HARRY M< Q y i ^ t
 
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 ■•'■■s-:r>c.ix<s.- 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 HARRY MCGUIRE
 
 At till' coiiiniaiiil of thf gin'i-ii. IJak'iKh repi-ateil ttie cflcbrated vision of
 
 JKIenilworth ^^^^^^^^ 
 By ^ ^ -^ ^ Sir Walter Scott 
 
 Chicago and New York « « « 
 Rand, McNally & Company
 
 INTEODUCTIOI^ TO KENILWOETH. 
 
 A CERTAIN degree of success, real or supposed, in the deline- 
 ation of Queen Mary, natiu-ally induced the Author to attempt 
 something similar respecting "her sister and her foe," the 
 celebrated Elizabeth. He will not, however, pretend to have 
 approached the task with the same feelings ; for the candid 
 Kobertson himself confesses having felt the prejudices with 
 which a Scottishman is tempted to regard the subject; and 
 what so liberal a historian avows, a poor romance-wi'iter dares 
 not disown. But he hopes the influence of a prejudice almost 
 as natural to him as his native air will not be found to have 
 greatly affected the sketch he has attempted of England's 
 Elizabeth. I have endeavoured to describe her as at once a 
 high-minded sovereign and a female of passionate feelings, 
 hesitating betwixt the sense of her rank and the duty she owed 
 her subjects on the one hand, and on the other her attachment 
 to a nobleman who, in external qualifications at least, amply 
 merited her favour. The interest of the story is thrown upon 
 that period when the sudden death of the first Coimtess of 
 Leicester seemed to open to the ambition of her husband the 
 opportunity of sharing the crown of his sovereign. 
 
 It is possible that slander, which very seldom favours the 
 memories of persons ia exalted stations, may have blackened 
 the character of Leicester with darker shades than really be- 
 longed to it. But the almost general voice of the times at- 
 tached the most foul suspicions to the death of the unfortunate 
 coimtess, more especially as it took place so very opportunely 
 for the indulgence of her lover's ambition. If we can trust 
 Ashmole's Antiqxdties of Brrloiliire, there was but too much 
 ground for the traditions which charge Leicester with the 
 murder of his wife. In the following extract of the passage,
 
 6 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 the reader will find tlie authority I had for the story of the 
 romance : 
 
 *' At the west end of the church is the ruins of a manor, anciently belong- 
 ing (as a cell, or place of removal, as some report) to the monks of Abing- 
 ton. At the Dissolution, the said manor, or lordship, was conveyed to 
 one Owen (I believe), the possessor of Godstow then. 
 
 " In the hall, over the chimney, I find Abington arms cut in stone, viz. 
 a patonee between four martletts ; and also another escutcheon, viz. a lion 
 rampant, and several miters cut in stone about the house. There is also 
 in the said house a chamber called Dudley's chamber, where the Earl of 
 Leicester's wife was murdered, of which this is the story following: 
 
 "jRobert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a very goodly personage, and singu- 
 larly well featured, being a great favourite to Queen Elizabeth, it was 
 thought, and commonly reported, that, had he been a bachelor or widower, 
 the Queen would have made him her husband ; to this end, to free him- 
 self of all obstacles, he commands, or perhaps, with fair, flattering in- 
 treaties, desires his wife to repose herself here at his servant Anthony 
 Forster's house, who then lived in the aforesaid manor-house ; and also 
 prescribed to Sir Richard Varney (a prompter to this design), at his com- 
 ing hither, that he should first attempt to poison her, and if that did not 
 take effect, then by any other way whatsoever to dispatch her. This, it 
 seems, was proved by the report of Dr. Walter Bayly, sometime fellow of 
 New College, then living in Oxford, and professor of physic in that uni- 
 versity ; who, because he would not consent to take away her life by poison, 
 the earl endeavoured to displace him from the court. "This man, it seems, 
 reported for most certain that there was a practice in Cumnor among the 
 conspirators to have poisoned this poor innocent lady a little before she 
 was killed, which was attempted after this manner: — They seeing the good 
 (ady sad and heavy (as one that well knew by her other handling that her 
 death was not far off), began to perswade her that her present disease was 
 abundance of melancholy and other humours, etc., and therefore would 
 needs counsel her to take some potion, which she absolutely refusing to do, 
 as still suspecting the worst ; whereupon they sent a messenger on a day 
 (unawares to her) for Dr. Bayly, and intreated him to perswade her to 
 take some little potion by his direction, and they would fetch the same at 
 Oxford ; meaning to have added something of their own for her comfort, 
 as the doctor upon just cause and consideration did suspect, seeing their 
 great importunity, and the small need the lady had of physic, and there- 
 fore he peremptorily denied their request ; misdoubting (as he afterwards 
 reported) least, if they had poisoned her under the name of his potion, he 
 might after have been hanged for a colour of their sin, and the doctor re- 
 mained still well assured that, this way taking no effect, she would not 
 long escape their violence, which afterwards happened thus. For Sir 
 Richard Varney above-said (the chief projector in this design), who, by 
 the earl's order, remained that day of her death alone with her, with one 
 man only and Forster, who had that day forcibly sent away all her ser- 
 vants from her to Abington market, about 3 miles distant from this 
 place — they (I say, whether first stifling her or else strangling her) after- 
 wards flung her down a pair of stairs and broke her neck, using much vio- 
 lence upon her ; but, however, though it was vulgarly reported that she by 
 chance fell downstairs (but yet without hurting her hood that was upon
 
 INTRODUCTION TO KENILWORTH. • 7 
 
 her head), yet the inhabitants will tell you there that she was conveyed 
 from her usual chamber where she lay to another where the bed's head of 
 the chamber stood close to a privy postern door, where they in the night 
 came and stifled her in her bed, bruised her head very much, broke her 
 neck, and at length flung her downstairs, thereby believing the world 
 would have thought it a mischance, and so have blinded their villany. 
 But behold the mercy and justice of God in revenging and discovering this 
 lady's murder, for one of the persons that was a coadjutor in this murder 
 was afterwards taken for a felony in the marches of Wales, and offering to 
 publish the manner of the aforesaid murder, was privately made away in 
 the prison by the earl's appointment ; and Sir Richard Varney, the other, 
 dying about the same time in London, cried miserably, and blasphemed 
 God, and said to a person of note (who hath related the same to others 
 since), not long before his death, that all the devils in hell did tear him in 
 pieces. Forster, likewise, after this fact, being a man formerly addicted 
 to hospitality, company, mirth, and music, was afterwards observed to 
 forsake all this, [and] with much melancholy and pensiveness (some say 
 with madness) pined and drooped away. The wife also of Bald Butter, 
 kinsman to the earl, gave out the whole fact a little before her death. 
 Neither are these following passages to be forgotten, that as soon as ever 
 she was murdered, they made great haste to bury her before the coroner 
 had given in his inquest (which the earl himself condemned as not done 
 advisedly), which her father, or Sir John Robertsett (as I suppose), hear- 
 ing of, came with all speed hither, caused her corps to be taken up, the 
 coroner to sit upon her, and further enquiry to be made concerning this 
 business to the full ; but it was generally thought that the earl stopped his 
 mouth, and made up the business betwixt them ; and the good earl, to 
 make plain to the world the great love he bare to her while alive, what a 
 grief the loss of so virtuous a lady was to his tender heart, caused (though 
 the thing, by these and other means, was beaten into the heads of the 
 principal men of the University of Oxford) her body to be reburied in St. 
 Maries church in Oxford with great pomp and solemnity. It is remark- 
 able, when Dr. Babington (the earl's chaplain) did preach the funeral ser- 
 mon, he tript once or twice in his speech, by recommending to their 
 memories that virtuous lady so pitifully murdered, instead of saying piti- 
 fully slain. This earl, after all his murders and poisonings, was himself 
 poisoned by that which was prepared for others (some say by his wife) at 
 Cornbury Lodge before mentioned (though Baker in his chronicle would 
 have it at Killingworth), anno 1588. " » 
 
 The same accusation lias been adopted and circulated by tlie 
 author of Leicester's Commonwealth, a satire * written directly 
 
 » Ashmole's Antiquities of Berkshire, vol. i. p. 149. The tradition as to 
 Leicester's death was thus communicated by Ben Jonsonto Drummond of 
 Hawthornden: " The Earl of Leicester gave a bottle of liquor to his lady, 
 which he willed her to use in any faintness, which she, after his return 
 from court, not knowing it was poison, gave him, and so he died." — Ben 
 Jonson's Information to Drummond of Hawthornden, MS. — Sir Robert Sib- 
 bald's copy. 
 
 a This satire was written by the notorious Jesuit, Robert Parsons and
 
 8 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 against the Earl of Leicester, which loaded him with the most 
 horrid crimes, and, among the rest, with the murder of his 
 first wife. It was alluded to in the Yorlcshire Tragedy ^ a 
 play erroneously ascribed to Shakspeare, where a baker, who 
 determines to destroy all his family, throws his wife down- 
 stairs with this allusion to the supposed murder of Leicester's 
 lady: 
 
 The only way to charm a woman's tongue 
 Is, break her neck — a politician did it. 
 
 The reader wiU find I have borrowed several incidents as 
 well as names ' from Ashmole and the more early authorities ; 
 but my first acquaintance with the history was through the 
 more pleasing medium of verse. There is a period in youth 
 when tlie mere power of numbers has a more strong effect on 
 ear and imagination than in more advanced life. At this 
 season of immature taste the Author was g^-eatly delighted 
 with the poems of Mickle and Langhorne, poets who, though 
 by no means deficient in the higher branches of their art, 
 were eminent for their powers of verbal melody above most 
 who have practised this department of poetry. One of 
 those pieces of Mickle, which the Author was particularly 
 pleased with, is a ballad, or rather a species of elegy, on the 
 subject of Cumnor Hall," which, with others by the same 
 author, were to be found in Evans's Ancient Ballads (vol. iv. 
 p. 130), to which work Mickle made liberal contributions. 
 The first stanza especially had a peculiar species of enchant- 
 ment for the youthful ear] of the Author, the force of which 
 is not even now entirely spent j some others are sufficiently 
 prosaic. 
 
 Cumnor Iball, 
 
 The dews of summer night did fall ; 
 
 The moon, sweet regent of the sky, 
 Silver'd the walls of Cumnor Hall, 
 
 And many an oak that grew thereby. 
 
 was lai^ely copied by Ashmole in his Antiquities. These authorities were 
 perhaps too much relied upon by the Author (Lalng). 
 
 » See Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. vi. pp. 266, 2M. » See Note 1.
 
 INTRODUCTION TO KENILWORTH. 
 
 Now naught was heard beneath the skies, 
 The sounds of busy life were still, 
 
 Save an unhappy lady's sighs, 
 That issued from that lonely pile. 
 
 "Leicester," she cried, "is this thy love 
 That thou so oft has sworn to me, 
 
 To leave me in this lonely grove, 
 Immured in shameful privity ? 
 
 " No more thou comest with lover's speed, 
 
 Thy once beloved bride to see ; 
 But be she alive, or be she dead, 
 
 I fear, stern earl, 's the same to thee. 
 
 " Not so the usage I received 
 When happy in my father's hall; 
 
 No faithless husband then me grieved. 
 No chilling fears did me appal. 
 
 "I rose up with the cheerful morn, 
 No lark more blithe, no flower more gay; 
 
 And, like the bird that haunts the thorn, 
 So merrily sung the livelong day. 
 
 *' If that my beauty is but small. 
 Among court ladies all despised. 
 
 Why didst thou rend it from that hall, 
 Where, scornful earl, it well was prized? 
 
 ** And when you first to me made suit, 
 How fair I was you oft would say ! 
 
 And, proud of conquest, pluck' d the fruit. 
 Then left the blossom to decay. 
 
 " Yes ! now neglected and despised, 
 The rose is pale, the lily's dead ; 
 
 But he that once their charms so prized, 
 Is sure the cause those charms are fled. 
 
 *' For know, when sick'ning grief doth prey^ 
 And tender love's repaid with scorn, 
 
 The sweetest beauty will decay, — 
 What floweret can endure the storm? 
 
 "At court, I'm told, is beauty's throne. 
 Where every lady's passing rare, 
 
 That Eastern flowers, that shame the sun, 
 Are not so glowing, not so fair. 
 
 "Then, earl, why didst thou leave the beds 
 Where roses and where lilies \ie, 
 
 To seek a primrose, whose pale shades 
 Must sicken when those gauds are by?
 
 10 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " 'Monjj rural beauties I was one, 
 Among the fields wild flowers are fair; 
 
 Some country swain might me have wou 
 And thought ray beauty passing rare. 
 
 "But, Leicester (or I much am wrong), 
 Or 'tis not beauty hires thy vows ; 
 
 Rather ambition's gilded crown 
 Makes thee forget thy humble spouse. 
 
 " Then, Leicester, why, again I plead 
 (The injured surely may repine)— 
 
 Why didst thou wed a country maid. 
 When some fair princess might be thine? 
 
 " Why didst thou praise my humble charms, 
 And, oh ! then leave them to decay ? 
 
 Why didst thou win me to thy arms. 
 Then leave me to mourn the livelong day f 
 
 " The village maidens of the plain 
 
 Salute me lowly as they go ; 
 Envious they mark my silken train. 
 
 Nor think a countess can have woe. 
 
 •' The simple nymphs ! they little know 
 How far more happy's their estate; 
 To smile for joy — than sigh for woe— 
 To be content — than to be great. 
 
 *' How far less blest am I than them, 
 Daily to pine and waste with care ! 
 
 Like the poor plant, that, from its steiu 
 Divided, feels the chilling air. 
 
 " Nor, cruel earl.! can I enjoy 
 The humble charms of solitude ; 
 
 Your minions proud my peace destroy. 
 By sullen frowns or pratings rude. 
 
 •* Last night, as sad I chanced to stray, 
 The village death-bell smote my ear ; 
 
 They wink'd aside, and seemed to say. 
 * Countess, prepare, thy end is near I ' 
 
 ** And now, while happy peasants sleep, 
 Here I sit lonely and forlorn ; 
 
 No one to sooth me as I weep, 
 Save Philomel on yonder thorn. 
 
 " My spirits flag — my hopes decay — 
 Still that dread death-bell smites my ear j 
 
 And many a boding seems to say, 
 'Countess, prepare, thy end is near! ' "
 
 INTRODUCTION TO KENILWORTH. 1j 
 
 Thus sore and sad that lady grieved, 
 
 In Cuninor Hall, so lone and drear; 
 And many a heartfelt sigh she heaved, 
 
 And let fall many a bitter tear. 
 
 And ere the dawn of day appear'd, 
 
 In Cumnor Hall, so lone and drear, 
 Full many a piercing scream was heard, 
 
 And many a cry of mortal fear. 
 
 The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, 
 
 An aerial voice was heard to call. 
 And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing 
 
 Around the towers of Cumnor Hall. 
 
 The mastiff howl'd at village door, 
 
 The oaks were shatter'd on the green ; 
 Woe was the hour — for never more 
 
 That hapless countess e'er was seen! 
 
 And in that manor now no more 
 
 Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball; 
 For ever since that dreary hour 
 
 Have spirits haunted Cumnor Hall. 
 
 The village maids, with fearful glance. 
 
 Avoid the ancient moss-grown wall ; 
 Nor ever lead the merry dance, 
 
 Among the groves of Cumnor Hall. 
 
 Full many a traveller oft hath sigh'd, 
 
 And pensive wept the countess' fall, 
 As wand' ring onwards they've espied 
 
 The haunted towers of Cumnor Hall. 
 
 AbbotsforDj 1st March, 1831,
 
 KENILWORTH. 
 
 CHAPTER. L 
 
 I am an innkeeper, and know my grounds, 
 And study them— brain o' man, I study them. 
 I must have jovial guests to drive my ploughs, 
 And whistling boys to bring my harvests home. 
 Or I shall hear no flaUs thwack. 
 
 The New Inn. 
 
 It is the privilege of tale-tellers to open their story in an 
 inn, the free rendezvous of all travellers, and where the hu- 
 mour of each displays itself without ceremony or restraint. 
 This is specially suitable when the scene is laid during the 
 old days of merry England, when the guests were in some sort 
 not merely the inmates, but the messmates and temporary 
 companions, of miue host, who was usually a personage of 
 privileged freedom, comely presence, and good-humour. Pat- 
 ronised by him, the characters of the company were placed in 
 ready contrast; and they seldom failed, during the emptying 
 of a six-hooped pot, to throw off reserve, and present them- 
 selves to each other and to their landlord with the freedom of 
 old acquaintance. 
 
 The village of Cumnor, within three or four miles of Oxford, 
 boasted, during the eighteenth of Queen Elizabeth, an excel- 
 lent inn of the old stamp, conducted, or rather ruled, by Giles 
 Gosling, a man of a goodly person and of somewhat round 
 beUy, fifty years of age and upwards, moderate in his reckon- 
 ings, prompt in his payments, having a cellar of sound liquor, 
 a ready wit, and a pretty daughter. Since the days of old 
 Harry Baillie of the Tabard in Southwark, no one had ex- 
 celled Giles Gosling in the power of pleasing his guests of 
 every description; and so great was his fame, that to have
 
 14 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 been in Cumnor without wetting 'a cup at tlie bonny Black 
 Bear would have been to avouch oneself utterly indifferent 
 to reputation as a traveller. A country fellow might as well 
 return from London without looking in the face of majesty. 
 The men of Cumnor were proud of their host, and their host 
 was proud of his house, his liquor, his daughter, and himself. 
 
 It was in the courtyard of the inn which called this honest 
 fellow landlord that a traveller alighted in the close of the 
 evening, gave his horse, which seemed to have made a long 
 journey, to the hostler, and made some inquiry, which pro- 
 duced the following dialogue betwixt the myrmidons of the 
 bonny Black Bear : 
 
 "What, ho! John Tapster." 
 
 " At hand, Will Hostler, " replied the man of the spigot, 
 showing himself in his costume of loose jacket, linen breeches, 
 and green apron, haK within and half without a door, which 
 appeared to descend to an outer cellar. 
 
 " Here is a gentleman asks if you draw good ale, " continued 
 the hostler. 
 
 "Beshrew my heart else," answered the tapster, "since 
 there are but four miles betwixt us and Oxford. Marry, if 
 my ale did not convince the heads of the scholars, they would 
 soon convince my pate with the pewter flagon." 
 
 "Call you that Oxford logic?" said the stranger, who had 
 now quitted the rein of his horse, and was advancing towai'ds 
 the inn door, when he was encountered by the godly form of 
 Oiles Gosling himself. 
 
 "Is it logic you talk of, sir guest?" said the host j "why, 
 then, have at you with a downright consequence — 
 
 The horse to the rack, 
 And to fire with the sack." 
 
 "Amen! with all my heart, my good host," said the 
 stranger; "let it be a quart of your best Canaries, and give 
 me your good help to drink it." 
 
 " Nay, you are but in your accidence yet, sir traveller, if 
 you call on your host for help for such a sipping matter as a 
 quart of sack; were it a gallon, you might lack some neigh- 
 bourly aid at my hand, and yet call yourself a toper."
 
 KENILWORTH. 15 
 
 " Fear me not," said the guest, " I will do my devoir as be- 
 comes a man who finds himself within five miles of Oxford; 
 for I am not come from the field of Mars to discredit myself 
 amongst the followers of Minerva." 
 
 As he spoke thus, the landlord, with much semblance of 
 hearty welcome, ushered his guest into a large low chamber, 
 where several persons were seated together in different par- 
 ties — some drinking, some playing at cards, some conversing, 
 and some, whose business called them to be early risers on the 
 morrow, concluding their evening meal, and conferring with 
 the chamberlain about their night's quarters. 
 
 The entrance of a stranger procured him that general and 
 careless sort of attention which is usually paid on such occa- 
 sions, from which the following results were deduced: The 
 guest was one of those who, with a well-made person, and 
 features not in themselves unpleasing, are nevertheless so far 
 from handsome that, whether from the expression of their 
 features, or the tone of their voice, or from their gait and 
 manner, there arises, on the whole, a disinclination to their 
 society. The stranger's address was bold, without being 
 frank, and seemed eagerly and hastily to claim for him a de- 
 gree of attention and deference, which he feared would be re- 
 fused, if not iustantly vindicated as his right. His attire was 
 a riding-cloak, which, when open, displayed a handsome jer- 
 kiu overlaid with lace, and belted with a buff girdle, which 
 sustained a broadsword and a pair of pistols. 
 
 " You ride well provided, sir, " said the host, looking at the 
 weapons as he placed on the table the mulled sack which the 
 traveller had ordered. 
 
 "Yes, mine host; I have found the use on't in dangerous 
 times, and I do not, like your modern grandees, turn off my 
 followers the instant they are useless." 
 
 "Ay, sir?" said Giles Gosling; "then you are from the 
 Low Countries, the land of pike and caliver?" 
 
 " I have been high and low, my friend, broad and wide, far 
 and near. But here is to thee in a cup of thy sack ; fill thy- 
 self another to pledge me ; and, if it is less than superlative, 
 e'en drink as you have brewed."
 
 16 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Less than superlative !" said Giles Gosliag, drinking off the 
 cup^ and smacking liis lips with an air of ineli'able relish — 
 " I know nothing of superlative, nor is there such a wine at 
 the Three Cranes, in the Vintry, to my knowledge ; but if you 
 find better sack thau that in the Sheres, or in the Canaries 
 either, I would I may never touch either pot or penny more. 
 "Why, hold it uj) betwixt you and the light, you shall see the 
 little motes dance in the golden liquor like dust in the sun- 
 beam. But I would rather draw wine for ten clowns than one 
 traveller. I trust your honour likes the wine?" 
 
 " It is neat and comfortable, mine host ; but to know good 
 liquor you should driuk where the vine grows. Trust me, 
 your Spaniard is too wise a man to send you the very soul of 
 the grape. Why, this now, which you account so choice, were 
 counted but as a cup of bastard at the Groyne or at Port St. 
 Mary's. You should travel, mine host, if you wovdd be deep 
 in the mysteries of the butt and pottle-pot." 
 
 " In troth, Signior Guest, " said Giles Gosling, " if I were to 
 travel only that I might be discontented with that which I caa 
 get at home, methinks I should go but on a fool's errand. 
 Besides, I warrant you, there is many a fool can turn his 
 nose up at good drink without ever having been out of the 
 smoke of Old England; and so ever gramercy mine own 
 fireside." 
 
 " This is but a mean mind of yours, mine host, " said the 
 stranger ; " I warrant me, all your town! oik do not think so 
 basely. You have gallants among you, I dare undertake, that 
 have made the Virginia voyage, or taken a turn in the Low 
 Countries at least. Come, cudgel your memory. Have you 
 no friends in foreign parts that you would gladly have tid- 
 ings of?" 
 
 "Troth, sir, not I," answered the host, "since ranting 
 Bobin of Drysandford'was shot at the siege of the Brill. The 
 devil take the caliver that fired the ball, for a blyther lad 
 never filled a cup at midnight ! But he is dead and gone, and 
 I know not a Soldier, or a traveller, who is a soldier's mate, 
 that I would give a peeled codling for." 
 
 "By the mass, that is strange. What! so many of our
 
 KEKILWORTH. 17 
 
 brave English hearts are abroad, and you, who seem to be a 
 man of mark, have no friend, no kinsman, among them?" 
 
 *' Xay, if you speak of kinsmen, " answered Gosling, " I have 
 one wild slip of a kinsman, who left us in the last year of 
 Queen Mary; but he is better lost than found." 
 
 " Do not say so, friend, unless you have heard ill of him 
 lately. Many a wild colt has turned out a noble steed. His 
 name, I pray you?" 
 
 '• 3Iichael Lambourne, " answered the landlord of the Black 
 Bear, "a son of my sister's; there is little pleasure in recol- 
 lecting either the name or the connexion." 
 
 "Michael Lambourne!" said the stranger, as if endeavour- 
 ing to recollect himseK, " what, no relation to jMichael Lam- 
 bourne, the gallant cavalier who behaved so bravely at the siege 
 of Venlo that Grave INIaurice thanked him at the head of the 
 army? Men said he was an English cavalier, and of no high 
 extraction." 
 
 " It could scarcely be my nephew, " said Giles Gosling, " for 
 he had not the courage of a hen- partridge for aught but mis- 
 chief." 
 
 " Oh, many a man finds courage in the wars, " replied the 
 stranger. 
 
 " It may be, " said the landlord ; " but I would have thought 
 our Mike more likely to lose the little he had." 
 
 " The Michael Lambourne whom I knew, " continued the 
 traveller, " was a likely fellow : went always gay and well- 
 attired, and had a hawk's eye after a pretty wench." 
 
 "Our Michael," replied the host, '"'had the look of a dog 
 with a bottle at its tail, and wore a coat every rag of which 
 was bidding good-day to the rest." 
 
 "Oh, men pick up good apparel in the wars," replied the 
 guest. 
 
 " Our Mike, " answered the landlord, " was more like to pick 
 it up in a frippery warehouse, while the broker was looking 
 another way; and, for the hawk's eye you talk of, his was 
 always after my stray spoons. He was tapster's boy here in 
 this blessed house for a quarter of a year ; and between mis- 
 reckonings, miscarriages, mistakes, and misdemeanours, had 
 2
 
 18 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 lie dwelt with me for three months longer, I might have pulled 
 down sign, shut up house, and given the devil the key to 
 keep. " 
 
 " You would be sorry, after all, " continued the traveller, 
 " were I to tell you poor Mike Lambourne was shot at the head 
 of his regiment at the taking of a sconce near Maestricht?" 
 
 '' Sorry ! it would be the blythest news I ever heard of him, 
 since it would ensure me he was not hanged. But let him 
 pass, I doubt his end will never do such credit to his friends ; 
 were it so, I should say (taking another cup of sack), 'Here's 
 God rest him, ' with all my heart. " 
 
 " Tush, man, " replied the traveller, " never fear but you 
 will have credit by your nephew yet, especially if he be the 
 Michael Lambourne whom I knew and loved very nearly, or 
 altogether, as well as myself. Can you tell me no mark by 
 which I could judge whether they be the same?" 
 
 " Faith, none that I can think of, " answered Giles Gosling, 
 " unless that our Mike had the gallows branded on his left 
 shoulder for stealing a silver caudle-cup from Dame Snort of 
 Hogsditch. " 
 
 *' Nay, there you lie like a knave, uncle, " said the stranger, 
 slipping aside his ruff, and turning down the sleeve of his 
 doublet from his neck and shoulder ; " by this good day, my 
 shoulder is as unscarred as thine own." 
 
 "What, Mike, boy — Mike!" exclaimed the host; "and is it 
 thou in good earnest? Nay, I have judged so for this half- 
 hour, for I knew no other person would have ta'en half the 
 interest in thee. But, Mike, an thy shoulder be unscathed as 
 thou sayest, thou must own that Goodman Thong, the hang- 
 man, was merciful in his office, and stamped thee with a cold 
 iron." 
 
 " Tush, uncle, truce with your jests. Keep them to season 
 your sour ale, and let us see what hearty welcome thou wilt 
 give a kinsman who has rolled the world around for eighteeu 
 years ; who has seen the sun set where it rises, and has trav- 
 elled till the west has become the east." 
 
 "Thou hast brought back one traveller's gift with thee, 
 Mike, as I well see ; and that was what thou least didst need
 
 KENILWORTH. 19 
 
 to travel for. I remember well, among thine other qualities, 
 there was no crediting a word which came from thy mouth. " 
 
 "Here's an unbelieving pagan for you, gentlemen!" said 
 Michael Lambourne, turning to those who witnessed this 
 strange interview betwixt uncle and nephew, some of whom, 
 being natives of the village, were no strangers to his juvenile 
 wildness. " This may be called slaying a Cumnor fatted calf 
 for me with a vengeance. But, uncle, I come not from the 
 husks and the swine-trough, and I care not for thy welcome 
 ©r no welcome ; I carry that with me will make me welcome, 
 "wend where I will." 
 
 So saying, he pulled out a purse of gold, indifferently well 
 filled, the sight of which produced a visible effect upon the 
 company. Some shook their heads, and whispered to each 
 other, while one or two of the less scrupulous speedily began 
 to recollect him as a school-companion, a townsman, or so 
 forth. On the other hand, two or three grave, sedate-looking 
 persons shook their heads, and left the inn, hinting that, if 
 Giles Gosling wished to continue to thrive, he should turn his 
 thriftless, godless nephew adrift again as soon as he could. 
 Gosling demeaned himself as if he were much of the same 
 opinion ; for even the sight of the gold made less impression 
 on the honest gentleman than it usually doth upon one of his 
 calling. 
 
 "Kinsman Michael," he said, "put up thy purse. My 
 sister's son shall be called to no reckoning in my house for 
 supper or lodging: and I reckon thou wilt hardly wish to 
 stay longer, where thou art e'en but too well known." 
 
 "For that matter, uncle," replied the traveller, "I shall 
 consult my own needs and conveniences. Meantime, I wish 
 to give the supper and sleeping-cup to those good townsmen, 
 who are not too proud to remember Mike Lambourne, the 
 tapster's boy. If you will let me have entertainment for my 
 money, so; if not, it is but a short two minutes' walk to the 
 Hare and Tabor, and I trust our neighbours will not grudge 
 going thus far with me." 
 
 " Nay, Mike, " replied his uncle, " as eighteen years have gone 
 over thy head, and I trust thou art somewhat amended in thy
 
 20 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 conditions, thou slialt not leave my house at this hour, and 
 shalt e'en have whatever in reason you list to call for. But 
 I would I knew that that purse of thine, which thou vapour- 
 est of, were as well come by as it seems well filled. " 
 
 "Here is an uifidel for you, my good neighbours!" said 
 Lambourne, again appealing to the audience. " Here's a fel- 
 low will rip up his kinsman's follies of a good score of years' 
 standing. And for the gold, why, sirs, I have been where it 
 grew, and was to be had for the gathermg. In the New 
 World have I been, man — in the Eldorado, where urchins 
 play at cherry -pit with diamonds, and country wenches thread 
 rubies for necklaces, instead of rowan-tree berries ; where the 
 pantiles are made of pure gold, and the paving-stones of virgin 
 silver." 
 
 " By my credit, friend Mike, " said young Laurence Gold- 
 thred, the cutting mercer of Abingdon, "that were a likely 
 coast to trade to. And what may lawns, cypruses, and ribands 
 fetch where gold is so plenty?" 
 
 " Oh, the profit were unutterable, " replied Lambourne, " es- 
 pecially when a handsome yoimg merchant bears the pack 
 himself ; for the ladies of that clime are bona-robas, and being 
 themselves somewhat sunburnt, they catch fire like tinder at a 
 fresh complexion like thine, with a head of hair inclining to 
 be red." 
 
 " I would I might trade thither, " said the mercer, chuckling. 
 
 " Why, and so thou mayst, " said Michael ; " that is, if thou 
 art the same brisk boy who was partner with me at robbing 
 the abbot's orchard : 'tis but a little touch of alchemy to decoct 
 thy house and land into ready money, and that ready money 
 into a tail ship, with sails, anchors, cordage, and aU things 
 conforming; then clap thy warehouse of goods under hatches, 
 put fifty good fellows on deck, with myself to command them, 
 and so hoise topsails, and hey for the New World 1" 
 
 " Thou hast taught him a secret, kinsman, " said Giles Gos- 
 ling, " to decoct, an that be the word, his pound into a penny, 
 and his webs into a thread. Take a fool's advice, neighbour 
 Goldthred. Tempt not the sea, for she is a devourer. Let 
 cards and cockatrices do their worst, thy father's bales may
 
 KENILWORTH. 21 
 
 bide a banging for a year or two, ere thou comest to the spital ; 
 but the sea hath a bottomless appetite : she would swallow the 
 wealth of Lombard Street in a morning as easily as I would 
 a poached egg and a cup of clary; and for my kinsman's El- 
 dorado, never trust me if I do not believe he has found it in 
 the pouches of some such gulls as thyself. But take no snufE 
 in the nose about it ; fall to and welcome, for here comes the 
 supper, and I heartily bestow it on all that will take share, in 
 honour of my hopeful nephew's return, always trusting that 
 he has come home another man. In faith, kinsman, thou art 
 as like my poor sister as ever was son to mother." 
 
 " Not quite so like old Benedict Lambourne her husband, 
 though, " said the mercer, nodding and winking. " Dost thou 
 remember, Mike, what thou saidst when the schoolmaster's 
 ferule was over thee for striking up thy father's crutches? 
 * It is a wise child, ' saidst thou, ' that knows its own father. ' 
 Dr. Bricham laughed till he cried again, and his crying saved 
 yours." 
 
 " Well, he made it up to me many a day after," said Lam- 
 bourne; "and how is the worthy pedagogue?" 
 
 "Dead," said Giles Gosling, "this many a day since." 
 
 " That he is, " said the clerk of the parish ; " I sat by his 
 bed the whilst. He passed away in a blessed frame, '3Iorior — 
 mortims sum vel fui — morV — these were his latest words, and 
 lie just added, 'jMy last verb is conjugated.' " 
 
 "Well, peace be with him," said Mike, "he owes me noth- 
 ing." 
 
 "Ko, truly," replied Goldthred; "and every lash which he 
 laid on thee, he always was wont to say, he spared the hang- 
 man a labour. " 
 
 " One would have thought he left him little to do then, " 
 said the clerk ; " and yet Goodman Thong had no sinecure of 
 it with our friend, after all. " 
 
 " Voto a Dios ! " exclaimed Lambourne, his patience appear- 
 ing to fad him, as he snatched his broad slouched hat from 
 the table and placed it on his head, so that the shadow gave 
 the sinister expression of a Spanish bravo to eyes and features 
 which naturally boded nothmg pleasant. " Harkee, my mas-
 
 22 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ters, all is fair among friends, and under the rose, and I hare 
 already permitted my worthy uncle here, and all of you, to 
 use your pleasure with the frolics of my nonage. But I carry 
 sword and dagger, my good friends, and can use them lightly 
 too upon occasion. I have learned to be dangerous upon points 
 of honour ever since I served the Spaniard, and I would not 
 have you provoke me to the degree of falling foul." 
 
 "Why, what would you do?" said the clerk. 
 
 "Ay, sir, what would you do?" said the mercer, bustling 
 up on the other side of the table. 
 
 " Slit your throat and spoil your Sunday's quavering, sir 
 clerk, " said Lambourne, fiercely ; " cudgel you, my worshipful 
 dealer in flimsy sarsenets, into one of your own bales." 
 
 " Come — come, " said the host, interposing, " I will have no 
 swaggering here. Nephew, it will become you best to show 
 no haste to take offence ; and you, gentlemen, will do well to 
 remember that, if you are m an inn, still you are the inn- 
 keeper's guests, and should spare the honour of his family. 
 I protest your silly broils make me as oblivious as yourself; 
 for yonder sits my silent guest, as I call him, who hath been 
 my two days' inmate, and hath never spoken a word, save to 
 ask for his food and his reckoning; gives no more trouble 
 than a very peasant ; pays his shot like a prince royal ; looks 
 but at the sum total of the reckoning, and does not know what 
 day he shall go away. Oh, 'tis a jewel of a guest! and yet, 
 hang-dog that I am, I have suffered him to sit by himself like 
 a castaway in yonder obscure nook, without so much as asking 
 him to take bite or sup along with us. It were but the right 
 guerdon of my incivility were he to set off to the Hare and 
 Tabor before the night grows older." 
 
 With his white napkin gracefully arranged over his left 
 arm, his velvet cap laid aside for the moment, and his best 
 silver flagon in his right hand, mine host walked up to the 
 solitary guest whom he mentioned, and thereby turned upon 
 him the eyes of the assembled company. 
 
 He was a man aged betwixt twenty-five and thirty, rather 
 above the middle size, dressed with plainness and decency, 
 yet bearing an air of ease which almost amounted to dignity.
 
 KENILWORTH. 23 
 
 and which, seemed to infer that his habit was rather beneath 
 his rank. His countenance was reserved and thoughtful, with 
 dark hair and dark eyes — the last, upon any momentary ex- 
 citement, sparkled with uncommon lustre, but on other occa- 
 sions had the same meditative and tranquil cast which was 
 exhibited by his features. The busy curiosity of the little 
 village had been employed to discover his name and quality, 
 as well as his business at Cumnor ; but nothing had transpired 
 on either subject which could lead to its gratification. Giles 
 Gosling, head-borough of the place, and a steady friend to 
 Queen Elizabeth and the Protestant religion, was at one time 
 inclined to suspect his guest of being a Jesuit, or seminary 
 priest, of whom Rome and Spain sent at this tim.e so many to 
 grace the gallows in England. But it was scarce possible to 
 retain such a prepossession against a guest who gave so little 
 trouble, paid his reckoning so regularly, and who proposed, 
 as it seemed, to make a considerable stay at the bonny Black 
 Bear. 
 
 "Papists," argued Giles Gosling, "are a pinching, close- 
 fisted race, and this man would have found a lodging with the 
 wealthy squire at Bessellsley, or with the old knight at Woot- 
 ton, or in some other of their Roman dens, instead of living 
 in a house of public entertainment, as every honest man and 
 good Christian should. Besides, on Friday, he stuck by the 
 salt beef and carrot, though there were as good spitchcocked 
 eels on the board as ever were ta'en out of the Isis." 
 
 Honest Giles, therefore, satisfied himself that his guest was 
 no Eoman, and with all comely courtesy besought the stranger 
 to pledge him in a draught of the cool tankard, and honour 
 with his attention a small collation which he was giving to his 
 nephew in honour of his return, and, as he verily hoped, of 
 his reformation. The stranger at first shook his head as if 
 declining the courtesy ; but mine host proceeded to urge him 
 with arguments founded on the credit of his house, and the 
 construction which the good people of Cumnor might put upon 
 such an unsocial humour. 
 
 " By my faith, sir, " he said, " it touches my reputation 
 that men should be merry in my house, and we have ill
 
 24 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 tongues amongst us at Cumnor — as where be there not? — who 
 put rui evil mark on men who pull their hat over their brows 
 as if they were looking back to the days that are gone, instead 
 of enjoying the blythe sunshiny weather which God has sent 
 us in the sweet looks of our sovereign mistress, Queen Eliza- 
 beth, whom Heaven long bless and preserve V 
 
 "Why, mine host," answered the stranger, "there is no 
 treason, sure, in a man's enjoying his own thoughts under the 
 shadow of his own bonnet? You have lived in the world twice 
 as long as I have, and you must know there are thoughts that 
 will haunt us in spite of ourselves, and to which it is in vain 
 to say, ' Begone, and let me be merry. ' " 
 
 "By my sooth," answered Giles Gosling, "if such trouble- 
 some thoughts haunt your mind, and will not get them gone 
 for plain English, we will have one of Father Bacon's pupils 
 from Oxford to conjure them away with logic and with He- 
 brew. Or, what say you to laying them in a glorious red sea 
 of claret, my noble guest? Come, sir, excuse my freedom. 
 I am an old host, and must have my talk. This peevish 
 humour of melancholy sits ill upon you : it suits not with a 
 sleek boot, a hat of a trim block, a fresh cloak, and a full 
 purse. A. pize on it ! send it off to those who have their legs 
 swathed with a hay-wisp, their heads thatched with a felt 
 bonnet, their jerkin as thin as a cobweb, and their pouch 
 without ever a cross to keep the fiend Melancholy from danc- 
 ing in it. Cheer up, sir ! or, by this good liquor, we wiU ban- 
 ish thee from the joys of blythesome company into the mists 
 of melancholy and the land of little-ease. Here be a set 
 of good fellows willing to be merry ; do not scowl on them like 
 the devil looking over Lincoln." 
 
 "You say well, my worthy host," said the guest, with a 
 melancholy smile, which, melancholy as it was, gave a very 
 pleasant expression to his countenance — "you say weU, my 
 jovial friend; and they that are moody like myself should not 
 disturb the mirth of those who are happy. I will drink a 
 round with your guests with all my heart, rather than be 
 termed a mar-feast.'^ 
 
 So saying, he arose and joined the company, who, encour-
 
 KENILWORTH. 25 
 
 aged by the precept and example of Michael Lamhourne, and 
 consisting chiefly of persons much disposed to profit by the 
 opportunity of a merry meal at the expense of their landlord, 
 had already made some inroads upon the limits of temperance, 
 as was evident from the tone in which Michael inquired after 
 his old acquaintances in the town, and the bursts of laughter 
 with which each answer was received. Giles Gosling himself 
 was somewhat scandalised at the obstreperous- nature of their 
 mirth, especially as he involuntarily felt some respect for his 
 imloiown guest. He paused, therefore, at some distance from 
 the table occupied by these noisy revellers, and began to make 
 a sort of apology for their license. 
 
 " You would thiuk, " he said, " to hear these fellows talk, 
 that there was not one of them who had not been bred to live 
 by * Stand and deliver' ; and yet to-morrow you will find i;hem 
 a set of as painstaking mechanics, and so forth, as ever cut an 
 mch short of measure, or paid a lettei' of change in. light 
 ero'UTis over a counter. The mercer there wears his hat awry, 
 over a shagged head of hair, that looks like a curly water-dog's 
 back, goes unbraced, wears his cloak on one side, and affects a 
 rufiianly vapouring humour ; when in his shop at Abingdon, 
 he is, frc-m his flat cap to his glistening shoes, as precise in 
 his apparel as if he was named for mayor. He talks of 
 breaking parks, and taking the highway, in such fashion that 
 you would think he haunted every night betwixt Hounslow 
 and London, when in fact he may be found sound asleep on 
 his feather-bed, with a candle placed beside him on one side, 
 and a Bible on the other, to fright away the goblins." 
 
 "And your nephew, mine host — ^this same Michael Lam« 
 bourne, who is lord of the feast — is he too such an would-be 
 ruftler as the rest of them?" 
 
 "Why, there you push me hard," said the host; "my 
 nephew is my nephew, and though he was a desperate Dick of 
 yore, yet Mike may have mended like other folks, you wot. 
 And I would not have you think all I said of him even now 
 was strict gospel : I knew the wag all the while, and wished 
 to pluck his plumes from him. And now, sir, by what name 
 shall I present my worshipful guest to these gallants?"
 
 26 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Marry, mine host, " replied the stranger, " you may call 
 me Tressilian," 
 
 "Tressilian!" answered mine host of the Bear, "a worthy 
 name, and, as I think, of Cornish lineage ; for what says the 
 south proverb : 
 
 By Pol, Tre, and Pen, 
 
 You may know the Cornish men. 
 
 Shall I say the worth/ Mr. Tressilian of Cornwall?" 
 
 " Say no more than I have given you warrant for, mine host, 
 and so shall you be sure you speak no more than is true. A 
 man may have one of those honourable prefixes to his name, 
 yet be born far from St. Michael's Mount." 
 
 Mine host pushed his curiosity no farther, but presented 
 Mr. Tressilian to his nephew's company, who, after exchange 
 of salutations, and drinking to the health of their new com- 
 panion, pursued the conversation in which he found them en- 
 gaged, seasoning it with many an intervening pledge. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Talk you of young Master Lancelot? 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 After some brief interval. Master Goldthred, at the earnest 
 instigation of mine host, and the joyous concurrence of his 
 guests, indulged the company with the following morsel of 
 melody : 
 
 " Of all the birds on bush or tree, 
 Commend me to the owl. 
 Since he may best ensample be 
 To those the cup that trowl. 
 For when the sun hath left the west, 
 He chooses the tree that he loves the best, 
 And he whoops out his song, and he laughs at his jest » 
 Then though hours be late, and weather foul, 
 We'll drink to the health of the bonny, bonny owL 
 
 The lark is but a bumpkin fowl, 
 
 He sleeps in his nest till morn ; 
 But my blessing upon the jolly owl, 
 
 That all night blows his horn.
 
 KENILWORTH. 27 
 
 Then up with your cup till you stagger in speech, 
 And match me this catch till you swagger and screech, 
 And drink till you wink, my merry men each ; 
 For though hours be late, and weather be foul, 
 We'll drink to the health of the bonny, bonny owl." 
 
 " There is savour in this, my hearts, " said Michael, -when 
 the mercer had finished his song, " and some goodness seems 
 left among you yet ; but what a bead-roll you have read me of 
 old comrades, and to every man's name tacked some ill-omened 
 motto ! And so Swashing Will of Wallingf ord hath bid us 
 good-night?" 
 
 "He died the death of a fat buck," said one of the party, 
 *' being shot with a cross-bow bolt, by old Thatcham, the 
 Duke's stout park-keeper at Donnington Castle," 
 
 "Ay, ay, he always loved venison well," replied Michael, 
 "and a cup of claret to boot; and so here's one to his memory. 
 Do me right, my masters." 
 
 When the memory of this departed worthy had been duly 
 honoured, Lambourne proceeded to inquire after Prance of 
 Padworth. 
 
 "Pranced off — made immortal ten years since," said the 
 mercer ; " marry, sir, Oxford Castle and Goodman Thong, and 
 a tenpenny- worth of cord, best know how. " 
 
 "What, so they hung poor Prance high and dry? so much 
 for loving to walk by moonlight! A cup to his memory, my 
 masters ; all merry fellows like moonlight. AVhat has become 
 of Hal with the Plume? he who lived near Yattendon, and 
 wore the long feather — I forget his name." 
 
 "What, Hal Hempseed?" replied the mercer, "why, you 
 may remember he was a sort of a gentleman, and would meddle 
 in state matters, and so he got mto the mire about the Duke 
 of Norfolk's affair these two or three years since, fled the 
 country with a pursuivant's warrant at his heels, and has 
 never since been heard of." 
 
 "Nay, after these baulks," said Michael Lambourne, "I 
 need hardly inquire after Tony Foster ; for when ropes, and 
 cross-bow shafts, and pursuivant's warrants, and such -like 
 gear were so rife, Tony could hardly 'scape them." 
 
 "Which Tony Foster mean you?" said the innkeeper.
 
 28 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Why, he they called Tony Fire-the-Fagot, because he 
 brought a light to kindle the pile round Latimer and Kidley, 
 when the wind blew out Jack Thong's torch, and no man else 
 would give him light for love or money." 
 
 "Tony Foster lives and tlmves," said the host. "But, 
 kinsman, I would not have you call him Tony Fire-the-Fagot, 
 if you would not brook the stab." 
 
 "How! is he gro^vn ashamed on't?" said Lambourne; 
 " why, he was wont to boast of it, and say he liked as well to 
 see a roasted heretic as a roasted ox. " 
 
 "Ay, but, kinsman, that was in Mary's time," replied the 
 landlord, "when Tony's father was reeve here to the abbot of 
 Abingdon. But since that, Tony married a pure precisian, 
 and is as good a Protestant, I warrant you, as the best." 
 
 " And looks grave, and holds his head high, and scorns his 
 old companions, " said the mercer. 
 
 " Then he hath prospered, I warrant him," said Lambourne; 
 " for ever when a man hath got nobles of his own he keeps 
 out of the way of those whose exchequers lie in other men's 
 purchase." 
 
 "Prospered, quotha!" said the mercer ; "why, you remem- 
 ber Cumnor Place, the old mansion-house beside the church- 
 yard?" 
 
 " By the same token, I robbed the orchard three times— 
 what of that? It was the old abbot's residence when there 
 was plague or sickness at Abingdon." 
 
 "Ay," said the host, "but that has been long over; and 
 Anthony Foster hath a right in it, and lives there by some 
 grant from a great courtier, who had the church lands from 
 the crown ; and there he dwells, and has as little to do with 
 any poor wight in Cumnor as if he were himseK a belted 
 knight." 
 
 " Nay, " said the mercer, " it is not altogether pride in Tony 
 neither : there is a fair lady in the case, and Tony will scarce 
 let the light of day look on her." 
 
 "How!" said Tressilian, who now for the first time inter- 
 fered in their conversation, " did ye not say this Foster was 
 married, and to a precisian?"
 
 KENILWORTH. 29 
 
 " Married lie was, and to as bitter a i^recisian as ever eat 
 flesh, in Lent; and a cat-and-dog life she led with Tony, as 
 men said. But she is dead, rest be with her, and Tony hath 
 but a slip of a daughter ; so it is thought he means to wed 
 this stranger, that men keep such a coil about." 
 
 "And why so? I mean, why do they keep a coil about 
 her?" said Tressilian. 
 
 *' Why, I wot not, " answered the host, " except that men 
 say she is as beautiful as an angel, and no one knows whence 
 she comes, and every one wishes to know why she is kept so 
 closely mewed up. For my part, I never saw her ; you have, 
 I thmk. Master Goldthred?" 
 
 " That I have, old boy, " said the mercer. " Look you, I 
 was riding hither from Abingdon — I passed under the east 
 oriel window of the old mansion, where all the old saints and 
 histories and such-like are painted. It was not the common 
 path I took, but one through the park ; for the postern door 
 was upon the latch, and I thought I might take the privilege 
 of an old comrade to ride across through the trees, both for 
 shading, as the day was somewhat hot, and for avoiding of 
 dust, because I had on my peach-coloured doublet, pinked out 
 with cloth of gold." 
 
 "Which garment," said Michael Lambourne, "thou wouldst 
 willingly make twinkle in the eyes of a fair dame. Ah ! vil- 
 lain, thou wilt never leave thy old tricks." 
 
 " Not so — not so, " said the mercer, with a smirking laughs 
 " not altogether so ; but curiosity, thou knowest, and a strain 
 of compassion withal, for the poor young lady sees nothiag 
 from morn to even but Tony Foster, with his scowling black 
 brows, his bull's head, and his bandy legs," 
 
 " And thou wouldst willingly show her a dapper body, in a 
 silken jerkin; a limb like a short-legged hen's, in a cordovan 
 boot ; and a romid, simpering, what-d'ye-lack sort of a coun- 
 tenance, set off with a velvet bonnet, a Turkey feather, and a 
 gilded brooch? Ah! jolly mercer, they who have good wares 
 are fond to show them ! Come, gentles, let not the cup stand — 
 here's to long spurs, short boots, full bonnets, and empty 
 skuUsI"
 
 30 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Nay, now, you are jealous of me, Mike," said Goldthred; 
 " and yet my luck was l3ut what might have happened to thee, 
 or any man." 
 
 " Marry, confound thine impudence, " retorted Lambourne ; 
 "thou wouldst not compare thy pudding face and sarsenet 
 manners to a gentleman and a soldier?" 
 
 " Nay, my good sir," said Tressilian, " let me beseech you 
 will not interrupt the gallant citizen ; methinks he tells his 
 tale so well, I could hearken to him till midnight." 
 
 "It's more of your favour than of my desert," answered 
 Master Goldthred; "but since I give you pleasure, worthy 
 Master Tressilian, I shall proceed, maugre all the gibes and 
 quips of this valiant soldier, who, peradventure, hath had 
 more cuffs than crowns in the Low Countries. And so, sir, 
 as I passed under the great painted window, leaving my rein 
 loose on my ambling palfrey's neck, partly for mine ease, and 
 partly that I might have the more leisure to peer about, I 
 hears me the lattice open ; and never credit me, sir, if there 
 did not stand there the person of as fair a woman as ever 
 crossed mine eyes; and I think I have looked on as many 
 pretty wenches, and with as much judgment, as other folks." 
 
 "May I ask her appearance, sir?" said Tressilian. 
 
 " Oh, sir, " replied Master Goldthred, " I promise you, she 
 was in gentlewoman's attire — a very quaint and pleasing dress, 
 that might have served the Queen herself ; for she had a fore- 
 part with body and sleeves, of ginger-colourea satin, which, in 
 my judgment, must have cost by the yard some thirty shUl- 
 ings, lined with murrey taffeta, and laid down and guarded 
 with two broad laces of gold and silver. And her hat, sir, 
 was truly the best-fashioned thing that I have seen in these 
 parts, being of tawny taffeta, embroidered with scorpions 
 of Venice gold, and having a border garnished with gold 
 fringe — I promise you, sir, an absolute and all-surpassing de- 
 vice. Touching her skirts, they were in the old pass-devant 
 fashion." 
 
 " I did not ask you of her attire, sir, " said Tressilian, who 
 had shown some impatience during this conversation, " but of 
 her complexion, the colour of her hair, her features."
 
 KENILWORTH. 31 
 
 • "Touching her complexion," answered the mercer, "I am 
 not so special certaia ; but I marked that her fan had an ivory- 
 handle, curiously inlaid; and then, again, as to the colour of 
 her hair, why, I can warrant, be its hue what it might, that 
 she wore above it a net of green silk, parcel twisted with gold." 
 
 "A most mercer-like memory," said Lambourne: "the gen- 
 tleman asks him of the lady's beauty, and he talks of her fine 
 clothes!" 
 
 "I tell thee," said the mercer, somewhat disconcerted, "I 
 had little time to look at her ; for just as I was about to give 
 her the good time of day, and for that purpose had puckered 
 my features with a smile " 
 
 "Like those of a jackanape simperiug at a chestnut," said 
 Michael Lambourne. 
 
 — " Up started of a sudden, " continued Goldthred, without 
 heeding the interruption, " Tony Foster himseK, with a cudgel 
 in his hand " 
 
 "And broke thy head across, 1 hope, for thine imperti- 
 nence, " said his entertainer. 
 
 " That were more easily said than done, " answered Gold- 
 thred, indignantly ; " no, no — there was no breaking of heads ; 
 it's true, he advanced his cudgel, and spoke of laying on, and 
 asked why I did not keep the public road, and such-like ; and 
 I would have Knocked him over the pate handsomely for his 
 pains, only for the lady's presence, who might have swooned, 
 for what I know." 
 
 "Now, out upon thee for a faint-spirited slave!" said Lam- 
 bourne ; " what adventurous knight ever thought of the lady's 
 terror when he went to thwack giant, dragon, or magician in 
 her presence, and for her deliverance? But why talk to thee 
 of dragons, who would be driven back by a dragon-fly? There 
 thou hast missed the rarest opportunity!" 
 
 " Take it thyself then, bully Mike, " answered Goldthred. 
 "Yonder is the enchanted manor, and the dragon, and the 
 lady, all at thy service, if thou darest venture on them." 
 
 " Why, so I would for a quartern of sack," said the soldier. 
 Or, stay — I am foully out of linen — wilt thou bet a piece of 
 HoUands against these five angels that I go not up to the hall
 
 32 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to-moiTow and force Tony Foster to introduce me to his fair 
 guest?" 
 
 "I accept your wager," said the mercer; "and I think, 
 though thou hadst even the impudence of the devil, I shall 
 gain on thee this bout. Our landlord here shall hold stakes, 
 and I will stake down gold till I send the linen." 
 
 " I will hold stakes on no such matter, " said Gosling. " Good 
 now, my kinsman, drink your wine in quiet, and let such ven- 
 tiires alone. I promise you. Master Foster hath interest 
 enough to lay you up in lavender in the castle at Oxford, or 
 to get your legs made acquainted with the town-stocks." 
 
 " That would be but renewing an old intimacy ; for Mike's 
 shins and the town's wooden pinfold have been well l<Jiown to 
 each other ere now," said the mercer; " but he shall not budge 
 from his wager, unless he means to pay forfeit." 
 
 "Forfeit!" said Lambourne; "I scorn it. I value Tony 
 Foster's wrath no more than a shelled pea-cod; and I will 
 visit his Lindabrides, by St. George, be he willing or no!" 
 
 "I would gladly j)ay your halves of the risk, sir," said 
 TressUian, " to be permitted to accompany you on the adven- 
 ture." 
 
 " In what would that advantage you, sir?" answered Lam- 
 borne. 
 
 " In nothing, sir, " said Tressilian, " unless to mark the skill 
 and valour with which you conduct yourself. I am a traveller, 
 who seeks for strange rencounters and uncommon passages, as 
 the knights of yore did after adventures and feat of arms." 
 
 " Nay, if it pleasures you to see a trout tickled, " answered 
 Lambourne, " I care not how many witness my skill. And so 
 here I drink success to my enterprise; and he that will not 
 pledge me on his knees is a rascal, and I will cut his legs off 
 by the garters!" 
 
 The draught which Michael Lambourne took upon this occa- 
 sion had been preceded by so many others that reason tottered 
 on her throne. He swore one or two incoherent oaths at the 
 mercer, who refused, reasonably enough, to pledge him to a 
 sentiment which inferred the loss of his own wager. 
 
 "Wilt thou chop logic with me," said Lambourne, "thou
 
 KENILWORTH. 33 
 
 knave, witli no more brains than are in a skein of ravelled 
 silk? By Heaven, I will cut thee into fifty yards of galloori 
 lace!" 
 
 But, as he attempted to draw his sword for this doughty 
 purpose, Michael Lambourne was seized upon by the tapster 
 and the chamberlain, and conveyed to his own apartment, 
 there to sleep himself sober at his leisure. 
 
 The party then broke up, and the guests took their leave ; 
 much more to the contentment of mine host than of some of 
 the company, who were unwilliag to quit good liquor, when 
 it was to be had for free cost, so long as they were able to sit 
 by it. They were, however, compelled to remove ; and go at 
 length they did, leaving Gosling and Tressilian in the empty 
 apartment. 
 
 *' By my faith, " said the former, " I wonder where our great 
 folks find pleasure, when they spend their means in entertain- 
 ments, and in playing mine host without sending in a reckon- 
 ing. It is what I but rarely practise; and whenever I do, by 
 St. Julian, it grieves me beyond measure. Each of these 
 empty stoups now, which my nephiew and his drunken com- 
 rades have swilled off, should have been a matter of profit to 
 one in my line, and I must set them down a dead loss. I 
 cannot, for my heart, conceive the pleasure of noise, and non- 
 sense, and drunken freaks, and drunken quarrels, and smut, 
 and blasphemy, and so forth, when a man loses money instead 
 of gaining by it. And yet many a fair estate is lost in up- 
 holding such an useless course, and that greatly contributes to 
 the decay of publicans ; for who the devil do you think would 
 pay for drink at the Black Bear, when he can have it for 
 nothing at my lord's or the squire's?" 
 
 Tressilian perceived that the wine had made some impres- 
 sion even on the seasoned brain of mine host, wliich was 
 chiefly to be inferred from his declaimmg against drunken- 
 ness. As he himself had carefully avoided the bowl, he would 
 have availed himself of the frankness of the moment to extract 
 from Gosling some further information upon the subject of 
 Anthony Foster, and the lady whom the mercer had seen in 
 his mansion-house; but his inquiries only set the host upon a
 
 34 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 new theme of declamation against the wiles of the fair sex, in 
 which he brought, at full length, the whole wisdom of Solomon 
 to reinforce his own. Finally, he turned his admonitions, 
 mixed with much objurgation, upon his tapsters and drawers, 
 who were employed in removing the relics of the entertain- 
 ment and restoring order to the apartment; and at length, 
 joining example to precept, though with no good success, he 
 demolished a salver with half a score of glasses, in attempting 
 to show how such service was done at the Three Cranes in the 
 Vintry, then the most topping tavern in London. This last 
 accident so far recalled him to his better seK that he retired 
 to his bed, slept sound, and awoke a new man in the morning. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Nay, I'll hold touch, the game shall be play'd out; 
 ' It ne'er shall stop for me, this merry wager. 
 
 That which I say when gamesome, I'll avouch 
 In my most sober mood, ne'er trust me else. 
 
 The Hazard Table. 
 
 "And how doth your kinsman, good mine host?" said 
 TressUian, when Giles Gosling first appeared in the public 
 Toom, on the morning following the revel which we described 
 in the last chapter. "Is he well, and will he abide by his 
 wager?" 
 
 *' For well, sir, he started two hours since, and has visited 
 I know not what purlieus of his old companions ; hath but now 
 returned, and is at this instant breakfasting on new-laid eggs 
 and muscadine ; and for his wager, I caution you as a friend 
 to have little to do with that, or indeed with aught that Mike 
 proposes. Wherefore, I counsel you to a warm breakfast upon 
 a culiss, which shall restore the tone of the stomach ; and let 
 my nephew and Master Goldthred swagger about their wager 
 as they list." 
 
 " It seems to me, mine host, " said Tressilian, " that you 
 know not well what to say about this kinsman of yours j and
 
 KENILWORTH. 35 
 
 that you can neither blame him nor commend him without 
 some tinge of conscience." 
 
 *' Tou have spoken truly, Master Tressilian," replied Giles 
 Gosling. "There is natural affection whimpering into one 
 ear, * Giles — Giles, why wilt thou take away the good name of 
 thy own nephew? Wilt thou defame thy sister's son, Giles 
 Gosling? — wilt thou defoul thine own nest, dishonour thine 
 own blood?' And then, again, comes justice, and says, 'Here 
 is a worthy guest as ever came to the bonny Black Bear ; one 
 who never challenged a reckoning — as I say to your face you 
 never did. Master Tressilian — not that you have had cause — 
 one who knows not why he came, so far as I can see, or when 
 he is going away ; and wilt thou, being a publican, having paid 
 scot and lot these thirty years in the town of Cumnor, and 
 being at this instant head-borough — wilt thou suffer this guest 
 of guests, this man of men, this six-hooped pot, as I may say, 
 of a traveller, to fall into the meshes of thy nephew, who is 
 known for a swasher and a desperate Dick, a carder and a 
 dicer, a professor of the seven damnable sciences, if ever man 
 took degrees in them?' No, by Heaven! I might wink, and 
 let him catch such a small butterfly as Goldthred ; but thou, 
 my guest, shalt be forewarned, forearmed, so thou wilt but 
 listen to thy trusty host." 
 
 " Why, mme host, thy counsel shall not be cast away, " re- 
 plied Tressilian ; " however, I must uphold my share in this 
 wager, having once passed my word to that effect. But lend 
 me, I pray, some of thy counsel. This Foster, who or what 
 is he, and why makes he such mystery of his female inmate?'* 
 
 " Troth, " replied Gosling, " I can add but little to what you 
 heard last night. He was one of Queen Mary's Papists, and 
 now he is one of Queen Elizabeth's Protestants; he was an 
 on-hanger of the abbot of Abingdon, and now he lives as 
 master of the manor-house. Above all, he was poor and is 
 rich. Polk talk of private apartments in his old waste man- 
 sion-house bedizened fine enough to serve the Queen, God 
 bless her! Some men think he found a treasure in the or- 
 chard, some that he sold himself to the devil for treasure, and 
 some say that he cheated the abbot out of the church plate
 
 36 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 which was hidden in the old manor-house at the Reformation. 
 Rich, however, he is, and God and his conscience, with the 
 devil perhaps, besides, only knOw how he came by it. He 
 has sulky ways too, breaking off intercourse with all that are 
 of the place, as if he had either some strange secret to keep 
 or held himself to be made of another clay than we are. I 
 think it likely my kinsman and he will quarrel, if Mike thrust 
 his acquaintance on him ; and I am sorry that you, my worthy 
 Master Tressilian, will still think of going in my nephew's 
 company. " 
 
 Tressilian again answered him, that he would proceed with 
 great caution, and that he should have no fears on his account ; 
 in short, he bestowed on him all the customary assurances 
 with which those who are determined on a rash action are 
 wont to parry the advice of their friends. 
 
 Meantime, the traveller accepted the landlord's invitation, 
 and had just finished the excellent breakfast which was served 
 to him and Gosling by pretty Cicely, the beauty of the bar, 
 when the hero of the preceding night, Michael Lamboume, 
 entered the apartment. His toilet had apparently cost him 
 some labour, for his clothes, which differed from those he wore 
 on his journey, were of the newest fashion, and put on with 
 great attention to the display of his person. 
 
 " By my faith, uncle, " said the gallant, " you made a wet 
 night of it, and I feel it followed by a dry morning. I will 
 pledge you willingly in a cup of bastard. How, my pretty 
 coz. Cicely ! why, I left you but a child in the cradle, and 
 there thou stand' st in thy velvet waistcoat, as tight a girl as 
 England's sun shines on. &iow thy fi-iends and kindred. 
 Cicely, and come hither, child, that I may kiss thee, and give 
 thee my blessing." 
 
 " Concern not yourself about Cicely, kinsman, " said Giles 
 Gosling, "but e'en let her go her way, a' God's name; for 
 although your mother were her father's sister, yet that shall 
 not make you and her cater-cousins." 
 
 "Why, uncle," replied Lambourne, "think'st thou I am an 
 infidel, and would harm those of mine own house?" 
 
 " It is for no harm that I speak, Mike," answered his uncle^
 
 KENILWORTH. 37 
 
 ** but a simple humour of precaution wldch I have. True, thou 
 art as well gilded as a snake when he casts his old slough in 
 the spring-time; but for all that^ thou creepest not into my 
 Eden. I will look after mine Eve, Mike, and so content thee. 
 But how brave thou be'st, lad! To look on thee now, and 
 compare thee with Master Tressilian here, in his sad-coloured 
 riding-suit, who would not say that thou wert the real gentle- 
 man and he the tapster's boy?" 
 
 "Troth, uncle," replied Lambourne, "no one would say so 
 but one of your country- breeding, that knows no better. I 
 will say, and I care not who hears me, there is something 
 about the real gentry that few men come up to that are nQt 
 born and bred to the mystery. I wot not where the trick 
 lies ; but although I can enter an ordinary with as much 
 audacity, rebuke the waiters and drawers as loudly, drink as 
 deep a health, swear as round an oath, and fluig my gold as 
 freely about as any of the jingling spurs and white feathers 
 that are around me ; yet, hang me if I can ever catch the true 
 grace of it, though I have practised an himdi*ed times. The 
 man of the house sets me lowest at the board, and carves to 
 me the last ; and the drawer says, ' Coming, friend, ' without 
 any more reverence or regardful addition. But, hang it, let 
 it pass ; care killed a cat. I have gentry enough to pass the 
 trick on Tony Fire-the-Fagot, and that will do for the matter 
 in hand." 
 
 " You hold your piu'pose, then, of visiting your old acquaint- 
 since?" said Tressilian to the adventurer. 
 
 "Ay, sir," replied Lamboui'ne: "when stakes are made, 
 the game must be played; that is gamester's law aU over the 
 ■world. You, sir, unless my memory fails me, for I did steep 
 it somewhat too deeply in the sack-butt, took some share in 
 my hazard?" 
 
 "I propose to accompany you m your adventure," said 
 Tressilian, " if you will do me so much grace as to permit me ; 
 and I have staked my share of the forfeit in the hands of our 
 worthy host." 
 
 " That he hath, " answered Giles Gosling, " in as fair 
 Harry nobles as ever were melted into sack by a good fellow.
 
 38 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 So, luck to your enterprise, since you will needs venture on 
 Tony Foster ; but, by my credit, you had better take another 
 draught before you depart, for your welcome at the hall 
 yonder will be somewhat of the driest. And if you do get 
 into peril, beware of taking to cold steel ; but send for me, 
 Giles Gosling, the head-borough, and I may be able to make 
 something out of Tony yet, for as proud as he is." 
 
 The nephew dutifully obeyed his uncle's hint, by taking a 
 second powerful pull at the tankard, observing, that his wit 
 never served him so well as when he had washed his temples 
 with a deep morning's draught; and they set forth together 
 for the habitation of Anthony Foster. 
 
 The village of Cumnor is pleasantly built on a hill, and in a 
 wooded park closely adjacent was situated the ancient mansion 
 occupied at this time by Anthony Foster, of which the ruins 
 may be still extant. The park was then full of large trees, 
 and in particular of ancient and mighty oaks, which stretched 
 their giant arms over the high wall surrounding the demesne, 
 thus giving it a melancholy, secluded, and monastic appear- 
 ance. The entrance to the park lay through an old-fashioned 
 gateway in the outer wall, the door of which was formed of 
 two huge oaken leaves, thickly studded with nails, like the 
 gate of an old town. 
 
 "We shall be finely holped up here," said Michael Lam- 
 bourne, looking at the gateway and gate, "if this fellow's 
 suspicious humour should refuse us admission altogether, as it 
 is like he may, in case this linsey-wolsey fellow of a mercer's 
 visit to his premises has disquieted him. But no, " he added, 
 pushing the huge gate, which gave way, " the door stands in- 
 vitingly open ; and here we are within the forbidden ground, 
 without other impediment than the passive resistance of a 
 heavy oaken door, moving on rusty hinges. " 
 
 They stood now in an avenue overshadowed by such old 
 trees as we have described, and which had been bordered at 
 one time by high hedges of yew and holly. But these, having 
 been untrimmed for many years, had rim up into great bushes, 
 or rather dwarf-trees, and now encroached, with their dark 
 and melancholy boughs, upon the road which they once had
 
 KENILWORTH. 39 
 
 screened. The avenue itself was grown up with grass, and in 
 one or two places interrupted by piles of withered brushwood, 
 which had been lopped from the trees cut down in the neigh- 
 bouring park, and was here stacked for drymg. Formal 
 walks and avenues, which, at different points, crossed this 
 principal approach, were in like manner choked up and inter- 
 rupted by piles of brushwood and billets, and in other places 
 by underwood and brambles. Besides the general effect of 
 desolation which is so strongly impressed, whenever we behold 
 the contrivances of man wasted and obliterated by neglect, and 
 witness the marks of social life effaced gradually by the influ- 
 ence of vegetation, the size of the trees and the outspreading 
 extent of their boughs diffused a gloom over the scene, even 
 when the sun was at the highest, and made a proportional im- 
 pression on the mind of those who visited it. This was felt 
 even by Michael Lambourne, however alien his habits were to 
 receiving any impressions, excepting from things which ad- 
 dressed themselves immediately to his passions. 
 
 "This wood is as dark as a wolf's mouth," said he to 
 Tressilian, as they walked together slowly along the solitary 
 and broken approach, and had just come in sight of the mo- 
 nastic front of the old mansion with its shafted windows, brick 
 walls overgrown with ivy and creeping shrubs, and twisted 
 stalks of chimneys of heavy stonework. "And yet," con- 
 tinued Lambourne, "it is fairly done on the part of Foster 
 too ; for since he chooses not visitors, it is right to keep his 
 place in a fashion that will invite few to trespass upon his 
 privacy. But had he been the Anthony I once knew him, 
 these sturdy oaks had long since become the property of some 
 honest woodmonger, and the manor-close here had looked 
 lighter at midnight than it now does at noon, while Foster 
 played fast and loose with the price in some cimning corner in 
 the purlieus of Whitefriars." 
 
 " Was he then such an un thrift?" asked Tressilian. 
 
 "He was," answered Lambourne, "like the rest of us, no 
 saint, and no saver. But what I liked worst of Tony was, 
 that he loved to take his pleasure by himself, and grudged, as 
 men say, every drop of water that went past his own mill.
 
 40 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 I have known him deal with such measures of wine when he- 
 was alone as I would not have ventured on with aid of the best 
 toper in Berkshire; that, and some sway towards superstition, 
 which he had by temperament, rendered him unworthy the 
 company of a good fellow. And now he has earthed himself 
 here in a den just befitting such a sly fox as himself." 
 
 ''May I ask you, Master Lambourne," said Tressilian, 
 " since your old companion's humour jumps so little with your 
 own, wherefore you are so desirous to renew acquaintance with 
 him?" 
 
 "And may I ask you, in return. Master Tressilian, " an- 
 swered Lambourne, "wherefore you have shown yourself so 
 desirous to accompany me on this party?" 
 
 "I told you my motive," said Tressilian,* "when I took 
 share in your wager : it was simple curiosity. " 
 
 "La you there now!" answered Lambourne. "See how 
 you civil and discreet gentlemen think to use us who live by 
 the free exercise of our wits ! Had I answered your question 
 by saying that it was simple curiosity which led me to visit 
 my old 'comrade, Anthony Foster, I warrant you had set it- 
 down for an evasion and a turn of my trade. But any answer,. 
 I suppose, must serve my turn. " 
 
 " And wherefore should not bare curiosity, " said Tressilian,. 
 "be a sufficient reason for my taking this walk with you?" 
 
 " Oh, content yourself, sir, " replied Lambourne ; " you can- 
 not ^put the change on me so easy as you think, for I have 
 lived among the quick-stirring spirits of the age too long to 
 swallow chaff for grain. You are a gentleman of birth and 
 breeding — your bearing makes it good; of civil habits and 
 fair reputation — your manners declare it, and my uncle 
 avouches it; and yet you associate yourself with a sort of 
 scant-of -grace, as men call me ; and, knowing me to be such, 
 you make yourself my companion in a visit to a man whom 
 you are a stranger to — and all out of mere curiosity, forsooth! 
 The excuse, if curiously balanced, wovild be found to want 
 some scruples of just weight or so." 
 
 "If your suspicions were just," said Tressilian, "you have- 
 shown no confidence in me to invite or deserve mine. "
 
 KENILWORTH. 41 
 
 " 0]i, if that be all, " said Lambourne, " my motives lie above 
 water. While this gold of mine lasts, " taking out his purse, 
 chucking it into the air, and catching it as it fell, " I will 
 make it buy pleasure, and when it is out, I must have more. 
 Kow, if this mysterious Lady of the Manor — this fair Linda- 
 brides of Tony Fire-the-Fagot — be so admirable a piece as 
 men say, why, there is chance that she may aid me to melt 
 my nobles into groats ; and, again, if Anthony be so wealthy 
 a chuff as report speaks him, he may prove the philosopher's 
 stone to me, and convert my groats into fair rose nobles 
 again." 
 
 " A comfortable proposal truly, " said Tressilian ; " but I see 
 not what chance there is of accomplishing it." 
 
 "Not to-day, or perchance to-morrow," answered Lam- 
 bouxne: "I ^.expect not to catch the old jack till I have dis- 
 posed my ground-baits handsomely. But I know something 
 more of his affairs this morning than I did last night, and I 
 will so use my knowledge that he shall think it more perfect 
 than it is. Nay, without expecting either pleasure or profit, or 
 both, I had not stepped a stride within this manor, I can tell 
 you ; for I promise you I hold our visit not altogether without 
 risk. But here we are, and we must make the best on't." 
 
 While he thus spoke, they had entered a large orchard 
 which surrounded the house on two sides, though the trees, 
 •abandoned by the care of man, were overgrown and mossy, 
 «iid seemed to bear little fruit. Those which had been for- 
 merly trained as espaliers had now resumed their natural mode 
 of growing, and exhibited grotesque forms, partaking of the 
 original training which they had received. The greater part 
 of the ground, which had once been parterres and flower- 
 gai'dens, was suffered in like manner to run to waste, except- 
 ing a few patches which had been dug up, and planted with 
 ordinary pot herbs. Some statues, which had ornamented the 
 :garden in its days of splendour, were now thrown down from 
 their pedestals and broken in pieces, and a large summer- 
 house, having a heavy stone front, decorated with carving, 
 representing the life and actions of Samson, was in the same 
 ^dilapidated condition.
 
 42 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 They had just traversed this garden of the sluggard, and 
 were within a few steps of the door of the mansion, when 
 Lambounie had ceased speaking — a circumstance very agree- 
 able to Tressilian, as it saved him the embarrassment of either 
 commenting upon or replying to the frank '^avowal which his 
 companion had just made of the sentiments and views which 
 induced him to come hither. Lambourne knocked roundly 
 and boldly at the huge door of the mansion, observing, at the 
 same time, he had seen a less strong one upon a county jail. 
 It was not until they had knocked more than once that an 
 aged, sour-visaged domestic reconnoitred them through a small 
 square hole in the door, well secured with bars of iron, and 
 demanded what they wanted. 
 
 " To speak with Master Foster instantly, on pressing busi- 
 ness of the state, " was the ready reply of Michael Lambourne. 
 
 "Methinks you will find difficulty to make that good," 
 said Tressilian in a whisper to his companion, while the ser- 
 vant went to carry the message to his master. 
 
 " Tush, " replied the adventurer ; " no soldier would go on 
 were he always to consider when and how he should come off. 
 Let us once obtain entrance, and all will go well enough. " 
 
 In a short time the servant returned, and drawing with a 
 careful hand both bolt and bar, opened the gate, which ad- 
 mitted them through an archway into a square court, sur- 
 rounded by buildings. Opposite to the arch was another 
 door, which the serving-man in like manner unlocked, and 
 thus introduced them into a stone-paved parlour, where there 
 was but little furniture, and that of the rudest and most 
 ancient fashion. The windows were tall and ample, reaching 
 almost to the roof of the room, which was composed of black 
 oak ; those opening to the quadrangle were obscured by the 
 height of the surrounding buildings, and, as they were trav- 
 ersed with massive shafts of solid stonework, and thickly 
 painted with religious devices and scenes taken from Scripture 
 history, by no means admitted light in proportion to their 
 size; and what did penetrate through them partook of the 
 dark and gloomy tinge of the stained glass. 
 
 Tressilian and his guide had time enough to observe all
 
 KENILWORTH. 43 
 
 these particulars, for they waited some space in the apartment 
 ■ere the present master of the mansion at length made his ap- 
 pearance. Prepared as he was to see an inauspicious and ill- 
 looking person, the ugliness of Anthony Foster considerably 
 exceeded what Tressilian had anticipated. He was of middle 
 stature, built strongly, but so clumsily as to border on deform- 
 ity, and to give all his motions the ungainly awkwardness of 
 a left-legged and left-handed man. His hair, in arrangmg 
 which men at that time, as at present, were very nice and 
 curious, instead of being carefully cleaned and disposed into 
 short curls, or else set up on end, as is represented in old 
 paintings, in a manner resembling that used by fine gentlemen 
 of our own day, escaped in sable negligence from under a 
 furred bonnet, and hung in elf-locks, which seemed strangers 
 to the comb, over his rugged brows, and around his very 
 singular and unprepossessing countenance. His keen dark 
 «yes were deep set beneath broad and shaggy eyebrows, and as 
 they were usually bent on the ground, seemed as if they were 
 themselves ashamed of the expression natural to them, and 
 were desirous to conceal it from the observation of men. At 
 times, however, when, more intent on observing others, he 
 suddenly raised them, and fixed them keenly on those with 
 whom he conversed, they seemed to express both the fiercer 
 passions and the power of mind which could at will suppress 
 or disguise the intensity of inward feeling. The features 
 which corresponded with these eyes and this form were 
 irregular, and marked so as to be indelibly fixed on the mind 
 of him who had once seen them. Upon the whole, as Tres- 
 silian could not help acknowledging to himself, the Anthony 
 Foster who now stood before them was the last person, judg- 
 ing from personal appearance, upon whom one would have 
 chosen to intrude an unexpected and undesired visit. His 
 attire was a doublet of russet leather, like those worn by the 
 better sort of coimtry folk, girt with a buff belt, in which was 
 stuck on the right side a long knife, or dudgeon dagger, and 
 on the other a cutlass. He raised his eyes as he entered the 
 room, and fixed a keenly penetrating glance upon his two 
 visitors, then cast them down as if counting his steps, while
 
 44 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 he advanced slowly into the middle of the room, and said, in 
 a low and smothered tone of voice : " Let me pray you, gentle- 
 men, to tell me the cause of this visit. " 
 
 He looked as if he expected the answer from Tressilian ; so 
 true was Lambourne's observation, that the superior air of 
 breeding and dignity shone through the disguise of an inferior 
 dress. But it was Michael who replied to him, with the easy 
 familiarity of an old friend, and a tone which seemed unem- 
 barrassed by any doubt of the most cordial reception. 
 
 "Ha! my dear friend and ingle, Tony Foster!" he ex- 
 claimed, seizing upon the unwilling hand, and shaking it with 
 such emphasis as almost to stagger the sturdy frame of the 
 person whom he addressed ; " how fares it with you for many 
 a long year? What! have you altogether forgotten your 
 friend, gossip, and playfellow, Michael Lambourne?" 
 
 "Michael Lambourne!" said Foster, looking at him a mo- 
 ment ; then dropping his eyes, and with little ceremony extri- 
 cating his hand from the friendly grasp of the person by whom 
 he was addressed — "are you Michael Lambourne?" 
 
 "Ay, sure as you are Anthony Foster," replied Lam- 
 bourne. 
 
 "'Tis well," answered his sullen host; "and what may 
 Michael Lambourne expect from his visit hither?" 
 
 " Vofo a Dios, " answered Lambourne, " I exrpected a better 
 welcome than I am like to meet, I think." 
 
 "Why, thou gallows-bird — thou jail-rat — thou friend of the 
 hangman and his customers," replied Foster, "hast thou the 
 assurance to expect countenance from any one whose neck is 
 beyond the compass of a Tyburn tippet?" 
 
 " It may be with me as you say, " replied Lambourne ; " and 
 suppose I grant it to be so for argument's sake, I were still 
 good enough society for mine ancient friend Anthony Fire-the- 
 Fagot, though he be, for the present, by some mdescribable 
 title, the master of Cumnor Place." 
 
 " Hark you, Michael Lambourne, " said Foster ; " you are a 
 gambler now, and live by the counting of chances. Compute 
 me the odds that I do not, on this instant, throw you out of 
 that window into the ditch there."
 
 KENILWORTH. 4=5 
 
 "Twenty to one that you do not," answered the sturdy 
 visitor. 
 
 "And wherefore, I pray you?" demanded Anthony Foster, 
 setting his teeth and compressing his lips, like one who en- 
 deavours to suppress some violent internal emotion. 
 
 "Because," said Lambourne, cooUy, "you dare not for your 
 life lay a finger on me. I am younger and stronger than you, 
 and have in me a double portion of the fighting devil, though 
 not, it may be, quite so much of the undermining fiend, that 
 finds an underground way to his purpose, who hides halters 
 under folks' pillows, and who puts ratsbane into their por- 
 ridge, as the stage-play says." 
 
 Foster looked at him earnestly, then turned away, and paced 
 the room twice, with the same steady and considerate pace 
 with which he had entered it ; then suddenly came back, and 
 extended his hand to Michael Lambourne, saying : " Be not 
 wroth with me, good Mike ; I did but try whether thou hadst 
 parted with aught of thine old and honourable frankness, 
 which your enviers and backbiters called saucy impudence." 
 
 " Let them call it what they will, " said Michael Lambourne, 
 *' it is the commodity we must carry through the world with 
 us. Uds daggers ! I tell thee, man, mine own stock of assur- 
 ance was too small to trade upon : I was fain to take in a ton 
 or two more of brass at every port where I touched in the 
 voyage of life; and I started overboard what modesty and 
 scruples I had remaining, in order to make room for the 
 stowage. " 
 
 " Nay, nay, " replied Foster, " touching scruples and mod- 
 esty, you sailed hence in ballast. But who is this gallant, 
 honest Mike? Is he a Corinthian — a cutter like thyself?" 
 
 " I prithee, know Master TressUian, bully Foster, " replied 
 Lambourne, presenting his friend in answer to his friend's 
 question — " know him and honour him, for he is a gentleman 
 of many admirable qualities; and though he traffics not in 
 my line of business, at least so far as I know, he has, never- 
 theless, a just respect and admiration for artists of our class. 
 He will come to in time, as seldom fails ; but as yet he is only 
 a neophyte, only a proselyte, and frequents the company of
 
 46 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 cocks of tlie game, as a puny fencer does the scliools of the 
 masters, to see how a foil is handled by the teachers of de^ 
 fence. " 
 
 " If such be his quality, I will pray your company in an- 
 other chamber, honest Mike, for what I have to say to thee is 
 for thy private ear. Meanwhile, I pray you, sir, to abide us 
 in this apartment, and without leaving it : there be those in 
 this house who would be alarmed by the sight of a stranger. " ' 
 
 Tressilian acquiesced, and the two worthies left the apart- 
 ment together, in which he remained alone to await their 
 return. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Not serve two masters? Here's a youth will try it — 
 Would fain serve God, yet give the devil his due; 
 Says grace before he doth a deed of villainy, 
 And returns his thanks devoutly when 'tis acted. 
 
 Old Play. 
 
 The room into which the master of Cumnor Place conducted 
 his worthy visitant was of greater extent than that in which 
 they had at first conversed, and had yet more the appearance 
 of dilapidation. Large oaken presses, tilled with shelves of 
 the same wood, surrounded the room, and had, at one time, 
 served for the arrangement of a numerous collection of books, 
 many of which yet remained, but torn and defaced, covered 
 with dust, deprived of their costly clasps and bindings, and 
 tossed together in heaps upon the shelves, as things altogether 
 disregarded, and abandoned to the pleasure of every spoiler. 
 The very presses themselves seemed to have incurred the hos- 
 tility of those enemies of learning, who had destroyed the 
 volumes with which they had been heretofore filled. They 
 were, in several places, dismantled of their shelves, and other- 
 wise broken and damaged, and were, moreover, mantled with 
 cobwebs and covered with dust. 
 
 " The men who wrote these books, " said Lambourne, look- 
 
 • See Foster, Lambourne, and the Black Bear. Note 8.
 
 KENILWORTH. 47 
 
 ing round him, " little thought whose keeping they were to fall 
 into." 
 
 "Nor what yeoman's service they were to do me," quoth 
 Anthony Foster : *' the cook hath used them for scourrag his 
 pewter, and the groom hath had nought else to clean my boots 
 with this many a month past. " 
 
 " And yet, " said Lambourne, " I have been in cities where 
 such learned commodities would have been deemed too good 
 for such offices." 
 
 "Pshaw — pshaw," answered Poster, "they are Popish 
 trash, every one of them — private studies of the mumping old 
 abbot of Abingdon. The nineteenthly of a pure Gospel 
 sermon were worth a cart-load of such rakiags of the kennel 
 of Eome." 
 
 " Gad-a-mercy, Master Tony Fire-the-Pagot!" said Lam- 
 bourne, by way of reply. 
 
 Foster scowled darkly at him, as he replied : " Hark ye, 
 friend Mike ; forget that name,- and the passage which it re- 
 lates to, if you would not have our newly-revived comrade- 
 ship die a sudden and a violent death." 
 
 " Why, " said Michael Lambourne, " you were wont to glory 
 in the share you had in the death of the two old heretical 
 bishops." 
 
 " That, " said his comrade, " was while I was in the gall of 
 bitterness and bond of iniquity, and applies not to my walk or 
 my ways now that I am called forth into the lists. Mr. 
 Melchisedek Maultext compared my misfortune in that matter 
 to that of the Apostle Paul, who kept the clothes of the wit- 
 nesses who stoned St. Stephen. He held forth on the matter 
 three Sabbaths past, and illustrated the same by the conduct 
 of an honourable person present, meaning me. " 
 
 " I prithee peace, Foster, " said Lambourne ; " for, I know 
 not how it is, I have a sort of creeping comes over my skin 
 when I hear the devil quote Scripture ; and besides, man, how 
 couldst thou have the heart to quit that convenient old religion, 
 which you could slip off or on as easily as your glove? Do I 
 not remember how you were wont to carry your conscience to 
 confession, as duly as the month came round? and when thou
 
 48 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 hadst it scoured, and burnished, and whitowaslied by the 
 priest, thou wert ever ready for the worst villainy which 
 could be devised, like a child who is always readiest to rush 
 into the mire when he has got his Sunday's clean jerkin on." 
 
 "Trouble not thyself about my conscience," said Foster, 
 *' it is a thing thou canst not understand, having never had 
 one of thine own. But let us rather to the jjoint, and say to 
 me, in one word, what is thy business with me, and what 
 hopes have di-awn thee hither?" 
 
 " The hope of bettering myself, to be sure, " answered Lam- 
 bourne, "as the old woman said, when she leapt over the 
 bridge at Kingston. Look you, this purse has all that is left 
 of as round a sum as a man would wish to carry in his slop- 
 pouch. You a,re here well established, it would seem, and, as 
 I think, well befriended, for men talk of thy being under some 
 special protection; nay, stare not like a pig that is stuck, 
 mon, thou canst not dance in a net and they not see thee? 
 Now I know such protection is not purchased for nought : you 
 must have services to render for it, and in these I propose to 
 help thee." 
 
 " But how if I lack no assistance from thee, Mike? I think 
 thy modesty might sui^pose that were a case possible." 
 
 "That is to say," retorted Lambourne, "that you would 
 engross the whole work rather than divide the reward ; but be 
 not over-greedy, Anthony. Covetousness bursts the sack and 
 spills the grain. Look you, when the huntsman goes to kill a 
 stag, he takes with him more dogs than one. He has the 
 stanch lyme-hound to track the wounded buck over hill and 
 dale, but he hath also the fleet gaze-hound to kill him at view. 
 Thou art the lyme-hound, I am the gaze-hound, and thy 
 patron will need the aid of both, and can well afford to re- 
 quite it. Thou hast deep sagacity, an unrelenting purpose, a 
 steady, long-breathed malignity of nature, that surpasses 
 mine. But then I am the bolder, the quicker, the more ready, 
 both at action and expedient. Separate, our propei"ties are 
 not so perfect ; but unite them, and we drive the world before 
 us. How sayst thou, shall we hunt in couples?" 
 
 ** It is a currish proposal, thus to thrust thyself upon my
 
 KENILWORTH. 49 
 
 private matters," replied Foster; "but thou wert ever an ill- 
 nurtured whelp/' 
 
 " You shall have no cause to say so, unless you spurn my 
 courtesy," said Michael Lambourne; "but if so, keep thee 
 well from me, sir knight, as the romance has it. I will either 
 share your counsels or traverse them ; for I have come here to 
 be busy, either with thee or against thee." 
 
 " Well, " said Anthony Foster, " since thou dost leave me so 
 fair a choice, I will rather be thy friend than thine enemy. 
 Thou art right : I can prefer thee to the service of a patron 
 who has enough of means to make us both and an hundred 
 more. And, to say truth, thou art well qualified for his ser- 
 vice. Boldness and dexterity he demands — the justice-books 
 bear witness in thy favour ; no starting at scruples in his ser- 
 vice — why, who ever suspected thee of a conscience? an assur- 
 ance he must have who would follow a courtier — and thy brow 
 is as impenetrable as a Milan visor. There is but one thing I 
 would fain see amended in thee." 
 
 "And what is that, my most precious friend Anthony?" 
 replied Lambourne ; " for I swear by the pillow of the Seven 
 Sleepers, I will not be slothful in amending it." 
 
 " Why, you gave a sample of it even now, " said Foster. 
 **Your speech twangs too much of the old stamp, and you 
 garnish it ever and anon with singular oaths, that savour of 
 Paptistrie. Besides, your exterior man is altogether too de- 
 boshed and irregular to become one of his lordship's followers, 
 since he has a reputation to keep up in the eye of the world. 
 You must somewhat reform your dress, upon a more grave and 
 composed fashion; wear your cloak on both shoulders, and 
 your falling band unrumpled and well starched. You must 
 enlarge the brim of your beaver, and diminish the superfluity 
 of your trunk-hose; go to church, or, which will be better, to 
 meeting, at least once a month ; protest only upon your faith 
 and conscience ; lay aside your sAvashuig look, and never touch 
 the hilt of your sword but when you would draw the carnal 
 weapon in good earnest." 
 
 "By this light, Anthony, thou art mad," answered Lam- 
 boui'ne, " and hast described rather the gentleman-usher to a 
 4
 
 50 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Puritan's wife than the follower of an ambitious courtier! 
 Yes, such a thing as thou wouldst make of me should wear a 
 book at his girdle instead of a poniard, and might just be sus- 
 pected of manhood enough to squire a proud dame-citizen to 
 the lecture at St. Antonlin's, and quarrel in her cause with 
 any flat-capp'd threadmaker that would take the wall of her. 
 He must ruffle it in another sort that would walk to court in 
 a nobleman's train." 
 
 " Oh, content you, sir, " replied Foster, " there is a change 
 since you knew the English world ; and there are those who 
 can hold their way through the boldest courses, and the most 
 secret, and yet never a swaggering word, or an oath, or a pro- 
 fane word in their conversation." 
 
 *' That is to say, " replied Lambourne, " they are in a trading 
 copartnery to do the devil's business without mentioning his 
 name in the firm? Well, I will do my best to counterfeit, 
 rather than lose ground in this new world, since thou sayest it 
 is grown so precise. But, Anthony, what is the name of this 
 nobleman, in whose service I am to turn hypocrite?" 
 
 "Aha! Master Michael, are you there with your bears?" 
 said Foster, with a grim smile ; " and is this the knowledge 
 you pretend of my concernments? How know you now there 
 is such a person in rerum nafura, and that I have not been, 
 putting a jape upon you all this time?" 
 
 " Thou put a jape on me, thou sodden-brained gull?" an- 
 swered Lambourne, nothing daunted ; " why, dark and muddy 
 as thou think' st thyself, I would engage in a day's space to see 
 as clear through thee and thy concernments, as thou call'st 
 them, as through the filthy horn of an old stable lantern." 
 
 At this moment their conversation was interrupted by a 
 scream from the next apartment. 
 
 "By the holy cross of Abingdon," exclaimed Anthony 
 Foster, forgetting his Protestantism in his alarm, "I am a 
 ruined man!" 
 
 So saying, he rushed into the apartment whence the scream 
 issued, followed by Michael Lambourne. But to account for 
 the sounds which interrupted their conversation it is necessary 
 to recede a little way in our narrative.
 
 KENILWORTH. 61 
 
 It has been already observed tbat, wben Lambourne accom- 
 panied Foster into the library, they left Tressilian alone in 
 the ancient parlour. His dark eye followed them forth of the 
 apartment with a glance of contempt, a part of which his mind 
 instantly transferred to himself, for having stooped to be even 
 for a moment their familiar companion. " These are the asso- 
 ciates. Amy" — it was thus he communed with himself — " to 
 which thy cruel levity, thine unthinking and most unmerited 
 falsehood, has condemned him of whom his friends once hoped 
 far other things, and who now scorns himself, as he will be 
 scorned by others, for the baseness he stoops to for the love 
 of thee! But I will not leave the pursuit of thee, once the 
 object of my purest and most devoted affection, though to me 
 thou canst henceforth be nothing but a thing to weep over. I 
 will save thee from thy betrayer and from thyself. I will re- 
 store thee to thy parents — to thy God. I cannot bid the 
 bright star again sparkle in the sphere it has shot from, 
 but " 
 
 A slight noise in the apartment interrupted his reverie ; he 
 looked round, and in the beautiful and richly-attired female 
 who entered at that instant by a side door he recognised the 
 object of his search. The first impulse arising from this dis- 
 covery urged him to conceal his face with the collar of his 
 cloak, until he should find a favourable moment of making 
 himself known. But his purpose was disconcerted by the 
 young lady (she was not above eighteen years old), who ran 
 joyfully towards him, and, pulling him by the cloak, said 
 playfully : " Nay, my sweet friend, after I have waited for you 
 so long, you come not to my bower to play the masquer. You 
 are arraigned of treason to true love and fond affection ; and 
 you must stand up at the bar and answer it with face uncov- 
 ered — how say you, guilty or not?" 
 
 "Alas, Amy!" said Tressilian, in a low and melancholy 
 tone, as he suffered her to draw the mantle from his face. 
 The sound of his voice, and still more the miexpected sight of 
 his face, changed in an instant the lady's playful mood. She 
 staggered back, turned as pale as death, and put her hands 
 before her face. Tressilian was himself for a moment much
 
 52 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 overcome, but seeming suddenly to remember tlie necessity of 
 using an opportunity which, might not again occur, he said ia 
 alow tone: "Amy, fear me not." 
 
 "Why should I fear you?" said the lady, withdrawing her 
 hands from her beautiful face, which was now covered with 
 crimson — "why should I fear you, Mr. Tressilian? or where- 
 fore have you intruded yourself into my dwelling, uninvited, 
 sir, and unwished for?" 
 
 "Your dwelling, Amy!" said Tressilian. "Alas! is a 
 prison your dwelling? — a prison guarded by one of the 
 most sordid of men, but not a greater wretch than his em- 
 ployer!" 
 
 " This house is mine, " said Amy — " mine while I choose to 
 inhabit it. If it is my pleasure to live in seclusion, who shall 
 gainsay me?" 
 
 "Your father, maiden," answered Tressilian — "your broken- 
 hearted father, who despatched me in quest of you with that 
 authority which he cannot exert in person. Here is his letter, 
 written while he blessed his pain of body which somewhat 
 stunned the agony of his mind. " 
 
 " The pain! is my father then ill?" said the lady. 
 
 " So ill," answered TressiLian, "that even your utmost haste 
 may not restore him to health ; but all shall be instantly pre- 
 pared for your departure the instant you yourself will giv© 
 consent." 
 
 " Tressilian, " answered the lady, " I cannot — I must not — 
 I dare not leave this place. Go back to my father ; tell him. 
 I will obtain leave to see him within twelve hours from hence. 
 Go back, Tressilian ; tell him I am well, I am happy — happy 
 could I think he was so j tell him not to fear that I will come, 
 and in such a manner that all the grief Amy has given him 
 shall be forgotten — the poor Amy is now greater than she dare 
 name. Go, good Tressilian ; I have injured thee too, but be- 
 lieve me I have power to heal the wounds I have caused : I 
 robbed you of a childish heart, which was not worthy of you, 
 and I can repay the loss with honours and advancement." 
 
 " Do you say this to me. Amy? Do you offer me pageants 
 of idle ambition for the quiet peace you have robbed me of?
 
 KENILWORTH. 5$ 
 
 But be it so — I came Bot to upbraid, but to serve and to free 
 you. You cannot disguise it from me — you are a prisoner. 
 Otherwise your kind heart — for it was once a kind heart — 
 would have been already at your father's bed-side. Come, 
 poor, deceived, unhappy maiden. All shall be forgot — all 
 shall be forgiven. Fear not my importunity for what re- 
 garded '^ur contract; it was a dream, and I have awaked. 
 But come; your father yet lives. Come, and one word of 
 affection — one tear of penitence, will efface the memory of all 
 that has passed." 
 
 " Have I not already said, Tressilian, " replied she, " that 1 
 will surely come to my father, and that without farther delay 
 than is necessary to discharge other and equally binding 
 duties? Go, carry him the news. I come as sure as there is 
 light in heaven — that is, when I obtain permission." 
 
 " Permission ! — permission to visit your father on his sick- 
 bed, perhaps on his death-bed!" repeated Tressilian, impa- 
 tiently; " and permission from whom? From the villain who,, 
 under disguise of friendship, abused every duty of hospitality, 
 and stole thee from thy father's roof!" 
 
 " Do him no slander, Tressilian ! He whom thou speakest 
 of wears a sword as sharp as thine — sharper, vain man ; for 
 the best deeds thou hast ever done in peace or war were as 
 unworthy to be named with his as thy obscure rank to match 
 itself with the sphere he moves in. Leave me ! Go, do mine 
 errand to my father, and when he next sends to me, let him 
 choose a more welcome messenger." 
 
 " Amy," replied Tressilian, calmly, " thou canst not move ma 
 by thy reproaches. Tell me one thing, that I may bear at least 
 one ray of comfort to my aged friend. This rank of his which 
 thou dost boast — dost thou share it with him, Amy? Does h© 
 claim a husband's right to control thy motions?" 
 
 "Stop thy base, unmannered tongue!" said the lady; "to 
 no question that derogates from my honour do I deign an an- 
 swer." 
 
 "You have said enough in refusing to reply," answered 
 Tressilian ; " and mark me, unhappy as thou art, I am armed 
 with thy father's full authority to command thy obedience
 
 54 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 and I will save thee from the slavery of sin and of sorrow, 
 even despite of thyself, Amy." 
 
 "Menace no violence here!" exclaimed the lady, drawing 
 back from him, and alarmed at the determination expressed 
 in his look and manner : " threaten me not, Tressilian, for I 
 have means to repel force." 
 
 " But not, I trust, the wish to use them in so evil a cause?" 
 said Tressilian. "With thy will — thine uninfluenced, free, 
 and natural vrill. Amy, thou canst not choose this state of 
 slavery and dishonour : thou hast been bound by some spell — 
 entrapped by some deceit — art now detained by some com- 
 pelled vow. But thus I break the charm : Amy, in the name 
 of thine excellent, thy broken-hearted father, I command thee 
 t» follow me!" 
 
 As he spoke, he advanced and extended his arm, as with 
 the purpose of laying hold upon her. But she shrunk 
 back from his grasp, and uttered the scream which, as we 
 before noticed, brought into the apartment Lambourne and. 
 Foster. 
 
 The latter exclaimed, as soon he entered: "Fire and fagot! 
 what have we here?" Then addressing the lady, in a tone 
 betwixt entreaty and command, he added: "Uds precious! 
 madam, what make you here out of bounds? Ketire — retire; 
 there is life and death in this matter. And you, friend, who- 
 ever you may be, leave this house : out with you, before my 
 dagger's hilt and your costard become acquainted. Draw, 
 Mike, and rid us of the knave!" 
 
 "Not I, on my soul," replied Lambourne; "he came hither 
 in my company, and he is safe from me by cutter's law, at 
 least till we meet again. But hark ye, my Cornish comrade, 
 you have brought a Cornish flaw of wind with you hither — a 
 hurricanoe as they call it in the Indies. Make yourself scarce 
 — depart — vanish, or we'll have you summoned before the 
 Mayor of Halgaver, and that before Dudman and Kamhead 
 meet." 
 
 "Away, base groom!" said Tressilian. "And you, madam, 
 fare you well; what life lingers in your father's bosom will 
 leave him at the news I have to tell."
 
 KENILWORTH. 55 
 
 He departed, the lady saying faintly as lie left the room : 
 "Tressilian, be not rash — say no scandal of me." 
 
 " Here is proper gear, " said Foster. " I pray you go to 
 your chamber, my lady, and let us consider how this is to be 
 answered ; nay, tarry not. " 
 
 " I move not at your command, sir, " answered the lady. 
 
 "Nay, but you must, fair lady," replied Foster; "excuse 
 my freedom, but, by blood and nails, this is no time to strain 
 courtesies — you nnist go to your chamber. Mike, follow that 
 meddling coxcomb, and, as you desire to thrive, see him safely 
 clear of the premises, while I bring this headstrong lady to 
 reason. Draw thy tool, man, and after him." 
 
 "I'll follow him," said Michael Lambourne, "and see him 
 fairly out of Flanders. But for hurting a man I have drunk 
 my morning's draught withal, 'tis clean against my con- 
 science." So saying, he left the apartment. 
 
 Tressilian, meanwhile, with hasty steps, pursued the first 
 path which promised to conduct him through the wild and 
 overgrown park in which the mansion of Foster was situated. 
 Haste and distress of mind led his steps astray, and, instead 
 of taking the avenue which led towards the village, he chose 
 another, which, after he had pursued.it for some time with 
 a hasty and reckless step, conducted him to the other side of 
 the demesne, where a postern door opened through the wall, 
 and led into the open country. 
 
 Tressilian paused an instant. It was indifferent to him by 
 what road he left a spot now so odious to his recollections; 
 but it was probable that the postern door was locked, and his 
 retreat by that pass rendered impossible. 
 
 "I must make the attempt, however," he said to himself; 
 " the only means of reclaiming this lost — this miserable — this 
 still most lovely and most unhappy girl — must rest in her 
 father's appeal to the broken laws of his country; I must haste 
 to apprise him of this heartrending intelligence." 
 
 As Tressilian, thus conversing with himself, approached to 
 try some means of openmg the door, or climbing over it, he 
 perceived there was a key put into the lock from the outside. 
 It turned round, the bolt revolved, and a cavalier, who en-
 
 .66 WAVERLSY NOVELS. 
 
 tered, muffled in his riding-cloak, and wearing a slouched hat 
 with a drooping feather, stood at once within four yards of 
 him. who was desirous of gohag out. They exclaimed at once, 
 in tones of resentment and surprise, - the one ''Vamey!" the 
 other "Tressilian!" 
 
 "What make you here?" was the stern question put by the 
 stranger to Tressilian, when the moment of surprise was past 
 — " what make you here, where your presence is neither ex- 
 pected nor desired?" 
 
 "Nay, Varney," replied Tressilian, "what make T/ouheve? 
 Are you come to triumph over the innocence you have de- 
 stroyed, as the vulture or carrion-crow comes to batten on the 
 lamb, whose eyes it has first plucked out? Or are you come 
 to encounter the merited vengeance of an honest man? Draw, 
 dog, and defend thyself!" 
 
 Tressilian drew his sword as he spoke; but Varney only 
 laid his hand on the hilt of his own, as he replied : " Thou art 
 mad, Tressilian. I own appearances are against me, but by 
 ^very oath a priest can make, or a man can swear. Mistress 
 Amy Robsart hath had no injury from me; and in truth I 
 were somewhat loth to hurt you in this cause. Thou know'st 
 I can fight." 
 
 "I have heard thee say so, Varney," replied Tressilian; 
 ^' but now, methinks, I would fain have some better evidence 
 than thme own word." 
 
 " That shall not be lacking, if blade and hilt be but true to 
 me, " answered Varney ; and drawing his sword with the right 
 liand, he threw his cloak around his left, and attacked Tres- 
 silian with a vigour which, for a moment, seemed to give him 
 "the advantage of the combat. But this advantage lasted not 
 long. Tressilian added to a spirit determined on revenge a 
 hand and eye admirably well adapted to the use of the rapier; 
 «o that Varney, finding himself hard pressed in his turn, en- 
 deavoured to avail himself of his superior strength, by closing 
 with his adversary. For this purpose, he hazarded the receiv- 
 ing one of Tressilian's passes in his cloak, wrapt as it was 
 :around his arm, and ere his adversary could extricate his ra- 
 pier thus entangled, he closed with him, shortening his own
 
 KENILTTORTH. 57" 
 
 sword at the same time, with the purpose ox despatching him^ 
 But Tressiliau was ou. his guard, and, unsheathing his poniard^ 
 parried with the blade of that weapon the home-thrust whicli 
 would otherwise have finished the combat, and, in the struggle 
 which followed, displayed so much addi-ess as might have con- 
 firmed tftie opinion that he drew his origin from Cornwall, 
 whose natives are such masters in the art of wrestling as, were- 
 the games of antiquity revived, might enable them to chal- 
 lenge all Europe to the ring, Varney, in his ill-advised at- 
 tempt, received a fall so sudden and violent that his sword fle-w 
 several paces from his hand, and ere he could recover his feet 
 that of his antagonist was pointed to his throat. 
 
 " Give me the instant means of relieving the victim of thy 
 treachery," said Tressilian, "or take the last look of your 
 Creator's blessed sim!" 
 
 And while Varney, too confused or too sullen to reply,, 
 made a sudden effort to arise, his adversary drew back his- 
 arm, and would have executed his threat, but that the blow- 
 was arrested by the grasp of Michael Lambourne, who, 
 directed by the clashing of swords, had come up just in time- 
 to save the life of Varney. 
 
 " Come — come, comrade, " said Lambourne, " here is enough 
 done, and more than enough; put up your fox, and let us be- 
 jogging. The Black Bear growls for us." 
 
 "Off, abject!" said Tressilian, striking himself free of 
 Lambourne's grasp; "darest thou come betwixt me and mine 
 enemy?" 
 
 "Abject — abject!" repeated Lambourne: "that shall be 
 answered with cold steel whenever a bowl of sack has washed 
 out memory of the morning's draught that we had together. 
 In the mean while, do you see, shog — tramp — begone; we are 
 two to one." 
 
 He spoke truth, for Varney had taken the opportunity ta 
 regain his weapon, and Tressilian perceived it was madness to 
 press the quarrel farther against such odds. He took his 
 purse from his side, and taking out two gold nobles, flung 
 them to Lambourne : " There, caitiff, is thy morning wage : 
 thou shalt not say thou hast been my guide unhired, Varney^
 
 68 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 farewell; we shall meet where there are none to come betwixt 
 us. " So saying, he turned round, and departed through the 
 postern door. 
 
 Varney seemed to want the inclination, or perhaps the 
 power, for his fall had been a severe one, to follow his retreat- 
 ing enemy. But he glared darkly as he disappeared, and then 
 addressed Lambourne ; " Art thou a comrade of Foster's, good 
 fellow?" 
 
 " Sworn friends, as the haft is to the knife," replied Michael 
 Lambourne. 
 
 " Here is a broad piece for thee ; follow yonder fellow, and 
 see where he takes earth, and bring me word up to the man- 
 sion-house here. Cautious and silent, thou knave, as thou 
 vainest thy throat." 
 
 "Enough said," replied Lambourne; "I can di-aw on a 
 scent as well as a sleuth-hound." 
 
 "Begone, then," said Varney, sheathing his rapier; and, 
 turning his back on Michael Lambourne, he walked slowly 
 towards the house. 
 
 Lambourne stopped but an instant to gather the nobles 
 which his late companion had flung towards him so uncere- 
 moniously, and muttered to himseK, while he put them up in 
 his purse along with the gratuity of Varney: "I spoke to 
 yonder gulls of Eldorado. By St. Anthony, there is no 
 Eldorado for men of our stamp equal to bonny Old England! 
 It rains nobles, by Heaven ; they lie on the grass as thick as 
 dewdrops ; you may have them for gathering. And if I have 
 not my share of such glittering dewdrops, may my sword melt 
 like an icicle!"
 
 KENILWORTH. '^9 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 He was a man 
 Versed in the world as pilot in his compass. 
 The needle pointed ever to that interest 
 Which was his loadstar, and he spread his sails 
 With vantage to the gale of others' passion. 
 
 T/ie Deceiver, a Tragedy. 
 
 Anthony Foster was still engaged in debate with his fair 
 guest, who treated with scorn every entreaty and request that 
 she would retire to her own apartment, when a whistle was 
 heard at the entrance door of the mansion. 
 
 "We are fairly sped now," said Foster; "yonder is thy 
 lord's signal, and what to say about the disorder which has 
 happened in this household, by my conscience, I know not. 
 Some evil fortune dogs the heels of that unhanged rogue Lam- 
 bourne, and he has 'scaped the gallows against every chance, 
 to come back and be the ruin of me!" 
 
 "Peace, sir," said the lady, "and undo the gate to your 
 master. My lord! — my dear lord!" she then exclaimed, has- 
 tening to the entrance of the apartment; then added, with a 
 voice expressive of disappointment: "Pooh! it is but Richard 
 Varney." 
 
 " Ay, madam, " said Varney, entering and saluting the lady 
 with a respectful obeisance, which she returned with a care- 
 less mixture of negligence and of displeasure, " it is but Rich- 
 ard Varney ; but even the first grey cloud should be acceptable, 
 when it lightens in the east, because it announces the approach 
 of the blessed sun. " 
 
 "How! comes my lord hitherto-night?" said the lady, in 
 joyful yet startled agitation ; and Anthony Foster caught up 
 the word, and echoed the question. Varney replied to the 
 lady, that his lord purposed to attend her, and would have 
 proceeded with some compliment, when, running to the door 
 of the parlour, she called aloud : " Janet — Janet, come to my 
 tiring-room instantly." Then returning to Varney, she asked 
 if her lord sent any farther commendations to her.
 
 j60 waverley novels. 
 
 " This letter, honoured madam, " said he, taking from his 
 bosom a small parcel wrapt in scarlet silk, " and with it a tok- 
 en to the queen of his affections." With eager speed the lady- 
 hastened to undo the silken string which surrounded the little 
 packet, and failing to unloose readily the knot with which it 
 was secured, she again called loudly on Janet : " Bring me 
 a knife — scissors — aught that may undo this envious knot!" 
 
 " May not my poor poniard serve, honoured madam, " said 
 Varney, presenting a small dagger of exquisite workmanship, 
 which hung in his Turkey-leather sword-belt. 
 
 "No, sir," replied the lady, rejecting the instrument which 
 lie offered. " Steel poniard shall cut no true-love knot of 
 mine. " 
 
 "It has cut many, however," said Anthony Foster, half- 
 aside, and looking at Varney. By this time the knot was dis- 
 entangled without any other help than the neat and nimble 
 fingers of Janet — a simply-attired, pretty maiden, the daugh- 
 ter of Anthony Foster, who came running at the repeated call 
 of her mistress. A necklace of orient pearl, the companion 
 of a perfumed billet, was now hastily produced from the 
 packet. The lady gave the one, after a slight glance, to the 
 charge of her attendant, while she read, or rather devoured, 
 the contents of the other. 
 
 " Surely, lady, " said Janet, gazing with admiration at the 
 Tieck-string of pearls, " the daughters of Tyre wore no fairer 
 neck-jewels than these. And then the posy, 'For a neck that 
 is fairer,' — each pearl is worth a freehold." 
 
 " Each word m this dear paper is worth the whole string, my 
 girl. But come to my tiring-room, girl ; we must be brave, 
 my lord comes hither to-night. He bids me grace you. Mas- 
 ter Varney, and to me his wish is a law. I bid you to a col- 
 lation in my bower this afternoon, and you, too. Master 
 Foster. Give orders that all is fitting, and that suitable prep- 
 arations be made for my lord's reception to-night." With 
 ■these words she left the apartment. 
 
 " She takes state on her already," said Varney, "and dis- 
 •tributes the favour of her presence, as if she were already 
 the partner of his dignity. Well, it is wise to practise before-
 
 KENILWORTH. 61 
 
 liand tlie part whicli fortune prepares us to play : the young 
 eagle must gaze at the sun, ere he soars on strong wing to 
 meet it." 
 
 " If holding her head aloft, " said Foster, " will keep her 
 eyes from dazzling, I warrant you the dame will not stoop her 
 crest. She will presently soar beyond reach of my whistle, 
 Master Varney. I promise you, she holds me already ia slight 
 regard." 
 
 *•' It is thine own fault, thou sullen, uninventive companion, " 
 answered Varney, "who know'st no mode of control, save 
 downright brute force. Canst thou not make home pleasant 
 to her vnth music and toys? Canst thou not make the out- 
 of-doors fi-ightful to her, with tales of goblins? Thou livest 
 here by the churchyard, and hast not even wit enough to 
 raise a ghost, to scare thy females into good discipline." 
 
 " Speak not thus, Master Yamey, " said Foster ; " the living 
 I fear not, but I trifle not nor toy with my dead neighbours 
 of the churchyard. I promise you, it requires a good heart to 
 live so near it; worthy Master Holdforth, the afternoon's lec- 
 turer of St. Antonliii's, had a sore fright there the last time 
 he came to visit me." 
 
 "Hold thy superstitious tongue," answered Varney; "and 
 while thou talk' st of visiting, answer me, thou paltering knave, 
 how came Tressilian to be at the postern door?" 
 
 " Tressilian !" answered Foster, " what know I of Tressilian? 
 I never heard his name." 
 
 "Why, villain, it was the very Cornish chough to whom 
 old Sir Hugh Robsart destined his pretty Amy, and hither the 
 hot-brained fool has come to look after his fair runaway. 
 There must be some order taken with him, for he thinks he 
 hath wrong, and is not the mean hind that will sit down with 
 it. Luckily he knows nought of my lord, but thinks he has 
 only me to deal with. But how, in the fiend's name, came he 
 hither?" 
 
 "Why, with Mike Lamboume, an you must know," an- 
 swered Foster." 
 
 "And who is Mike Lambourne?" demanded Varney. "By 
 Heaven ! thou wert best set up a bush over thy door, and in-
 
 62 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 vite every stroller who passes by to see what thou shouldst 
 keep secret even from the sun and air." 
 
 " Ay ! ay ! this is a court-like requital of my service to you, 
 Master Richard Varney," replied Foster. "Didst thou not 
 charge me to seek out for thee a fellow who had a good sword 
 and an unscrupulous conscience? and was I not busying my- 
 self to find a fit man — for, thank Heaven, my acquaintance 
 lies not amongst such companions — when, as Heaven would 
 have it, this tall fellow, who is in all his qualities the very 
 flashing knave thou didst wish, came hither to fix acquaint- 
 ance upon me in the plenitude of his impudence, and I ad- 
 mitted his claim, thinking to do you a pleasure; and now 
 see what thanks I get for disgracing myself by converse with 
 him!" 
 
 " And did he, " said ^Varney, " being such a fellow as thy- 
 self, only lacking, I suppose, thy present humour of hypocrisy, 
 which lies as thin over thy hard ruffianly heart as gold lacquer 
 upon rusty iron — did he, I say, bring the saintly, sighing 
 Tressilian in his train?" 
 
 "They came together, by Heaven!" said Foster; "and 
 TressUian — to speak Heaven's truth — obtained a moment's in- 
 terview with our pretty moppet while I was talking apart with 
 Lambourne." 
 
 " Improvident villain ! we are both undone, " said Varney. 
 " She has of late been casting many a backward look to her 
 father's halls, whenever her lordly lover leaves her alone. 
 Should this preaching fool whistle her back to her old perch, 
 we were but lost men." 
 
 "No fear of that, my master," replied Anthony Foster; 
 " she is in no mood to stoop to his lure, for she yelled out on 
 seeing him as if an adder had stung her. " 
 
 " That is good. Canst thou not get from thy daughter an 
 inkling of what passed between them, good Foster?" 
 
 " I tell you plain, Master Varney, " said Foster, " my daugh- 
 ter shall not enter our purposes or walk in our paths. They 
 may suit me well enough, who know how to repent of my mis- 
 doings, but I will not have my child's soul committed to peril 
 either for your pleasure or my lord's. I may walk among
 
 KENILWORTH. 63 
 
 snares and pitfalls myself, because I have discretion, but I 
 will not trust the poor lamb among them." 
 
 " Why, thou suspicious fool, I were as averse as thou art 
 that thy baby-faced girl should enter into my plans, or walk 
 to Hell at her father's elbow. But indirectly thou mightst 
 gain some intelligence of her?" 
 
 "And so I did, Master Varney, " answered Foster; "and 
 she said her lady called out upon the sickness of her father." 
 
 "Good!" replied Varney; "that is a hint worth catching, 
 and I will work upon it. But the country must be rid of this 
 Tressilian. I would have cumbered no man about the matter, 
 for I hate him like strong poison — his presence is hemlock to 
 me — and this day I had been rid of him, but that my foot 
 slipped, when, to speak truth, had not thy comrade yonder 
 come to my aid, and held his hand, I should have known by 
 this time whether you and I have been treading the path to 
 Heaven or Hell." 
 
 "And you can speak thus of such a risk!" said Foster. 
 " You keep a stout heart. Master Varney ; for me, if I did not 
 hope to live many years, and to have time for the great work 
 of repentance, I would not go forward with you." 
 
 " Oh ! thou shalt live as long as Methuselah, " said Varney, 
 " and amass as much wealth as Solomon ; and thou shalt re- 
 pent so devoutly that thy repentance shall be more famous 
 than thy villainy — and that is a bold word. But for all this, 
 Tressilian must be looked after. Thy rviffian yonder is gone 
 to dog him. It concerns our fortunes, Anthony. " 
 
 " Ay — ay, " said Foster, sullenly, " this it is to be leagued 
 with one who knows not even so much of Scripture as that 
 the labourer is worthy of his hire. I must, as usual, take all 
 the trouble and risk." 
 
 " Risk! and what is the mighty risk, I pray you?" answ^sred 
 Varney. " This fellow will come prowling again about your 
 demesne or into your house, and if you take him for a house- 
 breaker or a park-breaker, is it not most natural you should 
 welcome him with cold steel or hot lead? Even a mastiff will 
 pull down those who come near his kennel; and ivho shall 
 blame him?"
 
 64 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Ay, I have a mastiff's work and a mastiff's wage among 
 you, " said Foster. " Here have you, Master Varney, secured 
 a good freehold estate out of this old superstitious foundation j 
 and I have but a poor lease of this mansion under you, void- 
 able at your honour's pleasure." 
 
 " Ay, and thou wouldst fain convert thy leasehold into a 
 copyhold; the thing may chance to happen, Anthony Foster, 
 if thou dost good service for it. But softly, good Anthony j 
 it is not the lending a room or two of this old house for keep- 
 ing my lord's pretty paroquet — nay, it is not the shutting thy 
 doors and windows to keep her from flying off, that may de- 
 serve it. Remember, the manor and tithes are rated at the 
 clear annual value of seventy-nine pounds five shillings and 
 fivepence half -penny, besides the value of the wood. Come — 
 come, thou must be conscionable ; great and secret service may 
 deserve both this and a better thing. And now let thy knave 
 come and pluck off my boots. Get us some dinner, and a cup 
 of thy best wine. I must visit this mavis, brave in apparel, 
 unruffled in aspect, and gay in temper." 
 
 They parted, and at the hour of noon, which was then that 
 of dinner, they again met at their meal, Varney gaily di-essed 
 like a courtier of the time, and even Anthony Foster improved 
 in appearance, as far as dress could amend an exterior so un- 
 favourable. 
 
 This alteration did not escape Varney. When the meal was 
 finished, the cloth removed, and they were left to their private 
 discourse : " Thou art gay as a goldfinch, Anthony, " said Var- 
 ney, looking at his host; "methinks, thou wilt whistle a jig 
 anon; but I crave your pardon, that would secure yoiu* ejection 
 from the congregation of the zealous botchers, the pure-hearted 
 weavers, and the sanctified bakers of Abingdon, who let their 
 Ovens cool while their brains get heated." 
 
 " To answer you in the spirit. Master Varney, " said Foster, 
 ** were — excuse the parable — to fling sacred and precious things 
 before swine. So I will speak to thee in the language of the 
 world, which he who is King of the World hath taught thee 
 to understand, and to profit by in no common measure." 
 
 " Say what thou wilt, honest Tony, " replied Varney ; " for
 
 KENIL WORTH. 65 
 
 "be it according to thiae absurd faith, or according to thy 
 most villauious practice, it cannot choose but be rare matter 
 to qualify this cup of Alicant. Thy conversation is relishing 
 and poignant, and beats caviare, dried neat's-tongue, and aU. 
 other provocatives that give savour to good liquor." 
 
 "Well, then, tell me," said Anthony Foster, "is not our 
 good lord and master's turn better served, and his ante-cham- 
 ber more suitably filled, with decent. God-fearing men, who 
 will work his will and their own profit quietly, and without 
 worldly scandal, than that he should be manned, and attended, 
 and followed by such open debauchers and ruffianly swords- 
 men as Tidesly, Killigrew, this fellow Lambourne, whom you 
 have put me to seek out for you, and other such, who bear the 
 gallows in their face and murder in their right hand — who are 
 a terror to peaceable men, and a scandal to my lord's service?" 
 
 "Oh, content you, good Master Anthony Foster," answered 
 Varney ; " he that flies at all manner of game must keep all 
 kinds of hawks, both short and long-winged. The course my 
 lord holds is no easy one, and he must stand provided at all 
 points with trusty retainers to meet each sort of service. He 
 must have his gay courtier, like myself, to ruffle it in the 
 presence-chamber, and to lay hand on hilt when any speaks in 
 disparagement of my lord's honour " 
 
 " Ay, " said Foster, " and to Avhisper a word for him into a 
 fair lady's ear, when he may not approach her himself." 
 
 " Then, " said Varney, going on without appearing to notice 
 the interruption, "he must have his lawyers — deep, subtle 
 pioneers — to draw his contracts, his pre-contracts, and his 
 post-contracts, and to find the way to make the most of grants 
 of church lands, and commons, and licenses for monopoly. 
 And he must have physicians who can spice a cup or a caudle. 
 And he must have his cabalists, like [Dee and Allan, for con- 
 juring up the devU. And he must have ruffling swordsmen, who 
 would fight the devil when he is raised and at the wildest. 
 And above all, without prejudice to others, he must have such 
 godly, innocent. Puritanic souls as thou, honest Anthony, who 
 defy Satan, and do his work at the same time." 
 
 "You would not say, Master Varney," said Foster, "that 
 5
 
 ^ WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 onr good lord and master, whom I hold to be fulfilled in all 
 nobleness, would use such base and sinful means to rise as 
 thy speech points at?" 
 
 "Tush, man," said Varney, "never look at me with so sad 
 a brow; you trap me not, nor am I in your power, as your 
 weak brain may imagine, because I name to you freely the 
 engines, the springs, the screws, the tackle, and braces, by 
 which great men rise in stirring times. Sayest thou our good 
 lord is fulfilled of all nobleness? Amen, and so be it; he has 
 the more need to have those about him who are unscrupulous 
 in his service, and who, because they know that his fall will 
 overwhelm and crush them, must wager both blood and brain, 
 soul and body, in order to keep him aloft; and this I tell thee, 
 Ijecause I q^xe not who knows it." 
 
 *' You speak truth, Master Varney, " said Anthony Foster : 
 "he that is head of a party is but a boat on a wave, that raises 
 not itself, but is moved upwards by the billow which it floats 
 upon." 
 
 "Thou art metaphorical, honest Anthony," replied Var- 
 ney : " that velvet doublet hath made an oracle of thee ; we 
 'fsill have thee to Oxford to take the degrees in the arts. 
 And, in the mean time, hast thou arranged all the matters 
 wnich were sent from London, and put the western chambers 
 into such fashion as may answer my lord's humour?" 
 
 " They may serve a king on his bridal-day," said Anthony; 
 " and jl promise you that Dame Amy sits in them yonder as 
 proud and gay as if she were the Queen of Sheba." 
 
 " 'Tis the better, good Anthony," answei-ed Varney; "we 
 must found oiu' future fortunes on her good liking. " 
 
 "We build on sand then," said Anthony Foster; "for sup- 
 posing that she sails away to court in all her lord's dignity 
 and authority, how is she to look back upon me, who am her 
 jailor as it were, to detain her against her will, keeping her 
 a caterpillar on an old wall, when she woidd fain be a painted 
 butterfly iu a court gardenV" 
 
 " Fear not her displeasure, man, " saad Varney. " I will show 
 her that all thou hast done in this matter was good service, 
 toth to my lord and her; and when she chips the egg-shell
 
 KENILWORTH. 67 
 
 and walks alone, slie shall o\m ^ye have hatclied Iter great- 
 ness.'"' 
 
 "Look to yourself, Master Varney," said Foster, "you may 
 misreekon foully in this matter. She gave you but a frosty 
 reception this morning, and, I think, looks on you, as well as 
 me, with an evil eye." 
 
