THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN

By May Agnes Fleming

CONTENTS. 

I. The Sorceress

II. The Dead Bride

III. The Court Page

IV. The Stranger

V. The Dwarf and the Ruin

VI. La Masque

VII. The Earl's Barge. 

VIII. The Midnight Queen. 

IX. Leoline. 

X. The Page, the Fires, and the Fall

XI. The Execution

XII. The Doom

XIII. Escaped

XIV. In the Dungeon

XV. Leoline's Visitors

XVI. The Third Vision

XVII. The Hidden Face

XVIII. The Interview. 

XIX. Hubert's Whisper

XX. At the Plague-pit

XXI. What was Behind the Mask

XXII. Day-dawn

XXIII. Finis

THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN, CHAPTER I. THE SORCERESS. 

The plague raged in the city of London. The destroying angel had goneforth, and kindled with its fiery breath the awful pestilence, until allLondon became one mighty lazar-house. Thousands were swept away daily;grass grew in the streets, and the living were scarce able to burythe dead. Business of all kinds was at an end, except that of thecoffin-makers and drivers of the pest-carte. Whole streets were shut up, and almost every other house in the city bore the fatal red cross, andthe ominous inscription. "Lord have mercy on us. " Few people, save thewatchmen, armed with halberts, keeping guard over the stricken houses, appeared in the streets; and those who ventured there, shrank from eachother, and passed rapidly on with averted faces. Many even fell dead onthe sidewalk, and lay with their ghastly, discolored faces, upturned tothe mocking sunlight, until the dead-cart came rattling along, andthe drivers hoisted the body with their pitchforks on the top of theirdreadful load. Few other vehicles besides those same dead-carts appearedin the city now; and they plied their trade busily, day and night; andthe cry of the drivers echoed dismally through the deserted streets:"Bring out your dead! bring out your dead!" All who could do so had longago fled from the devoted city; and London lay under the burning heatof the June sunshine, stricken for its sins by the hand of God. Thepest-houses were full, so were the plague-pits, where the dead werehurled in cartfuls; and no one knew who rose up in health in the morningbut that they might be lying stark and dead in a few hours. The verychurches were forsaken; their pastors fled or lying in the plague-pits;and it was even resolved to convert the great cathedral of St. Paul intoa vast plague-hospital. Cries and lamentations echoed from one endof the city to the other, and Death and Charles reigned over Londontogether. 

Yet in the midst of all this, many scenes of wild orgies and debaucherystill went on within its gates--as, in our own day, when the choleraravaged Paris, the inhabitants of that facetious city made it acarnival, so now, in London, they were many who, feeling they had but afew days to live at the most, resolved to defy death, and indulge in therevelry while they yet existed. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrowyou die!" was their motto; and if in the midst of the frantic dance ordebauched revel one of them dropped dead, the others only shrieked withlaughter, hurled the livid body out to the street, and the demoniacmirth grew twice as fast and furious as before. Robbers and cut-pursesparaded the streets at noonday, entered boldly closed and desertedhouses, and bore off with impunity, whatever they pleased. Highwaymeninfested Hounslow Heath, and all the roads leading from the city, levying a toll on all who passed, and plundering fearlessly the flyingcitizens. In fact, far-famed London town, in the year of grace 1665, would have given one a good idea of Pandemonium broke loose. 

It was drawing to the close of an almost tropical June day, that thecrowd who had thronged the precincts of St. Paul's since early morning, began to disperse. The sun, that had throbbed the livelong day like agreat heart of fire in a sea of brass, was sinking from sight in cloudsof crimson, purple and gold, yet Paul's Walk was crowded. There werecourt-gallants in ruffles and plumes; ballad-singers chanting the notover-delicate ditties of the Earl of Rochester; usurers exchanginggold for bonds worth three times what they gave for them; quack-doctorsreading in dolorous tones the bills of mortality of the preceding day, and selling plague-waters and anti-pestilential abominations, whosemerit they loudly extolled; ladies too, richly dressed, and many of themmasked; and booksellers who always made St. Paul's a favorite haunt, andeven to this day patronize its precincts, and flourish in the regions ofPaternoster Row and Ave Maria Lane; court pages in rich liveries, pertand flippant; serving-men out of place, and pickpockets with a keen eyeto business; all clashed and jostled together, raising a din to whichthe Plain of Shinar, with its confusion of tongues and Babylonishworkmen, were as nothing. 

Moving serenely through this discordant sea of his fellow-creatures camea young man booted and spurred, whose rich doublet of cherry coloredvelvet, edged and spangled with gold, and jaunty hat set slightly onone side of his head, with its long black plume and diamond clasp, proclaimed him to be somebody. A profusion of snowy shirt-frill rushedimpetuously out of his doublet; a black-velvet cloak, lined withamber-satin, fell picturesquely from his shoulders; a sword with ajeweled hilt clanked on the pavement as he walked. One hand was coveredwith a gauntlet of canary-colored kid, perfumed to a degree that wouldshame any belle of to-day, the other, which rested lightly on hissword-hilt, flashed with a splendid opal, splendidly set. He was ahandsome fellow too, with fair waving hair (for he had the good tasteto discard the ugly wigs then in vogue), dark, bright, handsome eyes, a thick blonde moustache, a tall and remarkably graceful figure, and anexpression of countenance wherein easy good-nature and fiery impetuosityhad a hard struggle for mastery. That he was a courtier of rank, wasapparent from his rich attire and rather aristocratic bearing anda crowd of hangers-on followed him as he went, loudly demandingspur-money. A group of timbril-girls, singing shrilly the songs of theday, called boldly to him as he passed; and one of them, more free andeasy than the rest, danced up to him striking her timbrel, and shoutingrather than singing the chorus of the then popular ditty, "What care I for pest or plague? We can die but once, God wot, Kiss me darling--stay with me: Love me--love me, leave me not!"

The darling in question turned his bright blue eyes on that dashingstreet-singer with a cool glance of recognition. 

"Very sorry, Nell, " he said, in a nonchalant tone, "but I'm afraid Imust. How long have you been here, may I ask?"

"A full hour by St. Paul's; and where has Sir Norman Kingsley been, mayI ask? I thought you were dead of the plague. "

"Not exactly. Have you seen--ah! there he is. The very man I want. "

With which Sir Norman Kingsley dropped a gold piece into the girl'sextended palm, and pushed on through the crowd up Paul's Walk. A tall, dark figure was leaning moodily with folded arms, looking fixedly atthe ground, and taking no notice of the busy scene around him until SirNorman laid his ungloved and jeweled hand lightly on his shoulder. 

"Good morning, Ormiston. I had an idea I would find you here, and--butwhat's the matter with you, man? Have you got the plague? or has yourmysterious inamorata jilted you? or what other annoyance has happened tomake you look as woebegone as old King Lear, sent adrift by his tenderdaughters to take care of himself?"

The individual addressed lifted his head, disclosing a dark and ratherhandsome face, settled now into a look of gloomy discontent. He slightlyraised his hat as he saw who his questioner was. 

"Ah! it's you, Sir Norman! I had given up all notion of your coming, andwas about to quit this confounded babel--this tumultuous den of thieves. What has detained you?"

"I was on duty at Whitehall. Are we not in time to keep ourappointment?"

"Oh, certainly! La Masque is at home to visitors at all hours, day andnight. I believe in my soul she doesn't know what sleep means. "

"And you are still as much in love with her as ever, I dare swear! Ihave no doubt, now, it was of her you were thinking when I came up. Nothing else could ever have made you look so dismally woebegone as youdid, when Providence sent me to your relief. "

"I was thinking of her, " said the young man moodily, and with adarkening brow. 

Sir Norman favored him with a half-amused, half-contemptuous stare for amoment; then stopped at a huckster's stall to purchase some cigarettes;lit one, and after smoking for a few minutes, pleasantly remarked, as ifthe fact had just struck him:

"Ormiston, you're a fool!"

"I know it!" said Ormiston, sententiously. 

"The idea, " said Sir Norman, knocking the ashes daintily off the endof his cigar with the tip of his little finger--"the idea of falling inlove with a woman whose face you have never seen! I can understand a mana going to any absurd extreme when he falls in love in proper Christianfashion, with a proper Christian face; but to go stark, staring mad, asyou have done, my dear fellow, about a black loo mask, why--I considerthat a little too much of a good thing! Come, let us go. "

Nodding easily to his numerous acquaintances as he went, Sir NormanKingsley sauntered leisurely down Paul's Walk, and out through the greatdoor of the cathedral, followed by his melancholy friend. Pausing for amoment to gaze at the gorgeous sunset with a look of languid admiration, Sir Norman passed his arm through that of his friend, and they walkedon at rather a rapid pace, in the direction of old London Bridge. Therewere few people abroad, except the watchmen walking slowly up and downbefore the plague-stricken houses; but in every street they passedthrough they noticed huge piles of wood and coal heaped down the centre. Smoking zealously they had walked on for a season in silence, whenOrmiston ceased puffing for a moment, to inquire:

"What are all these for? This is a strange time, I should imagine, forbonfires. "

"They're not bonfires, " said Sir Norman; "at least they are not intendedfor that; and if your head was not fuller of that masked Witch of Endorthan common sense (for I believe she is nothing better than a witch), you could not have helped knowing. The Lord Mayor of London has beeninspired suddenly, with a notion, that if several thousand fires arekindled at once in the streets, it will purify the air, and check thepestilence; so when St. Paul's tolls the hour of midnight, all thesepiles are to be fired. It will be a glorious illumination, no doubt; butas to its stopping the progress of the plague, I am afraid that it isaltogether too good to be true. "

"Why should you doubt it? The plague cannot last forever. "

"No. But Lilly, the astrologer, who predicted its coming, also foretoldthat it would last for many months yet; and since one prophecy has cometrue, I see no reason why the other should not. "

"Except the simple one that there would be nobody left alive to take it. All London will be lying in the plague-pits by that time. "

"A pleasant prospect; but a true one, I have no doubt. And, as I have noambition to be hurled headlong into one of those horrible holes, I shallleave town altogether in a few days. And, Ormiston, I would stronglyrecommend you to follow my example. "

"Not I!" said Ormiston, in a tone of gloomy resolution. "While La Masquestays, so will I. "

"And perhaps die of the plague in a week. "

"So be it! I don't fear the plague half as much as I do the thought oflosing her!"

Again Sir Norman stared. 

"Oh, I see! It's a hopeless case! Faith, I begin to feel curious to seethis enchantress, who has managed so effectually to turn your brain. When did you see her last?"

"Yesterday, " said Ormiston, with a deep sigh. "And if she were made ofgranite, she could not be harder to me than she is!"

"So she doesn't care about you, then?"

"Not she! She has a little Blenheim lapdog, that she loves a thousandtimes more than she ever will me!"

"Then what an idiot you are, to keep haunting her like her shadow! Whydon't you be a man, and tear out from your heart such a goddess?"

"Ah! that's easily said; but if you were in my place, you'd act exactlyas I do. "

"I don't believe it. It's not in me to go mad about anything with amasked face and a marble heart. If I loved any woman--which, thankFortune! at this present time I do not--and she had the bad taste notto return it, I should take my hat, make her a bow, and go directly andlove somebody else made of flesh and blood, instead of cast iron! Youknow the old song, Ormiston:

 'If she be not fair for me What care I how fair she be!'"

"Kingsley, you know nothing about it!" said Ormiston, impatiently. "Sostop talking nonsense. If you are cold-blooded, I am not; and--I loveher!"

Sir Norman slightly shrugged his shoulders, and flung his smoked-outweed into a heap of fire-wood. 

"Are we near her house?" he asked. "Yonder is the bridge. "

"And yonder is the house, " replied Ormiston, pointing to a largeancient building--ancient even for those times--with three stories, eachprojecting over the other. "See! while the houses on either side aremarked as pest-stricken, hers alone bears no cross. So it is: thosewho cling to life are stricken with death: and those who, like me, aredesperate, even death shuns. "

"Why, my dear Ormiston, you surely are not so far gone as that? Upon myhonor, I had no idea you were in such a bad way. "

"I am nothing but a miserable wretch! and I wish to Heaven I was inyonder dead-cart, with the rest of them--and she, too, if she neverintends to love me!"

Ormiston spoke with such fierce earnestness, that there was no doubtinghis sincerity; and Sir Norman became profoundly shocked--so much so, that he did not speak again until they were almost at the door. Then heopened his lips to ask, in a subdued tone:

"She has predicted the future for you--what did she foretell?"

"Nothing good; no fear of there being anything in store for such anunlucky dog as I am. "

"Where did she learn this wonderful black art of hers?"

"In the East, I believe. She has been there and all over the world; andnow visits England for the first time. "

"She has chosen a sprightly season for her visit. Is she not afraid ofthe plague, I wonder?"

"No; she fears nothing, " said Ormiston, as he knocked loudly at thedoor. "I begin to believe she is made of adamant instead of what otherwomen are made of. "

"Which is a rib, I believe, " observed Sir Norman, thoughtfully. "Andthat accounts, I dare say, for their being of such a crooked andcantankerous nature. They're a wonderful race women are; and for whatInscrutable reason it has pleased Providence to create them--"

The opening of the door brought to a sudden end this little touch ofmoralizing, and a wrinkled old porter thrust out a very withered andunlovely face. 

"La Masque at home?" inquired Ormiston, stepping in, without ceremony. 

The old man nodded, and pointed up stairs; and with a "This way, Kingsley, " Ormiston sprang lightly up, three at a time, followed in thesame style by Sir Norman. 

"You seem pretty well acquainted with the latitude and longitude of thisplace, " observed that young gentleman, as they passed into a room at thehead of the stairs. 

"I ought to be; I've been here often enough, " said Ormiston. "This isthe common waiting-room for all who wish to consult La Masque. That oldbag of bones who let us in has gone to announce us. "

Sir Norman took a seat, and glanced curiously round the room. It wasa common-place apartment enough, with a floor of polished black oak, slippery as ice, and shining like glass; a few old Flemish paintings onthe walls; a large, round table in the centre of the floor, on whichlay a pair of the old musical instruments called "virginals. " Two large, curtainless windows, with minute diamond-shaped panes, set in leadencasements, admitted the golden and crimson light. 

"For the reception-room of a sorceress, " remarked Sir Norman, with anair of disappointed criticism, "there is nothing very wonderful aboutall this. How is it she spaes fortunes any way? As Lilly does by mapsand charts; or as these old Eastern mufti do it by magic mirrors and alleach fooleries?"

"Neither, " said Ormiston, "her style in more like that of the Indianalmechs, who show you your destiny in a well. She has a sort of magiclake in her room, and--but you will see it all for yourself presently. "

"I have always heard, " said Sir Norman, in the same meditative way, "that truth lies at the bottom of a well, and I am glad some one hasturned up at last who is able to fish it out. Ah! Here comes our ancientMercury to show us to the presence of your goddess. "

The door opened, and the "old bag of bones, " as Ormiston irreverentlystyled his lady-love's ancient domestic, made a sign for them to followhim. Leading the way down along a corridor, he flung open a pair ofshining folding-doors at the end, and ushered them at once into themajestic presence of the sorceress and her magic room. Both gentlemendoffed their plumed hats. Ormiston stepped forward at once; but SirNorman discreetly paused in the doorway to contemplate the scene ofaction. As he slowly did so, a look of deep displeasure settled on hisfeatures, on finding it not half so awful as he had supposed. 

In some ways it was very like the room they had left, being low, large, and square, and having floors, walls and ceiling paneled with glossyblack oak. But it had no windows--a large bronze lamp, suspended fromthe centre of the ceiling, shed a flickering, ghostly light. There wereno paintings--some grim carvings of skulls, skeletons, andserpents, pleasantly wreathed the room--neither were there seatsnor tables--nothing but a huge ebony caldron at the upper end of theapartment, over which a grinning skeleton on wires, with a scythe inone hand of bone, and an hour-glass in the other, kept watch and ward. Opposite this cheerful-looking guardian, was a tall figure in black, standing an motionless as if it, too, was carved in ebony. It was afemale figure, very tall and slight, but as beautifully symmetrical asa Venus Celestis. Her dress was of black velvet, that swept the polishedfloor, spangled all over with stars of gold and rich rubies. A profusionof shining black hair fell in waves and curls almost to her feet; buther face, from forehead to chin, was completely hidden by a black velvetmask. In one hand, exquisitely small and white, she held a gold casket, blazing (like her dress) with rubies, and with the other she toyed witha tame viper, that had twined itself round her wrist. This was doubtlessLa Masque, and becoming conscious of that fact Sir Norman made her alow and courtly bow. She returned it by a slight bend of the head, andturning toward his companion, spoke:

"You here, again, Mr. Ormiston! To what am I indebted for the honor oftwo visits in two days?"

Her voice, Sir Norman thought, was the sweetest he had ever heard, musical as a chime of silver bells, soft as the tones of an aeolian harpthrough which the west wind plays. 

"Madam, I am aware my visits are undesired, " said Ormiston, with aflushing cheek and, slightly tremulous voice; "but I have merely comewith my friend, Sir Norman Kingsley, who wishes to know what the futurehas in store for him. "

Thus invoked, Sir Norman Kingsley stepped forward with another low bowto the masked lady. 

"Yes, madam, I have long heard that those fair fingers can withdraw thecurtain of the future, and I have come to see what Dame Destiny is goingto do for me. "

"Sir Norman Kingsley is welcome, " said the sweet voice, "and shall seewhat he desires. There is but one condition, that he will keep perfectlysilent; for if he speaks, the scene he beholds will vanish. Comeforward!"

Sir Norman compressed his lips as closely am if they were foreverhermetically sealed, and came forward accordingly. Leaning over the edgeof the ebony caldron, he found that it contained nothing more dreadfulthan water, for he labored under a vague and unpleasant idea that, likethe witches' caldron in Macbeth, it might be filled with serpents' bloodand children's' brains. La Masque opened her golden casket, and tookfrom it a portion of red powder, with which it was filled. Casting itinto the caldron, she murmured an invocation in Sanscrit, or Coptic, or some other unknown tongue, and slowly there arose a dense cloud ofdark-red smoke, that nearly filled the room. Had Sir Norman ever readthe story of Aladdin, he would probably have thought of it then; butthe young courtier did not greatly affect literature of any kind, andthought of nothing now but of seeing something when the smoke clearedaway. It was rather long in doing so, and when it did, he saw nothingat first but his own handsome, half-serious, half-incredulous face; butgradually a picture, distinct and clear, formed itself at the bottom, and Sir Norman gazed with bewildered eyes. He saw a large room filledwith a sparkling crowd, many of them ladies, splendidly arrayed andflashing in jewels, and foremost among them stood one whose beautysurpassed anything he had ever before dreamed of. She wore the robes ofa queen, purple and ermine--diamonds blazed on the beautiful neck, arms, and fingers, and a tiara of the same brilliants crowned her regal head. In one hand she held a sceptre; what seemed to be a throne was behindher, but something that surprised Sir Norton most of all was, to findhimself standing beside her, the cynosure of all eyes. While he yetgazed in mingled astonishment and incredulity, the scene faded away, and another took its place. This time a dungeon-cell, damp and dismal;walls, and floor, and ceiling covered with green and hideous slime. Asmall lamp stood on the floor, and by its sickly, watery gleam, he sawhimself again standing, pale and dejected, near the wall. But he was notalone; the same glittering vision in purple and diamonds stood beforehim, and suddenly he drew his sword and plunged it up to the hilt in herheart! The beautiful vision fell like a stone at his feet, and the swordwas drawn out reeking with her life-blood. This was a little toomuch for the real Sir Norman, and with an expression of indignantconsternation, he sprang upright. Instantly it all faded away and thereflection of his own excited face looked up at him from the caldron. 

"I told you not to speak, " said La Masque, quietly, "but you must lookon still another scene. "

Again she threw a portion of the contents of the casket into thecaldron, and "spake aloud the words of power. " Another cloud of smokearose and filled the room, and when it cleared away, Sir Norman behelda third and less startling sight. The scene and place he could notdiscover, but it seemed to him like night and a storm. Two men werelying on the ground, and bound fast together, it appeared to him. As helooked, it faded away, and once more his own face seemed to mock him inthe clear water. 

"Do you know those two last figures!" asked the lady. 

"I do, " said Sir Norman, promptly; "it was Ormiston and myself. "

"Right! and one of them was dead. "

"Dead!" exclaimed Sir Norman, with a perceptible start. "Which one, madam?"

"If you cannot tell that, neither can I. If there is anything furtheryou wish to see, I am quite willing to show it to you. "

"I'm obliged to you, " said Sir Norman, stepping back; "but no more atpresent, thank you. Do you mean to say, madam, that I'm some day tomurder a lady, especially one so beautiful as she I just now saw?"

"I have said nothing--all you've seen will come to pass, and whetheryour destiny be for good or evil, I have nothing to do with it, except, "said the sweet voice, earnestly, "that if La Masque could strew SirNorman Kingsley's pathway with roses, she would most assuredly do so. "

"Madam, you are too kind, " said that young gentleman, laying his hand onhis heart, while Ormiston scowled darkly--"more especially as I've themisfortune to be a perfect stranger to you. "

"Not so, Sir Norman. I have known you this many a day; and before longwe shall be better acquainted. Permit me to wish you good evening!"

At this gentle hint, both gentlemen bowed themselves out, and soonfound themselves in the street, with very different expressions ofcountenance. Sir Norman looking considerably pleased and decidedlypuzzled, and Mr. Ormiston looking savagely and uncompromisingly jealous. The animated skeleton who had admitted them closed the door after them;and the two friends stood in the twilight on London Bridge. 

CHAPTER II. THE DEAD BRIDE

"Well, " said Ormiston, drawing a long bath, "what do you think of that?"

"Think? Don't ask me yet. " said Sir Norman, looking rather bewildered. "I'm in such a state of mystification that I don't rightly know whetherI'm standing on my head or feet. For one thing, I have come to theconclusion that your masked ladylove must be enchantingly beautiful. "

"Have I not told you that a thousand times, O thou of little faith? Butwhy have you come to such a conclusion?"

"Because no woman with such a figure, such a voice and such hands couldbe otherwise. "

"I knew you would own it some day. Do you wonder now that I love her?"

"Oh! as to loving her, " said Sir Norman, coolly, "that's quite anotherthing. I could no more love her or her hands, voice, and shape, than Icould a figure in wood or wax; but I admire her vastly, and think herextremely clever. I will never forget that face in the caldron. It wasthe most exquisitely beautiful I ever saw. "

"In love with the shadow of a face! Why, you are a thousand-fold moreabsurd than I. "

"No, " said Sir Norman, thoughtfully, "I don't know as I'm in love withit; but if ever I see a living face like it, I certainly shall be. Howdid La Masque do it, I wonder?"

"You had better ask her, " said Ormiston, bitterly. "She seems to havetaken an unusual interest in you at first sight. She would strew yourpath with roses, forsooth! Nothing earthly, I believe, would make hersay anything half so tender to me. "

Sir Norman laughed, and stroked his moustache complacently. 

"All a matter of taste, my dear fellow: and these women are noted fortheir perfection in that line. I begin to admire La Masque more andmore, and I think you had better give up the chase, and let me take yourplace. I don't believe you have the ghost of a chance, Ormiston. "

"I don't believe it myself, " said Ormiston, with a desperate face "butuntil the plague carries me off I cannot give her up; and the soonerthat happens, the better. Ha! what is this?"

It was a piercing shriek--no unusual sound; and as he spoke, the door ofan adjoining house was flung open, a woman rushed wildly out, fled downan adjoining street, and disappeared. 

Sir Norman and his companion looked at each other, and then at thehouse. 

"What's all this about?" demanded Ormiston. 

"That's a question I can't take it upon myself to answer, " said SirNorman; "and the only way to solve the mystery, is to go in and see. "

"It may be the plague, " said Ormiston, hesitating. "Yet the house is notmarked. There is a watchman. I will ask him. "

The man with the halberd in his hand was walking up and down before anadjoining house, bearing the ominous red cross and piteous inscription:"Lord have mercy on us!"

"I don't know, sir, " was his answer to Ormiston. "If any one there hasthe plague, they must have taken it lately; for I heard this morningthere was to be a wedding there to-night. "

"I never heard of any one screaming in that fashion about a wedding, "said Ormiston, doubtfully. "Do you know who lives there?"

"No, sir. I only came here, myself, yesterday, but two or three timesto-day I have seen a very beautiful young lady looking out of thewindow. "

Ormiston thanked the man, and went back to report to his friend. 

"A beautiful young lady!" said Sir Norman, with energy. "Then I mean togo directly up and see about it, and you can follow or not, just as youplease. "

So saying, Sir Norman entered the open doorway, and found himself in along hall, flanked by a couple of doors on each side. These he openedin rapid succession, finding nothing but silence and solitude; andOrmiston--who, upon reflection, chose to follow--ran up a wide andsweeping staircase at the end of the hall. Sir Norman followed him, andthey came to a hall similar to the one below. A door to the right layopen; and both entered without ceremony, and looked around. 

The room was spacious, and richly furnished. Just enough light stolethrough the oriel window at the further end, draped with crimson satinembroidered with gold, to show it. The floor was of veined wood of manycolors, arranged in fanciful mosaics, and strewn with Turkish rugs andPersian mats of gorgeous colors. The walls were carved, the ceilingcorniced, and all fretted with gold network and gilded mouldings. On acouch covered with crimson satin, like the window drapery, lay a cithrenand some loose sheets of music. Near it was a small marble table, covered with books and drawings, with a decanter of wine and anexquisite little goblet of Bohemian glass. The marble mantel was strewnwith ornaments of porcelain and alabaster, and a beautifully-carved vaseof Parian marble stood in the centre, filled with brilliant flowers. A great mirror reflected back the room, and beneath it stood atoilet-table, strewn with jewels, laces, perfume-bottles, and an arrayof costly little feminine trifles such as ladies were as fond of twocenturies ago as they are to-day. Evidently it was a lady's chamber; forin a recess near the window stood a great quaint carved bedstead, withcurtains and snowy lace, looped back with golden arrows and scarletribbons. Some one lay on it, too--at least, Ormiston thought so; and hewent cautiously forward, drew the curtain, and looked down. 

"Great Heaven! what a beautiful face!" was his cry, as he bent stillfurther down. 

"What the plague is the matter?" asked Sir Norman, coming forward. 

"You have said it, " said Ormiston, recoiling. "The plague is the matter. There lies one dead of it!"

Curiosity proving stronger than fear, Sir Norman stepped forward to lookat the corpse. It was a young girl with a face as lovely as a poet'svision. That face was like snow, now; and, in its calm, cold majesty, looked as exquisitely perfect as some ancient Grecian statue. The low, pearly brow, the sweet, beautiful lips, the delicate oval outline ofcountenance, were perfect. The eyes were closed, and the long darklashes rested on the ivory cheeks. A profusion of shining dark hair fellin elaborate curls over her neck and shoulders. Her dress was that ofa bride; a robe of white satin brocaded with silver, fairly dazzling inits shining radiance, and as brief in the article of sleeves and neckas that of any modern belle. A circlet of pearls were clasped round hersnow-white throat, and bracelets of the same jewels encircled the snowytaper arms. On her head she wore a bridal wreath and veil--the formerof jewels, the latter falling round her like a cloud of mist. Everythingwas perfect, from the wreath and veil to the tiny sandaled feet andlying there in her mute repose she looked more like some exquisitepiece of sculpture than anything that had ever lived and moved in thisgroveling world of ours. But from one shoulder the dress had been pulleddown, and there lay a great livid purple plague-spot!

"Come away!" said Ormiston, catching his companion by the arm. "It isdeath to remain here!"

Sir Norman had been standing like one in a trance, from whichthis address roused him, and he grasped Ormiston's shoulder almostfrantically. 

"Look there, Ormiston! There lies the very face that sorceress showedme, fifteen minutes ago, in her infernal caldron! I would know it at theother end of the world!"

"Are you sure?" said Ormiston, glancing again with new curiosity at themarble face. "I never saw anything half so beautiful in all my life; butyou see she is dead of the plague. "

"Dead? she cannot be! Nothing so perfect could die!"

"Look there, " said Ormiston pointing to the plague-spot. "There is thefatal token! For Heaven's sake let us get out of this, or we will sharethe same fate before morning!"

But Sir Norman did not move--could not move; he stood there rooted tothe spot by the spell of that lovely, lifeless face. 

Usually the plague left its victims hideous, ghastly, discolored, andcovered with blotches; but in this case then was nothing to mar theperfect beauty of the satin-smooth skin, but that one dreadful mark. 

There Sir Norman stood in his trance, as motionless as if some genii outof the "Arabian Nights" had suddenly turned him into stone (a trick theywere much addicted to), and destined him to remain there an ornamentalfixture for ever. Ormiston looked at him distractedly, uncertain whetherto try moral suasion or to take him by the collar and drag him headlongdown the stairs, when a providential but rather dismal circumstance cameto his relief. A cart came rattling along the street, a bell was loudlyrang, and a hoarse voice arose with it: "Bring out your dead! Bring outyour dead!"

Ormiston rushed down stair to intercept the dead-cart, already almostfull on it way to the plague-pit. The driver stopped at his call, andinstantly followed him up stairs, and into the room. Glancing at thebody with the utmost sang-froid, he touched the dress, and indifferentlyremarked:

"A bride, I should say; and an uncommonly handsome one too. We'll justtake her along as she is, and strip these nice things off the body whenwe get it to the plague-pit. "

So saying, he wrapped her in the sheet, and directing Ormiston to takehold of the two lower ends, took the upper corners himself, with theair of a man quite used to that sort of thing. Ormiston recoiled fromtouching it; and Sir Norman seeing what they were about to do, andknowing there was no help for it, made up his mind, like a sensibleyoung man as he was, to conceal his feelings, and caught hold of thesheet himself. In this fashion the dead bride was carried down stairs, and laid upon a shutter on the top of a pile of bodies in the dead-cart. 

It was now almost dark, and as the cart started, the great clock of St. Paul's struck eight. St. Michael's, St Alban's, and the others took upthe sound; and the two young men paused to listen. For many weeks thesky had been clear, brilliant, and blue; but on this night dark cloudswere scudding in wild unrest across it, and the air was oppressinglyclose and sultry. 

"Where are you going now?" said Ormiston. "Are you for Whitehall's tonight?"

"No!" said Sir Norman, rather dejectedly, turning to follow thepest-cart. "I am for the plague-pit in Finsbury fields!"

"Nonsense, man!" exclaimed Ormiston, energetically, "what will take youthere? You surely are not mad enough to follow the body of that deadgirl?"

"I shall follow it! You can come or not, just as you please. "

"Oh! if you are determined, I will go with you, of course; but it is thecraziest freak I ever heard of. After this, you need never laugh at me. "

"I never will, " said Sir Norman, moodily; "for if you love a face youhave never seen, I love one I have only looked on when dead. Does itnot seem sacrilege to throw any one so like an angel into that horribleplague-pit?"

"I never saw an angel, " said Ormiston, as he and his friend startedto go after the dead-cart. "And I dare say there have been scores asbeautiful as that poor girl thrown into the plague-pit before now. Iwonder why the house has been deserted, and if she was really a bride. The bridegroom could not have loved her much, I fancy, or not even thepestilence could have scared him away. "

"But, Ormiston, what an extraordinary thing it is that it should beprecisely the same face that the fortune-teller showed me. There shewas alive, and here she is dead; so I've lost all faith in La Masque forever. "

Ormiston looked doubtful. 

"Are you quite sure it is the same, Kingsley?"

"Quite sure?" said Sir Norman, indignantly. "Of course I am! Do youthink I could be mistaken is such a case? I tell you I would know thatface at Kamschatka or, the North Pole; for I don't believe there everwas such another created. "

"So be it, then! Your object, of course, in following that cart is, totake a last look at her?"

"Precisely so. Don't talk; I feel in no mood for it just at present. "

Ormiston smiled to himself, and did not talk, accordingly; and insilence the two friends followed the gloomy dead-cart. A faint youngmoon, pale and sickly, was struggling dimly through drifts of darkclouds, and lighted the lonesome, dreary streets with a wan, wateryglimmer. For weeks, the weather had been brilliantly fine--the days allsunshine, the nights all moonlight; but now Ormiston, looking up at thetroubled face of the sky, concluded mentally that the Lord Mayor hadselected an unpropitious night for the grand illumination. Sir Norman, with his eyes on the pest-cart, and the long white figure therein, tookno heed of anything in the heaven above or in the earth beneath, and strode along in dismal silence till they reached, at last, theirjourney's end. 

As the cart stopped the two young men approached the edge of theplague-pit, and looked in with a shudder. Truly it was a horrible sight, that heaving, putrid sea of corruption; for the bodies of the miserablevictims were thrown in in cartfuls, and only covered with a handful ofearth and quicklime. Here and there, through the cracking and sinkingsurface, could be seen protruding a fair white arm, or a baby face, mingled with the long, dark tresses of maidens, the golden curls ofchildren, and the white hairs of old age. The pestilential effluviaarising from the dreadful mass was so overpowering that both shrankback, faint and sick, after a moment's survey. It was indeed as SirNorman had, said, a horrible grave wherein to lie. 

Meantime the driver, with an eye to business, and no time for suchnonsense as melancholy moralizing, had laid the body of the young girlon the ground, and briskly turned his cart and dumped the remainder ofhis load into the pit. Then, having flung a few handfuls of clay overit, he unwound the sheet, and kneeling beside the body, prepared toremove the jewels. The rays of the moon and his dark lantern fell on thelovely, snow-white face together, and Sir Norman groaned despairingly ashe saw its death-cold rigidity. The man had stripped the rings off thefingers, the bracelets off the arms; but as he was about to performthe same operation toward the necklace, he was stopped by a startlinginterruption enough. In his haste, the clasp entered the beautiful neck, inflicting a deep scratch, from which the blood spouted; and at the sameinstant the dead girl opened her eyes with a shrill cry. Uttering a yellof terror, as well he might, the man sprang back and gazed at her withhorror, believing that his sacrilegious robbery had brought the deadto life. Even the two young men-albeit, neither of them given tonervousness nor cowardice--recoiled for an instant, and stared aghast. Then, as the whole truth struck them, that the girl had been in a deepswoon and not dead, both simultaneously darted forward, and forgettingall fear of infection, knelt by her side. A pair of great, lustrousblack eyes were staring wildly around, and fixed themselves first on oneface and then on the other. 

"Where am I?" she exclaimed, with a terrified look, as she strove toraise herself on her elbow, and fell instantaneously back with a cryof agony, as she felt for the first time the throbbing anguish of thewound. 

"You are with friends, dear lady!" said Sir Norman, in a voice quitetremulous between astonishment and delight. "Fear nothing, for you shallbe saved. "

The great black eyes turned wildly upon him, while a fierce spasmconvulsed the beautiful face. 

"O, my God, I remember! I have the plague!" And, with a prolonged shriekof anguish, that thrilled even to the hardened heart of the dead-cartdriver, the girl fell back senseless again. Sir Norman Kingsleysprang to his feet, and with more the air of a frantic lunatic than aresponsible young English knight, caught the cold form in his arms, laidit in the dead-cart, and was about springing into the driver's seat, when that individual indignantly interposed. 

"Come, now; none of that! If you were the king himself, you shouldn'trun away with my cart in that fashion; so you just get out of my placeas fast as you can!"

"My dear Kingsley, what are you about to do?" asked Ormiston, catchinghis excited friend by the arm. 

"Do!" exclaimed Sir Norman, in a high key. "Can't you see that foryourself! And I'm going to have that girl cured of the plague, if thereis such a thing as a doctor to be had for love or money in London. "

"You had better have her taken to the pest house at once, then; thereare chirurgeons and nurses enough there. "

"To the pest-house! Why man, I might as well have her thrown into theplague-pit there, at once! Not I! I shall have her taken to my ownhouse, and there properly cared for, and this good fellow will drive herthere instantly. "

Sir Norman backed this insinuation by putting a broad gold-piece intothe driver's hand, which instantly produced a magical effect on hisrather surly countenance. 

"Certainly, sir, " he began, springing into his seat with alacrity. "Where shall I drive the young lady to?"

"Follow me, " said Sir Norman. "Come along, Ormiston. " And seizinghis friend by the arm, he hurried along with a velocity ratheruncomfortable, considering they both wore cloaks, and the night wasexcessively sultry. The gloomy vehicle and its fainting burden followedclose behind. 

"What do you mean to do with her?" asked Ormiston, as soon as he foundbreath enough to speak. 

"Haven't I told you?" said Sir Norman, impatiently. "Take her home, ofcourse. "

"And after that?"

"Go for a doctor. "

"And after that?"

"Take care of her till she gets well. "

"And after that?"

"Why--find out her history, and all about her. "

"And after that?"

"After that! After that! How do I know what after that!" exclaimed SirNorman, rather fiercely. "Ormiston, what do you mean?"

Ormiston laughed. 

"And after that you'll marry her, I suppose!"

"Perhaps I may, if she will have me. And what if I do?"

"Oh, nothing! Only it struck me you may be saving another man's wife. "

"That's true!" said Sir Norman, in a subdued tone, "and if such shouldunhappily be the case, nothing will remain but to live in hopes that hemay be carried off by the plague. "

"Pray Heaven that we may not be carried off by it ourselves!" saidOrmiston, with a slight shudder. "I shall dream of nothing but thathorrible plague-pit for a week. If it were not for La Masque, I wouldnot stay another hour in this pest-stricken city. "

"Here we are, " was Sir Norman's rather inapposite answer, as theyentered Piccadilly, and stopped before a large and handsome house, whosegloomy portal was faintly illuminated by a large lamp. "Here, my manjust carry the lady in. "

He unlocked the door as he spoke, and led the way across a long hall toa sleeping chamber, elegantly fitter up. The man placed the body on thebed and departed while Sir Norman, seizing a handbell, rang a peal thatbrought a staid-looking housekeeper to the scene directly. Seeing alady, young and beautiful, in bride robes, lying apparently dead on heryoung master's bed at that hour of the night, the discreet matron, overwhose virtuous head fifty years and a snow-white cap had passed, startedback with a slight scream. 

"Gracious me, Sir Norman! What on earth is the meaning of this?"

"My dear Mrs. Preston, " began Sir Norman blandly, "this young lady isill of the plague, and--"

But all further explanation was cut short by a horrified shriek from theold lady, and a precipitate rush from the room. Down stairs she flew, informing the other servants as she went, between her screams, and whenSir Norman, in a violent rage, went in search of her five minutes after, he found not only the kitchen, but the whole house deserted. 

"Well, " said Ormiston, as Sir Norman strode back, looking fiery hot andsavagely angry. 

"Well, they have all fled, every man and woman of them, the--" SirNorman ground out something not quite proper, behind his moustache. "Ishall have to go for the doctor, myself. Doctor Forbes is a friend ofmine, and lives near; and you, " looking at him rather doubtfully, "wouldyou mind staying here, lest she should recover consciousness before Ireturn?"

"To tell you the truth, " said Ormiston, with charming frankness, "Ishould! The lady is extremely beautiful, I must own; but she looksuncomfortably corpse-like at this present moment. I do not wish to dieof the plague, either, until I see La Masque once more; and so if it isall the same to you, my dear friend, I will have the greatest pleasurein stepping round with you to the doctor's. "

Sir Norman, though he did not much approve of this, could not very wellobject, and the two sallied forth together. Walking a short distanceup Piccadilly, they struck off into a bye street, and soon reached thehouse they were in search of. Sir Norman knocked loudly at the door, which was opened by the doctor himself. Briefly and rapidly Sir Normaninformed him how and where his services were required; and the doctorbeing always provided with everything necessary for such cases, set outwith him immediately. Fifteen minutes after leaving his own house, SirNorman was back there again, and standing in his own chamber. But asimultaneous exclamation of amazement and consternation broke from himand Ormiston, as on entering the room they found the bed empty, and thelady gone!

A dead pause followed, during which the three looked blankly at the bed, and then at each other. The scene, no doubt, would have been ludicrousenough to a third party; but neither of our trio could saw anythingwhatever to laugh at. Ormiston was the first to speak. 

"What in Heaven's name has happened!" he wonderingly exclaimed. 

"Some one has been here, " said Sir Norman, turning very pale, "andcarried her off while we were gone. "

"Let us search the house, " said the doctor; "you should have locked yourdoor, Sir Norman; but it may not be too late yet. "

Acting on the hint, Sir Norman seized the lamp burning on the table, andstarted on the search. His two friends followed him, and

 "The highest, the lowest, the loveliest spot, They searched for the lady, and found her not. "

No, though there was not the slightest trace of robbers or intruders, neither was there the slightest trace of the beautiful plague-patient. Everything in the house was precisely as it always was, but the silvershining vision was gone. 

CHAPTER III. THE COURT PAGE

The search was given over at last in despair, and the doctor took hishat and disappeared. Sir Norman and Ormiston stopped in the lower halland looked at each other in mute amaze. 

"What can it all mean?" asked Ormiston, appealing more to society atlarge than to his bewildered companion. 

"I haven't the faintest idea, " said Sir Norman, distractedly; "only I ampretty certain, if I don't find her, I shall do something so desperatethat the plague will be a trifle compared to it!"

"It seems almost impossible that she can have been carried off--doesn'tit?"

"If she has!" exclaimed Sir Norman, "and I find out the abductor, hewon't have a whole bone in his body two minutes after!"

"And yet more impossible that she can have gone off herself, " pursuedOrmiston with the air of one entering upon an abstruse subject, andtaking no heed whatever of his companion's marginal notes. 

"Gone off herself! Is the man crazy?" inquired Sir Norman, with a stare. "Fifteen minutes before we left her dead, or in a dead swoon, which isall the same in Greek, and yet he talks of her getting up and going offherself!"

"In fact, the only way to get at the bottom of the mystery, " saidOrmiston, "is to go in search of her. Sleeping, I suppose, is out of thequestion. "

"Of course it is! I shall never sleep again till I find her!"

They passed out, and Sir Norman this time took the precaution of turningthe key, thereby fulfilling the adage of locking the stable-door whenthe steed was stolen. The night had grown darker and hotter; and as theywalked along, the clock of St. Paul's tolled nine. 

"And now, where shall we go?" inquired Sir Norman, as they rapidlyhurried on. 

"I should recommend visiting the house we found her first; if not there, then we can try the pest-house. "

Sir Norman shuddered. 

"Heaven forefend she should be there! It is the most mysterious thingever I heard of!"

"What do you think now of La Masque's prediction--dare you doubt still?"

"Ormiston, I don't know what to think. It is the same face I saw, andyet--"

"Well--and yet--"

"I can't tell you--I am fairly bewildered. If we don't find the lady sther own house, I have half a mind to apply to your friend, La Masque, again. "

"The wisest thing you could do, my dear fellow. If any one knows yourunfortunate beloved's whereabouts, it is La Masque, depend upon it. "

"That's settled then; and now, don't talk, for conversation at thissmart pace I don't admire. "

Ormiston, like the amiable, obedient young man that he was, instantlyheld his tongue, and they strode along at a breathless pace. There wasan unusual concourse of men abroad that night, watching the gloomy faceof the sky, and waiting the hour of midnight to kindle the myriad offires; and as the two tall, dark figures went rapidly by, all supposedit to be a case of life or death. In the eyes of one of the party, perhaps it was; and neither halted till they came once more in sightof the house, whence a short time previously they had carried thedeath-cold bride. A row of lamps over the door-portals shed a yellow, uncertain light around, while the lights of barges and wherries weresown like stars along the river. 

"There is the house, " cried Ormiston, and both paused to take breath;"and I am about at the last gasp. I wonder if your pretty mistress wouldfeel grateful if she knew what I have come through to-night for hersweet sake?"

"There are no lights, " mad Sir Norman, glancing anxiously up at thedarkened front of the house; "even the link before the door is unlit. Surely she cannot be there. "

"That remains to be seen, though I'm very doubtful about it myself. Ah Iwho have we here?"

The door of the house in question opened, as he spoke, and a figure--aman's figure, wearing a slouched hat and long, dark cloak, came slowlyout. He stopped before the house and looked at it long and earnestly;and, by the twinkling light of the lamps, the friends saw enough of himto know he was young and distinguished looking. 

"I should not wonder in the least it that were the bridegroom, "whispered Ormiston, maliciously. 

Sir Norman turned pale with jealousy, and laid his hand on his sword, with a quick and natural impulse to make the bride a widow forthwith. But he checked the desire for an instant as the brigandish-lookinggentleman, after a prolonged stare at the premises, stepped up to thewatchman, who had given them their information an hour or two before, and who was still at his post. The friends could not be seen, but theycould hear, and they did so very earnestly indeed. 

"Can you tell me, my friend, " began the cloaked unknown, "what hasbecome of the people residing in yonder house?"

The watchman, held his lamp up to the face of the interlocutor--ahandsome face by the way, what could be seen of it--and indulged himselfin a prolonged survey. 

"Well!" said the gentleman, impatiently, "have you no tongue, fellow?Where are they, I say?"

"Blessed if I know, " said the watchman. "I, wasn't set here to keepguard over them was I? It looks like it, though, " said the man inparenthesis; "for this makes twice to-night I've been asked questionsabout it. "

"Ah!" said the gentleman, with a slight start. "Who asked you before, pray?"

"Two young gentlemen; lords, I expect, by their dress. Somebody ranscreaming out of the house, and they wanted to know what was wrong. "

"Well?" said the stranger, breathlessly, "and then?"

"And then, as I couldn't tell them they went in to see for themselves, and shortly after came out with a body wrapped in a sheet, which theyput in a pest-cart going by, and had it buried, I suppose, with the restin the plague-pit. "

The stranger fairly staggered back, and caught at a pillar near forsupport. For nearly ten minutes, he stood perfectly motionless, andthen, without a word, started up and walked rapidly away. The friendslooked after him curiously till he was out of eight. 

"So she is not there, " said Ormiston; "and our mysterious friend inthe cloak is as much at a loss as we are ourselves. Where shall we gonext--to La Masque or the peat-house?"

"To La Masque--I hate the idea of the pest-house!"

"She may be there, nevertheless; and under present circumstances, it isthe beat place for her. "

"Don't talk of it!" said Sir Norman, impatiently. "I do not and will notbelieve she is there! If the sorceress shows her to me in the caldronagain, I verily believe I shall jump in head foremost. "

"And I verily believe we will not find La Masque at home. She wandersthrough the streets at all hours, but particularly affects the night. "

"We shall try, however. Come along!"

The house of the sorceress was but a short distance from that ofSir Norman's plague-stricken lady-love's; and shod with a sort ofseven-league boots, they soon reached it. Like the other, it was alldark and deserted. 

"This is the home, " said Ormiston, looking at it doubtfully, "but whereis La Masque?"

"Here!" said a silvery voice at his elbow; and turning round, they sawa tall, slender figure, cloaked, hooded, and masked. "Surely, you two donot want me again to-night?"

Both gentlemen doffed their plumed hats, and simultaneously bowed. 

"Fortune favors us, " said Sir Norman. "Yes, madam, it is even so; onceagain to-night we would tax your skill. "

"Well, what do you wish to know?"

"Madam, we are in the street. "

"Sir, I'm aware of that. Pray proceed. "

"Will you not have the goodness to permit us to enter?" said Sir Norman, inclined to feel offended. "How can you tell us what we wish to know, here?"

"That is my secret, " said the sweet voice. "Probably Sir Norman Kingsleywishes to know something of the fair lady I showed him some time ago?"

"Madam, you've guessed it. It is for that purpose I have sought younow. "

"Then you have seen her already?"

"I have. "

"And love her?"

"With all my heart!"

"A rapid flame, " said the musical voice, in a tone that had just athought of sarcasm; "for one of whose very existence you did not dreamtwo hours ago. "

"Madame La Masque, " said Norman, flushed sad haughty, "love is not aquestion of time. "

"Sir Norman Kingsley, " said the lady, somewhat sadly, "I am aware ofthat. Tell me what you wish to know, and if it be in my power, you shallknow it. "

"A thousand thanks! Tell me, then, is she whom I seek living or dead?"

"She is alive. "

"She has the plague?" said Sir Norman. 

"I know it. "

"Will she recover?"

"She will. "

"Where is she now?"

La Masque hesitated and seemed uncertain whether or not to reply, SirNorman passionately broke in:

"Tell me, madam, for I must know!"

"Then you shall; but, remember, if you get into danger, you must notblame me. "

"Blame you! No, I think I would hardly do that. Where am I to seek forher?"

"Two miles from London beyond Newgate, " said the mask. "There stand theruins of what was long ago a hunting-lodge, now a crumbling skeleton, roofless and windowless, and said, by rumor, to be haunted. Perhaps youhave seen or heard of it?"

"I have seen it a hundred times, " broke in Sir Norman. "Surely, you donot mean to say she is there?"

"Go there, and you will see. Go there to-night, and lose no time--thatis, supposing you can procure a license. "

"I have one already. I have a pass from the Lord Mayor to come and gofrom the city when I please. "

"Good! Then you'll go to-night. "

"I will go. I might as well do that as anything else, I suppose; but itis quite impossible, " said Sir Norman, firmly, not to say obstinately, "that she can be there. "

"Very well you'll see. You had better go on horseback, if you desire tobe back in time to witness the illumination. "

"I don't particularly desire to see the illumination, as I know of; butI will ride, nevertheless. What am I to do when I get there?"

"You will enter the ruins, and go on till you discover a spiralstaircase leading to what was once the vaults. The flags of these vaultsare loose from age, and if you should desire to remove any of them, youwill probably not find it an impossibility. "

"Why should I desire to remove them?" asked Sir Norman, who feltdubious, and disappointed, and inclined to be dogmatical. 

"Why, you may see a glimmering of light--hear strange noises; and ifyou remove the stones, may possibly see strange sights. As I told youbefore, it is rumored to be haunted, which is true enough, though not inthe way they suspect; and so the fools and the common herd stay away. "

"And if I am discovered peeping like a rascally valet, what will be theconsequences?"

"Very unpleasant ones to you; but you need not be discovered if you takecare. Ah! Look there!"

She pointed to the river, and both her companions looked. A barge gaylypainted and gilded, with a light in prow and stern, came gliding upamong less pretentious craft, and stopped at the foot of a flight ofstairs leading to the bridge. It contained four persons--the oarsman, two cavaliers sitting in the stern, and a lad in the rich livery of acourt-page in the act of springing out. Nothing very wonderful in allthis; and Sir Norman and Ormiston looked at her for an explanation. 

"Do you know those two gentlemen?" she asked. 

