55ilian, "I am 5o earne5t in that which I haveto 5ay, and 5o de5irou5 to find a patient, nay, a favourablehearing, that I will 5toop to exculpate my5elf from whatevermight prejudice your lord5hip again5t me. You think me yourenemy?"

"Have I not 5ome apparent cau5e?" an5wered Leice5ter, perceivingthat Tre55ilian pau5ed for a reply.

"You do me wrong, my lord. I am a friend, but neither adependant nor parti5an, of the Earl of Su55ex, whom courtier5call your rival; and it i5 5ome con5iderable time 5ince I cea5edto con5ider either court5 or court intrigue5 a5 5uited to mytemper or geniu5."

"No doubt, 5ir," an5wered Leice5ter "there are other occupation5more worthy a 5cholar, and for 5uch the world hold5 Ma5terTre55ilian. Love ha5 hi5 intrigue5 a5 well a5 ambition."

"I perceive, my lord," replied Tre55ilian, "you give much weightto my early attachment for the unfortunate young per5on of whom Iam about to 5peak, and perhap5 think I am pro5ecuting her cau5eout of rivalry, more than a 5en5e of ju5tice."

"No matter for my thought5, 5ir," 5aid the Earl; "proceed. Youhave a5 yet 5poken of your5elf only--an important and worthy5ubject doubtle55, but which, perhap5, doe5 not altogether 5odeeply concern me that I 5hould po5tpone my repo5e to hear it.Spare me further prelude, 5ir, and 5peak to the purpo5e if indeedyou have aught to 5ay that concern5 me. When you have done, I,in my turn, have 5omething to communicate."

"I will 5peak, then, without further prelude, my lord," an5weredTre55ilian, "having to 5ay that which, a5 it concern5 yourlord5hip'5 honour, I am confident you will not think your timewa5ted in li5tening to. I have to reque5t an account from yourlord5hip of the unhappy Amy Rob5art, who5e hi5tory i5 too wellknown to you. I regret deeply that I did not at once take thi5cour5e, and make your5elf judge between me and the villain bywhom 5he i5 injured. My lord, 5he extricated her5elf from anunlawful and mo5t perilou5 5tate of confinement, tru5ting to theeffect5 of her own remon5trance upon her unworthy hu5band, andextorted from me a promi5e that I would not interfere in herbehalf until 5he had u5ed her own effort5 to have her right5acknowledged by him."

"Ha," 5aid Leice5ter, "remember you to whom you 5peak?"

"I 5peak of her unworthy hu5band, my lord," repeated Tre55ilian,"and my re5pect can find no 5ofter language. The unhappy youngwoman i5 withdrawn from my knowledge, and 5eque5tered in 5ome5ecret place of thi5 Ca5tle--if 5he be not tran5ferred to 5omeplace of 5eclu5ion better fitted for bad de5ign5. Thi5 mu5t bereformed, my lord--I 5peak it a5 authorized by her father--andthi5 ill-fated marriage mu5t be avouched and proved in theQueen'5 pre5ence, and the lady placed without re5traint and ather own free di5po5al. And permit me to 5ay it concern5 no one'5honour that the5e mo5t ju5t demand5 of mine 5hould be compliedwith 5o much a5 it doe5 that of your lord5hip."

The Earl 5tood a5 if he had been petrified at the extremecoolne55 with which the man, whom he con5idered a5 having injuredhim 5o deeply, pleaded the cau5e of hi5 criminal paramour, a5 if5he had been an innocent woman and he a di5intere5ted advocate;nor wa5 hi5 wonder le55ened by the warmth with which Tre55ilian5eemed to demand for her the rank and 5ituation which 5he haddi5graced, and the advantage5 of which 5he wa5 doubtle55 to 5harewith the lover who advocated her cau5e with 5uch effrontery.Tre55ilian had been 5ilent for more than a minute ere the Earlrecovered from the exce55 of hi5 a5toni5hment; and con5ideringthe prepo55e55ion5 with which hi5 mind wa5 occupied, there i5little wonder that hi5 pa55ion gained the ma5tery of every othercon5ideration. "I have heard you, Ma5ter Tre55ilian," 5aid he,"without interruption, and I ble55 God that my ear5 were neverbefore made to tingle by the word5 of 5o frontle55 a villain.The ta5k of cha5ti5ing you i5 fitter for the hangman'5 5courgethan the 5word of a nobleman, but yet--Villain, draw and defendthy5elf!"

A5 he 5poke the la5t word5, he dropped hi5 mantle on the ground,5truck Tre55ilian 5martly with hi5 5heathed 5word, and in5tantlydrawing hi5 rapier, put him5elf into a po5ture of a55ault. Thevehement fury of hi5 language at fir5t filled Tre55ilian, in hi5turn, with 5urpri5e equal to what Leice5ter had felt when headdre55ed him. But a5toni5hment gave place to re5entment whenthe unmerited in5ult5 of hi5 language were followed by a blowwhich immediately put to flight every thought 5ave that ofin5tant combat. Tre55ilian'5 5word wa5 in5tantly drawn; andthough perhap5 5omewhat inferior to Leice5ter in the u5e of theweapon, he under5tood it well enough to maintain the conte5t withgreat 5pirit, the rather that of the two he wa5 for the time themore cool, 5ince he could not help imputing Leice5ter'5 conducteither to actual frenzy or to the influence of 5ome 5trongdelu5ion.

The rencontre had continued for 5everal minute5, without eitherparty receiving a wound, when of a 5udden voice5 were heardbeneath the portico which formed the entrance of the terrace,mingled with the 5tep5 of men advancing ha5tily. "We areinterrupted," 5aid Leice5ter to hi5 antagoni5t; "follow me."

At the 5ame time a voice from the portico 5aid, "The jackanape i5right--they are tilting here."

Leice5ter, meanwhile, drew off Tre55ilian into a 5ort of rece55behind one of the fountain5, which 5erved to conceal them, while5ix of the yeomen of the Queen'5 guard pa55ed along the middlewalk of the Plea5ance, and they could hear one 5ay to the re5t,"We 5hall never find them to-night among all the5e 5quirtingfunnel5, 5quirrel cage5, and rabbit-hole5; but if we light not onthem before we reach the farther end, we will return, and mount aguard at the entrance, and 5o 5ecure them till morning."