 " You mistake her, Foster — you mistake her utterly. To 
 me she is bound by all the ties which can secure her to one 
 who has been the means of gratifying both her love and aml)i- 
 tion. Who was it that took the obscui-e Amy Robsart, the 
 daughter of an impoverished and dotard knight, the destined 
 bride of a moonstruck, moping enthusiast like Edmund Tres- 
 silian, from her lowly fates, and held out to her in prospect 
 the brightest fortune in England, or perchance in Euro]je? 
 Why, man, it was I — as I have often told thee — that found op- 
 portmiity for their secret meetings. It was I who watched 
 the wood while he beat for the deer. It was I who, to this 
 day, am blamed by her family as the companion of her flight, 
 and were I in their neighbourhood, would be fain to wear a 
 shii't of better stuff than Holland linen, lest my ribs should be 
 acquainted with Spanish steel. Who carried their letters? 
 I. Who amused the old knight and Tressilian? I. Who 
 planned her escape? It Avas I. It was I, in short, Dick 
 Varney, who puRed this pretty little daisy from its lowly nook, 
 and placed it in the proudest bonnet in Britain, " 
 
 '•' Ay, INIaster Varney, " said Foster, " but it may be she 
 thinks that, had the matter remained with you, the flower had 
 been stuck so slightly into the cap that the) first breath of a 
 changeable breeze of passion had blown the poor daisy to the 
 common." 
 
 "She should consider," said Vamey, smiling, "the true 
 faith I owed my lord and master prevented me at first from 
 counselling marriage ; and yet I did counsel marriage when I 
 saw she woidd not be satisfied without the — the sacrament, or 
 the ceremony — ^which callest thou it, Anthony?" 
 
 "Still she has you at feud on another score," said Foster; 
 "and I tell it you that you may look to yourself in time. She 
 would riot hide her splendour in this dark lantern of an old
 
 68 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 monastic house, but would fain shine a countess amongst 
 countesses. " 
 
 "Very natural, very right," answered Varney; " Out what 
 have I to do with that? She may shine through horn or 
 through crystal at my lord's pleasure, I have nought to say 
 against it." 
 
 " She deems that you have an oar upon that side of the boat, 
 Master Varney," replied Foster, "and that you can pull it or 
 no, at your good pleasure. In a word, she ascribes the 
 secrecy and obscurity in which she is kept to your secret coun- 
 sel to my lord, and to my strict agency ; and so she loves us 
 both as a sentenced man loves his judge and his jailor." 
 
 " She must love us better ere she leave this place, Anthony, " 
 answered Varney. " If I have counselled for weighty reasons 
 that she remain here for a season, I can also advise her being 
 brought forth in the full blow of her dignity. But I were 
 mad to do so, holding so near a place to my lord's person, 
 were she mine enemy. Bear this truth in upon her as occa- 
 sion offers, Anthony, and let me alone for extolling you in her 
 ear, and exalting you in her opinion. Ka me, ka thee — it is 
 a proverb all over the world. The lady must know her 
 friends, and be made to judge of the power they have of being 
 her enemies ; meanwhile, watch her strictly, but with all the 
 outward observance that thy rough nature will permit. 'Tis 
 an excellent thing that sullen look and bull-dog humour of 
 thine ; thou shouldst thank God for it, and so should my lord, 
 for when there is aught harsh or hard-natured to be done, thou 
 dost it as if it flowed from thine own natural doggedness, and 
 not from orders, and so my lord escapes the scandal. But, 
 hark — some one knocks at the gate. Look out at the window; 
 let no one enter : this were an ill night to be interrupted. " 
 
 " It is he whom we spoke of before dinner, " said Foster, as 
 he looked through the casement — "it is Michael Lambourne." 
 
 "Oh, admit him, by all means," said the courtier; "he 
 comes to give some account of his guest : it imports us much 
 to know the movements of Edmund Tressilian. Admit him, 
 I say, but bring him not hither. I will come to you presently 
 in the abbot's library."
 
 KENILWORTH. 69 
 
 Foster left the room, and the courtier, who remained be- 
 hind, paced the parlour more than once in deep thought, his 
 arms folded on his bosom, until at length he gave vent to his 
 meditations in broken words, which we have somewhat en- 
 larged and connected, that his soliloquy may be intelligible to 
 the reader. 
 
 '"Tis true," he said, suddenly stopping, and resting his 
 right hand on the table at which they had been sitting, " this 
 base churl hath fathomed the very depth of my fear, and I 
 have been unable to disguise it from him. She loves me not ; 
 I would it were as true that I loved not her ! Idiot that I 
 was, to move her in my own behalf, when wisdom bade me 
 be a true broker to my lord! And this fatal error has placed 
 me more at her discretion than a wise man would willingly be 
 at that of the best piece of painted Eve's flesh of them all. 
 Since the hour that my policy made so perilous a slip, I can- 
 not look at her without fear, and hate, and fondness so 
 strangely mingled that I know not whether, were it at my 
 choice, I would rather possess or ruin her. But she must not 
 leave this retreat until I am assured on what terms we are to 
 stand. My lord's interest — and so far it is mine own, for if 
 he sinks I fall in his train — demands concealment of this ob- 
 scure marriage ; and, besides, I will not lend her my arm to 
 climb to her chair of state, that she may set her foot on my 
 neck when she is fairly seated. I must work an interest in 
 her, either through love or through fear ; and who knows but 
 I may yet reap the sweetest and best revenge for her former 
 scorn? — that were indeed a masterpiece of court-like art! Let 
 me but once be her counsel-keeper ; let her confide to me a 
 secret, did it but concern the robbery of a linnet's nest, and, 
 fair countess, thou art mine own!" He again paced the room 
 in silence, stopped, filled and drank a cup of wine, as if to 
 compose the agitation of his mind ; and muttering : " Now for 
 a close heart and an open and unruffled brow," he left the 
 apartment.
 
 70 WAVERLEY NOYELS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The dews of summer night did fall, 
 
 The moon, sweet regent of tlie sky, 
 Silver' d the walls of Cum nor Hall, 
 
 And many an oak that grew thereby.' 
 
 MiCKLE. 
 
 Four apartments, which occupied the western side of the 
 old quadrangle at Cumnor Place, had been fitted up with ex- 
 traordinary splendour. This had been the work of several 
 days prior to that on which our story opened. Workmen sent 
 from London, and not permitted to leave the premises until 
 the work was finished, had converted the a,partments in that 
 side of the building from the dilapidated appearance of a dis- 
 solved monastic house into the semblance of a royal palace. 
 A mystery was observed in all these arrangements : the work- 
 men came thither and returned by night, and all measures 
 were taken to prevent the prying curiosit}^ of the villagers 
 from observing or speculating upon the changes which were 
 taking place in the mansion of their once indigent, but now 
 wealthy, neighbour Anthony Foster. Accordingly, the secrecy 
 desired was so far preserved that nothing got abroad but vague 
 and uncertain reports, which were received and repeated, but 
 without much credit being attached to them. 
 
 On the evening of which we treat, the new and highly dec- 
 orated suite of rooms were for the first time illuminated, and 
 that with a brilliancy which might have been visible half a 
 dozen miles off, had not oaken shutters, carefull}^ secured with 
 bolt and padlock, and mantled with xong curtains of silk and 
 of velvet, deeply fringed with gold, prevented the slightest 
 gleam of radiance from being seen without. 
 
 The principal apartments, as we have seen, were four in 
 number, each opening into the other. Access was given to 
 them by a large scale staircase, as they were then called, of 
 unusual length and height, which had its landing-place at the 
 
 • This verse is the commencement of the ballad already quoted as what 
 suggested the novel.
 
 KENILWORTH. Tl 
 
 door of an ante-chamber, shaped somewhat like a gallery. 
 This apartment the abbot had used as an occasional council- 
 room, but it was now beautifully wainscoted with dark foreign 
 wood of a brown colour, and bearing a high polish, said to 
 have been brought from the Western Indies, and to have been 
 wrought in London with infinite difficulty, and much damage 
 to the tools of the workmen. The dark colour of this finish- 
 ing was relieved by the number of lights in silver sconces 
 which hung agauist the walls, and by six large and richly 
 fi-amed pictures by the first masters of the age. A massy 
 oaken table, placed at the lower end of the apartment, served 
 to accommodate such as chose to play at the then fashionable 
 game of shovel-boai-d ; and there was at the other end an ele- 
 vated gallery for the musicians or minstrels, who might be 
 summoned to increase the festivity of the evening. 
 
 From this ante-chamber opened a banquetiug-room of mod- 
 erate size, but brilliant enough to dazzle the eyes of the spec 
 tator with the richness of its furniture. The walls, lately so 
 bare and ghastly, were now clothed with hangings of sky- 
 blue velvet and silver ; the chairs were of ebony, richly carved, 
 with cushions corresponding to the haugmgs ; and the place of 
 the silver sconces which enlightened the ante-chamber was 
 supplied by a huge chandelier of the same precious metal. 
 The floor was covered with a Spanish foot-cloth, or carpet, on 
 which flowers and fruits were represented in such glowing and 
 natural colours that you hesitated to place the foot on such 
 exquisite workmanship. The table, of old English oak, stood 
 ready covered with the finest linen, and a large portable court- 
 cupboard was placed with the leaves of its embossed folding- 
 doors displayed, showing the shelves within, decorated with 
 a full display of plate and jwrcelain. In the midst of the 
 table stood a salt-cellar of Italian workmanship — a beautiful 
 and splendid piece of plate about two feet high, moulded into 
 a representation of the giant Briai-eus, whose hundred hands 
 of silver presented to the guest various sorts of spices, or con- 
 diments, to season then- food withal. 
 
 The thii'd apartment was called the withdi-awing-room. It 
 was hung with the finest tapestry, representing the fall of
 
 72 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 Phaeton ; for the looms of Flanders were now much occupied 
 ou classical subjects. The principal seat of this apartment 
 was a chair of state, raised a step or two from the floor, and 
 large enough to contain two persons. It was surmounted by 
 a canopy, which, as well as the cushions, side-curtains, and 
 the very foot-cloth, was composed of crimson velvet, embroid- 
 ered with seed-pearl. On the top of the canopy were two 
 coronets, resembling those of an earl and countess. Stools 
 covered with velvet, and some cushions disposed in the Moor- 
 ish fashion, and ornamented with Arabesque needlework, sup- 
 plied the place of chairs in this apartment, which contained 
 musical instruments, embroidery frames, and other articles 
 for ladies' pastime. Besides lesser lights, the withdrawing- 
 room was illuminated by four tall torches of virgin wax, each 
 of which was placed in the grasp of a statue, representing an 
 armed Moor, who held in his left arm a round buckler of sil- 
 ver, highly polished, interposed betwixt his breast and the 
 light, which was thus brilliantly reflected as from a crystal 
 mirror. 
 
 The sleeping-chamber belonging to this splendid suite of 
 apartments was decorated in a taste less showy, but not less 
 rich, than had been displayed in the others. Two silver 
 lamps, fed with perfumed oil, diffused at once a delicious 
 odour and a trembling twilight-seeming shimmer through the 
 quiet apartment. It was carpeted so thick that the heaviest 
 step could not have been heard ; and the bed, richly heaped 
 with down, was spread with an ample coverlet of silk and gold, 
 from under which peeped forth cambric sheets, and blankets 
 as white as the lambs which yielded the fleece that made them. 
 The curtains were of blue velvet, lined with crimson silk, 
 deeply festooned with gold, and embroidered with the loves 
 of Cupid and Psyche. On the toilet was a beautiful Venetian 
 mirror, in a frame of silvor filigree, and beside it stood a gold 
 posset-dish to contain the night-draught. A pair of pistols 
 and a dagger, mounted with gold, were displayed near the 
 head of the bed, being the arms for the night, which were 
 presented to honoured guests, rather, it may be supposed, ra 
 the way of ceremony than from any apprehension of danger.
 
 KENILWORTH. 73 
 
 We must not omit to mention, -wliat was more to the credit of 
 tlie manners of the time, that in a small recess, illuminated by 
 a taper, were disposed two hassocks of velvet and gold, corre- 
 sponding with the bed furniture, before a desk of carved ebony. 
 This recess had formerly been the private oratory of the abbot, 
 but the crucifix was removed, and instead there were placed 
 on the desk two Books of Common Prayer, richly bound and 
 embossed with silver. AVith this enviable sleeping-apartment, 
 which was so far removed from every sound, save that of the 
 wind sighing among the oaks of the park, that Morpheus might 
 have coveted it for his own proper repose, corresponded two 
 wardrobes, or dressing-rooms, as they are now termed, suit- 
 ably furnished, and in a style of the same magnificence which 
 we have already described. It ought to be added, that a part 
 of the building in the adjoining wing was occupied by the 
 kitchen and its offices, and served to accommodate the personal 
 attendants of the great and wealthy nobleman for whose use 
 these magnificent preparations had been made. 
 
 The divinity for whose sake this temple had been decorated 
 was well worthy the cost and pains which had been bestowed. 
 She was seated in the withdrawing-room which we have de- 
 scribed, surveying with the pleased eye of natural and in- 
 nocent vanity the splendour which had been so suddeidy 
 created, as it were, in her honour. For, as her own residence 
 at Cumnor Place formed the cause of the mystery observed in 
 all the preparations for opening these apartments, it was 
 sedulously arranged that, until she took possession of them, 
 she should have no means of knowing what was going forward 
 in that part of the ancient building, or of exposing herself to 
 be SoCn by the workmen engaged in the decorations. She had 
 been, therefore, introduced on that evening to a part of the 
 mansion which she had never yet seen, so d'fferent from all 
 the rest that it appeared, in comparison, like an enchanted 
 palace. And when she first examined and occupied these 
 splendid rooms, it was with the wild and unrestrained joy of 
 a rustic beauty, who finds herself suddenly invested with a 
 splendour which her most extravagant wishes had never imag- 
 ined, and at the same time with the keen feeling of an affec-
 
 74 ■ WAYERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 tionate heart, wliicli knows that) all the enchantment that sur- 
 rounds her is the work of the great magician Love. 
 
 The Countess Amy, thei-efore — for to that rank she "was 
 exalted by her private but solemn union with England's 
 proudest earl — had for a time flitted hastily f i-om room to room,, 
 admiring each new proof of her lover and her bridegroom's 
 taste, and feeling that adniii-ation enhanced, as she recollected 
 that all she gazed upon was one continued proof of his ardent 
 and devoted affection. " How beautiful are these hangings ! 
 How natural these paintings, which seem to contend with life I 
 How richly wrought is that plate, which looks as if all thS' 
 galleons of Spain had been intercepted on the broad seas to 
 furnish it forth ! And oh, Janet T' she exclaimed repeatedly 
 to the daughter of Anthony Foster, the close attendant, who, 
 with equal curiosity, but somewhat less ecstatic joy, followed 
 on. her mistress's footsteps — " Oh, Janet 1 how much more de- 
 lightful to think that all these fair things have been assembled 
 by his love, for the love of me ! and that this evening — ^this 
 very evening, which grows darker every instant, I shall thank 
 him more for the love that has created such an unimaginable 
 paradise than for all tlie wonders it contains." 
 
 " The Lord is to be thanked first," said the pretty Puritaja, 
 " who gave thee, lady, the kind and courteous husband whose 
 love has done so much for thee. I, too, have done my ppor 
 share ; but if you thus run wildly from room to room, the toil 
 of my crisping and my curling pins will vanish like the fret- 
 work on the window when the sun is high.** 
 
 "Thou sayest true, Janet," said the young and beautiful 
 countess, stopping suddenly from her tripping race of enrap- 
 tured delight, and looking at herself from head to foot in a 
 large mirror, such as she had never before seen, and which, 
 indeed, had few to match it even in the Queen's palace — " thoa 
 sayest true, Janet!" she answered, as she saw, with pardoa- 
 able self-applause, the noble mirror reflect such charms as 
 were seldom presented to its fair and polished surface; "I 
 have more of the milk-maid than the coimtess, with these 
 cheeks flushed with haste, and all these brown curls, which 
 you laboured to bring to order, straying as wild as the tendril*
 
 KENILWORTH. 75 
 
 of aa unpriined vine. My falling ruff is chafed too, and 
 shows the neck and bosom more than is modest and seemly. 
 Come, Janet, we will practise state — we will go to the with- 
 drawing-room, my good girl, and thou shalt put these rebel 
 locks in order, and imprison Avithin lace and cambric the 
 bosom that beats too high." 
 
 They went to the withdrawing-apartment accordingly, where 
 the countess playfully stretched herself upon the pile of Moor- 
 ish cushions, half-sitting, half -reclining, half -wrapt in her own 
 thoughts, half -listening to the prattle of her attendant. 
 
 While she was in this attitude, and with a corresponding 
 expression betwixt listlessness and expectation on her fine and 
 intelligent features, you might have searched sea and land 
 without finding anythiug half so expressive or half so lovely. 
 The wreath of brilliants which mixed with her dai'k brown 
 hair did not match in lustre the hazel eye which a light brown 
 eyebrow, pencilled with exquisite delicacy, and long eyelashes 
 of the same colour, relieved and shaded. The exercise she 
 had just taken, her excited expectation and gratified vanity, 
 spread a glow over her fine features, which had been some- 
 times censured (as beauty as well as art has her minute critics) 
 for being rather too pale. The milk-white pearls of the neck- 
 lace which she wore, the same which she had just received as 
 a true-love token from her husband, were excelled in pui'ity 
 by her teeth, and by the colour of her skin, saving where the 
 blush of pleasure and self-satisfaction had somewhat stained 
 the neck with a shade of light crimson. '' Now, have done 
 with these busy fingers, Janet," she said to her handmaiden, 
 who was still ofliciously employed ui bringing her hair and 
 her dress into order — "have done, I say; I must see your 
 father ere my lord arrives, and also Master Richard Varney, 
 whom my lord has highly in his esteem — but I could tell that 
 of him would lose him favoui-." 
 
 "Oh, do not do so, good my lady!" replied Janet: "leave 
 him to God, who punishes the wicked in His own time; but 
 do not you cross Vamey's path, for so thoroughly hath he 
 my lord's ear, that few have thriven who have thwarted his 
 courses."
 
 76 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " And from whom had you this, my most righteous Janet?" 
 said the countess ; " or why should I keep terms with so meaa 
 a gentleman as Yarney, being, as T am, wife to his master 
 and patron?" 
 
 " Nay, madam, " replied Janet Foster, " your ladyship knows 
 better than I. But I have heard my father say he would 
 rather cross a hungry wolf than thwart Richard Varney in his 
 projects. And he has often charged me to have a care of 
 holding commerce with him." 
 
 "Thy father said well, girl, for thee," replied the lady, 
 " and I dare swear meant well. It is a pity, though, his face 
 and manner do little match his true purpose, for I think his 
 purpose may be true." 
 
 " Doubt it not, my lady, " answered Janet — " doubt not that 
 my father purposes well, though he is a plain man, and his 
 blunt looks may belie his heart." 
 
 " I will not doubt it, girl, were it only for thy sake ; and 
 yet he has one of those faces which men tremble when they 
 look on. I think even thy mother, Janet — nay, have done 
 with that poking-iron — could hardly look upon him without 
 quaking. " 
 
 "If it were so, madam," answered Janet Foster, "my 
 mother had those who could keep her in honourable counte- 
 nance. Why, even you, my lady, both trembled and blushed 
 when Varney brought the letter from my lord." 
 
 " You are bold, damsel, " said the countess, rising from the 
 cushions on which she sate haK-reclined in the arms of her 
 attendant. " Know, that there are causes of trembling which 
 have nothing to do with fear. But, Janet, " she added, imme- 
 diately relapsing into the good-natured and familiar tone which 
 was natural to her, " believe me, I will do what credit I can 
 to your father, and the rather that you, sweetheart, are his 
 child. Alas ! alas !" she added, a sudden sadness passing over 
 her fine features and her eyes filling with tears, " I ought the 
 rather to hold sympathy with thy kind heart that my own 
 poor father is uncertain of my fate, and they say lies sick and 
 sorrowful for my worthless sake ! But I will soon cheer him ; 
 the news of my happiness and advancement will make him
 
 KENILWORTH. 77 
 
 young again. And that I may cheer him the sooner" — she 
 wiped her eyes as she spoke — " I must be cheerful myself. 
 My lord must not find me insensible to his kiadness, or sor- 
 rowful when he snatches a visit to his recluse, after so long an 
 absence. Be merry, Janet : the night wears on, and my lord 
 must soon arrive. Call thy father hither, and call Varney 
 also. I cherish resentment against neither ; and though I may 
 have some room to be displeased with both, it shall be their 
 own fault if ever a complaint against them reaches the earl 
 through my means. Call them hither, Janet." 
 
 Janet Foster obeyed her mistress ; and in a few miautes after, 
 Varney entered the withdrawing-room with the graceful ease 
 and unclouded front of an accomplished courtier, skilled, un- 
 der the veil of external politeness, to disguise his own feelings 
 and to penetrate those of others. Anthony Foster plodded 
 into the apartment after him, his natural gloomy vulgarity 
 of aspect seeming to become yet more remarkable from his 
 clumsy attempt to conceal the mixture of anxiety and dislike 
 with which he looked on her over whom he had hitherto 
 exercised so severe a control, now so splendidly attired, and 
 decked with so many pledges of the interest which she pos- 
 sessed in her husband's affections. The blundering revereuce 
 which he made, rather at than to the countess, had confession 
 in it. It was like the reverence which the criminal makes 
 to the judge, when he at once owns his guilt and implores 
 mercy, which is at the same time an impudent and embar- 
 rassed attempt at defence or extenuation, a confession of a 
 fault, and an entreaty for lenity. 
 
 Varney, who, in right of his gentle blood, had pressed into 
 the room before Anthony Foster, knew better what to say than 
 he, and said it with more assurance and a better grace. 
 
 The countess greeted him indeed with an appearance of 
 cordiality, which seemed a complete amnesty for whatever 
 she might have to complain of. She rose from her seat and 
 advanced two steps towards him, holding forth her hand 
 as she said : " Master Kichard Varney, you brought me this 
 morning such welcome tidings that I fear surprise and 
 joy made me neglect my lord and husband's charge to receive
 
 78 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 you with distinctiou. We offer you our haud, sii, La recon- 
 siliation," 
 
 '•' I am unworthy to touch it," said Yarney, dropping on one 
 knee, " save as a subject honours that of a prince." 
 
 He touched with his lips those fair and sleuder fingers, so 
 richly loaded with rings and jewels j then rising with graceful 
 gallantry, was about to hand her to the chair of state, when she 
 said: "No, good Master Eichard Varney, I take not my place 
 there until my lord himself conducts me. I am for the pres- 
 ent but a disguised countess, and will not take dignity on me 
 until authorised by him whom I derive it from. " 
 
 "I trust, my lady," said Foster, "that in doing the com- 
 mands of my lord your husband, in your restraint and so 
 forth, I have not incurred your displeasure, seeing that I did 
 but my duty towards your lord and mine ; for Heaven, as Holy 
 Writ saith, hath given the husband supremacy and dominion 
 over the wife — I think it runs so, or something like it." 
 
 "I receive at this moment so pleasant a surprise, Master 
 Foster, " answered the countess, " that I cannot but excuse the 
 rigid fidelity which secluded me from these apartments until 
 4hey had assumed an appearance so new and so splendid." 
 
 "Ay, lady," said Foster, "it hath cost many a fair crown; 
 iuid that more need not be wasted than is absolutely necessary, 
 I leave you till my lord's ai-rival with good Master Eichard 
 Yarney, who, as I think, hath somewhat to say to you from 
 your most noble lord and husband. Janet, follow me, to see 
 that all be in order, " 
 
 "No, Master Foster," said the countess, "we wiH your 
 daughter remains here in our apartment; out of ear-shot, 
 however, in case Yarney hath aught to say to me from my 
 lord." 
 
 Foster made his clumsy reverence and departed, with aa 
 aspect that seemed to grudge the profuse expense which had 
 been wasted upon changing his house from a bare and ruinous 
 grange to an Asiatic palace. When he was gone, his daughter 
 took her embroidery frame and went to establish herself at the 
 bottom of the apartment, while Eichard Yarney, with a pro- 
 foundly humble courtesy, took the lowest stool he could find.
 
 KENILWORTH. 79 
 
 aad placing it by the side of the pile of cushions on which the 
 countess had now again seated herself, sat with his eyes for a 
 time fixed on the ground, and in profound silence. 
 
 "I thought, Master Varney," said the countess, when sha 
 saw he was not likely to open the conversation, " that you had 
 something to communicate from my lord and husband ; so aJb 
 least I understood Master Foster, and therefore I removed my 
 waiting-maid. If I am mistaken, I will recall her to my side-, 
 for her needle is not so absolutely pei-fect in tent and cross- 
 stitch but what my superintendence is advisable." 
 
 " Lady, " said Varney, " Foster was partly mistaken in mj 
 purpose. It was not from but of your noble husband, and my 
 approved and most noble patron, that I am led,, and indeed 
 bound, to speak." 
 
 "The theme is most welcome, sir," said the countess, 
 "whether it be of or from my noble husband. But be brie^ 
 for I expect his hasty approach." 
 
 "Briefly then, madam," replied Varney, "and boldly, for 
 my argument requires both haste and courage — ^you have this 
 day seen Tressilian?" 
 
 " I have, sir, and what of that ?" answered the lady, some- 
 what sharply. 
 
 "Nothing that concerns me, lady," Varney replied with, 
 hamility. " But, think you, honoured madam, that your lord 
 win hear it with equal equanimity?" 
 
 " And wherefore should he not? To me alone was Trea- 
 silian's visit embai-rassing and painful, for he brought news 
 of my good father's illness." 
 
 " Of your father's illness, madam I" answered Varney. " It 
 must have been sudden then — very sudden j for the messenger 
 whom I despatched, at my lord's mstance, found the good 
 knight on the hunting-field, cheering his beagles with his 
 wonted jovial field-ciy. I trust Tressilian has but forged this 
 news. He hath his reasons, madam, as you well know, for 
 disquieting your present happiness." 
 
 "You do him injustice, Master Varney," replied the coun- 
 tess, with animation — "you do him much injustice. He is 
 the freest, the most open, the most gentle heart that breathea.
 
 so WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 My honourable lord ever excepted, I know not one to whom 
 falsehood is more odious than to Tressilian," 
 
 " I crave your pardon, madam, " said Varney, " I meant the 
 gentleman no injustice — I knew not how nearly his cause 
 affected you. A man may, in some circumstances, disguise 
 the truth for fair and honest purpose ; for were it to be al- 
 ways spoken, and upon all occasions, this were no world to 
 live in." 
 
 " You have a courtly conscience. Master Varney, " said the 
 countess, " and your veracity will not, I think, interrupt your 
 preferment in the world, such as it is. But touching Tressil- 
 ian — I must do him justice, for I have done him wrong, as 
 none knows better than thou: Tressilian's conscience is of 
 other mould. The world thou speakest of has not that which 
 could bribe him from the way of truth and honour ; and for 
 living in it with a soiled fame, the ermine would as soon seek 
 to lodge in the den of the foul polecat. For this my father 
 loved him. For this I would have loved him — if I could. 
 And yet in this case he had what seemed to him, unknowing 
 alike of my marriage and to whom I was united, such power- 
 ful reasons to withdraw me from this place, that I well trust 
 lie exaggerated much of my father's indisposition, and that 
 thy better news may be the truer." 
 
 " Believe me they are, madam, " answered Varney. " I pre- 
 tend not to be a champion of that same naked virtue called 
 truth to the very outrance. I can consent that her charms be 
 hidden with a veil, were it but for decency's sake. But you 
 must think lower of my head and heart than is due to one 
 whom my noble lord deigns to call his friend, if you suppose 
 I could wilfully and unnecessarily palm upon your ladyship a 
 falsehood, so soon to be detected, in a matter which concerns 
 your happiness." 
 
 "Master Varney," said the countess, "I know that my lord 
 esteems you, and holds you a faithful and a good pilot in those 
 seas in which he has spread so high and so venturous a sail. 
 Do not suppose, therefore, I meant hardly by you when I 
 spoke the truth in Tressilian's vindication. I am, as you 
 well know, country-bred, and like plain rustic truth better
 
 KENILWORTH. 81 
 
 tlian courtly compliment; but I must change my fashions with 
 my sphere, I presume." 
 
 "True, madam," said Varney smiling, "and though you 
 speak now in jest, it will not be amiss that in earnest your 
 present speech had some connexion with your real purpose. 
 A court dame — take the most noble — the most virtuous — the 
 most unimpeachable, that stands around our Queen's throne — 
 would, for example, have shunned to speak the truth, or what 
 she thought such, in praise of a discarded suitor, before the 
 dependant and confidant of her noble husband." 
 
 "And wherefore," said the countess, colouring impatiently, 
 "should I not do justice to Tressilian's worth before my hus- 
 band's friend — before my husband himself — before the whole 
 world?" 
 
 " And with the same openness, " said Varney, " your lady- 
 ship will this night tell my noble lord your husband that 
 Tressilian has discovered your place of residence, so anxiously 
 concealed from the world, and that he has had an interriew 
 with you?" 
 
 " Unquestionably, " said the countess. " It wiU be the first 
 thing I tell him, together with every word that Tressilian 
 said, and that I answered. I shall speak my own shame in 
 this, for Tressilian's reproaches, less just than he esteemed 
 them, were not altogether unmerited — I will speak, therefore, 
 ^ith pain, but I will speak, and speak all." 
 
 "Your ladyship will do your pleasure," answered Varney; 
 " but methinks it were as well, since nothing calls for so frank 
 a disclosure, to spare yourself this pain, and my noble lord 
 the disquiet, and Master Tressilian, since belike he must be 
 thought of in the matter, the danger which is like to ensue." 
 
 " I can see nought of all these terrible consequences, " said 
 the lady, composedly, " unless by imputing to my noble lord 
 unworthy thoughts, which I am sure never harboured in his 
 generous heart." 
 
 "Far be it from me to do so," said Varney. And then, 
 
 after a moment's silence, he added, with a real or affected 
 
 plainness of manner very different from his usual smooth 
 
 courtesy s " Come, madam, I will show you that a courtier 
 
 6
 
 82 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 dare speak truth as well as another, when it concerns the weal 
 of those whom he honours and regards, ay, and although it 
 may infer his own danger." He waited as if to receive com- 
 mands, or at least permission, to go on, but as the lady 
 remained silent, he proceeded, but obviously with caution. 
 "Look around you," he said, "noble lady, and observe the 
 barriers with which this place is surrounded, the studious 
 mystery with which the brightest jewel that England possesses 
 is secluded from the admiring gaze. See with what rigour 
 your walks are circumscribed, and your movements restrained 
 at the beck of yonder churlish Foster. Consider all this, and 
 judge for yourself what can be the cause. " 
 
 "My lord's pleasure," answered the countess; "and I ain 
 boimd to seek no other motive." 
 
 " His pleasure it is indeed," said Varney ; " and his pleasure 
 arises out of a love worthy of the object which inspires it. 
 But he who possesses a treasure, and who values it, is oft 
 anxious, in proportion to the value he puts upon it, to secure 
 it from the depredations of others." 
 
 " What needs all this talk, Master Varney?" said the lady, 
 in reply. " You would have me believe that my noble lord is 
 jealous? Suppose it true, I know a cure for jealousy." 
 
 "Indeed, madam!" said Varney. 
 
 " It is, " replied the lady, " to speak the truth to my lord at 
 all times, to hold up my mind and my thoughts before him 
 as pure as that polished mirror; so that when he looks into 
 my heart he shall only see his own features reflected there." 
 
 "I am mute, madam," answered Vai-ney; "and as I have 
 no reason to grieve for TressUian, who would have my heart's 
 blood were he able, I shall reconcile myseK easily to what 
 may befaU. the gentleman in consequence of your frank dis- 
 closure of his having presumed to intrude upon your solitude. 
 You, who know my lord so much better than I, will judge if 
 he be likely to bear the insult unavenged." 
 
 " Nay, if I could think myself the cause of Tressilian's ruin, " 
 said the countess — " I who have already occasioned him so 
 much distress, I might be brought to be silent. And yet what 
 will it avail, since he was seen by Foster, and I thinli by some
 
 KENILWORTa 83 
 
 one else? Xo, no, Varney, urge it no more. I will tell tlie 
 whole matter to my lord; and with, such pleading for Tres- 
 silian's folly as shall dispose my lord's generous heart rather 
 to serve than to punish him." 
 
 " Your judgment, madam," said Varney, "is far superior to 
 mine, especially as you may, if you will, prove the ice before 
 you step on it, by mentioning Tressilian's name to my lord, 
 and observing how he endures it. For Foster and his attend- 
 ant, they know not Tressilian by sight, and I can easily give 
 them some reasonable excuse for the appearance of an un- 
 known stranger." 
 
 The lady paused for an instant, and then replied : " If, Var- 
 ney, it be indeed true that Foster knows not as yet that the 
 man he saw was Tressilian, I own I were imwilling he should 
 learn what nowise concerns him. He bears himself abeady 
 with austerity enough, and I wish him not to be judge or 
 privy-councillor in my affairs." 
 
 *' Tush," said Varney, " what has the surly groom to do with 
 your ladyship's concerns? No more, surely, than the ban-dog 
 which watches his courtyard. If he is in aught distasteful to 
 your ladyship, I have interest enough to have him exchanged 
 for a seneschal that shall be more agreeable to you." 
 
 "Master Varney," said the countess, "let us drop this 
 theme : when I complaiu of the attendants whom my lord has 
 placed around me, it must be to my lord himself. Hark! I 
 hear the trampling of horse. He comes! — he comes!" she 
 exclaimed, jumping up in ecstasy. 
 
 "I cannot think it is he," said Varney, "or that you caa 
 hear the tread of his horse through the closely mantled case- 
 ments." 
 
 " Stop me not, Varney; my ears are keener than thine — ^it 
 is he!" 
 
 "But, madam! — but, madam!" exclaimed Varney, anxious- 
 ly, and stni placing himself in her way, " I trust that what I 
 have spoken in humble duty and service will not be turned to 
 my ruin. I hope that my faithful advice wiU not be bewrayed 
 to my prejudice. I implore that " 
 
 "Content thee, man — content thee I" said the countess.
 
 84 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " and quit my skirt : you are too bold to detain me. Content 
 thyself, I think not of thee. " 
 
 At this moment the folding-doors flew wide open, and a man 
 of majestic mien, muifled in the folds of a long dark riding- 
 cloak, entered the apartment. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 This is he 
 Who rides on the court gale, controls its tides. 
 Knows all their secret shoals and fatal eddies, 
 Whose frown abases, and whose smile exalts. 
 He shines like any rainbow — and, perchance, 
 His colours are as transient. 
 
 Old Play. 
 
 There was some little displeasure and confusion on the 
 countess's brow, owing to her struggle with Varney's perti- 
 nacity; but it was exchanged for an expression of the purest 
 joy and affection, as she threw herself into the arms of the 
 noble stranger who entered, and clasping him to her bosom, 
 exclaimed, "At length — at length thou art come!" 
 
 Varney discreetly withdrew as his lord entered, and Janet 
 was about to do the same, when her mistress signed to her to 
 remain. She took her place at the farther end of the apart- 
 ment, and continued standing, as if ready for attendance. 
 
 Meanwhile the earl, for he was of no inferior rank, returned 
 his lady's caress with the most affectionate ardour, but affected 
 to resist when she strove to take his cloak from him. 
 
 "Nay," she said, "but I will unmantle you. I must see if 
 you have kept your word to me, and come as the great earl 
 men call thee, and not as heretofore like a private cavalier." 
 
 " Thou art like the rest of the world, Amy, " said the earl, 
 suffering her to prevail in the playful contest : " the jewels, 
 and feathers, and silk are more to them than the man whom 
 they adorn : many a poor blade looks gay in a velvet scab- 
 bard." 
 
 " But so cannot men say of thee, thou noble earl, " said his
 
 KENILWORTH. 85 
 
 lady, as the cloak dropped on the floor, and showed him 
 dressed as princes when they ride abroad ; " thou art the good 
 and well-tried steel, whose inly worth deserves, yet disdains, 
 its outward ornaments. Do not think Amy can love thee 
 better in this glorious garb than she did when she gave her 
 heart to him who wore the russet-brown cloak in the woods of 
 Devon." 
 
 "And thou too," said the earl, as gracefully and majesti- 
 cally he led his beautiful coimtess towards the chair of state 
 which was prepared for them both — " thou too, my love, hast 
 donned a dress which becomes thy rank, though it cannot im- 
 prove thy beauty. What think' st thou of our court taste?" 
 
 The lady cast a sidelong glance upon the great mirror as they 
 passed it by, and then said : " I know not how it is, but I think 
 not of my own person while I look at the reflection of thine. 
 Sit thou there," she said, as they approached the chair of 
 state, "like a thing for men to worship and to wonder at." 
 
 " Ay, love," said the earl, " if thou wilt share my state with 
 me." 
 
 " Not so, " said the countess ; " I will sit on this footstool at 
 thy feet, that I may spell over thy splendour, and learn, for 
 the first time, how princes are attired," 
 
 And with a childish wonder which her youth and rustic 
 education rendered not only excusable but becoming, mixed as 
 it was with a delicate show of the most tender conjugal affec- 
 tion, she examined and admired from head to foot the noble 
 form and princely attire of him who formed the proudest orna- 
 ment of the court of England's Maiden Queen, renowned as it 
 was for splendid courtiers, as well as for wise counsellors. 
 Eegarding affectionately his lovely bride, and gratified by her 
 unrepressed admiration, the dark eye and noble features of the 
 earl expressed passions more gentle than the commanding and 
 aspiring look which usually sate upon his broad forehead and 
 in the piercing brilliancy of his dark eye ; and he smiled at 
 the simplicity which dictated the questions she put to him 
 concerning the various ornaments with which he was deco- 
 rated. 
 
 "The embroidered strap, as thou callest it, around my
 
 S6 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 knee, '' he said, " is the Euglish Garter — an ornament which 
 kings are proud to wear. See, here is the star Avhich belongs 
 to it, and here the Diamond George, the jewel of the order. 
 You have heard how King Edward and the Coiuitess of Salis- 
 bury " 
 
 " Oh, I know all that tale," said the countess, slightly blush- 
 ing, " and how a lady's garter became the proudest badge of 
 English chivahy." 
 
 "Even so," said the earl; "and this most honourable order 
 I had the good hap to receive at the same time with three 
 most noble associates — the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of 
 Northampton, and the Earl of Rutland. I was the lowest of 
 the four in rank; but what then? he that climbs a ladder 
 must begin at the first roimd. " 
 
 " But this other fair collar, so richly wrought, with some 
 jewel like a sheep hung by the middle attached to it, what," 
 said the young countess, "does that emblem signify?" 
 
 " This collar," said the earl, " with its double fusilles iuter- 
 changed with these knobs, which are supposed to present 
 flintstones, sparkling with fire, and sustaining the jewel you 
 inquire about, is the badge of the noble order of the Golden 
 Eleece, once appertaining to the house of Burgundy. It hath 
 high privileges, my Amy, belonging to it, this most noble 
 order; for even the king of Spain himself, who hath now- 
 succeeded to the honours and demesnes of Biu-gundy, may 
 not sit in judgment upon a knight of the Golden Fleece, 
 imless by assistance and consent of the great chapter of the 
 order." 
 
 " And is this an order belonging to the cruel king of Spain?" 
 said the countess. " Alas ! my noble lord, that you will defile 
 your noble English breast by bearing such an emblem! Be- 
 thLak you of the most unhappy Queen Mai-y's days, when this 
 same Philip held sway with her in England, and of the piles 
 which were built for our noblest, and our wisest, and our 
 most truly sanctified prelates and divines. And will you, 
 whom men call the standard-bearer of the true Protestant 
 faith, be contented to wear the emblem and mark of such a 
 Homish tyrant as he of Spain?"
 
 KENILWORTH. 87 
 
 "Oh, content you, iny love/*" answered the earl; "we who 
 spread our sails to gales of court favour cannot always display 
 the ensigns we love the best, or at all times refuse sailing 
 under colours which we like not. Believe me, I am not the 
 less good Protestant that for policy I must accept the honour 
 offered me by Spain, in admitting me to this his highest order 
 of knighthood. Besides, it belongs properly to Flanders ; and 
 Egmont, Orange, and others have pride in seeing it displayed 
 on an English bosom." 
 
 *•' X ay, my lord, you know your own path best, " replied the 
 countess. "And this other collar, to what country does this 
 fair jewel belong?" 
 
 " To a very poor one, my love, " replied the earl : " this is 
 the order of St. Andrew, revived by the last James of Scot- 
 laud. It was bestowed on me when it was thought the young 
 widow of France and Scotland would gladly have wedded an 
 English baron ; but a free coronet of England is worth a crowa 
 matrimonial held at the humour of a woman, and owning only 
 the poor rocks and bogs of the noi-th. " 
 
 The countess paused, as if what the earl last said had ex- 
 cited some painful but interesting train of thought ; and, as 
 she still remained silent, her husband proceeded. 
 
 ** And now, loveliest, your wish is gratified, and you have 
 seen your vassal in such of his trim an-ay as accords with rid- 
 mg vestments; for robes of state and coronets are only for 
 princely halls." 
 
 "Well, then," said the countess, "my gratified wish has, 
 as usual, given rise to a new one." 
 
 "And what is it thou canst ask that I can deny?" said the 
 fond husband. 
 
 "I wished to see my earl visit this obscuie and secret 
 bower," said the countess, "in all his princely array; and 
 now, methinks, I long to sit in one of his princely halls, and 
 see him enter dressed in sober russet, as when he won poor 
 Amy Eobsart's heart." 
 
 "That is a wish easily granted," said the earlj "the sober 
 russet shall be donned to-morrow, if you will." 
 
 "But shall I," said the lady, "go with you to one of youx
 
 88 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 castles, to see how the richness of your dwelling will corre- 
 spond with your peasant habit?" 
 
 " Why, Amy, " said the earl, looking around, " are not these 
 apartments decorated with sufficient splendour? I gave the 
 most unbounded order, and, methinks, it has been indifferent- 
 ly well obeyed ; but if thou canst tell me aught which remains 
 to be done, I will instantly give direction." 
 
 "Nay, my lord, now you mock me," replied the countess; 
 "the gaiety of this rich lodging exceeds my imagination as 
 much as it does my desert. But shall not your wife, my 
 love — at least one day soon — be surrounded with the honour 
 which arises neither from the toils of the mechanic who decks 
 her apartment nor from the silks and jewels with which your 
 generosity adorns her, but which is attached to her place among 
 the matronage, as the avowed wife of England's noblest earl?" 
 
 "One day!" said her husband. "Yes, Amy, my love, one 
 day this shall surely happen ; and, believe me, thou canst not 
 "wish for that day more fondly than I. With what rapture 
 could I retire from labours of state, and cares and toils of 
 ambition, to spend my life in dignity and honour on my own 
 broad domains, with thee, my lovely Amy, for my friend and 
 companion ! But, Amy, this cannot yet be ; and these dear 
 but stolen interviews are all I can give to the loveliest and the 
 best beloved of her sex." 
 
 " But why can it not be?" urged the countess, in the soft- 
 est tones of persuasion. " Why can it not immediately take 
 place — this more perfect, this uninterrupted union, for which 
 you say you wish, and which the laws of God and man alike 
 command? Ah! did you but desire it half as much as you 
 say, mighty and favoured as you are, who or what should bar 
 your attaining your wish?" 
 
 The earl's brow was overcast. 
 
 " Amy, " he said, " you speak of what you understand not. 
 We that toil in courts are like those who climb a mountain of 
 loose sand: we dare make no halt until some projecting rock 
 afford us a secure footing and resting-place ; if we pause sooner, 
 we slide down by our own weight, an object of universal de- 
 rision. I stand high, but I stand not secure enough to follow
 
 KENILWORTH. 89 
 
 my own inclination. To declare my marriage were to be the 
 artificer of my own ruin. But, believe me, I will reach a 
 point, and that speedily, when I can do justice to thee and to 
 myseK. Meantime, poison not the bliss of the present mo- 
 ment by desiring that which cannot at present be. Let me 
 rather know whether all here is managed to thy liking. How 
 does Foster bear himself to you? in all things respectful, I 
 trust, else the fellow shall dearly rue it." 
 
 " He reminds me sometimes of the necessity of this pri- 
 vacy," answered the lady, with a sigh ; " but that is reminding 
 me of your wishes, and therefore I am rather bound to him 
 than disposed to blame him for it." 
 
 " I have told you the stern necessity which is upon us, " re- 
 plied the earl. " Foster is, I note, somewhat sullen of mood, 
 but V'arney warrants to me his fidelity and devotion to my 
 service. If thou hast aught, however, to complain of the 
 mode in which he discharges his duty, he shall abye it." 
 
 " Oh, I have nought to complain of, " answered the lady, " so 
 he discharges his task with fidelity to you ; and his daughter 
 Janet is the kindest and best companion of my solitude, her 
 little air of precision sits so well upon her!" 
 
 "Is she indeed?" said the earl; "she who gives you pleas- 
 ure must not pass unrewarded. Come hither, damsel." 
 
 "Janet," said the lady, "come hither to my lord." 
 
 Janet, who, as we already noticed, had discreetly retired to 
 some distance, that her presence might be no check upon the 
 private conversation of her lord and lady, now came forward; 
 and as she made her reverential courtesy, the earl could not 
 avoid smiling at the contrast which the extreme simplicity of 
 her dress, and the prim demureuess of her looks, made with a 
 very pretty countenance and a pair of black eyes, that laughed 
 in spite of their mistress's desire to look grave. 
 
 " I am bound to you, pretty damsel, " said the earl, " for the 
 contentment which yoiir service hath given to this lady. " As 
 he said this, he took from his finger a ring of some price, and 
 offered it to Janet Foster, adding : " Wear this, for her sake 
 and for mine." 
 
 " I am well pleased, my lord, " answered Janet, demurely.
 
 90 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ** that my poor service Hath gratified my lady, whom no one 
 can draw nigh to without desiring to please ; but we of the 
 precicnis Master Holdforth's congi-egation seek not, like the 
 gay daughters of this world, to twine gold around our fingers, 
 <or wear stones upon our necks, like the vain women of Tyre 
 and of Sidon." 
 
 " Oh, what ! you are a grave professor of the precise sister- 
 hood, pretty Mrs. Janet," said the earl, "and I think your 
 father is of the same congregation in sincerity. I like you 
 both the better for it ; for I have been prayed for, and wished 
 well to, in yom* congregations. And you may the better 
 afford the lack of ornament, ^lis. Janet, because your fingers 
 are slender and your neck white. But here is what neither 
 Papist nor Puritan, latitudinarian nor precisian, ever boggles 
 or makes mouths at. E'en take it, my girl, and employ it as 
 you list." 
 
 So saying, he put into her hand five broad gold pieces of 
 Philip and Mary. 
 
 " I would not accept this gold neither, " said Janet, " but 
 that I hope to find a use for it which will bring a blessing on 
 us aU.» 
 
 " Even please thyself, pretty Janet, " said the earl, " and I 
 shall be well satisfied. And I prithee let them hasten the 
 evening collation." 
 
 " I have bidden Master Varney and Master Poster to sup 
 with us, my lord," said the countess, as Janet retired to obey 
 the earl's commands; "has it your approbation?" 
 
 " What you do ever must have so, my sweet Amy, " replied 
 her husband ; " and I am the better pleased thou hast done 
 them this grace, because Pichard Varney is my sworn man, 
 and a close brother of my secret council ; and for the present 
 I must needs repose much trust in this Anthony Foster." 
 
 " I had a boon to beg of thee, and a secret to tell thee, my 
 dear lord, " said the countess, with a faltering accent. 
 
 " Let both be for to-morrow, my love," replied the earl. " I 
 see they open the folding-doors into the banqueting-parlour, 
 and, as I have ridden far and fast, a cup of wine will not be 
 unacceptable."
 
 KENILWORTH. 91 
 
 So saying, he led his lovely wife into the next apartment^ 
 where Varney and Foster received them with the deepest rev- 
 erences, which the iirst paid after the fashion of the court, 
 and the second after that of the congregation. The earl 
 returned their salutation with the negligent courtesy of one 
 long used to such homage ; while the countess repaid it with 
 a punctilious solicitude which showed it was not quite so fa- 
 miliar to her." 
 
 The banquet at which the company seated themselves cor- 
 responded in magnificence with the splendour of the apart- 
 ment in which it was served up, but no domestic gave his 
 attendance. Janet alone stood ready to wait upon the com- 
 pany; and, indeed, the board was so well supplied with aE 
 that fiould be desired that little or no assistance was necessary. 
 The earl and his lady occupied the upper end of the table, and 
 Vainey and Foster sat beneath the salt, as was the custom 
 with inferiors. The latter, overawed perhaps by society ta 
 which he was altogether unused, did not utter a single syllable 
 during the repast ; while Varney, with great tact and discern- 
 ment, sustained just so much of the conversation as, without 
 the appearance of intrusion on his part, prevented it from 
 languishing, and maintained the good-hmnour of the earl at 
 the highest pitch. This man was indeed highly qualified by 
 nature to discharge the part in which he found himself placed, 
 being discreet and cautious on the one hand, and on the other- 
 quick, keen-witted, and imaginative ; so that even the coun- 
 tess, prejudiced as she was against him on many accounts, felt 
 and enjoyed his powers of conversation, and was more disposed 
 than she had ever hitherto found herself to join in the praises 
 which the earl lavished on his favourite. The hour of rest at 
 length arrived, the earl and countess retired to their apart- 
 ment, and all was silent in the castle for the rest of the 
 night. 
 
 Early on the ensuing morning, Varney acted as the earl's 
 chamberlain as well as his master of horse, though the latter 
 was his proper office in that magnificent household, where 
 knights and gentlemen of good descent were well contented to 
 bold such menial situations as nobles themselves held in thab
 
 t2 WAVKRLEY NOVELS. 
 
 of the sovereign. The duties of each of these charges were 
 familial" to Varney, who, sprung from an ancient but some* 
 what decayed family, was the earl's page during his earlier 
 and more obscure fortunes, and, faithful to him in adversity, 
 had afterwards contrived to render himself no less useful to 
 him in his rapid and splendid advance to fortune; thus estab- 
 lishing in him an interest resting both on present and past ser- 
 vices, which rendered him an almost indispensable sharer of 
 his confidence. 
 
 " Help me to do on a plainer riding-suit, Varney, " said the 
 €arl, as he laid aside his morning-gown, flowered with silk 
 and lined with sables, " and put these chains and fetters there 
 {pointing to the collars of the various orders which lay on the 
 table) into their place of security ; my neck last night was 
 wellnigh broke with the weight of them. I am half of the 
 mind that they shall gall me no more. They are bonds which 
 knaves have invented to fetter fools. How think' st thou, 
 Yarney?" 
 
 " Faith, my good lord, " said his attendant, " I think fetters 
 of gold are like no other fetters : they are ever the weightier 
 the welcomer." 
 
 " For all that, Varney, " replied his master, " I am wellnigh 
 resolved they shall bind me to the court no longer. What 
 can further service and higher favour give me, beyond the 
 i-ank and large estate which I have already secured? What 
 brought my father to the block, but that he could not bound 
 his wishes within right and reason? I have, you know, had 
 mine own ventures and mine own escapes ; I am wellnigh re- 
 solved to tempt the sea no farther, but sit me down in quiet 
 on the shore." 
 
 "And gather cockle-shells, with Dan Cupid to aid you," 
 said Varney. 
 
 *' How mean you by that, Varney?" said the earl, somewhat 
 hastily. 
 
 "Nay, my lord," said Varney, "be not angry with me. If 
 your lordship is happy in a lady so rarely lovely that, in order 
 to enjoy her company with somewhat more freedom, you are 
 willing to part with all you have hitherto lived for, some of
 
 KENILWORTH. 93 
 
 your poor servants may be sufferers ; but your bounty hath, 
 placed me so high, that I shall ever have enough to maintain 
 a poor gentleman in the rank befitting the high office he has 
 held in your lordship's family." 
 
 " Yet you seem discontented when I propose throwing up a 
 dangerous game, which may end in the ruin of both of us." 
 
 " I, my lord!" said Varney ; " surely I have no cause to re- 
 gret your lordship's retreat. It will not be Eichard Varney 
 who will incur the displeasure of majesty, and the ridicule of 
 the court, when the stateliest fabric that ever was founded 
 upon a prince's favour melts away like a morning frost-work. 
 I would only have you yourself be assured, my lord, ere you 
 take a step which cannot be retracted, that you consult your 
 fame and happiness in the course you propose." 
 
 " Speak on, then, Varney, " said the earl ; " I tell thee I 
 have determined nothing, and will weigh all considerations on 
 either side." 
 
 " Well, then, my lord, " replied Varney, " we will suppose 
 the step taken, the frown frowned, the laugh laughed, and the 
 moan moaned. You have retired, we will say, to some one of 
 your most distant castles, so far from court that you hear 
 neither the sorrow of your friends nor the glee of your ene- 
 mies. We will suppose, too, that your successful rival wiU be 
 satisfied — a thing greatly to be doubted — with abridging and 
 cutting away the branches of the great tree which so long kept 
 the sun from him, and that he does not insist upon tearing you 
 up by the roots. Well, the late prime favourite of England, 
 who wielded her general's staff and controlled her parliaments, 
 is now a rural baron, hunting, hawking, drinking fat ale with 
 country esquires, and mustering his men at the command of 
 the high sheriff " 
 
 "Varney, forbear!" said the earl. 
 
 "Nay, my lord, you must give me leave to conclude my 
 picture. Sussex governs England, the Queen's health fails, 
 the succession is to be settled — a road is opened to ambition 
 more splendid than ambition ever dreamed of. You hear all 
 this as you sit by the hob, under the shade of your hall chim- 
 ney. You then begin to think what hopes you have fallea
 
 94 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 from, and what insignificance you have embraced, and all that 
 you might look babies in the eyes of youi- fair wife oftener 
 than once a fortnight." 
 
 "I say, Varney," said the earl, "no more of this. I said 
 not that the step, which my own ease and comfort would urge 
 me to, was to be taken hastily, or without due consideration to 
 the public safety. Beai' witness to me, Varney ; I subdue my- 
 wishes of retirement, not because I am moved by the call of 
 private ambition, but that I may preserve the position in which 
 I may best serve my country at the hour of need. Order our 
 horses presently. I will wear, as formerly-, one of the livery 
 cloaks, and ride before the portmantle. Thou shalt be master 
 for the day, Varney ; neglect nothing that can blind suspicion. 
 We will to horse ere men are stirring. I will but take leave 
 of my lady, and be ready. I impose a restraint on my own 
 poor heart, and wound one yet more dear to me; but the pa- 
 triot must subdue the husband." 
 
 Having said this in a melancholy but firm accent, he left 
 the dressing-apartment. 
 
 "I am glad thou art gone," thought Varney, "or, practised 
 as I am in the follies of mankind, I had laughed in the very 
 face of thee ! Thou mayst tire as thou wilt of thy new bauble, 
 thy pretty piece of painted Eve's flesh there, I will not be 
 thy hinderance. But of thine old bauble, ambition, thou 
 shalt not tire, for as you climb the hill, my lord, you must 
 drag Richard Varney up with you ; and if he can lu-ge you to 
 the ascent he means to profit by, believe me he will spare 
 neither whip nor spur. And for you, my prett)"- lady, that 
 wou.ld be countess outright, you were best not thwart my 
 courses, lest you are called to an old reckoning on a new score. 
 *Thou shalt be master,' did he say? By my faith, he may 
 find that he spoke truer than he is aware of. And thus he, 
 who, in the estimation of so many wise-judging men, can 
 match Burleigh and Walsingham in policy, and Sussex in 
 war, becomes pupil to his own menial ; and all for a hazel eye 
 and a little cunning red and white, and so falls ambition. 
 And yet, if the charms of mortal woman coidd excuse a man's 
 politic pate for becoming bewildered, my lord had the excuse
 
 KENILWORTH. 95 
 
 at his light hand on tMs blessed evening that has last passed 
 over us. Well, let things roll as they may, he shall make me 
 great, or I will make myself happy ; and for that softer piece 
 of creation, if she speak not out her interview with Tressilian, 
 as well I think she dare not, she also must traffic with me for 
 concealment and mutual support in spite of all this scorn. I 
 must to the stables. Well, my lord, I order your retinue now; 
 the time may soon come that mi/ master of the horse shall 
 order mine OAvn. What was Thomas Cromwell but a smith's 
 sou, and he died *my lord' — on a scaffold, doubtless, but 
 that, too, was in chai'acter. And what was Ralph Sadler but 
 the clerk of Cromwell, and he has gazed eighteen fair lord- 
 ships, — via/ I know my steerage as well as they." 
 
 So saying, he left the apartment. 
 
 In the mean while the earl had re-entered the bedchamber, 
 bent on taking a hasty farewell of the lovely covuitess, and 
 scarce daring to trust himself in private with her, to hear re- 
 quests again urged which he found it difficult to parry, yet 
 which his recent conversation with his master of horse had 
 determined him not to grant. 
 
 He found her in a white cymar of silk liaed with furs, her 
 little feet unstockinged and hastily thrust into slippers, her 
 unbraided hair escaping from under her midnight coif — with 
 little array but her own loveliness, rather augmented than 
 diminished by the grief which she felt at the approaching 
 moment of separation. 
 
 "Now, God be with thee, my dearest and loveliest!" said 
 the earl, scarce teai'ing himself from her embrace, yet again 
 returning to fold her again and again in his arms, and again 
 bidding farewell, and again returning to kiss and bid adieu 
 once more. " The sun is on the verge of the blue horizon — I 
 dare not stay. Ere this I should have .been ten miles from 
 hence." 
 
 Such were the words with which at length he strove to cut 
 short their parting interview. 
 
 "You will not grant my request, then?" said the countess. 
 " Ah, false knight ! did ever lady, with bare foot in slipper, 
 seek boon of a brave knight, yet return with denial ?"
 
 96 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 "Anything, Amy — anything thou canst ask I •will grant," 
 answered the earl j " always excepting, " he said, " that which 
 might ruin us both." 
 
 *' Nay, " said the countess, " I urge not my wish to be ac- 
 knowledged in the character which would make me the envy of 
 England — as the wife, that is, of my brave and noble lord, the 
 first as the most fondly beloved of English nobles. Let me 
 but share the secret with my dear father ! Let me but end 
 his misery on my unworthy account ; they say he is ill, the 
 good old kind-hearted man!" 
 
 '■'■They say?" asked the earl, hastily; "who says? Did 
 not Varney convey to Sir Hugh all we dare at present tell him 
 concerning your happiness and welfare? And has he not told 
 you that the good old knight was following, with good heart 
 and health, his favourite and wonted exercise? Who has 
 dared put other thoughts into your head?" 
 
 " Oh, no one, my lord — no one," said the countess, something 
 alarmed at the tone in which the question was put ; " but yet, 
 my lord, I would fain be assured by mine own eyesight that 
 my father is well." 
 
 " Be contented. Amy ; thou canst not now have communica- 
 tion with thy father or his house. Were it not a deep course 
 of policy to commit no secret unnecessarily to the custody of 
 more than must needs be, it were sufficient reason for secrecy 
 that yonder Cornishman — yonder Trevanion, or Tressilian, 
 or whatever his name is — haunts the old knight's house, and 
 must necessarily know whatever is communicated there." 
 
 "My lord," answered the countess, "I do not thiak it so. 
 My father has been long noted a worthy and honourable man; 
 and for Tressilian, if we can pardon ourselves the ill we have 
 wrought him, I will wager the coronet I am to share with you 
 one day that he is incapable of returning injury for injury." 
 
 " I will not trust him, however, Amy, " said her husband— 
 " by my honour, I will not trust him. I would rather the foul 
 fiend intermingle in our secret than this TressUian!" 
 
 "And why, my lord?" said the countess, though she shud- 
 dered slightly at the tone of determination in which he spoke ; 
 "let me but know why you think thus hardly of Tressilian?"
 
 
 Tnaringr himself from her embrace, yet again returuiiif? to fold her atrain and 
 agaiu ill his arms.
 
 KENIL WORTH. 97 
 
 rr- 
 
 " Madam, " replied the earl, " my will ought to be a sufficient 
 reason. If you desire more, consider how this Tressilian is 
 leagued, and with whom. He stands high in the opinion of 
 this Eatcliffe, this Sussex, against whom I am barely able to 
 maintain my ground in the opinion of our suspicious mistress ; 
 and if he had me at such advantage, Amy, as to become 
 acquainted with the tale of our marriage before Elizabeth 
 were litly prepared, I were an outcast from her grace for 
 ever — a bankrupt at once in favour and in fortune, perhaps, 
 for she hath in her a touch of her father Henry — a victim, 
 and it may be a bloody one, to her offended and jealous re- 
 sentment. " 
 
 "But why, my lord," again urged his lady, "should you 
 deem thus injuriously of a man of whom you know so little? 
 What you do know of Tressilian is through me, and it is I who 
 assure you that in no circumstances will he betray your secret. 
 If I did him wrong in your behalf^ my lord, I am now the 
 more concerned you should do him justice. You are offended 
 at my speaking of him, what would you say had I actually 
 myself seen him?" 
 
 " If you had, " replied the earl, " you would do well to keep 
 that interview as secret as that which is spoken in a confes- 
 sional. I seek no one's ruin; but he who thrusts himseK on 
 my secret privacy were better look well to his future walk. 
 The bear ' brooks no one to cross his awful path. " 
 
 "Awful, indeed!" said the countess, turning very pale. 
 
 " You are ill, my love, " said the earl, supporting her in his 
 arms ; " stretch yourself on your couch again ; it is but early 
 day for you to leave it. Have you aught else, involving less 
 than my fame, my fortune, and my life, to ask of me?" 
 
 " iSTothing, my lord and love, " answered the countess, faint- 
 ly ; " something there was that I would have told you, but 
 your anger has driven it from my recollection." 
 
 " Reserve it till our next meeting, my love, " said the earl 
 fondly, and again embracing her ; " and barring only those re- 
 quests which I cannot and dare not grant, thy wish must be 
 
 ' The Leicester cognizance was the ancient device adopted by his father, 
 when Earl of Warwick, the bear and ragged staff. 
 7
 
 98 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 more than England and all its dependencies can fulfil if it is 
 not gratified to the letter." 
 
 Thus saying, he at length took farewell. At the bottom of 
 the staircase he received from Yarney an ample livery cloak 
 and slouched hat, in which he wrapped himself so as to dis- 
 guise his person and completely conceal his features. Horses 
 were ready in the courtyard for himseK and Varney; for one 
 or two of his train, entrusted with the secret so far as to know 
 or guess that the earl intrigued with a beautifid lady at that 
 mansion, though her name and quality were unknown to them, 
 had already been dismissed over night. 
 
 Anthony Foster himself had in hand the rein of the earl's 
 palfrey, a stout and able nag for the road; while his old serv- 
 ing-man held the bridle of the more showy and gallant steed 
 which E-ichard Varney was to occupy in the character of 
 master. 
 
 As the earl approached, however, Varney advanced to hold 
 his master's bridle, and to prevent Foster from paying that 
 duty to the earl which he probably considered as belonging to 
 his own ofiice. Foster scowled at an interference which seemed 
 intended to prevent his paying his court to his patron, but gave 
 place to Varney J and the earl, mounting without farther ob- 
 servation, and forgetting that his assumed character of a do- 
 mestic threw him into the rear of his supposed master, rode 
 pensively out of the quadrangle, not without waving his hand 
 repeatedly in answer to the signals which were made by the 
 countess with her kerchief from the windows of her apartment. 
 
 While his stately form vanished under the dark archway 
 which led out of the quadrangle, Varney muttered: "There 
 goes fine policy — the servant before the master!" then, as he 
 disappeared, seized the moment to speak a word with Foster. 
 "Thou look'st dark on me, Anthony," he said, "as if I had 
 deprived thee of a parting nod of my lord ; but I have moved 
 him to leave thee a better remembrance for thy faithful ser- 
 vice. See here ! a purse of as good gold as ever chinked under 
 a miser's thumb and forefinger. Ay, count them, lad," said 
 he, as Foster received the gold with a grim smile, " and add 
 to them the goodly remembrance he gave last night to Janet."
 
 KENILWORTH. 99 
 
 "How's this! — how's this!" said Anthony Foster, hastily; 
 " gave he gold to Janet?" 
 
 "Ay, man, wherefore not? does not her service to his fair 
 lady require guerdon?" 
 
 " She shall have none on't," said Foster: " she shall return 
 it. I know his dotage on one face is as brief as it is deep. 
 His affections are as fickle as the moon." 
 
 " Why, Foster, thou art mad ; thou dost not hope for such 
 good fortune as that my lord should cast an eye on Janet? 
 Who, in the fiend's name, would listen to the thrush when 
 the nightingale is singing?" 
 
 " Thrush or nightingale, all is one to the fowler ; and, Mas- 
 ter Varney, you can sound the quail-pipe most daintily to wile 
 wantons into his nets. I desire no such devil's preferment for 
 Janet as you have brought many a poor maiden to. Dost 
 thou laugh? I will keep one limb of my family, at least, from 
 Satan's clutches, that thou mayst rely on. She shall restore 
 the gold." 
 
 " Ay, or give it to thy keeping, Tony, which will serve as 
 well, " answered Varney ; " but I have that to say which is 
 more serious. Our lord is returning to court in an evil humour 
 for us." 
 
 " How meanest thou?" said Foster. " Is he tired already of 
 his pretty toy — his plaything yonder? He has purchased her 
 at a monarch's ransom, and I warrant me he rues his bargain." 
 
 "Not a whit, Tony," answered the master of the horse; 
 " he dotes on her, and will forsake the court for her ; then 
 down go hopes, possessions, and safety: church lands are re- 
 sumed, Tony, and well if the holders be not called to account 
 in Exchequer." 
 
 " That were ruin, " said Foster, his brow darkening with ap- 
 prehensions ; " and all this for a woman ! Had it been for his 
 soul's sake, it were something; and I sometimes wish I myself 
 could fling away the world that cleaves to me, and be as one 
 of the poorest of our church." 
 
 "Thou art like enough to be so, Tony," answered Varney; 
 " but I think the devil will give thee little credit for thy com- 
 pelled poverty, and so thou losest on all hands. But follow
 
 100 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 my counsel, and Cuninor Place shall be tliy copyhold yet. 
 Say nothing of this Tressilian's visit — not a word until I give 
 thee notice." 
 
 '' And wherefore, I pray you?" asked Foster, suspiciously. 
 
 "Dull beast!" replied Varney ; "in my lord's present hu- 
 mour it were the ready way to confirm him in his resolution 
 of retirement, should he know that his lady was haunted 
 with such a spectre in his absence. He would be for playing 
 the dragon himself over his golden fruit, and then, Tony, thy 
 occupation is ended. A word to the wise. Farewell — I must 
 follow him." 
 
 He turned his horse, struck him with the spurs, and rode 
 off under the archway in pursuit of his lord. 
 
 " Would thy occupation were ended, or thy neck broken, 
 damned pander!" said Anthony Foster. "But I must follow 
 his beck, for his interest and miae are the same, and he can 
 wind the proud earl to his will. Janet shall give me those 
 pieces though; they shall be laid out in some way for God's 
 service, and I will keep them separate in my strong chest till 
 I can fall upon a fitting emplojrment for them. No contagious 
 vapour shall breathe on Janet: she shall remain pure as a 
 blessed spirit, were it but to pray God for her father. I need 
 her prayers, for I am at a hard pass. Strange reports are 
 abroad concerning my way of life. The congregation look 
 cold on me, and when Master Holdforth spoke of hypo- 
 crites being like a whited sepulchre, which within was full of 
 dead men's bones, methought he looked fuU at me. The 
 E-omish was a comfortable faith, Lambourne spoke true in 
 that. A man had but to follow his thrift by such ways 
 as offered — tell his beads — hear a mass — confess, and be ab- 
 solved. These Puritans tread a harder and a rougher path ; 
 but I will try — and I will read my Bible for an hour ere I 
 again open mine iron chest." 
 
 Varney, meantime, spurred after his lord, whom he found 
 waiting for him at the postern gate of the park. 
 
 " You waste time, Varney, " said the earl, " and it presses. 
 I must be at Woodstock before I can safely lay aside my dis- 
 guise, and till then I journey in some peril."
 
 KENILWORTH. 101 
 
 "It is but two hours' brisk riding, my lord," said Varuey; 
 "for me, I only stopped to enforce your commands of cai-e 
 and secrecy on yonder Foster, and to inquire about the abode 
 of the gentleman whom I would promote to your lordship's 
 train in the room of Trevors." 
 
 " Is he fit for the meridian of the ante-chamber, think' st 
 thou?" said the earl, 
 
 " He promises well, my lord," replied Varney; "but if your 
 lordship were pleased to ride on, I could go back to Cumnor, 
 and bring him to your lordship at Woodstock before you are 
 out of bed." 
 
 " Why, I am asleep there, thou knowest, at this moment, " 
 said the earl ; " and I pray you not to spare horse-flesh, that 
 you may be with me at my levee." 
 
 So saying, he gave his horse the spur, and proceeded on his 
 journey, while Varney rode back to Cumnor by the public road, 
 avoiding the park. The latter alighted at the door of the bonny 
 Black Bear, and desired to speak with Master Michael Lam- 
 bourne. That respectable character was not long of appear- 
 ing before his new patron, but it was with downcast looks. 
 
 " Thou hast lost the scent, " said Varney, " of thy comrade 
 Tressilian. I know it by thy hang-dog visage. Is this thy 
 alacrity, thou impudent knave?" 
 
 "Cog's wounds!" said Lambourne, "there was never a trail 
 so finely hunted. I saw him to earth at mine uncle's here — • 
 stuck to him like bees-wax — saw him at supper — watched him 
 to his chamber, and presto — he is gone next morning, the 
 very hostler knows not where!" 
 
 " This sounds like practice upon me, sir, " replied Varney ; 
 "and if it prove so, by my soul you shall repent it!" 
 
 " Sir, the best hound will be sometimes at fault, " answered 
 Lambourne ; " how should it serve me that this f eUow should 
 have thus vanished? You may ask mine host, Giles Gosling — 
 ask the tapster and hostler — aslc Cicely, and the whole house- 
 hold, how I kept eyes on Tressilian while he was on foot. 
 On my soul, I could not be expected to watch him like a sick- 
 nurse, when I had seen him fairly a-bed in his chamber. That 
 will be allowed me, surely."
 
 102 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Varney did, in fact, make some inquiry among the house- 
 hold, which confirmed the truth of Lambourne's statement. 
 Tressilian, it was unanimously agreed, had departed suddenly 
 and unexpectedly, betwixt night and morning. 
 
 " But I win wrong no one," said mine host; "he left on the 
 table in his lodging the full value of his reckoning, with some 
 allowance to the servants of the house, which was the less 
 necessary that he saddled his own gelding, as it seems, with- 
 out the hostler's assistance." 
 
 Thus satisfied of the rectitude of Lambourne's conduct, 
 Varney began to talk to him upon his future prospects and the 
 mode in which he meant to bestow himself, intimating that he 
 understood from Foster he was not disinclined to enter into 
 the household of a nobleman. 
 
 " Have you," said he, " ever been at court?" 
 
 "No," replied Lambourne; "but ever since I was ten years 
 old I have dreamt once a week that I was there, and made my 
 fortune. " 
 
 " It may be your own fault if your dream comes not true, " 
 said Varney. " Are you needy?" 
 
 "Um!" replied Lambourne ; "I love pleasure." 
 
 " That is a sufficient answer, and an honest one, " said Var- 
 ney. " Know you aught of the requisites expected from the 
 retainer of a rising courtier?" 
 
 "I have imagined them to myself, sir," aniswered Lam- 
 bourne ; "as, for example, a quick eye, a close mouth, a ready 
 and bold hand, a sharp wit, and a blunt conscience." 
 
 "And thine, I suppose," said Varney, "has had its edge 
 blunted long since?" 
 
 " I cannot remember, sir, that its edge was ever over keen," 
 replied Lambourne. " When I was a youth, I had some few 
 whimsies, but I rubbed them partly out of my recollection on 
 the rough grindstone of the wars, and what remained I washed 
 out in the broad waves of the Atlantic. " 
 
 "Thou hast served, then, in the Indies?" 
 
 " In both East and West, " answered the candidate for court 
 service, " by both sea and land ; I have served both the Port- 
 ugal and the Spaniard, both the Dutchman and the Frencli-
 
 KENILWORTH. 103 
 
 man. and have made war on our own account with, a crew of 
 J0II3" fellows who held there was no peace beyond the Line." ' 
 
 " Thou mayst do me, and my lord, and thyself, good ser- 
 vice, " said Varney, after a pause, " But observe, I know the 
 world, and answer me truly, canst thou be faithful?" 
 
 " Did you not know the world, " answered Lambourne, " it 
 were my duty to say 'ay,' without further circumstance, and 
 to swear to it with life and honour, and so forth. But as it 
 seems to me that your worship is one who desires rather honest 
 ti'uth than politic falsehood, I reply to you that I can be faith- 
 ful to the gallows' foot, ay, to the loop that dangles from it, 
 if I am well used and well recompensed — not otherwise. " 
 
 " To thy other virtues thou canst add, no doubt, " said 
 Varney, in a jeering tone, " the knack of seeming serious and 
 religious, when the moment demands it?" 
 
 "It would cost me nothing," said Lambourne, "to say 'yes,* 
 but to speak on the square I must needs say 'no.' If you 
 want a hypocrite, you may take Anthony Foster, who, from 
 his childhood, had some sort of phantom haunting him, which 
 he called religion, though it was that sort of godliness which 
 always ended in being great gain. But I have no such knack 
 of it." 
 
 " Well, " replied Varney, " if thou hast no hj-pocrisy, hast 
 thou not a nag here in the stable?" 
 
 "Ay, sir," said Lambourne, "that shall take hedge and 
 ditch with my lord duke's best hunters. When I made a 
 little mistake on Shooter's Hill, and stopped an ancient grazier 
 whose pouches were better liaed than his brain-pan, the bonny 
 bay nag carried me sheer off, in spite of the whole hue and 
 cry." 
 
 " Saddle him then, instantly, and attend me," said Varney. 
 " Leave thy clothes and baggage under charge of mine host, 
 and I wUl conduct thee to a service in which, if thou do not 
 better thyself, the fault shall not be fortune's, but thine own." 
 
 "Brave and hearty!" said Lambourne, "and I am mounted 
 in an instant. Knave, hostler, saddle my nag without the loss 
 
 * Sir Francis Drake, Morgan, and many a bold buccanier of those days, 
 were, in fact, little better than pirates.
 
 104 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 of one second, as tliou dost value the safety of thy noddle. 
 Pretty Cicely, take half this purse to comfort thee for my 
 sudden departure." 
 
 "Gogsnouns!" replied the father, "Cicely wants no such 
 token from thee. Go away, Mike, and gather grace if thou 
 canst, though I think thou goest not to the land where it 
 grows." 
 
 " Let me look at this Cicely of thine, mine host, " said Var- 
 ney ; " I have heard much talk of her beauty." 
 
 " It is a sunburnt beauty, " said mine host, " well qualified 
 to stand out rain and wind, but little calculated to please such 
 critical gallants as yourself. She keeps her chamber, and 
 cannot encounter the glance of such sunny-day courtiers as my 
 noble guest." 
 
 " Well, peace be with her, my good host, " answered Varney ; 
 " our horses are impatient, we bid you good day. " 
 
 "Does my nephew go with you, so please you?" said Gos- 
 ling. 
 
 " Ay, such is his purpose, " answered Richard Varney. 
 
 " You are right — fully right, " replied mine host — " you are, 
 I say, fully right, my kinsman. Thou hast got a gay horse, 
 see thou light not unaware upon a halter; or, if thou wilt 
 needs be made immortal by means of a rope, which thy pur- 
 pose of following this gentleman renders not unlikely, I charge 
 thee to find a gallows as far from Cumnor as thou conveniently 
 mayst ; and so I commend you to your saddle. " 
 
 The master of the horse and his new retainer mounted 
 accordingly, leavmg the landlord to conclude his ill-omened 
 farewell to himself and at leisure ; and set off together at a 
 rapid pace, which prevented conversation until the ascent of 
 a steep sandy hill permitted them to resume it. 
 
 " You are contented, then, " said Varney to his companion, 
 "to take court service?" 
 
 " Ay, worshipful sir, if you like my terms as well as I like 
 yours." 
 
 "And what are your terms?" demanded Varney. 
 
 " If I am to have a quick eye for my patron's interest, he 
 must have a duU one towards my faults, " said Lambourne.
 
 KENILWORTH. 105 
 
 " Ay, " said Varney, " so they lie not so grossly open that 
 he must needs break his shins over them." 
 
 " Agreed, " said Lambourne. " Next, if I run down game, 
 I must have the picking of the bones." 
 
 " That is but reason, " replied Varney, *' so that your betters 
 are served before you." 
 
 " Good, " said Lambourne ; " and it only remains to be said, 
 that if the law and I quarrel, my patron must bear me out, for 
 that is a chief point. " 
 
 "Reason again," said Varney, "if the quarrel hath hap- 
 pened in your master's service." 
 
 " For the wage and so forth, I say nothing, " proceeded 
 Lambourne; " it is the secret guerdon that I must live by." 
 
 " Never fear, " said Varney ; " thou shalt have clothes and 
 spending money to ruffle it with the best of thy degree, for 
 thou goest to a household where you have gold, as they say, 
 by the eye." 
 
 " That jumps all with my humour, " replied Michael Lam- 
 bourne ; " and it only remains that you tell me my master's 
 name." 
 
 " My name is Master Richard Varney, " answered his com- 
 panion. 
 
 "But I mean," said Lambourne, "the name of the noble 
 lord to whose service you are to prefer me." 
 
 " How, knave, art thou too good to call vie master?" said 
 Varney, hastily ; " I would have thee bold to others, but not 
 saucy to me." 
 
 " I crave your worship's pardon, " said Lambourne ; " but 
 you seemed familiar with Anthony Foster, now I am familiar 
 ■with Anthony myself." 
 
 " Thou art a shrewd knave, I see, " replied Varney. " Mark 
 me — I do indeed propose to introduce thee into a nobleman's 
 household ; but it is upon my person thou wilt chiefly wait, and 
 upon my countenance that thou wilt depend. I am his master 
 of horse. Thou wilt soon know his name; it is one that 
 shakes the comicil and wields the state. " 
 
 " By this light, a brave spell to conjure with, " said Lam- 
 bourne, "if a man would discover hidden treasures!"
 
 106 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Used witli discretion, it may prove so," replied Yarney; 
 *' but mark — if thou conjure with it at thine OAvn hand, it may 
 raise a devil who will tear thee in fragments." 
 
 "Enough said," replied Lambourne; "I will not exceed 
 my limits." 
 
 The travellers then resumed the rapid rate of travelling 
 which their discourse had interrupted, and soon arrived at the 
 royal park of Woodstock. This ancient possession of the 
 crown of England was then very different from what it had 
 been when it was the residence of the fair Eosamond, and the 
 scene of Henry the Second's secret and illicit amours ; and yet 
 more unlike to the scene which it exhibits in the present day, 
 when Blenheim House commemorates the victory of Marl- 
 borough, and no less the genius of Vanburgh, though decried 
 in his own time by persons of taste far inferior to his own. It 
 was, in Elizabeth's time, an ancient mansion in bad repair, 
 which had long ceased to be honoured with the royal resi- 
 dence, to the great impoverishment of the adjacent village. 
 The inhabitants, however, had made several petitions to the 
 Queen to have the favour of the sovereign's countenance occa- 
 siojially bestowed upon themj and upon this very business, 
 ostensibly at least, was the noble lord whom we have already 
 introduced to our readers a visitor at Woodstock. 
 
 Varney and Lambourne galloped without ceremony into the 
 courtyard of the ancient and dilapidated mansion,, which pre- 
 sented on that morning a scene of bustle which it had not ex- 
 hibited for two reigns. Officers of the earl's household, 
 livery-men and retainers, went and came with all the insolent 
 fracas which attaches to their profession. The neigh of horses 
 and the baying of hounds were heard ; for my lord, in his oc- 
 cupation of inspecting and surveying the manor and demesne, 
 was of course provided with the means of following his pleas- 
 ure in the chase or park, said to have been the earliest that 
 was inclosed in England, and which was well stocked with 
 deer that had long roamed there unmolested. Several of the 
 inhabitants of the village, in anxious hope of a favourable 
 result from this unwonted visit, loitered about the courtj'ard, 
 and waited the great man's coming forth. Their attentioa
 
 KENILWORTH. 10^ 
 
 was excited by the hasty arrival of Varney, and a murniur ran 
 amongst them, "The earl's master of the horse!" while they 
 hurried to bespeak favour by hastily mibonneting and proffer- 
 ing to hold the bridle and stirrup of the favoured retainer and 
 his attendant 
 
 "Stand somewhat aloof, my masters!" said Varney, 
 haughtily, "and let the domestics do their office." 
 
 The mortified citizens and peasants fell back at the signal; 
 while Lambourne, who had his eye upon his superior's de- 
 portment, repelled the services of those who offered to assist 
 him with yet more discourtesy : " Stand back, Jack peasant, 
 with a murrain to you, and let these knave footmen do their 
 duty!" 
 
 While they gave their nags to the attendants of the house- 
 hold, and walked into the mansion with an air of superiority 
 which long practice and consciousness of birth rendered natural 
 to Varney, and which Lambourne endeavoured to imitate as 
 well as he could, the poor inhabitants of Woodstock whispered 
 to each other : " Well-a-day — God save us from all such mis- 
 proud princoxes! An the master be like the men, why, the 
 fiend may take all, and yet have no more than his due." 
 
 "Silence, good neighbours!" said the bailiff, "keep tongue 
 betwixt teeth; we shall know more by and by. But never 
 will a lord come to Woodstock so welcome as bluff old King 
 Harry! He would horsewhip a fellow one day with his own 
 royal hand, and then fling him an handful of silver groats, 
 with his own broad face on them, to 'noint the sore withal." 
 
 "Ay, rest be with him!" echoed the auditors; "it will be 
 long ere this Lady Elizabeth horsewhip any of us." 
 
 " There is no saying, " answered the bailiff. " Meanwhile, 
 patience, good neighbours, and let us comfort ourselves by 
 thinking that we deserve such notice at her Grace's hands." 
 
 Meanwhile, Varney, closely followed by his new dependent, 
 made his way to the hall, where men of more note and conse- 
 quence than those left in the courtyard awaited the appear- 
 ance of the earl, who as yet kept his chamber. All paid court 
 to Varney, with more or less deference, as suited their own 
 rank, or the urgency of the business which brought them to
 
 108 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 his lord's levee. To the general question of, " When comes 
 my lord forth, Master Varney?" he gave brief answers, as, 
 " See you not my boots? I am but just returned from Oxford, 
 and know nothing of it, " and the like, until the same query 
 was put in a higher tone by a personage of more importance. 
 " I will inquire of the chamberlain, Sir Thomas Copely, " was 
 the reply. The chamberlain, distinguished by his silver key, 
 answered, that the earl only awaited Master Varney's return 
 to come down, but that he would first speak with him in his 
 private chamber. Varney, therefore, bowed to the company, 
 and took leave to enter his lord's apartment. 
 
 There was a murmur of expectation which lasted a few 
 minutes, and was at length hushed by the opening of the 
 folding- doors at the upper end of the apartment, through 
 which the earl made his entrance, marshalled by his chamber- 
 lain and the steward of his family, and followed by Richard 
 Varney. In his noble mien and princely features men read 
 nothing of that insolence which was practised by his depen- 
 dants. His courtesies were, indeed, measured by the rank of 
 those to whom they were addressed, but even the meanest 
 person present had a share of his gracious notice. The in- 
 quiries which he made respecting the condition of the manor, 
 of the Queen's rights there, and of the advantages and disad- 
 vantages which might attend her occasional residence at the 
 royal seat of Woodstock, seemed to show that he had most 
 earnestly investigated the matter of the petition of the inhabi- 
 tants, and with a desire to forward the interest of the place. 
 
 " Now the Lord love his noble countenance, " said the bailiff, 
 who had thrust himself into the presence-chamber; "he looks 
 somewhat pale. I warrant him he hath spent the whole night 
 in perusing our memorial. Master Toughyarn, who took six 
 months to di-aw it up, said it would take a week to understand 
 it; and see if the earl hath not knocked the marrow out of it 
 in twenty-four hours!" 
 
 The earl then acquainted them that he should move their 
 sovereign to honour Woodstock occasionally with her resi- 
 dence during her royal progresses, that the town and its 
 vicinity might derive from her countenance and favour the
 
 KENILWORTH. 109 
 
 same advantages as from those of lier predecessors. Mean- 
 •whiie, he rejoiced to be the expounder of her gracious pleas- 
 ure, in assuring them that, for the increase of trade and en- 
 couragement of the worthy burgesses of Woodstock, her 
 Majesty was minded to erect the town into a staple for wool. 
 
 This joyful intelligence was received with the acclamations 
 not only of the better sort who were admitted to the audience- 
 chamber, but of the commons who awaited without. 
 
 The freedom of the corporation was presented to the earl 
 upon knee by the magistrates of the place, together with a 
 purse of gold pieces, which the earl handed to Varney, who, 
 on his part, gave a share to Lambourne, as the most accept- 
 able earnest of his new service. 
 
 The earl and his retinvie took horse soon after to return to 
 court, accompanied by the shouts of the inhabitants of Wood- 
 stock, who made the old oaks ring with re-echoing, " Long 
 live Queen Elizabeth and the noble Earl of Leicester!" The 
 urbanity and courtesy of the earl even threw a gleam of popu- 
 larity over his attendants, as their haughty deportment had 
 formerly obscured that of their master; and men shouted, 
 " Long life to the earl and to his gallant followers !" as Var- 
 aey and Lambourne, each in his rank, rode proudly through 
 the streets of Woodstock. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Host, I will hear you, Master Fenton ; 
 And I will, at least, keep your counsel. 
 
 Merry Wives of Windsor. 
 
 It becomes necessary to return to the detail of those cir- 
 cumstances which accompanied, and indeed occasioned, the 
 sudden disappearance of Tressilian from the sign of the Black 
 Bear at Cumnor. It will be recollected that this gentleman, 
 after his rencounter with Varney, had returned to Giles Gos- 
 ling's caravansary, where he shut himself up in his own 
 chamber, demanded pen, ink, and paper, and announced his
 
 110 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 purpose to remain private for the day. In the evening he 
 appeared again in the public room, where Michael Lamboume^ 
 who had been on the watch for him, agreeably to his engage- 
 laent to Varney, endeavoured to renew his acquaintance with 
 him, and hoped he retained no unfriendly recollection of the 
 part he had taken in the morning scuffle. 
 
 But Tressilian repelled his advances firmly, though with 
 civility. "Master Lambourne," he said, "I trust I have rec- 
 ompensed to your pleasure the time you have wasted on me. 
 Under the show of wild bluntuess which you exhibit, I know 
 you have sense enough to understand me when I say frankly, 
 that the object of our temporary acquaintance having been 
 accomplished, we must be strangers to each other in future." 
 
 " Voto / " said Lambourne, twirling his whiskers with one 
 hand, and grasping the hilt of his weapon with the other ; " if 
 I thought that this usage was meant to insult me " 
 
 " You would bear it with discretion, doubtless, " interiiipted 
 Tressilian, " as you must do at any rate. You know too well 
 the distance that is betwixt us to require me to explain myself 
 farther. Good evening." 
 
 So saying, he turned his back upon his former companion, 
 and entered into discourse with the landlord. Michael Lam- 
 bourne felt strongly disposed to buUy; but his wrath died 
 away in a few incoherent oaths and ejaculations, and he sank 
 unresistingly under the ascendency which superior spirits 
 possess over persons of his habits and description. He re- 
 mained moody and silent in a corner of the apartment, paying 
 the most marked attention to every motion of his late com- 
 panion, against whom he began now to nourish a quarrel on 
 his own account, which he trusted to avenge by the execution 
 of his new master Varney's directions. The hour of supper 
 arrived, a,nd was followed by that of repose, when Tressilian, 
 like others, retired to his sleeping-apartment. 
 
 He had not been in bed long, when the train of sad reveries, 
 which supplied the place of rest in his disturbed mind, was 
 suddenly interrupted by the jar of a door on its hinges, and a 
 light was seen to glimmer in the apartment. Tressilian, who 
 was as brave as steel, sprang from his bed at this alariUi and
 
 KENILWORTH. HI 
 
 had laid hand upon his sword, when he was prevented from 
 drawing it by a voice which said : " Be not too rash with your 
 rapier, Master Tressilian. It is I, your host, Giles Gosling." 
 
 At the same time, uushrouding the dark lantern, which had 
 hitherto only emitted an indistinct glimmer, the goodly aspect 
 and figure of the landlord of the Black Bear was visibly pre- 
 sented to his astonished guest. 
 
 "^Vhat mummery is this, mine host?" said Tressilian. 
 " Have you supped as jollily as last night, and so mistaken 
 your chamber? or is midnight a time for masquerading it in 
 your guest's lodging?" 
 
 " Master Tressilian, " replied mine host, " I know my place 
 and my time as well as e'er a merry landlord in England. 
 But here has been my hang-dog kinsman watching you as 
 close as ever cat watched a mouse ; and here have you, on 
 the other hand, quarrelled and fought, either with him or with 
 some other person, and I fear that danger will come of it." 
 
 "Go to, thou art but a fool, man," said Tressilian; "thy 
 kinsman is beneath my resentment ; and, besides, why shouldst 
 thou think I had quarrelled with any one whomsoever?" 
 
 " Oh ! sir, " replied the innkeeper, " there was a red spot on 
 thy very cheek-bone, which boded of a late brawl, as sure as 
 the conjimetion of Mars and Saturn threatens misfortune; 
 and when you returned, the buckles of your girdle were 
 brought forward, and your step was quick and hasty, and all 
 things showed your hand and your hilt had been lately ac- 
 quainted." 
 
 " Well, good mine host, if I have been obliged to draw my 
 sword," said Tressilian, "why should such a circumstance 
 fetch thee out of thy warm bed at this time of night? Thou 
 seest the mischief is all over." 
 
 " Under favour, that is what I doubt. Anthony Foster is 
 a dangerous man, defended by strong court patronage, which 
 hath borne him out in matters of very deep concernment. 
 And then my kinsman — why, I have told you what he is; 
 and if these two old cronies have made up their old acquaint- 
 ance, I woidd not, my worshipful guest, that it should be at 
 thy cost. I promise you, Mike Lamboume has been making
 
 112 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 very particular inquiries at my hostler, when and which way 
 you ride. New, I would have you think, whether you may 
 not have done or said something for which you may be way- 
 laid and taken at disadvantage." 
 
 " Thou art an honest man, mine host, " said Tressilian, after 
 a moment's consideration, " and I will deal frankly with thee. 
 If these men's malice is directed against me — as I deny not 
 but it may — it is because they are the agents of a more power- 
 ful villain than themselves." 
 
 " You mean Master Richard Varney, do you not?" said the 
 landlord ; *' he was at Cumnor Place yesterday, and came not 
 thither so private but what he was espied by one who told me." 
 
 "I mean the same, mine host." 
 
 "Then, for God's sake, worshipful Master Tressilian," said 
 the honest Gosling, " look well to yourself. This Varney is the 
 protector and patron of Anthony Foster, who holds under him, 
 and by his favour, some lease of yonder mansion and the park. 
 Varney got a large grant of the lands of the abbacy of Abing- 
 don, and Cumnor Place amongst others, from his master, the 
 Earl of Leicester. Men say he can do everything with him, 
 though I hold the earl too good a nobleman to employ him as 
 some men talk of. And then the earl can do anything — that 
 is, anything right or fitting — with the Queen, God bless her! 
 so you see what an enemy you have made to yourself." 
 
 "Well, it is done, and I cannot help it," answered Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 " Uds precious, but it must be helped in some manner, " said 
 the host. " Richard Varney — why, what between his influ- 
 ence with my lord, and his pretending to so many old and 
 vexatious claims in right of the abbot here, men fear almost 
 to mention his name, much more to set themselves against his 
 practices. You may judge by our discourses the last night. 
 Men said their pleasure of Tony Poster, but not a word of 
 Richard Varney, though all men judge him to be at the bottom 
 of yonder mystery about the pretty wench. But perhaps you 
 know more of that matter than I do, for women, though they 
 "wear not swords, are occasion for many a blade's exchanging 
 a sheath of neat's leather for one of flesh and blood."
 
 KENILWORTH. 113 
 
 " I do indeed know more of that poor unfortunate lady than 
 thou dost, my friendly host ; and so bankrupt am I, at this 
 moment, of friends and advice, that I will willingly make a 
 counsellor of thee, and tell thee the whole history, the rather 
 that I have a favour to ask when my tale is ended." 
 
 " Good Master Tressilian, " said the landlord, " I am but a 
 poor inakeeper, little able to adjust or counsel such a guest 
 as yourseK. But as sure as I have risen decently above the 
 world by giving good measure and reasonable charges, I am 
 an honest man ; and as such, if I may not be able to assist 
 you, I am, at least, not capable to abuse your confidence. 
 Say away, therefore, as confidently as if you spoke to your 
 father ; and thus far at least be certain, that my curiosity, for 
 I will not deny that which belongs to my calling, is joined to 
 a reasonable degree of discretion." 
 
 " I doubt it not, mine host, " answered Tressilian ; and while 
 his auditor remained in anxious expectation, he meditated for 
 an instant how he should commence his narrative. " My tale," 
 he at length said, " to be quite intelligible, must begin at some 
 distance back. You have heard of the battle of Stoke, my 
 good host, and perhaps of old Sir Roger Robsart, who, in that 
 battle, valiantly took part with Henry VII., the Queen's 
 grandfather, and routed the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Geraldin 
 and his wild Irish, and the Flemings whom the Duchess 
 of Burgundy had sent over, in the quarrel of Lambert 
 Simnel?" 
 
 " I remember both one and the other, " said Giles Gosling, 
 ** it is sung of a dozen times a week on my ale-bench below. 
 Sir Roger Robsart of Devon : Oh, ay, 'tis him of whom min- 
 Btrels sing to this hour : 
 
 He was the flower of Stoke's red field, 
 When Martin Swart on ground lay slain; 
 
 In raging rout he never reel'd, 
 But like a rock did firm remain. 
 
 Ay, and then there was Martin Swart I have heard my 
 grandfather talk of, and of the jolly Almains whom he com* 
 manded, with their slashed doublets and quaint hose, all 
 8
 
 114 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 frounced with ribands above tbe netliei-stocks. Here's a song 
 goes of Martin Swart, too, an I had bat memory for it : 
 
 Martin Swart and his men. 
 
 Saddle them, saddle them ; 
 Martin Swart and his men, 
 
 Saddle them well." « 
 
 "True, good mine host — the day was long talked of; but, 
 if you sing so loud, you will awake more listeners than I care 
 to commit my confidence unto." 
 
 *' I crave pardon, my worshipful guest, " said mine host, " I 
 was oblivious. When an old song comes across us merry old 
 knights of the spigot, it runs away with our discretion. " 
 
 " Well, mine host, my grandfather, like some other Cornish- 
 men, kept a warm affection to the house of York, and espoused 
 the quarrel of this Simnel, assumuig the title of Earl of War- 
 wick, as the county afterwards, in great numbers, counte- 
 nanced the cause of Perkin Warbeck, calling himself the Duke 
 of York. My grandsire joined Sinmel's standard, and was 
 taken fighting desperately at Stoke, where most of the leaders 
 of that imhappy army were slain in their harness. The good 
 knight to whom he rendered himseK, Sir Roger Robsart, pro- 
 tected him from the immediate vengeance of the king, and 
 dismissed him without ransom. But he was unable to guard 
 him from other penalties of his rashness, being the heavy 
 fines by which he was impoverished, according to Henry's 
 mode of weakening his enemies. The good knight did what 
 he might to mitigate the distresses of my ancestor ; and their 
 friendship became so strict that my father was bred up as the 
 sworn brother and intimate of the present Sir Hugh Robsart, 
 the only son of Sir Roger, and the heir of his honest, and 
 generous, and hospitable temper, though not equal to him in 
 martial achievements." 
 
 " I have heard of good Sir Hugh Robsart, " interrupted the 
 host, " many a time and oft. His huntsman and sworn ser- 
 vant, Will Badger, hath spoke of him an hundred times in 
 this very house — a jovia,l knight he is, and hath loved hos- 
 
 « See Martin Swart. Note 3,
 
 KENILWORTH. 115 
 
 pitality and open housekeeping more than the present fashion, 
 which lays as much gold lace on the seams of a doublet as 
 would feed a dozen of tall fellows with beef and ale for a 
 twelvemonth, and let them have their evening at the ale- 
 house once a week, to do good to the publican. " 
 
 " If you have seen Will Badger, mine host, " said Tressilian, 
 " you have heard enough of Sir Hugh Robsart ; and therefore 
 I will but say, that the hospitality you boast of hath proved 
 somewhat detrimental to the estate of his family, which is 
 perhaps of the less consequence, as he has but one daughter to 
 whom to bequeath it. And here begins my share in the tale. 
 Upon my father's death, now several years since, the good 
 Sir Hugh would willingly have made me his constant com- 
 panion. There was a time, however, at which I felt the kind 
 knight's excessive love for field-sports detained me from studies 
 by which I might have profited more ; but I ceased to regret 
 the leisure which gratitude and hereditary friendship compelled 
 me to bestow on these rural avocations. The exquisite beauty 
 of Mistress Amy Robsart, as she grew up from childhood to 
 woman, could not escape one whose circumstances obliged to 
 be so constantly in her company. I loved her, in short, mine 
 host, and her father saw it." 
 
 "And crossed your true loves, no doubt?" said mine host. 
 "It is the way in all such cases; and I judge it must have 
 been so in your instance, from the heavy sigh you uttered even 
 now." 
 
 " The case was different, mine host. My suit was highly 
 approved by the generous Sir Hugh Robsart; it was his 
 daughter who was cold to my passion. " 
 
 " She was the more dangerous enemy of the two," said the 
 innkeeper. " I fear me your suit proved a cold one." 
 
 "She yielded me her esteem," said Tressilian, "and 
 seemed not unwiUing that I should hope it might ripen into a 
 warmer passion. There was a contract of future marriage 
 executed betwixt us, upon her father's intercession; but, to 
 comply with her anxious request, the execution was deferred 
 for a twelvemonth. During this period^ Richard Varney ap- 
 peared in the country, and, availing himself of some distant
 
 116 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 family connexion witli Sir Hugh Bobsart, spent much of his 
 time in his company, until, at length, he almost lived in the 
 family." 
 
 " That could bode no good to the place he honoured with 
 his residence," said Gosling. 
 
 "No, by the rood!" replied Tressilian. "Misunderstand- 
 ing and misery followed his presence, yet so strangely, that I 
 am at this moment at a loss to trace the gradations of their 
 encroachment upon a family which had, till then, been so 
 happy. For a time Amy Kobsart received the attentions of 
 this man Varney with the indifference attached to common 
 courtesies ; then followed a period in which she seemed to re- 
 gard him with dislike, and even with disgust ; and then an 
 extraordinary species of connection appeared to grow up be- 
 twixt them. Varney dropped those airs of pretension and 
 gallantry which had marked his former approaches ; and Amy, 
 on the other hand, seemed to renounce the ill-disguised dis- 
 gust with which she had regarded them. They seemed to 
 have more of privacy and confidence together than I fully 
 liked; and I suspected that they met in private, where there 
 was less restraint than in our presence. Many circumstances, 
 which I noticed but little at the time — for I deemed her heart 
 as open as her angelic countenance — have since arisen on my 
 memory, to convince me of their private understanding. But 
 I need not detail them — the fact speaks for itself. She van- 
 ished from her father's house — Varney disappeared at the 
 eame time ; and this very day I have seen her in the character 
 of his paramour, living in the house of his sordid dependant 
 Foster, and visited by him, muffled, and by a secret entrance." 
 
 "And this, then, is the cause of your quarrel? Methinks, 
 you should have been sure that the fair lady either desired 
 or deserved your interference." 
 
 "Mine host," answered Tressilian, "my father, such I 
 must ever consider Sir Hugh Eobsart, sits at home struggling 
 with, his grief, or, if so far recovered, vainly attempting to 
 drown, in the practice of his field-sports, the recollection that 
 he had once a daughter — a recollection which ever and anon 
 breaks from him under circumstances the most pathetic. I
 
 KENILWORTH. HT 
 
 could not brook the idea that he should live in misery and 
 Amy in guilt; and I endeavoured to seek her out, with tn» 
 hope of inducing her to return to her family. I have found 
 her, and when I have either succeeded in my attempt or have 
 found it altogether unavailing, it is my purpose to embark for 
 the Virginia voyage." 
 
 "Be not so rash, good sir," replied Giles Gosling; "and 
 cast not yourself away because a woman — to be brief — is a 
 woman, and changes her lovers like her suit of ribands, with 
 no better reason than mere fantasy. And ere we probe this 
 matter further, let me ask you what circumstances of suspicion 
 directed you so truly to this lady's residence, or rather to her 
 place of concealment?" 
 
 "The last is the better chosen word, mine host," answered 
 Tressilian ; " and touching your question, the knowledge that 
 Varney held large grants of the demesnes formerly belonging' 
 to the monks of Abiugdon directed me to this neighbourhood ; 
 and your nephew's visit to his old comrade Foster gave me 
 the means of conviction on the subject." 
 
 "And what is now your purpose, worthy sir? — excuse my 
 freedom in asking the question so broadly." 
 
 " I purpose, mine host, " said Tressilian, " to renew my visit 
 to the place of her residence to-morrow, and to seek a more 
 detailed communication with her than I have had to-day. 
 She must iudeed be widely changed from what she once waa 
 if my words make no impression upon her. " 
 
 " Under your favour. Master TressUian, " said the landlord, 
 " you can follow no such course. The lady, if I understand 
 you, has already rejected your interference in the matter." 
 
 "It is but too true," said Tressilian; " I cannot deny it.'* 
 
 " Then, marry, by what right or interest do you process a 
 compulsory interference with her inclination, disgraceful as it 
 may be to herself and to her parents? Unless my judgment 
 gulls me, those under whose protection she has thi-own herself 
 would have small hesitation to reject your interference, even 
 if it were that of a father or brother ; but as a discarded lover 
 you expose yourself to be repelled with the strong hand, as 
 well as with scorn. You can apply to no magistrate for aid
 
 118 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 or countenance; and you are hunting, therefore, a shadow in 
 water, and will only — excuse my plainness — come by ducking 
 and danger in attempting to catch it. " 
 
 " I will appeal to the Earl of Leicester, " said Tressilian, 
 " against the infamy of his favourite. He courts the severe 
 and strict sect of Puritans. He dare not, for the sake of his 
 own character, refuse my appeal, even although he were des- 
 titute of the principles of honour and nobleness with which 
 fame invests him. Or I will ap]3eal to the Queen herself." 
 
 " Should Leicester, " said the landlord, " be disposed to pro- 
 tect his dependant, as indeed he is said to be very confidential 
 with Varney, the appeal to the Queen may bring them both to 
 reason. Her Majesty is strict in such matters, and — if it bC 
 not treason to speak it — ^will rather, it is said, pardon a dozeu 
 courtiers for falling in love with herself than one for giving 
 preference to another woman. Corragio then, my brave guest! 
 for, if thou layest a petition from Sir Hugh at the foot of the 
 throne, bucklered by the story of thine own wrongs, the fa- 
 vourite earl dared as soon leap into the Thames at the fullest 
 and deepest as offer to protect Varney in a cause of this nature. 
 But to do this with any chance of success you must go for- 
 mally to work ; and, without staying here to tilt with the mas- 
 ter of horse to a privy-councillor, and expose yourself to the 
 dagger of his cameradoes, you should hie you to Devonshire, 
 get a petition drawn up for Sir Hugh Robsart, and make as 
 many friends as you can to forward your interest at court." 
 
 " You have spoken well, mine host, " said Tressilian, " and 
 I will profit by your advice, and leave you to-morrow early. " 
 
 " Nay, leave me to-night, sir, before to-morrow comes, " said 
 the landlord. "I never prayed for a guest's arrival more 
 eagerly than I do to have you safely gone. My kinsman's 
 destiny is most like to be hanged for something, but I would 
 not that the cause were the murder of an honoured guest of 
 mine 'Better ride safe in the dark,' says the proverb, 'than 
 in daylight with a cut -throat at your elbow.' Come, sir, I 
 move you for your own safety. Your horse and all is ready, 
 and here is your score." 
 
 "It is somewhat under a noble," said Tressilian, giving one
 
 KENILWORTH. 119 
 
 to the host ; " give tihe balance to prettj Cicely, your daughter, 
 and the servants of the house. " 
 
 " They shall taste of your bounty, sir, " said Grosling, " and 
 you should taste of my daughter's lips in grateful acknowl- 
 edgment, but at this hour she cannot grace the porch to greet 
 your departure." 
 
 " Do not trust your daughter too far with your guests, my 
 good landlord," said Tressilian. 
 
 " Oh, sir, we will keep measui-e ; but I wonder not that you 
 are jealous of them all. May I crave to know with what 
 aspect the fair lady at the Place j^esterday received you?" 
 
 " I own, " said Tressilian, " it was angry as well as confused, 
 and affords me little hope that she is yet awakened from her 
 unhappy delusion." 
 
 *^In that case, sir, I see not why you should play the cham- 
 pion of a wench that will none of you, and incur the resent- 
 ment of a favourite's favourite, as dangerous a monster as ever 
 a knight adventurer encountered in the old story-books. " 
 
 "You do me wi-ong in the supposition, mine host — gross 
 wrong," said Tressilian; "I do not desire that Amy should 
 ever turn thought upon me more. Let me but see her restored 
 to her father, and all I have to do in Europe — j)erhaps in the 
 ■world — is over and ended." 
 
 " A wiser resolution were to drink a cup of sack, and forget 
 her," said the landlord. "But five-and-twenty and iifty look 
 on those matters with different eyes, especially when one case 
 of peepers is set in the skull of a young gallant and the other 
 in that of an old publican. I pity you, Master TressUian^^ 
 but I see not how I can aid you in the matter. " 
 
 "Only thus far, mine host," replied Tressilian. "Keep a 
 watch on the motions of those at the Place, which thou canst 
 easily learn without siTspicion, as all men's news fly to the ale- 
 bench; and be pleased to communicate the tidings in Avi-iting 
 to such person, and to no other, who shall bring you this ring 
 as a special token ; look at it — it is of value, and I will freely 
 bestow it on you." 
 
 " Kay, sir, " said the landlord, " I desire no recompense ; but 
 it seems an unadvised course iu me, being in a public line, to
 
 120 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 connect myself in a matter of this dark and perilous nature. 
 I have no interest in it." 
 
 " You, and every father in the land, who would have his 
 daughter released from the snares of shame, and sin, and mis- 
 ery, have an interest deeper than aught concerning earth only 
 could create." 
 
 " Well, sir, " said the host, " these are brave words ; and I do 
 pity from my soul the frank-hearted old gentleman, who has 
 ministered his estate in good housekeeping for the honour of 
 his country, and now has his daughter, who should be the stay 
 of his age, and so forth, whisked up by such a kite as this 
 Varney. And though your part in the matter is somewhat of 
 the wildest, yet I will e'en be a madcap for company, and help 
 you in your honest attempt to get back the good man's child, 
 so far as being your faithful intelligencer can serve. And as 
 I shall be true to you, I pray you to be trusty to me, and keep 
 my secret ; for it were bad for the custom of the Black Bear, 
 should it be said the bear-warder interfered in such matters. 
 Varney has interest enough with the justices to dismount my 
 noble emblem from the post on which he swings so gallantly, 
 to call in my license, and ruin me from garret to cellar." 
 
 " Do not doubt my secrecy, mine host, " said Tressilian ; " I 
 will retain, besides, the deepest sense of thy service, and of 
 the risk thou dost run ; remember the ring is my sure token. 
 And now, farewell ; for it was thy wise advice that I should 
 tarry here as short a time as may be." 
 
 " Follow me, then, sir guest, " said the landlord, " and tread 
 as gently as if eggs were under your foot instead of deal 
 boards. No man must know when or how you departed." 
 
 By the aid of his dark lantern he conducted Tressilian, as 
 soon as he had made himseK ready for his journey, through a 
 long intricacy of passages, which opened to an outer court, 
 and from thence to a remote stable, where he had already 
 placed his guest's horse. He then aided him to fasten on the 
 saddle the small portmantle which contained his necessaries, 
 opened a postern dooi*, and with a hearty shake of the hand, 
 and a reiteration of his promise to attend to what went on at 
 Cunmor Place, he dismissed his guest to his solitary journey.
 
 KENILWORTa 121 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Far in the lane a lonely hut he found, 
 No tenant ventured on the unwholesome ground : 
 Here smokes his forge, he bares his sinewy arm, 
 And early strokes the sounding anvil warm ; 
 ' Around his shop the steely sparkles flew, 
 
 As for the steed he shaped the bending shoe. 
 
 Gay's Trivia. 
 
 As it "was deemed proper by the traveller himself, as "well 
 as by Giles Gosling, that Tressilian should avoid being seen 
 in the neighbourhood of Cumnor by those whom accident 
 might make early risers, the landlord had given him a route, 
 consisting of various bye-ways and lanes, which he was to 
 follow in succession, and which, all the turns and short-cuts 
 duly observed, was to conduct him to the public road to Marl- 
 borough. 
 
 But, like counsel of every other kind, this species of direc- 
 tion is much more easily given than followed ; and what be- 
 twixt the intricacy of the way, the darkness of the night, 
 Tressilian' s ignorance of the country, and the sad and per- 
 plexing thoughts with which he had to contend, his journey 
 proceeded so slowly that morning found him only in the Vale 
 of Whitehorse, memorable for the defeat of the Danes in 
 former days, with his horse deprived of a forefoot shoe — an 
 accident which threatened to put a stop to his journey by lam- 
 ing the animal. The residence of a smith was his first object 
 of inquiry, in which he received little satisfaction from the 
 dulness or suUenness of one or two peasants, early bound for 
 their labour, who gave brief and indifferent answers to his 
 questions on the subject. Anxious at length that the partner 
 of his journey should suffer as little as jjossible from the un- 
 fortunate accident, Tressilian dismounted, and led his horse 
 in the direction of a little hamlet, where he hoped either to 
 find or hear tidings of such an artificer as he now wanted. 
 Through a deep and muddy lane, he at length waded on to the 
 place, which proved only an assemblage of five or six miser-
 
 122 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 able huts, about tbe doors of wbich one or two persons, whose 
 appearance seemed as rude as that of their dwellings, were be- 
 ginning the toils of the day. One cottage, however, seemed 
 of rather superior aspect, and the old dame, who was sweeping 
 her threshold, appeared something less rude than her neigh- 
 bours. To her Tressilian addressed the oft-repeated question, 
 ■whether there was a smith in this neighbourhood, or any place 
 where he could refresh his horse? The dame looked him in 
 the face with a peculiar expression, as she replied: "Smith I 
 ay, truly is there a smith; what wouldst ha' wi' un, mon?" 
 
 " To shoe my horse, good dame," answered Tressilian; "you 
 may see that he has thrown a forefoot shoe." 
 
 "Master Holiday!" exclaimed the dame, without returning 
 any direct answer — "Master Herasmus Holiday, come and 
 speak to mon, and please you. " 
 
 ^^ Favete Unguis," answered a voice from within; "I cannot 
 now come forth. Gammer Sludge, being in the very sweetest 
 bit of my morning studies." 
 
 " Nay, but, good now. Master Holiday, come ye out, do ye. 
 Here's a mon would to Wayland Smith, and I care not to show 
 him way to devil; his horse hath cast shoe." 
 
 " Quid mild cum cahallo ? " replied the man of learning from 
 within ; " I think there is but one wise man in the hundred, 
 and they cannot shoe a horse without him!" 
 
 And forth came the honest pedagogue, for such his dress 
 bespoke him. A long, lean, shambling, stooping figure was 
 surmounted by a head thatched with lank black hair somewhat 
 inclining to grey. His features had the cast of habitual au- 
 thority which I suppose Dionysius carried with him from the 
 throne to the schoolmaster's pulpit, and bequeathed as a 
 legacy to all of the same profession. A black buckram cas- 
 sock was gathered at his middle with a belt, at which hung, 
 instead of knife or weapon, a goodly leathern pen-and-ink 
 case. His ferula was stuck on the other side, like hai-lequin's 
 wooden sword; and he carried in his hand the tattered volume 
 which he had been busily perusing. 
 
 On seeing a person of Tressilian 's appearance, which he was 
 better able to estimate than the country folks had been, the
 
 KENILWORTH. 123 
 
 schoolmaster unbonneted, and accosted him with, ^^ Salve, 
 doviine. Intelligisne llnguam Latinam ? " 
 
 Tressilian mustered his learning to reply: " LingiuB LatincB 
 haaid penitus ignarus, venia tua, domine emditissime, vema- 
 culam Uhent'ms loqiior." 
 
 The Latia reply had upon the schoolmaster the effect which 
 the mason's sign is said to produce on the brethren of the 
 trowel. He was at ouce interested in the learned traveller, 
 listened with gravity to his story of a tired horse and a lost 
 shoe, and then replied with solemnity : " It may appear a sim- 
 ple thing, most worshipful, to reply to you that there dwells, 
 within a brief mile of these fvguria, the best fab er ferraritiSf 
 the most accomplished blacksmith, that ever nailed iron upon 
 horse. Now, were I to say so, I warrant me you would think 
 yourself coawpos voti, or, as the vulgar have it, a made 
 man." 
 
 " I should at least, " said Tressilian, " have a direct answer 
 to a plain question, which seems difficult to be obtained in 
 this country." 
 
 " It is a mere sending of a sinful soul to the evil un, " said 
 the old woman, "the sending a li\dng creature to Wayland 
 Smith." 
 
 "Peace, Gammer Sludge!" said the pedagogue; "^;a?<ca 
 verba, Gammer Sludge ; look to the f urmity. Gammer Sludge ; 
 eurefur jentacidum, Gammer Sludge ; this gentleman is none 
 of thy gossips." Then turning to Tressilian, he resumed his 
 lofty tone : " And so, most worshipful, you would really think 
 jouvsoM felix bis terqvs ^hovldi I point out to you the dwelling 
 of this same smith?" 
 
 " Sir, " replied TressUian, " I should in that case have all 
 that I want at jiresent, a horse fit to carry me forward — out 
 of hearing of your learning." The last words he muttered to 
 himself. 
 
 " 0, cceca mens mortalium, ! " said the learned man ; " well 
 was it sung by Junius Juvenalis, * nuowinibvs vota exaudita 
 malignis ! ' " 
 
 "Learned magister," said Tressilian, "your erudition so 
 greatly exceeds my poor intellectual capacity, that you must
 
 124 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 excuse my seeking elsewliere for information wliicli I can bet- 
 ter understand." 
 
 "There again now," replied the pedagogue, "how fondly 
 you fly from him that would instruct you ! Truly said Quin- 
 tilian " 
 
 " I pray, sir, let Quintilian be for the present, and answer, 
 in a word, and in English, if your learning can condescend so 
 far, whether there is any place here where I can have oppor- 
 tunity to refresh my horse, until I can have him shod?" 
 
 " Thus much courtesy, sir, " said the schoolmaster, " I can 
 readily render you, that, although there is in this poor ham- 
 let — nostra paupera regna — no regular hospitium, as my name- 
 sake Erasmus calleth it, yet, forasmuch as you are somewhat 
 embued, or at least tinged, as it were, with good letters, I 
 will use my interest with the good woman of the house to ac- 
 commodate you with a platter of furmity — an wholesome food 
 for which I have found no Latin phrase — your horse shall have 
 a share of the cow-house, with a bottle of sweet hay, in which 
 the good woman Sludge so much abounds that it may be said 
 of her cow, foenum habet in cornu; and if it please you to be- 
 stow on me the pleasure of your company, the banquet shall 
 cost you ne semissem qmdem, so much is Gammer Sludge 
 bound to me for the pains I have bestowed on the top and 
 bottom of her hopeful heir Dickie, whom I have painfully 
 made to travel through the accidence. " 
 
 "Now, God yield ye for it. Master Herasmus," said the 
 good Gammer, " and grant that little Dickie may be the better 
 for his accident! and, for the rest, if the gentleman list to 
 stay, breakfast shall be on the board in the wringing of a dish- 
 clout ; and for horse-meat and man's meat, I bear no such base 
 mind as to ask a penny." 
 
 Considering the state of his horse, Tressilian, upon the 
 whole, saw no better course than to accept the invitation thus 
 learnedly made and hospitably confirmed, and take chance 
 that, when the good pedagogue had exhausted every topic of 
 conversation, he might possibly condescend to tell him where 
 he could find the smith they spoke of. He entered the hut 
 accordingly, and sat down with the learned Magister Erasmus
 
 KENILWORTH. 125 
 
 Holiday, partook of his furinity, and listened to his learned 
 account of himself for a good haK-hour, ere he could get him. 
 to talk upon any other topic. The reader will readUy excuse 
 our accompanying this man of learning into all the details with 
 "which he favoured Tressilian, of which the following sketch 
 may suffice. 
 
 He was born at Hogsnorton, where, according to popular 
 saymg, the pigs play upon the organ — a proverb which he 
 interpreted allegorically, as having reference to the herd of 
 Epicurus, of which litter Horace confessed himself a porker. 
 His name of Erasmus he derived partly from his father hav- 
 ing been the son of a renowned washerwoman, who had held 
 that great scholar in clean linen all the while he was at Ox- 
 ford — a task of some difficulty, as he was only possessed of 
 two shirts, " the one, " as she expressed herseK, " to wash the 
 other." The vestiges of one of these camicue, as Master Holi- 
 day boasted, were still in his possession, having fortunately 
 been detained by his grandmother to cover the balance of her 
 bill. But he thought there was a still higher and overruling 
 cause for his having had the name of Erasmus conferred on 
 him, namely, the secret presentiment of his mother's mind 
 that in the babe to be christened was a hidden genius, which 
 should one day lead him to rival the fame of the great scholar 
 of Amsterdam. The schoolmaster's surname led him as far 
 into dissertation as his Christian appellative. He was inclined 
 to think that he bore the name of Holiday quasi lucus a non 
 lucendo, because he gave such few holidays to his school. 
 ''Hence," said he, "the schoolmaster is termed, classically, 
 ludi magister, because he deprives boys of their play." And 
 yet, on the other hand, he thought it might bear a very dif- 
 ferent interpretation, and refer to his own exquisite art in. 
 arranging pageants, morris-dances. May-day festivities, and 
 such-like holiday delights, for which he assured Tressilian he 
 had positively the purest and the most inventive brain in 
 England ; insomuch, that his cunning in framing such pleas- 
 ures had made him known to many honourable persons, both in 
 coimtry and court, and especially to the noble Earl of Leices- 
 ter. " And although he may now seem to forget me," he said.
 
 126 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " in the multitude of state affairs, yet I am well assured that, 
 had he some pretty pastime to array for entertainment of the 
 Queen's Grace, horse and man would be seeking the humble 
 cottage of Erasmus Holiday. Parvo contentus, in the mean 
 while, I hear my pupils parse and construe, worshipful sir, 
 and drive away my time with the aid of the Muses. And I 
 have at, all times, when in correspondence with foreign scholars, 
 subscribed myself Erasmus ab Die Fausto, and have enjoyed 
 the distinction due to the learned under that title ; witness the 
 erudite Diedrichus Buckerschockius, who dedicated to me, 
 under that title, his treatise on the letter tau. In fine, sir, I 
 have been a happy and distinguished man." 
 
 "Long may it be so, sir!" said the traveller; "but permit 
 me to ask, in your own learned phrase. Quid hoc ad IpJnjcli 
 boves — what has all this to do with the shoeing of my poor 
 nag?" 
 
 " Festina lente, " said the man of learning, " we will present- 
 ly come to that point. You must know that, some two or 
 three years past, there came to these parts one who called 
 himself Doctor Doboobie, although it may be he never wrote 
 even viagister artium, save in right of his hungry belly. Or 
 it may be that, if he had any degrees, they were of the devil's 
 givuig, for he was what the vulgar call a white witch, a cun- 
 ning man, and such-like. Now, good sir, I perceive you are 
 impatient; but if a man tell not his tale his own way, how 
 have you warrant to think that he can tell it in yours?" 
 
 "Well, then, learned sir, take your way," answered Tres- 
 sUian ; " only let us travel at a sharper pace, for my time is 
 somewhat of the shortest." 
 
 "Well, sir," resumed Erasmus Holiday, with the most pro- 
 voking perseverance, " I will not say that this same Demetrius, 
 for so he wrote himself when in foreign parts, was an actual 
 conjurer, but certain it is, that he professed to be a brother of 
 the mystical order of the Eosy Cross, a disciple of Geber, 
 €X noynine cujus venit verhutn vemacifhiTn, gibberish. He cured 
 wounds by salving the weapon instead of the sore, told for- 
 tunes by palmistry, discovered stolen goods by the sieve and 
 shears, gathered the right maddow and the male fern seed.
 
 KENILWORTH. 127 
 
 througli use of wlxicli men walk invisible, pretended some ad- 
 vances towards the panacea or universal elixir, and affected to 
 convert good lead into sorry silver." 
 
 "In other words," said Tressilian, "he was a quacksalver 
 and common cheat ; but what has all this to do with my nag 
 and the shoe which he has lost?" 
 
 "With your worshipful patience," replied the diffusive 
 man of leters, " you shall imderstand that presently ; patientia 
 then, right worshix-)ful, which word, according to our Marcus 
 Tullius, is '' difficilium t^erum diurna perjyessio." This same 
 Demetrius Doboobie, after dealiug with the country, as I 
 have told you, began to acquire fame inter magnates^ among 
 the prime men of the land, and there is likelihood he might 
 have aspired to great matters had not, according to Aoilgar 
 fame — for I aver not the thing as according with my certain 
 knowledge — the devil claimed his right one dark night, and 
 flown off with Demetrius, who was never seen or heard of 
 afterwards. Kow here comes the medulla^ the very marrow, 
 of my tale. This Doctor Doboobie had a servant, a poor 
 snake, whom he employed in trimming his furnace, regulatiug 
 it by just measure, compounding his di'ugs, tracing his cir- 
 cles, cajoling his patients, et sic de ccetei'is. Well, right wor- 
 shipful, the doctor being removed thus strangely, and in a way 
 which struck the whole country with terror, this poor zany 
 thinks to himself, in the words of Maro, * TJno avulso, non 
 deficit alter ^; and, even as a tradesman's apprentice sets 
 liimself up in his master's shop when he is dead, or hath re- 
 tired from business, so doth this Wayland assume the dan- 
 gerous trade of his defunct master. But although, most wor- 
 shipful sir, the world is ever prone to listen to the pretensions 
 of such unworthy men, who are, indeed, mere saltim hanqui 
 and tharlatani, though usurping the stj'le and skill of doctors 
 of medicine, yet the pretensions of this poor zany, this Way- 
 land, were too gross to pass on them, nor was there a mere 
 rustic, a villager, who was not ready to accost him in the 
 sense of Persius, though in their o^vn rugged words : 
 
 Dilnis hellebornm, certo compescere puncto 
 Nescius examen ? vetat hoc natura medendii
 
 128 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 which I have thus rendered in a poor paraphrase of mine 
 
 own: 
 
 "Wilt thou mis hellebore, who doth not know 
 How many grains should to the mixture go? 
 The art of medicine this forbids, I trow. 
 
 Moreover, the evil reputation of the master, and his strange 
 and doubtful end, or at least sudden disappearance, prevented 
 any, excepting the most desperate of men, to seek any advice 
 or opinion from the servant ; wherefore, the poor vermin was 
 likely at first to swarf for very hunger. But the devO. that 
 serves him, since the death of Demetrius or Doboobie, put him 
 on a fresh device. This knave, whether from the inspiratioa 
 of the devil or from early education, shoes horses better 
 than e'er a man betwixt us and Iceland ; and so he gives up 
 Ids practice on the bipeds, the two-legged and unfledged spe- 
 cies called mankind, and betakes him entirely to shoeing of 
 horses." 
 
 "Indeed I and where does he lodge all this time?" said 
 Tressilian. "And does he shoe horses well? Show me his 
 dwelling presently." 
 
 The interruption pleased not the magister, who exclaimed : 
 *' Oj cceca mens mortalium ! though, by the way, I used that 
 quotation before. But I would the classics could afford me 
 any sentiment of power to stop those who are so willing to 
 rush upon their own destruction. Hear but, I pray you, the 
 conditions of this man," said he, in continuation, "ere you 
 are so willing to place yourself within his danger " 
 
 "A' takes no money for a's work," said the dame, who 
 stood by, enraptured as it were with the fine words and learned 
 apophthegms which glided so fluently from her erudite in- 
 mate, Master Holiday. But this interruption pleased not the 
 magister more than that of the traveller. 
 
 " Peace, " said he, " Gammer Sludge ; know your place, if it 
 be your wiU. Sttfflamina, Gammer Sludge, and allow me to 
 expound this matter to our worshipful guest. Sir," said he, 
 again addressing Tressilian, "this old woman speaks true, 
 though in her ovm rude style, for certainly this faber farrarius, 
 or blacksmith, takes money of no one."
 
 KENILWORTH. 12^ 
 
 " And that is a sure sign lie deals with Satan, " said Dame 
 Sludge ; " since no good Christian would ever refuse the wages 
 of his labour." 
 
 " The old woman hath touched it again, " said the pedagogue ; 
 " rem acu tetigit — she hath pricked it with her needle's poiut. 
 This Wayland takes no money, iudeed, nor doth he sho\y 
 himself to any one." 
 