"Certainly, " replied Sir Norman, promptly; "one is the Duke of York, theother the Earl of Rochester. "

"And that page, to which of them does he belong?"

"The page!" said Sir Norman, with a stare, as he leaned forward to look;"pray, madam, what has the page to do with it?"

"Look and see!"

The two peers has ascended the stairs, and were already on the bridge. The page loitered behind, talking, as it seemed, to the waterman. 

"He wears the livery of the Earl of Rochester, " said Ormiston, speakingfor the first time, "but I cannot see his face. "

"He will follow presently, and be sure you see it then! Possibly you maynot find it entirely new to you. "

She drew back into the shadow as she spoke; and the two nobles, as theyadvanced, talking earnestly, beheld Sir Norman and Ormiston. Both raisedtheir hats with a look of recognition, and the salute was courteouslyreturned by the others. 

"Good-night, gentlemen, " said Lord Rochester; "a hot evening, is it not?Have you come here to witness the illumination?"

"Hardly, " said Sir Norman; "we have come for a very different purpose, my lord. "

"The fires will have one good effect, " said Ormiston laughing; "if theyclear the air and drive away this stifling atmosphere. "

"Pray God they drive away the plague!" said the Duke of York, as he andhis companion passed from view. 

The page sprang up the stairs after them, humming as he came, one of hismaster's love ditties--songs, saith tradition, savoring anything butthe odor of sanctity. With the warning of La Masque fresh in their mind, both looked at him earnestly. His gay livery was that of Lord Rochester, and became his graceful figure well, as he marched along with a jauntyswagger, one hand on his aide, and the other toying with a beautifullittle spaniel, that frisked in open violation of the Lord Mayor'sorders, commanding all dogs, great and small, to be put to death aspropagators of the pestilence. In passing, the lad turned his facetoward them for a moment--a bright, saucy, handsome face it was--and thenext instant he went round an angle and disappeared. Ormiston suppressedan oath. Sir Norman stifled a cry of amazement--for both recognizedthat beautiful colorless face, those perfect features, and great, black, lustrous eyes. It was the face of the lady they had saved from theplague-pit!

"Am I sane or mad?" inquired Sir Norman, looking helplessly about himfor information. "Surely that is she we are in search of. "

"It certainly is!" said Ormiston. "Where are the wonders of this nightto end?"

"Satan and La Masque only know; for they both seem to have united todrive me mad. Where is she?"

"Where, indeed?" said Ormiston; "where is last year's snow?" And SirNorman, looking round at the spot where she had stood a moment before, found that she, too, had disappeared. 

CHAPTER IV. THE STRANGER. 

The two friends looked at each other in impressive silence for a moment, and spake never a word. Not that they were astonished--they were longpast the power of that emotion: and if a cloud had dropped from thesky at their feet, they would probably have looked at it passively, andvaguely wonder if the rest would follow. Sir Norman, especially, hadsank into a state of mind that words are faint and feeble to describe. Ormiston, not being quite so far gone, was the first to open his lips. 

"Upon my honor, Sir Norman, this is the most astonishing thing ever Iheard of. That certainly was the face of our half-dead bride! What, inthe name ad all the gods, can it mean, I wonder?"

"I have given up wondering, " said Sir Norman, in the same helpless tone. "And if the earth was to open and swallow London up, I should not be theleast surprised. One thing is certain: the lady we are seeking and thatpage are one and the same. "

"And yet La Masque told you she was two miles from the city, in thehaunted ruin; and La Masque most assuredly knows. "

"I have no doubt she is there. I shall not be the least astonished if Ifind her in every street between this and Newgate. "

"Really, it is a most singular affair! First you see her in the magiccaldron; then we find her dead; then, when within an ace of beingburied, she comes to life; then we leave her lifeless as a marblestatue, shut up in your room, and fifteen minutes after, she vanishes asmysteriously as a fairy in a nursery legend. And, lastly, she turns upin the shape of a court-page, and swaggers along London Bridge at thishour of the night, chanting a love song. Faith! it would puzzle thesphinx herself to read this riddle, I've a notion!"

"I, for one, shall never try to read it, " said Sir Norman. "I am abouttired of this labyrinth of mysteries, and shall save time and La Masqueto unravel them at their leisure. "

"Then you mean to give up the pursuit?"

"Not exactly. I love this mysterious beauty too well to do that; andwhen next I find her, be it where it may, I shall take care she does notslip so easily through my fingers. "

"I cannot forget that page, " said Ormiston, musingly. "It is singular, since, he wears the Earl of Rochester's livery, that we have never seenhim before among his followers. Are you quite sure, Sir Norman, that youhave not?"

"Seen him? Don't be absurd, Ormiston! Do you think I could ever forgetsuch a face as that?"

"It would not be easy, I confess. One does not see such every day. Andyet--and yet--it is most extraordinary!"

"I shall ask Rochester about him the first thing to-morrow; and unlesshe is an optical illusion--which I vow I half believe is the case--Iwill come at the truth in spite of your demoniac friend, La Masque!"

"Then you do not mean to look for him to-night?"

"Look for him? I might as well look for a needle in a haystack. No! Ihave promised La Masque to visit the old ruins, and there I shall goforthwith. Will you accompany me?"

"I think not. I have a word to say to La, Masque, and you and she kepttalking so busily, I had no chance to put it in. "

Sir Norman laughed. 

"Besides, I have no doubt it is a word you would not like to utter inthe presence of a third party, even though that third party beyour friend and Pythias, Kingsley. Do you mean to stay here like aplague-sentinel until she returns?"

"Possibly; or if I get tired I may set out in search of her. When do youreturn?"

"The Fates, that seem to make a foot-ball of my best affections, andkick them as they please, only know. If nothing happens--which, beinginterpreted, means, if I am still in the land of the living--I shallsurely be back by daybreak. "

"And I shall be anxious about that time to hear the result of yournight's adventure; so where shall we meet?"

"Why not here? it is as good a place an any. "

"With all my heart. Where do you propose getting a horse?"

"At the King's Arms--but a stones throw from here. Farewell. "

"Good-night, and God speed you!" said Ormiston. And wrapping his cloakclose about him, he leaned against the doorway, and, watching thedancing lights on the river, prepared to await the return of La Masque. 

With his head full of the adventures and misadventures of the night, SirNorman walked thoughtfully on until he reached the King's Arms--a lowinn on the bank of the river. To his dismay he found the house shut up, and bearing the dismal mark and inscription of the pestilence. Whilehe stood contemplating it in perplexity, a watchman, on guard beforeanother plague-stricken house, advanced and informed him that the wholefamily had perished of the disease, and that the landlord himself, thelast survivor, had been carried off not twenty minutes before to theplague-pit. 

"But, " added the man, seeing Sir Norman's look of annoyance, and beinginformed what he wanted, "there are two or three horses around therein the stable, and you may as well help yourself, for if you don't takethem, somebody else will. "

This philosophic logic struck Sir Norman as being so extremelyreasonable, that without more ado he stepped round to the stables andselected the best it contained. Before proceeding on his journey, itoccurred to him that, having been handling a plague-patient, it wouldbe a good thing to get his clothes fumigated; so he stepped into anapothecary's store for that purpose, and provided himself also witha bottle of aromatic vinegar. Thus prepared for the worst, Sir Normansprang on his horse like a second Don Quixote striding his good steedRozinante, and sallied forth in quest of adventures. These, for a shorttime, were of rather a dismal character; for, hearing the noise ofa horse's hoofs in the silent streets at that hour of the night, thepeople opened their doors as he passed by, thinking it the pest-cart, and brought forth many a miserable victim of the pestilence. Avertinghis head from the revolting spectacles, Sir Norman held the bottle ofvinegar to his nostrils, and rode rapidly till he reached Newgate. Therehe was stopped until his bill of health was examined, and that smallmanuscript being found all right, he was permitted to pass on in peace. Everywhere he went, the trail of the serpent was visible over all. Deathand Desolation went hand in hand. Outside as well as inside the gates, great piles of wood and coal were arranged, waiting only the midnighthour to be fired. Here, however, no one seemed to be stirring; and nosound broke the silence but the distant rumble of the death-cart, andthe ringing of the driver's bell. There were lights in some of thehouses, but many of them were dark and deserted, and nearly every onebore the red cross of the plague. 

It was a gloomy scene and hour, and Sir Norman's heart turned sickwithin him as he noticed the ruin and devastation the pestilence hadeverywhere wrought. And he remembered, with a shudder, the predictionof Lilly, the astrologer, that the paved streets of London would be likegreen fields, and the living be no longer able to bury the dead. Longbefore this, he had grown hardened and accustomed to death from its veryfrequence; but now, as he looked round him, he almost resolved to rideon and return no more to London till the plague should have left it. But then came the thought of his unknown lady-love, and with it thereflection that he was on his way to find her; and, rousing himselffrom his melancholy reverie, he rode on at a brisker pace, heroicallyresolved to brave the plague or any other emergency, for her sake. Fullof this laudable and lover-like resolution, he had got on about halfa mile further, when he was suddenly checked in his rapid career by anexciting, but in no way surprising, little incident. 

During the last few yards, Sir Norman had come within sight of anotherhorseman, riding on at rather a leisurely pace, considering the placeand the hour. Suddenly three other horsemen came galloping down uponhim, and the leader presenting a pistol at his head, requested him ina stentorial voice for his money or his life. By way of reply, thestranger instantly produced a pistol of his own, and before theastonished highwayman could comprehend the possibility of such an act, discharged it full in his face. With a loud yell the robber reeled andfell from his saddle, and in a twinkling both his companions fired theirpistols at the traveler, and bore, with a simultaneous cry of rage, downupon him. Neither of the shots had taken effect, but the two enragedhighwaymen would have made short work of their victim had not SirNorman, like a true knight, ridden to the rescue. Drawing his sword, with one vigorous blow he placed another of the assassins hors decombat; and, delighted with the idea of a fight to stir his stagnantblood, was turning (like a second St. George at the Dragon), upon theother, when that individual, thinking discretion the better part ofvalor, instantaneously turned tail and fled. The whole brisk littleepisode had not occupied five minutes, and Sir Norman was scarcely awarethe fight had began before it had triumphantly ended. 

"Short, sharp, and decisive!" was the stranger's cool criticism, as hedeliberately wiped his blood=stained sword, and placed it in a velvetscabbard. "Our friends, there, got more than they bargained for, Ifancy. Though, but for you, Sir, " he said, politely raising him hat andbowing, "I should probably have been ere this in heaven, or--the otherplace. "

Sir Norman, deeply edified by the easy sang-froid of the speaker, turnedto take a second look at him. There was very little light; for the nighthad grown darker as it wore on, and the few stars that had glimmeredfaintly had hid their diminished heads behind the piles of inky clouds. Still, there was a sort of faint phosphorescent light whitening thegloom, and by it Sir Norman's keen bright eyes discovered that he worea long dark cloak and slouched hat. He discovered something else, too--that he had seen that hat and cloak, and the man inside of them onLondon Bridge, not an hour before. It struck Sir Norman there was a sortof fatality in their meeting; and his pulses quickened a trifle, as hethought that he might be speaking to the husband of the lady for whomhe had so suddenly conceived such a rash and inordinate attachment. Thatpersonage meantime having reloaded his pistol, with a self-possessionrefreshing to witness, replaced it in his doublet, gathered up thereins, and, glancing slightly at his companion, spoke again, "I should thank you for saving my life, I suppose, but thanking peopleis so little in my line, that I scarcely know how to set about it. Perhaps, my dear sir, you will take the will for the deed. "

"An original, this, " thought Sir Norman, "whoever he is. " Then aloud:"Pray don't trouble yourself about thanks, sir, I should have domeprecisely the same for the highwaymen, had you been three to one overthem. "

"I don't doubt it in the least; nevertheless I feel grateful, for youhave saved my life all the same, and you have never seen me before. "

"There you are mistaken, " said Sir Norman, quietly "I had the pleasureof seeing you scarce an hour ago. "

"Ah!" said the stranger, in an altered tone, "and where?"

"On London Bridge. "

"I did not see you. "

"Very likely, but I was there none the less. "

"Do you know me?" said the stranger; and Sir Norman could see he wasgazing at him sharply from under the shadow of his slouched hat. 

"I have not that honor, but I hope to do so before we part. "

"It was quite dark when you saw me on the bridge--how comes it, then, that you recollect me so well?"

"I have always been blessed with an excellent memory, " said Sir Normancarelessly, "and I knew your dress, face, and voice instantly. "

"My voice! Then you heard me speak, probably to the watchman guarding aplague-stricken house?"

"Exactly! and the subject being a very interesting one, I listened toall you said. "

"Indeed I and what possible interest could; the subject have for you, may I ask?"

"A deeper one than you think!" said Sir Norman, with a slight tremor inhis voice as he thought of the lady, "the watchman told you the lady yousought for had been carried away dead, and thrown into the plague-pit!"

"Well, " cried the stranger starting violently, "and was it not true?"

"Only partly. She was carried away in the pest-cart sure enough, but shewas not thrown into the plague-pit!"

"And why?"

"Because, when on reaching that horrible spot, she was found to bealive!"

"Good Heaven! And what then?"

"Then, " exclaimed Sir Norman, in a tone almost as excited as his own, "she was brought to the house of a friend, and left alone for a fewminutes, while that friend went in search of a doctor. On returning theyfound her--where do you think?"

"Where?"

"Gone!" said Sir Norman emphatically, "spirited away by some mysteriousagency; for she was dying of the plague, and could not possibly stirhand or foot herself. "

"Dying of the plague, O Leoline!" said the stranger, in a voice full ofpity and horror, while for a moment he covered his face with his hands. 

"So her name is Leoline?" said Sir Norman to himself. "I have foundthat out, and also that this gentleman, whatever he may be to her, is asignorant of her whereabouts as I am myself. He seems in trouble, too. Iwonder if he really happens to be her husband?"

The stranger suddenly lifted his head and favored Sir Norman with a longand searching look. 

"How come you to know all this, Sir Norman Kingsley, " he asked abruptly. 

"And how come you to know my name?" demanded Sir Norman, very muchamazed, notwithstanding his assertion that nothing would astonish himmore. 

"That is of no consequence! Tell me how you've learned all this?"repeated the stranger, in a tone of almost stern authority. 

Sir Norman started and stared. That voice I have had heard it athousand times! It had evidently been disguised before; but now, in theexcitement of the moment, the stranger was thrown off his guard, and itbecame perfectly familiar. But where had he heard it? For the life ofhim, Sir Norman could not tell, yet it was as well known to him ashis own. It had the tone, too, of one far more used to command thanentreaty; and Sir Norman, instead of getting angry, us he felt he oughtto have done, mechanically answered:

"The watchman told you of the two young men who brought her out and laidher in the dead-cart--I was one of the two. "

"And who was the other?"

"A friend of mine--one Malcolm Ormiston. "

"Ah! I know him! Pardon my abruptness, Sir Norman, " said the stranger, once more speaking in his assumed suave tone, "but I feel deeply on thissubject, and was excited at the moment. You spoke of her being broughtto the house of a friend--now, who may that friend be, for I was notaware that she had any?"

"So I judged, " said Sir Norman, rather bitterly, "or she would not havebeen left to die alone of the plague. She was brought to my house, sir, and I am the friend who would have stood by her to the last!"

Sir Norman sat up very straight and haughty on his horse; and had itbeen daylight, he would have seen a slight derisive smile pass over thelips of his companion. 

"I have always heard that Sir Norman Kingsley was a chivalrous knight, "he said; "but I scarcely dreamed his gallantry would have carried himgo far as to brave death by the pestilence for the sake of an unknownlady--however beautiful. I wonder you, did not carry her to thepest-house. "

"No doubt! Those who could desert her at such a time would probably becapable of that or any other baseness!"

"My good friend, " said the stranger, calmly, "your insinuation is notover-courteous, but I can forgive it, more for the sake of what you'vedone for her to-night than for myself. "

Sir Norman's lip curled. 

"I'm obliged to you! And now, sir, as you have seen fit to question mein this free and easy manner, will you pardon me if I take the libertyof returning the compliment, and ask you a few in return?"

"Certainly; pray proceed, Sir Norman, " said the stranger, blandly; "youare at liberty to ask as many questions as you please--so am I to answerthem. "

"I answered all yours unhesitatingly, and you owe it to me to do thesame, " said Sir Norman, somewhat haughtily. "In the first place, youhave an advantage of me which I neither understand, nor relish; so, to place us on equal terms, will you have the goodness to tell me yourname?"

"Most assuredly! My name, " said the stranger, with glib airiness, "isCount L'Estrange. "

"A name unknown to me, " said Sir Norman, with a piercing look, "andequally unknown, I believe, at Whitehall. There is a Lord L'Estrange inLondon; or you and he are certainly not one and the same. "

"My friend does not believe me, " said the count, almost gayly--"acircumstance I regret, but cannot help. Is there anything else SirNorman wishes to know?"

"If you do not answer my questions truthfully, there to little use inmy asking them, " said Sir Norman, bluntly. "Do you mean to say you are aforeigner?"

"Sir Norman Kingsley is at perfect liberty to answer that question as hepleases, " replied the stranger, with most provoking indifference. 

Sir Norman's eye flashed, and his hand fell on his sword; but, reflecting that the count might find it inconvenient to answer any morequestions if he ran him through, he restrained himself and went on. 

"Sir, you are impertinent, but that is of no consequence, just now. Whowas that lady--what was her name?"

"Leoline. "

"Was she your wife?"

The stranger paused for a moment, as if reflecting whether she was ornot, and then said, meditatively, "No--I don't know as she was. On the whole, I am pretty sure she wasnot. "

Sir Norman felt as if a ton weight had been suddenly hoisted from theregion of his heart. 

"Was she anybody else's wife?"

"I think not. I'm inclined to think that, except myself, she did notknow another man in London. "

"Then why was she dressed as a bride?" inquired Sir Norman, rathermystified. 

"Was she? My poor Leoline!" said the stranger, sadly. "Because-"he hesitated, "because--in short, Sir Norman, " said the stranger, decidedly, "I decline answering any more questions!"

"I shall find out, for all that, " said Sir Norman, "and here I shall bidyou good-night, for this by-path leads to my destination. "

"Good-night, " said the stranger, "and be careful, Sir Norman-remember, the plague is abroad. "

"And so are highwaymen!" called Sir Norman after him, a littlemaliciously; but a careless laugh from the stranger was the only replyas he galloped away. 

CHAPTER V. THE DWARF AND THE RUIN. 

The by-path down which Sir Norman rode, led to an inn, "The GoldenCrown, " about a quarter of a mile from the ruin. Not wishing to takehis horse, lest it should lead to discovery, he proposed leaving it heretill his return; and, with this intention, and the strong desire for aglass of wine--for the heat and his ride made him extremely thirsty--hedismounted at the door, and consigning the animal to the care of ahostler, he entered the bar-room. It was not the most inviting placein the world, this same bar-room--being illy-lighted, dim withtobacco-smoke, and pervaded by a strong spirituous essence of strongerdrinks than malt or cold water. A number of men were loitering about, smoking, drinking, and discussing the all-absorbing topic of the plague, and the fires that might be kindled. There was a moment's pause, as SirNorman entered, took a seat, and called for a glass of sack, and thenthe conversation went on as before. The landlord hastened to supply hiswants by placing a glass and a bottle of wine before him, and Sir Normanfell to helping himself, and to ruminating deeply on the events of thenight. Rather melancholy these ruminations were, though to do the younggentleman justice, sentimental melancholy was not at all in his line;but then you will please to recollect he was in love, and when peoplecome to that state, they are no longer to be held responsible either fortheir thoughts or actions. It is true his attack had been a rapid one, but it was no less severe for that; and if any evil-minded critic isdisposed to sneer at the suddenness of his disorder, I have only to say, that I know from observation, not to speak of experience, that love atfirst sight is a lamentable fact, and no myth. 

Love is not a plant that requires time to flourish, but is quite capableof springing up like the gourd of Jonah full grown in a moment. Ouryoung friend, Sir Norman, had not been aware of the existence of theobject of his affections for a much longer space than two hours anda half, yet he had already got to such a pitch, that if he did notspeedily find her, he felt he would do something so desperate as toshake society to its utmost foundations. The very mystery of the affairspurred him on, and the romantic way in which she had been found, saved, and disappeared, threw such a halo of interest round her, that he wasinclined to think sometimes she was nothing but a shining vision fromanother world. Those dark, splendid eyes; that lovely marblelike face;those wavy ebon tresses; that exquisitely exquisite figure; yes, he feltthey were all a great deal too perfect for this imperfect and wickedworld. Six Norman was in a very bad way, beyond doubt, but no worse thanmillions of young men before and after him; and he heaved a great manyprofound sighs, and drank a great many glasses of sack, and came to thesorrowful conclusion that Dame Fortune was a malicious jade, inclined topoke fun at his best affections, and make a shuttlecock of his heartfor the rest of his life. He thought, too, of Count L'Estrange; and thelonger he thought, the more he became convinced that he knew him well, and had met him often. But where? He racked his brain until, betweenlove, Leoline, and the count, he got that delicate organ into such amaze of bewilderment and distraction, that he felt he would be a caseof congestion, shortly, if he did not give it up. That the count'svoice was not the only thing about him assumed, he was positive; and hementally called over the muster-roll of his past friends, who spent halftheir time at Whitehall, and the other half going through the streets, making love to the honest citizens' pretty wives and daughters; butnone of them answered to Count L'Estrange. He could scarcely be aforeigner--he spoke English with too perfect an accent to be that; andthen he knew him, Sir Norman, as if he had been his brother. In short, there was no use driving himself insane trying to read so unreadablea riddle; and inwardly consigning the mysterious count to Old Nick, heswallowed another glass of sack, and quit thinking about him. 

So absorbed had Sir Norman been in his own mournful musings, that hepaid no attention whatever to those around him, and had nearly forgottentheir very presence, when one of them, with aloud cry, sprang to hisfeet, and then fell writhing to the floor. The others, in dismay, gathered abut him, but the ne=t instant fell back with a cry of, "He hasthe plague!" At that dreaded announcement, half of them scampered offincontinently; and the other half with the landlord at their head, lifted the sufferer whose groans and cries were heart-rendering, andcarried him out of the house. Sir Norman, rather dismayed himself, hadrisen to his feet, fully aroused from his reverie, and found himselfand another individual sole possessors of the premises. His companion hecould not very well make out; for he was sitting, or rather crouching, in a remote and shadowy corner, where nothing was clearly visible butthe glare of a pair of fiery eyes. There was a great redundancy of hair, too, about his head and face, indeed considerable more about the latterthan there seemed any real necessity for, and even with the imperfectglimpse he caught of him the young man set him down in his own mind asabout as hard-looking a customer as he had ever seen. The fiery eyeswere glaring upon him like those of a tiger, through a jungle of bushyhair, but their owner spoke never a word, though the other stared backwith compound interest. There they sat, beaming upon each other--onefiercely, the other curiously, until the re-appearance of the landlordwith a very lugubrious and woebegone countenance. It struck Sir Normanthat it was about time to start for the ruin; and, with an eye tobusiness, he turned to cross-examine mine host a trifle. 

"What have they done with that man?" he asked by way of preface. 

"Sent him to the pest-house, " replied the landlord, resting his elbowson the counter and his chin in his hands, and staring dismally at theopposite wall. "Ah! Lord 'a' mercy on us I these be dreadful times!"

"Dreadful enough!" said Sir Norman, sighing deeply, as he thought ofhis beautiful Leoline, a victim of the merciless pestilence. "Have therebeen many deaths here of the distemper?"

"Twenty-five to-day!" groaned the man. "Lord! what will become of us?"

"You seem rather disheartened, " said Sir Norman, pouring out a glass ofwine and handing it to him. "Just drink this, and don't borrow trouble. They say sack is a sure specific against the plague. "

Mine host drained the bumper, and wiped his mouth, with another hollowgroan. 

"If I thought that, sir, I'd not be sober from one week's end tot'other; but I know well enough I will be in a plague-pit in less than aweek. O Lord! have mercy on us!"

"Amen!" said Sir Norman, impatiently. "If fear has not taken away yourwits, my good sir, will you tell me what old ruin that is I saw a littleabove here as I rode up?"

The man started from his trance of terror, and glanced, first at thefiery eyes in the corner, and then at Sir Norman, in evident trepidationof the question. 

"That ruin, sir? You must be a stranger in this place, surely, or youwould not need to ask that question. "

"Well, suppose I am a stranger? What then?"

"Nothing, sir; only I thought everybody knew everything about thatruin. "

"But I do not, you see? So fill your glass again, and while you aredrinking it, just tell me what that everything comprises. "

Again the landlord glanced fearfully st the fiery eyes in the corner, and again hesitated. 

"Well!" exclaimed Sir Norman, at once surprised and impatient at histaciturnity, "Can't you speak man? I want you to tell me all about it. "

"There is nothing to tell, sir, " replied the host, goaded todesperation. "It is an old, deserted ruin that's been here ever since Iremember; and that's all I know about it. "

While, he spoke, the crouching shape in the corner reared itselfupright, and keeping his fiery eyes still glaring upon Sir Norman, advanced into the light. Our young knight was in the act of raising hisglass to his lips; but as the apparition approached, he laid it downagain, untasted, and stared at it in the wildest surprise and intensestcuriosity. Truly, it was a singular-looking creature, not to say arather startling one. A dwarf of some four feet high, and at least fivefeet broad across the shoulders, with immense arms and head--a giant ineverything but height. His immense skull was set on such a trifle of aneck as to be scarcely worth mentioning, and was garnished by a violentmat of coarse, black hair, which also overran the territory of hischeeks and chin, leaving no neutral ground but his two fiery eyes anda broken nose all twisted awry. On a pair of short, stout legs he woreimmense jack-boots, his Herculean shoulders and chest were adorned witha leathern doublet, and in the belt round his waist were conspicuouslystuck a pair of pistols and a dagger. Altogether, a more ugly orsinister gentleman of his inches it would have been hard to find in allbroad England. Stopping deliberately before Sir Norman, he placed a handon each hip, and in a deep, guttural voice, addressed him:

"So, sir knight--for such I perceive you are--you are anxious to knowsomething of that old ruin yonder?"

"Well, " said Sir Norman, so far recovering from his surprise as to beable to speak, "suppose I am? Have you anything to say against it, mylittle friend?"

"Oh, not in the least!" said the dwarf, with a hoarse chuckle. "Only, instead of wasting your breath asking this good man, who professes suchutter ignorance, you had better apply to me for information. "

Again Sir Norman surveyed the little Hercules from head to foot for amoment, in silence, as one, nowadays, would an intelligent gorilla. 

"You think so--do you? And what may you happen to know about it, mypretty little friend?"

"O Lord!" exclaimed the landlord, to himself, with a frightened face, while the dwarf "grinned horribly a ghastly smile" from ear to ear. 

"So much, my good sir, that I would strongly advise you not to go nearit, unless you wish to catch something worse than the plague. There havebeen others--our worthy host, there, whose teeth, you may perceive, arechattering in his head, can tell you about those that have tried thetrick, and--"

"Well?" said Sir Norman, curiously. 

"And have never returned to tell what they found!" concluded the littlemonster, with a diabolical leer. And as the landlord fell, gray andgasping, back in his seat, he broke out into a loud and hyena-likelaugh. 

"My dear little friend, " said Sir Norman, staring at him in displeasedwonder, "don't laugh, if you can help it. You are unprepossessing enoughat best, but when you laugh, you look like the very (a downward gesture)himself!"

Unheeding this advice, the dwarf broke again into an unearthlycachinnation, that frightened the landlord nearly into fits, andseriously discomposed the nervous system even of Sir Norman himself. Then, grinning like a baboon, and still transfixing our puissant youngknight with the same tiger-like and unpleasant glare, he nodded afarewell; and in this fashion, grinning, and nodding, and backing, hegot to the door, and concluding the interesting performance with a thirdhoarse and hideous laugh, disappeared in the darkness. 

For fully ten minutes after he was gone, the young man kept his eyesblankly fixed on the door, with a vague impression that he was sufferingfrom an attack of nightmare; for it seemed impossible that anything sopreposterously ugly as that dwarf could exist out of one. A deep groanfrom the landlord, however, convinced him that it was no disagreeablemidnight vision, but a brawny reality; and turning to that individual, he found him gasping, in the last degree of terror, behind the counter. 

"Now, who in the name of all the demons oat of Hades may that uglyabortion be?" inquired Sir Norman. 

"O Lord I be merciful! sir, it's Caliban; and the only wonder is, he didnot leave you a bleeding corpse at his feet!"

"I should like to see him try it. Perhaps he would have found that is agame two can play at! Where does he come from and who is he!"

The landlord leaned over the counter, and placed a very pale andstartled face close to Sir Norman's. 

"That's just what I wanted to tell you, sir, but I was afraid to speakbefore him. I think he lives up in that same old ruin you were inquiringabout--at least, he is often seen hanging around there; but people aretoo much afraid of him to ask him any questions. Ah, sir, it's a strangeplace, that ruin, and there be strange stories afloat about it, " saidthe man, with a portentious shake of the head. 

"What are they?" inquired Sir Norman. "I should particularly like toknow. "

"Well, sir, for one thing, some folks say it is haunted, on account ofthe queer lights and noises abort it, sometimes; but, again, there beother folks, sir, that say the ghosts are alive, and that he"--noddingtoward the door--"is a sort of ringleader among them. "

"And who are they that out up such cantrips in the old place, pray?"

"Lord only knows, sir. I'm sure I don't. I never go near it myself; butthere are others who have, and some of them tell of the most beautifullady, all in white, with long, black hair, who walks on the battlementsmoonlight nights. "

"A beautiful lady, all in white, with long, black hair! Why, thatdescription applies to Leoline exactly. "

And Sir Norman gave a violent start, and arose to proceed to the placedirectly. 

"Don't you go near it, sir!" said the host, warningly. "Others havegone, as he told you, and never come back; for these be dreadful times, and men do as they please. Between the plague and their wickedness, theLord only known what will become of us!"

"If I should return here for my horse in an hour or two, I suppose I canget him?" sad Sir Norman, as he turned toward the door. 

"It's likely you can, sir, if I'm not dead by that time, " said thelandlord, as he sank down again, groaning dismally, with his chinbetween his hands. 

The night was now profoundly dark; but Sir Norman knew the road and ruinwell, and, drawing his sword, walked resolutely on. The distance betweenit and the ruin was trifling, and in less than ten minutes it loomedup before him, a mass of deeper black in the blackness. No white visionfloated on the broken battlements this night, as Sir Norman lookedwistfully up at them; but neither was there any ungainly dwarf, withtwo-edged sword, guarding the ruined entrance; and Sir Norman passedunmolested in. He sought the spiral staircase which La Masque hadspoken of, and, passing carefully from one ancient chamber to another, stumbling over piles of rubbish and stones as he went, he reached it atlast. Descending gingerly its tortuous steepness, he found himself inthe mouldering vaults, and, as he trod them, his ear was greeted bythe sound of faint and far-off music. Proceeding farther, he hearddistinctly, mingled with it, a murmur of voices and laughter, and, through the chinks in the broken flags, he perceived a few faint raysof light. Remembering the directions of La Masque, and feeling intenselycurious, he cautiously knelt down, and examined the loose flagstonesuntil he found one he could raise; he pushed it partly aside, and, lyingflat on the stones, with his face to the aperture, Sir Norman beheld amost wonderful sight. 

CHAPTER VI. LA MASQUE

"Love is like a dizziness, " says the old song. Love is somethingelse--it is the most selfish feeling in existence. Of course, I don'tallude to the fraternal or the friendly, or any other such nonsensicalold-fashioned trash that artless people still believe in, but to thereal genuine article that Adam felt for Eve when he first saw her, andwhich all who read this--above the innocent and unsusceptible age oftwelve--have experienced. And the fancy and the reality are so muchalike, that they amount to about the same thing. The former perhaps, maybe a little short-lived; but it is just as disagreeable a sensationwhile it lasts as its more enduring sister. Love is said to be blind, and it also has a very injurious effect on the eyesight of itsvictims--an effect that neither spectacles nor oculists can aid in theslightest degree, making them see whether sleeping or waking, but oneobject, and that alone. 

I don't know whether these were Mr. Malcolm or Ormiston's thoughts, ashe leaned against the door-way, and folded his arms across his chest toawait the shining of his day-star. In fact, I am pretty sure they werenot: young gentlemen, as a general thing, not being any more given toprofound moralizing in the reign of His Most Gracious Majesty, CharlesII. , than they are at the present day; but I do know, that no sooner washis bosom friend and crony, Sir Norman Kingsley, out of eight, than heforgot him as teetotally an if he had never known that distinguishedindividual. His many and deep afflictions, his love, his anguish, andhis provocations; his beautiful, tantalizing, and mysterious lady-love;his errand and its probable consequences, all were forgotten; andOrmiston thought of nothing or nobody in the world but himself and LaMasque. La Masque! La Masque! that was the theme on which his thoughtsrang, with wild variations of alternate hope and fear, like every otherlover since the world began, and love was first an institution. "As itwas in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, " truly, truly it isan odd and wonderful thing. And you and I may thank our stars, dearreaders, that we are a great deal too sensible to wear our hearts inour sleeves for such a bloodthirsty dew to peck at. Ormiston's flame waslonger-lived than Sir Norman's; he had been in love a whole month, andhad it badly, and was now at the very crisis of a malady. Why didshe conceal her face--would she ever disclose it--would she listen tohim--would she ever love him? feverishly asked Passion; and Common Sense(or what little of that useful commodity he had left) answered--probablybecause she was eccentric--possibly she would disclose it for the samereason; that he had only to try and make her listen; and as to herloving him, why, Common Sense owned he had her there. 

I can't say whether the adage! "Faint heart never won fair lady!" wasextant in his time; but the spirit of it certainly was, and Ormistondetermined to prove it. He wanted to see La Masque, and try his fateonce again; and see her he would, if he had to stay there as a sort ofornamental prop to the house for a week. He knew he might as well lookfor a needle in a haystack as his whimsical beloved through the streetsof London--dismal and dark now as the streets of Luxor and Tadmor inEgypt; and he wisely resolved to spare himself and his Spanish leathersboots the trial of a one-handed game of "hide-and-go-to-seek. " Wisdom, like Virtue, is its own reward; and scarcely had he come to thislaudable conclusion, when, by the feeble glimmer of the house-lamps, hesaw a figure that made his heart bound, flitting through the night-gloomtoward him. He would have known that figure on the sands of Sahara, inan Indian jungle, or an American forest--a tall, slight, supple figure, bending and springing like a bow of steel, queenly and regal as that ofa young empress. It was draped in a long cloak reaching to the ground, in color as black as the night, and clasped by a jewel whose glitteringflash, he saw even there; a velvet hood of the same color covered thestately head; and the mask--the tiresome, inevitable mask covered thebeautiful--he was positive it was beautiful--face. He had seen her ascore of times in that very dress, flitting like a dark, graceful ghostthrough the city streets, and the sight sent his heart plunging againsthis side like an inward sledge-hammer. Would one pulse in her heart stirever so faintly at sight of him? Just as he asked himself the question, and was stepping forward to moot her, feeling very like the countryswain in love--"hot and dry like, with a pain in his side like"--hesuddenly stopped. Another figure came forth from the shadow of anopposite house, and softly pronounced her name. It was a short figure--awoman's figure. He could not see the face, and that was an immenserelief to him, and prevented his having jealousy added to his otherpains sad tribulations. La Masque paused as well as he, and her softvoice softly asked:

"Who calls?"

"It is I, madame--Prudence. "

"Ah! I am glad to meet you. I have been searching the city through foryou. Where have you been?"

"Madame, I was so frightened that I don't know where I fled to, andI could scarcely make up my mind to come back at all. I did feeldreadfully sorry for her, poor thing! but you know, Madame Masque, Icould do nothing for her, and I should not have come back, only I wasafraid of you. "

"You did wrong, Prudence, " said La Masque, sternly, or at least assternly as so sweet a voice could speak; "you did very wrong to leaveher in such a way. You should have come to me at once, and told me all. "

"But, madame, I was so frightened!"

"Bah! You are nothing but a coward. Come into this doorway, and tell meall about it. "

Ormiston drew back as the twain approached, and entered the deep portalsof La Masque's own doorway. He could see them both by the aforesaidfaint lamplight, and he noticed that La Masque's companion was awrinkled old woman, that would not trouble the peace of mind of the mostjealous lover in Christendom. Perhaps it was not just the thing to hoveraloof and listen; but he could not for the life of him help it; andstand and listen he accordingly did. Who knew but this nocturnalconversation might throw some light on the dark mystery he was anxiousto see through, and, could his ears have run into needle-points to hearthe better, he would have had the operation then and there performed. There was a moment's silence after the two entered the portal, duringwhich La Masque stood, tall, dark, and commanding, motionless as amarble column; and the little withered old specimen of humanity besideher stood gazing up at her with something between fear and fascination. 

"Do you know what has become of your charge, Prudence?" asked the low, vibrating voice of La Masque, at last. 

"How could I, madame? You know I fled from the house, and I dared not goback. Perhaps she is there still. "

"Perhaps she is not? Do you suppose that sharp shriek of yours wasunheard? No; she was found; and what do you suppose has become of her?"

The old woman looked up, and seemed to read in the dark, stern figure, and the deep solemn voice, the fatal truth. She wrong her hands with asort of cry. 

"Oh! I know, I know; they have put her in the dead-cart, and buried herin the plague-pit. O my dear, sweet young mistress. "

"If you had stayed by your dear, sweet young mistress, instead ofrunning screaming away as you did, it might not have happened, " said LaMasque, in a tone between derision and contempt. 

"Madame, " sobbed the old woman, who was crying, "she was dying of theplague, and how could I help it? They would have buried her in spite ofme. "

"She was not dead; there was your mistake. She was as much alive as youor I at this moment. "

"Madame, I left her dead!" said the old woman positively. 

"Prudence, you did no such thing; you left her fainting, and in thatstate she was found and carried to the plague-pit. "

The old woman stood silent for a moment, with a face of intense horror, and then she clasped both hands with a wild cry. 

"O my God! And they buried her alive--buried her alive in that dreadfulplague-pit!"

La Masque, leaning against a pillar, stood unmoved; and her voice, whenshe spoke, was as coldly sweet as modern ice-cream. 

"Not exactly. She was not buried at all, as I happen to know. But whendid you discover that she had the plague, and how could she possiblyhave caught it?"

"That I do not know, madam. She seemed well enough all day, though notin such high spirits as a bride should be. Toward evening die complainedof a headache and a feeling of faintness; but I thought nothing of it, and helped her to dress for the bridal. Before it was over, the headacheand faintness grew worse, and I gave her wine, and still suspectednothing. The last time I came in, she had grown so much worse, thatnotwithstanding her wedding dress, she had lain down on her bed, lookingfor all the world like a ghost, and told me she had the most dreadfulburning pain in her chest. Then, madame, the horrid truth struck me--Itore down her dress, and there, sure enough, was the awful mark ofthe distemper. `You have the plague!' I shrieked; and then I fled downstairs and out of the house, like one crazy. O madame, madame! I shallnever forget it--it was terrible! I shall never forget it! Poor, poorchild; and the count does not know a word of it!"

La Masque laughed--a sweet, clear, deriding laugh, "So the count doesnot know it, Prudence? Poor man! he will be in despair when he finds itout, won't he? Such an ardent and devoted lover as he was you know!"

Prudence looked up a little puzzled. 

"Yes, madame, I think so. He seemed very fond of her; a great dealfonder than she ever was of him. The fact is, madame, " said Prudence, lowering her voice to a confidential stage whisper, "she never seemedfond of him at all, and wouldn't have been married, I think, if shecould have helped it. "

"Could have helped it? What do you mean, Prudence? Nobody made her, didthey?"

Prudence fidgeted, and looked rather uneasy. 

"Why, madame, she was not exactly forced, perhaps; but you know--youknow you told me--"

"Well?" said La Masque, coldly. 

"To do what I could, " cried Prudence, in a sort of desperation; "and Idid it, madame, and harassed her about it night and day. And then thecount was there, too, coaxing and entreating; and he was handsome andhad such ways with him that no woman could resist, much less one solittle used to gentlemen as Leoline. And so, Madame Masque, we kept ather till we got her to consent to it at last; but in her secret heart, I know she did not want to be married--at least to the count, " saidPrudence, on serious afterthought. 

"Well, well; that has nothing to do with it. The question is, where itshe to be found?"

"Found!" echoed Prudence; "has she then been lost?"

"Of coarse she has, you old simpleton! How could she help it, and shedead, with no one to look after her?" said La Masque, with somethinglike a half laugh. "She was carried to the plague-pit in herbridal-robes, jewels and lace; and, when about to be thrown in, wasdiscovered, like Moses is the bulrushes, to be all alive. "

"Well, " whispered Prudence, breathlessly. 

"Well, O most courageous of guardians! she was carried to a certainhouse, and left to her own devices, while her gallant rescuer went for adoctor; and when they returned she was missing. Our pretty Leoline seemsto have a strong fancy for getting lost!"

There was a pause, during which Prudence looked at her with a face fallof mingled fear and curiosity. At last:

"Madame, how do you know all this? Were you there?"

"No. Not I, indeed! What would take me there?"

"Then how do you happen to know everything about it?"

La Masque laughed. 

"A little bird told me, Prudence! Have you returned to resume your oldduties?"

"Madame, I dare not go into that house again. I am afraid of taking theplague. "

"Prudence, you are a perfect idiot! Are you not liable to take theplague in the remotest quarter of this plague-infested city? And evenif you do take it, what odds? You have only a few years to live, at themost, and what matter whether you die now or at the end of a year ortwo?"

"What matter?" repeated Prudence, in a high key of indignant amazement. "It may make no matter to you, Madame Masque, but it makes a great dealto me; I can tell you; and into that infected house I'll not put onefoot. "

"Just as you please, only in that case there is no need for furthertalk, so allow me to bid you good-night!"

"But, madame, what of Leoline? Do stop one moment and tell me of her. "

"What have I to tell? I have told you all I know. If you want to findher, you must search in the city or in the pest-house!"

Prudence shuddered, and covered her face with her hands. 

"O, my poor darling! so good and so beautiful. Heaven might surely havespared her! Are you going to do nothing farther about it?"

"What can I do? I have searched for her and have not found her, and whatelse remains?"

"Madame, you know everything--surely, surely you know where my poorlittle nursling is, among the rest. "

Again La Masque laughed--another of her low, sweet, derisive laughs. 

"No such thing, Prudence. If I did, I should have her here in atwinkling, depend upon--it. However, it all comes to the same thing inthe end. She is probably dead by this time, and would have to be buriedin the plague-pit, anyhow. If you have nothing further to say, Prudence, you had better bid me good-night, and let me go. "

"Good-night, madame!" said Prudence, with a sort of groan, as shewrapped her cloak closely around her, and turned to go. 

La Masque stood for a moment looking after her, and then placed a keyin the lock of the door. But there is many a slip--she was not fated toenter as soon as she thought; for just at that moment a new step soundedbeside her, a new voice pronounced her name, and looking around, shebeheld Ormiston. With what feelings that young person had listenedto the neat and appropriate dialogue I have just had the pleasure ofimmortalizing, may be--to use a phrase you may have heard before, onceor twice--better imagined than described. He knew very well who Leolinewas, and how she had been saved from the plague-pit; but where in theworld had La Masque found it out. Lost in a maze of wonder, and inclinedto doubt the evidence of his own ears, he had stood perfectly still, until his ladylove had so coolly dismissed her company, and then rousinghimself just in time, he had come forward and accosted her. La Masqueturned round, regarded him in silence for a moment, and when she spoke, her voice had an accent of mingled surprise and displeasure. 

"You, Mr. Ormiston! How many more times am I to have the pleasure ofseeing you again to-night?"

"Pardon, madame; it is the last time. But you must hear me now. "

"Must I? Very well, then; if I must, you had better begin at once, forthe night-air is said to be unhealthy, and as good people are scarce, Iwant to take care of myself. "

"In that case, perhaps you had better let me enter, too. I hate to talkon the street, for every wall has ears. "

"I am aware of that. When I was talking to my old friend, Prudence, twominutes ago, I saw a tall shape that I have reason to know, since ithaunts me, like my own shadow, standing there and paying deed attention. I hope you found our conversation improving, Mr. Ormiston!"

"Madame!" began Ormiston, turning crimson. 

"Oh, don't blush; there is quite light enough from yonder lamp to showthat. Besides, " added the lady, easily, "I don't know as I had anyobjection; you are interested in Leoline, and must feel curious to knowsomething about her. "

"Madame, what must you think of me? I have acted unpardonably. "

"Oh, I know all that. There is no need to apologize, and I don't thinkany the worse of you for it. Will you come to business, Mr. Ormiston?I think I told you I wanted to go in. What may you want of me at thisdismal hour?"

"O madame, need you ask! Does not your own heart tell you?"

"I am not aware that it does! And to tell you the truth, Mr. Ormiston, I don't know that I even have a heart! I am afraid I mast trouble you toput it in words. "

"Then, madame, I love you!"

"Is that all? If my memory serves me, you have told me that little factseveral times before. Is there anything else tormenting you, or may I goin?"

Ormiston groaned out an oath between his teeth, and La Masque raised onejeweled, snowy taper finger, reprovingly. 

"Don't Mr. Ormiston--it's naughty, you know! May I go in?"

"Madame, you are enough to drive a man mad. Is the love I bear youworthy of nothing but mockery!"

"No, Mr. Ormiston, it is not; that is, supposing you really love me, which you don't. "

"Madame!"

"Oh, you needn't flash and look indignant; it is quite true! Don't beabsurd, Mr. Ormiston. How is it possible for you to love one you havenever seen?"

"I have seen you. Do you think I am blind?" he demanded, indignantly. 

"My face, I mean. I don't consider that you can see a person withoutlooking in her face. Now you have never looked in mine, and how do youknow I have any face at all?"

"Madame, you mock me. "

"Not at all. How are you to know what is behind this mask?"

"I feel it, and that is better; and I love you all the same. "

"Mr. Ormiston, how do you know but I am ugly. "

"Madame, I do not believe you are; you are all too perfect not to have aperfect face; and even were it otherwise, I still love you!"

She broke into a laugh--one of her low, short, deriding laughs. 

"You do! O man, how wise thou art! I tell you, if I took off this mask, the sight would curdle the very blood in your veins with horror--wouldfreeze the lifeblood in your heart. I tell you!" she passionately cried, "there are sights too horrible for human beings to look on and live, andthis--this is one of them!"

He started back, and stared at her aghast. 

"You think me mad, " she said, in a less fierce tone, "but I am not; andI repeat it, Mr. Ormiston, the sight of what this mask conceals wouldblast you. Go now, for Heaven's sake, and leave me in peace, to drag outthe rest of my miserable life; and if ever you think of me, let it be topray that it might speedily end. You have forced me to say this: so nowbe content. Be merciful, and go!"

She made a desperate gesture, and turned to leave him, but he caught herhand and held her fast. 

"Never!" he cried, fiercely. "Say what you will! let that mask hide whatit may! I will never leave you till life leaves me!"

"Man, you are mad! Release my hand and let me go!"

"Madame, hear me. There is but one way to prove my love, and my sanity, and that is--"

"Well?" she said, almost touched by his earnestness. 

"Raise your mask and try me! Show me your face and see if I do not loveyou still!"

"Truly I know how much love you will have for me when it is revealed. Doyou know that no one has looked in my face for the last eight years. "

He stood and gazed at her in wonder. 

"It is so, Mr. Ormiston; and in my heart I have vowed a vow to plungeheadlong into the most loathsome plague-pit in London, rather than everraise it again. My friend, be satisfied. Go and leave me; go and forgetme. "

"I can do neither until I have ceased to forget every thing earthly. Madame, I implore you, hear me!"

"Mr. Ormiston, I tell you, you but court your own doom. No one can lookon me and live!"

"I will risk it, " he said with an incredulous smile. "Only promise toshow me your face. "

"Be it so then!" she cried almost fiercely. "I promise, and be theconsequences on your own head. "

His whole face flushed with joy. 

"I accept them. And when is that happy time to come?"

"Who knows! What must be done, had best be done quickly; but I tell theeit were safer to play with the lightning's chain than tamper with whatthou art about to do. "

"I take the risk! Will you raise your mask now?"

"No, no--I cannot! But yet, I may before the sun rises. My face"--withbitter scorn--"shows better by darkness than by daylight. Will you beout to see, the grand illumination. "

"Most certainly. "

"Then meet me here an hour after midnight, and the face so long hiddenshall be revealed. But, once again, on the threshold of doom, I entreatyou to pause. "

"There is no such word for me!" he fiercely and exultingly cried. "Ihave your promise, and I shall hold you to it! And, madame, if, at last, you discover my love is changeless as fate itself, then--then may I notdare to hope for a return?"

"Yes; then you may hope, " she said, with cold mockery. "If your lovesurvives the sight, it will be mighty, indeed, and well worthy areturn. "

"And you will return it?"

"I will. "

"You will be my wife?"

"With all my heart!"

"My darling!" he cried, rapturously--"for you are mine already--how canI ever thank you for this? If a whole lifetime devoted and consecratedto your happiness can repay you, it shall be yours!"

During this rhapsody, her hand had been on the handle of the door. Nowshe turned it. 

"Good-night, Mr. Ormiston, " she said, and vanished. 

CHAPTER VII. THE EARL'S BARGE. 

Shocks of joy, they tell me, seldom kill. Of my own knowledge I cannotsay, for I have had precious little experience of such shocks in mylifetime, Heaven knows; but in the present instance, I can safely aver, they had no such dismal effect on Ormiston. Nothing earthly could havegiven that young gentleman a greater shock of joy than the knowledge hewas to behold the long hidden face of his idol. That that face was ugly, he did not for an instant believe, or, at least, it never world be uglyto him. With a form so perfect--a form a sylph might have envied--avoice sweeter than the Singing Fountain of Arabia, hands and feet themost perfectly beautiful the sun ever shone on, it was simply a moraland physical impossibility, then, they could be joined to a repulsiveface. There was a remote possibility that it was a little less exquisitethan those ravishing items, and that her morbid fancy made her imagineit homely, compared with them, but he knew he never would share in thatopinion. It was the reasoning of lover, rather, the logic; for whenlove glides smiling in at the door, reason stalks gravely, not to saysulkily, out of the window, and, standing afar off, eyes disdainfullythe didos and antics of her late tenement. There was very little reason, therefore, in Ormiston's head and heart, but a great deal of somethingsweeter, joy--joy that thrilled and vibrated through every nerve withinhim. Leaning against the portal, in an absurd delirium of delight--forit takes but a trifle to jerk those lovers from the slimiest depths ofthe Slough of Despond to the topmost peak of the mountain of ecstasy--heuncovered his head that the night-air might cool its feverishthrobbings. But the night-air was as hot as his heart; and, almostsuffocated by the sultry closeness, he was about to start for a plungein the river, when the sound of coming footsteps and voices arrestedhim. He had met with so many odd ad ventures to-night that he stoppednow to see who was coming; for on every hand all was silent andforsaken. 