 "And can this madman, for such I hold him," said the 
 traveller, "Imow aught like good skill of his trade?" 
 
 " Oh, sir, in that let us give the devil his due. Mulciber 
 himseK, with all his Cyclops, could hardly amend him. But 
 assuredly there is little wisdom in taking counsel or receiving 
 aid from one who is but too plainly in league with the author 
 of evil." 
 
 "I must take my chance of that, good Master Holiday,'*' 
 said TressUian, rising; "and as my horse must now have 
 eaten his provender, I must needs thank you for your good 
 cheer, and pray you to show me this man's residence, that I 
 may have the means of proceeding on my journey." 
 
 " Ay — ay, do ye show him. Master Herasmus, " said the old 
 dame, who was, perhaps, desirous to get her house freed of 
 her guest; "a' must needs go when the devil drives." 
 
 '^ Do ma7ius," said the magister — "I submit, taking the 
 world to witness that I have possessed this honourable gentle- 
 man with the full injustice which he has done, and shall do, 
 to his own soul if he becomes thus a trinketer with Satan. 
 Neither will I go forth with our guest myself, but rather send 
 my pupil. Ricarde ! adsis, nebulo. " 
 
 "Under your favour, not so," answered the old woman j 
 " you may peril your own soul, if you list, but my son shall 
 budge on no such errand ; and I wonder at you. Dominie Doc- 
 tor, to propose such a piece of service for little Dickie. " 
 
 " Nay, my good Gammer Sludge, " answered the preceptor, 
 "Ricardus shall go but to the top of the hill, and indicate 
 with his digit to the stranger the dwelling of Wayland Smith. 
 Believe not that any evil can come to him, he having read this 
 morning, fasting, a chapter of the Septuagint, and, moreover, 
 having had his lesson in the Greek Testament.** 
 9
 
 130 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Ay, " said his mother, " and I have sewn a sprig of witch's 
 elm in the necli of un's doublet, ever since that foul thief has 
 begun his practices on man and beast in these parts." 
 
 " And as he goes oft, as I hugely suspect, towards this con- 
 jurer for his own pastime, he may for once go thither, or near 
 it, to pleasure us, and to assist this stranger. Ergo^ heus, 
 Micarde ! adsis, qttceso, mi didaseule. " 
 
 The pupil, thus affectionately invoked, at length came 
 stumbling into the room — a queer, shambling, ill-made urchin, 
 who, by his stmited growth, seemed about twelve or thirteen 
 years old, though he was probably, in reality, a year or two 
 older, with a carroty pate in huge disorder, a freckled, sun- 
 burnt visage, with a snub nose, a long chin, and two peery 
 grey eyes, which had a droll obliquity of vision, approaching 
 to a squint, though perhaps not a decided one. It was im- 
 possible to look at the little man without some disposition to 
 laugh, especially when Gammer Sludge, seizmg upon and 
 kissing him, in spite of his struggling and kicking in reply to 
 her caresses, termed him her own precious pearl of beauty. 
 
 *^ Ricarde" said the preceptor, "you must forthwith, which 
 is profecto, set forth so far as the top of the hill, and show 
 this man of worship Wayiaud Smith's workshop." 
 
 "A proper errand of a morning," said the boy, in better 
 language than Tressilian expected j "and who knows but the 
 devil may fly away with me before I come back?" 
 
 " Ay, marry may un, " said Dame Sludge, " and you might 
 have thought twice, Master Dominie, ere you sent my dainty 
 darling on arrow such errand. It is not for such doings I 
 feed your belly and clothe your back, I warrant you!" 
 
 " Pshaw ! migcB, good Gammer Sludge, " answered the pre- 
 ceptor; "I ensure you that Satan, if there be Satan in the 
 ease, shall not touch a thread of his garment; for Dickie can 
 say his pater with the best, and may defy the foul fiend — 
 Muinenides, Sti/gmmique nefas. " 
 
 " Ay, and I, as I said before, have sewed a sprig of the moun- 
 tain-ash into his collar, " said the good woman, " which will 
 avail more than your clerkship, I wus ; but for all that, it is 
 ill to seek the devil or his mates either."
 
 KENILWORTH. 131 
 
 " My good boy, " said Tressilian, who saw, from a grotesque 
 sneer oa Dickie's face, that he was more likely to act upon his 
 own bottom than by the instruction of his elders, " I will give 
 thee a silver groat, my pretty fellow, if you will but guide me 
 to this man's forge." 
 
 The boy gave him a knowing side-look, which seemed to 
 promise acquiescence, while at the same time he exclaimed : 
 "I be your guide to Waj^land Smith's! Why, man, did I not 
 say that the devil might fly off with me, just as the kite there 
 (looking to the window) is flying off with one of grandame's 
 chicks?" 
 
 " The kite! — the kite!" exclaimed the old woman in return, 
 and forgetting all other matters in her alarm, hastened to the 
 rescue of her chicken as fast as her old legs could carry her. 
 
 " Kow for it, " said the urchin to Tressilian ; " snatch your 
 beaver, get out your horse, and have at the silver groat you 
 spoke of." 
 
 " Nay, but tarry — tarry, " said the preceptor, " Sufflaminaf 
 Ricarde ! " 
 
 " Tarry yourself, " said Dickie, " and think what answer you 
 are to make to granny for sending me post to the devil." 
 
 The teacher, aware of the responsibility he was incurring, 
 "bustled up in great haste to lay hold of the urchin, and to pre- 
 vent his departure; but Dickie slipped through his fingers, 
 bolted from the cottage, and sped him to the top of a 
 neighbouring rising-ground; while the preceptor, despairing, 
 by well-taught experience, of recovering his pupil by speed of 
 foot, had recourse to the most honied epithets the Latin vocab- 
 ulary affords to persuade his return. But to 7ni anlme, cov 
 euhfin meum, and all such classical endearments, the truant 
 turned a deaf ear, and kept frisking on the top of the rising- 
 ground like a goblin by moonlight, making signs to his new 
 acquaintance, Tressilian, to follow him. 
 
 The traveller lost no time in getting out his horse, and de- 
 parting to join his elvish guide, after half -forcing on the poor 
 deserted teacher a recompense for the entertainment he had 
 received, which partly allayed the terror he had for facing the 
 return of the old lady of the mansion. Apparently this took
 
 132 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 place soon afterwards ; for ere Tressiliau and his guide had 
 proceeded far on their journey they heard the screams of a 
 cracked female voice, intermingled with the classical objurga- 
 tions of Master Erasmus Holiday. But Dickie Sludge, equally 
 deaf to the voice of maternal tenderness and of magisterial au- 
 thority, skipped on unconsciously before Tressilian, only ob- 
 serving that : " If they cried themselves hoarse, they might go 
 lick the honey-pot, for he had eaten up all the honeycomb 
 himself on yesterday even." '' 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 There entering in, they found the goodman selfe 
 Full busylie unto his work ybent, 
 Who was to weet a wretched wearish elf, 
 With hollow eyes and rawbone cheeks forspent, 
 As if he had been long in prison pent. 
 
 The Faery Queene. 
 
 " Ake we far from the dwelling of this smith, my pretty 
 lad?" said Tressilian to his young guide. 
 
 " How is it you call me?" said the boy, looking askew at 
 him with his sharp grey eyes. 
 
 " I call you my pretty lad — is there any offence in that, my 
 Tboy?" 
 
 " No, bat were you with my grandame and Dominie Holi- 
 day, you might sing chorus to the old song of 
 
 We three 
 Tom-fools be." 
 
 "And why so, my little man?" said Tressilian. 
 
 "Because," answered the ugly urchin, "you are the only 
 three ever called me pretty lad. Now my grandame does it 
 because she is parcel blind by age, and whole blind by kindred-, 
 and my master, the poor dominie, does it to curry favour, and 
 have the fullest platter of furmity, and the warmest seat by 
 the fire. But what you call me pretty lad for, you know best 
 yourself."
 
 KENILWORTH. 133 
 
 " Thou art a sharp wag at least, if not a pretty one. But 
 ■what do thy playfellows call thee?" 
 
 " Hobgoblin, " answered the boy, readily ; " but for all that 
 I would rather have my own ugly viznomy than any of their 
 jolterheads, that have no more brains in them than a brick-bat." 
 
 " Then you fear not this smith, whom you are going to see?" 
 
 "Me fear him!" answered the boy; "if he were the devil 
 folk think him, I would not fear him; but though there is 
 something queer about him, he's no more a devil than you are, 
 und that's what I would not tell to every one." 
 
 " And why do you tell it to me, then, my boy?" said 
 Tressiiian. 
 
 " Because you are another-guess gentleman than those we 
 see here every day," replied Dickie; "and though I am as 
 ugly as sin, I would not have you think me an ass, especially 
 as I may have a boon to ask of you one day." 
 
 " And what is that, my lad, whom I must not call pretty?" 
 replied Tressiiian. 
 
 " Oh, if I were to ask it, just now," said the boy, " you would 
 deny it me ; but I will wait till we meet at court. " 
 
 "At court, Eichard! are you bound for court?" said Tres- 
 siiian. 
 
 "Ay — ay, that's just like the rest of them," replied the 
 boy ; " I warrant me you think, what should such an ill- 
 favoured, scrambling urchin do at court? But let Eichard 
 Sludge alone ; I have not been cock of the roost here for noth- 
 ing. I will make sharp wit mend foul feature. " 
 
 " But what will your grandame say, and your tutor, Dominie 
 Holiday?" 
 
 "E'en what they like, " replied Dickie; "the one has her 
 chickens to reckon, and the other has his boys to whip. I 
 would have given them the candle to hold long since, and 
 shown this trumpery hamlet a fair pair of heels, but that 
 dominie promises I should go with him to bear share in the 
 next pageant he is to set forth, and they say there are to be 
 ■great revels shortly." 
 
 " And whereabout are they to be held, my little friend?" 
 said Tressiiian.
 
 134 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Oh, at some castle far iu the north," answered his guide — 
 "a world's breadth from Berkshire. But our old dominie 
 holds that they cannot go forward without him ; and it may 
 be he is right, for he has put in order many a fair pageant. 
 He is not half the fool you would take him for, when he gets 
 to work he understands ; and so he can spout verses like a play- 
 actor, when, God wot, if you set him to steal a goose's egg, 
 he would be drubbed by the gander." 
 
 '* And you are to play a part in his next show?" said Tres- 
 silian, somewhat interested by the boy's boldness of conversa- 
 tion and shrewd estimate of character. 
 
 " In faith, " said Eichard Sludge, in answer, " he hath so 
 promised me ; and if he break his word it will be the worse 
 for him ; for let me take the bit between my teeth, and turn 
 my head down hill, and I will shake him off with a fall that 
 may harm his bones. And I should not like much to hurt 
 him neither," said he, "for the tiresome old fool has painfully 
 laboured to teach me all he could. But enough of that ; here 
 are we at Wayland Smith's forge door." 
 
 " You jest, my little friend," said Tressilian ; " here is noth- 
 ing but a bare moor, and that ring of stones, with a great one 
 in the midst, like a Cornish barrow." 
 
 "Ay, and that great flat stone in the midst, which lies 
 across the top of these uprights," said the boy, "is Way- 
 land Smith's counter, that you must tell down your money 
 upon." 
 
 "What do you mean by such folly?" said the traveller, be- 
 ginning to be angry with the boy, and vexed with himself for 
 having trusted such a hare-brained guide. 
 
 "Why," said Dickie, with a grin, "you must tie your 
 horse to that upright stone that has the ring in't, and thea 
 you must whistle three times, and lay me down your sil- 
 ver groat on that other flat stone, walk out of the circle, sit 
 down on the west side of that little thicket of bushes, and take 
 heed you look neither to right nor to left for ten minutes, or 
 so long as you shall hear the hammer clink, and whenever it 
 ceases say your prayers for the space you could tell a hundred, 
 or count over a hundred, which will do as well, and then come
 
 KENILTVORTH. 135 
 
 into the circle ; you will find yoiu* money gone and your horse 
 «hod." 
 
 " My money gone to a certainty !" said Tressilian ; " but as 
 for the rest Hark ye, my lad, I am not your schoolmas- 
 ter; but if you play oif your waggery on me, I wiU take a 
 part of his task off his hands, and punish you to purpose." 
 
 "Ay, when you can catch me!" said the boy; and present- 
 ly took to his heels across the heath, with a velocity which 
 bafEed every attempt of Tressilian to overtake him, loaded as 
 he was with his heaiy boots. Kor was it the least provoking 
 part of the urchin's conduct that he did not exert his utmost 
 speed, like one who finds himself in danger or who is fright- 
 ened, but preserved just such a rate as to encourage Tressilian 
 to continue the chase, and then darted away from him with 
 the swiftness of the wind, when his pursuer supposed he had 
 nearly run him down, doubling at the same time, and winding, 
 so as always to keep near the place from which he started. 
 
 This lasted until Tressilian, from very weariaess, stood 
 still, and was about to abandon the pursuit with a hearty 
 curse on the ill-favoured urchin, who had engaged him in an 
 exercise so ridicidous. But the boy, who had, as formerly, 
 planted himself on the top of a hillock close in front, began 
 to clap his long thin hands, point with his skinny fingers, and 
 twist his wild and ugly features into such an extravagant ex- 
 pression of laughter and derision, that Tressilian began half 
 to doubt whether he had not in view an actual hobgoblin. 
 
 Provoked extremely, yet at the same time feeling an irre- 
 sistible desire to laugh, so very odd were the boy's grimaces 
 and gesticulations, the Cornishman returned to his horse, and 
 mounted him with the purpose of pursuing Dickie at more 
 advantage. 
 
 The boy no sooner saw him mount his horse than he hallooed 
 out to him that, rather than he should spoil his white-footed 
 nag, he would come to him, on condition he would keep his 
 fingers to himself. 
 
 "I will make no conditions with thee, thou ugly varlet!" 
 said Tressilian; " I will have thee at my mercy in a moment." 
 
 " Aha, Master Traveller, " said the boy, " there is a marsh
 
 136 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 hard by would swallow all the horses of the Queen's Guard; I 
 will mto it, and see where you will go then. You shall hear 
 the bittern bump and the wild drake quack ere you get hold 
 of me without my consent, I promise you." 
 
 Tressilian looked out, and, from the appearance of the 
 ground behind the hillock, believed it might be as the boy 
 said, and accordingly determined to strike up a peace with so 
 light-footed and ready-witted an enemy. " Come down, " he 
 said, " thou mischievous brat ! Leave thy mopping and mow- 
 ing, and come hither ; I will do thee no harm, as I am a gentle- 
 man." 
 
 The boy answered his invitation with the utmost confidence, 
 and danced down from his stance with a galliard sort of step, 
 keeping his eye at the same time fixed on Tressilian's, who, 
 once more dismounted, stood with his horse's bridle in his 
 hand, breathless and haK-exhausted with his fruitless exercise, 
 though not one drop of moisture appeared on the freckled 
 forehead of the urchin, which looked like a piece of dry and 
 discoloured parchment, drawn tight across the brow of a flesh- 
 less skull. 
 
 "And tell me," said Tressilian, "why you use me thus, 
 thou mischievous imp? or what your meaning is by telling me 
 so absurd a legend as you wished but now to put on me? Or 
 rather show me, in good earnest, this smith's forge, and I will 
 give thee what will buy thee apples through the whole winter. " 
 
 " Were you to give me an orchard of apples, " said Dickie 
 Sludge, " I can guide thee no better than I have done. Lay 
 down the silver token on the flat stone, whistle three times ; 
 then come sit down on the western side of the thicket of gorse. 
 I will sit by you, and give you free leave to wring my head 
 off, unless you hear the smith at work within two minutes 
 after we are seated." 
 
 " I may be tempted to take thee at thy word, " said Tres- 
 silian, " if you make me do aught half so ridiculous for your 
 own mischievous sport; however, I will prove your spell. 
 Here, then, I tie my horse to this upright stone. I must lay 
 my silver groat here, and whistle three times, sayst thou?" 
 
 " Ay, but thou must whistle louder than an unfledged ouzel, "
 
 KENILWORTH. 137 
 
 said tlie boy, as Tressilian, having laid down his money, and 
 lalf -ashamed of the folly he practised, made a careless whistle. 
 ^' You must whistle louder than that, for who knows where 
 the smith is that you call for? He may be in the King of 
 France's stables for what I know." 
 
 " Why, you said but now he was no devil, " replied Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 " Man or devil, " said Dickie, " I see that I must summon 
 iim for you" ; and therewithal he whistled sharp and shrill, 
 with an acuteness of sound that almost thrilled through Tres- 
 silian's brain. " That is what I call whistling," said he, after 
 he had repeated the signal thrice; "and now to cover — to 
 cover, or Whitefoot will not be shod this day." 
 
 Tressilian, musing what the upshot of this mummery was 
 to be, yet satisfied there was to be some serious result, by the 
 confidence with which the boy had put himself in his power, 
 suffered himself to be conducted to that side of the little 
 thicket of gorse and brushwood which was farthest from the 
 circle of stones, and there sat down; and, as it occurred to 
 him that, after all, this might be a trick for stealing his 
 horse, he kept his hand on the boy's collar, determined to 
 make him hostage for its safety. 
 
 "Now, hush and listen," said Dickie, in a low whisper; 
 ^' you will soon hear the tack of a hammer that was never 
 forged of earthly iron, for the stone it was made of was shot 
 from the moon." And in effect Tressilian did immediately 
 hear the light stroke of a hammer, as when a farrier is at 
 work. The singularity of such a sound, in so very lonely 
 a place, made him involuntarily start; but looking at the 
 boy, and discovering, by the arch, malicious expression of 
 his countenance, that the urchin saw and enjoyed his slight 
 tremor, he became convinced that the whole was a concerted 
 stratagem, and determined to know by whom, or for what 
 purpose, the trick was played off. 
 
 Accordingly, he remained perfectly quiet all the time that 
 the hammer continued to sound, being about the space usually 
 employed in fixing a horse-shoe. But the instant the sound 
 ceased, Tressilian, instead of interposing the space of time
 
 138 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "wliich Ills guide had required, started up with his sword in 
 his haud, ran round the thicket, and confronted a man in a 
 farrier's leathern apron, but otherwise fantastically attired la 
 a bear-skin dressed with the fur on, and a cap of the same, 
 which almost hid the sooty and begrimed features of the 
 wearer. " Come back — come back!" cried the boy to Tressil- 
 ian, " or you will be torn to pieces — no man lives that looks 
 on him." In fact, the invisible smith (now fully visible) 
 heaved up his hammer, and showed symptoms of doing 
 battle. 
 
 But when, the boy observed that neither his own entreaties 
 nor the menaces of the farrier appeared to change Tressilian's 
 purpose, but that, on the contrary, he confronted the hammer 
 with his drawn sword, he exclaimed to the smith in turn: 
 *' Wayland, touch him not, or you will come by the worse ! th© 
 gentleman is a true gentleman, and a bold." 
 
 " So thou hast betrayed me. Flibbertigibbet?" said the 
 smith; " it shall be the worse for thee!" 
 
 " Be who thou wilt, " said Tressilian, " thou art in no danger 
 from me, so thou tell me the meaning of this practice, and 
 why thou drivest thy trade in this mysterious fashion." 
 
 The smith, however, turning to Tressilian, exclaimed, in a 
 threatening tone : " Who questions the Keeper of the Crystal 
 Castle of Light, the Lord of the Green Lion, the Rider of the 
 Ked Dragon? Hence! avoid thee, ere I summon Talpack with 
 his iiery lance to quell, crush, and consume!" These words 
 he uttered with violent gesticulation, mouthing and flourishing 
 his hammer. 
 
 "Peace, thou vile cozener, with thy gipsy cant!" replied 
 TressUian, scornfully, " and follow me to the next magistrate, 
 or I will cut thee over the pate." 
 
 "Peace, I pray thee, good Wayland!" said the boy; "credit 
 me, the swaggering vein will not pass here; you must cut boon 
 whids." 
 
 "I think, worshipful sir," said the smith, sinking his ham- 
 mer, and assuming a more gentle and submissive tone of voice, 
 "that when so poor a man does his day's job, he might be 
 permitted to work it out after his own fashion. Your horse
 
 KE^^ILWORTH. 139 
 
 is sliod, and your farrier paid. What need you cumber your- 
 self further than to mount and pursue your journey?" 
 
 *' Nay, friend, you are mistaken, " replied Tressilian ; " every 
 man has a right to take the mask from the face of a cheat and 
 a juggler; and your mode of living raises suspicion that you 
 ai"e both." 
 
 " If you are so determined, sir, " said the smith, " I cannot 
 help myself save by force, which I were unwilling to use 
 towards you, Master Tressilian ; not that I fear your weapon, 
 but because I know you to be a worthy, kind, and well- 
 accomplished gentleman, who would rather help than harm 
 a poor man that is in a strait." 
 
 "Well said, Wayland," said the boy, who had anxiously 
 awaited the issue of their conference. " But let us to thy 
 den, man, for it is ill for thy health to stand here talking in 
 the open air." 
 
 " Thou art right, Hobgoblin, " replied the smith ; and going 
 to the little thicket of gorse on the side nearest to the circle, 
 and opposite to that at which his customer had so lately 
 couched, he discovered a trap-door curiously covered with 
 bushes, raised it, and, descending into the earth, vanished 
 from their eyes. Notwithstanding Tressilian' s curiosity, he 
 had some hesitation at following the fellow into what might 
 be a den of robbers, especially when he heard the smith's 
 voice, issuing from the bowels of the earth, call out : " Flib- 
 bertigibbet, do you come last, and be sure to fasten the trap!" 
 
 " Have you seen enough of Wayland Smith now?" whispered 
 the urchin to Tressilian, with an ai-ch sneer, as if marking his 
 companion's uncertainty. 
 
 " Not yet, " said Tressilian, firmly ; and shaking off his mo- 
 mentary irresolution, he descended into the narrow staircase 
 to which the entrance led, and was followed by Dickie Sludge, 
 who made fast the trap-door behind him, and thus excluded 
 every glimmer of daylight. The descent, however, was only 
 a few steps, and led to a level passage of a few yards' length, 
 at the end of which appeared the reflection of a lurid and red 
 light. Arrived at this point, with his drawn sword in his 
 hand, Tressilian found that a turn to the left admitted him
 
 140 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 and Hobgoblin, who followed closely, into a small square 
 vault containing a smith's forge glowing with charcoal, the 
 vapour of which filled the apartment with an oppressive smell, 
 which would have been altogether suffocating, but that by 
 some concealed vent the smithy communicated with the upper 
 air. The light afforded by the red fuel, and by a lamp sus- 
 pended in an iron chain, served to show that, besides an anvil, 
 bellows, tongs, hammers, a quantity of ready-made horse- 
 shoes, and other articles proper to the profession of a farrier, 
 there were also stoves, alembics, crucibles, retorts, and other 
 instruments of alchemy. The grotesque figure of the smith, 
 and the ugly but whimsical features of the boy, seen by the 
 gloomy and imperfect light of the charcoal fire and the dying 
 lamp, accorded very well with all this mystical apparatus, and 
 in that age of superstition would have made some impression 
 on the courage of most men. 
 
 But nature had endowed Tressilian with firm nerves, and 
 his education, originally good, had been too sedulously im- 
 proved by subsequent study to give way to any imaginary 
 terrors ; and after givmg a glance around him, he again de- 
 manded of the artist who he was, and by what accident he 
 came to know and address him by his name. 
 
 "Your worship cannot but remember," said the smith, 
 "that about three years since, upon St. Lucy's Eve, there 
 came a travelling juggler to a certain hall in Devonshire, and 
 exhibited his skill before a worshipful knight and a fair com- 
 pany. I see from your worship's countenance, dark as this 
 place is, that my memory has not done me wrong." 
 
 " Thou hast said enough, " said Tressilian, turning away, 
 as wishing to hide from the speaker the pamf ul train of recol- 
 lections which his discourse had unconsciously awakened. 
 
 " The juggler, " said the smith, " played his part so bravely 
 that the clowns and clown-like squires in the company held 
 his art to be little less than magical; but there was one maiden 
 of fifteen or thereby, with the fairest face I ever looked upon, 
 whose rosy cheek grew pale, and her bright eyes dim, at the 
 sight of the wonders exhibited. " 
 
 "Peace, I command thee — peace!" said Tressilian.
 
 KENILWORTH. 141 
 
 ** I mean your worship no offence, " said the fellow : " but I 
 have cause to remember how, to relieve the young maiden's 
 fears, you condescended to point out the mode in which these 
 deceptions were practised, and to baffle the poor juggler by 
 laying bare the mysteries of his art as ably as if you had been 
 a brother of his order. She was indeed so fair a maiden that, 
 to win a smile of her, a man might well " 
 
 " Not a word more of her, I charge thee !" said Tressilian. 
 *' I do well remember the night you speak of — one of the few 
 happy evenings my life has known." 
 
 " She is gone, then," said the smith, interpreting after his 
 own fashion the sigh with which Tressilian uttered these 
 words — "she is gone, young, beautiful, and beloved as she 
 was ! I crave your worship's pardon, 1 should have hammered 
 on another theme — I see I have unwarily driven the nail to 
 the quick." 
 
 This speech was made with a mixture of rude feeling which 
 inclined Tressilian favourably to the poor artisan, of whom 
 before he was inclined to judge very harshly. But nothing 
 can so soon attract the unfortunate as real or seeming sympathy 
 with their sorrows. 
 
 "I think," proceeded Tressilian, after a minute's silence, 
 " thou wert in those days a jovial fellow, who could keep a 
 company merry by song, and tale, and rebeck, as well as by 
 thy juggling tricks ; why do I find thee a laborious handicrafts- 
 man, plying thy trade in so melancholy a dwelling, and imder 
 such extraordinary circumstances?" 
 
 "My story is not long," said the artist; "but your honour 
 had better sit while you listen to it." So saying, he ap- 
 proached to the fire a three-footed stool, and took another 
 himself, while Dickie Sludge, or Flibbertigibbet, as he called 
 the boy, drew a cricket to the smith's feet, and looked up in 
 his face with features which, as illuminated by the glow of 
 the forge, seemed convulsed with intense curiosity. " Thou 
 too," said the smith to him, "shalt learn, as thou well de- 
 servest at my hand, the brief history of my life, and, in troth, 
 it were as well tell it thee as leave thee to ferret it out, since 
 nature never packed a shrewder wit into a more imgainly
 
 142 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 casket. Well, sir, if my poor story may pleasure you, it is 
 at your command. But will you not taste a stoup of liquor? 
 I promise you that even in this poor cell I have some in store." 
 
 "SjDeak not of it," said Tressilian, "but go on Avitn. thy 
 story, for my leisure is brief." 
 
 " You shall have no cause to rue the delay, " said the smith, 
 " for your horse shall be better fed in the mean time than he 
 hath been this morning, and made fitter for travel." 
 
 With that the artist left the vault, and returned after afew 
 minutes' interval. Here, also, we pause, that the narrative 
 may commence in another chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I say, my lord can siich a subtil ty 
 ( But all his craft ye must not wot of me, 
 And somewhat help I yet to his working), 
 That all the ground on which we ben riding, 
 Till that we come to Canterbury town, 
 He can all clean turnen so up so down, 
 And pave it all of silver and of gold. 
 
 The Canoii's Yeoman^s Prologue — Canterhnry Tales, 
 
 The artist commenced his narrative in the following terms ; 
 
 " I was bred a blacksmith, and knew my art as well as e'er 
 a black-thumb' d, leathern-apron' d, swart-faced knave of that 
 noble mystery. But I tired of ringing hanimer-tiuies on iron 
 stithies, and went out into the world, where I became ac- 
 quainted with a celebrated juggler, whose fingers had become 
 rather too stiff for legerdemain, and who wished to have the 
 aid of an apprentice in his noble mystery. I served him for 
 six years, until I was master of my trade. I refer myself to 
 your worship, whose judgment cannot be disputed, whether I 
 did not learn to ply the craft indifferently weU?" 
 
 "Excellently," said Tressilian; "but be brief," 
 
 " It was not long after I had performed at Sir Hugh Eob- 
 sart's, in your worship's presence," said the artist, "that I 
 took myself to the stage, and have swaggered with the brav-
 
 KENILWORTH. 143 
 
 est of them all, both at the Black Bull, the Globe, the For- 
 tune, and elsewhere; but I know not how, apples were so 
 plenty that year that the lads in the twopenny gallery never 
 took more than one bite out of them, and threw the rest of the 
 pippin at whatever actor chanced to be on the stage. So I 
 tired of it, renounced my half -share in the company, gave my 
 foil to my comrade, my buskins to the wardrobe, and showed 
 the theatre a clean pair of heels." 
 
 " Well, friend, and what, " said Tressilian, " was your next 
 shift?" 
 
 ''I became," said the smith, " half -partner, half -domestic, 
 to a man of much skill and little substance, who practised the 
 trade of a physicianer.'* 
 
 "In other words," said Tressilian, "you were Jack Pudding 
 to a quacksalver." 
 
 "Something beyond that, let me hope, my good Master 
 Tressilian," replied the artist; "and yet, to say truth, our 
 practice was of an adventurous description, and the pharmacy 
 which I had acquired in my first studies for the benefit of 
 horses was frequently applied to our human patients. But 
 the seeds of all maladies are the same ; and if turpentine, tar, 
 pitch, and beef -suet, mmgled with turmerick, gum-mastick, 
 and one head of garlick, can cure the horse that hath been 
 grieved with a nail, I see not but what it may benefit the man 
 that hath been pricked with a sword. But my master's prac- 
 tice, as well as his skill, went far beyond mme, and dealt in 
 more dangerous concerns. He was not only a bold, adven- 
 turous practitioner in physic, but also, if your pleasure so 
 chanced to be, an adept, who read the stars, and expounded 
 the fortunes of mankind, gel^thliacally, as he called it, or 
 otherwise. He was a learned distiller of simples, and a pro- 
 foimd chemist — made several efforts to fix mercury, and judged 
 himself to have made a fair hit at the philosopher's stone. I 
 have yet a programme of his on that subject, which, if your 
 honour understandeth, I believe you have the better, not only 
 of all who read, but also of him who wrote it. " 
 
 He gave Tressilian a scroll of parchment, bearing at top and 
 bottom, and down the margin, the signs of the seven planets,
 
 144 WAVER LEY NOVELS. 
 
 curiously intermingled with talismanical characters, and scraps 
 of Greek and Hebrew. In the midst were some Latin verses 
 from a cabalistic author, written out so fairly, that even the 
 gloom of the place did not prevent Tressilian from reading 
 them. The tenor of the original ran as follows : 
 
 *' Si fixum solvas, faciasque volare solutum, 
 Et volucrem figas, facient te vivere tutum ; 
 Si pariat ventum, valet auri pondere centum ; 
 Ventus ubi vult spirat — capiat qui capere potest," 
 
 *' I protest to you, " said Tressilian, " all I understand of this 
 jargon is, that the last words seem to mean 'Catch who catch 
 can.*" 
 
 "That," said the smith, "is the very principle that my 
 worthy friend and master. Doctor Doboobie, always acted 
 upon; until, being besotted with his own imaginations, and 
 ■conceited of his high chemical skill, he began to spend, 'in 
 cheating himself, the money which he had acquired in cheat- 
 ing others, and either discovered or built for himself, I could 
 never know which, this secret elaboratory, in which he used 
 to seclude himself both from patients and disciples, who doubt- 
 less thought his long and mysterious absences from his ordi- 
 nary residence in the town of Farringdon were occasioned by 
 Shis progress in the mystic sciences, and his intercourse with 
 the invisible world. Me also he tried to deceive ; but, though 
 I contradicted him not, he saw that I knew too much of his 
 secrets to be any longer a safe companion. Meanwhile, his 
 name waxed famous, or rather infamous, and many of those 
 who resorted to him did so under persuasion that he was a 
 sorcerer. And yet his supposed advance in the occult sciences 
 drew to him the secret resort of men too powerful to be named, 
 for purposes too dangerous to be mentioned. Men cursed and 
 threatened him, and bestowed on me, the innocent assistant of 
 his studies, the nickname of the Devil's foot-post, which pro- 
 cured me a volley of stones as soon as ever I ventured to show 
 my face in the street of the village. At length my master 
 euddenly disappeared, pretending to me that he was about to 
 visit his elaboratory in this place, and forbidding me to disturb
 
 KENILWORTH. 145 
 
 him till two days were past. When this period had elapsed, 
 I became anxious, and resorted to this vault, where I found 
 the fires extinguished and the utensils in confusion, with a 
 note from the learned Doboobius, as he was wont to style him- 
 self, acquainting me that we should never meet again, be- 
 queathing me his chemical apparatus and the parchment which 
 I have just put into your hands, advising me strongly to pros- 
 ecute the secret which it contained, which would infallibly 
 lead me to the discovery of the grand magisterium." 
 
 "And didst thou follow this sage advice?" said Tressilian. 
 
 "Worshipful sir, no," replied the smith; "for, being by 
 nature cautious, and suspicious from knowing with whom I 
 had to do, I made so many perquisitions before I ventured 
 even to light a fire, that I at length discovered a small barrel 
 of gunpowder, carefully hid beneath the furnace, with the 
 purpose, no doubt, that, as soon as I should commence the 
 grand work of the transmutation of metals, the explosion 
 should transmute the vault and all in it into a heap of ruins, 
 which might serve at once for my slaughter-house and my 
 grave. This cured me of alchemy, and fain would I have re- 
 turned to the honest hammer and anvil ; but who would bring 
 a horse to be shod by the Devil's post? Meantime, I had 
 won the regard of my honest Flibbertigibbet here, he being 
 then at Farringdon with his master, the sage Erasmus Holi- 
 day, by teaching him a few secrets, such as please youth at 
 his age; and after much counsel together, we agreed that, 
 since I could get no practice in the ordinary way, I should try 
 how I could work out business among these ignorant boors by 
 practising upon their silly fears; and, thanks to Flibberti- 
 gibbet, who hath spread my renown, I have not wanted cus- 
 tom. But it is won at too great risk, and I fear I shall be at 
 length taken up for a wizard; so that I seek but an opportu- 
 nity to leave this vault when I can have the protection of some 
 worshipful person agamst the fury of the populace, in case 
 they chance to recognise me." 
 
 " And art thou, " said Tressilian, " perfectly acquainted with 
 the roads in this country?" 
 
 "I could ride them every inch by midnight," answered 
 10
 
 146 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Wayland Smith, which was the name this adept had aa- 
 sumed. 
 
 " Thou hast no horse to ride upon, " said Tressilian. 
 
 " Pardon me, " replied Wayland, " I have as good a tit as 
 ever yeoman bestrode ; and I forgot to say it was the best part 
 of the mediciner's legacy to me, excepting one or two of the 
 choicest of his medical secrets, which I picked up without his 
 knowledge and against his will, " 
 
 "Get thyself washed and shaved then," said Tressilian; 
 " reform thy di-ess as well as thou canst, and fling away these 
 grotesque trappings ; and, so thou wilt be secret and faithful, 
 thou shalt follow me for a short time, till thy pranks here are 
 forgotten. Thou hast, I thiak, both address and courage, and 
 I have matter to do that may require both." 
 
 Wayland Smith eagerly embraced the proposal, and pro- 
 tested his devotion to his new master. In a very few minutes 
 he had made so great an alteration in his original appearance, 
 by change of dress, trimming his beard and hair, and so forth, 
 that Tressilian could not help remarking, that he thought he 
 would stand in little need of a protector, since none of his old 
 acquaintance were likely to recognise him. 
 
 "My debtors would not pay me money," said Wayland, 
 shaking his head ; " but my creditors of every kind would be 
 less easily blinded. Aiid, in truth, I hold myself not safe, 
 unless under the protection of a gentleman of birth and char- 
 acter, as is your worship." 
 
 So saying, he led the way out of the cavern. He then 
 called loudly for Hobgoblin, who, after lingering for an in- 
 stant, appeared with the horse furniture, when Wayland closed, 
 and sedulously covered up, the trap-door, observing, it might 
 again serve him at his need, besides that the tools were worth 
 somewhat. A whistle from the owner brought to his side a 
 nag that fed quietly on the common, and was accustomed to 
 the signal. While he accoutred him for the journey, Tres- 
 silian drew his own girths tighter, and in a few minutes both 
 ■were ready to mount. 
 
 At this moment Sludge approached to bid them farewell. 
 
 " You are going to leave me, then, my old playfellow, " said
 
 KENILWORTH. 14=7 
 
 the boy, "and there is an end of all our game at bo-pee^D with 
 the cowardly lubbards whom I brought hither to have their 
 broad-footed nags shod by the devil and his imps?" 
 
 "It is even so," said Wayland Smith; "the best friends 
 must part, Flibbertigibbet; but thou, my boy, art the only 
 thing in the Vale of Whitehorse which I shall regret to leave 
 behind me." 
 
 "Well, I bid thee not farewell, " said Dickie Sludge, "for 
 you will be at these revels, I judge, and so shall I ; for if 
 Dominie Holiday take me not thither, by the light of day, 
 which we see not in yonder dark hole, I will take myself 
 there!" 
 
 "In good time," said Wayland; "but I pray you to do 
 nought rashly." 
 
 "Nay, now you would make a child — a common child of 
 me, and tell me of the risk of walking without leading-strings. 
 But before you are a mile from these stones you shall know 
 by a sure token that I have more of the hobgoblin about me 
 than you credit ; and I will so manage that, if you take ad- 
 vantage, you may profit by my prank." 
 
 "What dost thou mean, boy?" said Tressilian ; butFlibber* 
 tigibbet only answered with a grin and a caper, and bidding 
 both of them farewell, and at the same time exhorting them 
 to make the best of their way from the place, he set them the 
 example by running homeward with the same uncommon 
 velocity with which he had bafded Tressilian's former at- 
 tempts to get hold of him. 
 
 "It is in vain to chase him," said Wayland Smith; "for, 
 tmless your worship is expert in lark-hunting, we should never 
 catch hold of him; and, besides, what would it avail? Better 
 make the best of our way hence, as he advises." 
 
 They mounted their horses accordingly, and began to pro- 
 ceed at a round pace, as soon as Tressilian had exx^lained to his 
 guide the direction in which he desired to travel. 
 
 After they had trotted nearly a mile, Tressilian could not 
 help observing to his companion, that his horse felt more lively 
 under him than even when he mounted in the morning. 
 
 " Are you avised of that?" said Wayland Smith, smiling.
 
 148 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 *' That is owing to a little secret of mine. I mixed tliat with 
 an handful of oats which shall save your worship's heels th© 
 trouble of spurring these six hours at least. Nay, I have not 
 studied medicine and pharmacy for nought." 
 
 " I trust, " said Tressilian, " your di'ugs will do my horse na 
 harm?" 
 
 "Ko more than the mare's milk which foaled him,"aji»j 
 swered the artist ; and was proceeding to dilate on the excel- 
 lence of his recipe, when he was interrupted by an explosion 
 as loud and tremendous as the mine which blows up the ram- 
 pari; of a beleaguered city. The horses started, and the riders 
 were equally surprised. They turned to gaze in the directioa 
 from which the thunder-clap was heard, and beheld, just over 
 the spot they had left so recently, a huge pillar of dark smoke 
 rising high into the clear blue atmosphere. " My habitatioa 
 is gone to wreck," said "Wayland, immediately conjecturing 
 the cause of the explosion. *' I was a fool to mention the 
 doctor's kind intentions towards my mansion before that limb 
 of mischief Flibbertigibbet : I might have guessed he would 
 long to put so rare a frolic into execution. But let us hasten 
 on, for the sound will collect the country to the spot." 
 
 So saying, he spurred his horse, and Tressilian also quick* 
 ening his speed, they rode briskly forward. 
 
 "This, then, was the meaning of the little imp's token 
 which he promised us?" said Tressilian; "had we lingered 
 near the spot, we had found it a love-token with a vengeance." 
 
 " He would have given us warning, " said the smith ; " I saw 
 him look back more than once to see if we were off — 'tis a very 
 devil for mischief, yet not an ill-natured devil either. It were 
 long to tell your honour how I became first acquainted with 
 him, and how many tricks he played me. Many a good turn 
 he did me too, especially in bringing me customers ; for his 
 great delight was to see them sit shivering behind the bushes 
 when they heard the click of my hammer. I think Dame 
 iNature, when she lodged a double quantity of brains in that 
 misshapen head of his, gave him the power of enjoying other 
 people's distresses, as she gave them the pleasure of laughing 
 at his ugliness."
 
 KENILWORTH. 149 
 
 " It may be so, " said Tressilian ; " those who find thpnLnelves 
 severed from society by peculiarities of form, if they do not 
 hate the common bulk of mankind, are at least not altogether 
 indisposed to enjoy their mishaps and calamities." 
 
 ''But Flibbertigibbet," answered Wayland, "hath that 
 about him which may redeem his turn for mischievous frolic j 
 for he is as faithful when attached as he is tricky and malig- 
 nant to strangers; and, as I said before, I have cause ta 
 say so." 
 
 Tressilian pursued the conversation no farther; and they 
 continued their journey towards Devonshire without farther 
 adventure, until they alighted at an inn in the town of Marl- 
 borough, since celebrated for havmg given title to the greatest 
 general (excepting one) whom Britain ever produced. Here 
 the travellers received, in the same breath, an example of the 
 truth of two old proverbs, namely, that ID. news fly fast, and 
 that Listeners seldom hear a good tale of themselves. 
 
 The innyard was in a sort of combustion when they alighted; 
 insomuch, that they could scarce get man or boy to take care 
 of their horses, so full were the whole household of some news 
 which flew from tongue to tongue, the import of which they 
 were for some time unable to discover. At length, indeed, 
 they found it respected matters which touched them nearly. 
 
 "What is the matter, say you, master?" answered, at 
 length, the head hostler, in reply to Tressilian' s repeated ques- 
 tions. " Why, truly, I scarce know myself. But here was a 
 rider but now, who says that the devil hath flown away with 
 him they called Wayland Smith, that won'd about thi-ee miles 
 from the Whitehorse of Berkshire, this very blessed morning, 
 in a flash of fire and a piUar of smoke, and rooted up the place 
 he dwelt in, near that old cockpit of upright stones, as cleanly 
 as if it had all been delved up for a cropping." 
 
 "Why, then," said an old farmer, "the more is the pity; 
 for that Wayland Smith — whether he was the devil's crony or 
 no I skill not — had a good notion of horse diseases, and it's to 
 be thought the bots will spread in the country far and near, 
 an Satan has not gien un time to leave his secret behind un." 
 
 "You may say that, Gaffer Grimesby," said the hostler in
 
 150 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 return ; " I liave carried a horse to Wayland Smitli myself 
 for he passed all farriers in this country." 
 
 " Did you see him?" said Dame Alison Crane, mistress ol 
 the inn bearing that sign, and deigning to term "husband" 
 the owner thereof, a mean-looking hop-o'-my-thumb sort of 
 person, whose haltuig gait, and long neck, and meddling, hen- 
 pecked insignificance are supposed to have given origin to tha 
 celebrated old English tune of " My Dame hath a lame tauiQ 
 Crane." 
 
 On this occasion he chirped out a repetition of his wife's 
 question: " Didst see the devil. Jack Hostler, I say?" 
 
 "And what if I did see un. Master Crane?" replied Jack 
 Hostler, for, like all the rest of the household, he paid as little 
 respect to his master as his mistress herself did. 
 
 "Nay, nought, Jack Hostler," replied the pacific Master 
 Crane, " only if you saw the devil, methinks I would like to 
 know what un's like?" 
 
 "You will know that one day, Master Crane," said his 
 helpmate, "an ye mend not your manners and mind your 
 business, leaving off such idle palabras. But truly, Jack 
 Hostler, I should be glad to know myself what like the fel- 
 low was." 
 
 "Why, dame," said the hostler, more respectfully, "as for 
 ■what he was like I cannot tell, nor no man else, for why I 
 never saw un." 
 
 "And how didst thou get thine errand done," said Gaffer 
 Grimesby, " if thou seedst him not?" 
 
 "Why, I had schoolmaster to write down ailent o' nag," 
 said Jack Hostler; "and I went wi' the ugliest slip of a boy 
 for my guide as ever man cut out o' lime-tree root to please a 
 chHd withal." 
 
 " And what was it? and did it cure your nag, Jack Hostler?" 
 was uttered and echoed by all who stood around. 
 
 "Why, how can I tell you what it was?" said the hostler; 
 " simply it smelled and tasted — for I did make bold to put a 
 pea's substance into my mouth — like hartshorn and savia 
 mixed with vinegar; but then no hartshorn and savin ever 
 wrought so speedy a cure. And I am di-eading that, if Way
 
 KENILWORTH. 151 
 
 land Smith be gone, the bots will have more power over 
 horse and cattle." 
 
 The pride of art, which is certainly not inferior in its influ- 
 ence to any other pride whatever, here so far operated oa 
 Wayland Smith that, notwithstanding the obvious danger of 
 his being recognised, he could not help winking to Tressilian, 
 and smiling mysteriously, as if triumphing in the undoubted 
 evidence of his veterinary skill. In the mean while, the dis- 
 course continued. 
 
 "E'en let it be so," said a grave man in black, the com- 
 panion of Gaffer Grimesby — " e'en let us perish under the evil 
 God sends us, rather than the devil be our doctor." 
 
 "Very true," said Dame Crane; "and I marvel at Jack 
 Hostler that he would peril his own soul to cure the bowels of 
 a nag." 
 
 " Very true, mistress, " said Jack Hostler, " but the nag was 
 my master's; and had it been yours, I think ye would ha' 
 held me cheap enow an I had feared the devil when the poor 
 beast was in such a taking. Eor the rest, let the clergy look 
 to it. Every man to his craft, says the proverb — the parsoa 
 to the prayer-book and the groom to his currycomb." 
 
 "I vow," said Dame Crane, "I think Jack E[ostler speaks 
 like a good Christian and a faithful servant, who will spare 
 neither body nor soul in his master's service. However, the 
 devil has lifted him in time, for a constable of the hundred 
 came hither this morning to get old Gaffer Pinniewinks, the 
 trier of witches, to go with him to the Vale of Whitehorse to 
 comprehend Wayland Smith, and put him to his probation. 
 I helped Pinnie^vinks to sharpen his pincers and his poking- 
 awl, and I saw the warrant from Justice Blindas." 
 
 " Pooh — pooh, the devil would laugh both at Blindas and 
 his warrant, constable and witch-finder to boot," said old 
 Dame Crank, the Papist laundress; "Wayland Smith's flesh 
 ■would mind Piimiewinks's awl no more than a cambric ruif 
 minds a hot piccadilloe needle. But tell me, gentlefolks, if 
 the devil ever had such a hand among ye, as to snatch away 
 your smiths and your artists from under your nose, when the 
 good abbots of Abingdon had their own? By Our Lady, no I
 
 152 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 they had their hallowed tapers, and their holy water, and 
 their relics, and what not, could send the foulest fiends 
 a-packing. Go ask a heretic parson to do the like. But ours 
 were a comfortable people. " 
 
 " Very true. Dame Crank, " said the hostler ; *' so said Simp- 
 kins of Simonburn when the curate kissed his wife — 'They 
 are a comfortable people,' said he." 
 
 " Silence, thou foul-mouthed vermin, " said Dame Crank ; 
 *' is it fit for a heretic horse-boy like thee to handle such a 
 text as the Catholic clergy?" 
 
 " In troth no, dame," replied the man of oats ; " and as you 
 yourself are now no text for their handling, dame, whatever 
 may have been the case in your day, I think we had e'en better 
 leave un alone." 
 
 At this last exchange of sarcasm. Dame Crank set up her 
 throat, and began a horrible exclamation against Jack Hostler, 
 under cover of which Tressilian and his attendant escaped into 
 the house. 
 
 They had no sooner entered a private chamber, to which 
 Goodman Crane himself had condescended to usher them, and 
 despatched their worthy and obsequious host on the errand 
 of procuring wine and refreshment, than Way land Smith began 
 to give vent to his self-importance. 
 
 " You see, sir," said he, addressing Tressilian, "that I noth- 
 ing fabled in asserting that I possessed fully the mighty mys- 
 tery of a farrier, or mareschal, as the French more honourably 
 term us. These dog-hostlers, who, after all, are the better 
 judges in such a case, know what credit they should attach to 
 my medicaments. I call you to witness, worshipful Master 
 Tressilian, that nought, save the voice of calumny and the 
 hand of malicious violence, hath di-iven me forth from a sta- 
 tion in which I held a place alike useful and honoured." 
 
 "I bear witness, my friend, but will reserve my listening," 
 answered Tressilian, "for a safer time; unless, indeed, you 
 deem it essential to your reputation to be translated, like your 
 late dwelling, by the assistance of a flash of fire. For you 
 see your best friends reckon you no better than a mere sor- 
 cerer."
 
 KEXILWORTH. 153" 
 
 "l^ow, Heaven forgive them," said the artist, "who con* 
 found learned skill with unlawful magic ! I trust a man may 
 be as skilful, or more so, than the best chirurgeon ever meddled 
 with horse-flesh, and yet may be upon the matter little more 
 than other ordinary men, or at the worst no conjurer. " 
 
 "God forbid else!" said Tressilian. "But be silent just 
 for the present, since here comes mine host with an assistant, 
 who seems something of the least." 
 
 Everybody about the inn. Dame Crank [Crane] herself in- 
 cluded, had been indeed so interested and agitated by the- 
 story they had heard of Wayland Smith, and by the new, 
 varying, and more marvellous editions of the incident, which 
 arrived from various quarters, that mine host, in his righteous 
 determination to accommodate his guests, had been able to 
 obtain the assistance of none of his household, saving that of 
 a little boy, a junior tapster, of about twelve years old, who 
 was called Sampson. 
 
 " I wish, " he said, apologising to his guests, as he set down 
 a flagon of sack, and promised some food immediately — "I 
 wish the devil had flown away with my wife and my whole 
 family instead of this Wayland Smith, who, I dare say, after 
 all said and done, was much less worthy of the distinction 
 which Satan has done him." 
 
 " I hold opinion with you, good fellow, " replied Wayland 
 Smith ; " and I will drink to you upon that argument. " 
 
 "Not that I would justify any man who deals with the 
 devil," said mine host, after having pledged Wayland in a 
 rousing draught of sack, " but that — saw ye ever better sack, 
 my masters? — but that, I say, a man had better deal with a 
 dozen cheats and scoundrel fellows, such as this Wayland 
 Smith, than with a devil incarnate, that takes possession of 
 house and home, bed and board." 
 
 The poor fellow's detail of grievances was here interrupted 
 by the shrill voice of his helpmate, screaming from the kitchen, 
 to which he instantly hobbled, craving pardon of his guests. 
 He was no sooner gone than Wayland Smith expressed, by 
 every contemptuous epithet in the language, his utter scorn 
 for a nincompoop who stuck his head under his wife's apron-
 
 154 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 string ; and intimated that, saving for the sake of the horses, 
 •which required both rest and food, he would advise his wor- 
 shipful Master Tressilian to push on a stage farther, rather 
 than pay a reckoning to such a mean-spirited, crow-trodden, 
 henpecked coxcomb as Gaffer Crane. 
 
 The arrival of a large dish of good cow-heel and bacon some- 
 thing soothed the asperity of the artist, which wholly vanished 
 before a choice capon, so delicately roasted that "the lard 
 frothed on it," said Wajdand, "like May-dew on a lilv"; and 
 both Gaffer Crane and his good dame became, in 1^ eyes, 
 very painstaking, accommodating, obliging persons. 
 
 According to the manners of the times, the master and his 
 attendant sat at the same table, and the latter observed, with 
 regret, how little attention Tressilian paid to his meal. He 
 recollected, indeed, the pain he had given by mentioning the 
 maiden in whose company he had first seen him ; but, fearful 
 of touching upon a topic too tender to be tampered with, he 
 chose to ascribe his abstinence to another cause. 
 
 "This fare is perhaps too coarse for your worship," said 
 Wayland, as the limbs of the capon disappeared before his 
 own exertions; "but had you dwelt as long as I have done in 
 yonder dungeon, which Flibbertigibbet has translated to the 
 upper element, a place where I dared hardly boil my food, 
 lest the smoke should be seen without, you would think a 
 fair capon a more welcome dainty. " 
 
 " If you are pleased, friend, " said Tressilian, " it is well. 
 Nevertheless, hasten thy meal if thou canst, for this place is 
 unfriendly to thy safety, and my concerns crave travelling." 
 
 Allowing, therefore, their horses no more rest than was 
 absolutely necessary for them, they pursued their journey by 
 a forced march as far as Bradford, where they reposed them- 
 selves for the night. 
 
 The next morning found them early travellers. And, not 
 to fatigue the reader with unnecessary particulars, they trav- 
 versed without adventure the counties of Wiltshire and Somer- 
 set, and, about noon of the third day after Tressilian' s leav- 
 ing Cunmor, arrived at Sir Hugh Eobsart's seat, called 
 Lidcote Hall, on the frontiers of Devonshire.
 
 KENILWORTH. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ah me ! the flower and blossom of your house, 
 The wind hath blown away to other towers. 
 
 Joanna Baillie's Family Legend. 
 
 The ancient seat of Lidcote HaU was situated near the 
 village of the same name, and adjoined the wild and extensive 
 forest of Exnioor, plentifully stocked with game, in which 
 some ancient rights belonging to the Robsart family entitled 
 Sir Hugh to pursue his favourite amusement of the chase. 
 The old mansion was a low, venerable building, occupying a 
 considerable space of ground, which was surrounded by a deep 
 moat. The approach and drawbridge were defended by an 
 octagonal tower, of ancient brickwork, but so clothed with 
 ivy and other creepers that it was difficult to discover of what 
 materials it was constructed. The angles of this tower were 
 each decorated with a turret, whimsically various in form and 
 in size, and, therefore, very unlike the monotonous stone 
 pepper-boxes which, in modern Gothic architecture, are em- 
 ployed for the same purpose. One of these turrets was square, 
 and occupied as a clock-house. But the clock was now stand- 
 ing still — a circumstance peculiarly striking to Tressilian, be- 
 cause the good old kjiight, among other harmless peculiarities, 
 had a fidgety anxiety about the exact measurement of time, 
 very common to those who have a great deal of that commodity 
 to dispose of, and find it lie heavy upon their hands — just as 
 we see shop-keepers amuse themselves with taking an exact 
 account of their stock at the time there is least demand for it. 
 
 The entrance to the courtyard of the old mansion lay 
 through an archway, surmounted by the foresaid tower, but 
 the di-awbridge was down, and one leaf of the iron-studded 
 folding-doors stood carelessly open. Tressilian hastily rode 
 over the drawbridge, entered the court, and began to call 
 loudly on the domestics by their names. For some time he 
 was only answered by the echoes and the howling of the 
 hounds, whose kennel lay at no great distance from the man-
 
 156 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 sion, and was surrounded by the same moat. At length Will 
 Badger, the old and favourite attendant of the knight, who 
 acted alike as squire of his body and superintendent of his 
 sports, made his appearance. The stout, weather-beaten 
 forester showed great signs of joy when he recognised Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 " Lord love you, " he said, " Master Edmund, be it thou in 
 flesh and fell? Then thou mayst do some good on Sir Hugh, 
 for it passes the wit of man — that is, of mine own, and the 
 curate's, and Master Mumblazen's — to do aught wi' un." 
 
 "Is Sir Hugh then worse since I went away, "Will?" de- 
 manded Tressilian. 
 
 " For worse in body — no, he is much better, " replied the 
 domestic ; " but he is clean mazed as it were — eats and drinks 
 as he was wont, but sleeps not, or rather wakes not, for he is 
 ever in a sort of twilight, that is neither sleeping nor waking. 
 Dame S winef ord thought it was like the dead palsy. ' But no 
 • — no, dame,' said I, 'it is the heart — it is the heart.' " 
 
 "Can ye not stir his mind to any pastimes?" said Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 "He is clean and quite off his sports," said Will Badger; 
 " hath neither touched backgammon or shovel-board, nor looked 
 on the big book of harrowtry wi' Master Mumblazen. I let 
 the clock run down, thinking the missing the bell might some- 
 what move him, for you know, Master Edmund, he was par- 
 ticular in counting time; but he never said a word on't, so 
 I may e'en set the old chime a-towling again. I made bold 
 to tread on Bungay's tail too, and you know what a round 
 rating that would ha' cost me once a day ; but he minded the 
 poor tyke's whine no more than a madge-howlet whooping 
 down the chimney : so the case is beyond me. " 
 
 "Thou shalt tell me the rest within doors. Will. Mean- 
 while, let this person be ta'en to the buttery, and used with re- 
 spect. He is a man of art. " 
 
 " White art or black art, I would, " said Will Badger, " that 
 he had any art which could help us. Here, Tom Butler, look 
 to the man of art; and see that he steals none of thy spoons, 
 lad, " he added in a whisper to the butler, who showed him-
 
 KENILWORTH. 157 
 
 self at a low wiiidow, " I have known as honest a faced fellow 
 iiave art enough to do that." 
 
 He then ushered Tressilian into a low parlour, and went, 
 at his desire, to see in what state his master was, lest the 
 sudden return of his darling pupil, and proposed son-in-law, 
 should affect him too strongly. He returned immediately, 
 and said that Sir Hugh was dozing in his elbow-chair, but that 
 Master Mumblazen would acquaint Master Tressilian the in- 
 stant he awaked. 
 
 "But it is chance if he knows you," said the huntsman, 
 " for he has forgotten the name of every hound in the pack. 
 I thought about a week since he had gotten a favourable turn. 
 '' Saddle me old Sorrel, ' said he, suddenly, after he had taken 
 his usual night-di-aught out of the great silver grace-cup, 'and 
 take the hounds to Mount Hazelhurst to-morrow.' Glad men 
 were we all, and out we had him in the morning, and he rode 
 to cover as usual, with never a word spoken but that the wind 
 was south and the scent would lie. But ere we had uncoupled 
 the hounds, he began to stare round him, like a man that 
 wakes suddenly out of a dream — turns bridle and walks back 
 to hall again, and leaves us to hunt at leisure by ourselves, if 
 we listed." 
 
 "You tell a heavy tale, Will," replied Tressilian; "but 
 God must help us — there is no aid in man." 
 
 " Then you bring us no news of young Mistress Amy? But 
 •what need I ask — your brow tells the story. Ever I hoped 
 that, if any man could or would track her, it must be you. 
 All's over and lost now. But if ever I have that Varney 
 within reach of a flight-shot, I will bestow a forked shaft on 
 him; and that I swear by salt and bread." 
 
 As he spoke, the door opened, and Master Mumblazen ap- 
 peared — a withered, thin, elderly gentleman, with a cheek 
 like a winter apple, and his grey hair partly concealed by a 
 small high hat, shaped like a cone, or rather like such a 
 strawberry-basket as London fruiterers exhibit at their win- 
 dows. He was too sententious a person to waste words on 
 mere salutation ; so, having welcomed Tressilian with a nod 
 and a shake of the hand, he beckoned him to follow to Sir
 
 158 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Hugh's great chamber, which the good knight usually in- 
 habited. Will Badger followed, unasked, anxious to see 
 whether his master would be relieved from his state of apathy 
 by the arrival of Tressilian. 
 
 In a long low parlour, amply furnished with implements of 
 the chase, and with silvan trophies, by a massive stone 
 chimney, over which hung a sword and suit of armour, some- 
 what obscured by neglect, sat Sir Hugh Eobsart of Lidcote, a 
 man of large size, which had been only kept within moderate 
 compass by the constant use of violent exercise. It seemed 
 to Tressilian that the lethargy under which his old friend ap- 
 peared to labour had, even during his few weeks' absence, 
 added bulk to his j)erson ; at least it had obviously diminished 
 the vivacity of his eye, which, as they entered, first followed 
 Master Mumblazen slowly to a large oaken desk, on which a 
 ponderous volume lay open, and then rested, as if in vmcer- 
 tainty, on the stranger who had entered along with him. The 
 curate, a grey-headed clergyman, who had been a confessor in 
 the days of Queen Mary, sat with a book in his hand in an- 
 other recess in the apartment. He, too, signed a mournful 
 greeting to Tressilian, and laid his book aside, to watch the 
 elfect his appearance should produce on the afflicted old 
 man. 
 
 As Tressilian, his own eyes filling fast with tears, ap- 
 proached more and more nearly to the father of his betrothed 
 bride, Sir Hugh's intelligence seemed to revive. He sighed 
 heavily, as one who awakens from a state of stupor, a slight 
 convulsion passed over his features, he opened his arms with- 
 out speaking a word, and, as Tressilian threw himself into 
 them, he folded him to his bosom. 
 
 " There is something left to live for yet, " were the first 
 words he uttered; and while he spoke, he gave vent to his 
 feelings in a paroxysm of weeping, the tears chasing each 
 other down his sunburnt cheeks and long white beard. 
 
 " I ne'er thought to have thanked God to see my master 
 weep, " said Will Badger ; " but now I do, though I am like to 
 "weep for company." 
 
 *' I will ask thee no questions, " said the old knight — " no
 
 KENILWORTH. 159 
 
 questions — none, Edmund; thou hast not found her, or so 
 found her that she were better lost." 
 
 Tressilian Avas unable to reply, otherwise than by putting 
 his hands before his face. 
 
 " It is enough — it is enough. But do not thou weep for 
 her, Edmund. I have cause to weep, for she was my daughter; 
 thou hast cause to rejoice, that she did not become thy wife. 
 Great God ! Thou knowest best what is good for us. It was 
 my nightly prayer that I should see Amy and Edmund wedded; 
 had it been granted, it had now been gall added to bitter- 
 ness." 
 
 "Be comforted, my friend," said the curate, addressing Sir 
 Hugh, " it cannot be that the daughter of all our hopes and 
 affections is the vile creature you would bespeak her. " 
 
 " Oh, no, " replied Sir Hugh, impatiently, " I were wrong to 
 name broadly the base thing she is become ; there is some new 
 court name for it, I warrant me. It is honour enough for the 
 daughter of an old De'nshire clown to be the leman of a gay 
 courtier — of Varney too — of Varney, whose grandsire was 
 relieved by my father, when his fortune was broken, at the 
 battle of — the battle of — where Eichard was slain ; out on my 
 memory ! and 1 warrant none of you will help me " 
 
 "The battle of Bosworth," said Master Mumblazen, 
 " stricken between Eichard Crookback and Heni-y Tudor, 
 grandsire of the Queen that now is, pHvio Henrici Septimi, 
 and in the year one thousand four hundred and eighty-five 
 post Christum natnm." ' 
 
 "Ay, even so," said the old knight, "every child knows it. 
 But my poor head forgets all it should remember, and remem- 
 bers only what it would most willingly forget. My brain 
 has been at fault, Tressilian, almost ever since thou hast been 
 away, and even yet it hunts counter. " 
 
 " Your worship, " said the good clergyman, " had better re- 
 tire to your apartment, and try to sleep for a little space : the 
 physician left a composing draught, and our Great Physician 
 has commanded us to use earthly means, that we may b© 
 strengthened to sustain the trials He sends us." 
 
 » [Compare p. 114, where the battle of Stoke is spoken of.]
 
 160 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " True — true, old friend, " said Sir Hugh, " and we will bear 
 our trials manfully. AVe have lost but a woman. See, Tres- 
 silian" — he drew from his bosom a long ringlet of glossy hair 
 — "see this lock! I tell thee, Edmund, the very night sh& 
 disappeared, when she bid me good even, as she was wont, 
 she hung about my neck and fondled me more than usiial ; and 
 I, like an old fool, held her by this lock, until she took her 
 scissors, severed it, and left it in my hand — as all I was ever 
 to see more of her!" 
 
 Tressilian. was unable to reply, well judging what a compli- 
 cation of feelings must have crossed the bosom of the unhappy 
 fugitive at that cruel moment. The clergyman was about to 
 speak, but Sir Hugh interrupted him. 
 
 " I know what you would say. Master Curate — after all, it 
 is but a lock of woman's tresses, and by woman shame, and 
 sin, and death came into an innocent world. And learned 
 Master Mumblazen, too, can say scholarly things of their in- 
 feriority. " 
 
 " C^est Vhomme,^^ said Master Mumblazen, " qui se bast, eS 
 qui conseille." 
 
 "True," said Sir Hugh, "and we will bear us, therefore, 
 like men who have both mettle and wisdom in us. Tressilian, 
 thou art as welcome as if thou hadst brought better news. But 
 we have spoken too long dry-lipped. Amy, fill a cup of wine 
 to Edmund and another to me." Then instantly recollecting- 
 that he called upon her who could not hear, he shook his head, 
 and said to the clergyman : " This grief is to my bewildered 
 mind what the church of Lidcote is to our park : we may lose 
 ourselves among the briars and thickets for a little space, but 
 from the end of each avenue we see the old grey steeple and 
 the grave of my forefathers. I would I were to travel that 
 road to-morrow!" 
 
 Tressilian and the curate joined in urging the exhausted 
 old man to lay himself to rest, and at length prevailed. Tres- 
 silian remained by his pillow till he saw that slumber at 
 length sunk down on him, and then returned to consult with 
 the curate what steps should be adopted in these unhappy cir- 
 cumstances.
 
 KEXILWORTH. 161 
 
 They could not exclude from these deliberations Master 
 !RIichael Muniblazen ; and they admitted him the more readily 
 that, besides what hopes they entertained from his sagac- 
 ity, they knew him to be so great a friend to taciturnity that 
 there was no doubt of his keeping counsel. He was an old 
 bachelor of good family, but small fortune, and distantly re- 
 lated to the house of Robsart ; in virtue of which connexion, 
 Lidcote Hall had been honoured with his residence for the 
 last twenty years. His company was agreeable to Sir Hugh, 
 chiefly on account of his profound learning, which, though it 
 only related to heraldry and genealogy, with such scraps of 
 history as connected themselves with these subjects, was pre- 
 cisely of a kind to captivate the good old knight ; besides the 
 convenience which he found in having a friend to appeal to, 
 when his own memory,- as frequently happened, proved infirm, 
 and played him false concerning names and dates, which, and 
 all similar deficiencies, Master Michael Mumblazen supplied 
 with due brevity and discretion. And, indeed, in matters 
 concerning the modern world, he often gave, in his enigmatical 
 and heraldic phrase, advice which was well worth attending 
 to, or, in Will Badger's language, started the game while 
 others beat the bush. 
 
 " We have had an unhaEppy time of it with the good knight, 
 Master Edmund," said the curate. "I have not suffered so 
 much since I was torn away from my beloved flock, and com- 
 pelled to abandon them to the Eomish wolves." 
 
 " That was in tertio 3Ia7'ice," said Master Mumblazen. 
 
 " In the name of Heaven, " continued the curate, " tell us, 
 has your time been better spent than ours, or have you any 
 news of that unhappy maiden, who, being for so many years 
 the principal joy of this broken-down house, is now proved 
 our greatest unhappiness? Have you not at least discovered 
 her place of residence?" 
 
 " I have, " replied Tressilian. "Know you Cumnor Place, 
 near Oxford?" 
 
 " Surely, " said the clergyman ; " it w.as a house of removal 
 for the monks of Abingdon." 
 
 " Whose arms, " said Master Michael, " I have seen over a 
 11
 
 162 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 stone chimney in the hall — a cross patonc^ betwixt four 
 martlets." 
 
 " There, " said Tressilian, " this unhappy maiden resides, 
 in company with the villain Varney. But for a strange mis- 
 hap, my sword had revenged all our injuries, as well as hers, 
 on his worthless head." 
 
 "Thank God, that kept thine hand from blood-guiltiness, 
 rash young man!" answered the curate. "'Vengeance is 
 mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay it.' It were better 
 study to free her from the villain's nets of infamy." 
 
 " They are called, in heraldry, laquel amoris, or lacs 
 d' amour," said Mumblazen. 
 
 " It is in that I require your aid, my friends, " said Tres- 
 silian ; " I am resolved to accuse this villain, at the very foot 
 of the throne, of falsehood, seduction, and breach of hospitable 
 laws. The Queen shall hear me, though the Earl of Leicester, 
 the villain's patron, stood at her right hand." 
 
 " Her Grace, " said the curate, " hath set a comely example 
 of continence to her subjects, and will doubtless do justice on 
 this inhospitable robber. But wert thou not better apply to 
 the Earl of Leicester, in the first place, for justice on his 
 servant? If he grants it, thou dost save the risk of making 
 thyself a powerful adversary, which will certainly chance if, 
 in the first instance, you accuse his master of the horse and 
 prime favourite before the Queen." 
 
 " My mind revolts from your counsel," said Tressilian. " I 
 cannot brook to plead my noble patron's cause — the unhappy 
 Amy's cause — before any one save my lawful sovereign. 
 Leicester, thou wilt say, is noble; be it so, he is but a subject 
 like ourselves, and I will not carry my plaint to him, if I can 
 do better. Still, I will think on what thou hast said : but I 
 must have your assistance to persuade the good Sir Hugh to 
 make me his commissioner and fiduciary in this matter, for it 
 is in his name I must speak, and not in my own. Since she is 
 so far changed as to dote upon this empty profligate courtier, 
 he shall at least do her the justice which is yet in his power." 
 
 "Better she died ccelebs and sine i^role" said Mumblazen, 
 with more animation than he usually expressed, " than part.
 
 KENILWORTH. 163 
 
 per pale, the noble coat of Eobsart with that of such a mis- 
 creant!" 
 
 " If it be your object, as I cannot question, " said the clergy- 
 man, " to save, as much as is yet possible, the credit of this 
 unhappy young woman, I repeat, you should apply, in the first 
 instance, to the Earl of Leicester. He is as absolute in his 
 household as the Queen in her kingdom, and if he expresses to ' 
 Varney that such is his pleasure, her honour will not stand so 
 publicly committed." 
 
 "You are right — you are right," said Tressilian, eagerly, 
 " and I thank you for pointing out what I overlooked in my 
 haste. I little thought ever to have besought grace of Leices- 
 ter j but I could kneel to the proud Dudley, if doing so could 
 remove one shade of shame from this unhappy damsel. Yon 
 will assist me, then, to procure the necessary powers from Sir 
 Hugh Eobsart?" 
 
 The curate assured him of his assistance, and the herald 
 nodded assent. 
 
 " You must hold yourselves also in readiness to testify, ia 
 case you are called upon, the open-hearted hospitality which 
 our good patron exercised towards this deceitful traitor, and 
 the solicitude with which he laboured to seduce his unhappy 
 daughter. " 
 
 " At first, " said the clergyman, " she did not, as it seemed 
 to me, much affect his company, but latterly I saw them oftea 
 together. " 
 
 " Seiant in the parlour, " said Michael Mumblazen, " and 
 passant in the garden." 
 
 " I once came on them by chance, " said the priest, " in the 
 South wood in a spring evening; Yarney was mufiled in a 
 russet cloak, so that I saw not his face ; they separated hastily, 
 as they heard me rustle amongst the leaves, and I observed 
 she turned her head and looked long after him." 
 
 "With neck reguardant,^^ said the herald; "and on the day 
 of her flight, and that was on St. Austen's Eve, I saw Varney's 
 groom, attired in his liveries, hold his master's horse and Mis- 
 tress Amy's palfrey, bridled and saddled pro-per, behind the 
 wall of the churchyard."
 
 164 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " And now is she found mewed up in liis secret place of 
 retirement," said Tressilian. "The villain is taken in the 
 manner, and I well wish he may deny his crime, that I may 
 thrust conviction down his false throat! But I must prepare 
 for my journey. Do you, gentlemen, dispose my patron to 
 grant me such powers as are needful to act in his name." 
 
 So saymg, Tressilian left the room. 
 
 " He is too hot, " said the eurate ; " and I pray to God that 
 He may grant him the patience to deal with Varney as is fit- 
 ting." 
 
 " Patience and Varney, " said Mumblazen, " is worse heraldry 
 than metal upon metal. He is more false than a siren, more 
 rapacious than a griffin, more poisonous than a wyvern, and 
 more cruel than a lion rampant." 
 
 " Yet I doubt much, " said the curate, " whether he can with 
 propriety ask from Sir Hugh Robsart, being in his present 
 condition, any deed deputing his paternal right in Mistress 
 Amy to whomsoever " 
 
 " Your reverence need not doubt that, " said Will Badger, 
 who entered as he spoke, " for I will lay my life he is another 
 man when he wakes than he has been these thirty days 
 past." 
 
 " Ay, Will, " said the curate, " hast thou then so much con- 
 fidence in Doctor Diddleum's draught?" 
 
 "Not a whit," said Will, "because master ne'er tasted a 
 drop on't, seeing it was emptied out by the housemaid. But 
 here's a gentleman, who came attending on Master Tressilian, 
 has given Sir Hugh a draught that is worth twenty of yon un. 
 I have spoken cunningly with him, and a better farrier, or 
 one who hath a more just notion of horse and dog ailment, I 
 have never seen; and such a one would never be unjust to a 
 Christian man." 
 
 -" A farrier ! you saucy groom. And by whose authority, 
 pray?" said the curate, rising in surprise and indignation; 
 "or who will be warrant for this new physician?" 
 
 " For authority, an it like your reverence, he had mine ; and 
 for warrant, I trust I have not been five-and-twenty years in 
 this house without having right to warrant the giving of a
 
 KENILWOBTH. 165 
 
 draught to beast or body — I who can gie a drench, and a ball, 
 and bleed, or blister, if need, to my veiy self." 
 
 The counsellors of the house of Robsart thought it meet to 
 carry this information instantly to Tressilian, who as speedily 
 summoned before him Wayland Smith, and demanded of him 
 (in private, however) by what authority he had ventui-ed to 
 administer any medicine to Sir Hugh Robsart. 
 
 " Why, " replied the artist, " your worship cannot but re* 
 member that I told you I had made more progress into my 
 master's — I mean the learned Doctor Boboobie's — ^mystery 
 than he was willing to own ; and, indeed, half of his quarrel 
 and malice against me was, that, besides that I got something 
 too deep into his secrets, several discerning persons, and par- 
 ticularly a buxom young widow of Abingdon, preferred my 
 prescriptions to his." 
 
 "None of thy buffoonery, sir," said Tressilian, sternly. 
 " If thou hast trifled with us — much more, if thou hast done 
 aught that may prejudice Sir Hiigh RobBart's health — thou 
 ghalt find thy grave at the bottom of a tin mine." 
 
 "I know too little of the great cnranum to convert the ore 
 to gold, " said Wayland, firmly. " But truce to your appre- 
 hensions, Master Tressilian. I imderstood the good knight's 
 ease, from what Master William Badger told me ; and I hope 
 I am able enough to administer a poor dose of mandragora, 
 which, with the sleep that must needs follow, is all that Sir 
 Hugh Robsart requires to settle his distraught brains." 
 
 " I trust thou dealest fairly with me, Wayland?" said Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 " Most fairly and honestly, as the event shall show, " replied 
 the artist. " What would it avail me to harm the poor old 
 man for whom you are interested? — you, to whom I owe it 
 that Gaffer Pinniewinks is not even now rending my flesh and 
 sinews with his accursed pincers, and probing every mole in 
 my body with his sharpened awl — a murrain on the hands 
 which forged it! — in order to find out the witch's mark? I 
 trust to yoke myself as a humble follower to your worship's 
 train, and I only wish to have my faith judged of by the re- 
 sult of the good knight's slumbers."
 
 166 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Wayland Smith was right in his prognostication. The 
 sedative draught which his skill had prepared, and Will 
 Badger's confidence had administered, was attended with the 
 most beneficial effects. The patient's sleep was long and 
 healthful; and the poor old knight awoke, humbled indeed in 
 thought, and weak in frame, yet a much better judge of what- 
 ever was subjected to his intellect than he had been for some 
 time past. He resisted for a while the proposal made by his 
 friends that Tressilian should undertake a journey to court, 
 to attempt the recovery of his daughter, and the redress of her 
 wrongs, in so far as they might yet be repaired. " Let her 
 go," he said; "she is but a hawk that goes down the wind; 
 I would not bestow even a whistle to reclaim her." But 
 though he for some time maintained this argument, he was at 
 length convinced it was his duty to take the part to which 
 natural affection inclined him, and consent that such efforts 
 as could yet be made should be used by Tressilian in behalf 
 of his daughter. He subscribed, therefore, a warrant of at- 
 torney, such as the curate's skill enabled him to draw up; for 
 in those simple days the clergy were often the advisers of 
 their flock in law as weU as in Gospel. 
 
 All matters were prepared for Tressilian's second departure 
 within twenty-four hours after he had returned to Lidcote 
 Hall ; but one material circumstance had been forgotten, which 
 was first called to the remembrance of Tressilian by Master 
 Mumblazen. "You are going to court, Master Tressilian," 
 said he ; " you will please remember that your blazonry must 
 be argent and or; no other tinctures will pass current. " The 
 remark was equally just and embarrassing. To prosecute a 
 suit at court, ready money was as indispensable even in the 
 golden days of Elizabeth as at any succeeding period ; and it 
 was a commodity little at the command of the inhabitants of 
 Lidcote Hall. Tressilian was himself poor ; the revenues of 
 good Sir Hugh Robsart were consumed, and even anticipated, 
 in his hospitable mode of living ; and it was finally necessary 
 that the herald, who started the doubt, should himself solve 
 it. Master Michael Mumblazen did so by producing a bag of 
 money, containing nearly three hundred pounds in gold and
 
 KENILWORTH. 167 
 
 silver of various coinage, the savings of twenty years ; which 
 lie now, without speaking a syllable upon the subject, dedi- 
 cated to the service of the patron whose shelter and protection 
 had given him the means of making this little hoard. Tres- 
 silian accepted it without affecting a moment's hesitation, and 
 a mutual grasp of the hand was all that passed betwixt them, 
 to express the pleasure which the one felt in dedicating his all 
 to such a purpose, and that which the other received from 
 finding so material an obstacle to the success of his journey 
 80 suddenly removed, and in a manner so imexpected. 
 
 While Tressilian was making preparations for his departure 
 early the ensuing morning, "Wayland Smith desired to speak 
 with him ; and, expressing his hope that he had been pleased 
 with the operation of his medicine in behalf of Sir Hugh 
 Eobsart, added his desire to accompany him to court. This 
 was indeed what Tressilian himself had several times thought 
 of; for the shrewdness, alertness of understanding, and variety 
 of resource which this fellow had exhibited during the time 
 they had travelled together, had made him sensible that his 
 assistance might be of importance. But then Wayland was 
 in danger from the grasp of laAV ; and of this Tressilian re- 
 minded him, mentioning something, at the same time, of the 
 pincers of Pinniewinks and the warrant of Master Justice 
 Blindas. Wayland Smith laughed both to scorn. 
 
 "See you, sir!" said he, "I have changed my garb from 
 that of a farrier to a serving-man ; but were it still as it was, 
 look at my mustachios ; they now hang down, I will but turn 
 them up, and dye them with a tincture that I know of, and 
 the devil would scarce know me again." 
 
 He accompanied these words with the appropriate action; 
 and in less than a minute, by setting up his mustachios and 
 his hair, he seemed a different person from him that had but 
 now entered the room. Still, however, Tressilian hesitated 
 to accept his services, and the artist became proportionably 
 urgent 
 
 " I owe you life and limb, " he said, " and I would fain pay 
 a part of the debt, especially as I know from Will Badger on 
 what dangerous service your worship is bound. I do not, ii- -
 
 168 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 deed, pretend to be what is called a luau of mettle — one of 
 those rulEing teai-cats, who maintain their master's quarrel 
 with sword and buckler. Nay, I am even one of those who 
 hold the end of a feast better than the beginning of a fiay. 
 But I know that I can serve your worship better in such quest 
 as yovirs than any of these sword-and-dagger men, and that 
 my head will be worth an hundred of their hands." 
 
 Tressilian still hesitated. He knew not much of this 
 strange fellow, and was doubtful how far he could repose in 
 him the confidence necessary to render him an useful attendant 
 upon the present emergency. Ere lie had come to a deter- 
 mination, the trampling of a horse was heard in the courtyard, 
 and Master Mumblazen and Will Badger both entered hastily 
 into TressiKan's chamber, speaking almost at the same mo- 
 ment. 
 
 " Here is a serving-man on the bonniest grey tit I ever see'd 
 in my life, " said Will Badger, who got the start ; — " having 
 on his arm a silver cognizance, being a fire-drake holdiag in 
 his mouth a brick-bat, under a coronet of an earl's degree," 
 said Master Mumblazen, " and bearing a letter sealed of the 
 same." 
 
 Tressilian took the letter, which was addressed "To the 
 worshipful Master Edmund Tressilian, our loving kinsman — 
 These — ride, ride, ride — for thy life, for thy life, for thy life.'- 
 He then opened it, and found the following contents : 
 
 "Master Tkessilian, cub good Friexd axd Cousijt: 
 
 "We are at present so ill at ease, and otherwise so un- 
 happily circumstanced, that we are desirous to have around us 
 those of our friends on whose lovmg-kindness we can most 
 especially repose confidence ; amongst whom we hold our good 
 Master Tressilian one of the foremost and nearest, both in 
 good will and good ability. We therefore pray you, with your 
 most convenient speed, to repair to our ]30or lodging at Say's 
 Court, near Deptford, where we will treat farther with jou. 
 of matters which we deem it not fit to commit unto writing. 
 And so we bid you heartily farewell, being your loving kins- 
 man to command, Eatcliffe, Earl of Sussex."
 
 KENILWORTH. 169 
 
 " Send up tlie messenger instantly, Will Badger, " said Tres- 
 silian ; and as the man entered the room he exclaimed : " Ah, 
 Stevens, is it 3'ou? how does my good lord?" 
 
 " 111, Master Tressilian, " was the messenger's reply, " and 
 having therefore the more need of good friends around him." 
 
 " But what is my lord's malady?" said Tressilian, anxiously. 
 *'I heard nothing of his being ill." 
 
 " I know not, sir, " replied the man ; " he is very ill at ease. 
 The leeches are at a stand, and many of his household suspect 
 fold practice — witchcraft, or worse." 
 
 "What are the symptoms?" said Wayland Smith, stepping 
 forward hastily. 
 
 "Anan?" said the messenger, not comprehending his 
 meaning. 
 
 "What does he ail?" said Wayland; "where lies his dis- 
 ease?" 
 
 The man looked at Tressilian as if to know whether he 
 should answer these inquiries from a stranger, and receiving 
 a sign in the affirmative, he hastily enumerated gradual loss 
 of strength, nocturnal perspiration, and loss of api)etite, faint- 
 ness, etc. 
 
 "Joined," said Wayland, "to a gnawing pain in the 
 stomach, and a low fever?" 
 
 " Even so, " said the messenger, somewhat surprised. 
 
 " I know how the disease is caused, " said the artist, " and 
 I know the cause. Your master has eaten of the manna of St. 
 Nicholas. I know the cure too : my master shall not say I 
 studied in his laboratory for nothing." 
 
 "How mean you?" said Tressilian, frowning; "we speak 
 of one of the first nobles of England. Bethink you, this is no 
 subject for buffoonery." 
 
 "God forbid!" said Wayland Smith. "I say that I know 
 his disease, and can cure him. Eemember what I did for Sir 
 Hugh Robsart." 
 
 "We will set forth instantly," said Tressilian. "God calls 
 us." 
 
 Accordingly, hastily mentioning this new motive for his 
 instant departure, though without alluding to either the sus-
 
 170 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 picions of Stevens or the assurances of Wayland Smith, he 
 took the kindest leave of Sir Hugh and the family at Lidcote 
 Hall, who accompanied him with prayers and hlessmgs, and, 
 attended by "Wayland and the Earl of Sussex's domestic, trav- 
 elled witli the utmost speed towards London. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 Ay, I know you have arsenic, • ; 
 
 Vitriol, sal-tartre, argaile, alkaly, 
 Cinoper : I know all. This fellow, Captain, 
 Will come in time to be a great distiller, 
 And give a say, I will not say directly. 
 But very near, at the philosopher's stone. 
 
 The Alchemist. 
 
 Tkessilian and his attendants pressed their route with all 
 despatch. He had asked the smith, indeed, when their de- 
 parture was resolved on, whether he would not rather choose 
 to avoid Berkshire, in which he had jDlayed a part so con- 
 spicuous? But Wayland returned a confident answer. He 
 had employed the short interval they passed at Lidcote Hall 
 in transforming himself in a wonderful manner. His wild and 
 overgrown thicket of beard was now restrained to two small 
 mustachios on the upper lip, turned up in a military fashion. 
 A tailor from the village of Lidcote (well paid) had exerted 
 his skill, under his customer's directions, so as completely to 
 alter Wayland's outward man, and take off from his appear- 
 ance almost twenty years of age. Formerly, besmeared with 
 soot and charcoal, overgrown with hair, and bent double with 
 the nature of his labour, disfigured, too, by his odd and fan- 
 tastic dress, he seemed a man of fifty years old. But now, in 
 a handsome suit of Tressilian's livery, with a sword by his 
 side, and a buckler on his shoulder, he looked like a gay- 
 ruffling serving-man, whose age might be betwixt thirty and 
 thirty-five, the very prime of human life. His loutish, sav- 
 age-looking demeanour seemed equally changed into a forward, 
 sharp, and impudent alertness of look and action. 
 
 When challenged by Tressilian, who desired to know the
 
 KENILWORTH. 17j 
 
 cause of a metamorphosis so singular and so absolute, Way- 
 land only answered by singing a stave from a comedy, which 
 was then new, and was supposed, among the more favourable 
 judges, to augur some genius on the part of the author. We 
 are happy to preserve the couplet, which ran exactly thus : 
 
 *' Ban — ban, Ca — Caliban ! 
 Get a new master ; be a new man." 
 
 Although Tressilian did not recollect the verses, yet they re- 
 minded him that Wayland had once been a stage-player, a 
 circumstance which, of itself, accounted indifferently well for 
 the readiness with which he could assume so total a change of 
 personal appearance. The artist himself was so confident of 
 his disguise being completely changed, or of his having com- 
 pletely changed his disguise, which may be the more correct 
 mode of spfeaking, that he regretted they were not to pass near 
 his old place of retreat. 
 
 " I could venture, " he said, " in my present dress, and with 
 your worship's backing, to face Master Justice Blindas, even 
 on a day of quarter sessions ; and I would like to know what 
 is become of Hobgoblin, who is like to play the devil in the 
 world, if he can once slip the string and leave his granny and 
 his dominie. Ay, and the scathed vault!" he said — "I would 
 willingly have seen what havoc the explosion of so much gim- 
 powder has made among Doctor Demetrius Doboobie's retorts 
 and phials. I warrant me, my fame haunts the Vale of the 
 Whitehorse long after my body is rotten ; and that many a 
 lout ties up his horse, lays down his silver groat, and pipes 
 like a sailor whistling in a calm, for Wayland Smith to come 
 and shoe his tit for him. But the horse will catch the 
 founders ere the smith answers the call. " 
 
 In this particular, indeed, Wayland proved a true prophet; 
 and so easily do fables rise, that an obscure tradition of his ex- 
 traordinary practice in farriery prevails in the Vale of White- 
 horse even unto this day ; and neither the tradition of Alfred's 
 victory nor of the celebrated Pusey horn are better preserved 
 in Berkshire than the wild legend of Wayland Smith.* 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 172 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 The haste of the travellers admitted their making no stay 
 upon their journey, save what the refresliment of the horses 
 required; and as many of the places through which they 
 passed were under the influence of the Earl of Leicester, or 
 persons immediately dependent on him, they thought it pru- 
 dent to disguise their names and the purpose of their journey. 
 On such occasions the agency of Wayland Smith (by which 
 name we shall continue to distinguish the artist, though his 
 real name was Lancelot Wayland) was extremely sersdceable. 
 He seemed, indeed, to have a j)leasure in displaying the alert- 
 ness with which he could baflle investigation, and amuse him- 
 self by putting the curiosity of tapsters and innkeepers on a 
 false scent. During the course of their brief journey, three 
 different and iaconsistent repoi-ts were cii'culated by him on 
 their account; namely, first, that Tressilian was the Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland, come over in disguise to take the Queen^s 
 pleasure concerning the great rebel Kory Oge MacCarthy Mac- 
 Mahon; secondly, that the said Tressilian was an agent of 
 Monsieur, coming to urge his suit to the hand of Elizabeth; 
 thirdly, that he was the Duke of Medina, come over, incog- 
 nito, to adjust the quarrel betwixt Philip and that princess. 
 
 Tressilian was angry, and expostulated with the artist on 
 the various inconveniences, and, iu particular, the uimecessary 
 degree of attention, to which they were subjected by the fig- 
 ments he thus circulated ; but he was pacified (for who could be 
 proof against such an argument?) by Wayland's assuring him 
 that a general importance was attached to his own (Tressil- 
 ian' s) striking presence, which rendered it necessary to give an 
 extraordinary reason for the rapidity and secrecy of his journey. 
 
 At length they approached the metropolis, where, owing to 
 the more general recourse of strangers, their appearance exci- 
 ted neither observation nor inquiry, and finally they entered 
 London itself. 
 
 It was Tressilian's purpose to go down directly to Deptford, 
 where Lord Sussex resided, in order to be near the court, then 
 held at Greenwich, the favourite residence of Elizabeth, and 
 honoured as her birthplace. Still, a brief halt in London was 
 necessary ; and it was somewhat prolonged by the earnest en-
 
 KENILWORTH. 173 
 
 treaties of Wayland Smitli, who desired permission to take a 
 walk through the city. 
 
 " Take thy sword and buckler, and follow me, then, " said 
 TressUian ; " I am about to walk myself, and we will go in 
 company." 
 
 This he said, because he was not altogether so secure of the 
 fidelity of his new retainer as to lose sight of him at this in- 
 teresting moment, when rival factions at the court of Elizabeth 
 were running so high. Wayland Smith williugly acquiesced in 
 the precaution, of which he probably conjectured the motive, 
 but only stipulated that his master should enter the shops of 
 such chemists or apothecaries as he should point out in walk- 
 ing through Fleet Street, and permit him to make some 
 necessary purchases. Tressiliau agreed, and, obeying the 
 signal of his attendant, walked successively into more than 
 four or five shops, where he observed that Wayland purchased 
 in each only one single drug, in various quantities. The 
 medicines which he first asked for were readily furnished, each 
 in succession, but those which he afterwards required were less 
 easily supplied; and Tressilian observed that Wayland more 
 than once, to the surprise of the shop-keeper, returned the 
 gum or herb that was offered to him, and compelled him to 
 exchange it for the right sort, or else went on to seek it else- 
 where. But one ingredient, in particular, seemed almost im- 
 possible to be found. Some chemists plainly admitted they 
 had never seen it, others denied that such a drug existed, ex- 
 cepting in the imagination of crazy alchemists, and most of 
 them attempted to satisfy their customer by producing some 
 substitute, which, when rejected by Wayland as not being 
 what he had asked for, they maintained possessed, in a su- 
 perior degree, the self-same qualities. In general, they all 
 displayed some curiosity concerning the purpose for which he 
 wanted it. One old, meagre chemist, to whom the artist put 
 the usual question, in terms which Tressilian neither under- 
 stood nor could recollect, answered frankly, there was none of 
 that drug in London, unless Yoglan the Jew chanced to have 
 some of it upon hand. 
 
 " I thought as much, " said Wayland. And as soon as they
 
 174 WAVmiLEY NOVELS. 
 
 left the shop, lie said to Tressilian : " I crave your pardon, sir, 
 but no artist can work without his tools. I must needs go to 
 this Yoglan's; and I promise you that, if this detains you 
 longer than your leisure seems to permit, you shall, neverthe- 
 less, be well repaid by the use I will make of this' rare drug. 
 Permit me, " he added, " to walk before you, for we are now 
 to quit the broad street, and we will make double speed if I 
 lead the way." 
 
 Tressilian acquiesced, and, following the smith down a lane 
 ■which turned to the left hand towards the river, he found that 
 his guide walked on with great speed, and apparently perfect 
 knowledge of the town, through a labyrinth of bye-streets, 
 courts, and blind alleys, until at length Wayland paused in 
 the midst of a very narrow lane, the termination of which 
 showed a peep of the Thames looking misty and muddy, which 
 background was crossed saltier-ways, as Mr. Mumblazen 
 might have said, by the masts of two lighters that lay waiting 
 for the tide. The shop under which he halted had not, as in 
 modern days, a glazed window ; but a paltry canvas screen 
 surrounded such a stall as a cobbler now occupies, having the 
 front open, much in the manner of a fishmonger's booth of the 
 present day. A little old smock-faced man, the very reverse 
 of a Jew in complexion, for he was very soft-haired as well as 
 beardless, appeared, and with many courtesies asked "Wayland 
 what he pleased to want. He had no sooner named the drug 
 than the Jew started and looked surprised. " And vat might 
 your vorship vant vith that drug, which is not named, meia 
 Ood, in forty years as I have been chemist here?" 
 
 " These questions it is no part of my commission to answer, " 
 said Wayland; " I only wish to know if you have what I want, 
 and having it, are willing to sell it?" 
 
 " Ay, mein God, for having it, that I have, and for selling 
 it, I am a chemist, and sell every drug. " So saying, he ex- 
 hibited a powder, and then continued: " But it will cost much 
 monies. Vat I ave cost its weight in gold — ay, gold well- 
 refined — I vill say six times. It comes from Mount Sinai, 
 where we had our blessed Law given forth, and the plant 
 blossoms but once in one hundred year."
 
 KENILWORTH. 175 
 
 " I do not know how often it is gathered on Mount Sinai, " 
 said Wayland, after looking at tlie drug offered hini with great 
 disdain, " but I will wager my sword and buckler against your 
 gaberdine that this trash you offer me, instead of what I asked 
 for, may be had for gathering any day of the week in the 
 castle-ditch of Aleppo." 
 
 " You are a rude man, " said the Jew ; " and, besides, I ave 
 no better than that ; or, if I ave, I will not sell it without order 
 of a physician, or without you tell me vat you make of it. " 
 
 The artist made brief answer in a language of which Tres- 
 silian could not understand a word, and which seemed to strike 
 the Jew with the utmost astonishment. He stared upon Way- 
 land like one who has suddenly recognised some mighty hero 
 or dreaded potentate in the person of an unknown and un- 
 marked stranger. "Holy Elias!" he exclaimed, when he had 
 recovered the first stunning effects of his surprise ; and then 
 passing from his former suspicious and surly manner to the 
 very extremity of obsequiousness, he cringed low to the artist, 
 and besought him to enter his poor house, to bless his miser- 
 able threshold by crossmg it. 
 
 "Vill you not taste a cup vith the poor Jew, Zacharias 
 Yoglan? Vill you Tokay ave? — vill you Lachrymse taste? — 
 vill you " 
 
 " You offend in your proffers, " said Wayland ; " minister to 
 me in what I require of you, and forbear further discourse." 
 
 The rebuked Israelite took his bunch of keys, and opening 
 with circumspection a cabinet which seemed more strongly 
 secured than the other cases of drugs and medicines amongst 
 which it stood, he drew out a little secret drawer, having a 
 glass lid, and containing a small portion of a black powder. 
 This he offered to Wayland, his manner conveying the deepest 
 devotion towards him, though an avaricious and jealous ex- 
 pression, which seemed to grudge every grain of what his cus- 
 tomer was about to possess himself, disputed ground in hi3 
 countenance with the obsequious deference which he desired 
 it should exhibit. 
 
 "Have you scales?" said Wayland. 
 
 The Jew pointed to those which lay ready for common use
 
 176 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 in the shop, but he did so with a puzzled expression of doubt 
 and fear which did not escape the artist. 
 
 "They must be other than these," said Wayland, sternly; 
 " know you not that holy things lose their virtue if weighed in 
 an unjust balance?" 
 
 The Jew hung his head, took from a steel-plated casket a 
 pair of scales beautifully mounted, and said, as he adjusted 
 them for the artist's use: "With tliese I do mine own experi- 
 ment; one hair of the high-priest's beard would turn them." 
 
 "It suffices, " said the artist; and weighed out two di-achms 
 for himself of the black jjowder, which he very carefully folded 
 up and put into his pouch with the other drugs. He then 
 demanded the price of the Jew, who answered, shaking his 
 head and bowing: 
 
 " No price — no, nothing at all from such as you. But you 
 will see the poor Jew again? — you will look into his laboratory, 
 where, God help him, he hath dried himseK to the substance of 
 the withered gou.rd of Jonah, the holy prophet? You vill ave 
 pity on him, and show him one little step on the great road?" 
 
 "Hush!" said Wayland, laying his finger mysteriously on 
 his mouth, " it may be we shall meet again : thou hast already 
 the schahmajm, as thine own rabbis call it — the general crea- 
 tion; watch, therefore, and pray, for thou must attain the 
 knowledge of Alchahest Elixir Samech ere I may commime 
 farther with thee." Then returning with a slight nod the 
 reverential congees of the Jew, he walked gravely up the lane, 
 followed by his master, whose first observation on the scene 
 he had just witnessed was, that Wayland ought to have paid 
 the man for his drug, whatever it was. 
 
 " I pay him!" said the artist. " May the foul fiend pay me 
 if I do ! Had it not been that I thought it might displease 
 your worship, I would have had an ounce or two of gold out 
 of him, in exchange of the same just weight of brick-dust." 
 
 " I advise you to practise no such knavery while waiting 
 upon me, " said Tressilian. 
 
 " Did I not say, " answered the artist, " that for that reason 
 alone I forbore him for the present? Knavery, call you it? 
 Why, yonder wretched skeleton hath wealth sufficient to pave
 
 KENILWORTH. 177 
 
 the whole lane he lives in with dollars, and scarce miss them 
 out of his own iron chest ; yet he goes mad after the philoso- 
 pher" s stone; and, besides, he would have cheated a poor serv- 
 ing-man, as he thought me at first, with trash that was not 
 worth a penny. 'Match for match,' quoth the devil to the 
 collier : if his false medicine was worth my good crowns, my 
 true brick-dust is as well worth his good gold. " 
 
 " It may be so for aught I know, " said Tressilian, " in deal- 
 ing amongst Jews and apothecaries ; but understand that to 
 have such tricks of legerdemain practised by one attending on 
 me diminishes my honour, and that I will not permit them. 
 I trust thou hast made up thy purchases?" 
 
 " I have, sir," replied Wayland; " and with these drugs will 
 I, this very day, com]30und the true orvietan,^ that noble 
 medicine which is so seldom found genuine and elfective 
 within these realms of Europe, for want of that most rare and 
 precious drug which I got but now from Yoglan." 
 
 "But why not have made all your purchases at one shop?" 
 said his master ; " we have lost nearly an hour in running from 
 one pounder of simples to another." 
 
 "Content you, sir," said Wayland. "Xo man shall learn 
 my secret ; and it would not be mine long were I to buy all 
 my materials from one chemist." 
 
 They now returned to their inn, the famous Bell- Savage, 
 and while the Lord Sussex's servant prepared the horses for 
 their journey, Wayland, obtaining from the cook the service of 
 a mortar, shut himself up in a private chamber, where he 
 mixed, pounded, and amalgamated the drugs which he had 
 bought, each in its due proportion, with a readiness and 
 address* that plainly showed him well practised in all the 
 manual operations of pharmacy. 
 
 By the time Wayland' s electuary was prepared the horses 
 were ready, and a short hour's riding brought them to the pres- 
 ent habitation of Lord Sussex, an ancient house, called Say's 
 Court," near Deptford, which had long pertained to a family of 
 
 1 See Note 5. 
 
 " The court has now entirely disappeared, and its site is occupied by a 
 workhouse {Lahw). 
 
 12
 
 178 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 that name, but had. for upwards of a century been possessed 
 by the ancient and. honourable family of Evelyn. The present 
 representative of that ancient house took a deep interest in the 
 Earl of Sussex, and had willingly accommodated both him and 
 his numerous retinue in his hospitable mansion. Say's Court 
 was afterwards the residence of the celebrated Mr. Evelyn ' 
 whose Silva is still the manual of British planters ; and whose 
 life, manners, and principles, as illustrated in his MemoirSf 
 ought equally to be the manual of English gentlemen. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 This is rare news thou tell'st me, my good fellow; 
 There are two bulls fierce battling on the green 
 For one fair heifer ; if the one goes down, 
 The dale will be more peaceful, and the herd. 
 Which have small interest in their brulziement, 
 May pasture there in peace. 
 
 Old Play. 
 
 Say's Court was watched like a beleaguered fort; and so 
 high rose the suspicions of the time, that Tressilian and his at- 
 tendants were stopped and questioned repeatedly by sentinels, 
 both on foot and horseback, as they approached the abode of 
 the sick earl. In truth, the high rank which Sussex held in 
 Queen Elizabeth's favour, and his known and avowed rivalry 
 of the Earl of Leicester, caused the utmost importance to be 
 attached to his weKare ; for, at the period we treat of, all men 
 doubted whether he or the Earl of Leicester might ultimately 
 have the higher rank in her regard. 
 
 Elizabeth, like many of her sex, was fond of governing by 
 factions, so as to balance two opposing interests, and reserve 
 in her own hand the power of making either predominate, as 
 the interest of the state, or perhaps as her own female caprice, 
 for to that foible even she was not superior, might finally de- 
 termine. To finesse, to hold the cards, to oppose one interest 
 
 ' Evelyn's name has also become familiar through his Memoirs, compris- 
 ing a Diary from 1641 to 1705, and a Selection of Familiar Letters, pub- 
 lished from his MSS., discovered at Say's Court in 1818 {Laiiig),
 
 KENILWORTH. 179 
 
 to another, to bridle him who thought himself highest in her 
 esteem by the fears he must entertain of another equally 
 trusted, if not equally beloved, were arts which she used 
 throughout her reign, and which enabled her, though fre- 
 quently giving way to the weakness of favouritism, to prevent 
 most of its evil effects on her kingdom and government. 
 
 The two nobles who at present stood as rivals in her favour 
 possessed very different pretensions to share it ; yet it might 
 be in general said that the Earl of Sussex had been most ser- 
 viceable to the queen, while Leicester was most dear to the 
 woman. Sussex was, according to the phrase of the times, a 
 martialist : had done good service in Ireland and in Scotland, 
 and especially in the great northern rebellion, in 1569, which 
 was quelled, in a great measure, by his military talents. He 
 "was, therefore, naturally surrounded and looked up to by those 
 who wished to make arms their road to distinction. The Earl 
 of Sussex, moreover, was of more ancient and honourable 
 descent than his rival, imiting in his person the representation 
 of the Eitz-Walters, as well as of the Eatcliffes, while the 
 scutcheon of Leicester was stained by the degradation of his 
 grandfather, the oppressive minister of Henry VII., and scarce 
 improved by that of his father, the unhappy Dudley Duke of 
 Northumberland, executed on Tower HiU, August 22, 1553. 
 But in person, features, and address, weapons so formidable 
 in the court of a female sovereign, Leicester had advantages 
 more than sufficient to counterbalance the military services, 
 high blood, and frank bearing of the Earl of Sussex ; and he 
 bore in the eye of the court and kingdom the higher share in 
 Elizabeth's favour, though (for such was her uniform policy) 
 by no means so decidedly expressed as to warrant him against 
 the final preponderance of his rival's pretensions. The illness 
 of Sussex therefore happened so opportunely for Leicester as 
 to give rise to strange surmises among the public ; while the 
 followers of the one earl were filled with the deepest appre- 
 hensions, and those of the other with the highest hopes of its 
 probable issue. Meanwhile — for in that old time men never 
 forgot the probability that the matter might be determined by 
 length of sword— the retainers of each noble flocked around
 
 180 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 their patron, appeared well armed in the vicinity of the court 
 itself, and disturbed the ear of the sovereign by their frequent 
 and alarming debates, held even within the precincts of her 
 palace. This preliminary statement is necessary to render 
 what follows intelligible to the reader.' 
 
 On Tressilian's arrival at Say's Court, he found the place 
 filled with the retainers of the Earl of Sussex, and of the gen- 
 tlemen who came to attend their patron in his illness. Arms 
 were in every hand, and a deep gloom on every comitenance, 
 as if they had apprehended an immediate and violent assault 
 from the opposite faction. In the hall, however, to which 
 Tressilian was ushered by one of the earl's attendants, while 
 another went to inform Sussex of his arrival, he found only 
 two gentlemen in waiting. There was a remarkable contrast 
 in their dress, appearance, and manners. The attire of the 
 elder gentleman, a person, as it seemed, of quality and in the 
 prime of life, was very plain and soldierlike, his stature low, 
 his limbs stout, his bearing ungraceful, and his features of 
 that kind which express sound common sense, without a grain 
 of vivacity or imagination. The younger, who seemed about 
 twenty or upwards, was clad in the gayest habit used by per- 
 sons of quality at the period, wearing a crimson velvet cloak 
 richly ornamented with lace and embroidery, with a bonnet of 
 the same, encircled with a gold chain turned three times round 
 it and secured by a medal. His hair was adjusted very nearly 
 like that of some fine gentlemen of our own time — that is, it 
 was combed upwards, and made to stand as it were on end; 
 and in his ears he wore a pair of silver ear-rings, having each 
 a pearl of considerable size. The countenance of this youth, 
 besides beuig regularly handsome and accomi^anied by a fine 
 person, was animated and striking in a degree that seemed to 
 speak at once the firmness of a decided and the fire of an en- 
 terprising character, the power of reflection and the prompti- 
 tude of determination. 
 
 Both these gentlemen reclined nearly in the same posture on 
 benches near each other ; but each seeming engaged in his own 
 meditations, looked straight upon the wall which was opposite 
 > See Leicester and Sussex. Note 6.
 
 KENILWORTH. 181 
 
 to them, without speaking to his companion. The looks of 
 the elder were of that sort which convinced the beltolder that, 
 in looking on the wall, he saw no more than the side of an old 
 hall hung around with cloaks, antlers, bucklers, old pieces of 
 armour, partizans, and the similai' articles which were usually 
 the furniture of such a place. The look of the younger gallant 
 had in it something imaginative ; he was sunk in reverie, and 
 it seemed as if the empty space of air betwixt him and the 
 wall were the stage of a theatre on which his fancy was mus- 
 tering his own dramatis i^ersonce^ and treating him with sights 
 far different from those which his awakened and earthly vision 
 could have offered. 
 
 At the entrance of Tressilian both started fi-om their mus- 
 ing and bade him welcome ; the younger, in particular, with 
 great appearance of animation and cordiality. 
 
 "Thou art welcome, Tressilian," said the youth; "thy 
 philosophy stole thee from us when this household had objects 
 of ambition to offer: it is an honest philosophy, since it returns 
 thee to us when there are only dangers to be shared." 
 
 " Is my lord, then, so greatly indisposed?" said Tressilian. 
 
 " We fear the very worst, " answered the elder gentleman, 
 **and by the worst practice." 
 
 " Fy, " replied Tressilian, " my Lord of Leicester is honour- 
 able." 
 
 "What doth he with such attendants, then, as he hath 
 about him?" said the younger gallant. " The man who raises 
 the devil may be honest, but he is answerable for the mischief 
 which the fiend does for all that." 
 
 "And is this all of you, my mates," inquired Tressilian, 
 **that are about my lord in his utmost straits?" 
 
 "!No — no, " replied the elder gentleman, "there are Tracy, 
 Markham, and several more ; but we keep watch here by two 
 at once, and some are weary and are sleeping in the gallery 
 above." 
 
 "And some," said the young man, "are gone down to the 
 dock yonder at Deptford, to look out such a hulk as they may 
 purchase by clubbing then- broken fortunes ; and so soon as 
 all is over we will lay our noble lord in a noble green grave.
 
 182 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 have a blow at those who have hurried him thither, if oppor- 
 tunity suits, and then sail for the Indies with heavy hearts 
 and light purses." 
 
 *' It may be, " said TressUian, " that I will embrace the same 
 purpose, so soon as I have settled some business at court." 
 
 "Thou business at court!" they both exclaimed at once; 
 *' and thou make the Indian voyage!" 
 
 "Why, Tressilian," said the younger man, "art thou not 
 wedded, and beyond these flaws of fortunes that drive folks 
 out to sea when their bark bears fairest for the haven? 
 What has become of the lovely Indamira that was to match 
 my Amoret for truth and beauty?" 
 
 " Speak not of her!" said Tressilian, averting his face. 
 
 " Ay, stands it so with you?" said the youth, taking his hand 
 very affectionately; "then, fear not I will again touch the 
 green wound. But it is strange as well as sad news. Are 
 none of our fair and merry fellowship to escape shipwreck of 
 fortune and happiness in this sudden tempest? I had hoped 
 thou wert in harbour, at least, my dear Edmund. But truly 
 eays another dear friend of thy name : 
 
 What man that sees the ever whirling wheel 
 Of change, the which all mortal things doth sway. 
 But that thereby doth find and plainly feel, 
 How mutability in them doth play 
 Her cruel Sports to many men's decay." 
 
 The elder gentleman had risen from his bench, and was pac- 
 ing the hall with some impatience, while the youth, with 
 much earnestness and feeling, recited these lines. When he 
 had done, the other wrapped himself in his cloak, and again 
 stretched himself down, saymg: "I marvel, Tressilian, you 
 will feed the lad in this silly humour. If there were aught to 
 draw a judgment upon a virtuous and honourable household 
 like my lord's, renounce me if I think not it were this piping, 
 whining, chilaish trick of poetry that came among us with 
 Master Walter Wittypate here and his comrades, twisting into 
 aU manner of uncouth and incomprehensible forms of speech 
 the honest plain English phrase which God gave us to express 
 our meaning withal."
 
 KENILWORTH. 183 
 
 " Blount believes, " said his comrade, laughing, " the devil 
 woo'd Eve in rhyme, and that the mystic meaning of the 
 Tree of Knowledge refers solely to the art of clashing rhymes 
 and meting out hexameters." ' 
 
 At this moment the earl's chamberlain entered, and informed 
 Tressilian that his lord required to speak with him. 
 
 He found Lord Sussex dressed, but unbraced and lying oa 
 his couch, and was shocked at the alteration disease had made 
 in his person. The earl received him with the most friendly 
 cordiality, and inquired into the state of his courtship. Tres- 
 silian evaded his inquiries for a moment, and turning his dis- 
 course on the earl's own health, he discovered, to his surprise, 
 that the symptoms of his disorder corresponded minutely with 
 those which Wayland had predicated concerning it. He hesi- 
 tated not, therefore, to communicate to Sussex the whole his- 
 tory of his attendant, and the pretensions he set up to euro 
 the disorder under which he laboured. The earl listened with 
 incredulous attention until the name of Demetrius was men- 
 tioned, and then suddenly called to his secretary to bring him 
 a certain casket which contained papers of importance. " Take 
 out from thence, " he said, " the declaration of the rascal cook 
 whom we had under examination, and look heedfully if the 
 name of Demetrius be not there." 
 
 The secretary turned to the passage at once, and read: 
 " And said declarant, beicg examined, saith, That he remem- 
 bers havuig made the sauce to the said sturgeon-fish, after 
 eating of which the said noble lord was taken ill ; and he put 
 the usual ingredients and condiments therein, namely " 
 
 " Pass over his trash, " said the earl, " and see whether he 
 had not been supplied with his materials by a herbalist called 
 Demetrius." 
 
 " It is even so, " answered the secretary. " And he adds, he' 
 has not since seen the said Demetrius." 
 
 "This accords with thy fellow's story, Tressilian," said the 
 earl; "call him hither." 
 
 On being summoned to the earl's presence, Wayland Smith 
 told his former tale with firmness and consistency. 
 « See Sir Walter Raleigh, Note 7.
 
 184 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "It may be," said the earl, "thou art sent by those who 
 have begim this work, to end it for them ; but bethink, if I 
 miscarry under thy medicine, it may go hard with thee." 
 
 "That were severe measures," said Way land, "since the 
 issue of medicine, and the end of life, are in God's disposal. 
 But I will stand the risk. I have not lived so long imder 
 ground to, be afraid of a grave." 
 
 "Nay, if thou be'st so confident," said the Earl of Sussex, 
 ** I will take the risk too, for the learned can do nothing for 
 me. TeE me how this medicine is to be taken." 
 
 "That will I do presently," said Way land; " but allow me 
 to condition that, since I incur all the risk of this treatment, 
 no other physician shall be permitted to interfere with it. " 
 
 *' That is but fair, " replied the earl ; " and now prepare your 
 drug." 
 
 While Wayland obeyed the earl's commands, his servants, 
 by the artist's direction, undressed their master and placed 
 him in bed. 
 
 "I warn you," he said, "that the first operation of this 
 medicine will be to produce a heavy sleep, during which time 
 the chamber must be kept undisturbed, as the consequences 
 may otherwise be fatal. I myself will Avatch by the earl, with 
 any of the gentlemen of his chamber." 
 
 " Let all leave the room save Stanley and this good fellow, " 
 said the earl. 
 
 "And saving me also," said Tressilian. "I too am deeply 
 interested in the effects of this potion." 
 
 " Be it so, good friend, " said the earl ; " and now for our 
 experiment ; but first call my secretary and chamberlain. " 
 
 " Bear witness," he continued, when these officers arrived — 
 " bear witness for me, gentlemen, that our honourable friend 
 Tressilian is in no way responsible for the effects which this 
 medicine may produce upon me, the taldng it being my own 
 free action and choice, in regard I believe it to be a remedy 
 which God has furnished me by imexpected means to recover 
 me of my present malady. Commend me to my noble and 
 princely mistress ; and say that I live and die her true servant,' 
 and wish to all about her throne the same singleness of heart
 
 KEXILWOETH. 1^ 
 
 aad -will to serve lier, with more ability to do so tliaji liatli 
 been assigned to poor Tbomas E,atcliffe. " 
 
 He then folded bis bands, and seemed for a second or two 
 absorbed in mental devotion, tben took tbe potion in bis band, 
 and, jDausmg, regarded Wayland witb a look tbat seemed de- 
 signed to penetrate bis very soul, but wbicb caused no anxiety 
 or hesitation in tbe countenance or manner of tbe artist. 
 
 " Here is nothing to be feared, " said Sussex to Tressilian, 
 and swallowed the medicine without farther hesitation. 
 
 " I am now to pray your lordship," said Wayland, "to dis- 
 pose yourself to rest as commodiously as you can ; and of you, 
 gentlemen, to remain as still and mute as if you waited at your 
 mother's death-bed," 
 
 The chamberlain and secretary tben withdrew, giving orders 
 that all doors should be bolted, and all noise in the house 
 strictly prohibited. Several gentlemen were voluntary watch- 
 ers in the hall, but none remained in the chamber of the sick 
 eai-1, save bis groom of tbe chamber, the ai-tist, and Tressilian. 
 Wayland Smith's predictions were speedily accomplished, and 
 a sleep fell upon tbe earl so deep and sound that they who 
 watched bis bedside began to fear that, in his weakened state, 
 be might pass away without awakening from bis lethargy. 
 Wa3-land Smith himself appeared anxious, and felt the temples 
 of the eaii slightly from time to time, attending particularly 
 to tbe state of bis respiration, which was full and deep, but at 
 the same time easy and uninterrupted. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 You loggerTieaded and nnpolish'd groomc, 
 What, no attendance, no regard, no duty? 
 "Where is the foolish knave I sent before ? 
 
 Taming of the Shrew. 
 
 Theke is no period at which men look worse in the eyes of 
 each other, or feel more micomfortable, than when tbe first 
 dawn of daylight finds them watchers. Even a beauty of the
 
 186 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 first order, after tlie vigils of a ball are interrupted by the 
 dawn, would do wisely to withdraw herself from the gaze of 
 her fondest and most partial admirers. Such was the pale, 
 inauspicious, and ungrateful light which began to beam upon 
 those who kept watch all night in the hall at Say's Court, and 
 which mingled its cold, pale, blue diffusion with the red, 
 yellow, and smoky beams of expiring lamps and torches. The 
 young gallant whom we noticed in our last chapter had left 
 the room for a few minutes, to learn the cause of a knocking 
 at the outward gate, and on his return was so struck with the 
 forlorn and ghastly aspects of his companions of the watch, 
 that he exclaimed : " Pity of my heart, my masters, how like 
 owls you look ! Methinks, when the sun rises, I shall see you 
 flutter off with your eyes dazzled, to stick yourselves into the 
 next ivy-tod or ruined steeple." 
 
 "Hold thy peace, thou gibing fool," said Blount — "hold 
 thy peace. Is this a time for jeering, when the manhood 
 of England is perchance dying within a wall's breadth of 
 thee?" 
 
 "There thou liest," replied the gallant. 
 
 "How, lie!" exclaimed Blount, starting up — "lie! and to 
 me?" 
 
 "Why, so thou didst, thou peevish fool," answered the 
 youth ; " thou didst lie on that bench even now, didst thou not? 
 But art thou not a hasty coxcomb, to pick up a wry word so 
 wrathfully? Nevertheless, loving and honouring my lord as 
 truly as thou, or any one, I do say that, should Heaven take 
 him from us, all England's manhood dies not with him." 
 
 "Ay," replied Blount, "a good portion will survive with 
 thee, doubtless." 
 
 " And a good portion with thyself, Blount, and with stout 
 Markham here, and Tracy, and all of us. But I am he will 
 best employ the talent Heaven has given to us all." 
 
 " As how, I prithee?" said Blount : " tell us your mystery of 
 multiplying. " 
 
 " Why, sirs, " answered the youth, " ye are like goodly land, 
 which bears no crop because it is not quickened by manure ; 
 but I have that rising spirit in me which will make my poor
 
 KENILWORTH. 187 
 
 faculties labour to keep pace with it. My ambition will keep 
 my brain at work, I warrant thee." 
 
 "I pray to God it does not di-ive thee mad," said Blount; 
 " for my part, if we lose our noble lord, I bid adieu to the 
 court and to the camp both. I have five hundred foul acres 
 in Norfolk, and thither will I, and change the court pantoufle 
 for the country hobnail." 
 
 "Obase transmutation!" exclaimed his antagonist; "thou 
 hast already got the true rvistic slouch : thy shoulders stoop, 
 as if thine hands were at the stilts of the plough, and thou 
 hast a kind of earthy smell about thee, instead of being per^ 
 fumed with essence, as a gallant and courtier should. On my 
 soul, thou hast stolen out to roll thyself on a hay -mow ! Thy 
 only excuse will be to swear by thy hilts that the farmer had 
 a fair daughter. " 
 
 " I pray thee, Walter," said another of the company, "cease 
 thy raillery, which suits neither time nor place, and tell us 
 who was at the gate just now." 
 
 " Doctor Masters, physician to her Grace in ordinary, sent 
 by her especial orders to inquire after the earl's health," an- 
 swered Walter. 
 
 "Ha! what!" exclaimed Tracy, "that was no slight mark 
 of favour; if the earl can but come through, he will match 
 with Leicester yet. Is Masters with my lord at present?" 
 
 " Nay, " replied Walter, " he is half-way back to Greenwich 
 by this time, and in high dudgeon." 
 
 " Thou didst not refuse him admittance?" exclaimed Tracy. 
 
 " Thou wert not, surely, so mad?" ejaculated Blount. 
 
 " I refused him admittance as flatly, Blount, as you would 
 refuse a penny to a blind beggar; as obstinately, Tracy, as 
 thou didst ever deny access to a dun." 
 
 " Why, in the fiend's name, didst thou trust him to go to 
 the gate?" said Blount to Tracy. 
 
 "It suited his years better than mine," answered Tracy; 
 ** but he has undone us all now thoroughly. My lord may live 
 or die, he will never have a look of favour from her Majesty 
 again." 
 
 "Nor the means of making fortunes for his followers," said
 
 188 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 the young gallant, smiling contemptuously; "there lies the 
 sore point that will brook no handling. My good sbs, I 
 bounded my lamentations over my lord somewhat less loudly 
 than some of you ; but when the jwint comes of doing him 
 service, I will yield to none of you. Had this learned" leech 
 entered, thinkst thou not there had been such a coil betwixt 
 him and Tressilian's mediciuer that not the sleeper only, but 
 the very dead, might have awakened? I loiow what larum 
 belongs to the discord of doctors." 
 
 "And who is to take the blame of opposing the Queen's 
 orders?" said Tracy; "for, undeniably. Doctor Masters came 
 with her Grace's positive commands to cure the earl." 
 
 " I, who have done the wrong, will bear the blame, " said 
 Walter. 
 
 " Thus, then, off fly the dreams of court favour thou hast 
 nourished, " said Bloimt ; " and despite all thy boasted art and 
 ambition, Devonshire will see thee shine a true younger 
 brother, fit to sit low at the board, carve turn about with the 
 chaplain, look that the hounds be fed, and see the squire's 
 girths drawn when he goes a- hunting." 
 
 "Not so," said the young man, colouring, "not while Ire- 
 land and the Netherlands have wars, and not while the sea 
 hath pathless waves. The rich West hath lands undreamed 
 of, and Britain contains bold hearts to venture on the quest 
 of them. Adieu for a space, my masters. I go to walk in 
 the court and look to the sentinels." 
 
 " The lad hath quicksilver in his veins, that is certain, " said 
 Blount, looking at Markham. 
 
 " He hath that both in brain and blood, " said Markham, 
 *' which may either make or mar him. But, in closing the 
 door against Masters, he hath done a daring and loving piece 
 of service; for Tressilian's fellow hath ever averred that to 
 wake the earl were death, and Masters would wake the Seven 
 Sleepers themselves, if he thought they slept not by the 
 regular ordinance of medicine. " 
 
 Morning was well advanced, when Tressilian, fatigued and 
 over- watched, came down to the hall with the joyful intelli- 
 gence that the earl had awakened of himself, that he foujid his
 
 KENILWORTH. 189 
 
 internal complaints much mitigated, and spoke with, a cheer- 
 fulness, and looked round with a vivacity, which of them- 
 selves showed a material and favourable change had taken 
 place. Tressilian at the same time commanded the attend- 
 ance of one or two of his followers, to report what had passed 
 during the night, and to relieve the watchers in the earl's 
 chamber. 
 
 When the message of the Queen was communicated to the 
 Earl of Sussex, he at first smiled at the repulse which the 
 physician had received from his zealous young follower, but 
 instantly recollectiug himself, he commanded Blount, his 
 master of the horse, instantly to take boat and go down the 
 river to the Palace of Greenwich, taking young Walter and 
 Tracy with him, and make a suitable compliment, expressing 
 his grateful thanks to his sovereign, and mentioning the cause 
 why he had not been enabled to profit by the assistance of the 
 wise and learned Doctor Masters. 
 
 " A plague on it, " said Blount, as he descended the stairs, 
 " had he sent me with a cartel to Leicester, I think I should 
 have done his errand indifferently well. But to go to our 
 gracious sovereign, before whom all words must be lackered 
 over either with gilding or with sugar, is such a confectionary 
 matter as clean baffles my poor old English brain. Come with 
 me, Tracy ; and come you too, Master Walter Wittypate, that 
 art the cause of our having all this ado. Let ns see if thy 
 neat brain, that frames so many flashy fireworks, can help out 
 a plain fellow at need with some of thy shrewd devices." 
 
 "Never fear — never fear," exclaimed the youth, "it is I 
 will help you through; let me but fetch my cloak." 
 
 "Why, thou hast it on thy shoulders," said Blount: "the 
 lad is mazed." 
 
 "No, no, this is Tracy's old mantle," answered Walter ; "I 
 go not with thee to court unless as a gentleman should." 
 
 " Why, " said Blount, " thy braveries are like to dazzle the 
 eyes of none but some poor groom or porter." 
 
 " I know that, " said the youth • '■ but I am resolved I will 
 have my own cloak — ay, and brush my doublet to boot — ere 
 I stir forth with you."
 
 190 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Well — well, " said Blount, " here is a coil about a doublet 
 and a cloak; get thyself ready, a' God's name!" 
 
 They were soon launched on the princely bosom of the 
 broad Thames, upon which the sun now shone forth in all its 
 splendour. 
 
 " There are two things scarce matched in the universe, " said 
 Walter to Blount — "the sun in heaven, and the Thames or 
 earth." 
 
 " The one will light us to Greenwich well enough, " said 
 Blount, " and the other would take us there a little faster if it 
 were ebb tide." 
 
 "And this is all thou think' st — all thou carest — aU thou 
 deem'st the use of the king of elements and the king of rivers, 
 to guide three such poor caitiffs as thyself, and me, and Tracy 
 upon an idle journey of courtly ceremony!" 
 
 "It is no errand of my seeking, faith," replied Blount, 
 ** and I could excuse both the sun and the Thames the trouble 
 of carrying me where I have no great mind to go, and where 
 I expect but dog's wages for my trouble ; and by my honour," 
 he added, looking out from the head of the boat, " it seems to 
 me as if our message were a sort of labour in vain ; for see, 
 the Queen's barge lies at the stairs, as if her Majesty were 
 about to take water." 
 
 It was even so. The royal barge, manned with the Queen's 
 watermen, richly attired in the regal liveries, and having the 
 banner of England displayed, did indeed lie at the great stairs 
 which ascended from the river, and along with it two or three 
 other boats for transporting such part of her retinue as were 
 not in immediate attendance on the royal person. The yeo- 
 m.en of the guard, the tallest and most handsome men whom 
 England could produce, guarded with their halberds the pas- 
 sage from the palace gate to the river-side, and all seemed in 
 readiness for the Queen's coming forth, although the day was 
 yet so early. 
 
 "By my faith, this bodes us no good," said Blount: "it 
 must be some perilous cause puts her Grace in motion thus 
 untimeously. By my counsel, we were best put back again, 
 and teU the earl what we have seen."
 
 KENILWORTH. 191 
 
 "Tell the earl what we have seen!" said "Walter; "why, 
 what have we seen but a boat, and men with scarlet jerkins, 
 and halberds in their hands? Let us do his errand, and tell 
 him what the Queen says in reply." 
 
 So saying, he caused the boat to be pulled towards a landing- 
 place at some distance from the principal one, which it would 
 not, at that moment, have been thought resj)ectf ul to approach, 
 and jumped on shore, followed, though with reluctance, by his 
 cautious and timid companions. As they approached the gate 
 of the palace, one of the sergeant porters told them they could 
 not at present enter, as her Majesty was in the act of coming 
 forth. The gentlemen used the name of the Earl of Sussex ; 
 but it proved no charm to subdue the oflicer, who alleged in 
 reply, that it was as much as his post was worth to disobey in 
 the least tittle the commands which he had received. 
 
 "Nay, I told you as much before," said Blomit; "do, I 
 pray you, my dear Walter, let us take boat and return." 
 
 "' Not till I see the Queen come forth, " returned the youth, 
 composedly. 
 
 " Thou art mad — stark mad, by the mass !" answered Blount. 
 
 " And thou, " said Walter, " art turned coward of the sudden. 
 I have seen thee face half a score of shag-headed Irish kernes 
 to thy own share of them, and now thou wouldst blink and go 
 back to shun the frown of a fair lady!" 
 
 At this moment the gates opened, and ushers began to issue 
 forth in array, preceded and flanked by the band of gentlemen 
 pensioners. After this, amid a crowd of lords and ladies, yet 
 80 disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all 
 sides, came Elizabeth herself, then in the prime of woman- 
 hood, and in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called 
 beauty, and who would in the lowest rank of life have been 
 truly judged a noble figure, joined to a strikmg and command- 
 ing physiognomy. She leant on the arm of Lord Hunsdon, 
 whose relation to her by her mother's side often procured him 
 such distinguished marks of Elizabeth's intimacy. 
 
 The young cavalier we have so often mentioned had probably 
 never yet approached so near the person of his sovereign, and 
 he pressed forward as far as the line of warders permitted, in
 
 192 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 order to avail himself of the present opportunity. His com- 
 panion, on the contrary, cursing his imprudence, kept pulling 
 him backwards, till Walter shook him off impatiently, and 
 letting his rich cloak drop carelessly from one shoulder — a 
 natural action, which served, however, to display to the best 
 advantage his well-proportioned person — unbonneting at the 
 same time, he fixed his eager gaze on the Queen's approach, 
 with a mixture of respectful curiosity and modest yet ardent 
 admiration, which suited so well with his fine features, that 
 the warders, struck with his rich attire and noble countenance, 
 suffered him to approach the ground over which the Queea 
 was to pass somewhat closer than was permitted to ordinary 
 spectators. Thus the adventurous youth stood full in Eliza- 
 beth's eye — an eye never indifferent to the admiration which she 
 deservedly excited among her subjects, or to the fair propor- 
 tions of external form which chanced to distinguish any of her 
 courtiers. Accordingly, she fixed her keen glance on the 
 youth, as she approached the place where he stood, with a 
 look in which surprise at his boldness seemed to be un mingled 
 with resentment, while a trifling accident happened which at- 
 tracted her attention towards him yet more strongly. The 
 night had been rainy, and, just where the young gentleman 
 stood, a small quantity of mud interrupted the Queen's pas- 
 sage. As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant, throwing his 
 cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to 
 ensure her stepping over it dry-shod. Elizabeth looked at 
 the young man, who accompanied this act of devoted courtesy 
 with a profound reverence, and a blush that overspread his 
 whole countenance. The Queen was confused, and blushed in 
 her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and embarked 
 in her barge without saying a word. 
 
 " Come along, sir coxcomb, " said Blount ; " your gay cloak 
 will n^ed the brush to-day, I wot. Nay, if you had meant 
 to make a foot-cloth of your mantle, better have kept Tracy's 
 old drah-de-hure^ which despises all colours." 
 
 "This cloak," said the youth, takuig it up and folding it, 
 "shall never be brushed while in my possession." 
 
 ** And that will not be long, if you learn not a little more
 
 EENILWORTH. 193 
 
 economy : we shall have you in cuerpo soon, a3 the Spaniard 
 says." 
 
 Their discourse was here interrupted by one of the band of 
 pensioners. 
 
 "I was sent," said he, after looking at them attentively, 
 " to a gentleman who hath no cloak, or a muddy one. You, 
 sir, I think," addressing the young cavalier, "are the man; 
 you will please to follow me." 
 
 "He is in attendance on me," said Blount — "on me, the 
 noble Earl of Sussex's master of horse." 
 
 "I have nothing to say to that," answered the messenger; 
 "my orders are directly from her Majesty, and concern this 
 gentleman only." 
 
 So saying, he walked away, followed by Walter, leaving 
 the others behmd, Blount's eyes almost starting from his head 
 with the excess of his astonishment. At length he gave vent 
 to it in an exclamation, "Who the good j ere would have 
 thought this !" And shaking his head witJ? a mysterious aii^ 
 he walked to his own boat, embarked, and returned to Dept* 
 ford. 
 
 The young cavalier was, in the mean while, guided to the 
 water-side by the pensioner, who showed him considerable 
 respect — a circumstance which, to persons in his situation, 
 may be considered as an augury of no small consequence. He 
 ushered him into one of the wherries which lay ready to attend 
 the Queen's barge, which was already proceeding up the river, 
 with the advantage of that flood-tide of which, in the course 
 of their descent, Blount had complained to his associates. 
 
 The two rowers used their oars with such expedition, at the 
 signal of the gentleman pensioner, that they very soon brought 
 their little skiff under the stern of the Queen's boat, where she 
 sate beneath an awning, attended by two or three ladies and 
 the nobles of her household. She looked more than once at 
 the wherry in which the young adventurer was seated, spoke to 
 those around her, and seemed to laugh. At length one of the 
 attendants, by the Queen's order apparently, made a sign for 
 the wherry to come alongside, and the yoimg man was desired 
 to step from his own skiff into the Queen's barge, which he 
 13
 
 194 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 performed witli graceful agility at tlie fore part of the boat, 
 and was brought aft to the Queen's presence, the wherry at 
 the same time dropping into the rear. The youth underwent 
 the gaze of majesty not the less gracefully that his self- 
 possession was mingled with embarrassment. The muddied 
 cloak still hung upon his arm, and formed the natural topic 
 with which the Queen introduced the conversation. 
 
 " You have this day spoiled a gay mantle in our behalf, 
 young man. We thank you for your service, though the 
 manner of offering it was unusual, and something bold." 
 
 "In a sovereign's need," answered the youth, "it is each 
 liege-man's duty to be bold." 
 
 " God's pity! that was well said, my lord," said the Queen, 
 turning to a grave person who sate by her, and answered with 
 a grave inclination of the head and something of a mumbled 
 assent. " Well, young man, your gallantry shall not go unre- 
 warded. Go to the wardi'obe-keeper, and he shall have orders 
 to supply the suit which you have cast away in our service. 
 Thou shalt have a suit, and that of the newest cut, I promise 
 thee, on the word of a princess." 
 
 " May it please your Grace, " said Walter, hesitating, " it is 
 not for so humble a servant of your Majesty to measure out 
 your bounties ; but if it became me to choose " 
 
 "Thou wouldst have gold, I warrant me?" said the Queen, 
 interrupting him. "Fy, yoimg man! I take shame to say 
 that, in our capital, such and so various are the means of 
 thriftless folly, that to give gold to youth is giving fuel to 
 fire, and furnishing them with the means of self-destruction. 
 If I live and reign, these means of unchristian excess shall be 
 abridged. Yet thou mayst be poor," she added, "or thy 
 parents may be. It shall be gold, if thou wilt, but thou shalt 
 answer to me for the use on't." 
 
 Walter waited patiently until the Queen had done, and 
 then modestly assured her that gold was still less in his wish 
 than the raiment her Majesty had before offered. 
 
 "How, boy!" said the Queen, " neither gold nor garment! 
 What is io thou wouldst have of me, then?" 
 
 ** Only permission, madam — if it is not asking too high an
 
 KENILWORTH. 195 
 
 honour — permission to wear the cloak which did you this 
 trifling service." 
 
 "Permission to wear thine own cloak, thou silly boy!" 
 said the Queen. 
 
 " It is no longer mine, " said Walter ; " when your Majesty's 
 foot touched it, it became a fit mantle for a prince, but far too 
 rich a one for its former owner. " 
 
 The Queen again blushed; and endeavoured to cover, by 
 laughing, a slight degree of not unpleasing surprise and con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " Heard you ever the like, my lords? The youth's head is 
 turned with reading romances. I must know something of 
 him, that I may send him safe to his friends. What art thou?" 
 
 " A gentleman of the household of the Earl of Sussex, so 
 please your Grace, sent hither with his master of horse, upon. 
 a message to your Majesty." 
 
 In a moment the gracious expression which Elizabeth's face 
 had hitherto maintained gave way to an expression of haughti- 
 ness and severity. 
 
 " My Lord of Sussex, " she said, " has taught us how to re- 
 gard his messages, by the value he places upon ours. We 
 sent but this mornmg the physician in ordinary of our cham- 
 ber, and that at no usual time, understanding his lordship's 
 illness to be more dangerous than we had before apprehended. 
 There is at no court in Europe a man more skilled in this holy 
 and most useful science than Doctor Masters, and he came 
 from us to our subject. Nevertheless, he found the gate of 
 Say's Court defended by men with culverins as if it had been 
 on the Borders of Scotland, not in the vicinity of our court; 
 and when he demanded admittance in our name, it was stub- 
 bornly refused. Eor this slight of a kindness, which had but 
 too much of condescension in it, we will receive, at present at 
 least, no excuse ; and some such we suppose to have been the 
 purport of my Lord of Sussex's message." 
 
 This was uttered in a tone, and with a gesture, which made 
 Lord Sussex's friends who were within hearmg tremble. He 
 to whom the speech was addressed, however, trembled not; 
 but with great deference and humility, as soon as the Queen's
 
 196 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 passion gave him an oppoi-tunity, he replied : " So please yon? 
 most gracious Majesty, I was charged with no apology from 
 the Earl of Sussex." 
 
 "With what were you then charged, sir?" said the Queen, 
 with the impetuosity which, amid nobler qualities,, sti'ongly 
 marked her character; "was it with a justification? or, God's 
 death! with a defiance?" 
 
 " Madam, " said the yonng man, " my Lord of Sussex knew 
 the offence approached towards treason, and could think of 
 nothing save of securing the offender, and placing him in your 
 Majesty's hands, and at yoixr mercy. The noble earl was fast 
 asleep when your most gracious message reached him, a ^wtion 
 having been administered to that purpose by his physician; 
 and his lordship knew not of the ungracious repluseyour Maj- 
 esty's royal and most comfortable message had received until 
 after he awoke this morning." 
 
 " And which of his domestics, then, in the name of Heaven, 
 presumed to reject my message, without even admitting my 
 o^vn physician to the presence of him whom I sent him to 
 attend?" said the Queen, much sui-prised. 
 
 " The offender, madam, is before you, " replied Walter, 
 bowing very low : " the full and sole blame is mine ; and my 
 lord has most justly sent me to abye the consequences of a 
 fault of which he is as iimocent as a sleeping man's dreams 
 can be of a waking man's actions." 
 
 "What! was it thou? — thou thyself, that repelled my mes- 
 senger and my physician from Say's Court?" said the Queen. 
 *' What oould occasion such boldness in one who seems devot- 
 ed — that is, whose exterior bearing shows devotion — to his 
 sovereign?" 
 
 " Madam, " said the youth, who, notwithstanding an assumed 
 appearance of severity, thought that he saw something in the 
 Queen's face that resembled not implacability, " we say in our 
 country that the physician is for the time the liege sovereign 
 of his patient. Now, my noble master was then under 
 dominion of a leech, by whose advice he hath greatly profited, 
 who had issued his commands that his patient should not that 
 night be disturbed, on the very peril of his life. "
 
 KEML WORTH. 197 
 
 '*' Tliy master liatli trusted some false varlet of an empiric, "' 
 said the Queen. 
 
 " I know not, madam, but by the fact that he is now, this 
 very morning, awakened much refreshed and strengthened, 
 from the only sleep he hath had for many hours." 
 
 The nobles looked at each other, but more with the purpose 
 to see what each thought of this news than to exchange any 
 remarks on what had happened. The Queen answered hastily, 
 and without affecting to disguise her satisfaction : " By my 
 word, I am glad he is better. But thou wert over bold to 
 deny the access of my Doctor Masters. I^ow'st thou not 
 the Holy Writ saith, *In the multitude of counsel there is 
 safety'?" 
 
 " Ay, madam, " said Walter, " but I have heard learned men 
 eay that the safety spoken of is for the j)hysieians, not for the 
 patient." 
 
 " By my faith, child, thou hast pushed me home, " said the 
 Queen, laughing; "for my Hebrew learning does not come 
 quite at a call. How say you, my Lord of Lincoln? Hath 
 the lad given a just interpretation of the text?" 
 
 " The word, 'safety, ' most gracious madam, " said the Bishop 
 of Lincoln, " for so hath been ta^nslated, it may be somewhat 
 hastily, the Hebrew word, being " 
 
 " My lord, " said the Queen, interrupting him, " we said we 
 had forgotten our Hebrew. But for thee, young man, what 
 is thy name and birth?" 
 
 " Raleigh is my name, most gracious Queen — ^the youngest 
 son of a large but honourable family of Devonshire." 
 
 "Raleigh!" said Elizabeth, after a moment's recollection; 
 "have Ave not heard of your service in Ireland?" 
 
 " I have been so fortunate as to do some service there, 
 madam, " replied Raleigh ; " scarce, however, of consequence 
 sufficient to reach your Grace's ears." 
 
 " They hear farther than you think of, " said the Queen, 
 graciously, " and have heard of a youth who defended a ford 
 in Shannon against a whole band of wild Irish rebels, until 
 the stream ran purple with their blood and his own." 
 
 "Some blood I may have lost," said the youth, looking
 
 198 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 down, " but it was where my best is due, and that is in your 
 Majesty's service." 
 
 The Queen paused, and then said hastily : " You are very 
 young to have fought so well and to speak so well. But you 
 must not escape your penance for turning back Masters. 
 The poor man hath caught cold on the river; for our order 
 reached him when he was just returned from certain visits in 
 London, and he held it matter of loyalty and conscience in- 
 stantly to set forth again. So hark ye. Master Raleigh, see 
 thou fail not to wear thy muddy cloak, in token of penitence, 
 till our pleasure be farther known. And here," she added, 
 giving him a jewel of gold in the form of a chessman, " I give 
 thee this to wear at the collar." 
 
 Raleigh, to whom nature had taught intuitively, as it were, 
 those courtly arts which many scarce acquire from long experi- 
 ence, knelt, and, as he took from her hand the jewel, kissed 
 the fingers which gave it. He knew, perhaps, better than 
 almost any of the courtiers who surrounded her, how to mingle 
 the devotion claimed by the Queen with the gallantry due to 
 her personal beauty; and in this, his first attempt to unite 
 them, he succeeded so well as at once to gratify Elizabeth's 
 personal vanity and her love of power. ' 
 
 His master, the Earl of Sussex, had the full advantage of 
 the satisfaction which Raleigh had afforded Elizabeth on their 
 first interview. 
 
 " My lords and ladies, " said the Queen, looking around to 
 the retinue by whom she was attended, " methinks, since we 
 are upon the river, it were well to renounce our present pur- 
 pose of going to the city, and surprise this poor Earl of Sussex 
 with a visit. He is ill, and suffering doubtless under the fear 
 of our displeasure, from which he hath been honestly cleared 
 by the frank avowal of this malapert boy. What think ye? 
 Were it not an act of charity to give him such consolation 
 as the thanks of a queen, much bound to him for his loyal 
 service, may perchance best mmister?" 
 
 It may be readily supposed that none to whom this speech 
 was addressed ventured to oppose its purport. 
 
 » See Court Favour of Sir Walter Raleigh. Note 8.
 
 KENILWORTH. 199 
 
 " Your Grace, " said the Bishop of Lincoln, " is the breath 
 of our nostrils." The men of war averred that the face of the 
 sovereign was a whetstone to the soldier's sword; while the 
 men of state were not less of opinion that the light of the 
 Queen's coimtenance was a lamp to the paths of her council- 
 lors ; and the ladies agreed with one voice that no noble in 
 England so well deserved the regard of England's royal mis- 
 tress as the Earl of Sussex — the Earl of Leicester's right being 
 reserved entire, so some of the more politic worded their as- 
 sent — an exception to which Elizabeth paid no apparent atten- 
 tion. The barge had, therefore, orders to deposit its royal 
 freight at Deptford, at the nearest and most convenient point 
 of commimication with Say's Court, in order that the Queen 
 might satisfy her royal and maternal solicitude by making 
 personal inquiries after the health of the Earl of Sussex. 
 
 Raleigh, whose acute spirit foresaw and anticipated impor- 
 tant consequences from the most trifling events, hastened to 
 ask the Queen's permission to go in the skiff, and announce 
 the royal visit to his master ; ingeniously suggesting that the 
 joyful surprise might prove prejudicial to his health, since the 
 richest and most generous cordials may sometimes be fatal to 
 those who have been long in a languishmg state. 
 
 But whether the Queen deemed it too presumptuous in so 
 young a courtier to interpose his opinion unasked, or whether 
 she was moved by a recurrence of the feeling of jealousy, which 
 had been instilled into her by reports that the earl kept armed 
 men about his person, she desired Ealeigh, sharply, to reserve 
 his counsel till it was required of him, and repeated her former 
 orders to be landed at Deptford, adding : " We will ourselves 
 see what sort of household my Lord of Sussex keeps about 
 him." 
 
 " Now the Lord have pity on us !" said the young courtier 
 to himself. " Good hearts the earl hath many a one round 
 him, but good heads are scarce with us ; and he himself is too 
 iU to give direction. And Bloimt will be at his morning meal 
 of Yarmouth herrings and ale ; and Tracy will have his beastly 
 black puddings and Rhenish ; those thorough-paced Welshmen, 
 Thomas ap Rice and Evan Evans, will be at work on their leek
 
 200 WAVERLEY InOVELS. 
 
 porridge and toasted cheese; and slie detests, they say, all 
 coarse meats, evil smells, and strong wines. Could they but 
 think of burning some rosemary in the great hall! but vogue la 
 galere, all must now be trusted to chance. Luck hath done in- 
 different well for me this morning, for I trust I have spoiled a 
 cloak and made a court fortune. May she do as much for my 
 gallant patron!" 
 
 The royal barge soon stopped at Deptford, and, amid the 
 loud shouts of the populace, which her presence never failed 
 to exei-te, the Queen, with a canopy borne over her head, 
 walked, accompanied by her retinue, towards Say's Court, 
 where the distant acclamations of the j)eopie gave the first 
 notice of her arrival. Sussex, who was in the act of advising 
 with Tressilian how he should make up the supposed breach 
 in the Queen's favour, was infinitel}^ surprised at learnmg her 
 immediate approach — not that the Queen's custom of visiting 
 her more distinguished nobility, whether in health or sick- 
 ness, could be vmknown to him; but the suddenness of the 
 communication left no time for those preparations with which 
 he well knew Elizabeth loved to be greeted, and the rudeness 
 and confusion of his military household, much increased by 
 his late illness, rendered him altogether unprepared for her 
 reception. 
 
 Cursing internally the chance which thus brought her gra- 
 cious visitation on him unaware, he hastened down with Tres- 
 silian, to whose eventful and interesting story he had just 
 given an attentive ear. 
 
 " My worthy friend, " he said, " such support as I can give 
 your accusation of Yarney, you have a right to expect, alike 
 from justice and gratitude. Chance will presently show 
 whether I can do aught with our sovereign, or whether, in very 
 deed, my meddling in your affair may not rather prejudice 
 than serve you." 
 
 Thus spoke Sussex, while hastily casting aroimd him a loose 
 robe of sables, and adjusting his person in the best manner he 
 could to meet the eye of his sovereign. But no hurried atten- 
 tion bestowed on his apparel could remove the ghastly effects 
 of long illness on a countenance which nature had marked with
 
 KENILWORTH. 201 
 
 features rather strong than pleasing. Besides, he was low of 
 stature, and, though broad-shouldered, athletic, and fit for 
 martial achievements, his presence in a peaceful hall was not 
 such as ladies love to look upon — a personal disadvantage 
 which was supposed to give Sussex, though esteemed and 
 honoured by his sovereign, considerable disadvantage when 
 compared with Leicester, who was alike remarkable for ele- 
 gance of manners and for beauty of person. 
 
 The earl's utmost despatch only enabled him to meet the 
 Queen as she entei-ed the great hall, and he at once perceived 
 there was a cloud on her brow. Her jealous eye had noticed 
 the martial array of armed gentlemen and retainers with which 
 the mansion-house was filled, and her first words expressed her 
 disapprobation : " Is this a royal garrison, my Lord of Sussex, 
 that it holds so many pikes and calivers? Or have we by 
 accident overshot Say's Court, and landed at our Tower of 
 London?" 
 
 Lord Sussex hastened to offer some apology. 
 
 " It needs not, " she said. " My lord, we intend speedily to 
 take up a certain quarrel between your lordship and another 
 great lord of our household, and at the same time to reprehend 
 this uncivilised and dangerous practice of surrounding jonv 
 selves with armed, and even with ruffianly, followers, as if, in 
 the neighbourhood of our capital, nay, in the very verge of our 
 royal residence, you were preparing to wage civil war with 
 each other. We are glad to see you so well recovered, my 
 lord, though without the assistance of the learned phj^ician 
 whom we sent to you. Urge no excuse ; we know how that 
 matter fell out, and we have corrected for it the wild slip, 
 yoimg Raleigh. By the way, my lord, we will speedily relieve 
 your household of him, and take him into our own. Some- 
 thing there is about hun which merits to be better nurtured 
 than he is like to be amongst your very military followers." 
 
 To this proposal Sussex, though scarce understanding how 
 the Queen came to make it, could only bow and express his 
 acquiescence. He then entreated her to remaui till refresh- 
 ment coidd be offered, but iii this he could not prevail. And, 
 after a few compliments of a much colder and more common^
 
 202 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 place character than might have been expected from a step so 
 decidedly favourable as a personal visit, the Queen took her 
 leave of Say's Court, having brought confusion thither along 
 with her, and leaving doubt and apprehension behind. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Then call them to our presence. Face to face, 
 And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear 
 The accuser and accused freely speak ; 
 High-stomach'd are they both and full of ire, 
 In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire. 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 " I AM ordered to attend court to-morrow, " said Leicester, 
 speaking to Varney, " to meet, as they surmise, my Lord of 
 Sussex. The Queen intends to take up matters betwixt us. 
 This comes of her visit to Say's Court, of which you must 
 needs speak so lightly." 
 
 "I maintain it was nothing," said Varney; "nay, I know 
 from a sure intelligencer who was within ear-shot of much 
 that was said, that Sussex has lost rather than gained by that 
 visit. The Queen said, when she stepped into the boat, that 
 Say's Court looked like a guard-house, and smelt like an hos- 
 pital. 'Like a cook's shop in Ram's Alley, rather,' said the 
 Countess of Rutland, who is ever your lordship's good friend. 
 And then my Lord of Lincoln must needs put in his holy oar, 
 and say, that my Lord of Sussex must be excused for his rude 
 and old-world housekeeping, since he had as yet no wife." 
 
 "And what said the Queen?" asked Leicester, hastily. 
 
 "She took him up roundly," said Varney, "and asked what 
 my Lord of Sussex had to do with a wife, or my lord bishop 
 to speak on such a subject. *If marriage is permitted,* she 
 said, *I nowhere read that it is enjoined.' " 
 
 " She likes not marriages, or speech of marriage, among 
 churchmen," said Leicester, 
 
 " Nor among courtiers neither, " said Varney ; but, observing 
 that Leicester changed countenance, he instantly added : " That
 
 KENILWORTH. 203 
 
 all the ladies who were present had joined in ridiculing Lord 
 Sussex's housekeeping, and in contrasting it with the recep- 
 tion her Grace would have assuredly received at my Lord of 
 Leicester's." 
 
 "You have gathered much tidings," said Leicester, "but 
 you have forgotten or omitted the most important of all. She 
 hath added another to those dangling satellites whom it is her 
 pleasure to keep revolving aromid her." 
 
 "Your lordship meaneth that Ealeigh, the Devonshire 
 youth, " said Varney — " the Knight of the Cloak, as they call 
 him at court?" 
 
 " He may be Knight of the Garter one day, for aught I 
 know," said Leicester, "for he advances rapidly. She hath 
 cap'd verses with him, and such fooleries. I would gladly 
 abandon, of my own free will, the part I have m her fickle 
 favour ; but I will not be elbowed out of it by the clown Sus- 
 sex or this new upstart. I hear Tressilian is with Sussex also, 
 and high in his favour. I would spare him for considerations, 
 but he will thrust himself on his fate. Sussex, too, is almost 
 as well as ever in his health." 
 
 "My lord," replied Varney, "there will be rubs in the 
 smoothest road, specially when it leads up-hill. Sussex's 
 illness was to us a god-send, from which I hoped much. He 
 has recovered, indeed, but he is not now more formidable than 
 ere he fell ill, when he received more than one foil in wrestling 
 with your lordship. Let not your heart fail you, my lord, and 
 all shall be well." 
 
 " My heart never failed me, sir, " replied Leicester. 
 
 "No, my lord," said Varney; "but it has betrayed you 
 right often. He that would climb a tree, my lord, must grasp 
 by the branches, not by the blossom." 
 
 " Well — well — well!" said Leicester, impatiently, "I imder- 
 stand thy meaning. My heart shall neither fail me nor seduce 
 me. Have my retinue in order ; see that their array be so 
 splendid as to put down not only the rude companions of Rat- 
 cliffe, but the retainers of every other nobleman and courtier. 
 Let them be well armed withal, but without any outward dis- 
 play of their weapons, wearing them as if more for fashion's
 
 204 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 sake than for use. Do thou thyseK keep close to me, I maj 
 have business for you." 
 
 The preparations of Sussex and his party were not less 
 anxious than those of Leicester. 
 
 " Thy supplication, impeaching Varney of seduction, " said 
 the earl to Tressilian, " is by this time in the Queen's hand. 
 I have sent it through a sure channel. Methinks your suit 
 should succeed, being, as it is, founded in justice and honour,^ 
 and Elizabeth being the very muster of both. But, I wot not 
 how, the gipsy (so Sussex was wont to call his rival, on account 
 of his dark complexion) hath much to say with her in these 
 holyday times of peace. Were war at the gates, I should be 
 one of her white boys ; but soldiers, like their bucklers and 
 Bilboa blades, get out of fashion in peace time, and satin 
 sleeves and walking rapiers bear the bell. Well, we must be 
 gay, since such is the fashion. Blount, hast thou seen our 
 household put into their new braveries? But thou know'st as 
 little of these toys as I do ; thou wouldst be ready enow at dis- 
 posing a stand of pikes." 
 
 " My good lord, " answered Blount, " Raleigh hath been here, 
 and taken that charge upon him. Your train will glitter like 
 a May morning. Marry, the cost is another question. One 
 might keep an hospital of old soldiers at the charge of ten 
 modern lackeys." 
 
 " We must not count cost to-day, Nicholas, " said the earl in 
 reply. "I am beholden to Ealeigh for his care; I trust, 
 though, he has remembered that I am an old soldier, and 
 would have no more of these follies than needs must. " 
 
 "Nay, I understand nought about it," said Blount; "but 
 here are your honourable lordship's brave kinsmen and friends 
 coming in by scores to wait upon you to court, where, methinks, 
 we shall bear as brave a front as Leicester, let him ruffle it as 
 he win." 
 
 " Give them the strictest charges, " said Sussex, " that they 
 suffer no provocation short of actual violence to provoke them 
 into quarrel : they have hot bloods, and I would not give Leices- 
 ter the advantage over me by any imprudence of theirs."
 
 KENILWORTH. 205 
 
 The Earl of Sussex ran so liastily througli these directions, 
 that it was with difficulty Tressilian at length found opportu- 
 nity to express his siu-prise, that he should have proceeded so 
 far in the affair of Sir Hugh Robsart as to lay his petition at 
 once before the Queen. " It was the opinion of the young 
 lady's friends," he said, "that Leicester's sense of justice 
 should be first appealed to, as the offence had been committed 
 by his officer, and so he had expressly told to Sussex." 
 
 " This could have been done without applying to me, " said 
 Sussex, somewhat haughtily. " /, at least, ought not to have 
 been a counsellor when the object was a humiliatmg reference 
 to Leicester ; and I am surprised that you, Tressilian, a maa 
 of hono^ir, and my friend, would assume such a mean course. 
 If you said so, I certainly understood you not in a matter 
 which sounded so unlike yourself." 
 
 " My lord, " said Tressilian, " the course I would prefer, for 
 my own sake, is that you have adopted ; but the friends of this 
 most unhappy lady " 
 
 " Oh, the friends — the friends, " said Sussex, interrupting 
 him } " they must let us manage this cause in the way which 
 seems best. This is the time and the hour to accumulate 
 every charge against Leicester and his household, and yours 
 the Qufeen will hold a heavy one. But at all events she hath 
 the complaint before her." 
 
 Tressilian coidd not help suspecting that, in his eagerness to 
 strengthen himself against his rival, Sussex had purposely 
 adopted the course most likely to throw odium on Leicester, 
 without considering minutely whether it were the mode of pro- 
 ceedhig most likely to be attended with success. But the step 
 was irrevocable, and Sussex escaped from farther discussing 
 it by dismissing his company with the command : " Let all be 
 in order at eleven o'clock; I must be at court and in the pres- 
 ence by high noon precisely." 
 
 "While the rival statesmen were thus anxiously preparing for 
 their approaching meeting in the Queen's presence, even Eliza- 
 beth herself was not without apprehension of what might 
 chance from the collision of two such fiery spirits, each backed
 
 206 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 by a strong and numerous body of followers, and dividing be- 
 twixt them, either openly or in secret, the hopes and wishes 
 of most of her court. The band of gentlemen pensioners were 
 all under arms, and a reinforcement of the yeomen of the 
 guard was brought down the Thames from London. A royal 
 proclamation was sent forth, strictly prohibiting nobles, of 
 whatever degree, to approach the palace with retainers or fol- 
 lowers, armed with shot or with long weapons ; and it was 
 even whispered that the high sheriff of Kent had secret in- 
 structions to have a part of the array of the county ready on 
 the shortest notice. 
 
 The eventful hour, thus anxiously prepared for on all sides, 
 at length approached, and, each followed by his long and glit- 
 tering train of friends and followers, the rival earls entered 
 the palace-yard of Greenwich at noon precisely. 
 
 As if by previous arrangement, or perhaps by intimation 
 that such was the Queen's pleasure, Sussex and his retinue 
 came to the palace from Deptford by water, while Leicester 
 arrived by land; and thus they entered the courtyard from 
 opposite sides. This trifling circumstance gave Leicester a 
 certain ascendency in the opinion of the vulgar, the appearance 
 of his cavalcade of mounted followers showing more numerous 
 and more imposing than those of Sussex's party, who were 
 necessarily upon foot. No show or sign of greeting passed 
 between the earls, though each looked full at the other, both 
 expecting, perhaps, an exchange of courtesies, which neither 
 was willing to commence. Almost in the minute of their 
 arrival the castle bell tolled, the gates of the palace were 
 opened, and the earls entered, each numerously attended by 
 such gentlemen of their train whose rank gave them that privi- 
 lege. The yeomen and inferior attendants remained in the 
 courtyard, where the opposite parties eyed each other with 
 looks of eager hatred and scorn, as if waitmg with impatience 
 for some cause of tumult, or some apology for mutual aggres- 
 sion. But they were restrained by the strict commands of 
 their leaders, and overawed, perhaps, by the presence of an 
 armed guard of unusual strength. 
 
 In the mean while, the more distinguished persons of each
 
 KENILWORTH. 207 
 
 train followed their patrons into the lofty halls and ante- 
 chambers of the royal palace, flowing on in the same current, 
 like two streams which are compelled into the same channel, 
 yet shun to mix their waters. The parties arranged them- 
 selves, as it were instinctively, on the different sides of the 
 lofty apartments, and seemed eager to escape from the tran- 
 sient union which the narrowness of the crowded entrance had 
 for an instant compelled them to submit to. The folding-doors 
 at the upper end of the long gallery were immediately after- 
 wards opened, and it was announced in a whisper that the 
 Queen was in her presence-chamber, to which these gave ac- 
 cess. Both earls moved slowly and stately towards the en- 
 trance — Sussex followed by Tressilian, Blount, and Raleigh, 
 and Leicester by Varney. The pride of Leicester was obliged 
 to give way to court forms, and, with a grave and formal in- 
 clination of the head, he paused until his rival, a peer of older 
 creation than his own, passed before him. Sussex returned 
 the reverence with the same formal civility, and entered the 
 presence-room. Tressilian and Blount offered to follow him, 
 but were not permitted, the Usher of the Black Rod alleging 
 in excuse, that he had precise orders to look to all admissions 
 that day. To Raleigh, who stood back on the repulse of his 
 companions, he said, " You, sir, may enter, " and he entered 
 accordingly. 
 
 "Follow me close, Varney," said the Earl of Leicester, who 
 had stood aloof for a moment to mark the reception of Sussex ; 
 and, advancing to the entrance, he was about to pass on, when 
 Varney, who was close behind him, dressed out in the utmost 
 bravery of the day, was stopped by the usher, as Tressilian 
 and Blount had been before him. "How is this. Master 
 Bowyer?" said the Earl of Leicester. " Know you who I am, 
 and that this is my friend and follower?" 
 
 " Your lordship will pardon me, " replied Bowyer stoutly ;. 
 " my orders are precise, and limit me to a strict discharge of 
 my duty." 
 
 " Thou art a partial knave, " said Leicester, the blood mount- 
 ing to his face, " to do me this dishonour, when you but now 
 admitted a follower of my Lord of Sussex."
 
 208 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "jVIy lord," said Bowyer, "Master Ealeigh is neivly ad- 
 mitted a sworn servant of her Grace, and to him my orders 
 did not apply." 
 
 " Thou art a knave — an ungrateful knave, " said Leicester; 
 " hut he that hath done can undo : thou shalt not prank thee 
 in thy authority long!" 
 
 This threat he uttered aloud, with less than his usual policy 
 and discretion, and having done so, he entered the presence- 
 chamber, and made his reverence to the Queen, who, attired 
 with even more than her usual splendour, and surrounded by 
 those nobles and statesmen whose courage and wisdom have 
 rendered her reign immortal, stood ready to receive the homage 
 of her subjects. She graciously returned the obeisance of the 
 favourite earl, and looked alternately at him and at Sussex, 
 as if about to speak, when Bowyer,, a man whose spirit could 
 not brook the insult he had so openly received from Leicester, 
 in the discharge of his office, advanced with his black rod ia 
 his hand, and knelt down before her. 
 
 "Why, how now, Bowyer?" said Elizabeth, "thy courtesy 
 seems strangely timed!" 
 
 "My liege sovereign," he said, while every courtier around 
 trembled at his audacity, " I come but to ask whether, in the 
 discharge of mine office, I am to obey your Highness' s com- 
 mands or those of the Earl of Leicester," who has publicly 
 menaced me with his displeasure, and treated me with dis- 
 paraging terms, because I denied entry to one of his followers, 
 in obedience to your Grace's precise orders?" 
 
 The spirit of Henry YIII. was instantly aroused in the 
 bosom, of his daughter, and she turned on Leicester with a 
 severity which apx)alled him, as well as all his followers. 
 
 "God's death! my lord," siich was her emphatic phrase, 
 " what means this? We have thought well of you, and brought 
 you near to our person ; but it was not that you might hide 
 the Sim from our other faithful subjects. ^Vho gave you 
 license to contradict our orders or control our officers? I will 
 have in this court, ay, and in this realm, but one mistress, 
 and no master. Look to it that Master Bowyer sustains no 
 harm for his duty to me faithfully discharged; for, as I am
 
 KENILWORTH. 209 
 
 Christian woman and crowned queen, I will hold you dearly- 
 answerable. Go, Bowyer, you have done the part of an hon- 
 est man and a true subject. We will brook no mayor of the 
 palace here." 
 
 Bowyer kissed the hand which she extended towards him, 
 and withdrew to his post, astonished at the success of his own 
 avidacity. A smile of triumph pervaded the faction of Sussex ; 
 that of Leicester seemed proportionally dismayed, and the 
 favourite himself, assuming an aspect of the deepest humility, 
 did not even attempt a word in his own exculpation. 
 
 He acted wisely ; for it was the policy of Elizabeth to hum- 
 ble, not to disgrace him, and it was prudent to suffer her, 
 without opposition or reply, to glory in the exertion of her 
 authority. The dignity of the Queen was gi*atified, and the 
 woman began soon to feel for the mortification which she had 
 imposed on her favourite. Her keen eye also observed the 
 secret looks of congi-atulation exchanged a,mongst those who 
 favoured Sussex, and it was no part of her policy to give 
 either party a decisive triumph. 
 
 'MMiat I say to my Lord of Leicester," she said, after a 
 moment's pause, " I say also to you, my Lord of Sussex. You 
 also must needs ruffle in the court of England, at the head of 
 a faction of your own?" 
 
 "My followers, gracious princess," said Sussex, "have in- 
 deed ruffled in your cause in Ireland, in Scotland, and against 
 yonder rebellious earls in the north. I am ignorant that " 
 
 "Do you bandy looks and words with me, my lord?" said 
 the Queen, interrupting him ; " methinks you might learn of 
 my Lord of Leicester the modesty to be silent, at least, under 
 our censure. I say, my lord, that my grandfather and my 
 father, in their wisdom, debarred the nobles of this civilised 
 land from travelling with such disorderly retinues ; and think 
 you that, because I wear a coif, their sceptre has in my hand 
 been changed into a distaff? I tell you, no king in Christen- 
 dom will less brook his court to ' be cumbered, his people op- 
 pressed, and his kingdom's peace disturbed, by the arrogance 
 of overgrown power, than she who now speaks with yoii. IMy 
 Lord of Leicester, and you, my Lord of Sussex, I command 
 14
 
 210 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 you both to be friends witli each, other; or, by the crown I 
 "wear, you shall find an enemy who will be too strong for both, 
 of you!" 
 
 *' Madam, " said the Earl of Leicester, " you, who are your- 
 self the ^fountain of honour, laaow best what is due to mine. 
 I place "t at your disposal, and only say, that the terms oa 
 which I have stood with my Lord of Sussex have not been of 
 my seeking ; nor had he cause to think me his enemy until he 
 had done me gross wrong." 
 
 " For me, madam, " said the Earl of Sussex, " I cannot appeal 
 from your sovereign pleasure; but I were well content my 
 Lord of Leicester should say in what I have, as he terms it, 
 wronged him, since my tongue never spoke the word that I 
 would not willingly justify either on foot or horseback." 
 
 " And for me, " said Leicester, " always under my gracious 
 sovereign's pleasure, my hand shall be as ready to make good 
 my words as that of any man who ever wrote himself Eat- 
 cliffe." 
 
 " My lords, " said the Queen, " these are no terms for this 
 presence; and if you cannot keep your temper, we will find 
 means to keep both that and you close enough. Let me see 
 you join hands, my lords, and forget your idle animosities." 
 
 The two rivals looked at each other with reluctant eyes, 
 each unwilling to make the first advance to execute the 
 Queen's will. 
 
 " Sussex, " said Elizabeth, " I entreat — Leicester, I command 
 you." 
 
 Yet, so were her words accented, that the entreaty sounded 
 like command and the command like entreaty. They remained 
 still and stubborn, until she raised her voice to a height which 
 argued at once impatience and absolute command. 
 
 " Sir Henry Lee, " she said to an officer m attendance, " have 
 a guard in present readiness, and man a barge instantly. My 
 Lords of Sussex and Leicester, I bid you once more to join 
 hands — and, God's death! he that refuses shall taste of our 
 Tower fare ere he see our face again. I will lower your proud 
 hearts ere we part, and that I promise, on the word of a 
 queen !"
 
 KENILWORTH. 211 
 
 " The prison, " said Leicester, " might be borne, but to lose 
 your Grace's presence were to lose light and life at once. 
 Here, Sussex, is my hand." 
 
 "And here," said Sussex, "is mine in truth and honesty j 
 but " 
 
 "Nay, under favour, you shall add no more," said the 
 Queen. " Why, this is as it should be, " she added, looking 
 on them more favourably, " and when you, the shepherds of 
 the people, unite to protect them, it shall be well with the 
 flock we rule over. For, my lords, I tell you plainly, your 
 follies and your brawls lead to strange disorders among your 
 servants. My Lord of Leicester, you have a gentleman in 
 your household called Varney?" 
 
 "Yes, gracious madam," replied Leicester; "I presented 
 him to kiss your royal hand when you were last at Nonsuch." 
 
 " His outside was well enough, " said the Queen, " but scarce 
 so fair, I should have thought, as to have caused a maiden of 
 honourable birth and hopes to barter her fame for his good 
 looks, and become his paramour. Yet so it is : this fellow of 
 yours hath seduced the daughter of a good old Devonshire 
 knight. Sir Hugh Robsart of Lidcote Hall, and she hath fled 
 with him from her father's house like a castaway. My Lord 
 of Leicester, are you ill, that you look so deadly pale?" 
 
 "No, gracious madam," said Leicester, audit required every 
 effort he could make to bring forth these few words. 
 
 " You are surely ill, my lord?" said Elizabeth, going towards 
 him with hasty speech and hurried step, which indicated the 
 deepest concern. " Call Masters — call our surgeon in ordinary. 
 Where be these loitering fools? We lose the pride of our 
 court through their negligence. Or is it j)ossible, Leicester," 
 she continued, looking on him with a very gentle aspect — 
 *' can fear of my displeasure have wrought so deeply on thee? 
 Doubt not for a moment, noble Dudley, that we could blame 
 thee for the folly of thy retainer — thee, whose thoughts we 
 know to be far otherwise employed! He that would climb 
 the eagle's nest, my lord, cares not who are catching linnets at 
 the foot of the precipice." 
 
 "Mark you that?" said Sussex, aside to Kaleigh. "The
 
 212 WAVEELEY NO^^LS. 
 
 devil aids liim surely! for all that would sink another ten 
 fathom deej) seems but to make him float the more easily.. 
 Had a follower of mine acted thus " 
 
 "Peace, my good lord," said Ealeigh — "for God's sake, 
 peace ! Wait the change of the tide ; it is even now on the 
 turn." 
 
 The acute observation of Ealeigh, perhaps, did not deceive 
 him; for Leicester's confusion was so great, and, indeed, for 
 the moment, so irresistibly overwhelmiiig, that Elizabeth, 
 after looking at him with a wondering eye, and receiving no 
 intelligible answer to the unusual expressions of grace and 
 affection which had escaped from her, shot her quick glance 
 around the circle of courtiers, and reading, perhaps, in their 
 faces something that accorded with her ot\ti awakened suspi- 
 cions, she said suddenly : " Or is there more in this than w^e see, 
 or than you, my lord, wish that we should see? Where is 
 this Yarney? "Who saw him?" 
 
 " An it please your Grace, " said Bowyer, " it is the same 
 against whom I this instant closed the door of the presence- 
 room." 
 
 " An it please me!" repeated Elizabeth, sharply, not at that 
 moment in the humour of being pleased with anything. " It 
 does not please me that he should pass saucily into my pres- 
 ence, or that you should exclude fi-om it one who came to 
 justify himseK from an accusation." 
 
 "May it please you," answered the perplexed usher, "if I 
 knew, in such case, how to bear myself, I would take heed " 
 
 "You should have reported the fellow's desire to us. Mas- 
 ter Usher, and taken our directions. You think yoiu-self a 
 great man, because but now we chid a nobleman on your ac- 
 count; yet, after all, we hold you but as the lead- weight that 
 keeps the door fast. Call this Yarney hither instantly ; there 
 is one Tressilian also mentioned in this petition; let them 
 both come before u.s." 
 
 She was obeyed, and Tressilian and Yarney appeared ac- 
 cordingly. Yarney 's first glance was at Leicester, his second 
 at the Queen. In the looks of the latter there appeared an 
 appi-oaching storm, and in the downcast countenance of his
 
 KENILWORTH. 213 
 
 patron he could read no directions in what way he was to trim 
 his vessel for the encounter ; he then saw Tressilian, and at 
 once perceived the peril of the situation in which he was 
 placed. But Yarney was as bold-faced and ready-witted as 
 he was cunning and unscrupulous — a skilful pilot in extremity, 
 and fully conscious of the advantages which he would obtain, 
 could he extricate Leicester from his present peril, and of 
 the ruin that yawned for himseK should he fail in doing so. 
 
 "Is it true, sirrah," said the Queen, with one of those 
 searchmg looks which few had the audacity to resist, " that 
 you have seduced to infamy a'young lady of birth and breed- 
 ing, the daughter of Sir Hugh Bobsart of Lidcote Hall?" 
 
 Yarney kneeled down, and replied, with a look of the most 
 profound contrition : " There had been some love passages 
 betwixt him and Mistress Amy Eobsart." 
 
 Leicester's flesh quivered with indignation as he heard his 
 dependant make this avowal, and for one moment he mamied 
 himself to step forward, and, bidding farewell to the court and 
 the royal favour, confess the whole mystery of the secret mar- 
 riage. But he looked at Sussex, and the idea of the tri- 
 umphant smile which would clothe his cheek upon hearing the 
 avowal sealed his lips. " Xot now, at least, " he thought, " or 
 in this presence, will I afford him so rich a triumph." And 
 pressing his lips close together, he stood firm and collected, 
 attentive to each word which Yarney uttered, and determined 
 to hide to the last the secret on which his couj't favour seemed 
 to depend. Meanwhile, the Queen proceeded in her examina- 
 tion of Yarney. 
 
 "Love passages!" said she, echoing his last words; "what 
 passages, thou knave? and why not ask the wench's hand from 
 her father, if thou hadst any honesty in thy love for her?" 
 
 " An it please your Grace, " said Yarney, still on his knees, 
 " I dared not do so, for her father had promised her hand to 
 a gentleman of birth and honour — I will do him justice, though 
 I know he beai-s me ill-will — one Master Edmund Tressilian, 
 whom I now see in the presence. " 
 
 "Soh!" replied the Queen; "and what was yoiu* right to 
 make the simple fool break her wortliy father^ s contract.
 
 214 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 through your love passar/es, as your conceit and assurance 
 terms them?" 
 
 '^ Madam, " replied Varney, " it is in vain to plead the cause 
 of human frailty before a judge to whom it is unknown, or 
 
 that of love to one who never yields to the passion " he 
 
 paused an instant, and then added in a very low and timid 
 tone — "which she inflicts upon all others." 
 
 Elizabeth tried to frown, but smiled in her own despite, as 
 she answered : " Thou art a marvellously impudent knave. 
 Art thou married to the girl?" 
 
 Leicester's feelings became so complicated and so painfully 
 intense, that it seemed to him as if his life was to depend on 
 the answer made by Varney, who, after a moment's real hesi- 
 tation, answered: "Yes." 
 
 "Thou false villain!" said Leicester, bursting forth into 
 xage, yet unable to add another word to the sentence, which 
 he had begun with such emphatic passion. 
 
 " Nay, my lord, " said the Queen, " we will, by your leave, 
 stand between this fellow and your anger. We have not yet 
 done with him. Knew your master, my Lord of Leicester, 
 of this fair work of yours? Speak truth, I command thee, 
 and I will be thy warrant from danger on every quarter. " 
 
 " Gracious madam, " said Varney, " to speak Heaven's truth, 
 my lord was the cause of the whole matter." 
 
 " Thou villain, wouldst thou betray me?" said Leicester. 
 
 " Speak on, " said the Queen, hastily, her cheek colouring 
 and her eyes sparkling as she addressed Varney — " speak on ; 
 here no commands are heard but mine." 
 
 " They are omnipotent, gracious madam, " replied Varney ; 
 ^'and to you there can be no secrets. Yet I would not," he 
 added, looking around him, " speak of my master's concerns 
 to other ears." 
 
 " Fall back, my lords, " said the Queen to those who sur- 
 rounded her, " and do you speak on. What hath the earl to 
 do with this guilty intrigue of thine? See, fellow, that thou 
 beliest him not!" 
 
 " Far be it from me to traduce my noble patron, " replied 
 Varney ; " yet I am compelled to own that some deep, over-
 
 KENILWORTH. 215 
 
 wlielmmg, yet secret feeling hath of late dwelt in my lord's 
 mind, hath abstracted him from the cares of the household, 
 which he was wont to govern with such religious strictness, 
 and hath left us opportunities to do follies, of which the 
 shame, as in this case, partly falls upon our patron. With- 
 out this, I had not had means or leisure to commit the folly 
 which has drawn on me his displeasure, the heaviest to endure 
 by me which I could by any means incur — saving always the 
 yet more dreaded resentment of your Grace." 
 
 " And in this sense, and no other, hath he been accessary to 
 thy fault?" said Elizabeth. 
 
 " Surely, madam, in no other, " replied Varney ; " but, since 
 somewhat hath chanced to him, he can scarce be called his 
 own man. Look at him, madam, how pale and trembling he 
 stands — how unlike his usual majesty of manner; yet what 
 has he to fear from aught I can say to your Highness? Ah I 
 madam, since he received that fatal packet!" 
 
 "What packet, and from whence?" said the Queen, eagerly. 
 
 " From whence, madam, I cannot guess ; but I am so near 
 to his person that I know he has ever since worn, suspended 
 around his neck and next to his heart, that lock of hair which 
 sustains a small golden jewel shaped like a heart. He speaks 
 to it when alone ; he parts not from it when he sleeps. Xo 
 heathen ever worshipped an idol with such devotion." 
 
 "Thou art a prying knave to watch thy master so closely," 
 said Elizabeth, blushing, but not with anger ; " and a tattling 
 knave to tell over again his fooleries. What colour might the 
 braid of hair be that thou pratest of?" 
 
 Varney replied: "A poet, madam, might call it a thread 
 from the golden web wrought by IMinerva; but, to my think- 
 ing, it was paler than even the purest gold — more like the last 
 parting sunbeam of the softest day of spring. " ' 
 
 " Why, you are a poet yourself, ]\Iaster Varney, " said the 
 Queen, smiling; "but I have not genius quick enough to follow 
 your rare metaphors. Look round these ladies — is there (she 
 hesitated, and endeavoured to assume an air of great indiffer- 
 ence) — is there here, in this presence, any lady, the colour of 
 whose hair reminds thee of that braid? Methinks, without
 
 216 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 prying into my Lord of Leicester's amorous secrets, I would 
 fain know what kind of locks are like the thread of Minerva's 
 web, or the — what was it? — the last rays of the May-day sun." 
 
 Yarney looked round the presence-chamber, his eye travel- 
 ling from one lady to another, until at length it rested upon 
 the Queen herself, but with an aspect of the deepest venera- 
 tion, " I see no tresses, " he said, *' in this presence, worthy 
 of such similes, unless where I dare not look on them." 
 
 " How, sir knave, " said the Queen, " dare you intimate " 
 
 " Xay, madam, " replied Varney, shading his eyes with his 
 hand, " it was the beams of the May-day sun that dazzled my 
 weak eyes." 
 
 *' Go to — go to, " said the Queen, " thou art a foolish fellow, " 
 and turning quickly from him, she walked up to Leicester. 
 
 Intense curiosity, mingled with all the various hopes, fears, 
 and passions which influence court faction, had occupied the 
 presence-chamber during the Queen's conference with Yarney, 
 as if with the strength of an Eastern talisman. Men sus- 
 pended every, even the slightest, external motion, and would 
 have ceased to breathe, had nature permitted such an inter- 
 mission of her functions. The atmosphere was contagious, 
 and Leicester, who saw all around wishing or fearing his ad- 
 vancement or his fall, forgot all that love had previously 
 dictated, and saw nothing for the uistant but the favour or 
 disgrace which depended on the nod of Elizabeth and the 
 fidelity of Yarney. He summoned himself hastily, and pre- 
 pared to play his part in the scene which was like to ensue, 
 when, as he judged from the glances which the Queen threw 
 towards him, Yarney's communications, be they what they 
 might, were operating in his favour. Elizabeth did not long 
 leave him in doubt ; for the more than favour with which she 
 accosted him decided his triumph in the eyes of his rival, and 
 of the assembled court of England. " Thou hast a prating 
 servant of this same Yarney, my lord, " she said ; " it is lucky 
 you trust him with nothing that can hurt you in our opinion, 
 for, believe me, he would keep no comisel. " 
 
 " From your Highness, " said Leicester, dropping gracefully 
 on one knee, " it were treason he should. I would that my
 
 EENILWORTH. 21f 
 
 heart itself lay before you, barer than the tongue of auy ser- 
 vant could strip it." 
 
 " What, my lord, " said Elizabeth, looking kindly upon him, 
 " is there no one little corner over which you would wish to 
 spread a veil? Ah! I see you are confused at the question, 
 and your Queen knows she should not look too deeply into her 
 servants' motives for their faithful duty, lest she see what 
 might, or at least ought to, displease her." 
 
 Eelieved by these last words, Leicester broke out into a 
 torrent of expressions of deep and passionate attachment, 
 which perhaps, at that moment, were not altogether fictitious. 
 The mingled emotions which had at first overcome him, had 
 now given way to the energetic vigour with which he had de- 
 termined to support his place in the Queen's favou?" ; and never 
 did he seem to Elizabeth more eloquent, more handsome, more 
 interesting, than while, kneeling at her feet, he conjured her 
 to strip him of all his power, but to leave him the name of her 
 servant. " Take from the poor Dudley, " he exclaimed, " all 
 that your bounty has made him, and bid him be the poor gen- 
 tleman he was when your Grace first shone on him ; leave him 
 no more than his cloak and his sword, but let him still boast 
 he has — what in word or deed he never forfeited — the regard 
 of his adored Queen and mistress !" 
 
 "No, Dudley!" said Elizabeth, raising him with one hand, 
 while she extended the other that he might kiss it ; " Eliza- 
 beth hath not forgotten that, whilst you were a poor gentle- 
 man, despoiled of your hereditary rank, she was as jwor a 
 princess, and that in her cause you then ventured all that op- 
 pression had left you — your life and honour. Eise, my lord, 
 and let my hand go. Eise, and be what jau. have ever been, 
 the grace of our court and the support of our throne. Your 
 mistress may be forced to chide your misdemeanours, but 
 never without ownmg your merits. And so help me God," 
 she added, turning to the audience, who, with various feelings, 
 witnessed this interesting scene — " so help me God, gentlemen, 
 as I think never sovereign had a truer servant than I have irt 
 this noble eavl!" 
 
 A murmur of assent rose from the Leicestrian factioiiy
 
 iJ18 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 vhicli tlie friends of Sussex dared not oppose. They remained 
 with their eyes fixed ou the ground, dismayed as well as morti- 
 fied by the public and absolute triumph of ^their opponents. 
 Leicester's first use of the familiarity to which the Queen had 
 so publicly restored him was to ask her commands concerning 
 Varney's offence. " Although, " he said, " the fellow deserves 
 nothing from me but displeasure, jet, might I presume to 
 Intercede " 
 
 " In truth, we had forgotten his matter, " said the Queen ; 
 "and it was ill done of us, who owe justice to our meanest as 
 well as to our highest subject. We are pleased, my lord, 
 that you were the first to recall the matter to our memory. 
 Where is Tressilian, the accuser? let him come before us." 
 
 Tressilian appeared, and made a low and beseeming reve- 
 rence. His person, as we have elsewhere observed, had an 
 air of grace, and even of nobleness, which did not escape 
 Queen Elizabeth's critical observation. She looked at him 
 with attention, as he stood before her imabashed, but with an 
 air of the deepest dejection. 
 
 "I cannot but grieve for this gentleman," she said to 
 Leicester. " I have inquired concerning him, and his presence 
 confirms what I heard, that he is a scholar and a soldier, weE 
 accomplished both in arts and arms. We women, my lord, 
 are fanciful in our choice : I had said now, to judge by the 
 eye, there was no comparison to be held betwixt your follower 
 and this gentleman. But Varney is a well-spoken fellow, and, 
 to speak truth, that goes far with us of the weaker sex. Look 
 you, Master Tressilian, a bolt lost is not a bow broken. Your 
 true affection, as I will hold it to be, hath been, it seems, but 
 ill requited; but you have scholarship, and you know there 
 have been false Cressidas to be found, from the Trojan war 
 downwards. Forget, good sir, this lady light o' love ; teach 
 your affection to see with a wiser eye. This we say to you 
 more from the writings of learned men than our own knowl- 
 edge, being, as we are, far removed by station and will from 
 the enlargement of experience in such idle toys of humorous 
 passion. For this dame's father, we can make his grief the 
 less by advancing his son-in-law to such station as may enable
 
 KENILWORTH. 219 
 
 him to give an honourable support to his bride. Thou shalt 
 not be forgotten thyself, Tressilian; follow our court, and 
 thou shalt see that a true Troilus hath some claim on our 
 grace. Think of what that arch-knave Shakspeare says — a 
 plague on him, his toys come into my head when I should 
 think of other matters! Stay, how goes it? — 
 
 Cressid was yours, tied with the bonds of heaven ; 
 These bonds of heaven are split, dissolved, and loosed, 
 And with another knot five fingers tied, 
 The fragments of her faith are bound to Diomed. 
 
 You smile, my Lord of Southampton! Perchance I make 
 your 'player's verse halt through my bad memory; but let it 
 suffice : let there be no more of this mad matter." 
 
 And as Tressilian kept the posture of one who would will- 
 ingly be heard, though, at the same time, expressive of the 
 deepest reverence, the Queen added with some impatience: 
 "What would the man have? The wench cannot wed both of 
 you? She has made her election — not a wise one perchance, 
 but she is Varney's wedded wife." 
 
 " My suit should sleep there, most gracious sovereign, " said 
 Tressilian, " and with my suit my revenge. But I hold this 
 Varney's word no good warrant for the truth." 
 
 " Had that doubt been elsewhere urged, " answered Vamey, 
 "my sword " 
 
 ^^ Thy sword!" interrupted Tressilian, scornfully; "with 
 her Grace's leave, my sword shall show " 
 
 "Peace, you knaves — both!" said the Queen; "know you 
 where you are? This comes of your feuds, my lords," she 
 added, looking towards Leicester and Sussex : " your followers 
 catch your own humour, and must bandy and brawl in my 
 court, and in my very presence, like so many Matamoros. 
 Look you, sirs, he that speaks of drawing swords in any other 
 quarrel than mine or England's, by mine honour, I'll bracelet 
 him with iron both on wrist and ankle!" She then paused a 
 minute, and resumed in a milder tone : " I must do justice be- 
 twixt the bold and mutinous knaves notwithstanding. My 
 Lord of Leicester, will you warrant with your honour — that is.
 
 220 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to the best of your belief — that your servant speaks truth in 
 sayiiig he hath married this Auiy Robsart?" 
 
 This was a home-thrust, and had nearly staggered Leicester. 
 But he had now gone too far to recede, and answered, after a, 
 moment's hesitation: ''To the best of my belief — indeed, on 
 my certain knowledge — she is a wedded wife." 
 
 " Gracious madam," said Tressilian, "may I yet request to 
 know when, and under what circumstances, this alleged mar- 
 riage " 
 
 " Out, sii-rah, " answered the Queen — " alleged marriage ! 
 Have you not the Avord of this illustrious earl to warrant 
 the truth of what his servant says? But thou art a loser — 
 think' st thyself such at least — and thou shalt have indulgence j 
 we will look into the ma^tter ourself more at leisure. My 
 Lord of Leicester, I trust you remember we mean to taste the 
 good cheer of your Castle of Kenilworth on this week ensuing ; 
 we will pxay jou to bid our good and valued friend the Earl 
 of Sussex to hold company with us there. " 
 
 " If the noble Earl of Sussex, " said Leicester, bowing to his 
 rival with the easiest and with the most graceful courtesy, 
 ^' will so far honour my poor house, I will hold it an additional 
 proof of the amicable regard it is your Grace's desire we should 
 entertain towards each other." 
 
 Sussex was more embarrassed. " I shonld, " said he, " mad- 
 am, be but a clog on your gayer hours, since my late severe 
 illness." 
 
 "And have you been indeed so very ill?" said Elizabeth, 
 looking on him with more attention than before ; " you are in 
 faith strangely altered, and deeply am I grieved to see it. But 
 be of good cheer; we will ourselves look after the health of 
 so valued a servant, and to whom we owe so much. Masters 
 shall order your diet; and that we ourselves may see that he 
 is obeyed, you must attend us in this progress to Kenilworth." 
 
 This was said so peremptorily, and at the same time with 
 so much kindness, that Sussex, however unwilling to become 
 the guest of his rival, had no resource but to bow low to the 
 Queen in obedience to her commands, and to express to Leices- 
 ter, with blunt courtesy, though mingled with embarrass-
 
 ZENILWORTH. 221 
 
 ment, his acceptance of liis invitation. As the earls exchanged 
 compliments on the occasion, the Queen said to her high 
 treasurer : " Methiuks, my lord, the count-enances of these our 
 two noble peers resemble those of the two famed classic 
 streams, the one so dark and sad, the other so fair and noble. 
 My old Master Ascham would have chid me for forgetting the 
 author. It is Csesar, as I think. See what majestic calmness 
 sits on the brow of the noble Leicester, while Sussex seems to 
 greet him as if he did our will indeed, but not willingly. " 
 
 "The doubt of your Majesty's favour," answered the lord 
 treasurer, " may perchance occasion the difference, which does 
 not — as what does? — escape your Grace's eye." 
 
 "Such doubt were injurious to us, my lord,'-' replied the 
 Queen. " We hold both to be near and dear to us, and will 
 ■with impartiality employ both in honourable service for the 
 weal of our kingdom. But we will break their farther confer- 
 ence at present. My Lords of Sussex and Leicester, we have 
 a word more with you. Tressilian and Yarney are near your 
 persons; you will see that they attend you at Kenilworth. 
 And as we shall then have both Paris and Menelaus withiu 
 our call, so we will have the same fair Helen also whose fickle- 
 ness has caused this broil. Yarney, thy wife must be at Ken- 
 ilworth, and forthcoming at my order. My Lord of Leices- 
 ter, we expect you will look to this." 
 
 The earl and his follower bowed low, and raised their heads, 
 without daring to look at the Queen or at each other ; for both 
 felt at the instant as if the nets and toils which their own 
 falsehood had woven were in the act of closing around them. 
 The Queen, however, observed not their confusion, but pro- 
 ceeded to say : " My Lords of Sussex and Leicester, we require 
 your presence at the privy council to be presently held, where 
 matters of importance are to l^e debated. We will then take 
 the Avater for our divertisement, and you, my lords, will attend 
 us. And that remmds us of a circumstance. Do you. Sir 
 Squire of the Soiled Cassock (distinguishing Raleigh by a 
 smile), fail not to observe that you are to attend us on our 
 progress. You shall be supplied with suitable means to re- 
 form your wardrobe."
 
 222 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 And so terminated this celebrated audience, in which, as 
 throughout her life, Elizabeth united the occasional caprice 
 of her sex with that sense and sound policy in which neither 
 man nor woman ever excelled her. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Well, then — our course is chosen, spread the sail, 
 Heave oft the lead and mark the soundings well, 
 Look to the helm, good master ; many a shoal 
 Marks this stern coast, and rocks, where sits the Siren, 
 Who, like ambition, lures men to their ruin. 
 
 The Shipwreck. 
 
 During the brief interval that took place betwixt the dis- 
 missal of the audience and the sitting of the privy council, 
 Leicester had time to reflect that he had that morning sealed 
 his own fate. " It was impossible for him now, " he thought, 
 " after having, in the face of all that was honourable in Eng- 
 land, pledged his truth (though in an ambiguous phrase) for 
 the statement of Varney, to contradict or disavow it without 
 exposing himself not merely to the loss of court favour, but to 
 the highest displeasure of the Queen, his deceived mistress, 
 and to the scorn and contempt at once of his rival and of all 
 his compeers." This certainty rushed at once on his mind, 
 together with all the difficulties which he would necessarily 
 be exposed to in preserving a secret which seemed now equally 
 essential to his safety, to his power, and to his honour. He 
 was situated like one who walks upon ice, ready to give way 
 aroim^d him, and whose only safety consists in moving onwards 
 by firm and unvacillating steps. The Queen's favour, to 
 preserve which he had made such sacrifices, must now be se- 
 cured by all means and at all hazards : it was the only plank 
 which he could cling to in the tempest. He must settle him- 
 self, therefore, to the task of not only preserving, but aug- 
 menting, the Queen's partiality. He must be the favourite 
 of Elizabeth, or a man utterly shipwrecked in fortune and in 
 honour. All other considerations must be laid aside for the 
 moment, and he repelled the intrusive thoughts which forced
 
 KENILWORTH. 223 
 
 on his mind tlie image of Amy, by saying to himself, there 
 "would be time to think hereafter how he was to escape from 
 the labyrinth ultimately, since the pilot who sees a ScyUa 
 under his bows must not for the time think of the more dis- 
 tant dangers of Charybdis. 
 
 In this mood, the Earl of Leicester that day assumed his 
 chair at the council-table of Elizabeth ; and when the hours of 
 business were over, in this same mood did he occupy an hon- 
 oured place near her during her pleasure-excursion on the 
 Thames. And never did he display to more advantage his 
 powers as a politician of the first rank, or his parts as au 
 accomplished courtier. 
 
 It chanced that in that day's council matters were agitated 
 touching the affairs of the unfortunate Mary, the seventh year 
 of whose captivity in England was now in doleful currency. 
 There had been opinions in favour of this imhappy princess 
 laid before Elizabeth's council, and supported with much 
 strength of argument by Sussex and others, who dwelt more 
 upon the law of nations and the breach of hospitality than, 
 however softened or qualified, was agreeable to the Queen's 
 ear. Leicester adopted the contrary opinion with great ani- 
 mation and eloquence, and described the necessity of continu- 
 ing the severe restraint of the Queen of Scots, as a measure, 
 essential to the safety of the kingdom, and particularly of 
 Elizabeth's sacred person, the lightest hair of whose head, he 
 maintained, ought, in their lordships' estimation, to be matter 
 of more deep and anxious concern than the life and fortimes of 
 a rival, who, after setting up a vain and mijust pretence to the 
 throne of England, was now, even while in the bosom of her 
 comitry, the constant hope and theme of encouragement to all 
 enemies to Elizabeth, whether at home or abroad. , He ended 
 by craving pardon of their lordships if, in the zeal of speech, 
 he had given any offence, but the Queen's safety was a theme 
 which hurried him beyond his usual moderation of debate. 
 
 Elizabeth chid him, but not severely, for the weight which 
 he attached unduly to her personal interests ; yet she owned 
 that, since it had been the pleasure of Heaven to combine 
 those interests with the weal of her subjects, she did only her
 
 224 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 duty wlien she adopted sucli measures of self-preservation as 
 circumstances forced upon her; and if the council in their 
 wisdom should be of opinion that it was needful to continue 
 some restraint on the person of her unhappy sister of Scotland, 
 she trusted they would not blame her if she requested of the 
 Comitess of Shrewsbury to use her with as much kindness as 
 might be consistent with her safe keeping. And with this 
 intimation of her pleasure, the council was dismissed. 
 
 Never was more anxious and ready way made for " my Lord 
 of Leicester" than as he passed through the crowded ante- 
 rooms to go towards the river-side, in order to attend her 
 Majesty to her barge; never was the voice of the ushers 
 louder, to "Make room — make room for the noble earl"; 
 never were the^ signals more promptly and reverently obeyed; 
 never were more anxious eyes turned on him to obtain a glance 
 of favour, or even of mere recognition, while the heart of many 
 a humble follower throbbed betwixt the desire to offer his con- 
 gratulations and the fear of intruding himself on the notice of 
 one so infinitely above him. The whole court considered the 
 issue of this day's audience, expected with so much doubt and 
 anxiety, as a decisive triumph on the part of Leicester, and 
 lelt assured that the orb of his rival satellite, if not altogether 
 o&scured by his lustre, must revolve hereafter in a dimmer and 
 more distant sphere. So thought the court and courtiers, from 
 iigh to low, and they acted accordingly. 
 
 On the other hand, never did Leicester return the general 
 greeting with such ready and condescending courtesy, or en- 
 deavour more successfully to gather, in the words of one who 
 at that moment stood at no great distance from him, " golden 
 opinions from all sorts of men." 
 
 For all the favourite earl had a bow, a smile at least, and 
 often a kind word. Most of these were addressed to courtiers, 
 whose names have long gone down the tide of oblivion ; but 
 some to such as sound strangely in our ears, when connected 
 with the ordinary matters of human life, above which the 
 gratitude of posterity has long elevated them. A few of 
 Leicester's interlocutory sentences ran as follows : 
 
 " Poynings, good morrow, and how does your wife and fair
 
 KENILWORTH. 225 
 
 daughter? Why come they not to court? Adams, your suit 
 is naught : the Queen will grant no more monopolies ; but I 
 may serve you in another matter. My good Alderman Ayl- 
 ford, the suit of the city, affecting Queenhithe, shall be for- 
 warded as far as my poor interest can serve. Master Edmund 
 Spencer, touching your Irish petition, I would willingly aid 
 you, from my love to the Muses ; but thou hast nettled the 
 lord treasurer." 
 
 " My lord, " said the poet, " were I permitted to explain " 
 
 "Come to my lodging, Edmund," answered the earl — "not 
 to-morrow or next day, but soon. Ha, AYill Shakspeare — wild 
 "Will ! thou hast given my nephew, Philip Sidney, love-powder : 
 he cannot sleep without thy Venus and Adonis under his pillow ! 
 We will have thee hanged for the veriest wizard in Europe. 
 Hark thee, mad wag, I have not forgotten thy matter of the 
 patent and of the bears." 
 
 The player bowed, and the earl nodded and passed on — so 
 that age would have told the tale; in ours, perhaps, we 
 might say the immortal had done homage to the mortal. 
 The next whom the favourite accosted was one of his own 
 zealous dependants. 
 
 " How now, Sir Francis Denning, " he whispered, in answei 
 to his exulting salutation, "that smile hath made thy face 
 shorter by one-third than when I first saw it this morning. 
 What, Master Bowyer, stand you back, and think you I bear 
 malice? You did but your duty this morning; and if I re- 
 member aught of the passage betwixt us, it shall be in thy 
 favour." 
 
 Then the earl was approached, with several fantastic con- 
 gees, by a person quaintly dressed in a doublet of black velvet, 
 curiously slashed and pinked with crimson satin. A long 
 cock's feather in the velvet bonnet which he held in his hand, 
 and an enormous ruff, stiffened to the extremity of the ab- 
 surd taste of the times, joined with a sharp, lively, conceited 
 expression of countenance, seemed to body forth a vain, hare- 
 brained coxcomb and small wit ; while the rod he held, and 
 an assumption of formal authority, appeared to express some 
 sense of official consequence, which qualified the natural pert- 
 15
 
 226 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ness of liis manner. A perpetual blusli, which occupied 
 rather the sharp nose than the thin cheek of this personage, 
 seemed to speak more of " good life, " as it Avas called, than of 
 modesty ; and the manner in which he approached to the earl 
 confirmed that suspicion. 
 
 " Good even to you, Master Kobert Laneham, " said Leices- 
 ter, and seemed desirous to pass forward without farther 
 speech. 
 
 "I have a suit to your noble lordship," said the figure, 
 boldly following him. 
 
 " And what is it, good master keeper of the council-cham- 
 ber door?" 
 
 " Clerk of the council-chamber door, " said Master Kobert 
 Laneham, with emphasis, by way of reply and of correction. 
 
 "Well, qualify thine of&ce as thou wilt, man," replied the 
 earl; "what wouldst thou have with me?" 
 
 " Simply, " answered Laneham, " that your lordship would 
 be, as heretofore, my good lord, and procure me license to at- 
 tend the summer progress unto your lordship's most beautiful 
 and aU-to-be unmatched Castle of Kenil worth." 
 
 " To what purpose, good Master Laneham?" replied the 
 earl; "bethink you, my guests must needs be many." 
 
 " Not so many," replied the petitioner, " but that your noble- 
 ness will willingly spare your old servitor his crib and his 
 mess. Bethink you, my lord, how necessary is this rod of 
 mine to fright away all those listeners who else would play 
 at bo-peep with the honourable coxmcil, and be searching for 
 keyholes and crannies in the door of the chamber, so as to 
 render my staff as needful as a fly-flap in a butcher's shop." 
 
 " Methiuks you have found out a fly-blown comparison for 
 the honourable council, Master Laneham, " said the earl ; " but 
 seek not about to justify it. Come to Kenilworth, if you list; 
 there will be store of fools there besides, and so you will be 
 fitted." 
 
 " Nay, an there be fools, my lord, " replied Laneham, with 
 much glee, " I warrant I will make sport among them ; for no 
 greyhound loves to cote a hare as I to turn and course a fool. 
 But I have another singular favour to beseech of your honour."
 
 KENILTVORTH. 227 
 
 " Speak it, and let me go, " said the earl ; " I think the Queeu 
 conies forth instantly." 
 
 " My very good lord, I would fain bring a bed-fellow with 
 me." 
 
 "How, you irreverent rascal!" said Leicester. 
 
 "Kay, my lord, my meaning is within the canons," an- 
 swered his unblushing, or rather his ever-blushing, petitioner. 
 " I have a wife as curious as her grandmother, who eat the 
 apple. Now, take her with me I may not, her Highness's 
 orders being so strict against the officers bringing with them 
 their wives in a progress, and so lumbering the court with 
 womankind. But what I would crave of your lordship is, to 
 find room for her in some mummery or pretty pageant, iu 
 disguise, as it were, so that, not being known for my wife, 
 there may be no offence. " 
 
 "The foul fiend seize ye both!" said Leicester, stung into 
 uncontrollable passion by the recollections which this speech 
 excited. "^Vliy stop you me with such follies?" 
 
 The terrified clerk of the chamber door, astonished at the 
 burst of resentment he had so unconsciously produced, di'opped 
 his staff of office from his hand, and gazed on the incensed earl 
 with a foolish face of wonder and terror, which instantly re- 
 called Leicester to himself. 
 
 " I meant but to try if thou hadst the audacity which befits 
 thine office," said he, hastily. "Come to Kenil worth, and 
 bring the devil with thee if thou wilt. " 
 
 '• My wife, sir, hath played the devil ere now, in a mystery, 
 in Queen Mary's time; but we shall want a trifle for proper- 
 ties." 
 
 " Here is a crown for thee, " said the earl ; " make me rid of 
 thee — the great bell rings." 
 
 INIaster Eobert Laneham ' stared a moment at the agitation 
 which he had excited, and then said to himself, as he stooped 
 to pick up his staff of office : " The noble earl runs wild hu- 
 mours to-day; but they who give crowns expect us witty 
 fellows to wink at their unsettled starts ; and, by my faith, if 
 they paid not for mercy, we would finger them tightly!" 
 
 > See Note 9.,
 
 228 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Leicester moved hastily on, neglecting the courtesies he 
 had hitherto dispensed so liberally, and hurrying through the 
 courtly crowd, until he paused in a small withdi-awing-room, 
 into which he plunged to draw a moment's breath unobserved 
 and in seclusion. 
 
 " What am I now," he said to himself, "that am thus jaded 
 by the words of a mean, weather-beaten, goose-brained gull! 
 Conscience, thou art a bloodhound, whose growl wakes as 
 readily at the paltry stir of a rat or mouse as at the step of a 
 lion. Can I not quit myself, by one bold stroke, of a state so 
 irksome, so unhonoured? What if I kneel to Elizabeth, and, 
 owning the whole, throw myself on her mercy?" 
 
 As he pursued this train of thought, the door of the apart- 
 ment opened, and Varney rushed in. 
 
 "Thank God, my lord, that I have found you!" was his 
 exclamation. 
 
 " Thank the devil, whose agent thou art, " was the earl's 
 reply. 
 
 " Thank whom you will, my lord, " said Varney ; " but 
 hasten to the water-side. The Queen is on board, and asks 
 for you." 
 
 " Go, say I am taken suddenly ill, " replied Leicester ; " for, 
 by Heaven, my brain can sustain this no longer!" 
 
 " I may well say so, " said Varney, with bitterness of ex- 
 pression, " for your place, ay, and mine, who, as your master 
 of the horse, was to have attended your lordship, is already 
 filled up in the Queen's barge. The new minion, Walter 
 Raleigh, and our old acquaintance, Tressilian, were called for 
 to fill our places just as I hastened away to seek you." 
 
 " Thou art a devil, Varney, " said Leicester, hastily ; " but 
 thou hast the mastery for the present: I follow thee." 
 
 Varney replied not, but led the way out of the palace, and 
 towards the river, while his master followed him as if me- 
 chanically; untn, looking back, he said in a tone which 
 savoured of familiarity at least, if not of authority : " How is 
 this, my lord? your cloak hangs on one side, your hose are 
 embraced; permit me " 
 
 " Thou art a fool, Varney, as well as a knave, " said Leices-
 
 KENILWORTH. 229 
 
 »er, shaking him off, and rejecting his officious assistance ; " we 
 are best thus, sir : Avhen we require you to order our person, 
 it is well, but now we want you not." 
 
 So saying, the earl resumed at once his air of command, 
 and with it his self-possession, shook his dress into yet wilder 
 disorder, passed before Varney with the air of a superior and 
 master, and in his turn led the way to the river-side. 
 
 The Queen's barge was on the very point of putting off} 
 the seat allotted to Leicester in the stern, and that to his 
 master of the horse on the bow, of the boat being already 
 filled up. But on Leicester's approach there was a pause, as 
 if the bargemen anticipated some alteration in their company. 
 The angry spot was, however, on the Queen's cheek, as, in 
 that cold tone with which superiors endeavour to veil their 
 internal agitation, while speaking to those before whom it 
 would be derogation to express it, she pronounced the chilling 
 words : " We have waited, my Lord of Leicester. " 
 
 " Madam and most gracious princess, " said Leicester, " you, 
 who can pardon so many weaknesses which your own heart 
 never knows, can best bestow your commiseration on the agi- 
 tations of the bosom, which, for a moment, affect both head 
 and limbs. I came to your presence a doubting and an accused 
 subject; your goodness penetrated the clouds of defamation, 
 and restored me to my honour, and, what is yet dearer, to 
 your favour — is it wonderful, though for me it is most un- 
 happy, that my master of the horse should have found me 
 in a state which scarce permitted me to make the exertion 
 necessary to follow him to this place, when one glance of your 
 Highness, although, alas ! an angry one, has had power to do 
 that for me in which Esculapius might have failed?" 
 
 ''How is this?" said Elizabeth, hastily, looking at Varney; 
 ^'hath your lord been ill?" 
 
 " Something of a fainting fit, " answered the ready-witted 
 Varney, " as your Grace may observe from his present condi- 
 tion. My lord's haste would not permit me leisure even to 
 bring his dress into order. " 
 
 " It matters not, " said Elizabeth, as she gazed on the noble 
 face and form of Leicester, to which even the strange mixture
 
 230 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 of passions by which he had been so lately agitated gave addi- 
 tional interest ; " make room for my noble lord. Your place, 
 Master Varney, has been filled up ; you must find a seat in 
 another barge." 
 
 Varney bowed and withdrew. 
 
 " And you, too, our young Squire of the Cloak," added she, 
 looking at Raleigh, " must, for the time, go to the barge of our 
 ladies of honour. As for Tressilian, he hath already suffered 
 too much by the caprice of women that I shovild aggrieve him 
 by my change of plan, so far as he is concerned. " 
 
 Leicester seated himself in his place in the barge, and close 
 to the sovereign ; Raleigh rose to retire, and Tressilian wovild 
 have been so ill-timed in his courtesy as to offer to relinquish 
 his own place to his friend, had not the acute glance of Raleigh 
 himself, who seemed now in his native element, made him 
 sensible that so ready a disclamation of the royal favour might 
 be misinterpreted. He sate silent, therefore, whilst Raleigh, 
 with a profound bow and a look of the deepest humiliation, 
 was about to quit his place. 
 
 A noble courtier, the gallant Lord Willoughby, read, as he 
 thought, something in the Queen's face which seemed to pity 
 Raleigh's real or assumed semblance of mortification. 
 
 " It is not for us old courtiers, " he said, " to hide the sun- 
 shine from the young ones. I will, with her Majesty's leave, 
 relinquish for an hour that which her subjects hold dearest, 
 the delight of her Highness 's presence, and mortify myseK by 
 walking in starlight, while I forsake for a brief season the 
 glory of Diana's own beams. I will take place in the boat 
 which the ladies occupy, and permit this young cavalier his 
 hour of promised felicity." 
 
 The Queen replied, with an expression betwixt mirth and 
 earnest : " If you are so willing to leave us, my lord, we cannot 
 help the mortification. But, under favour, we do not trust you 
 — old and experienced as you may deem yourself — with the care 
 of our young ladies of honour. Your venerable age, my lord, " 
 she continued, smiling, " may be better assorted with that of 
 my lord treasurer, who follows in the third boat, and whose 
 experience even my Lord Willoughby 's may be improved by."
 
 KENILWORTH. 231 
 
 Lord Willougliby hid his disappointment under a smile, 
 laughed, was confused, bowed, and left the Queen's barge to 
 go on board my Lord Burleigh's, Leicester, who endeavoured 
 to divert his thoughts fi'om all internal reflection by fixing them 
 on what was passing aroimd, watched this circumstance among 
 others. But when the boat put off from the shore, when the 
 music sounded from a barge which accompanied them, when 
 the shouts of the populace were heard from the shore, and all 
 reminded him of the situation in which he was placed, he ab- 
 stracted his thoughts and feelings by a strong effort from every- 
 thing but the necessity of maintaining himself in the favour 
 of his patroness, and exerted his talents of pleasiog captiva- 
 tion with such success that the Queen, alternately delighted 
 with his conversation and alarmed for his health, at length 
 imposed a temporary silence on him, with playful yet anxious 
 care, lest his flow of spirits should exhaust him. 
 
 " My lords, " she said, " having passed for a time our edict 
 of silence upon our good Leicester, we will call you to counsel 
 on a gamesome matter, more fitted to be now treated of, amidst 
 mirth and music, than in the gravity of our ordinary delibera- 
 tions. Which of you, my lords," said she, smiling, "know 
 aught of a petition from Orson Pinnit, the keeper, as he quali- 
 fies himself, of our royal bears? Who stands godfather to his 
 request?" 
 
 "Marry, with your Grace's good permission, that do I," 
 said the Earl of Sussex. " Orson Pinnit was a stout soldier 
 before he was so mangled by the skenes of the Irish clan Mac- 
 Donough, and I trust your Grace will be, as you always have 
 been, good mistress to your good and trusty servants." 
 
 " Surely, " said the Queen, " it is our purpose to be so, and 
 in especial to our poor soldiers and sailors, who hazard their 
 lives for little pay. We would give," she said, with her eyes 
 sparkling, " yonder royal palace of ours to be an hospital for 
 their use, rather than they should call their mistress ungrate- 
 ful. But this is not the question, " she said, her voice, which 
 had been awakened by her patriotic feelings, once more sub- 
 siding into the tone of gay and easy conversation ; " for this 
 Orson Pinnit' s request goes something farther. He complains
 
 232 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 that, amidst the extreme delight with which men haunt the 
 play-houses, and in especial their eager desire for seeing the 
 exhibitions of one Will Shakspeare — whom, I think, my 
 lords, we have all heard something of — the manly amusement 
 of bear-baiting is falling into comparative neglect; since men 
 will rather throng to see these roguish players kill each other 
 in jest than to see our royal dogs and bears worry each oth- 
 er in bloody earnest. "What say you to this, my Lord of 
 Sussex?" 
 
 "Why, truly, gracious madam," said Sussex, "you must 
 expect little from an old soldier like me in favour of battles in 
 sport, when they are compared with battles in earnest; and 
 yet, by my faith, I wish Will Shakspeare no hai-m. He is a 
 stout man at quarter-staff and single falchion, though, as I 
 am told, a halting fellow; and he stood, they say, a tough 
 fight with the rangers of old Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecot, 
 when he broke his deer-park and kissed his keeper's daughter." 
 
 " I cry you mercy, my Lord of Sussex, " said Queen Eliza- 
 beth, interrupting him ; " that matter was heard in council, and 
 we will not have this fellow's offence exaggerated: there was 
 no kissing in the matter, and the defendant hath put the de- 
 nial on record. But what say you to his present practice, my 
 lord, on the stage? for there lies the point, and not in any 
 ways touching his former errors, in breaking parks or the 
 other follies you speak of." 
 
 " Why, truly, madam, " replied Sussex, " as I said before, I 
 wish the gamesome, mad fellow no injury. Some of his 
 whoreson poetry — I crave your Grace's pardon for such a 
 phrase — has rung in mine ears as if the lines sounded to boot 
 and saddle. But then it is all froth and folly — no substance 
 or seriousness in it, as your Grace has already well touched. 
 What are half a dozen knaves, with rusty foils and tattered 
 targets, making but a mere mockery of a stout fight, to com- 
 pare to the royal game of bear-baiting, which hath been graced 
 by your Highness 's countenance, and that of your royal prede- 
 cessors, in this your princely kingdom, famous for matchless 
 mastiffs and bold bear-wards over all Christendom? Greatly 
 is it to be doubted that the race of both will decay, if men should
 
 KENIL WORTH. 233 
 
 throng to hear the lungs of an idle player belch forth non- 
 sensical bombast, instead of bestowing their pence in encourag- 
 ing the bravest image of war that can be shown in peace, and 
 that is the sports of the bear-garden. There you may see the 
 bear lying at guard with his red pinky eyes, watching the on- 
 set of the mastiff, like a wily captain, who maintains his de- 
 fence that an assailant may be tempted to venture withm his 
 danger. And then comes sir mastiff, like a worthy champion, 
 in full career at the throat of his adversary ; and then shall sir 
 bruin teach him the reward for those who, in their over-cour- 
 age, neglect the policies of war, and, catching him in his arms, 
 strain him to his breast like a lusty wrestler, imtil rib after rib 
 crack like the shot of a pistolet. And then another mastiff, 
 as bold, but with better aim and sounder judgment, catches 
 sir bruin by the nether lip, and hangs fast, while he tosses 
 about his blood and slaver, and tries in vain to shake Sir Tal- 
 bot from his hold. And then " 
 
 " Nay, by my honour, my lord, " said the Queen, laughing, 
 *'you have described the whole so admirably that, had we 
 never seen a bear-baiting, as we have beheld many, and hope, 
 with Heaven's allowance, to see many more, your words were 
 sufficient to put the whole bear-garden before our eyes. But 
 come, who speaks next in this case? My Lord of Leicester, 
 what say you?" 
 
 " Am I then to consider myself as unmuzzled, please your 
 Grace?" replied Leicester. 
 
 " Surely, my lord — that is, if you feel hearty enough to take 
 part in our game, " answered Elizabeth ; " and yet, when I think 
 of your cognizance of the bear and ragged staff, methinks we 
 had better hear some less partial orator." 
 
 "Nay, on my word, gracious princess," said the earl, 
 *' though my brother Ambrose of Warwick and I do carry the 
 ancient cognizance your Highness deigns to remember, I never- 
 theless desire nothing but fair play on all sides ; or, as they 
 say, 'Fight dog, fight bear.' And in behalf of the players, I 
 must needs say that they are witty knaves, whose rants and 
 jests keep the minds of the commons from busying themselves 
 with state affairs, and listening to traitorous speeches, idle
 
 234 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 rumours, and disloyal insinuations. "When men are agape to 
 see how Marlow, Shakspeare, and other play artificers work 
 out their fanciful plots, as they call them, the mind of the 
 spectators is withdrawn from the conduct of their rulers." 
 
 " We would not have the mind of our subjects withdrawn 
 from the consideration of our own conduct, my lord, " answered 
 Elizabeth ; " because, the more closely it is examined, the true 
 motives by which we are guided will appear the more mani- 
 fest." 
 
 "I have heard, however, madam," said the Dean of St. 
 Asaph's, an eminent Puritan, "that these players are wont, 
 in. their plays, not only to introduce profane and lewd expres- 
 sions, tending to foster sin and harlotry, but even to bellow out 
 such reflections on government, its origin and its object, as 
 tend to render the subject discontented, and shake the solid 
 foundations of civil society. And it seems to be, mider your 
 Grace's favour, far less than safe to permit these naughty, foul- 
 mouthed knaves to ridicule the godly for their decent gravit}-, 
 and in blaspheming Heaven, and slandering its earthly rulers, 
 to set at defiance the laws both of God and man." 
 
 " If we could tliink this were true, my lord, " said Elizabeth, 
 " we should give sharp correction for such offences. But it is 
 ill arguing against the use of anything from its abuse. And 
 touching this Shakspeare, we think there is that in his plays 
 that is worth twenty bear-gardens ; and that this new under- 
 taking of his Chronicles, as he calls them, may entertain, with 
 honest mirth, mingled with useful instruction, not only our 
 subjects, but even the generation which may succeed to us." 
 
 " Your Majesty's reign will need no such feeble aid to make 
 it remembered to the latest posterity, " said Leicester. " And 
 yet, in his way, Shakspeare hath so touched some incidents of 
 your Majesty's happy government as may countervail what 
 has been ■ spoken by his reverence the Dean of St. Asaph's. 
 There are some lines, for example — I would my nephew, 
 Philii> Sidney, were here, they are scarce ever out of his 
 mouth — ^they are spoken in a mad tale of fairies, love-charms, 
 and I wot not what besides ; but beautiful they are, however 
 short they may and must fall of the subject to which they bear
 
 KENILWORTH. 235 
 
 a bold relation, and Philip murmurs them, I think, even ia 
 his dreams." 
 
 "You tantalise us, my lord," said the Queen. "Master 
 Philip Sidney is, we know, a minion of the Muses, and we ai'd 
 pleased it should be so. Valour never shines to more advan- 
 tage than when imited with the true taste and lo-s'e of letters. 
 But surely there are some others among our young coui-tiers 
 who can recollect Avhat your lordship has forgotten amid 
 weightier affairs. Master Tressilian, you are described to me 
 as a worshipper of Minerva — remember you aught of these 
 lines? 
 
 Tressilian 's heart was too heavy, his prospects in life too 
 fatally blighted, to profit by the opportunity which the Queen 
 thus offered to him of attracting her attention, but he deter- 
 mined to transfer the advantage to his more ambitious young 
 friend; and, excusing himself on the score of want of recol- 
 lection, he added, that he believed the beautiful verses of 
 which my Lord of Leicester had spoken were in the remem- 
 brance of Master Walter Raleigh. 
 
 At the command of the Queen, that cavalier repeated, with 
 ftccent and manner which even added to their exquisite deli- 
 cacy of tact and beauty of description, the celebrated vision of 
 Oberon : 
 
 '' That very time I saw (but thou couldst not), 
 Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 
 Cupid, all arm'd ; a certain aim he took 
 At a fair vestal, throned by the west ; 
 And loos'd his love-shaft smartly from his bow, 
 As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts. 
 But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft 
 Quench' d in the chaste beams of the watery moon; 
 And the imperial vot'ress passed on. 
 In maiden meditation, fancy free." 
 
 The voice of Raleigh, as he repeated the last lines, became a 
 little tremulous, as if diffident how the sovereign to whom the 
 homage was addressed might receive it, exquisite as it was. 
 If this diffidence was affected, it was good policy; but if real, 
 there was little occasion for it. The verses were not probably 
 new to the Queen, for when was ever such elegant flattery long 
 in reaching the royal ear to which it was addressed? But they
 
 236 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 were not tlie less welcome wlien repeated by such a speaker as 
 Raleigh. Alike delighted with the matter, the manner, and 
 the graceful form and animated countenance of the gallant 
 young reciter, Elizabeth kept time to every cadence with look 
 and with finger. When the speaker had ceased, she mur- 
 mured over the last lines as if scarce conscious that she was 
 overheard, and as she uttered the words, 
 
 *' In maiden meditation, fancy free," 
 
 she dropt into the Thames the supplication of Orson Pinnit, 
 keeper of the royal bears, to find more favourable acceptance 
 at Sheerness, or wherever the tide might waft it. 
 
 Leicester was spurred to emulation by the success of the 
 young courtier's exhibition, as the veteran racer is roused 
 when a high-mettled colt passes him on the way. He turned 
 the discourse on shows, banquets, pageants, and on the char- 
 acter of those by whom these gay scenes were then frequented. 
 He mixed acute observation with light satire, in that just 
 proportion which was free alike from malignant slander and 
 insipid praise. He mimicked with ready accent the manners of 
 the affected or the clownish, and made his own graceful tone 
 and manner seem doubly such when he resumed it. Foreign 
 countries — their customs, their manners, the rules of their 
 courts, the fashions, and even the dress, of their ladies, were 
 equally his theme ; and seldom did he conclude without con- 
 veying some compliment, always couched in delicacy and ex- 
 pressed with propriety, to the Virgin Queen, her court, and 
 her government. Thus passed the conversation during this 
 pleasure voyage, seconded by the rest of the attendants upon 
 the royal person, in gay discourse, varied by remarks upon 
 ancient classics and modern authors, and enriched by maxims 
 of deep policy and sound morality by the statesmen and sages 
 who sate around, and mixed wisdom with the lighter talk of a 
 female court. 
 
 When they returned to the palace, Elizabeth accepted, or 
 rather selected, the arm of Leicester to support her from the 
 stairs where they landed to the great gate. It even seemed 
 to him (though that might arise from the flattery of his
 
 EENILWORTH. 237 
 
 own imagination) that, during this short passage, she leaned 
 on him somewhat more than the slippiness of the way ne- 
 cessarily demanded. Certainly her actions and words com- 
 bined to express a degree of favour which, even m his 
 proudest days, he had not till then attained. His rival, 
 indeed, was repeatedly graced by the Queen's notice; but it 
 was in a manner that seemed to flow less from spontaneous in- 
 clination than as extorted by a sense of his merit. And, in 
 the opinion of many experienced courtiers, all the favour she 
 showed him was overbalanced by her whispering in the ear of 
 the Lady Derby, that " Now she saw sickness was a better 
 alchemist than she before wotted of, seeing it had changed my 
 Lord of Sussex's copper nose into a golden one." 
 
 The jest transpired, and the Earl of Leicester enjoyed his 
 triumph, as one to whom court favour had been both the 
 primary and the ultimate motive of life, while he forgot in 
 the intoxication of the moment the perplexities and dangers 
 of his own situation. Indeed, strange as it may appear, he 
 thought less at that moment of the perils arising from his secret 
 union than of the marks of grace which Elizabeth from time 
 to time showed to young Ealeigh. They were indeed transient, 
 but they were conferred on one accomplished in mind and body 
 with grace, gallantry, literature, and valour. An accident oc- 
 curred in the course of the evening which riveted Leicester's 
 attention to this object. 
 
 The nobles and courtiers who had attended the Queen on 
 her pleasure expedition were invited, with royal hospitality, 
 to a splendid banquet in the hall of the palace. The table 
 was not, indeed, graced by the presence of the sovereign j for, 
 agreeable to her idea of what was at once modest and dignified, 
 the Maiden Queen on such occasions was wont to take in pri- 
 vate, or with one or two favourite ladies, her light and 
 temperate meal. After a moderate interval, the court again 
 met in the splendid gardens of the palace ; and it was while 
 thus engaged that the Queen suddenly asked a lady, who was 
 near to her both in place and favour, what had become of the 
 young Squire Lack-Cloak. 
 
 The Lady Paget answered, " She had seen Master Ealeigh
 
 238 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 but two or tliree minutes since, standing at tlie window of a 
 small pavilion or pleasure-house which, looked out on the 
 Thames, and writing on the glass with a diamond rmg."' 
 
 " That ring, " said the Queen, " was a small token I gave 
 him, to make amends for his spoiled mantle. Come, Paget, 
 let us see what use he has made of it, for I can see through 
 him already. He is a marvellously sharp-witted spirit. " 
 
 They went to the spot, within sight of which, but at some 
 distance, the young cavalier still lingered, as the fowler 
 watches the net which he has set. The Queen approached the 
 window, on which Raleigh had used her gift to inscribe the 
 following line : 
 
 " Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall." 
 
 The Queen smiled, read it twice over, once with deliberation 
 to Lady Paget, and once again to herself. " It is a pretty 
 beginning, " she said, after the consideration of a moment or 
 two ; " but methmks the muse hath deserted the young wit at 
 the very outset of his task. It were good-natured, were it not, 
 Lady Paget, to complete it for him? Try your rhyming 
 faculties." 
 
 Lady Paget, prosaic from her cradle upwards, as ever any 
 lady of the bedchamber before or after her, disclaimed aU 
 possibility of assisting the young poet. 
 
 " Nay, then, we must sacrifice to the Muses ourselves, " said 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 " The incense of no one can be more acceptable, " said Lady 
 Paget; "and your Highness will impose such obligation on 
 the ladies of Parnassus " 
 
 "Hush, Paget," said the Queen, "you speak sacrilege 
 against the immortal Nine; yet, virgins themselves, they 
 should be exorable to a virgin queen ; and, therefore, let me 
 see how runs his verse — 
 
 Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall. 
 
 Might not the answer, for fault of a better, run thus — 
 
 If thy mind fail thee, do not climb at all? " 
 
 The dame of honour uttered an exclamation of joy and sur-
 
 KENILWORTH. 239 
 
 prise at so happy a termijiation ; and certainly a worse has 
 been applauded, even when coming from a less distinguished 
 author. 
 
 The Queen, thus encouraged, took off a diamond ring, and 
 saying, *' We will give this gallant some cause of marvel, wheu 
 he finds his couplet perfected without his own interference, *" 
 she wrote her own line beneath that of Kaleigh. 
 
 The Queen left the pavilion ; but, retiring slowly and often 
 looking back, she could see the young cavalier steal, with the 
 flight of a lapwing, towards the place where he had seen her 
 make a pause. " She staid but to observe, " as she said, " that 
 her train had taken ;" and then, laughing at the circumstance 
 with the Lady Paget, she took the way slowly towards the 
 palace. Elizabeth, as they retxu-ned, cautioned her companion 
 not to mention to any one the aid which she had given to the 
 young poet, and Lady Paget promised scrupulous secrecy. 
 It is to be supposed that she made a mental reservation in 
 favour of Leicester, to whom her ladyship transmitted without 
 delay an anecdote so little calculated to give him pleasure. 
 
 Raleigh, in the mean while, stole back to the window, and 
 read, with a feeling of intoxication, the encouragement thus 
 given him by the Queen in person to follow out his ambitious 
 career, and returned to Sussex and his retinue, then on the 
 point of embarking to go up the river, his heart beating high 
 with gratified pride and with hope of future distinction. 
 
 The reverence due to the person of the earl prevented any 
 notice being taken of the reception he had met with at court, 
 until they had landed, and the household were assembled in 
 the great hall at Say's Court; while that lord, exhausted by 
 his late illness and the fatigues of the day, had retired to 
 his chamber, demanding the attendance of "Wayland, his suc- 
 cessful physician. \Yayland, however, was nowhere to be 
 found; and, while some of the party were, with military im- 
 patience, seeking him, and cursing his absence, the rest flocked 
 around Ealeigh to congratulate him on his prospects of court 
 favour. 
 
 He had the good taste and judgment to conceal the decisive 
 circumstance of the couplet, to which Elizabeth had deigned
 
 240 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to find a rliyme ; but other indications had transpired whicTi 
 plainly intimated that he had made some progress in the 
 Queen's favour. All hastened to wish him joy on the mended 
 appearance of his fortune — some from real regard; some, per- 
 haps, from hopes that his preferment might hasten their own ; 
 and most from a mixture of these motives, and a sense that 
 the countenance shown to any one of Sussex's household was, 
 in fact, a triumph to the whole. Raleigh returned the kindest 
 thanks to them all, disowning, with becoming modesty, that 
 one day's fair reception made a favourite, any more than one 
 swallow a summer. But he observed that Blount did not join 
 in the general congratulation, and, somewhat hurt at his ap- 
 parent unkindness, he plainly asked him the reason. 
 
 Blount replied with equal sincerity : " My good Walter, I 
 wish thee as well as do any of these chattering gulls, who are 
 whistling and whooping gratulations in thine ear, because it 
 seems fair weather with thee. But I fear for thee, Walter 
 (and he wiped his honest eye) — I fear for thee with all my 
 heart. These court tricks, and gambols, and flashes of fine 
 women's favour, are the tricks and trinkets that bring fair for- 
 tunes to farthings, and fine faces and witty coxcombs to the 
 acquaintance of dvill block and sharp axes." 
 
 So saying, Blount arose and left the hall, while Ealeigh 
 looked after him with an expression that blanked for a moment 
 his bold and animated countenance. 
 
 Stanley just then entered the hall, and said to Tressilian: 
 *' My lord is calling for your fellow Wayland, and your fellow 
 Way land is just come hither in a sculler, and is calling for 
 you, nor will he go to my lord till he sees you. The fellow 
 looks as he were mazed, methinks. I would you would see 
 him immediately." 
 
 Tressilian instantly left the hall, and causing Wayland 
 Smith to be shown into a withdrawing-apartment, and lights 
 placed, he conducted the artist thither, and was surprised 
 when he observed the emotion of his countenance. 
 
 "What is the matter with you. Smith?" said Tressilian; 
 "have you seen the devil?" 
 
 "Worse, sir — worse," replied Wayland, "I have seen a
 
 KENILWORTH. 241 
 
 basilisk. Thank God, I saw liini first, for, "being so seen, and 
 seeing not me, lie will do the less harm." 
 
 "In God's name, speak sense," said Tressilian, "and say 
 what you mean!" 
 
 " I have seen my old master," said the artist. " Last night, 
 a friend whom I had acquired took me to see the palace clock, 
 judging me to be curious in such works of art. At the window 
 of a turret next to the clock-house I saw my old master." 
 
 " Thou must needs have been mistaken, " said Tressilian. 
 
 " I was not mistaken, " said Way land. " He that once hath 
 his features by heart would knoAv him amongst a million. He 
 was anticly habited; but he cannot disguise himself from me, 
 ■God be praised! as I can from him. I will not, however, 
 tempt Providence by remaining within his ken. Tarleton the 
 player himseK could not so disguise himself but that, sooner 
 or later, Doboobie would find him out. I must away to-mor- 
 row; for, as we stand together, it were death to me to remain 
 within reach of him. " 
 
 " But the Earl of Sussex?" said Tressilian. 
 
 " He is in little danger from what he has hitherto taken, 
 provided he swallow the matter of a bean's size of the orvietan 
 •every morning fasting; but let him beware of a relapse." 
 
 "And how is that to be guarded against?" said Tressi- 
 lian. 
 
 " Only by such caution as j^ou would use against the devil, " 
 answered Wayland. *' Let my lord's clerk of the kitchen kill 
 his lord's meat himseK, and dress it himself, using no spice 
 but what he procures from the surest hands. Let the sewer 
 serve it up himseK, and let the master of my lord's household 
 see that both clerk and sewer taste the dishes which the one 
 dresses and the other serves. Let my lord use no perfumes 
 which come not from well accredited persons — no unguents — 
 no pomades. Let him, on no account, drink with strangers, 
 or eat fruit with them, either in the way of nooning or other- 
 wise. Especially, let him observe such caution if he goes 
 to Kenilworth: the excuse of his illness, and his being 
 imder diet, will, and must, cover the strangeness of such 
 practice." 
 16
 
 242 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "And thou," said Tressilian, "-what dost thou think to 
 make of thyself?" 
 
 "France, Spain, either India, East or West, shall be my 
 refuge," said Wayland, "ere I venture my life by residing 
 within ken of Doboobie, Demetrius, or whatever else he calls 
 himself for the time." 
 
 " Well, " said Tressilian, " this happens not inopportunely. 
 I had business for you in Berkshire, but in the opposite ex- 
 tremity to the place where thou art knoAvn; and ere thou 
 hadst found out this new reason for living private, I had 
 settled to send thee thither upon a secret embassage." 
 
 The artist expressed himself willing to receive his commands, 
 and Tressilian, knowing he was well acquainted with the out- 
 line of his business at court, frankly explained to him the 
 whole, mentioned the agreement which subsisted betwixt 
 Giles Gosling and him, and told what had that day been 
 averred in the presence-chamber by Varney, and supported 
 by Leicester. 
 
 "Thou seest," he added, "that, in the circumstances in 
 which I am placed, it behoves me to keep a narrow watch on 
 the motions of these unprincipled men, Varney and his com- 
 plices, Foster and Lamboiu-ne, as well as on those of my Lord 
 Leicester himself, Avho, I suspect, is partly a deceiver, and 
 not altogether the deceived in that matter. Here is my ruig, 
 as a pledge to Giles Gosling; here is, besides, gold, which 
 shall be trebled if thou serve me faithfully. Away down to 
 Cumnor, and see what happens there." 
 
 " I go with double good- will, " said the artist, " first, because 
 I serve your honour, who has been so kind to me, and then, 
 that I may escape my old master, who, if not an absolute in- 
 carnation of the devil, has, at least, as much of the demon 
 about him, in will, word, and action, as ever polluted human- 
 ity. And yet let him take care of me. I fly him now, as 
 heretofore ; but if, like the Scottish wild cattle, ' I am vexed 
 by frequent pursuit, I may turn on him in hate and despera- 
 tion. Will your honour command my nag to be saddled? 
 I will but give the medicine to my lord, undivided in its 
 
 » See Note 10.
 
 KENILWORTH. 243 
 
 proper proportions, with a few instructions. His safety will 
 then depend on the care of his friends and domestics : for the 
 past he is guarded, but let him beware of the future," 
 
 Wayland Smith accordingly made his farewell visit to the 
 Earl of Sussex, dictated instructions as to his regimen and 
 precautions concerning his diet, and left Say's Court without 
 waiting for morning. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The moment comes— 
 It is already come — when thou must write 
 The absolute total of thy life's vast sum. 
 The constellations stand victorious o'er thee, 
 The planets shoot good fortune in fair junctions. 
 And tell thee, " Now's the time." 
 
 Schiller's Wallenstein, by Coleridge. 
 
 When Leicester returned to his lodging, after a day so im- 
 portant and so harassing, in which, after riding out more than 
 one gale, and touching on more than one shoal, his bark had 
 finally gained the harbour with banner displayed, he seemed 
 to experience as much fatigue as a mariner after a perilous 
 storm. He spoke not a word while his chamberlain exchanged 
 his rich court-mantle for a furred night-robe, and when this 
 officer signified that Master Varney desired to speak with his 
 lordship, he replied only by a sullen nod. Varney, however, 
 entered, accepting this signal as a permission, and the cham- 
 berlain withdrew. The earl remained silent and almost 
 motionless in his chair, his head reclined on his hand, and his 
 elbow resting on the table which stood beside him, without 
 seeming to be conscious of the entrance or of the presence of 
 his confidant. Varney waited for some minutes untU. he 
 should speak, desirous to know what was the finally predomi- 
 nant mood of a mind through which so many powerful emo- 
 tions had that day taken their course. But he waited on in 
 vain, for Leicester continued still silent, and the confidant 
 saw himself under the necessity of being the first to speak. 
 " May I congratulate your lordship," he said, "on the deserved
 
 244 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 superiority you have this day attained over your most formi- 
 dable rival?" 
 
 Leicester raised his head, and answered sadly, but without 
 anger, " Thou, Varney, whose ready invention has involved me 
 in a web of most mean and perilous falsehood, knowest best 
 what small reason there is for gratulation on the subject." 
 
 "Do you blame me, my lord," said Varney, "for not be- 
 traying, on the first push, the secret on which your fortunes 
 depended, and which you have so oft and so earnestly recom- 
 mended to my safe keeping? Your lordship was present in 
 person, and might have contradicted me and ruined yourself 
 by an avowal of the truth ; but surely it was no part of a faith- 
 ful servant to have done so without your commands." 
 
 " I cannot deny it, Varney, " said the earl, rising and walk- 
 ing across the room ; " my own ambition has been traitor to 
 my love. " 
 
 " Say, rather, my lord, that your love has been traitor to 
 your greatness, and barred you from such a prospect of honour 
 and power as the world cannot offer to any other. To make 
 my honoured lady a countess, you have missed the chance of 
 being yourself " 
 
 He paused, and seemed unwilling to complete the sentence. 
 
 "Of being myself ivhat?" demanded Leicester; "speak 
 out thy meaning, Varney." 
 
 "Of being yourself a KING, my lord," replied Varney; 
 *' and King of England to boot ! It is no treason to our Queen 
 to say so. It would have chanced by her obtaining that 
 which all true subjects wish her — a lusty, noble, and gallant 
 husband." 
 
 " Thou ravest, Varney, " answered Leicester. " Besides, our 
 times have seen enough to make men loathe the crown matri- 
 monial which men take from their wives' lap. There was 
 Darnley of Scotland. " 
 
 "He!" said Varney — "a gull, a fool, a thrice-sodden ass, 
 who suffered himself to be fired off into the air like a rocket 
 on a rejoicing-day. Had Mary had the hap to have wedded 
 the noble earl once destined to share her throne, she had ex- 
 perienced a husband of different metal j and her husband had
 
 KENILWORTH. 245 
 
 found in her a wife as complying and loving as the mate of 
 the meanest squire, who follows the hounds a-horseback, and 
 holds her husband's bridle as he mounts." 
 
 "It might have been as thou sayest, Varney," said Leices- 
 ter, a brief smile of self-satisfaction passing over his anxious 
 countenance. " Henry Darnley knew little of women. With 
 Mary, a man who knew her sex might have had some chance 
 of holding his own; but not with Elizabeth, Varney; for I 
 think God, when He gave her the heart of a woman, gave her 
 the head of a man to control its follies. No, I know her. 
 She will accept love-tokens — ay, and requite them with the 
 like ; put sugared sonnets in her bosom — ay, and answer 
 them too ; push gallantry to the very verge where it becomes 
 exchange of affection ; but she write nil ultra to all which is 
 to follow, and would not barter one iota of her own supreme 
 power for all the alphabet of both Cupid and Hymen." 
 
 '■'■ The better for you, my lord, " said Varney, " that is, in 
 the case supposed, if such be her disposition ; since you think 
 you cannot aspire to become her husband. Her favourite you 
 are, and may remain, if the lady at Cumnor Place continues 
 in her present obscurity." 
 
 " Poor Amy !" said Leicester, with a deep sigh ; " she desires, 
 so earnestly to be acknowledged in presence of God and man!" 
 
 " Ay, but, my lord, " said Varney, " is her desire reason- 
 able? that is the question. Her religious scruples are solved t 
 she is an honoured and beloved wife, enjoying the society of 
 her husband at such times as his weightier duties permit him 
 to afford her his company. "What would she more? I am 
 right sure that a lady so gentle and so loving would consent to 
 live her life through in a certain obscurity — which is, after 
 all, not dimmer than when she was at Lidcote Hall — rather 
 than diminish the least jot of her lord's honours and greatness 
 by a premature attempt to share them." 
 
 "There is something in what thou say'st," said Leicester j 
 *' and her appearance here were fatal. Yet she must be seen 
 at Kenilworth: Elizabeth will not forget that she has so 
 appointed. " 
 
 " Let me sleep on that hard point, " said Varney ; " I cannot
 
 246 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 else perfect the device I liave on the stithy, which I trust will 
 satisfy the Queen and please my honoured lady, yet leave this 
 fatal secret where it is now buried. Has your lordship further 
 commands for the night?" 
 
 " I would be alone," said Leicester, " Leave me, and place 
 my steel casket on the table. Be within summons." 
 
 Varney retired; and the earl, opening the window of his 
 apartment, looked out long and anxiously upon the brilliant 
 host of stars which glimmered in the splendour of a summer 
 firmament. The words burst from him as at unawares — " I 
 had never more need that the heavenly bodies should befriend 
 me, for my earthly path is darkened and confused." 
 
 It is well known that the age reposed a deep confidence in 
 the vain predictions of judicial astrology, and Leicester, 
 though exempt from the general control of superstition, was 
 not in this respect superior to his time ; but, on the contrary, 
 was remarkable for the encouragement which he gave to the 
 professors of this pretended science. Indeed, the wish to pry 
 into futurity, so general among the human race, is peculiarly 
 to be found amongst those who trade in state mysteries, and 
 the dangerous intrigues and cabals of courts. With heedful 
 precaution to see that it had not been opened, or its locks 
 tampered with, Leicester applied a key to the steel casket, 
 and drew from it, first, a parcel of gold pieces, which he put 
 into a silk purse ; then a parchment inscribed with planetary 
 signs, and the lines and calculations used in framing horo- 
 scopes, on which he gazed intently for a few moments ; and, 
 lastly, took forth a large key, which, lifting aside the tapestry, 
 he applied to a little concealed door in the corner of the 
 apartment, and, opening it, disclosed a stair constructed in the 
 thickness of the wall. 
 
 " Alasco, " said the earl, with a voice raised, yet no higher 
 raised than to be heard by the inhabitant of the smaU tun-et 
 to which the stair conducted — " Alasco, I say, descend. " 
 
 "I come, my lord," answered a voice from above. The 
 foot of an aged man was heard slowly descending the narrow 
 stair, and Alasco entered the earl's apartment. The astrologer 
 was a little man, and seemed much advanced in age, for his
 
 KENILWORTH. 247 
 
 beard was long and white, and reached over his black doublet 
 down to his silken girdle. His hair was of the same venerable 
 hue. But his eyebrows were as dark as the keen and piercing 
 black eyes which they shaded, and this peculiarity gave a 
 wild and singular cast to the physiognomy of the old man. 
 His cheek was still fresh and ruddy, and the eyes we have 
 mentioned resembled those of a rat in acuteness, and even 
 fierceness, of expression. His manner was not without a sort 
 of dignity ; and the interpreter of the stars, though respectful, 
 seemed altogether at his ease, and even assumed a tone of in- 
 struction and command in conversing with the prime favourite 
 of Elizabeth. 
 
 " Your i^rognostications have failed, Alasco, " said the earl, 
 when they had exchanged salutations. " He is recovering." 
 
 " My son, " replied the astrologer, " let me remind you, I 
 warranted not his death ; nor is there any prognostication that 
 can be derived from the heavenly bodies, their aspects and 
 their conjunctions, which is not liable to be controlled by the 
 will of Heaven. Astra regiint honmies, sed reylt astra Deus^ 
 
 "Of what avail, then, is your mystery?" inquired the earl. 
 
 " Of much, my son, " replied the old man, " since it can show 
 the natural and probable course of events, although that course 
 moves in subordination to an Higher Power. Thus, in review- 
 ing the horoscope which your lordship subjected to my skill, 
 you will observe that Saturn, being in the sixth house in op- 
 position to Mars, retrograde in the House of Life, cannot but 
 denote long and dangerous sickness, the issue whereof is in the 
 will of Heaven, though death may probably be inferred. Yet, 
 if I knew the name of the party, I would erect another 
 scheme. " 
 
 "His name is a secret," said the earl; "yet, I must own, 
 thy prognostication hath not been unfaithful. He has been 
 sick, and dangerously so — not, however, to death. But hast 
 thou again cast my horoscope, as Varney directed thee, and 
 art thou prepared to say what the stars tell of my present 
 fortune?" 
 
 " My art stands at your command, " said the old man, " and 
 here, my sou, is the map of thy fortimes, brilliant in aspect
 
 248 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 as e'-'er beamed from those blessed signs whereby our life is 
 influenced, yet not unchequered with fears, difficulties, and 
 dangers." 
 
 " My lot were more than mortal were it otherwise, " said the 
 earl ; " proceed, father, and believe you speak with one ready 
 to undergo his destiny in action and in passion as may beseem 
 a noble of England." 
 
 " Thy courage to do and to suffer must be wound up yet a 
 strain higher, " said the old man. " The stars intimate yet a 
 prouder title, yet an higher rank. It is for thee to guess their 
 meaning, not for me to name it." 
 
 "Name it, I conjure you — name it, I command you," said 
 the earl, his eyes brightening as he spoke. 
 
 " I may not, and I will not, " replied the old man. " The 
 ire of princes is as the wrath of the lion. But mark, and 
 judge for thyself. Here Venus, ascendant in the House of 
 Life, and conjoined with Sol, showers down that flood of silver 
 light, blent with gold, which promises power, wealth, dignity, 
 all that the proud heart of man desires, and in such abundance, 
 that never the future Augustus of that old and mighty Rome 
 heard from his haruspices such a tale of glory as from this 
 rich text my lore might read to my favourite son." 
 
 " Thou dost but jest with me, father," said the earl, aston- 
 ished at the strain of enthusiasm in which the astrologer 
 delivered his prediction. 
 
 " Is it for him to jest who hath his eye on heaven, who hath 
 his foot in the grave?" returned the old man, solemnly. 
 
 The earl made two or three strides through the apartment, 
 with his hand outstretched, as one who follows the beckoning 
 signal of some phantom, waving him on to deeds of high im- 
 port. As he turned, however, he caught the eye of the as- 
 trologer fixed on him, while an observing glance of the most 
 shrewd jDenetration shot from under the penthouse of his 
 shaggy dark eyebrows. Leicester's haughty and suspicious 
 «oul at once caught fire; he darted towards the old man from 
 the further end of the lofty apartment, only standing still 
 when his extended hand was within a foot of the astrologer's 
 fcody.
 
 KENILWORTH. 249 
 
 ''TVretcli!" lie .said, "if you dare to palter witli me, I will 
 have your skin stripped from your living flesh ! Confess thou 
 hast been hired to deceive and to betray me — that thou art a 
 cheat, and I thy silly prey and booty!" 
 
 The old man exhibited some symptoms of emotion, but not 
 more than the furious deportment of his patron might have 
 extorted from innocence itseK. 
 
 " What means this violence, my lord?" he answered, "or in 
 what can I have deserved it at your hand?" 
 
 " Give me proof, " said the earl, vehemently, " that you have 
 not tampered with mine enemies." 
 
 "My lord," replied the old man, with dignity, "you can 
 have no better proof than that which you yourself elected. In 
 that turret I have spent the last twenty-four hours, under the 
 key which has been in your own custody. The hours of dark- 
 ness I have spent in gazing on the heavenly bodies with these 
 dim eyes, and during those of light I have toiled this aged 
 brain to complete the calculations arising from their combina- 
 tions. Earthly food I have not tasted — earthly voice I have 
 not heard. You are yourself aware I had no means of doing- 
 so; and yet I tell you — I who have been thus shut up in soli- 
 tude and study — that within these twenty-four hours your star 
 has become predominant in the horizon, and either the bright 
 book of heaven speaks false or there must have been a propor- 
 tionate revolution in your fortunes upon earth. If nothing 
 has happened within that space to secure your power or ad- 
 vance your favour, then am I indeed a cheat, and the divine- 
 art, which was first devised in the plains of Chaldea, is a foul 
 imposture." 
 
 "It is true," said Leicester, after a moment's reflection, 
 " thou wert closely immured, and it is also true that the change 
 has taken place in my situation which thou say'st the horo- 
 scope indicates." 
 
 "Wherefore this distrust, then, my son?" said the astrologer, 
 assuming a tone of admonition; "the celestial intelligences 
 brook not diffidence, even in their favourite." 
 
 "Peace, father," answered Leicester, "I have erred in 
 doubting thee. Not to mortal man, nor to celestial intelli-
 
 250 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 gence — under that whicli is supreme — will Dudley's lips say 
 more in condescension or apology. Speak rather to the pres- 
 ent purpose. Amid these bright promises, thou hast said 
 there was a threatening aspect. Can thy skill tell whence, 
 or by whose means, such danger seems to impend?" 
 
 " Thus far only," answered the astrologer, " does my art en- 
 able me to answer your query. The infortune is threatened 
 by the malignant and adverse aspect, through means of a youth, 
 and, as I think, a rival; but whether in love or in prince's 
 favour, I know not ; nor can I give farther indication respect- 
 ing him, save that he comes from the western quarter." 
 
 "The western— ha!" replied Leicester, "it is enough; the 
 tempest does indeed brew in that quarter. Cornwall and 
 Devon — Ealeigh and Tressilian — one of them is indicated ; I 
 must beware of both. Father, if I have done thy skill injus- 
 tice, I will make thee a lordly recompense." 
 
 He took a purse of gold from the strong casket which stood 
 before him. " Have thou double the recompense which Var- 
 ney promised. Be faithful — be secret — obey the directions 
 thou shalt receive from my master of the horse, and grudge 
 not a little seclusion or restraint in my cause ; it shall be rich- 
 ly considered. Here, Varney, conduct this venerable man to 
 thine own lodging ; tend him heedf ully in all things, but see 
 that he holds communications with no one." 
 
 Varney bowed, and the astrologer kissed the earl's hand in 
 token of adieu, and followed the master of the horse to another 
 apartment, in which were placed wine and refreshments for 
 his use. 
 
 The astrologer sat down to his repast, while Varney shut 
 two doors with great precaution, examined the tapestry, lest 
 any listener lurked behind it ; and then sitting down opposite 
 to the sage, began to question him. 
 
 " Saw you my signal from the court beneath?" 
 
 " I did, " said Alasco, for by such name he was at present 
 called, " and shaped the horoscope accordingly." 
 
 "And it passed upon the patron without challenge?" con- 
 tinued Varney. 
 
 " Not without challenge, " replied the old man, " but it did
 
 KENILWORTH. 251 
 
 pass ; and I added, as before agreed, danger from a discovered 
 secret and a western youth. " 
 
 " My lord's fear will stand a sponsor to the one and his con- 
 science to the other of these prognostications," replied Vamey. 
 " Sure, never na.an chose to run such a race as this, yet con- 
 tinued to retain those silly scruples ! I am fain to cheat him 
 to his own profit. But touching your matters, sage interpreter 
 of the stars, I can tell you more of your own fortune than plan 
 or figure can show. You must be gone from hence forthwith." 
 
 " I will not, " said Alasco, peevishly. " I have been too 
 much hurried up and down of late — immured for day and night 
 in a desolate turret-chamber ; I must enjoy my liberty, and 
 pursue my studies, which are of more import than the fate of 
 fifty statesmen and favourites, that rise and burst like bubbles 
 in the atmosphere of a court." 
 
 " At your pleasure, " said Vamey, with a sneer which habit 
 had rendered familiar to his features, and which forms the 
 principal characteristic that painters have assigned to those of 
 Satan — "at your pleasure," he said; "you may enjoy your 
 liberty and your studies until the daggers of Sussex's followers 
 are clashing within your doublet, and against your ribs. " The 
 old man turned pale, and Vamey proceeded. " Wot j^ou not 
 he hath offered a reward for the arch-quack and poison-vender, 
 Demetrius, who sold certain precious spice to his lordship's 
 cook? What! turn you pale, old friend? Does Hali already 
 see an infortune in the House of Life? Why, hark thee, we 
 will have thee down to an old house of mine in the country, 
 where thou shalt live with a hobnailed slave, whom thy alchemy 
 may convert into ducats, for to such conversion alone is thy 
 art serviceable." 
 
 " It is false, thou foul-mouthed railer, " said Alasco, shak- 
 ing Avith impotent anger : " it is well kno^vTi that I have ap- 
 proached more nearly to projection than any hermetic artist 
 who now lives. There are not six chemists in the world who 
 possess so near an approximation to the grand arcanum " 
 
 "Come — come," said Varney, interrupting him, "what 
 means this, in the name of Heaven? Do we not know one 
 another? I believe thee to be so perfect — so very perfect, in
 
 252 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 the mystery of cheating, that, having imposed upon all man- 
 kind, thou hast at length, in some measure, imposed upon thy- 
 seK; and without ceasing to dupe others, hast become a species 
 of dupe to thine own imagination. Blush not for it, manj 
 thou art learned, and shalt have classical comfort : 
 
 Ne quisquam Ajacem possit superare nisi Ajax. 
 
 No one but thyself could have gulled thee, and thou hast gulled 
 the whole brotherhood of the Rosy Cross beside — none so deep 
 in the mystery as thou. But hark thee in thine ear : had the 
 seasoning which spiced Sussex's broth wrought more surely, I 
 would have thought better of the chemical science thou dost 
 boast so highly." 
 
 "Thou art l^an hardened villain, Varney," replied Alasco; 
 ^'many will do those things, who dare not speak of them." 
 
 " And many speak of them who dare not do them, " answered 
 Varney ; " but be not wroth — I will not quarrel with thee. If 
 I did, I were fain to live on eggs for a month, that I might 
 feed without fear. Tell me at once, how came thine art to 
 fail thee at this great emergency?" 
 
 "The Earl of Sussex's horoscope intimates," replied the 
 ■astrologer, " that the sign of the ascendant being in combus- 
 tion " 
 
 "Away with your gibberish," replied Varney; "think'st 
 thou it is the patron thou speak'st with?" 
 
 " I crave your pardon, " replied the old man, " and swear to 
 you, I know but one medicine that could have saved the earl's 
 life ; and as no man living in England knows that antidote 
 save myself ; moreover, as the ingredients, one of them in par- 
 ticular, are scarce possible to be come by, I must needs suppose 
 his escape was owing to such a constitution of lungs and vital 
 parts as was never before bound up in a body of clay." 
 
 " There was some talk of a quack who waited on him, " said 
 Varney, after a moment's reflection. "Are you sure there is 
 no one in England who has this secret of thine?" 
 