Footsteps and voices came closer; two figures took shape in the gloom, and emerged from the darkness into the glimmering lamp light. Herecognised them both. One was the Earl of Rochester; the other, hisdark-eyed, handsome page--that strange page with the face of the lostlady! The earl was chatting familiarly, and laughing obstreperously atsomething or other, while the boy merely wore a languid smile, as ifanything further in that line were quite beneath his dignity. 

"Silence and solitude, " said the earl, with a careless glance around, "I protest, Hubert, this night seems endless. How long is it tillmidnight?"

"An hour and a half at least, I should fancy, " answered the boy, with astrong foreign accent. "I know it struck ten as we passed St. Paul's. "

"This grand bonfire of our most worshipful Lord Mayor will be a sightworth seeing, " remarked the earl. "When all these piles are lighted, thecity will be one sea of fire. "

"A slight foretaste of what most of its inhabitants will behold inanother world, " said the page, with a French shrug. "I have heardLilly's prediction that London is to be purified by fire, like a secondSodom; perhaps it is to be verified to-night. "

"Not unlikely; the dome of St. Paul's would be an excellent place toview the conflagration. "

"The river will do almost as well, my lord. "

"We will have a chance of knowing that presently, " said the earl, as heand his page descended to the river, where the little gilded barge laymoored, and the boatman waiting. 

As they passed from sight Ormiston came forth, and watched thoughtfullyafter them. The face and figure were that of the lady, but the voicewas different; both were clear and musical enough, but she spoke Englishwith the purest accent, while his was the voice of a foreigner. It mosthave been one of those strange, unaccountable likenesses we sometimessee among perfect strangers, but the resemblance in this ease wassomething wonderful. It brought his thoughts back from himself sad hisown fortunate love, to his violently-smitten friend, Sir Norman, and hisplague-stricken beloved; and he began speculating what he could possiblybe about just then, or what he had discovered in the old ruin. Suddenlyhe was aroused; a moment before, the silence had been almost oppressivebut now on the wings of the night, there came a shout. A tumult ofvoices and footsteps were approaching. 

"Stop her! Stop her!" was cried by many voices; and the next instant afleet figure went flying past him with a rush, and plunged head foremostinto she river. 

A slight female figure, with floating robes of white, waving hair ofdeepest, blackness, with a sparkle of jewels on neck and arms. Only foran instant did he see it; but he knew it well, and his very heart stoodstill. "Stop her! stop her! she is ill of the plague!" shouted thecrowd, preying panting on; but they came too late; the white vision hadgone down into the black, sluggish river, and disappeared. 

"Who is it? What is it? Where is it?" cried two or three watchmen, brandishing their halberds, and rushing up; and the crowd-a small mob ofa dozen or so-answered all at once: "She is delirious with the plague;she was running through the streets; we gave chase, but she out-steppedus, and is now at the bottom of the Thames. "

Ormiston, waited to hear no more, but rushed precipitately down to thewaters edge. The alarm has now reached the boats on the river, and manyeyes within them were turned in the direction whence she had gone down. Soon she reappeared on the dark surface--something whiter than snow, whiter than death; shining like silver, shone the glittering dress andmarble face of the bride. A small batteau lay close to where Ormistonstood; in two seconds he had sprang in, shoved it off, and was rowingvigorously toward that snow wreath in the inky river. But he wasforestalled, two hands white and jeweled as her own, reached over theedge of a gilded barge, and, with the help of the boatmen, lifted herin. Before she could be properly established on the cushioned seats, thebatteau was alongside, and Ormiston turned a very white and excited facetoward the Earl of Rochester. 

"I know that lady, my lord! She is a friend of mine, and you must giveher to me!"

"Is it you, Ormiston? Why what brings you here alone on the river, atthis hour?"

"I have come for her, " said Ormiston, pressing over to lift the lady. "May I beg you to assist me, my lord, in transferring her to my boat?"

"You must wait till I see her first, " said Rochester, partly raising herhead, and holding a lamp close to her face, "as I have picked her out, Ithink I deserve it. Heavens! what an extraordinary likeness!"

The earl had glanced at the lady, then at his page, again at the lady, and lastly at Ormiston, his handsome countenance fall of the mostunmitigated wonder. "To whom?" asked Ormiston, who had very little needto inquire. 

"To Hubert, yonder. Why, don't you see it yourself? She might be histwin-sister!"

"She might be, but as she is not, you will have the goodness to let metake charge of her. She has escaped from her friends, and I meet bringher back to them. "

He half lifted her as he spoke; and the boatman, glad enough to get ridof one sick of the plague, helped her into the batteau. The lady wasnot insensible, as might be supposed, after her cold bath, but extremelywide-awake, and gazing around her with her great, black, shining eyes. But she made no resistance; either she was too faint or frightenedfor that, and suffered herself to be hoisted about, "passive to allchanges. " Ormiston spread his cloak in the stern of the boat, andlaid her tenderly upon it, and though the beautiful, wistful eyes weresolemnly and unwinkingly fixed on his face, the pale, sweet lips partednot--uttered never a word. The wet bridal robes were drenched anddripping about her, the long dark hair hung in saturated masses over herneck and arms, and contrasted vividly with a face, Ormiston thought atonce, the whitest, most beautiful, and most stonelike he had ever seen. 

"Thank you, my man; thank you, my lord, " said Ormiston, preparing topush off. 

Rochester, who had been leaning from the barge, gazing in mingledcuriosity, wonder, and admiration at the lovely face, turned now to herchampion. 

"Who is she, Ormiston?" he said, persuasively. 

But Ormiston only laughed, and rowed energetically for the shore. Thecrowd was still lingering; and half a dozen hands were extended to drawthe boat up to the landing. He lifted the light form in his arms andbore it from the boat; but before he could proceed farther with hisarmful of beauty, a faint but imperious voice spoke: "Please put medown. I am not a baby, and can walk myself. "

Ormiston was so surprised, or rather dismayed, by this unexpectedaddress, that he complied at once, and placed her on her own prettyfeet. But the young lady's sense of propriety was a good deal strongerthan her physical powers; and she swayed and tottered, and had to clingto her unknown friend for support. 

"You are scarcely strong enough, I am afraid, dear lady, " he said, kindly. "You had better let me carry you. I assure you I am quite equalto it, or even a more weighty burden, if necessity required. "

"Thank you, sir, " said the faint voice, faintly; "but I would ratherwalk. Where are you taking me to?"

"To your own house, if you wish--it is quite close at hand. "

"Yes. Yes. Let us go there! Prudence in there, and she will take care ofme. ". 

"Will she?" said Ormiston, doubtfully. "I hope you do not suffer muchpain!"

"I do not suffer at all, " she said, wearily; "only I am so tired. Oh, Iwish I were home!"

Ormiston half led, half lifted her up the stairs. 

"You are almost there, dear lady--see, it is close st hand!"

She half lifted her languid eyes, but did not speak. Leaning panting onhis arm, he drew her gently on until they reached her door. It was stillunfastened. Prudence had kept her word, and not gone near it; and heopened it, and helped her in. 

"Where now?" he asked. 

"Up stairs, " she said, feebly. "I want to go to my own room. "

Ormiston knew where that was, and assisted her there as tenderly as hecould have done La Masque herself. He paused on the threshold; for theroom was dark. 

"There is a lamp and a tinder-box on the mantel, " said the faint, sweetvoice, "if you will only please to find them. "

Ormiston crowed the room--fortunately he knew the latitude of the place--and moving his hand with gingerly precaution along the mantel-shelf, lest he should upset any of the gimcracks thereon, soon obtained thearticles named, and struck a light. The lady was leaning wearily againstthe door-post, but now she came forward, and dropped exhausted into thedowny pillows of a lounge. 

"Is there anything I can do for you, madame?" began Ormiston, with assolicitous an air as though he had been her father. "A glass of winewould be of use to you, I think, and then, if you wish, I will go for adoctor. "

"You are very kind. You will find wine and glasses in the room oppositethis, and I feel so faint that I think you had better bring me some. "

Ormiston moved across the passage, like the good, obedient young manthat he was, filled a glass of Burgundy, and as he was returning withit, was startled by a cry from the lady that nearly made him drop andshiver it on the floor. 

"What under heaven has come to her now?" he thought, hastening in, wondering how she could possibly have come to grief since he left her. 

She was sitting upright on the sofa, her dress palled down off hershoulder where the plague-spot had been, and which, to his amazement, hesaw now pure and stainless, and free from every loathsome trace. 

"You are cured of the plague!" was all he could say. 

"Thank God!" she exclaimed, fervently clasping her hands. "But oh! howcan it have happened? It mast be a miracle!"

"No, it was your plunge into the river; I have heard of one or two suchcases before, and if ever I take it, " said Ormiston, half laughing, halfshuddering, "my first rush shall be for old Father Thames. Here, drinkthis, I am certain it will complete the cure. "

The girl--she was nothing but a girl--drank it off and sat upright likeone inspired with new life. As she set down the glass, she lifted herdark, solemn, beautiful eyes to his face with a long, searching gaze. 

"What is your name?" she simply asked. 

"Ormiston, madame, " he said, bowing low. 

"You have saved my life, have you not?"

"It was the Earl of Rochester who reserved you from the river; but Iwould have done it a moment later. "

"I do not mean that. I mean"--with a slight shudder--"are you not one ofthose I saw at the plague-pit? Oh! that dreadful, dreadful plague-pit!"she cried, covering her face with her hands. 

"Yes. I am one of those. "

"And who was the other?"

"My friend, Sir Norman Kingsley. 

"Sir Norman Kingsley?" she softly repeated, with a sort of recognitionin her voice and eyes, while a faint roseate glow rose softly overher face and neck. "Ah! I thought--was it to his house or yours I wasbrought?"

"To his, " replied Ormiston, looking at her curiously; for he had seenthat rosy glow, and was extremely puzzled thereby; "from whence, allowme to add, you took your departure rather unceremoniously. "

"Did I?" she said, in a bewildered sort of way. "It is all like a dreamto me. I remember Prudence screaming, and telling me I had the plague, and the unutterable horror that filled me when I heard it; and then thenext thing I recollect is, being at the plague-pit, and seeing your faceand his bending over me. All the horror came back with that awakening, and between it and anguish of the plague-sore I think I fainted again. "(Ormiston nodded sagaciously), "and when I next recovered I was alone ina strange room, and in bed. I noticed that, though I think I must havebeen delirious. And then, half-mad with agony, I got out to the street, somehow and ran, and ran, and ran, until the people saw and followed mehere. I suppose I had some idea of reaching home when I came here; butthe crowd pressed so close behind, and I felt though all my delirium, that they would bring me to the pest-house if they caught me, anddrowning seemed to me preferable to that. So I was in the river beforeI knew it--and you know the rest as well as I do. But I owe you my life, Mr. Ormiston--owe it to you and another; and I thank you both with allmy heart. "

"Madame, you are too grateful; and I don't know as we have done anythingmuch to deserve it. "

"You have saved my life; and though you may think that a valuelesstrifle, not worth speaking of, I assure you I view it in a verydifferent light, " she said, with a half smile. 

"Lady, your life is invaluable; but as to our saving it, why, you wouldnot have us throw you alive into the plague-pit, would you?"

"It would have been rather barbarous, I confess, but there are few whowould risk infection for the sake of a mere stranger. Instead of doingas you did, you might have sent me to the pest-house, you know. "

"Oh, as to that, all your gratitude is due to Sir Norman. He managed thewhole affair, and what is more, fell--but I will leave that for himselfto disclose. Meantime, may I ask the name of the lady I have been sofortunate as to serve!"

"Undoubtedly, sir--my name is Leoline. "

"Leoline is only half a name. "

"Then I am so unfortunate an only to possess half a name, for I neverhad any other. "

Ormiston opened his eyes very wide indeed. 

"No other! you must have had a father some time in your life; mostpeople have, " said the young gentleman, reflectively. 

She shook her head a little sadly. 

"I never had, that I know of, either father or mother, or any one butPrudence. And by the way, " she said, half starting up, "the first thingto be done is, to see about this same Prudence. She must be somewhere inthe house. "

"Prudence is nowhere in the house, " said Ormiston, quietly; "and willnot be, she says, far a month to come. She is afraid of the plague. "

"Is she?" said Leoline, fixing her eyes on him with a powerful glance. "How do you know that?"

"I heard her say so not half an hour ago, to a lady a few doors distant. Perhaps you know her--La Masque. "

"That singular being! I don't know her; but I have seen her often. Whywas Prudence talking of me to her, I wonder?"

"That I do not know; but talking of you the was, and she said shewas coming back here no more. Perhaps you will be afraid to stay herealone?"

"Oh no, I am used to being alone, " she said, with a little sigh, "butwhere"--hesitating and blushing vividly, "where is--I mean, I shouldlike to thank sir Norman Kingsley. "

Ormiston saw the blush and the eyes that dropped, and it puzzled himagain beyond measure. 

"Do you know Sir Norman Kingsley?" he suspiciously asked. 

"By sight I know many of the nobles of the court, " she answeredevasively, and without looking up: "they pass here often, and Prudenceknows them all; and so I have learned to distinguish them by name andsight, your friend among the rest. "

"And you would like to see my friend?" he said, with malicious emphasis. 

"I would like to thank him, " retorted the lady, with some asperity:"you have told me how much I owe him, and it strikes me the desire issomewhat natural. "

"Without doubt it is, and it will save Sir Norman much fruitless labor;for even now he is in search at you, and will neither rest nor sleepuntil he finds you. "

"In search of me!" she said softly, and with that rosy glow againillumining her beautiful face; "he is indeed kind, and I am most anxiousto thank him. "

"I will bring him here in two hours, then, " said Ormiston, with energy;"and though the hour may be a little unseasonable, I hope you willnot object to it; for if you do, he will certainly not survive untilmorning. "

She gayly laughed, but her cheek was scarlet. 

"Rather than that, Mr. Ormiston, I will even see him tonight. You willfind me here when you come. "

"You will not run away again, will you?" said Ormiston, looking at herdoubtfully. "Excuse me; but you have a trick of doing that, you know. "

Again she laughed merrily. 

"I think you may safely trust me this time. Are you going?"

By way of reply, Ormiston took his hat and started for the door. Therehe paused, with his hand upon it. 

"How long have you known Sir Norman Kingsley?" was his careless, artfulquestion. 

But Leoline, tapping one little foot on the floor, and looking down atit with hot cheeks and humid ayes, answered not a word. 

CHAPTER VIII. THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN. 

When Sir Norman Kingsley entered the ancient ruin, his head was fall ofLeoline--when he knelt down to look through the aperture in the flaggedfloor, head and heart were full of her still. But the moment his eyesfell on the scene beneath, everything fled far from his thoughts, Leoline among the rest; and nothing remained but a profound andabsorbing feeling of intensest amaze. 

Right below him he beheld an immense room, of which the flag he hadraised seemed to form part of the ceiling, in a remote corner. Evidentlyit was one of a range of lower vaults, and as he was at least fourteenfeet above it, and his corner somewhat in shadow, there was littledanger of his being seen. So, leaning far down to look at his leisure, he took the goods the gods provided him, and stared to his heart'scontent. 

Sir Norman had seen some queer sights daring the four-and-twenty yearshe had spent in this queer world, but never anything quite equal tothis. The apartment below, though so exceedingly large, was lighted withthe brilliance of noon-day; and every object it contained; from one endto the other, was distinctly revealed. The floor, from glimpses hehad of it in obscure corners, was of stone; but from end to end it wascovered with richest rugs and mats, and squares of velvet of as manycolors as Joseph's coat. The walls were hung with splendid tapestry, gorgeous in silk and coloring, representing the wars of Troy, theexploits of Coeur de Lion among the Saracens, the death of Hercules, allon one side; and on the other, a more modern representation, the Fieldof the Cloth of Gold. The illumination proceeded from a range of waxtapers in silver candelabra, that encircled the whole room. The air wasredolent of perfumes, and filled with strains of softest and sweetestmusic from unseen hands. At one extremity of the room was a huge doorof glass and gilding; and opposite it, at the other extremity, wasa glittering throne. It stood on a raised dais, covered with crimsonvelvet, reached by two or three steps carpeted with the same; the thronewas as magnificent as gold, and satin, and ornamentation could makeit. A great velvet canopy of the same deep, rich color, cut in antiquepoints, and heavily hang with gold fringe, was above the seat of honor. Beside it, to the right, but a little lower down, was a similar throne, somewhat lees superb, and minus a canopy. From the door to the thronewas a long strip of crimson velvet, edged and embroidered with gold, andarranged in a sweeping semi-circle, on either side, were a row of greatcarved, gilded, and cushioned chairs, brilliant, too, with crimson andgold, and each for every-day Christians, a throne in itself. Between theblaze of illumination, the flashing of gilding and gold, the tropicalflush of crimson velvet, the rainbow dyes on floor and walls, theintoxicating gushes of perfume, and the delicious strains of unseenmusic, it is no wonder Sir Norman Kingsley's head was spinning like abewildered teetotum. 

Was he sane--was he sleeping? Had he drank too much wine at the GoldenCrown, and had it all gone to his head? Was it a scene of earnestenchantment, or were fairy-tales true? Like Abou Hasson when he awokein the palace of the facetious Caliph of Bagdad, he had no notion ofbelieving his own eyes and ears, and quietly concluded it was all anoptical illusion, as ghosts are said to be; but he quietly resolved tostay there, nevertheless, and see how the dazzling phantasmagoria wouldend. The music was certainly ravishing, and it seemed to him, as helistened with enchanted ears, that he never wanted to wake up from soheavenly a dream. 

One thing struck him as rather odd; strange and bewildered as everythingwas, it did not seem at all strange to him, on the contrary, a vagueidea was floating mistily through his mind that he had beheld preciselythe same thing somewhere before. Probably at some past period of hislife he had beheld a similar vision, or had seen a picture somewherelike it in a tale of magic, and satisfying himself with this conclusion, he began wondering if the genii of the place were going to make theirappearance at all, or if the knowledge that human eyes were upon themhad scared them back to Erebus. 

While still ruminating on this important question, a portion of thetapestry, almost beneath him, shriveled up and up, and out flocked aglittering throng, with a musical mingling of laughter and voices. Stillthey came, more and more, until the great room was almost filled, anda dazzling throng they were. Sir Norman had mingled in many a brilliantscene at Whitehall, where the gorgeous court of Charles shown in all itssplendor, with the "merry monarch" at their head, but all he had everwitnessed at the king's court fell far short of this pageant. Halfthe brilliant flock were ladies, superb in satins, silks, velvets andjewels. And such jewels! every gem that ever flashed back the sunlightsparkled and blazed in blending array on those beautiful bosoms andarms--diamonds, pearls, opals, emeralds, rubies, garnets, sapphires, amethysts--every jewel that ever shone. But neither dresses nor gemswere half so superb as the peerless forms they adorned; and such an armyof perfectly beautiful faces, from purest blonde to brightest brunette, had never met and mingled together before. 

Each lovely face was unmasked, but Sir Norman's dazzled eyes in vainsought among them for one he knew. All that "rosebud garden of girls"were perfect strangers to him, but not so the gallants, who flutteredamong them like moths around meteors. They, too, were in gorgeous array, in purple and fine linen, which being interpreted, signifieth in silkenhose of every color under the sun, spangled and embroidered slippersradiant with diamond buckles, doublets of as many different shades astheir tights, slashed with satin and embroidered with gold. Most of themwore huge powdered wigs, according to the hideous fashion then in vogue, and under those same ugly scalps, laughed many a handsome face SirNorman well knew. The majority of those richly-robed gallants werestrangers to him as well as the ladies, but whoever they were, whethermortal men or "spirits from the vasty deep, " they were in the tallestsort of clover just then. Evidently they knew it, too, and seemed to beon the best of terms with themselves and all the world, and laughed, and flirted, and flattered, with as mach perfection as so many ball-roomApollos of the present day. 

Still no one ascended the golden and crimson throne, though many of theladies and gentlemen fluttering about it were arrayed as royally as anycommon king or queen need wish to be. They promenaded up and down, armin arm; they seated themselves in the carved and gilded chairs; theygathered in little groups to talk and laugh, did everything, in short, but ascend the throne; and the solitary spectator up above began to growintensely curious to know who it was for. Their conversation he couldplainly hear, and to say that it amazed him, would be to use a feebleexpression, altogether inadequate to his feelings. Not that it was theremarks they made that gave his system each a shook, but the names bywhich they addressed each other. One answered to the aspiring cognomenof the Duke of Northumberland; another was the Earl of Leicester;another, the Duke of Devonshire; another, the Earl of Clarendon;another, the Duke of Buckingham; and so on, ad infinitum, dukes andearls alternately, like bricks and mortar in the wall of a house. There were other dignitaries besides, some that Sir Norman had a faintrecollection of hearing were dead for some years--Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More, the Earl of Bothwell, King Henry Darnley, Sir WalterRaleigh, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Southampton, the Duke of York, and no end of others with equally sonorous titles. As for mere lords andbaronets, and such small deer, there was nothing so plebeian present, and they were evidently looked upon by the distinguished assembly, likesmall beer in thunder, with pity and contempt. The ladies, too, were allduchesses, marchionesses, countesses, and looked fit for princesses, Sir Norman thought, though he heard none of them styled quite so high asthat. The tone of conversation was light and easy, but at the sametime extremely ceremonious and courtly, and all seemed to be enjoyingthemselves in the moat delightful sort of a way, which people of, such distinguished rank, I am told, seldom do. All went merry as amarriage-bell, and sweetly over the gay jingle of voices rose the sweet, faint strains of the unseen music. 

Suddenly all was changed. The great door of glass and gilding oppositethe throne was flung wide, and a grand usher in a grand court liveryflourished a mighty grand wand, and shouted, in a stentorian voice, "Back: back, ye lieges, and make way for Her Majesty, Queen Miranda!"

Instantly the unseen band thundered forth the national anthem. Thesplendid throng fell back on either hand in profoundest silence andexpectation. The grand usher mysteriously disappeared, and in his placethere stalked forward a score of soldiers, with clanking swords andfierce moustaches, in the gorgeous uniform of the king's body-guard. These showy warriors arranged themselves silently on either side of thecrimson throne, and were followed by half a dozen dazzling personages, the foremost crowned with mitre, armed with crozier, and robed in theecclesiastical glory of an archbishop, but the face underneath, to thedeep surprise and scandal of Sir Norman, was that of the fastest youngroue of Charles court, after him came another pompous dignitary, in suchunheard of magnificence that the unseen looker-on set him down fora prime minister, or a lord high chancellor, at the very least. Thesomewhat gaudy-looking gentlemen who stepped after the pious prelate andpeer wore the stars and garters of foreign courts, and were evidentlyembassadors extraordinary to that of her midnight majesty. After themcame a snowy flock of fair young girls, angels all but the wings, slender as sylphs, and robed in purest white. Each bore on her arm abasket of flowers, roses and rosebuds of every tint, from snowy white todarkest crimson, and as they floated in they scattered them lightlyas they went. And then after all came another vision, "the last, thebrightest, the best--the Midnight Queen, " herself. One other figurefollowed her, and as they entered, a shout arose from the wholeassemblage, "Long live Queen Miranda!" And bowing gracefully and easilyto the right end left, the queen with a queenly step, trod the longcrimson carpet and mounted the regal throne. 

From the first moment of his looking down, Sir Norman had been staringwith all the eyes in his head, undergoing one shock of surprise afteranother with the equanimity of a man quite need to it; but now a cryarose to his lips, and died there in voiceless consternation. For herecognized the queen--well he might!--he had seen her before, and herface was the face of Leoline!

As she mounted the stairs, she stood there for a moment crowned andsceptred, before sitting down, and in that moment he recognized thewhole scene. That gorgeous room and its gorgeous inmates; that regalthrone and its regal owner, all became palpable as the sun at noonday;that slender, exquisite figure, robed in royal purple and ermine; theuncovered neck and arms, snowy and perfect, ablaze with jewels; thatlovely face, like snow, like marble, in its whiteness end calm, withthe great, dark, earnest eyes looking out, and the waving wealth of hairfalling around it. It was the very scene, and room, and vision, thatLa Masque had shown him in the caldron, and that face was the face ofLeoline, and the earl's page. 

Could he be dreaming? Was he sane or mad, or were the three really one?

While he looked, the beautiful queen bowed low, and amid the profoundestand most respectful silence, took her seat. In her robes of purple, wearing the glittering crown, sceptre in hand, throned and canopied, royally beautiful she looked indeed, and a most vivid contrast to thegentleman near her, seated very much at his ease, on the lower throne. The contrast was not of dress--for his outward man was resplendent tolook at; but in figure and face, or grace and dignity, he was a verymean specimen of the lords of creation, indeed. In stature, he scarcelyreached to the queen's royal shoulder, but made up sideways what hewanted in length--being the breadth of two common men; his head was inproportion to his width, and was decorated with a wig of long, flowing, flaxen hair, that scarcely harmonized with a profusion of the articlewhiskers, in hue most unmitigated black; his eyes were small, keen, bright, and piercing, and glared on the assembled company as they haddone half an hour before on Sir Norman Kingsley, in the bar-room of theGolden Crown; for the royal little man was no other than Caliban, thedwarf. Behind the thrones the flock of floral angels grouped themselves;archbishop, prime minister, and embassadors, took their stand within thelines of the soldiery, and the music softly and impressively died swayin the distance; dead silence reigned. 

"My lord Duke, " began the queen, in the very voice he had heard at theplague-pit, as she turned to the stylish individual next the archbishop, "come forward and read us the roll of mortality since our last meeting. "

His grace, the duke, instantly stepped forward, bowing so low thatnothing was seen of him for a brief space, but the small of his back, and when he reared himself up, after this convulsion of nature, SirNorman beheld a face not entirely new to him. At first, he could notimagine where he had seen it, but speedily she recollected it was theidentical face of the highwayman who had beaten an inglorious retreatfrom him and Count L'Estrange, that very night. This ducat robber drewforth a roll of parchment, and began reading, in lachrymose tones, a select litany of defunct gentlemen, with hifalutin titles who haddeparted this life during the present week. Most of them had gone withthe plague, but a few had died from natural causes, and among these werethe Earls of Craven and Ashley. 

"My lords Craven and Ashley dead!" exclaimed the queen, in tones of somesurprise, but very little anguish; "that is singular, for we saw themnot two hours ago, in excellent health and spirits. "

"True, poor majesty, " said the duke, dolefully, "and it is not an hoursince they quitted this vale of tears. They and myself rode forthat nightfall, according to Custom, to lay your majesty's tax on alltravelers, and soon chanced to encounter one who gave vigorous battle;still, it would have done him little service, had not another personcome suddenly to his aid, and between them they clove the skulls ofAshley and Craven; and I, " said the duke, modestly, "I left. "

"Were either of the travelers young, and tall, and of courtly bearing?"exclaimed the dwarf with sharp rudeness. 

"Both were, your highness, " replied the duke, bowing to the smallspeaker, "and uncommonly handy with their weapons. "

"I saw one of them down at the Golden Crown, not long ago, " said thedwarf; "a forward young popinjay, and mighty inquisitive about this, our royal palace. I promised him, if he came here, a warm reception--apromise I will have the greatest pleasure in fulfilling. "

"You may stand aside, my lord duke, " said the queen, with a gracefulwave of her hand, "and if any new subjects have been added to our courtsince our last weekly meeting, let them come forward, and be sworn. "

A dozen or mare courtiers immediately stepped forward, and kneelingbefore the queen, announced their name and rank, which were bothambitiously high. A few silvery-toned questions were put by that royallady and satisfactorily answered, and then the archbishop, armed witha huge tome, administered a severe and searching oath, which thecandidates took with a great deal of sang frond, and were thenpermitted to kiss the hand of the queen--a privilege worth any amount ofswearing--and retire. 

"Let any one who has any reports to make, make them immediately, " againcommanded her majesty. 

A number of gentlemen of high rank, presented themselves at thissummons, and began relating, as a certain sect of Christians doin church, their experience! Many of these consisted, to the deepdisapproval of Sir Norman, of accounts of daring highway robberies, oneof them perpetrated on the king himself, which distinguished personagethe duplicate of Leoline styled "our brother Charles, " and of thesums thereby attained. The treasurer of state was then ordered to showhimself, and give an account of the said moneys, which he promptly did;and after him came a number of petitioners, praying for one thing andanother, some of which the queen promised to grant, and some she didn't. These little affairs of state being over, Miranda turned to the littlegentleman beside her, with the observation, "I believe, your highness, it a on this night the Earl of Gloucester isto be tried on a charge of high treason, in it not?"

His highness growled a respectful assent. 

"Then let him be brought before us, " said the queen. "Go, guards, andfetch him. "

Two of the soldiers bowed low, and backed from the royal presence, amiddead and ominous silence. At this interesting stage of the proceedings, as Sir Norman was leaning forward, breathless and excited, a footstepsounded on the flagged floor beside him, and some one suddenly graspedhis shoulder with no gentle hand. 

CHAPTER IX. LEOLINE. 

In one instant Sir Norman was on his feet and his hand on his sword. Inthe tarry darkness, neither the face nor figure of the intruder could bemade out, but he merely saw a darker shadow beside him standing in thesea of darkness. Perhaps he might have thought it a ghost, but that thehand which grasped his shoulder was unmistakably of flesh, and blood, and muscle, and the breathing of its owner was distinctly audible by hisads. 

"Who are you?" demanded Sir Norman, drawing out his sword, and wrenchinghimself free from his unseen companion. 

"Ah! it is you, is it? I thought so, " said a not unknown voice. "I havebeen calling you till I am hoarse, and at last gave it up, and startedafter you in despair. What are you doing here?"

"You, Ormiston!" exclaimed Sir Norman, in the last degree astonished. "How--when--what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? that's more to the purpose. Down flat onyour face, with your head stuck through that hole. What is below there, anyway?"

"Never mind, " said Sir Norman, hastily, who, for some reason quiteunaccountable to himself, did not wish Ormiston to see. "There's nothingtherein particular, but a lower range of vaults. Do you intend tellingme what has brought you here?"

"Certainly; the very fleetest horse I could find in the city. "

"Pshaw! You don't say so?" exclaimed Sir Norman, incredulously. "ButI presume you had some object in taking such a gallop? May I ask what?Your anxious solicitude on my account, very likely?"

"Not precisely. But, I say, Kingsley, what light is that shining throughthere? I mean to see. "

"No, you won't, " said Sir Norman, rapidly and noiselessly replacing theflag. "It's nothing, I tell you, but a number of will-o-'wisps havinga ball. Finally, and for the last time, Mr. Ormiston, will you have thegoodness to tell me what has sent you here?"

"Come out to the air, then. I have no fancy for talking in this place;it smells like a tomb. "

"There is nothing wrong, I hope?" inquired Sir Norman, following hisfriend, and threading his way gingerly through the piles of rubbish inthe profound darkness. 

"Nothing wrong, but everything extremely right. Confound this place!It would be easier walking on live eels than through these winding andlumbered passages. Thank the fates, we are through them, at last! forthere is the daylight, or, rather the nightlight, and we have escapedwithout any bones broken. "

They had reached the mouldering and crumbling doorway, shown by a squareof lighter darkness, and exchanged the damp, chill atmosphere of thevaults for the stagnant, sultry open air. Sir Norman, with a notion inhis head that his dwarfish highness might have placed sentinels aroundhis royal residence, endeavored to pierce the gloom in search of them. Though he could discover none, he still thought discretion the betterpart of valor, and stepped out into the road. 

"Now, then, where are you going?" inquired Ormiston for, following him. 

"I don't wish to talk here; there is no telling who may be listening. Come along. "

Ormiston glanced back at the gloomy rain looming up like a black spectrein the blackness. 

"Well, they most have a strong fancy for eavesdropping, I must say, whoworld go to that haunted heap to listen. What have you seen there, andwhere have you left your horse?"

"I told you before, " said Sir Norman, rather impatiently, "I that I haveseen nothing--at least, nothing you would care about; and my horse iswaiting me at the Golden Crown. "

"Very well, we have no time to lose; so get there as fast as you can, and mount him and ride as if the demon were after you back to London. "

"Back to London? Is the man crazy? I shall do no such thing, let me tellyou, to-night. "

"Oh, just as you please, " said Ormiston, with a great deal ofindifference, considering the urgent nature of his former request. "Youcan do as you like, you know, and so can I--which translated, means, Iwill go and tell her you have declined to come. "

"Tell her? Tell whom? What are you talking about? Hang it, man!"exclaimed Sir Norman, getting somewhat excited and profane, "what areyou driving at? Can't you speak out and tell me at once?"

"I have told you!" said Ormiston, testily: "and I tell you again, shesent me in search of you, and if you don't choose to come, that's yourown affair, and not mine. "

This was a little too mach for Sir Norman's overwrought feelings, and inthe last degree of exasperation, he laid violent hands on the collarof Ormiston's doublet, and shook him as if he would have shaken thename out with a jerk. 

"I tell you what it is, Ormiston, you had better not aggravate me! I canstand a good deal, but I'm not exactly Moses or Job, and you had bettermind what you're at. If you don't come to the point at once, and tellme who I she is, I'll throttle you where you stand; and so give youwarning. "

Half-indignant, and wholly laughing, Ormiston stepped back out of theway of his excited friend. 

"I cry you mercy! In one word, then, I have been dispatched by a lady insearch of you, and that lady is--Leoline. "

It has always been one of the inscrutable mysteries in naturalphilosophy that I never could fathom, why men do not faint. Certain itis, I never yet heard of a man swooning from excess of surprise orjoy, and perhaps that may account for Sir Norman's not doing so on thepresent occasion. But he came to an abrupt stand-still in their rapidcareer; and if it had not been quite so excessively dark, his friendwould have beheld a countenance wonderful to look on, in its mixture ofutter astonishment and sublime consternation. 

"Leoline!" he faintly gasped. "Just atop a moment, Ormiston, and saythat again--will you?"

"No, " said Ormiston, hurrying unconcernedly on; "I shall do no suchthing, for there is no time to lose, and if there were I have no fancyfor standing in this dismal road. Come on, man, and I'll tell you as wego. "

Thus abjured, and seeing there was no help for it, Sir Norman, in adazed and bewildered state, complied; and Ormiston promptly and brisklyrelaxed into business. 

"You see, my dear fellow, to begin at the beginning, after you left, Istood at ease at La Masque's door, awaiting that lady's return, andwas presently rewarded by seeing her come up with an old woman calledPrudence. Do you recollect the woman who rushed screaming out of thehome of the dead bride?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Well, that was Prudence. She and La Masque were talking so earnestlythey did not perceive me, and I--well, the fast is, Kingsley, I stayedand listened. Not a very handsome thing, perhaps, but I couldn't resistit. They were talking of some one they called Leoline, and I, in amoment, knew that it was your flame, and that neither of them knew anymore of her whereabouts than we did. "

"And yet La Masque told me to come here in search of her, " interruptedSir Norman. 

"Very true! That was odd--wasn't it? This Prudence, it appears, wasLeoline's nurse, and La Masque, too, seemed to have a certain authorityover her; and between them, I learned she was to have been married thisvery night, and died--or, at least, Prudence thought so--an hour or twobefore the time. "

"Then she was not married?" cried Sir Norman, in an ecstasy of delight. 

"Not a bit of it; and what is more, didn't want to be; and judging fromthe remarks of Prudence, I should say, of the two, rather preferred theplague. "

"Then why was she going to do it? You don't mean to say she was forced?"

"Ah, but I do, though! Prudence owned it with the most charming candorin the world. "

"Did you hear the name of the person she was to have married?" asked SirNorman, with kindling eyes. 

"I think not; they called him the count, if my memory serves me, andPrudence intimated that he knew nothing of the melancholy fate ofMistress Leoline. Moat likely it was the person in the cloak andslouched hat we caw talking to the watchman. "

Sir Norman said nothing, but he thought a good deal, and the burden ofhis thoughts was an ardent and heartfelt wish that the Court L'Estrangewas once more under the swords of the three robbers, and waiting for himto ride to the rescue--that was all!

"La Masque urged Prudence to go back, " continued Ormiston; "but Prudencerespectfully declined, and went her way bemoaning the fate of herdarling. When she was gone, I stepped up to Madame Masque, and thatlady's first words of greeting were an earnest hope that I had beenedified and improved by what I had overheard. "

"She saw you, then?" said Sir Norman. 

"See me? I believe you! She has more eyes than ever Argus had, and eachone is as sharp as a cambric needle. Of course I apologized, and so on, and she forgave me handsomely, and then we fell to discoursing--need Itell you on what subject?"

"Love, of course, " said Sir Norman. 

"Yes, mingled with entreaties to take off her mask that would have moveda heart of atone. It moved what was better--the heart of La Masque; and, Kingsley, she has consented to do it; and she says that if, after seeingher face, I still love her, she will be my wife. "

"Is it possible? My dear Ormiston, I congratulate you with all myheart!"

"Thank you! After that she left me, and I walked away in such a frenzyof delight that I couldn't have told whether I was treading this earthor the shining shares of the seventh heaven, when suddenly there flewpast me a figure all in white--the figure of a bride, Kingsley, pursuedby an excited mob. We were both near the river, and the first thing Iknew, she was plump into it, with the crowd behind, yelling to stop her, that she was ill of the plague. "

"Great Heaven! and was she drowned?"

"No, though it was not her fault. The Earl of Rochester and hispage--you remember that page, I fancy--were out in their barge, andthe earl picked her up. Then I got a boat, set out after her, claimedher--for I recognized her, of course--brought her ashore, and depositedher safe and sound in her own house. What do you think of that?"

"Ormiston, " said Norman, catching him by the shoulder, with a veryexcited face, "is this true?"

"True as preaching, Kingsley, every word of it! And the mostextraordinary part of the business is, that her dip in cold water haseffectually cured her of the plague; not a trace of it remains. "

Sir Norman dropped his hand, and walked on, staring straight before him, perfectly speechless. In fact, no known language in the world could havedone justice to his feelings at that precise period; for three timesthat night, in three different shapes, had he seen this same Leoline, and at the same moment he was watching her decked out in royal state inthe rain, Ormiston had probably been assisting her from her cold bath inthe river Thames. 

Astonishment and consternation are words altogether too feeble toexpress his state of mind; but one idea remained clear and bright amidall his mental chaos, and that was, that the Leoline he had fallen inlove with dead, was awaiting him, alive and well, in London. 

"Well, " said Ormiston, "you don't speak! What do you think of all this?"

"Think! I can't think--I've got past that long ago!" replied his friend, hopelessly. "Did you really say Leoline was alive and well?"

"And waiting for you--yes, I did, and I repeat it; and the sooner youget back to town, the sooner you will see her; so don't loiter--"

"Ormiston, what do you mean! Is it possible I can see her to-night?"

"Yes, it is; the dear creature is waiting for you even now. You see, after we got to the house, and she had consented to become a littlerational, mutual explanations ensued, by which it appeared she had ranaway from Sir Norman Kingsley's in a state of frenzy, had jumped intothe river in a similarly excited state of mind, and was most anxiousto go down on her pretty knees and thank the aforesaid Sir Norman forsaving her life. What could any one as gallant as myself do under thesecircumstances, but offer to set forth in quest of that gentleman? Andshe promptly consented to sit up and wait his coming, and dismissed mewith her blessing. And, Kingsley, I've a private notion she is as deeplyaffected by you as you are by her; for, when I mentioned your name, sheblushed, yea, verily to the roots of her hair; and when she spoke ofyou, couldn't so much as look me in the face--which is, yea must own, avery bad symptom. "

"Nonsense!" said Sir Norman, energetically. And had it been daylight, his friend would have seen that he blushed almost as extensively as thelady. "She doesn't know me. "

"Ah, doesn't she, though? That shows all you know about it! She hasseen you go past the window many and many a time; and to see you, " saidOrmiston, making a grimace undercover of the darkness, "is to love! Shetold me so herself. "

"What! That she loved me!" exclaimed Sir Norman, his notions ofpropriety to the last degree shocked by such a revelation. 

"Not altogether, she only looked that; but she said she knew you wellby sight, and by heart, too, as I inferred from her countenance whenshe said it. There now, don't make me talk any more, for I have told youeverything I know, and am about hoarse with my exertions. "

"One thing only--did she tell you who she was?"

"No, except that her name was Leoline, and nothing else--which struck meas being slightly improbable. Doubtless, she will tell you everything, and one piece of advice I may venture to give you, which is, you maypropose as soon as you like without fear of rejection. Here we are atthe Golden Crown, so go in and get your horse, and let us be off. "

All this time Ormiston had been leading his own horse by the bridle, andas Sir Norman silently complied with this suggestion, in five minutesmore they were in their saddles, and galloping at breakneck speed towardthe city. To tell the truth, one was not more inclined for silence thanthe other, and the profoundest and thoughtfulest silence was maintainedtill they reached it. One was thinking of Leoline, the other of LaMasque, and both were badly in love, and just at that particular momentvery happy. Of course the happiness of people in that state never lastslonger than half an hour at a stretch, and then they are plunged backagain into misery and distraction; but while it does last, it in, veryintense and delightful indeed. 

Our two friends having drained the bitten, had got to the bottom of thecup, and neither knew that no sooner were the sweets swallowed, thanit was to be replenished with a doubly-bitter dose. Neither of themdismounted till they reached the house of Leoline, and there Sir Normansecured his horse, and looked up at it with a beating heart. Not thatit was very unusual for his heart to beat, seeing it never did anythingelse; but on that occasion its motion was so mush accelerated, that anydoctor feeling his pulse might have justly set him down as a bad caseof heart-disease. A small, bright ray of light streamed like a beaconof hope from an upper window, and the lover looked at it as a cloudedmariner might at the shining of the North Star. 

"Are you coming in, Ormiston?" he inquired, feeling, for the first timein his life, almost bashful. "It seems to me it would only be right, youknow. "

"I don't mind going in and introducing` you, " said Ormiston; "but afteryou have been delivered over, you may fight poor own battles, and takecare of yourself. Come on. "

The door was unfastened, and Ormiston sprang upstairs with the air of aman-quite at home, followed more decorously by Sir Norman. The doorof the lady's room stood ajar, as he had left it, and in answer to his"tapping at the chamber-door, " a sweet feminine voice called "come in. "

Ormiston promptly obeyed, and the next instant they were in the room, and in the presence of the dead bride. Certainly she did not look dead, but very much alive, just then, as she sat in an easy-chair, drawn upbefore the dressing-table, on which stood the solitary lamp that illumedthe chamber. In one hand she held a small mirror, or, as it was thencalled, a "sprunking-glass, " in which she was contemplating her ownbeauty, with as much satisfaction as any other pretty girl might justlydo. She had changed her drenched dress during Ormiston's absence, andnow sat arrayed in a swelling amplitude of rose-colored satin, her darkhair clasped and bound by a circle of milk-white pearls, and her pale, beautiful face looking ten degrees more beautiful than ever, in contrastwith the bright rose-silk, shining dark hair, and rich white jewels. Sherose up as they entered, and came forward with the same glow on her faceand the same light in her eyes that one of them had seen before, andstood with drooping eyelashes, lovely as a vision in the centre of theroom. 

"You see I have lost no time in obeying your ladyship's commands, " beganOrmiston, bowing low. "Mistress Leoline, allow me to present Sir NormanKingsley. "

Sir Norman Kingsley bent almost as profoundly before the lady asthe lord high chancellor had done before Queen Miranda; and the ladycourtesied, in return, until her pink-satin skirt ballooned out all overthe floor. It was quite an affecting tableau. And so Ormiston felt, ashe stood eyeing it with preternatural gravity. 

"I owe my life to Sir Norman Kingsley, " murmured the faint, sweet voiceof the lady, "and could not rest until I had thanked him. I have nowords to say how deeply thankful and grateful I am. "

"Fairest Leoline! one word from such lips would be enough to repay me, had I done a thousandfold more, " responded Norman, laying his hand onhis heart, with another deep genuflection. 

"Very pretty indeed!" remarked Ormiston to himself, with a littleapproving nod; "but I'm afraid they won't be able to keep it up, and goon talking on stilts like that, till they have finished. Perhaps theymay get on all the better if I take myself off, there being always onetoo many in a case like this. " Then aloud: "Madame, I regret that I amobliged to depart, having a most particular appointment; but, doubtless, my friend will be able to express himself without my assistance. I havethe honor to wish you both good-night. "

With which neat and appropriate speech, Ormiston bowed himself out, andwas gone before Leoline could detain him, even if she wished to do so. Probably, however, she thought the care of one gentleman sufficientresponsibility at once; and she did not look very seriously distressedby his departure; and, the moment he disappeared, Sir Norman brightenedup wonderfully. 

It is very discomposing to the feelings to make love in the presence ofa third party; and Sir Norman had no intention of wasting his time onanything, and went at it immediately. Taking her hand, with a gracethat would have beaten Sir Charles Grandison or Lord Chesterfield allto nothing, he led her to a couch, and took a seat as near her as wasat all polite or proper, considering the brief nature of theiracquaintance. The curtains were drawn; the lamp shed a faint light; thehouse was still, and there was no intrusive papa to pounce down uponthem; the lady was looking down, and seemed in no way haughtyor discouraging, and Sir Norman's spirits went up with a jump toboiling-point. 

Yet the lady, with all her pretty bashfulness, was the first to speak. 

"I'm afraid, Sir Norman, you must think this a singular hour to comehere; but, in these dreadful times, we cannot tell if we may live fromone moment to another; and I should not like to die, or have you die, without my telling, and you hearing, all my gratitude. For I doassure you, Sir Norman, " said the lady, lifting her dark eyes with theprettiest and moat bewitching earnestness, "that I am grateful, though Icannot find words to express it. "

"Madame, I would not listen to you it you would; for I have done nothingto deserve thanks. I wish I could tell you what I felt when Ormistontold me you were alive and safe. "

"You are very kind, but pray do not call me madame. Say Leoline!"

"A thousand thanks, dear Leoline!" exclaimed Sir Norman, raising herhand to his lips, and quite beside himself with ecstasy. 

"Ah, I did not tell you to say that!" she cried, with a gay laugh andvivid blush. "I never said you were to call me dear. "

"It arose from my heart to my lips, " said Sir Norman, with thrillingearnestness and fervid glance; "for you are dear to me--dearer than allthe world beside!"

The flush grew a deeper glow on the lady's face; but, singular torelate, she did not look the least surprised or displeased; and the handhe had feloniously purloined lay passive and quite contented in his. 

"Sir Norman Kingsley is pleased to jest, " said the lady, in a subduedtone, and with her eyes fixed pertinaciously on her shining dress; "forhe has never spoken to me before in his life!"

"That has nothing to do with it, Leoline. I love you as devotedly as ifI had known you from your birthday; and, strange to say, I feel as if wehad been friends for years instead of minutes. I cannot realize at allthat you are a stranger to me!"

Leoline laughed:

"Nor I; though, for that matter, you are not a stranger to me, SirNorman!"

"Am I not? How is that!"

"I have seen you go past so often, you know; and Prudence told me whoyou were; and so I need--I used--" hesitating and glowing to a degreebefore which her dress paled. 

"Well, dearest, " said Sir Norman, getting from the positive to thesuperlative at a jump, and diminishing the distance between them, "youneed to--what?"

"To watch for you!" said Leoline, in a sly whisper. "And so I have gotto know you very well!"

"My own darling! And, O Leoline! may I hope--dare I hope--that you donot altogether hate me?"

Leoline looked reflective; though her bleak eyes were sparkling undertheir sweeping lashes. 

"Why, no, " she said, demurely, "I don't know as I do. It's very sinfuland improper to hate one's fellow-creatures, you know, Sir Norman, andtherefore I don't indulge in it. "

"Ah! you are given to piety, I see. In that case, perhaps you are awareof a precept commanding us to love our neighbors. Now, I'm your nearestneighbor at present; so, to keep up a consistent Christian spirit, justbe good enough to say you love me!"

Again Leoline laughed; and this time the bright, dancing eyes beamed intheir sparkling darkness fall upon him. 

"I am afraid your theology is not very sound, my friend, and I havea dislike to extremes. There is a middle course, between hating andloving. Suppose I take that?"

"I will have no middle courses--either hating or loving it must be!Leoline! Leoline!" (bending over her, and imprisoning both hands thistime) "do say you love me!"

"I am captive in your hands, so I must, I suppose. Yes, Sir Norman, I dolove you!"

Every man hearing that for the first time from a pair of loved lipsis privileged to go mad for a brief season, and to go through certainmanoeuvers much more delectable to the enjoyers than to society atlarge. For fully ten minutes after Leoline's last speech, there wasprofound silence. But actions sometimes speak louder than words; andLeoline was perfectly convinced that her declaration had not fallen oninsensible ears. At the end of that period, the space between them onthe couch had so greatly diminished, that the ghost of a zephyr wouldhave been crushed to death trying to get between them; and Sir Norman'sface was fairly radiant. Leoline herself looked rather beaming; and shesuddenly, and without provocation, burst into a merry little peal oflaughter. 

"Well, for two people who were perfect strangers to each other halfan hour ago, I think we have gone on remarkably well. What will Mr. Ormiston and Prudence say, I wonder, when they hear this?"

"They will say what is the truth--that I am the luckiest man in England. O Leoline! I never thought it was in me to love any one as I do you. "'

"I am very glad to hear it; but I knew that it was in me long before Iever dreamed of knowing you. Are you not anxious to know something aboutthe future Lady Kingsley's past history?"

"It will all come in good time; it is not well to have a surfeit of joyin one night. 

"I do not know that this will add to your joy; but it had better be toldand be done with, at once and forever. In the first place, I presume Iam an orphan, for I have never known father or mother, and I have neverhad any other name but Leoline. "

"So Ormiston told me. "

"My first recollection is of Prudence; she was my nurse and governess, both in one; and we lived in a cottage by the sea--I don't know where, but a long way from this. When I was about ten years old, we left it, and came to London, and lived in a house in Cheapside, for five or sixyears; and then we moved here. And all this time, Sir Norman you willthink it strange--but I never made any friends or acquaintances, andknew no one but Prudence and an old Italian professor, who came toour lodgings in Cheapside, every week, to give me lessons. It was notbecause I disliked society, you must know; but Prudence, with allher kindness and goodness--and I believe she truly loves me--has beennothing more or less all my life than my jailer. "

She paused to clasp a belt of silver brocade, fastened by a pearlbuckle, close around her little waist, and Sir Norman fixed his eyesupon her beautiful face, with a powerful glance. 