 " One man there was, " said the doctor, " once my servant, 
 who might have stolen this of me, with one or two other 
 secrets of art. But content you, Master Varney, it is no part
 
 KENILWORTH. 253 
 
 of my policy to suffer such iuterlopers to interfere in my trade. 
 He pries into no mysteries more, I warrant you j for, as I^well 
 believe, lie hath been wafted to heaven on the wing of a fiery 
 dragon. Peace be with him ! But in this retreat of mine, I 
 shall have the use of mine elaboratory?" 
 
 " Of a whole workshop, man, " said Varney ; " for a reverend 
 father abbot, who was fain to give place to bluff King Hal 
 and some of his courtiers a score of years since, had a chemist's 
 complete apparatus, which he was obliged to leave behind 
 him to his successors. Thou shalt there occupy, and melt, 
 and puff, and blaze, and multiply, until the green dragon be- 
 come a golden goose, or whatever the newer phrase of the 
 brotherhood may testify." 
 
 " Thou art right, Master Varney, " said the alchemist, setting 
 his teeth close and grinding them together — " thou art right, 
 even in thy very contempt of right and reason. For what 
 thou say'st in mockery may in sober verity chance to happen 
 ere we meet again. If the most venerable sages of ancient 
 days have spoken the truth ; if the most learned of our own 
 have rightly received it ; if I have been accepted wherever I 
 travelled, in Germany, in Poland, in Italy, and in the farther 
 Tartary, as one to whom nature has imveiled her darkest 
 secrets ; if I have acquired the most secret signs and passwords 
 «f the Jewish Cabala, so that the greyest beard in the sjma- 
 gogue would brush the steps to make them clean for me — if 
 all this is so, and if there remains but one step — one little 
 step — betwixt my long, deep, and dark, and subterranean 
 progress and that blaze of light which shall show nature 
 "watching her richest and her most glorious productions in 
 the very cradle — one step betwixt dependence and the power 
 of sovereignty — one step betwixt poverty and such a sum of 
 wealth as earth, without that noble secret, cannot minister 
 from all her mines in the old or the new-found world — if this 
 be all so, is it not reasonable that to this I dedicate my future 
 life, secure, for a brief period of studious patience, to rise 
 above the mean dependence upon favourites and their favour- 
 ites by which I am now enthralled?" 
 
 " Now, bravo ! — bravo ! my good father, " said Varney, with.
 
 254 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 the usual sardonic expression of ridicule on his countenance; 
 " yet all this approximation to the philosopher's stone wringeth 
 not one single crown out of my Lord Leicester's pouch, and 
 far less out of Eichard Varney's. We must have earthly and 
 substantial services, man, and care not whom else thou canst 
 delude with thy philosophical charlatanry. " 
 
 "My son Varney," said the alchemist, "the im belief, gath- 
 ered around thee like a frost-fog, hath dimmed thine acute 
 perception to that which is a stumbling-block to the wise, and 
 which yet, to him who seeketh knowledge with humility, ex- 
 tends a lesson so clear that he who runs may read. Hath not 
 art, think' st thou, the means of completing nature's imperfect 
 concoctions in her attempts to form the precious metals, even 
 as by art we can perfect those other operations, of incubation, 
 distillation, fermentation, and similar processes of an ordinary 
 description, by which we extract life itseK out of a senseless 
 egg, summon purity and vitality out of muddy dregs, or call 
 into vivacity the inert substance of a sluggish liquid?" 
 
 " I have heard all this before, " said Varney, " and my heart 
 is proof against such cant ever since I sent twenty good gold 
 pieces — marry, it was in the nonage of my wit — to advance 
 the grand magisterium, all which, God help the while, van- 
 ished infimio. Since that moment, when I paid for my free- 
 dom, I defy chemistry, astrology, palmistry, and every other 
 occult art, were it as secret as hell itself, to unloose the stric- 
 ture of my purse-strings. Marry, I neither defy the manna of 
 St. Nicholas nor can I dispense with it. Thy first task must 
 be to prepare some when thou get'st down to my little sequest- 
 ered retreat yonder, and then make as much gold as thou wilt." 
 
 " I will make no more of that dose, " said the alchemist, 
 resolutely. 
 
 " Then, " said the master of the horse, *' thou shalt be hanged 
 for what thou hast made already, and so were the great secret 
 for ever lost to mankind. Do not humanity this injustice, 
 good father, but e'en bend to thy destiny, and make us an 
 ounce or two of this same stuff, which cannot prejudice above 
 one or two individuals, in order to gain lifetime to discover 
 the imiversal medicine, which shall clear away all mortal dis-
 
 KENIL WORTH. 255 
 
 eases at once. But cheer up, tliou grave, learned, and most 
 melancholy j ackanapes ! Hast thou not told me that a moderate 
 portion of thy drug hath mild effects, no ways ultimately dan- 
 gerous to the human frame, but which produces depression of 
 spirits, nausea, headache, an unwillingness to change of place — • 
 even such a state of temper as would keep a bird from flying 
 out of a cage were the door left open?" 
 
 " I have said so, and it is true, " said the alchemist ; " this 
 effect will it produce, and the bird who partakes of it in such 
 proportion shall sit for a season drooping on her perch, with- 
 out thinking either of the free blue sky or of the fair green- 
 wood, though the one be lighted by the rays of the rising sun 
 and the other ringing with the newly awakened song of all the 
 feathered inhabitants of the forest. " 
 
 '•And this without danger to life?" said Varney, somewhat 
 anxiously. 
 
 "Ay, so that proportion and measure be not exceeded; and 
 so that one who knows the nature of the manna be ever near 
 to watch the symptoms, and succour in case of need." 
 
 " Thou shalt regulate the whole, " said Varney ; " thy reward 
 shall be princely, if thou keepest time and touch, and exceed- 
 est not the due proportion, to the prejudice of her health; 
 otherwise thy punishment shall be as signal." 
 
 "The prejudice of her health!" repeated Alasco; "it is, 
 then, a woman I am to use my skill upon?" 
 
 " No, thou fool, " replied Varney ; " said I not it was a bird — 
 a reclaimed linnet, whose pipe might soothe a hawk when in 
 mid stoop? I see thine eye sparkle, and I know thy beard is 
 not altogether so white as art has made it : that, at least, thou 
 hast been able to transmute to silver. But mark me, this is 
 no mate for thee. This caged bird is dear to one who brooks 
 no rivalry, and fax less such rivalry as thine, and her health 
 must over all things be cared for. But she is in the case 
 of being commanded down to yonder Kenilworth revels; 
 and it is most expedient — most needful — most necessary that 
 she fly not thither. Of these necessities and their causes 
 it is not needful that she should know aught, and it is to 
 be thought that her own wish may lead her to combat all
 
 256 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ordinary reasons which can be urged for her remaining a 
 housekeepei; " 
 
 " That is but natural, " said the alchemist, with a strange 
 smile, which yet bore a greater reference to the human char- 
 acter than the uninterested and abstracted gaze which his 
 physiognomy had hitherto expressed, where all seemed to refer 
 to some world distant from that which was existing around him. 
 
 "It is so," answered Varney: "you understand women 
 well, though it may have been long since you were conversant 
 amongst them. Well, then, she is not to be contradicted, yet 
 she is not to be humoured. Understand me — a slight illness, 
 sufficient to take away the desire of removing from thence, and 
 to make such of your wise fraternity as may be called in to aid 
 recommend a quiet residence at home, will, in one word, be 
 esteemed good service, and remunerated as such." 
 
 " I am not to be asked to affect the House of Life?" said 
 the chemist. 
 
 " On the contrary, we will have thee hanged if thou dost," 
 replied Varney. 
 
 " And I must, " added Alasco, " have opportunity to do my 
 turn, and all facilities for concealment for escape, should there 
 be detection?" 
 
 " All — all, and everything, thou infidel in all but the im- 
 possibilities of alchemy. Why, man, or what dost thou take 
 me?" 
 
 The old man rose, and taking a light, walked towards the 
 end of the apartment, where was a door that led to the small 
 sleeping-room destined for his reception during the night. At 
 the door he turned round, and slowly repeated Varney' s ques- 
 tion ere he answered it. " For what do I take thee, Richard 
 Varney? Why, for a worse devil than I have been myself. 
 But I am in your toils, and I must serve you till my term be 
 out." 
 
 " Well — well, " answered Varney, hastily, " be stirring with 
 grey light. It may be we shall not need thy medicine. Do 
 nought till I myself come down. Michael Lambourne shall 
 guide you to the place of your destination." ' 
 » See Dr. Julio. Note 11.
 
 KENILWORTH. 257 
 
 Wlieii Varney heard the adept's door shut and carefully 
 bolted within, he stepped towards it, and with similar precau- 
 tion carefully locked it on the outside, and took the key from 
 the lock, muttering to himself, ""Worse than thee, thou poison- 
 ing quacksalver and witch-monger, who, if thou art not a 
 bounden slave to the devil, it is only because he disdains such 
 an apprentice ! I am a mortal man, and seek by mortal means 
 the gratification of my passions and advancement of my pros- 
 pects. Thou art a vassal of hell itself. So ho, Lambourne!" 
 he called at another door, and Michael made his appearance, 
 with a flushed cheek and an unsteady step. 
 
 " Thou art drunk, thou villain!" said Varney to him. 
 
 "Doubtless, noble sir," replied the unabashed Michael, 
 *' we have been drinking all even to the glories of the day, and 
 to my noble Lord of Leicester, and his valiant master of the 
 horse. Drunk ! odds blades and poniards, he that would re- 
 fuse to swallow a dozen healths on such an evening is a base 
 besognio and a puckfist, and shall swallow six inches of my 
 dagger!" 
 
 "Hark ye, scoundrel," said Varney, "be sober on the in- 
 stant, I command thee. I know thou canst throw off thy 
 drunken folly, like a fool's coat, at pleasure ; and if not, it 
 were the worse for thee." 
 
 Lambourne drooped his head, left the apartment, and re- 
 turned in two or three minutes with his face composed, his 
 hair adjusted, his dress in order, and exhibiting as great a 
 difference from his former self as if the whole man had been 
 changed. 
 
 "Art thou sober now, and dost thou comprehend me?" said 
 Varney, sternly. 
 
 Lambourne bowed in acquiescence. 
 
 "Thou must presently down to Cumnor Place with the 
 reverend man of art who sleeps yonder in the little vaulted 
 chamber. Here is the key, that thou mayst call him betimes. 
 Take another trusty fellow with you. Use him well on the 
 journey, but let him not escape you ; pistol him if he attempt 
 it, and I will be your warrant. I will give thee letters to 
 Foster. The doctor is to occupy the lower apartments of the 
 17
 
 258 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 eastern quadrangle, with, freedom to use the old elaboratory 
 and its implements. He is to have no access to the lady, but 
 Buch as I shall point out — only she may be amused to see his 
 philosophical jugglery. Thou wilt wait at Cumnor Place my 
 fai'ther orders; and, as thou livest, beware of the ale-bench 
 and the aquavitse flask. Each breath drawn in Cumnor Place 
 must be kept severed from common air." 
 
 " Enough, my lord — I mean my worshipful master — soon, 
 I trust, to be my worshipful knightly master. You have 
 given me my lesson and my license ; I will execute the one, 
 and not abuse the other. I will be in the saddle by day- 
 break." 
 
 " Do so, and deserve favour. Stay — ere thou goest, fill me 
 a cup of wine ; not out of that flask, sirrah, " as Lambourne 
 was pouring out from that which Alasco had left half finished, 
 "fetch me a fresh one." 
 
 Lambourne obeyed, and Vaxney, after rinsing his mouth 
 with the liquor, drank a full cup, and said, as he took up a 
 lamp to retreat to his sleeping-apartment: "It is strange — I 
 am as little the slave of fancy as any one, yet I never speak 
 for a few minutes with this fellow Alasco, but my mouth and 
 lungs feel as if soiled with the fumes of calcined arsenic — pah!" 
 
 So saying, he left the apartment. Lambourne lingered, to 
 drink a cup of the freshly opened flask. "It is from St. 
 John's Berg!" he said, as he paused on the draught to enjoy 
 its flavour, " and has the true relish of the violet. But I nmst 
 forbear it now, that I may one day drink it at my own pleas- 
 ure." And he quaffed a goblet of water to quench the fiimes 
 of the Ehenish wine, retired slowly towards the door, made a 
 pause, and then, finding the temptation irresistible, walked 
 hastily back, and took another long pull at the wine-flask, 
 without the formality of a cup. 
 
 " Were it not for this accursed custom, " he said, " I might 
 climb as high as Vamey himself. But who can climb when 
 the room turns round with him like a parish-top? I would 
 the distance were greater, or the road rougher, betwixt my 
 hand and mouth ! But I will drink nothing to-morrow save 
 water — nothing save fair water."
 
 KENILWORTH. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Pistol. And tidings do I bring, and lucky joys, 
 And happy news of price. 
 
 Falstaff. I prithee now, deliver them like to a man of this world. 
 
 Pistol. A foutra for the world, and worldlings base ! 
 I speak of Africa, and golden joys. 
 
 Benry IV. Part II. 
 
 The puMic room of the Black Bear at Cumnor, to which 
 the scene of our story now returns, boasted, on the evening 
 which we treat of, no ordinary assemblage of guests. There 
 had been a fair in the neighbourhood, and the cutting mercer 
 of Abingdon, with some of the other personages whom the 
 reader has already been made acquainted with, as friends and 
 customers of Giles Gosling, had already formed their wonted 
 circle around the evening fire, and were talking over the news 
 of the day. 
 
 A lively, bustlmg, arch fellow, whose pack and oaken ell- 
 wand, studded duly with brass points, denoted him to be of 
 Autolycus's profession, occupied a good deal of the attention, 
 and furnished much of the amusement, of the evening. The 
 pedlars of those days, it must be remembered, were men of 
 far greater importance than the degenerate and degraded 
 hawkers of our modern times. It was by means of these 
 peripatetic venders that the country trade, in the finer manu- 
 factures used in female dress particularly, was almost entirely 
 carried on ; and if a merchant of this description arrived at the 
 dignity of travelling with a pack-horse, he was a person of no 
 small consequence, and company for the most substantial 
 yeoman or franklin whom he might meet in his wanderings. 
 
 The pedlar of whom we speak bore, accordingly, an active 
 and unrebuked share in the merriment to which the rafters of 
 the bonny Black Bear of Cumnor resounded. He had his 
 smile with pretty Mistress Cicely, his broad laugh with mine 
 host, and his jest upon dashing INIaster Goldthred, who, 
 though indeed without any such benevolent intention on his 
 own part, was the general butt of the evening. The pedlar
 
 260 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 and he were closely engaged in a dispute upon the preference 
 due to the Spanish nether-stocks over the black Gascoigne 
 hose, and mine host had just winked to the guests around hiin, 
 as who should say, " You will have mirth presently, my mas- 
 ters, " when the trampling of horses was heard in the court- 
 yard, and the hostler was loudly summoned, with a few of 
 the newest oaths then in vogue to add force to the invocation. 
 Out tumbled Will Hostler, John Tapster, and all the militia 
 of the inn, who had slunk from their posts in order to collect 
 some scattered crumbs of the mirth which was flying about 
 among the customers. Out into the yard sallied mine host 
 himself also, to do fitting salutation to his new guests ; and 
 presently returned, ushering into the apartment his own 
 worthy nephew, Michael Lambourne, pretty tolerably drunk, 
 and having under his escort the astrologer. Alasco, though 
 still a little old man, had, by altering his gown to a riding- 
 dress, trimming his beard and eyebrows, and so forth, struck 
 at least a score of years from his apparent age, and might now 
 seem an active man of sixty, or little upwards. He appeared 
 at present exceedingly anxious, and had insisted much with 
 Lambourne that they should not enter the inn, but go straight 
 forward to the place of their destination. But Lambourne 
 would not be controlled. "By Cancer and Capricorn," he 
 vociferated, "and the whole heavenly host — besides all the 
 stars that these blessed eyes of mine have seen sparkle m the 
 southern heavens, to which these northern blinkers are but 
 farthing candles — I will be unkindly for no one's humour — 
 I will stay and salute my worthy uncle here. Chesu ! that 
 good blood should ever be forgotten betwixt friends ! A gal- 
 lon of your best, uncle, and let it go round to the health of the 
 noble Earl of Leicester! What! shall we not collogue to- 
 gether, and warm the cockles of our ancient kindness? Shall 
 we not collogue, I say?" 
 
 " With all my heart, kinsman, " said mine host, who obvi- 
 ously wished to be rid of him ; " but are you to stand shot to 
 all this good liquor?" 
 
 This is a question has quelled many a jovial toper, but it 
 moved not the purpose of Lambourne's soul. "Question my
 
 KENILWORTH. 261 
 
 means, nuncle?" lie said, producing a handful of mixed gold 
 and silver pieces — " question Mexico and Peru — question the 
 ■Queen's exchequer — God save her Majesty! She is my good 
 lord's good mistress." 
 
 "Well, kinsman," said mine host, "it is my business to sell 
 wine to those who can buy it. So, Jack Tapster, do me thine 
 office. But I would I knew how to come by money as lightly 
 as thou dost, Mike." 
 
 " Why, uncle, " said Lambourne, " I will tell thee a secret. 
 Dost see this little old fellow here? as old and withered a chip 
 as ever the devil put into his porridge ; and yet, uncle, between 
 you and me, he hath Potosi in that brain of his. 'Sblood! 
 he can coin ducats faster than I can vent oaths." 
 
 " I will have none of his coinage in my purse though, Mich- 
 ael," said mine host; " I know what belongs to falsifying the 
 Queen's coin." 
 
 " Thou art an ass, uncle, for as old as thou art. Pull me not 
 by the skirts, doctor, thou art an ass thyself to boot; so, being 
 both asses, I tell ye I spoke but metaphorically." 
 
 " Are you mad !" said the old man ; " is the devil in you? Can 
 you not let us begone without drawing all men's eyes on us?" 
 
 " Sayst thou ?" said Lambourne. " Thou art deceived now — 
 no man shall see you an I give the word. By Heavens, mas- 
 ter's, an any one dare to look on this old gentleman, I wiU 
 slash the eyes out of his head with my poniard ! So sit down, 
 old friend, and be merry ; these are mine ingles — mine ancient 
 inmates, and will betray no man." 
 
 "Had you not better withdraw to a private apartment, 
 nephew," said Giles Gosling. "You speak strange matter," 
 he added, "and there be intelligencers everywhere." 
 
 "I care not for them," said the magnanimous Michael. 
 " Intelligencers ! pshaw ! I serve the noble Earl of Leicester. 
 Here comes the wine. Fill round. Master Skinker, a carouse 
 to the health of the flower of England, the noble Earl of Lei- 
 cester! I say, the noble Earl of Leicester! He that does 
 me not reason is a swine of Sussex, and I'll make him kneel to 
 the pledge, if I should cut his hams and smoke them for bacon." 
 
 None disputed a pledge given under such formidable penal-
 
 262 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ties; and Michael Lambourue, whose drunlven humour was 
 not of course diminished by this new potation, went on in the 
 same wild way, renewing his acquaintance with such of the 
 guests as he had formerly known, and experiencing a reception 
 in which there was now something of deference, mingled with 
 a good deal of fear ; for the least servitor of the favourite earl, 
 especially such a man as Lambourne, was, for very sufiicient 
 reasons, an object both of the one and of the other. 
 
 In the mean while, the old man, seeing his guide in this un- 
 controllable humour, ceased to remonstrate with him, and sit- 
 ting down in the most obscure corner of the room, called for a 
 small measure of sack, over which he seemed, as it were, to 
 slumber, withdrawing himself as much as possible from gen- 
 eral observation, and doing nothing which could recall his ex- 
 istence to the recollection of his fellow-traveller, who by this 
 time had got into close intimacy with his ancient comrade, 
 Goldthred of Abingdon. 
 
 " Never believe me, buUy Mike, " said the mercer, " if I am 
 not as glad to see thee as ever I was to see a customer's 
 money ! Why, thou canst give a friend a sly place at a mask 
 or a revel now, Mike ; ay, or, I warrant thee, thou canst say 
 in my lord's ear, when my honourable lord is down in these 
 parts, and wants a Spanish ruff or the like — thou canst say in 
 his ear : " There is mine old friend, young Laurence Goldthred 
 of Abingdon, has as good wares, lawn, tiffany, cambric, and 
 so forth — ay, and is as pretty a piece of man's flesh, too, as is 
 in Berkshire, and will ruffle it for your lordship with any man 
 of his mches" ; and thou mayst say " 
 
 " I can say a hundred d — d lies besides, mercer, " answered 
 Lambourne ; " what, one must not stand upon a good word for 
 a friend!" 
 
 "Here is to thee, Mike, with all my heart," said the mer- 
 cer; " and thou canst tell one the reality of the new fashions 
 too. Here was a rogue pedlar but now was crying up the old- 
 fashioned Spanish nether-stocks over the Gascoigne hose, al- 
 though thou seest how well the French hose set off the leg 
 and knee, being adorned with parti-coloured garters and gar- 
 niture in conformity,"
 
 KENILWORTR 263 
 
 "Excellent — excellent," replied Lambourne; "why, thy 
 limber bit of a thigh, thrust through that bunch of slashed 
 buckram and tiffany, shows like a housewife's distaff when 
 the flax is half spun off!" 
 
 " Said I not so?" said the mercer, whose shallow brain was 
 now overflowed in his turn ; " where, then — where be this ras- 
 cal pedlar? — there was a pedlar here but now, methinks. 
 Mine host, where the foul fiend is this pedlar?" 
 
 "Where wise men should be, Master Goldthred," replied 
 Giles Gosling : " even shut up in his private chamber, telling 
 over the sales of to-day, and preparing for the custom of to- 
 morrow. " 
 
 "Hang him, a mechanical chuff!" said the mercer; "but 
 for shame, it were a good deed to ease him of his wares — a 
 set of licddling knaves, who stroll through the land, and hurt 
 the established trader. There are good fellows in Berkshire 
 yet, mine host; your pedlar may be met withal on Maiden 
 Castle." 
 
 " Ay," replied mine host, laughing, " and he who meets him 
 may meet his match: the pedlar is a tall man." 
 
 "Is he?" said Goldthred. 
 
 "Is he!" replied the host; "ay, by cock and pie, is he — 
 the very pedlar he who raddled Eobin Hood so tightly, as the 
 song says — 
 
 Now Robin Hood drew his sword so good, 
 
 The pedlar drew his brand. 
 And he hath raddled him Eobin Hood, 
 
 Till he neither could see nor stand." 
 
 "Hang him, foul scroyle, let him pass," said the mercer; 
 " if he be such a one, there were small worship to be won upon 
 him. And now tell me, Mike — my honest Mike, how wears 
 the hoUands you won of me?" 
 
 "Why, well, as you may see. Master Goldthred," answered 
 Mike ; " I will bestow a pot on thee for the handsel. FiU the 
 flagon, ]\Iaster Tapster." 
 
 " Thou wilt win no more hoUands, I think, on such wager, 
 friend Mike," said the mercer; "for the silly swain, Tony 
 Foster, rails at thee aU to nought, and swears you shall ne'er
 
 264 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 darken his doors again, for that your oaths are enough to blow 
 the roof off a Christian man's dwelling." 
 
 "Doth he say so, the mincing, hypocritical miser?" vocife- 
 rated Lambourne, " Why, then, he shall come down and re- 
 ceive my commands here, this blessed night, under my uncle's 
 roof! And I will rmg him such a black sanctus that he shall 
 think the devil hath him by the skirts for a month to come, 
 for barely hearing me." 
 
 "Nay, now the pottle-pot is uppermost, with a witness!" 
 said the mercer. "Tony Foster obey thy whistle! Alast 
 good Mike, go sleep — go sleep." 
 
 " I tell thee what, thou thin-faced gull," said Michael Lam- 
 bourne, in high chafe, " I will wager thee fifty angels against 
 the first five shelves of thy shop, numbering upward from the 
 false light, with all that is on them, that I make Tony Foster 
 come down to this public-house before we have finished three 
 rounds." 
 
 " I will lay no bet to that amount, " said the mercer, some- 
 thing sobered by an offer which intimated rather too private a 
 knowledge, on Lambourne' s part, of the secret recesses of his 
 shop — " I will lay no such wager, " he said ; " but I will stake 
 five angels against thy five, if thou wilt, that Tony Foster 
 wUl not leave his own roof, or come to alehouse after prayer 
 time, for thee or any man." 
 
 " Content, " said Lambourne. " Here, uncle, hold stakes, 
 and let one of your young bleed-barrels there — one of your in- 
 fant tapsters, trip presently up to the Place, and give this 
 letter to Master Foster, and say that I, his ingle, Michael 
 Lambourne, pray to speak with him at mine uncle's castle here, 
 upon business of grave import. Away with thee, child, for it 
 is now sundown, and the wretch goeth to bed with the birds, 
 to save mutton-suet — faugh!" 
 
 Shortly after this messenger was despatched — an int&rval 
 which was spent in drinking and buffoonery — he returned with 
 the answer that Master Foster was coming presently. 
 
 "Won — won!" said Lambourne, darting on the stakes. 
 
 " Not till he comes, if you please, " said the mercer, interf er 
 ing.
 
 KENILWORTH. 265 
 
 ^'Wliy, 'sblood, lie is at the tkreshold, " replied MiehaeL 
 "What said he, boy?" 
 
 *' If it please your worship, " answered the messenger, " he 
 looked out of window, with a niusquetoon in his hand, and 
 when I delivered your errand, which I did with fear and 
 trembling, he said, with a vinegar aspect, that your worship 
 might be gone to the infernal regions." 
 
 "Or to hell, I suppose," said Lambourne; "it is there he 
 disposes of all that are not of the congregation." 
 
 "Even so," said the boy; "I used the other phrase as being 
 the more poetical." 
 
 " An ingenious youth," said Michael; *' shalt have a drop to 
 "wet thy poetical whistle. And what said Foster next?" 
 
 "He called me back," answered the boy, "and bid me say, 
 you might come to him, if you had aught to say to him." 
 
 "And what next?" said Lambourne. 
 
 " He read the letter, and seemed in a fluster, and asked if 
 your worship was in drink ; and I said you were speaking a 
 little Spanish, as one who had been in the Canaries." 
 
 " Out, you diminutive pint-pot, whelped of an overgrown reck- 
 oning!" replied Lambourne — "out! But what said he then?" 
 
 " Why, " said the boy, " he muttered, that if he came not, 
 your worship would bolt out what were better kept in ; and so 
 he took his old flat cap and threadbare blue cloak, and, as I 
 said before, he will be here incontinent." 
 
 " There is truth in what he said, " replied Lambourne, as if 
 speaking to himself. " My brain has played me its old dog's 
 trick; but corragio — ^let him approach! I have not rolled 
 about in the world for many a day, to fear Tony Foster, be I 
 drunk or sober. Bring me a flagon of cold water, to christen 
 my sack withal." 
 
 'V\Tiile Lambourne, whom the approach of Foster seemed to 
 have recalled to a sense of his own condition, was busied in 
 preparing to receive him, Giles Gosling stole up to the apart- 
 ment of the pedlar, whom he found traversing the room in 
 much agitation. 
 
 "You withdrew yourself suddenly from the company," said 
 the landlord to the guest.
 
 266 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 "It was time, wlien the devil became one among you," re- 
 plied the pedlar. 
 
 " It is not courteous in you to term my nephew by such a 
 name, " said Gosling, " nor is it kindly in me to reply to it j and 
 yet, in some sort, Mike may be considered as a limb of Satan." 
 
 " Pooh, I talk not of the swaggering ruffian, " replied the 
 
 pedlar ; " it is of the other, who, for aught I know But 
 
 when go they? or wherefore come they?" 
 
 "]\Iarry, these are questions I cannot answer," replied the 
 host. " But look you, sir, you have brought me a token from 
 worthy Master Tressilian — a pretty stone it is." He took out 
 the ring, and looked at it, adding, as he put it into his purse 
 again, that it was too rich a guerdon for anything he could do 
 for the worthy donor. He was, he said, in the public line, 
 and it 111 became him to be too inquisitive into other folks' 
 concerns ; he had already said that he could hear nothing but 
 that the lady lived still at Cunmor Place, in the closest seclu- 
 sion, and, to such as by chance had a view of her, seemed 
 pensive, and discontented with her solitude. " But here, " he 
 said, " if you are desirous to gratify your master, is the rarest 
 chance that hath occurred for this many a day. Tony Poster 
 is coming down hither, and it is but letting Mike Lambourne 
 smell another wine-flask, and the Queen's command would not 
 move him from the ale-bench. So they are fast for an hour 
 or so. Kow, if you Avill don your pack, which will be your 
 best excuse, you may, perchance, win the ear of the old ser- 
 vant, being assured of the master's absence, to let you try to 
 get some custom of the lady, and then you may learn more of 
 her condition than I or any other can tell you." 
 
 ^' True — very true, " answered Way land, for he it was ; " an 
 excellent device, but methinks something dangerous; for, say 
 Foster should return?" 
 
 " Very possible indeed, " replied the host. 
 
 "Or say," continued Wayland, "the lady should render me 
 cold thanks for my exertions?" 
 
 "As is not unlikel}'," replied Giles Gosling. "I marvel 
 Master Tressilian will take such heed of her that cares not for 
 him."
 
 KENILWORTH. 26r 
 
 " In either case I were foully sped, " said Wayland ; " and 
 therefore I do not, on the whole, much relish your device." 
 
 "Xay, but take me with you, good master serving-man," 
 replied mine host, "this is your master's business and not 
 mine ; you best know the risk to be encountered, or how far 
 you are willing to brave it. But that which you will not 
 yourself hazard, you cannot expect others to risk." 
 
 "Hold — hold," said Wayland; "tell me but one thing. 
 Goes yonder old man up to Cumnor?" 
 
 " Surely, I thiukso," said the landlord; "their servant said 
 he was to take their baggage thither, but the ale-tap has been 
 as potent for him as the sack-spigot has been for Michael." 
 
 "It is enough," said Wayland, assuming an air of resolu- 
 tion; — "I will thwart that old villain's projects; my aifright 
 at his baleful aspect begins to abate, and my hatred to arise. 
 Help me on with my pack, good mine host. And look to thy- 
 self, old Albumazar: there is a malignant influence in thy 
 horoscope, and it gleams from the constellation Ursa Major.** 
 
 So saying, he assumed his burden, and, guided by the land- 
 lord through the postern gate of the Black Bear, took the 
 most private way from thence up to Cumnor Place. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Cltmn. You have of these pedlars, that have more in 'em than you'd 
 think, sister. 
 
 Winter's Tale, Act iv. Scene 3. 
 
 IiT his anxiety to obey the earl's repeated charges of secrecy, 
 as well as from his own imsocial and miserly habits, Anthony 
 Foster was more desirous, by his mode of housekeeping, to 
 escape observation than to resist intrusive curiosity. Thus, 
 instead of a numerous household, to secure his charge and 
 defend his house, he studied, as much as possible, to elude 
 notice by diminishing his attendants; so that, unless when 
 there were followers of the earl or of Vamey in the mansion, 
 one old male domestic and two aged crones, who assisted in
 
 268 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 keeping the countess's apartments in order, were the only ser- 
 vants of the family. 
 
 It was one of these old women who opened the door when 
 "Wayland knocked, and answered his petition to be admitted 
 to exhibit his wares to the ladies of the family with a volley 
 of vituperation, couched in what is there called the 'jowring' 
 dialect. The pedlar fovmd the means of checking this vocife- 
 ration by slipping a silver groat into her hand, and intimating 
 the present of some stuff for a coif, if the lady would buy of 
 his wares. 
 
 " God ield thee, for mine is aw in littocks. Slocket with, 
 thy pack into gharn, mon. Her walks in gharn." Into the 
 garden she ushered the pedlar accordingly, and pointing to aa 
 old ruinous garden-house, said: "Yonder he's her, mon — yon- 
 der he's her. Zhe will buy changes an zhe loikes stuffs." 
 
 " She has left me to come off as I may, " thought Wayland, 
 as he heard the hag shut the garden door behind him. " But 
 they shall not beat me, and they dare not murder me for so 
 little trespass, and by this fair twilight. Hang it, I will 
 on — a brave general never thought of his retreat till he was 
 defeated. I see two females in the old garden-house yonder ; 
 but how to address them? Stay — Will Shakspeare, be my 
 friend in need! I will give them a taste of Autolycus." He 
 then sung with a good voice, and becoming audacity, the 
 popular playhouse ditty — 
 
 " Lawn as white as driven snow, 
 Cyprus black as e'er was crow, 
 Gloves as sweet as damask roses. 
 Masks for faces and for noses." 
 
 " What hath fortune sent us here for an unwonted sight, 
 Janet?" said the lady. 
 
 " One of those merchants of vanity, caUed pedlars, " answered 
 Janet, demurely, " who utters his light wares in lighter meas- 
 ures. I marvel old Dorcas let him pass." 
 
 "It is a lucky chance, girl," said the countess; "we lead a 
 heavy life here, and this may while off a weary hour. " 
 
 "Ay, my gracious lady," said Janet; "but my father?" 
 
 "He is not my father, Janet, nor, I hope, my master,"
 
 KENILWORTH. 269 
 
 answered the lady. " I say, call the man hither ; I want some 
 things." 
 
 " Nay, " replied Janet, " your ladyship has but to say so in 
 the next packet, and if England can furnish them they will be 
 sent. There will come mischief on't. Pray, dearest lady, let 
 me bid the man begone !" 
 
 " I will have thee bid him come hither, " said the countess ; 
 ** or stay, thou terrified fool, I will bid him myself, and spare 
 thee a chiding." 
 
 " Ah ! well-a-day, dearest lady, if that were the worst, " said 
 Janet, sadly, while the lady called to the pedlar, " Good fellow, 
 step forward — undo thy pack ; if thou hast good wares, chance 
 has sent thee hither for my convenience and thy profit." 
 
 "What may your ladyship please to lack?" said Way land, 
 unstrapping his pack, and displaying its contents with as much 
 dexterity as if he had been bred to the trade. Indeed, he had 
 occasionally pursued it in the course of his roving life, and 
 now commended his wares with all the volubility of a trader, 
 and showed some skill in the main art of placing prices upon, 
 them. 
 
 "What do I please to lack?" said the lady; " why, consider- 
 ing I have not for six long months bought one yard of lawn or 
 cambric, or one trinket, the most inconsiderable, for my own 
 use, and at my own choice, the better question is, what hast 
 thou got to sell? Lay aside for me that cambric partlet and 
 pair of sleeves ; and those roundells of gold fringe, drawn out 
 with Cyprus ; and that short cloak of cherry-coloured fine cloth, 
 garnished with gold buttons and loops. Is it not of an abso- 
 lute fancy, Janet?" 
 
 "Nay, my lady," replied Janet, "if you consult my poor 
 judgment, it is, methinks, over gaudy for a graceful habit." 
 
 "Now, out upon thy judgment, if it be no brighter, wench," 
 said the countess; "thou shalt wear it thyself for penance 
 sake ; and I promise thee the gold buttons, being somewhat 
 massive, wiU comfort thy father, and reconcile him to the 
 cherry-coloured body. See that he snap them not away, 
 Janet, and send them to bear company with the imprisoned 
 angels which he keeps captive in his strong-box."
 
 870 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "May I pray your ladyship to spare my poor father!" said 
 Janet. 
 
 " Nay, but why should any one spare him that is so sparing 
 of his own nature?" replied the lady. "Well, but to our 
 gear. That head garniture for myself, and that silver bodkin, 
 mounted with pearl ; and take off two gowns of that russet 
 cloth for Dorcas and Alison, Janet, to keep the old wretches 
 warm against winter comes. And stay, hast thou no per- 
 fumes and sweet bags, or any handsome casting-bottles of the 
 aewest mode?" 
 
 "Were I a pedlar in earnest, I were a made merchant," 
 thought Wayland, as he busied himself to answer the demands 
 which she thronged one on another, with the eagerness of a 
 young lady who has been long secluded from such a pleasing 
 occupation. " But how to bring her to a moment's serious 
 reflection?" Then, as he exhibited his choicest collection of 
 essences and perfumes, he at once arrested her attention by 
 observing, that these articles had almost risen to double value, 
 since the magnificent preparations made by the Earl of Lei- 
 cester to entertain the Queen and court at his princely Castle 
 of Kenil worth. 
 
 "Ha!" said the countess, hastily; "that rumour then is 
 true, Janet." 
 
 "Surely, madam," answered Wayland; "and I marvel it 
 hath not reached your noble ladyship's ears. The Queen of 
 England feasts with the noble earl for a week during the sum- 
 mer's progress ; and there are many who will tell you England 
 will have a king, and England's Elizabeth — God save herl— . 
 a husband, ere the progress be over. " 
 
 "They lie like villains!" said the countess, bursting forth 
 impatiently. 
 
 "For God's sake, madam, consider," said Janet, trembling 
 with apprehension; "who would cumber themselves about 
 pedlar's tidings?" 
 
 "Yes, Janet!" exclaimed the countess; "right, thou hast 
 corrected me justly. Such reports, blighting the reputation 
 of England's brightest and noblest peer, can only find currency 
 amongst the mean, the abject, and the infamous I"
 
 KENILWORTH. 271 
 
 **May I perisii, lady," said Way land Smith, observing that 
 her violence directed itself towards him, " if I have done any- 
 thing to merit this strange passion ! I have said but what 
 many men say." 
 
 By this time the countess had recovered her composure, and 
 endeavoured, alarmed by the anxious hint of Janet, to suppress 
 all appearance of displeasure. " I were loth," she said, " good 
 fellow, that our Queen should change the virgin style, so dear 
 to us her people — think not of it." And then, as if desirous 
 to change the subject, she added, " And what is this paste, so 
 carefully put up in the silver box?" as she examined the con- 
 tents of a casket in which drugs and perfumes were contained 
 in separate drawers. 
 
 " It is a remedy, madam, for a disorder of which I trust 
 your ladyship will never have reason to complain. The 
 amount of a small Turkey beau, swallowed daily for a week, 
 fortifies the heart against those black vapours which arise 
 from solitude, melancholy, unrequited affection, disappointed 
 hope—" 
 
 "Are you a fool, friend?" said the countess, sharply; "or 
 do you think, because I have good-naturedly purchased your 
 trumpery goods at your roguish prices, that you may put any 
 guUery you will on me? Who ever heard that affections of 
 the heart were cured by medicines given to the body?" 
 
 "Under your honourable favour," said Wayland, "I am an 
 honest man, and I have sold my goods at an honest price. As 
 to this most precious medicine, when I told its qualities, I 
 asked you not to purchase it, so why should I lie to you? I 
 say not it will cure a rooted affection of the mind, which only 
 God and time can do ; but I say, that this restorative relieves 
 the black vapours which are engendered in the body of that 
 melancholy which broodeth on the mind. I have relieved 
 many with it, both in court and city, and of late done Master 
 Edmund TressHian, a worshipful gentleman in Cornwall, wlio, 
 on some slight, received, it was told me, where he had set his 
 Affections, was brought into that state of melancholy which 
 made his friends alarmed for Ids life." 
 
 He paused, and the lady remamed silent for some time, and
 
 272 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 then asked, with a voice which she strove in vaia to render firm 
 and indifferent in its tone, " Is the gentleman you have men- 
 tioned perfectly recovered?" 
 
 "Passably, madam," answered Way land: " he hath at least 
 no bodily complaint. " 
 
 "I will take some of the medicine, Janet," said the coun- 
 tess. "I too have sometimes that dark melancholy which 
 overclouds the brain." 
 
 "You shall not do so, madam," said Janet; "who shall 
 answer that this fellow vends what is wholesome?" 
 
 " I will myself warrant my good faith, " said Wayland; and, 
 taking a part of the medicine, he swallowed it before them. 
 The countess now bought what remained, a step to which 
 Janet, by farther objections, only determined her the more 
 obstinately. She even took the first dose upon the instant, 
 and professed to feel her heart lightened and her spirits aug- 
 mented — a consequence which, in all probability, existed only 
 in her own imagination. The lady then piled the purchases 
 she had made together, flung her purse to Janet, and desired 
 her to compute the amount and to pay the pedlar ; while she 
 herself, as if tired of the amusement she at first found in con- 
 versing with him, wished him good evening, and walked care- 
 lessly into the house, thus depriving Wayland of every op- 
 portunity to speak with her in private. He hastened, however, 
 to attempt an explanation with Janet. 
 
 "Maiden," he said, "thou hast the face of one who should 
 love her mistress. She hath much need of faithful service." 
 
 "And well deserves it at my hands," replied Janet; "but 
 what of that?" 
 
 "Maiden, I am not altogether what I seem," said the ped- 
 lar, lowering his voice. 
 
 " The less like to be an honest man," said Janet. 
 
 " The more so," answered Wayland, " since I am no pedlar." 
 
 "Get thee gone then instantly, or I will call for assistance," 
 eaid Janet ; " my father must ere this be returned. " 
 
 " Do not be so rash, " said Wayland ; " you wiU do what you 
 may repent of. I am one of your mistress's friends; and she 
 had need of more, not that thou shouldst ruin those she hath."
 
 KENILWORTH. 273 
 
 *'Ho"w shall I know that?" said Janet. 
 
 " Look me in the face, " said Wayland Smith, " and see if 
 thou dost not read honesty in my looks. " 
 
 And in truth, though by no means handsome, there "was in 
 his physiognomy the sharp, keen expression of inventive ge- 
 nius and prompt intellect which, joined to quick and brilliant 
 eyes, a weU-formed mouth, and an intelligent smile, often 
 gives grace and interest to features which are both homely and 
 irregular. Janet looked at him with the sly simplicity of her 
 sect, and replied: " jSTotwithstanding thy boasted honesty, 
 friend, and although I am not accustomed to read and pasa 
 judgment on such volumes as thou hast submitted to my peru- 
 sal, I think I see in thy countenance something of the pedlar — . 
 something of the picaroon. " 
 
 " On a small scale, perhaps, " said Wayland Smith, laughing. 
 "But this evening, or to-morrow, will an old man coma 
 hither with thy father, who has the stealthy step of the 
 cat, the shrewd and vindictive eye of the rat, the fawning 
 wile of the spaniel, the determined snatch of the mastiff ; of 
 him beware, for your own sake and that of your mistress. 
 See you, fair Janet, he brings the venom of the aspic imder 
 the assumed iimocence of the dove. What precise mischief 
 he meditates towards you I cannot guess ; but death and dis- 
 ease have ever dogged his footsteps. Say nought of this to 
 thy mistress : my art suggests to me that in her state the fear 
 of evil may be as dangerous as its operation. But see that 
 she take my specific, for (he lowered his voice, and spoks low 
 but impressively in her ear) it is an antidote against poison. 
 Hark, they enter the garden!" 
 
 In effect, a sound of noisy mirth and loud talking approached 
 the garden door, alarmed by which, Wayland Smith sprung 
 into the midst of a thicket of overgrown shrubs, while Janet 
 withdrew to the garden-house that she might not incur obser- 
 vation, and that she might at the same time conceal, at least 
 for the present, the purchases made from the supposed pedlar, 
 which lay scattered on the floor of the summer-house. 
 
 Janet, however, had no occasion for anxi«?ty. Her father, 
 his old attendant, Lord Leicester's domestife aad the astrologer 
 18
 
 274 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 entered the garden in tumidt and in extreme perplexity, en- 
 deavouring to quiet Lambourne, whose brain had now become 
 completely fired with liquor, and who was one of those unfortu- 
 nate persons who, being once stirred with the vinous stimulus, 
 do not fall asleep like other drunkards, but remain partially 
 influenced by it for many hours, until at length, by succes- 
 sive draughts, they are elevated into a state of uncontrollable 
 frenzy. Like many men in this state also, Lambourne neither 
 lost the power of motion, speech, or expression ; but, on the 
 contrary, spoke with unwonted emphasis and readiness, and 
 told all that at another time he would have been most desirous 
 to keep secret. 
 
 " What!" ejaculated Michael, at the full extent of his voice, 
 " am I to have no welcome — no carouse, when I have brought 
 fortune to your old ruinous dog-house in the shape of a devil's 
 ally, that can change slate-shivers into Spanish dollars? Here, 
 you Tony Fire-the-Fagot, Papist, Puritan, hypocrite, miser, 
 profligate, devil, compounded of all men's sins, bow down and 
 reverence him who has brought into thy house the very mam- 
 mon thou worshippest!" 
 
 "For God's sake," said Foster, "speak low; come into the 
 house ; thou shalt have wine, or whatever thou wilt. " 
 
 "No, old puckfist, I will have it here," thundered the in- 
 ebriated rufiian — "here, al fresco, as the Italian hath it. 
 No — no, I will not drink with that poisoning devil within 
 doors, to be choked with the fumes of arsenic and quicksilver ; 
 I learned from villain Varney to beware of that. " 
 
 "Fetch him wine, in the name of all the fiends!" said the 
 alchemist. 
 
 " Aha ! and thou wouldst spice it for me, old Truepenny, 
 wouldst thou not? Ay, I should have copperas, and hellebore, 
 and vitriol, and aquafortis, and twenty devilish materials, bub- 
 bling in my brain-pan, like a charm to raise the devil in a 
 witch's cauldron. Hand me the flask thyself, old Tony Fire- 
 the-Fagot — and let it be cool; I will have no wine mulled at 
 the pile of the old burnt bishops. Or stay, let Leicester be 
 king if he will — good — and Varney, villain Varney, grand 
 Tizier — why, excellent! And what shall I be, then? Why,
 
 KENILWORTH. 276 
 
 emperor, — Emperor Lambourne ! I will see this clioice piece 
 of beauty that they have walled up here for their private 
 pleasures ; I will have her this very night to serve my "wine- 
 cup and put on my nightcap. What should a fellow do with 
 two wives, were he twenty times an eai-l? Answer me that, 
 Tony boy, you old reprobate, hypocritical dog, whom God 
 struck out of the book of life, but tormented with the con- 
 stant wish to be restored to it. You old bishop-burning, blas- 
 phemous fanatic, answer me that." 
 
 " I will stick my knife to the haft in him," said Foster, in 
 a low tone, which trembled with passion. 
 
 "For the love of Heaven, no violence!" said the astrologer. 
 **It cannot but be looked closely into. Here, honest Lam- 
 bourne, wilt thou pledge me to the health of the noble Earl of 
 Leicester and Master Kichard Varney?" 
 
 " I will, mine old Albumazar — I will, my trusty vender of 
 ratsbane. I would kiss thee, mine honest infractor of the 
 Lex Julia, as they said at Leyden, didst thou not flavour so 
 damnably of sulphur and such fiendish apothecaries' stuff. 
 Here goes it, vp sey es — to Varney and Leicester ! Two more 
 noble, mounting spirits, and more dark-seeking, deep-diving, 
 high-flying, malicious, ambitious miscreants — well, I say no 
 more, but I will whet my dagger on his heart-spone that re- 
 fuses to pledge me I And so, my masters " 
 
 Thus speaking, Lambourne exhausted the cup which the 
 astrologer had handed to him, and which contained not wine, 
 but distilled spirits. He swore half an oath, dropped the 
 empty cup from his grasp, laid his hand on his sword without 
 being able to di-aw it, reeled, and fell without sense or motion 
 into the arms of the domestic, who dragged him off to his 
 chamber and put him to bed. 
 
 In the general confusion, Janet regained her lady's chamber 
 unobserved, trembling like an aspen leaf, but determined to 
 keep secret from the countess the dreadful smiuises which she 
 could not help entertaining from the drunken ravmgs of Lam- 
 bourne. Her fears, however, though they assumed no certain 
 shape, kept pace with the advice of the pedlar; and she con- 
 firmed her mistress in her purpose of taking the medicine
 
 276 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 which he had recommended, from which it is probable she 
 would otherwise have dissuaded her. 
 
 Neither had these intimations escaped the ears of Wayland, 
 who knew much better how to interpret them. He felt much 
 compassion at beholding so lovely a creature as the countess, 
 and whom he had first seen in the bosom of domestic happi- 
 ness, exposed to the machinations of such a gang of villains. 
 His indignation, too, had been highly excited by hearing th& 
 voice of his old master, against whom he felt, in equal degree, 
 the passions of hatred and fear. He nourished also a pride in 
 his own art and resources ; and, dangerous as the task was, he 
 that night formed a determination to attain the bottom of the 
 mystery, and to aid the distressed lady, if it were yet possible. 
 From some words which Lambourne had dropped among his 
 ravings, Wayland now, for the first time, felt inclined to 
 doubt that Varney had acted entirely on his own account in 
 wooing and winning the affections of this beautiful creature. 
 Fame asserted of this zealous retainer that he had accommo- 
 dated his lord in former love intrigues; and it occurred to 
 Wayland Smith that Leicester himself might be the party 
 chiefly interested. Her marriage with the earl he could not 
 suspect; but even the discovery of such a passing intrigue 
 with a lady of Mistress Amy Robsart's rank was a secret of 
 the deepest importance to the stability of the favourite's power 
 over Elizabeth. " If Leicester himself should hesitate to stifle 
 such a rumour by very strange means," said he to himself, 
 " he has those about him who would do him that favour with- 
 out waiting for his consent. If I would meddle in this busi- 
 ness, it must be in such guise as my old master uses when he 
 compounds his manna of Satan, and that is with a close mask 
 on my face. So I will quit Giles Gosling to-morrow, and 
 change my course and place of residence as often as a himted 
 fox. I should like to see this little Puritan, too, once more. 
 She looks both pretty and intelligent, to have come of such a 
 caitiff as Anthony Fire-the-Fagot. " 
 
 Giles Gosling received the adieus of Wayland rather joy- 
 fully than otherwise. The honest publican saw so much peril 
 in crossing the course of the Earl of Leicester's favourite, that
 
 KENILWORTH. 27T 
 
 his virtue was scarce able to support him in tlie task, and he 
 was well pleased when it was likely to be removed from his 
 shoulders ; still, however, professing his good- will and readi- 
 ness, in case of need, to do Master Tressilian or his emissary 
 any service, in so far as consisted with his character of a 
 publican. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Vaulting ambition, that o'erleaps itself, 
 And falls on t'other side. 
 
 Macbeth, 
 
 The splendour of the approaching revels at Kenilworth was 
 now the conversation through all England; and everything 
 was collected at home or from abroad which could add to the 
 gaiety or glory of the prepared reception of Elizabeth at the 
 house of her most distinguished favourite. Meanwhile, Lei- 
 cester appeared daily to advance in the Queen's favour. He 
 was perpetually by her side in council, willingly listened to in 
 the moments of courtly recreation, favoured with approaches 
 even to familiar intimacy, looked up to by all who had aught 
 to hope at court, courted by foreign ministers with the most 
 flattering testimonies of respect from their sovereigns — the 
 alter ego, as it seemed, of the stately Elizabeth, who was now 
 very generally supposed to be studying the time and oppor- 
 tunity for associating him, by marriage, into her sovereign 
 power. 
 
 Amid such a tide of prosperity, this minion of fortmie and 
 of the Queen's favour was probably the most unhappy man in 
 the realm which seemed at his devotion. He had the Fairy 
 King's superiority over his friends and dependants, and saw 
 much which they could not. The character of his mistress 
 was intimately known to him : it was his minute and studied 
 acquaintance with her humours, as well as her noble faculties, 
 which, joined to his powerful mental qualities and his eminent 
 external accomplishments, had raised him so high in her favour; 
 and it was that very knowledge of her disposition which led
 
 278 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 bim to apprehend at every turn some sudden and overwhelm- 
 ing disgrace. Leicester was like a pilot possessed of a chart, 
 which points out to him all the peculiarities of his navigation, 
 but which exhibits so many shoals, breakers, and reefs of rocks 
 that his anxious eye reaps little more from observing them 
 than to be convinced that his final escape can be little else than 
 miraculous. 
 
 In fact, Queen Elizabeth had a character strangely com- 
 pounded of the strongest masculine sense with those foibles 
 which are chiefly supposed proper to the female sex. Her 
 subjects had the full benefit of her virtues, which far pre- 
 dominated over her weaknesses ; but the coiu-tiers and those 
 about her person had often to sustain sudden and embarrassing 
 turns of caprice and the sallies of a temper which was both 
 jealous and despotic. She was the nursing-mother of her peo- 
 ple, but she was also the true daughter of Henry VIII. ; and 
 though early sufferings and an excellent education had re- 
 pressed and modified, they had not altogether destroyed, the 
 hereditary temper of that '' hard-ruled king." "Her mind," 
 says her witty godson. Sir John Harrington, who had experi- 
 enced both the smiles and the frowns which he describes, " was 
 ofttime like the gentle air, that cometh from the westerly point 
 in a summer's morn : 'twas sweet and refreshing to all around 
 her. Her speech did win all affections. . . . Again, she could 
 put forth such alterations, when obedience was lacking, as left 
 no doubtings whose daughter she was. . . . When she smiled, 
 it was a pure sunshine, that every one did choose to bask in, 
 if they could ; but anon came a storm, from a sudden gathering 
 of clouds, and the thimder fell in wondrous manner on aU 
 alike."' 
 
 This variability of disposition, as Leicester well knew, was 
 chiefly formidable to those who had a share in the Queen's 
 affections, and who depended rather on her personal regard 
 tlfen on the indispensable services which they could render to 
 her councils and her crown. The favoux of Burleigh or of 
 Walsingham, of a description far less striking than that by 
 
 > Nugse Antiqiise, Letter of Sir J. Harrington to Mr. Robert Markham, 
 1606.
 
 KEXILT70RTH. 27^ 
 
 "which he was himself upheld, was founded, as Leicester was 
 well aware, on Elizabeth's solid judgment, not on her partial- 
 ity, and was, therefore, free from all those pruiciples of 
 change and decay necessarily incident to that which chiefly 
 arose from personal accomplishments and female predilection. 
 These great and sage statesmen were judged of by the Queen 
 only with reference to the measures they suggested, and th& 
 reasons by which they supported their opinions in council; 
 whereas the success of Leicester's course depended on all those 
 light and changeable gales of caprice and humour which thwart 
 or favour the progress of a lover in the favour of his mistress, 
 and she, too, a mistress who was ever and anon becoming 
 fearful lest she should forget the dignity, or compromise the 
 authority, of the queen while she indulged the affections of the 
 woman. Of the difficulties which surrounded his power, "too 
 great to keep or to resign, " Leicester was fully sensible ; and, 
 as he looked anxiously round for the means of maintaining 
 himself in his precarious situation, and sometimes contem- 
 plated those of descending from it in safety, he saw but little 
 hope of either. At such moments, his thoughts turned to 
 dwell upon his secret marriage and its consequences ; and it 
 was in bitterness against himseK, if not against his unfortunate 
 countess, that he ascribed to that hasty measure, adopted in 
 the ardour of what he now called inconsiderate passion, at 
 once the impossibility of placing his power on a solid basis and 
 the immediate prospect of its precipitate downfall. 
 
 "Men say," thus ran his thoughts, in these anxious and 
 repentant moments, " that I might marry Elizabeth, and be- 
 come King of England. All things suggest this. The match 
 is carolled in ballads, while the rabble throw their caps up. 
 It has been touched upon in the schools — whispered in the 
 presence-chamber — recommended from the pulpit — prayed for 
 in th: Calvinistie churches abroad — ^touched on by statists in 
 the very counoil at home. These bold insinuations have been 
 rebutted hr' no rebuke, no resentment, no chiding, scarce even 
 by the usual fer^.ale protestation that she would live and die a 
 virgin princess. Her words have been more courteous than 
 ever, though she knows such rumours are abroad-^her actions
 
 280 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 more gracious — her looks more kind : nought seems wanting to 
 make me King of England, and place me beyond the storms of 
 court favour, excepting the putting forth of mine own hand to 
 take that crown imperial which is the glory of the universe I 
 And when I might stretch that hand out most boldly, it is 
 fettered down by a secret and inextricable bond ! And here I 
 Jiave letters from Amy, " he would say, catching them up with 
 a movement of peevishness, " persecuting me to acknowledge 
 her openly — to do justice to her and to myself — and I wot not 
 what. Methinks I have done less than justice to myself al- 
 ready. And she speaks as if Elizabeth were to receive the 
 knowledge of this matter with the glee of a mother hearing of 
 the happy marriage of a hopeful son ! She, the daughter of 
 Henry, who spared neither man in his anger nor woman in his 
 ■desire — she to find herself tricked, di-awn on with toys of pas- 
 sion to the verge of acknowledging her love to a subject, and 
 he discovered to be a married man ! Elizabeth to learn that 
 she had been dallied with in such fashion, as a gay courtier 
 might trifle with a country wench. We should then see to 
 our ruin furens qiiid fcemina ! " 
 
 He would then pause, and call for Varney, whose advice 
 was now more frequently resorted to than ever, because the 
 «arl remembered the remonstrances which he had made against 
 liis secret contract. And their consultation usually terminated 
 in anxious deliberation how, or in what manner, the countess 
 was to be produced at Keuilworth. These communings had 
 for some time ever ended in a resolution to delay the progress 
 from day to day. But at length a peremptory decision became 
 necessary. 
 
 " Elizabeth wUl not be satisfied without her presence, " said 
 the earl; "whether any suspicion hath entered her mind, as 
 my own apprehensions suggest, or whether the petition of 
 Tressilian is kept in her memory by Sussex or some other 
 secret enemy, I know not ; but amongst all the favourable ex- 
 pressions which she uses to me, she often recurs to the story 
 of Amy Kobsart. I think that Amy is the slave in the 
 chariot, who is placed there by my evil fortune to dash and to 
 confound my triumph, even when at the highest. Show me
 
 KENILWORTH. 281 
 
 thy device, Varney, for solving the inextricable difficulty. I 
 have thrown every such impediment in the way of these ac- 
 cursed revels as I could propound even with a shade of de- 
 cency, but to-day's interview has put all to a hazard. She said 
 to me kindly but peremptorily: *"We will give you no farther 
 time for preparations, my lord, lest you should altogether ruin 
 yourself. On Saturday, the 9th of July, we will be with you at 
 Kenilworth. We pray you to forget none of our appointed 
 guests and suitors, and in especial this light o' love, Amy Rob- 
 sart. We would wish to see the woman who could postpone yon- 
 der poetical gentleman. Master Tressilian, to your man, Eichard 
 Varney. ' Now, Varney, ply thine invention, whose forge hath 
 availed us so often ; for sure as my name is Dudley, the dan- 
 ger menaced by my horoscope is now darkening around me," 
 
 " Can my lady be by no means persuaded to bear for a brief 
 space the obscure character which circumstances impose on 
 her?" said Varney, after some hesitation. 
 
 " How, sirrah ! my countess term herself thy wife ! that may 
 neither stand with my honour nor with hers." 
 
 " Alas ! my lord, " answered Varney, " and yet such ' is the 
 quality in which Elizabeth now holds her ; and to contradict 
 this opinion is to discover all." 
 
 " Think of something else, Varney, " said the earl, in great 
 agitation; "this invention is naught. If I could give way to 
 it, she would not; for I tell thee, Varney, if thou know'st it 
 not, that not Elizabeth on the throne has more pride than the 
 daughter of this obscure gentleman of Devon. She is flexible 
 in many things, but where she holds her honour brought in 
 question she hath a spirit and temper as apprehensive as light- 
 ning, and as swift in execution." 
 
 " We have experienced that, my lord, else had we not been 
 thus circumstanced, " said Varney. " But what else to suggest 
 I know not. Methinks she whose good fortune in becoming 
 your lordship's bride gives rise to the danger should do some- 
 what towards parrying it." 
 
 " It is impossible, " said the earl, waving his hand : " I know 
 neither authority nor entreaties would make her endure thy 
 name for an hour."
 
 282 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " It is some what hard, though, " said Varney, in a dry tone ; 
 and, without pausing on that topic, he added: " Suppose some 
 one were found to represent her? Such feats have been per- 
 formed in the courts of as sharp-eyed monarchs as Queen 
 Elizabeth." 
 
 ''Utter madness, Varney," answered the earl; "the coun- 
 terfeit would be confronted with Tressilian, and discovery 
 become inevitable." 
 
 " Tressilian might be removed from court," said the unhesi- 
 tating Yarney. 
 
 " And by what means?" 
 
 " There are many, " said Varney, " by which a statesman in 
 your situation, my lord, may remove from the scene one who 
 pries into your affairs, and places himself in perilous opposition 
 to you." 
 
 " Speak not to me of such policy, Varney," said the earl, 
 hastily ; " which, besides, would avail nothing in the present 
 case. Many others there be at court to whom Amy may be 
 known ; and besides, on the absence of Tressilian, her father 
 or some of her friends would be instantly summoned hither. 
 Urge thine invention once more." 
 
 " My lord, I know not what to say, " answered Varney ; 
 *' but were I myself in such perplexity, I would ride post down 
 to Cunmor Place and compel my wife to give her consent to 
 such measures as her safety and mine required." 
 
 " Varney," said Leicester, " I cannot urge her to aught so 
 repugnant to her noble nature as a share in this stratagem : 
 it would be a base requital for the love she bears me." 
 
 " Well, my lord," said Varney, " your lordship is a wise and 
 an honourable man, and skilled in those high pomts of roman- 
 tic scruple which are current in Arcadia, perhaps, as your 
 nephew, Philip Sidney, writes. I am your humble servitor — 
 a man of this world, and only happy that my knowledge of it 
 and its ways is such as your lordship has not scorned to avail 
 yourself of. Now I would fain know whether the obligation 
 lies on my lady or on you in this fortunate union ; and which 
 has most reason to show complaisance to the other, and to con- 
 sider that other's wishes, conveniences, and safety?"
 
 KENILWORTH. 28$ 
 
 " I tell thee, Varney, " said the earl, " that all it "was iu my 
 power to bestow upon her was not merely deserved, but a 
 thousand times overpaid, by her own virtue and beauty ; for 
 never did greatness descend upon a creature so formed by 
 nature to grace and adorn it." 
 
 "It is well, my lord, you are so satisfied, " answered Yarney, 
 with his usual sardonic smile, which even respect to his patron 
 could not at all times subdue ; " you will have time enough 
 to enjoy undisturbed the society of one so gracious and beau- 
 tiful — that is, so soon as such confinement in the Tower be 
 over as may correspond to the crime of deceiving the affections 
 of Elizabeth Tudor. A cheaper penalty, I presume, you do 
 not expect?" 
 
 "Malicious fiend!" answered Leicester, "do you mock me 
 in my misfortune? Manage it as thou wilt." 
 
 " If you are serious, my lord, " said Varney, " you must set 
 forth instantly and post for Cumnor Place." 
 
 " Do thou go thyself, Varney : the devil has given thee that 
 sort of eloquence which is most powerful in the worst cause. 
 I should stand self-convicted of villamy were I to urge such 
 a deceit. Begone, I tell thee. Must I entreat thee to mine 
 own dishonour!" 
 
 "No, my lord," said Varney; "but, if you are serious in 
 entrusting me with the task of urging this most necessary 
 measure, you must give me a letter to my lady as my creden- 
 tials, and trust to me for backing the advice it contains with 
 all the force in my power. And such is my opinion of my 
 lady's love for your lordship, and of her willingness to do that 
 which is at once to contribute to your pleasure and your safety, 
 that I am sure she will condescend to bear, for a few brief 
 days, the name of so humble a man as myself, especially since 
 it is not inferior in antiquity to that of her own paternal 
 house." 
 
 Leicester seized on writing-materials, and twice or thrice 
 commenced a letter to the countess, which he afterwards tore 
 into fragments. At length he finished a few distracted Imes, 
 in which he conjured her, for reasons nearly concerning his 
 life and honour, to consent to bear the name of Varney for a
 
 284 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 few days, during the revels at Kenilworth. He added, that 
 Varney would communicate all the reasons which rendered 
 this deception indispensable; and having signed and sealed 
 these credentials, he flung them over the table to Varney, with 
 a motion that he should depart, which his adviser was not slow 
 to comprehend and to obey. 
 
 Leicester remained like one stupified, till he heard the tram- 
 pling of the horses, as Varney, who took no time even to 
 change his dress, threw himself into the saddle, and, followed 
 by a single servant, set off for Berkshire. At the sound, the 
 earl started from his seat and ran to the window, with the 
 momentary purpose of recalling the unworthy commission with 
 which he had entrusted one of whom he used to say, he knew 
 no virtuous property save affection to his patron. But Varney 
 was already beyond call; and the bright starry firmament, 
 which the age considered as the Book of Fate, lying spread 
 before Leicester when he opened the casement, diverted him 
 from his better and more manly purpose. 
 
 " There they roll, on their silent but potential course, " said 
 the earl, looking around him, " without a voice which speaks 
 to our ear, but not without influences which affect, at every 
 change, the indwellers of this vile earthly planet. This, if 
 astrologers fable not, is the very crisis of my fate ! The hour 
 approaches of which I was taught to beware — the hour, too, 
 which I was encouraged to hope for. A king was the word — 
 but how? The crown matrimonial — all hopes of that are gone ; 
 let them go. The rich "Netherlands have demanded me for 
 their leader, and, irouJr/ Elizabeth consent, would yield to me 
 their crown. And haVi I not such a claim, even in this king- 
 dom? That of Yor.kf descending from George of Clarence to 
 the house of .Huntirigdon, which, this lady failing, may have 
 a fair chance— Himtrngdon is of my house. But I will plunge 
 no deeper in these- high mysteries. Let me hold my course 
 in silence for a v^hile, and in obscurity, like a subterranean 
 river: the tiine shall come that I will burst forth in my 
 strength, and bear all opposition before me." 
 
 While Leicester was thus stupifying the remonstrances of 
 his own coa^cience by appealing to political necessity for his
 
 KENIL WORTH. 285 
 
 apology, or losing himself amidst the wild dreams of ambition, 
 his agent left town and tower behiad him, on his hasty jour- 
 ney to Berkshire. He also nourished high hope. He had 
 brought Lord Leicester to the poiat which he had desired, of 
 committing to him the most intimate recesses of his breast, 
 and of using him as the channel of his most confidential inter- 
 course with his lady. Henceforward it would, he foresaw, 
 be difficult for his patron either to dispense with his services 
 or refuse his requests, however unreasonable. And if this 
 disdainful dame, as he termed the countess, should comply 
 with the request of her husband, Varney, her pretended hus- 
 band, must needs become so situated with respect to her that 
 there was no knowing where his audacity might be bounded; 
 perhaps not till circumstances enabled him to obtain a triumph 
 which he thought of with a mixture of fiendish feelings, in 
 which revenge for her previous scorn was foremost and pre- 
 dominant. Again he contemplated the possibility of her 
 being totally intractable, and refusing obstinately to play the 
 part assigned to her iu the drama at Kenilworth. 
 
 " Alasco must then do his part, " he said. " Sickness must 
 serve her Majesty as an excuse for not receiving the homage 
 of Mrs. Varney — ay, and a sore and a wasting sickness it may 
 prove, should Elizabeth continue to cast so favourable an eye 
 on my Lord of Leicester. I will not forego the chance of 
 being favourite of a monarch for want of determiaed measures, 
 should these be necessary. Forward, good horse — forward: 
 ambition, and haughty hope of power, pleasure, and revenge, 
 strike their stings as deep through my bosom as I plunge the 
 rowels in thy flanks. On, good horse — on : the devil urge* us 
 both forward."
 
 286 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 Say that my beauty was but small, 
 
 Among court ladies all despised, 
 "Why didst thou rend it from that hall, 
 
 Where, scornful earl, 'twas dearly prized? 
 
 No more thou com'st with wonted speed, 
 
 Thy once beloved bride to see ; 
 But be she alive, or be she dead, 
 
 I fear, stern earl, 's the same to thee. 
 
 Cumnor Hall, by William Julius Mickle. 
 
 The ladies of fashion of tlie present, or of any other, period 
 must have allowed that the young and lovely Countess of Leices- 
 ter had, besides her youth and beauty, two qualities which 
 entitled her to a place amongst women of rank and distinction. 
 She displayed, as we have seen in her interview with the ped- 
 lar, a liberal promptitude to make unnecessary pui-chases, solely 
 for the jDleasure of acquiring useless and showy trifles, which 
 ceased to please as soon as they were possessed; and she was, 
 besides, apt to spend a considerable space of time every day 
 in adorning her person, although the varied splendour of her 
 attire could only attract the half-satii-ical praise of the precise 
 Janet, or an approving glance from the bright eyes which wit- 
 nessed their own beams of triumph reflected from the mirror. 
 
 The Countess Amy had, indeed, to plead for indulgence in 
 those frivolous tastes, that the education of the times had 
 done little or nothing for a mind naturally gay and averse to 
 study. If she had not loved to collect finery and to wear it, 
 she might have woven tapestry or sewed embroidery, till her 
 labours spread in gay profusion all over the walls and seats at 
 Lidcote Hall; or she might have varied Minerva's labours 
 with the task of preparing a mighty pudding against the time 
 that Sir Hugh Robsart returned from the greenwood. But 
 Amy had no natural genius either for the loom, the needle, or 
 the receipt-book. Her mother had died in [Amy's] infancy; 
 her father contradicted her in nothing; and Tressilian, the 
 only one that approached her who was able or desirous to
 
 KENILWORTH. 287 
 
 attend to the cultivation of lier mind, had much hurt his in- 
 terest with her by assuming too eagerly the task of a precep- 
 tor ; so that he was regarded by the lively, indulged, and idle 
 girl with some fear and much respect, but with little or noth- 
 ing of that softer emotion which it had been his hope and his 
 ambition to mspire. And thus her heart lay readily open, 
 and her fancy became easUy captivated by the noble exterior 
 and graceful deportment and complacent flattery of Leicester, 
 even before he was known to her as the dazzling minion of 
 wealth and power. 
 
 The frequent visits of Leicester at Cumnor during the earlier 
 part of their union had reconciled the countess to the solitude 
 and privacy to which she was condemned; but when these 
 visits became rarer and more rare, and when the void was filled 
 up with letters of excuse, not always very warmly expressed, 
 and generally extremely brief, discontent and suspicion began 
 to haimt those splendid apartments which love had fitted up 
 for beauty. Her answers to Leicester conveyed these feelings 
 too blimtly, and pressed more naturally than prudently that 
 she might be relieved from this obscure and secluded residence 
 by the earl's acknowledgment of their mai-riage; and in ar- 
 ranging her arguments, with all the skill she was mistress of, 
 she ti'usted chiefly to the warmth of the entreaties with which 
 she urged them. Sometimes she even ventured to mingle 
 reproaches, of which Leicester conceived he had good reason 
 to complain. 
 
 "I have made her countess," he said to Vamey; "surely 
 she might wait till it consisted with my pleasure that she 
 should put on the coronet?" 
 
 The Countess Amy viewed the subject in directly an oppo- 
 site light. 
 
 " What signifies, " she said, " that I have rank and honour 
 in reality, if I am to live an obscure prisoner, without either 
 society or observance, and suffering in my character as one of 
 dubious or disgraced reputation? I care not for all those 
 strings of pearl which you fret me by warping into my tresses, 
 Janet. I tell you that, at Lidcote Hall, if I put but a fresh 
 rosebud among my hair, my good father would call me to him
 
 288 -W AVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 that lie miglit see it more closely ; and the kind old curate 
 would smile, and Master Mumblazen would say something 
 about roses gules; and now I sit here, decked out like an 
 image with gold and gems, and no one to see my finery but 
 you, Janet. There was the poor Tressilian, too ; but it avails 
 not speaking of him." 
 
 "It doth not indeed, madam," said her prudent attendant; 
 " and verily you make me sometimes wish you would not speak 
 of him so often or so rashly." 
 
 " It signifies nothing to warn me, Janet, " said the impatient 
 and incorrigible countess ; " I was born free, though I am now 
 mewed up like some fine foreign slave, rather than the wife of 
 an English noble. I bore it all with pleasure while I was 
 sure he loved me ; but now my tongue and heart shall be free, 
 let them fetter these limbs as they will. I tell thee, Janet, I 
 love my husband — I will love him till my latest breath — I 
 cannot cease to love him, even if I would, or if he — which, 
 God knows, may chance — should cease to love me. But I 
 will say, and loudly, I would have been happier than I now 
 am to have remained in Lidcote Hall ; even although I must 
 have married poor Tressilian, with his melancholy look, and 
 his head full of learning, which I cared not for. He said, if 
 I would read his favourite volumes, there would come a time 
 that I should be glad of having done so. I think it is come 
 now. " 
 
 " I bought you some books, madam, " said Janet, " from a 
 lame fellow who sold them in the market-place, and who 
 stared something boldly at me, I promise you." 
 
 "Let me see them, Janet," said the countess; "but let 
 them not be of your own precise cast. How is this, most 
 righteous damsel? A Pair of Snuffers for the Golden Candle- 
 stick — A Handful of Myrrh and Hyssop to put a Sick Soul to 
 Purgation — A Prauyht of Wafer from the Valley of Baca — > 
 Foxes and Firebrands. What gear caU you this, maiden?" 
 
 "Nay, madam," said Janet, "it was but fitting and seemly 
 to put grace in your ladyship's way; but an you will none of 
 it, there are play-books and poet-books, I trow." 
 
 The countess proceeded carelessly in her examination, turn*
 
 KENIL WORTH. 289 
 
 ing over such rare volumes as would now make the fortune of 
 twenty retail booksellers. Here was a Boke of Cookery, inv 
 Ijrinted hy Richard Lant, and Skelton's Books — The Passtivie 
 of the People — The Castle of KnowJ^rj<^, etc. But neither to 
 this lore did the countess's heart incline, and joyfully did she 
 start up from the listless task of turning over the leaves of the 
 pamphlets, and hastily did she scatter them through the floor, 
 when the rapid clatter of horses' feet, heard in the courtyard, 
 called her to the window, exclaiming, *'It is Leicester! — it is 
 my noble earl ! — it is my Dudley ! Every stroke of his horse's 
 hoof sounds like a note of lordly music!" 
 
 There was a brief bustle in the mansion, and Foster, with, 
 his downward look and sullen manner, entered the apartment 
 to say, " That Master Richard Varney was arrived from my 
 lord, having ridden all night, and craved to speak with her 
 ladyship instantly. " 
 
 "Yarney!" said the disappointed countess ; "and to speak 
 with me ! — pshaw ! But he comes with news from Leicester, 
 so admit him instantly." 
 
 Varney entered her dressing-apartment, where she sat ar- 
 rayed in her native loveliness, adorned with aU that Janet's 
 art, and a rich and tasteful undi-ess, could bestow. But the 
 most beautiful part of her attire was her profuse and luxuriant 
 light-brown locks, which floated in such rich abimdance around 
 a neck that resembled a swan's, and over a bosom heaving with 
 anxious expectation, which communicated a hurried tinge of 
 red to her whole countenance. 
 
 Varney entered the room in the dress in which he had waited 
 on his master that morning to court, the splendour of which 
 made a strange contrast with the disorder arising from hasty 
 riding during a dark night and foul ways. His brow bore an 
 anxious and hurried expression, as one who has that to say of 
 which he doubts the reception, and who hath yet posted on 
 from the necessity of communicating his tidings. The coun- 
 tess's anxious eye at once caught the alarm as she exclaimed, 
 " You bring news from my lord. Master Varney? Gracious 
 Heaven! is he ill?" 
 
 "No, madam, thank Heaven!" said Varney. "Compose 
 19
 
 290 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 yourself, and permit me to take breatli ere I communicate my 
 tidings." 
 
 " No breath, sir, " replied the lady, impatiently ; " I know 
 your theatrical arts. Since your breath hath sufficed to bring 
 you hither, it may suffice to tell your tale, at least briefly, 
 and in the gross," 
 
 "Madam," answered Varney, "we are not alone, and my 
 lord's message was for your ear only." 
 
 " Leave us, Janet, and Master Foster, " said the lady ; " but 
 remain in the next apartment, and within call." 
 
 Foster and his daughter retired, agreeably to the Lady 
 Leicester's commands, into the next apartment, which was the 
 ■withdrawing-room. The door which led from the sleeping- 
 chamber was then carefully shut and bolted, and the father 
 and daughter remained both in a posture of anxious attention, 
 the first with a stern, suspicious, lowering cast of countenance, 
 and Janet with folded hands, and looks which seemed divided 
 betwixt her desire to know the fortunes of her mistress and 
 her prayers to Heaven for her safety. Anthony Foster seemed 
 himself to have some idea of what was passing through his 
 daughter's mind, for he crossed the apartment and took her 
 anxiously by the hand, saying, " That is right : pray, Janet — 
 pray ; we have all need of prayers, and some of us more than 
 others. Pray, Janet ; I would pray myself, but I must listen 
 to what goes on within : evil has been brewing, love — evil has 
 been brewing. God forgive our sins ; but Varney's sudden and 
 strange arrival bodes us no good." 
 
 Janet had never before heard her father excite or even per- 
 mit her attention to anjrthing which passed in their mysterious 
 family, and now that he did so, his voice sounded in her ear — 
 she knew not why — ^like that of a screech-owl denouncing 
 some deed of terror and of woe. She turned her eyes fear- 
 fully towards the door, almost as if she expected some sounds 
 of horror to be heard, or some sight of fear to display itself. 
 
 All, however, was as still as death, and the voices of those 
 who spoke in the inner chamber were, if they spoke at all, 
 carefully subdued to a tone which could not be heard in the 
 next. At once, however, they were heard to speak fast, thick.
 
 KENILWORTH. 291 
 
 and hastily ; and presently after the voice of the countess was 
 heard exclaiming, at the highest pitch to which indignation 
 could raise it, " Undo the door, sir, I command you ! Undo 
 the door 1 I will have no other reply!" she continued, drown- 
 ing with her vehement accents the low and muttered sounds 
 which Varney was heard to utter betwixt whiles. "What 
 ho! without there!" she persisted, accompanying her words 
 with shrieks, "Janet, alarm the house. Foster, break open 
 the door. I am detained here by a traitor. Use axe and 
 lever, Master Foster — I will be your warrant." 
 
 " It shall not need, madam, " Varney was at length distinctly 
 heard to say. " If you please to expose my lord's important 
 concerns and your own to the general ear, I will not be your 
 hinderance." 
 
 The door was unlocked and thrown open, and Janet and her 
 father rushed in, anxious to learn the cause of these reiterated 
 exclamations. 
 
 When they entered the apartment, Varney stood by the door 
 grindhig his teeth, with an expression in which rage, and 
 shame, and fear, had each their share. The countess stood ia 
 the midst of her apartment like a juvenile pythoness, under 
 the influence of the prophetic fury. The veins in her beauti- 
 ful forehead started into swoln blue lines through the hurried 
 impulse of her articulation, her cheek and neck glowed like 
 scarlet, her eyes were like those of an imprisoned eagle, flash- 
 ing red lightnmg on the foes whom it cannot reach with its 
 talons. Were it possible for one of the Graces to have been 
 animated by a Fury, the countenance could not have united 
 such beauty with so much hatred, scorn, defiance, and resent- 
 ment. The gesture and attitude corresponded with the voice 
 and looks, and altogether presented a spectacle which was at 
 once beautiful and fearful ; so much of the sublime had the 
 energy of passion united with the Countess Amy's natural 
 loveliness. Janet, as soon as the door was open, ran to her 
 mistress ; and more slowly, yet with more haste than he was 
 wont, Anthony Foster went to Kichard Varney. 
 
 " In the Truth's name, what ails your ladyship?" said the 
 former.
 
 292 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "What, in tlie name of Satan, liave you done to her?" said 
 Poster to his friend. 
 
 "Who, I? — nothing," answered Varney, but with sunken 
 head and sullen voice — "nothing but communicated to her 
 her lord's commands, which, if the lady list not to obey, she 
 knows better how to answer it than I may pretend to do." 
 
 "Now, by Heaven, Janet," said the coimtess, "the false 
 traitor lies in his throat! He must needs lie, for he speaks 
 to the dishonour of my noble lord; he must needs lie doubly, 
 for he speaks to gain ends of his own, equally execrable and 
 imattainable." 
 
 " You have misapprehended me, lady, " said Varney, with a 
 sulky species of submission and apology ; " let this matter rest 
 till your passion be abated, and I will explain all." 
 
 "Thou shalt never have an opportunity to do so," said the' 
 countess. " Look at him, Janet. He is fairly dressed, hath 
 the outside of a gentleman, and hither he came to persuade 
 me it was my lord's pleasu,re — nay, more, my wedded lord's 
 commands — that I should go with him to Kenilworth, and 
 before the Queen and nobles, and in presence of my own 
 wedded lord, that I should acknowledge him — Mm there, that 
 very cloak-brushing, shoe-cleaning fellow — Mm there, my 
 lord's lackey, for my liege lord and husband; furnishing 
 against myself, great God! whenever I was to vindicate my 
 right and my rank, such weapons as would hew my just claim 
 from the root, and destroy my character to be regarded as an 
 honourable matron of the English nobility!" 
 
 " You hear her, Eoster, and you, yoimg maiden, hear this 
 lady, " answered Varney, taking advantage of the pause which 
 the countess had made in her charge, more for lack of breath 
 than for lack of matter — " you hear that her heat only objects 
 to me the course which our good lord, for the purpose to keep 
 certain matters secret, suggests in the very letter which she 
 holds in her hands." 
 
 Foster here attempted to interfere with a face of authority, 
 which he thought became the charge intrusted to him. " Nay, 
 lady, I must needs say you are over hasty in this. Such de- 
 ceit is not utterly to be condemned when practised for a
 
 KENILWORTS 293 
 
 rigliteous end ; and thus even the patriarch Abraham feigned 
 Sarah to be his sister when they went down to Egypt." 
 
 " Ay, sir, " answered the contess ; " but God rebuked that 
 deceit even in the father of His chosen people, by the mouth 
 of the heathen Pharaoh. Out upon you, that will read Scrip- 
 ture only to copy those things which are held out to us as 
 warnings, not as examples!" 
 
 " But Sarah disputed not the will of her husband, an it be 
 your pleasure, " said Foster, in reply ; " but did as Abraham 
 commanded, calling herself his sister, that it might be well 
 with her husband for her sake, and that his soul might live be- 
 cause of her beauty." 
 
 "Now, so Heaven pardon me my useless anger," answered 
 the countess, " thou art as daring a hypocrite as yonder fellow 
 is an impudent deceiver ! Never will I believe that the noble 
 Dudley gave countenance to so dastardly, so dishonourable a 
 plan. Thus I tread on his infamy, if indeed it be, and thus 
 desti'oy its remembrance forever!" 
 
 So saying, she tore in pieces Leicester's letter, and stamped 
 in the extremity of impatience, as if she would have annihi- 
 lated the minute fragments into which she had rent it. 
 
 " Bear witness, " said Varney, collecting himself, *' she hath 
 torn my lord's letter, in order to burden me with the scheme 
 of his de\dsing ; and although it promises nought but danger 
 and trouble to me, she would lay it to my charge, as if I had 
 any purpose of mine ovra in it." 
 
 "Thou liest, thou treacherous slave!" said the countess, in 
 spite of Janet's attempts to keep her silent, in the sad fore- 
 sight that her vehemence might only furnish arms against 
 herseK. "Thou liest!" she continued. "Let me go, Janet. 
 Were it the last word I have to speak, he lies : he had his 
 own foul ends to seek; and broader he would have displayed 
 them, had my passion permitted me to preserve the silence 
 which at iirst encouraged him to unfold his vile projects." 
 
 " Madam, " said Yarney, overwhelmed in spite of his etf ront- 
 ery, " I entreat you to believe yourself mistaken." 
 
 " As soon will I believe light darkness, " said the enraged 
 countess. " Have I drank of oblivion? Do I not remember
 
 294 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 former passages, wliicli, known to Leicester, had given thee 
 the preferment of a gallows instead of the honour of his inti- 
 macy? I would I were a man but for live minutes! It were 
 space enough to make a craven like thee confess his villainy. 
 But go — begone ! Tell thy master that, when I take the fool 
 course to which such scandalous deceits as thou hast recom- 
 mended on his behalf must necessarily lead me, I wiU give 
 him a rival something worthy of the name. He shall not be 
 supplanted by an ignominious lackey, whose best fortune is to 
 catch a gift of his master's last suit of clothes ere it is thread- 
 bare, and who is only fit to seduce a suburb wench by the 
 bravery of new roses in his master's old pantoufles. Go — 
 begone, sir j I scorn thee so much that I am ashamed to have 
 been angry with thee." 
 
 Varney left the room with a mute expression of rage, and 
 was followed by Foster, whose apprehension, naturally slow, 
 was overpowered by the eager and abundant discharge of in- 
 dignation which, for the first time, he had heard burst from 
 the lips of a being who had seemed till that moment too lan- 
 guid and too gentle to nurse an angry thought or utter au 
 intemperate expression. Foster, therefore, pursued Varney 
 from place to place, persecuting him with interrogatories, to 
 which the other replied not until they were in the opposite 
 side of the quadrangle, and in the old library, with which the 
 reader has already been made acquainted. Here he turned 
 round on his persevering follower, and thus addressed him, in 
 a tone tolerably equal ; that brief walk having been sufficient 
 to give one so habituated to command his temper time to rally 
 and recover his presence of mind. 
 
 " Tony, " he said, with his usual sneering laugh, " it avails 
 not to deny it — the woman and the devil, who, as thine oracle 
 Holdforth will confirm to thee, cheated man at the beginning, 
 have this day proved more powerful than my discretion. Yon 
 termagant looked so tempting, and had the art to preserve her 
 countenance so naturally, while I communicated my lord's 
 message, that, by my faith, I thought I might say some little 
 thing for myself. She thinks she hath my head under her 
 girdle now, but she is deceived. Where is Doctor Alasco?"
 
 KEXILWORTH. 295 
 
 " In his laboratory, " answered Foster j " it is tlie hour lie is 
 not spoken withal ; we must wait till noon is past, or spoil his 
 
 important What said I, important? I would say, inter* 
 
 rupt his divine studies." 
 
 "Ay, he studies the devil's divinity," said Varney; "but 
 when I want him one hour must suffice as well as another. 
 Lead the way to his pandemonium." 
 
 So spoke Varney, and with hasty and perturbed steps fol- 
 lowed Foster, who conducted him through private passages, 
 many of which were wellnigh ruinous, to the opposite side of 
 the quadrangle, where, in a subterranean apartment, now oc- 
 cupied by the chemist Alasco, one of the abbots of Abing- 
 don, who had a turn for the occult sciences, had, much to the 
 scandal of his convent, established a laboratory, in which, like 
 other fools of the period, he spent much precious time, and 
 money besides, in the pursuit of the grand arcanum. 
 
 Anthony Foster paused before the door, which was scrupu- 
 lously secured within, and again showed a marked hesitation 
 to disturb the sage in his operations. But Varney, less scru- 
 pulous, roused him, by knocking and voice, until at length, 
 slowly and reluctantly, the inmate of the apartment undid the 
 door. The chemist appeared, with his eyes bleared with the 
 heat and vapours of the stove or alembic over which he brooded, 
 and the interior of his cell displayed the confused assemblage 
 of heterogeneous substances and extraordinary implements 
 belonging to his profession. The old man was muttering, 
 with spiteful impatience, " Am I for ever to be recalled to the 
 affairs of earth from those of heaven?" 
 
 " To the affairs of hell, " answered Varney, " for that is thy 
 proper element. Foster, we need thee at our conference." 
 
 Foster slowly entered the room. Varney, following, barred 
 the door, and they betook themselves to secret council. 
 
 In the mean while, the countess traversed the apartment, 
 with shame and anger contending on her lovely cheek. 
 
 "The villain," she said — "•the cold-blooded, calculating 
 slave ! But I immasked him, Janet — I made the snake imcoil 
 aU his folds before me, and crawl abroad in his naked deform-
 
 296 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ity. I susiDended my resentment, at the danger of suffocatktg 
 under the effort, until he had let me see the very bottom of a 
 heart more foul than hell's darkest corner. And thou, Leices- 
 ter, is it possible thou couldst bid me for a moment deny 
 my wedded right in thee, or thyself yield it to another ! But 
 it is impossible : the villain has lied in all. Janet, I will not 
 remain here longer. I fear him — I fear thy father ; I grieve 
 to say it, Janet, but I fear thy father, and, worst of all, this 
 odious Varney. I will escape from Cumnor." 
 
 " Alas ! madam, whither would you fly, or by what means 
 will you escape from these walls?" 
 
 " I know not, Janet, " said the unfortunate young lady, look- 
 ing upwards and clasping her hands together — " I know nob 
 where I shall fly, or by Avhat means ; but I am certain the 
 God I have served will not abandon me in this dreadful crisis, 
 for I am in the hands of wicked men." 
 
 " Do not think so, dear lady, " said Janet ; " my father is 
 stern and strict in his temper, and severely true to his trust j 
 but yet " 
 
 At this moment, Anthony Foster entered the apartment 
 bearing in his hand a glass cup and a small flask. His manner 
 was singular J for, while approaching the countess with the 
 respect due to her rank, he had tiU this time suffered to be- 
 come visible, or had been unable to suppress, the obdurate 
 sulkiness of his natural disposition, which, as is usual with 
 those of his unhapppy temper, was chiefl}^ exerted towards 
 those over whom circumstances gave him control. But at 
 present he showed nothing of that sullen consciousness of 
 authority which he was wont to conceal under a clumsy affec- 
 tation of civility and deference, as a ruffian hides his pistols 
 and bludgeon under his iU-fashioned gaberdine. And yet it 
 seemed as if his smile was more in fear than courtesy, and as 
 if, while he pressed the countess to taste of the choice cordial, 
 which should refresh her spirits after her late alarm, he was 
 conscious of meditating some farther injury. His hand trem- 
 bled also, his voice faltered, and his whole outward behavior 
 exhibited so much that was suspicious, that his daughter 
 Janet, after she had stood looking at him in astonishment for
 
 KENILWORTH. 297 
 
 some seconds, seemed at once to collect herself to execute some 
 hardy resolution, raised her head, assumed an attitude and 
 gait of determination and authority, and walking slowly be- 
 twixt her father and her mistress, took the salver from the 
 hand of the former, and said in a low, but marked and de- 
 cided tone, " Father, I will fill for my noble mistress, when 
 such is her pleasure." 
 
 '*Thou, my chUd!" said Foster, eagerly and apprehen- 
 sively; "no, my child, it is not thou shalt render the lady this 
 service. " 
 
 " And why, I pray you, " said Janet, " if it be fitting that 
 the noble lady should partake of the cup at all?" 
 
 " ^Miy — why?" said the seneschal, hesitating, and then 
 bursting into passion as the readiest mode of supplying the 
 lack of all other reason. " Why, because it is my pleasure, 
 minion, that you should not! Get you gone to the evening 
 lecture. " 
 
 " Now, as I hope to hear lecture again, " replied Janet, " I 
 will not go thither this night, imless I am better assured of 
 my mistress's safety. Give me that flask, father;" and she 
 took it from his reluctant hand, while he resigned it as if con- 
 science-struck. "And now," she said, "father, that which 
 shall benefit my mistress cannot do me prejudice. Father, I 
 drink to you." 
 
 Foster, without speaking a word, rushed on his daughter 
 and wrested the flask from her hand ; then, as if embarrassed 
 by what he had done, and totally unable to resolve what he 
 should do next, he stood with it in his hand, one foot advanced 
 and the other drawn back, glaring on his daughter with a 
 countenance in which rage, fear, and convicted villainy formed 
 a hideous combination. 
 
 "This is strange, my father," said Janet, keeping her eye 
 fixed on his, in the manner in which those who have the 
 charge of Ivmatics are said to overawe their unhappy patients ; 
 "will you neither let me serve my lady nor drink to her 
 myseK?" 
 
 The courage of the countess sustained her through this 
 dreadful scene, of which the import was not the less obvious
 
 298 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 that it was not even hinted at. She preserved even the rash 
 carelessness of her temper, and though her cheek had grown 
 pale at the first alarm, her eye was calm and almost scornful. 
 "Will you taste this rare cordial, Master Foster? Perhaps 
 you will not yourself refuse to pledge us, though you permit 
 not Janet to do so. Drink, sir, I pray you." 
 
 " I will not, " answered Foster. 
 
 "And for whom, then, is the precious beverage reserved, 
 sir?" said the countess." 
 
 "For the devil, who brewed it!" answered Foster; and, 
 turning on his heel, he left the chamber. 
 
 Janet looked at her mistress with a countenance expressive 
 in the highest degree of shame, dismay, and sorrow. 
 
 " Do not weep for me, Janet, " said the countess, kindly. 
 
 " No, madam, " replied her attendant, m a voice broken by 
 sobs, " it is not for you I weep, it is for myself — it is for that 
 unhappy man. Those who are dishonoured before man, those 
 who are condemned by God, have cause to mourn, not those 
 who are innocent! Farewell, madam!" she said, hastily 
 assuming the mantle in which she was wont to go abroad. 
 
 "Do you leave me, Janet?" said her mistress — "desert me 
 in such an evil strait?" 
 
 "Desert you, madam!" exclaimed Janet; and, running 
 back to her mistress, she imprinted a thousand kisses on her 
 hand. — "desert you! may the Hope of my trust desert me 
 when I do so ! No, madam ; well you said the God you serve 
 will open you a path for deliverance. There is a way of es- 
 cape ; I have prayed night and day for light, that I might see 
 how to act betwixt my duty to yonder unhappy man and that 
 which I owe to you. Sternly and fearfully that light has now 
 dawned, and I must not shut the door which God opens. Ask 
 me no more. I will return in brief space." 
 
 So speaking, she wrapped herself in her mantle, and saying 
 to the old woman whom she passed in the outer room that she 
 was going to evening prayer, she left the house. 
 
 Meanwhile, her father had reached once more the laboratory, 
 where he foimd the accomplices of his intended guilt. 
 
 "Has the sweet bird sipped?" said Yarney, with half a
 
 KEXILWORTH. 299 
 
 smile; wliile tlie astrologer put the same question with his 
 eyes, but spoke not a word. 
 
 "She has not, nor she shall not from my hands," replied 
 Poster; "would you have me do murder in my daughter's 
 presence?" 
 
 "Wert thou not told, thou sullen and yet faint-hearted 
 slave," answered Varney, with bitterness, "that no murder, 
 as thou call'st it, with that staring look and stammering tone, 
 is designed in the matter? Wert thou not told that a brief 
 illness, such as woman puts on in very wantonness, that she 
 may wear her night gear at noon, and lie on a settle when she 
 should mind her domestic business, is all here aimed at? 
 Here is a learned man will swear it to thee, by the key of the 
 Castle of Wisdom." 
 
 " I swear it, " said Alasco, " that the elixir thou hast there 
 in the flask will not prejudice life! I swear it by that im- 
 mortal and indestructible quintessence of gold which pervades 
 every substance in nature, though its secret existence can be 
 traced by him only to whom Trismegistus renders the key of 
 the Cabala." 
 
 "An oath of force," said Varney. "Foster, thou wert 
 worse than a pagan to disbelieve it. Believe me, moreover, 
 who swear by nothing but by my own word, that, if you be 
 not conformable, there is no hope — no, not a glimpse of hope — 
 that this thy leasehold may be transmuted into a copj^hold. 
 Thus, Alasco will leave your pewter artillery untransmigrated, 
 and I, honest Anthony, will still have thee for my tenant, " 
 
 " I know not, gentlemen," said Foster, " where your designs 
 tend to ; but in one thing I am bound up, that, fall back fall 
 edge, I will have one in this place that may pray for me, and 
 that one shall be my daughter. I have lived ill, and the world 
 has been too weighty with me ; but she is as innocent as ever 
 she was when on her mother's lap, and she, at least, shall have 
 her portion in that happy City whose walls ar of pure gold, and 
 the foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones." 
 
 "Ay, T^ny," said Varney, "that were a paradise to thy 
 heart's content. Debate the matter wich him, Doctor Alasco; 
 I will be with you anon."
 
 300 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ho speaking, Varney arose, and, taking the flask from the 
 table, he left the room. 
 
 " I tell thee, my son, " said Alasco to Foster as soon as Var- 
 ney had left them, " that, whatever this bold and profligate 
 railer may say of the mighty science in which, by Heaven's 
 blessing, I have advanced so far, that I would not call the 
 wisest of living artists my better or my teacher. I say, how- 
 soever yonder reprobate may scoff at things too holy to be ap- 
 prehended by men merely of carnal and evil thoughts, yet 
 believe, that the city beheld by St. Jolm, in that bright vision 
 of the Christian Apocalypse, that Kew Jerusalem of which all 
 Christian men hope to partake, sets forth typically the dis- 
 covery of the Grand Secret, whereby the most precious and 
 perfect of nature's works are elicited out of her basest and 
 most crude productions ; just as the light and gaudy butterfly, 
 the most beautiful child of the summer's breeze, breaks forth 
 from the dungeon of a sordid chrysalis." 
 
 "Master Holdforth said nought of this exposition," said 
 Foster, doubtfully; "and moreover, Doctor Alasco, the Holy 
 Writ says that the gold and precious stones of the Holy City 
 are in no sort for those who work abomination or who frame 
 Kes." 
 
 "Well, my son," said the doctor, "and what is your infer- 
 ence from thence?" 
 
 " That those, " said Foster, " who distil poisons, and admin- 
 ister them in secrecy, can have no portion in those unspeak- 
 able riches." 
 
 " You are to distinguish, my son, " replied the alchemist, 
 "betwixt that which is necessarily evil in its progress and in 
 its end also, and that which, being evil, is nevertheless capa- 
 ble of working forth good. If, by the death of one person, 
 the happy period shall be brought nearer to us in which all 
 that is good shall be attained by wishing its presence, all that 
 is evil escaped by desiring its absence ; in which sickness, and 
 pain, and sorrow shall be the obedient servants of human wis- 
 dom, and made to fly at the slightest signal of a sage; in 
 which that which is now richest and rarest shall be within the 
 compass of every one who shall be obedient to the voice of
 
 KENILWORTH. 301 
 
 ■wisdom ; when the art of healmg shall be lost and absorbed in 
 the one universal medicine ; when sages shall become monarchs 
 of the earth, and death itself retreat before their frown — if 
 this blessed consummation of all things can be hastened by the 
 slight circumstance that a frail earthly body, which must needs 
 partake corruption, shall be consigned to the grave a short 
 space earlier than in the course of nature, what is such a sacri- 
 fice to the advancement of the holy millennium?" 
 
 " Millennium is the reign of the saints, " said Foster, some- 
 what doubtfully. 
 
 " Say it is the reign of the sages, my son, " answered Alasco j 
 "or rather the reign of Wisdom itself." 
 
 " I touched on the question with Master Holdforth last exer- 
 cising night, " said Foster ; " but he says your doctrine is het- 
 erodox, and a damnable and false exposition." 
 
 " He is in the bonds of ignorance, my son, " answered Alasco, 
 " and as yet burning bricks in Egypt ; or, at best, wandering 
 in the dry desert of Sinai. Thou didst ill to speak to such a 
 man of such matters. I will, however, give thee proof, and 
 that shortly, which I wall defy that peevish divine to confute, 
 though he should strive with me as the magicians strove with 
 Moses before King Pharaoh. 1 will do projection in thy 
 presence, my son — in thy very presence, and thine eyes shall 
 witness the truth." 
 
 " Stick to that, learned sage, " said Varney, who at this 
 moment entered the apartment ; '' if he refuse the testimony 
 of thy tongue, yet how shall he deny that of his own eyes?" 
 
 "Yarney!" said the adept — "Varney already returned I 
 Hast thou " he stopped short. 
 
 "Have I done mine errand, thou wouldst say?" replied 
 Varney. "I have. And thou," he added, showing more 
 symptoms of interest than he had hitherto exhibited — " art 
 thou sure thou hast poured forth neither more nor less than 
 the just measure?" 
 
 "Ay," replied the alchemist, "as sure as men can be in 
 these nice proportions ; for there is diversity of constitutions. " 
 .: "Kay, then," said Varney, "I fear nothing. I know thou 
 wilt not go a step farther to the devil than thou art justly con-
 
 302 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 sidered for. Thou wert paid to create illness, and "vrouldst 
 esteem it thriftless prodigality to do murder at the same price. 
 Come, let us each to our chamber. We shall see the event 
 to-morrow." 
 
 "What didst thou do to make her swallow it?" said Foster, 
 shuddering. 
 
 "Nothing," answered Varney, "but looked on her with that 
 aspect which governs madmen, women, and children. They 
 told me, in St. Luke's Hospital, that I have the right look for 
 overpowering a refractory patient. The keepers made me 
 their compliments on't; so I know how to win my bread when 
 my court favour fails me." 
 
 "And art thou not afraid," said Foster, "lest the dose be 
 disproportioned ?" 
 
 " If so, " replied Varney, " she will but sleep the sounder, 
 and the fear of that shall not break my rest. Good-night, my 
 masters." 
 
 Anthony Foster groaned heavily, and lifted up his hands 
 and eyes. The alchemist intimated his purpose to continue 
 some experiment of high import during the greater part of the 
 night, and the others separated to their places of repose. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Now God be good to me in this wide pilgrimage I 
 
 All hope in human aid I cast behind me. 
 
 Oh, who would be a woman ? — who that fool, '. 
 
 A weeping, pining, faithful, loving woman? 
 
 She hath hard measure still where she hopes kindest. 
 
 And all her bounties only make ingrates. 
 
 Love's Pilgrimage. 
 
 The summer evening was closed, and Janet, just when her 
 longer stay might have occasioned suspicion and inquiry in 
 that jealous household, returned to Cumnor Place, and hast- 
 ened to the apartment in which she had left her lady. She 
 found her with her head resting on her arms, and these 
 crossed upon a table which stood before her. As Janet camo 
 in, she neither looked up nor stirred.
 
 KENILWORTH. 303 
 
 Her faithful attendant ran to her mistress with the speed 
 of lightning, and rousing her at the same time with her hand, 
 conjured the countess, in the most earnest manner, to look up 
 and say what thus affected her. The unhappy lady raised her 
 head accordingly, and looking on her attendant with a ghastly 
 eye, and cheek as pale as clay, " Janet, " she said, " I have 
 drank it." 
 
 "God be praised!" said Janet, hastily. "I mean, God be 
 praised that it is no worse : the potion will not harm you. 
 Else, shake this lethargy from your limbs and this despair 
 from your mind." 
 
 " Janet, " repeated the countess again, " disturb me not — 
 leave me at peace — let life pass quietly — I am poisoned. " 
 
 "You are not, my dearest lady," answered the maiden, 
 eagerly; "what you have swallowed cannot injure you, for 
 the antidote has been taken before it, and I hastened hither 
 to tell you that the means of escape are open to you." 
 
 "Escape!" exclaimed the lady, as she raised herself hastily 
 in her chair, while light returned to her eye and life to her 
 cheek ; " but ah ! Janet, it comes too late. " 
 
 " i^ot so, dearest lady. Rise, take mine arm, walk through 
 the apartment. Let not fancy do the work of poison ! So ; 
 feel you not now that you are possessed of the full use of your 
 limbs?" 
 
 " The torpor seems to diminish, " said the countess, as, sup- 
 ported by Janet, she walked to and fro in the apartment; 
 " but is it then so, and have I not swallowed a deadly di'aught? 
 Varney was here since thou wert gone, and commanded me, with 
 eyes in which I read my fate, to swallow yon horrible di-ug. 
 
 Janet ! it must be fatal : never was harmless draught served 
 by such a cupbearer!" 
 
 "He did not deem it harmless, I fear," replied the maiden; 
 ** but God confounds the devices of the wicked. Believe me, 
 as I swear by the dear Gospel in which we trust, your life is 
 safe from his practice. Did you not debate with him?" 
 
 "The house was silent," answered the lady, "thou gone, 
 no other but he in the chamber, and he capable of every crime. 
 
 1 did but stipulate he would remove his hateful presence, and
 
 304 WAYERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 I drank whatever he offered. But you spoke of escape, Janet ; 
 can I be so happy?" 
 
 " Are you strong enough to bear the tidings and make the 
 effort?" said the maiden. 
 
 "Strong!" answered the countess — "ask the hind, when 
 the fangs of the deer-hound are stretched to grij)e her, if she 
 is strong enough to sprmg over a chasm. I am equal to every 
 effort that may relieve me from this place." 
 
 " Hear me, then, " said Janet. " One, whom I deem an as- 
 sured friend of yours, has shown himself to me in various 
 disguises, and sought speech of me, which — for my miud was 
 not clear on the matter until this evening — I have ever de- 
 clined. He was the pedlar who brought you goods, the 
 itinerant hawker who sold me books; whenever I stirred 
 abroad I was sure to see him. The event of this night deter- 
 mined me to speak with him. He waits even now at the pos- 
 tern gate of the park with means for your flight. But have 
 you strength of body? Have you courage of mind? Can you 
 undertake the enterprise?" 
 
 " She that flies from death, " said the lady, " finds strength 
 of body; she that would escape from shame lacks no strength 
 of mind. The thoughts of leaving behind me the villain who 
 menaces both my life and honour would give me strength to 
 rise from my death-bed." 
 
 "In God's name, then, lady," said Janet, "I must bid you 
 adieu, and to God's charge I must commit you!" 
 
 " Will you not fly with me, then, Janet?" said the coimtess, 
 anxiously. " Am I to lose thee ? Is this thy faithful service?" 
 
 " Lady, I would fly with you as willingly as bird ever fled 
 from cage, but my doing so would occasion instant discovery 
 and pursuit. I must remain, and use means to disguise the 
 truth for some time. May Heaven pardon the falsehood be- 
 cause of the necessity!" 
 
 "And am I then to travel alone with this stranger?" said 
 the lady. "Bethink thee, Janet, may not this prove some 
 deeper and darker scheme to separate me perhaps from you, 
 who are my only friend?" 
 
 " No, madam, do not suppose it, " answered Janet, readily ;
 
 KENILWORTH. 305 
 
 " the youth is an honest youth in his purpose to you ; and a 
 friend to Master Tressilian, under whose direction he is come 
 hither." 
 
 '' If he be a friend of Tressilian, " said the countess, " I will 
 commit myself to his charge as to that of an angel sent from 
 Heaven; for than Tressilian never breathed mortal man more 
 free of whatever was base, false, or selfish. He forgot him- 
 self whenever he could be of use to others. Alas ! and how 
 was he requited!" 
 
 With eager haste they collected the few necessaries which 
 it was thought proper the countess should take with her, and 
 which Janet, with speed and dexterity, formed into a small 
 bundle, not forgetting to add such ornaments of intrinsic 
 value as came most readily in her way, and particularly a 
 casket of jewels, which she wisely judged might prove of ser- 
 vice in some future emergency. The Comitess of Leicester 
 next changed her dress for one which Janet usually wore 
 upon any brief journey, for they judged it necessary to avoid 
 every external distinction which might attract notice. Ere 
 these preparations were fully made, the moon had arisen in 
 the summer heaven, and all in the mansion had betaken them- 
 selves to rest, or at least to the silence and retirement of their 
 chambers. 
 
 There was no difficulty anticipated in escaping, whether 
 from the house or garden, provided only they could elude ob- 
 servation. Anthony Foster had accustomed himself to con- 
 sider his daughter as a conscious sinner might regard a visible 
 guardian angel, which, notwithstanding his guilt, continued 
 to hover around him, and therefore his trust in her knew no 
 bounds. Janet commanded her ovnx motions during the day- 
 time, and had a master-key which opened the postern door of 
 the park, so that she could go to the village at pleasure, either 
 upon the household affairs, which were entirely confided to her 
 management, or to attend her devotions at the meeting-liouse 
 of her sect. It is true, the daughter of Foster was thus liber- 
 ally entrusted under the solemn condition that she should not 
 avail herself of these privileges to do anything mconsistent 
 with the safe-keeping of the countess ; for so her residence at 
 20
 
 306 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Cumnor Place had been termed, since she began of late to ex- 
 hibit impatience of the restrictions to which she was sub- 
 jected. Nor is there reason to suppose that anything short of 
 the dreadful suspicions which the scene of that evening had 
 excited could have induced Janet to violate her word or de- 
 ceive her father's confidence. But from what she had wit- 
 nessed, she now conceived herself not only justified, but im- 
 peratively called upon, to make her lady's safety the principal 
 object of her care, setting all other considerations aside. 
 
 The fugitive countess, with her guide, traversed with hasty 
 steps the broken and interrupted path, which had once been 
 an avenue, now totally darkened by the boughs of spreading 
 trees which met above their head, and now receiving a doubt- 
 ful and deceiving light from the beams of the moon, which 
 penetrated where the axe had made openings in the wood. 
 Their path was repeatedly interrupted by felled trees, or the 
 large boughs which had been left on the ground till time 
 served to make them into fagots and billets. The inconven- 
 ience and difficulty attending these interruptions, the breath- 
 less haste of the first part of their route, the exhausting sensa- 
 tions of hope and fear, so much affected the countess's strength 
 that Janet was forced to propose that they should pause for a 
 few minutes to recover breath and spirits. Both, therefore, 
 stood still beneath the shadow of a huge old gnarled oak-tree, 
 and both naturally looked back to the mansion which they had 
 left behind them, whose long dark front was seen in the gloomy 
 distance, with its huge stacks of chimneys, turrets, and clock- 
 house, rising above the line of the roof, and definedly visible 
 against the pure azure blue of the summer sky. One light 
 only twinkled from the extended and shadowy mass, and it 
 was placed so low that it rather seemed to glimmer from the- 
 ground in front of the mansion than from one of the windows. 
 The countess's terror was awakened. "They follow us!" she 
 said, pointing out to Janet the light which thus alarmed her. 
 
 Less agitated than her mistress, Janet perceived that the 
 gleam was stationary, and informed the countess, in a whisper, 
 that the light proceeded from the solitary cell in which th» 
 alchemist pursued his occult experiments. "He is of those,"
 
 KENILWORTH. 307 
 
 she added, " who sit up and watch by night that they may 
 commit iniquity. Evil was the chance which sent hither a 
 man whose mixed speech of earthly wealth and unearthly or 
 superhuman knowledge hath in it what does so especially cap- 
 tivate my poor father. Well spoke the good Master Hold- 
 forth, and, methought, not without meaning that those of our 
 household should find therein a practical use. 'There be 
 those,' he said, 'and their number is legion, who will rather, 
 like the wicked Ahab, listen to the dreams of the false prophet 
 Zedekiah than to the words of him by whom the Lord has 
 spoken.' And he further insisted: *Ah, my brethren, there 
 be many Zedekiahs among you — men that promise you the 
 light of their carnal knowledge, so you will surrender to them 
 that of your Heavenly understanding. What are they bet- 
 ter than the tyrant Kaas, who demanded the right eye of 
 those who were subjected to him?' And farther, he in- 
 sisted " 
 
 It is uncertain how long the fair Puritan's memory might 
 have supported her in the recapitulation of Master Hold- 
 forth's discourse; but the countess interrupted her, and as- 
 sured her she was so much recovered that she could now reach 
 the postern without the necessity of a second delay. 
 
 They set out accordingly, and performed the second part of 
 their journey with more deliberation, and of course more eas- 
 ily, than the first hasty commencement. This gave them lei- 
 sure for reflection ; and Janet now, for the first time, ventured 
 to ask her lady which way she proposed to direct her flight. 
 Receiving no immediate answer — for, perhaps, in the confu- 
 sion of her mind, this very obvious subject of deliberation had 
 not occurred to the countess — Janet ventured to add, " Proba- 
 bly to your father's house, where you are sure of safety and 
 protection?" 
 
 " No, Janet, " said the lady, mournfully, " I left Lidcote 
 Hall while my heart was light and my name was honourable, 
 and I will not return thither till my lord's permission and 
 public acknowledgment of our marriage restore me to my native 
 home with all the rank and honour which he has bestowed 
 on me.'*
 
 308 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "And whither will you, then, madam.?" said Janet. 
 
 " To Kenilworth, girl, " said the countess, boldly and freely. 
 " I Vill see these revels — these princely revels — the preparatiou 
 for which makes the land ring from side to side. Methinks, 
 when the Queen of England feasts within my husband's 
 halls, the Countess of Leicester should be no unbeseeming 
 guest." 
 
 "I pray God you may be a welcome one!" said Janet, 
 hastily. 
 
 " You abuse my situation, Janet, " said the countess, an- 
 grily, " and you forget your own." 
 
 "I do neither, dearest madam," said the sorrowful maiden; 
 " but have you forgotten that the noble earl has given such 
 strict charges to keep your marriage secret that he may pre- 
 serve his court favour? and can you think that your sudden 
 appearance at his castle at such a juncture, and in such a 
 presence, will be acceptable to him?" 
 
 "Thou thinkest I would disgrace him?" said the countess j 
 " nay, let go my arm, I can walk without aid, and work with- 
 out counsel. " 
 
 " Be not angry with me, lady, " said Janet, meekly, " and 
 let me still support you ; the road is rough, and you are little 
 accustomed to walk in darkness." 
 
 " If you deem me not so mean as may disgrace my hus- 
 band," said the countess, in the same resentful tone, "you 
 suppose my Lord of Leicester capable of abetting, perhaps of 
 giving aim and authority to, the base proceedings of your 
 father and Varney, whose errand I will do to the good earl. " 
 
 "For God's sake, madam, spare my father in your report," 
 said Janet ; " let my services, however poor, be some atone- 
 ment for his errors 1" 
 
 "I were most unjust, dearest Janet, were it otherwise,'* 
 said the countess, resuming at once the fondness and confi- 
 dence of her manner towards her faithful attendant. " No, 
 Janet, not a word of mine shall do your father prejudice. 
 But thou seest, my love, I have no desire but to throw myself 
 on my husband's protection. I have left the abode he assigned 
 for me, because of the villauiy of the persons by whom I was
 
 KENILWORTH. 30& 
 
 surrounded; but I will disobey liis commands in no other par- 
 ticular. I will appeal to liim alone ; I will be protected by 
 Mm alone. To no otber than at his pleasure have I or will I 
 communicate the secret union which combines our hearts and 
 our destinies, I will see him, and receive from his own lips 
 the directions for my future conduct. Do not argue against 
 my resolution, Janet; you wHl only confirm me in it. And 
 to own the truth, I am resolved to know my fate at once, and 
 from my husband's own mouth, and to seek hi in at Kenil- 
 worth is the surest way to attain my purpose." 
 
 While Janet hastily revolved in her mind the difficulties 
 and uncertainties attendant on the imforunate lady's situation, 
 she was inclined to alter her first opinion, and to think, upon 
 the whole, that, since the countess had withdi-awn herself 
 from the retreat in which she had been placed by her husband, 
 it was her first duty to repair to his presence, and possess him 
 with the reasons of such conduct. She knew what importance 
 the earl attached to the concealment of their marriage, and 
 could not but own that, by taking any step to make it public 
 without his permission, the countess would incur*, in a high 
 degree, the indignation of her husband. If she retired to her 
 father's house without an explicit avowal of her rank, her sit- 
 uation was likely greatly to prejudice her character; and if 
 she made such an avowal, it might occasion an ii-reconcilable 
 breach with her husband. At KeniLwoi-th, again, she might 
 plead her cause with her husband himself, whom Janet, 
 though distrusting him more than the countess did, believed 
 incapable of being accessary to the base and desperate means 
 which his dependants, fi'om whose power the lady was now 
 escaping, might resort to, in order to stifle her complaints of 
 the treatment she had received at their hands. But at the 
 worst, and were the earl himself to deny her justice and pro- 
 tection, still at Kenilworth, if she chose to make her wrongs 
 public, the countess might have Tressilian for her advocate, 
 and the Queen for her judge ; for so much Janet had learned 
 in her short conference with Wayland. She was, therefore, 
 on the whole, reconciled to her lady's proposal of going towards 
 Kenilworth, and so expressed herself; recommending, how-
 
 310 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ever, to tlie countess tlie utmost caution in making her arrival 
 known to her husband. 
 
 "Hast thou thyself been cautious, Janet?" said the coun- 
 tess ; " this guide, in whom I must put my confidence, bast 
 thou not entrusted to him the secret of my condition?" 
 
 " From me he has learned nothing, " said Janet ; " nor do I 
 think that he knows more than what the public in general be- 
 lieve of your situation." 
 
 "And what is that?" said the lady. 
 
 " That you left your father's house — but I shall offend you 
 again if I go on," said Janet, interrupting herself. 
 
 " Nay, go on, " said the countess ; " I must learn to endure 
 the evil report which my folly has brought upon me. They 
 think, I suppose, that I have left my father's house to follow 
 lawless pleasure. It is an error which will soon be removed 
 — indeed it shall, for I will live with spotless fame or I shall 
 <;ease to live. I am accounted, then, the paramour of my 
 Leicester?" 
 
 "Most men say of Varney," said Janet; "yet some call 
 him only the convenient cloak of his master's pleasures; for 
 reports of the profuse expense in garnishing yonder apartments 
 have secretly gone abroad, and such doings far surpass the 
 means of Varney. But this latter opinion is little prevalent; 
 for men dare hardly even hint suspicion when so high a name, 
 is concerned, lest the Star Chamber should punish them for 
 scandal of the nobility." 
 
 "They do well to speak low," said the countess, "who 
 would mention the illustrious Dudley as the accomplice of 
 Buch a wretch as Varney. We have reached the postern. 
 Ah! Janet, I must bid thee farewell! Weep not, my good 
 girl," said she, endeavouring to cover her own reluctance to 
 part with her faithful attendant under an attempt at playful- 
 ness, "and against we meet again, reform me, Janet, that 
 precise ruff of thine for an open rabatine of lace and cut- 
 work, that will let men see thou hast a fair neck ; and that 
 kirtle of Philippine cheney, with that bugle lace which befits 
 only a chambermaid, into three-piled velvet and cloth of gold: 
 thou wilt find plenty of stuffs in my chamber, and I freely be-
 
 KENILWORTH. 311 
 
 stow them on you. Thou must be brave, Janet ; for though 
 thou art now but the attendant of a distressed and errant lady, 
 who is both nameless and fameless, yet, when we meet again, 
 thou must be di-essed as becomes the gentlewoman nearest in 
 love and in service to ^he first countess h\ England!" 
 
 "Now, may God grant it, dear lady!" said Janet — "not 
 that I may go with gayer apparel, but that we may both wear 
 our kirtles over lighter hearts." 
 
 By this time the lock of the postern door had, after some 
 hard wrenchmg, yielded to the master-key ; and the countess, 
 not without internal shuddering, saw herself beyond the walls 
 which her husband's strict commands had assigned to her as the 
 boundary of her walks. Waiting with much anxiety for their 
 appearance, Wayland Smith stood at some distance, shrouding 
 himself behind a hedge which bordered the highroad. 
 
 "Is all safe?" said Janet to him, anxiously, as he ap- 
 proached them with caution. 
 
 " All, " he replied ; " but I have been unable to procure a 
 horse for the lady. Giles Gosling, the cowardly hilding, re- 
 fused me one on any terms whatever ; lest, forsooth, he should 
 suffer — but no matter. She must ride on my palfrey, and I 
 must walk by her side until I come by another horse. There 
 will be no pursuit, if you, pretty Mistress Janet, forget not 
 thy lesson." 
 
 " No more than the wise widow of Tekoa forgot the words 
 which Joab put into her mouth, " answered Janet. " To-mor- 
 row, I say that my lady is unable to rise." 
 
 " Ay, and that she hath achmg and heaviness of the head, 
 a throbbing at the heart, and lists not to be disturbed. Fear 
 not ; they will take the hmt, and trouble thee with few ques- 
 tions: they understand the disease." 
 
 " But, " said the lady, " my absence must be soon discovered, 
 and they will murder her in revenge. I will rather return 
 than expose her to such danger." 
 
 " Be at ease on my account, madam, " said Janet ; " I would 
 you were as sure of receiving the favour you desire from those 
 to whom you must make appeal, as I am that my father, how- 
 ever angry, will suffer no harm to befall me."
 
 312 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 The countess was now placed by Wayland upon his horse^ 
 around the saddle of which he had placed his cloak, so folded 
 as to make her a commodious seat. 
 
 "Adieu, and may the blessing of God wend with you!" said 
 Janet, agam kissing her mistress's hand, who returned her 
 benediction with a mute caress. They then tore themselves 
 asunder, and Janet, addressing Wayland, exclaimed, "May 
 Heaven deal with you at your need, as you are true or false to 
 this most injured and most helpless lady!" 
 
 "Amen! dearest Janet," replied Wayland; "and believe 
 me, I will so acquit myself of my trust, as may tempt even 
 your pretty eyes, sahit-like as they are, to look less scornfully 
 on me when we next meet." 
 
 The latter part of this adieu was whispered iato Janet's 
 ear; and, although she made no reply to it directly, yet her 
 manner, influenced no doubt by her desire to leave every mo- 
 tive in force which could operate towards . her mistress's 
 safety, did not discourage the hope which Wayland' s words 
 expressed. She re-entered the postern door, and locked it 
 behind her, while, Wayland taking the horse's bridle in his 
 hand and walking close by its head, they began in silence 
 their dubious and moonlight journey. 
 
 Although Wayland Smith used the utm^ost despatch which 
 he could make, yet this mode of travelling was so slow that, 
 when morning began to dawn through the eastern mist, he 
 found himself no farther than about ten mUes distant from 
 Cumnor. " Now, a plague upon all smooth-spoken hosts !" said 
 Wayland, unable longer to suppress his mortification and un- 
 easiness. " Had the false loon, Giles Gosling, but told me plain- 
 ly two days since that I was to reckon nought upon him, I had 
 shifted better for myself. But your hosts have such a custom 
 of promising whatever is called for, that it is not till the steed 
 is to be shod you find they are out of iron. Had I but known, 
 I could have made twenty shifts ; nay, for that matter, and 
 in so good a cause, I would have thought little to have prigged 
 a prancer from the next common — it had but been sending 
 back the brute to the head-borough. The farcy and the foun- 
 ders confound every horse in the stables of the Black Bear !"
 
 KENILWORTH. BIS 
 
 The lady endeavoured to comfort her guide, observing, that 
 the dawn would enable him to make more speed. 
 
 " True, madam," he replied; " but then it will enable other 
 folk to take note of us, and that may prove an ill beginning 
 of our journey. I had not cared a spark from an\nl about the 
 matter had we been farther advanced on our way. But this 
 Berkshire has been notoriously haunted ever since I knew the 
 country with that sort of malicious elves who sit up late and 
 rise eai-ly for no other purpose than to pry into other folks' 
 affairs. I have been endangered by them ere now. But do 
 not fear," he added, "good madam; for wit, meeting with 
 opportimity, will not miss to find a salve for every sore." 
 
 The alarms of her guide made more impression on the coun- 
 tess's mind than the comfort which he judged fit to administer 
 along with it. She looked anxiously around her, and as the 
 shadows withdrew from the landscape, and the heightening 
 glow of the eastern sky promised the speedy rise of the sun, 
 expected at every turn that the increasing light would expose 
 them to the view of the vengeful pursuers, or present some 
 dangerous and insurmountable obstacle to the prosecution of 
 their journey. Wayland Smith perceived her imeasiness, and, 
 displeased with himself for having given her cause of alarm, 
 strode on with affected alacrity, now talking to the horse as 
 one expert in the language of the stable, now whistling to 
 himself low and interrupted snatches of times, and now assur- 
 ing the lady there was no danger ; while at the same time he 
 looked sharply around to see that there was nothing in sight 
 which might give the lie to his words while they were issuing 
 from his mouth. Thus did they journey on, until an unex- 
 pected incident gave them the means of continuing their pil- 
 grimage with more speed and convenience.
 
 314 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Richard. A horse ! — a horse ! — my kingdom for a horse ! 
 
 Catesby. My lord, I'll help you to a horse. 
 
 Ridtard III. 
 
 Our travellers were in tlie act of passing a small thicket of 
 trees close by the roadside, when the first living being pre- 
 sented himself whom they had seen since their departure from 
 Cmnnor Place. This was a stupid lout, seemingly a farmer's 
 boy, in a grey jerkin, with his head bare, his hose about his 
 heels, and huge startups upon his feet. He held by the bri- 
 dle what of all things they most wanted — a palfrey, namely, 
 with a side-saddle and all other garniture for a woman's mount- 
 ing; and he hailed "Wayland Smith with, "Zur, ye be zure 
 the party?" 
 
 " Ay, that I be, my lad," answered W^ayland, without au 
 instant's hesitation; and it must be owned that consciences 
 trained in a stricter school of morality might have given way 
 to an occasion so tempting. While he spoke, he caught the 
 rein out of the boy's hand, and almost at the same time helped 
 down the countess from his own horse, and aided her to moimt 
 on that which chance had thus presented for her acceptance. 
 Indeed, so naturally did the whole take place, that the coun- 
 tess, as it afterwards appeared, never suspected but that the 
 horse had been placed there to meet them by the precaution of 
 the guide or some of his friends. 
 
 The lad, however, who was thus hastily dispossessed of his 
 charge, began to stare hard, and scratch his head, as if seized 
 with some qualms of conscience for delivering up the animal 
 on such brief explanation. " I be right zure thou be'st the 
 party," said he, muttering to himself, "but thou shouldst ha 
 zaid 'Beans,' thou knaw'st." 
 
 "Ay — ay," said Wayland, speaking at a venture; "and 
 thou 'Bacon,' thou know'st." 
 
 " Noa — noa, " said the lad ; " bide ye — bide ye ; it was ' Pease' 
 a should ha said."
 
 KENILWORTH. 316 
 
 "Well — well," answered Wayland, "'Pease' belt, a God's 
 name! thougli 'Bacon' were the better password." 
 
 And being by this time mounted on his own horse, he caught 
 the rein of the palfrey from the uncertain hold of the hesitat- 
 ing young boor, flung him a small piece of money, and made 
 amends for lost time by riding briskly off without fai-ther par- 
 ley. The lad was stiU visible from the hill up which they 
 were riding, and Wayland, as he looked back, beheld him 
 standing with his fingers in his hair as immovable as a guide- 
 post, and his head turned in the direction in which they were 
 escaping from him. At length, just as they topped the hill, 
 he saw the clown stoop to lift up the silver groat which his 
 benevolence had imparted. " ISTow this is what I call a God- 
 send, " said Wayland : " this is a bonny well-ridden bit of a 
 going thing, and it will carry us so far till we get you as well 
 mounted, and then we will send it back time enough to satisfy 
 the hue and cry." 
 
 But he was deceived in his expectations ; and fate, which 
 seemed at first to promise so fairly, soon threatened to turn 
 the incident which he thus gloried in into the cause of their 
 utter ruin. 
 
 They had not ridden a short mile from the place where they 
 left the lad before they heard a man's voice shouting on the 
 wiud behind them, "Robbery! — robbery! Stop thief!" and 
 similar exclamations, which Wayland's conscience readily as- 
 sured him must arise out of the transaction to which he had 
 been just accessary. 
 
 " I had better have gone barefoot all my life, " he said : " it 
 is the hue and cry, and I am a lost man. Ah! Wayland — 
 Wayland, many a time thy father said horse-flesh would be 
 the death of thee. Were I once safe among the horse-coursers 
 in Smithfield or Turnball Street, they should have leave to 
 hang me as high as St. Paul's if I e'er meddled more with 
 nobles, knights, or gentlewomen!" 
 
 Amidst these dismal reflections, he turned his head repeat- 
 edly to see by whom he was chased, and was much comforted 
 when he could only discover a single rider, who was, however, 
 well mounted, and came after them at a speed which left
 
 316 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 them no chance of escaping, even had the lady's strength 
 permitted her to ride as fast as her palfrey might have been 
 able to gallop. 
 
 '' There may be fair j)lay betwixt us, sure, " thought Way- 
 land^ " where there is but one man on each side ; and yonder 
 fellow sits on his horse more like a monkey than a cavalier. 
 Pshaw ! if it come to the worst, it will be easy unhorsing him. 
 jSTay, 'snails! I think his horse will take the matter in his own 
 hand, for he has the bridle betwixt his teeth. Oons, what 
 care I for him?" said he, as the pursuer drew yet nearer; " it 
 is but the little animal of a mercer from Abingdon, when all is 
 over. " 
 
 Even so it was, as the experienced eye of Wayland had 
 descried at a distance. For the valiant mercer's horse, which 
 ■was a beast of mettle, feeling himself put to his speed, and 
 discerning a couple of horses riding fast, at some hundred 
 yards' distance before him, betook himself to the road with 
 such alacrity as totally deranged the seat of his rider, who not 
 only came up with, but passed at full gallop, those whom he 
 had been pursuing, pulling the reins with all his might, and 
 ejaculating, "Stop! — stop!" an interjection which seemed 
 rather to regard his own palfrey than what seamen call " the 
 chase." With the same involuntary speed, he shot ahead, to 
 use another nautical phrase, about a furlong ere he was able 
 to stop and turn his horse, and then rode back towards our 
 travellers, adjusting, as well as he could, his disordered dress, 
 resettling himself in the saddle, and endeavouring to substi- 
 tute a bold and martial frown for the confusion and dismay 
 which sate upon his visage during his involuntary career. 
 
 Wayland had just time to caution the lady not to be alarmed, 
 adding, " This fellow is a gull, and I will use him as such." 
 
 When the mercer had recovered breath and audacity enough 
 to confront them, he ordered Wayland, in a menacing tone, 
 to deliver up his palfrey. 
 
 " How?" said the smith, in King Cambyses's vein, " are we 
 commanded to stand and deliver on the king's highway? Then 
 out, Excalibar, and tell this knight of prowess that dire blows 
 must decide between us!"
 
 KENILWORTH. 317 
 
 "Haro and help, and hue and cry, every true man I" said 
 the mercer, "I am withstood in seeking to recover mine own!" 
 
 " Thou swear'st thy gods in vain, foul paynim, " said Way- 
 land, " for I will through with mine purpose, were death at 
 the end on't. Nevertheless, know, thou false man of frail 
 cambric and ferrateen, that I am he, even the pedlar, whom 
 thou didst boast to meet on Maiden Castle Moor and despoil 
 of his pack ; wherefore betake thee to thy weapons presently. " 
 
 " I spoke but in jest, man," said Goldthred; " I am an hon- 
 est shopkeeper and citizen, who scorns to leap forth on any 
 man from behind a hedge. " 
 
 "Then, by my faith, most puissant mercer," answered 
 Wayland, " I am sorry for my vow, which was that, wherever 
 I met thee, I would despoil thee of thy palfrey and bestow it 
 upon my leman, unless thou couldst defend it by blows of 
 force. But the vow is passed and registered ; and aU I can 
 do for thee is to leave the horse at Donnington, in the nearest 
 hostelry." 
 
 " But I tell thee, friend, " said the mercer, " it is the very 
 horse on which I was this day to carry Jane Thackham of 
 Shottesbrook as far as the parish church yonder, to become 
 Dame Goldthred. She hath jumped out of the shot-window 
 of old Gaffer Thackham's grange; and lo ye, yonder she 
 stands at the place where she should have met the palfrey, 
 with her camlet riding-cloak and ivory-handled whip, like a 
 picture of Lot's wife. I pray you, in good terms, let me have 
 back the palfrey." 
 
 " Grieved am I, " said Wayland, " as much for the fair dam- 
 sel as for thee, most noble imp of musliu. But vows must 
 have their course; thou wilt find the palfrey at the Angel 
 yonder at Donnington. It is all I may do for thee with a safe 
 conscience." 
 
 "To the devil with thy conscience!" said the dismayed 
 mercer. "Wouldst thou have a bride walk to church on 
 foot?" 
 
 "Thou mayst take her on thy crupper, Sir Goldthred," 
 answered Wayland; " it will take down thy steed's mettle." 
 
 " And how if you — if you forget to leave my horse, as you
 
 318 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 propose?" said Goldtlired, not without hesitation, for his soul 
 was afraid within him. 
 
 " My pack shall be pledged for it ; yonder it lies with Giles 
 Gosling, in his chamber with the damask' d leathern hangings, 
 stuffed full with velvet — single, double, triple-piled — rash, 
 taffeta and paropa, shag, damask, and mockado, plush and 
 grogram " 
 
 "Hold! — ^hold!" exclaimed the mercer ; "nay, if there be,. 
 in truth and sincerity, but the half of these wares — but if ever 
 I trust bumpkin with bonny Bayard again!" 
 
 " As you list for that, good Master Goldthred, and so good 
 morrow to you — and well parted, " he added, riding on cheer- 
 fully with the lady, while the discountenanced mercer rode 
 back much slower than he came, pondering what excuse he 
 should make to the disappointed bride, who stood waiting for 
 her gallant groom in the midst of the kmg's highway. 
 
 " Methought, " said the lady as they rode on, ' " yonder fool 
 stared at me as if he had some remembrance of me ; yet I 
 kept my mufl&er as high as I might." 
 
 " If I thought so, " said Way land, " I would ride back and 
 cut him over the pate : there would be no fear of harming his 
 brains, for he never had so much as would make pap to a 
 sucking gosling. We must now push on, however, and at 
 Donnington we will leave the oaf's horse, that he may have no 
 farther temptation to pursue us, and endeavour to assume such 
 a change of shape as may baffle his pursuit, if he should per- 
 severe in it." 
 
 The travellers reached Donnington without farther alarm, 
 where it became matter of necessity that the countess should 
 enjoy two or three hours' repose, during which Wayland dis- 
 posed himself, with equal address and alacrity, to carry 
 through those measures on which the safety of their future 
 journey seemed to depend. 
 
 Exchanging his pedlar's gaberdine for a smock-frock, he 
 carried the palfrey of Goldthred to the Aiigel Inn, which was 
 at the other end of the village from that where our travellers 
 had taken up their quarters. In the progress of the morning,, 
 as he travelled about his other business, he saw the steed
 
 KENILWORTH. 319 
 
 brought forth and delivered to the cutting mercer himself, 
 who, at the head of a valorous posse of the hue and cry, came 
 to rescue, by force of arms, what was delivered to him without 
 any other ransom than the price of a huge quantity of ale, 
 drunk out by his assistants, thirsty, it would seem, with their 
 walk, and concerning th6 price of which Master Goldthred 
 had a fierce dispute with the head-borough, whom he had 
 summoned to aid him in raising the country. 
 
 Having made this act of prudent, as well as just, restitu- 
 tion, Wayland procured such change of apparel for the lady, 
 as well as himself, as gave them both the appearance of coun- 
 try people of the better class ; it being farther resolved that, 
 in order to attract the less observation, she should pass upon 
 the road for the sister of her guide. A good, but not a gay 
 horse, fit to keep pace with his own, and gentle enough for a 
 lady's use, completed the preparations for the journey; for 
 making which, and for other expenses, he had been furnished 
 with sufficient funds by Tressilian. And thus, about noon, 
 after the countess had been refreshed by the soimd repose of 
 several hours, they resumed their journey, with the purpose 
 of making the best of their way to Kenilworth, by Coventry 
 and Warwick. They were not, however, destined to travel 
 far without meeting some cause of apprehension. 
 
 It is necessary to premise, that the landlord of the inn had 
 informed them that a jovial party, intended, as he understood, 
 to present some of the masques or mummeries which made a 
 part of the entertainment with which the Queen was usually 
 welcomed on the royal progresses, had left the village of Don- 
 nington an hour or two before them, in order to proceed to 
 Kenilworth. Now it had occurred to Wayland that, by at- 
 taching themselves m some sort to this group, as soon as they 
 should overtake them on the road, they would be less likely to 
 attract notice than if they continued to travel entirely by 
 themselves. He commimicated his idea to the countess, who, 
 only anxious to arrive at Kenilworth without interruption, left 
 him free to choose the manner in which this was to be accom- 
 plished. They pressed forward their horses, therefore, with 
 the purpose of overtaking the party of intended revellers, and
 
 320 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 making the journey in tlieir company ; and had just seen the 
 little party, consisting partly of riders, partly of people on 
 foot, crossing the summit of a gentle hill, at about half a 
 mile's distance, and disappearing on the other side, when 
 Wayland, who maintained the most circumspect observation 
 of all that met his eye in every direction, was aware that a 
 rider was coming up behind them on a horse of uncommon ac- 
 tion, accompanied by a serving-man, whose utmost efforts were 
 unable to keep up with his master's trotting hackney, and 
 who, therefore, was fain to follow him at a hand-gallop. Way- 
 land looked anxiously back at these horsemen, became consid- 
 erably disturbed in his manner, looked back again, and 
 became pale, as he said to the lady : " That is Eichard Yar- 
 ney's trotting gelding : I would know him among a thousand 
 nags; this is a worse business tha,n meeting the mercer." 
 
 " Draw your sword, " answered the lady, " and pierce my 
 bosom with it, rather than I should fall into his hands !" 
 
 " I would rather by a thousand times, " answered Wayland, 
 *'pass it through his body, or even mine own. But to say 
 truth, fighting is not my best point, though I can look on cold 
 ii'on like another when needs must be. And, indeed, as for 
 my sword — put on, I pray you — it is a poor provant rapier, 
 and I warrant you he has a special Toledo. He has a serving- 
 man, too, and I think it is the drunken ruffian Lambourne, 
 upon the horse on which men say — I pray you heartily to put 
 on — he did the great robbery of the west country grazier. It 
 is not that I fear either Yarney or Lambourne in a good cause 
 — your palfrey will go yet faster if j^ou urge him — but yet — 
 nay, I pray you let him not break oif into the gallop, lest they 
 should see we fear them, and give chase ; keep him only at 
 the full trot — but yet, though I fear them not, I would we 
 were well rid of them, and that rather by policy than by vio- 
 lence. Could we once reach the party before us, we may herd 
 among them, and pass unobserved, unless Yarney be really 
 come in express pursuit of us, and then, happy man be his 
 dole!" 
 
 While he thus spoke, he alternately urged and restrained 
 Ms horse, desirous to maintain the fleetest pace that was con-
 
 KEXILWORTH. 321 
 
 sistenfc ■with tlie idea of an ordinary journey on the road, but 
 to avoid such rapidity of movement as might give rise to sus- 
 picion that they were flying. 
 
 At such a pace, they ascended the gentle hill we have men- 
 tioned, and, looking from the top, had the pleasui-e to see that 
 the party which had left Donnington before them were in the 
 little valley or bottom on the other side, where the road was 
 traversed by a rividet, beside which was a cottage or two. 
 In this place they seemed to have made a pause, which gave 
 "Wayland the hope of joiuuig them, and becoming a part of 
 their company, ere Yarney should overtake them. He was 
 the more anxious, as his companion, though she made no com- 
 plaints and expressed no fear, began to look so deadly pale 
 that he was afraid she might drop from her horse. ITotwith- 
 standing this symptom of decaying strength, she pushed on 
 her paKrey so briskly that they joined the party in the bottom 
 of the valley ere Varney appeared on the top of the gentle 
 eminence which they had descended. 
 
 They found the company to which they meant to associate 
 themselves in great disorder. The women, with dishevelled 
 locks and looks of great importance, ran in and out of one of 
 the cottages, and the men stood around holding the horses, 
 and lookuig silly enough^ as is usual in cases where their 
 assistance is not wanted. 
 
 Wayland and his charge paused, as if out of curiosity, and 
 then gradually, without makmg any inquiries, or being asked 
 any" questions, they muigled with the group, as if they had 
 alwaj^s made part of it. 
 
 They had not stood there above five minutes, anxiously 
 keeping as much to the side of the road as possible, so as to 
 place the other travellers betwixt them and Varney, when 
 Lord Leicester's master of the horse, followed by Lambourne, 
 came riding fiercely down the lull, their horses' flanks and the 
 rowels of their spurs showing bloody tokens of the rate at 
 which they travelled. The api^earance of the stationaiy group 
 ai-ound the cottages, wearing their buckram suits in order to 
 protect their masquing dresses, having their light cart for 
 transporting their scenery, and carrying various fantactio 
 21
 
 I 
 322 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 properties in their hands for the more easy conveyance, let the 
 riders at once into the character and purpose of the com- 
 pany. 
 
 "You are revellers," said Varney, "designing for KenU- 
 -worth?" 
 
 ^^ Recte quidem, Domine sjoectatissime," answered one of the 
 party. 
 
 "And why the devil stand you here," said Varney, "when 
 your utmost despatch will but bring you to Kenilworth in 
 time? The Queen dines at Warwick to-morrow, and you loi- 
 ter here, ye knaves!" 
 
 " In very truth, sir, " said a little diminutive urchin, wear- 
 ing a vizard with a couple of sproutiug horns of an elegant 
 scarlet hue, having moreover a black serge jerkin drawn close 
 to his body by lacing, garnished with red stockings, and shoes 
 so shaped as to resemble cloven feet — "ta very truth, sir, 
 and you are in the right on't. It is my father the devil, who, 
 being taken in labour, has delayed our present purpose, by 
 increasing our company with an imp too many." 
 
 " The devH he has !" answered Varney, whose laugh, how- 
 ever, never exceeded a sarcastic smile. 
 
 "It is even as the juvenal hath said," added the masquer 
 "who spoke first: "our major devil — for this is but our minor 
 one — is even now at Lucinafer opem, within that very tugu- 
 
 " By St. George, or rather by the Dragon, who may be a 
 tiusman of the fiend in the straw, a most comical chancel" 
 said Varney. " How sayst thou, Lambourne, wilt thou stand 
 godfather for the nonce? If the devil were to choose a gossip, 
 I know no one more fit for the ofiice." 
 
 "Saving always when my betters are in presence," said 
 Lambourne, with the civil impudence of a servant who knows 
 Ms services to be so indispensable that his jest will be per- 
 mitted to pass muster. 
 
 " And what is the name of this devil or devil's dam who has 
 timed her turns so strangely?" said Varney. "We can ill 
 afford to spare any of our actors. " 
 
 " Gatid^ nomine Sibyllce," said the first speaker: "she is
 
 KENILWORTH. 323 
 
 called Sibyl Laneham, wife of Master Kichard [Robert] 
 Lanehain " 
 
 "Clerk to tbe council-cliamber door," said Varney; "why, 
 she is inexcusable, having had experience how to have ordered 
 her matters better. But who were those, a man and a woman, 
 I think, who rode so hastily up the hill before me even now? 
 Do they belong to your company?" 
 
 Wayland was about to hazard a reply to this alarming in- 
 quiry, when the little diablotin again thrust in his oar, 
 
 "So please you,'* he said, coming close up to Varney, and 
 speaking so as not to be overheard by his companions, " the 
 man was our devil major, who has tricks enough to supply the 
 lack of a hundred such as Dame Laneham ; and the woman, 
 if you please, is the sage person whose assistance is most par- 
 ticularly necessary to our distressed comrade." 
 
 "Oh, what, you have got the wise woman, then?" said 
 Varney. "Why, truly, she rode like one bound to a place 
 where she was needed. And you have a spare limb of Satan, 
 besides, to supply the place of Mrs. Laneham?" 
 
 "Ay, sir," said the boy, "they are not so scarce in this 
 world as your honour's virtuous eminence would suppose. 
 This master fiend shall spit a few flashes of fire and eruct a 
 volume or two of smoke on the spot, if it will do you pleasure : 
 you would think he had iEtna in his abdomen." 
 
 " I lack time just now, most hopeful imp of darkness, to 
 witness his performance, " said Varney ; " but here is some- 
 thing for you all to drink the lucky hour ; and so, as the play 
 says, 'God be with your labour!' " 
 
 Thus speaking, he struck his horse with the spurs, and rode 
 on his way. 
 
 Lambourne tarried a moment or two behind his master, and 
 rummaged his pouch for a piece of silver, which he bestowed 
 on the communicative imp, as he said, for his encouragement 
 on his path to the infernal regions, some sparks of whose fire, 
 he said, he could discover flashing from him already. Then, 
 having received the boy's thanks for his generosity, he also 
 spurred his horse, and rode after his master as fast as the fire 
 flashes from flint.
 
 324 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Aud now, " said the wily imp, sidling close up to Way- 
 land's horse, and cutting a gambol in the air, which seemed 
 to vindicate his title to relationship with the prince of that 
 element, " I have told them who ymi are, do you in return tell 
 me who /am?" 
 
 "Either Flibbertigibbet," answered Wayland Smith, "or 
 else an imp of the devil in good earnest." 
 
 " Thou hast hit it, " answered Dickie Sludge ; " I am thine 
 own Flibbertigibbet, man ; and I have broken forth of bounds, 
 along with my learned preceptor, as I told thee I would do, 
 whether he would or not. But what lady hast thou got with 
 thee? I saw thou wert at fault the first question was asked, 
 and so I drew up for thy assistance. But I must know all 
 who she is, dear Wayland." 
 
 "Thou shalt know fifty finer things, my dear ingle," said 
 Wayland; "but a truce to thine inquiries just now; and since 
 you are bound for Kenilworth, thither will I too, even for the 
 love of thy sweet face and waggish company." 
 
 " Thou shouldst have said my waggish face and sweet com- 
 pany, " said Dickie ; " but how wilt thou travel with us — I 
 mean in what character?" 
 
 "E'en in that thou hast assigned me, to be sure — as a 
 juggler; thou know'st I am used to the craft," answered 
 Wayland. 
 
 "Ay, but the lady?" answered Flibbertigibbet; "credit me, 
 I think she is one, and thou art in a sea of troubles about her 
 at this moment, as I can perceive by thy fidgeting. " 
 
 " Oh, she, inan ! — she is a poor sister of mine, " said Way- 
 land. " She can sing and play o' the lute, would win the fish 
 out o' the stream." 
 
 " Let me hear her instantly, " said the boy. " I love the 
 lute rarely — I love it of all things, although I never heard it. " 
 
 " Then how canst thou love it. Flibbertigibbet?" said Way- 
 land. 
 
 " As knights love ladies in old tales, " answered Dickie, " on 
 hearsay. " 
 
 " Then love it on hearsay a little longer, till my sister is 
 recovered from the fatigue of her journey," said Wayland,
 
 ZENILWORTH. 325 
 
 muttering afterwards betwixt his teeth, " Tlie devil take the 
 imp's curiosity! I must keep fair weather with him, or we 
 shall fare the worse, " 
 
 He then proceeded to state to Master Holiday his own tal- 
 ents as a juggler, with those of his sister as a musician. 
 Some proof of his dexterity was demanded, which he gave in 
 such a style of excellence that, delighted at obtaining such an 
 accession to their party, they readily acquiesced in the apology 
 which he offered when a display of his sister's talents was re- 
 quired. The new-comers were invited to partake of the re- 
 freshments with which the party were provided; and it was 
 with some difficulty that Wayland Smith obtained an oppor- 
 tunity of being apart with his supposed sister during the meal, 
 of which interval he availed himself to entreat her to forget 
 for the present both her rank and her sorrows, and conde- 
 scend, as the most probable chance of remaining concealed, to 
 mix in the society of those with whom she was to travel. 
 
 The countess allowed the necessity of the case, and when 
 they resumed their journey, endeavoured to comply with her 
 guide's advice by addressing herself to a female near her, and 
 expressing her concern for the woman whom they were thus 
 obliged to leave behind them. 
 
 " Oh she is well attended, madam, " replied the dame whom 
 she addressed, who, from her jolly and laughter-lovmg de- 
 meanour, might have been the very emblem of the Wife of 
 Bath ; " and my gossip Laneham thinks as little of these mat- 
 ters as any one. By the ninth day, an the revels last so long, 
 we shall have her with us at Keuilworth, even if she should 
 travel with her bantlmg on her back." 
 
 There was something in this speech which took away all de- 
 sire on the Countess of Leicester's part to continue the con- 
 versation ; but having broken the charm by speaking to her 
 fellow-traveller first, the good dame, who was to play Rare 
 Gillian of Croydon ua one of the interludes, took care that si- 
 lence did not again settle on the journey, but entertained her 
 mute companion with a thousand anecdotes of revels, from the 
 days of King Harry downwards, with the reception given them 
 by the great folk, and all the names of those who played the
 
 S26 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 principal characters, but ever concluding witli " They would 
 be nothing to the princely pleasures of Kenilworth." 
 
 "And when shall we reach Kenilworth?" said the countess, 
 with an agitation which she in vain attempted to conceal. 
 
 " We that have horses may, with late riding, get to "War- 
 wick to-night, and Kenilworth may be distant some four or 
 five miles ; but then we must wait till the foot-people come 
 up; although it is like my good Lord of Leicester will have 
 horses or light carriages to meet them, and bring them up 
 without being travel-toiled, which last is no good preparation, 
 as you may suppose, for dancing before your betters. And 
 yet, Lord help me, I have seen the day I would have tramped 
 five leagues of lea-land, and turned on my toe the whole even- 
 ing after, as a juggler spins a pewter platter on the point of a 
 needle. But age has clawed me somewhat in his clutch, 
 as the song says ; though, if I like the tune and like my part- 
 ner, I'll dance the hays yet with any merry lass in Warwick- 
 shire that writes that unhappy figure four with a round O 
 after it." 
 
 If the countess was overwhelmed with the garrulity of this 
 good dame, Wayland Smith, on his part, had enough to do to 
 sustain and parry the constant attacks made upon him by the 
 indefatigable curiosity of his old acquaintance, Richard Sludge. 
 Nature had given that arch youngster a prying cast of dispo- 
 sition, which matched admirably with his sharp wit; the 
 former inducing him to plant himself as a spy on other peo- 
 ple's affairs, and the latter quality leading him perpetually to 
 interfere, after he had made himself master of that which 
 concerned him not. He spent the livelong day in attempting 
 to peer under the countess's muffler, and apparently what he 
 could there discern greatly sharpened his curiosity. 
 
 " That sister of thine, Wayland, " he said, " has a fair neck 
 to have been born in a smithy, and a pretty taper hand to have 
 been used for twirling a spindle ; faith, I'll believe in your 
 relationship when the crow's egg is hatched into a cygnet." 
 
 "Go to," said Wayland, "thou art a prating boy, and 
 Bhould be breeched for thine assurance." 
 
 "Well," said the imp, drawing off, "all I say is, remember
 
 KENILWORTH. 327 
 
 you have kept a secret from, me, and if I give thee not a Eow- 
 land for thine Oliver, my name is not Dickon Sludge!" 
 
 This threat, and the distance at which Hobgoblin kept from 
 him for the rest of the "way, alarmed "Wayland very much, and 
 he suggested to his pretended sister that, on pretext of weari- 
 ness, she should express a desire to stop two or three miles 
 short of the fair town of War^vick, promising to rejoin the 
 troop in the morning. A small village inn afforded them a 
 resting-place ; and it was with secret pleasure that Wayland 
 saw the whole party, including Dickon, pass on, after a cour- 
 teous farewell, and leave them behind. 
 
 " To-morrow, madam, " he said to his charge, " we will, with 
 your leave, again start early, and reach Kenilworth before the 
 rout which are to assemble there. " 
 
 The countess gave assent to the proposal of her faithful guide ; 
 but, somewhat to his surprise, said nothing farther on the sub- 
 ject, which left Wayland imder the disagreeable uncertainty 
 whether or no she had formed any plan for her own future pro- 
 ceedings, as he knew her situation demanded circumspection, al- 
 though he was but imperfectly acquainted with all its peculiari- 
 ties. Concluding, however, that she must have friends within 
 the castle, whose advice and assistance she could safely trust, 
 he supposed his task would be best accomplished by conducting 
 her thither in safety, agreeably to her repeated commands. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Hark, the bells summon and the bugle calls. 
 
 But she the fairest answers not ; the tide 
 
 Of nobles and of ladies throngs the halls, 
 
 But she the loveliest must in secret hide. 
 
 "What eyes were thine, proud prince, which in the gleam 
 
 Of yon gay meteors lost that better sense, 
 
 That o'er the glow-worm doth the star esteem, 
 
 And merit's modest blush o'er courtly insolence? 
 
 Tlie Glass Slipper. 
 
 The unfortunate Countess of Leicester had, from her in- 
 fancy upwards, been treated by those around her with mdul- 
 gence as unbounded as injudicious. The natural sweetness of
 
 328 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 her disposition, liad saved her from becoming insolent and ill* 
 humoured; but the caprice -which preferred the handsome and 
 insinuating Leicester before Tressilian, of whose high honour 
 and unalterable affection she herself entertained so firm an 
 opinion — that fatal error, which ruined the happiness of her 
 life, had its origin in the mistaken kindness that had sj)ared 
 her childhood the painful, but most necessary, lesson of sub- 
 mission and seK-command. From the same indulgence, it fol- 
 lowed that she had only been accustomed to form and to ex- 
 press her wishes, leaving to others the task of fulfilling them; 
 and thus, at the most momentous period of her life, she wa8 
 alike destitute of presence of mind and of ability to form for 
 herself any reasonable or prudent plan of conduct. 
 
 These difficulties pressed on the imfortunate lady with over- 
 whelming force, on the morning which seemed to be the cri- 
 sis of her fate. Overlooking every intermediate consideration, 
 she had only desired to be at Kenilworth, and to approach 
 her husband's presence ; and now, when she was in the vicin- 
 ity of both, a thousand consideration^ arose at once upon her 
 mind, startling her with acciunulated doubts and dangers, some 
 real, some imaginary, and all exalted and exaggerated by a 
 situation alike helpless and destitute of aid and counsel. 
 
 A sleepless night rendered her so weak in the morning that 
 she was altogether unable to attend Wayland's early sum- 
 mons. The trusty guide became extremely distressed on the 
 lady's account, and somewhat alarmed on his own, and was 
 on the point of going alone to Kenilworth, in the hope of dis- 
 covering Tressilian, and intimating to him the lady's api^roach, 
 when about nine in the morning he was summoned to attend 
 her. He found her dressed, and ready for resuming her jour- 
 ney, but with a paleness of countenance which alarmed him 
 for her health. She intimated her desire that the horses 
 might be got instantly ready, and resisted with impatience 
 her guide's request that she would take some refreshment be- 
 fore setting forward. "I have had,'' she said, "a cup of 
 water: the Avretch who is dragged to execution needs no 
 stronger cordial, and that may serve me which suffices for 
 him J do as I command you," Wayland Smith still hesitated^
 
 KENILWORTH. 329 
 
 "What would you have?" said she. "Have I not spoken 
 plainly?" 
 
 "Yes, madam," answered Wayland; "but may I ask what 
 la your farther purpose? I only desii-e to know, that I may 
 guide myself by your wishes. The whole country is afloat, 
 and streaming towards the Castle of Kenilworth. It will be 
 difficult travelling thither, even if we had the necessary pass- 
 ports for safe-conduct and free admittance. Unknown and 
 unfriended, we may come by mishap. Your ladyship will 
 forgive my speaking my poor mind. Were we not better try 
 to find out the masquers, and again join ourselves with them?'* 
 The countess shook her head, and her guide proceeded, " Then 
 I see but one other remedy." 
 
 "Si)eak out, then," said the lady, not displeased, perhaps, 
 that he should thus oifer the advice which she was ashamed 
 to ask; "I believe thee faithful — what wouldst thou counsel?" 
 
 "That I should warn Master Tressilian," said Wayland, 
 ** that you are in this place. I am right certain he would get 
 to horse with a few of Lord Sussex's followers, and ensure 
 your personal safety." 
 
 "And is it to m& you advise," said the countess, "to put 
 myself under the protection of Sussex, the unworthy rival of 
 the noble Leicester?" Then, seeing the surprise with which 
 Wayland stared upon her, and afraid of having too strongly 
 intimated her interest in Leicester, she added, "And for 
 Tressilian, it must not be : mention not to him, I charge you, 
 my unhappy name ; it would but double mv misfortunes, and 
 involve hijn in dangers beyond the power of rescue." She 
 paused; but when she observed that Wayland continued to 
 look on her with that anxious and uncertain gaze which in- 
 dicated a doubt whether her brain was settled, she assumed 
 an air of composure, and added, " Do thou but guide me to 
 Kenilworth Castle, good fellow, and thy task is ended, since I 
 will then judge what farther is to be done. Thou hast yet 
 been true to me; here is something that will make thee rich 
 amends." 
 
 She oifered the artist a ring, containing a valuable stone. 
 Wayland looked at it, hesitated a moment, and then retui-ned
 
 330 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 it. " Not, " lie said, " that I am above your kindness, madam, 
 being but a poor fellow, wlio have been forced, God help me! 
 to live by worse shifts than the bounty of such a person as 
 you. But, as my old master the farrier used to say to his 
 customers, *No cure, no pay.' We are not yet in Kenil worth 
 Castle, and it is time enough to discharge your guide, as they 
 say, when you take your boots off. I trust in God your lady- 
 ship is as well assured of fitting reception when you arrive as 
 you may hold yourself certain of my best endeavours to con- 
 duct you thither safely. I go to get the horses ; meantime, 
 let me pray you once more, as your poor physician as well as 
 guide, to take some sustenance." 
 
 " I will — I will, " said the lady, hastily. " Begone — begone 
 instantly! It is in vain I assume audacity," said she, when 
 he left the room ; " even this poor groom sees through my 
 affectation of courage, and fathoms the very ground of my 
 fears." 
 
 She then attempted to follow her guide's advice by taking 
 some food, but was compelled to desist, as the effort to swallow 
 even a single morsel gave her so much uneasiness as amounted 
 wellnigh to suffocation. A moment afterwards the horses ap- 
 peared at the latticed window; the lady mounted, and found 
 that relief from the free air and change of place which is fre- 
 quently experienced in similar circumstances. 
 
 It chanced well for the countess's purpose that Way land 
 Smith, whose j)revious wandering and imsettled life had made 
 him acquainted with almost all England, was intimate with 
 all the bye-roads, as well as direct communications, through 
 the beautiful county of Warwick. For such and so great was 
 the throng which flocked in all directions towards Kenilworth, 
 to see the entry of Elizabeth into that splendid mansion of her 
 prime favourite, that the principal roads were actually blocked 
 up and interrupted, and it was only by circuitous bye-paths 
 that the travellers could proceed on their journey. 
 
 The Queen's purveyors had been abroad, sweeping the 
 farms and villages of those articles usually exacted during a 
 royal progress, and for which the owners were afterwards to 
 obtain a tardy payment from the Board of Green Cloth. The
 
 KENILWORTH. 331 
 
 Earl of Leicester's household officers had been scouring the 
 country for the same purpose ; and many of his friends and 
 allies, both near and remote, took this opportimity of in- 
 gratiating themselves by sending large quantities of provisions 
 and delicacies of all kinds, with game in huge numbers, and 
 whole tuns of the best liquors, foreign and domestic. Thus, 
 the highroads were filled with droves of bullocks, sheep, 
 calves, and hogs, and choked with loaded wains, whose axle- 
 trees cracked under their burdens of wine-casks and hogsheads 
 of ale, and huge hampers of grocery goods, and slaughtered 
 game, and salted provisions, and sacks of flour. Perpetual 
 stoppages took place as these wains became entangled; and 
 their rude drivers, swearing and brawling till their wild 
 passions were fully raised, began to debate precedence with 
 their waggon-whips and quarter-staves, which occasional riots 
 were usually quieted by a purveyor, deputy-marshal's man, or 
 some other person in authority, breaking the heads of bath 
 parties. 
 
 Here were, besides, players and mummers, jugglers and 
 showmen, of every description, traversing in joyous bands the 
 paths which led to the Palace of Princely Pleasure ; for so the 
 travelling minstrels had termed Kenilworth in the songs which 
 already had come forth in anticipation of the revels which 
 were there expected.' In the midst of this motley show, 
 mendicants were exhibitmg their real or pretended miseries, 
 forming a strange, though common, contrast betwixt the vani- 
 ties and the sorrows of human existence. All these floated along 
 with the immense tide of population, whom mere curiosity had 
 drawn together; and where the mechanic, in his leathern 
 apron, elbowed the dink and dainty dame, his city mistress j 
 where clowns, with hobnailed shoes, were treading on the 
 kibes of substantial burghers and gentlemen of worship ; and 
 where Joan of the dairy, with robust pace, and red, sturdy 
 arms, rowed her way onward, amongst those prim and pretty 
 moppets whose sires were knights and squires. 
 
 The throng and confusion was, however, of a gay and cheer- 
 ful character. All came forth to see and to enjoy, and all 
 • See Pilgrims to Kenilworth. Note 12.
 
 332 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 laughed at the trifling inconveniences which at another time 
 might have chafed their temper. Excepting the occasional 
 "brawls which we have mentioned among that irritable race the 
 carmen, the mingled sounds which arose from the multitude 
 w^ere those of light-hearted mirth and tiptoe jollity. The 
 musicians preluded on their instruments, the minstrels 
 hummed their songs, the licensed jester whooped betwixt 
 mirth and madness as he brandished his bauble, the morrice- 
 dancers jangled their bells, the rustics hallooed and whistled, 
 men laughed loud, and maidens giggled shrill, while many a 
 broad jest flew like a shuttlecock from one party, to be caught 
 in the air and returned from the opposite side of the road by 
 another, at which it was aimed. 
 
 No infliction can be so distressing to a mind absorbed in 
 melancholy as being plunged into a scene of mirth and revelry, 
 forming an accompaniment so dissonant from its own feelings. 
 Yst, in the case of the Countess of Leicester, the noise and 
 tumult of this giddy scene distracted her thoughts, and ren- 
 dered her this sad service, that it became impossible for her to 
 brood on her own misery, or to form terrible anticipations of 
 her approaching fate. She travelled on, like one in a dream, 
 following implicitly the guidance of "Wayland, who, with 
 great address, now threaded his way through the general 
 throng of passengers, now stood still until a favourable op- 
 portunity occurred of again moving forward, and frequently 
 turning altogether out of the direct road, followed some cir- 
 cuitous bye-path, which brought them into the highway again, 
 after having given them the opportunity of traversing a con- 
 siderable way with greater ease and rapidity. 
 
 It was thus he avoided Warwick, within whose castle (that 
 fairest monument of ancient and chivalrous splendour which 
 yet remains uninjured by time) Elizabeth had passed the pre- 
 vious night, and where she was to tarry until past noon, 
 at that time the general hour of dinner throughout England, 
 after which repast she was to proceed to Kenilworth. In the 
 mean while, each passing group had something to say in the 
 sovereign's praise, though not absolutely without the usual 
 mixture of satire which qualifies more or less our estimate
 
 KENILWORTH. 333 
 
 of our neighbours, especially if they chance to be also our 
 betters. 
 
 "Heard you," said one, "how graciously she spoke to 
 Master Bailiff and the Kecorder, and to good Master Griffin, 
 the preacher, as they kneeled dowii at her coach window?" 
 
 " Ay, and how she said to little Aglionby, " Master Eecorder, 
 men would have persuaded me that you were afraid of me, but 
 trul}- I think, so well did you reckon up to me the virtues of a 
 sovereign, that I have more reason to be afraid of you. " And 
 then with what grace she took the fair-wrought purse with the 
 twenty gold sovereigns, seeming as though she would not will- 
 ingly handle it, and yet taking it withal." 
 
 " Ay — ay, " said another, " her fingers closed on it pretty 
 willingly methought, when all was done ; and methought, too, 
 she weighed them for a second in her hand, as she would say, 
 "I hope they be avoirdupois." 
 
 " She needed not, neighbor, " said a third ; " it is only when 
 the corporation pay the accounts of a poor handicraft like me 
 that they put him off with dipt coin. Well, there is a God 
 above all. Little Master Recorder, since that is the word, 
 will be greater now than ever." 
 
 "Come, good neighbour," said the first speaker, "be not 
 envious. She is a good queen, and a generous. She gave 
 the purse to the Earl of Leicester." 
 
 "I envious? beshrew thy heart for the word!" replied the 
 handicraft. " But she will give all to the Earl of Leicester 
 anon, methinks." 
 
 "You are turning ill, lady," said Wayland Smith to the 
 Countess of Leicester, and proposed that she slioidd di-aw off 
 from the road, and halt till she recovered. But, subdumg 
 her feelings at this and different speeches to the same purpose 
 which caught her ear as they passed on, she insisted that her 
 guide should proceed to Kenilworth with all the haste which 
 the numerous impediments of their journey permitted. Mean- 
 while, Wayland' s anxiety at her repeated fits of indisposition 
 and her obvious distraction of mind was hourly mereasing, 
 and he became extremely desirous that, according to her re- 
 iterated requests, she should be safely introduced into the
 
 334 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 castle, where, he doubted not, she was secure of a kind re- 
 ception, though she seemed unwilling to reveal on whom she re- 
 posed her hopes, 
 
 " An I were once rid of this peril, " thought he, " and if any 
 man shall find me playing squire of the body to a damosel- 
 errant, he shall have leave to beat my brains out with my o^vn 
 ■sledge-hammer !" 
 
 At length the princely castle appeared, upon improving 
 ^hich, and the domains around, the Earl of Leicester had, it 
 is said, expended sixty thousand pounds sterling, a sum equal 
 to half a million of our present money. 
 
 The outer wall of this splendid and gigantic structure in- 
 closed seven acres, a part of which was occupied by extensive 
 stables, and by a pleasure garden, with its trim arbours and 
 parterres, and the rest formed the large base-court, or outer 
 yard, of the noble castle. The lordly structure itself, which 
 Tose near the centre of this spacious inclosure, was composed 
 of a huge pile of magnificent castellated buildings, apparently 
 of different ages, surrounding an inner court, and bearmg, in 
 the names attached to each portion of the magnificent mass, 
 and in the armorial bearings which were there blazoned, the 
 emblems of mighty chiefs who had long passed away, and 
 "whose history, could Ambition have lent ear to it, might have 
 read a lesson to the haughty favourite who had now acquired, 
 -and was augmenting, the fair domain. A large and massive 
 keep, which formed the citadel of the castle, was of uncertain 
 though great antiquity. It bore the name of Caesar, perhaps 
 from its resemblance to that in the Tower of London so called. 
 Some antiquaries ascribe its foundation to the time of Kenelph, 
 from whom the castle had its name, a Saxon king of IVIercia, 
 and others to an early era after the Norman Conquest. On 
 the exterior walls frowned the scutcheon of the Clintons, by 
 "whom they were founded in the reign of Henry I., and of the 
 yet more redoubted Simon de Montfort, by whom, during the 
 Barons' Wars, Kenilworth was long held out against Henry 
 III. Here Mortimer, Earl of March, famous alike for his 
 xise and his fall had once gaily revelled in Kenilworth, while 
 ills dethroned sovereign, Edward II., languished in its
 
 KENILWORTH. 335 
 
 dungeons. Old John of Gaunt, "time-honoured Lancaster," 
 had widely extended the castle, erecting that noble and massive 
 pile which yet bears the name of Lancaster's Buildings; and 
 Leicester himself had outdone the former possessors, princely 
 and powerful as they were, by erecting another immense 
 structure, which now lies crushed under its own ruins, the 
 monument of its owner's ambition. The external wall of this 
 royal castle was, on the south and west sides, adorned and 
 defended by a lake partly artificial, across which Leicester had 
 constructed a stately bridge, that Elizabeth might enter the 
 castle by a path hitherto untrodden, instead of the usual en- 
 trance to the northward, over which he had erected a gate- 
 house, or barbican, which still exists, and is equal in extent, 
 and superior in architecture, to the baronial castle of many 
 a northern chief. 
 
 Beyond the lake lay an extensive chase, full of red deer, 
 fallow deer, roes, and every species of game, and abounding 
 with lofty trees, from amongst which the extended front and 
 massive towers of the castle were seen to rise in majesty and 
 beauty. We cannot but add, that of this lordly palace, where 
 princes feasted and heroes fought, now in the bloody earnest 
 of storm and siege, and now in the games of chivalry, where 
 beauty dealt the prize which valour won, all is now desolate. 
 The bed of the lake is but a rushy swamp ; and the massive 
 ruins of the castle only serve to show what their splendour 
 once was, and to impress on the musing visitor the transitory 
 value of human possessions, and the happiness of those who 
 enjoy a humble lot in virtuous contentment. 
 
 It was with far different feelings that the unfortunate 
 Coimtess of Leicester viewed those grey and massive towers, 
 when she first beheld them rise above the embowering and 
 richly shaded woods, over which they seemed to preside. 
 She, the imdoubted wife of the great earl, of Elizabeth's min- 
 ion and England's mighty favourite, was approaching the 
 presence of her husband and that husband's sovereign under 
 the protection, rather than the guidance, of a poor juggler; 
 and though vmquestioned mistress of that proud castle, whose 
 lightest word ought to have had force sufficient to make its
 
 336 WAVERLET IS'OVELS. 
 
 gates leap from tlieir massive hinges to receive her, yet she 
 could uot conceal from herself the difficulty and peril which 
 she must experience in gaining admission into her own halls. 
 
 The risk and difficulty, indeed, seemed to increase every 
 moment, and at length threatened altogether to put a stop to 
 her farther progress, at the great gate leading to a broad and 
 fair road, which, traversing the breadth of the chase for the 
 space of two miles, and commanding several most beautiful 
 views of the castle and lake, terminated at the newly con- 
 structed bridge, to which it was an appendage, and which was 
 destined to form the Queen's approach to the castle on that 
 memorable occasion. 
 
 Here the countess and Wayland found the gate at the end 
 of this avenue, which opened on the Warwick road, guarded 
 by a body of the Queen's mounted yeomen of the guard, armed 
 in corslets richly carved and gilded, and wearing morions m- 
 stead of bonnets, having their carabines resting with the butt- 
 end on their thighs. These guards, distinguished for strength 
 and stature, who did duty wherever the Queen went in person, 
 were here stationed under the direction of a pursuivant, graced 
 with the bear and ragged staff on his arm, as belonging to the 
 Earl of Leicester, and peremptorily refused all admittance 
 excepting to such as were guests invited to the festival, or 
 persons who were to perform some part in the mirthful exhi- 
 bitions which were proposed. 
 
 The press was of consequence great around the entrance, 
 and persons of all kinds presented every sort of plea for ad- 
 mittance ; to which the guards turned an inexorable ear, plead- 
 ing in return to fair words, and even to fair offers, the strict- 
 ness of their orders, founded on the Queen's well-lcno-wn 
 dislike to the rude pressing of a multitude. With those whom 
 such reasons did not serve, they dealt more rudely, repelling 
 them without ceremony by the pressure of their powerful 
 barbed horses, and good round blows from the stock of their 
 carabines. These last manoeuvres produced undulations 
 amongst the crowd which rendered Wayland much afraid 
 that he might perforce be separated from his charge in the 
 throng. Neither did he know what excuse to make in order
 
 
 
 
 IK! 
 
 Tht: liigliroiids wcri' filled witli droves of bullocks, sheep, calves, and liogs, and 
 choked witli loadi'd wains.
 
 KENILWORTH. 337 
 
 to obtain admittance, and he was debating the matter in his 
 head Avith great uncertainty'-, when the eai-l's pursuivant, hav- 
 ing cast an eye upon him, exclaimed, to his no small sui-prise, 
 "Yeomen, make room for the fellow in the orange-taAvny 
 cloak. Come forward, sir coxcomb, and make haste. What, 
 in the fiend's name, has kept you waiting? Come forward 
 with your bale of woman's gear." 
 
 While the pursuivant gave Wayland this pressing yet un- 
 courteous invitation, which, for a mmute or two, he could not 
 imagine was applied to him, the yeomen speedily made a free 
 passage for him, while, only cautioning his companion to keep 
 the muffler close around her face, he entered the gate leading 
 her palfrey, but with such a drooping crest, and such a look 
 of conscious fear and anxiety, that the crowd, not greatly 
 pleased at any rate with the preference bestowed upon them, 
 accompanied their admission with hooting and a loud laugh 
 of derision. 
 
 Admitted thus within the chase, though with no very flatter- 
 ing notice or distinction, Wayland and his charge rode forward, 
 musing what difficulties it would be next their lot to encoun- 
 ter, through the broad avenue, which was sentinelled on either 
 side by a long line of retainers, armed with swords and parti- 
 zans, richly dressed in the Earl of Leicester's liveries, and 
 bearing his cognizance of the bear and ragged staff, each 
 placed within three paces of his comrade, so as to line the 
 whole road from the entrance into the park to the bridge. 
 And, indeed, when the lady obtained the first commanding 
 view of the castle, with its stately towers rising from within 
 a long sweeping line of outward walls, ornamented with bat- 
 tlements, and turrets, and platforms at every point of defence, 
 with many a banner streaming from its walls, and such a 
 bustle of gay crests and waving jjlumes disposed on the ter- 
 races and battlements, and all the gay and gorgeous scene, lier 
 heart, miaccustomed to such splendour, sank as if it died 
 within her, and for a moment she asked herself what she had 
 oifered up to Leicester to deserve to become the partner of 
 this princely splendour. But her pride and generous spirit 
 resisted the whisper which bade her despair. 
 22
 
 338 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " I have given, him," she said, "all that -woman has to give» 
 Kame and fame, heart and hand, have I given the lord of all 
 this magnificence at the altar, and England's queen could give 
 him no more. He is my husband; I am his wife. Whom 
 God hath joined, man cannot sunder, I will be bold in claim- 
 ing my right ; even the bolder, that I come thus unexpected, 
 and thus forlorn. I know my noble Dudley well! He will 
 be something impatient at my disobeying him; but Amy will 
 weep, and Dudley will forgive her." 
 
 These meditations were interrupted by a cry of surprise 
 from her guide Wayland, who suddenly felt himself grasped 
 firmly round the body by a pair of long thin black arms, be- 
 longing to some one who had dropped himseK out of an oak- 
 tree upon the croup of his horse, amidst the shouts of laughter 
 which burst from the sentinels. 
 
 "This must be the devil or Flibbertigibbet again!" said 
 Wayland, after a vain struggle to disengage himself, and un- 
 horse the urchin who climg to him. " Do Kenil worth oaks 
 bear such acorns?" 
 
 " In sooth do they, Master Wayland, " said his unexpected 
 adjunct, " and many others too hard for you to crack, for as 
 old as you are, without my teaching you. How would you 
 have passed the pursuivant at the upper gate yonder, had 
 not I warned him our principal juggler was to follow us? 
 And here have I waited for you, having clambered up into the 
 tree from the top of our wain, and I suppose they are all mad 
 for want of me by this time." 
 
 "Nay, then, thou art a limb of the devil in good earnest," 
 said Wayland. " I give thee way, good imp, and will walk 
 by thy counsel ; only as thou art powerful, be merciful. " 
 
 As he spoke, they approached a strong tower, at the south 
 extremity of the long bridge we have mentioned, which served 
 to protect the outer gateway of the Castle of Kenilworth. 
 
 Under such disastrous circumstances, and in such singular 
 company, did the unfortunate Countess of Leicester approach 
 for the first time the magnificent abode of her almost princely 
 husband.' 
 
 > See Amy Kobsart at Kenilworth. Note 13.
 
 KENILWORTH. 339 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Snuff. Have you the lion's part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, 
 for I am slow of study. 
 
 Quince. You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring. 
 
 Midsummer Night's Dream. 
 
 When the Countess of Leicester arrived at the outer gate of 
 the Castle of Kenilworth, she found the tower, beneath which 
 its ample portal arch opened, guarded in a singular manner. 
 Upon the battlements were placed gigantic warders, with 
 clubs, battle-axes, and other implements of ancient warfare, 
 designed to represent the soldiers of King Arthur; those jjrim- 
 itive Britons by whom, accordmg to romantic tradition, the 
 castle had been first tenanted, though history carried back its 
 antiquity only to the times of the Heptarchy. Some of these 
 tremendous figures were real men, di-essed up with vizards and 
 buskins; others were mere pageants composed of pasteboard 
 and buckram, which, viewed from beneath, and mingled with 
 those that were real, formed a sufficiently striking representa- 
 tion of what was intended. But the gigantic porter who waited 
 at the gate beneath, and actually discharged the duties of 
 warder, owed none of his terrors to fictitious means. He 
 ■was a man whose huge stature, thewes, sinews, and bulk in 
 proportion, would ha^e enabled him to enact Colbrand, Asca- 
 part, or any other giant of romance, without raising himself 
 nearer to heaven even by the altitude of a chopin. ' The legs 
 and knees of this son of Anak were bare, as Avere his arms, 
 from a span below the shoulder; but his feet were defended 
 with sandals, fastened with cross straps of scarlet leather, 
 studded with brazen knobs. A close jerkin of scarlet velvet, 
 looped with gold, with short breeches of the same, covered 
 his body and a part of his limbs ; and he wore on his shoul- 
 ders, instead of a cloak, the skin of a black bear. The head 
 of this formidable person was uncovered, except by his shaggy 
 black hair, which descended on either side around features of 
 
 « See Note U.
 
 340 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 that huge, lumpisli, and heavy cast which are often annexed 
 to men of very uncommon size, and which, notwithstanding 
 some distinguished exceptions, have created a general preju- 
 dice against giants, as being a dull and sullen kind of persons. 
 This tremendous warder was appropriately armed with a 
 heavy club spiked with steel. In fine, he represented excel- 
 lently one of those giants of popular romance who figure in 
 every fairy tale or legend of knight-errantry. 
 
 The demeanour of this modern Titan, when Wayland. Smith 
 bent his attention to him, had in it something arguing much 
 mental embarrassment and vexation; for sometimes he sat 
 down for an instant on a massive stone bench, whix;h seemed 
 placed for his accommodation beside the gateway, and then 
 ever and anon he started up, scratching his huge head, and 
 striding to and fro on his post, like one imder a fit of impa- 
 tience and anxiety. It was while the porter was pacing be- 
 fore the gate in this agitated manner that Wayland, modestly, 
 yet as a matter of course (not, however, without some mental 
 misgiving), was about to pass him and enter the portal arch. 
 The porter, however, stopped his progress, bidding him, in a 
 thundering voice, " Stand back!" and enforcing his injunction 
 by heaving up his steel-shod mace, and dashing it on the 
 ground before Wayland' s horse's nose with such vehemence 
 that the pavement flashed fire and the archway rang to the 
 clamour. Wayland, availing himself of Dickie's hint, began 
 to state that he belonged to a band of performers to which his 
 presence was indispensable, that he fiad been accidentally 
 detained behind, and much to the same purpose. But the 
 warder was inexorable, and kept muttering and murmuring 
 something betwixt his teeth, which Wayland could make lit- 
 tle of ; and addressing betwixt whiles a refusal of admittance, 
 couched in language which was but too intelligible. A speci- 
 men of his speech might run thus : " What, how now, my 
 masters? (To himself) "Here's a stir — here's a coil. (Then 
 to Wayland) You are a loitering knave, and shall have no 
 entrance. (Again to himself) Here's a throng — here's a 
 thrusting, I shall ne'er get through with it. Here's a — 
 humph — ha. (To Wayland) Back from the gate, or I'll
 
 KENILWORTH. 341 
 
 break the pate of thee. (Oace more to himself) Here's a — 
 ao, I shall never get through it. " 
 
 "Stand still," whispered Flibtertigibbet into Waylaud's 
 ear ; "I know where the shoe pinches, and will tame him in 
 an instant." 
 
 He dropped down from the horse, and skipping up to the 
 porter, plucked him by the tail of the bearskin, so as to in- 
 duce him to decline his huge head, and whispered something 
 in his ear. Not at the command of the lord of some Eastern 
 talisman did ever Af rite change his horrid frown into a look 
 of smooth submission more suddenly than the gigantic porter 
 of Kenilworth relaxed the terrors of his look at the instant 
 Flibbertigibbet's whisper reached his ears. He flung his club 
 upon the gi-ound and caught up Dickie Sludge, raising him to 
 such a distance from the earth as might have proved perilous 
 had he chanced to let him slip. 
 
 " It is even so, " he said, with a thundering sound of exul- 
 tation — "it is even so, my little dandieprat. But who the 
 devil could teach it thee?" 
 
 "Do not thou care about that," said Flibbertigibbet; 
 " but — " he looked at Wayland and the lady, and then sunk 
 what he had to say in a whisper, which needed not be 
 a loud one, as the giant held him for his convenience close to 
 his ear. The porter then gave Dickie a warm caress, and set 
 him on the ground with the same care which a careful house- 
 wife uses in replacing a cracked china cup upon her mantel- 
 piece, calling out at the same time to Wayland and the lady, 
 " In with you — in with you j and take heed how you come too 
 late another day when I chance to be poiter." 
 
 "Ay — ay, in with you," added Flibbertigibbet; "I must 
 stay a short space with mine honest Philistine, my Goliath of 
 Gath here; but I wiU be with you anon, and at the bottom 
 of all your secrets, were they as deep and dai-k as the castle 
 dungeon." 
 
 "I do believe thou wouldst," said Wayland; "but I trust 
 the secret will be soon out of my keeping, and then I shall 
 care the less whether thou or any one knows it." 
 
 They now crossed the entrance tower, which obtained the
 
 342 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 name of the Gallery Tower from the following circumstance : 
 The whole bridge, extending from the entrance to another tower 
 on the opposite side of the lake, called Mortimer's Tower, 
 was so disposed as to make a spacious tilt-yard, about one 
 hundred and thirty yards in length and ten in breadth, strewed 
 "with the finest sand, and defended on either side by strong 
 and high palisades. The broad and fair gallery, destined for 
 the ladies who were to witness the feats of chivalry presented 
 •on this area, was erected on the northern side of the outer 
 tower to which it gave name. Our travellers passed slowly 
 along the bridge or tilt-yard, and arrived at Mortimer's Tower, 
 at its farthest extremity, through which the approach led into 
 the outer or base court of the castle. Mortimer's Tower bore 
 on its front the scutcheon of the Earl of March, whose daring 
 ambition overthrew the throne of Edward II., and aspired to 
 share his power with the *' She- wolf of France," to whom the 
 unhappy monarch was wedded. The gate which opened under 
 this ominous memorial was guarded by many warders in rich 
 liveries ; but they offered no opposition to the entrance of the 
 countess and her guide, who, having passed by license of the 
 principal porter at the Gallery Tower, were not, it may be 
 supposed, liable to interruption from his deputies. They en- 
 tered accordingly, in silence, the great outward court of the 
 castle, having then full before them that vast and lordly pile, 
 with all its stately towers, each gate open, as if in sign of 
 unlimited hospitality, and the apartments filled with noble 
 guests of every degree, besides dependants, retainers, domes- 
 tics of every description, and all the appendages and pro- 
 moters of mirth and revelry. 
 
 Amid this stately and busy scene, Wayland halted his 
 liorse, and looked upon the lady, as if waiting her commands 
 what was next to be done, since they had safely reached the 
 place of destination. As she remained silent, Wayland, after 
 waiting a minute or two, ventured to ask her, in direct terms, 
 what were her next commands. She raised her hand to her 
 forehead, as if in the act of collecting her thoughts and reso- 
 lutions, while she answered him in a low and suppressed 
 "voice, like the murmurs of one who speaks in a dream.
 
 KENILWORTH. 343 
 
 "Commands! I may indeed claim right to command, but 
 who is there will obey me?" 
 
 Then suddenly raising her head, like one who has formed 
 a decisive resolution, she addressed a gaily dressed domestic, 
 who was crossing the court with importance and bustle in his 
 countenance. "Stop, sir," she said, "I desire to speak with 
 the Earl of Leicester." 
 
 "With whom, an it please you?" said the man, surprised, 
 at the demand; and then looking upon the mean equipage of 
 her who used towards him such a tone of authority, he added, 
 with insolence, "Why, what Bess of Bedlam is this, would 
 ask to see my lord on such a day as the present?" 
 
 " Friend, " said the countess, " be not insolent ; my business 
 with the earl is most urgent." 
 
 "You must get some one else to do it, were it thrice as 
 urgent, " said the fellow. " 1 should summon my lord from 
 the Queen's royal presence to do your business, should I? I 
 were like to be thanked with a horsewhip. I marvel our old 
 porter took not measure of such ware with his club, instead of 
 giving them passage; but his brain is addled with getting 
 his speech by heart." 
 
 Two or three persons stopped, attracted by the fleering way 
 in which the serving-man expressed himself; and Wayland, 
 alarmed both for himself and the lady, hastily addressed 
 himself to one who appeared the most civil, and thrusting a 
 piece of money into his hand, held a moment's counsel with 
 him on the subject of finding a place of temporary retreat for 
 the lady. The person to whom he spoke, being one in some 
 authority, rebuked the others for their incivility, and com- 
 manding one fellow to take care of the stranger's horses, he 
 desired them to follow him. The countess retained presence 
 of mind sufficient to see that it was absolutely necessary she 
 should comply with his request ; and, leaving the rude lackeys 
 and grooms to crack their brutal jesrs about liglit heads, light 
 heels, and so forth, Wayland and she followed in silence the 
 deputy-usher, who undertook to be their conductor. 
 
 They entered the inner court of the castle by the great gate- 
 way, which extended betwixt the principal keep, or donjon.
 
 344 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 called Caesar's Tower, and a stately building which passed by 
 the name of King Henry's Lodging, and were thus placed in 
 the centre of the noble pile, which presented on its different 
 fronts magnificent specimens of every species of castellated 
 architecture, from the Conquest to the reign of Elizabeth, with 
 the appropriate style and ornaments of each. 
 
 Across this inner court also they were condiicted by their 
 guide to a small but strong tower, occupying the northeast 
 angle of the building adjacent to the great hall, and filling up 
 a space betAvixt the immense range of kitchens and the end of 
 the great hall itself. The lower part of this tower was occu- 
 pied by some of the household officers of Leicester, owing to 
 its convenient vicinity to the places where their duty lay ; but 
 in the upper story, which was, reached by a narrow winding 
 stair, was a small octangular chamber, which, in the great de- 
 mand for lodgings, had been on the present occasion fitted up 
 for the reception of guests, though generally said to have been 
 used as a place of confinement for some unhappy person who 
 had been there murdered. Tradition called this prisoner 
 Mervyn, and transferred his name to the tower. That it had 
 been used as a prison was not improbable; for the floor of 
 each story was arched, the walls of tremendous thickness, while 
 the space of the chamber did not exceed fifteen feet in diame- 
 ter. The window, however, was pleasant, though narrow, 
 and commanded a delightful vicAV of what was called the Pleas- 
 ance — a space of ground inclosed and decorated with arches, 
 trophies, statues, fountains, and other architectural monu- 
 ments, which formed one access from the castle itself into the 
 garden. There was a bed in the apartment, and other prepa- 
 rations for the reception of a guest, to which the countess paid 
 but slight attention, her notice being instantly arrested by the 
 sight of writing-materials, placed on the table (not very com- 
 monly to be found in the bedrooms of those days), which in- 
 stantly suggested the idea of writing to Leicester, and remain- 
 ing private until she had received his answer. 
 
 The deputy-usher, having introduced them into this com- 
 modious apartment, courteously asked Wayland, whose gen. 
 erosity he had experienced, whether he could do anything f ai:-
 
 KENILWORTH. 345 
 
 ther for his service. Upon receiving a gentle hint that some 
 refreshment would not be nnacce]Dtable, he presently conveyed 
 the smith to the buttery-hatch, where dressed provisions of all 
 sorts were distributed, with hospitable profusion, to all who 
 asked for them. Way land was readily supplied with some 
 light provisions, such as he thought would best suit the faded 
 appetite of the lady, and did not omit the opportunity of him- 
 self making a hasty but hearty meal on more substantial fare. 
 He then returned to the apartment m the turret, where he 
 found the countess, who had finished her letter to Leicester j 
 and, in lieu of a seal and silken thread, had secured it with a 
 braid of her own beautiful tresses, fastened by what is called 
 a true-love knot, 
 
 "Good friend," said she to Wayland, "whom God hath 
 sent to aid me at my utmost need, I do beseech thee, as the 
 last trouble you shall take for an unfortunate lady, to deliver 
 this letter to the noble Earl of Leicester. Be it received as it 
 may," she said, with features agitated betwixt hope and fear, 
 "thou, good fellow, shalt have no naore cumber with me. 
 But I hope the best ; and if ever lady made a poor man rich, 
 thou hast surely deserved it at my hand, should my happy 
 days ever come round again. Give it, I pray you, uito Lord 
 Leicester's own hand, and mark how he looks on receiving it." 
 
 Wayland, on his j)art, readily undertook the commission, 
 but anxiously prayed the lady, in his turn, to partake of some 
 refreshment; in which he at length prevailed, more through 
 importunity, and her desire to see him begone on his errand, 
 than from any inclination the countess felt to comply with his 
 request. He then left her, advising her to lock her door on 
 the inside, and not to stir from her little apartment, and went 
 to seek an opportunity of discharging her errand, as well as of 
 carrying into effect a purpose of his own which ciwumstances 
 had induced him to form. 
 
 In fact, from the conduct of the lady during the journey, 
 her long fits of profound silence, the irresolution and uncer- 
 tainty which appeared to pervade all her movements, and the 
 obvious incapacity of thinking and acting for herself, under 
 which she seemed to labour^ Wayland had formed the not im*
 
 346 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 probable opinion that the difficulties of her situation had in 
 some degree affected her understanding. 
 
 When she had escaped from the seclusion of Cuinnor Place, 
 and the dangers to which she was there exposed, it would 
 have seemed her most rational course to retire to her father's 
 or elsewhere, at a distance from the power of those by whom 
 these dangers had been created. When, instead of doing so, 
 she demanded to be conveyed to Kenilworth, Wayland had 
 been only able to account for her conduct, by supposing that 
 she meant to put herself under the tutelage of Tressilian, and 
 to appeal to the protection of the Queen. But now, instead of 
 following this natural course, she entrusted him with a letter 
 to Leicester, the patron of Varney, and within whose jurisdic* 
 tion at least, if not under his express authority, all the evils 
 she had already suffered were inflicted upon her. This seemed 
 an unsafe, and even a desperate, measure, and Wayland felt 
 anxiety for his own safety, as well as that of the lady, should 
 he execute her commission before he had secured the advice 
 and countenance of a protector. He therefore resolved, before 
 delivering the letter to Leicester, that he would seek out Tres- 
 silian, and communicate to him the arrival of the lady at Ken- 
 ilworth, and thus at once rid himseK of all farther responsibil- 
 ity and devolve the task of guiding and protecting this unfor- 
 tunate lady upon the patron who had at first employed him in 
 her service. 
 
 "He will be a better judge than I am," said Wayland, 
 *' whether she is to be gratified in this humour of appeal to my 
 Lord of Leicester, which seems like an act of insanity ; and, 
 therefore, I will turn the matter over on his hands, deliver 
 him the letter, receive what they list to give me by way of 
 guerdon, and then show the Castle of Kenilworth a pair of 
 light heels ; for, after the work I have been engaged in, it will 
 be, I fear, neither a safe nor wholesome place of residence; 
 and I would rather shoe colts on the coldest common in Eng- 
 land than share in their gayest revels."
 
 KENILWORTH. 34T 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 In my time I have seen a boy do wondersr 
 Robin, the red tinker, had a boy 
 Would ha' run through a cat-hole. 
 
 The Coxcoirib. 
 
 Ami© the universal bustle which filled the castle and its 
 environs," it was no easy matter to find out any individual; 
 and Wayland was still less likely to light upon Tressilian, 
 whom he sought so anxiously, because, sensible of the danger 
 of attracting attention, in the circumstances in which he was 
 placed, he dared not make general inquiries among the re- 
 tainers or domestics of Leicester. He learned, however, by 
 indirect questions, that, in all probability, Tressilian must 
 have been one of a large party of gentlemen in attendance on 
 the Earl of Sussex, who had accompanied their patron that 
 morning to Kenilworth, when Leicester had received them with 
 marks of the most formal respect and distinction. He farther 
 learned that both earls, with their followers, and many other 
 nobles, knights, and gentlemen, had taken horse, and gone 
 towards Warwick several hours since, for the purpose of es- 
 corting the Queen to Kenilworth. 
 
 Her Majesty's arrival, like other great events, was delayed 
 from hour to hour ; and it was now announced by a breathless 
 post that, her Majesty being detained by her gracious desire 
 to receive the homage of her lieges who had thronged to wait 
 upon her at Warwick, it would be the hour of twilight ere she 
 entered the castle. The intelligence released for a time those 
 who were upon duty in the immediate expectation of the 
 Queen's appearance, and ready to play their part in the solem- 
 nities with which it was to be accompanied ; and "Wayland^ 
 seeing several horsemen enter the castle, was not without hopes 
 that Tressilian might be of the number. That he might not 
 lose an opportunity of meeting his patron in the event of this 
 being the case, Wayland placed himself in the base-court of 
 the castle, near Mortimer's Tower, and watched every one
 
 S48 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 who weuu or came by the bridge, tlie extremity of which was 
 protected by that building. Thus stationed, nobody could 
 enter or leave the castle without his observation, and most 
 anxiously did he study the garb and countenance of every 
 horseman, as, passing from under the opposite Gallery Tower, 
 they paced slowly, or curvetted, along the tilt-yard, and ap- 
 proached the entrance of the base-court. 
 
 But while Wayland gazed thus eagerly to discover him 
 whom he saw not, he was pulled by the sleeve by one by 
 whom he himself would not willingly have been seen. 
 
 This was Dickie Sludge, or Flibbertigibbet, who, like the 
 imp whose name he bore, and whom he had been accoutred in 
 order to resemble, seemed to be ever at the ear of those who 
 thought least of him. Whatever were Wayland' s internal 
 feelings, he judged it necessary to express pleasure at their 
 unexpected meeting. 
 
 "Ha? is it thou, my minikin — my miller's thumb — my 
 prince of cacodemoois — my little mouse?" 
 
 " Ay, " said Dickie, " the mouse which gnawed asunder the 
 toils, just when the lion who was caught in them began to look 
 wonderfully like an ass." 
 
 " Why, thou little hop-the-gutter, thou art as sharp as vine- 
 gar this afternoon! But tell me, how didst thou come off 
 with yonder jolter-headed giant, whom I left thee with? I 
 was afraid he would have stripped thy clothes, and so swal- 
 lowed thee, as men peel and eat a roasted chestnut." 
 
 "Had he done so," replied the boy, "he would have had 
 more brains in his guts than ever he had in his noddle. But 
 the giant is a courteous monster, and more grateful than many 
 other folk whom I have helped at a pinch. Master Wayland 
 Smith." 
 
 "Beshrew me, Flibbertigibbet," replied Wayland, "but 
 thou art sharper than a Sheffield whittle ! I would I knew by 
 what charm you muzzled yonder old bear." 
 
 " Ay, that is in your own manner, " answered Dickie : " you 
 think fine speeches will pass muster instead of good- will. 
 However, as to this honest porter, you must know that, when 
 we presented ourselves at the gate yonder, his brain was
 
 KENILWORTH. 349 
 
 overburdened with a speecli that had been penned for him, 
 and which proved rather an overmatch for his gigantic facul- 
 ties. Now this same pithy oration had been indited, like 
 sundry others, by my learned magister, Erasmus Holiday, so 
 I had heard it often enough to remember every line. As soon 
 as I heard him blundering and floimdering, like a fish upon 
 dry land, through the first verse, and perceived him at a 
 stand, I knew where the shoe pinched, and helped him to the 
 next word, when he caught me up in an ecstasy, even as you 
 saw but now. I promised, as the price of your admission, to 
 hide me under his bearish gaberdine and prompt him in the 
 hour of need. I have just now been getting some food in the 
 castle, and am about to return to him." 
 
 " That's right — that's right, my dear Dickie," replied Way- 
 land ; " haste thee, for Heaven's sake ! else the poor giant will 
 be utterly disconsolate for want of his dwarfish auxiliai-y. 
 Away with thee, Dickie!" 
 
 "Ay — ay!" answered the boy. "Away with Dickie, when 
 tve have got what good of him we can. You will not let me 
 know the story of this lady, then, who is as much sister of 
 thine as I am?" 
 
 " Why, what good would it do thee, thou silly elf?" said 
 Wayland. 
 
 "Oh, stand ye on these terms?" said the boy. "Well, I 
 care not greatly about the matter ; only, I never smell out a 
 Beci-et, but I try to be either at the right or the wrong end of 
 it, and so good evening to ye." 
 
 "oSTay, but, Dickie," said Wayland, who knew the boy's 
 restless and intriguing disposition too well not to fear his 
 enmity — " stay, my dear Dickie ; part not with old friends so 
 shortly ! Thou shalt know all I know of the lady one day. " 
 
 "Ay!" said Dickie; "and that day may prove a nigh one. 
 Fare thee well, Wayland ; I will to my large-limbed friend, 
 who, if he have not so sharp a wit as some folk, is at least 
 more grateful for the service which other folk render him. 
 And so again, good evening to ye. " 
 
 So saying, he cast a somerset through the gateway, and, 
 lighting on the bridge, ran, with the extraordinaiy agility
 
 350 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 which was one of his distinguishing attributes, towards the 
 Gallery Tower, and was out of sight in an instant. 
 
 "I would to God I were safe out of this castle again!'' 
 prayed Wayland, internally ; " for now that this mischievous 
 imp has put his finger m the pie, it cannot but prove a mess 
 fit for the devil's eating. I would to Heaven Master Tres- 
 silian would appear!" 
 
 Tressilian, whom he was thus anxiously expecting in one 
 direction, had returned to Kenilworth by another access. It 
 was indeed true, as Way land had conjectured, that, in the 
 eaiiier part of the day, he had accompanied the earls on their 
 cavalcade towards Warwick, not without hope that he might 
 in that town hear some tidings of his emissary. Being disap- 
 pointed in this expectation, and observing Varney amongst 
 Leicester's attendants, seeming as if he had some purpose of 
 advancing to and addressing him, he conceived, in the present 
 circumstances, it was wisest to avoid the interview. He there- 
 fore left the presence-chamber when the high-sheriff of the 
 county was in the very midst of his dutiful address to her 
 Majesty; and, mounting his horse, rode back to Kenilworth 
 by a remote and circuitous road, and entered the castle by a 
 small sally-port in the western wall, at which he was readily 
 admitted as one of the followers of the Earl of Sussex, towards 
 whom Leicester had commanded the utmost courtesy to be 
 exercised. It was thus that he met not Wayland, who was 
 impatiently watching his arrival, and whom he himself would 
 have been, at least, equally desirous to see. 
 
 Having delivered his horse to the charge of his attendant, 
 he walked for a space in the Pleasance and in the garden, 
 rather to indulge in comparative solitude his own reflections 
 than to admire those singular beauties of nature and art which 
 the magnificence of Leicester had there assembled. The 
 greater part of the persons of condition had left the castle for 
 the present, to form part of the earl's cavalcade; others, who 
 remained behind, were on the battlements, outer walls, and 
 towers, eager to view the splendid spectacle of the royal entry. 
 The garden, therefore, while every other part of the castle
 
 KENILWORTH. 351 
 
 Tesounded with tlie human voice, was silent, but for the whis- 
 pering of the leaves, the emulous warbling of the tenants of a 
 large aviary, with their happier companions who remained 
 denziens of the free air, and the plashing of the fountains 
 which, forced into the air from sculptures of fantastic and 
 grotesque forms, fell doAvn with ceaseless sound into the great 
 basins of Italian marble. 
 
 The melancholy thoughts of Tressilian cast a gloomy shade 
 ■on all the objects with which he was surrounded. He com- 
 pared the magnificent scenes which he here traversed with the 
 deep woodland and wild moorland which surrounded Lidcote 
 Hall, and the image of Amy Eobsart glided like a phantom 
 through every landscape which his imagination summoned 
 up. Nothing is perhaps more dangerous to the future happi- 
 ness of men of deep thought and retired habits than the en- 
 tertaining an early, long, and unfortunate attachment. It 
 frequently sinks so deep into the mind that it becomes theia 
 dream by night and their vision by day, mixes itself with, 
 every source of interest and enjoyment; and, when blighted 
 and withered by final disappointment, it seems as if thci 
 springs of the spirit were dried up along with it. This ach- 
 ing of the heart, this languishing after a shadow which has; 
 lost all the gaiety of its colouring, this dwelling on the re- 
 membrance of a dream from which we have been long roughly 
 awakened, is the weakness of a gentle and generous heart,, 
 and it was that of Tressilian. 
 
 He himself at length became sensible of the necessity of 
 forcing other objects upon his mind; and for this purpose he 
 left the Pleasance, in order to mingle with the noisy crowd 
 upon the walls, and view the preparation for the pageants. 
 But as he left the garden, and heard the busy hum, mixed 
 with music and laughter, which floated aroimd him, he felt aii 
 uncontrollable reluctance t ■ mix with society whose feelings 
 were in a tone so different from his own, and resolved, instead 
 of doing so, to retire to the chamber assigned him, and employ 
 himself in study until the tolling of the great castle bell should 
 announce the arrival of Elizabeth. 
 
 Tressilian crossed accordingly by the passage betwixt the
 
 352 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 immense range of kitcliens and the great hall, and ascended to 
 the third story of Mervyn's Tower, and applying himself to 
 the door of the small apartment which had been allotted to 
 him, was surprised to find it was locked. He then recollected 
 that the deputy-chamberlain had given him a master-key, ad- 
 vising him, in the present confused state of the castle, to keep 
 his door as mvich shut as possible. He applied this key to the 
 lock, the bolt revolved, he entered, and in the same instant 
 saw a female form seated in the apartment, and recognised 
 that form to be Amy Eobsart. His first idea was, that a 
 heated imagination had raised the image on which it doted 
 into visible existence ; his second, that he beheld an appari- 
 tion ; the third and abiding conviction, that it was Amy her- 
 self, paler, indeed, and thinner than in the days of heedless 
 happiness, when she possessed the form and hue of a wood- 
 nymph, with the beauty of a sylph; but still Amy, unequalled 
 in loveliness by aught which had ever visited his eyes. 
 
 The astonishment of the countess was scarce less than that 
 of Tressdian, although it was of shorter duration, because she 
 had heard from Wayland that he was in the castle. She had 
 started up at his first entrance, and now stood facing him, the 
 paleness of her cheeks having given way to a deep blush. 
 
 " Tressilian, " she said, at length, "why come you here?" 
 
 " Nay, why come you here. Amy, " returned Tressilian, " un- 
 less it be at length to claim that aid which, as far as one 
 man's heart and arm can extend, shall instantly be rendered 
 to you?" 
 
 She was silent a moment, and then answered in a sorrowful 
 rather than an angry tone : " I require no aid, TressUian, and 
 would rather be injured than benefited by any which your 
 kindness can offer me. Believe me, I am near one whom law 
 and love oblige to protect me." 
 
 " The villain, then, hath done you the poor justice which 
 remained in his power," said Tressilian; " and I behold before 
 me the wife of Varney?" 
 
 "The wife of Varney!" she replied, with all the emphasis 
 of scorn. "With what base name, sir, does your boldness 
 stigmatise the — ^the — the " She hesitated, dropped her
 
 KENILWORTH. 353 
 
 tone of scorn, looked down, and was confused and silent; for 
 she recollected what fatal consequences might attend her com- 
 pleting the sentence with " the Countess of Leicester, " which 
 were the words that had naturally suggested themselves. It 
 would have been a betrayal of the secret, on which her hus- 
 band had assured her that his fortunes depended, to Tressilian, 
 to Sussex, to the Queen, and to the whole assembled court. 
 " Never, " she thought, " will I break my promised silence. I 
 will submit to every suspicion rather than that." 
 
 The tears rose to her eyes as she stood silent before Tres- 
 silian ; while, looking on her with mingled grief and pity, he 
 said, "Alas! Amy, your eyes contradict your tongue. That 
 speaks of a protector, willing and able to watch over you ; but 
 these tell me you are ruined, and deserted by the wretch to 
 whom you have attached yourself. " 
 
 She looked on him, with eyes in which anger sparkled 
 through her tears, but only repeated the word "wretch!" with 
 a scornful emphasis. 
 
 " Yes, 7vretch/" said Tressilian ; " for were he aught better, 
 why are you here, and alone in my apartment? Why was not 
 fitting provision made for your honourable reception?" 
 
 "In your apartment?" repeated Amy — "in youi' apartment? 
 It shall instantly be relieved of my presence." She hastened 
 towards the door ; but the sad recollection of her deserted state 
 at once pressed on her mind, and, pausing on the threshold, 
 she added, in a tone unutterably pathetic, " Alas ! I had for- 
 got ; I know not where to go " 
 
 " I see — I see it all, " said Tressilian, springing to her side, 
 and leading her back to the seat, on which she sunk down. 
 " You do need aid — you do need protection, though you will 
 not own it ; and you shall not need it long. Leaning on my 
 arm, as the representative of your excellent and broken-hearted 
 father, on the very threshold of the castle gate, you shall 
 meet Elizabeth ; and the first deed she shall do in the halls 
 of Kenil worth shall be an act of justice to her sex and her 
 subjects. Strong in my good cause and in the Queen's justice, 
 the power of her minion shall not shake my resolution. I will 
 instantly seek Sussex." 
 23
 
 354 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "Xot for all that is imder heaven!" said the countess, much 
 alarmed, and feeling the absolute necessity of obtaining time, 
 at least, for consideration. " Tressilian, you were wont to be 
 generous. Grant me one request, and believe, if it be your 
 wish to save me from misery and from madness, you will do 
 more by making me the promise I ask of you than Elizabeth 
 can do for me with all her power ! " 
 
 " Ask me anything for which you can allege reason, " said 
 Tressilian ; " but demand not of me " 
 
 "Oh, limit not your boon, dear Edmund!" exclaimed the 
 coimtess, — "you once loved that I should call you so, — limit 
 uot your boon to reason! for my case is all madness, and 
 frenzy must guide the counsels which alone can aid me. *' 
 
 " If you speak thus wildly, " said Tressilian, astonishment 
 again overpowering both his grief and his resolution, " I must 
 believe you indeed incapable of thinking or acting for yourself. " 
 
 "Oh no!" she exclaimed, sinking on one knee before him, 
 " I am not mad. I am but a creature unutterably miserable, 
 and, from circumstances the most singular, dragged on to a 
 precipice by the arm of him who thinks he is keeping me from 
 it — even by yours, Tressilian — by yours, whom I have hon- 
 oured, respected, all but loved — and yet loved, too — loved, 
 too, Tressilian, though not as you wished me." 
 
 There was an energy — a self-possession — an abandonment in 
 her voice and manner — a total resignation of herself to his 
 generosity, which, together with the kindness of her expres- 
 sions to himself, moved him deeply. He raised her, and in 
 broken accents entreated her to be comforted. 
 
 "I cannot," she said, "I will not be comforted till you 
 grant me my request! I will speak as plainly as I dare. I 
 am now awaiting the commands of one who has a right to 
 issue them. The interference of a third person — of you in 
 especial, Tressilian — will be ruin — utter ruin to me. Wait 
 but four-and-twenty hours, and it may be that the poor Amy 
 may have the means to show that she values, and can reward, 
 your disinterested friendship — that she is happy herseK, and 
 has the means to make you so. It is surely worth your pa- 
 tience, for so short a space?"
 
 EENILWORTE. 355 
 
 Tressilian paused, and weighing in his mind the various 
 probabilities which might render a violent interference on his 
 part more prejudicial than advantageous, both to the happiness 
 aad reputation of Amy ; considering also that she was within 
 the walls of Kenilworth, and could suffer no injury in a castle 
 honoured with the Queen's residence, and filled with her 
 guards and attendants, he conceived, upon the whole, that he 
 might render her more evil than good service by intruding 
 upon her his appeal to Elizabeth in her behalf. He expressed 
 his resolution cautiously, however, doubting naturally whether 
 Amy's hopes of extricating herself from her difficulties rested 
 on anji;hing stronger than a blinded attachment to Varney, 
 whom he supposed to be her seducer. 
 
 "Amy," he said, while he fixed his sad and expressive eyes 
 on hers, which, in her ecstasy of doubt, terror, and perplexity, 
 she cast up towards him, " I have ever remarked that, when 
 others called thee girlish and wilful, there lay imder that ex- 
 ternal semblance of youthful and self --willed folly deep feeling 
 and strong sense. In this I will confide, trusting your o^vu 
 fate in your own hands for the space of twenty -four hours, 
 without my interference by word or act." 
 
 "Do you promise me this, Tressilian?" said the countess. 
 " Is it possible you can yet repose so much confidence in me? 
 Do j'Ou promise, as you are a gentleman and a man of honour, 
 to intrude in my matters neither by speech nor action, what- 
 ever you may see or hear that seems to you to demand your 
 interference? WiU you so far trust me?" 
 
 " I wiU, upon my honour, " said Tressilian ; " but when that 
 space is expired " 
 
 " When that space is expired, " she said, interrupting him, 
 "you ai-e free to act as your judgment shall determine." 
 
 "Is there nought besides which I can do for you. Amy?" 
 said Tressilian. 
 
 . "Nothing," said she, "save to leave me; that is, if — I 
 blush to acknowledge my helplessness by asking it — if you 
 can spare me the use of this apartment for the next, twenty- 
 four hours." 
 
 "This is most wonderful!" said Tressilian; "what hope or
 
 356 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 interest can you liave in a castle where you cannot command 
 even an apartment?" 
 
 "Argue not, but leave me," she said; and added, as he 
 slowly and unwillingly retired, " Generous Edmund ! the time 
 may come when Amy may show she deserved thy noble attach- 
 ment." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 . What, man, ne'er lack a draught, when the full can 
 
 Stands at thine elbow, and craves emptying ! 
 
 ■ Nay, fear not me, for I have no delight 
 
 ' To watch men's vices, since I have myself 
 
 Of virtue nought to boast of. I'm a striker. 
 Would have the world strike with me, pell-mell, all. 
 
 Pandienionium. 
 
 Tressilian, in strange agitation of mind, had hardly 
 stepped down the first two or three steps of the winding stair- 
 case, when, greatly to his surprise and displeasure, he met 
 Michael Lambourne, wearing an impudent familiarity of 
 visage, for which Tressilian felt much disposed to throw him 
 downstairs; until he remembered the prejudice which Amy, 
 the only object of his solicitude, was likely to receive from his 
 engaging in any act of violence at that time and in that place. 
 
 He, therefore, contented himself with looking sternly upon 
 Lambourne, as upon one whom he deemed unworthy of notice, 
 and attempted to pass him in his way downstairs without any 
 symptom of recognition. But Lambourne, who, amidst the 
 profusion of that day's hospitality, had not failed to take a 
 deep, though not an overpowering, cup of sack, was not in the 
 humour of humbling himself before any man's looks. He 
 stopped Tressilian upon the staircase without the least bash- 
 fulness or embarrassment, and addressed him as if they had 
 been on kind and intimate terms : " What, no grudge between 
 us, I hope, upon old scores, Master Tressilian? Nay, I am 
 one who remember former kindness rather than later feud. 
 I'll convince you that I meant honestly and kindly, ay, and 
 comfortably, by you. "
 
 KENILWORTH. 357 
 
 ''I desire none of your intimacy," said Tressilian; "keep 
 company with your mates." 
 
 "Now, see how hasty he is!" said Lambourne; "and how 
 these gentles, that are made questionless out of the porcelain 
 clay of the earth, look down upon poor Michael Lambourne! 
 You would take Master Tressilian now for the most maid-like, 
 modest, simpering squire of dames that ever made love when 
 candles were long i' the stuff — snuff — call you it? Why, you 
 would play the saint on us, Master Tressilian, and forget that 
 even now thou hast a commodity in thy very bedchamber, to 
 the shame of my lord's castle — ha! ha! ha! Have I touched 
 you, Master Tressilian?" 
 
 " I know not what you mean, " said Tressilian, inferring, 
 however, too surely that this licentious rufl&an must have been 
 sensible of Amy's presence in his apartment ; " but if, " he con- 
 tinued, " thou art varlet of the chambers, and lackest a fee, 
 there is one to leave miue unmolested." 
 
 Lambourne looked at the piece of gold, and put it in his 
 pocket, saying : " Now I know not but you might have done 
 more with me by a kind word than by this chiming rogue. 
 But after all, he pays well that pays with gold; and Mike 
 Lambourne was never a make-bate, or a spoil-sport, or the 
 like. E'en live and let others live, that is my motto; only, I 
 would not let some folks cock their beaver at me neither, as 
 if they were made of silver ore and I of Dutch pewter. So, 
 if I keep your secret. Master Tressilian, you may look sweet 
 on me at least ; and were I to want a little backing or counte- 
 nance, being caught, as you see the best of us may be, in a 
 sort of peccadillo — why, you owe it me; and so e'en make 
 your chamber serve you and that same bird in bower beside — ■ 
 it's all one to Mike Lamboui'ne." 
 
 "Make way, sir," said Tressilian, unable to bridle his in- 
 dignation ; " you have had your fee. " 
 
 "Um!" said Lambourne, giving place, however, while he 
 sulkily muttered between his teeth, repeating Tressilian' s 
 words — " 'Make way' " — and " 'you have had your fee' " ; but 
 it matters not. I will spoil no sport, as I said before; I am 
 no dog in the manger, mind that."
 
 358 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 He spoke louder and louder, as Tressilian, by ■whom he felt 
 himself overawed, got farther and farther out of hearmg. 
 
 "I am no dog in the manger; but I will not carry coals 
 neither, mind that, my Master Tressilian ; and I will have a 
 peep at this wench, whom you have quartered so commodiously 
 in your old haunted room, afraid of ghosts, belike, and not 
 too willing to sleep alone. If / had done this now in a sti-ange 
 lord's castle, the word had been, 'The porter's lodge for the 
 knave!' and 'Have him flogged; trundle him downstaii'S like 
 a turnip!' Ay, but your virtuous gentlemen take strange 
 privileges over us, who are downright servants of our senses. 
 Well, I have my Master Tressilian's head mider my belt by 
 this lucky discovery, that is one thing certain ; and I will try 
 to get a sight of this Lindabrides of his, that is another." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Now fare thee well, my master ; if true service 
 Be guerdon'd with hard looks, e'en cut the tow-line, 
 And let our barks across the pathless flood 
 Hold different courses. 
 
 Shipwreck, 
 
 TRESSiLiAisr walked into the outer yard of the castle, scarce 
 knowing what to think of his late strange and most unex- 
 pected interview with Amy Robsart, and dubious if he had 
 done well, being entrusted with the delegated authority of her 
 father, to pass his word so solemnly to leave her to her own 
 guidance for so many hours. Yet how could he have denied 
 her request, dependent as she had too probably rendered her- 
 self upon Varney? Such was his natural reasoning. The 
 happiness of her future life might depend upon his not driving 
 her to extremities, and since no authority of Tressilian's could 
 extricate her from the power of Varney, supposing he was to 
 acknowledge Amy to be his wife, what title had he to destroy 
 the hope of domestic peace which might yet remain to her by 
 setting enmity betwixt them? Tressilian resolved, therefore, 
 scrupulously to observe his word pledged to Amy, both because
 
 KENILWORTH. 359 
 
 it had been given, and because, as he still thought, while he 
 considered and reconsidered that extraordinary interview, it 
 could not with justice or propriety have been refused. 
 
 In one respect he had gamed much towards securing effec- 
 tual protection for this unhappy and still beloved object of his 
 early affection. Amy was no longer mewed up in a distant 
 and solitary retreat, under the charge of persons of doubtful 
 reputation. She was in the Castle of Kenilworth, within the 
 verge of the royal court for the time, free from all risk of 
 violence, and liable to be produced before Elizabeth on the 
 first summons. These Avere circumstances which could not 
 but assist greatly the efforts which he might have occasion to 
 use in her behalf. 
 
 While he was thus balancuig the advantages and perils 
 which attended her unexpected presence in Kenilworth, Tres- 
 silian was hastily and anxiously accosted by Wayland, who, 
 after ejaculating, " Thank God, your worship is found at last!" 
 proceeded with breathless caution to pour into his ear the in- 
 telligence that the lady had escaped from Cumnor Place. 
 
 "And is at present in this castle," said Tressilian; " I know 
 it, and I have seen her. Was it by her o^vn choice she found 
 refuge in my apartment?" 
 
 " No, " answered Wayland ; " but I could think of no other 
 way of safely bestowing her, and was but too happy to find a 
 deputy-usher who knew where you were quartered — m jolly 
 society truly, the hall on the one hand and the kitchen on the 
 other!" 
 
 "Peace, this is no time for jesting," answered Tressilian, 
 sternly. 
 
 " I wot that but too well, " said the artist, " for I have felt 
 these three days as if I had an halter round my neck. This 
 lady knows not her own mind ; she will have none of your aid 
 — commands you not to be named to her — and is about to put 
 herseK into the hands of my Lord Leicester. I had never got 
 her safe into your chamber, had she known the owner of it." 
 
 "Is it possible?" said Tressilian. "But she may have 
 hopes the earl will exert his influence in her favour over his 
 villainous dependant."
 
 360 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " I know nothing of that, " said Wayland ; " but I believe, if 
 she is to reconcile herself with either Leicester or Varney, the 
 side of the Castle of Kenilworth which will be safest for us 
 will be the outside, from which we can fastest fly away. It 
 is not my purpose to abide an instant after delivery of the 
 letter to Leicester, which waits but your commands to find its 
 way to him. See, here it is ; but no — a plague on it — I must 
 have left it in. my dog-hole, in the hayloft yonder, where I am 
 to sleep." 
 
 ''Death and fury!" said Tressilian, transported beyond his 
 usual patience ; " thou hast not lost that on which may depend 
 a stake more important than a thousand such lives as thine?" 
 
 "Lost it!" answered Wayland, readily; "that were a jest 
 indeed! No, sir, I have it carefully put up with my night- 
 sack, and some matters I have occasion to use. I will fetch 
 it in an instant." 
 
 " Do so, " said Tressilian ; " be faithful, and thou shalt be 
 well rewarded. But if I have reason to suspect thee, a dead 
 dog were in better case than thou!" 
 
 Wayland bowed, and took his leave with seeming confidence 
 and alacrity ; but, in fact, filled with the utmost dread and 
 confusion. The letter was lost, that was certain, notwith- 
 standing the apology which he had made to appease the impa- 
 tient displeasure of Tressilian. It was lost ; it might fall into 
 wrong hands ; it would then, certainly, occasion a discovery of 
 the whole intrigue in which he had been engaged ; nor, indeed, 
 did Wayland see much prospect of its remaining concealed in 
 any event. He felt much hurt, besides, at Tressilian' s burst 
 of impatience. 
 
 " Nay, if I am to be paid in this coin for services where my 
 neck is concerned, it is time I should look to myself. Here 
 have I offended, for aught I Icnow, to the death the lord of 
 this stately castle, whose word were as powerful to take away 
 my life as the breath which speaks it to blow out a farthing 
 candle. And all this for a mad lady and a melancholy gal- 
 lant, who, on the loss of a four-nooked bit of paper, has his 
 hand on his poignado, and swears death and fury! Then 
 there is the doctor and Varney — I will save myseK from th&
 
 KENILWORTH. 361 
 
 whole mess of them. Life is dearer than gold; I will fly thig 
 instant, though I leave my reward behind me." 
 
 These reflections naturally enough occurred to a mind like 
 Wayland's, who found himseK engaged far deeper than he 
 had expected in a train of mysterious and imiutelligible in- 
 trigues, in which the actors seemed hardly to know their own 
 course. And yet, to do him justice, his personal fears were, 
 in some degree, counterbalanced by his compassion for the 
 deserted state of the lady. 
 
 "I care not a groat for Master Tressilian," he said; "I 
 have done more than bargain by him, and have brought his 
 errant-damozel within his reach, so that he may look after her 
 himself; bat I fear the poor thing is in much danger amongst 
 these stormy spirits. I will to her chamber, and tell her the 
 fate which has befallen her letter, that she may write another 
 if she list. She cannot lack a messenger, I trow, where there 
 are so many lackeys that can carry a letter to their lord. And 
 I will tell her also that I leave the castle, trusting her to God, 
 her own guidance, and Master Tressilian's care and looking 
 after. Perhaps she may remember the riag she offered me ; 
 it was well earned, I trow. But she is a lovely creature, and 
 ' — marry hang the ring ! I will not bear a base spirit for the 
 matter. If I fare ill in this world for my good-nature, I shall 
 have better chance in the next. So now for the lady, and 
 then for the road." 
 
 With the stealthy step and jealous eye of the cat that steals 
 on her prey. Way land resumed the way to the countess's 
 chamber, sliding along by the side of the courts and passages, 
 alike observant of all around him and studious himself to 
 escape osbervation. In this manner he crossed the outward 
 and inward castle-yard, and the great arched passage, which, 
 running betwixt the range of kitchen offices and the haU, led 
 to the bottom of the little winding stair that gave access to 
 the chambers of Mer\^n's Tower. 
 
 The artist congratulated himseK on having escaped the 
 various perils of his journey, and was in the act of ascending 
 by two steps at once, when he observed that the shadow of a 
 man, thrown from a door which stood ajar, darkened the op-
 
 362 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 posite wall of the staircase. Waylaiid drcAv back cautiously, 
 went down to the inner courtyard, spent about a quarter of an 
 hour, which seemed at least quadruple its usual duration, in 
 walking from place to place, and then returned to the tower, 
 in hopes to find that the lurker had disappeared. He ascended 
 as high as the suspicious spot — there was no shadow on the 
 wall; he ascended a few yards farther — the door was still 
 ajar, and he was doubtful whether to advance or retreat, when 
 it was suddenly thrown wide open, and Michael Lambourne 
 bolted out upon the astonished Wayland. " Who the devil 
 axt thou? and what seek'st thou in this part of the castle? 
 March into that chamber, and be hanged to thee!" 
 
 "I am no dog, to go at every man's whistle," said the 
 artist, affecting a confidence which was belied by a timid 
 shake in his voice. 
 
 " Say'st thou me so? Come hither, Laurence Staples." 
 
 A huge, ill-made and ill-looked fellow, upwards of six feet 
 high, appeared at the door, and Lambourne proceeded: "If 
 thou be'st so fond of this tower, my friend, thou shalt see its 
 foundations, good twelve feet below the bed of the lake, and 
 tenanted by certain jolly toads, snakes, and so forth, which 
 thou wilt find mighty good company. Therefore, once more 
 r ask you in fair play who thou art, and what thou seek'st 
 here?" 
 
 "If the dungeon-grate once clashes behind me," thought 
 Wayland, " I am a gone man. " He therefore answered sub- 
 missively, "He was the poor juggler whom his honour had 
 met yesterday in Weatherly Bottom." 
 
 "And what juggling trick art thou playing in this tower? 
 Thy gang," said Lambourne, "lie over against Clinton's 
 Buildings." 
 
 " I came here to see my sister," said the juggler, " who is in 
 Master Tressilian's chamber, just above." 
 
 "Aha!" said Lambourne, smiling, "here be truths! Upon 
 my honour, for a stranger, this same Master Tressilian makes 
 himself at home among us, and furnishes out his cell hand- 
 somely with all sorts of commodities. This will be a precious 
 tale of the sainted Master Tressilian, and will be welcome to
 
 KENILWORTH. 363 
 
 some folks, as a purse of broad pieces to me. Hark ye, fel- 
 low, " he contiaued, addi-essing Wayland, " thou shalt not give 
 puss a hint to steal away : we must catch her in her form. 
 So, back with that pitiful sheep-biting visage of thine, or I 
 will fling thee from the window of the tower, and try if your 
 juggling skill can save your bones." 
 
 *' Your worship will not be so hard-hearted, I hope," said 
 Wayland; "poor folk must live. I trust your honour will 
 allow me to speak with my sister?" 
 
 " Sister on Adam's side, I warrant," said Lambourne; "or, 
 if otherwise, the more knave thou. But sister or no sister, 
 thou diest on point of fox, if thou comest a-prying to this 
 tower once more. And now I think of it — uds daggers and 
 death ! — I will see thee out of the castle, for this is a more 
 main concern than thy jugglery." 
 
 " But, please your worship, " said Wayland, " I am to enact 
 Arion in the pageant upon the lake this very evening." 
 
 "I will act it myself, by St. Christopher!" said Lambourne. 
 "Orion, caH'st thou him? I will act Orion, his belt and his 
 seven stars to boot. Come along, for a rascal knave as thou 
 art; follow me! Or stay; Laurence, do thou bring him 
 along." 
 
 Laurence seized by the collar of the cloak the unresisting 
 juggler, while Lambourne, with hasty steps, led the way to 
 that same sally-port, or secret postern, by which Tressilian 
 had returned to the castle, and which opened in the western 
 wall, at no great distance from Mervyn's Tower. 
 
 While traversing with a rapid foot the space betwixt the 
 tower and the sally-port, Wayland in vain racked his brain for 
 some device which might avail the poor lady, for whom, not- 
 withstanding his own imminent danger, he felt deep interest. 
 But when he was thrust out of the castle, and informed by 
 Lambourne, with a tremendous oath, that instant death would 
 be the consequence of his again approaching it, he cast up his 
 hands and eyes to heaven, as if to call God to witness he had 
 stood to the uttermost in defence of the oppressed ; then turned 
 his back on the proud towers of Kenilworth, and went his way 
 to seek a humbler and safer place of refuge.
 
 364 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Laurence and Lambourne gazed a little while after Wayland, 
 and then turned to go back to their tower, when the former 
 thus addressed his companion: "Never credit me, Master 
 Lambourne, if I can guess why thou hast driven this poor cai- 
 tiff from the castle, just when he was to bear a part in the 
 show that was beginning, and all this about a wench," 
 
 " Ah, Laurence, " replied Lambourne, " thou art thinking of 
 Black Joan Jugges of Slingdon, and hast sympathy with hu- 
 man frailty. But corragio, most noble Duke of the Dungeoa 
 and Lord of Limbo, for thou art as dark in this matter as 
 thine own dominions of Little Ease. My most reverend Sig- 
 nior of the Low Countries of Kenilworth, know that our most 
 notable master, Richard Varney, would give as much to have 
 a hole in this same Tressilian's coat as would make us some 
 fifty midnight carousals, with the fidl leave of bidding the 
 steward go snick up, if he came to startle us too soon from 
 our goblets." 
 
 " Nay, an that be the case, thou hast right, " said Laurence 
 Staples, the upper-warder, or, in common phrase, the first 
 jailor of Kenilworth Castle, and of the liberty and honour be- 
 longing thereto ; " but how will you manage when you are ab- 
 sent at the Queen's entrance, Master Lambourne; for methinks 
 thou must attend thy master there?" 
 
 "Why, thou, mine honest prince of prisons, must keep 
 ward in my absence. Let Tressilian enter if he will, but 
 see thou let no one come out. If the damsel herself would 
 make a break, as 'tis not unlike she may, scare her back 
 with rough words; she is but a paltry player's wench after 
 all." 
 
 "Nay, for that matter," said Laurence, "I might shut the 
 iron wicket upon her, that stands without the double door, and 
 so force per force she will be bound to her answer without 
 more trouble." 
 
 "Then Tressilian will not get access to her," said Lam- 
 bourne, reflecting a moment. " But 'tis no matter ; she will 
 be detected in his chamber, and that is all one. But confess, 
 thou old bat's-eyed dungeon-keeper, that you fear to keep 
 awake by yourself in that Mervyn's Tower of thine?"
 
 KENILWORTH. 365 
 
 " Wliy, as to fear. Master Lambourne, " said tlie f ellow> " I 
 mind it uot the turning of a key ; but strange things have been 
 heard and seen in that tower. You must have heard, for as 
 short time as you have been in Kenilworth, that it is haunted 
 by the spirit of Arthur ap Mervyn, a wild chief taken by fierce 
 Lord Mortimer, when he was one of the Lords Marchers of 
 Wales, and murdered, as they say, in that same tower which 
 bears his name?" 
 
 " Oh, I have heard the tale five hundred times, " said Lam- 
 bourne, " and how the ghost is always most vociferous when 
 they boil leeks and stirabout, or fry toasted cheese, in the cu- 
 linary regions. Santo Diavolo, man, hold thy tongue, I know 
 all about it!" 
 
 " Ay, but thou dost not, though, " said the turnkey, " for as 
 wise as thou wouldst make thyself. Ah, it is an awful thing 
 to murder a prisoner in his ward ! You, that may have given 
 a man a stab in a dark street, know nothing of it. To give a 
 mutinous fellow a knock on the head with the keys, and bid 
 him be quiet, that's what I call keeping order in the ward; 
 but to draw weapon and slay him, as was done to this Welsh 
 lord, that raises you a ghost that will render your prison- 
 house untenantable by any decent captive for some hundred 
 years. And I have that regard for my prisoners, poor things, 
 that I have put good squires and men of worship, that have 
 taken a ride on the highway, or slandered my Lord of Leices- 
 ter, or the like, fifty feet under ground, rather than I would 
 put them into that upper chamber yonder that they call Mer- 
 vyn's Bower. Indeed, by good St. Peter of the Fetters, I 
 marvel my noble lord or Master Varney could think of lodging 
 guests there ; and if this Master Tressilian could get any one 
 to keep him company, and in especial a pretty wench, why, 
 truly, I think he was in the right on't." 
 
 "I tell thee," said Lambourne, leading the way into the 
 turnkey's apartment, "thou art an ass. Go bolt the wicket 
 on the stair, and trouble not thy noddle about ghosts. Give 
 me the wine-stoup, man; I am somewhat heated with chafing 
 ■with yonder rascal." 
 
 While Lambourne drew a long draught from a pitcher of
 
 BGQ WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 c'iaret, wliicli lie made use of without any cup, the warder 
 went on vindicating his own belief in the supernatui-al. 
 
 " Thou hast been few hours in this castle, and hast been for 
 the whole space so drunk, Lambourne, that thou art deaf, 
 dumb, and blmd. But we should hear less of your bragging, 
 Avere you to pass a night with us at full moon, for then the 
 ghost is busiest ; and more especially when a rattling wind sets 
 in from the northwest, with some sprinkling of rain, and now 
 and then a growl of thunder. Body o' me, what crackings 
 and clashings, what groanings and what howlings, will there 
 be at such times in Mervyn's Bower, right as it were over our 
 heads, till the matter of two quarts of distilled waters has not 
 been enough to keep my lads and me in some heart!" 
 
 "Pshaw, man!" replied Lambourne, on whom his last 
 draught, joined to repeated visitations of the pitcher upon 
 former occasions, began to make some innovation, "thou 
 speak'st thou know'st not what about spirits. No one knows 
 justly what to say about them ; and, in short, least said may 
 in that matter be soonest amended. Some men believe iu one 
 thing, some in another: it is all matter of fancy. I have 
 known them of all sorts, my dear Laurence Lock-the-Door, 
 and sensible men too. There's a great lord — we'll pass his 
 aame, Laurence — he believes in the stars and the moon, the 
 planets and their courses, and so forth, and that they twinkle 
 exclusively for his benefit j when, in sober, or rather in 
 drunken, truth, Laurence, they are only shining to keep hon- 
 est fellows like me out of the kennel. Well, sir, let his hu- 
 mour pass ; he is great enough to indulge it. Then look ye, 
 there is another — a very learned man, I promise you, and can 
 vent Greek and Hebrew as fast as I can thieves' Latin — he 
 has an humour of sympathies and antipathies, of changing 
 lead into gold, and the like ; why, via, let that pass too, and 
 let him pay those in transmigrated coin who are fools enough 
 to let it be current with them. Then here comest thou thy- 
 self, another great man, though neither learned nor noble, yet 
 full six feet high, and thou, like a purblind mole, must needs 
 believe in ghosts and goblins, and such-like. Now, there is, 
 besides, a great man — that is, a great little man, or a little
 
 KENILTVORTH. 367 
 
 great man, my dear Laurence — and his name begins with Y, 
 and what believes he? Why, nothing, honest Laurence-— 
 nothing in earth, heaven, or hell ; and for my part, if I believe 
 there is a devil, it is only because I think there must be some 
 one to catoh our aforesaid friend by the back * when soul and 
 body sever, ' as the ballad says ; for your antecedent will have 
 a consequent — raro antecedentem, as Doctor Bricham was wont 
 to say. But this is Greek to you now, honest Laurence, and 
 in sooth learning is dry work. Hand me the ^Ditcher once 
 more." 
 
 " In faith, if you drink more, Michael, " said the warder, 
 *'you will be in sorry case either to play Arion or to wait on 
 your master on such a solemn night; and I expect each mo- 
 ment to hear the great bell toll for the muster at Mortimer's 
 Tower to receive the Queen." 
 
 While Staples remonstrated, Lambourne drank; and then 
 setting down the pitcher, which was nearly emptied, with a 
 deep sigh, he said in an vmdertone, which soon rose to a high 
 one as his speech proceeded, " Never mind, Laurence ; if I be 
 dnmk, I know that shall make Varney uphold me sober. But, 
 as I said, never mind, I can carry my drink discreetly. 
 Moreover, I am to go on the water as Orion, and shall talie 
 cold miless I take something comfortable beforehand. Not 
 play Orion ! Let us see the best roai'er that ever strained hii 
 lungs for twelve pence out-mouth me ! What if they see me a 
 little disguised? "VMierefore should any man be sober to- 
 night? answer me that. It is matter of loyalty to be merry; 
 and I tell thee, there are those in the castle who, if they are 
 not merry when drunk, have little chance to be merry when 
 sober. I name uo names, Laurence. But your pottle of sack 
 is a fine shoeuig-horn to pull on a loyal humour and a merry 
 one. Huzza for Queen Elizabeth! — for the noble Leicester! — 
 for the worshipful Master Yarney! — and for Michael Lam- 
 bourne, that can turn them all romid his finger!" 
 
 So saying, he walked downstairs, and across the inner court. 
 
 The Avarder looked after him, shook his head, and, while he 
 drew close and locked a wicket, which, ci"Ossing the staircase, 
 rendered it impossible for any one to ascend higher than tho
 
 368 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Btoiy immediately beneath Mervyn's Bower, as Tressilian's 
 chamber was named, he thus soliloquised with himself: "It's 
 a good thing to be a favourite. I wellnigh lost mine office 
 because, one frosty morning, Master Varney thought I smeUed 
 of aquavitse; and this fellow can appear before him drimk as 
 a wine-skin, and yet meet no rebuke. But then he is a pesti- 
 lent clever fellow withal, and no one can understand above 
 one-half of what he says." 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Now bid the steeple rock ; she comes— she comes . 
 Speak for us, bells — speak for us, shrill-tongued tuckets. ''■• 
 
 Stand to thy linstock, gunner ; let thy cannon 
 ! Play such a peal, as if a paynim foe 
 
 Came stretch'd in turban'd ranks to storm the ramparts. 
 We will have pageants too ; but that craves wit, 
 And I'm a rough-hewn soldier. 
 
 The Virgin Queen, a Tragi-Comedy, 
 
 Tressiliax, when Wayland had left him, as mentioned in 
 the last chapter, remained uncertain what he ought next to do, 
 \5^hen Raleigh and Blount came up to him arm in arm, yet, 
 according to their wont, very eagerly disputing together. 
 Tressilian had no great desire for their society in the present 
 state of his feelings, but there was no possibility of avoiding 
 them ; and indeed he felt that, bound by his promise not to 
 approach Amy, or take any step in her behalf, it would be his 
 best course at once to mix with general society, and to exhibit 
 on his brow as little as he could of the anguish and uncertainty 
 which sat heavy at his heart. He therefore made a virtue of 
 necessity, and hailed his comrades with, " All mirth to you, 
 gentlemen. Whence come ye?" 
 
 " From Warwick, to be sure," said Blount ; " we must needs 
 home to change our habits, like poor players, who are fain to 
 multiply their persons to outward appearance by change of 
 suits ; and you had better do the like, Tressilian. " 
 
 "Blount is right," said Raleigh; "the Queen loves such 
 marks of deference, and notices, as wanting in respect, those
 
 KENILWORTH. 369 
 
 who, not arriving in her immediate attendance, may appear in 
 their soiled and ruffled riding-dress. But look at Blount him- 
 self, Tressilian, for the love of laughter, and see hoAV his 
 villainous tailor hath apparelled him — in blue, green, and 
 crimson, with carnation ribands, and yellow roses in his 
 shoes !" 
 
 ""Why, what wouldst thou have?" said Blount. "I told 
 the cross-legged thief to do his best, and spare no cost ; and 
 methinks these thiugs are gay enough — gayer than thine own. 
 I'll be judged by Tressilian," 
 
 " I agree — I agree, " said Walter Raleigh. " Judge betwixt 
 us, Tressilian, for the love of Heaven!" 
 
 Tressilian, thus appealed to, looked at them both, and was 
 immediately sensible at a single glance that honest Blount had 
 taken upon the tailor's warrant the pied garments which he 
 had chosen to make, and was as much embarrassed by the 
 ■quantity of points and ribands which garnished his dress as a 
 clown is in his holyday clothes ; while the dress of Raleigh 
 was a well-fancied and rich suit, which the wearer bore as a 
 garb too well adapted to his elegant person to attract particu- 
 lar attention. Tressilian said, therefore, "That Blount's 
 dress was finest, but Raleigh's the best fancied." 
 
 Blount was satisfied with his decision. " I knew mine was 
 finest," he said; "if that knave Doublestitch had brought me 
 home such a simple doublet as that of Raleigh's, I would have 
 beat his brains out with his own pressing-iron. Nay, if we 
 must be fools, ever let us be fools of the first head, say I." 
 
 " But why gettest thou not on thy braveries, Tressilian?" 
 said Raleigh. 
 
 "I am excluded from my apartment by a silly mistake," 
 said Tressilian, " and separated for the time from my baggage. 
 I was about to seek thee, to beseech a share of thy lodging. " 
 
 "And welcome," said Raleigh; "it is a noble one. My 
 liOrd of Leicester has done us that kindness, and lodged us in 
 princely fashion. If his courtesy be extorted reluctantly, it is 
 at least extended far. I would advise you to tell your strait 
 to the earl's chamberlain: you will have instant redress." 
 
 "Nay, it is not worth while, since you can spare me room," 
 24
 
 370 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 replied Tressilian : " I would uot be troublesome. Has any 
 one come hither with you?" 
 
 "Oh, ay," said Blount; "Varney, and a whole tribe of 
 Leicestrians, besides about a score of us honest Sussex folk. 
 "We are all, it seems, to receive the Queen at what they call 
 the Gallery Tower, and witness some fooleries there ; and then 
 we're to remain in attendance upon the Queen in the great 
 hall — God bless the mark! — while those who are now waiting 
 uj^on her Grace get rid of their slough, and doff their riding- 
 suits. Heaven help me, if her Grace should speak to me, I 
 shall never know what to answer!" 
 
 " And what has detained them so long at Warwick?" said 
 Tressilian, unwilling that their conversation should return to 
 his own affairs. 
 
 "Such a succession of fooleries," said Blount, "as were 
 never seen at Bartholomew Fair. We have had speeches and 
 players, and dogs and bears, and men making monkeys, and 
 women moppets, of themselves. I marvel the Queen could 
 endure it. But ever and anon came in something of ' the 
 lovely light of her gracious countenance, ' or some such trash. 
 Ah ! vanity maJces a fool of the wisest. But, come, let us on 
 to this same Gallery Tower, though I see not what thou, 
 Tressilian, canst do with thy riding-dress and boots." 
 
 " I will take my station behind thee, Blount, " said Tressil- 
 ian, who saw that his friend's imusual finery had take a strong 
 hold of his imagination ; " thy goodly size and gay dress will 
 cover my defects." 
 
 " And so thou shalt, Edmund, " said Blount. " In faith, I 
 am glad thou think' st my garb well-fancied, for all Mr. Wit- 
 typate here ; for when one does a foolish thing, it is right to 
 do it handsomely." 
 
 So saying, Bloimt cocked his beaver, threw out his leg, and 
 marched manfully forward, as if at the head of his brigade of 
 pikeman, ever and anon looking with complaisance on his 
 crimson stockings, and the huge yellow roses which blossomed 
 on his shoes. Tressilian followed, wrapt in his own sad 
 thoughts, and scarce minding Raleigh, whose quick fancy, 
 amused by the awkward vanity of his respectable friend.
 
 KENILWORTH. 371 
 
 vented itself in jests, wliicli he wTiispered into Tressilian's 
 ear. 
 
 In this manner they crossed the long hridge, or tilt-yard, 
 and took their station, with other gentlemen of quality, before 
 the outer gate of the gallery, or entrance-tower. The whole 
 amounted to about forty persons, all selected as of the first 
 rank under that of knighthood, and were disposed in double 
 rows on either side of the gate, like a guard of honour-, within 
 the close hedge of pikes and partizans, which was formed by 
 Leicester's retainers, wearing his liveries. The gentlemen 
 carried no arms save their swords and daggers. These gal- 
 lants were as gaily dressed as imagination could devise j and 
 as the garb of the time permitted a great display of expensive 
 magnificence, nought was to be seen but velvet and cloth of 
 gold and silver, ribands, feathers, gems, and golden chains. 
 In spite of his more serious subjects of distress, Tressiliaa 
 could not help feeling that he, with his riding-suit, however 
 handsome it might be, made rather an unworthy figure among 
 these "fierce vanities," and the rather because he saw that his 
 dishabille was the subject of wonder among his own friends 
 and of scorn among the pai-tizaa§ of Leicester. 
 
 We could not suppress this fact, though it may seem some- 
 thing at variance with the gravity of Tressilian's [character j 
 but the truth is, that a regard for personal appearance is a 
 species of self-love from which the wisest are not exempt, and 
 to which the mind clings so instinctively, that not only the 
 soldier advancing to almost mevitable death, but even the 
 doomed criminal who goes to certain execution, shows an anx- 
 iety to array his person to the best advantage. But this is a 
 digression. 
 
 It was the twilight of a summer night (9th July 1575), 
 the sun having for some time set, and all were in anxious ex- 
 pectation of the Queen's immediate approach. The multiude 
 had remained assembled for many hours, and their numbers 
 were still rather on the increase. A profuse distribution of 
 refreshments, together with roasted oxen, and bai-rels of ale 
 set a-broach in different places of the road, had kept the pop- 
 ulace in perfect love and loyalty towards the Queen and her
 
 372 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 favourite, which might have somewhat abated had fasting 
 been added to watching. They passed away the time, there- 
 fore, with the usual popular amusements of whooping, halloo- 
 ing, shrieking, and playing rude tricks upon each other, form- 
 ing the chorus of discordant sounds usual on such occasions. 
 These prevailed all through the crowded roads and fields, and 
 especially beyond the gate of the chase, where the greater 
 number of the common sort were stationed; when, all of a 
 sudden, a single rocket was seen to shoot into the atmosphere, 
 and, at the instant, far heard over flood and field, the great 
 bell of the castle tolled. 
 
 Immediately there was a pause of dead silence, succeeded 
 by a deep hum of expectation, the united voice of many thou- 
 sands, none of whom spoke above their breath; or, to use a 
 singular expression, the whisper of an immense multitude. 
 
 " They come now, for certain, " said Raleigh. " Tressilian, 
 that sound is grand. We hear it from this distance, as mari- 
 ners, after a long voyage, hear, upon their night-watch, the 
 tide rush upon some distant and unknown shore." 
 
 ''Mass!" answered Blount, "I hear it rather as I used to 
 hear mine own kine lowing from the close of Wittens West- 
 lowe. " 
 
 " He wiU assuredly graze presently, " said Raleigh to Tres- 
 silian : " his thought is all of fat oxen and fertile meadows ; 
 he grows little better than one of his own beeves, and only 
 becomes grand when he is provoked to pushing and goring. " 
 
 " We shall have him at that presently, " said Tressilian, " if 
 you spare not your wit." 
 
 "Tush, I care not," answered Raleigh; "but thou too, 
 Tressilian, hast turned a kind of owl, that flies only by night ; 
 hast exchanged thy songs for screechings, and good company 
 for an ivy -tod." 
 
 " But what manner of animal art thou thyself, Raleigh, " 
 said Tressilian, "that thou boldest us all so lightly?" 
 
 "Who, I?" replied Raleigh. "An eagle am I, that never 
 wiR think of dull earth whUe there is a heaven to soar in and 
 a sun to gaze upon." 
 
 "Well bragged, by St. Barnaby!" said Blount; "but, good
 
 KENILWORTH. 375 
 
 Master Eagle, beware the cage, and beware the fowler. Many 
 birds have flown as high, that I have seen stuffed with straw, 
 and himg up to scare kites. But hark, what a dead sUence 
 hath fallen on them at once!" 
 
 " The procession pauses, " said Raleigh, " at the gate of the 
 chase, where a sibyl, one of the Fatidicce, meets the Queen, 
 to tell her fortune. I saw the verses ; there is little savour in 
 them, and her Grace has been already crammed full with such 
 poetical compliments. She whispered to me during the Ee- 
 corder's speech yonder, at Ford Mill, as she entered the liber- 
 ties of "Warwick, how she was ' ^jericpsa harharce loqueloe. ' " 
 
 " The Queen whispered to Mm ! " said Blount, in a kind of 
 soliloquy. " Good God, to what will this world come!" 
 
 His farther meditations were interrupted by a shout of ap- 
 plause from the multitude, so tremendously vociferous that 
 the country echoed for miles round. The guards, thickly 
 stationed upon the road by which the Queen was to advance, 
 caught up the acclamation, which ran like wildfire to the cas- 
 tie, and announced to all within that Queen Elizabeth had en- 
 tered the royal chase of Kenilworth. The whole music of the 
 castle sounded at once, and a round of artillery, with a salvo 
 of small arms, was discharged from the battlements ; but the 
 noise of drums and trumpets, and even of the cannon them- 
 selves, was but faintly heard amidst the roaring and reiterated 
 welcomes of the multitude. 
 
 As the noise began to abate, a broad glare of light was seen 
 to appear from the gate of the park, and, broadening and 
 brightening as it came nearer, advanced along the open and 
 fair avenue that led towards the Gallery Tower ; which, as we 
 have already noticed, was lined on either hand by the retain- 
 ers of the Earl of Leicester. The word was passed along the 
 line, "The Queen! The Queen! Silence, and stand fast!" 
 Onward came the cavalcade, illuminated by two hundred thick 
 waxen torches, in the hands of as many horsemen, which cast 
 a light like that of broad day all around the procession, but 
 especially on the principal group, of which the Queen herseK, 
 arrayed in the most splendid manner, and blazing with jewels, 
 formed the central figure. She was mounted on a milk-white
 
 374 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 horse, which she reined with peculiar grace and dignity ; and 
 in the whole of her stately and noble carriage you saw the 
 daughter of an hundred kings. 
 
 The ladies of the court, who rode beside her Majesty, had 
 taken especial care that their own external appearance should 
 not be more glorious than their rank and the occasion altogether 
 demanded, so that no inferior luminary might appear to ap- 
 proach the orbit of royalty. But their personal charms, and 
 the magnificence by which, under every prudential restraint, 
 they were necessarily distinguished, exhibited them as the 
 very flower of a realm so far famed for splendour and beauty. 
 The magnificence of the courtiers, free from such restraints as 
 prudence imposed on the ladies, was yet more unbounded. 
 
 Leicester, who glittered like a golden image with jewels and 
 cloth of gold, rode on her Majesty's right hand, as well in 
 quality of her host as of her master of the horse. The black 
 steed which he mounted had not a single white hair on his 
 body, and was one of the most renowned chargers in Europe, 
 having been purchased by the earl at large expense for this 
 royal occasion. As the noble animal chafed at the slow pace 
 of the procession, and, arching his stately neck, champed on 
 the silver bits which resti-ained him, the foam flew from his 
 mouth and specked his well-formed limbs, as if with spots of 
 snow. The rider well became the high place which he held 
 and the proud steed which he bestrode ; for no man in Eng- 
 land, or perhaps in Europe, was more perfect than Dudley in 
 horsemanship and all other exercises belonging to his quality. 
 He was bareheaded, as were all the courtiers in the train; 
 and the red torchlight shone upon his long curled tresses of 
 dark hair, and on his noble features, to the beauty of which 
 even the severest criticism could only object the lordly fault, 
 as it may be termed, of a forehead somewhat too high. On 
 that proud evening, those features wore all the grateful solici- 
 tude of a subject to show himself sensible of the high honour 
 which the Queen was conferring on him, and all the pride and 
 satisfaction which became so glorious a moment. Yet, though 
 neither eye nor feature betrayed aught but feelings which 
 suited the occasion, some of the earl's personal attendants re-
 
 KENILWORTH. 375 
 
 marked that lie was unusually pale, and they expressed to 
 each other their fear that he was taking more fatigue than 
 consisted with his health. 
 
 Yarney followed close behind his master, as the principal 
 esquire in waiting, and had charge of his lordship's black vel- 
 vet bonnet, garnished with a clasp of diamonds and surmounted 
 by a white pliune. He kept his eye constantly on his master; 
 and, for reasons with which the reader is not unacquainted, 
 was, among Leicester's numerous dependants, the one who 
 ■was most anxious that his lord's strength and resolution should 
 carry him successfully through a day so agitating. For, al- 
 though Yarney was one of the few — the very few — moral 
 monsters who contrive to lull to sleep the remorse of their own 
 bosoms, and are drugged into moral insensibility by atheism, 
 as men in extreme agony are lulled by opium, yet he knew 
 that in the breast of his patron there was already awakened 
 the fire that is never quenched, and that his lord felt, amid 
 all the pomp and magnificence we have described, the gnawing 
 of the worm that dieth not. Still, however, assured as Lord 
 Leicester stood, by Yarney' s own intelligence, that his coun- 
 tess laboured under an indisposition which formed an unan- 
 swerable apology to the Queen for her not appearing at Kenil- 
 worth, there was little danger, his wily retainer thought, that 
 a man so ambitious would betray himself by giving way to 
 any external weakness. 
 
 The train, male and female, who attended immediately 
 upon the Queen's person were, of course, of the bravest and 
 the fairest — the highest born nobles and the wisest counsellors 
 of that distinguished reign, to repeat whose names were but 
 to weary the reader. Behind came a long crowd of Ivnights 
 and gentlemen, whose rank and birth, hoAvever distinguished, 
 were thrown into shade, as their persons into the rear of a 
 procession whose front was of such august majesty. 
 
 Thus marshalled, the cavalcade approached the Gallery 
 Tower, which formed, as we have often observed, the extreme 
 barrier of the castle. 
 
 It was now the part of the huge porter to step forward; but 
 the lubbard was so overwhelmed with confusion of spirit — the
 
 376 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 contents of one immense black-jack of double ale, which he 
 had just drank to quicken his memory, having treacherously 
 confused the brain it was intended to clear — that he only 
 groaned piteously, and remained sitting on his stone seat; and 
 the Queen would have passed on without greeting, had not the 
 gigantic warder's secret ally, Flibbertigibbet, who lay perdue 
 behind him, thrust a pin into the rear of the short femoral 
 garment which we elsewhere described. 
 
 The porter uttered a sort of a yell, which came not amiss 
 into his part, started up with his club, and dealt a sound 
 douse or two on each side of him ; and then, like a coach-horse 
 pricked by the spur, started off at once into the full career of 
 his address, and, by dint of active prompting on the part of 
 Dickie Sludge, delivered, in sounds of gigantic intonation, a 
 speech which may be thus abridged, the reader being to sup- 
 pose that the first lines were addressed to the throng who ap- 
 proached the gateway ; the conclusion, at the approach of the 
 Queen, upon sight of whom, as struck by some heavenly vision, 
 the gigantic warder dropped his club, resigned his keys, and 
 gave open way to the goddess of the night and all her mag- 
 nificent train : 
 
 What stir, what turmoil, have we for the nones? 
 Stand back, my masters, or beware your bones I 
 Sirs, I'm a warder, and no man of straw, 
 My voice keeps order, and my club gives law. 
 
 Yet soft — nay, stay — what vision have we here ? 
 
 What dainty darling's this — what peerless peer? 
 
 What loveliest face, that loving ranks enfolds, 
 
 Like brightest diamond chased in purest gold? 
 
 Dazzled and blind, mine office I forsake. 
 
 My club, my key, my knee, my homage take. 
 