"Knew no one--that is strange, Leoline! Not even the Count L'Estrange?"

"Ah! you know him?" she cried eagerly, lifting her eyes with a brightlook; "do--do tell me who he is?"

"Upon my honor, my dear, " said Sir Norman, considerably taken aback, "it strikes me you are the person to answer that question. If I don'tgreatly mistake, somebody told me you were going to marry him. "

"Oh, so I was, " said Leoline, with the utmost simplicity. "But I don'tknow him, for all that; and more than that, Sir Norman, I do not believehis name is Count L'Estrange, any more than mine in!"

"Precisely my opinion; but why, in the name of--no, I'll not swear; butwhy were you going to marry him, Leoline?"

Leoline half pouted, and shrugged her pretty pink satin shoulders. 

"Because I couldn't help it--that's why. He coaxed, and coaxed; and Isaid no, and no, and no, until I got tired of it. Prudence, too, was asbad as he was, until between them I got about distracted, and at lastconsented to marry him to get rid of him. "

"My poor, persecuted little darling! Oh, " cried Sir Norman, with a burstof enthusiasm, "how I should admire to have Count L'Estrange here forabout tea minutes, just now! I world spoil his next wooing for him, or Iam mistaken!"

"No, no!" said Leoline, looking rather alarmed; "you must not fight, youknow. I shouldn't at all like either of you to get killed. Besides, hehas not married me; and so there's no harm done. "

Sir Norman seemed rather struck by that view of the case, and after afew moments reflection on it, came to the conclusion that she knew best, and settled down peaceably again. 

"Why do you suppose his name is not Count L'Estrange?" he asked. 

"For many reasons. First--he is disguised; wears false whiskers, moustache, and wig, and even the voice he uses appears assumed. ThenPrudence seems in the greatest awe of him, and she is not one to beeasily awed. I never knew her to be in the slightest degree intimidatedby any human being but himself and that mysterious woman, La Masque. 

"Ah! you know La Masque, then?"

"Not personally; but I have seen her as I did you, you remember, "with an arch glance; "and, like you, being once seen, is not to beforgotten. "

Sir Norman promptly paid her for the compliment in Cupid's own coin:

"Little flatterer! I can almost forgive Count L'Estrange for wantingto marry you; for I presume he it only a man, and not quite equal toimpossibilities. How long is it since you knew him first?"

"Not two months. My courtships, " said Leoline, with a gay laugh, "seemdestined to be of the shortest. He saw me one evening in the window, and immediately insisted on being admitted; and after that, he continuedcoming until I had to promise, as I have told you, to be CountessL'Estrange. "

"He cannot be mach of a gentleman, or he would not attempt to force alady against her will. And so, when you were dressed for your bridal, you found you had the plague?"

"Yes, Sir Norman; and horrible as that was I do assure you I almostpreferred it to marrying him. "

"Leoline, tell me how long it is since you've known me?"

"Nearly three months, " said Leoline, blushing again celestial rosy red. 

"And how long have you loved me?"

"Nonsense. What a question! I shall not tell you. "

"You shall--you must--I insist upon it. Did you love me before you metthe count? Out with it. "

"Well, then--yes!" cried Leoline desperately. 

Sir Norman raised the hand he held, is rapture to his lips:

"My darling! But I will reserve my raptures, for it is growing late, and I know you mast want to go to rest. I have a thousand things totell you, but they must wait for daylight; only I will promise, beforeparting, that this is the last night you mast spend here. "

Leoline opened her bright eyes very wide. 

"To-morrow morning, " went on Sir Norman, impressively, and with dignity, "you will be up and dressed by sunrise, and shortly after that radiantperiod, I will make my appearance with two horses--one of which I shallride, and the other I shall lead: the one I lead you shall mount, andwe will ride to the nearest church, and be married without any pomp orpageant; and then Sir Norman and Lady Kingsley will immediately leaveLondon, and in Kingsley Castle, Devonshire, will enjoy the honeymoon andblissful repose till the plague is over. Do you understand that?"

"Perfectly, " she answered, with a radiant face. 

"And agree to it?"

"You know I do, Sir Norman; only--"

"Well, my pet, only what?"

"Sir Norman, I should like to see Prudence. I want Prudence. How can Ileave her behind?"

"My dear child, she made nothing of leaving you when she thought youwere dying; so never mind Prudence, but say, will you be ready?"

"I will. "

"That is my good little Leoline. Now give me a kiss, Lady Kingsley, andgood-night. "

Lady Kingsley dutifully obeyed; and Sir Norman went out with a glow athis heart, like a halo round a full moon. 

CHAPTER X. THE PAGE, THE FIRES, AND THE FALL. 

The night was intensely dark when Sir Norman got into it once more; andto any one else would have been intensely dismal, but to Sir Norman allwas bright as the fair hills of Beulah. When all is bright within, wesee no darkness without; and just at that moment our young knight hadgot into one of those green and golden glimpses of sunshine that hereand there checker life's rather dark pathway, and with Leoline besidehim would have thought the dreary whores of the Dead Sea itself a veryparadise. 

It was now near midnight, and there was an unusual concourse of peoplein the sheets, waiting for St. Paul's to give the signal to light thefires. He looked around for Ormiston; but Ormiston was nowhere to beseen--horse and rider had disappeared. His own horse stood tetheredwhere he had left him. Anxious as he was to ride back to the ruin, andsee the play played out, he could not resist the temptation of lingeringa brief period in the city, to behold the grand spectacle of the myriadfires. Many persons were hurrying toward St. Paul's to witness it fromthe dome; and consigning his horse to the care of the sentinel on guardat the house opposite, he joined them, and was soon striding along, ata tremendous pace, toward the great cathedral. Ere he reached it, itslong-tongued clock tolled twelve, and all the other churches, one afteranother, took up the sound, and the witching hour of midnight rang andrerang from end to end of London town. As if by magic, a thousand forkedtongues of fire shot up at once into the blind, black night, turningalmost in an instant the darkened face of the heavens to an inflamed, glowing red. Great fires were blazing around the cathedral when theyreached it, but no one stopped to notice them, but only hurried on thefaster to gain their point of observation. 

Sir Norman just glanced at the magnificent pile--for the old St. Paul'swas even more magnificent than the new, --and then followed after therest, through many a gallery, tower, and spiral staircase till the domewas reached. And there a grand and mighty spectacle was before him--thewhole of London swaying and heaving in one great sea of fire. From oneend to the other, the city seemed wrapped in sheets of flame, and everystreet, and alley, and lane within it shone in a lurid radiance farbrighter than noonday. All along the river fires were gleaming, too; andthe whole sky had turned from black to blood-red crimson. The streetswere alive and swarming--it could scarcely be believed that theplague-infested city contained half so many people, and all wereunusually hopeful and animated; for it was popularly believed that thesefires would effectually check the pestilence. But the angry fiat of aMighty Judge had gone forth, and the tremendous arm of the destroyingangel was not to be stopped by the puny hand of man. 

It has been said the weather for weeks was unusually brilliant, days ofcloudless sunshine, nights of cloudless moonlight, and the air was warmand sultry enough for the month of August in the tropics. But now, while they looked, a vivid flash of lightning, from what quarter ofthe heavens no man knew, shot athwart the sky, followed by another andanother, quick, sharp, and blinding. Then one great drop of rain felllike molten lead on the pavement, then a second and a third quicker, faster, and thicker, until down it crashed in a perfect deluge. It didnot wait to rain; it fell in floods--in great, slanting sheets of water, an if the very floodgates of heaven had opened for a second deluge. Noone ever remembered to have seen such torrents fall, and the populacefled before it in wildest dismay. In five minutes, every fire, from oneextremity of London to the other, was quenched in the very blacknessof darkness, and on that night the deepest gloom and terror reignedthroughout the city. It was clear the hand of an avenging Deity was inthis, and He who had rained down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah had not lostHis might. In fifteen minutes the terrific flood was over; the dismalclouds cleared away, a pale, fair, silver moon shone serenely out, andlooked down on the black, charred heaps of ashes strewn through thestreets of London. One by one, the stars that all night had beenobscured, glanced and sparkled over the sky, and lit up with their soft, pale light the doomed and stricken town. Everybody had quitted the domein terror and consternation; and now Sir Norman, who had been lost inawe, suddenly bethought him of his ride to the ruin, and hastened tofollow their example. Walking rapidly, not to say recklessly, along, heabruptly knocked against some one sauntering leisurely before him, and nearly pitched headlong on the pavement. Recovering his centreof gravity by a violent effort, he turned to see the cause of thecollision, and found himself accosted by a musical and foreign-accentedvoice. 

"Pardon, " paid the sweet, and rather feminine tones; "it was quite anaccident, I assure you, monsieur. I had no idea I was in anybody's way. "

Sir Norman looked at the voice, or rather in the direction whence itcame, and found it proceeded from a lad in gay livery, whose clear, colorless face, dark eyes, end exquisite features were by no meansunknown. The boy seemed to recognize him at the same moment, andslightly touched his gay cap. 

"Ah! it is Sir Norman Kingsley! Just the very person, but one, in theworld that I wanted most to see. "

"Indeed! And, pray, whom have I the honor of addressing?" inquired SirNorman, deeply edified by the cool familiarity of the accoster. 

"They call me Hubert--for want of a better name, I suppose, " saidthe lad, easily. "And may I ask, Sir Norman, if you are shod withseven-leagued boots, or if your errand is one of life and death, thatyou stride along at such a terrific rate?"

"And what is that to you?" asked Sir Norman, indignant at hisfree-and-easy impudence. 

"Nothing; only I should like to keep up with you, if my legs were longenough; and as they're not, and as company is not easily to be had inthese forlorn streets, I should feel obliged to you if you would justslacken your pace a trifle, and take me in tow. "

The boy's face in the moonlight, in everything but expression, wasexactly that of Leoline, to which softening circumstance may beattributed Sir Norman's yielding to the request, and allowing the pageto keep along side. 

"I've met you once before to-night?" inquired Sir Norman, after aprolonged and wondering stare at him. 

"Yes; I have a faint recollection of seeing you and Mr. Ormiston onLondon Bridge, a few hours ago, and, by the way, perhaps I may mention Iam now in search of that same Mr. Ormiston. "

"You are! And what may you want of him, pray?"

"Just a little information of a private character--perhaps you candirect me to his whereabouts. "

"Should be happy to oblige you, my dear boy, but, unfortunately, Icannot. I want to see him myself, if I could find any one good enough todirect me to him. Is your business pressing?"

"Very--there is a lady in the case; and such business, you are aware, is always pressing. Probably you have heard of her--a youthful angel, in virgin white, who took a notion to jump into the Thames, not a greatwhile ago. "

"Ah!" said Sir Norman, with a start that did not escape the quick eyesof the boy. "And what do you want of her?"

The page glanced at him. 

"Perhaps you know her yourself, sir Norman? If so, you will answer quiteas well as your friend, as I only want to know where she lives. "

"I have been out of town to-night, " said Sir Norman, evasively, "andthere may have been more ladies than one jumped into the Thames, daringmy absence. Pray, describe your angel in white. "

"I did not notice her particularly myself, " said the boy, with easyindifference, "as I am not in the habit of paying much attentionto young ladies who run wild about the streets at night and jumppromiscuously into rivers. However, this one was rather remarkable, forbeing dressed as a bride, having long black hair, and a great quantityof jewelry about her, and looking very much like me. Having said shelooks like me, I need not add she is handsome. "

"Vanity of vanities, all in vanity!" murmured Sir Norman, meditatively. "Perhaps she is a relative of yours, Master Hubert, since you take suchan interest in her, and she looks so much like you. "

"Not that I know of, " said Hubert, in his careless way. "I believe Iwas born minus those common domestic afflictions, relatives; and I don'ttake the slightest interest in her, either; don't think it!"

"Then why are you in search of her?"

"For a very good reason--because I've been ordered to do so. "

"By whom--your master?"

"My Lord Rochester, " said that nobleman's page, waving off theinsinuation by a motion of his hand and a little displeased frown;"he picked her up adrift, and being composed of highly inflammablematerials, took a hot and vehement fancy for her, which fact he did notdiscover until your friend, Mr. Ormiston, had carried her off. "

Sir Norman scowled. 

"And so he sent you in search of her, has he?"

"Exactly so; and now you perceive the reason why it is quite importantthat I find Mr. Ormiston. We do not know where he has taken her to, butfancy it must be somewhere near the river. "

"You do? I tell you what it is, my boy, " exclaimed Sir Norman, suddenlyand in an elevated key, "the best thing you can do is, to go home andgo to bed, and never mind young ladies. You'll catch the plague beforeyou'll catch this particular young lady--I can tell you that!"

"Monsieur is excited, " lisped the lad raining his hat end running histaper fingers through his glossy, dark curls. "Is she as handsome asthey say she is, I wonder?"

"Handsome!" cried Sir Norman, lighting up with quite a new sensation atthe recollection. "I tell you handsome doesn't begin to describe her!She is beautiful, lovely, angelic, divine--" Here Sir Norman's litany ofadjectives beginning to give out, he came to a sudden halt, with a faceas radiant as the sky at sunrise. 

"Ah! I did not believe them, when they told me she was so much likeme; but if she in as near perfection as you describe, I shall begin tocredit it. Strange, is it not, that nature should make a duplicate ofher greatest earthly chef d'oeuvre?"

"You conceited young jackanapes!" growled Sir Norman, in deepdispleasure. "It is far stranger how such a bundle of vanity cancontrive to live in this work-a-day world. You are a foreigner, Iperceive?"

"Yes, Sir Norman, I am happy to say I am. "

"You don't like England, then?"

"I'd be sorry to like it; a dirty, beggarly, sickly place as I eversaw!"

Sir Norman eyed the slender specimen of foreign manhood, uttering thissentiment is the sincerest of tones, and let his hand fall heavily onhis shoulder. 

"My good youth, be careful! I happen to be a native, and not altogetherused to this sort of talk. How long have you been here? Not long, I knowmyself--at least, not in the Earl of Rochester's service, or I wouldhave seen you. "

"Right! I have not been here a month; but that month has seemed longerthan a year elsewhere. Do you know, I imagine when the world wascreated, this island of yours must have been made late on Saturdaynight, and then merely thrown in from the refuse to fill up a dent inthe ocean. "

Sir Norman paused in his walk, and contemplated the speaker a moment inseverest silence. But Master Hubert only lifted up his saucy face andlaughing black eyes, in dauntless sang froid. 

"Master Hubert, " began Master Hubert's companion, in his deepest andsternest base, "I don't know your other name, and it would be of noconsequence if I did--just listen to me a moment. If you don't want toget run through (you perceive I carry a sword), and have an untimelyend put to your career, just keep a civil tongue in your head, and don'tslander England. Now come on!"

Hubert laughed and shrugged his shoulders:

"Thought is free, however, so I can have my own opinion in spite ofeverything. Will you tell me, monsieur, where I can find the lady?"

"You will have it, will you?" exclaimed Sir Norman, half drawing hissword. "Don't ask questions, but answer them. Are you French?"

"Monsieur has guessed it. "

"How long have you been with your present master?"

"Monsieur, I object to that term, " said Hubert, with calm dignity. "Master is a vulgarism that I dislike; so, in alluding to his lordship, take the trouble to say, patron. "

Sir Norman laughed. 

"With all my heart! How long, then, have you been with your presentpatron?"

"Not quite two weeks. "

"I do not like to be impertinently inquisitive in addressing sodignified a gentleman, but perhaps you would not consider it too great aliberty, if I inquired how you became his page?"

"Monsieur shall ask as many questions as he pleases, and it shall not beconsidered the slightest liberty, " said the young gentleman, politely. "I had been roaming at large about the city and the palace of hismajesty--whom may Heaven preserve, and grant a little more wisdom!--insearch of a situation; and among that of all nobles of the court, theEarl of Rochester's livery struck me as being the moat becoming, and soI concluded to patronize him. "

"What an honor for his lordship! Since you dislike England so much, however, you will probably soon throw up the situation and, patronizethe first foreign ambassador--"

"Perhaps! I rather like Whitehall, however. Old Rowlie has taken rathera fancy to me, " said the boy speaking with the same easy familiarityof his majesty as he would of a lap-dog. "And what is better, so hasMistress Stewart--so much so, that Heaven forefend the king shouldbecome jealous. This, however, is strictly entre nous, and not to bespoken of on any terms. "

"Your secret shall be preserved at the risk of my life, " said SirNorman, laying his hand on the left side of his doublet; "and in return, may I ask if you have any relatives living--any sisters for instance?"

"I see I you have a suspicion that the lady in white may be a sister ofmine. Well, you may set your mind at rest on that point--for if she is, it is news to me, as I never saw her in my life before tonight. Is she aparticular friend of yours, Sir Norman?"

"Never you mind that, my dear boy; but take my advice, and don't troubleyourself looking for her; for, most assuredly, if you find her, I shallbreak your head!"

"Much obliged, " said Hubert, touching his cap, "but nevertheless, Ishall risk it. She had the plague, though, when she jumped into theriver, and perhaps the beat place to find her world be the pest-house. Ishall try. "

"Go, and Heaven speed you! Yonder is the way to it, and my road lieshere. Good night, master Hubert. "

"Good night, Sir Norman, " responded the page, bowing airily; "and if Ido not find the lady to-night, most assuredly I shall do so to-morrow. "

Turning along a road leading to the pest-house, and laughing as hewent, the boy disappeared. Fearing lest the page should follow him, andthereby discover a clue to Leoline's abode, Sir Norman turned into astreet some distance from the house, and waited in the shadow until hewas out of sight. Then he came forth, and, full of impatience to getback to the ruin, hurried on to where he had left his horse. He wasstill in the care of the watchman, whom he repaid for his trouble; andas he sprang on his back, he glanced up at the windows of Leoline'shouse. It was all buried in profound darkness but that one window fromwhich that faint light streamed, and he knew that she had not yet goneto rest. For a moment he lingered and looked at it in the absurd waylovers will look, and was presently rewarded by seeing what he watchedfor--a shadow flit between him and the light. The sight was a strongtemptation to him to dismount and enter, and, under pretence of warningher against the Earl of Rochester and his "pretty page, " see heronce again. But reflection, stepping rebukingly up to him, whisperedindignantly, that his ladylove was probably by this time in her nightrobe, and not at home to lovers; and Sir Norman respectfully bowed toreflection's superior wisdom. He thought of Hubert's words, "If I donot find her tonight, I shall most assuredly to-morrow, " and a chillpresentiment of coming evil fell upon him. 

"To-morrow, " he said, as he turned to go. "Who knows what to-morrow maybring forth! Fairest and dearest Leoline, goodnight!"

He rode away in the moonlight, with the stars shining peacefully downupon him. His heart at the moment was a divided one--one half beinggiven to Leoline, and the other to the Midnight Queen and her mysteriouscourt. The farther he went away from Leoline, the dimmer her star becamein the horizon of his thoughts; and the nearer he came to Miranda, thebrighter and more eagerly she loomed up, until he spurred his horse toa most furious gallop, lest he should find the castle and the queen lostin the regions of space when he got there. Once the plague-stricken citylay behind him, his journey was short; and soon, to his great delight, he turned into the silent deserted by-path leading to the ruin. 

Tying his horse to a stake in the crumbling wall, he paused for a momentto look at it in the pale, wan light of the midnight moon. He had lookedat it many a time before, but never with the same interest as now;and the ruined battlements, the fallen roof, the broken windows, andmouldering sides, had all a new and weird interest for him. No one wasvisible far or near; and feeling that his horse was secure in the shadowof the wall, he entered, and walked lightly and rapidly along inthe direction of the spiral staircase. With more haste, but the sameprecaution, he descended, and passed through the vaults to where he knewthe loose flag-stone was. It was well he did know; for there was neitherstrain of music nor ray of light to guide him now; and his heart sankto zero as he thought he might raise the stone and discover nothing. His hand positively trembled with eagerness as he lifted it; and withunbounded delight, not to be described, looked down on the same titledassembly he had watched before. But there had been a change since--halfthe lights were extinguished, and the great vaulted room wascomparatively in shadow--the music had entirely died away and all wassolemnly silent. But what puzzled Sir Norman most of all was, the factthat there seemed to be a trial of acme sort going on. 

A long table, covered with green velvet, and looking not unlike a modernbilliard table, stood at the right of the queen's crimson throne; andbehind it, perched in a high chair, and wearing a long, solemn, blackrobe, sat a small, thick personage, whose skin Sir Norman would haveknown on a bush. He glanced at the lower throne and found it as heexpected, empty; and he saw at once that his little highness was notonly prince consort, but also supreme judge in the kingdom. Two or threesimilar black-robed gentry, among whom was recognizable the noble dukewho so narrowly escaped with his life under the swords of Sir Normanand Count L'Estrange. Before this solemn conclave stood a man who wasevidently the prisoner under trial, and who wore the whitest and mostfrightened face Sir Norman thought he had ever beheld. The queen waslounging negligently back on her throne, paying very little attentionto the solemn rites, occasionally gossiping with some of the snow-whitesylphs beside her, and often yawning behind her pretty finger-tips, andevidently very much bored by it all. 

The rest of the company were decorously seated in the crimson and gildedarm-chairs, some listening with interest to what was going on, othersholding whispered tete-a-tetes, and all very still and respectful. 

Sir Norman's interest was aroused to the highest pitch; he imprudentlyleaned forward too far, in order to bear and see, and lost his balance. He felt he was going, and tried to stop himself, but in vain; and seeingthere was no help for it, he made a sudden spring, and landed right inthe midst of the assembly. 

CHAPTER XI. THE EXECUTION. 

In an instant all was confusion. Everybody sprang to their feet--ladiesshrieked in chorus, gentlemen swore and drew their swords, and lookedto see if they might not expect a whole army to drop from the sky uponthem, as they stood. No other battalion, however, followed this forlornhope; and seeing it, the gentlemen took heart of grace and closed aroundthe unceremonious intruder. The queen had sprung from her royal seat, and stood with her bright lips parted, and her brighter eyes dilating inspeechless wonder. The bench, with the judge at their head, had followedher example, and stood staring with all their might, looking, truth totell, as much startled by the sudden apparition as the fair sex. Thesaid fair sex were still firing off little volleys of screams in chorus, and clinging desperately to their cavaliers; and everything, in a word, was in most admired disorder. 

Tam O'Shanter's cry, "Weel done, Cutty sark!" could not have producedhalf such a commotion among his "hellish legion" as the emphatic debutof Sir Norman Kingsley among these human revelers. The only one whoseemed rather to enjoy it than otherwise was the prisoner, who wasquietly and quickly making off, when the malevolent and irrepressibledwarf espied him, and the one shock acting as a counter-irritant tothe other, he bounced fleetly over the table, and grabbed him in hiscrab-like claws. 

This brisk and laudable instance of self-command had a wonderful andinspiriting effect on the rest; and as he replaced the pale and palsiedprisoner in his former position, giving him a vindictive shake andvicious kick with his royal boots as he did so, everybody began to feelthemselves again. The ladies stopped screaming, the gentlemen ceasedswearing, and more than one exclamation of astonishment followed thecries of terror. 

"Sir Norman Kingsley! Sir Norman Kingsley!" rang from lip to lip ofthose who recognized him; and all drew closer, and looked at him as ifthey really could not make up their mind to believe their eyes. Asfor Sir Norman himself, that gentleman was destined literally, if notmetaphorically, to fall on his legs that night, and had alighted onthe crimson velvet-carpet, cat-like, on his feet. In reference to hisfeelings--his first was one of frantic disapproval of going down;his second, one of intense astonishment of finding himself there withunbroken bones; his third, a disagreeable conviction that he had aboutput his foot in it, and was in an excessively bad fix; and last, butnot least, a firm and rooted determination to make the beet of a badbargain, and never say die. 

His first act was to take off his plumed hat, and make a profoundobeisance to her majesty the queen, who was altogether too muchsurprised to make the return politeness demanded, and merely stared athim with her great, beautiful, brilliant eyes, as if she would neverhave done. 

"Ladies and gentlemen!" said Sir Norman, turning gracefully to thecompany; "I beg ten thousand pardons for this unwarrantable intrusion, and promise you, upon my honor, never to do it again. I beg to assureyou that my coming here was altogether involuntary on my part, andforced by circumstances over which I had no control; and I entreat youwill not mind me in the least, but go on with the proceeding, just asyou did before. Should you feel my presence here any restraint, I amquite ready and willing to take my departure at any moment; and asI before insinuated, will promise, on the honor of a gentleman and aknight, never again to take the liberty of tumbling through the ceilingdown on your heads. "

This reference to the ceiling seemed to explain the whole mystery; andeverybody looked up at the corner whence he came from, and saw the flagthat had been removed. As to his speech, everybody had listened to itwith the greatest of attention; and sundry of the ladies, convincedby this time that he was flesh and blood, and no ghost, favored thehandsome young knight with divers glances, not at all displeasedor unadmiring. The queen sank back into her seat, keeping him stilltransfixed with her darkly-splendid eyes; and whether she admired orotherwise, no one could tell from her still, calm face. The princeconsort's feelings--for such there could be no doubt he was--wereinvolved in no such mystery; and he broke out into a hyena-like screamof laughter, as he recognized, upon a second look, his young friend ofthe Golden Crown. 

"So you have come, have you?" he cried, thrusting his unlovely visageover the table, till it almost touched sir Norman's. "You have come, have you, after all I said?"

"Yes, sir I have come!" said Sir Norman, with a polite bow. 

"Perhaps you don't know me, my dear young sir--your little friend, youknow, of the Golden Crown. "

"Oh, I perfectly recognize you! My little friend, " said Sir Norman, withbland suavity, and unconsciously quoting Leoline, "once seen in not easyto be-forgotten. "

Upon this, his highness net up such another screech of mirth that itquite woke an echo through the room; and all Sir Norman's friends lookedgrave; for when his highness laughed, it was a very bad sign. 

"My little friend will hurt himself, " remarked Sir Norman, with an airof solicitude, "if he indulges in his exuberant and gleeful spirits tosuch an extent. Let me recommend you, as a well-wisher, to sit down andcompose yourself. "

Instead of complying, however, the prince, who seemed blessed with alively sense of the ludicrous, wan so struck with the extreme funninessof the young man's speech, that he relaxed into another paroxysm oflevity, shriller and more unearthly, if possible, than any precedingone, and which left him so exhausted, that he was forced to sink intohis chair and into silence through sheer fatigue. Seizing this, thefirst opportunity, Miranda, with a glance of displeased dignity stCaliban, immediately struck in:

"Who are you, sir, and by what right do you dare to come here?"

Her tone was neither very sweet nor suave; but it was much pleasanterto be cross-examined by the owner of such a pretty face than by the uglylittle monster, for the moment gasping and extinguished; and Sir Normanturned to her with alacrity, and a bow. 

"Madame, I am Sir Norman Kingsley, very much at your service; and I begto assure you I did not come here, but fell here, through that hole, ifyou perceive, and very much against my will. "

"Equivocation will not serve you in this case, sir, " said the queen, with an austere dignity. "And, allow me to observe, it is just probableyou would not have fallen through that hole in our royal ceiling if youhad kept away from it. You raised that flag yourself--did you not?"

"Madam, I fear I must say yes!"

"And why did you do so?" demanded her majesty, with far more sharpasperity than Sir Norman dreamed could ever come from such beautifullips. 

"The rumor of Queen Miranda's charms has gone forth; and I fear I mustown that rumor drew me hither, " responded Sir Norman, inventing a politelittle work of fiction for the occasion; "and, let me add, that I cameto find that rumor had under-rated instead of exaggerated her majesty'ssaid charms. "

Here Sir Norman, whose spine seemed in danger of becoming the shape ofa rainbow, in excess of good breeding, made another genuflection beforethe queen, with his hand over the region of his heart. Miranda triedto look grave, and wear that expression of severe solemnity I am toldqueens and rich people always do; but, in spite of herself, a littlepleased smile rippled over her face; and, noticing it, and the bow andspeech, the prince suddenly and sharply set up such another screech oflaughter as no steamboat or locomotive, in the present age of steam, could begin to equal in ghastliness. 

"Will your highness have the goodness to hold your tongue?" inquired thequeen, with much the air and look of Mrs. Caudle, "and allow me to askthis stranger a few questions uninterrupted? Sir Norman Kingsley, howlong have you been above there, listening and looking on?"

"Madame, I was not there five minutes when I suddenly, and to my greatsurprise, found myself here. "

"A lie!--a lie!" exclaimed the dwarf, furiously. "It is over two hourssince I met you at the bar of the Golden Crown. "

"My dear little friend, " said Sir Norman, drawing his sword, andflourishing it within an inch of the royal nose, "just make that remarkagain, and my sword will cleave your pretty head, as the cimetar ofSaladin clove the cushion of down! I earnestly assure you, madame, thatI had but just knelt down to look, when I discovered to my dismay, thatI was no longer there, but in your charming presence. "

"In that case, my lords and gentlemen, " said the queen, glancing blandlyround the apartment, "he has witnessed nothing, and, therefore, meritsbut slight punishment. "

"Permit me, your majesty, " said the duke, who had read the roll ofdeath, and who had been eyeing Sir Norman sharply for some time, "permitme one moment! This is the very individual who slew the Earl of Ashley, while his companion was doing for my Lord Craven. Sir Norman Kingsley, "said his grace, turning, with awful impressiveness to that young person, "do you know me?"

"Quite as well as I wish to, " answered Sir Norman, with a cool andrather contemptuous glance in his direction. "You look extremely like acertain highwayman, with a most villainous countenance, I encountered afew hours back, and whom I would have made mince most of if he lead notbeen coward enough to fly. Probably you may be the name; you look fitfor that, or anything else. "

"Cut him down!" "Dash his brains out!" "Run him through!" "Shoot him!"were a few of the mild and pleasant insinuations that went off on everyside of him, like a fierce volley of pop-guns; and a score of brightblades flashed blue and threatening on every side; while the princebroke out into another shriek of laughter, that rang high over all. 

Sir Norman drew his own sword, and stood on the defence, breathed onethought to Leoline, gave himself up for lost; but before quitedoing so--to use a phrase not altogether as original as it mightbe--"determined to sell his life as dearly as possible. " Angry eyes andfierce faces were on every hand, and his dreams of matrimony and Leolineseemed about to terminate then and there, when luck came to his side, inthe shape of her most gracious majesty the queen. Springing to her feet, she waved her sceptre, while her black eyes flashed as fiercely as thebest of them, and her voice rang out like a trumpet-tone. 

"Sheathe your swords, my lords, and back every man of you! Not one hairof his head shall fall without my permission; and the first who layshands on him until that consent is given, shall die, if I have to shoothim myself! Sir Norman Kingsley, stand near, and fear not. At his peril, let one of them touch you!"

Sir Norman bent on one knee, and raised the gracious hand to his lips. At the fierce, ringing, imperious tone, all involuntarily fell back, asif they were accustomed to obey it; and the prince, who seemed to-nightin an uncommonly facetious mood, laughed again, long and shrill. 

"What are your majesty's commands?" asked the discomfited duke, rathersulkily. "Is this insulting interloper to go free?"

"That is no affair of yours, my lord duke!" answered the spirited voiceof the queen. "Be good enough to finish Lord Gloucester's trial; anduntil then I will be responsible for the safekeeping of Sir NormanKingsley. "

"And after that, he is to go free eh, your majesty?" said the dwarf, laughing to that extent that he ran the risk of rupturing an artery. 

"After that, it shall be precisely as I please!" replied the ringingvoice; while the black eyes flashed anything but loving glances uponhim. "While I am queen here, I shall be obeyed; when I am queen nolonger, you may do as you please! My lords" (turning her passionate, beautiful face to the hushed audience), "am I or am I not sovereignhere!"

"Madame, you alone are our sovereign lady and queen!"

"Then, when I condescend to command, you shall obey! Do you, yourhighness, and you, lord duke, go on with the Earl of Gloucester's trial, and I will be the stranger's jailer. "

"She is right, " said the dwarf, his fierce little eyes gleaming with amalignant light; "let us do one thing before another; and after we havesettled Gloucester here, we will attend to this man's case. Guards keepa sharp eye on your new prisoner. Ladies and gentlemen, be good enoughto resume your seats. Now, your grace, continue the trial. "

"Where did we leave off?" inquired his grace, looking rather at a loss, and scowling vengeance dire at the handsome queen and her handsomeprotege, as he sank back in his chair of state. 

"The earl was confessing his guilt, or about to do so. Pray, my lord, "said the dwarf, glaring upon the pallid prisoner, "were you not sayingyou had betrayed us to the king?"

A breathless silence followed the question--everybody seemed to holdhis very breath to listen. Even the queen leaned forward and awaited theanswer eagerly, and the many eyes that had been riveted on Sir Normansince his entrance, left him now for the first time and settled on theprisoner. A piteous spectacle that prisoner was--his face whiter thanthe snowy nymphs behind the throne, and so distorted with fear, fury, and guilt, that it looked scarcely human. Twice he opened his eyes toreply, and twice all sounds died away in a choking gasp. 

"Do you hear his highness?" sharply inquired the lord high chancellor, reaching over the great seal, and giving the unhappy Earl of Gloucestera rap on the head with it, "Why do you not answer?"

"Pardon! Pardon!" exclaimed the earl, in a husky whisper. "Do notbelieve the tales they tell you of me. For Heaven's sake, spare mylife!"

"Confess!" thundered the dwarf, striking the table with his clinchedfist, until all the papers thereon jumped spasmodically into theair-"confess at once, or I shall run you through where you stand!"

The earl, with a perfect screech of terror, flung himself flat uponhis face and hands before the queen, with such force, that Sir Normanexpected to see his countenance make a hole in the floor. 

"O madame! spare me! spare me! spare me! Have mercy on me as you hopefor mercy yourself!"

She recoiled, and drew back her very garments from his touch, as ifthat touch was pollution, eyeing him the while with a glance frigid andpitiless as death. 

"There is no mercy for traitors!" she coldly said. "Confess your guilt, and expect no pardon from me!"

"Lift him up!" shouted the dwarf, clawing the air with his hands, as ifhe could have clawed the heart out of his victim's body; "back with himto his place, guards, and see that he does not leave it again!"

Squirming, and writhing, and twisting himself in their grasp, in veryuncomfortable and eel-like fashion, the earl was dragged back to hisplace, and forcibly held there by two of the guards, while his face grewso ghastly and convulsed that Sir Norman turned away his head, and couldnot bear to look at it. 

"Confess!" once more yelled the dwarf in a terrible voice, while hisstill more terrible eyes flashed sparks of fire--"confess, or by allthat's sacred it shall be tortured out of you. Guards, bring me thethumb-screws, and let us see if they will not exercise the dumb devil bywhich our ghastly friend is possessed!"

"No, no, no!" shrieked the earl, while the foam flew from his lips. "Iconfess! I confess! I confess!"

"Good! And what do you confess?" said the duke blandly, leaning forward, while the dwarf fell back with a yell of laughter at the success of hisruse. 

"I confess all--everything--anything! only spare my life!"

"Do you confess to having told Charles, King of England, the secretsof our kingdom and this place?" said the duke, sternly rapping down thepetition with a roll of parchment. 

The earl grew, if possible, a more ghastly white. "I do--I must! but oh!for the love of--"

"Never mind love, " cut in the inexorable duke, "it is a subject thathas nothing whatever to do with the present case. Did you or did you notreceive for the aforesaid information a large sum of money?"

"I did; but my lord, my lord, spare--"

"Which sum of money you have concealed, " continued the duke, withanother frown and a sharp rap. "Now the question is, where have youconcealed it?"

"I will tell you, with all my heart, only spare my life!"

"Tell us first, and we will think about your life afterward. Let meadvise you as a friend, my lord, to tell at once, and truthfully, " saidthe duke, toying negligently with the thumb-screws. 

"It is buried at the north corner of the old wall at the head ofBradshaw's grave. You shall have that and a thousandfold more if you'llonly pardon--"

"Enough!" broke in the dwarf, with the look and tone of an exultantdemon. "That is all we want! My lord duke, give me the death-warrant, and while her majesty signs it, I will pronounce his doom!"

The duke handed him a roll of parchment, which he glanced criticallyover, and handed to the queen for her autograph. That royal lady spreadthe vellum on her knee, took the pen and affixed her signature as coollyas if she were inditing a sonnet in an album. Then his highness, with aface that fairly scintillated with demoniac delight, stood up and fixedhis eyes on the ghastly prisoner, and spoke in a voice that reverberatedlike the tolling of a death-bell through the room. 

"My Lord of Gloucester, you have been tried by a council of yourfellow-peers, presided over by her royal self, and found guilty of hightreason. Your sentence is that you be taken hence, immediately, to theblock, and there be beheaded, in punishment of your crime. "

His highness wound up this somewhat solemn speech, ratherinconsistently, bursting out into one of his shrillest peals oflaughter; and the miserable Earl of Gloucester, with a gasping, unearthly cry, fell back in the arms of the attendants. Dead andoppressive silence reigned; and Sir Norman, who half believed all alongthe whole thing was a farce, began to feel an uncomfortable sense ofchill creeping over him, and to think that, though practical jokes wereexcellent things in their way, there was yet a possibility of carryingthem a little too far. The disagreeable silence was first broken by thedwarf, who, after gloating for a moment over his victim's convulsivespasms, sprang nimbly from his chair of dignity and held out his arm forthe queen. The queen arose, which seemed to be a sign for everybody elseto do the same, and all began forming themselves in a sort of line ofmarch. 

"Whist is to be done with this other prisoner, your highness?" inquiredthe duke, making a poke with his forefinger at Sir Norman. "Is he tostay here, or is he to accompany us?"

His highness turned round, and putting his face close up to Sir Norman'sfavored him with a malignant grin. 

"You'd like to come, wouldn't you, my dear young friend?"

"Really, " said Sir Norman, drawing back and returning the dwarf's starewith compound interest, "that depends altogether on the nature ofthe entertainment; but, at the same time, I'm much obliged to you forconsulting my inclinations. "

This reply nearly overset his highness's gravity once more, but hechecked his mirth after the first irresistible squeal; and findingthe company were all arranged in the order of going, and awaiting hissovereign pleasure, he turned. 

"Let him come, " he said, with his countenance still distorted by inwardmerriment; "It will do him good to see how we punish offenders here, andteach him what he is to expect himself. Is your majesty ready?"

"My majesty has been ready and waiting for the last five minutes, "replied the lady, over-looking his proffered hand with grand disdain, and stepping lightly down from her throne. 

Her rising was the signal for the unseen band to strike up a grandtriumphant "Io paean, " though, had the "Rogue's March" been a popularmelody in those times, it would have suited the procession much moreadmirably. The queen and the dwarf went first, and a vivid contrast theywere--she so young, so beautiful, so proud, so disdainfully cold; he sougly, so stunted, so deformed, so fiendish. After them went the band ofsylphs in white, then the chancellor, archbishop, and embassadors; nextthe whole court of ladies and gentlemen; and after them Sir Norman, inthe custody of two of the soldiers. The condemned earl came last, orrather allowed himself to be dragged by his four guards; for he seemedto have become perfectly palsied and dumb with fear. Keeping time to thetriumphant march, and preserving dismal silence, the procession woundits way along the room and through a great archway heretofore hiddenby the tapestry now lifted lightly by the nymphs. A long stone passage, carpeted with crimson and gold, and brilliantly illuminated likethe grand saloon they had left, was thus revealed, and three similararchways appeared at the extremity, one to the right and left, and onedirectly before them. The procession passed through the one to the left, and Sir Norman started in dismay to find himself in the most gloomyapartment he had ever beheld in his life. It was all covered withblack--walls, ceiling, and floor were draped in black, and remindedhim forcibly of La Masque's chamber of horrors, only this was morerepellant. It was lighted, or rather the gloom was troubled, by afew spectral tapers of black wax in ebony candlesticks, that seemedabsolutely to turn black, and make the horrible place more horrible. There was no furniture--neither couch, chair, nor table nothing but asort of stage at the upper end of the room, with something that lookedlike a seat upon it, and both were shrouded with the same dismaldrapery. But it was no seat; for everybody stood, arranging themselvessilently and noiselessly around the walls, with the queen and the dwarfat their head, and near this elevation stood a tall, black statue, wearing a mask, and leaning on a bright, dreadful, glittering axe. Themusic changed to an unearthly dirge, so weird and blood-curdling, thatSir Norman could have put his hands over his ear-drums to shut out theghastly sound. The dismal room, the voiceless spectators, the blackspectre with the glittering axe, the fearful music, struck a chill tohis inmost heart. 

Could it be possible they were really going to murder the unhappywretch? and could all those beautiful ladies--could that surpassinglybeautiful queen, stand there serenely unmoved, to witness such a crime?While he yet looked round in horror, the doomed man, already apparentlyalmost dead with fear, was dragged forward by his guards. Paralyzedas he was, at sight of the stage which he knew to be the scaffold, heuttered shriek after shriek of frenzied despair, and struggled likea madman to get free. But as well might Laocoon have struggled in thefolds of the serpent; they pulled him on, bound him hand and foot, andheld his head forcibly down on the block. 

The black spectre moved--the dwarf made a signal--the glittering axe wasraised--fell--a scream was cut in two--a bright jet of blood spouted upin the soldiers faces, blinding them; the axe fell again, and the Earlof Gloucester was minus that useful and ornamental appendage, a head. 

It was all over so quickly, that Sir Norman could scarcely believe hishorrified senses, until the deed was done. The executioner threw a blackcloth over the bleeding trunk, and held up the grizzly head by the hair;and Sir Norman could have sworn the features moved, and the dead eyesrolled round the room. 

"Behold!" cried the executioner, striking the convulsed face with thepalm of his open hand, "the fate of all traitors!"

"And of all spies!" exclaimed the dwarf, glaring with his fiendisheyes upon the appalled Sir Norman. "Keep your axe sharp and bright, Mr. Executioner, for before morning dawns there is another gentleman here tobe made shorter by a head. "

CHAPTER XII. DOOM. 

"Let us go, " said the queen, glancing at the revolting sight, andturning away with a shudder of repulsion. "Faugh! The sight of blood hasmade me sick. "

"And taken away my appetite for supper, " added a youthful and elegantbeauty beside her. "My Lord Gloucester was hideous enough when living, but, mon Dieu! he is ten times more so when dead!"

"Your ladyship will not have the same story to tell of yonder stranger, when he shares the same fate in are hour or two!" said the dwarf, with amalicious grin; "for I heard you remarking upon his extreme beauty whenhe first appeared. "

The lady laughed and bowed, and turned her bright eyes upon Sir Norman. 

"True! It is almost a pity to cut such a handsome head off--is it not? Iwish I had a voice in your highness's council, and I know what I shoulddo. "

"What, Lady Mountjoy?"

"Entreat him to swear fealty, and become one of as; and--"

"And a bridegroom for your ladyship?" suggested the queen, with acurling lip. "I think if Sir Norman Kingsley knew Lady Mountjoy as wellas I do, he would even prefer the block to such a fate!"

Lady Mountjoy's brilliant eyes shone like two angry meteors; but shemerely bowed and laughed; and the laugh was echoed by the dwarf in hisshrillest falsetto. 

"Does your highness intend remaining here all night?" demanded thequeen, rather fiercely. "If not, the sooner we leave this ghastly placethe better. The play is over, and supper is waiting. "

With which the royal virago made an imperious motion for her attendantsprites in gossamer white to precede her, and turned with her accustomedstately step to follow. The music immediately changed from its dolefuldirge to a spirited measure, and the whole company flocked after her, back to the great room of state. There they all paused, hovering inuncertainty around the room, while the queen, holding her purple trainup lightly in one hand, stood at the foot of the throne, glancing atthem with her cold, haughty and beautiful eyes. In their wandering, those same darkly-splendid eyes glanced and lighted on Sir Norman, who, in a state of seeming stupor at the horrible scene he had justwitnessed, stood near the green table, and they sent a thrill throughhim with their wonderful resemblance to Leoline's. So vividly alike werethey, that he half doubted for a moment whether she and Leoline were notreally one; but no--Leoline never could have had the cold, cruel heartto stand and witness such a horrible eight. Miranda's dark, piercingglance fell as haughtily and disdainfully on him as it had on the rest;and his heart sank as he thought that whatever sympathy she had felt forhim was entirely gone. It might have been a whim, a woman's caprice, aspirit of contradiction, that had induced her to defend him at first. Whatever it was, and it mattered not now, it had completely vanished. Noface of marble could have been colder, of stonier, or harder, than hers, as she looked at him out of the depths of her great dark eyes; and withthat look, his last lingering hope of life vanished. 

"And now for the next trial!" exclaimed the dwarf, briskly breaking inupon his drab-colored meditations, and bustling past. "We will get itover at once, and have done with it!"

"You will do no such thing!" said the imperious voice of the queenlyshrew. "We will have neither trials nor anything else until aftersupper, which has already been delayed four full minutes. My lordchamberlain, have the goodness to step in and see that all is in order. "

One of the gilded and decorated gentlemen whom sir Norman had mistakenfor ambassadors stepped off, in obedience, through another opening inthe tapestry--which seemed to be as extensively undermined with suchapertures as a cabman's coat with capes--and, while he was gone, thequeen stood drawn up to her full height, with her scornful face lookingdown on the dwarf. That small man knit up his very plain face into abristle of the sourest kinks, and frowned sulky disapproval at an orderwhich he either would not, or dared not, countermand. Probably thelatter had most to do with it, as everybody looked hungry and mutinous, and a great deal more eager for their supper than the life of Sir NormanKingsley. 

"Your majesty, the royal banquet is waiting, " insinuated the lord highchamberlain, returning, and bending over until his face and his shoebuckles almost touched. 

"And what is to be done with this prisoner, while we are eating it?"growled the dwarf, looking drawn swords at his liege lady. 

"He can remain here under care of the guards, can he not?" she retortedsharply. "Or, if you are afraid they are not equal to taking care ofhim, you had better stay and watch him yourself. "

With which answer, her majesty sailed majestically away, leaving thegentleman addressed to follow or not, as he pleased. It pleased him todo so, on the whole; and he went after her, growling anathemas betweenhis royal teeth, and evidently in the same state of mind that inducesgentlemen in private life to take sticks to their aggravating spouses, under similar circumstances. However, it might not be just the thing, perhaps, for kings and queens to take broom-sticks to settle theirlittle differences of opinion, like common Christians; and so the princepeaceably followed her, and entered the salle a manger with the rest, and Sir Norman and his keepers were left in the hall of state, monarchsof all they surveyed. Notwithstanding he knew his hours were numbered, the young knight could not avoid feeling curious, and the tapestryhaving been drawn aside, he looked through the arch with a good deal ofinterest. 

The apartment was smaller than the one in which he stood--though stillvery large, and instead of being all crimson and gold, was glancing andglittering with blue and silver. These azure hangings were of satin, instead of velvet, and looked quite light and cool, compared to the hot, glowing place where he was. The ceiling was spangled over with silverstars, with the royal arms quartered in the middle, and the chairs wereof white, polished wood, gleaming like ivory, and cushioned with bluesatin. The table was of immense length, as it had need to be, andflashed and sparkled in the wax lights with heaps of gold and silverplate, cut-glass, and precious porcelain. Golden and crimson winesshone in the carved decanters; great silver baskets of fruit were strewnabout, with piles of cakes and confectionery--not to speak of more solidsubstantials, wherein the heart of every true Englishman delighteth. The queen sat in a great, raised chair at the head, and helped herselfwithout paying much attention to anybody, and the remainder were rangeddown its length, according to their rank--which, as they were all prettymuch dukes and duchesses, was about equal. 

The spirits of the company--depressed for a moment by the unpleasantlittle circumstance of seeing one of their number beheaded--seemed torevive under the spirituous influence of sherry, sack, and burgundy; andsoon they were laughing, and chatting, and hobnobbing, as animatedly asany dinner-party Sir Norman had ever seen. The musicians, too, appearedto be in high feather, and the merriest music of the day assisted thenoble banqueters' digestion. 

Under ordinary circumstances, it war rather a tantalizing scene tostand aloof and contemplate; and so the guards very likely felt; but SirNorman's thoughts were of that room in black, the headsman's axe, andLeoline. He felt he would never see her again--never see the sun risethat was to shine on their bridal; and he wondered what she would thinkof him, and if she was destined to fall into the hands of Lord Rochesteror Count L'Estrange. As a general thing, our young friend was not givento melancholy moralizing, but in the present case, with the headsman'saxe poised like the sword of Damocles above him by a single hair, he maybe pardoned for reflecting that this world is all a fleeting show, andthat he had got himself into a scrape, to which the plague was a trifle. And yet, with nervous impatience, he wished the dinner and his trialwere over, his fate sealed, and his life ended at once, since it was tobe ended soon. For the fulfillment of the first wish, he had not longto wait; the feast, though gay and grand, was of the briefest, and theycould have scarcely been half an hour gone when they were all back. 

Everybody seemed in better humor, too, after the refection, but thequeen and the dwarf--the former looked colder, and harder, and morelike a Labrador iceberg tricked out in purple velvet, than ever, and hishighness was grinning from ear to ear--which was the very worst possiblesign. Not even her majesty could make the slightest excuse for delayingthe trial now; and, indeed, that eccentric lady seemed to have no wishto do so, had she the power, but seated herself in silent disdain ofthem all, and dropping her long lashes over her dark eyes, seemed toforget there was anybody in existence but herself. 

His highness and his nobles took their stations of authority behindthe green table, and summoned the guards to lead the prisoner up beforethem, which was done; while the rest of the company were fluttering downinto their seats, and evidently about to pay the greatest attention. The cases in this midnight court seemed to be conducted on a decidedlyoriginal plan, and with an easy rapidity that would have electrified anyother court, ancient or modern. Sir Norman took his stand, and eyed hisjudges with a look half contemptuous, half defiant; and the proceedingscommenced by the dwarf a leaning forward and breaking into a roar oflaughter, right in his face. 

"My little friend I warned you before not to be so facetious, " saidSir Norman, regarding him quietly; "a rush of mirth to the brain willcertainly be the death of you one of these day. "

"No levity, young man!" interposed the lord chancellor, rebukingly;"remember, you are addressing His Royal Highness Prince Caliban, Spouse, and Consort of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Miranda!"