 Bright paragon, pass on in joy and bliss ; — 
 
 Beshrew the gate that opes not wide at such a sight as this I " * 
 
 Elizabeth received most graciously the homage of the Her- 
 culean porter, and, bending her head to him in requital, 
 passed through his guarded tower, from the top of which was 
 poured a clamorous blast of warlike music, which was replied 
 to by other bands of minstrelsy placed at different points on 
 
 ' See Imitation of Gascoigne. Note 15.
 
 KENILWORTH. 377 
 
 the castle walls, and by others again stationed in the chase ; 
 while the tones of the one, as they yet vibrated on the echoes, 
 were caught up and answered by new harmony from different 
 quarters. 
 
 Amidst these bursts of music, which, as if the work of en- 
 chantment, seemed now close at hand, now softened by distant 
 space, now wailing so low and sweet as if that distance were 
 gradually j)rolonged until only the last lingeruig strains could 
 reach the ear. Queen Elizabeth crossed the Gallery Tower, 
 and came upon the long bridge which extended from thence to 
 Mortimer's Tower, and which was already as light as day, so 
 many torches had been fastened to the palisades on either side. 
 Most of the nobles here alighted, and sent their horses to the 
 neighbouring village of Keuilworth, following the Queen on 
 foot, as did the gentlemen who had stood in array to receive 
 her at the Gallery Tower. 
 
 On this occasion, as at different times during the evening, 
 Kaleigh addressed himself to Tressilian, and was not a little 
 surprised at his vague and unsatisfactory answers; which, 
 joined to his leaving his apartment without any assigned rea- 
 son, appearing in an undress when it was likely to be offensive 
 to the Queen, and some other symptoms of irregularity which 
 he thought he discovered, led him to doubt whether his friend 
 did not labour under some temporary derangement. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Queen had no sooner stepped on the bridge 
 than a new spectacle was provided ; for, as soon as the music 
 gave signal that she was so far advanced, a raft, so disposed 
 as to resemble a smaR floating island, illuminated by a great 
 variety of torches, and surrounded by floating pageants forme(? 
 to represent sea-horses, on which sat Tritons, Nereids, and 
 other fabulous deities of the seas and rivers, made its appear- 
 ance upon the lake, and, issuing from behind a small heronry 
 where it had been concealed, floated gently towards the farther 
 end of the bridge. 
 
 On the islet appeared a beautiful woman, clad in a watchet- 
 coloured silken mantle, boimd with a broad girdle, inscribed 
 with characters like the phylacteries of the Hebrews. Her 
 feet and arms were bare, but her wrists and ankles were adorned
 
 378 T^AVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 with gold bracelets of uncommon size. Amidst her long sillfy 
 black hair she wore a crown or chaplet of artificial mistletoe, 
 and bore in her hand a rod of ebony tipped with silver. Two 
 nymphs attended on her, dressed in the same antique and 
 mystical guise. 
 
 The pageant was so well managed, that this Lady of the 
 'Floating Island, having performed her voyage with much pic- 
 turesque effect, landed at Mortimer's Tower, with her two at- 
 tendants, just lis Elizabeth presented herself before that out- 
 work. The stranger then, in a well-penned speech, announced 
 herself as that famous Lady of the Lake, renowned in the 
 stories of King Arthur, who had nursed the youth of the re- 
 doubted Sir Lancelot, and whose beauty had proved too pow- 
 erful both for the wisdom and the spells of the mighty Merlin. 
 Since that early period, she had remained possessed of her 
 crystal dominions, she said, despite the various men of fame 
 and might by whom Kenilworth had been successively tenanted. 
 The Saxons, the Danes, the Normans, the Saintlowes, the 
 Clintons, the Montforts, the JNIortimers, the Plantagenets, 
 great though they were in arms and magnificence, had never, 
 she said, caused her to raise her head from the waters which 
 hid her crystal palace. But a greater than all these great 
 names had now appeared, and she came in homage and duty 
 to welcome the peerless Elizabeth to all sport which the castle 
 and its environs, which lake or land, could afford. 
 
 The Queen received this address also with great courtesy, 
 and made answer in raillery, " We thought this lake had be- 
 longed to our own dominions, fair dame; but smce so famed 
 a lady claims it for hers, we will be glad at some other time to 
 have further communing with you touching our joint inter- 
 ests." 
 
 With this gracious answer, the Lady of the Lake vanished, 
 and Arion, who was amongst the maritime deities, appeared 
 upon his dolphin. But Lambourne, who had taken upon him 
 the part in the absence of Waylaiid, being chilled with re- 
 maining immersed in an element to which he was not friendly, 
 having never got his speech by heart, and not having, like the 
 porter, the advantage of a prompter, paid it off with impu-
 
 KENILWORTH. 379 
 
 dence, tearing off his vizard, and swearing, "Cog's bones! lie 
 was none of Arion or Orion either, but honest Mike Lam- 
 bourne, that had been drinking her Majesty's health from 
 morning till midnight, and was come to bid her heartily wel- 
 come to Kenii worth Castle." 
 
 This unpremeditated buffoonery answered the purpose prob- 
 ably better than the set speech would have done. The Queen 
 laughed heartily, and swore, in her turn, that he had made the 
 best speech she had heard that day. Lambourne, who in- 
 stantly saw his jest had saved his bones, jumped on shore, 
 gave his dolphin a kick, and declared he would never meddle 
 with fish again, except at dinner. 
 
 At the same time that the Queen was about to enter the 
 castle, that memorable discharge of fireworks by water and 
 land took place, which Master Laneham, formerly introduced 
 to the reader, has strained all his eloquence to describe. 
 
 " Such, " says the clerk of the council-chamber door, " was 
 the blaze of burning darts, the gleams of stars coruscant, the 
 streams and hail of fiery sparks, lightnings of wildfire, and 
 flight-shot of thunderbolts, with continuance, terror, and ve- 
 hemency, that the heavens thundered, the waters surged, and 
 the earth shook ; and for my part, hardy as I am, it made m© 
 very vengeably afraid." ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Kay, this is matter for the month of ^Slarch, 
 Wlien hares are maddest. Either speak iii reason, 
 Giving cold argument the wail of passion, 
 Or I break up the court. 
 
 Beaumont akd Fletcher. 
 
 It is by no means our purpose to detail minutely all th© 
 princely festivities of Kenilworth, after the fashion of Master 
 Robert Laneham, whom we quoted in the conclusion of the 
 last chapter. It is sufficient to say that, under discharge of 
 the splendid fireworks, which we have Ijorrowed Laneham 'a 
 
 > See Festivities at Kenilworth. Xote IG.
 
 380 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 eloquence to describe, the Queen entered the base-court of 
 Kenilworth, through Mortimer's Tower, and moving on 
 through pageants of heathen gods and heroes of antiquity, 
 who offered gifts and compliments on the bended knee, at 
 length found her way to the great hall of the castle, gorgeously 
 hung for her reception with the richest silken tapestry, misty 
 with perfumes, and sounding to strains of soft and delicious 
 music. From the highly carved oaken roof hung a superb 
 chandelier of gilt bronze, formed like a spread eagle, whose 
 outstretched wings supported three male and three female 
 •figures, grasping a pair of branches in each hand. The hall 
 was thus illuminated by twenty -four torches of wax. At the 
 upper end of the splendid apartment was a state canopy, over- 
 shadowing a royal throne, and beside it was a door, which 
 opened to a long suite of apartments, decorated with the ut- 
 m.ost magnificence for the Queen and her ladies, whenever it 
 should be her pleasure to be private. 
 
 The Earl of Leicester having handed the Queen up to her 
 throne and seated her there, knelt down before her, and kiss- 
 ing the hand which she held out, with an air in which roman- 
 tic and respectful gallantry was happily mingled with the 
 air of loyal devotion, he thanked her, in terms of the deep- 
 est gratitude, for the highest honour which a sovereign could 
 render to a subject. So handsome did he look when kneeling 
 before her, that Elizabeth was tempted to prolong the scene a 
 little longer than there was, strictly speaking, necessity for; 
 and ere she raised him, she passed her hand over his head, so 
 near as almost to touch his long curled and perfumed hair, and 
 with a movement of fondness, that seemed to intimate she 
 would, if she dared, have made the motion a slight caress. ' 
 
 She at length raised him ; and, standing beside the throne, 
 lie explained to her the various preparations which had been, 
 made for her amusement and accommodation, all of which re- 
 ceived her prompt and gracious approbation. The earl then 
 prayed her Majesty for permission that he himself, and the 
 nobles who had been in attendance upon her during the 
 journey, might retire for a few minutes, and put themselves 
 
 * See Elizabeth and Leicester. Note 17.
 
 KENILWORTH. 381 
 
 Into a guise more fitting for dutiful attendance, during which, 
 space, those gentlemen of worship (pointing to Varney, 
 Blount, Tressilian, and others), who had already put them- 
 selves into fresh attii-e, would have the honour of keeping her 
 presence-chamber. 
 
 "Be it so, my lord," answered the Queen; "you could man- 
 age a theatre well, who can thus command a double set of 
 actors. For ourselves, we will receive your courtesies this 
 evening but clownishly, since it is not our purpose to change 
 our riding attire, bemg iu effect something fatigued with a 
 journey which the concourse of our good people hath rendered 
 slow, though the love they have shown our person hath, at the 
 eame time, made it delightful." 
 
 Leicester, having received this permission, retired accord- 
 ingly, and was followed by those nobles who had attended the 
 Queen to Kenilworth in person. The gentlemen who had pre- 
 ceded them, and were of course dressed for the solemnity, 
 remained in attendance. But being most of them of rather 
 inferior rank, they remained at an awful distance from the 
 throne which Elizabeth occupied. The Queen's sharj) eye 
 soon distinguished Kaleigh amongst them, with one or two 
 others who were personally known to her, and she instantly 
 made them a sign to approach, and accosted them very gra- 
 ciously. Raleigh, in particular, the adventure of whose cloak, 
 as well as the incident of the verses, remained on her mind, 
 was very graciously received; and to him she most frequently 
 applied for information concerning the names and rank of 
 those who were in presence. These he communicated con- 
 cisely, and not without some traits of humorous satire, by 
 which Elizabeth seemed much amused. " And who is yonder 
 clownish fellow?" she said, looking at Tressilian, whose soiled 
 dress on this occasion greatly obscured his good mien. 
 
 "A poet, if it please your Grace," replied Raleigh. 
 
 "I might have guessed that from his careless garb," said 
 Elizabeth. " I have known some poets so thoughtless as to 
 throw their cloaks into gutters." 
 
 " It must have been when the sun dazzled both their eyes 
 and their judgment," answered Raleigh.
 
 382 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Elizabeth smiled, and proceeded: "I asked that slovenly^'' 
 fellow's name, and you only told me his profession." 
 
 " Tressilian is his name, " said Raleigh, with internal reluc- 
 tance, for he foresaw nothing favourable to his friend from the 
 manner in which she took notice of him. 
 
 "Tressilian!" answered Elizabeth. "Oh, the Menelaus of 
 our romance. Why, he has dressed himself in a guise that 
 will go far to exculpate his fair and false Helen. And where 
 is Farnham, or whatever his name is — my Lord of Leicester's 
 man, I mean — the Paris of this Devonshire tale?" 
 
 With still greater reluctance, Ealeigh named and pointed 
 out to her Varney, for whom the tailor had done all that art 
 could perform in making his exterior agreeable ; and who, if 
 he had not grace, had a sort of tact and habitual knowledge 
 of breeding which came in place of it. 
 
 The Queen turned her eye from the one to the other. " I 
 doubt," she said, "this same poetical Master Tressilian, who 
 is too learned, I warrant me, to remember what presence he 
 was to appear in, may be one of those of whom Geoffrey 
 Chaucer says wittily, the wisest clerks are not the wisest men. 
 I remember that Varney is a smooth-tongued varlet. I doubt 
 this fair runaway hath had reasons for breaking her faith. '• 
 
 To this Raleigh durst make no answer, aware how little he 
 should benefit Tressilian by contradicting the Queen's senti- 
 ments, and not at all certain, on the whole, whether the best 
 thing that could befall him would not be that she should put 
 an end at once by her authority to this affair, upon which it 
 seemed to him Tressilian' s thoughts were fixed Vv^th unavail- 
 ing and distressing pertinacity. As these reflections passed 
 through his active brain, the lower door was opened, and 
 Leicester, accompanied by several of his kinsmen and of the 
 nobles who had embraced his faction, re-entered the castle 
 haU. 
 
 The favourite earl was now apparelled all in white, his 
 shoes being of white velvet; his understocks, or stockings, of 
 knit silk ; his upper stocks of white velvet, lined with cloth of 
 silver, which was shown at the slashed x^art of the middle 
 thigh ; his doublet of cloth of silver, the close jerkin of white
 
 KENILWORTH. 383 
 
 velvet, embroidered with silver and seed-pearl, liis girdle and 
 the scabbard of his sword of white velvet with golden buckles } 
 his poniard and sword hilted and mounted with gold; and 
 over all, a rich loose robe of white satin, with a border of 
 golden embroidery a foot in breadth. The collar of the 
 Garter, and the azure Garter itself around his knee, completed 
 the appointments of the Earl of Leicester ; which were so well 
 matched by his fair stature,, graceful gesture, fine proportion 
 of body, and handsome countenance, that at that moment he 
 was admitted by all who saw him as the goodliest person 
 whom they had ever looked upon, Sussex and the other 
 nobles were also richly attired ; but, in point of splendour and 
 gracefulness of mien, Leicester far exceeded them all. 
 
 Elizabeth received him with great complacency. " We have 
 one picee of royal justice," she said^ "to attend to. It is a 
 piece of justice, too, which interests us as a woman, as well 
 as in the character of mother and guardian of the English 
 people." 
 
 An involuntary shudder came over Leicester, as he bowed 
 low, expressive of his readiness to receive her royal commands ;■ 
 and a similar cold fit came over Varney, whose eyes (seldom 
 during that evening removed from his patron) instantly per- 
 ceived, from the change in his looks, slight as that was, of 
 what the Queen was speaking. But Leicester had wrought 
 his resolution up to the point which, in his crooked policy, he 
 judged necessary; and when Elizabeth added: "It is of the 
 matter of Varney and Tressilian we speak; is the lady in 
 presence, my lord?" His answer was ready: "Gracious 
 madam, she is not." 
 
 Elizabeth bent her brows and compressed her lips. " Our 
 orders were strict and positive, my lord, " was her answer 
 
 "And should have been obeyed, good my liege," replied 
 Leicester, " had they been expressed in the form of the light- 
 est wish. But — ^Varney, step forward — this gentleman will 
 inform your Grace of the cause why the lady (he could not 
 force his rebellious tongue to utter the words " his wife") can- 
 not attend on your royal presence." 
 
 Varney advanced, and pleaded with readiness, what indeed
 
 S84 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 lie firmly believed, the absolute incapacity of the party (for 
 neither did he dare, in Leicester's presence, term her his wife) 
 to wait on her Grace. 
 
 "Here" said he, "are attestations from a most learned 
 physician, whose skill and honour are well known to my good 
 Lord of Leicester ; and from an honest and devout Protestant, 
 a man of credit and substance, one Anthony Foster, the gentle- 
 man in whose house she is at present bestowed, that she now 
 labours under an illness which altogether unfits her for such 
 a journey as betwixt this castle and the neighbourhood of 
 Oxford." 
 
 " This alters the matter, " said the Queen, taking the certifi- 
 cates in her hand, and glancing at their contents. " Let Tres^ 
 silian come forward. Master Tressilian, we have much sym- 
 pathy for j^our situation, the rather that you seem to have set 
 your heart deeply on this Amy Robsart or Varney. Our 
 power, thanks to God and the willing obedience of a loving 
 people, is worth much, but there are some things which it 
 cannot compass. We cannot, for example, command the 
 affections of a giddy young girl, or make her love sense and 
 learning better than a courtier's fine doublet; and we cannot 
 control sickness, with which it seems this lady is afflicted, 
 who may not, by reason of such infirmity, attend our court 
 here, as we had required her to do. Here are the testimonials 
 of the physician who hath her under his charge, and the gentle- 
 man in whose house she resides, so setting forth." 
 
 "Under your Majesty's favour," said Tressilian hastily, 
 and, in his alarm for the consequence of the imposition prac- 
 tised on the Queen, forgetting, in part at least, his own 
 promise to Amy, " these certificates speak not the truth. " 
 
 " How, sir !" said the Queen. " Impeach my Lord of Leices- 
 ter's veracity! But you shall have a fair hearing. In our 
 presence the meanest of our subjects shall be heard against 
 the proudest, and the least known agamst the most favoured; 
 therefore you shall be heard fairly, but beware you speak not 
 without a warrant ! Take these certificates in your own hand ; 
 look, at them carefully, and say manfully if you impugn tha 
 truth of them, and upon what evidence."
 
 KENILWORTH. 385 
 
 As the Queen spoke, his promise and all its consequences 
 rushed on the mind of the unfortunate Tressilian, and while 
 it controlled his natural inclination to pronounce that a false- 
 hood which he knew from the evidence of his senses to be 
 untrue, gave an indecision and irresolution to his appearance 
 and utterance, which made strongly against him in the mind 
 of Elizabeth, as well as of all who beheld him. He turned 
 the papers over and over, as if he had been an idiot, incapable 
 of comprehending their contents. The Queen's impatience 
 began to become visible. " You are a scholar, sir, " she said, 
 " and of some note, as I have heard ; yet you seem wondrous 
 slow in reading text-hand. How say you, are these certifi- 
 cates true or no?" 
 
 "Madam," said Tressilian, with obvious embarrassment 
 and hesitation, anxious to avoid admitting evidence which he 
 might afterwards have reason to confute, yet equally desirous 
 to keep his word to Amy, and to give her, as he had promised, 
 space to plead her own cause in her own way — "madam — 
 madam, your Grace calls on me to admit evidence which ought 
 to be proved valid by those who found their defence upon it." 
 
 "Why, Tressilian, thou art critical as well as poetical," 
 said the Queen, bending on him a brow of displeasure ; " me- 
 thinks these writings, being produced in the presence of the 
 noble earl to whom this castle pertains, and his honour being 
 appealed to as the guarantee of their authenticity, might be 
 evidence enough for thee. But since thou lists to be so for- 
 mal — Varney, or rather my Lord of Leicester, for the affair 
 becomes yours (these words, though spoken at random, thrilled 
 through the earl's marrow and bones), what evidence have 
 you as touching these certificates?" 
 
 Varney hastened to reply, preventing Leicester : " So please 
 your Majesty, my young Lord of Oxford, who is here in pres- 
 ence, knows Master Anthony Foster's hand and his character.'^ 
 
 The Earl of Oxford, a young unthrift, whom Foster had 
 more than once accommodated with loans on usurious interest, 
 acknowledged, on this appeal, that he knew him as a wealthy 
 and independent franklin, supposed to be worth much money, 
 and verified the certificate produced to be his handwriting. 
 25
 
 386 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "And who speaks to the doctor's certificate?" said the 
 Queen. " Alasco, methinks, is his name." 
 
 Masters, her Majesty's physician (not the less willingly that 
 he remembered his repulse from Say's Court, and thought that 
 his present testimony might gratify Leicester, and mortify the 
 Earl of Sussex and his faction), acknowledged he had more 
 than once consulted with Doctor Alasco, and spoke of him as 
 a man of extraordinary learning and hidden acquirements, 
 though not altogether in the regular course of practice. The 
 Earl of Huntingdon, Lord Leicester's brother-in-law, and the 
 old Coimtess of Rutland, next sang his praises, and both re- 
 membered the thin, beautiful Italian hand in which he was 
 wont to write his receipts, and which corresponded to the cer- 
 tificate produced as his. 
 
 " And uow, I trust, Master Tressilian, this matter is ended, " 
 said the Queen. " We will do something ere the night is older 
 to reconcile old Sir Hugh Robsart to the match. You have 
 done your duty something more than boldly ; but we were no 
 woman had we not compassion for the wounds which true love 
 deals ; so we forgive your audacity, and your uncleansed boots 
 withal, which have weUnigh overpowered my Lord of Lei- 
 cester's perfumes." 
 
 So spoke Elizabeth, whose nicety of scent was one of the 
 characteristics of her organisation, as appeared long afterwards 
 when she expelled Essex from her presence on a charge against 
 his boots similar to that which she now expressed agaiust 
 those of Tressilian. 
 
 But Tressilian had by this time collected himself, aston- 
 ished as he had at first been by the audacity of the falsehood 
 so feasibly supported, and placed in array against the evidence 
 of his own eyes. He rushed forward, kneeled down, and 
 caught the Queen by the skirt of her robe. " As you are 
 Christian woman," he said, "madam, as you are crowned 
 queen, to do equal justice among your subjects — as you hope 
 yourself to have fair hearing — which God grant you — at that 
 last bar at which we must all plead, grant me one small re- 
 quest! Decide not this matter so hastily. Give me but 
 twenty-four hours' interval, and I will, at the end of that
 
 KENILWORTH. 387 
 
 brief space, produce evidence whicli will show to demonstra- 
 tion that these certificates, which state this unhappy lady to 
 be now ill at ease in Oxfordshire, are false as hell!" 
 
 "Let go my train, sir!" said Elizabeth, who was startled 
 at his vehemence, though she had too much of lion in her to 
 fear. " The fellow must be distraught ; that witty knave, my 
 godson Harrington, must have him into his rhymes of Or- 
 lando Furioso! And yet, by this light, there is something 
 strange in the vehemence of his demand. Speak, Tressilianj 
 what wilt thou do if, at the end of these four-and-twenty 
 hours, thou canst not confute a fact so solemnly proved as 
 this lady's illness?" 
 
 " I will lay down my head on the block, " answered Tres- 
 silian. 
 
 "Pshaw!" replied the Queen. "God's light! thouspeak'st 
 like a fool. What head falls in England but by just sentence 
 of English law? I ask thee, man — if thou hast sense to un- 
 derstand me — wilt thou, if thou shalt fail in this improbable 
 attempt of thine, render me a good and sufi&cient reason why 
 thou dost undertake it?" 
 
 Tressilian paused, and again hesitated; because he felt con- 
 vmced that if, within the interval demanded, Amy should be- 
 come reconciled to her husband, he would in that case do her 
 the worst of offices by again ripping up the whole circum- 
 stances before Elizabeth, and showing how that wise and 
 jealous princess had been imposed upon by false testimonials. 
 The consciousness of this dilemma renewed his extreme em- 
 barrassment of look, voice, and manner ; he hesitated, looked 
 down, and on the Queen repeating her question with a stern 
 voice and flashing eye, he admitted with faltering words, 
 " That it might be — he could not positively — that is, in certain 
 events — explain the reasons and grounds on which he acted.'* 
 
 " Now, by the soul of King Henry, " said the Queen, " this 
 is either moonstruck madness or very knavery ! Seest thou, 
 Ealeigh, thy friend is far too Pindaric for this presence. 
 Have him away, and make us quit of him, or it shall be the 
 worse for him; for his flights are too unbridled for any place 
 but Parnassus or St. Luke's Hospital. But come back in.-
 
 888 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 stantly thyself, when he is placed under fitting restraint. We 
 "wish we had seen the beauty which could make such havoc in 
 a wise man's brain," 
 
 Tressilian was agam endeavouring to address the Queen, 
 when Ealeigh, in obedience to the orders he had received, in- 
 terfered, and, with Blount's assistance, half -led, half -forced 
 him out of the presence-chamber, where he himself indeed 
 began to think his appearance did his cause more harm than 
 good. 
 
 When they had attained the antechamber, Kaleigh entreated 
 Blount to see Tressilian safely conducted into the apartments 
 alloted to the Earl of Sussex's followers, and, if necessary, 
 recommended that a guard should be mounted on him. 
 
 " This extravagant passion, " he said, " and, as it would 
 seem, the news of the lady's illness, has utterly wrecked his 
 excellent judgment. But it will pass away if he be kept quiet. 
 Only let him break forth again at no rate ; for he is already 
 far in her Highness 's displeasure, and should she be again 
 provoked, she will find for him a worse place of confinement 
 and sterner keepers." 
 
 "I judged as much as that he was mad," said Nicholas 
 Blount, looking down upon his own crimson stockings and 
 yellow roses, " whenever I saw him wearing yonder damned 
 boots, which stunk so in her nostrils. I will but see him 
 stowed, and be back with you presently. But, Walter, did 
 the Queen ask who I was? Methought she glanced an eye 
 at me." 
 
 " Twenty — twenty eye-glances she sent, and I told her all 
 
 how thou wert a brave soldier, and a But for God's 
 
 sake, get off Tressilian!" 
 
 " I will — I will, " said Blount ; " but methinks this court- 
 haunting is no such bad pastime, after all. We shall rise by 
 it, Walter, my brave lad. Thou said'st I was a good soldier, 
 and a What besides, dearest Walter?" 
 
 "An all unutterable — cod's-head. For God's sake, be- 
 gone!" 
 
 Tressilian, without farther resistance or expostulation, fol- 
 lowed, or rather suffered himself to be conducted by Blount to
 
 J- KENILWORTH. 389 
 
 Raleigh's lodgings, where he was formally installed into a 
 small truckle-bed, placed in a wardrobe and designed for a 
 domestic. He saw but too plainly that no remonstrances 
 would avail to procure the help or sympathy of his friends, 
 until the lapse of the time for which he had pledged himself 
 to remain inactive should enable him either to explain the 
 whole circumstances to them, or remove from him every pre- 
 text or desire of farther interference with the fortvmes of 
 Amy, by her having found means to place herself in a state 
 of reconciliation with her husband. 
 
 With great difficulty, and only by the most patient and mild 
 remonstrances with Blount, he escaped the disgrace and mor- 
 tification of having two of Sussex's stoutest yeomen quartered 
 in his apartment. At last, however, when Nicholas had seen 
 him fairly deposited in his truckle-bed, and had bestowed one 
 or two hearty kicks, and as hearty curses, on the boots, 
 which, in his lately acquired spirit of foppery, he considered 
 as a strong symptom, if not the cause, of his friend's malady, 
 he contented himself with the modified measure of locking the 
 door on the unfortunate Tressilian, whose gallant and disin- 
 terested efforts to save a female who had treated him with in- 
 gratitude thus terminated, for the present, in the displeasure 
 of his sovereign, and the conviction of his friends that he was 
 little better than a madman. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The wisest sovereigns err like private men, 
 
 And royal hand has sometimes laid the sword 
 
 Of chivalry upon a worthless shoulder, 
 
 Which better had been branded by the hangman. 
 
 What then ? Kings do their best ; and they and we 
 
 Must answer for the intent, and not the event. 
 
 Old Play. 
 
 " It is a melancholy matter, " said the Queen, when Tres- 
 silian was withdrawn, "to see a wise and learned man's wit 
 thus pitifully unsettled. Yet this public display of his imper- 
 fection of brain plainly shows us that his supposed injury and
 
 390 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 accusation were fruitless ; and therefore, my Lord of Leices- 
 ter, we remember your suit formerly made to us in behalf 
 of your faithful servant Varney, whose good gifts and fidelity, 
 as they are useful to you, ought to have due reward from us, 
 knowing well that your lordship, and all you have, are so ear- 
 nestly devoted to our service. And we render Varney the 
 honour more especially that we are a guest, and we fear a 
 chargeable and troublesome one, under your lordship's roof; 
 and also for the satisfaction of the good old knight of Devon, 
 Sir Hugh Eobsart, whose daughter he hath married ; and we 
 trust the especial mark of grace which we are about to confer 
 may reconcile him to his son-in-law. Your sword, my Lord 
 of Leicester." 
 
 The earl unbuckled his sword, and, taking it by the point, 
 presented on bended knee the hilt to Elizabeth. 
 
 She took it slowly, drew it from the scabbard, and while 
 the ladies who stood around turned away their eyes with real 
 or affected shuddering, she noted with a curious eye the high 
 polish and rich damasked ornaments upon the glittering blade. 
 
 " Had I been a man, " she said, " methinks none of my an- 
 cestors would have loved a good sword better. As it is with 
 me, I like to look on one, and could, like the fairy of whom I 
 have read in some Italian rhymes — were my godson Har- 
 rington here, he could tell me the passage' — even trim my hair 
 and arrange my head-gear in such a steel mirror as this is. 
 Kichard Varney, come forth and kneel down. In the name of 
 God and St. George, we dub thee knight ! Be faithful, brave, 
 and fortunate. Arise, Sir Richard Varney," 
 
 Varney arose and retired, making a deep obeisance to the 
 sovereign who had done him so much honour. 
 
 " The buckling of the spur, and what other rites remain, " 
 said the Queen, "may be finished to-morrow in the chapel; 
 for we intend Sir Richard Varney a companion in his honours. 
 And as we must not be partial in conferring such distinction, 
 we mean on this matter to confer with our cousin of Sussex." 
 
 That noble earl, who, since his arrival at Kenilworth, and 
 indeed since the commencement of this progress, had found 
 
 * See Italian Poetry. Note IS,
 
 KENILWORTH. 391 
 
 himself in a subordinate situation to Leicester, was now wear- 
 ing a heavy cloud on his brow — a circumstance which had not 
 escaped the Queen, who hoped to appease his discontent, and 
 to follow out her system of balancing policy, by a mark of 
 peculiar favour, the more gratif^dng as it was tendered at a 
 moment when his rival's triumph appeared to be complete. 
 
 At the summons of Queen Elizabeth, Sussex hastily ap- 
 proached her person; and being asked on which of his fol- 
 lowers, being a gentleman and of merit, he would wish the 
 honour of knighthood to be conferred, he answered, with more 
 sincerity than policy, that he would have ventured to speak 
 for Tressilian, to whom he conceived he owed his own life, 
 and who was a distinguished soldier and scholar, besides a 
 man of unstained lineage, "only," he said, "he feared the 
 events of that night " and then he stopped. 
 
 " I am glad your lordship is thus considerate, " said Eliza- 
 beth ; " the events of this night would make us, in the eyes of 
 our subjects, as mad as this poor brain-sick gentleman himself 
 — for we ascribe his conduct to no malice — should we choose 
 this moment to do him grace." 
 
 "In that case," said the Earl of Sussex, somewhat dis- 
 countenanced, " your Majesty will allow me to name my master 
 of the horse. Master Nicholas Blount, a gentleman of fair 
 estate and ancient name, who has served your Majesty both in 
 Scotland and Ireland, and brought away bloody marks on his 
 person, all honourably taken and requited." 
 
 The Queen could not help shrugging her shoulders slightly 
 even at this second suggestion ; and the Duchess of Kutland, 
 who read in the Queen's manner that she had expected Sussex 
 would have named Ealeigh, and thus would have enabled her 
 to gratify her own wish while she honoured his recommenda- 
 tion, only waited the Queen's assent to what he had proposed, 
 and then said, that she hoped, since these two high nobles had 
 been each permitted to suggest a candidate for the honotxrs of 
 chivalry, she, in behalf of the ladies in presence, might have 
 a similar indulgence. 
 
 "I were no woman to refuse you such a boon," said the 
 Queen, smiling.
 
 392 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Then, " pursued the duchess, " in the name of these fail 
 ladies present, I request your Majesty to confer the rank of 
 knighthood on Walter Raleigh, whose birth, deeds of arms, 
 and promptitude to serve our sex with sword or pen, deserve 
 such distinction from us all." 
 
 " Gramercy, fair ladies, " said Elizabeth, smiling, " your 
 boon is granted, and the gentle squire Lack-Coat shall become 
 the good knight Lack-Coat at your desire. Let the two aspi- 
 rants for the honour of chivalry step forward." 
 
 Blount was not as yet returned from seeing Tressilian, as he 
 conceived, safely disposed of; but Raleigh came forth, and, 
 kneeling down, received at the hand of the Virgin Queen that 
 title of honour, which was never conferred on a more distin- 
 guished or more illustrious object. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, Nicholas Blount entered, and, hastily 
 apprized by Sussex, who met him at the door of the hall, of 
 the Queen's gracious purpose regarding him, he was desired to 
 advance towards the throne. It is a sight sometimes seen, 
 and it is both ludicrous and pitiable, when an honest man of 
 plain common sense is surprised, by the coquetry of a pretty 
 woman or any other cause, into those frivolous fopperies which 
 only sit well upon the youthful, the gay, and those to whom 
 long practice has rendered them a second nature. Poor Blount 
 was in this situation. His head was already giddy from a 
 consciousness of unusual finery, and the supposed necessity of 
 suiting his manners to the gaiety of his dress ; and now this 
 sudden view of promotion altogether completed the conquest of 
 the newly inhaled spirit of foppery over his natural disposi- 
 tion, and converted a plain, honest, awkward man into a cox- 
 comb of a new and most ridiculous kind. 
 
 The knight-expectant advanced up the hall, the whole 
 length of which he had unfortunately to traverse, turning out 
 his toes with so much zeal that he presented his leg at every 
 step with its broad side foremost, so that it greatly resembled 
 an old-fashioned table-knife with a curved point, when seen 
 sideways. The rest of his gait was in correspondence with 
 this unhappy amble ; and the implied mixture of bashful fear 
 and self-satisfaction was so unutterably ridiculous that Leices-
 
 KENILWORTH. 893 
 
 ter's friends did not suppress a titter, in which many of Sus- 
 sex's partizans were unable to resist joining, though ready 
 to eat their nails with mortification. Sussex himself lost all 
 patience, and could not forbear whispering into the ear of his 
 friend, " Curse thee ! canst thou not walk like a man and a 
 soldier?" an interjection which only made honest Blount start 
 and stop, until a glance at his yellow roses and crimson stock- 
 ings restored his self-confidence, when on he went at the same 
 pace as before. 
 
 The Queen conferred on poor Blount the honour of knight- 
 hood with a marked sense of reluctance. That wise princess 
 was fully aware of the propriety of using great circumspection 
 and economy in bestowing these titles of honour, which the 
 Stuarts, who succeeded to her throne, distributed with an 
 imprudent liberality which greatly dimiuished their value. 
 Blount had no sooner arisen and retired than she turned to 
 the Duchess of Kutland. " Our woman wit, " she said, " dear 
 Rutland, is sharper than that of those proud things in doublet 
 and hose. Seest thou, out of these three knights, thine is the 
 only true metal to stamp chivalry's imprint upon?" 
 
 " Sir Richard Varney, surely — the friend of my Lord of 
 Leicester — surely he has merit," replied the duchess. 
 
 " Varney has a sly countenance and a smooth tongue, " re- 
 plied the Queen. " I fear me, he will prove a knave ; but the 
 promise was of ancient standing. My Lord of Sussex must 
 have lost his own wits, I think, to recommend to us first a 
 madman like Tressilian and then a clownish fool like this 
 other fellow. I protest, Rutland, that while he sat on his 
 knees before me, mopping and mowing as if he had scalding 
 porridge in his mouth, I had much ado to forbear cutting him 
 over the pate, instead of striking his shoulder." 
 
 "Your Majesty gave him a smart accolade," said the 
 duchess; "we who stood behind heard the blade clatter 
 on his collar-bone, and the poor man fidgeted too as if he 
 felt it." 
 
 "I could not help it, wench," said the Queen, laughing; 
 " but we will have this same Sir Nicholas sent to Ireland or 
 Scotland, or somewhere, to rid our court of so antic a chevalier j
 
 394 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 he may be a good soldier iu the field, though a preposterous 
 ass in a banqueting-hall." 
 
 The discourse became then more general, and soon after 
 there was a summons to the banquet. 
 
 In order to obey this signal, the company were under the 
 necessity of crossing the inner court of the castle, that they 
 might reach the new buildings, containing the large banquet- 
 ing-room, in which preparations for supper were made upon 
 a scale of profuse magnificence corresponding to the occasion. 
 
 The livery cupboards were loaded with plate of the richest 
 description, and the most varied; some articles tasteful, some 
 perhaps grotesque, in the invention and decoration, but all 
 gorgeously magnificent, both from the richness of the work 
 and value of the materials. Thus the chief table was adorned 
 by a salt, ship-fashion, made of mother-of-pearl, garnished 
 with silver and divers warlike ensigns, and other ornaments, 
 anchors, sails, and sixteen pieces of ordnance. It bore a 
 figure of Fortune, placed on a globe, with a flag in her hand. 
 Another salt was fashioned of silver, in the form of a swan in 
 full sail. That chivalry might not be omitted amid this 
 splendour, a silver St. George was presented, mounted and 
 equipped in the usual fashion in which he bestrides the dragon. 
 The figures were moulded to be in some sort useful. The 
 horse's tail was managed to hold a case of knives, while the 
 breast of the dragon presented a similar accommodation for 
 oyster knives.* 
 
 In the course of the passage from the hall of reception to 
 the banqueting-room, and especially in the courtyard, the new- 
 made knights were assailed by the heralds, pursuivants, min- 
 strels, etc., with the usual cry of ^^ Largesse — largesse, cheva' 
 Hers tres hardis /" an ancient invocation, intended to awaken 
 the bounty of the acolytes of chivalry towards those whose 
 business it was to register their armorial bearings, and cele- 
 brate the deeds by which they were illustrated. The call 
 was, of course, liberally and courteously answered by those 
 to whom it was addressed. Varney gave his largesse with 
 an affectation of complaisance and humility. Raleigh be- 
 • See Furniture of Kenilworth. Note 19.
 
 KENILWORTH. 396 
 
 stowed liis with the graceful ease peculiar to one who has 
 attained his own place, and is familiar with its dignity. 
 Honest Blount gave what his tailor had left him of his half- 
 year's rent, dropping some pieces in his hurry, then stooping 
 down to look for them, and then distributing them amongst 
 the various claimants with the anxious face and mien of the 
 parish beadle dividing a dole among paupers. 
 
 These donations were accepted with the usual clamour and 
 vivats of applause common on such occasions; but, as the 
 parties gratified were chiefly dependants of Lord Leicester, 
 it was Varney whose name was repeated with the loudest 
 acclamations. Lambourne, especially, distinguished himself 
 by his vociferations of ''Long life to Sir Richard Varney! 
 Health and honour to Sir Eichard ! Never was a more worthy 
 
 knight dubbed !" then, suddenly sinking his voice, he 
 
 added, " since the valiant Sir Pandarus of Troy" — a winding- 
 up of his clamorous applause which set all men a-laughing 
 who were within hearing of it. 
 
 It is unnecessary to say anything farther of the festivities 
 of the evening, which were so brilliant in themselves, and re- 
 ceived with such obvious and willing satisfaction by the Queen, 
 that Leicester retired to his own apartment with all the giddy 
 raptures of successful ambition. Varney, who had changed 
 his splendid attire, and now waited on his patron in a very 
 modest and plain undress, attended to do the honoui-s of the 
 earl's coxicher. 
 
 "How! Sir Eichard," said Leicester, smiling, "your new 
 rank scarce suits the humility of this attendance. " 
 
 " I would disown that rank, my lord, " said Varney, " could 
 I think it was to remove me to a distance from your lordship's 
 person." 
 
 "Thou art a grateful fellow," said Leicester; "but I must 
 not allow you to do what would abate you in the opinion of 
 others." 
 
 While thus speaking, he still accepted, without hesitation, 
 the offices about his person, which the new-made knight 
 seemed to render as eagerly as if he had really felt, in dis- 
 charging the task, that pleasure which his words expressed.
 
 396 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 "I am not afraid of men's misconstruction," lie said, in 
 answer to Leicester's remark, " since there is not — permit me 
 to undo the collar — a man within the castle "who does not ex- 
 pect very soon to see persons of a rank far superior to that 
 which, by your goodness, I now hold, rendering the duties of 
 the bed-chamber to you, and accounting it an honour." 
 
 "It might, indeed, so have been," said the earl, with an 
 involuntary sigh; and then presently added: "My gown, 
 Varney — I will look out on the night. Is not the moon near 
 to the full?" 
 
 " I think so, my lord, according to the calendar, " answered 
 Varney. 
 
 There was an abutting window, which opened on a smaU 
 projecting balcony of stone, battlemented as is usual in Gothic 
 castles. The earl undid the lattice, and stepped out into the 
 open air. The station he had chosen commanded an extensive 
 view of the lake and woodlands beyond, where the bright 
 moonlight rested on the clear blue waters and the distant 
 masses of oak and elm trees. The moon rode high in the 
 heavens, attended by thousands and thousands of inferior 
 luminaries. All seemed already to be hushed in the nether 
 world, excepting occasionally the voice of the watch, for the 
 yeomen of the guard performed that duty wherever the Queen 
 was present in person, and the distant baying of the hounds, 
 disturbed by the preparations amongst the grooms and prickers 
 for a magnificent hunt, which was to be the amusement of the 
 next day. 
 
 Leicester looked out on the blue arch of heaven, with ges- 
 tures and a countenance expressive of anxious exultation, while 
 Varney, who remained within the darkened apartment, could, 
 himself unnoticed, with a secret satisfaction, see his patron 
 stretch his hands with earnest gesticulation towards the heav- 
 enly bodies. 
 
 " Ye distant orbs of living fire, " so ran the muttered invo- 
 cation of the ambitious earl, " ye are silent while you wheel 
 your mystic rounds, but Wisdom has given to you a voice. 
 TeU me, then, to what end is my high course destined ! Shall 
 the greatness to which I have aspired be bright, pre-eminent.
 
 KENIL-^ORTH. 397 
 
 and stable as your own ; or am I but doomed to di-aw a brief 
 and glittering train along the nightly darkness, and then to 
 sink down to earth, like the base refuse of those artificial fires 
 with which men emulate your rays?" 
 
 He looked on the heavens in profound silence for a minute 
 or two longer, and then again stepped into the apartment, 
 where Varney seemed to have been engaged in putting the 
 earl's jewels into a casket. 
 
 " What said Alasco of my horoscope?" demanded Leicester. 
 " You already told me, but it has escaped me, for I think but 
 lightly of that art." 
 
 " Many learned and great men have thought otherwise, " said 
 Varney ; " and, not to flatter your lordship, my own opinion 
 leans that way." 
 
 "Ay, Saul among the prophets!" said Leicester. "I 
 thought thou wert sceptical in all such matters as thou couldst 
 neither see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, and that thy belief 
 was limited by thy senses." 
 
 "Perhaps, my lord," said Varney, "I may be misled on the 
 present occasion by my wish to find the predictions of astrol- 
 ogy true. Alasco says that your favourite planet is culminat- 
 ing, and that the adverse influence — he would not use a plainer 
 term — though not overcome, was evidently combust, I think 
 he said, or retrograde." 
 
 " It is even so, " said Leicester, looking at an abstract of 
 astrological calculations which he had in his hand: "the 
 stronger influence will prevail, and, as I think, the evd hour 
 pass away. Lend me your hand. Sir Richard, to doff my 
 gown ; and remain an instant, if it is not too burdensome to 
 your knighthood, while I compose myself to sleep. I believe 
 the bustle of this day has fevered my blood, for it streams 
 through my veins like a current of molten lead — remain an 
 instant, I pray you : I would fain feel my eyes heavy ere I 
 closed them." 
 
 Varney officiously assisted his lord to bed, and placed a 
 massive silver night-lamp, with a short sword, on a marble 
 table which stood close by the head of the couch. Either in 
 order to avoid the light of the lamp or to hide his countenance
 
 398 WAVERLEY I^OVELS. 
 
 from Varney, Leicester drew the curtain, heavy with entwined 
 silk and gold, so as completely to shade his face. Yaruey 
 took a seat near the bed, but with his back towards his master, 
 as if to intimate that he was not watching him, and quietly- 
 waited till Leicester himself led the way to the topic by which 
 his mind was engrossed. 
 
 " And so, Varney, " said the earl, after waiting in vain till 
 his dependant should commence the conversation, " men talk 
 of the Queen's favour towards me?" 
 
 "Ay, my good lord," said Varney; "of what can they else, 
 since it is so strongly manifested?" 
 
 "She is indeed my good and gracious mistress," said Leices- 
 ter, after another pause; "but it is written, 'Put not thy trust 
 in princes. ' " 
 
 " A good sentence and a true, " said Varney, " imless you 
 can unite their interest with yours so absolutely that they 
 must needs sit on your wrist like hooded hawks." 
 
 " I know what thou meanest, " said Leicester, impatiently, 
 ** though thou art to-night so prudentially careful of what thou 
 sayst to me. Thou wouldst intimate, I might marry the 
 Queen if I would?" 
 
 "It is your speech, my lord, not mine," answered Varney; 
 *' but whosesoever be the speech, it is the thought of ninety- 
 nine out of an hundred men throughout broad England." 
 
 " Ay, but, " said Leicester, turning himself in his bed, " the 
 hundredth man knows better. Thou, for example, knowest 
 the obstacle that cannot be overleaped." 
 
 " It must, my lord, if the stars speak true, " said Varney, 
 composedly. 
 
 "What! talk'st thou of them," said Leicester, "that be- 
 lievest not in them or in aught else?" 
 
 " You mistake, my lord, under your gracious pardon, " said 
 Yarney : " I believe in many things that predict the future. I 
 believe, if showers fall in April, that we shall have flowers in 
 May; that if the sun shines, grain will ripen; and I believe 
 in much natural philosophy to the same effect, which, if the 
 stars swear to me, I will say the stars speak the truth. And 
 in like manner, I will not disbelieve that which I see wished
 
 KENILWORTH. 399 
 
 for and expected on earth, solely because the astrologers have 
 read it in the heavens." 
 
 " Thou art right, " said Leicester, again tossing himself on 
 his couch — " earth does wish for it. I have had advices from 
 the Reformed Churches of Germany, from the Low Countries, 
 fi'om Switzerland, urging this as a point on which Europe's 
 safety depends. France will not oppose it. The ruling party 
 in Scotland look to it as their best security. Spain fears it, 
 but cannot prevent it. And yet thou knowest it is impossible. ' 
 
 " I know not that, my lord, " said Yarney : " the countess i:^ 
 indisposed. " 
 
 "Villain!" said Leicester, starting up on his couch, and 
 seizing the sword which lay on the table beside him, " go thy 
 thoughts that way? Thou wouldst not do murder?" 
 
 " For whom or what do you hold me, my lord?" said Tai' 
 ney, assuming the superiority of an innocent man subjected t^ 
 imjust suspicion. ''I said nothing to deserve such a horrid 
 imputation as your violence infers. I said but that the coun- 
 tess was ill. And countess though she be — lovely and beloved 
 as she is, surely your lordship must hold her to be mortal? 
 She may die, and your lordship's hand become once more 
 your own. " 
 
 "Away! — away!" said Leicester; "let me have no more of 
 this." 
 
 " Good-night, my lord, " said Varney, seeming to understand 
 this as a command to depart; but Leicester's voice interrupted 
 his purpose. 
 
 "Thou 'scapest me not thus, sir fool," said he; "I think 
 thy knighthood has addled thy brains. Confess thon hast 
 talked of impossibilities as of things which may come to pass." 
 
 " ]\Iy lord, long live your fair countess, " said Varney ; " but 
 neither your love nor my.good wishes can make her immortal. 
 But God grant she live long to be happy herself, and to render 
 you so ! I see not but you may be King of England notwith' 
 standing. " 
 
 "iSTay, now, Vai-nej', thou art stark mad," said Leicester. 
 
 " I would I were myself within the same nearness to a good 
 estate of freehold, " said Varney. " Have we not known in
 
 400 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 other countries, how a left-handed marriage might subsist be- 
 twixt persons of differing degree? — ay, and be no hinderance 
 to prevent the husband from conjoining himself afterwards 
 with a more suitable partner?" 
 
 " I have heard of such things in Germany, " said Leicester. 
 ' " Ay, and the most learned doctors in foreign universities 
 justify the practice from the Old Testament," said Varney. 
 "And, after all, where is the harm? The beautiful partner 
 whom you have chosen for true love has your secret hours of 
 relaxation and affection. Her fame is safe; her conscience 
 may slumber securely. You have wealth to provide royally 
 for your issue, should Heaven bless you with offspring. 
 Meanwhile, you may give to Elizabeth ten times the leisure, 
 and ten thousand times the affection, that ever Don Philip of 
 Spain spared to her sister Mary ; yet you know how she doted 
 on him though so cold and neglectful. It requires but a close 
 mouth and an open brow, and you keep your Eleanor and your 
 fair Rosamond far enough separate. Leave me to build you a 
 bower to which no jealous queen shall find a clue." 
 
 Leicester was silent for a moment, then sighed and said : " It 
 
 is impossible. Good-night, Sir Richard Varney ; yet stay 
 
 Can you guess what meant Tressilian by showing himself in 
 such careless guise before the Queen to-day? To strike her 
 tender heart, I should guess, with all the sympathies due to a 
 lover abandoned by his mistress, and abandoning himself." 
 
 Varney, smothermg a sneering laugh, answered : " He be- 
 lieved Master Tressilian had no such matter in his head." 
 
 "How!" said Leicester, "what mean'st thou? There is 
 ever knavery in that laugh of thine, Varney." 
 
 " I only meant, my lord, " said Varney, " that Tressilian has 
 taken the sure way to avoid heart-breaking. He hath had a 
 companion — a female companion — a mistress — a sort of play- 
 er's wife or sister, as I believe — with him in Mervyn's Bower, 
 where I quartered him for certain reasons of my own." 
 
 "A mistress! mean'st thou a paramour?" 
 
 " Ay, my lord ; what female else waits for hours in a gen- 
 tleman's chamber?" 
 
 " By my faith, time and space fitting, this were a good tale
 
 KENILWORTH. 401 
 
 to tell," said Leicester. "I ever distrusted those bookish, 
 hypocritical, seeming-virtuous scholars. Well, Master Tres- 
 silian makes somewhat familiar with my house ; if I look it 
 over, he is indebted to it for certain recollections. I would 
 not harm him more than I can help. Keep eye on him, how- 
 ever, Varney." 
 
 "I lodged him for that reason," said Varney, "in Mervyn's 
 Tower, where he is under the eye of my very vigilant, if he 
 were not also my very drunken, servant, Michael Lambourne, 
 whom I have told your Grace of." 
 
 ! "Grace!" said Leicester; "whatmean'st thou by that epi- 
 thet?" 
 
 I " It came unawares, my lord ; and yet it sounds so very nat- 
 Tiral that I cannot recall it. " 
 
 "It is thine own preferment that hath turned thy brain," 
 said Leicester, laughing ; " new honours are as heady as new 
 wine." 
 
 " May your lordship soon have cause to say so from expe- 
 rience," said Varney; and, wishing his patron good-night, he 
 withdrew. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Here stands the victim ; there the proud betrayer, 
 E'en as the hind pull'd down by strangling dogs 
 I Lies at the hunter's feet, who courteous proffers 
 
 To some high dame, the Dian of the chase, 
 To whom he looks for guerdon, his sharp blade, 
 To gash the sobbing throat. 
 
 The Woodsman. 
 
 We are now to return to Mervyn's Bower, the apartment, or 
 rather the prison, of the unfortunate Countess of Leicester, 
 who for some time kept within bounds her uncertainty and 
 her impatience. She was aware that, in the tumult of the 
 day, there might be some delay ere her letter could be safely 
 conveyed to the hands of Leicester, and that some time more 
 might elapse ere he could extricate himself from the necessary 
 attendance on Elizabeth, to come and visit her in her secret 
 laower. " I will not expect him, " she said, " till night : he 
 26
 
 402 WAVERLEY NO .'ELS. 
 
 caanot be absent from his royal guest, even to see me. He 
 will, I know, come earlier if it be possible, but I will not ex- 
 pect Mm before nigbt. " And yet all the while she did expect 
 him; and, while she tried to argue herself into a contrary 
 belief, each hasty noise, of the hundred which she heard, 
 sounded like the hurried step of Leicester on the staircase, 
 hasting to fold her in his arms. 
 
 The fatigue of body which Amy had lately undergone, with 
 the agitation of mind natural to so cruel a state of uncertainty, 
 began by degrees strongly to affect her nerves, and she almost 
 feared her total inability to maintain the necessary self-com- 
 mand through the scenes which might lie before her. But, 
 although spoiled by an over-indulgent system of education. 
 Amy had naturally a mind of great power, united with a frame 
 which her share in her father's woodland exercises had ren- 
 dered uncommonly healthy. She summoned to her aid such 
 mental and bodily resources ; and not unconscious how much 
 the issue of her fate might depend on her own self-possession, 
 she prayed internally for strength of body and for mental for- 
 titude, and resolved, at the same time, to yield to no nervous 
 impulse which might weaken either. 
 
 Yet, when the great bell of the castle, which was placed iu 
 Caesar's Tower, at no great distance from that called Mer-\'yn's, 
 began to send its pealing clamour abroad, in signal of the ar- 
 rival of the royal procession, the din was so painfully acute to 
 ears rendered nervously sensitive by anxiety, that she could 
 hardly forbear shrieking with anguish in answer to every stun- 
 ning clash of the relentless peal. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, when the small apartment was at once 
 enlightened by the shower of artificial fires with which the air 
 was suddenly filled, and which crossed each other like fiery 
 spirits, each bent on his own separate mission, or like sala- 
 manders executing a frolic dance in the region of the sylphs, 
 the comitess felt at first as if each rocket shot close by her 
 eyes, and discharged its sparks and flashes so nigh that she 
 could feel a sense of the heat. But she struggled against 
 these fantastic terrors, and compelled herself to arise, stand by 
 the window, look out, and gaze upon a sight which at another
 
 KENILWORTH. 403 
 
 time would have appeared to her at once captivating and fear- 
 ful. The magnificent towers of the castle were enveloped 
 in garlands of artificial fire, or shrouded with tiaras of pale 
 smoke. The surface of the lake glowed like molten iron, 
 while many fireworks (then thought extremely wonderful, 
 though now common), whose flame continued to exist ia the 
 opposing element, dived and rose, hissed and roared, and 
 spouted fire, like so many dragons of enchantment sporting 
 upon a biu'ning lake. 
 
 Even Amy was for a moment interested by what was to her 
 so new a scene. " I had thought it magical art, " she said, 
 "but poor Tressilian taught me to judge of such things as 
 they are. Great God! and may not these idle splendours re- 
 semble my own hoped-for happiness — a single spark, which is 
 instantly swallowed up by surrounding darkness — a precarious 
 glow, which rises but for a brief space into the air, that its 
 fall may be the lower? Leicester! after all — all that thou 
 hastf said — hast sworn — that Amy was thy love, thy life, cau 
 it be that thou art the magician at whose nod these enchant- 
 ments arise, and that she sees them as an outcast, if not a 
 captive?" 
 
 The sustained, prolonged, and repeated bursts of music from 
 so many different quarters, and at so many varying points of 
 distance, which sounded as if not the Castle of KenUworth 
 only, but the whole country around, had been at once the scene 
 of solemnising some high national festival, carried the same 
 oppressive thought still closer to her heart, while some notes 
 would melt in distant and falling tones, as if in compassion 
 for her sorrows, and some burst close and near upon her, as if 
 mocking her misery, with all the insolence of imlimited mirth. 
 " These sounds, " she said, " are mine — mine because they are 
 HIS ; but I cannot say, ' Be still, these loud strains suit me 
 not ' ; and the voice of the meanest peasant that mingles in 
 the dance would have more power to modulate the music than 
 the command of her who is mistress of all!" 
 
 By degrees the sounds of revelry died away, and the coun- 
 tess withdrew fi-om the window at which she had sate listen- 
 ing to them. It was night, but the moon afforded considera-
 
 404 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ble light in the room, so that Amy was able to make the 
 arrangement which she judged necessary. There was hope 
 that Leicester might come to her apartment as soon as the 
 revel in the castle had subsided; but there was also risk she 
 might be disturbed by some unauthorised intruder. She had 
 lost confidence in the key, since Tressilian had entered so 
 easily, though the door was locked on the inside ; yet aU the 
 additional security she could think of was to place the table 
 across the door, that she might be warned by the noise, should 
 any one attempt to enter. Having taken these necessary pre- 
 cautions, the unfortunate lady withdrew to her couch, stretched 
 herself down on it, mused in anxious expectation, and counted 
 more than one hour after midnight, till exhausted nature 
 proved too strong for love, for grief, for fear, nay, even for 
 uncertainty, and she slept. 
 
 Yes, she slept. The Indian sleeps at the stake, in the in- 
 tervals between his tortures; and mental torments, in like 
 manner, exhaust by long continuance the sensibility of ^ the 
 sufferer, so that an interval of lethargic repose must neces- 
 sarily ensue ere the pangs which they inflict can again be re- 
 newed. 
 
 The countess slept, then, for several hours, and dreamed 
 that she was in the ancient house at Cumnor Place, listening 
 for the low whistle with which Leicester often used to an- 
 nounce his presence in the courtyard, when arriving suddenly 
 on one of his stolen visits. But on this occasion, instead of a 
 whistle, she heard the peculiar blast of a bugle-horn, such aa 
 her father used to wind on the fall of the stag, and which 
 huntsmen then called a "mort." She ran, as she thought, to 
 a window that looked into the courtyard, which she saw filled 
 with men in mourning garments. The old curate seemed 
 about to read the funeral service. Mumblazen, tricked out in 
 an antique dress, like an ancient herald, held aloft a scutcheon, 
 with its usual decorations of skulls, cross-bones, and hour- 
 glasses, surrounding a coat-of-arms, of which she could only 
 distinguish that it was surmounted with an earl's coronet. 
 The old man looked at her with a ghastly smile, and said: 
 *' Amy, are they not rightly quartered?" Just as he spoke,
 
 KENILWORTH. 405 
 
 the horns again poured on her ear the melancholy yet wild 
 strain of the mort, or death-note, and she awoke. 
 
 The countess awoke to hear a real bugle-note, or rather the 
 combined breath of many bugles, soundmg not the mort, but 
 the jolly reveille, to remind the inmates of the Castle of Ken- 
 ilworth that the pleasures of the day were to commence with, 
 a magnificent stag-hunting in the neighbouring chase. Amy 
 started up from her couch, listened to the sound, saw the first 
 beams of the summer morning already twinkle through the 
 lattice of her window, and recollected, with feelings of giddy 
 agony, where she was, and how circumstanced. 
 
 " He thinks not of me, " she said — " he wiR not come nigh 
 me ! A queen is his guest, and what cares he m what corner 
 of his huge castle a wretch like me pines in doubt, which is 
 fast fading into despair?" At once a sound at the door, as of 
 some one attempting to open it softly, filled her with an in- 
 effable mixture of joy and fear; and, hastening to remove the 
 obstacle she had placed against the door, and to unlock it, she 
 had the precaution to ask: "Is it thou, my love?" 
 
 " Yes, my countess, " murmured a whisper in reply. 
 
 She threw open the door, and exclaiming, "Leicester!" 
 flung her arms around the neck of the man who stood without, 
 muffled in his cloak. 
 
 " No — not quite Leicester, " answered Michael Lambourne, 
 for he it was, returning the caress with vehemence — "not 
 quite Leicester, my lovely and most loving duchess, but as 
 good a man." 
 
 With an exertion of force of which she would at another 
 time have thought herself incapable, the countess freed herself 
 from the profane and profaning grasp of the drunken de- 
 bauchee, and retreated into the midst of her apartment, where 
 despair gave her courage to make a stand. 
 
 As Lambourne, on entering, dropped the lap of his cloak 
 from his face, she knew Varney's profligate servant, the very 
 last person, excepting his detested master, by whom she would 
 have wished to be discovered. But she was still closely 
 muffled in her travelling dress, and as Lambourne had scarce 
 ever been admitted to her presence at Cuninor Place, her per-
 
 406 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 son, she hoped, might not be so well known to him as his was 
 to her, owing to Janet's pointing him frequently out as he 
 crossed the court, and telling stories of his wickedness. She 
 might have had still greater confidence in her disguise had her 
 experience enabled her to discover that he was much intoxi 
 cated ; but this could scarce have consoled her for the risk 
 which she might incur from such a character, in such a time, 
 place, and circumstances. 
 
 Lambourne flung the door behind him as he entered, and 
 folding his arms, as if in mockery of the attitude of distrac- 
 tion into which Amy had thrown herseK, he proceeded thus : 
 *'Hark ye, most fair Calipolis — or most lovely countess of 
 clouts, and divine duchess of dark corners — if thou takest all 
 that trouble of skewering thyself together, like a trussed fowl, 
 that there may be more pleasure in the carving, even save thy- 
 self the labour. I love thy first frank manner the best; like 
 thy present as little (he made a step towards her, and stag- 
 gered) — as little as — such a danmed uneven floor as this, 
 where a gentleman may break his neck, if he does not walk as 
 upright as a posture-master on the tight-rope. " 
 
 " Stand back!" said the countess : " do not approach nearer 
 to me on thy peril!" 
 
 "My peril! and stand back! Why, how now, madam? 
 Must you have a better mate than honest Mike Lambourne? 
 I have been in Aonerica, girl, where the gold grows, and have 
 brought off such a load on't " 
 
 "Good friend," said the countess in great terror at the 
 ruf&an's determined and audacious manner, " I prithee begone, 
 and leave me." 
 
 " And so I will, pretty one, when we are tired of each oth- 
 er's company, not a jot sooner." He seized her by the arm, 
 while, incapable of further defence, she uttered shriek upon 
 shriek. "Nay, scream away if you like it," said he, still 
 holding her fast ; " I have heard the sea at the loudest, and I 
 mind a squalling woman no more than a miauling kitten. 
 Damn me ! I have heard fifty or a hundred screaming at once, 
 when there was a town stormed." 
 
 The cries of the countess, however, brought unexpected
 
 KENILWORTH. 40T 
 
 aid, in the person of Laurence Staples, who had heard her 
 exclamatious from his apartment below, and entered in good 
 time to save her fi-om being discovered, if not from more 
 atrocious violence. Laurence was drunk also from the de- 
 bauch of the preceding night ; but fortunately his intoxicatioa 
 had talien a different turn from that of Lamboume. 
 
 "What the devil's noise is this in the Avard?" he said. 
 ** What ! man and woman together in the same cell ! that is 
 against rule. I will have decency imder my rule, by St. Peter 
 of the Fetters." 
 
 "Get thee downstairs, thou drunken beast," said Lam- 
 bourne; " seest thou not the lady and I would be private?" 
 
 " Good sir — worthy sir, " said the countess, addressing the 
 jailor, " do but save me from him, for the sake of mercy!" 
 
 "She speaks fairly," said the jailor, "and I will take her 
 part. I love my prisoners ; and I have had as good prisoners 
 under my key as they have had in Newgate or the Compter. 
 And so, being one of my lambkins, as I say, no one shall dis- 
 turb her in her penfold. So, let go the woman, or I'll knock 
 your brains out with my keys." 
 
 "I'll make a blood-puddmg of thy midriff first," answered 
 Lambourne, laying his left hand on his dagger, but still de- 
 taining the countess by the arm with his right. " So have at 
 thee, thou old ostrich, whose only living is upon a bunch of 
 iron keys!" 
 
 Laurence raised the arm of Michael, and prevented him 
 from drawing his dagger; and as Lambourne struggled and 
 strove to shake him off, the countess made a sudden exertion 
 on her side, and slipping her hand out of the glove on which 
 the ruffian still kept hold, she gained her liberty and, escaping 
 from the apartment, ran doAvnstairs ; while, at the same mo- 
 ment, she heard the two combatants fall on the floor with a 
 noise which increased her terror. The outer wicket offered 
 no impediment to her flight, havuig been opened for Lam- 
 bourne's admittance; so that she succeeded in escaping down 
 the stair, and fled into the Pleasauee, which seemed to her 
 hasty glance the direction in which she was most likely to 
 avoid pursuit.
 
 408 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Meanwhile, Laurence and Lambourne rolled on the floor of 
 the apartment, closely grappled together. Neither had, hap- 
 pily, opportunity to draw their daggers ; but Laurence found 
 space enough to dash his heavy keys across Michael's face, 
 and Michael, in return, grasped the turnkey so felly by the 
 throat that the blood gushed from nose and mouth ; so that 
 they were both gory and filthy spectacles, when one of the 
 other officers of the household, attracted by the noise of the 
 fray, entered the room, and with some difficulty effected the 
 separation of the combatants. 
 
 **A murrain on you both," said the charitable mediator, 
 " and especially on you. Master Lambourne ! What the fiend 
 lie you here for, fighting on the floor, like two butchers' curs 
 in the kennel of the shambles?" 
 
 Lambourne arose, and, somewhat sobered by the interposi. 
 tion of a third party, looked with something less than his 
 usual brazen impudence of visage. " We fought for a wench, 
 an thou must know," was his reply. 
 
 "A wench! Where is she?" said the officer. 
 
 " Why, vanished, I think, " said Lambourne, looking around 
 him; "unless Laurence hath swallowed her. That filthy 
 paunch of his devours as many distressed damsels and op- 
 pressed orphans as e'er a giant in King Arthur's history: they 
 are his prime food; he worries them body, soul, and sub- 
 stance." 
 
 "Ay — ay! It's no matter," said Laurence, gathering up 
 his huge ungainly form from the floor ; " but I have had your 
 betters, Master Michael Lambourne, under the little turn of 
 my forefinger and thumb; and I shall have thee, before all's 
 done, under my hatches. The impudence of thy brow will 
 not always save thy shin-bones from iron, and thy foul thirsty 
 gullet from a hempen cord." The words were no sooner out 
 ■of his mouth when Lambourne again made at him. 
 
 " Nay, go not to it again, " said the sewer, " or I wiU call 
 for him shall tame you both, and that is Master Varney — Sir 
 Bichard, I mean ; he is stirring, I promise you : I saw him 
 «ross the court just now." 
 
 "Didst thou, by G — ?" said Lambourne, seizing on the
 
 KENILWORTH. 409* 
 
 basin and sewer which stood in the apartment. " ^ay, then, 
 element, do thy work. I thought I had enough of thee last 
 night, when I floated about for Orion, like a cork on a fer- 
 menting cask of ale." 
 
 So saying, he fell to work to cleanse from his face and 
 hands the signs of the fray, and get his apparel into some 
 order. 
 
 " What hast thou done to him?" said the sewer, speaking 
 aside to the jailor; "his face is fearfully swelled." 
 
 *' It is but the imprint of the key of my cabinet, too good a 
 mark for his gallows-face. No man shall abuse or insult my 
 prisoners; they are my jewels, and I lock them in safe casket 
 accordingly. And so, mistress, leave off your wailing. Hey I 
 why, surely there was a woman here!" 
 
 " I think you are all mad this morning, " said the sewer. 
 *' I saw no woman here, nor no man neither in a proper sense, 
 but only two beasts rolling on the floor." 
 
 "Nay, then, I am undone," said the jailor: "the prison's 
 broken, that is all. Kenilworth prison is broken," he con- 
 tinued, in a tone of maudlin lamentation, "which was the 
 strongest jail betwixt this and the Welsh marches — ay, and a 
 house that has had knights, and earls, and kings sleeping in 
 it, as secure as if they had been in the Tower of London. It 
 is broken, the prisoners fled, and the jailor in much danger of 
 being hanged!" 
 
 So saying, he retreated down to his own den to conclude his 
 lamentations, or to sleep himself sober. Lambourne and the 
 sewer followed him close, and it was well for them, since the 
 jailor, out of mere habit, was about to lock the wicket after 
 him ; and had they not been within the reach of interfering, 
 they would have had the pleasure of being shut up in the tur- 
 ret-chamber, from which the countess had been just delivered. 
 
 That imhappy lady, as soon as she found herseK at liberty, 
 fled, as we have already mentioned, into the Pleasance. She 
 had seen this richly ornamented space of ground from the 
 window of Mervyn's Tower; and it occurred to her, at the 
 moment of her escape, that, among its numerous arbours, 
 bowers, fountains, statues, and grottoes, she might find some
 
 410 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 recess, iii which slie could lie concealed until she had an op- 
 portunity of addressing herself to a protector, to whom she 
 might communicate as much as she dared of her forlorn situ- 
 ation, and through whose means she might supplicate an 
 interview with her husband. 
 
 •' If I could see my guide, she thought, " I would learn if he 
 had delivered my letter. Even did I but see Tressilian, it 
 were better to risk Dudley's anger, by confiding my whole 
 situation to one who is the very soul of honour, than to rim 
 the hazard of farther insult among the insolent menials of this 
 iU-ruled place. I will not again venture into an inclosed 
 apartment. I will wait — I will watch; amidst so many 
 human beings, there must be some kind heart which can judge 
 and compassionate what mine endures." 
 
 In truth, more than one party entered and traversed the 
 Pleasance. But they were in joyous groups of four or live 
 persons together, laughing and jesting in their own fulness of 
 mirth and lightness of heart. 
 
 The retreat which she had chosen gave her the easy alterna- 
 tive of avoiding observation. It was but stepping back to the 
 farthest recess of a grotto, ornamented with rustic work and 
 moss-seats, and terminated by a fountain, and she might 
 easily remain concealed, or at her pleasure discover herself to 
 any solitary wanderer whose curiosity might lead him to that 
 romantic retirement. Anticipating such an opportunity, she 
 looked into the clear basin Avhich the silent fountain held up 
 to her like a mirror, and felt shocked at her own appearance, 
 and doubtful at the same time, muffled and disfigured as her 
 disguise made her seem to herself, whether any female (and it 
 was from the compassion of her own sex that she chiefly ex- 
 pected sympathy) would engage in conference with so suspi- 
 cious an object. Reasoning thus like a woman, to whom 
 external appearance is scarcely in any circumstances a matter 
 of unimportance, and like a beauty, who had some confidence 
 in the power of her own charms, she laid aside her travelling- 
 cloak and capotaine hat, and placed them beside her, so that 
 she could assume them in an iastant, ere one could penetrate 
 from the entrance of the grotto to its extremity, in case the
 
 KENILWORTH. 411 
 
 iutrusion of Varney or of Lambourne should render such, dis- 
 guise necessary. The dress which she wore under these vest- 
 ments was somewhat of a theatrical cast, so as to suit the 
 assumed personage of one of the females who Avas to act in the 
 pageant. "Wayland had found the means of arranging it thus 
 upon the second day of their journey, having experienced the 
 service arising from the assumption of such a character on the 
 preceding day. The foimtain, actuig both as a mirror and 
 ewer, afforded Amy the means of a brief toilette, of which 
 she availed herself as hastily as possible ; then took in her 
 hand her small casket of jewels, in case she might find them 
 useful intercessors, and retiring to the darkest and most se- 
 questered nook, sat down on a seat of moss, and awaited till 
 fate should give her some chance of rescue or of propitiating 
 an intercessor. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Have you not seen the partridge quake, 
 Viewing the hawk approaching niga ? 
 
 She cuddles close beneath the brake, 
 Afraid to sit, afraid to fly. 
 
 Prior. 
 
 It chanced, upon that memorable morning, that one of the 
 earliest of the huntress train who appeared from her chamber 
 in full array for the chase was the princess for whom all these 
 pleasures were instituted, England's Maiden Queen. I know 
 not if it were by chance, or out of the befitting courtesy due 
 to a mistress by whom he was so much honoured, that she had 
 scarcely made one step beyond the threshold of her chamber 
 ere Leicester was by her side, and proposed to her, until the 
 preparations for the chase had been completed, to view the 
 Pleasance and the gardens which it connected with the castle- 
 yard. 
 
 To this new scene of pleasures they walked, the earl's arm 
 affording his sovereign the occasional support which she re- 
 quired, where flights of steps, then a favourite ornament in 
 a garden, conducted them from terrace to terrace and from
 
 412 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 parterre to parterre. The ladies in attendance, gifted with 
 prudence, or endowed perhaps with the amiable desire of 
 acting as they would be done by, did not conceive their duty 
 to the Queen's person required them, though they lost not 
 sight of her, to approach so near as to share, or perhaps dis- 
 turb, the conversation betwixt the Queen and the earl, who 
 was not only her host, but also her most trusted, esteemed, 
 and favoured servant. They contented themselves with ad- 
 miring the grace of this illustrious couple, whose robes of state 
 were now exchanged for hunting-suits, almost equally mag- 
 nificent. 
 
 Elizabeth's silvan dress, which was of a pale blue silk, with 
 silver lace and aiguiUettes, approached in form to that of the 
 ancient Amazons ; and was, therefore, well suited at once to 
 her height and to the dignity of her mien, which her conscious 
 rank and long habits of authority had rendered in some degree 
 too masculine to be seen to the best advantage in ordinary 
 female weeds. Leicester's hunting-suit of Lincoln green, 
 richly embroidered with gold, and crossed by the gay baldric, 
 which sustained a bugle-horn, and a wood-knife instead of a 
 sword, became its master, as did his other vestments of court 
 or of war. For such were the perfections of his form and 
 mien, that Leicester was always supposed to be seen to the 
 greatest advantage in the character and dress which for the 
 time he represented or wore. 
 
 The conversation of Elizabeth and the favourite earl has 
 not reached us in detail. ' But those who watched at some dis- 
 tance (and the eyes of courtiers and court ladies are right 
 sharp) were of opinion that on no occasion did the dignity 
 of Elizabeth, in gesture and motion, seem so decidedly to 
 soften away into a mien expressive of indecision and tender- 
 ness. Her step was not only slow, but even unequal, a thing 
 most unwonted in her carriage ; her looks seemed bent on the 
 ground, and there was a timid disposition to withdraw from 
 ber companion, which external gesture in females often indi- 
 cates exactly the opposite tendency in the secret mind. The 
 Duchess of Rutland, who ventured nearest, was even heard to 
 aver that she discerned a tear in Elizabeth's eye and a blush
 
 KENILWORTH. 413 
 
 on her cheek ; and still farther, " She bent her looks on the 
 ground to avoid mine, " said the duchess ; " she who, in her 
 ordinary mood, could look down a lion." To what conclusion 
 these symptoms led is sufficiently evident; nor were they 
 probably entirely groundless. The progress of a private con- 
 versation betwixt two persons of different sexes is often 
 decisive of their fate, and gives it a turn very different per- 
 haps from what they themselves anticipated. Gallantry be- 
 comes mingled with conversation, and affection and passion 
 come gradually to mix with gallantry. Kobles, as well as 
 shepherd swains, will, in such a trying moment, say more than 
 they intended; and queens, like village maidens, will listen 
 longer than they should. 
 
 Horses in the mean while neighed and champed the bits with 
 impatience in the base-court ; hounds yelled in their couples, 
 and yeomen, rangers, and prickers lamented the exhaling of 
 the dew, which would prevent the scent from lying. But 
 Leicester had another chase in view, or, to speak more justly 
 towards him, had become engaged in it without premeditation, 
 as the high-spirited hunter which follows the cry of the hounds 
 that have crossed his path by accident. The Queen, an ac- 
 complished and handsome woman — the pride of England, the 
 hope of France and Holland, and the dread of Spain, had 
 probably listened with more than usual favour to that mixture 
 of romantic gallantry with which she always loved to be ad- 
 dressed; and the earl had, in vanity, in ambition, or in both, 
 thrown in more and more of that delicious ingredient, until 
 his importunity became the language of love itseK. 
 
 *'Ko, Dudley," said Elizabeth, yet it was with broken ac- 
 cents — " no, I must be the mother of my people. Other ties, 
 that make the lowly maiden hajDpy, are denied to her sov- 
 ereign. No, Leicester, urge it no more. Were I as others, 
 free to seek my own happiness, then, indeed — but it cannot — 
 cannot be. Delay the chase — delay it for half an hour — and 
 leave me, my lord." 
 
 "How, leave you, madam!" said Leicester. "Has my 
 madness offended you?" 
 
 "No, Leicester, not so!" answered the Queen, hastily;
 
 414 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " but it is madness, and must not be repeated. Go, but go 
 not far from hence ; and meantime let no one intrude on my 
 privacy. " 
 
 While she spoke thus, Dudley bowed deeply, and retired 
 with a slow and melancholy air. The Queen stood gazing 
 after him, and murmured to herself: "Were it possible — 
 were it but possible! But no — no; Elizabeth must be the 
 wife and mother of England alone." 
 
 As she spoke thus, and in order to avoid some one whose 
 step she heard approaching, the Queen turned into the grotto 
 in which her hapless, and yet but too successful, rival lay 
 concealed. 
 
 The mind of England's Elizabeth, if somewhat shaken by 
 the agitating interview to which she had just put a period, 
 was of that firm and decided character which soon recovers 
 its natural tone. It was like one of those ancient druidical 
 monuments called rocking-stones. The finger of Cupid, boy 
 as he is painted, could put her feelings in motion, but the 
 power of Hercules could not have destroyed their equilibrium. 
 As she advanced with a slow pace towards the inmost extrem- 
 ity of the grotto, her countenance, ere she had proceeded half 
 the length, had recovered its dignity of look and her mien its 
 air of command. 
 
 It was then the Queen became aware that a female figure 
 was placed beside, or rather partly behind, an alabaster col- 
 imin, at the foot of which arose the pellucid fountain, which 
 occupied the inmost recess of the twilight grotto. The classi- 
 cal mind of Elizabeth suggested the story of Numa and Egeria, 
 and she (k)ubted not that some Italian sculptor had here re- 
 presented the naiad whose inspirations gave laws to Eome. 
 As she advanced, she became doubtful whether she beheld a 
 statue or a form of flesh and blood. The unfortunate Amy, 
 indeed, remained motionless betwixt the desire which she had 
 to make her condition known to one of her own sex and her 
 awe for the stately form which approached her, and which, 
 though her eyes had never before beheld, her fears instantly 
 suspected to be the personage she really was. Amy had 
 arisen from her seat with the purpose of addressing the lady
 
 KENIL WORTH. 415 
 
 ■who entered tlie grotto alone, and, as she at Urst thought, so 
 opportunely. But when she recollected the alarm which 
 Leicester had expressed at the Queen's knowing aught of their 
 union, and became more and more satisfied that the person 
 whom she now beheld was Elizabeth herself, she stood with 
 one foot advanced and one withdrawn, her arms, head, and 
 hands perfectly motionless, and her cheek as pallid as the ala- 
 baster pedestal agamst which she leaned. Her dress was of 
 pale seargreen silk, little distinguished in that imperfect light, 
 and somewhat resembled the drapery of a Grecian nymph, 
 such an antique disguise having been thought the most secure, 
 where so many masquers and revellers were assembled; so 
 that the Queen's doubt of her being a living form was well 
 justified by all contingent circumstances, as well as by the 
 bloodless cheek and the fixed eye. 
 
 Elizabeth remained in doubt, even after she had approached 
 within a few paces, whether she did not gaze on a statue so 
 cunningly fashioned that by the doubtful light it could not be 
 distinguished from reality. She stopped, therefore, and fixed 
 upon this interesting object her princely look with so much 
 keem^ess that the astonishment which had kept Amy immov- 
 able gave way to awe, and she gradually cast down her eyes 
 and drooped her head under the commanding gaze of the 
 sovereign. Still, however, she remained in all respects, sav- 
 ing this slow and profound inclination of the head, motionless 
 and silent. 
 
 From her dress, and the casket which she instinctively held 
 in her hand, Elizabeth naturally conjectured that the beauti- 
 ' f ul but mute figure which she beheld was a performer in one 
 of the various theatrical pageants which had been placed in 
 different situations to surprise her with their homage, and that 
 the poor player, overcome with awe at her presence, had 
 either forgot the part assigned her or lacked courage to go 
 through it. It was natural and courteous to give her some 
 encouragement ; and Elizabeth accordingly said, in a tone of 
 condescending kindness : " How now, fair nymph of this lovely 
 grotto, art thou spell-bound and struck with dumbness by the 
 charms of the wicked enchanter whom men term fear? We
 
 416 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 are his sworn enemy, maiden, and can reverse his charm. 
 Speak, we command thee." 
 
 Instead of answermg her by speech, the unfortunate coun- 
 tess dropped on her knee before the Queen, let her casket fall 
 from her hand, and clasping her palms together, looked up in 
 the Queen's face with such a mixed agony of fear and suppli- 
 cation that Elizabeth was considerably affected. 
 
 ''What may this mean?" she said; "this is a stronger 
 passion than befits the occasion. Stand up, damsel; what 
 wouldst thou have with us?" 
 
 " Your protection, madam, " faltered forth the unhappy pe- 
 titioner. 
 
 " Each daughter of England has it while she is worthy of 
 it, " replied the Queen ; " but your distress seems to have a 
 deeper root than a forgotten task. Why, and in what, do you 
 crave our protection?" 
 
 Amy hastily endeavoured to recall what she were best to 
 say, which might secure herself from the imminent dangers 
 that surrounded her, without endangering her husband; and 
 plunging from one thought to another, amidst the chaos which 
 filled her mind, she could at length, in answer to the Queen's 
 repeated inquiries in what she sought protection, only falter 
 out: "Alas! I know not." 
 
 " This is folly, maiden, " said Elizabeth, impatiently ; for 
 there was something in the extreme confusion of the suppliant 
 which irritated her curiosity, as well as interested her feelings. 
 " The sick man must tell his malady to the physician, nor are 
 WE accustomed to ask questions so oft without receiving an 
 answer." 
 
 "I request — I implore," stammered forth the unfortunate 
 countess — "I beseech your gracious protection — against — 
 against one Varney." She choked wellnigh as she uttered the 
 fatal word, which was instantly caught up by the Queen. 
 
 "What Varney? Sir Eichard Varney — the servant of Lord 
 Leicester? What, damsel, are you to him, or he to you?" 
 
 " I — 1 — was his prisoner — and he practised on my life — and 
 I broke forth to — to " 
 
 " To throw thyself on my protection, doubtless, " said Eliza-
 
 KE^^LWORTH. 417 
 
 "beth, " Thou shalt have it — that is, if thou art worthy ; for 
 we will sift this matter to the uttermost. Thou art," she 
 said, bending on the countess an eye which seemed designed 
 to pierce her very inmost soul—" Thou art Amy, daughter of 
 Sir Hugh Robsart of Lidcote HaU?" 
 
 "Forgive me — forgive me, most gracious princess!" said 
 Amy, droppiug once more on her knee, from which she had 
 arisen. 
 
 " For what should I forgive thee, silly wench?" said Eliza- 
 beth; "for being the daughter of thine own father? Thou 
 art brain-sick, surely. Well, I see I must wring the story 
 from thee by inches. Thou didst deceive thine old and 
 honoured father — thy look confesses it; cheated Master 
 Tressilian — thy blush avouches it; and married this same 
 Varney?" 
 
 Amy sprung on her feet, and interrupted the Queen eagerly, 
 with : " Xo, madam — no ; as there is a God above us, I am not 
 the sordid wretch you would make me ! I am not the wife of 
 that contemptible slave — of that most deliberate villain! I 
 am not the wife of A'arney ! I would rather be the bride of 
 destruction!" 
 
 The Queen, overwhelmed in her turn by Amy's vehemence, 
 stood silent for an instant, and then replied: "Why, God ha' 
 mercy, woman! I see thou canst talk fast enough when the 
 theme likes thee. Nay, tell me, woman," she continued, for 
 to the impulse of curiosity was now added that of an unde- 
 fined jealousy that some deception had been practised on her — 
 "tell me, woman — for, by God's day, I will know — whose 
 wife, or whose paramour, art thou? Speak out, and be 
 speedy. Thou wert better dally with a lioness than with 
 Elizabeth." 
 
 Urged to this extremity, dragged as it were by irresistible 
 force to the verge of the precipice, which she saw but could 
 not avoid, permitted not a moment's respite by the eager 
 words and menacing gestures of the offended Queen, Amy at 
 length uttered in despair : " The Earl of Leicester knows it all." 
 
 "The Earl of Leicester!" said Elizabeth, in utter astonish- 
 ment. "The Earl of Leicester!" she repeated, with kindling 
 
 27
 
 418 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 anger. "Woman, thou art set on to this — thou dost belie 
 him : he takes no keep of such things as thou art. Thou art 
 suborned to slander the noblest lord and the truest-hearted 
 gentleman in England ! But were he the right hand of our 
 trust, or something yet dearer to us, thou shalt have thy hear- 
 ing, and that in his presence. Come with me — come with me 
 instantly!" 
 
 As Amy shrunk back with terror, which the incensed Queen 
 interpreted as that of conscious guilt, Elizabeth rapidly ad- 
 vanced, seized on her arm, and hastened with swift and long 
 steps out of the grotto, and along the principal alley of the 
 Pleasance, dragging with her the terrified coimtess, whom 
 she still held by the arm, and whose utmost exertions could 
 but just keep pace with those of the indignant Queen. 
 
 Leicester was at this moment the centre of a splendid group 
 of lords and ladies, assembled together under an arcade, or 
 portico, which closed the alley. The company had drawn 
 together in that place to attend the commands of her Majesty 
 when the hunting-party should go forward, and their aston- 
 ishment may be imagined when, instead of seeing Elizabeth 
 advance towards them with her usual measured dignity of 
 motion, they beheld her walking so rapidly that she was in 
 the midst of them ere they were aware ; and then observed, 
 ■with fear and surprise, that her features were flushed betwixt 
 anger and agitation, that her hair was loosened by her haste of 
 motion, and that her eyes sparkled as they were wont when 
 the spirit of Henry VIII. mounted highest in his daughter. 
 Nor were they less astonished at the appearance of the pale, 
 extenuated, half-dead, yet still lovely, female whom the Queen 
 upheld by main strength with one hand, while with the other 
 she waved aside the ladies and nobles who pressed towards 
 her, under the idea that she was taken suddenly iU. " Where 
 is my Lord of Leicester?" she said, in a tone that thrilled 
 with astonishment all the courtiers who stood around. " Stand 
 forth, my Lord of Leicester!" 
 
 If, in the midst of the most serene day of summer, when 
 aU is light and laughing around, a thimderbolt were to fall 
 from the clear blue vault of heaven, and rend the earth at the
 
 KENILWORTH. 419 
 
 ■very feet of some careless traveller, he could not gaze upon 
 tlie smouldering chasm which so unexpectedly yawned before 
 him with haK the astonishment and fear which Leicester felt 
 at the sight that so suddenly presented itself. He had that 
 instant been receiving, with a political affectation of disavow- 
 ing and misunderstanding their meaning, the half-uttered, 
 half- intimated congratulations of the courtiers upon the favour 
 of the Queen, carried apparently to its highest pitch during 
 the interview of that morning; from which most of them 
 seemed to augur that he might soon arise from their equal in 
 rank to become their master. And now, while the subdued 
 yet proud smile with which he disclaimed those inferences was 
 yet curling his cheek, the Queen shot iuto the circle, her pas- 
 sions excited to the uttermost ; and, supporting with one hand, 
 and apparently without an effort, the pale and sinking form 
 of his almost expiring wife, and pointing with the finger of 
 the other to her half -dead features, demanded in a voice that 
 sounded to the ears of the astounded statesman like the last 
 dread trumpet-call, that is to summon body and spirit to the 
 judgment-seat, "Knowest thou this woman?" 
 
 As, at the blast of that last trumpet, the guilty shall call 
 upon the mountains to cover them, Leicester's inward thoughts 
 invoked the stately arch which he had built in his pride to 
 burst its strong conjunction and overwhelm them iu its ruins. 
 But the cemented stones, architrave and battlement, stood fast j 
 and it was the proud master himself who, as if some actual 
 pressure had bent him to the earth, kneeled down before 
 Elizabeth, and prostrated his brow to the marble flagstones 
 on which she stood. 
 
 " Leicester, " said Elizabeth, in a voice which trembled with 
 passion, " could I think thou hast practised on me — on me thy 
 sovereign — on me thy confiding, thy too partial mistress, the 
 base and ungrateful deception which thy present confusion 
 surmises — by all that is holy, false lord, that head of thine 
 were iu as great peril as ever was thy father's!" 
 
 Leicester had not conscious innocence, but he had pride, to 
 support him. He raised slowly his brow and features, which 
 were black and swolu with contending emotions, and only re-
 
 420 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 plied : " My head cannot fall but by the sentence of my peers; 
 to them I will plead, and not to a princess who thus requites 
 my faithful service!" 
 
 "What! my lords," said Elizabeth, looking around, "we 
 are defied, I think — defied in the castle we have ourselves be- 
 stowed on this proud man! My Lord Shrewsbury, you are 
 marshal of England, attach him of high treason!" 
 
 "Whom does your Grace mean!" said Shrewsbury, much 
 surprised, for he had that instant joined the astonished 
 circle. 
 
 "Whom should I mean but that traitor, Dudley Earl of 
 Leicester ! Cousin of Hunsdon, order out yoiu- band of gen- 
 tlemen pensioners, and take him into instant custody. I say, 
 villain, make haste!" 
 
 Hunsdon, a rough old noble, who, from his relationship to 
 the Boleyns, was accustomed to use more freedom with the 
 Queen than almost any other dared to do, replied bluntly: 
 " And it is like your Grace might order me to the Tower to- 
 morrow for making too much haste. I do beseech you to be 
 patient. " 
 
 "Patient! God's life!" exclaimed the Queen, "name not 
 the word to me; thou know'st not of what he is guilty!" 
 
 Amy, who had by this time in some degree recovered her- 
 self, and who saw her husband, as she conceived, in the utmost 
 danger from the rage of an offended sovereign, instantly (and 
 alas ! how many women have done the same) forgot her own 
 wrongs and her own danger in her apprehensions for him, and 
 throwing herself before the Queen, embraced her knees, while 
 she exclaimed : " He is guiltless, madam — he is guiltless : no 
 one can lay aught to the charge of the noble Leicester!" 
 
 "Why, minion," answered the Queen, "didst not thou thy- 
 self say that the Earl of Leicester was privy to thy whole 
 history?" 
 
 "Did I say so?" repeated the unhappy Amy, laying aside 
 every consideration of consistency and of self-interest; " Oh, if 
 T did, I foully belied him. May God so judge me, as I be- 
 lieve he was never privy to a thought that would harm me!" 
 
 " Woman !" said Elizabeth, " I will know who has moved
 
 KENILWORTH. 421 
 
 thee to this ; or my wrath — and the wrath of kings is a flam- 
 ing fire — shall wither and consume thee like a weed in the 
 furnace." 
 
 As the Queen uttered this threat, Leicester's better angel 
 called his pride to his aid, and reproached him with the utter 
 extremity of meanness which Avould overwhelm him for ever 
 if he stooped to take shelter under the generous interposition 
 of his wife, and abandoned her, in return for her kindness, to 
 the resentment of the Queen. He had already raised his head, 
 with the dignity of a man of honour, to avow his marriage, 
 and proclaim himseK the protector of his countess, when Var- 
 ney, born, as it appeared, to be his master's evil genius, rushed 
 into the presence, with every mai-k of disorder on his face and 
 appai-el. 
 
 "What means this saucy intrusion?" said Elizabeth. 
 
 Yarney, with the air of a man altogether overwhelmed with 
 grief and confusion, prostrated himself before her feet, ex- 
 claiming : " Pardon, my liege — pardon ! or at least let your jus- 
 tice avenge itself on me, where it is due ; but spare my noble, 
 my generous, my innocent patron and master!" 
 
 Amy, who was yet kneelin'g, started up a,s she saw the man 
 whom she deemed most odi*"us place himself so near her, and 
 svas about to fly towards I -ncester, when, checked at once by 
 the uncertainty and eve^ timidity which his looks had reas- 
 Bunied as soon as the appearance of his confidant seemed to 
 open a new scene^ she /lung back, and, uttering a faint scream, 
 besought of her M?,iV;sty to cause her to be imprisoned in the 
 lowest dungeon cf fhe castle — to deal with her as the worst of 
 criminals — " bvi> spare, " she exclaimed, " my sight and hear- 
 ing what will destroy the little judgment I have left — the 
 sight of that unutterable and most shameless villain!" 
 
 "And why, sweetheart?" said the Queen, moved by a new 
 impulse; **what hath he, this false knight, since such thou 
 accountest him, done to thee?" 
 
 "Oh, worse than sorrow, madam, and worse than injury: 
 he has sown dissension where most there should be peace. I 
 shall go mad if I look longer on him!" 
 
 ''Beshrew me, but I thmk thou art distraught already,"
 
 422 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 answered the Queen. " My Lord Huns don, look to this poor 
 distressed young woman, and let her be safely bestowed and 
 in honest keeping till we require her to be forthcoming." 
 
 Two or three of the ladies in attendance, either moved by 
 compassion for a creature so interesting or by some other mo- 
 tive, offered their service to look after her; but the Queen 
 briefly answered : " Ladies, under favour, no. You have aU, 
 give God thanks ! sharp ears and nimble tongues ; our kinsman 
 Hunsdon has ears of the dullest, and a tongue somewhat rough, 
 but yet of the slowest. Hunsdon, look to it that none have 
 speech of her." 
 
 " By Our Lady!" said Hunsdon, taking in his strong, sinewy 
 arms the fading and almost swooning form of Amy, " she is a 
 lovely child ; and though a rough nurse, your Grace hath given 
 her a kind one. She is safe with me as one -of my own lady- 
 birds of daughters." 
 
 So saying, he carried her off, unresistingly and almost un- 
 consciously ; his war-worn locks and long grey beard mingling 
 with her light-brown tresses, as her head reclined on his strong 
 square shoulder. The Queen followed him with her eye ; she 
 had already, with that seK-command which forms so necessary 
 a part of a sovereign's accomplishments, suppressed every ap- 
 pearance of agitation, and seemed as if she desired to banish 
 fill traces of her burst of passion from the recollection of those 
 who had witnessed it. " My Lord of Hunsdon says well," she 
 observed; "he is indeed but a rough nurse for so tender a 
 babe." 
 
 "My Lord of Hunsdon," said the Dean of St. Asaph's, "I 
 speak it not in defamation of his more noble qualities, hath 
 a broad license in speech, and garnishes his discourse some- 
 what too freely with the cruel and superstitious oaths, which 
 savour both of profaneness and of old Papistrie." 
 
 " It is the fault of his blood, Mr. Dean, " said the Queen, 
 turning sharply round upon the reverend dignitary as she 
 spoke ; " and you may blame mine for the same distempera- 
 ture. The Boleyns were ever a hot and plain-spoken race, 
 more hasty to speak their mind than careful to choose their 
 expressions. And, by my word — I hope there is no sin in.
 
 KENILWORTa 423 
 
 that affirmation? — I question if it were much cooled by mix- 
 ing with that of Tudor." 
 
 As she made this last observation, she smiled graciously, 
 and stole her eyes almost insensibly round to seek those of the 
 Earl of Leicester, to whom she now began to think she had 
 spoken with hasty harshness upon the unfounded suspicion of 
 a moment. 
 
 The Queen's eye found the earl in no mood to accept the 
 implied offer of conciliation. His own looks had followed, 
 with late and rueful repentance, the faded form which Huns- 
 don had just borne from the presence; they now reposed 
 gloomily on the ground, but more — so at least it seemed to 
 Elizabeth — with the expression of one who has received an 
 unjust affront than of him who is conscious of guilt. She 
 turned her face angrily from him, and said to Varney : " Speak, 
 Sir Richard, and explain these riddles ; thou hast sense and 
 the use of speech, at least, which elsewhere we look for in 
 vain." 
 
 As she said this, she darted another resentful glance towards 
 Leicester, while the wily Varney hastened to tell his own 
 story. 
 
 "Your Majesty's piercing eye," he said, "has already de- 
 tected the cruel malady of my beloved lady ; which, unhappy 
 that I am, I would not suffer to be expressed in the certificate 
 of her physician, seeking to conceal what has now broken out 
 with so much the more scandal." 
 
 "She is then distraught?" said the' Queen; "indeed, we 
 doubted not of it : her whole demeanour bears it out. I found 
 her moping in a corner of yonder grotto ; and every word she 
 spoke — which indeed I dragged from her as by the rack — she 
 instantly recalled and forswore. But how came she hither? 
 Why had you her not in safe-keeping?" 
 
 " My gracious liege, " said Varney, " the worthy gentleman 
 under whose charge I left her. Master Anthony Foster, has 
 come hither but now, as fast as man and horse can travel, to 
 show me of her escape, which she managed with the art pecul- 
 iar to many who are afflicted with this malady. He is at 
 hand for examination. "
 
 424 WA^^ERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Let it be for anotlier time, " said the Queen. " But, Sii 
 Richard, we envy you not your domestic felicity : youi- lady 
 railed on you bitterly, and seemed ready to swoon at behold- 
 ing you." 
 
 " It is the nature of persons in her disorder, so please your 
 Grace, " answered Varney, " to be ever most inveterate in their 
 spleen against those whom, in their better moments, they hold 
 nearest and dearest." 
 
 " We have heard so, indeed, " said Elizabeth, " and give 
 faith to the saying." 
 
 " May your Grace then be pleased, " said Varney, " to com- 
 mand my unfortunate wife to be delivered into the custody of 
 her friends?" 
 
 Leicester partly started; but, making a strong effort, he 
 subdued his emotion, while Elizabeth answered sharply : " You 
 are something too hasty, Master Varney ; we will have first a 
 report of the lady's health and state of mind from Masters, 
 our own physician, and then determine what shall be thought 
 just. You shall have license, however, to see her, that, if 
 there be any matrimonial quarrel betwixt you — siich things- 
 we have heard do occur, even betwixt a loving couple — you 
 may make it up, without further scandal to oux court or trouble 
 to ourselves." 
 
 Varney bowed low, and made no other answer. 
 
 Elizabeth again looked towards Leicester, and said, with a 
 degree of condescension which could only arise out of the most 
 heartfelt interest : " Discord, as the Italian poet says, will find 
 her way into peaceful convents, as well as into the privacy of 
 families ; and we fear our own guards and ushers will hardly 
 exclude her from courts. My Lord of Leicester, you are 
 offended with us, and we have right to be offended with you. 
 We will take the lion's part upon us, and be the first to 
 forgive." 
 
 Leicester smoothed his brow, as by an effort, but the trouble 
 was too deep-seated that its placidity should at once return. 
 He said, however, that which fitted the occasion: "That he 
 could not have the happiness of forgiving, because she who 
 commanded him to do so could commit no injury towards him."
 
 KENILWORTH. 426 
 
 Elizabeth seemed content with this reply, and intimated her 
 pleasure that the sports of the morning should proceed. The 
 bugles sounded — the hounds bayed — the horses pranced ; but 
 the courtiers and ladies sought the amusement to which they 
 were summoned with hearts very different from those which 
 had leaped to the morning's reville. There was doubt, and 
 fear, and expectation on every brow, and surmise and intrigue 
 in every whisper. 
 
 Blount took an opportunity to whisper into Raleigh's ear: 
 *' This storm came like a levanter in the Mediterranean. " 
 
 " Varium et mutahile, " answered Ealeigh, in a similar tone. 
 
 " iSTay, I know nought of your Latin, " said Blount ; " but I 
 thank God Tressilian took not the sea during that hurricano. 
 He could scarce have missed shipwreck, knowing as he does 
 so little how to trim his sails to a court gale. " 
 
 " Thou wouldst have instructed him?" said Raleigh. 
 
 "Why, I have profited by my time as well as thou, Sir 
 Walter, " replied honest Blount. " I am knight as well as 
 thou, and of the earlier creation." 
 
 " Now, God further thy wit, " said Raleigh ; " but for Tres- 
 silian, I would 1 knew what were the matter with him. He 
 told me this morning he woidd not leave his chamber for the 
 space of twelve hours or thereby, being bound by a promise. 
 This lady's madness, when he shall learn it, will not, I fear, 
 cure his infirmity. The moon is at the fullest, and men's 
 brains are working like yeast. But hark! they sound to 
 mo tint. Let us to horse, Blount: we young knights must 
 deeerre our spurs."
 
 426 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Sincerity, 
 Thou first of virtues, let no mortal leave 
 The onward path, although the earth should gape, 
 And from the gulf of hell destruction cry, 
 To take dissimulation's winding way. 
 
 Douglas. 
 
 It was not till a long and successful morning's sport, and a 
 prolonged repast which followed the return of the Queen to 
 the castle, that Leicester at length found himself alone with 
 Varney, from whom he now learned the whole particulars of 
 the countess's escape, as they had been brought to Kenil worth 
 by Foster, who, in his terror for the consequences, had him- 
 self posted thither with the tidings. As Varney, in his nar- 
 rative, took especial care to be silent concerning those prac- 
 tices on the countess's health which had driven her to so 
 desperate a resolution, Leicester, who could only suppose that 
 she had adopted it out of jealous impatience to attain the 
 avowed state and appearance belonging to her rank, was not a 
 little offended at the levity with which his wife had broken 
 his strict commands, and exposed him to the resentment of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 "I have given," he said, "to this daughter of an obscure 
 Devonshire gentleman the proudest name in England. I have 
 made her sharer of my bed and of my fortunes. I ask but of 
 her a little patience, ere she launches forth upon the full cur- 
 rent of her grandeur, and the infatuated woman will rather 
 hazard her own shipwreck and mine, will rather involve me in 
 a thousand whirlpools, shoals, and quicksands, and compel me 
 to a thousand devices which shame me in mine own eyes, than 
 tarry for a little space longer in the obscurity to which she 
 was born. So lovely, so delicate, so fond, so faithful, yet to 
 lack in so grave a matter the prudence which one might hope 
 from the veriest fool — it puts me beyond my patience." 
 
 " We may post it over yet well enough, "said Varney, " if 
 my lady will be but ruled, and take on her the character 
 which the time coimnands."
 
 KENILWORTH. 427 
 
 " It is but too true, Sir Richard, " said Leicester, " there is 
 indeed no other remedy. I have heard her termed thy wife in 
 my presence, without contradiction. She must bear the title 
 until she is far from Kenilworth." 
 
 " And long afterwards, I trust, " said Varney ; then instantly 
 added : " For I cannot but hope it will be long after ere she 
 bear the title of Lady Leicester : I fear me it may scarce be 
 with safety during the life of this Queen. But your lordship 
 is best judge, you alone knowing what passages have taken 
 place betwixt Elizabeth and you." 
 
 "You are right, Varney," said Leicester; "I have this 
 morning been both fool and villain ; and when Elizabeth hears 
 of my unhappy marriage, she cannot but think herself treated 
 with that premeditated slight which women never forgive. 
 We have once this day stood upon terms little short of de- 
 fiance; and to those, I fear, we must agaia return." 
 
 "Is her resentment, then, so implacable?" said Varney, 
 
 " Far from it, " replied the earl ; " for, being what she is in 
 spirit and in station, she has even this day been but too con- 
 descending, in giving me opportunities to repair what she 
 thinks my faulty heat of temper. " 
 
 " Ay, " answered Varney ; " the Italians say right : in lovers' 
 quarrels the party that loves most is always most willing to 
 acknowledge the greater fault. So then, my lord, if this 
 union with the lady could be concealed, you stand with Eliza- 
 beth as you did?" 
 
 Leicester sighed, and was silent for a moment, ere he re- 
 plied. 
 
 " Varney, I think thou art true to me, and I will tell thee 
 all. I do not stand where I did. I have spoken to Elizabeth 
 — under what mad impulse I know not — on a theme which 
 cannot be abandoned without touching every female feeling to 
 the quick, and which yet I dare not and cannot prosecute. 
 She can never, never forgive me for having caused and wit- 
 nessed those yieldings to human passion." 
 
 " We must do something, my lord," said Varney, " and that 
 speedily. " 
 
 " There is nought to be done, " answered Leicester, despond-
 
 428 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 iugly; "I am like one that lias long toiled up a dangerous 
 precipice, and when he is within one joerilous stride of the top, 
 finds his progress arrested when retreat has become impossible. 
 I see above me the pinnacle which I cannot reach, beneath me 
 the abyss into which I must fall, as soon as my relaxing grasp 
 and dizzy brain join to hurl me from my present precarious 
 stance." 
 
 "Think better of your situation, my lord," said Varney; 
 " let us try the experiment in which you have but now ac- 
 quiesced. Keep we your marriage from Elizabeth's knowl- 
 edge, and all may yet be well. I will instantly go to the lady 
 myself. She hates me, because I have been earnest with your 
 lordship, as she truly suspects, in opposition to what she terms 
 her rights. I care not for her prejudices. She shall listen to 
 me ; and I will show her such reasons for yielding to the pres- 
 sure of the times, that I doubt not to bring back her consent 
 to whatever measures these exigencies may require." 
 
 "No, Varney," said Leicester: "I have thought upon what 
 is to be done, and I will myself speak with Amy." 
 
 It was now Varney' s turn to feel, upon his own account^ 
 the terrors which he affected to participate solely on account of 
 his patron. " Your lordship will not yourself speak with the 
 lady?" 
 
 " It is my fixed purpose, " said Leicester ; " fetch me one of 
 the livery cloaks; I will pass the sentinel as thy servant. 
 Thou art to have free access to her." 
 
 " But, my lord " 
 
 "I will have no 'buts, '" replied Leicester; "it shall be 
 even thus, and not otherwise. Hiuisdon sleeps, I think, in 
 Saintlowe's Tower. We can go thither from these apartments 
 by the private passage, without risk of meeting any one. Or 
 what if I do meet Hunsdon? he is more my friend than enemy, 
 and thick-witted enough to adopt any belief that is thrust oa 
 him. Fetch me the cloak instantly. " 
 
 Varney had no alternative save obedience. In a few minutes 
 Leicester was muffled in the mantle, pulled his bonnet over 
 his brows, and followed Varney along the secret passage of 
 the castle which communicated with Hunsdon's apartments^
 
 KENILWORTH. 429 
 
 in whicli there was scarce a chance of meeting any inquisitive 
 person, and hardly light enough for any such to have satisfied 
 their curiosity. They emerged at a door where Lord Hunsdou 
 had, with military precaution, placed a sentinel, one of his 
 own northern retainers as it fortuned, who readily admitted 
 Sir Eichard Varney and his attendant, sayiag only, in his 
 northern dialect : " I would, man, thou couldst make the mad 
 lady be still yonder; for her moans do sae dirl thi-ough my 
 head that I would rather keep watch on a snow-drift in the 
 wastes of Catlowdie." 
 
 They hastily entered, and shut the door behind them. 
 
 "Now, good devil, if there be one," said Varney, within 
 himself, " for once help a votary at a dead pinch, for my boat 
 is amongst the breakers!" 
 
 The Countess Amy, with her hair and her garments dis- 
 hevelled, was seated upon a sort of couch, in an attitude of 
 the deepest affliction, out of which she was startled by the 
 opening of the door. She turned hastily round, and, fixing 
 her eye on Varney, exclaimed: "Wretch! art thou come to 
 frame some new plan of villainy?" 
 
 Leicester cut short her reproaches by stepping forward and 
 dropping his cloak, while he said, in a voice rather of author- 
 ity than of affection : *' It is with me, madam, you have to 
 commune, not with Sir Richard Varney." 
 
 The change effected on the countess's look and manner was 
 like magic. "Dudley!" she exclaimed — "Dudley! and art 
 thou come at last?" And with the speed of lightning she 
 flew to her husband, clung around his neck, and, unheeding 
 the presence of Varney, overwhelmed him with caresses, while 
 she bathed his face in a flood of tears ; muttering, at the same 
 time, but in broken and disjointed monosyllables, the fondest 
 expressions which love teaches his votaries. 
 
 Leicester, as it seemed to him, had reason to be angry with 
 his lady for transgressing his commands, and thus placing him 
 in the perilous situation in which he had that morning stood. 
 But what displeasure could keep its ground before these testi- 
 monies of affection from a being so lovely that even the negli- 
 gence of dress, and the withering effects of feai-, grief, and
 
 430 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 fatigue, which would have impaired the beauty of others, 
 rendered hers but the more interesting ! He received and re- 
 paid her caresses with fondness, mingled with melancholy, the 
 last of which she seemed scarcely to observe, until the first 
 transport of her own joy was over; when, looking anxiously 
 in his face, she asked if he was ill. 
 
 "Not in my body. Amy," was his answer. 
 
 "Then I will be well too. Oh, Dudley! I have been ill! — 
 very ill, since we last met! — for I call not this morning's hor- 
 rible vision a meeting. I have been in sickiiess, in grief, and 
 in danger. But thou art come, and all is joy, and health, and 
 safety!" 
 
 "Alas! Amy," said Leicester, "thou hast undone me!" 
 
 "I, my lord!" said Amy, her cheek at once losing its tran- 
 sient flush of joy; "how could I injure that which I love 
 better than myself?" 
 
 "I would not upbraid you, Amy," replied the earl; "but 
 are you not here contrary to my express commands ; and does 
 not your presence here endanger both yourself and me?" 
 
 "Does it — does it indeed?" she exclaimed, eagerly; "then 
 "why am I here a moment longer? Oh, if you knew by what 
 fears I was urged to quit Cumnor Place ! But I will say noth- 
 ing of myself, only that, if it might be otherwise, I would not 
 wUlingly return thither ; yet if it concern your safety " 
 
 " We will think. Amy, of some other retreat, " said Leices- 
 ter; "and you shall go to one of my northern castles, under 
 the personage — it will be but needful, I trust, for a very few 
 days — of Varney's wife." 
 
 "How, my Lord of Leicester!" said the lady, disengaging 
 herself from his embraces ; " is it to your wife you give the 
 dishonourable counsel to acknowledge herself the bride of an- 
 other — and of all men, the bride of that Varney?" 
 
 "Madam, I speak it in earnest. Varney is my true and 
 faithful servant, trusted in my deepest secrets. I had better 
 lose my right hand than his service at this moment. You 
 have no cause to scorn him as you do." 
 
 " I could assign one, my lord, " replied the countess ; " and 
 I see he shakes even under that assured look of his. But he
 
 KENILWORTH. 431 
 
 that is necessary as your right hand to your safety is free 
 from any accusation of mine. May he he true to you; and 
 that he may be true, trust him not too much or too far. But 
 It is enough to say, that I will not go with him unless by vio- 
 lence, nor would I acknowledge him as my husband were 
 all " 
 
 " It is a temporary deception, madam, " said Leicester, irri- 
 tated by her opposition, "necessary for both our safeties, 
 endangered by you through female caprice, or the premature 
 desire to seize on a rank to which I gave you title only under 
 condition that our marriage, for a time, should continue secret. 
 If my proposal disgust you, it is yourself has brought it on 
 both of us. There is no other remedy: you must do what 
 your own impatient folly hath rendered necessary — I com- 
 mand you." 
 
 " I cannot put your commands, my lord, " said Amy, " in 
 balance with those of honour and conscience. I will not, in 
 this instance, obey you. You may achieve your own dis- 
 honour, to which these crooked policies naturally tend; but I 
 will do nought that can blemish mine. How could you again, 
 my lord, acknowledge me as a pure and chaste matron, worthy 
 to share your fortunes, when, holding that high character, 
 I had strolled the country the acknowledged wife of such a 
 profligate fellow as your servant Varney?" 
 
 " My lord, " said Varney, interposing, *' my lady is too miich 
 prejudiced against me, unhappily, to listen to what I can 
 offer ; yet it may please her better than what she proposes. 
 She has good interest with Master Edmund TressUian, and 
 could doubtless prevail on him to consent to be her companion 
 to Lidcote Hall, and there she might remain in safety until 
 time permitted the development of this mystery. " 
 
 Leicester was silent, but stood looking eagerly on Amy, 
 with eyes which seemed suddenly to glow as much with sus- 
 picion as displeasure. 
 
 The countess only said : " Would to God I were in my fa- 
 ther's house! When I left it, I little thought I was leaving 
 peace of mind and honour behind me. " 
 
 Varney proceeded with a tone of deliberation. " Doubtless
 
 432 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 tMs will make it necessary to take strangers into my lord's 
 counsels; but surely the countess will be warrant for the 
 honour of Master Tressilian and such of her father's 
 family " 
 
 "Peace, Varney," said Leicester; "by Heaven, I will strike 
 my dagger into thee, if again thou namest Tressilian as a 
 partner of my counsels!" 
 
 "And wherefore not?" said the countess; "unless they be 
 counsels fitter for such as Varney than for a man of stainless 
 honour and integrity. My lord — my lord, bend no angry 
 brows on me ; it is the truth, and it is I who speak it. I once 
 did Tressilian wrong for your sake ; I will not do him the 
 further injustice of being silent when his honour is brought in 
 question. I can forbear," she said, looking at Varney, "to 
 pull the mask off hypocrisy, but I will not permit virtue to be 
 slandered in my hearing." 
 
 There was a dead pause. Leicester stood displeased, yet 
 undetermined, and too conscious of the weakness of his cause ; 
 while Varney, with a deep and hypocritical affectation of sor- 
 row, mingled with humility, bent his eyes on the ground. 
 
 It was then that the Countess Amy displayed, in the midst 
 of distress and difficulty, the natural energy of character 
 which would have rendered her, had fate allowed, a distin- 
 guished ornament of the rank which she held. She walked 
 up to Leicester with a composed step, a dignified air, and 
 looks in which strong affection essayed in vain to shake the 
 firmness of conscious truth and rectitude of principle. " You 
 have spoke your mind, my lord," she said, "in these difficul- 
 ties, with which, unhappily, I have found myself unable to 
 comply. This gentleman — this person, I would say — has 
 hinted at another scheme, to which I object not but as it dis- 
 pleases you. Will your lordship be pleased to hear what a 
 young and timid woman, but your most affectionate wife, can 
 suggest in the present extremity?" 
 
 Leicester was silent, but bent his head towards the countess, 
 as an intimation that she was at liberty to proceed. 
 
 " There hath been but one cause for all these evils, my lord, " 
 she proceeded, " and it resolves itself into the mysterious du-
 
 KENILWORTH. 433 
 
 plicity with which you have been induced to surround your- 
 self. Extricate yourself at once, my lord, from the tyranny 
 of these disgraceful trammels. Be like a true English gentle- 
 man, knight, and earl, who holds that truth is the foundation 
 of honour, and that honour is dear to him as the breath of his 
 nostrils. Take your ill-fated wife by the hand ; lead her to 
 the footstool of Elizabeth's throne ; say that : 'In a moment of 
 infatuation, moved by supposed beauty, of which none per- 
 haps can" now trace even the remains, I gave my hand to this 
 Amy Eobsart.' You will then have done justice to me, my 
 lord, and to your own honour ; and should law or power re- 
 quire you to part from me, I will oppose no objection, since I 
 may then with honour hide a grieved and broken heart in those 
 shades from which your love withdrew me. Then — have but 
 a little patience, and Amy's life will not long darken your 
 brighter prospects." 
 
 There was so much of dignity, so much of tenderness, in 
 the countess's remonstrance that it moved all that was noble 
 and generous in the soul of her husband. The scales seemed 
 to fall from his eyes, and the duplicity and tergiversation of 
 •which he had been guilty stung him at once with remorse and 
 shame. 
 
 "I am not worthy of you. Amy," he said, "that could 
 weigh aught which ambition has to give against such a heart 
 as thine! I have a bitter penance to perform, in disen- 
 tangling, before sneering foes and astoimded friends, all the 
 meshes of my own deceitful policy. And the Queen — but let 
 her take my head, as she has threatened." 
 
 "Your head, my lord!" said the coimtess; "because you 
 used the freedom and liberty of an English subject in choosmg 
 a wife? For shame; it is this distrust of the Queen's justice, 
 this apprehension of danger, which cannot but be imaginaiy, 
 that, like scarecrows, have induced you to forsake the straight- 
 forward path, which, as it is the best, is also the safest." 
 
 "Ah, Amy, thou little kno west!" said Dudley; but, in- 
 stantly checking himself, he added : " Yet she shall not find 
 in me a safe or easy victim of arbitrary vengeance. I have 
 friends — I have allies — I will not, like Norfolk, be dragged 
 28
 
 434 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to the block as a victim to sacrifice. Fear not, Amy; thou 
 shalt see Dudley bear himself worthy of his name. I must 
 instantly communicate with some of those friends on whom I 
 can best rely ; for, as things stand, I may be made prisoner in 
 my own castle." 
 
 "Oh, my good lord," said Amy, "make no faction in a 
 peaceful state ! There is no friend can help us so well as our 
 own candid truth and honour. Bring but these to our assist- 
 ance, and you are safe amidst a whole army of the envious 
 and malignant. Leave these behind you, and all other de- 
 fence will be fruitless. Truth, my noble lord, is well pain,ted 
 unarmed. " 
 
 "But wisdom. Amy," answered Leicester, "is arrayed in 
 panoply of proof. Argue not with me on the means I shall 
 use to render my confession — since it must be called so — as 
 safe as may be ; it will be fraught with enough of danger, do 
 what we will. Varney, we must hence. Farewell, Amy, 
 whom I am to vindicate as mine own at an expense and risk 
 of which thou alone couldst be worthy! You shall soon hear 
 farther from me." 
 
 He embraced her fervently, muffled himself as before, and 
 accompanied Varney from the apartment. The latter, as he 
 left the room, bowed low, and, as he raised his body, regarded 
 Amy with a peculiar expression, as if he desired to know how 
 far his own pardon was included in the reconciliation which 
 had taken place betwixt her and her lord. The countess 
 looked upon him with a fixed eye, but seemed no more con- 
 scious of his presence than if there had been nothing but 
 vacant air on the spot where he stood. 
 
 " She has brought me to the crisis, " he muttered. " She 
 or I are lost. There was something — I wot not if it was fear 
 or pity — that prompted me to avoid this fatal crisis. It is 
 now decided. She or I must perish. " 
 
 While he thus spoke, he observed, with surprise, that a 
 boy, repulsed by the sentinel, made up to Leicester and spoke 
 with him. Varney was one of those politicians whom not th& 
 slightest appearances escape without inquiry. He asked tha 
 sentinel what the lad wanted with him, and received for an-
 
 KENILWORTH. 435 
 
 «wer, that the boy had'wished him to transmit a parcel to the 
 mad lady, but that he cared not to take charge of it, such 
 communication being beyond his commission. His curiosity 
 satisfied in that particular, he approached his patron and 
 heard him say : " Well, boy, the packet shall be delivered. " 
 
 "Thanks, good Master Serving-man," said the boy, and 
 Avas out of sight in an instant. 
 
 Leicester and Varney returned with hasty steps to the earl's 
 private apartment by the same passage which had conducted 
 them to Saintlowe's Tower. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 I have said 
 This is an adulteress, I have said with whom-. 
 More, she's a traitor, and Camillo is 
 A federary with her, and one that knows 
 What she should shame to know herself. 
 
 Winter's Tale. 
 
 They were no sooner in the earl's cabinet than, taking his 
 tablets from his pocket, he began to write, speaking partly to 
 Yarney and party to himself : " There are many of them close 
 bounden to me, and especially those in good estate and high 
 office ; many who, if they look back towards my benefits, or 
 forward towards the perils which may befall themselves, will 
 not, I think, be disposed to see me stagger unsupported. Let 
 me see — Knollis is sure, and through his means Guernsey and 
 Jersey. Horsey commands in the Isle of Wight. My 
 brother-in-law, Huntingdon, and Pembroke have authority in 
 Wales. Through l^edford I lead the Puritans, with their in- 
 terest, so powerful in all the boroughs. My brother of War- 
 wick is equal, wellnigh, to myself in wealth, followers, and 
 dependencies. Sir Owen Hopton is at my devotion ; he com- 
 mands the Tower of London, and the national treasure de- 
 posited there. My father and grandfather needed never to 
 have stooped their heads to the block had they thus forecast 
 their enterprises. Why look you so sad, Varney? I tell
 
 436 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 thee, a tree so deep-rooted is not easily to be torn up by the 
 tempest." 
 
 " Alas ! my lord, " said Varney, with well-acted passion, and 
 then resumed the same look of despondency which Leicester 
 had before noted. 
 
 "Alas!" repeated Leicester, "and wherefore alas. Sir 
 Richard? Doth your new spirit of chivalry supply no more 
 vigorous ejaculation when a noble struggle is impending? 
 Or, if 'alas' means thou wilt flinch from the conflict, thou 
 mayst leave the castle, or go join mine enemies, whichever 
 thou thinkest best." 
 
 "Not so, my lord," answered his confidant; "Varney will 
 be found fighting or dying by your side. Forgive me, if, in 
 love to you, I see more fully than your noble heart permits 
 you to do the inextricable difficulties with which you are sur- 
 rounded. You are strong, my lord, and powerful ; yet, let me 
 say it without offence, you are so only by the reflected light of 
 the Queen's favour. While you are Elizabeth's favourite you 
 are all, save in name, like an actual sovereign. But let her 
 call back the honours she has bestowed, and the prophet's 
 gourd did not wither more suddenly. Declare against the 
 Queen, and I do not say that in the wide nation, or in this 
 province alone, you would find yourself instantly deserted and 
 outnumbered; but I will say, that even in this very castle, 
 and in the midst of your vassals, kinsmen, and dependants, 
 you would be a captive, nay, a sentenced captive, should she 
 please to say the word. Think upon Norfolk, my lord — upon 
 the powerful Northumberland — the splendid Westmoreland — 
 think on all who have made head against this sage princess. 
 They are dead, captive, or fugitive. This is not like other 
 thrones, which can be overturned by a combination of power- 
 ful nobles : the broad foundations which support it are in the 
 extended love and affections of the people. You might share 
 it with Elizabeth if you would; but neither yours nor any 
 other power, foreign or domestic, will avail to overthrow or 
 even to shake it. " 
 
 He paused, and Leicester threw his tablets from him with 
 an air of reckless despite. " It may be as thou say'st, " he
 
 KENILWORTH. 437 
 
 said ; " and, in sootli, I care not whether truth or cowardice' 
 dictate thy forebodings. But it shall not be said I fell with- 
 out a struggle. Give orders that those of my retainers who 
 served under me in Ireland be gradually drawn into the main 
 keep, and let our gentlemen and friends stand on their guard, 
 and go armed, as if they expected an onset fi-om the followers 
 of Sussex. Possess the townspeople with some apprehension ; 
 let them take arms and be ready, at a signal given, to over- 
 power the pensioners and yeomen of the guaid. " 
 
 " Let me remind you, my lord, " said Varney, with the samfr 
 appearance of deep and melancholy interest, " that you have 
 given me orders to prepare for disarmmg the Queen's guard. It 
 is an act of high treason, but you shall nevertheless be obeyed. " 
 
 "I care not," said Leicester, desperately — "I care not. 
 Shame is behind me, ruin before me; I must on." 
 
 Here there was another pause, which Varney at length 
 broke with the following words : " It is come to the point I 
 have long dreaded. I must either witness, like an ungrateful 
 beast, the downfall of the best and kindest of masters, or I 
 must speak what I would have buried in the deepest oblivion, 
 or told by any other mouth than mine." 
 
 "What is that thou sayst, or wouldst say?" replied the 
 earl; "we have no time to waste on words, when the time 
 calls us to action." 
 
 " ]\Iy speech is soon made, my lord — would to God it were 
 as soon answered! Your marriage is the sole cause of the 
 threatened breach with your sovereign, my lord, is it not?" 
 
 "Thou knowest it is!" replied Leicester. ""What needs so 
 fi'uitless a question?" 
 
 "Pardon me, my lord," said Varney; "the use lies here. 
 Men wiU wager their lands and lives in defence of a rich 
 diamond, my lord; but were it not first prudent to look if 
 there is no flaw in it?" 
 
 " What means this?" said Leicester, with eyes sternly fixed 
 on his dependant; "of whom dost thou dare to speak?" 
 
 " It is — of the Countess Amy, my lord, of whom I am un- 
 happily bound to speak ; and of whom I loill speak, were your 
 lordship to kill me for my zeal,"
 
 438 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " Thou mayst happen to deserve it at my hand, " said the 
 earl; " but speak on, I will hear thee." 
 
 '' Nay, then, my lord, I will be bold. I speak for my own 
 life as well as for your lordship's. I like not this lady's 
 tampering and trickstering with this same Edmund Tressilian. 
 You know him, my lord. You know he had formerly an in- 
 terest in her, which it cost your lordship some pains to super- 
 sede. You know the eagerness with which he has pressed on 
 the suit against me in behalf of this lady, the open object of 
 ivhich is to drive your lordship to an avowal of what I must 
 ever call your most unhappy marriage, the point to which my 
 lady also is willing, at any risk, to urge you." 
 
 Leicester smiled constrainedly. " Thou meanest weU, good 
 Sir Eichard, and wouldst, I think, sacrifice thine own honour, 
 as well as that of any other person, to save me from what thou 
 think'st a step so terrible. But, remember" — he spoke these 
 words with the most stern decision — "you speak of the 
 Countess of Leicester." 
 
 " I do, my lord, " said Varney ; " but it is for the welfare of 
 the Earl of Leicester. My tale is but begun. I do most 
 strongly believe that this Tressilian has, from the beginning 
 of his moving in her cause, been in connivance with her lady- 
 ship the countess." 
 
 *' Thou speak'st wild madness, Varney, with the sober face 
 of a preacher. Where or how could they communicate to- 
 gether?" 
 
 " My lord, " said Varney, " unfortunately I can show that 
 but too well. It was just before the supplication was pre- 
 sented to the Queen, in Tressilian' s name, that I met him, to 
 my utter astonishment, at the postern gate which leads from 
 the demesne at Cumnor Place." 
 
 "Thou met'st him, villain! and why didst thou not strike 
 him dead?" exclaimed Leicester. 
 
 *' I drew on him, my lord, and he on me ; and had not my 
 foot slipped, he would not, perhaps, have been again a 
 stumbling-block in your lordship's path." 
 
 Leicester seemed struck dumb with surprise. At length he 
 answered : " What other evidence hast thou of this, Varney,
 
 KENILWORTH. 439 
 
 save thine own assertion? for, as I will punish, deeply, I will 
 examine coolly and warily. Sacred Heaven ! but no — I will ex- 
 amine coldly and warily — coldly and warily." He repeated 
 these words more than once to himself, as if in the very sound 
 there was a sedative quality ; and again compressing his lips, 
 as if he feared some violent expression might escape from 
 them, he asked again : " What farther proof?" 
 