"Indeed! Then all I have to say, is, that her majesty has very bad tastein the selection of a husband, unless, indeed, her wish was to marrythe ugliest man in the world, as she herself is the most beautiful ofwomen!"

Her majesty took not the slightest notice of this compliment, not somuch as a flatter of her drooping eye-lashes betrayed that she evenheard it, but his highness laughed until he was perfectly hoarse. 

"Silence!" shouted the duke, shocked and indignant at this glaringdisrespect, "and answer truthfully the questions put to you. Your name, you say, is Sir Norman Kingsley?"

"Yes. Has your grace any objection to it?"

His grace waved down the interruption with a dignified wave of the hand, and went on with were judicial dignity. 

"You are the same who shot Lord Ashley between this and the city, somehours ago?"

"I had the pleasure of shooting a highwayman there, and my only regretis, I did not perform the same good office by his companion, in theperson of your noble self, before you turned and fled. "

A slight titter ran round the room, and the duke turned crimson. 

"These remarks are impertinent, and not to the purpose. You are themurderer of Lord Ashley, let that suffice. Probably you were on your wayhither when you did the deed?"

"He was, " said the dwarf, vindictively. "I met him at the Golden Crownbut a short time after. "

"Very well, that is another point settled, and either of them is strongenough to seal his death warrant. You came here as a spy, to see andhear and report--probably you were sent by King Charles?"

"Probably--just think as you please about it!" said Sir Norman, who knewhis case was as desperate as it could be, and was quite reckless what heanswered. 

"You admit that you are a spy, then?"

"No such thing. I have owned nothing. As I told you before, you arewelcome to put what construction you please on my actions. "

"Sir Norman Kingsley, this is nonsensical equivocation! You own you cameto hear and see?"

"Well!"

"Well, hearing and seeing constitute spying, do they not? Therefore, youare a spy. "

"I confess it looks like it. What next?"

"Need you ask What is the fate of all spies?"

"No matter what they are in other places, I am pretty certain what theyare here!"

"And that is?"

"A room in black, and a chop with an axe--the Earl of Gloucester'sfate, in a word!"

"You have said it! Have you any reason why such a sentence should not bepronounced on you?"

"None; pronounce it as soon as you like. "

"With the greatest pleasure!" said the duke, who had been scrawling onanother ominous roll of vellum, and now passed it to the dwarf. "I neverknew anyone it gave me more delight to condemn. Will your highness passthat to her majesty for signature, and pronounce his sentence. "

His highness, with a grin of most exquisite delight, did as directed;and Sir Norman looked steadfastly at the queen as she received it. Oneof the gauzy nymphs presented it to her, kneeling, and she took it witha look half bored, half impatient, and lightly scrawled her autograph. The long, dark lashes did not lift; no change passed over the calm, coldface, as icily placid as a frozen lake in the moonlight--evidently thelife or death of the stranger was less than nothing to her. To him she, too, was as nothing, or nearly so; but yet there was a sharp jarringpain at his heart, as he saw that fair hand, that had saved him once, socoolly sign his death warrant now. But there was little time left for towatch her; for, as she pushed it impatiently away, and relapsed into herformer proud listlessness, the dwarf got up with one of his death's-headgrins, and began:

"Sir Norman Kingsley, you have been tried and convicted as a spy, andthe paid-hireling of the vindictive and narrow-minded Charles; and thesentence of this court, over which I have the honor to preside, is, thatyou be taken hence immediately to the place of execution, and there loseyour head by the axe!"

"And a mighty small loss it will be!" remarked the duke to himself, in asort of parenthesis, as the dwarf concluded his pleasant observationby thrusting himself forward across the table, after his ratherdiscomposing fashion, and breaking out into one of has diabolicallaughter-chips. 

The queen, who had been sitting passive, and looking as if she were inspirit a thousand miles away, now started up with sharp suddenness, andfavored his highness with one of her fieriest fiery glances. 

"Will your highness just permit somebody else to have a voice in thatmatter? How many more trials are to come on tonight?"

"Only one, " replied the duke, glancing over a little roll which he held;"Lady Castlemaine's, for poisoning the Duchess of Sutherland. "

"And what is my Lady Castlemaine's fate to be?"

"The same as our friend's here, in all probability, " nodding easily, notto say playfully, at Sir Norman. 

"And how long will her trial last?"

"Half an hour, or thereabouts. There are some secrets in the matter thathave to be investigated, and which will require some time. "

"Then let all the trials be over first, and all the beheadings takeplace together. We don't choose to take the trouble of traveling to theBlack Chamber just to see his head chopped off, and then have the samejourney to undergo half an hour after, for a similar purpose. Call LadyCastlemaine, and let this prisoner be taken to one of the dungeons, andthere remain until the time for execution. Guards, do you hear? Take himaway!"

The dwarf's face grew black as a thunder-cloud, and he jumped to hisfeet and confronted the queen with a look so intensely ugly that noother earthly face could have assumed it. But that lady merely met itwith one of cold disdain and aversion, and, keeping her dark bright eyesfixed chillingly upon him, waved her white hand, in her imperious way, to the guards. Those warlike gentlemen knew better than to disobey hermost gracious majesty when she happened to be, like Mrs. Joe Gargary, onthe "rampage, " which, if her flashing eye and a certain expression abouther handsome mouth spoke the truth, must have been twenty hours out ofthe twenty-four. As the soldiers approached to lead him away, Sir Normantried to catch her eye; but in vain, for she kept those brilliant opticsmost unwinkingly fixed on the dwarf's face. 

"Call Lady Castlemaine, " commanded the duke, as Sir Norman with hisguards passed through the doorway leading to the Black Chamber. "Yourhighness, I presume, is ready to attend to her case. "

"Before I attend to hers or any one else's case, " said the dwarf, hopping over the table like an overgrown toad, "I will first see thatthis guest of ours is properly taken care, of, and does not leave uswithout the ceremony of saying good-bye. "

With which, he seized one of the wax candles, and trotted, with ratherunprincely haste, after Sir Norman and his conductors. The young knighthad been led down the same long passage he had walked through before;but instead of entering the chamber of horrors, they passed through thecentre arch, and found themselves in another long, vaulted corridor, dimly lit by the glow of the outer one. It was as cold and dismal aplace, Sir Norman thought, as he had ever seen; and it had an odor dampand earthy, and of the grave. It had two or three great, ponderous doorson either aide, fastened with huge iron bolts; and before one of thesehis conductors paused. Just as they did so, the glimmer of the dwarf'staper pierced the gloom, and the next moment, smiling from ear to ear, he was by their side. 

"Down with the bars!" he cried. "This is the one for him--the strongestand safest of them all. Now, my dashing courtier, you will see howtenderly your little friend provides for his favorites!"

If Sir Norman made any reply, it was drowned id the rattle and clankof the massive bars, and is hopelessly lost to posterity. The huge doorswung back; but nothing was visible but a sort of black velvet pall, andeffluvia much stronger than sweet. Involuntarily he recoiled as one ofthe guards made a motion for him to enter. 

"I Shove him in! shove him in!" shrieked the dwarf, who was getting soexcited with glee that he was dancing about in a sort of jig of delight. "In with him--in with him! If he won't go peaceably, kick him inhead-foremost!"

"I would strongly advise them not to try it, " said Sir Norman, as hestepped into the blackness, "if they have any regard for their health!It does not make much difference after all, my little friend, whetherI spend the next half-hour in the inky blackness of this place or theblood-red grandeur of your royal court. My little friend, until we meetagain, permit me to say, au revoir. "

The dwarf laughed in his pleasant way, and pushed the candle cautiouslyinside the door. 

"Good-by for a little while, my dear young sir, and while the headsmenis sharpening his axe, I'll leave you to think about your little friend. Lest you should lack amusement, I'll leave you a light to contemplateyour apartment; and for fear you may get lonesome, these two gentlemenwill stand outside your door, with their swords drawn, till I come back. Good-by, my dear young sir--good-bye!"

The dungeon-door swung to with a tremendous bang Sir Norman was barredin his prison to await his doom and the dwarf was skipping along thepassage with sprightliness, laughing as he went. 

CHAPTER XIII. ESCAPED. 

Probably not one of you; my dear friends, who glance graciously overthis, was ever shut up in a dungeon under expectation of bearing theunpleasant operation of decapitation within half an hour. It neverhappened to myself, either, that I can recollect; so, of course, youor I personally can form no idea what the sensation may be like; butin this particular case, tradition saith Sir Norman Kingsley's stateof mind was decidedly depressed. As the door shut violently, he leanedagainst it, and listened to his jailers place the great bars into theirsockets, and felt he was shut in, in the dreariest, darkest, dismalest, disagreeablest place that it had ever been his misfortune to enter. He thought of Leoline, and reflected that in all probability she wassleeping the sleep of the just--perhaps dreaming of him, and littleknowing that his head was to be cut off in half an hour. 

In course of time morning would come--it was not likely the ordinarycourse of nature would be cut off because he was; and Leoline would getup and dress herself, and looking a thousand times prettier than ever, stand at the window and wait for him. Ah! she might wait--much goodwould it do her; about that time he would probably be--where? It was arather uncomfortable question, but easily answered, and depressed him toa very desponding degree indeed. 

He thought of Ormiston and La Masque--no doubt they were billing andcooing in most approved fashion just then, and never thinking of him;though, but for La Masque and his own folly, he might have been halfmarried by this time. He thought of Count L'Estrange and Master Hubert, and become firmly convinced, if one did not find Leoline the otherwould; and each being equally bad, it was about a toss up in agony whichgot her. 

He thought of Queen Miranda, and of the adage, "put no trust inprinces, " and sighed deeply as he reflected what a bad sign of humannature it was--more particularly such handsome human nature--that shecould, figuratively speaking, pat him on the back one moment, and kickhim to the scaffold the next. He thought, dejectedly, what a fool hewas ever to have come back; or even having come back, not to havetaken greater pains to stay up aloft, instead of pitching abruptlyhead-foremost into such a select company without an invitation. Hethought, too, what a cold, damp, unwholesome chamber they had lodged himin, and how apt he would be to have a bad attack of ague and miasmaticfever, if they would only let him live long enough to enjoy thoseblessings. And this having brought him to the end of his melancholymeditation, he began to reflect how he could best amuse himself inthe interim, before quitting this vale of tears. The candle was stillblinking feebly on the floor, shedding tears of wax in its feebleprostration, and it suddenly reminded him of the dwarf's advice toexamine his dark bower of repose. So he picked it up and snuffed it withhis fingers, and held it aloof, much as Robinson Crusoe held the brandin the dark cavern with the dead goat. 

In the velvet pall of blackness before alluded to, its small, wan raypierced but a few inches, and only made the darkness visible. But SirNorman groped his way to the wall, which he found to be all over greenand noisome slime, and broken out into a cold, clammy perspiration, asthough it were at its last gasp. By the aid of his friendly light, forwhich he was really much obliged--a fact which, had his little friendknown, he would not have left it--he managed to make the circuit of hisprison, which he found rather spacious, and by no means uninhabited; forthe walls and floor were covered with fat, black beetles, wholefamilies of which interesting specimens of the insect-world he crunchedremorselessly under foot, and massacred at every step; and great, depraved-looking rats, with flashing eyes and sinister-teeth, who madefrantic dives and rushes at him, and bit at his jack-boots with fierce, fury. These small quadrupeds reminded him forcibly of the dwarf, especially in the region of the eyes and the general expression ofcountenance; and he began to reflect that if the dwarf's soul (supposinghim to possess such an article as that, which seemed open to debate)passed after death into the body of any other animal, it would certainlybe into that of a rat. 

He had just come to this conclusion, and was applying the flame of thecandle to the nose of an inquisitive beetle, when it struck him heheard voices in altercation outside his door. One, clear, ringing, andimperious, yet withal feminine, was certainly not heard for the firsttime; and the subdued and respectful voices that answered, were those ofhis guards. 

After a moment, he heard the sound of the withdrawing bolts, and hisheart beat fast. Surely, his half-hour had not already expired; andif it had, would she be the person to conduct him to death? The dooropened; a puff of wind extinguished his candle, but not until he hadcaught the glimmer of jewels, the shining of gold, and the flutter oflong, black hair; and then some one came in. The door was closed; thebolts shot back!--and he was alone with Miranda, the queen. 

There was no trouble about recognising her, for she carried in her handa small lamp, which she held up between them, that its rays might falldirectly on both faces. Each was rather white, perhaps, and oneheart was going faster than it had ever gone before, and that one wasdecidedly not the queen's. She was dressed exactly as he had seen her, in purple and ermine, in jewels and gold; and strangely out of place shelooked there, in her splendid dress and splendid beauty, among the blackbeetles and rats. Her face might have been a dead, blank wall, or cutout of cold, white stone, for all it expressed; and as she lightly heldup her rich robes in one hand, and in the other bore the light, thedark, shining eyes were fixed on his face, and were as barren ofinterest, eagerness, compassion, tenderness, or any other feeling, asthe shining, black glass ones of a wax doll. So they stood looking ateach other for some ten seconds or so, and then, still looking full athim, Miranda spoke, and her voice was as clear and emotionless as hereyes, "Well, Sir Norman Kingsley, I have come to see you before you die. "

"Madame, " he stammered, scarcely knowing what he said, "you are kind. "

"Am I? Perhaps you forget I signed your death-warrant. "

"Probably it would have been at the risk of your own life to refuse?"

"Nothing of the kind! Not one of them would hurt a hair of my head if Irefused to sign fifty death-warrants! Now, am I kind?"

"Very likely it would have amounted to the same thing in the end--theywould kill me whether you signed it or not; so what does it matter?"

"You are mistaken! They would not kill you; at least, not tonight, ifI had not signed it. They would have let you live until their nextmeeting, which will be this night week; and I would have incurredneither risk nor danger by refusing. "

Sir Norman glanced round the dungeon and shrugged his shoulders. 

"I do not know that that prospect is much more inviting than the presentone. Even death is preferable to a week's imprisonment in a place likethis. "

"But in the meantime you might have escaped. "

"Madame, look at this stone floor, that stone roof, these solid walls, that barred and massive door; reflect that I am some forty feet underground--cannot perform impossibilities, and then ask yourself how?"

"Sir Norman, have you ever heard of good fairies visiting brave knightsand setting them free?"

Sir Norman smiled. 

"I am afraid the good fairies and brave knights went the way ofall flesh with King Arthur's round table; and even if they were inexistence, none of them would take the trouble to limp down so far tosave such an unlucky dog as I. "

"Then you forgive me for what I have done?"

"Your majesty, I have nothing to forgive. "

"Bah!" she said, scornfully. "Do not mock me here. My majesty, forsooth!you have but fifteen minutes to live in this world, Sir Norman; andif you have no better way of spending them, I will tell you a strangestory--my own, and all about this place. "

"Madame, there is nothing in the world I would like so much to hear. "

"You shall hear it, then, and it may beguile the last slow moments oftime before you go out into eternity. "

She set her lamp down on the floor among the rats and beetles, and stoodwatching the small, red flame a moment with a gloomy, downcast eye; andSir Norman, gazing on the beautiful darkening face, so like and yet sounlike Leoline, stood eagerly awaiting what was to come. 

 *****

Meantime, the half-hour sped. In the crimson court the last trial wasover, and Lady Castlemaine, a slender little beauty of eighteen stoodcondemned to die. 

"Now for our other prisoner!" exclaimed the dwarf with sprightlyanimation; "and while I go to the cell, you, fair ladies, and you mylord, will seek the black chamber and await our coming there. "

Ordering one of his attendants to precede him with a light, the dwarfskipped jauntily away, to gloat over his victim. He reached the dungeondoor, which the guards, with some trepidation in their countenance, asthey thought of what his highness would say when he found her majestylocked in with the prisoner, threw open. 

"Come forth, Sir Norman Kingsley!" shouted the dwarf, rushing in. "Comeforth and meet your doom!"

But no Sir Norman Kingsley obeyed the pleasant invitation, and a dullecho from the darkness alone answered him. There was a lamp burning onthe floor, and near it lay a form, shining and specked with white in thegloom. He made for it between fear and fury, but there was somethingred and slippery on the ground, in which his foot slipped, and hefell. Simultaneously there was a wild cry from the two guards and theattendant, that was echoed by a perfect screech of rage from the dwarf, as on looking down he beheld Queen Miranda lying on the floor in thepool of blood, and apparently quite dead, and Sir Norman Kingsley gone. 

CHAPTER, XIV. IN THE DUNGEON. 

The interim between Miranda setting down her lamp on the dungeon flooramong the rats and the beetles, and the dwarf's finding her bleedingand senseless, was not more than twenty minutes, but a great deal may bedone in twenty minutes judiciously expended, and most decidedly it wasso in the present case. Both rats and beetles paused to contemplate theflickering lamp, and Miranda paused to contemplate them, and SirNorman paused to contemplate her, for an instant or so in silence. Hermarvelous resemblance to Leoline, in all but one thing, struck him moreand more--there was the same beautiful transparent colorless complexion, the same light, straight, graceful figure, the same small oval delicatefeatures; the same profuse waves of shining dark hair, the same large, dark, brilliant eyes; the same, little, rosy pretty mouth, like one ofCorreggio's smiling angels. The one thing wanting was expression--inLeoline's face there was a kind of childlike simplicity; a look halfshy, half fearless, half solemn in her wonderful eyes; but in this, her prototype, there was nothing shy or solemn; all was cold, hard, andglittering, and the brooding eyes were full of a dull, dusky fire. Shelooked as hard and cold and bitter, as she was beautiful; and Sir Normanbegan to perplex himself inwardly as to what had brought her here. Surely not sympathy, for nothing wearing that face of stone, couldeven know the meaning of such a word. While he looked at her, halfwonderingly, half pityingly, half tenderly--a queer word that last, but the feeling was caused by her resemblance to Leoline--she had beenmoodily watching an old gray rat, the patriarch of his tribe, who wasmaking toward her in short runs, stopping between each one to stare ather, out of his unpleasantly bright eyes. Suddenly, Miranda shuther teeth, clenched her hands, and with a sort of fierce suppressedejaculation, lifted her shining foot and planted it full on the rat'shead. So sudden, so fierce, and so strong, was the stamp, that therat was crushed flat, and uttered a sharp and indignant squeal ofexpostulation, while Sir Norman looked at her, thinking she had lost herwits. Still she ground it down with a fiercer and stronger force everysecond; and with her eyes still fixed upon it, and blazing with reddishblack flame, she said, in a sort of fiery hiss:

"Look at it! The ugly, loathsome thing! Did you ever see anything lookmore like him?"

There must have been some mysterious rapport between them, for heunderstood at once to whom the solitary personal pronoun referred. 

"Certainly, in the general expression of countenance there is rather amarked resemblance, especially in the region of the teeth and eyes. "

"Except that the rat's eyes are a thousand times handsomer, " she brokein, with a derisive laugh. 

"But as to shape, " resumed Sir Norman, eyeing the excited andastonished little animal, still shrilly squealing, with the glance ofa connoisseur, "I confess I do not see it! The rat is straight andshapely--which his highness, with all reverence be it said--is not, butrather the reverse, if you will not be offended at me for saying so. "

She broke into a short laugh that had a hard, metallic ring, and thenher face darkened, blackened, and she ground the foot that crushed therat fiercer, and with a sort of passionate vindictiveness, as if she hadthe head of the dwarf under her heel. 

"I hate him! I hate him!" she said, through her clenched teeth andthough her tone was scarcely above a whisper, it was so terrible in itsfiery earnestness that Sir Norman thrilled with repulsion. "Yes, I hatehim with all my heart and soul, and I wish to heaven I had him here, like this rat, to trample to death under my feet!"

Not knowing very well what reply to make to this strong and heartfeltspeech, which rather shocked his notions of female propriety, Sir Normanstood silent, and looked reflectively after the rat, which, when shepermitted it at last to go free, limped away with an ineffably sneakingand crest-fallen expression on his hitherto animated features. Shewatched it, too, with a gloomy eye, and when it crawled into thedarkness and was gone, she looked up with a face so dark and moody thatit was almost sullen. 

"Yes, I hate him!" she repeated, with a fierce moodiness that was quitedreadful, "yes, I hate him! and I would kill him, like that rat, if Icould! He has been the curse of my whole life; he has made life cursedto me; and his heart's blood shall be shed for it some day yet, Iswear!"

With all her beauty there was something so horrible in the look shewore, that Sir Norman involuntarily recoiled from her. Her sharp eyesnoticed it, and both grew red and fiery as two devouring flames. 

"Ah! you, too, shrink from me, would you? You, too, recoil in horror!Ingrate! And I have come to save your life!"

"Madame, I recoil not from you, but from that which is tempting youto utter words like these. I have no reason to love him of whom youspeak--you, perhaps, have even less; but I would not have his blood, shed in murder, on my head, for ten thousand worlds! Pardon me, but youdo not mean what you say. "

"Do I not? That remains to be seen! I would not call it murder plunginga knife into the heart of a demon incarnate like that, and I would havedone it long ago and he knows it, too, if I had the chance!"

"What has he done to you to make you do bitter against him?"

"Bitter! Oh, that word is poor and pitiful to express what I feel whenhis name is mentioned. Loathing and hatred come a little nearer themark, but even they are weak to express the utter--the--" She stopped ina sort of white passion that choked her very words. 

"They told me he was your husband, " insinuated Sir Norman, unutterablyrepelled. 

"Did they?" she said, with a cold sneer, "he is, too--at least as far aschurch and state can make him; but I am no more his wife at heart thanI am Satan's. Truly of the two I should prefer the latter, for then Ishould be wedded to something grand--a fallen angel; as it is, I havethe honor to be wife to a devil who never was an angel?"

At this shocking statement Sir Norman looked helplessly round, as iffor relief; and Miranda, after a moment's silence, broke into anothermirthless laugh. 

"Of all the pictures of ugliness you ever saw or heard of, Sir NormanKingsley, do tell me if there ever was one of them half so repulsive ordisgusting as that thing?"

"Really, " said Sir Norman, in a subdued tone, "he is not the mostprepossessing little man in the world; but, madame, you do look andspeak in a manner quite dreadful. Do let me prevail on you to calmyourself, and tell me your story, as you promised. "

"Calm myself!" repeated the gentle lady, in a tone half snappish, halfharsh, "do you think I am made of iron, to tell you my story and becalm? I hate him! I hate him! I would kill him if I could: and if you, Sir Norman, are half the man I take you to be, you will rid the world ofthe horrible monster before morning dawns!"

"My dear lady, you seem to forget that the case is reversed, and that heis going to rid the world of me, ", said Sir Norman, with a sigh. 

"No, not if you do as I tell you; and when I have told you how muchcause I have to abhor him, you will agree with me that killing him willbe no murder! Oh, if there is One above who rules this world, and willjudge us all, why, why does He permit such monsters to live?"

"Because He is more merciful than his creatures, " replied Sir Norman, with calm reverence, --"though His avenging hand is heavy on this doomedcity. But, madame, time is on the wing, and the headsman will be herebefore your story is told. "

"Ah, that story! How am I to tell it, I wonder, two words will compriseit all--sin and misery--misery and sin! For, buried alive here, as Iam--buried alive, as I've always been--I know what both words mean;they have been branded on heart and brain in letters of fire. And thathorrible monstrosity is the cause of all--that loathsome, misshapen, hideous abortion has banned and cursed my whole life! He is myfirst recollection. As far back as I can look through the dim eye ofchildhood's years, that horrible face, that gnarled and twisted trunk, those devilish eyes glare at me like the eyes and face of a wild beast. As memory grows stronger and more vivid, I can see that same facestill--the dwarf! the dwarf! the dwarf!--Satan's true representative onearth, darkening and blighting ever passing year. I do not know where welived, but I imagine it to have been one of the vilest and lowest densin London, though the rooms I occupied were, for that matter, decent andorderly enough. Those rooms the daylight never entered, the windowswere boarded up within, and fastened by shutters without, so that of theworld beyond I was as ignorant as a child of two hours old. I saw buttwo human faces, his"--she seemed to hate him too much even to pronouncehis name--"and his housekeeper's, a creature almost as vile as himself, and who is now a servant here; and with this precious pair to guard meI grew up to be fifteen years old. My outer life consisted of eating, sleeping, reading--for the wretch taught me to read--playing with mydogs and birds, and listening to old Margery's stories. But there wasan inward life, fierce and strong, as it was rank and morbid, lived andbrooded over alone, when Margery and her master fancied me sleeping inidiotic content. How were they to know that the creature they had rearedand made ever had a thought of her own--ever wondered who she was, whereshe came from, what she was destined to be, and what lay in the greatworld beyond? The crooked little monster made a great mistake inteaching me to read, he should have known that books sow seed that growup and flourish tall and green, till they become giants in strength. I knew enough to be certain there was a bright and glad world without, from which they shut me in and debarred me; and I knew enough to hatethem both for it, with a strong and heartfelt hatred, only second towhat I feel now. "

She stopped for a moment, and fixed her dark, gloomy eyes on theswarming floor, and shook off, with out a shudder, the hideous thingsthat crawled over her rich dress. She had scarcely looked at Sir Normansince she began to speak, but he had done enough looking for them both, never once taking his eyes from the handsome darkening face. He thoughthow strangely like her story was to Leoline's--both shut in and isolatedfrom the outer world. Verily, destiny seemed to have woven the woof andwarp of their fates wonderfully together, for their lives were asmuch the same as their faces. Miranda, having shook off her crawlingacquaintances, watched them glancing along the foul floor in thedarkness, and went moodily on. 

"It was three years ago when I was fifteen years old, as I told you, that a change took place in my life. Up to that time, that miserabledwarf was what people would call my guardian, and did not trouble memuch with his heavenly company. He was a great deal from our house, sometimes absent for weeks together; and I remember I used to envy thefreedom with which he came and went, far more than I ever wondered wherehe spent his precious time. I did not know then that he belonged tothe honorable profession of highwaymen, with variations of coining whentravelers were few and money scarce. He was then, and is still, atthe head of a formidable gang, over whom he wields most desperateauthority--as perhaps you have noticed during the brief and pleasantperiod of your acquaintance. "

"Really, madam, it struck me that your authority over them was much moredespotic than his, " said Sir Norman, in all sincerity, feeling calledupon to give the--well, I'd rather not repeat the word, which isgenerally spelled with a d and a dash--his due. 

"No thanks to him for that! He would make me a slave now, as he didthen, if he dared, but he has found that, poor, trodden worm as I was, Ihad life enough left to turn and sting. "

"Which you do with a vengeance! Oh I you're a Tartar!" remarked SirNorman to himself. "The saints forefend that Leoline should be likeyou in temper, as she is in history and face; for if she is, my lifepromises to be a pleasant one. "

"This rascally crew of cut-throats, whom his villainous highnessheaded, " said Miranda, "were an almost immense number then, beingdivided in three bodies--London cut-purses, Hounslow Heath highwaymen, and assistant-coiners, but all owning him for their lord and master. He told me all this himself, one day when, in an after-dinner and mostgracious mood, he made a boasting display of his wealth and greatness;told me I was growing up very pretty indeed, and that I was shortly tobe raised to the honor and dignity, and bliss of being his wife. 

"I fancy I must have had a very vague idea of what that one small wordmeant, and was besides in an unusually contented and peaceful stateof mind, or I should, undoubtedly, have raised one of his cut-glassdecanters and smashed in his head with it. I know how I should receivesuch an assertion from him now, but I think I took it then with aresignation, he must have found mighty edifying; and when he went onto tell me that all this richness and greatness were to be shared byme when that celestial time came, I think I rather liked the idea thanotherwise. The horrible creature seemed to have woke up that day, forthe first time, and all of a sudden, to a conviction that I was in afair way to become a woman, and rather a handsome one, and that he hadbetter make sure of me before any accident interfered to take me fromhim. Full of this laudable notion, he became a daily visitor of minefrom thenceforth, and made the discovery, simultaneously with myself, that the oftener he came the less favor he found in my sight. I had, before, tacitly disliked him, and shrank with a natural repulsion fromhis dreadful ugliness ness; but now, from negative dislike, I grew topositive hate. The utter loathing and abhorrence I have had for him eversince, began then--I grew dimly and intuitively conscious of what hewould make me, and shrank from my fate with a vague horror not to betold in words. I became strong in my fearful dread of it. I told him Idetested, abhorred, loathed, hated him; that he might keep his riches, greatness, and ungainly self for those who wanted him; they weretemptations too weak to move me. 

"Of course, there was raving, and storming, threatening, terrible looksand denunciations, and I quailed and shrank like a coward, but wasobstinate still. Then as a dernier resort, he tried another bribe--theglorious one of liberty, the one he knew would conquer me, and it did. He promised me freedom--if I married him, I might go out into thegreat unknown world, fetterless and free; and I, O! fool that I was!consented. Not that my object was to stay with him one instant longerher my prison doors were opened; no, I was not quite so besotted asthat--once out, and the little demon might look for me with last year'spartridges. Of course, those demoniac eyes read my heart like anopen book; and when I pronounced the fatal 'yes, ' he laughed in thatdelightful way of his own, which will probably be the last thing youwill hear when you lay your head under the axe. 

"I don't know who the clergyman who married us was; but he was aclergyman: there can be no doubt about that. It was three days after, and for the first time in my fifteen years of life, I stood in sunshine, and daylight, and open air. We drove to the cathedral--for it was in St. Paul's the sacrilege was committed. I never could have walked there, I was so stunned, and giddy, and bewildered. I never thought of themarriage--I could think of nothing but the bright, crashing, sun-shinyworld without, till I was led up before the clergyman, with much theair, I suppose, of one walking in her sleep. He was a very young man, Iremember, and looked from the dwarf to me, and from me to the dwarf, in a great state of fear and uncertainty, but evidently not daring torefuse. Margery and one of his gang were our only attendants, and there, in God's temple, the deed was done, and I was made the miserable thing Iam to-day. "

The suppressed passion, rising and throbbing like a white flame in herface and eyes, made her stop for a moment, breathing hard. Looking upshe met Sir Norman's gaze, and as if there was something in its quiet, pitying tenderness that mesmerized her into calm, she steadily andrapidly went on. 

"I awoke to a new life, after that; but not to one of freedom andhappiness. I was as closely, even more closely, guarded than ever; and Ifound, when too late, that I had bartered myself, soul and body, for anempty promise. The only difference was, that I saw more new faces; forthe dwarf began to bring his confederates and subordinates to the house, and would have me dressed up and displayed to them, with a demoniacpride that revolted me beyond everything else, if I were a paintedpuppet or an overgrown wax doll. Most of the precious crew of scoundrelshad wives of their own and these began to be brought with them ofan evening; and then, what with dancing, and music, and cards, andfeasting, we had quite a carnival of it till morning. 

"I liked this part of the business excessively well at first, and I wasflattered and fooled to the top of my bent, and made from the first, thereigning belle and queen. There was more policy in that than admiration, I fancy; for the dwarf was all-powerful among them and dreadedaccordingly, and I was the dwarf's pet and plaything, and all-powerfulwith him. The hideous creature had a most hideous passion for me then, and I could wind him round my finger as easily as Delilah and Samson;and by his command and their universal consent, the mimicry of royaltywas begun, and I was made mistress and sovereign head, even over thedwarf himself. It was a queer whim; but that crooked slug was alwaystaking such odd notions into his head, which nobody there dared laughat. The band were bound together by a terrible oath, women and all; butthey had to take another oath then, that of allegiance to me. 

"It quite turned my brain at first; and my eyes were so dazzled by thepitiful glistening of the pageant, the sham splendor of the sham court, and the half-mocking, half-serious homage paid me, that I could seenothing beyond the shining surface, and the blackness, and corruption, and horror within, were altogether lost upon me. This feeling increasedwhen, as months and months went by, they were added to the mock peers ofthe Midnight Court, real nobles from that of St. Charles. I did not knowthen that they were ruined gamesters, vicious profligates, and desperatebroken-down roues, who would have gone to pandemonium itself, nightly, for the mad license and lawless excesses they could indulge in here totheir heart's content. But I got tired of it all, after a time: myeyes began slowly to open, and my heart--at least, what little of thatarticle I ever had--turned sick with horror within me at what I haddone. The awful things I saw, the fearful deeds that were perpetrated, would curdle your very blood with horror, were I to relate them. Youhave seen a specimen yourself, in the cold-blooded murder of that wretchhalf an hour ago; and his is not the only life crying for vengeance onthese men. The slightest violation of their oath was punished, andthe doom of traitors and informers was instant death, whether male orfemale. The sham trials and executions always took place in presenceof the whole court, to strike a salutary terror into them, and neveroccurred but once a week, when the whole band regularly met. My powercontinued undiminished; for they knew either the dwarf or I must besupreme; and though the queen was bad, the prince was worse. The saidprince would willingly have pulled me down from my eminence, and havemounted it himself; but that he was probably restrained by a feelingthat law-makers should not be law-breakers, and that, if he set theexample, there would be no end to the insubordination and rebellion thatwould follow. "

"Were you living here or in London then?" inquired Sir Norman, takingan advantage of a pause, employed by Miranda in shaking off the crawlingbeetles. 

"Oh, in London! We did not come here until the outbreak of theplague--that frightened them, especially the female portion, and theyheld a scared meeting, and resolved that we should take up our quarterssomewhere else. This place being old and ruined, and deserted and withall sorts of evil rumors hanging about it, was hit upon; and secretly, by night, these mouldering old vaults were fitted up, and the goods andchattels of the royal court removed. And here I, too, was brought bynight under the dwarf's own eye; for he well knew I would have riskeda thousand plagues to escape from him. And here I have been ever since, and here the weekly revels are still held, and may for years to come, unless something is done to-night to prevent it. 

"The night before these weekly anniversaries they all gather; but duringthe rest of the time I am alone with Margery and the dwarf, and havelearned more secrets about this place than they dream of. For therest, there is little need of explanation--the dwarf and his crew haveindustriously circulated the rumor that it is haunted; and some of thosewhite figures you saw with me, and who, by the way, are the daughters ofthese robbers, have been shown on the broken battlements, as if to putthe fact beyond doubt. 

"Now, Sir Norman, that is all--you have heard my whole history as faras I know it; and nothing remains but to tell you what you must seeyourself, that I am mad for revenge, and must have it, and you must helpme!"

Her eyes were shining with the fierce red fire he had seen in thembefore, and the white face wore a look so deadly and diabolical that, with all its beauty, it was absolutely repulsive. He took a step fromher-for in each of those gleaming eyes sat a devil. 

"You must help me!" she persisted. "You--you, Sir Norman! For many a dayI have been waiting for a chance like this, and until now I have waitedin vain. Alone, I want physical strength to kill him, and I dare nottrust any one else. No one was ever cast among us before as you havebeen; and now, condemned to die, you must be desperate, and desperatemen will do desperate things. Fate, Destiny, Providence--whatever youlike--has thrown you in my way, and help me you must and shall!"

"Madame, madame I what are you saying? How can I help you?"

"There is but one way--this!"

She held up in the pale ray of the lamp, something she drew from thefolds of her dress, that glistened blue, and bright, and steelly in thegloom. 

"A dagger!" he exclaimed, with a shudder, and a recoil. "Madame, are youtalking of murder?"

"I told you!" she said, through her closed teeth, and with her eyesflaming like fire, "that ridding the earth of that fiend incarnate wouldbe a good deed, and no murder! I would do it myself if I could takehim off his guard; but he never is that with me; and then my arm is notstrong enough to reach his black heart through all that mass ofbrawn, and blood, and muscle. No, Sir Norman, Doom has allotted it toyou--obey, and I swear to you, you shall go free; refuse--and in tenminutes your head will roll under the executioner's axe!"

"Better that than the freedom you offer! Madame, I cannot murder!"

"Coward!" she passionately cried; "you fear to do it, and yet you havebut a life to lose, and that is lost to you now!"

Sir Norman raised his head; and even in the darkness she saw the haughtyflush that crimsoned his face. 

"I fear no man living; but, madame, I fear One who is higher than man!"

"But you will die if you refuse; and I repeat, again and again, there isno risk. These guards will not let you out; but there are more ways ofleaving a room than through the door, and I can lead you up behind thetapestry to where he is standing, and you can stab him through the back, and escape with me! Quick, quick, there is no time to lose!"

"I cannot do it!" he said, resolutely, drawing back and folding hisarms. "In short, I will not do it!"

There was such a terrible look in the beautiful eyes, that he halfexpected to see her spring at him like a wild cat, and bury the daggerin his own breast. But the rule of life works by contraries: expecta blow and you will get a kiss, look for an embrace, and you will bestartled by a kick. When the virago spoke, her voice was calm, comparedwith what it had been before, even mild. 

"You refuse! Well, a willful man must have him way; and since you areso qualmish about a little bloodletting, we must try another plan. If Irelease you--for short as the time is, I can do it--will you promise meto go direct to the king this very night, and inform him of all you'veseen and heard here?"

She looked at him with an eagerness that was almost fierce; and in spiteof her steady voice, there was something throbbing and quivering, deadlyand terrible, in her upturned face. The form she looked at was erectand immovable, the eyes were quietly resolved, the mouth half-pityingly, half-sadly smiling. 

"Are you aware, dear lady, what the result of such a step would be?"

"Death!" she said, coldly. 

"Death, transportation, or life-long imprisonment to them all--miseryand disgrace to many a noble house; for some I saw there were oncefriends of mine, with families I honor and respect. Could I bring thedwarf and his attendant imps to Tyburn, and treat them to a hempencravat, I would do it without remorse--though the notion of beinginformer, even then, would not be very pleasant; but as it is, I cannotbe the death of one without ruining all, and as I told you, some ofthose were once my friends. No, madame, I cannot do it. I have but onceto die and I prefer death here, to purchasing life at such a price. "

 *****

There was a short silence, during which they gazed into each other'seyes ominously, and one was about as colorless as the other. 

"You refuse?" she coldly said. 

"I must! But if you can save my life, as you say, why not do it, and flywith me? You will find me the truest and most grateful of friends, whilelife remains. "

"You are very kind; but I want no friendship, Sir Norman--nothing butrevenge! As to escaping, I could have done that any time since we camehere, for I have found out a secret means of exit from each of thesevaults, that they know nothing of. But I have staid to see him dead atmy feet--if not by my hand, at least by my command; and since youwill not do it, I will make the attempt myself. Farewell, Sir NormanKingsley; before many minutes you will be a corpse, and your blood beupon yourself!"

She gave him a glance as coldly fierce as her dagger's glance, andturned to go, when he stepped hastily forward, and interposed:

"Miranda--Miranda--you are crazed! Stop and tell me what you intend todo. "

"What you feared to attempt, " she haughtily replied; "Sheathe thisdagger in his demon heart!"

"Miranda, give me the dagger. You must not, you shall not, commit such acrime!"

"Shall not?" she uttered scornfully. "And who are you that dares tospeak to me like this? Stand aside, coward, and let me pass!"

"Pardon me, but I cannot, while you hold that dagger. Give it to me, andyou shall go free; but while you hold it with this intention, for yourown sake, I will detain you till some one comes. "

She uttered a low, fierce cry, and struck at him with it, but he caughther hand, and with sudden force snatched it from her. In doing so he wasobliged to hold it with its point toward her, and struggling for it in asort of frenzy, as he raised the hand that held it, she slipped forwardand it was driven half-way to the hilt in her side. There was a low, grasping cry--a sudden clasping of both hands over her heart, a sway, areel, and she fell headlong prostrate on the loathsome floor. 

Sir Norman stood paralyzed. She half raised herself on her elbow, drew the dagger from the wound, and a great jet of blood shot up andcrimsoned her hands. She did not faint--there seemed to be a deathlessenergy within her that chained life strongly in its place--she onlypressed both hands hard over the wound, and looked mournfully andreproachfully up in his face. Those beautiful, sad, solemn dyes, void ofeverything savage and fierce, were truly Leoline's eyes now. 

Through all his first shock of horror, another thing dawned on hismind; he had looked on this scene before. It was the second view in LaMasque's caldron, and but one remained to be verified. 

The next instant, he was down on his knees in a paroxysm of grief anddespair. 

"What have I done? what have I done?" was his cry. 

"Listen!" she said, faintly raising one finger. "Do you hear that?"

Distant steps were echoing along the passage. Yes; he heard them, andknew what they were. 

"They are coming to lead you to death!" she said, with some of herold fire; "but I will baffle them yet. Take that lamp--go to the wallyonder, and in that corner, near the floor, you will see a small ironring. Pull it--it does not require much force--and you will find anopening leading through another vault; at the end there is a brokenflight of stairs, mount them, and you will find yourself in the sameplace from which you fell. Fly, fly! There is not a second to lose!"

"How can I fly? how can I leave you dying here?"

"I am not dying!" she wildly cried, lifting both hands from the wound topush him away, while the blood flowed over the floor. "But we will bothdie if you stay. Go-go-go!"

The footsteps had paused st his door. The bolts were beginning to bewithdrawn. He lifted the lamp, flew across his prison, found the ring, and took a pull at it with desperate strength. Part of what appearedto be the solid wall drew out, disclosing an aperture through which hecould just squeeze sideways. Quick as thought he was through, forgettingthe lamp in his haste. The portion of the wall slid noiselessly back, just as the prison door was thrown open, and the dwarfs voice was heard, socially inviting him, like Mrs. Bond's ducks, to come and be killed. 

Some people talk of darkness so palpable that it may be felt, and ifever any one was qualified to tell from experience what it felt like, Sir Norman was in that precise condition at that precise period. He groped his way through the blind blackness along what seemed aninterminable distance, and stumbled, at last, over the broken stairs atthe end. With some difficult, and at the serious risk of his jugular, he mounted them, and found himself, as Miranda had stated, in a placehe knew very well. Once here he allowed no grass to grow under him feet;and, in five minutes after, to his great delight, he found himself wherehe had never hoped to be again--in the serene moonlight and the openair, fetterless and free. 

His horse was still where he had left him, and in a twinkling he was onhis back, and dashing away to the city, to love--to Leoline!

CHAPTER XV. LEOLINE'S VISITORS. 

If things were done right--but they are not and, never will be, whilethis whirligig world of mistakes spins round, and all Adam's children, to the end of the chapter, will continue sinning to-day and repentingtomorrow, falling the next and bewailing it the day after. If Leolinehad gone to bed directly, like a good, dutiful little girl, as SirNorman ordered her, she would have saved herself a good deal of troubleand tears; but Leoline and sleep were destined to shake hands and turntheir backs on each other that night. It was time for all honest folksto be in bed, and the dark-eyed beauty knew it too, but she had nonotion of going, nevertheless. She stood in the centre of the room, where he had left her, with a spot like a scarlet roseberry on eithercheek; a soft half-smile on the perfect mouth, and a light unexpressiblytender and dreamy, in those artesian wells of beauty--her eyes. Mostyoung girls of green and tender years, suffering from "Love's youngdream, " and that sort of thing, have just that soft, shy, brooding look, whenever their thoughts happen to turn to their particular beloved; andthere are few eyes so ugly that it does not beautify, even should theybe as cross as two sticks. You should have seen Leoline standing inthe centre of her pretty room, with her bright rose-satin glancing andglittering, and flowing over rug and mat; with her black waving hairclustering and curling like shining floss silk; with a rich whiteshimmer of pearls on the pale smooth forehead and large beautiful arms. She did look irresistibly bewitching beyond doubt; and it was just aswell for Sir Norman's peace of mind that he did not see her, for he wasbad enough without that. So she stood thinking tenderly of him for ahalf-hour or so, quite undisturbed by the storm; and how strange it wasthat she had risen up that very morning expecting to be one man's bride, and that she should rise up the next, expecting to be another's. Shecould not realize it at all; and with a little sigh-half pleasure, halfpresentiment--she walked to the window, drew the curtain, and lookedout at the night. All was peaceful and serene; the moon was fall tooverflowing, and a great deal of extra light ran over the brim; quite aquantity of stars were out, and were winking pleasantly down at the darklittle planet below, that went round, and round, with grim stoicism, andpaid no attention to anybody's business but its own. She saw the heapsof black, charred ashes that the rush of rain had quenched; she saw thestill and empty street; the frowning row of gloomy houses opposite, andthe man on guard before one of them. She had watched that man all day, thinking, with a sick shudder, of the plague-stricken prisoners heguarded, and reading its piteous inscription, "Lord have mercy on us!"till the words seemed branded on her brain. While she looked now, anupper window was opened, a night-cap was thrust out and a voice from itscavernous depths hailed the guard. 

"Robert! I say, Robert!"

"Well!" said Robert, looking up. 

"Master and missus be gone at last, and the rest won't live tillmorning. "

"Won't they?" said Robert, phlegmatically; "what a pity! Got 'em ready, and I'll stop the dead-cart when it comes round. "

Just as he spoke, the well-known rattle of wheels, the loud ringing ofthe bell, and the monotonous cry of the driver, "Bring out your dead!bring out your dead!" echoed on the pale night's silence; and thepest-cart came rumbling and jolting along with its load of death. Thewatchman hailed the driver, according to promise, and they entered thehouse together, brought out one long, white figure, and then another, and threw them on top of the ghastly heap. 

"We'll have three more for you in on hour of so--don't forget to comeround, " suggested the watchman. 

"All right!" said the driver, as he took his place, whipped his horse, rang his bell, and jogged along nonchalantly to the plague-pit. 

Sick at heart, Leoline dropped the curtain, and turned round to seesomebody else standing at her elbow. She had been quite alone when shelooked out; she was alone no longer; there had been no noise, yet somaone had entered, and was standing beside her. A tall figure, all inblack, with its sweeping velvet robes spangled with stars of goldenrubies, a perfect figure of incomparable grace and beauty. It had worn acloak that had dropped lightly from its shoulders, and lay on the floorand the long hair streamed in darkness over shoulder and waist. Theface was masked, the form stood erect and perfectly motionless, and thescream of surprise and consternation that arose to Leoline's lips diedout in wordless terror. Her noiseless visitor perceived it, and touchingher arm lightly with one little white hand, said in her sweetest andmost exquisite of tones:

"My child, do not tremble so, and do not look so deathly white. You knowme, do you not?"

"You are La Masque!" said Leoline trembling with nervous dread. 

"I am, and no stranger to you; though perhaps you think so. Is ityour habit every night to look out of your window in full dress untilmorning?"

"How did you enter?" asked Leoline, her curiosity overcoming for amoment even her fear. 

"Through the door. Not a difficult thing, either, if you leave it wideopen every night, as it is this. "

"Was it open?" said Leoline, in dismay. "I never knew it. "

"Ah! then it was not you who went out last. Who was it?"

"It was--was--" Leoline's cheeks were scarlet; "it was a friend!"

"A somewhat late hour for one's friends to visit, " said La Masque, sarcastically; "and you should learn the precaution of seeing them tothe door and fastening it after them. "

"Rest assured, I shall do so for the future, " said Leoline, with alook that would have reminded Sir Nor man of Miranda had he seen it. "I scarcely expected the honor of any more visits, particularly fromstrangers to-night. "

"Civil, that! Will you ask me to sit down, or am I to consider myself anunseasonable intruder, and depart?"

"Madame, will you do me the honor to be seated. The hour, as you say, issomewhat unseasonable, and you will oblige me by letting me know to whatI am indebted for the pleasure of this visit, as quickly as possible. "

There was something quite dignified about Mistress Leoline as she sweptrustling past La Masque, sank into the pillowy depths of her lounge, andmotioned her visitor to a seat with a slight and graceful wave of herhand. Not but that in her secret heart she was a good deal frightened, for something under her pink satin corsage was going pit-a-pat at awonderful rate; but she thought that betraying such a feeling would notbe the thing. Perhaps the tall, dark figure saw it, and smiled behindher mask; but outwardly she only leaned lightly against the back of thechair, and glanced discreetly at the door. 

"Are you sure we are quite alone?"

"Quite:"

"Because, " said La Masque, in her low, silvery tones, "what I have cometo say is not for the ears of any third person living:"

"We are entirely alone, madame, " replied Leoline, opening her black eyesvery wide. "Prudence is gone, and I do not know when she will be back. "

"Prudence will never come back, " said La Masque, quietly. 

"Madame!"

"My dear, do not look so shocked--it is not her fault. You know shedeserted you for fear of the plague. "

"Yes, yes!"

"Well, that did not save her; nay, it even brought on what she dreadedso much. Your nurse is plague-stricken, my dear, and lies ill unto deathin the pesthouse in Finsbury Fields. "

"Oh, dreadful!" exclaimed Leoline, while every drop of blood fled fromher face. "My poor, poor old nurse!"

"Your poor, poor old nurse left you without much tenderness when shethought you dying of the same disease, " said La Masque, quietly. 

"Oh, that is nothing. The suddenness, the shock drove her to it. Mypoor, dear Prudence. "

"Well, you can do nothing for her now, " said La Masque, in a tone ofslight impatience. "Prudence is beyond all human aid, and so--let herrest in peace. You were carried to the plague-pit yourself, for dead, were you not?"

"Yes, " answered the pale lips, while she shivered all over at therecollection. 

"And was saved by--by whom were you saved, my dear?"

"By two gentlemen. "

"Oh, I know that; what were their names?"

"One was Mr. Ormiston, the other was, " hesitating and blushing vividly, "Sir Norman Kingsley. "

La Masque leaned across her chair, and laid one dainty finger lightly onthe girl's hot cheek. 

"And for which is that blush, Leoline?"

"Madame, was it only to ask me questions you came here?" said Leoline, drawing proudly back, though the hot red spot grew hotter and redder;"if so, you will excuse my declining to answer any more. "

"Child, child!" said La Masque, in a tone so strangely sad that ittouched Leoline, "do not be angry with me. It is no idle curiosity thatsent me here at this hour to ask impertinent questions, but a claim thatI have upon you, stronger than that of any one else in the world. "

Leoline's beautiful eyes opened wider yet. 

"A claim upon me! How? Why? I do not understand. "

"All in good time. Will you tell me something of your past history, Leoline?"

"Madame Masque, I have no history to tell. All my life I have livedalone with Prudence; that in the whole of it in nine words. "

La Masque half laughed. 

"Short, sharp, and decisive. Had you never father or mother?"

"There is a slight probability I may have had at some past period, " saidLeoline, sighing; "but none that I ever knew. "

"Why does not Prudence tell you?"

"Prudence is only my nurse, and says she has nothing to tell. My parentsdied when I was an infant, and left me in her care--that is her story. "

"A likely one enough, and yet I see by your face that you doubt it. "

"I do doubt it! There are a thousand little outward things that make mefancy it is false, and an inward voice that assures me it is so. "

"Then let me tell you that inward voice tells falsehoods, for I knowthat your father and mother are both dead these fourteen years!"

Leoline's great black eyes were fixed on her face with a look so wildand eager, that La Masque laid her hand lightly and soothingly on hershoulder. 

"Don't look at me with such a spectral face! What is there soextraordinary in all I have said?"

"You said you knew my father and mother. "

"No such thing! I said I knew they were dead, but the other fact is truealso; I did know them when living!"

"Madame, who are you? Who were they?"

"I? Oh, I am La Masque, the sorceress, and they--they were Leoline'sfather and mother!" and again La Masque slightly laughed. 

"You mock me, madame!" cried Leoline, passionately. "You are cruel--youare heartless! If you know anything, in Heaven's name tell me--if not, go and leave me in peace!"

"Thank you! I shall do that presently; and as to the other--of course Ishall tell you; what else do you suppose I have come for to-night? Lookhere! Do you see this?"

She drew out from some hidden pocket in her dress a small andbeautifully-wrought casket of ivory and silver, with straps and claspsof silver, and a tiny key of the same. 

"Well!" asked Leoline, looking from it to her, with the blank air of oneutterly bewildered, "In this casket, my dear, there is a roll of papers, closely written, which you are to read as soon as I leave you. Those papers contain yourwhole history--do you understand?"

She was looking so white, and staring so hard and so hopelessly, thatthere was need of the question. She took the casket and gazed at it witha perplexed air. 

"My child, have your thoughts gone wool-gathering? Do you not comprehendwhat I have said to you! Your whole history is hid in that box?"

"I know!" said Leoline, slowly, and with her eyes again riveted to theblack mask. "But; madame, who are you?"

"Have I not told you? What a pretty inquisitor it is! I am LaMasque--your friend, now; something more soon, as you will see when youread what I have spoken of. Do not ask me how I have come by it--youwill read all about it there. I did not know that I would give it to youto-night, but I have a strange foreboding that it is destined to be mylast on earth. And, Leoline my child, before I leave you, let me hearyou say you will not hate me when you read what is there. "

"What have you done to me? Why should I hate you?"

"Ah! you will find that all out soon enough. Do content me, Leoline--letme hear you say; `La Masque, whatever you've done to me, however youhave wronged me, I will forgive you!' Can you say that?"

Leoline repeated it simply, like a little child. La Masque took herhand, held it between both her own, leaned over and looked earnestly inher face. 

"My little Leoline! my beautiful rosebud! May Heaven bless you and grantyou a long and happy life with--shall I say it, Leoline?"

"Please--no!" whispered Leoline, shyly. 

La Masque softly patted the little tremulous hand. 

"We are both saying the name now in our hearts, my dear, so it is littlematter whether our lips repeat it or not. He is worthy, of you, Leoline, and your life will be a happy one by his side; but there is another. "She paused and lowered her voice. "When have you seen Count L'Estrange?"

"Not since yesterday, madame. "

"Beware of him! Do you know who he is, Leoline?"

"I know nothing of him but his name. "

"Then do not seek to know, " said La Masque, emphatically. "For it is asecret you would tremble to hear. And now I must leave you. Come with meto the door, and fasten it as soon as I go out, lest you should forgetit altogether. "

Leoline, with a dazed expression, thrust the precious little casket intothe bosom of her dress, and taking up the lamp, preceded her visitordown stairs. At the door they paused, and La Masque, with her hand onher arm, repeated, in a low, earnest voice, "Leoline, beware of Count L'Estrange, and become Lady Kingsley as soonas you can. "

"I will bear that name to-morrow!" thought Leoline, with a glad littlethrill at her heart, as La Masque flitted out into the moonlight. 

Leoline closed and locked the door, driving the bolts into theirsockets, and making all secure. "I defy any one to get in againtonight!" she said, smiling at her own dexterity; and lamp in hand, sheran lightly up stairs to read the long unsolved riddle. 

So eager was she, that she had crossed the room, laid the lamp on thetable, and sat down before it, ere she became aware that she was notalone. Some one was leaning against the mantel, his arm on it, and hiseyes do her, gazing with an air of incomparable coolness and ease. Itwas a man this time--something more than a man, --a count, and CountL'Estrange, at that!

Leoline sprang to her feet with a wild scream, a cry full of terror, amaze, and superstitious dread; and the count raised his band with aself-possessed smile. 

"Pardon, fair Leoline, if I intrude! But have I not a right to come atall hours and visit my bride?"

"Leoline is no bride of yours!" retorted that young lady, passionately, her indignation overpowering both fear and surprise. "And, what is more, never will be! Now, sir!"

"So my little bird of paradise can fire up, I see! As to your being mybride, that remains to be seen. You promised to be tonight, you know!"

"Then I'll recall that promise. I have changed my mind. "

"Well, that's not very astonishing; it is but the privilege of yoursex! Nevertheless, I'm afraid I must insist on your becoming CountessL'Estrange, and that immediately!"

"Never, sir! I will die first!"

"Oh, no! We could not spare such a bright little beauty out of this uglyworld! You will live, and live for me!"

"Sir!" cried Leoline, white with passion, and her black eyes blazingwith a fire that would have killed him, could fiery glances slay! "Ido not know how you have entered here; but I do know, if you are agentleman, you will leave me instantly! Go sir! I never wish to see youagain!"

"But when I wish to see you so much, my darling Leoline, " said thecount, with provoking indifference, "what does a little reluctance onyour part signify? Get your hood and mantle, my love--my horse awaitsus without--and let us fly where neither plague nor mortal man willinterrupt our nuptials!"

"Will no one take this man away?" she cried, looking helplessly round, and wringing her hands. 

"Certainly not, my dear--not even Sir Norman Kingsley! George, I amafraid this pretty little vixen will not go peaceably; you had bettercome in!"

With a smile on his face, he took a step toward her. Shrieking wildly, she darted across the room, and made for the door, just as somebody elsewas entering it. The next instant, a shawl was thrown over her head, her cries smothered in it, and she was lifted in a pair of strong arms, carried down stairs, and out into the night. 

CHAPTER XVI. THE THIRD VISION. 

Presentments are strange things. From the first moment Sir Normanentered the city, and his thoughts had been able to leave Miranda andfind themselves wholly on Leoline, a heavy foreboding of evil to herhad oppressed him. Some danger, he was sure, had befallen her during hisabsence--how could it be otherwise with the Earl of Rochester and CountL'Estrange both on her track? Perhaps, by this time, one or other hadfound her, and alone and unaided she had been an easy victim, and wasnow borne beyond his reach forever. The thought goaded him and his horsealmost to distraction; for the moment it struck him, he struck spursinto his horse, making that unoffending animal jump spasmodically, likeone of those prancing steeds Miss Bonheur is fond of depicting. Throughthe streets he flew at a frantic rate, growing more excited and fullof apprehension the nearer he came to old London Bridge; and callinghimself a select litany of hard names inwardly, for having left the dearlittle thing at all. 

"If I find her safe and well, " thought Sir Norman, emphatically, "nothing short of an earthquake or dying of the plague will ever induceme to leave her again, until she is Lady Kingsley, and in the old manorof Devonshire. What a fool, idiot, and ninny I must have been, to haveleft her as I did, knowing those two sleuth-hounds were in full chase!What are all the Mirandas and midnight queens to me, if Leoline islost?"

That last question was addressed to the elements in general; and as theydisdained reply, he cantered on furiously, till the old house by theriver was reached. It was the third time that night he had paused tocontemplate it, and each time with very different feelings; first, fromsimple curiosity; second, in an ecstasy of delight, and third and last, in an agony of apprehension. All around was peaceful and still; moonand stars sailed serenely through a sky of silver and snow; a faintcool breeze floated up from the river and fanned his hot and feveredforehead; the whole city lay wrapped in stillness as profound anddeathlike as the fabled one of the marble prince in the Easterntale-nothing living moved abroad, but the lonely night-guard keepingtheir dreary vigils before the plague-stricken houses, and theever-present, ever-busy pest-cart, with its mournful bell and dreadfulcry. 

As far as Sir Norman could see, no other human being but himself andthe solitary watchman, so often mentioned, were visible. Even he couldscarcely be said to be present; for, though leaning against the housewith his halberd on his shoulder, he was sound asleep at his post, andfar away in the land of dreams. It was the second night of his watch;and with a good conscience and a sound digestion, there is no earthlyanguish short of the toothache, strong enough to keep a man awake twonights in succession. So sound were his balmy slumbers in his airychamber, that not even the loud clatter of Sir Norman's horse's hoofsproved strong enough to arouse him; and that young gentleman, afterglancing at him, made ap his mind to try to find out for himself beforearousing him to seek information. 

Securing his home, he looked up at the house with wistful eyes, and sawthat the solitary light still burned in her chamber. It struck himnow how very imprudent it was to keep that lamp burning; for if CountL'Estrange saw it, it was all up with Leoline--and there was evenmore to be dreaded from him than from the earl. How was he to findout whether that illuminated chamber had a tenant or not? Certainly, standing there staring till doomsday would not do it; and there seemedbut two ways, that of entering the house at once or arousing the man. But the man was sleeping so soundly that it seemed a pity to awakehim for a trifle; and, after all, there could be no great harm orindiscretion in his entering to see if his bride was safe. ProbablyLeoline was asleep, and would know nothing about it; or, even were shewide awake, and watchful, she was altogether too sensible a girl tobe displeased at his anxiety about her. If she were still awake, andwaiting for day-dawn, he resolved to remain with her and keep her fromfeeling lonesome until that time came--if she were asleep, he wouldsteal out softly again, and keep guard at her door until morning. 

Full of these praiseworthy resolutions, he tried the handle of thedoor, half expecting to find it locked, and himself obliged to effectan entrance through the window; but no, it yielded to his touch, andhe went in. Hall and staircase were intensely dark, but he knew hisway without a pilot this time, and steered clear of all shoals andquicksands, through the hall and up the stairs. 

The door of the lighted room--Leoline's room--lay wide open, and hepaused on the threshold to reconnoitre. He had gone softly for fear ofstartling her, and now, with the same tender caution, he glancedround the room. The lamp burned on the dainty dressing table, whereundisturbed lay jewels, perfume bottles and other knickknacks. Thecithern lay unmolested on the couch, the rich curtains were drawn;everything was as he had left it last--everything, but the pretty pinkfigure, with drooping eyes, and pearls in the waves of her rich, blackhair. He looked round for the things she had worn, hoping she had takenthem off and retired to rest, but they were not to be seen; and with acold sinking of the heart, he went noiselessly across the room, andto the bed. It was empty, and showed no trace of having been otherwisesince he and the pest-cart driver had borne from it the apparentlylifeless form of Leoline. 

Yes, she was gone; and Sir Norman turned for a moment so sick with utterdread, that he leaned against one of the tall carved posts, and hatedhimself for having left her with a heartlessness that his worst enemycould not have surpassed. Then aroused into new and spasmodic energy bythe exigency of the case, he seized the lamp, and going out to the hall, made the house ring from basement to attic with her name. No reply, butthat hollow, melancholy echo that sounds so lugubriously through emptyhouses, was returned; and he jumped down stairs with an impetuous rush, flinging back every door in the hall below with a crash, and flyingwildly from room to room. In solemn grim repose they lay; but none ofthem held the bright figure in rose-satin he sought. And he left them indespair, and went back to her chamber again. 

"Leoline! Leoline! Leoline!" he called, while he rushed impetuously apstairs, and down stairs, and in my lady's chamber; but Leoline answerednot--perhaps never would answer more! Even "hoping against hope, " he hadto give up the chase at last--no Leoline did that house hold; and withthis conviction despairingly impressed on leis mind, Sir Norman Kingsleycovered his face with his hands, and uttered a dismal groan. 

Yet, forlorn as was the case, he groaned but once, "only that andnothing more;" there was no time for such small luxuries as groaning andtearing his hair, and boiling over with wrath and vengeance against thehuman race generally, and those two diabolical specimens of it, theEarl of Rochester and Count L'Estrange, particularly. He plunged headforemost down stairs, and out of the door. There he was impetuouslybrought up all standing; for somebody stood before it, gazing up atthe gloomy front with as much earnestness as he had done himself, andagainst this individual he rushed recklessly with a shock that nearlysent the pair of them over into the street. 

"Sacr-r-re!" cried a shrill voice, in tones of indignant remonstrance. "What do you mean, monsieur? Are you drunk, or crazy, that you comerunning head foremost into peaceable citizens, and throwing them heelsuppermost on the king's highway! Stand off, sir! And think yourselflucky that I don't run you through with my dirk for such an insult!"

At the first sound of the outraged treble tones, Sir Norman had startedback and glared upon the speaker with much the same expression ofcountenance as an incensed tiger. The orator of the spirited address hadstooped to pick up his plumed cap, and recover his centre of gravity, which was considerably knocked out of place by the unexpected collision, and held forth with very flashing eyes, and altogether too angry torecognize his auditor. Sir Norman waited until he had done, and thenspringing at him, grabbed him by the collar. 

"You young hound!" he exclaimed, fairly lifting him off his feet withone hand, and shaking him as if he would have wriggled him out of hoseand doublet. "You infernal young jackanapes! I'll run you through inless than two minutes, if you don't tell me where you have taken her. "

The astonishment, not to say consternation, of Master Hubert for thatsmall young gentleman and no other it was--on thus having his ideas thusshaken out of him, was unbounded, and held him perfectly speechless, while Sir Norman glared at him and shook him in a way that would haveinstantaneously killed him if his looks were lightning. The boy hadrecognized his aggressor, and after his first galvanic shock, struggledlike a little hero to free himself, and at last succeeded by an artfulspring. 

"Sir Norman Kingsley, " he cried, keeping a safe yard or two of pavementbetween him and that infuriated young knight, "have you gone mad, orwhat, is Heaven's name, is the moaning of all this?"

"It means, " exclaimed Sir Norman, drawing his sword, and flourishing itwithin an inch of the boy's curly head, --"that you'll be a dead page inless than half a minute, unless you tell me immediately where she hasbeen taken to. "

"Where who has been taken to?" inquired Hubert, opening his brightand indignant black eyes in a way that reminded Sir Norman forcibly ofLeoline. "Pardon, monsieur, I don't understand at all. "

"You young villain! Do you mean to stand up there and tell me to my facethat you have not searched for her, and found her, and have carried heroff?"

"Why, do you mean the lady we were talking of, that was saved from theriver?" asked Hubert, a new light dawning upon him. 

"Do I mean the lady we were talking of?" repeated Sir Norman, withanother furious flourish of his sword. "Yes, I do mean the lady we weretalking of; and what's more--I mean to pin you where you stand, againstthat wall, unless you tell me, instantly, where she has been taken. "

"Monsieur!" exclaimed the boy, raising his hands with an earnestnessthere was no mistaking, "I do assure you, upon my honor, that I knownothing of the lady whatever; that I have not found her; that I havenever set eyes on her since the earl saved her from the river. "

The earnest tone of truth would, in itself, almost have convinced SirNorman, but it was not that, that made him drop his sword so suddenly. The pale, startled face; the dark, solemn eyes, were so exactly likeLeoline's, that they thrilled him through and through, and almost madehim believe, for a moment, he was talking to Leoline herself. 

"Are you--are you sure you are not Leoline?" he inquired, almostconvinced, for an instant, by the marvelous resemblance, that it wasreally so. 

"I? Positively, Sir Norman, I cannot understand this at all, unless youwish to enjoy yourself at my expense. "

"Look here, Master Hubert!" said Sir Norman with a sudden change of lookand tone. "If you do not understand, I shall just tell you in a word ortwo how matters are, and then let me hear you clear yourself. You knowthe lady we were talking about, that Lord Rochester picked up afloat, and sent you in search of?"

"Yes--yes. "

"Well, " went on Sir Norman, with a sort of grim stoicism. "After leavingyou, I started on a little expedition of my own, two miles from thecity, from which expedition I returned ten minutes ago. When I left, thelady was secure and safe in this house; when I came back, she was gone. You were in search of her--had told me yourself you were determined onfinding her, and having her carried off; and now, my youthful friend, put this and that together, " with a momentary returning glare, "and seewhat it amounts to!"

"It amounts to this:" retorted his youthful friend, stoutly, "thatI know nothing whatever about it. You may make out a case of strongcircumstantial evidence against me; but if the lady has been carriedoff, I have had no hand in it. "

Again Sir Norman was staggered by the frank, bold gaze and truthfulvoice, but still the string was in a tangle somewhere. 

"And where have you been ever since?" he began severely, and with theair of a lawyer about to go into a rigid cross-examination. 

"Searching for her, " was the prompt reply. 

"Where?"

"Through the streets; in the pest-houses, and at the plague-pit. "

"How did you find out she lived here?"

"I did not find it out. When I became convinced she was in none of theplaces I have mentioned, I gave up the search in despair, for to-night, and was returning to his lordship to report my ill success. "

"Why, then, were you standing in front of her house, gaping at itwith all the eyes in your head, as if it were the eighth wonder of theworld?"

"Monsieur has not the most courteous way of asking questions, that Iever heard of; but I have no particular objection to answer him. Itstruck me that, as Mr. Ormiston brought the lady up this way, and asI saw you and he haunting this place so much to-night, I thought herresidence was somewhere here, and I paused to look at the house as Iwent along. In fact, I intended to ask old sleepy-head, over there, forfurther particulars, before I left the neighborhood, had not you, SirNorman, run bolt into me, and knocked every idea clean out of my head. "

"And you are sure you are not Leoline?" said Sir Norman, suspiciously. 

"To the best of my belief, Sir Norman, I am not, " replied Hubert, reflectively. 

"Well, it is all very strange, and very aggravating, " said Sir Norman, sighing, and sheathing his sword. "She is gone, at all events; no doubtabout that--and if you have not carried her off, somebody else has. "

"Perhaps she has gone herself, " insinuated Hubert. 

"Bah! Gone herself!" said Sir Norman, scornfully. "The idea is beneathcontempt: I tell you, Master Fine-feathers, the lady and I were to bemarried bright and early to-morrow morning, and leave this disgustingcity for Devonshire. Do you suppose, then, she would run out in thesmall hours of the morning, and go prancing about the streets, oreloping with herself?"

"Why, of course, Sir Norman, I can't take it upon myself to answerpositively; but, to use the mildest phrase, I must say the lady seemsdecidedly eccentric, and capable of doing very queer things. I hope, however, you believe me; for I earnestly assure you, I never laid eyeson her but that once. "

"I believe you, " said Sir Norman, with another profound andbroken-hearted sigh, "and I'm only too sure she has been abducted bythat consummate scoundrel and treacherous villain, Count L'Estrange. "

"Count who?" said Hubert, with a quick start, and a look of intensecuriosity. "What was the name?"

"L'Estrange--a scoundrel of the deepest dye! Perhaps you know him?"

"No, " replied Hubert, with a queer, half musing smile, "no; but I have anotion I have heard the name. Was he a rival of yours?"

"I should think so! He was to have been married to the lady this verynight!"

"He was, eh! And what prevented the ceremony?"

"She took the plague!" said Sir Norman, strange to say, not at alloffended at the boy's familiarity. "And would have been thrown into theplague-pit but for me. And when she recovered she accepted me and casthim off!"

"A quick exchange! The lady's heart must be most flexible, or unusuallylarge, to be able to hold so many at once. "

"It never held him!" said Sir Norman, frowning; "she was forced intothe marriage by her mercenary friends. Oh! if I had him here, wouldn't Imake him wish the highwaymen had shot him through the head, and done forhim, before I would let him go!"

"What is he like--this Count L'Estrange?" said Hubert, carelessly. 

"Like the black-hearted traitor and villain he is!" replied Sir Norman, with more energy than truth; for he had caught but passing glimpsesof the count's features, and those showed him they were decidedlyprepossessing; "and he slinks along like a coward and an abductor ashe is, in a slouched hat and shadowy cloak. Oh! if I had him here!"repeated Sir Norman, with vivacity; "wouldn't I--"

"Yes, of course you would, " interposed Hubert, "and serve him right, too! Have you made any inquiries about the matter--for instance, of ourfriend sleeping the sleep of the just, across there?"

"No--why?"

"Why, it seems to me, if she's been carried off before he fell asleep, he has probably heard or seen something of it; and I think it would notbe a bad plan to step over and inquire. "

"Well, we can try, " said Sir Norman, with a despairing face; "but Iknow it will end in disappointment and vexation of spirit, like all therest!"

With which dismal view of things, he crossed the street side by sidewith his jaunty young friend. The watchman was still enjoying the balmy, and snoring in short, sharp snorts, when Master Hubert remorselesslycaught him by the shoulder, and began a series of shakes and pokes, anddigs, and "hallos!" while Sir Norman stood near and contemplated thescene with a pensive eye. At last while undergoing a severe course ofthis treatment the watchman was induced to open his eyes on this mortallife, and transfix the two beholders with, an intensely vacant and blankshare. 

"Hey?" he inquired, helplessly. "What was you a saying of, gentlemen?What is it?"

"We weren't a saying of anything as yet, " returned Hubert; "but we meanto, shortly. Are you quite sure you are wide awake?"

"What do you want?" was the cross question, given by way of answer. "What do you come bothering me for at such a rate, all night, I want toknow?"

"Keep civil, friend, we wear swords, " said Hubert, touching, withdignity, the hilt of the little dagger he carried; "we only want to askyou a few questions. First, do you see that house over yonder?"

"Oh! I see it!" said the man gruffly; "I am not blind!"

"Well who was the last person you saw come out of that house?"

"I don't know who they was!" still more gruffly. "I ain't got thepleasure of their acquaintance!"

"Did you see a young lady come out of it lately?"

"Did I see a young lady?" burst out the watchman, in a high key ofaggrieved expostulation. "How many more times this blessed night am Ito be asked about that young lady. First and foremost, there comes twoyoung men, which this here is one of them, and they bring out the younglady and have her hauled away in the dead-cart; then comes along anotherand wants to know all the particulars, and by the time he gets properlyaway, somebody else comes and brings her back like a drowned rat. Thenall sorts of people goes in and out, and I get tired looking at them, and then fall asleep, and before I've been in that condition about aminute, you two come punching me and waken me up to ask questions abouther! I wish that young lady was in Jerico--I do!" said the watchman, with a smothered growl. 

"Come, come, my man!" said Hubert, slapping him soothingly on theshoulder. "Don't be savage, if you can help it! This gentleman has agold coin in some of his pockets, I believe, and it will fall to you ifyou keep quiet and answer decently. Tell me how many have been in thathouse since the young lady was brought back like a drowned rat?"

"How many?" said the man, meditating, with his eyes fixed on SirNorman's garments, and he, perceiving that, immediately gave himthe promised coin to refresh his memory, which it did with amazingquickness. "How many--oh--let me see; there was the young man thatbrought her in, and left her there, and came out again, and went away. By-and-by, he came back with another, which I think this as gave me themoney is him. After a little, they came out, first the other one, thenthis one, and went off; and the next that went in was a tall woman inblack, with a mask on, and right behind her there came two men; thewoman in the mask came out after a while; and about ten minutes after, the two men followed, and one of them carried something in his arms, that didn't look unlike a lady with her head in a shawl. Anything wrong, sir?" as Sir Norman gave a violent start and caught Hubert by the arm. 

"Nothing! Where did they carry her to? What did they do with her? Go on!go on!"

"Well, " said the watchman, eyeing the speaker curiously, "I'm going to. They went along, down to the river, both of them, and I saw a boat shoveoff, shortly after, and that something, with its head in a shawl, lyingas peaceable as a lamb, with one of the two beside it. That's all--Iwent asleep about then, till you two were shaking me and waking me up. "

Sir Norman and Hubert looked at each other, one between despair andrage, the other with a thoughtful, half-inquiring air, as if he had somesecret to tell, and was mentally questioning whether it was safe to doso. On the whole, he seemed to come to the conclusion, that a silenttongue maketh a wise head, and nodding and saying "Thank you!" to thewatchman, he passed his arm through Sir Norman's, and drew him back tothe door of Leoline's house. 

"There is a light within, " he said, looking up at it; "how comes that?"

"I found the lamp burning, when I returned, and everything undisturbed. They must have entered noiselessly, and carried her off without astraggle, " replied Sir Norman, with a sort of groan. 

"Have you searched the house--searched it well?"

"Thoroughly--from top to bottom!"

"It seems to me there ought to be some trace. Will you come back with meand look again?"

"It is no use; but there in nothing else I can do; so come along!"

They entered the house, and Sir Norman led the page direct to Leoline'sroom, where the light was. 

"I left her here when I went away, and here the lamp was burning when Icame back: so it must have been from this room she was taken. "

Hubert was gazing slowly and critically round, taking note ofeverything. Something glistened and flashed on the floor, under themantel, and he went over and picked it up. 

"What have you there?" asked Sir Norman in surprise; for the boy hadstarted so suddenly, and flushed so violently, that it might haveastonished any one. 

"Only a shoe-buckle--a gentleman's--do you recognize it?"

Though he spoke in his usual careless way, and half-hummed the air ofone of Lord Rochester's love songs, he watched him keenly as he examinedit. It was a diamond buckle, exquisitely set, and of great beauty andvalue; but Sir Norman knew nothing of it. 

"There are initials upon it--see there!" said Hubert, pointing, andstill watching him with the same powerful glance. "The letters C. S. That can't stand for Count L'Estrange. "

"Who then can it stand for?" inquired Sir Norman, looking at himfixedly, and with far more penetration than the court page had given himcredit for. "I am certain you know. "

"I suspect!" said the boy, emphatically, "nothing more; and if it isas I believe, I will bring you news of Leoline before you are two hoursolder. "

"How am I to know you are not deceiving me, and will not betray her intothe power of the Earl of Rochester--if, indeed, she be not in his poweralready. "

"She is not in it, and never will be through me! I feel an odd interestin this matter, and I will be true to you, Sir Norman--though why Ishould be, I really don't know. I give you my word of honor that I willdo what I can to find Leoline and restore her to you; and I have neveryet broken my word of honor to any man, " said Hubert, drawing himselfup. 

"Well, I will trust you, because I cannot do anything better, " said SirNorman, rather dolefully; "but why not let me go with you?"

"No, no! that would never do! I must go alone, and you must trust meimplicitly. Give me your hand upon it. "

They shook hands silently, went down stairs, and stood for a moment atthe door. 

"You'll find me here at any hour between this and morning, " said SirNorman. "Farewell now, and Heaven speed you!"

The boy waved his hand in adieu, and started off at a sharp pace. SirNorman turned in the opposite direction for a short walk, to cool thefever in his blood, and think over all that had happened. As he wentslowly along, in the shadow of the houses, he suddenly tripped up oversomething lying in his path, and was nearly precipitated over it. 

Stooping down to examine the stumbling-block, it proved to be the rigidbody of a man, and that man was Ormiston, stark and dead, with his faceupturned to the calm night-sky. 

CHAPTER XVII. THE HIDDEN FACE

When Mr. Malcolm Ormiston, with his usual good sense and penetration, took himself off, and left Leoline and Sir Norman tete-a-tete, hissteps turned as mechanically as the needle to the North Pole toward LaMasque's house. Before it he wandered, around it he wandered, like anuneasy ghost, lost in speculation about the hidden face, and fearfullyimpatient about the flight of time. If La Masque saw him hovering aloofand unable to tear himself away, perhaps it might touch her obdurateheart, and cause her to shorten the dreary interval, and summon him toher presence at once. Just then some one opened the door, and his heartbegan to beat with anticipation; some one pronounced his name, and, going over, he saw the animated bag of bones--otherwise his lady-love'svassal and porter. 

"La Masque says, " began the attenuated lackey, and Ormiston's heartnearly jumped out of his mouth, "that she can't have anybody hangingabout her house like its shadow; and she wants you to go away, and keepaway, till the time comes she has mentioned. "

So saying the skeleton shut the door, and Ormiston's heart went down tozero. There being nothing for it but obedience, however, he slowly andreluctantly turned away, feeling in his bones, that if ever he came tothe bliss and ecstasy of calling La Masque Mrs. Ormiston, the gray marein his stable would be by long odds the better horse. Unintentionallyhis steps turned to the water-side, and he descended the flight ofstairs, determined to get into a boat and watch the illumination fromthe river. 

Late as was the hour, the Thames seemed alive with wherries and barges, and their numerous lights danced along the surface like fire-flies overa marsh. A gay barge, gilded and cushioned, was going slowly past; andas he stood directly under the lamp, he was recognized by a gentlemanwithin it, who leaned over and hailed him, "Ormiston! I say, Ormiston!"

"Well, my lord, " said Ormiston, recognizing the handsome face andanimated voice of the Earl of Rochester. 

"Have you any engagement for the next half-hour? If not, do me the favorto take a seat here, and watch London in flames from the river. "

"With all my heart, " said Ormiston, running down to the water's edge, and leaping into the boat. "With all this bustle of life around here, one would think it were noonday instead of midnight. "

"The whole city is astir about these fires. Have you any idea they willbe successful?"

"Not the least. You know, my lord, the prediction runs, that the plaguewill rage till the living are no longer able to bury the dead. "

"It will soon come to that, " said the earl shuddering slightly, "if itcontinues increasing much longer as it does now daily. How do the billsof mortality ran to-day?"

"I have not heard. Hark! There goes St. Paul's tolling twelve. "

"And there goes a flash of fire--the first among many. Look, look! Howthey spring up into the black darkness. "

"They will not do it long. Look at the sky, my lord. "

The earl glanced up at the midnight sky, of a dull and dingy red color, except where black and heavy clouds were heaving like angry billows, alldingy with smoke and streaked with bars of fiery red. 

"I see! There is a storm coming, and a heavy one! Our worthy burghersand most worshipful Lord Mayor will see their fires extinguishedshortly, and themselves sent home with wet jackets. "

"And for weeks, almost month, there has not fallen a drop of rain, "remarked Ormiston, gravely. 

"A remarkable coincidence, truly. There seems to be a fatality hangingover this devoted city. "

"I wonder your lordship remains?"

The earl shrugged his shoulders significantly. 

"It is not so easy leaving it as you think, Mr. Ormiston; but I amto turn my back to it to-morrow for a brief period. You are aware, Isuppose, that the court leaves before daybreak for Oxford. "

"I believe I have heard something of it--how long to remain?"

"Till Charles takes it into his head to come back again, " said the earl, familiarly, "which will probably be in a week or two. Look at that sky, all black and scarlet; and look at those people--I scarcely thoughtthere were half the number left alive in London. "

"Even the sick have come out to-night, " said Ormiston. "Half thepest-stricken in the city have left their beds, full of newborn hope. One would think it were a carnival. "

"So it is--a carnival of death! I hope, Ormiston, " said the earl, looking at him with a light laugh, "the pretty little white fairy werescued from the river is not one of the sick parading the streets. "

Ormiston looked grave. 

"No, my lord, I think she is not. I left her safe and secure. "

"Who is she, Ormiston?" coaxed the earl, laughingly. "Pshaw, man! don'tmake a mountain out of a mole-hill! Tell me her name!"

"Her name is Leoline. "

"What else?"

"That is just what I would like to have some one tell me. I give you myhonor, my lord, I do not know. "

The earl's face, half indignant, half incredulous, wholly curious, madeOrmiston smile. 

"It is a fact, my lord. I asked her her name, and she told me Leoline--apretty title enough, but rather unsatisfactory. "

"How long have you known her?"

"To the best of my belief, " said Ormiston, musingly, "about four hours. "

"Nonsense!" cried the earl, energetically. "What are you telling me, Ormiston? You said she was an old friend. "

"I beg your pardon, my lord, I said no such thing. I told you she hadescaped from her friends, which was strictly true. "

"Then how the demon had you the impudence to come up and carry her offin that style? I certainly had a better right to her than you--the rightof discovery; and I shall call upon you to deliver her up!"

"If she belonged to me I should only be too happy to oblige yourlordship, " laughed Ormiston; "but she is at present the property of SirNorman Kingsley, and to him you must apply. "

"Ah! His inamorata, in she? Well, I must say his taste is excellent; butI should think you ought to know her name, since you and he are notedfor being a modern Damon and Pythias. "

"Probably I should, my lord, only Sir Norman, unfortunately, does notknow himself. "

The earl's countenance looked so utterly blank at this announcement, that Ormiston was forced to throw in a word of explanation. 

"I mean to say, my lord, that he has fallen in love with her; and, judging from appearances, I should say his flame is not altogetherhopeless, although they have met to-night for the first time. "

"A rapid passion. Where have you left her, Ormiston?"

"In her own house, my lord, " Ormiston replied, smiling quietly tohimself. 

"Where is that?"

"About a dozen yards from where I stood when you called me. "

"Who are her family?" continued the earl, who seemed possessed of adevouring curiosity. 

"She has none that I know of. I imagine Mistress Leoline is an orphan. I know there was not a living soul but ourselves in the house I broughther to. "

"And you left her there alone?" exclaimed the earl, half starting up, anif about to order the boatman to row back to the landing. 

Ormiston looked at his excited face with a glance full of quiet malice. 

"No, my lord, not quits; Sir Norman Kingsley was with her!"

"Oh!" said the earl, smiling back with a look of chagrin. "Then he willprobably find out her name before he comes away. I wonder you could giveher up so easily to him, after all your trouble!"

"Smitten, my lord?" inquired Ormiston, maliciously. 

"Hopelessly!" replied the earl, with a deep sigh. "She was a perfectlittle beauty; and if I can find her, I warn Sir Norman Kingsley to takecare! I have already sent Hubert out in search of her; and, by the way, "said the earl, with a sudden increase of animation, "what a wonderfulresemblance she bears to Hubert--I could almost swear they were one andthe same!"

"The likeness is marvelous; but I should hate to take such an oath. Iconfess I am somewhat curious myself; but I stand no chance of having itgratified before to-morrow, I suppose. "

"How those fires blaze! It is much brighter than at noon-day. Show methe house in which Leoline lies?". 

Ormiston easily pointed it out, and showed the earl the light stillburning in her window. 

"It was in that room we found her first, dead of the plague!"

"Dead of the what?" cried the earl, aghast. 

"Dead of the plague! I'll tell your lordship how it was, " said Ormiston, who forthwith commend and related the story of their finding Leoline;of the resuscitation at the plague-pit; of the flight from Sir Norman'shouse, and of the delirious plunge into the river, and miraculous cure. 

"A marvelous story, " commented the earl, much interested. "And Leolineseems to have as many lives as a cat! Who can she be--a princess indisguise--eh, Ormiston?"

"She looks fit to be a princess, or anything else; but your lordshipknows as much about her, now, as I do. "

"You say she was dressed as a bride--how came that?"

"Simply enough. She was to be married to-night, had she not taken theplague instead. "

"Married? Why, I thought you told me a few minutes ago she was in lovewith Kingsley. It seems to me, Mr. Ormiston, your remarks are a trifleinconsistent, " said the earl, in a tone of astonished displeasure. 

"Nevertheless, they are all perfectly true. Mistress Leoline was to bemarried, as I told you; but she was to marry to please her friends, andnot herself. She had been in the habit of watching Kingsley go pasther window; and the way she blushed, and went through the other littlemotions, convinces me that his course of true love will ran as smooth asthis glassy river runs at present. "

"Kingsley is a lucky fellow. Will the discarded suitor have no voice inthe matter; or is he such a simpleton as to give her up at a word?"

Ormiston laughed. 

"Ah! to be sure; what will the count say? And, judging from some thingsI've heard, I should say he is violently in love with her. "

"Count who?" asked Rochester. "Or has he, like his ladylove, no othername?"

"Oh, no! The name of the gentleman who was so nearly blessed for life, and missed it, is Count L'Estrange!"

The earl had been lying listlessly back, only half intent upon hisanswer, as he watched the fire; but now he sprang sharply up, and staredOrmiston full in the face. 

"Count what did you say?" was his eager question, while his eyes, moreeager than his voice, strove to read the reply before it was repeated. 

"Count L'Estrange. You know him, my lord?" said Ormiston, quietly. 

"Ah!" said the earl. And then such a strange meaning smile wentwandering about his face. "I have not said that! So his name is CountL'Estrange? Well, I don't wonder now at the girl's beauty. "

The earl sank back to his former nonchalant position and fell for amoment or two into deep musing; and then, as if the whole thing struckhim in a new and ludicrous light, he broke out into an immoderate fit oflaughter. Ormiston looked at him curiously. 

"It is my turn to ask questions, now, my lord. Who is Count L'Estrange?"

"I know of no such person, Ormiston. I was thinking of something else!Was it Leoline who told you that was her lover's name?"

"No; I heard it by mere accident from another person. I am sure, ifLeoline is not a personage in disguise, he is. "

"And why do you think so?"

"An inward conviction, my lord. So you will not tell me who he is?"

"Have I not told you I know of no such person as Count L'Estrange? Youought to believe me. Oh, here it comes. "

This last was addressed to a great drop of rain, which splashedheavily on his upturned face, followed by another and another in quicksuccession. 

"The storm is upon us, " said the earl, sitting up and wrapping his cloakcloser around him, "and I am for Whitehall. Shall we land you, Ormiston, or take you there, too?"

"I must land, " said Ormiston. "I have a pressing engagement for the nexthalf-hour. Here it is, in a perfect deluge; the fires will be out infive minutes. "

The barge touched the stairs, and Ormiston sprang out, with "Good-night"to the earl. The rain was rushing along, now, in torrents, and he ranupstairs and darted into an archway of the bridge, to seek the shelter. Some one else had come there before him, in search of the same thing;for he saw two dark figures standing within it as he entered. 

"A sudden storm, " was Ormiston's salutation, "and a furious one. Therego the fires--hiss and splutter. I knew how it would be. "

"Then Saul and Mr. Ormiston are among the prophets?"

Ormiston had heard that voice before; it was associated in his mind witha slouched hat and shadowy cloak; and by the fast-fading flicker of thefirelight, he saw that both were here. The speaker wan Count L'Estrange;the figure beside him, slender and boyish, was unknown. 

"You have the advantage of me, sir, " he said affecting ignorance. "May Iask who you are?"

"Certainly. A gentlemen, by courtesy and the grace of God. "

"And your name?"

"Count L'Estrange, at your service. "

Ormiston lifted his cap and bowed, with a feeling somehow, that thecount was a man in authority. 

"Mr. Ormiston assisted in doing a good deed, tonight, for a friend ofmine, " said the count. 

"Will he add to that obligation by telling me if he has not discoveredher again, and brought her back?"

"Do you refer to the fair lady in yonder house?"

"So she is there? I thought so, George, " said the count, addressinghimself to his companion. "Yes, I refer to her, the lady you saved fromthe river. You brought her there?"

"I brought her there, " replied Ormiston. 

"She is there still?"

"I presume so. I have heard nothing to the contrary. "

"And alone?"

"She may be, now. Sir Norman Kingsley was with her when I left her, "said Ormiston, administering the fact with infinite relish. 

There was a moment's silence. Ormiston could not see the count's face;but, judging from his own feelings, he fancied its expression must besweet. The wild rush of the storm alone broke the silence, until thespirit again moved the count to speak. 

"By what right does Sir Norman Kingsley visit her?" he inquired, in avoice betokening not the least particle of emotion. 

"By the best of rights--that of her preserver, hoping soon to be herlover. "

There was an other brief silence, broken again by the count, in the samecomposed tone:

"Since the lady holds her levee so late, I, too, must have a wordwith her, when this deluge permits one to go abroad without danger ofdrowning. "

"It shown symptoms of clearing off, already, " said Ormiston, who, in hissecret heart, thought it would be an excellent joke to bring the rivalsface to face in the lady's presence; "so you will not have long towait. "

To which observation the count replied not; and the three stood insilence, watching the fury of the storm. 

Gradually it cleared away; and as the moon began to straggle out betweenthe rifts in the clouds, the count saw something by her pale light thatOrmiston saw not. That latter gentleman, standing with his back to thehouse of Leoline, and his face toward that of La Masque, did not observethe return of Sir Norman from St. Paul's, nor look after him as he rodeaway. But the count did both; and ten minutes after, when the rain hadentirely ceased, and the moon and stars got the better of the clouds intheir struggle for supremacy, he beheld La Masque flitting like a darkshadow in the same direction, and vanishing in at Leoline's door. Thesame instant, Ormiston started to go. 

"The storm has entirely ceased, " he said, stepping out, and with theprofound air of one making a new discovery, "and we are likely to havefine weather for the remainder of the night--or rather, morning. Goodnight, count. "

"Farewell, " said the count, as he and, his companion came out from theshadow of the archway, and turned to follow La Masque. 

Ormiston, thinking the hour of waiting had elapsed, and feeling muchmore interested in the coming meeting than in Leoline or her visitors, paid very little attention to his two acquaintances. He saw them, itis true, enter Leoline's house, but at the same instant, he took up hispost at La Masque's doorway, and concentrated his whole attention onthat piece of architecture. Every moment seemed like a week now; andbefore he had stood at his post five minutes, he had worked himself upinto a perfect fever of impatience. Sometimes he was inclined to knockand seek La Masque in her own home; but as often the fear of a chillingrebuke paralyzed his hand when he raised it. He was so sure she waswithin the house, that he never thought of looking for her elsewhere;and when, at the expiration of what seemed to him a century or two, but which in reality was about a quarter of an hour, there was a softrustling of drapery behind him, and the sweetest of voices sounded inhis ear, it fairly made him bound. 

"Here again, Mr. Ormiston? Is this the fifth or sixth time I've foundyou in this place to-night?"

"La Masque!" he cried, between joy and surprise. "But surely, I was nottotally unexpected this time?"

"Perhaps not. You are waiting here for me to redeem my promise, Isuppose?"

"Can you doubt it? Since I knew you first, I have desired this hour asthe blind desire sight. "

"Ah! And you will find it as sweet to look back upon as you have to lookforward to, " said La Masque, derisively. "If you are wise for yourself, Mr. Ormiston, you will pause here, and give me back that fatal word. "

"Never, madame! And surely you will not be so pitilessly cruel as todraw back, now?"

"No, I have promised, and I shall perform; and let the consequences bewhat they may, they will rest upon your own head. You have been warned, and you still insist. "

"I still insist!"

"Then let us move farther over here into the shadow of the houses; thismoonlight is so dreadfully bright!"

They moved on into the deep shadow, and there was a pulse throbbing inOrmiston's head and heart like the beating of a muffed drum. They pausedand faced each other silently. 

"Quick, madame!" cried Ormiston, hoarsely, his whole face flushedwildly. 

His strange companion lifted her hand as if to remove the mask, and hesaw that it shook like an aspen. She made one motion as though about tolift it, and then recoiled, as if from herself, in a sort of horror. 

"My God! What is this man urging me to do? How can I ever fulfill thatfatal promise?"

"Madame, you torture me!" said Ormiston, whose face showed what he felt. "You must keep your promise; so do not drive me wild waiting. Let me--"

He took a step toward her, as if to lift the mask himself, but she heldout both arms to keep him off. 

"No, no, no! Come not near me, Malcolm Ormiston! Fated man, since youwill rush on your doom, Look! and let the sight blast you, if it will!"

She unfastened her mask, raised it, and with it the profusion of long, sweeping black hair. 

Ormiston did look--in much the same way, perhaps, that Zulinka lookedat the Veiled Prophet. The next moment there was a terrible cry, and hefell headlong with a crash, as if a bullet had whined through his hart. 

CHAPTER XVIII. THE INTERVIEW. 

I am not aware whether fainting was as much the fashion among the fairsex, in the days (or rather the nights) of which I have the honor tohold forth, as at the present time; but I am inclined to think not, from the simple fact that Leoline, though like John Bunyan, "grievouslytroubled and tossed about in her mind, " did nothing of the kind. For thefirst few moments, she was altogether too stunned by the suddenness ofthe shock to cry out or make the least resistance, and was conscious ofnothing but of being rapidly borne along in somebody's arms. When thishazy view of things passed away, her new sensation was, the intenselyuncomfortable one of being on the verge of suffocation. She made onefrantic but futile effort to free herself and scream for help, but thestrong arms held her with most loving tightness, and her cry was drownedin the hot atmosphere within the shawl, and never passed beyond it. Mostassuredly Leoline would have been smothered then and there, had theirjourney been much longer; but, fortunately for her, it was only the fewyards between her house and the river. She knew she was then carrieddown some steps, and she heard the dip of the oars in the water, andthen her bearer paused, and went through a short dialogue with somebodyelse--with Count L'Estrange, she rather felt than knew, for nothing wasaudible but a low murmur. The only word she could make out was a low, emphatic "Remember!" in the count's voice, and then she knew she was ina boat, and that it was shoved off, and moving down the rapid river. Thefeeling of heat and suffocation was dreadful and as her abductor placedher on some cushions, she made another desperate but feeble effort tofree herself from the smothering shawl, but a hand was laid lightly onhers, and a voice interposed. 

"Lady, it is quite useless for you to struggle, as you are irrevocablyin my power, but if you will promise faithfully not to make any outcry, and will submit to be blindfolded, I shall remove this oppressivemuffling from your head. Tell me if you will promise. "

He had partly raised the shawl, and a gush of free air came revivinglyin, and enabled Leoline to gasp out a faint "I promise!" As she spoke, it was lifted off altogether, and she caught one bright fleeting glimpseof the river, sparkling and silvery in the moonlight; of the bright bluesky, gemmed with countless stars, and of some one by her side in thedress of a court-page, whose face was perfectly unknown to her. The nextinstant, a bandage was bound tightly over her eyes, excluding every rayof light, while the strange voice again spoke apologetically, "Pardon, lady, but it is my orders! I am commanded to treat you withevery respect, but not to let you see where you are borne to. "

"By what right does Count L'Estrange commit this outrage!" beganLeoline, almost as imperiously as Miranda herself, and making use of hertongue, like a true woman, the very first moment it was at her disposal. "How dare he carry me off in this atrocious way? Whoever you are, sir, if you have the spirit of a man, you will bring me directly back to myown house. "

"I am very sorry, lady, but I have received orders that must be obeyed!You must come with me, but you need fear nothing; you will be an safeand secure as in your own home. "

"Secure enough, no doubt!" paid Leoline, bitterly. "I never did likeCount L'Estrange, but I never knew he was a coward and a villain tillnow!"

Her companion made no reply to this forcible address, and there was amoment's indignant silence on Leoline's part, broken only by the dip ofthe oars, and the rippling of the water. Then, "Will you not tell me, at least, where you are taking me to?" haughtilydemanded Leoline. 

"Lady, I cannot! It was to prevent you knowing, that you have beenblindfolded. "

"Oh! your master has a faithful servant, I see! How long am I to be kepta prisoner?"

"I do not know. "

"Where is Count L'Estrange?"

"I cannot tell. "

"Where am I to see him?"

"I cannot say. "

"Ha!" said Leoline, with infinite contempt, and turning her back uponhim she relapsed into gloomy silence. It had all been so sudden, and hadtaken her so much by surprise, that she had not had time to think of theconsequences until now. But now they came upon her with a rush, and withdismal distinctness; and most distinct among all was, what would SirNorman say! Of course, with all a lover's impatience, he would be athis post by sunrise, would come to look for his bride, and find himselfsold! By that time she would be far enough away, perhaps a melancholycorpse (and at this dreary passage in her meditations, Leoline sighedprofoundly), and he would never know what had become of her, or how muchand how long she had loved him. And this hateful Count L'Estrange, whatdid he intend to do with her? Perhaps go so far as to make her marryhim, and imprison her with the rest of his wives; for Leoline wasprepared to think the very worst of the count, and had not the slightestdoubt that he already had a harem full of abducted wives, somewhere. Butno--he never could do that, he might do what he liked with weaker minds, but she never would be a bride of his while the plague or poison was tobe had in London. And with this invincible determination rooted fixedly, not to say obstinately, in her mind, she was nearly pitched overboardby the boat suddenly landing at some unexpected place. A little naturalscream of terror was repressed on her lips by a hand being placed overthem, and the determined but perfectly respectful tones of the personbeside her speaking. 

"Remember your promise, lady, and do not make a noise. We have arrivedat our journey's end, and if you will take my arm, I will lead youalong, instead of carrying you. "

Leoline was rather surprised to find the journey so short, but she arosedirectly, with silence and dignity--at least with as much of the lattercommodity as could be reasonably expected, considering that boats onwater are rather unsteady things to be dignified in--and was led gentlyand with care out of the swaying vessel, and up another flight ofstairs. Then, in a few moments, she was conscious of passing from thefree night air into the closer atmosphere of a house; and in goingthrough an endless labyrinth of corridors, and passages, and suites ofrooms, and flights of stairs, until she became so extremely tired, that she stopped with spirited abruptness, and in the plainest possibleEnglish, gave her conductor to understand that they had gone about farenough for all practical purposes. To which that patient and respectfulindividual replied that he was glad to inform her they had but a fewmore steps to go, which the next moment proved to be true, for hestopped and announced that their promenade was over for the night. 

"And I suppose I may have the use of my eyes at last?" inquired Leoline, with more haughtiness than Sir Norman could have believed possible sogentle a voice could have expressed. 

For reply, her companion rapidly untied the bandage, and withdrew itwith a flourish. The dazzling brightness that burst upon her, so blindedher, that for a moment she could distinguish nothing; and when shelooked round to contemplate her companion, she found him hurriedlymaking his exit, and securely locking the door. 

The sound of the key turning in the lock gave her a most peculiarsensation, which none but those who have experienced it can properlyunderstand. It is not the most comfortable feeling in the world to knowyou are a prisoner, even if you have no key turned upon you but theweather, and your jailer be a high east wind and lashing rain. Leoline'sprison and jailer were something worse; and, for the first time, a chillof fear and dismay crept icily to the core of her heart. But Leoline hadsomething of Miranda's courage, as well as her looks and temper; soshe tried to feel as brave as possible, and not think of her unpleasantpredicament while there remained anything else to think about. Perhapsshe might escape, too; and, as this notion struck her, she looked witheager anxiety, not unmixed with curiosity, at the place where she was. By this time, her eyes had been accustomed to the light, which proceededfrom a great antique lamp of bronze, pendent by a brass chain fromthe ceiling; and she saw she was in a moderately sized and by no meanssplendid room. But what struck her most was, that everything had a lookof age about it, from the glittering oak beams of the floor to thefaded ghostly hangings on the wall. There was a bed at one end--a greatspectral ark of a thing, like a mausoleum, with drapery as old andspectral as that on the walls, and in which she could no more have lainthan in a moth-eaten shroud. The seats and the one table the room heldwere of the same ancient and weird pattern, and the sight of them gaveher a shivering sensation not unlike an ague chill. There was but onedoor--a huge structure, with shining panels, securely locked; and escapefrom that quarter was utterly out of the question. There was one window, hung with dark curtains of tarnished embroidery, but in pushing themaside, she met only a dull blank of unlighted glass, for the shutterswere firmly secured without. Altogether, she could not form theslightest idea where she was; and, with a feeling of utter despair, shesat down on one of the queer old chairs, with much the same feeling asif she were sitting in a tomb. 

What would Sir Norman say? What would he ever think of her, when hefound her gone. And what was destined to be her fate in this dreadfulout-of-the-way place? She would have cried, as most of her sex would betempted to do in such a situation, but that her dislike and horror ofCount L'Estrange was a good deal stronger than her grief, and turned hertears to sparks of indignant fire. Never, never, never! would she be hiswife! He might kill her a thousand times, if he liked, and she wouldn'tyield an inch. She did not mind dying in a good cause; she could do itbut once. And with Sir Norman despising her, as she felt he must do, when he found her run away, she rather liked the idea than otherwise. Mentally, she bade adieu to all her friends before beginning to preparefor her melancholy fate--to her handsome lover, to his gallant friendOrmiston, to her poor nurse, Prudence, and to her mysterious visitor, LaMasque. 

La Masque! Ah! that name awoke a new chord of recollection--the casket, she had it with her yet. Instantly, everything was forgotten but it andits contents; and she placed a chair directly under the lamp, drew itout, and looked at it. It was a pretty little bijou itself, with itspolished ivory surface, and shining clasps of silver. But the inside hadfar more interest for her than the outside, and she fitted the keyand unlocked it with a trembling hand. It was lined with azure velvet, wrought with silver thread, in dainty wreathe of water lilies; and inthe bottom, neatly folded, lay a sheet of foolscap. She opened it withnervous haste; it was a common sheet enough, stamped with fool's capand bells, that showed it belonged to Cromwell's time. It was closelywritten, in a light, fair hand, and bore the title "Leoline's History. "

Leoline's hand trembled so with eagerness, she could scarcely hold thepaper; but her eye rapidly ran from line to line, and she stopped nottill she reached the end. While she read, her face alternately flushedand paled, her eyes dilated, her lips parted; and before she finishedit, there came over all a look of the most unutterable horror. Itdropped from her powerless fingers as she finished; and she sank back inher chair with such a ghastly paleness, that it seemed absolutely likethe lividness of death. 

A sudden and startling noise awoke her from her trance of horror--someone trying to get in at the window! The chill of terror it sent throughevery vein acted as a sort of counter-irritant to the other feeling, and she sprang from her chair and turned her face fearfully toward thesounds. But in all her terror she did not forget the mysterious sheet offoolscap, which lay, looking up at her, on the floor; and she snatchedit up, and thrust it and the casket out of sight. Still the sounds wenton, but softly and cautiously; and at intervals, as if the worker wereafraid of being heard. Leoline went back, step by step, to the otherextremity of the room, with her eyes still fixed on the window, and onher face a white terror, that left her perfectly colorless. 

Who could it be? Not Count L'Estrange, for he would surely not needto enter his own house like a burglar--not Sir Norman Kingsley, for hecould certainly not find out her abduction and her prison so soon, andshe had no other friends in the whole wide world to trouble themselvesabout her. There was one, but the idea of ever seeing her again was sounspeakably dreadful, that she would rather have seen the most horriblespectre her imagination could conjure up, than that tall, graceful, rich-robed form. 

Still the noises perseveringly continued; there was the sound ofwithdrawing bolts, and then a pale ray of moonlight shot between theparted curtains, shoving the shutters had been opened. Whiter and whiterLeoline grew, and she felt herself growing cold and rigid with mortalfear. Softly the window was raised, a hand stole in and parted thecurtains, and a pale face and two great dark eyes wandered slowly roundthe room, and rested at last on her, standing, like a galvanized corpse, as far from the window as the wall would permit. The hand was lifted ina warning gesture, as if to enforce silence; the window was raised stillhigher, a figure, lithe and agile as a cat, sprang lightly into theroom, and standing with his back to her, re-closed the shutters, re-shutthe window, and re-drew the curtains, before taking the trouble to turnround. 

This discreet little manoeuvre, which showed her visitor was human, andgifted with human prudence, re-assured Leoline a little; and, to judgeby the reverse of the medal, the nocturnal intruder was nothingvery formidable after all. But the stranger did not keep her long insuspense; while she stood gazing at him, as if fascinated, he turnedround, stepped forward, took off his cap, made her a courtly bow, and then straightening himself up, prepared, with great coolness, toscrutinize and be scrutinized. 

Well might they look at each other; for the two faces were perfectly thesame, and each one saw himself and herself as others saw them. There wasthe same coal-black, curling hair; the same lustrous dark eyes; thesame clear, colorless complexion, the same delicate, perfect features;nothing was different but the costume and the expression. That latterwas essentially different, for the young lady's betrayed amazement, terror, doubt, and delight all at once; while the young gentleman's wasa grand, careless surprise, mixed with just a dash of curiosity. 

He was the first to speak; and after they had stared at each other forthe space of five minutes, he described a graceful sweep with his hand, and held forth in the following strain, "I greatly fear, fair Leoline, that I have startled you by my sudden andsurprising entrance; and if I have been the cause of a moment's alarmto one so perfectly beautiful, I shall hate myself for ever after. If Icould have got in any other way, rest assured I would not have risked myneck and your peace of mind by such a suspicious means of ingress as thewindow; but if you will take the trouble to notice, the door is thick, and I am composed of too solid flesh to whisk through the keyhole; so Ihad to make my appearance the best way I could. "

"Who are you?" faintly asked Leoline. 

"Your friend, fair lady, and Sir Norman Kingsley's. "

Hubert looked to see Leoline start and blush, and was deeply gratifiedto see her do both; and her whole pretty countenance became alive withnew-born hope, as if that name were a magic talisman of freedom and joy. 

"What is your name, and who are you?" she inquired, in a breathless sortof way, that made Hubert look at her a moment in calm astonishment. 

"I have told you your friend; christened at some remote period, Hubert. For further particulars, apply to the Earl of Rochester, whose page Iam. "

"The Earl of Rochester's page!" she repeated, in the same quick, excitedway, that surprised and rather lowered her in that good youth's opinion, for giving way to any feelings so plebeian. "It is--it must be thesame!"

"I have no doubt of it, " said Hubert. "The same what?"

"Did you not come from France--from Dijon, recently?" went on Leoline, rather inappositely, as it struck her hearer. 

"Certainly I came from Dijon. Had I the honor of being known to youthere?"

"How strange! How wonderful!" said Leoline, with a paling cheek andquickened breathing. "How mysterious those things turn out I ThankHeaven that I have found some one to love at last!"

This speech, which was Greek, algebra, high Dutch, or thereabouts, toMaster Hubert, caused him to stare to such an extent, that when hecame to think of it afterward, positively shocked him. The two great, wondering dark eyes transfixing her with so much amazement, broughtLeoline to a sense of her talking unfathomable mysteries, quiteincomprehensible to her handsome auditor. She looked at him with asmile, held out her hand; and Hubert received a strange little electricthrill, to see that her eyes were full of tears. He took the hand andraised it to his lips, wondering if the young lady, struck by his goodlooks, had conceived a rash and inordinate attack of love at firstsight, and was about to offer herself to him and discard Sir Norman forever. From this speculation, the sweet voice aroused him. 

"You have told me who you are. Now, do you know who I am?"

"I hope so, fairest Leoline. I know you are the most beautiful lady inEngland, and to-morrow will be called Lady Kingsley!"

"I am something more, " said Leoline, holding his hand between both hers, and bending near him; "I am your sister!"

The Earl of Rochester's page must have had good blood in his veins; fornever was there duke, grandee, or peer of the realm, more radicallyand unaffectedly nonchalant than he. To this unexpected announcement helistened with most dignified and well-bred composure, and in his secretheart, or rather vanity, more disappointed than otherwise, to find hisfirst solution of her tenderness a great mistake. Leoline held his handtight in hers, and looked with loving and tearful eyes in his face. 

"Dear Hubert, you are my brother--my long-unknown brother, and I loveyou with my whole heart!"

"Am I?" said Hubert. "I dare say I am, for they all say we look as muchalike as two peas. I am excessively delighted to hear it, and to knowthat you love me. Permit me to embrace my new relative. "

With which the court page kissed Leoline with emphasis, while shescarcely knew whether to laugh, cry, or be provoked at his composure. On the whole, she did a little of all three, and pushed him away with ahalt pout. 

"You insensible mortal! How can you stand there and hear that you havefound a sister with so much indifference?"

"Indifferent? Not I! You have no idea how wildly excited I am!" saidHubert, in a voice not betokening the slightest emotion. "How did youfind it out, Leoline?"

"Never mind! I shall tell you that again. You don't doubt it, I hope?"

"Of course not! I knew from the first moment I set eyes on you, that ifyou were not my sister, you ought to be! I wish you'd tell me all theparticulars, Leoline. "

"I shall do so as soon as I am out of this; but how can I tell youanything here?"

"That's true!" said Hubert, reflectively. "Well, I'll wait. Now, don'tyou wonder how I found you out, and came here?"

"Indeed I do. How was it, Hubert?"

"Oh, well, I don't know as I can altogether tell you; but you see, SirNorman Kingsley being possessed of an inspiration that something washappening to you, came to your house a short time ago, and, as hesuspected, discovered that you were missing. I met him there, rather depressed in his mind about it, and he told me--beginning theconversation, I must say, in a very excited manner, " said Hubert, parenthetically, as memory recalled the furious shaking he hadundergone--"and he told me he fancied you were abducted, and by oneCount L'Estrange. Now I had a hazy idea who Count L'Estrange was, andwhere he would be most apt to take you to; and so I came here, and aftersome searching, more inquiring, and a few unmitigated falsehoods (you'llregret to hear), discovered you were locked up in this place, andsucceeded in getting in through the window. Sir Norman is waiting forme in a state of distraction so now, having found you, I will go andrelieve his mind by reporting accordingly. "

"And leave me here?" cried Leoline, in affright, "and in the power ofCount L'Estrange? Oh! no, no! You must take me with you, Hubert!"

"My dear Leoline, it is quite impossible to do it without help, andwithout a ladder. I will return to Sir Norman; and when the darknesscomes that precedes day-dawn, we will raise the ladder to your window, and try to get you out. Be patient--only wait an hour or two, and thenyou will be free. "

"But, O Hubert, where am I? What dreadful place it this?"

"Why, I do not know that this is a very dreadful place; and most peopleconsider it a sufficiently respectable house; but, still, I would rathersee my sister anywhere else than in it, and will take the trouble ofkidnapping her out of it as quickly as possible. "

"But, Hubert, tell me--do tell me, who is Count L'Estrange?" Hubertlaughed. 

"Cannot, really, Leoline! at least, not until to-morrow, and you areLady Kingsley. "

"But, what if he should come here to-night?"

"I do not think there is much danger of that, but whether he does ornot, rest assured you shall be free to-morrow! At all events, it isquite impossible for you to escape with me now; and even as it is, Irun the risk of being detected, and made a prisoner, myself. You mustbe patient and wait, Leoline, and trust to Providence and your brotherHubert!"

"I must, I suppose!" said Leoline, sighing, "and you cannot take me awayuntil day-dawn. "

"Quite impossible; and then all this drapery of yours will be ever somuch in the way. Would you object to garments like these?" pointing tohis doublet and hose. "If you would not, I think I could procure you afit-out. "

"But I should, though!" said Leoline, with spirit "and most decidedly, too! I shall wear nothing of the kind, Sir Page!"

"Every one to her fancy!" said Hubert, with a French shrug, "and mypretty sister shall have hers in spite of earth, air, fire, and water!And now, fair Leoline, for a brief time, adieu, and au revoir!"

"You will not fail me!" exclaimed Leoline, earnestly, clasping herhands. 

"If I do, it shall be the last thing I will fail in on earth; for if Iam alive by to-morrow morning, Leoline shall be free!"

"And you will be careful--you will both be careful!"

"Excessively careful! Now then. "

The last two words were addressed to the window which he noiselesslyopened as he spoke. Leoline caught a glimpse of the bright freemoonlight, and watched him with desperate envy; but the next moment theshutters were closed, and Hubert and the moonlight were both gone. 

CHAPTER XIX. HUBERT'S WHISPER. 

Sir Norman Kingsley's consternation and horror on discovering the deadbody of his friend, was only equalled by his amazement as to how he gotthere, or how he came to be dead at all. The livid face, up turned tothe moonlight, was unmistakably the face of a dead man--it was no swoon, no deception, like Leoline's; for the blue, ghastly paleness that marksthe flight of the soul from the body was stamped on every rigid feature. Yet, Sir Norman could not realize it. We all know how hard it is torealize the death of a friend from whom we have but lately parted infull health and life, and Ormiston's death was so sudden. Why, it wasnot quite two hours since they had parted in Leoline's house, and eventhe plague could not carry off a victim as quickly as this. 

"Ormiston! Ormiston!" he called, between grief and dismay, as he raisedhim in his arms, with his hand over the stilled heart; but Ormistonanswered not, and the heart gave no pulsation beneath his fingers. Hetore open his doublet, as the thought of the plague flashed through hismind, but no plague-spot was to be seen, and it was quite evident, from the appearance of the face, that he had not died of the distemper, neither was there any wound or mark to show that he had met his endviolently. Yet the cold, white face was convulsed, as if he had died inthroes of agony, the hands were clenched, till the nails sank into theflesh; and that was the only outward sign or token that he had sufferedin expiring. 

Sir Norman was completely at a lose, and half beside himself, witha thousand conflicting feelings of sorrow, astonishment, andmystification. The rapid and exciting events of the night had turnedhis head into a mental chaos, as they very well might, but he still hadcommonsense enough left to know that something must be done about thisimmediately. He knew the best place to take Ormiston was to the nearestapothecary's shop, which establishments were generally open, and filled, the whole livelong night, by the sick and their friends. As he wasmeditating whether or not to call the surly watchman to help him carrythe body, a pest-cart came, providentially, along, and the driver-seeinga young man bending over a prostrate form-guessed at once what was thematter, and came to a halt. 

"Another one!" he said, coming leisurely up, and glancing at thelifeless form with a very professional eye. "Well, I think there is roomfor another one in the cart; so bear a hand, friend, and let us have himout of this. "

"You are mistaken!" said Sir Norman sharply, "he has not died of theplague. I am not even certain whether he is dead at all. "

The driver looked at Sir Norman, then stooped down and touchedOrmiston's icy face, and listened to hear him breathe. He stood up aftera moment, with some thing like a small laugh. 

"If he's alive, " he said, turning to go, "then I never saw any one dead!Good night, sir, I wish you joy when you bring him to. "

"Stay!" exclaimed the young man, "I wish you to assist me in bringinghim to yonder apothecary's shop, and you may have this for your pains. "

"This" proved to be a talisman of alacrity; for the man pocketed it, andbriskly laid hold of Ormiston by the feet, while Sir Norman wrapped hiscloak reverently about him and took him by the shoulders. In this stylehis body was conveyed to the apothecary's shop which they found halffull of applicants for medicine, among whom their entrance with thecorpse produced no greater sensation than a momentary stare. The attireand bearing of Sir Norman proving him to be something different fromtheir usual class of visitors, bringing one of the drowsy apprenticesimmediately to his side, inquiring what were his orders. 

"A private room, and your master's attendance directly, " was theauthoritative reply. 

Both were to be had; the former, a hole in the wall behind the shop; thelatter, a pallid, cadaverous-looking person, with the air of one who hadbeen dead a week, thought better of it and rose again. There was along table in the aforesaid hole in the wall, bearing a strong familylikeness to a dissecting-table; upon which the stark figure was laid, and the pest-cart driver disappeared. The apothecary held a mirrorclose to the face; applied his ear to the pulse and heart; held apocket-mirror over his mouth, looked at it; shook his head; and set downthe candle with decision. 

"The man is dead, sir!" was his criticism, "dead as a door nail! All themedicine in the shop wouldn't kindle one spark of life in such ashes!"

"At least, try! Try something--bleeding for instance, " suggested SirNorman. 

Again the apothecary examined the body, and again he shook his headdolefully. 

"It's no use, sir: but, if it will please, you can try. "

The right arm was bared; the lancet inserted, one or two black dropssluggishly followed and nothing more. 

"It's all a waste of time, you see, " remarked the apothecary, wiping hisdreadful little weapon, "he's as dead as ever I saw anybody in my life!How did he come to his end, sir--not by the plague?"

"I don't know, " said Sir Norman, gloomily. "I wish you would tell methat. "

"Can't do it, sir; my skill doesn't extend that far. There is noplague-spot or visible wound or bruise on the person; so he must havedied of some internal complaint--probably disease of the heart. "

"Never knew him to have such a thing, " said Sir Norman, sighing. "Itis very mysterious and very dreadful, and notwithstanding all you havesaid, I cannot believe him dead. Can he not remain here until morning, at least?"

The starved apothecary looked at him out of a pair of hollow, melancholyeyes. 

"Gold can do anything, " was his plaintive reply. 

"I understand. You shall have it. Are you sure you can do nothing morefor him?"

"Nothing whatever, sir; and excuse me, but there are customers in theshop, and I must leave, sir. "

Which he did, accordingly; and Sir Norman was left alone with all thatremained of him who, two hours before, was his warm friend. He couldscarcely believe that it was the calm majesty of death that so changedthe expression of that white face, and yet, the longer he looked, themore deeply an inward conviction assured him that it was so. He chafedthe chilling hands and face, he applied hartshorn and burnt feathers tothe nostrils, but all these applications, though excellent in their way, could not exactly raise the dead to life, and, in this case, proveda signal, failure. He gave up his doctoring, at last, in despair, andfolding his arms, looked down at what lay on the table, and triedto convince himself that it was Ormiston. So absorbed was he in theendeavor, that he heeded not the passing moments, until it struckhim with a shock that Hubert might even now be waiting for him at thetrysting-place, with news of Leoline. Love is stronger than friendship, stronger than grief, stronger than death, stronger than every otherfeeling in the world; so he suddenly seized his hat, turned his back onOrmiston and the apothecary's shop, and strode oft to the place he hadquitted. 

No Hubert was there, but two figures were passing slowly along in themoonlight, and one of them he recognized, with an impulse to springat him like a tiger and strangle him. But he had been so shocked andsubdued by his recent discovery, that the impulse which, half an hourbefore, would have been unhesitatingly obeyed, went for nothing, now;and there was more of reproach, even, than anger in his voice, as hewent over and laid his hand on the shoulder of one of them. 

"Stay!" he said. "One word with you, Count L'Estrange. What have youdone with Leoline!"

"Ah! Sir Norman, as I live!" cried the count wheeling round and liftinghis hat. "Give me good even--or rather, good morning--Kingsley, for St. Paul's has long gone the midnight hour. "

Sir Norman, with his hand still on his shoulder, returned not thecourtesy, and regarding the gallant count with a stern eye. 

"Where is Leoline?" he frigidly repeated. 

"Really, " said the count, with some embarrassment, "you attack me sounexpectedly, and so like a ghost or a highwayman--by the way I have aword to say to you about highwaymen, and was seeking you to say it. "

"Where is Leoline?" shouted the exasperated young knight, releasing hisshoulder, and clutching him by the throat. "Tell me or, by Heaven! I'llpitch you neck and heels into the Thames!"

Instantly the sword of the count's companion flashed in the moonlight, and, in two seconds more, its blue blade would have ended the earthlycareer of Sir Norman Kingsley, had not the count quickly sprang back, and made a motion for his companion to hold. 

"Wait!" he cried, commandingly, with his arm outstretched to each. "Keepoff! George, sheathe your sword and stand aside. Sir Norman Kingsley, one word with you, and be it in peace. "

"There can be no peace between us, " replied that aggravated younggentleman, fiercely "until you tell me what has become of Leoline. "

"All in good time. We have a listener, and does it mot strike you ourconference should be private!"

"Public or private, it matters not a jot, so that you tell me whatyou've done with Leoline, " replied Sir Norman, with whom it was evidentgetting beyond this question was a moral and physical impossibility. "And if you do not give an account of yourself, I'll run you through assure as your name is Count L'Estrange!"

A strange sort of smile came over the face of the count at this direfulthreat, as if he fancied in that case, he was safe enough; but SirNorman, luckily, did not see it, and heard only the suave reply:

"Certainly, Sir Norman; I shall be delighted to do so. Let us stand overthere in the shadow of that arch; and, George, do you remain here withincall. "

The count blandly waved Sir Norman to follow, which Sir Norman did, withmuch the mein of a sulky lion; and, a moment after, both were facingeach other within the archway. 

"Well!" cried the young knight, impatiently; "I am waiting. Go on!"

"My dear Kingsley, " responded the count, in his easy way, "I think youare laboring under a little mistake. I have nothing to go on about; itis you who are to begin the controversy. "

"Do you dare to play with me?" exclaimed Sir Norman, furiously. "I tellyou to take care how you speak! What have you done with Leoline?"

"That is the fourth or fifth time that you've asked me that question, "said the count, with provoking indifference. "What do you imagine I havedone with her?"

Sir Norman's feelings, which had been rising ever since their meeting, got up to such a height at this aggravating question, that he gave ventto an oath, and laid his hand on him sword; but the count's hand lightlyinterposed before it came out. 

"Not yet, Sir Norman. Be calm; talk rationally. What do you accuse me ofdoing with Leoline?"

"Do you dare deny having carried her off?"

"Deny it? No; I am never afraid to father my own deeds. "

"Ah!" said Sir Norman grinding his teeth. "Then you acknowledge it?"

"I acknowledge it--yes. What next?"

The perfect composure of his tone fell like a cool, damp towel on thefire of Sir Norman's wrath. It did not quite extinguish the flame, however--only quenched it a little--and it still hissed hotlyunderneath. 

"And you dare to stand before me and acknowledge such an act?" exclaimedSir Norman, perfectly astounded at the cool assurance of the man. 

"Verily, yea, " said the count, laughing. "I seldom take the trouble todeny my acts. What next?"

"There is nothing next, " said Sir Norman, severely, "until we have cometo a proper understanding about this. Are you aware, sir, that that ladyis my promised bride?"

"No, I do not know that I am. On the contrary, I have an idea she ismine. "

"She was, you mean. You know she was forced into consenting by yourselfand her nurse!"

"Still she consented; and a bond is a bond, and a promise a promise, allthe world over. "

"Not with a woman, " said Sir Norman, with stern dogmatism. "It is theirprivilege to break their promise and change their mind sixty times anhour, if they choose. Leoline has seen fit to do both, and has acceptedme in your stead; therefore I command you instantly to give her up!"

"Softly, my friend--softly. How was I to know all this?"

"You ought to have known it!" returned Sir Norman, in the samedogmatical way; "or if you didn't, you do now; so say no more about it. Where is she, I tell you?" repeated the young man, in a frenzy. 

"Your patience one moment longer, until we see which of us has the bestright to the lady. I have a prior claim. "

"A forced one. Leoline does not care a snap far you--and she loves me. "

"What extraordinary bad taste!" raid the count, thoughtfully. "Did shetell you that?"

"Yes; she did tell me this, and a great deal more. Come--have donetalking, and tell me where she is, or I'll--"

"Oh, no, you wouldn't!" said the count, teasingly. "Since matters standin this light I'll tell you what I'll do. I acknowledge that I carriedoff Leoline, viewing her as my promised bride, and have sent her to myown home in the care of a trusty messenger, where I give you my word ofhonor, I have not been since. She is as safe there, and much safer thanin her own house, until morning, and it would be a pity to disturb herat this unseasonable hour. When the morning comes, we will both go toher together--state our rival claims--and whichever one she decides onaccepting, can have her, and end the matter at once. "

The count paused and meditated. This proposal was all very plausibleand nice on the surface, but Sir Norman with his usual penetration andacuteness, looked farther than the surface, and found a flaw. 

"And how am I to know, " he asked, doubtingly, "that you will not go toher to-night and spirit her off where I will never hear of either of youagain?"

"In the very best way in the world: we will not part company untilmorning comes, are we at peace?" inquired the count, smiling and holdingout but hand. 

"Until then, we will have to be, I suppose, " replied Sir Norman, ratherungraciously taking the hand as if it were red-hot, and droppingit again. "And we are to stand here and rail at each other, in themeantime?"

"By no means! Even the most sublime prospect tires when surveyed toolong. There is a little excursion which I would like you to accompany meon, if you have no objection. "

"Where to?"

"To the ruin, where you have already been twice to-night. "

Sir Norman stared. 

"And who told you this fact, Sir Count?"

"Never mind; I have heard it. Would you object to a third excursionthere before morning?"

Again Sir Norman paused and meditated. There was no use in staying wherehe was, that would bring him no nearer to Leoline, and nothing was to begained by killing the count beyond the mere transitory pleasure ofthe thing. On the other hand, he had an intense and ardent desire tore-visit the ruin, and learn what had become of Miranda--the onlydraw-back being that, if they were found they would both be mostassuredly beheaded. Then, again, there was Hubert. 

"Well, " inquired the count, as Sir Norman looked up. 

"I have no objection to go with you to the ruin, " was the reply, "onlythis; if we are seen there, we will be dead men two minutes after; andI have no desire to depart this life until I have had that promisedinterview with Leoline. "

"I have thought of that, " said the count, "and have provided for it. Wemay venture in the lion's den without the slightest danger: all that isrequired being your promise to guide us thither. Do you give it?"

"I do; but I expect a friend here shortly, and cannot start until hecomes. "

"If you mean me by that, I am here, " said a voice at his elbow; and, looking round, he saw Hubert himself, standing there, a quiet listenerand spectator of the scene. 

Count L'Estrange looked at him with interest, and Hubert, affecting notto notice the survey, watched Sir Norman. 

"Well, " was that individual's eager address, "were you successful?"

The count was still watching the boy so intently, that that mostdiscreet youth was suddenly seized with a violent fit of coughing, whichprecluded all possibility of reply for at least five minutes; and SirNorman, at the same moment, felt his arm receive a sharp and warningpinch. 

"Is this your friend?" asked the count. "He is a very small one, andseems in a bad state of health. "

Sir Norman, still under the influence of the pinch, replied by aninaudible murmur, and looked with a deeply mystified expression, atHubert. 

"He bears a strong resemblance to the lady we were talking of a momentago, " continued the count--"is sufficiently like her, in fact, to be herbrother; and, I see wears the livery of the Earl of Rochester. "

"God spare you your eye-sight!" said Sir Norman, impatiently. "Canyou not see, among the rest, that I have a few words to say to him inprivate? Permit us to leave you for a moment. "

"There is no need to do so. I will leave you, as I have a few words tosay to the person who is with me. "

So saying the count walked away, and Hubert followed him with a mostcurious look. 

"Now, " cried Sir Norman, eagerly, "what news?"

"Good!" said the boy. "Leoline is safe!"

"And where?"

"Not far from here. Didn't he tell you?"

"The count? No--yes; he said she was at his house. "

"Exactly. That is where she is, " said Hubert, looking much relieved. "And, at present, perfectly safe. "

"And did you see her?"

"Of course; and heard her too. She was dreadfully anxious to come withme; but that was out of the question. "

"And how is she to be got away?"

"That I do not clearly see. We will have to bring a ladder, and therewill be so much danger, and so little chance of success, that, to me itseems an almost hopeless task. Where did you meet Count L'Estrange?"

"Here; and he told me that he had abducted her, and held her a prisonerin his own house. "

"He owned that did he? I wonder you were not fit to kill him?"

"So I was, at first, but he talked the matter over somehow. "

And hereupon Sir Norman briefly and quickly rehearsed the substance oftheir conversation. Hubert listened to it attentively, and laughed as heconcluded. 

"Well, I do not see that you can do otherwise, Sir Norman, and Ithink it would be wise to obey the count for to-night, at least. Thento-morrow--if things do not go on well, we can take the law in our ownhands. "

"Can we?" said Sir Norman, doubtfully, "I do wish you would tell me whothis infernal count is, Hubert, for I am certain you know. "

"Not until to-morrow--you shall know him then. "

"To-morrow! to-morrow!" exclaimed Sir Norman, disconsolately. "Everything is postponed until to-morrow! Oh, here comes the count backagain. Are we going to start now, I wonder?"

"Is your friend to accompany us on our expedition?" inquired the count, standing before them. "It shall be quite as you say, Mr. Kingsley. "

"My friend can do as he pleases. What do you say, Hubert?"

"I should like to go, of all things, if neither of you have anyobjections. "

"Come on, then, " said the count, "we will find horses in readiness ashort distance from this. "

The three started together, and walked on in silence through severalstreets, until they reached a retired inn, where the count's recentcompanion stood, with the horses. Count L'Estrange whispered a few wordsto him, upon which he bowed and retired; and in an instant they were allin the saddle, and galloping away. 

The journey was rather a silent one, and what conversation there was, was principally sustained by the count. Hubert's usual flow of pertinentchat seemed to have forsaken him, and Sir Norman had so many otherthings to think of--Leoline, Ormiston, Miranda, and the mysterious counthimself--that he felt in no mood for talking. Soon, they left the citybehind them; the succeeding two miles were quickly passed over, andthe "Golden Crown, " all dark and forsaken, now hove in sight. As theyreached this, and cantered up the road leading to the ruin, Sir Normandrew rein, and said:

"I think our best plan would be, to dismount, and lead our horses therest of the way, and not incur any unnecessary danger by making a noise. We can fasten them to these trees, where they will be at hand when wecome out. "

"Wait one moment, " said the count, lifting his finger with a listeninglook. "Listen to that!"

It was a regular tramp of horses' hoofs, sounding in the silence like acharge of cavalry. While they looked, a troop of horsemen came gallopingup, and came to a halt when they saw the count. 

No words can depict the look of amazement Sir Norman's face wore;but Hubert betrayed not the least surprise. The count glanced at hiscompanions with a significant smile, and riding back, held a briefcolloquy with him who seemed the leader of the horsemen. He rode up tothem, smiling still, and saying, as he passed, "Now then, Kingsley; lead on, and we will follow!"

"I go not one step further, " said Sir Norman, firmly, "until I know whoI am leading. Who are you, Count L'Estrange?"

The count looked at him, but did not answer. A warning hand--that ofHubert--grasped Sir Norman's arm; and Hubert's voice whispered hurriedlyin his ear:

"Hush, for God's sake! It is the king!"

CHAPTER XX. AT THE PLAGUE-PIT. 

The effect of the whisper was magical. Everything that had been darkbefore, became clear as noonday; and Sir Norman sat absolutely astoundedat his own stupidity in not having found it out for himself before. Every feature, notwithstanding the disguise of wig and beard, becameperfectly familiar; and even through the well-assumed voice, herecognized the royal tones. It struck him all at once, and with it thefact of Leoline's increased danger. Count L'Estrange was a formidablerival, but King Charles of England was even more formidable. 

Thought is quick--quicker than the electric telegraph or balloontraveling; and in two seconds the whole stated things, with all theattendant surprises and dangers, danced before his mind's eye like apanorama; and he comprehended the past, the present, and the future, before Hubert had uttered the last word of his whisper. He turned hiseyes, with a very new and singular sensation, upon the quondamcount, and found that gentlemen looking very hard at him, with, apreternaturally grave expression of countenance. Sir Norman knew well asanybody the varying moods of his royal countship, and, notwithstandinghis general good nature, it was not safe to trifle with him at alltimes; so he repressed every outward sign of emotion whatever, andresolved to treat him as Count L'Estrange until he should choose to sailunder his own proper colors. 

"Well, " said the count, with unruffled eagerness, "and so you decline togo any further Sir Norman?"

Hubert's eye was fixed with a warning glance upon him, and Sir Normancomposedly answered

"No, count; I do not absolutely decline; but before I do go any further, I should like to know by what right do you bring all these men here, andwhat are your intentions in so doing. "

"And if I refuse to answer?"

"Then I refuse to move a step further in the business!" said Sir Norman, with decision. 

"And why, my good friend? You surely can have no objection to anythingthat can be done against highwaymen and cut-throats. "

"Right! I have no objections, but others may. "

"Whom do you mean by others?"

"The king, for instance. His gracious majesty is whimsical at times; andwho knows that he may take it into his royal head to involve us somehowwith them. I know the adage, 'put not your trust in princes. '"

"Very good, " said the count, with a slight and irrepressible smile;"your prudence is beyond all praise! But I think, in this matter I maysafely promise to stand between you and the king's wrath. Look at thosehorsemen beyond you, and see if they do not wear the uniform of hismajesty's own body-guard. "

Sir Norman looked, and saw the dazzling of their splendid equipmentsglancing and glistening in the moonbeams. 

"I see. Then you have the royal permission for all this?"

"You have said it. Now, most scrupulous of men, proceed!"

"Look there!" exclaimed Hubert, suddenly pointing to a corner of therain. "Someone has seen us, and is going now to give the alarm. "

"He shall miss it, though!" said Sir Norman, detecting, at the sameinstant, a dark figure getting through the broken doorway; and strikingspurs into his horse, he was instantaneously beside it, out of thesaddle, and had grasped the retreater by the shoulder. 

"By your leave!" exclaimed Sir Norman. "Not quite so fast! Stand outhere in the moonlight, until I see who you are. "

"Let me go!" cried the man, grappling with his opponent. "I know who youare, and I swear you'll never see moonlight or sunlight again, if you donot instantly let me go. "

Sir Norman recognized the voice with a perfect shout of delight. 

"The duke, by all that's lucky! O, I'll let you go: but not until thehangman gets hold of you. Villain and robber, you shall pay for yourmisdeeds now!"

"Hold!" shouted the commanding voice of Count L'Estrange. "Cease, SirNorman Kingsley! there is no time, and this is no person for you toscoff with. He is our prisoner, and shall show us the nearest way intothis den of thieves. Give me your sword, fellow, and be thankful I donot make you shorter by a head with it. "

"You do not know him!" cried Sir Norman; in vivid excitement. "I tellyou this is the identical scoundrel who attempted to rob and murder youa few hours ago. "

"So much the better! He shall pay for that and all his othershortcomings, before long! But, in the meantime, I order him to bring usbefore the rest of this outlawed crew. "

"I shall do nothing of the kind, " said the duke, sullenly. 

"Just as you please. Here, my men, two of you take hold of thisscoundrel, and dispatch him at once. "

The guard had all dismounted; and two of them came forward with edifyingobedience, to do as they were told. 

The effect upon the duke was miraculous. Instantly he started up, withan energy perfectly amazing:

"No, no, no! I'll do it! Come this way, gentlemen, and I'll bring youdirect into their midst. O good Lord! whatever will become of us?"

This last frantic question was addressed to society in general, but SirNorman felt called upon to answer:

"That's very easily told, my man. If you and the rest of your titledassociates receive your deserts (as there is no doubt you will) from thegracious hand of our sovereign lord, the king, the strongest rope andhighest gallows at Tyburn will be your elevated destiny. "

The duke groaned dismally, and would have come to a halt to beg mercy onthe spot, had not Hubert given him a probe in, the ribs with the pointof his dagger, that sent him on again, with a distracted howl. 

"Why, this is a perfect Hades!" said the count, as he stumbled after, inthe darkness. "Are you sure we are going right, Kingsley?"

The inquiry was not unnatural, for the blackness was perfectlyTartarian, and the soldiers behind were knocking their tall shinsagainst all sorts of obstacles as they groped blindly along, invokingfrom them countless curses, not loud, but deep. 

"I don't know whether we are or not, " said Sir Norman significantly;"only, God help him if we're not! Where are you taking us to, youblack-looking bandit?"

"I give you my word of honor, gentlemen, " said an imploring voice inthe darkness, "that I'm leading you, by the nearest way, to the MidnightCourt. All I ask of you in return is, that you will let me enter beforeyou; for if they find that I lead you in, my life will not be worth amoment's purchase. "

"As if it ever was worth it, " said Sir Norman, contemptuously. "On withyou, and be thankful I don't save your companions the trouble, by makingan end of you where you stand. "

"Rush along, old fellow, " suggested Hubert, giving him another poke withhis dagger, that drew forth a second doleful howl. 

Notwithstanding the darkness, Sir Norman discovered that they were beingled in a direction exactly opposite that by which he had previouslyeffected an entrance. They were in the vault, he knew, by the darkness, though they had descended no stair-case, and he was just wonderingif their guide was not meditating some treachery by such a circuitousroute, when suddenly a tumult of voices, and uproar, and confusion, methis ear. At the same instant, their guide opened a door, revealing adark passage, illuminated by a few rays of light, and which Sir Normaninstantly recognized as that leading to the Black Chamber. Here againthe duke paused, and turned round to them with a wildly-imploring face. 

"Gentlemen, I do conjure you to let me enter before you do! I tell youthey will murder me the very instant they discover I have led you here!"

"That would be a great pity!" said the count; "and the gallows will becheated of one of its brightest ornaments! That is your den of thieves, I suppose, from which all this uproar comes?"

"It is. And as I have guided you safely to it, surely I deserve thistrifling boon. "

"Trifling, do you call it, " interposed Sir Norman, "to let you makeyour escape, as you most assuredly will do the moment you are out of oursight! No, no; we are too old birds to be caught with such chaff; andthough the informer always gets off scot-free, your services deserve nosuch boon; for we could have found our way without your help! On withyou, Sir Robber; and if your companions do kill you, console yourselfwith the thought that they have only anticipated the executioner by afew days!"

With a perfectly heart-rending groan, the unfortunate duke walked on;but when they reached the archway directly before the room, he came toan obstinate halt, and positively refused to go a step farther. It wasdeath, anyway, and he resisted with the courage of desperation, feeling he might as well die there as go in and be assassinated by hisconfederates, and not even the persuasive influence of Hubert's daggercould prevail on him to budge an inch farther. 

"Stay, then!" said the count, with perfect indifference. "And, soldiers, see that he does not escape! Now, Kingsley, let us just have a glimpseof what is going on within. "

Though the party had made considerable noise in advancing, and hadspoken quite loudly in their little animated discussion with the duke, so great was the turmoil and confusion within, that it was not heeded, or even heard. With very different feelings from those with which he hadstood there last, Sir Norman stepped forward and stood beside the count, looking at the scene within. 

The crimson court was in a state of "most admired disorder, " and theconfusion of tongues was equal to Babel. No longer were they languidlypromenading, or lolling in the cushioned chairs; but all seemed runningto and fro in the wildest excitement, which the grandest duke amongthem seemed to share equally with the terrified white sylphs. Everybodyappeared to be talking together, and paying no attention whatever tothe sentiments of their neighbors. One universal centre of union aloneseemed to exist, and that was the green, judicial table near the throne, upon which, while all tongues ran, all eyes turned. For some minutes, neither of the beholders could make out why, owing to the crowd(principally of the ladies) pressing around it; but Sir Norman guessed, and thrilled through with a vague sensation of terror, lest it shouldprove to be the dead body of Miranda. Skipping in and out among thefemales he saw the dwarf, performing a sort of war dance of rage andfrenzy; twining both hands in his wig, as if he would have torn it outby the roots, and anon tearing at somebody else's wig, so that everybodybacked off when he came near them. 

"Who is that little fiend?" inquired the count; "and what have they gotthere at the and of the room, pray?"

"That little fiend is the ringleader here, and is entitled PrinceCaliban. Regarding your other question, " said Sir Norman, with a faintthrill, "there was a table there when I saw it last, but I am afraidthere is something worse now. "

"Could ever any mortal conceive of such a scene, " observed the countto himself; "look at that little picture of ugliness; how he hops aboutlike a dropsical bull-frog. Some of those women are very pretty, too, and outshine more than one court-beauty that I have seen. Upon my word, it is the most extraordinary spectacle I ever heard of. I wonder whatthey've got that's so attractive down there?"

At the same moment, a loud voice within the circle abruptly exclaimed

"She revives, she revives! Back, back, and give her air!"

Instantly, the throng swayed and fell back; and the dwarf, with a sortof yell (whether of rage or relief, nobody knew), swept them from sideto side with a wave of his long arms, and cleared a wide vacancy forhis own especial benefit. The action gave the count an opportunityof gratifying his curiosity. The object of attraction was now plainlyvisible. Sir Norman's surmises had been correct. The green table of theparliament-house of the midnight court had been converted, by the aid ofcushions and pillows, into an extempore couch; and half-buried in theirdowny depths lay Miranda, the queen. The sweeping robe of royal purple, trimmed with ermine, the circlets of jewels on arms, bosom, and head, she still wore, and the beautiful face was white: than fallen snow. Yet she was not dead, as Sir Norman had dreaded; for the dark eyes wereopen, and were fixed with an unutterable depth of melancholy on vacancy. Her arms lay helplessly by her side, and someone, the court physicianprobably, was bending over her and feeling her pulse. 

As the count's eyes fell upon her, he started back, and grasped SirNorman's arm with consternation. 

"Good heavens, Kingsley!" he cried; "it is Leoline, herself!"

In his excitement he had spoken so loud, that in the momentary silencethat followed the physician's direction, his voice had rung through theroom, and drew every eye upon them. 

"We are seen, we are seen!" shouted Hubert, and as he spoke, a terriblecry idled the room. In an instant every sword leaped from its scabbard, and the shriek of the startled women rang appallingly out on the air. Sir Norman drew his sword, too; but the count, with his eyes yet fixedon Miranda, still held him by the arm, and excitedly exclaimed, "Tell me, tell me, is it Leoline?"

"Leoline! No--how could it be Leoline? They look alike, that's all. Drawyour sword, count, and defend yourself; we are discovered, and they areupon us!"

"We are upon them, you mean, and it is they who are discovered, " saidthe count, doing as directed, and stepping boldly in. "A pretty hornet'snext is this we have lit upon, if ever there was one. "

Side by side with the count, with a dauntless step and eye, Sir Normanentered, too; and, at sight of him a burst of surprise and fury rangfrom lip to lip. There was a yell of "Betrayed, betrayed!" and thedwarf, with a face so distorted by fiendish fury that it was scarcelyhuman, made a frenzied rush at him, when the clear, commanding voice ofthe count rang like a bugle blast through the assembly, "Sheathe your swords, the whole of you, and yield yourselves prisoners. In the king's name, I command you to surrender. "

"There is no king here but I!" screamed the dwarf, gnashing his teeth, and fairly foaming with rage. "Die; traitor and spy! You have escaped meonce, but your hour is come now. "

"Allow me to differ from you, " said Sir Norman, politely, as he evadedthe blindly-frantic lunge of the dwarf's sword, and inserted an inch ortwo of the point of his own in that enraged little prince's anatomy. "Sofar from my hour having come--if you will take the trouble to reflectupon it--you will find it is the reverse, and that my little friend'sbrief and brilliant career in rapidly drawing to a close. "

At these bland remarks, and at the sharp thrust that accompanied them, the dwarfs previous war-dance of anxiety was nothing to the horn-pipeof exasperation he went through when Sir Norman ceased. The blood wasraining from his side, and from the point of his adversary's sword, ashe withdrew it; and, maddened like a wild beast at the sight of his ownblood, he screeched, and foamed, and kicked about his stout little legs, and gnashed his teeth, and made grabs at his wig, and lashed the airwith his sword, and made such desperate pokes with it, at Sir Norman andeverybody else who came in his way, that, for the public good, theyoung knight run him through the sword-arm, and, in spite of all hisdistracted didos, captured him by the help of Hubert, and passed himover to the soldiers to cheer and keep company with the duke. 

This brisk little affair being over, Sir Norman had time to look abouthim. It had all passed in so short a space, and the dwarf had been sodesperately frantic, that the rest had paused involuntarily, and werestill looking on. Missing the count, he glanced around the room, anddiscovered him standing on Miranda's throne, looking over the companywith the cool air of a conqueror. Miranda, aroused, as she very wellmight be by all this screaming and fighting, had partly raised herselfupon her elbow, and was looking wildly about her. As her eye fell on SirNorman, she sat fairly erect, with a cry of exultation and joy. 

"You have come, you have come, as I knew you would, " she excitedlycried, "and the hour of retribution is at hand!"

At the words of one who, a few moments before, they had supposed to bedead, an awestruck silence fell; and the count, taking advantage of it, waved his hand, and cried, "Yield yourselves prisoners, I command you! The royal guards arewithout; and the first of you who offers the slightest resistance willdie like a dog! Ho, guards I enter, and seize your prisoners!"

Quick as thought the room was full of soldiers! but the rest of theorder was easier said than obeyed. The robbers, knowing their doomwas death, fought with the fury of desperation, and a snort, wild, andterrible conflict ensued. Foremost in the melee was Sir Norman and thecount; while Hubert, who had taken possession of the dwarf's sword, fought like a young lion. The shrieks of the women were heart-rending, as they all fled, precipitately, into the blue dining-room; and, crouching in corners, or flying distractedly about--true to theirsex--made the air resound with the most lamentable cries. Some five orsix, braver than the rest, alone remained; and more than one of theseactually mixed in the affray, with a heroism worthy a better cause. Miranda, still sitting erect, and supported in the arms of akneeling and trembling sylph in white, watched the conflict withterribly-exultant eyes, that blazed brighter and brighter with the luridfire of vengeful joy st every robber that fell. 

"Oh, that I were strong enough to wield a sword!" was her fierceaspiration every instant; "if I could only mix in that battle for fiveminutes, I could die with a happy heart!"

Had she been able to wield a sword for five minutes, according to herwish, she would probably have wielded it from beginning to end of thebattle; for it did not last much longer than that. The robbers foughtwith fury and ferocity; but they had been taken by surprise, and wereoverpowered by numbers, and obliged to yield. 

The crimson court was indeed crimson now; for the velvet carpeting wasdyed a more terrible red, and was slippery with a rain of blood! A scoreof dead and dying lay groaning on the ground; and the rest, beaten andbloody, gave up their swords and surrendered. 

"You should have done this at first!" said the count, coolly wiping hisblood-stained weapon, end replacing it in its sheath; "and, by so doing, saved some time and more bloodshed. Where are all the fair ladies, Kingsley, I saw here when we entered first?"

"They fled like a flock of frightened deer, " said Hubert, taking it uponhimself to answer, "through yonder archway when the fight commenced. Iwill go in search of them if you like. "

"I am rather at a loss what to do with them, " said the count, half-laughing. "It would be a pity to bring such a cavalcade of prettywomen into the city to die of the plague. Can you suggest nothing, SirNorman?"

"Nothing, but to leave then here to take care of themselves, or let themgo free. "

"They would be a great addition to the court at Whitehall, " suggestedHubert, in his prettiest tone, "and a thousand times handsomer thanhalf the damsels therein. There, for instance, is one a dozen timer morebeautiful than Mistress Stuart herself!"

Leaning, in his nonchalant way, on the hilt of his sword, he pointed toMiranda, whose fiercely-joyful eyes were fixed w with a glance that madethe three of them shudder, on the bloody floor and the heap of slain. 

"Who is that?" asked the count, curiously. "Why is she perched up there, and why does she bear such an extraordinary resemblance to Leoline? Doyou know anything about her, Kingsley?"

"I know she is the wife of that unlovely little man, whose howls inyonder passage you can hear, if you listen, and that she was the queenof this midnight court, and is wounded, if not dying, now!"

"I never saw such fierce eyes before in a female head! One would thinkshe fairly exulted in this wholesale slaughter of her subjects. "

"So she does; and she hates both her husband and her subjects, with anintensity you cannot conceive. "

"How very like royalty!" observed Hubert, in parenthesis. "If she were areal queen, she could not act more naturally. "

Sir Norman smiled, and the count glanced at the audacious page, suspiciously; but Hubert's face was touching to witness, in its innocentunconsciousness. Miranda, looking up at the same time, caught the youngknight's eye, and made a motion for him to approach. She held outboth her hands to him as he came near, with the same look of dreadfuldelight. 

"Sir Norman Kingsley, I am dying, and my last words are in thanksgivingto you for having thus avenged me!"

"Let me hope you have many days to live yet, fair lady, " said SirNorman, with the same feeling of repulsion he had experienced in thedungeon. "I am sorry you have been obliged to witness this terriblescene. "

"Sorry!" she cried, fiercely. "Why, since the first hour I remember atall, I remember nothing that has given me such joy as what has passednow; my only regret is that I did not see them all die before my eyes!Sorry! I tell you I would not have missed it for ten thousand worlds!"

"Madame, you must not talk like this!" said Sir Norman, almost sternly. "Heaven forbid there should exist a woman who could rejoice in bloodshedand death. You do not, I know. You wrong yourself and your own nature insaying so. Be calm, now; do not excite yourself. You shall come with us, and be properly cared for; and I feel certain you have a long and happylife before you yet. "

"Who are those men?" she said, not heeding him, "and who--ah, greatHeaven! What is that?"

In looking round, she had met Hubert face to face. She knew that thatface was her own; and, with a horror stamped on every feature that nowords can depict, she fell back, with a terrible scream and was dead!

Sir Norman was so shocked by the suddenness of the last catastrophe, that, for some time, he could not realize that she had actually expired, until he bent over her, and placed his ear to her lips. No breath wasthere; no pulse stirred in that fierce heart--the Midnight Queen wasindeed dead!

"Oh, this is fearful!" exclaimed Sir Norman, pale and horrified. 

"The sight of Hubert, and his wonderful resemblance to her, hascompleted what her wound and this excitement began. Her last is breathedon earth!"

"Peace be with her!" said the count, removing his hat, which, up tothe present, he had worn. "And now, Sir Norman, if we are to keep ourengagement at sunrise, we had better be on the move; for, unless I amgreatly mistaken, the sky is already grey with day-dawn. "

"What are your commands?" asked Sir Norman, turning away, with a sigh, from the beautiful form already stiffening in death. 

"That you come with me to seek out those frightened fair ones, who area great deal too lovely to share the fate of their male companions. Ishall give them their liberty to go where they please, on condition thatthey do not enter the city. We have enough vile of their class therealready. "

Sir Norman silently followed him into the azure and silver saloon, wherethe crowd of duchesses and countesses were "weeping and wringing theirhands, " and as white as so many pretty ghosts. In a somewhat brief andforcible manner, considering his characteristic gallantry, the countmade his proposal, which, with feelings of pleasure and relief, was atonce acceded to; and the two gentlemen bowed themselves out, and leftthe startled ladies. 

On returning to the crimson court, he commanded a number of his soldiersto remain and bury the dead, and assist the wounded; and then, followedby the remainder and the prisoners under their charge, passed out, andwere soon from the heated atmosphere in the cool morning air. The moonwas still serenely shining, but the stars that kept the earliest hourswere setting, and the eastern sky was growing light with the hazy grayof coming morn. 

"I told you day-dawn was at hand, " said the count, as he sprang into hissaddle; "and, lo! in the sky it is gray already. "

"It is time for it!" said Sir Norman, as he, too, got into his seat;"this has been the longest night I have ever known, and the mosteventful one of my life. "

"And the end is not yet! Leoline waits to decide between us!"

Sir Norman shrugged his shoulders. 

"True! But I have little doubt what that decision will be! I presume youwill have to deliver up your prisoners before you can visit her, and Iwill avail myself of the opportunity to snatch a few moments to fulfilla melancholy duty of my own. "

"As you please. I have no objection; but in that case you will need someone to guide you to the place of rendezvous; so I will order my privateattendant, yonder, to keep you in sight, and guide you to me when yourbusiness is ended. "

The count had given the order to start, the moment they had leftthe ruin, and the conversation had been carried on while riding at abreak-neck gallop. Sir Norman thanked him for his offer, and they rodein silence until they reached the city, and their paths diverged; SirNorman's leading to the apothecary's shop where he had left Ormiston, and the count's leading--he best knew where. George--the attendantreferred to--joined the knight, and leaving his horse in his care, SirNorman entered the shop, and encountered the spectral proprietor at thedoor. 

"What of my friend?" was his eager inquiry. "Has he yet shown signs ofreturning consciousness?"

"Alas, no!" replied the apothecary, with a groan, that came wailingup like a whistle; "he was so excessively dead, that there was no usekeeping him; and as the room was wanted for other purposes, I--pray, mydear sir, don't look so violent--I put him in the pest-cart and had himburied. "

"In the plague-pit!" shouted Sir Norman, making a spring at him; but theman darted off like a ghostly flash into the inner room, and closed andbolted the door in a twinkling. 

Sir Norman kicked at it spitefully, but it resisted his every effort;and, overcoming a strong temptation to smash every bottle in the shop, he sprang once more into the saddle, and rode off to the plague-pit. It was the second time within the last twelve hours he had stood there;and, on the previous occasion, he who now lay in it, had stood byhis side. He looked down, sickened and horror-struck. Perhaps, beforeanother morning, he, too, might be there; and, feeling his blood runcold at the thought, he was turning away, when some one came rapidlyup, and sank down with a moaning gasping cry on its very edge. Thatshape--tall and slender, and graceful--he well knew; and, leaning overher, ho laid his hand on her shoulder, and exclaimed:

"La Masque!"

CHAPTER, XXI. WHAT WAS BEHIND TWO MASK. 

The cowering form rose up; but, seeing who it was, sank down again, withits face groveling in the dust, and with another prolonged, moaning cry. 

"Madame Masque!" he said, wonderingly; "what is this?"

He bent to raise her; but, with a sort of scream she held out her armsto keep him back. 

"No, no, no I Touch me not! Hate me--kill me! I have murdered yourfriend!"

Sir Norman recoiled as if from a deadly tent. 

"Murdered him! Madame, in Heaven's name, what have you said?"

"Oh, I have not stabbed him, or poisoned him, or shot him; but I amhis murderer, nevertheless!" she wailed, writhing in a sort of gnawinginward torture. 

"Madame, I do not understand you at all! Surely you are raving when youtalk like this. "

Still moaning on the edge of the plague-pit, she half rose up, with bothhands clasped tightly over her heart, as if she would have held backfrom all human ken the anguish that was destroying her, "NO--no! I am not mad--pray Heaven I were! Oh, that they had strangledme in the first hour of my birth, as they would a viper, rather than Ishould have lived through all this life of misery and guilt, to end itby this last, worst crime of all!"

Sir Norman stood and looked at her still with a dazed expression. Heknew well enough whose murderer she called herself; but why she didso, or how she could possibly bring about his death, was a mysteryaltogether too deep for him to solve. 

"Madame, compose yourself, I beseech you, and tell me what you mean. Itis to my friend, Ormiston, you allude--is it not?"

"Yes--yes! surely you need not ask. "

"I know that he is dead, and buried in this horrible place; but why youshould accuse yourself of murdering him, I confess I do not know. "

"Then you shall!" she cried, passionately. "And you will wonder at it nolonger! You are the last one to whom the revelation can ever be made onearth; and, now that my hours are numbered, it matters little whether itis told or not! Was it not you who first found him dead?"

"It was I--yes. And how he came to his end, I have been puzzling myselfin vain to discover ever since. "

She rose up, drew herself to her full majestic height, and looked at himwith a terrible glance, "Shall I tell you?"

"You have had no hand in it, " he answered, with a cold chill at the toneand look, "for he loved you!"

"I have had a hand in it--I alone have been the cause of it. But for mehe would be living still!"

"Madame, " exclaimed Sir Norman, in horror. 

"You need not look as if you thought me mad, for I tell you it isHeaven's truth! You say right--he loved me; but for that love he wouldbe living now!"

"You speak in riddles which I cannot read. How could that love havecaused his death, since his dearest wishes were to be granted to-night?"

"He told you that, did he?"

"He did. He told me you were to remove your mask; and if, on seeing you, he still loved you, you were to be his wife. "

"Then woe to him for ever having extorted such a promise from me! Oh, I warned him again, and again, and again. I told him how it would be--Ibegged him to desist; but no, he was blind, he was mad; he would rush onhis own doom! I fulfilled my promise, and behold the result!"

She pointed with a frantic gesture to the plague-pit, and wrung herbeautiful hands with the same moaning of anguish. 

"Do I hear aright?" said Sir Norman, looking at her, and really doubtingif his ears had not deceived him. "Do you mean to say that, in keepingyour word and showing him your face, you have caused his death?"

"I do. I had warned him of it before. I told him there were sights toohorrible to look on and live, but nothing would convince him! Oh, whywas the curse of life ever bestowed upon such a hideous thing as I!"

Sir Norman gazed at her in a state of hopeless bewilderment. He hadthought, from the moment he saw her first, that there was somethingwrong with her brain, to make her act in such a mysterious, eccentricsort of way; but he had never positively thought her so far gone asthis. In his own mind, he set her down, now, as being mad as a Marchhare, and accordingly answered in that soothing tone people use toimbeciles, "My dear Madame Masque, pray do not excite yourself, or say suchdreadful things. I am sure you would not willfully cause the death ofany one, much less that of one who loved you as he did. "

La Masque broke into a wild laugh, almost worse to hear than her formerdespairing moans. 

"The man thinks me mad! He will not believe, unless he sees and knowsfor himself! Perhaps you, too, Sir Norman Kingsley, " she cried, changing into sudden fierceness, "would like to see the face behindthis mask?--would like to see what has slain your friend, and share hisfate?"

"Certainly, " said Sir Norman. "I should like to see it; and I think Imay safely promise not to die from the effects. But surely, madame, youdeceive yourself; no face, however ugly--even supposing you to possesssuch a one--could produce such dismay as to cause death. "

"You shall see. "

She was looking down into the plague-pit, standing so close to itscracking edge, that Sir Norman's blood ran cold, in the momentaryexpectation to see her slip and fall headlong in. Her voice was lessfierce and less wild, but her hands were still clasped tightly over herheart, as if to ease the unutterable pain there. Suddenly, she lookedup, and said, in an altered tone:

"You have lost Leoline?"

"And found her again. She is in the power of one Count L'Estrange. "

"And if in his power, pray, how have you found her?"

"Because we are both to meet in her presence within this very hour, andshe is to decide between us. "

"Has Count L'Estrange promised you this?"

"He has. "

"And you have no doubt what her decision will be?"

"Not the slightest. "

"How came you to know she was carried off by this count?"

"He confessed it himself. "

"Voluntarily?"

"No; I taxed him with it, and he owned to the deed; but he voluntarilypromised to take me to her and abide by her decision. "

"Extraordinary!" said La Masque, as if to herself. "Whimsical as he is, I scarcely expected he would give her up no easily as this. "

"Then you know him, madame?" said Sir Norman, pointedly. 

"There are few things I do not know, and rare are the disguises I cannotpenetrate. So you have discovered it, too?"

"No, madame, my eyes were not sharp enough, nor had I sufficientcleverness, even, for that. It was Hubert, the Earl of Rochester's page, who told me who he was. "

"Ah, the page!" said La Masque, quickly. "You have then been speaking tohim? What do you think of his resemblance to Leoline?"

"I think it is the most astonishing resemblance I ever saw. But he isnot the only one who bears Leoline's face. "

"And the other is?"

"The other is she whom you sent me to see in the old ruins. Madame, Iwish you would tell me the secret of this wonderful likeness; for I amcertain you know, and I am equally certain it is not accidental. "

"You are right. Leoline knows already; for, with the presentiment thatmy end was near, I visited her when you left, and gave her her wholehistory, in writing. The explanation is simple enough. Leoline, Miranda, and Hubert, are sisters and brother. "

Some misty idea that such was the case had been struggling through SirNorman's slow mind, unformed and without shape, ever since he had seenthe trio, therefore he was not the least astonished when he heard thefact announced. Only in one thing he was a little disappointed. 

"Then Hubert is really a boy?" he said, half dejectedly. 

"Certainly he is. What did you take him to be?"

"Why, I thought--that is, I do not know, " said Sir Norman, quiteblushing at being guilty of so much romance, "but that he was a womanin disguise. You see he is so handsome, and looks so much like Leoline, that I could not help thinking so. "

"He is Leoline's twin brother--that accounts for it. When does shebecome your wife?"

"This very morning, God willing!" raid Sir Norman, fervently. 

"Amen! And may her life and yours be long and happy. What becomes of therest?"

"Since Hubert is her brother, he shall come with us, if he will. As forthe other, she, alas! is dead. "

"Dead!" cried La Masque. "How? When? She was living, tonight!"

"True! She died of a wound. "

"A wound? Surely not given by the dwarfs hand?"

"No, no; it was quite accidental. But since you know so much of thedwarf, perhaps you also know he is now the king's prisoner?"

"I did not know it; but I surmised as much when I discovered that youand Count L'Estrange, followed by such a body of men, visited the ruin. Well, his career has been long and dark enough, and even the plagueseemed to spare him for the executioner. And so the poor mock-queen isdead? Well, her sister will not long survive her. "

"Good Heavens, madame!" cried Sir Norman, aghast. "You do not mean tosay that Leoline is going to die?"

"Oh, no! I hope Leoline has a long and happy life before her. But thewretched, guilty sister I mean is, myself; for I, too, Sir Norman, amher sister. "

At this new disclosure, Sir Norman stood perfectly petrified; and LaMasque, looking down at the dreadful place at her feet, went rapidly on:

"Alas and alas! that it should be so; but it is the direful truth. Webear the same name, we had the same father; and yet I have been thecurse and bane of their lives. "

"And Leoline knows this?"

"She never knew it until this night, or any one else alive; and no oneshould know it now, were not my ghastly life ending. I prayed her toforgive me for the wrong I have done her; and she may, for she is gentleand good--but when, when shall I be able to forgive myself?"

The sharp pain in her voice jarred on Sir Norman's ear and heart; and, to get rid of its dreary echo, he hurriedly asked:

"You say you bear the same name. May I ask what name that is?"

"It is one, Sir Norman Kingsley, before which your own ancient titlepales. We are Montmorencis, and in our veins runs the proudest blood inFrance. "

"Then Leoline is French and of noble birth?" said Sir Norman, witha thrill of pleasure. "I loved her for herself alone, and would havewedded her had she been the child of a beggar; but I rejoice to hearthis nevertheless. Her father, then, bore a title?"

"Her father was the Marquis de Montmorenci, but Leoline's mother andmine were not the same--had they been, the lives of all four might havebeen very different; but it is too late to lament that now. My motherhad no gentle blood in her veins, as Leoline's had, for she was but afisherman's daughter, torn from her home, and married by force. Neitherdid she love my father notwithstanding his youth, rank, and passionatelove for her, for she was betrothed to another bourgeois, like herself. For his sake she refused even the title of marchioness, offered her inthe moment of youthful and ardent passion, and clung, with deathlesstruth, to her fisher-lover. The blood of the Montmorencis is fierceand hot, and brooks no opposition" (Sir Norman thought of Miranda, andinwardly owned that that was a fact); "and the marquis, in his jealouswrath, both hated and loved her at the same time, and vowed deadlyvengeance against her bourgeois lover. That vow he kept. The youngfisherman was found one morning at his lady-love's door without a head, and the bleeding trunk told no tales. 

"Of course, for a while, she was distracted and so on; but when thefirst shock of her grief was over, my father carried her off, andforcibly made her his wife. Fierce hatred, I told you, was mingled withhis fierce love, and before the honeymoon was over it began to breakout. One night, in a fit of jealous passion, to which he was addicted, he led her into a room she had never before been permitted to enter;showed her a grinning human skull, and told her it was her lover's!In his cruel exultation, he confessed all; how he had caused him to bemurdered; his head severed from the body; and brought here to punishher, some day, for her obstinate refusal to love him. 

"Up to this time she had been quiet and passive, bearing her fate witha sort of dumb resignation; but now a spirit of vengeance, fiercer andmore terrible than his own, began to kindle within her; and, kneelingdown before the ghastly thing, she breathed a wish--a prayer--to theavenging Jehovah, so unutterably horrible, that even her husband hadto fly with curdling blood from the room. That dreadful prayer washeard--that wish fulfilled in me; but long before I looked on the lightof day that frantic woman had repented of the awful deed she had done. Repentance came too late the sin of the father was visited on the child, and on the mother, too, for the moment her eyes fell upon me, she becamea raving maniac, and died before the first day of my life had ended. 

"Nurse and physician fled at the sight of me; but my father, thoughthrilling with horror, bore the shock, and bowed to the retributivejustice of the angry Deity she had invoked. His whole life, his wholenature, changed from that hour; and, kneeling beside my dead mother, ashe afterward told me, he vowed before high Heaven to cherish and loveme, even as though I had not been the ghastly creature I was. Thephysician he bound by a terrible oath to silence; the nurse he forcedback, and, in spite of her disgust and abhorrence, compelled her tonurse and care for me. The dead was buried out of sight; and we hadrooms in a distant part of the house, which no one ever entered butmy father and the nurse. Though set apart from my birth as somethingaccursed, I had the intellect and capacity of--yes, far greaterintellect and capacity than, most children; and, as years passed by, myfather, true to his vow, became himself my tutor and companion. He didnot love me--that was an utter impossibility; but time so blunts theedge of all things, that even the nurse became reconciled to me, and myfather could scarcely do less than a stranger. So I was cared for, andinstructed, and educated; and, knowing not what a monstrosity I was, Iloved them both ardently, and lived on happily enough, in my splendidprison, for my first ten years in this world. 

"Then came a change. My nurse died; and it became clear that I must quitmy solitary life, and see the sort of world I lived in. So my father, seeing all this, sat down in the twilight one night beside me, and toldme the story of my own hideousness. I was but a child then, and it ismany and many years ago; but this gray summer morning, I feel what Ifelt then, as vividly as I did at the time. I had not learned the greatlesson of life then--endurance, I have scarcely learned it yet, or Ishould bear life's burden longer; but that first night's despairhas darkened my whole after-life. For weeks I would not listen to myfather's proposal, to hide what would send all the world from me inloathing behind a mask; but I came to my senses at last, and fromthat day to the present--more days than either you or I would care tocount--it has not been one hour altogether off my face. "

"I was the wonder and talk of Paris, when I did appear; and most of thesurmises were wild and wide of the mark--some even going so far as tosay it was all owing to my wonderful unheard-of beauty that I was thusmysteriously concealed from view. I had a soft voice, and a tolerableshape; and upon this, I presume, they founded the affirmation. But myfather and I kept our own council, and let them say what they listed. I had never been named, as other children are; but they called meLa Masque now. I had masters and professors without end, and studiedastronomy and astrology, and the mystic lore of the old Egyptians, andbecame noted as a prodigy and a wonder, and a miracle of learning, farand near. 

"The arts used to discover the mystery and make me unmask wereinnumerable and almost incredible; but I baffled them all, and began, after a time, rather to enjoy the sensation I created than otherwise. 

"There was one, in particular, possessed of even more devouringcuriosity than the rest, a certain young countess of miraculous beauty, whom I need not describe, since you have her very image in Leoline. The Marquis de Montmorenci, of a somewhat inflammable nature, loved heralmost as much as he had done my mother, and she accepted him, and theywere married. She may have loved him (I see no reason why she shouldnot), but still to this day I think it was more to discover the secretof La Masque than from any other cause. I loved my beautiful new mothertoo well to let her find it out; although from the day she entered ourhouse as a bride, until that on which she lay on her deathbed, her wholeaim, day and night, was its discovery. There seemed to be a fatalityabout my father's wives; for the beautiful Honorine lived scarcelylonger than her predecessor, and she died, leaving three children--allborn at one time--you know them well, and one of them you love. To mycare she intrusted them on her deathbed, and she could have scarcelyintrusted them to worse; for, though I liked her, I most decidedlydisliked them. They were lovely children--their lovely mother's image;and they were named Hubert, Leoline, and Honorine, or, as you knew her, Miranda. Even my father did not seem to care for them much, not evenas much as he cared for me; and when he lay on his deathbed, one yearlater, I was left, young as I was, their sole guardian, and trustee ofall his wealth. That wealth was not fairly divided--one-half being leftto me and the other half to be shared equally between them; but, in mywicked ambition, I was not satisfied even with that. Some of my father'sfierce and cruel nature I inherited; and I resolved to be clear of thesethree stumbling-blocks, and recompense myself for my other misfortunesby every indulgence boundless riches could bestow. So, secretly, and inthe night, I left my home, with an old and trusty servant, known to youas Prudence, and my unfortunate, little brother and sisters. Strangeto say, Prudence was attached to one of them, and to neither of therest--that one was Leoline, whom she resolved to keep and care for, andneither she nor I minded what became of the other two. "

"From Paris we went to Dijon, where we dropped Hubert into the turn atthe convent door, with his name attached, and left him where he wouldbe well taken care of, and no questions asked. With the other two westarted for Calais, en route for England; and there Prudence got ridof Honorine in a singular manner. A packet was about starting for theisland of our destination, and she saw a strange-looking little mancarrying his luggage from the wharf into a boat. She had the infant inher arms, having carried it out for the identical purpose of getting ridof it; and, without more ado, she laid it down, unseen, among boxes andbundles, and, like Hagar, stood afar off to see what became of it. Thatugly little man was the dwarf; and his amazement on finding it amonghis goods and chattels you may imagine; but he kept it, notwithstanding, though why, is best known to himself. A few weeks after that we, too, came over, and Prudence took up her residence in a quiet village a longway from London. Thus you see, Sir Norman, how it comes about that weare so related, and the wrong I have done them all. "

"You have, indeed!" said Sir Norman, gravely, having listened, muchshocked and displeased, at this open confession; "and to one of them itis beyond our power to atone. Do you know the life of misery to whichshe has been assigned?"

"I know it all, and have repented for it in my own heart, in dustand ashes! Even I--unlike all other earthly creatures as I am--have aconscience, and it has given me no rest night or day since. From thathour I have never lost sight of them; every sorrow they have undergonehas been known to me, and added to my own; and yet I could not, or wouldnot, undo what I had done. Leoline knows all now; and she will tellHubert, since destiny has brought them together; and whether they willforgive me I know not. But yet they might; for they have long and happylives before them, and we can forgive everything to the dead. "

"But you are not dead, " said Sir Norman; "and there is repentance andpardon for all. Much as you have wronged them, they will forgive you;and Heaven is not less merciful than they!"

"They may; for I have striven to atone. In my house there are proofs andpapers that will put them in possession of all, and more than all, theyhave lost. But life is a burden of torture I will bear no longer. Thedeath of him who died for me this night is the crowning tragedy of mymiserable life; and if my hour were not at hand, I should not have toldyou this. "

"But you have not told me the fearful cause of no much guilt andsuffering. What is behind that mask?"

"Would you, too, see?" she asked, in a terrible voice, "and die?"

"I have told you it is not in my nature to die easily, and it issomething far stronger than mere curiosity makes me ask. "

"Be it so! The sky is growing red with day-dawn, and I shall never seethe sun rise more, for I am already plague-struck!"

That sweetest of all voices ceased. The white hands removed themask, and the floating coils of hair, and revealed, to Sir Norman'shorror-struck gaze, the grisly face and head, and the holloweye-sockets, the grinning mouth, and fleshless cheeks of a skeleton!

He saw it but for one fearful instant--the next, she had thrown up botharms, and leaped headlong into the loathly plague-pit. He saw her fora second or two, heaving and writhing in the putrid heap; and then thestrong man reeled and fell with his face on the ground, not feigning, but sick unto death. Of all the dreadful things he had witnessed thatnight, there was nothing so dreadful as this; of all the horror he hadfelt before, there was none to equal what he felt now. In his momentarydelirium, it seemed to him she was reaching her arms of bone up to draghim in, and that the skeleton-face was grinning at him on the edge ofthe awful pit. And, covering his eyes with his hands, he sprang up, andfled away. 

CHAPTER XXII. DAY-DAWN. 

All this time, the attendant, George, had been sitting, very much at hisease, on horseback, looking after Sir Norman's charger and admiringthe beauties of sunrise. He had seen Sir Norman in conversation witha strange female, and not much liking his near proximity to theplague-pit, was rather impatient for it to come to an end; but when hesaw the tragic manner in which it did end, his consternation was beyondall bounds. Sir Norman, in his horrified flight, would have fairlypassed him unnoticed, had not George arrested him by a loud shout. 

"I beg your pardon, Sir Norman, " he exclaimed, as that gentleman turnedhis distracted face; "but, it seems to me, you are running away. Here isyour horse; and allow me to say, unless we hurry we will scarcely reachthe count by sunrise. "

Sir Norman leaned against his horse, and shaded his eyes with his hand, shuddering like one in an ague. 

"Why did that woman leap into the plague-pit?" inquired George, lookingat him curiously. "Was it not the sorceress, La Masque?"

"Yes, yes. Do not ask me any questions now, " replied Sir Norman, in asmothered voice, and with an impatient wave of his hand. 

"Whatever you please, sir, " said George, with the flippancy of hisclass; "but still I must repeat, if you do not mount instantly, we willbe late; and my master, the count, is not one who brooks delay. "

The young knight vaulted into the saddle without a word, and startedoff at a break-neck pace into the city. George, almost unable to keep upwith him, followed instead of leading, rather skeptical in his own mindwhether he were not riding after a moon-struck lunatic. Once or twicehe shouted out a sharp-toned inquiry as to whether he knew where he wasgoing, and that they were taking the wrong way altogether; to all ofwhich Sir Norman deigned not the slightest reply, but rode more and morerecklessly on. There were but few people abroad at that hour; indeed, for that matter, the streets of London, in the dismal summer of 1665, were, comparatively speaking, always deserted; and the few now wendingtheir way homeward were tired physicians and plague-nurses from thehospitals, and several hardy country folks, with more love of lucrethan fear of death bending their steps with produce to the market-place. These people, sleepy and pallid in the gray haze of daylight, stared inastonishment after the two furious riders; and windows were thrown open, and heads thrust out to see what the unusual thunder of horses' hoofs atthat early hour meant. George followed dauntlessly on, determined todo it or die in the attempt; and if he had ever heard of the FlyingDutchman, would undoubtedly have come to the conclusion that he wasjust then following his track on dry land. But, unlike the haplessVanderdecken, Sir Norman came to a halt at last, and that so suddenlythat his horse stood on his beam ends, and flourished his two fore limbsin the atmosphere. It was before La Masque's door; and Sir Norman wasout of the saddle in a flash, and knocking like a postman with thehandle of his whip on the door. The thundering reveille rang through thehouse, making it shake to its centre, and hurriedly brought to the door, the anatomy who acted as guardian-angel of the establishment. 

"La Masque is not at home, and I cannot admit you, " was his sharpsalute. 

"Then I shall just take the trouble of admitting myself, " said SirNorman, shortly. 

And without further ceremony, he pushed aside the skeleton and entered. But that outraged servitor sprang in his path, indignant and amazed. 

"No, sir; I cannot permit it. I do not know you; and it is against allorders to admit strangers in La Masque's absence. "

"Bah! you old simpleton!" remarked Sir Norman, losing his customaryrespect for old age in his impatience, "I have La Masque's order forwhat I am about to do. Get along with you directly, will you? Show me toher private room, and no nonsense!"

He tapped his sword-hilt significantly as he spoke, and that argumentproved irresistible. Grumbling, in low tones, the anatomy stalkedup-stairs; and the other followed, with very different feelings fromthose with which he had mounted that staircase last. His guide paused inthe hall above, with his hand on the latch of a door. 

"This is her private room, is it!" demanded Sir Norman. 

"Yes. "

"Just stand aside, then, and let me pass. "

The room he entered was small, simply furnished, and seemed to answeras bed-chamber and study, all in one. There was a writing-table under awindow, covered with books, and he glanced at them with somecuriosity. They were classics, Greek and Latin, and other little knowntongues--perhaps Sanscrit and Chaldaic, French belles lettres, novels, and poetry, and a few rare old English books. There were no papers, however, and those were what he was in search of; so spying a drawer inthe table, he pulled it hastily open. The eight that met his eyes fairlydazzled him. It was full of jewels of incomparable beauty and value, strewn as carelessly about as if they were valueless. The blaze ofgems at the midnight court seemed to him as nothing compared with theGolconda, the Valley of Diamonds shooting forth sparks of rainbow-firebefore him now. Around one magnificent diamond necklace was entwined ascrap of paper, on which was written:

"The family jewels of the Montmorencis. To be given to my sisters when Iam dead. "

That settled their destiny. All this blaze of diamonds, rubies, andopals were Leoline's; and with the energetic rapidity characteristicof our young friend that morning, he swept them out on the table, andresumed his search for papers. No document was there to reward hissearch, but the brief one twined round the necklace; and he was aboutgiving up in despair, when a small brass slide in one corner caught hiseye. Instantly he was at it, trying it every way, shoving it out and in, and up and down, until at last it yielded to his touch, disclosing aninner drawer, full of papers and parchments. One glance showed them tobe what he was in search of--proofs of Leoline and Hubert's identity, with the will of the marquis, their father, and numerous other documentsrelative to his wealth and estates. These precious manuscripts he rolledtogether in a bundle, and placed carefully in his doublet, and thenseizing a beautifully-wrought brass casket, that stood beneath thetable, he swept the jewels in, secured it, and strapped it to his belt. This brisk and important little affair being over, he arose to go, andin turning, saw the skeleton porter standing in the door-way, looking onin speechless dismay. 

"It's all right my ancient friend!" observed Sir Norman, gravely. "Thesepapers must go before the king, and these jewels to their proper owner. "

"Their proper owner!" repeated the old man, shrilly; "that is La Masque. Thief-robber-housebreaker--stop!"

"My good old friend, you will do yourself a mischief if you bawl likethat. Undoubtedly these things were La Masque's, but they are so nolonger, since La Masque herself is among the things that were!"

"You shall not go!" yelled the old man, trembling with rage and anger. "Help! help! help!"

"You noisy old idiot!" cried Sir Norman, losing all patience, "I willthrow you out of the window if you keep up such a clamor as this. I tellyou La Masque is dead!"

At this ominous announcement, the ghastly porter fell back, and became, if possible, a shade more ghastly than was his wont. 

"Dead and buried!" repeated Sir Norman, with gloomy sternness, "andthere will be somebody else coming to take possession shortly. How manymore servants are there here beside yourself?"

"Only one, sir--my wife Joanna. In mercy's name, sir, do not turn us outin the streets at this dreadful time!"

"Not I! You and your wife Joanna may stagnate here till you blue-mold, for me. But keep the door fast, my good old friend, and admit nostrangers, but those who can tell you La Masque is dead!"

With which parting piece of advice Sir Norman left the house, and joinedGeorge, who sat like an effigy before the door, in a state of greatmental wrath, and who accosted him rather suddenly the moment he madehis appearance. 

"I tell you what, Sir Norman Kingsley, if you have many more morningcalls to make, I shall beg leave to take my departure. As it is, I knowwe are behind time, and his ma--the count, I mean, is not one who itaccustomed or inclined to be kept waiting. "

"I am quite at your service now, " said Sir Norman, springing onhorseback; "so away with you, quick as you like. "

George wanted no second order. Before the words were well out of hiscompanion's mouth, he was dashing away like a bolt from a bow, asfuriously as if on a steeple-chase, with Sir Norman close at his heels;and they rode, flushed and breathless, with their steeds all a foaming, into the court-yard of the royal palace at Whitehall, just as the earlyrising sun was showing his florid and burning visage above the horizon. 

 *****

The court-yard, unlike the city streets, swarmed with busy life. Pages, and attendants, and soldiers, moving hither and thither, or loungingabout, preparing for the morning's journey to Oxford. Among the restSir Norman observed Hubert, lying very much at his ease wrapped in hiscloak, on the ground, and chatting languidly with a pert and prettyattendant of the fair Mistress Stuart. He cut short his flirtation, however, abruptly enough, and sprang to his feet as he saw Sir Norman, while George immediately darted off and disappeared from the palace. 

"Am I late Hubert?" said his hurried questioner, as he drew the lad'sarm within his own, and led him off out of hearing. 

"I think not. The count, " said Hubert, with laughing emphasis, "hasnot been visible since he entered yonder doorway, and there has been nomessage that I have heard of. Doubtless, now that George has arrived, the message will soon be here, for the royal procession starts withinhalf an hour. "

"Are you sure there is no trick, Hubert? Even now he may be withLeoline!"

Hubert shrugged his shoulders. 

"He maybe; we must take our chance for that; but we have his royal wordto the contrary. Not that I have much faith in that!" said Hubert. 

"If he were king of the world instead of only England, " cried SirNorman, with flashing eyes, "he shall not have Leoline while I wear asword to defend her!"

"Regicide!" exclaimed Hubert, holding up both hands in affected horror. "Do my ears deceive me Is this the loyal and chivalrous Sir NormanKingsley, ready to die for king and country--"

"Stuff and nonsense!" interrupted Sir Norman, impatiently. "I tell youany one, be he whom he may, that attempts to take Leoline from me, mustreach her over my dead body!"

"Bravo! You ought to be a Frenchman, Sir Norman! And what if the ladyherself, finding her dazzling suitor drop his barnyard feathers, andsoar over her head in his own eagle plumes, may not give you yourdismissal, and usurp the place of pretty Madame Stuart. "

"You cold-blooded young villain! if you insinuate such a thing again, I'll throttle you! Leoline loves me, and me alone!"

"Doubtless she thinks so; but she has yet to learn she has a king for asuitor!"

"Bah! You are nothing but a heartless cynic, " said Sir Norman, yet withan anxious and irritated flush on his face, too: "What do you know oflove?"

"More than you think, as pretty Mariette yonder could depose, if putupon oath. But seriously, Sir Norman, I am afraid your case is of themost desperate; royal rivals are dangerous things!"

"Yet Charles has kind impulses, and has been known to do generous acts. "

"Has he? You expect him, beyond doubt, to do precisely as he said; andif Leoline, different from all the rest of her sex, prefers the knightto the king, he will yield her unresistingly to you. "

"I have nothing but his word for it!" said Sir Norman, in a distractedtone, "and, at present, can do nothing but bide my time. "

"I have been thinking of that, too! I promised, you know, when I lefther, last night, that we would return before day-dawn, and rescue her. The unhappy little beauty will doubtless think I have fallen into thetiger's jaws myself, and has half wept her bright eyes out by thistime!"

"My poor Leoline! And O Hubert, if you only knew what she is to you!"

"I do know! She told me she was my sister!"

Sir Norman looked at him in amazement. 

"She told you, and you take it like this?"

"Certainly, I take it like this. How would you have me take it? It isnothing to go into hysterics about, after all!"

"Of all the cold-blooded young reptiles I ever saw, " exclaimed SirNorman, with infinite disgust, "you are the worst! If you were told youwere to receive the crown of France to-morrow, you would probably openyour eyes a trifle, and take it as you would a new cap!"

"Of course I would. I haven't lived in courts half my life to get up ascene for a small matter! Besides, I had an idea from the first moment Isaw Leoline that she must be my sister, or something of that sort. "

"And so you felt no emotion whatever on hearing it?"

"I don't know as I properly understand what you mean by emotion, " saidHerbert, reflectively. "But ye-e-s, I did feel somewhat pleased--she isso like me, and so uncommonly handsome!"

"Humph! there's a reason! Did she tell you how she discovered itherself?"

"Let me see--no--I think not--she simply mentioned the fact. "

"She did not tell you either, I suppose, that you had more sisters thanherself?"

"More than herself! No. That would be a little too much of a good thing!One sister is quite enough for any reasonable mortal. "

"But there were two more, my good young friend!"

"Is it possible?" said Hubert, in a tone that betrayed not the slightestsymptom of emotion. "Who are they?"

Sir Norman paused one instant, combating a strong temptation to seizethe phlegmatic page by the collar, and give him such another shaking ashe would not get over for a week to come; but suddenly recollecting hewas Leoline's brother, and by the same token a marquis or thereabouts, he merely paused to cast a withering look upon him, and walked on. 

"Well, " said Hubert, "I am waiting to be told. "

"You may wait, then!" said Sir Norman, with a smothered growl; "and Igive you joy when I tell you. Such extra communicativeness to one sostolid could do no good!"

"But I am not stolid! I am in a perfect agony of anxiety, " said Hubert. 

"You young jackanapes!" said Sir Norman, half-laughing, half-incensed. "It were a wise deed and a godly one to take you by the hind-leg andnape of the neck, and pitch you over yonder wall; but for your mister'ssake I will desist. "

"Which of them?" inquired Hubert, with provoking gravity. 

"It would be more to the point if you asked me who the others were, Ithink. "

"So I have, and you merely abused me for it. But I think I know oneof them without being told. It is that other fac-simile of Leoline andmyself who died in the robber's ruin!"

"Exactly. You and she, and Leoline, were triplets!"

"And who is the other?"

"Her name is La Masque. Have you ever heard it?"

"La Masque! Nonsense!" exclaimed Hubert, with some energy in his voiceat last. "You but jest, Sir Norman Kingsley!"

"No such thing! It is a positive fact! She told me the whole storyherself!"

"And what is the whole story; and why did she not tell it to me insteadof you. "

"She told it to Leoline, thinking, probably, she had the most sense; andshe told it to me, as Leoline's future husband. It is somewhat long torelate, but it will help to beguile the time while we are waiting forthe royal summons. "

And hereupon Sir Norman, without farther preface, launched into a rapidresume of La Masque's story, feeling the cold chill with which he hadwitnessed it creep over him as he narrated her fearful end. 

"It struck me, " concluded Sir Norman, "that it would be better toprocure any papers she might possess at once, lest, by accident, theyshould fall into other hands; so I rode there directly, and, in spiteof the cantankerous old porter, searched diligently, until I found them. Here they are, " said Sir Norman, drawing forth the roll. 

"And what do you intend doing with them?" inquired Hubert, glancing atthe papers with an unmoved countenance. 

"Show them to the king, and, though his mediation with Louis, obtain foryou the restoration of your rights. "

"And do you think his majesty will give himself so much trouble for theEarl of Rochester's page?"

"I think he will take the trouble to see justice done, or at least heought to. If he declines, we will take the matter in our own hands, myHubert; and you and I will seek Louis ourselves. Please God, the Earl ofRochester's page will yet wear the coronet of the De Montmorencis!"

"And the sister of a marquis will be no unworthy mate even for aKingsley, " said Hubert. "Has La Masque left nothing for her?"

"Do you see this casket?" tapping the one of cared brass dangling fromhis belt; "well, it is full of jewels worth a king's ransom. I foundthem in a drawer of La Masque's house, with directions that they were tobe given to her sisters at her death. Miranda being dead, I presume theyare all Leoline's now. "

"This is a queer business altogether!" said Hubert, musingly; "and Iam greatly mistaken if King Louie will not regard it as a very prettylittle work of fiction. "

"But I have proofs, lad! The authenticity of these papers cannot bedoubted. "

"With all my heart. I have no objections to be made a marquis of, and goback to la belle France, out of this land of plague and fog. Won't someof my friends here be astonished when they hear it, particularly theEarl of Rochester, when he finds out that he has had a marquis for apage? Ah, here comes George, and bearing a summons from Count L'Estrangeat last. "

George approached, and intimated that Sir Norman was to follow him tothe presence of his master. 

"Au revoir, then, " said Hubert. "You will find me here when you comeback. "

Sir Norman, with a slight tremor of the nerves at what was to come, followed the king's page through halls and anterooms, full of loiterers, courtiers, and their attendants. Once a hand was laid on his shoulder, alaughing voice met his ear, and the Earl of Rochester stood beside him!

"Good-morning, Sir Norman; you are abroad betimes. How have you leftyour friend, the Count L'Estrange?"

"Your lordship has probably seen him since I have, and should be able toanswer that question best. "

"And how does his suit progress with the pretty Leoline?" went onthe gay earl. "In faith, Kingsley, I never saw such a charming littlebeauty; and I shall do combat with you yet--with both the count andyourself, and outwit the pair of you!"

"Permit me to differ from your lordship. Leoline would not touch youwith a pair of tongs!"

"Ah! she has better taste than you give her credit for; but if I shouldfail, I know what to do to console myself. "

"May I ask what?"

"Yes! there is Hubert, as like her an two peas in a pod. I shall dresshim up in lace and silks, and gewgaws, and have a Leoline of my ownalready made its order. "

"Permit me to doubt that, too! Hubert is as much lost to you asLeoline!"

Leaving the volatile earl to put what construction pleased him best onthis last sententious remark, he resumed his march after George, andwas ushered, at last, into an ante-room near the audience-chamber. Count L'Estrange, still attired as Count L'Estrange, stood near a windowoverlooking the court-yard, and as the page salaamed and withdrew, heturned round, and greeted Sir Norman with his suavest air. 

"The appointed hour is passed, Sir Norman Kingsley, but that is partlyyour own fault. Your guide hither tells me that you stopped for sometime at the house of a fortune-teller, known as La Masque. Why wasthis!"

"I was forced to stop on most important business, " answered the knight, still resolved to treat him as the count, until it should please himto doff his incognito, "of which you shall hear anon. Just now, ourbusiness is with Leoline. "

"True! And as in a short time I start with yonder cavalcade, thereis but little time to lose. Apropos, Kingsley, who is that mysteriouswoman, La Masque?"

"She is, or was (for she is dead sow) a French lady, of noble birth, andthe sister of Leoline!"

"Her sister! And have you discovered Leoline's history?"

"I have. "

"And her name!"

"And her name. She is Leoline De Montmorenci! And with the proudestblood of France in her veins, living obscure and unknown--a stranger ina strange land since childhood; but, with God's grace and your help, Ihope to see her restored to all she has lost, before long. "

"You know me, then?" said his companion, half-smiling. 

"Yes, your majesty, " answered Sir Norman, bowing low before the king. 

CHAPTER XXIII. FINIS

As the last glimpse of moonlight and of Hubert's bright face vanished, Leoline took to pacing up and down the room in a most conflicting andexcited state of mind. So many things had happened during the pastnight; so rapid and unprecedented had been the course of events; sochanged had her whole life become within the last twelve hours, thatwhen she came to think it all over, it fairly made her giddy. Dressingfor her bridal; the terrible announcement of Prudence; the death-likeswoon; the awakening at the plague-pit; the maniac flight through thestreets; the cold plunge in the river; her rescue; her interview withSir Norman, and her promise; the visit of La Masque; the appearance ofthe count; her abduction; her journey here; the coming of Hubert, andtheir suddenly-discovered relationship. It was enough to stun any one;and the end was not yet. Would Hubert effect his escape? Would they beable to free her? What place was this, and who was Count L'Estrange? Itwas a great deal easier to propound this catechism to herself thanto find answers to her own questions; and so she walked up and down, worrying her pretty little head with all sorts of anxieties, until itwas a perfect miracle that softening of the brain did not ensue. 

Her feet gave out sooner than her brain, though; and she got so tiredbefore long, that she dropped into a seat, with a long-drawn, anxioussigh; and, worn out with fatigue and watching, she, at last, fellasleep. 

And sleeping, she dreamed. It seemed to her that the count and SirNorman were before her, in her chamber in the old house on LondonBridge, tossing her heart between them like a sort of shuttlecock. By-and-by, with two things like two drumsticks, they began hammeringaway at the poor, little, fluttering heart, as if it were an anvil andthey were a pair of blacksmiths, while the loud knocks upon it resoundedthrough the room. For a time, she was so bewildered that she could notcomprehend what it meant; but, at last, she became conscious that someone was rapping at the door. Pressing one hand over her startled heart, she called "Come in!" and the door opened and George entered. 

"Count L'Estrange commands me to inform you, fair lady, that he willdo himself the pleasure of visiting you immediately, with Sir NormanKingsley, if you are prepared to receive them. "

"With Sir Norman Kingsley!" repeated Leoline, faintly. "I-I am afraid Ido not quite understand. "

"Then you will not be much longer in that deplorable state, " saidGeorge, backing out, "for here they are. "

"Pardon this intrusion, fairest Leoline, " began the count, "but SirNorman and I are about to start on a journey, and before we go, there isa little difference of opinion between us that you are to settle. "

Leoline looked first at one, and then at the other, utterly bewildered. 

"What is it?" she asked. 

"A simple matter enough. Last evening, if you recollect, you were mypromised bride. "

"It was against my will, " said Leoline, boldly, though her voice shook, "You and Prudence made me. "

"Nay, Leoline, you wrong me. I, at least, need no compulsion. "

"You know better. You haunted me continually; you gave me no peace atall; and I world just have married you to get rid of you. "

"And you never loved me?"

"I never did. "

"A frank confession! Did you, then, love any one else?"

The dark eyes fell, and the roseate glow again tinged the pearly face. 

"Mute!" said the count, with an almost imperceptible smile. "Look up, Leoline, and speak. "

But Leoline would do neither. With all her momentary daring gone, shestood startled as a wild gazelle. 

"Shall I answer for her, Sir Count?" exclaimed Sir Norman, his own cheekdashed. "Leoline! Leoline! you love me!"

Leoline was silent. 

"You are to decide between us, Leoline. Though the count forciblybrought you here, he has been generous enough to grant this. Say, then, which of as you love best. "

"I do not love him at all, " said Leoline, with a little disdain, "and heknows it. "

"Then it is I!" said Sir Norman, him whole lace beaming with delight. 

"It is you!"

Leoline held out both hands to the loved one, and nestled close to hisside, like a child would to its protector. 

"Fairly rejected!" said the count, with a pacing shade of mortificationon his brow; "and, my word being pledged, I most submit. But, beautifulLeoline, you have yet to learn whom you have discarded. "

Clinging to her lover's arm, the girl grew white with undefinedapprehension. Leisurely, the count removed false wig, false eyebrows, false heard; and a face well known to Leoline, from pictures anddescription, turned full upon her. 

"Sire!" she cried, in terror, calling on her knees with clasped hands. 

"Nay; rise, fair Leoline, " said the king, holding out his hand to assisther. "It is my place to kneel to one so lovely instead of having herkneel to me. Think again. Will you reject the king as you did thecount?"

"Pardon, your majesty!", said Leoline, scarcely daring to look up; "butI must!"

"So be it! You are a perfect miracle of troth and constancy, and I thinkI can afford to be generous for once. In fifteen minutes, we start forOxford, and you must accompany us as Lady Kingsley. A tiring woman willwait upon you to robe you for your bridal. We will leave you now, andlet me enjoin expedition. "

And while she still stood too much astonished by the sudden proposal toanswer, both were gone, and in their place stood a smiling lady's maid, with a cloud of gossamer white in her arms. 

"Are those for me?" inquired Leoline, looking at them, and trying tocomprehend that it was all real. 

"They are for you--sent by Mistress Stuart, herself. Please sit down, and all will be ready in a trice. "

And in a trice all was ready. The shining, jetty curls were smoothed, and fell in a glossy shower, trained with jewels--the pearls Leolineherself still wore. The rose satin was discarded for another of bridalwhite, perfect of fit, and splendid of feature. A great gossamer veillike a cloud of silver mist over all, from head to foot; and Leoline wasshown herself in a mirror, and in the sudden transformation, couldhave exclaimed, with the unfortunate lady in bother Goose, shorn of hertresses when in balmy slumber: "As sure as I'm a little woman, this isnone of it!" But she it was, nevertheless, who stood listening like onein a trance, to the enthusiastic praises of her waiting-maid. 

Again there was a tap at the door. This time the attendant openedit, and George reappeared. Even he stood for a moment looking at thesilver-shining vision, and so lost in admiration, that he almost forgothis message. But when Leoline turned the light of her beautiful eyesinquiringly upon him, he managed to remember it, and announced that hehad been sent by the king to usher her to the royal presence. 

With a feet-throbbing heart, flushed cheeks, and brilliant eyes, thedazzling bride followed him, unconscious that she had never looked soincomparably before in her life. It was but a few hours since she haddressed for another bridal; and what wonderful things had occurred sincethen--her whole destiny had changed in a night. Not quite sure yet butthat she was still dreaming, she followed on--saw George throw open thegreat doors of the audience-chamber, and found herself suddenly inwhat seemed to her a vast concourse of people. At the upper end of theapartment was a brilliant group of ladies, with the king's beautifulfavorite in their midst, gossiping with knots of gentlemen. The kinghimself stood in the recess of a window, with his brother, the Duke ofYork, the Earl of Rochester, and Sir Norman Kingsley, and was laughingand relating animatedly to the two peers the whole story. Leolinenoticed this, and noticed, too, that all wore traveling dresses--most ofthe ladies, indeed, being attired in riding-habits. 

The king himself advanced to her rescue, and drawing her arm withinhis, he led her up and presented her to the fair Mistress Stuart, whoreceived her with smiling graciousness though Leoline, all unusedto court ways, and aware of the lovely lady's questionable position, returned it almost with cold hauteur. Charles being in an unusuallygracious mood, only smiled as he noticed it, and introduced her next tohis brother of York, and her former short acquaintance, Rochester. 

"There's no need, I presume, to make you acquainted with this othergentleman, " said Charles, with a laughing glance at Sir Norman. "Kingsley, stand forward and receive your bride. My Lord of Canterbury, we await your good offices. "

The bland bishop, in surplice and stole, and book in hand, stepped froma distant group, and advanced. Sir Norman, with a flush on his cheek, and an exultant light in his eyes, took the hand of his beautiful bridewho stood lovely, and blushing, and downcast, the envy and admiration ofall. And

 "Before the bishop now they stand, The bridegroom and the bride; And who shall paint what lovers feel In this, their hour of pride?"

Who indeed? Like many other pleasant things is this world, it requiresto be felt to be appreciated; and, for that reason, it is a subject onwhich the unworthy chronicler is altogether incompetent to speak. Thefirst words of the ceremony dropped from the prelate's urbane lips, andSir Norman's heart danced a tarantella within him. "Wilt thou?" inquiredthe bishop, blandly, and slipped a plain gold ring on one pretty fingerof Leoline's hand and all heard the old, old formula: "What God hathjoined together, let no man put asunder!" And the whole mystic rite wasover. 

Leoline gave one earnest glance at the ring on her finger. Long ago, slaves wore rings as the sign of their bondage--is it for the samereason married women wear them now? While she yet looked half-doubtfullyat it, she was surrounded, congratulated, and stunned with asadden clamor of voices; and then, through it all, she heard thewell-remembered voice of Count L'Estrange, saying:

"My lords and ladies, time is on the wing, and the sun is already halfan hour high! Off with you all to the courtyard, and mount, while LadyKingsley changes her wedding-gear for robes more befitting travel, andjoins us there. "

With a low obeisance to the king, the lovely bride hastened away afterone of the favorite's attendants, to do as he directed, and don ariding-suit. In ten minutes after, when the royal cavalcade started, sheturned from the pest-stricken city, too and fairest, where all was fair, by Sir Norman's side rode Leoline. 

 *****

Sitting one winter night by a glorious winter fire, while the snow andhail lashed the windows, and the wind without roared like Bottom, theweaver, a pleasant voice whispered the foregoing tale. Here, as itpaused abruptly, and seemed to have done with the whole thing, Inaturally began to ask questions. What happened the dwarf and hiscompanions? What became of Hubert? Did Sir Norman and Lady Kingsley goto Devonshire, and did either of them die of the plague? I felt, myself, when I said it, that the last suggestion was beneath contempt, and so awithering look from the face opposite proved; but the voice was obligingenough to answer the rest of my queries. The dwarf and his cronies beingput into his majesty's jail of Newgate, where the plague was ragingfearfully, they all died in a week, and so managed to cheat theexecutioner. Hubert went to France, and laid his claims before the royalLouis, who, not being able to do otherwise, was graciously pleased toacknowledge them; and Hubert became the Marquis de Montmorenci, and inthe fullness of time took unto himself a wife, even of the daughters ofthe land, and lived happy for ever after. 

And Sir Norman and Lady Kingsley did go to the old manor in Devonshire, where--with tradition and my informant--there is to be seen to this day, an old family-picture, painted some twelve years after, representingthe knight and his lady sitting serenely in their "ain ingle nook"with their family around them. Sir Norman, --a little portlier, a littlegraver, in the serious dignity of pater familias; and Leoline, with thedark, beautiful eyes, the falling, shining hair, the sweet smiling lips, and lovely, placid face of old. Between them, on three hassocks, sitthree little boys; while the fourth, and youngest, a miniature littleSir Norman, leans against his mother's shoulder, and looks thoughtfullyin her sweet, calm face. Of the fate of those four, the same ancientlore affirms: "That the eldest afterward bore the title of Earl ofKingsley; that the second became a lord high admiral, or chancellor, orsomething equally highfalutin; and that the third became an archbishop. But the highest honor of all was reserved for the fourth, and youngest, "continued the narrating voice, "who, after many days, sailed forAmerica, and, in the course of time, became President of the UnitedStates. "

Determined to be fully satisfied on this point, at least, the authorinvested all her spare change in a catalogue of all the said Presidents, from George Washington to Chester A. Arthur, and, after a diligent andabsorbing perusal of that piece of literature, could find no such nameas Kingsley whatever; and has been forced to come to the conclusion thathe most have applied to Congress to change his name on arriving in theNew World, or else that her informant was laboring reader a falsehoodwhen she told her so. As for the rest, "I know not how the truth may be; I say it as 'twas said to me. "