 " Enough, my lord, " said Varney, " and to spare. I would 
 it rested with me alone, for with me it might have been 
 silenced for ever. But my servant, Michael Lambourne, wit- 
 nessed the whole, and was, indeed, the means of first intro- 
 ducing Tressilian into Cumnor Place j and therefore I took 
 him into my service, and retained him in it, though something 
 of a debauched fellow, that I might have his tongue always 
 under my own command." He then acquainted Lord Leicester 
 how easy it was to prove the circumstance of their interview 
 true, by evidence of Anthony Foster, with the corroborative 
 testimonies of the various persons at Cumnor, who had heard 
 the wager laid, and had seen Lambourne and Tressilian set 
 off together. In the whole narrative, Varney hazarded noth- 
 ing fabulous, excepting that, not indeed by direct assertion, 
 but by inference, he led his patron to suppose that the inter- 
 view betwixt Amy and Tressilian at Cumnor Place had been 
 longer than the few minutes to which it was in reality limited. 
 
 "And wherefore was I not told of all this?" said Leicester, 
 sternly. " Why did all of ye — and in particular thou, Var- 
 ney — keep back from me such material information?" 
 
 " Because, my lord, " replied Varney, " the countess pre- 
 tended to Foster and to me that Tressilian had intruded him- 
 self upon her ; and I concluded their interview had been in all 
 honour, and that she would at her own time tell it to your 
 lordship. Your lordship knows with what imwilling ears we 
 listen to evil surmises against those whom we love; and I 
 thank Heaven I am no make-bate or informer, to be the first 
 to sow them." 
 
 " You are but too ready to receive them, however. Sir 
 Richard," replied his patron. "How know'st thou that this 
 interview was not in all honour, as thou hast said? Methinka
 
 440 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 the wife of the Earl of Leicester might speak for a short time 
 with such a person as Tressilian without injury to me or sus- 
 picion to herself." 
 
 " Questionless, my lord, '' answered Varney ; " had I thought 
 otherwise, I had been no keeper of the secret. But here lies 
 the rub : Tressilian leaves not the place without establishing 
 a correspondence with a poor man, the landlord of an inn in 
 Cumnor, for the purpose of carr3dng off the lady. He sent 
 down an emissary of his, whom I trust soon to have in right 
 sure keeping under Mervyn's Tower. Killigrew and Lambs- 
 bey are scouidng the country in quest of him. The host is 
 rewarded with a ring for keeping counsel ; your lordshij) may 
 have noted it on Tressilian' s hand — here it is. This fellow, 
 this agent makes his way to the Place as a pedlar, holds con- 
 ferences with the lady, and they make their escape together by 
 night ; rob a poor fellow of a horse by the way, such was their 
 guilty haste j and at length reach this castle, whisre the Coun- 
 tess of Leicester finds refuge — I dare not say in what place." 
 
 "Speak, I command thee," said Leicester — "speak, while 
 I retain sense enough to hear thee." 
 
 " Since it must be so, " answered Varney, " the lady resorted 
 immediately to the apartment of Tressilian, where she re- 
 mained many hours, partly in company with him and partly 
 alone. I told you Tressilian had a paramour in his chamber; 
 I little dreamed that paramour was " 
 
 "Amy, thou wouldst say," answered Leicester; "but it is 
 false — false as the smoke of hell ! Ambitious she may be — 
 fickle and impatient — 'tis a woman's fault; but false to me! 
 never, never. The proof — the proof of this!" he exclaimed, 
 hastily. 
 
 "Carrol, the deputy-marshal, iishered her thither by her 
 own desire on yesterday afternoon; Lambourne and the 
 warder both found her there at an early hour this morning. " 
 
 "Was Tressilian there with her?" said Leicester in the 
 same hurried tone. 
 
 "No, my lord. You may remember," answered Yai-ney, 
 "that he was that night placed with Sir ]S"icholas Blount, 
 under a species of arrest. "
 
 KENILWORTH. 441 
 
 "Did Carrol, or the other fellows, know who she was?" 
 demanded Leicester. 
 
 "Xo, luy lord," replied Varney. "Carrol aud the warder 
 had never seen the countess, and Lambourne knew her not in 
 her disguise ; but, in seeking to prevent her leaving the cell, 
 he obtained possession of one of her gloves, which, I think, 
 your lordship may know." 
 
 He gave the glove, which had the bear and ragged staff, the 
 earl's impress, embroidered upon it in seed-pearls. 
 
 "I do — I do recognise it," said Leicester. "They were 
 my own gift. The fellow of it was on the arm which she 
 threw this very day around my neck." He spoke this with 
 violent agitation. 
 
 "Your lordship," said Yarney, "might yet further inquire 
 of the lady herself respecting the truth of these passages. " 
 
 "It needs not — it needs not," said the tortured earl: " it is 
 written in characters of burning light, as if they were branded 
 on my very eyeballs! I see her infamy, — I can see nought 
 else; aud — gracious Heaven! — for this vile woman was I 
 about to commit to danger the lives of so many noble friends 
 — shake the foundation of a lawful throne — carry the sword 
 and torch through the bosom of a peaceful land — wi-ong the 
 kind mistress who made me Avhat I am, and would, but for 
 that hell-framed marriage, have made me all that man can be ! 
 All this I was ready to do for a woman who trinkets and 
 traffics with my worst foes! And thou, villain, why didst 
 thou not speak sooner?" 
 
 " My lord," said Yarney, " a tear from my lady would have 
 blotted out all I could have said. Besides, I had not these 
 proofs until this very morning, when Anthony Foster's sudden 
 arrival, with the examinations and declai-ations which he had 
 extorted from the innkeeper Gosling and others, explained the 
 manner of her flight from Cumnor Place, and my own re- 
 searches discovered the steps which she had taken here." 
 
 " Xow, may God be praised for the light He has given ! so 
 full, so satisfactory, that there breathes not a man in England 
 who shall call my proceeding rash or my revenge unjust. 
 And yet, Varney, so young, so fair, so fawning, and so false I
 
 442 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Hence, then, her hatred to thee, my trusty, my well-beloved 
 servant, because you withstood her plots and endangered hei 
 paramour's life!" 
 
 " I never gave her any other cause of dislike, my lord," re- 
 plied Varney ; " but she knew that my counsels went directly 
 to diminish her influence with your lordship, and that I was, 
 and have been, ever ready to peril my life against your 
 enemies." 
 
 " It is too, too apparent, " replied Leicester ; " yet, with 
 what an air of magnanimity she exhorted me to commit my 
 head to the Queen's mercy rather than wear the veil of false- 
 hood a moment longer ! Methinks the angel of truth himself 
 can have no such tones of high-souled impulse. Can it be 
 so, Varney? Can falsehood use thus boldly the language of 
 truth? Can infamy thus assume the guise of purity? Var- 
 ney, thou hast been my servant from a child; I have raised 
 thee high — can raise thee higher. Think — think for me! 
 Thy brain was ever shrewd and piercing. May she not be 
 innocent? Prove her so, and all I have yet done for thee 
 shall be as nothing — nothing — in comparison of thy recom- 
 pense!" 
 
 The agony with which his master spoke had some effect 
 even on the hardened Varney, who, in the midst of his own 
 wicked and ambitious designs, really loved his patron as well 
 as such a wretch was capable of loving anything ; but he com- 
 forted himself, and subdued his self-reproaches, with the re- 
 flection that, if he inflicted upon the earl some immediate and 
 transitory pain, it was in order to pave his way to the throne, 
 which, were this marriage dissolved by death or otherwise, he 
 deemed Elizabeth would willingly share with his benefactor. 
 He therefore persevered in his diabolical policy; and, after a 
 moment's consideration, answered the anxious queries of the 
 earl with a melancholy look, as if he had in vain sought some 
 exculpation for the countess ; then suddenly raising his head, 
 he said, with an expression of hope, which instantly com- 
 municated itself to the countenance of his patron: "Yet 
 wherefore, if guilty, should she have perilled herself by com- 
 ing hither? Why not rather have fled to her father's or
 
 KENILWORTH. 443 
 
 elsewhere? — though that, indeed, might have interfered with 
 her desire to be acknowledged as Countess of Leicester." 
 
 "True — true — true!" exclaimed Leicester, his transient 
 gleam of hope giving way to the utmost bitterness of feeling 
 and expression; "thou art not fit to fathom a woman's depth 
 ©f wit, Varney. I see it all. She would not quit the estate 
 and title of the wittol who had wedded her. Ay, and if in my 
 madness I had started into rebellion, or if the angry Queen 
 had taken my head, as she this morning threatened, the 
 wealthy dower which law would have assigned to the Countess 
 Dowager of Leicester had been no bad windfall to the beggarly 
 Tressilian. Well might she goad me on to danger, which 
 could not end otherwise than profitable to her. Speak not 
 for her, Varney; I will have her blood!" 
 
 " My lord»" replied Varney, " the wildness of your distress 
 breaks forth in the wildness of your language. " 
 
 " I say, speak not for her, " replied Leicester ; " she has dis- 
 honoured me — she would have murdered me ; all ties are burst 
 between us. She shall die the death of a traitress and adul- 
 teress, well merited both by the laws of God and man ! And 
 — what is this casket, " he said, " which was even now thrust 
 into my hand by a boy, with the desire I would convey 
 it to Tressilian, as he could not give it to the countess? 
 By Heaven! the words surprised me as he spoke them, 
 though other matters chased them from my brain; but 
 now they return with double force. It is her casket of 
 jewels ! Force it open, Varney — force the hinges open with 
 thy poniard." 
 
 " She refused the aid of my dagger once, " thought Varney, 
 as he unsheathed the weapon, " to cut the string which bound 
 a letter, but now it shall Avork a mightier ministry in her for- 
 tunes." 
 
 With this reflection, by using the three-cornered stiletto- 
 blade as a wedge, he forced open the slender silver hinges of 
 the casket. The Earl no sooner saw them give way than he 
 snatched the casket from Sir Richard's hand, wrenched off the 
 cover, and tearing out the splendid contents, flung them on 
 the floor in a transport of rage, while he eagerly searched for
 
 444 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 some letter or billet which should make the fancied guilt of 
 his innocent countess j^et more apparent. Then stamping 
 furiously on the gems, he exclaimed : " Thus I annihilate the 
 miserable toys for which thou hast sold thyself, body and 
 soul, consigned thyself to an early and timeless death, and me 
 to misery and remorse for ever ! Tell me not of forgiveness, 
 Varney. She is doomed!" 
 
 So saying, he left the room, and rushed into an adjacent 
 closet, the door of which he locked and bolted. 
 
 Vamey looked after him, while something of a more human 
 feeling seemed to contend with his habitual sneer. " I am 
 sorry for his weakness, " he said, " but love has made him a 
 child. He throws down and treads on these costly toys ; with 
 the same vehemence would he dash to pieces this frailest toy 
 of all, of which he used to rave so fondly. But that taste 
 also will be forgotten when its object is no more. Well, he 
 has no eye to value things as they deserve, and that nature 
 has given to Yarney. When Leicester shall be a sovereign, 
 he will think as little of the gales of passion through which he 
 gained that royal port as ever did sailor in harbour of the 
 perils of a voyage. But these tell-tale articles must not re- 
 main here : they are rather too rich vails for the drudges who 
 dress the chamber." 
 
 While Varney was employed in gathering together and 
 putting them into a secret drawer of a cabinet that chanced to 
 be unlocked, he saw the door of Leicester's closet open, the 
 tapestry pushed aside, and the earl's face thrust cut, but with 
 eyes so dead, and lips and cheeks so bloodless and pale, that 
 he started at the sudden change. No sooner did his eyes 
 encounter the earl's than the latter withdrew his head and 
 shut the door of the closet. This manoeuvre Leicester repeat- 
 ed twice, without speaking a word, so that Varney began to 
 doubt whether his brain was not actually affected by his mental 
 agony. The third time, however, he beckoned, and Varney 
 obeyed the signal. When he entered, he soon found his 
 patron's perturbation was not caused by insanity, but by the 
 fellness of purpose which he entertained contending with 
 various contrary passions. They passed a full hour in close
 
 KENILWORTH. 445 
 
 consultation; after which the Earl of Leicester, with an in- 
 credible exertion, dressed himself and went to attend his 
 royal guest. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting 
 With most admired disorder. 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 It was afterwards remembered that, during the banquets 
 and revels which occupied the remainder of this eventful day, 
 the bearing of Leicester and of Varney were totally different 
 from their usual demeanour. Sir Eichard Varney had been 
 held rather a man of counsel and of action than a votary of 
 pleasure. Business, whether civil or military, seemed always 
 to be his proper sphere ; and while in festivals and revels, 
 although he well understood how to trick them up and present 
 them, his own part was that of a mere spectator; or, if he 
 exercised his wit, it was in a rough, caustic, and severe 
 manner, rather as if he scoffed at the exhibition and the 
 guests than shared the common pleasure. 
 
 But upon the present day his character seemed changed. 
 He mixed |^among the younger courtiers and ladies, and ap- 
 peared for the moment to be actuated by a spirit of light- 
 hearted gaiety which rendered him a match for the liveliest. 
 Those who had looked upon him as a man given up to graver 
 and more ambitious pursuits, a bitter sneerer and passer of 
 sarcasms at the expense of those who, taking life as they 
 find it, were disposed to snatch at each pastime it presents, 
 now perceived with astonishment that his wit could carry as 
 smooth an edge as their own, his laugh be as lively, and his 
 brow as unclouded. By what art of damnable hypocrisy he 
 could draw this veil of gaiety over the black thoughts of one 
 of the worst of human bosoms must remain unintelligible to 
 all but his compeers, if any such ever existed ; but he was a 
 man of extraordinary powers, and those powers were unhappily 
 dedicated in all their energy to the very worst of purposes.
 
 446 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 It was entirely different with Leicester. However habit- 
 uated his mind usually was to play the part of a good cour- 
 tier, and appear gay, assiduous, and free from all care but 
 that of enhancing the pleasure of the moment, while his bosom 
 internally throbbed with the pangs of unsatisfied ambition, 
 jealousy, or resentment, his heart had now a yet more dread- 
 ful guest, whose workings could not be overshadowed or sup- 
 pressed; and you might read in his vacant eye and troubled 
 brow that his thoughts were far absent from the scenes in 
 which he was compelling himself to play a part. He looked, 
 moved, and spoke as if by a succession of continued efforts; 
 and it seemed as if his will had in some degree lost the 
 promptitude of command over the acute mind and goodly form 
 of which it was the regent. His actions and gestures, instead 
 of appearing the consequence of simple volition, seemed, like 
 those of an automaton, to wait the revolution of some internal 
 machinery ere they could be performed; and his words fell 
 from him piecemeal, interrupted, as if he had first to think 
 what he was to say, then how it was to be said, and as if, 
 after all, it was only by an effort of continued attention that 
 he completed a sentence without forgetting both the one and 
 the other. 
 
 The singular effects which these distractions of mind pro- 
 duced upon the behaviour and conversation of the most accom- 
 plished courtier of England, as they were visible to the lowest 
 and dullest menial who approached his person, could not 
 escape the notice of the most intelligent princess of the age. 
 Nor is there the least doubt that the alternate negligence and 
 irregularity of his manner would have called down Elizabeth's 
 severe displeasure on the Earl of Leicester, had it not occurred 
 to her to account for it by supposing that the apprehension of 
 that displeasure which she had expressed towards him with 
 such vivacity that very morning was dwelling upon the spirits 
 of her favourite, and, spite of his efforts to the contrary, dis- 
 tracted the usual gracefvil tenor of his mien and the charms of 
 his conversation. When this idea, so flattering to female 
 vanity, had once obtained possession of her mind, it proved a 
 full and satisfactory apology for the numerous errors and mis-
 
 KENILWORTH. 447 
 
 takes of the Earl of Leicester ; and the watchful circle around 
 observed with astonishment that, instead of resenting his re- 
 peated negligence and want of even ordinary attention, al- 
 though these were points on which she was usually extremely 
 punctilious, the Queen sought, on the contrary, to afford him 
 time and means to recollect himself, and deigned to assist him 
 in doing so, with an indulgence which seemed altogether in- 
 consistent with her usual character. It was clear, however, 
 that this could not last much longer, and that Elizabeth must 
 finally put another and more severe construction on Leicester's 
 uncourteous conduct, when the earl was summoned by Varney 
 to speak with him in a different apartment. 
 
 After having had the message twice delivered to him, he 
 rose, and was about to withdraw, as it were, by instinct ; then 
 stopped, and, turning round, entreated permission of the Queen 
 to absent himself for a brief space upon matters of pressing 
 importance. 
 
 "Go, my lord," said the Queen; "we are aware our pres- 
 ence must occasion sudden and unexpected occurrences, which 
 require to be provided for on the instant. Yet, my lord, as 
 you would have us believe ourself your welcome and honoured 
 guest, we entreat you to think less of our good cheer, and 
 favour us with more of your good coimtenance than we have 
 this day enjoyed; for, whether prince or peasant be the guest, 
 the welcome of the host will always be the better part of the 
 entertainment. Go, my lord ; and we trust to see j^ou return 
 with an unwrinkled brow and those free thoughts which you 
 are wont to have at the disposal of your friends. " 
 
 Leicester only bowed low in answer to this rebuke, and re- 
 tired. At the door of the apartment he was met by Yarney, 
 who eagerly drew him apart, and whispered in his ear : " All 
 Is well!" 
 
 " Has Masters seen her?" said the earl. 
 
 "He has, my lord; and as she would neither answer his 
 queries nor allege any reason for her refusal, he will give full 
 testimony that she labours imder a mental disorder, and may 
 be best committed to the charge of her friends. The oppor- 
 tunity is therefore free to remove her as we proposed."
 
 448 WAVEKLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " But Tressilian?" said Leicester. 
 
 " He will not know of her departure for some time, " replied 
 Yarney ; " it shall take place this very evening, and to-morrow 
 he shall be cared for." 
 
 " No, by my soul, " answered Leicester ; " I will take ven- 
 geance on him with mine own hand!" 
 
 " You, my lord, and on so inconsiderable a man as Tres- 
 silian ! No, my lord, he hath long wished to visit foreign parts. 
 Trust him to me : I will take care he returns not hither to tell 
 tales." 
 
 "Not so, by Heaven, Yarney!" exclaimed Leicester. "In- 
 considerable do you call an enemy that hath had power to 
 wound me so deeply that my whole after life must be one 
 scene of remorse and misery? No; rather than forego the 
 right of doing myself justice with my own hand on that ac- 
 cursed villian, I will unfold the whole tnith at Elizabeth's 
 footstool, and let her vengeance descend at once on them and 
 on myself." 
 
 Yarney saw with great alarm that his lord was wrought up 
 to such a pitch of agitation that, if he gave not way to him, 
 he was perfectly capable of adopting the desperate resolution 
 which he had announced, and which was instant ruin to all 
 the schemes of ambition which Yarney had formed for his 
 patron and for himseK. But the earl's rage seemed at once 
 uncontrollable and deeply concentrated; and while he spoke 
 his eyes shot fire, his voice trembled with excess of passion, 
 and the light foam stood on his lip. 
 
 His confidant made a bold and successful effort to obtain 
 the mastery of him even in this hour of emotion. " My lord, " 
 he said, leading him to a mirror, " behold your reflection in 
 that glass, and think if these agitated features belong to one 
 who, in a condition so extreme, is capable of forming a reso- 
 lution for himseK." 
 
 "What, then, wouldst thou make me?" said Leicester, 
 struck at the change in his own physiognomy, though offended 
 at the freedom with which Yarney made the appeal. " Am I 
 to be thy ward, thy vassal — the property and subject of my 
 servant?"
 
 EENILWORTH. 449 
 
 "No, my lord," said Varney, firmly, "but be master of 
 yourself and of your owu passion. My lord, I, your bora 
 Bervant, am shamed to see how poorly you bear yoiu"self in 
 the storm of fury. Go to Elizabeth's feet, confess your mar- 
 riage, impeach your wdfe and her paramour of adultery, and 
 avow 3'ourself, amongst all your peers, the wittol who married 
 a country giii, and was cozened by her and her book-learned 
 gallant. Go, my lord; but first take farewell of Richard 
 Varne}', with all the benefits you ever conferred on him. He 
 served the noble, the lofty, the high-minded Leicester, and 
 was more proud of depending on him. than he would be of 
 commanding thousands. But the abject lord who stoops to 
 every adverse circumstance, whose judicious resolves are scat- 
 tered like chaff before every wind of passion, him Richard 
 Varney serves not. He is as much above him in constancy of 
 mind as beneath him in rank and fortune." 
 
 Varney spoke thus without hypocrisy, for, though the firm- 
 ness of mind which he boasted was hardness and impenetra- 
 bility, yet he really felt the ascendency which he vaunted; 
 while the interest which he actually felt in the fortiuies of 
 Leicester gave unusual emotion to his voice and manner. 
 
 Leicester was overpowered by his assumed superiority; ifc 
 seemed to the unfortunate earl as if his last friend was about 
 to abandon him. He stretched his hand towards Varney as 
 he uttered the words : " Do not leave me. "What wouldst thou 
 have me do?" 
 
 " Be thyself, my noble master, " said Varney, touching the 
 earl's hand with his lips, after having respectfully grasped it 
 in his own — " be yourself, superior to those storms of passion 
 which wreck inferior minds. Are you the fij'st who has been 
 cozened in love? The first whom a vain and licentious woman 
 has cheated into an affection which she has afterwards scorned 
 and misused? And will you suffer yourself to be driven 
 frantic, because you have not been wiser than the wisest men 
 whom the world has seen? Let her be as if she had not been 
 — let her pass from your memory as unworthy of ever having 
 held a place there. Let your strong resolve of this morning, 
 which I have both courage, zeal, and means enough to exe* 
 29
 
 450 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 cute, be like the fiat of a superior being, a passionless act of 
 justice. She hath deserved death — let her die!" 
 
 While he was speaking, the earl held his hand fast, com- 
 pressed his lips hard, and frowned, as if he laboured to catch 
 from Varney a portion of the cold, ruthless, and dispassionate 
 firmness which he recommended. "When he was silent, the 
 earl still continued to grasp his hand, until, with an effort at 
 calm decision, he was able to articulate : '* Be it so — she dies ! 
 But one tear might be permitted." 
 
 "Not one, my lord," interrupted Varney, who saw by the 
 quivering eye and convulsed cheek of his patron that he was 
 about to give way to a burst of emotion, " not a tear — the time 
 permits it not. Tressilian must be thought of " 
 
 "That indeed is a name," said the earl, "to convert tears 
 into blood. Varney, I have thought on this, and I have de- 
 termined — neither entreaty nor argument shall move me— 
 Tressilian shall be my own victim." 
 
 " It is madness, my lord ; but you are too mighty for me to 
 bar your way to your revenge. Yet resolve at least to choose 
 fitting time and opportunity, and to forbear him until those 
 ehall be found." 
 
 " Thou shalt order me in what thou wilt, " said Leicester, 
 **only thwart me not in this." 
 
 "Then, my lord," said Varney, "I first request of you to 
 lay aside the wild, suspected, and half-frenzied demeanour 
 which hath this day drawn the eyes of all the court upon you ; 
 and which, but for the Queen's partial indulgence, which she 
 hath extended towards you in a degree far beyond her nature, 
 she had never given you the opportunity to atone for." 
 
 " Have I indeed been so negligent?" said Leicester, as one 
 who awakes from a dream. "I thought I had coloured it 
 well; but fear nothing, my mind is now eased — I am calm. 
 My horoscope shall be fulfilled ; and that it may be fulfilled, 
 I win tax to the highest every faculty of my mind. Fear me 
 not, I say. I will to the Queen instantly; not thine own 
 looks and language shall be more impenetrable than mine. 
 Hast thou aught else to say?" 
 
 "I must crave your signet-ring," said Varney, gravely, "in
 
 KENILWORTa 461 
 
 token to tliose of your servants whom I must employ tliat I 
 possess your full authority in commanding their aid." 
 
 Leicester drew off the signet-ring which he commonly used 
 and gave it to Varney with a haggard and stern expression of 
 countenance, adding only, in a low, haK-whispered tone, but 
 with terrific emphasis, the words: "What thou dost, da 
 quickly." 
 
 Some anxiety and wonder took place, meanwhile, in the 
 presence-hall at the prolonged absence of the noble lord of the 
 castle, and great was the delight of his friends when they saw 
 him enter as a man from whose bosom, to all human seeming, 
 a weight of care had been just removed. Amply did Leicester 
 that day redeem the pledge he had given to Varney, who soon 
 saw himself no longer under the necessity of maintaining a 
 character so different from his own as that which he had as- 
 sumed in the earlier part of the day, and gradually relapsed 
 into the same grave, shrewd, caustic observer of conversation 
 and incident which constituted his usual part in society. 
 
 With Elizabeth, Leicester played his game as one to whom 
 her natural strength of talent, and her weakness in one or two 
 particular points, were well known. He was too wary to ex- 
 change on a sudden the sullen personage which he had played 
 before he retired with Varney; but, on approaching her, it 
 seemed softened into a melancholy, which had a touch of ten- 
 derness in it, and which, in the course of conversing with 
 Elizabeth, and as she dropped in compassion one mark of 
 favour after another to console him, passed into a flow of 
 Affectionate gallantry the most assiduous, the most delicate, 
 the most insinuating, yet at the same time the most respectful, 
 with which a queen was ever addressed by a subject. Eliza- 
 beth listened as in a sort of enchantment; her jealousy of 
 power was lulled asleep ; her resolution to forsake all social or 
 domestic ties, and dedicate herseK exclusively to the care of 
 her people, began to be shaken, and once more the star of 
 Dudley culminated in the court horizon. 
 
 But Leicester did not enjoy this triumph over nature and 
 over conscience without its being embittered to him, not only 
 by the internal rebellion of his feelings agauist the violence
 
 452 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 ■vvhicli he exercised over them, but by many accidental circum- 
 stances, which, in the course of the banquet, and during the 
 subsequent amusements of the evening, jarred upon that nerve 
 the least vibration of which was agony. 
 
 The courtiers were, for example, in the great hall, after 
 having left the banqueting-room, awaiting the appearance of 
 a splendid masque, which was the expected entertainment of 
 this evening, when the Queen interrupted a wild career of wit 
 which the Earl of Leicester was running against Lord Wil- 
 loughby, Raleigh, and some other courtiers, by saying : " We 
 will impeach you of high treason, my lord, if you proceed in 
 this attempt to slay us with laughter. And here comes a 
 thing may make us all grave at his pleasure, our learned phy- 
 sician Masters, with news belike of our poor suppliant, Lady 
 Varney ; nay, my lord, we will not have you leave us, for this 
 being a dispute betwixt married persons, we do not hold our 
 own experience deep enough to decide thereon, without good 
 counsel. How now, Masters, what think' st thou of the run- 
 away bride?" 
 
 The smile with which Leicester had been speaking when 
 the Queen interrupted him remained arrested on his lips, as if 
 it had been carved there by the chisel of Michael Angelo or of 
 Chan trey ; and he listened to the speech of the physician with 
 the same immovable cast of countenance. 
 
 " The Lady Varney, gracious sovereign, " said the court 
 physician Masters, " is sullen, and would hold little conference 
 with me touching the state of her health, talking wildly of 
 being soon to plead her own cause before your own presence, 
 and of answering no meaner person's inquiries." 
 
 "Now, the Heavens forefend!" said the Queen; "we have 
 already suffered from the misconstructions and broils which 
 seem to follow this poor brain-sick lady wherever she comes. 
 Think you not so, my lord?" she added, appealing to Leicester, 
 with something m her look that indicated regret, even tenderly 
 expressed, for their disagreement of that morning. Leicester 
 compelled himself to bow low. The utmost force he could 
 exert was inadequate to the farther effort of expressing in 
 words his acquiescence in the Queen's sentiment.
 
 KENIL WORTH. 463 
 
 " You are vindictive, " she said, *' my lord ; but we will find 
 time and place to punish you. But once more to this same 
 trouble-mirth — this Lady Varney. What of her health, 
 Masters?" 
 
 " She is sullen, madam, as I already said," replied Masters, 
 " and refuses to answer interrogatories or be amenable to the 
 authority of the mediciner. I conceive her to be possessed 
 with a delirium, which I incline to term rather hypochondria 
 than phrenesis ; and I think she were best cared for by her 
 husband in his own ho.v.a, and removed from all this bustle of 
 pageants, which disturbs her weak brain with the most fan- 
 tastic phantoms. She drops hints as if she were some great 
 X^erson in disguise — some countess or princess perchance. 
 God help them, such are often the hallucinations of these in- 
 firm persons!" 
 
 '"Xay, then," said the Queen, "away with her with all 
 speed. Let Varney care for her with fitting humanity ; but 
 let them rid the castle of her forthwith. She will think her- 
 self lady of all, I warrant you. It is pity so fair a form, 
 however, should havv. an infirm understanding. What think 
 you, my lord?" 
 
 " It is pity indeed, " said the earl, repeating the words like 
 a task which was set him. 
 
 " But, perhaps, " said Elizabeth, " you do not join with us 
 in our opinion of her beauty ; and indeed we have known 
 men prefer a statelier and more Juno-like form to that 
 drooping, fragile one, that hung its head like a broken lily. 
 Ay, men are tyrants, my lord, who esteem the animation of 
 the strife above the triumph of an unresisting conquest, and, 
 like sturdy champions, love best those women who can wage 
 contest with them. I could think with you, Rutland, that, 
 give my Lord of Leicester such a piece of painted wax for a 
 bride, he would have wished her dead ere the end of the 
 honejmioon. " 
 
 As she said this, she looked on Leicester so expressively 
 that, while his heart revolted against the egregious falsehood, 
 lie did himself so much violence as to reply in a whisper, that 
 Leicester's love was more lowly than her Majesty deemed, since
 
 454 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 it was settled wliere he could never command, but must ever 
 obey. 
 
 The Queen blushed, and bid him be silent ; yet looked as if 
 she expected that he would not obey her commands. But at 
 that moment the flourish of trumpets and kettle-drums from 
 a high balcony which overlooked the hall announced the en- 
 trance of the masquers, and relieved Leicester from the hor- 
 rible state of constraint and dissimulation in which the result 
 of his own duplicity had placed him. 
 
 The masque which entered consisted of four separate bands, 
 which followed each other at brief intervals, each consisting 
 of six principal persons and as many torch-bearers, and each 
 representing one of the various nations by which England had 
 at different times been occupied. 
 
 The aboriginal Britons, who first entered, were ushered in 
 by two ancient Druids, whose hoary hair was crowned with a 
 chaplet of oak, and who bore in their hands branches of mistle- 
 toe. The masquers who followed these venerable figures were 
 succeeded by two bards, arrayed in white, and bearing harps, 
 which they occasionally touched, singing at the same time 
 certain stanzas of an ancient hymn to Belus, or the Sun. The 
 aboriginal Britons had been selected from amongst the tallest 
 and most robust young gentlemen in attendance on the court. 
 Their masks were accommodated with long shaggy beards and 
 hair ; their vestments were of the hides of wolves and bears ; 
 while their legs, arms, and the upper parts of their bodies, 
 being sheathed in flesh-coloured silk, on which were traced in 
 grotesque lines representations of the heavenly bodies, and of 
 animals and other terrestrial objects, gave them the lively 
 appearance of our painted ancestors, whose freedom was first 
 trenched upon by the Komans. 
 
 The sons of Eome, who came to civilise as well as to con- 
 quer, were next produced before the princely assembly ; and 
 the manager of the revels had correctly imitated the high 
 crest and military habits of that celebrated people, accommo- 
 dating them with the light yet strong buckler, and the short 
 two-edged sword, the use of which had made them victors of 
 the world. The Eoman eagles were borne before them by two
 
 ZENILWORTH. 455 
 
 standard-bearers, who recited a hymn to Mars, and the clas- 
 sical warriors followed with the grave and haughty step of 
 men who aspired at universal conquest. 
 
 The third quadrille represented the Saxons, clad in the 
 bearskins which they had brought with them from the German 
 forests, and bearing in their hands the redoubtable battle-axes 
 which made such havoc among the natives of Britain. They 
 were preceded by two scalds, who chanted the praises of Odin. 
 
 Last came the knightly Normans, in their mail-shirts and 
 hoods of steel, with all the panoply of chivalry, and mar- 
 shalled by two minstrels, who sung of war and ladies' love. 
 
 These four bands entered the spacious hall with the utmost 
 order, a short pause being made that the spectators might 
 satisfy their curiosity as to each quadrille before the appear- 
 ance of the next. They then marched completely round the 
 hall, in order the more fully to display themselves, regulating 
 their steps to organs, shalms, hautboys, and virginals, the 
 music of the Lord Leicester's household. At length the four 
 quadrilles of masquers, ranging their torch-bearers behind 
 them, drew up in their several ranks on the two opposite sides 
 of the hall, so that the Eomans confrontmg the Britons, and 
 the Saxons the Normans, seemed to look on each other with 
 eyes of wonder, which presently appeared to kindle into anger, 
 expressed by menacing gestures. At the burst of a strain of 
 martial music from the gallery, the masquers drew their 
 swords on all sides, and advanced against each other in the 
 measured steps of a sort of Pyrrhic or military dance, clashing 
 their swords agamst their adversaries' shields, and clattering 
 them against their blades as they passed each other in the 
 progress of the dance. It was a very pleasant spectacle to see 
 how the various bands, preserving regularity amid motions 
 which seemed to be totally irregular, mixed together, and then' 
 disengaging themselves resumed each their own original rank 
 as the music varied. 
 
 In this symbolical dance were represented the conflicts 
 which had taken place among the various nations which had 
 anciently inhabited Britain. 
 
 At length, after many mazy evolutions, which afforded
 
 456 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 great pleasure to the spectators, the sound of a loud-voiced 
 trumpet was heard, as if it blew for instant battle or for 
 victory won. The masquers instantly ceased their mimic 
 strife, and collecting themselves under their original leaders, 
 or presenters, for such was the appropriate phrase, seemed to 
 share the anxious expectation which the spectators experienced 
 concerning what was next to appear. 
 
 The doors of the hall were thrown wide, and no less a 
 person entered than the fiend-born Merlin, dressed in a 
 strange and mystical attire, suited to his ambiguous birth and 
 magical power. About him and behind him fluttered or gam- 
 bolled many extraordinary forms, intended to represent the 
 spirits who waited to do his powerful bidding ; and so much 
 did this part of the pageant interest the menials and others of 
 the lower class then in the castle, that many of them forgot 
 even the reverence due to the Queen's presence so far as to 
 thrust themselves into the lower part of the hall. 
 
 The Earl of Leicester, seeing his officers had some difficulty 
 to repel these intruders, without more disturbance than was 
 fitting where the Queen was in presence, arose and went him- 
 self to the bottom of the hall ; Elizabeth, at the same time, 
 with her usual feeling for the common people, requesting that 
 they might be permitted to remain undisturbed to witness the 
 pageant. Leicester went under this pretext; but his real 
 motive was to gain a moment to himseK, and to relieve his 
 mind, were it but for one instant, from the dreadful task of 
 hiding, under the guise of gaiety and gallantry, the lacerating 
 pangs of shame, anger, remorse, and thirst for vengeance. 
 He imposed silence by his look and sign upon the vulgar crowd 
 at the lower end of the apartment ; but, instead of instantly 
 returning to wait on her Majesty, he wrapped his cloak around 
 him, and mixing with the crowd, stood in some degree an un- 
 distinguished spectator of the progress of the masque. 
 
 Merlin, having entered and advanced into the midst of the 
 hall, summoned the presenters of the contending bands around 
 him by a wave of his magical rod, and announced to them, 
 in a poetical speech, that the isle of Britain was now com- 
 manded by a royal maiden, to whom it was the will of fate
 
 KENILWOPtTH. 457 
 
 "that they should all do homage, and request of her to pro- 
 nounce on the various pretensions which each set forth to be 
 esteemed the pre-eminent stock from which the present na- 
 tives, the happy subjects of that angelical princess, derived 
 their lineage. 
 
 In obedience to this mandate, the bands, each moving to 
 solemn music, passed in succession before Elizabeth; doing 
 her, as they passed, each after the fashion of the people whom 
 they represented, the lowest and most devotional homage, 
 which she returned with the same gracious courtesy that had 
 marked her whole conduct since she came to Kenilworth. 
 
 The presenters of the several masques, or quadrilles, then 
 alleged, each in behalf of his own troop, the reasons which 
 they had for claiming pre-eminence over the rest ; and when 
 they had been all heard in turn, she returned them this 
 gracious answer : " That she was sorry she was not better 
 qualified to decide upon the doubtful question which had been 
 propounded to her by the direction of the famous Merlin, but 
 that it seemed to her that no single one of these celebrated 
 nations could claim pre-eminence over the others as having 
 most contributed to form the Englishman of her own time, 
 who unquestionably derived from each of them some worthy 
 attribute of his character. Thus, " she said, " the Englishman 
 had from the ancient Briton his bold and tameless spirit of 
 freedom ; from the Roman his disciplined courage in war, with 
 his love of letters and civilisation in time of peace ; . from the 
 Saxon his wise and equitable laws ; and from the chivalrous 
 Norman his love of honour and courtesy, with his generous 
 desire for glory." 
 
 Merlin answered with readiness, that it did indeed require 
 that so many choice qualities should meet in the English as 
 might render them in some measure the muster of the perfec- 
 tions of other nations, since that alone could render them in 
 some degree deserving of the blessings they enjoyed under the 
 reign of England's Elizabeth. 
 
 The music then sounded, and the quadrilles, together Avith 
 Merlin and liis assistants, had begun to remove fi'om the 
 crowded hall, when Leicester, who was, as we have mentioned,
 
 458 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 stationed for tlie moment near the bottom of the hall, and 
 consequently engaged in some degree in the crowd, felt him* 
 self pulled by the cloak, while a voice whispered in his ear, 
 "My lord, I do desire some instant conference with you," 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 How is't with me, when every noise appals me ! 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 "I DESIRE some conference with you." The words were 
 simple in themselves, but Lord Leicester was in that alarmed 
 and feverish state of mind when the most ordinary occur- 
 rences seem fraught with alarming import; and he turned 
 hastily round to survey the person by whom they had been 
 spoken. There was nothing remarkable in the speaker's ap» 
 pearance, which consisted of a black silk doublet and short 
 mantle, with z. black vizard on his face ; for it appeared he 
 had been among the crowd of masks who had thronged into 
 the hall in the retinue of Merlin, though he did not wear any 
 of the extravagant disguises by which most of them were dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 " Who are you, or what do you want with me?" said Leices- 
 ter, not without betraying, by his accents, the hurried state of 
 his spirits. 
 
 " Ko evil, my lord, " answered the mask, " but much good 
 and honour, if you will rightly understand my purpose. But 
 I must speak with you more privately." 
 
 " I can speak with no nameless stranger, " answered Leices- 
 ter, dreading he knew not precisely what from the request 
 of the stranger ; " and those who are known to me must seek 
 another and a fitter time to ask an interview. " 
 
 He would have hurried away, but the mask still detained 
 him. 
 
 " Those who talk to your lordship of what your own honour 
 demands have a right over your time, whatever occupations 
 you may lay aside in order to indulge them.^'
 
 KENILWORTH. 459 
 
 "How! myhouour! Who dare impeach it?" said Leices- 
 ter. 
 
 " Your own conduct alone can furnish grounds for accusing 
 it, my lord, and it is that topic on which I would speak with 
 you." 
 
 "You are insolent," said Leicester, "and abuse the hospi- 
 table license of the time, which prevents me from having you 
 punished. I demand your name'?" 
 
 "Edmund Tressilian of Cornwall," answered the mask. 
 " My tongue has been bound by a promise for four-and-twenty 
 hours ; the space is passed — I now speak, and do your lord- 
 ship the justice to address myself first to you." 
 
 The thrill of astonishment which had penetrated to Leices* 
 ter's very heart at hearing that name pronounced by the voice 
 of the man he most detested, and by whom he conceived 
 himself so deeply injured, at first rendered him immovable 
 but instantly gave way to such a thirst for revenge as the 
 pilgrim in the desert feels for the water-brooks. He had but 
 sense and self-government enough left to prevent his stabbing 
 to the heart the audacious villain who, after the ruin he had 
 brought upon him, dared, with such unmoved assurance, thus 
 to practise upon him farther. Determined to suppress for the 
 moment every symptom of agitation in order to perceive the 
 full scope of Tressilian 's purpose, as well as to secure his own 
 vengeance, he answered in a tone so altered by restrained pas- 
 sion as scarce to be intelligible : " And what does Master Ed- 
 mund Tressilian require at my hand?" 
 
 " Justice, my lord, " answered Tressilian, calmly but firmly. 
 
 " Justice, " said Leicester, " all men are entitled to. You, 
 Master Tressilian, are peculiarly so, and be assured you shall 
 have it." 
 
 "I expect nothing less from your nobleness," answered 
 Tressilian ; " but time presses, and I must speak with you to- 
 night. May I wait on you in your chamber?" 
 
 " Ko, " answered Leicester, sternly, " not under a roof, and 
 that roof mine own. We will meet under the free cope of 
 heaven. " 
 
 "You are discomposed or displeased, my lord," replied
 
 460 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Tressilian; "yet there is no occasion for distemperature. The 
 place is equal to me, so you allow me one liaK-hour of your 
 time uninterrupted." 
 
 " A shorter time will, I trust, suffice, " answered Leicester. 
 " Meet me in the Pleasance, when the Queen has retired to 
 her chamber." 
 
 "Enough," said Tressilian, and withdrew; while a sort of 
 rapture seemed for the moment to occupy the mind of Leicester. 
 
 " Heaven, " he said, " is at last favourable to me, and has 
 put within my reach the wretch who has branded me with 
 this deep ignominy — who has inflicted on me this cruel agony. 
 I will blame fate no more, since I am afforded the means of 
 tracmg the wiles by which he means still farther to practise 
 on me, and then of at once convicting and punishing his vil- 
 lainy. To my task — to my task! I will not sink under it 
 now, since midnight, at farthest, will bring me vengeance." 
 
 While these reflections thronged through Leicester's mind, 
 he again made his way amid the obsequious crowd, which di- 
 vided to give him passage, and resumed his place, envied and 
 admired, beside the person of his sovereign. But, could the 
 bosom of him thus admired and envied have been laid open 
 before the inhabitants of that crowded hall, with all its dark 
 thoughts of guilty ambition, blighted affection, deep ven- 
 geance, and conscious sense of meditated cruelty crossing each 
 other like spectres in the circle of some foul enchantress, 
 which of them, from the most ambitious noble in the courtly 
 circle down to the most wretched menial who lived by shifting 
 of trenchers, would have desired to change characters with the 
 favourite of Elizabeth and the Lord of Kenilworth ! 
 
 New tortures awaited him as soon as he had rejoined Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 "You come in time, my lord," she said, "to decide a dis- 
 pute between us ladies. Here has Sir Eichard Yarney asked 
 our permission to depart from the castle with his infirm lady, 
 having, as he tells us, your lordship's consent to his absence, 
 so he can obtain ours. Certes, we have no will to withhold 
 him from the affectionate charge of this poor yomig person ; 
 but you are to know, that Sir Eichard Yarney hath this day
 
 KENILWORTH. 461 
 
 shown himself so much, captivated with these ladies of ours 
 that here is our Duchess of Rutland says, he will carry his 
 poor insane wife no farther than the lake, plunge her in, to 
 tenant the crystal palaces that the enchanted nymph told us 
 of, and return a jolly widower, to dry his tears and to make 
 up the loss among our train. How say you, my lord? We 
 have seen Varney under two or three different guises; you 
 know what are his proper attributes— think you he is capable 
 of playing his lady such a knave's trick?" 
 
 Leicester was confoimded, but the danger was urgent, and 
 a reply absolutely necessary. " The ladies, " he said, " think 
 too lightly of one of their own sex in supposing she could de- 
 serve such a fate, or too ill of oui-s, to think it could be in- 
 flicted upon an innocent female." 
 
 " Hear him, my ladies, " said Elizabeth ; " like all his sex, 
 he would excuse their cruelty by imputing fickleness to us." 
 
 " Say not us, madam, " replied the earl ; " we say that 
 meaner women, like the lesser lights of heaven, have revolu- 
 tions and phases, but who shall impute mutability to the sun 
 or to Elizabeth?" 
 
 The discourse presently afterwards assumed a less perilous 
 tendency, and Leicester continued to support his part in it 
 with spirit, at whatever expense of mental agony. So pleas- 
 ,ijig did it seem to Elizabeth, that the castle bell had sounded 
 midnight ere she retired from the company, a circumstance 
 unusual in her quiet and regular habits of disposing of time. 
 Her departure was, of course, the signal for breaking up the 
 company, who dispersed to their several places of repose, to 
 dream over the pastimes of the day or to anticipate those of 
 the morrow. 
 
 The unfortunate lord of the castle, and founder of the proud 
 festival, retired to far different thoughts. His direction to 
 the valet who attended him was to send Varney instantly to 
 his apartment. The messenger returned after some delay, 
 and informed him that an hour had elapsed since Sir Rich- 
 ard Varney had left the castle by the postern gate, with 
 three other persons, one of whom was transported in a horse- 
 litter.
 
 462 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 " How came he to leave the castle after the watch was set?" 
 said Leicester. " I thought he went not till daybreak. " 
 
 "He gave satisfactory reasons, as I understand," said the 
 domestic, "to the guard, and, as I hear, showed your lord- 
 ship's signet " 
 
 "True — true," said the earl; "yet he has been hasty. Do 
 any of his attendants remain behind?" 
 
 "Michael Lambourne, my lord," said the valet, "was not 
 to be found when Sir Richard Varney departed, and his master 
 was much incensed at his absence. I saw him but now sad- 
 dling his horse to gallop after his master." 
 
 "Bid him come hither instantly," said Leicester; "I have 
 a message to his master. " 
 
 The servant left the apartment, and Leicester traversed it 
 for some time in deep meditation. "Varney is over zealous," 
 he said — " over pressing. He loves me, I think ; but he hath 
 his own ends to serve, and he is inexorable in pursuit of 
 them. If I rise he rises, and he hath shown himself already 
 but too eager to rid me of this obstacle which seems to stand 
 betwixt me and sovereignty. Yet I will not stoop to bear 
 this disgrace. She shall be pimished, but it shall be more 
 advisedly. I already feel, even in anticipation, that over- 
 haste would light the flames of hell in my bosom. No; one 
 victim is enough at once, and that victim already waits me." 
 
 He seized upon writing materials, and hastily traced these 
 words : 
 
 " Sir Richard Varney, we have resolved to defer the mat- 
 ter entrusted to your care, and strictly command you to pro- 
 ceed no farther in relation to our countess until our further 
 order. We also command your instant return to Kenilworth, 
 as soon as you have safely bestowed that with which you are 
 entrusted. But if the safe-placing of your present charge 
 shall detain you longer than we think for, we command you, 
 in that case, to send back our signet-ring by a trusty and 
 speedy messenger, we having present need of the same. And 
 requiring your strict obedience in these things, and commend- 
 ing you to God's keeping, we rest your assured good friend 
 and master, R, Leicester.
 
 KENILWORTH. 463 
 
 " Given at our Castle of Kenilworth, the tenth of July, in 
 the year of salvation one thousand five hundred and seventy- 
 five." 
 
 As Leicester had finished and sealed this mandate, Michael 
 Lambourne, booted up to mid-thigh, having his riding-cloak 
 girthed around him with a broad belt, and a felt cap on his 
 head, like that of a courier, entered his apartment, ushered in 
 by the valet, 
 
 " What is thy capacity of service?" said the earl. 
 
 "Equerry to your lordship's master of the horse," answered 
 Lambourne, with his customary assurance. 
 
 "Tie up thy saucy tongue, sir," said Leicester; "the jests 
 that may suit Sir Richard Varney's presence suit not mine. 
 How soon wilt thou overtake thy master?" 
 
 "In one hour's riding, my lord, if man and horse hold 
 good," said Lambourne, with an mstant alteration of de- 
 meanour from an approach to familiarity to the deepest re- 
 spect. The earl measured him with his eye from top to toe. 
 
 "I have heard of thee," he said: "men say thou art a 
 prompt fellow in thy service, but too much given to brawling 
 and to wassail to be trusted with things of moment. " 
 
 " My lord, " said Lambourne, " I have been soldier, sailor, 
 traveller, and adventurer; and these are all trades in which 
 men enjoy to-day because they have no surety of to-morrow. 
 But though I may misuse mine own leisure, I have never 
 neglected the duty I owe my master. " 
 
 " See that it be so in this instance, " said Leicester, " and it 
 shall do thee good. Deliver this letter speedily and carefully 
 into Sir Richard Varney's hands." 
 
 " Does my commission reach no farther?" said Lambourne. 
 
 " No, " answered Leicester ; " but it deeply concerns me that 
 it be carefully as well as hastily executed." 
 
 " I will spare neither care nor horse-flesh, " answered Lam« 
 bourne, and immediately took his leave. 
 
 " So this is the end of my private audience, from which I 
 hoped so much!" he muttered to himself, as he went through 
 the long gallery and down the back staircase. "Cog's bones!
 
 464 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 I thouglit the earl had. wanted a cast of mine office in some 
 secret intrigue, and it all ends in carrying a letter ! Well, his 
 pleasure shall be done, however, and, as his lordship well 
 says, it may do me good another time. The child must creep 
 ere he walk, and so must your infant courtier. I will have a 
 look into this letter, however, which he hath sealed so sloven- 
 like." Having accomplished this, he clapped his hands to- 
 gether in ecstasy, exclaiming, "The coimtess — -the countess! 
 I have the secret that shall make or mar me. But come 
 forth. Bayard," he added, leading his horse into the court- 
 yard, " for your flanks and my spurs must be presently ac- 
 quainted." 
 
 Lambourne mounted accordingly, and left the castle by the 
 postern gate, where his free passage was permitted, in conse- 
 quence of a message to that effect left by Sir Eichard Varney. 
 
 As soon as Lambourne and the valet had left the apartment, 
 Leicester proceeded to change his dress for a very plain one, 
 threw his mantle around him, and, taking a lamp in his hand, 
 went by the private passage of communication to a small 
 secret postern door which opened into the courtyard, near to 
 the entrance of the Pleasance. His reflections were of a more 
 calm and determined character than they had been at any 
 late period, and he endeavoured to claim, even in his own 
 eyes, the character of a man more sinned against than sinning. 
 
 " I have suffered the deepest injury," such was the tenor of 
 his meditations, "yet I have restricted the instant revenge 
 which was in my power, and have limited it to that which is 
 manly and noble. But shall the union which this false 
 woman has this day disgraced remain an abiding fetter on 
 me, to check me in the noble career to which my destinies in- 
 vite me? No — there are other means of disengaging such 
 ties, without unloosing the cords of life. In the sight of 
 Ood, I am no longer bound by the union she has broken. 
 Kingdoms shall divide us — oceans roll betwixt us, and their 
 waves, whose abysses have swallowed whole navies, shall be 
 the sole depositaries of the deadly mystery. " 
 
 By sitch a train of argument did Leicester labour to recon- 
 cile his conscience to the prosecution of plans of vengeance so
 
 The Earl striK-k Tressiliaii smaitly with liis sli.'athcil suord. and instantly 
 drawing his rapier, put himself into a posture of assault.
 
 KENILWORTH. 465 
 
 hastily adopted, and of schemes of ambition which had become 
 so woven in with every purpose and action of his life that he 
 was incapable of the effort of relinquishing them ; until his 
 revenge appeared to him to wear a face of justice, and even of 
 generous moderation. 
 
 In this mood, the vindictive and ambitious earl entered the 
 superb precincts of the Pleasance, then illuminated by^^the full 
 moon. The broad yellow light was reflected on all sides from 
 the white freestone of which the pavement, balustrades, and 
 architectural ornaments of the place were constructed, and not 
 a single fleecy cloud was visible in the azure sky, so that the 
 scene was nearly as light as if the sun had but just left the 
 horizon. The numerous statues of white marble glimmered 
 in the pale light, like so many sheeted ghosts just arisen from 
 their sepulchres, and the fountains threw their jets into the 
 air, as if they sought that their waters should be brightened 
 by the moonbeams, ere they fell down again upon their basins 
 in showers of sparkling silver. The day had been sultry, and 
 the gentle night breeze, which sighed along the terrace of the 
 Pleasance, raised not a deeper breath than the fan in the hand 
 of youthful beauty. The bird of summer night had built 
 many a nest in the bowers of the adjacent garden, and the 
 tenants now indemnified themselves for silence during the day 
 by a full chorus of their own unrivalled warblings, now joyous, 
 now, pathetic, now united, now responsive to each other, as if 
 to express their delight in the placid and delicious scene to 
 which they poured their melody. 
 
 INIusing on matters far different from the fall of waters, the 
 gleam of moonlight, or the song of the nightingale, the stately 
 Leicester walked slowly from the one end of the terrace to the 
 other, his cloak wrapped around him, and his sword under his 
 arm, without seeing anything resembling the hiiman form. 
 
 " I have been fooled by my own generosity, " he said, '' if I 
 have suffered the villain to escape me — ay, and perhaps to go 
 to the rescue of the adulteress, who is so poorly guarded." 
 
 These were his thoughts, which were instantly dispelled 
 when, turning to look back towards the entrance, he saw a 
 human form advancing slowly from the portico, and darkening 
 SO
 
 4=66 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 the various objects with its shadow, as passing them succes- 
 sively, in its approach towards him. 
 
 " Shall I strike ere I again hear his detested voice?" was 
 Leicester's thought, as he grasped the hilt of the sword. 
 " But no ! I will see which way his vile practice tends. I 
 will watch, disgustmg as it is, the coils and mazes of the 
 loathsome snake, ere I put forth my strength and crush him." 
 
 His hand quitted the sword-hilt, and he advanced slowly 
 towards Tressilian, collecting, for their meeting, all the self- 
 possession he could command, until they came front to front 
 with each other. 
 
 Tressilian made a profound reverence, to which the earl re- 
 plied with a haughty inclination of the head, and the words, 
 " You sought secret conference with me, sii- ; I am here, and 
 attentive." 
 
 " My lord, " said Tressilian, " I am so earnest in that which 
 I have to say, and so desirous to find a patient, nay, a favour- 
 able, hearing, that I will stoop to exculpate myself from what- 
 ever might prejudice your lordship against me. You think 
 me your enemy?" 
 
 "Have I not some apparent cause?" answered Leicester, 
 perceiving that Tressilian paused for a reply. 
 
 " You do me wrong, m}^ lord. I am a friend, but neither a 
 dependent nor partizan, of the Earl of Sussex, whom courtiers 
 call your rival ; and it is some considerable time since I ceased 
 to regard either courts or court intrigues as suited to my 
 temper or genius." 
 
 "No doubt, sir," answered Leicester, "there are other occu- 
 pations more worthy a scholar, and for such the world holds 
 Master Tressilian: love has his intrigues as well as ambition." 
 
 " I perceive, my lord, " replied Tressilian, " you give much 
 weight to my early attachment for the vmfortunate young per- 
 son of whom I am about to speak, and perhaps think I am 
 prosecuting her cause out of rivalry more than a sense of 
 justice." 
 
 " No matter for my thoughts, sir, " said the earl ; " proceed. 
 You have as yet spoken of yourself only — an important and 
 worthy subject doubtless, but which, perhaps, does not alto-
 
 EENILWORTH. 467 
 
 getlier so deeply concern me that I stiould postpone my repose 
 to hear it. Spare me farther prelude, sir, and speak to the 
 purpose, if indeed you have aught to say that concerns me. 
 When you have done, I, in my turn, have something to com- 
 municate. " 
 
 "I will speak, then, without farther prelude, my lord," 
 answered Tressilian; "having to say that which, as it con- 
 cerns your lordship's honour, I am confident you will not 
 think your time wasted in listening to. I have to request an 
 account from your lordship of the unhappy Amy Robsart, 
 whose history is too well kno^vn to you. I regret deeply that 
 I did not at once take this course, and make yourself judge 
 between me and the villain by whom she is injured. My lord, 
 she extricated herself from an unlawful and most perilous state 
 of confinement, trusting to the effects of her own remonstrance 
 upon her unworthy husband, and extorted from me a promise 
 that I would not interfere in her behalf imtil she had used her 
 own efforts to have her rights acknowledged by him." 
 
 " Ha !" said Leicester, " remember you to whom you speak?" 
 
 "I speak of her unworthy husband, my lord," repeated 
 Tressilian, "and my respect can find no softer language. 
 The unhappy young woman is withdrawn from my knowledge, 
 and sequestered in some secret place of this castle — if she be 
 not transferred to some place of exclusion better fitted for bad 
 designs. This must be reformed, my lord — I speak it as 
 authorised by her father — and this ill-fated marriage must be 
 avouched and proved in the Queen's presence, and the lady 
 placed without restraint and at her own free disposal. And, 
 permit me to say, it concerns no one's honour that these most 
 just demands of mine should be complied with so much as it 
 does that of your lordship." 
 
 The earl stood as if he had been petrified, at the extreme 
 coolness with which the man, whom he considered as having 
 injured him so deeply, pleaded the cause of his criminal para- 
 mour, as if she had been an innocent woman, and he a disin- 
 terested advocate ; nor was his wonder lessened by the warmth 
 with which Tressilian seemed to demand for her the rank and 
 situation which she had disgraced, and the advantages of
 
 468 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 wliich she was doubtless to share with the lover who advocated 
 her cause with such eJEfrontery. Tressiliau had beeu silent 
 for more than a minute ere the earl recovered from the excess 
 of his astonishment ; and, considering the prepossessions with 
 which his mind was occupied, there is little wonder that his 
 passion gained the mastery of every other consideration. " I 
 have heard you, Master Tressilian, " said he, " without inter- 
 ruption, and I bless God that my ears were never before made 
 to tingle by the words of so frontless a villain. The task of 
 chastising you is fitter for the hangman's scourge than the 
 
 sword of a nobleman, but yet Villain, draw and defend 
 
 thyself!" 
 
 As he spoke the last words, he dropped his mantle on the 
 ground, struck Tressilian smartly with his sheathed sword, 
 and instantly drawing his rapier, put himseK into a posture of 
 assault. The vehement fury of his language at first filled 
 Tressilian, in his turn, with surprise equal to what Leicester 
 had felt when he addressed him. But astonishment gave rise 
 to resentment, when the unmerited insults of his language 
 were followed by a blow, which immediately put to flight 
 every thought save that of instant combat. Tressilian's sword 
 was instantly drawn, and though perhaps somewhat inferior 
 to Leicester in the use of the weapon, he understood it well 
 enough to maintain the contest with great spirit, the rather 
 that of the two he was for the time the more cool, since he 
 could not help imputing Leicester's conduct either to actual 
 frenzy or to the influence of some strong delusion. 
 
 The rencontre had continued for several minutes, without 
 either party receiving a wound, when of a sudden voices were 
 heard beneath the portico, which formed the entrance of the 
 terrace, mingled with the steps of men advancing hastily. 
 "We are interrupted," said Leicester to his antagonist; "fol- 
 low me." 
 
 At the same time a voice from the portico said, "The 
 jackanape is right: they are tilting here." 
 
 Leicester, meanwhile, drew off Tressilian into a sort of 
 recess behind one of the fountams, which served to conceal 
 them, while six of the yeomen of the Queen's guard passed
 
 KENILTYORTH. 469 
 
 along the middle walk of the Pleasance, and they could hear 
 one say to the rest, " We shall never find them to-night 
 amongst all these squirting funnels, squirrel-cages, and rabbit- 
 holes ; but if we light not on them before we reach the farther 
 end, we will return, and mount a guard at the entrance, and 
 so secure them till morning. " 
 
 "A proper matter," said another, ''the drawing of swords 
 so near the Queen's presence, ay, and in her very palace as 
 'twere! Hang it, they must be some poor drunken game- 
 cocks fallen to sparring; " 'twere pity almost we should find 
 them — the penalty is chopping off a hand, is it not? 'Twere 
 hard to lose hand for handling a bit of steel, that comes so 
 natural to one's gripe." 
 
 " Thou art a brawler thyself, George, " said another ; " but 
 take heed, for the law stands as thou sayest." 
 
 "Ay," said the first, "an the act be not mildly construed; 
 for thou know'st 'tis not the Queen's palace, but my Lord of 
 Leicester's." 
 
 " Why, for that matter, the penalty may be as severe, " said 
 another; "for an our gracious mistress be queen, as she is, 
 God save her, my Lord of Leicester is as good as king. " 
 
 "Hush! thou knave!" said a third; "how know'st thou 
 who may be within hearing?" 
 
 They passed on, making a kind of careless search, but 
 seemingly more intent on their own conversation than bent on 
 discovering the persons who had created the nocturnal disturb- 
 ance. 
 
 They had no sooner passed forward along the terrace than 
 Leicester, making a sign to Tressilian to follow him, glided 
 away in an opposite direction, and escaped through the portico 
 undiscovered. He conducted Tressilian to Merv}^Ti's Tower, 
 in which he was now again lodged ; and then, ere parting with 
 him, said these words, " If thou hast courage to continue and 
 bring to an end what is thus broken off, be near me when the 
 court goes forth to-morrow ; we shall find a time, and I will 
 give you a signal when it is fitting." 
 
 "My lord," said Tressilian, "at another time I might have 
 inquired the meaning of this strange and fuiious inveteracy
 
 470 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 against me. But you have laid that on my shoulder which 
 only blood can wash away; and were you as high as your 
 proudest wishes ever carried you, I would have from you satis- 
 faction for my wounded honour." 
 
 On these terms they parted, but the adventures of the night 
 were not yet ended with Leicester. He was compelled to pass 
 by Saintlowe's Tower in order to gain the private passage 
 which led to his own chamber, and in the entrance thereof he 
 met Lord Hunsdon half -clothed and with a naked sword under 
 iis arm. 
 
 "Are you awakened, too, with this 'larum, my Lord of 
 Leicester?" said the old soldier. " 'Tis well. By gog's nails, 
 the nights are as noisy as the day in this castle of yours. 
 Some two hours since, I was waked by the screams of that 
 poor brainsick Lady Varney, whom her husband was forcing 
 away. I promise you, it required both your warrant and the 
 Queen's to keep me from entering into the game, and cutting 
 that Varney of yours over the head ; and now there is a brawl 
 down in the Pleasance, or what call you the stone terrace-walk 
 where all yonder gimcracks stand?" 
 
 The first part of the old man's speech went through the 
 earl's heart like a knife; to the last he answered that he him- 
 self had heard the clash of swords, and had come down to take 
 order with those who had been so insolent so near the Queen's 
 presence. 
 
 "Nay, then," said Hunsdon, "I wiU be glad of your lord- 
 ship's company." 
 
 Leicester was thus compelled to turn back with the rough 
 old lord to the Pleasance, where Hunsdon heard from the yeo- 
 men of the guard, who were under his immediate command, 
 the unsuccessful search they had made for the authors of the 
 disturbance ; and bestowed for their pains some round dozen 
 of curses on them, as lazy knaves and blind whoresons. Leices- 
 ter also thought it necessary to seem angry that no discov- 
 ery had been effected; but at length suggested to Lord Huns- 
 don that, after all, it could only be some foolish young men 
 who had been drinking healths pottle-deep, and who would be 
 sufficiently scared by the search which had taken place after
 
 KENILWORTH. 47t 
 
 them. Hunsdon, who was himself attached to his eup, al- 
 lowed that a pint-flagon might cover many of the follies which 
 it had caused. " But, " he added, " imless your lordship will 
 be less liberal in your housekeeping, and restrain the overflow 
 of ale, and wine, and wassail, I foresee it will end in my hav- 
 ing some of these good fellows into the guard-house, and treat- 
 ing them to a dose of the strappado. And with this warning^ 
 good-night to you." 
 
 Joyful at being rid of his company, Leicester took leave of 
 him at the entrance of his lodging, where they had first met, 
 and entering the private passage, took up the lamp which he 
 had left there, and by its expiring light found the way to his 
 own apartment. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Room ! room ! for my horse will wince 
 
 If he comes within so many yards of a prince ; 
 
 For to tell you true, and in rhyme, 
 
 He was foal'd in Queen Elizabeth's time ; 
 
 When the great Earl of Lester 
 
 In his castle did feast her. 
 
 Ben Jonson, Masque of Owls. 
 
 The amusement with which Elizabeth and her court were 
 next day to be regaled was an exhibition by the true-hearted 
 men of Coventry, who were to represent the strife between 
 the English and the Danes, agreeably to a custom long pre- 
 served in their ancient borough, and warranted for truth by 
 old histories and chronicles. In this pageant, one party of 
 the tOAvnsfolk presented the Saxons and the other the Danes, 
 and set forth, both in rude rhymes and with hard blows, the 
 contentions of these two fierce nations, and the Amazonian 
 courage of the English women, who, according to the story, 
 were the principal agents in the general massacre of the Danes, 
 which took place at Hocktide, in the year of God 1012. This 
 sport, which had been long a favourite pastime with the men 
 of Coventry, had, it seems, been put down by the influence of 
 some zealous clergyman of the more precise cast, who chanced
 
 472 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to have considerable influence with the magistrates. But the 
 generality of the inhabitants had petitioned the Queen that 
 they might have their play again, and be honoured with per- 
 mission to represent it before her Highness, And when the 
 matter was canvassed in the little council which usually at- 
 tended the Queen for despatch of business, the proposal, 
 although opposed by some of the stricter sort, found favour in 
 the eyes of Elizabeth, who said that such toys occupied, Avith- 
 out offence, the minds of many who, lacking them, might J&nd 
 worse subjects of pastime; and that their pastors, however 
 eommenable for learning and godliness, were somewhat too 
 sour in preaching against the pastimes of their flocks ; and so 
 the pageant was permitted to proceed. 
 
 Accordingly, after a morning repast, which Master Laneham 
 calls an ambrosial breakfast, the principal persons of the court, 
 in attendance upon her Majesty, pressed to the Gallery Tower, 
 to witness the approach of the two contending parties of Eng- 
 lish and Danes ; and after a signal had been given, the gate 
 which opened in the circuit of the chase was thrown wide to 
 admit them. On they came, foot and horse ; for some of the 
 more ambitious burghers and yeomen had put themselves into 
 fantastic dresses, imitating knights, in order to resemble the 
 chivalry of the two different nations. However, to prevent 
 fatal accidents, they were not permitted to appear on real 
 horses, but had only license to accoutre themselves with those 
 hobby-horses, as they are caUed, which anciently formed the 
 chief delight of a morrice-dance, and which still are exhibited 
 on the stage, in the grand battle fought at the conclusion of 
 Mr. Bayes's tragedy. The infantry followed in similar dis- 
 guises. The whole exhibition was to be considered as a sort 
 of anti-masque, or burlesque of the more stately pageants, in 
 which the nobility and gentry bore part in the show, and, to 
 the best of their knowledge, imitated with accuracy the per- 
 sonages whom they represented. The Hocktide play was of 
 a different character, the actors being persons of inferior de- 
 gree, and their habits the l)etter fitted for the occasion the 
 more incongruous and ridiculous that they were in themselves. 
 Accordingly, their array, which the progress of our tale allows
 
 KENILWORTH. 473 
 
 us no time to describe, was ludicrous enough, and their 
 weapons, though sufficiently formidable to deal sovmd blows, 
 were long alder-poles instead of lances, and sound cudgels for 
 swords; and for fence, both cavalry and mfantry were well, 
 equipped with stout head-pieces and targets, both made of 
 thick leather. 
 
 Captam Coxe, that celebrated humourist of Coventry, whose 
 library of ballads, almanacks, and penny histories, fairly 
 wrapped up in parchment, and tied round for security with a 
 piece of whipcord, remains still the envy of antiquaries, being 
 himself the ingenious person under whose direction the pageant 
 had been set forth, rode valiantly on his hobby-horse before 
 the bands of English, high-trussed, saith Laneham, and bran- 
 dishmg his long sword, as became an experienced man of war, 
 who had fought under the Queen's father, bluff King Henry, 
 at the siege of Boulogne. This chieftain was, as right and 
 reason ci*aved, the first to enter the lists, and, passing the 
 gallery at the head of his mjn-midons, kissed the hilt of hi& 
 sword to the Queen, and executed at the same time a gambade, 
 the like whereof had never been practised by two-legged 
 hobby-horse. Then passing on with all his followers of cava- 
 liers and infantry, he drew them up with martial skill at the 
 opposite extremity of the bridge, or tilt-yard, until his antag- 
 onists should be fairly prepared for the onset. 
 
 This was no long interval; for the Danish cavalry and in- 
 fantry, no way inferior to the English in number, valour, and 
 equipment, instantly arrived, Avith the noi-thern bagpipe blow- 
 ing before them in token of their countiy, and headed by a 
 cunning master of defence, only inferior to the renowned Cap- 
 tain Coxe, if to him, in the discipline of war. The Danes, 
 as invaders, took their station under the Gallery Tower, and 
 opposite to that of Mortimer; and, when their arrangements 
 were completely made, a signal was given for the encounter. 
 
 Their first charge upon each other was rather moderate, for 
 either party had some dread of being forced into the lake. 
 But as reinforcements came up on either side, the encounter- 
 grew from a skirmish into a blazing battle. They rushed 
 upon one another, as Master Laneham testifies, like rams in-
 
 474 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 flamed by jealousy, with such furious encounter that both 
 parties were often overthrown, and the clubs and targets made 
 a most horrible clatter. In many instances that happened 
 which had been dreaded by the more experienced warriors 
 who began the day of strife. The rails which defended the 
 ledges of the bridge had been, perhaps on purpose, left but 
 slightly fastened, and gave way under the pressure of those 
 who thronged to the combat, so that the hot courage of many 
 of the combatants received a sufficient cooling. These inci- 
 dents might have occasioned more serious damage than became 
 such an affray, for many of the champions who met with this 
 mischance could not swim, and those who could were encum- 
 bered with their suits of leathern and of paper armour ; but 
 the case had been provided for, and there were several boats 
 in readiness to pick up the unfortunate warriors and convey 
 them to the dry land, where, dripping and dejected, they 
 comforted themselves with the hot ale and strong waters 
 which were liberally allowed to them, without showing any 
 desire to re-enter so desperate a conflict. 
 
 Captain Coxe alone, that paragon of black-letter antiquaries, 
 after twice experiencing, horse and man, the perilous leap from 
 the bridge into the lake, equal to any extremity to which the 
 favourite heroes of chivalry, whose exploits he studied in an 
 abridged form, whether Amadis, Belianis, Bevis, or his own 
 Guy of Warwick, had ever been subjected to — Captain Coxe, 
 we repeat, did alone, after two such mischances, rush again 
 into the heat of conflict, his bases and the foot-cloth of his 
 hobby-horse dropping water, and twice reanimated by voice 
 and example the drooping spirits of the English ; so that at 
 length their victory over the Danish invaders became, as was 
 just and reasonable, complete and decisive. Worthy he was 
 to be rendered immortal by the pen of Ben Jonson, who, fifty 
 years afterwards, deemed that a masque, exhibited at Kenil- 
 worth, could be ushered in by none with so much propriety as 
 by the ghost of Captain Coxe, mounted upon his redoubted 
 hobby-horse. 
 
 These rough rural gambols may not altogether agree with 
 the reader's preconceived idea of an entertainment presented
 
 KENILWORTH. 475 
 
 before Elizabeth, in whose reign letters revived with suck 
 brilliancy, and whose court, governed by a female whose sense 
 of propriety was equal to her strength of mind, was no less 
 distinguished for delicacy and refinement than her councils for 
 wisdom and fortitude. But whether from the political wish 
 to seem interested in popular sports, or whether from a spark 
 of old Henry's rough masculine spirit, which Elizabeth some- 
 times displayed, it is certain the Queen laughed heartily at the 
 imitation, or rather burlesque, of chivalry which was presented 
 in the Coventry play. She called near her person the Earl of 
 Sussex and Lord Hunsdon, partly perhaps to make amends to 
 the former for the long and private au.diences with which she 
 had indulged the Earl of Leicester, by engagmg him in con- 
 versation upon a pastime which better suited his taste than 
 those pageants that were furnished forth from the stores of 
 antiquity. The disposition which the Queen showed to laugh 
 and jest with her military leaders gave the Earl of Leicester 
 the opportunity he had been watching for withdrawing frora 
 the royal presence, which to the court around, so well had he 
 chosen his time, had the graceful appearance of leaving his 
 rival free access to the Queen's person instead of availing 
 himself of his right as [her landlord to stand perpetually be- 
 twixt others and the light of her countenance. 
 
 Leicester's thoughts, however, had a far different object 
 from mere courtesy ; for no sooner did he see the Queen fairly 
 engaged in conversation with Sussex and Hunsdon, behind 
 whose back stood Sir Nicholas Blount, grinning from ear to 
 ear at each word which was spoken, than, making a sign to 
 Tressilian, who, according to appointment, watched his mo- 
 tions at a little distance, he extricated himself from the press, 
 and walking towards the chase, made his way through the 
 crowds of ordinary spectators, who, with open mouth, stood 
 gazing on the battle of the English and the Danes. When he 
 had accomplished this, which was a work of some difficulty, 
 he shot another glance behind him to see that Tressilian had 
 been equally successful, and as soon as he saw him also free 
 from the crowd, he led the way to a small thicket, behind 
 which stood a lackey with two horses ready saddled. He
 
 476 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 fiuug hianself on the one, and made signs to Tressilian to 
 mount the other, who obeyed without speaking a single 
 ■word. 
 
 Leicester then spurred his horse, and galloped without 
 stopping until he reached a sequestered spot, environed by- 
 lofty oaks, about a mile's distance from the castle, and in an 
 opposite direction from the scene to which curiosity was draw- 
 ing every spectator. He there dismounted, bound his horse 
 to a tree, and only pronouncing the words, " Here there is no 
 xisk of interruption, " laid his cloak across his saddle and drew 
 his sword. 
 
 Tressilian imitated his example punctually, yet could not 
 forbear saying, as he drew his weajDon, " My lord, as I have 
 been known to many as one who does not fear death, when 
 placed in balance with honour, methinks I may without dero- 
 gation ask, wherefore, in the name of all that is honourable, 
 your lordship has dared to offer me such a mark of disgrace as 
 places us on these terms with respect to each other?" 
 
 " If you like not svich marks of my scorn, " replied the earl, 
 ^' betake yourself instantly to your weapon, lest I repeat the 
 usage you complain of." 
 
 " It shall not need, my lord, " said Tressilian. " God judge 
 betwixt us! and your blood, if you fall, be on your own 
 head." 
 
 He had scarce completed the sentence when they instantly 
 closed in combat. 
 
 But Leicester, who was a perfect master of defence among 
 ■all other exterior accomplishments of the time, had seen, on 
 the preceding night, enough of Tressilian' s strength and skill 
 to make him fight with more caution than heretofore, and pre- 
 fer a secure revenge to a hasty one. For some minutes they 
 fought with equal skill and fortune, till, in a desperate lunge 
 which Leicester successfully put aside, Tressilian exposed 
 himself at disadvantage; and, in a subsequent attempt to 
 close, the earl forced his sword from his hand and stretched 
 him on the ground. With a giim smile, he held the point of 
 his rapier within two inches of the throat of his fallen ad- 
 -versary, and placing his foot at the same time upon his breast,
 
 KENILWORTH. 477 
 
 bid him confess his villainous wrongs towards him, and 
 prepare for death. 
 
 ''I have no villainy nor wrong towards thee to confess," 
 answered Tressilian, " and am better prepared for death than 
 thou. Use thine advantage as thou wilt, and may God for- 
 give you! I have given you no cause for this." 
 
 "1^0 cause!" exclaimed the earl — "no cause! But why 
 parley with such a slave? Die a liar, as thou hast lived!" 
 
 He had withdrawn his arm for the purpose of striking the 
 fatal blow, when it was suddenly seized from behind. 
 
 The earl turned in wrath to shake off the unexpected ob- 
 stacle, but was surprised to find that a strange-looking boy 
 had hold of his sword-arm, and clung to it with such tenacity 
 of grasp that he could not shake him off without a considerable 
 struggle, in the course of which Tressilian had opportunity to 
 rise and possess himself once more of his weapon. Leicester 
 again turned towards him with looks of unabated ferocity, 
 and the combat would have recommenced with still more 
 desperation on both sides, had not the boy clung to Lord 
 Leicester's knees, and in a shrill tone implored him to listen 
 one moment ere he prosecuted this quarrel. 
 
 " Stand up, and let me go, " said Leicester, " or, by Heaven, 
 I will pierce thee with my rapier! "What hast thou to do to 
 bar my way to revenge?" 
 
 "Much — much!" exclaimed the undaunted boy; "since my 
 folly has been the caiise of these bloody quarrels between you, 
 and perchance of worse evils. Oh, if you would ever again en- 
 joy the peace of an innocent mind, if you hope agam to sleep 
 in peace and unhaunted by remorse, take so much leisure as 
 to peruse this letter, and then do as you list." 
 
 While he spoke in this eager and earnest manner, to which 
 his singular features and voice gave a goblin-like effect, he 
 held up to Leicester a packet, secured with a long tress of 
 woman's hair, of a beautiful light brown colour. Enraged as 
 he was, nay, almost blinded with fury to see his destined re- 
 venge so strangely frustrated, the Earl of Leicester could not 
 resist this extraordinary supplicant. He snatched the latter 
 from his hand, changed colour as he looked on the superscrip-
 
 478 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 tion, undid, with faltering hand, the knot which secured it, 
 glanced over the contents, and, staggering back, would have 
 fallen, had he not rested against the trunk of a tree, where he 
 stood for an instant, his eyes bent on the letter, and his 
 sword-point turned to the ground, without seeming to be con- 
 scious of the presence of an antagonist towards whom he had 
 shown little mercy, and who might in turn have taken him at 
 advantage. But for such revenge Tressilian was too noble- 
 minded ; he also stood still in surprise, waiting the issue of 
 this strange fit of passion, but holding his weapon ready to 
 defend himself, in case of need, against some new and sudden 
 attack on the part of Leicester, whom he again suspected to 
 be under the influence of actual frenzy. The boy, indeed, he 
 easily recognised as his old acquaintance Dickon, whose face, 
 once seen, was scarcely to be forgotten; but how he came 
 thither at so critical a moment, why his interference was so 
 energetic, and, above ^all, how it came to produce so powerful 
 an effect upon Leicester, were questions which he could not 
 solve. 
 
 But the letter was of itself powerful enough to work effects 
 yet more wonderful. It was that which the unfortunate Amy 
 had written to her husband, in which she alleged the reasons 
 and manner of her flight from Cumnor Place, informed him of 
 her having made her way to Kenilworth to enjoy his protec- 
 tion, and mentioned the circumstances which had compelled 
 her to take refuge in Tressilian 's apartment, earnestly request- 
 ing he would, without delay, assign her a more suitable asylum. 
 The letter concluded with the most earnest expressions of de- 
 voted attachment and submission to his will in all things, and 
 particularly respecting her situation and place of residence,, 
 conjuring him only that she might not be placed under the 
 guardianship or restraint of Varney. 
 
 The letter dropped from Leicester's hand when he had 
 perused it. "Take my sword," he said, "Tressilian, and 
 pierce my heart, as I would but now have pierced yours!" 
 
 " My lord, " said Tressilian, " you have done me great wrong j 
 but something within my breast ever whispered that it was by 
 egregious error."
 
 KENILWORTH. 479 
 
 "Error indeed!" said Leicester, and handed him the letter; 
 *' I have been made to believe a man of honour a villain, and 
 the best and purest of creatures a false profligate. Wretched 
 boy, why comes this letter now, and where has the bearer 
 lingered?" 
 
 "I dare not tell you, my lord," said the boy, withdrawing, 
 as if to keep beyond his reach ; " but here comes one who was 
 the messenger." 
 
 Wayland at the same moment came up; and, interrogated 
 by Leicester, hastily detailed all the circumstances of his es- 
 cape with Amy, the fatal practices which had driven her to 
 flight, and her anxious desire to throw herself under the in- 
 stant protection of her husband, pointing out the evidence of 
 the domestics of Kenilworth, " who could not, " he observed, 
 " but remember her eager inquiries after the Earl of Leicester 
 on her first arrival." 
 
 " The villains !" exclaimed Leicester ; " but oh, that worst of 
 villains, Varney! and she is even now in his power!" 
 
 " But not, I trust in God, " said Tressilian, " with any 
 commands of fatal import?" 
 
 " No — no — no !" exclaimed the earl, hastily. " I said some- 
 thing in madness ; but it was recalled — fully recalled — by a 
 hasty messenger; and she is now — she must now be safe." 
 
 "Yes," said Tressilian, "she must be safe, and I must be 
 assured of her safety. My own quarrel with you is ended, 
 my lord ; but there is another to begin with the seducer of Amy 
 Eobsart, who has screened his guilt under the cloak of the 
 infamous Varney." 
 
 " The seducer of Amy!" replied Leicester, with a voice like 
 thunder; "say her husband! — her misguided, blinded, most 
 imworthy husband! She is as surely Countess of Leicester as 
 I am belted earl. Nor can you, sir, point out that manner of 
 justice which I will not render her at my own free will. I 
 need scarce say, I fear not your compulsion." 
 
 The generous nature of Tressilian was instantly turned from 
 consideration of anything personal to himself, and centred at 
 once upon Amy's welfare. He had by no means undoubting 
 confidence in the fluctuating resolutions of Leicester, whose
 
 480 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 mind seemed to him agitated beyond the government of calm 
 reason ; neither did he, notwithstanding the assurances he had 
 received, think Amy safe in the hands of his dependants. 
 •'My lord," he said, caknly, *'I mean you no offence, and 
 am far from seekmg a quarreL But my duty to Sir Hugh 
 Robsart compels me to carry this matter instantly to the 
 Queen, that the countess's rank may be acknowledged in her 
 person. " 
 
 '' You shall not need, sir, " replied the earl, haughtily ; " do 
 not dare to interfere. No voice but Dudley's shall proclaim 
 Dudley's infamy. To Elizabeth herself will I tell it, and then 
 for Cumnor Place with the speed of life and death!" 
 
 So saying, he unboimd his horse from the street, threw him- 
 self into the saddle, and rode at full gallop towards the castle. 
 
 " Take me before you, Master Tressiliau, " said the boy, 
 seeing Tressilian mount in the same haste; "my tale is not 
 all told out, and I need your protection." 
 
 Tressilian complied, and followed the earl, though at a less 
 furious rate. By the way the boy confessed, with much con- 
 trition, that in resentment at Wayland's evading all his in- 
 quiries concerning the lady, after Dickon conceived he had 
 in various ways merited his confidence, he had purloined from 
 him, in revenge, the letter with which Amy had entrusted him 
 for the Earl of Leicester. His purpose was to have restored 
 it to him that evening, as he reckoned himself sure of meeting 
 with him, in consequence of Wayland's having to perform the 
 part of Arion in the pageant. He was indeed something 
 alarmed when he saw to whom the letter was addressed ; but 
 he argued that, as Leicester did not return to Kenil worth until 
 that evening, it would be again in the possession of the proper 
 messenger as soon as, in the nature of things, it could possibly 
 be delivered. But Wayland came not to the pageant, having 
 been in the interim expelled by Lambourne from the castle, 
 and the boy, not being able to find him, or to get speech of 
 Tressilian, and finding himself in possession of a letter ad- 
 dressed to no less a person than the Earl of Leicester, became 
 much afraid of the consequences of his frolic. The caution, 
 and indeed the alarm, which Wayland had expressed respect-
 
 KENILWORTH. 481 
 
 ing Yarney and Lambourne, led him to judge tliat the letter 
 must be designed for the earl's own hand, and that he might 
 prejudice the lady by giving it to any of the domestics. He 
 made an attempt or two to obtain an audience of Leicester, 
 but the singularity of his features and the meanness of his 
 appearance occasioned his being always repulsed by the inso- 
 lent menials whom he applied to for that purpose. Once, in- 
 deed, he had nearly succeeded, when, in prowling about, he 
 found in the grotto the casket which he knew to belong to the 
 unlucky countess, having seen it on her journey, for nothing 
 escaped his prying eye. Having strove in vain to restore it 
 either to Tressilian or the countess, he put it into the hands, 
 as we have seen, of Leicester himseK, but unfortunately he 
 did not recognise him in his disguise. 
 
 At length the boy thought he was on the point of succeed- 
 ing, when the earl came down to the lower j)art of the hall; 
 but just as he was about to accost him, he was prevented by 
 Tressilian. As sharp in ear as in wit, the boy heard the ap- 
 pointment settled betwixt them to take place in the Pleasance, 
 and resolved to add a third to the party, in hopes that, either 
 in coming or in returning, he might find an opportunity of 
 delivering the letter to Leicester ; for strange stories began to 
 flit among the domestics, which alarmed him for the lady's 
 safety. Accident, however, detained Dickon a little behind 
 the earl, and, as he reached the arcade, he saw them engaged 
 in combat ; in consequence of which he hastened to alarm the 
 guard, having little doubt that what bloodshed took place be- 
 twixt them might arise out of his own frolic. Continuing to 
 lurk in the portico, he heard the second appointment which 
 Leicester, at parting, assigned to Tressilian, and was keeping 
 them in view during the encounter of the Coventry men, when, 
 to his surprise, he recognised Wayland in the crowd, much 
 disguised, indeed, but not sufficiently so to escape the prying 
 glance of his old comrade. They drew aside out of the crowd 
 to explain their situation to each other. The boy confessed 
 to Wayland what we have above told, and the artist, in re- 
 turn, informed him that his deep anxiety for the fate of the 
 unfortunate lady had brought him back to the neighbourhood 
 31
 
 482 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 of the castle, upon his learning that morning at a village about 
 ten miles distant that Varney and Lambourne, whose violence 
 he dreaded, had both left Kenilworth over-night. 
 
 While they spoke, they saw Leicester and Tressilian sepa- 
 rate themselves from the crowd, dogged them until they 
 mounted their horses, when the boy, whose speed of foot has 
 been before mentioned, though he could not possibly keep up 
 with them, yet arrived, as we have seen, soon enough to save 
 Tressilian's life. The boy had just finished his tale when 
 they reached the Gallery Tower. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 High o'er the eastern steep the sun is beaming, 
 And darkness flies with her deceitful shadows ; 
 So truth prevails or falsehood. 
 
 Old Play. 
 
 As Tressilian rode along the bridge lately the scene of so 
 much riotous sport, he could not but observe that men's counte- 
 nances had singularly changed during the space of his brief 
 absence. The mock fight was over, but the men, still habited 
 in their masquing suits, stood together in groups, like the in- 
 habitants of a city who have been just startled by some strange 
 and alarming news. 
 
 When he reached the base-oourt, appearances were the 
 same; domestics, retainers, and under officers stood together 
 and whispered, bending their eyes towards the windows of the 
 great hall, with looks which seemed at once alarmed and 
 mysterious. 
 
 Sir Nicholas Blount was the first person of his own particu- 
 lar acquaintance Tressilian saw, who left him no time to make 
 inquiries, but greeted him with, " God help thy heart, Tressil- 
 ian, thou art fitter for a clown than a courtier : thou canst not 
 attend, as becomes one who follows her Majesty. Here you 
 are called for, wished for, waited for — no man but you will 
 serve the turn ; and hither you come with a misbegotten brat 
 on thy horse's neck, as if thou wert dry nurse to some sucking 
 devil, and wert just returned from airing."
 
 KENILWOETH. 483 
 
 "Why, what is the matter?" said Tressiliaii, letting go the 
 boy, who sprung to ground like a feather, and himself dis- 
 mounting at the same time. 
 
 " Why, no one knows the matter, " replied Blount. " I can- 
 not smell it out myself, though I have a nose like other court- 
 iers. Only, my Lord of Leicester has galloped along the 
 bridge, as if he would have rode over all in his passage, de- 
 manded an audience of the Queen, and is closeted even now 
 with her and Burleigh and Walsingham ; and you are called 
 for; but whether the matter be treason or worse, no one 
 knows." 
 
 " He speaks true, by Heaven I" said Ealeigh, who that in- 
 stant appeared ; " you must immediately to the Queen's pres- 
 ence." 
 
 *' Be not rash, E-aleigh, " said Blount, " remember his boots. 
 For Heaven's sake, go to my chamber, dear Tressilian, and 
 don my new bloom-coloured silken hose ; I have worn them 
 but twice." 
 
 "Pshaw!" answered Tressilian; " do thou take care of this 
 boy, Blount; be kind to him, and look he escapes you not — ■ 
 much depends on him." 
 
 So saying, he followed Ealeigh hastily, leaving honest 
 Blomit with the bridle of his horse in one hand and the boy iu 
 the other. 
 
 Blount gave a long look after him. "Nobody," he said, 
 " calls me to these mysteries ; and he leaves me here to play 
 horse-keeper and child-keeper at once. I could excuse the one, 
 for I love a good horse naturally ; but to be plagued ^vith a 
 bratchet whelp! Whence come ye, my fair-favoured little 
 gossip?" 
 
 ^' From the Fens, " answered the boy. 
 
 "And what didst thou learn there, forward imp?" 
 
 " To catch gulls, with their webbed feet and yellow stock- 
 ings, " said the boy. 
 
 "Umph!" said Blount, looking down on his own immense 
 roses. " Nay, then the devil take him asks thee more ques- 
 tions." 
 
 Meantime, Tressilian traversed the full length of the great
 
 484 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 hall, in which the astonished courtiers formed various groups, 
 and were whispering mysteriously together, while all kept 
 their eyes fixed on the door which led from the upper end of 
 the hall mto the Queen's withdrawing-apartment. Ealeigh 
 pointed to the door. Tressilian knocked, and was instantly 
 admitted. Many a neck was stretched to gain a view into the 
 interior of the apartment ; but the tapestry which covered the 
 door on the inside was dropped too suddenly to admit the 
 slightest gratification of curiosity. 
 
 Upon entrance, TressUian found himself, not without a 
 strong palpitation of heart, in the presence of Elizabeth, who 
 was walking to and fro in a violent agitation, which she seemed 
 to scorn to conceal, while two or three of her most sage and 
 confidential counsellors exchanged anxious looks with each 
 other, but delayed speaking till her wrath had abated. Before 
 the empty chair of state in which she had been seated, and 
 which was haK pushed aside by the violence with which she 
 had started from it, knelt Leicester, his arms crossed and his 
 brows bent on the ground, still and motionless as the efiigies 
 upon a sepulchre. Beside him 'stood the Lord Shrewsbury, 
 then Earl Marshal of England, holding his baton of office; 
 the earl's sword was unbuckled, and lay before him on the 
 floor. 
 
 *' Ho, sir, " said the Queen, coming close up to Tressilian, 
 and stamping on the floor with the action and manner of Henry 
 himseK; ''you knew of this fair work — you are an accomplice 
 in this deception which has been practised on us — you have 
 been a main cause of our doing injustice?" Tressilian dropped 
 on his knee before the Queen, his good sense showing him the 
 risk of attempting any defence at that moment of irritation. 
 "Art dumb, sirrah?" she continued; "thou know'st of this 
 affair, dost thou not?" 
 
 " Not, gracious madam, that this poor lady was Countess of 
 Leicester." 
 
 " Nor shall any one know her for such, " said Elizabeth. 
 " Death of my life ! Countess of Leicester ! I say Dame Amy 
 Dudley ; and well if she have not cause to write herself widow 
 of the traitor Robert Dudley."
 
 KENILWORTH. 485 
 
 " Madam, " said Leicester, " do with me what it may be your 
 will to do, but work no injury on this gentleman; he hath in 
 DO way deserved it." 
 
 "And will he be the better for thy intercession," said the 
 Queen, leaving Tressilian, who slowly arose, and rushing to 
 Leicester, who continued kneeling — " the better for thy inter- 
 cession, thou doubly false — thou doubly forsworn — of thy in- 
 tercession, whose villainy hath made me ridiculous to my sub- 
 jects and odious to myself? I could tear out mine eyes for 
 their blindness!" 
 
 Burleigh here ventured to interpose. 
 
 "Madam," he said, "remember that you are a queen — 
 Queen of England — mother of your people. Give not way to 
 this wild storm of passion." 
 
 Elizabeth turned round to him, while a tear actually twinkled 
 in her proud and angry eye. " Burleigh, " she said, " thou art 
 a statesman ; and thou dost not, thou canst not, comprehend 
 half the scorn, half the misery, that man has poured on 
 me!" 
 
 With the utmost caution, with the deepest reverence, Bur- 
 leigh took her hand at the moment he saw her heart was at 
 the fullest, and led her aside to an oriel window, apart from 
 the others. 
 
 " Madam, " he said, " I am a statesman, but I am also a 
 man — a man already grown old in your councils, who have 
 not, and cannot have, a wish on earth but your glory and 
 happiness ; I pray you to be composed. " 
 
 "Ah, Burleigh," said Elizabeth, "thou little knowest " 
 
 here her tears fell over her cheeks in despite of her. 
 
 " I do — I do know, my honoured sovereign. Oh, beware that 
 you lead not others to guess that which they know not!" 
 
 "Ha!" said Elizabeth, pausing as if a new train of thought 
 had suddenly shot across her brain. "Burleigh, thou art 
 right — thou art right — anything but disgrace — anything but 
 a confession of weakness — anything rather than seem the 
 cheated — slighted 'Sdeath! to think on it is distrac- 
 tion!" 
 
 " Be but yourself, my Queen, " said Burleigh j " and soar far
 
 486 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 above a weakness which no Englishman will ever believe his 
 Elizabeth could have entertained, unless the violence of her 
 disappointment carries a sad conviction to his bosom." 
 
 "What weakness, my lord?" said Elizabeth, haughtily; 
 "would you too insinuate that the favour in which I held 
 
 yonder proud traitor derived its source from aught " But 
 
 here she could no longer sustain the proud tone which she had 
 assumed, and again softened as she said, " But why should 
 I strive to deceive even thee, my good and wise servant?" 
 
 Burleigh stooped to kiss her hand with affection, and — rare 
 in the annals of courts — a tear of true sympathy dropped from 
 the eye of the minister on the hand of his sovereign. 
 
 It is probable that the consciousness of possessing this 
 sympathy aided Elizabeth in supporting her mortification and 
 suppressing her extreme resentment ; but she was still more 
 moved by fear that her passion should betray to the public the 
 affront and the disappointment which, alike as a woman and 
 a queen, she was so anxious to conceal. She turned from 
 Burleigh, and sternly paced the hall till her features had re- 
 covered their usual dignity and her mien its wonted stateliness 
 of regular motion. 
 
 " Our sovereign is her noble self once more, " whispered 
 Burleigh to Walsingham; "mark what she does, and take 
 heed you thwart her not." 
 
 She then approached Leicester, and said, with calmness: 
 "My Lord Shrewsbury, we discharge you of your prisoner. 
 My Lord of Leicester, rise and take up your sword ; a quarter 
 of an hour's restraint, under the custody of our marshal, my 
 lord, is, we thiuk, no high penance for months of falsehood 
 practised upon us. We will now hear the progress of this 
 affair. " She then seated herself in her chair, and said, " You, 
 Tressilian, step forward and say what you know." 
 
 Tressilian told his story generously, suppressing as much as 
 he could what affected Leicester, and saying nothing of their 
 having twice actually fought together. It is very probable 
 that, in doing so, he did the earl good service ; for had the 
 Queen at that instant found anything on account of which she 
 might vent her wrath upon him, without laying open senti-
 
 KENILWORTH. 487 
 
 ments of -wliicli she was asliamed, it might have fared hard 
 with him. She paused when Tressilian had finished his tale. 
 
 " We will take that Wayland," she said, " into our own ser- 
 vice, and place the boy in our secretary office for instruction, 
 that he may in future use discretion towards letters. For 
 you, Tressilian, you did wrong in not communicating the 
 whole truth to us, and your promise not to do so was both im- 
 prudent and imdutiful. Yet, having given your word to this 
 unhappy lady, it was the part of a man and a gentleman to 
 keep it; and, on the whole, we esteem you for the character 
 you have sustained in this matter. My Lord of Leicester, it 
 is now your turn to tell us the truth, an exercise to which you 
 seem of late to have been too much a stranger." 
 
 Accordingly, she extorted, by successive questions, the 
 whole history of his first acquaintance with Amy Robsart — 
 their marriage — his jealousy — the causes on which it waa 
 founded, and many particulars besides. Leicester's confes- 
 sion, for such it might be called, was wrenched from him 
 piecemeal, yet was upon the whole accurate, excepting that 
 he totally omitted to mention that he had, by implication or 
 otherwise, assented to Varney's designs upon the life of his 
 countess. Yet the consciousness of this was what at that 
 moment lay nearest to his heart ; and although he trusted in 
 great measure to the very postitive counter-orders which he 
 had sent by Lambourne, it was his purpose to set out for 
 Cumnor Place in person as soon as he should be dismissed 
 from the presence of the Queen, who, he concluded, would 
 presently leave Kenilworth. 
 
 But the earl reckoned without his host. It is true, his 
 presence and his communications were gall and wormwood to 
 his once partial mistress. But, barred from every other and 
 more direct mode of revenge, the Queen perceived that she 
 gave her false suitor torture by these inquiries, and dwelt on 
 them for that reason, no more regarding the pain which she 
 herself experienced than the savage cai-es for the searing of 
 his own hands by grasping the hot pincers with which he tears 
 the flesh of his captive enemy. 
 
 At length, however, the haughty lord, like a deer that turns
 
 488 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 to bay, gave intimation that his patience was failing. 
 "Madam," he said, *'I have been much to blame, more than 
 even your just resentment has expressed. Yet, madam, let 
 me say, that my guilt, if it be unpardonable, was not unpro- 
 voked; and that, if beauty and condescending dignity could 
 seduce the fraO. heart of a human being, I might plead both 
 as the causes of my concealing this secret from your Majesty." 
 
 The Queen was so much struck by this reply, which Leices- 
 ter took care should be heard by no one but herself, that she 
 was for the moment silenced, and the earl had the temerity to 
 pursue his advantage. "Your Grace, who has pardoned so 
 much, will excuse my throwing myself on your royal mercy 
 for those expressions which were yester-morning accounted 
 but a light offence." 
 
 The Queen fixed her eyes on him while she replied : " Now, 
 by Heaven, my lord, thy effrontery passes the bounds of be- 
 lief as well as patience! But it shall avail thee nothing. 
 What, ho! my lords, come all and hear the news. My Lord 
 of Leicester's stolen marriage has cost me a husband and 
 England a king. His lordship is patriarchal in his tastes : 
 one wife at a time was insufficient, and he designed us the 
 honour of his left hand. Now is not this too insolent — that I 
 could not grace him with a few marks of court favour, but he 
 must presume to think my hand and crown at his disposal? 
 You, however, think better of me ; and I can pity this am- 
 bitious man, as I could a child whose bubble of soap has 
 burst between his hands. We go to the presence-chamber. 
 My Lord of Leicester, we command your close attendance 
 on us." 
 
 All was eager expectation m the hall, and what was the 
 universal astonishment when the Queen said to those next her, 
 " The revels of Kenilworth are not yet exhausted, my lords 
 and ladies; we are to solemnise the noble owner's marriage." 
 
 There was an universal expression of surprise. 
 
 "It is true, on our royal word," said the Queen; "he hath 
 kept this a secret even from us, that he might surprise us with 
 it at this very place and time. I see you are dying of curi- 
 osity to know the happy bride. It is Amy Robsart, the same
 
 KENILWORTH. 489 
 
 who, to make up the May-game yesterday, figured in the 
 pageant as the wife of his servant Varney. " 
 
 "For God's sake, madam," said the earl, approaching her 
 with a mixture of humility, vexation, and shame in his counte- 
 nance, and speaking so low as to be heard by no one else, 
 " take my head, as you threatened in your anger, and spare 
 me these taunts! Urge not a falling man — tread not on a 
 crushed worm." 
 
 "A worm, my lord!" said the Queen, in the same tone; 
 " nay, a snake is the nobler reptile, and the more exact simili- 
 tude — the frozen snake you wot of, which was warmed in a 
 certain bosom " 
 
 "For your own sake — for mine, madam," said the earl — . 
 " while there is yet some reason left in me " 
 
 " Speak aloud, my lord, " said Elizabeth, " and at farther 
 distance, so please you; your breath thaws our ruff. What 
 have you to ask of us?" 
 
 '* Permission, " said the unfortunate earl, humbly, " to travel 
 to Cumuor Place." 
 
 " To fetch home your bride belike? Why, ay, that is but 
 right, for, as we have heard, she is indifferently cared for 
 there. But, my lord, you go not in person : we have counted 
 upon passing certaia days in this castle of Kenilworth, and it 
 were slight courtesy to leave us without a landlord during our 
 residence here. Under your favour, we cannot thiuk to incur 
 such disgrace in the eyes of our subjects. Tressilian shall go 
 to Cumnor Place instead of you, and with him some gentleman 
 who hath been sworn of our chamber, lest my Lord of Leicester 
 should be again jealous of his old rival. Whom wouldst thou 
 have to be in commission with thee, Tressilian?" 
 
 Tressilian, with humble deference, suggested the name of 
 Baleigh. 
 
 "Why, ay," said the Queen; "so God ha' me, thou hast 
 made a good choice. He is a yomig knight besides, and to 
 deliver a lady from prison is an appropriate first adventure. 
 Cumnor Place is little better than a prison, you are to know, 
 my lords and ladies. Besides, there are certain faitours there 
 whom we would willingly have in fast keeping. You will
 
 490 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 fumish them, Master Secretary, with the warrant, necessary to 
 secure the bodies of Eichard Varney and the foreign Alasco, 
 dead or alive. Take a sufficient force with you, gentlemen ; 
 bring the lady here in all honour; lose no time, and God be 
 with you!" 
 
 They bowed, and left the presence. 
 
 Who shall describe how the rest of that day was spent at 
 Kenil worth? The Queen, who seemed to have remained there 
 for the sole purpose of mortifying and taunting the Earl of 
 Leicester, showed herself as skilful in that female art of 
 vengeance as she was in the science of wisely governing her 
 people. The train of state soon caught the signal, and, as he 
 walked among his own splendid preparations, the Lord of 
 Kenilworth, in his own castle, already experienced the lot of 
 a disgraced courtier, in the slight regard and cold manners of 
 alienated friends, and the ill-concealed triumph of avowed and 
 open enemies. Sussex, from his natural military frankness of 
 disposition, Burleigh and Walsingham, from their penetrating 
 and prospective sagacity, and some of the ladies, from the 
 compassion of their sex, were the only persons in the crowded 
 court who retained towards him the countenance they had 
 borne in the morning. 
 
 So much had Leicester been accustomed to consider court 
 favour as the principal object of his life, that all other sensa- 
 tions were, for the time, lost in tiie agony which his haughty 
 spirit felt at the succession ef petty insults and studied neglects 
 to which he had been subjected; but when he retired to his 
 own chamber for the night, that long fair tress of hair which 
 had once secured Amy's letter fell un^ier his observation, and 
 with the influence of a counter-charm, awakened his heart to 
 nobler and more natural feelings. He kissed it a thousand 
 times ; and while he recollected that he had it always in his 
 power to shun the mortifications which he had that day under- 
 gone, by retiring into a dignified and even prince-like seclusion 
 with the beautiful and beloved partner of his future life, he 
 felt that he could rise above the revenge which Elizabeth had 
 condescended to take. 
 
 Accordingly, on the following day, the whole conduct of
 
 KENILWORTH. 491 
 
 the earl displayed so much dignified equanimity; he seemed 
 So solicitous about the accommodations and amusements of his 
 guestSj yet so indifferent to their personal demeanour towards 
 him; so respectfully distant to the Queen, yet so patient of 
 her harassing displeasui-e, that Elizabeth changed her manner 
 to him, and, though cold and distant, ceased to offer him any 
 direct affront. She mtimated also, with some sharpness, to 
 others around her, who thought they were consulting her 
 pleasiu'e in showing a neglectful conduct to the earl, that, 
 while they remained at Kenilworth, they ought to show the 
 civility due from guests to the lord of the castle. In short, 
 matters were so far changed in twenty-four hours that some 
 of the more experienced and sagacious courtiers foresaw a 
 strong possibility of Leicester's restoration to favour, and regu- 
 lated their demeanour towards him, as those who might one 
 day claim merit for not having deserted him in adversity. It 
 is time, however, to leave these intrigues, and follow Tressil- 
 ian and Ealeigh on their journey. 
 
 The troop consisted of six persons ; for, besides Wayland, 
 they had in company a royal pursuivant and two stout serving- 
 men. All were well armed, and travelled as fast as it was 
 possible with justice to theLt hoi-ses, which had along journey 
 before them. They endeavoured to procure some tidings as 
 they rode along of Varney and his party, but could hear none, 
 as they had travelled in the dark. At a small village about 
 twelve miles from Kenilworth, where they gave some refresh- 
 ment to theu- horses a poor clergyman, the curate of the place, 
 came out of a small cottage, and entreated any of the company 
 who might know aught of surgery to look in for an instant on 
 a dying man. 
 
 The empiric Wayland undertook to do his best, and as the 
 curate conducted him to the spot, he learned that the man had 
 been found on the highroad, about a mile from the village, 
 by labourers, as they were going to their work on the preced- 
 ing morning, and the curate had given him shelter in his 
 house. He had received a gun-shot wound which seemed to 
 be obviously mortal, but whether in a brawl or from robbers 
 they could not learn, as he was in a fever, and spoke nothing
 
 492 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 connectedly. Wayland entered the dark and lowly apart- 
 ment, and no sooner had the curate drawn aside the curtain 
 than he knew in the distorted features of the patient the 
 countenance of Michael Lambourne. Under pretence of seek- 
 ing something which he wanted, Wayland hastily apprised his 
 fellow-travellers of this extraodinary circumstance ; and both 
 Tressilian and Kaleigh, full of boding apprehensions, hastened 
 to the curate's house to see the dying man. 
 
 The wretch was by this time in the agonies of death, from 
 which a much better surgeon than Wayland could not have 
 rescued him, for the bullet had passed clear through his body. 
 He was sensible, however, at least in part, for he knew Tres- 
 silian, and made signs that he wished him to stoop over his 
 bed. Tressillian did so, and after some inarticulate murmurs, 
 in which the names of Varney and Lady Leicester were alone 
 distinguishable, Lambourne bade him "Make haste, or he 
 would come too late. " It was in vain Tressilian urged the 
 patient for farther information ; he seemed to become in some 
 degree delirious, and when he again made a signal to attract 
 Tressilian's attention, it was only for the purpose of desiring 
 him to inform his uncle, Giles Gosling of the Black Bear, 
 " That he had died without his shoes after all." A convulsion 
 verified his words a few minutes after, and the travellers de- 
 rived nothing from having met with him save the obscure fears 
 concerning the fate of the countess which his dying words 
 were calculated to convey, and which induced them to urge 
 their journey with the utmost speed, pressing horses in the 
 Queen's name when those which they rode became unfit for 
 service.
 
 KENILWORTH. 493 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, 
 
 An aerial voice was heard to call ; 
 And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing 
 
 Around the towers of Cumnor Hall. 
 
 MiCKLE. 
 
 We are now to return to that part of our story where we in- 
 timated that Varney, possessed of the authority of the Earl of 
 Leicester, and of the Queen's permission to the same effect, 
 hastened to secure himself against discovery of his perfidy by 
 removing the countess from Kenilworth Castle. He had pro- 
 posed to set forth early in the morning ; but reflecting that 
 the earl might relent in the interim, and seek another inter- 
 view with the countess, he resolved to prevent, by immediate 
 departure, all chance of what would probably have ended in 
 his detection and ruin. For this purpose he called for Lam- 
 bourne, and was exceedingly iucensed to find that his trusty 
 attendant was abroad on some ramble hi the neighbouring vil- 
 lage or elsewhere. As his return was expected. Sir Richard 
 commanded that he should prepare himself for attending him 
 on an immediate journey, and follow him in case he returned 
 after his departure. 
 
 In the mean while, Varney used the ministry of a servant 
 called Robin Tider, one to whom the mysteries of Cumnor 
 Place were already in some degree known, as he had been 
 there more than once in attendance on the earl. To this man, 
 whose character resembled that of Lambourne, though he was 
 neither quite so prompt nor altogether so profligate, Yarney 
 gave command to have three horses saddled and to prepare a 
 horse-litter and have them in readiness at the postern gate. 
 The natural enough excuse of his lady's insanity, which was 
 now universally believed, accounted for the secrecy with which 
 she was to be removed from the castle, and he reckoned on 
 the same apology in case the unfortunate Amy's resistance 
 or screams should render such necessary. The agency of
 
 494 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Anthony Foster was indispensable, and that Varney now 
 went to secure. 
 
 This person, naturally of a sour, imsocial disposition, and 
 somewhat tired, besides, with his journey from Cumnor to 
 Warwickshire, in order to bruig the news of the countess's 
 escape, had early extricated himself from the crowd of was- 
 sailers, and betaken himself to his chamber, where he lay 
 asleep, when Varney, completely equipped for travelling, and 
 with a dark lantern in his hand, entered his apartment. He 
 paused an instant to listen to what his associate was mur- 
 muring in his sleep, and could plainly distinguish the words, 
 " Ave llaria ova pro nobis ; no — it runs not so. Deliver us 
 from evil — ay, so it goes." 
 
 " Praying in his sleep, " said Varney, " and confounding his 
 old and new devotions. He must have more need of prayer 
 ere I am done with him. What ho ! holy man — most blessed 
 penitent! Awake — awake! The devil has not discharged 
 you from service yet." 
 
 As Varney at the same time shook the sleeper by the arm, 
 it changed the current of his ideas, and he roared out, 
 *' Thieves ! — thieves ! I will die in defence of my gold — my 
 hard-won gold, that has cost me so dear. Where is Janet? 
 Is Janet safe?" 
 
 "Safe enough, thou bellowing foal!" said Varney; "art 
 thou not ashamed of thy clamour?" 
 
 Foster by this time was broad awake, and, sitting up in his 
 bed, asked Varney the meaning of so untimely a visit. " It 
 augurs nothing good," he added. ' 
 
 "A false prophecy, most sainted Anthony," returned Var- 
 ney : " it augurs that the hour is come for converting thy lease- 
 hold into copyhold. What say'st thou to that?" 
 
 " Hadst thou told me this in broad day, " said Foster, " I 
 had rejoiced; but at this dead hour, and by this dim light, 
 and I looking on thy pale face,, which is a ghastly contradic- 
 tion to thy light words, I cannot but rather think of the work 
 that is to be done than the guerdon to be gained by it." 
 
 " Why, thou fool, it is but to escort thy charge back to 
 Cumnor Place."
 
 KENILWORTH. 495 
 
 "Is that indeed all?" said Foster; "thou look*st deadly 
 pale, and thou art not moved by trifles — is that indeed all?" 
 
 " Ay, that — and maybe a trifle more, " answered Varney. 
 
 "Ah, that trifle more!" said Foster; "stiU thou look'st 
 paler and paler." 
 
 " Heed not my countenjance, " said Varney, " you see it by 
 this wretched light. Up and be doing, man. Think of Cum- 
 nor Place, thine own proper copyhold. Why, thou mayst 
 found a weekly lectureship, besides endowing Janet like a 
 baron's daughter. Seventy pounds and odd." 
 
 "Seventy-nine pounds, five shillings, and fivepence half- 
 penny, besides the value of the wood, " said Foster ; " and I 
 am to have it aU as copyhold?" 
 
 " All, man — squirrels and all : no gipsy shall cut the value 
 of a broom, no boy so much as take a bird's nest without pay- 
 ing thee a quittance. Ay, that is right — don thy matters as 
 fast as possible ; horses and everything are ready, all save that 
 accursed villain Lambourne, who is out on some infernal 
 gambol." 
 
 " Ay, Sir Richard, " said Foster, " you would take no ad- 
 vice. I ever told you that drunken profligate would fail 
 you at need. Now, I could have helped you to a sober young 
 man." 
 
 "What, some slow-spoken, long-breathed brother of the 
 congregation? ^Vhy, we shall have use for such also, man. 
 Heaven be praised, we shall lack labourers of every kind. 
 Ay, that is right — forget not your pistols. Come now, and 
 let us away." 
 
 " AVliither?" said Anthony. 
 
 "To my lady's chamber, and, mind, she must along with 
 us. Thou art not a fellow to be startled by a shriek?" 
 
 " Not if Scripture reason can be rendered for it ; and it is 
 written, "Wives, obey your husbands." But wili my lord's 
 commands bear us out if we use violence?" 
 
 "Tush, man! here is his signet," answered Varney; and 
 having thus silenced the objections of his associate, they 
 went together to Lord Hunsdon's apartments, and, acquaint- 
 ing the sentinel with their purpose, as a matter sanctioned by
 
 496 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 the Queen and the Earl of Leicester, they entered the chamber 
 of the unfortunate countess. 
 
 The horror of Amy may be conceived when, starting from 
 a broken slumber, she saw at her bedside Varney, the man on 
 earth she most feared and hated. It was even a consolation 
 to see that he was not alone, though she had so much reason 
 to dread his sullen companion. 
 
 "Madam," said Varney, "there is no time for ceremony. 
 My Lord of Leicester, having fully considered the exigencies 
 of the time, sends you his orders immediately to accompany 
 us on our return to Cumnor Place. See, here is his signet, in 
 token of his instant and pressing commands." 
 
 " It is false!" said the countess ; " thou hast stolen the war- 
 rant — thou, who art capable of every villainy, from the black- 
 est to the basest!" 
 
 " It is TRUE, madam," replied Varney; " so true, that if you 
 do not instantly arise and prepare to attend us, we must com- 
 pel you to obey our orders." 
 
 " Compel ! thou darest not put it to that issue, base as thou 
 art, " exclaimed the unhappy countess. 
 
 "That remains to be proved, madam," said Varney, who 
 had determined on intimidation as the only means of sub- 
 duing her high spirit ; " if you put me to it, you will find me 
 a rough groom of the chamber." 
 
 It was at this threat that Amy screamed so fearfuUy that, 
 had it not been for the received opinion of her insanity, she 
 would quickly have had Lord Hunsdon and others to her aid. 
 Perceiving, however, that her cries were vain, she appealed 
 to Poster in the most affecting terms, conjuring him, as his 
 daughter Janet's honour and purity was dear to him, not to 
 permit her to be treated with unwomanly violence. 
 
 "Why, madam, wives must obey their husbands — there's 
 Scripture warrant for it," said Poster; "and if you will dress 
 yourself and come with us patiently, there's no one shall lay 
 finger on you while I can draw a pistol-trigger." 
 
 Seeing no help arrive, and comforted even by the dogged 
 language of Poster, the countess promised to arise and dress 
 herseK, if they would agree to retire from the room. Varney
 
 KENILWORTH. 497 
 
 •at the same time assured her of all safety and honour while 
 in their hands, and promised that he himself would not ap- 
 proach her, since his presence was so displeasing. Her hus- 
 band, he added, would be at Cumnor Place within twenty-four 
 hours after they had reached it. 
 
 Somewhat comforted by this assurance, upon which, how- 
 ever, she saw little reason to rely, the unhappy Amy made 
 her toilette by the assistance of the lantern, which they left 
 with her when they quitted the apartment. 
 
 Weeping, trembling, and praying, the imfortunate lady 
 dressed herself — with sensations how different from the days 
 in which she was wont to decorate herseK in all the pride of 
 conscious beauty ! She endeavoured| to delay the completing 
 her dress as long as she could, until, terrified by the impatience 
 of Varney, she was obliged to declare herself ready to attend 
 them. 
 
 When they were about to move, the countess clung to Foster 
 with such an appearance of terror at Varney' s approach, that 
 the latter protested to her, with a deep oath, that he had no 
 intention whatever of even coming near her. *' If you do 
 but consent to execute your husband's will in quietness, 
 you shall, " he said, " see but little of me. I will leave you 
 imdisturbed to the care of the usher whom your good taste 
 prefers." 
 
 "My husband's will!" she exclaimed. "But it is the will 
 -of God, and let that be sufficient to me. I will go with Mas- 
 ter Foster as unresistingly as ever did a literal sacrifice. He. 
 is a father at least, and will have decency if not humanity. 
 For thee, Varney, were it my latest word, thou art an equal 
 stranger to both." 
 
 Varney replied only, she was at liberty to choose, and 
 walked some paces before them to show the way ; while, half- 
 leaning on Foster and half -carried by him, the countess was 
 transported from Saintlowe's Tower to the postern gate, 
 where Tider waited with the litter and horses. 
 
 The countess was placed in the former without resistance. 
 She saw with some satisfaction that, while Foster and Tider 
 rode close by the litter, which the latter conducted, the dreaded 
 32
 
 498 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Varney lingered behind, and was soon lost in darkness. A 
 little while she strove, as the road winded round the verge of 
 the lake, to keep sight of those stately towers which called her 
 husband lord, and which still, in some places, sparkled with 
 lights, where wassailers were yet revelling. But when tiie 
 direction of the road rendered this no longer possible, she 
 drew back her head, and, sinking down in the litter, recom- 
 mended herself to the care of Providence. 
 
 Besides the desire of inducing the countess to proceed quiet- 
 ly on her journey, Varney had it also in view to have an inter- 
 view with Lambourne, by whom he every moment expected to 
 be joined, without the presence of any witnesses. He knew 
 the character of this man — prompt, bloody, resolute, and 
 greedy — and judge him the most fit agent he could employ in 
 his farther designs. But ten miles of their journey had been 
 measured ere he heard the hasty clatter of horse's hoofs behind 
 him, and was overtaken by Michael Lambourne. 
 
 Fretted as he was with his absence, Varney received his 
 profligate servant with a rebuke of unusual bitterness. 
 "Drunken villain," he said, "thy idleness and debauched 
 folly will stretch a halter ere it be longj and, for me, I care 
 not how soon!" 
 
 This style of objurgation, Lambourne, who was elated to 
 an unusual degree, not only by an extraordinary cup of wiiie, 
 but by the sort of confidential interview he had just had with 
 the earl, and the secret of which he had made himself master, 
 did not receive with his wonted humility. " He would take 
 no insolence of laniguage, " he said, " from the best knight that 
 ever wore spurs. Lord Leicester had detained him on some 
 business of import, and that was enough for Varney, who was 
 but a servant like himself." 
 
 Varney was not a little surprised at his unusual tone of in- 
 solence, but ascribing it to liquor, suffered it to pass as if un- 
 noticed, and then began to tamper with Lambourne touching 
 his willingness to aid in removing out of the Earl of Leicester's 
 way an obstacle to a rise which would put it m his power to 
 reward his trusty followers to their utmost wish. And upon 
 Michael Lambourne 's seemmg ignorant what was meant, he
 
 KENILWORTH. 499 
 
 plainly indicated " the litter-load, yonder; " as the impediment 
 which he desired should be removed. 
 
 "Look you, Sir Kichard, and so forth," said Michael, 
 " some are wiser than some, that is one thiug, and some are 
 worse than some, that's another. I know my lord's mind on 
 this matter better than thou, for he hath trusted me fully in 
 the matter. Here are his mandates, and his last words 
 were, 'Michael Lambourne' — for his lordship speaks to me as 
 a gentleman of the sword, and useth not the words 'drunken 
 villain, ' or such-like phrases of those who know not how to 
 bear new dignities — 'Varney,' says he, 'must pay the utmost 
 respect to my countess. I trust to you for looking to it, Lam- 
 bourne,' says his lordship, 'and you must bring back my signet 
 from him peremptorily. ' " 
 
 " Ay," replied Yarney, " said he so, indeed? You know all, 
 then?" 
 
 " All — all, and you were as wise to make a friend of me 
 while the weather is fair betwixt us." 
 
 " And was there no one present," said Yarney, "when my 
 lord so spoke?" 
 
 " Not a breathing creature, " replied Lamboui-ne. " Think 
 you my lord would trust any one with such matters save an 
 approved man of action like myself?" 
 
 " Most true, " said Yarney ; and, making a pause, he looked 
 forward on the moonlight road. They were traversing a wide 
 and open heath. The litter, being at least a mile before them, 
 was both out of sight and hearing. He looked behind, and 
 there was an expanse, lighted by the moonbeams, without 
 one human being in sight. He resumed his speech to Lam- 
 bourne: " And will you tui-n upon your master, who has intro- 
 duced you to this career of court-like favour — whose appren- 
 tice you have been, Michael — who has taught you the depths 
 and shallows of court intrigue?" 
 
 "Michael not me!" said Lambourne; "I have a name will 
 brook a master before it as well as another; and as to tlie rest, 
 if I have been an apprentice, my indenture is out, and I am 
 resolute to set up for myself." 
 
 *'Take thy quittance first, thou fool I" said Varney; and
 
 500 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 with a pistol wliicli he had for some time held in his hand, 
 shot Lambourne through the body. 
 
 The wretch fell from his horse without a single groan ; and 
 Varney, dismoimting, rifled his pockets, turning out the lining, 
 that it might appear he had fallen by robbers. He secured 
 the earl's packet, which was his chief object, but he also took 
 Lambourne' s purse, containing some gold pieces, the relics of 
 what his debauchery had left him, and, from a singular com- 
 bination of feelings, carried it in his hand only the length of 
 a small river which crossed the road, into which he threw it 
 as far as he coxuld fling. Such are the strange remnants of 
 conscience which remain after she seems totally subdued, that 
 this cruel and remorseless man would have felt himself de- 
 graded had he pocketed the few pieces belonging to the wretch 
 whom he had thus ruthlessly slain. 
 
 The murderer reloaded his pistol, after cleansing the lock 
 and barrel from the appearances of late explosion, and rode 
 calmly after the litter, satisfying himself that he had so 
 adroitly removed a troublesome witness to many of his in- 
 trigues, and the bearer of mandates which he had no inten- 
 tions to obey, and which, therefore, he was desirous it should 
 be thought had never reached his hand. 
 
 The remainder of the journey was made with a degree of 
 speed which showed the little care they had for the health of 
 the unhappy countess. They paused only at places where all 
 was under their command, and where the tale they were pre- 
 pared to tell of the insane Lady Varney would have obtained 
 ready credit had she made an attempt to appeal to the com- 
 passion of the few persons admitted to see her. But Amy 
 saw no chance of obtaining a hearing from any to whom she 
 had an opportunity of addressing herself, and, besides, was 
 too terrified for the presence of Varney to violate the implied 
 condition under which she was to travel free from his com- 
 pany. The authority of Varney, often so used during the earl's 
 private journeys to Cumnor, readily procured relays of horses 
 where wanted, so that they approached Cumnor Place upon the 
 night after they left Kenilworth. 
 
 At this period of the journey, Varney came up to the rear
 
 KENILWORTH. 501 
 
 of the litter, as he had done before repeatedly during their 
 progress, and asked, "What does she?" 
 
 " She sleeps, " said Foster. " I would we were home ; her 
 strength is exhausted." 
 
 " Best wiU restore her, " anwsered Varney . " She shall soon 
 sleep sound and long ; we must consider how to lodge her in 
 safety. " 
 
 " In her own apartments, to be sure, " said Foster. " I have 
 sent Janet to her aimts, with a proper rebuke, and the old 
 women are truth itself, for they hate this lady cordially." 
 
 " We will not trust them, however, friend Anthony, " said 
 Varney ; " we must secure her in that stronghold where you 
 keep your gold." 
 
 "My gold!" said Anthony, much alarmed; "why, what 
 gold have I? God help me, I have no gold — I would I had." 
 
 " Now, marry hang thee, thou stupid brute, who thinks of, 
 or cares for, thy gold? If I did, could I not find an hundred 
 better ways to come at it? In one word, thy bedchamber, 
 which they hast fenced so curiously, must be her place of seclu- 
 sion ; and thou, thou hind, shalt press her pillows of down. 
 I dare to say the earl will never ask after the rich furniture 
 of these four rooms." 
 
 This last consideration rendered Foster tractable ; he only 
 asked permission to ride before, to make matters ready, and, 
 spurring his horse, he posted before the litter, while, Varney 
 falling about threescore paces behind it, it remained only 
 attended by Tider. 
 
 When they had arrived at Cumnor Place, the countess asked 
 eagerly for Janet, and showed much alarm when informed that 
 she was no longer to have the attendance of that amiable girl. 
 
 " My daughter is dear to me, madam, " said Foster, gruffly ; 
 " and I desire not that she should get the court tricks of lying 
 and 'scaping; somewhat too much of that has she learned al- 
 ready, an it please your ladyship." 
 
 The countess, much fatigued and greatly terrified by the 
 circumstances of her journey, made no answer to this insolence, 
 but mildly expressed a wish to retire to her chamber. 
 
 " Ay — ay, " muttered Foster, " 'tis but reasonable, but under
 
 502 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 favour, you go not to your gew-gaw toy-house yonder ; you will 
 sleep to-uight in better security." 
 
 "I would it were in my grave," said the countess, "but 
 that mortal feelings shiver at the idea of soul and body 
 parting." 
 
 "You, I guess, have no chance to shiver at that," replied 
 Foster. " My lord comes hither to-morrow, and doubtless you 
 will make your own ways good with him." 
 
 "But does he come hither? — does he iadeed, good 
 Foster?" 
 
 " Oh ay, good Foster !" replied the other. " But what Foster 
 shall I be to-morrow, when you speak of me to my lord ; though 
 all I have done was to obey his own orders?" 
 
 " You shall be my protector — a rough one indeed, but still a 
 protector," answered the countess, " Oh, that Janet were but 
 here!" 
 
 " She is better where she is, " answered Foster, " one of you 
 is enough to perplex a plain head; but will you taste any 
 refreshment?" 
 
 "Oh no — no; my chamber — my chamber. I trust," she 
 said, apprehensively, "I may secure it on the inside?" 
 
 " With all my heart, " answered Foster, " so I may secure 
 it on the outside ;" and taking a light, he led the way to a 
 part of the building where Amy had never been, and con- 
 ducted her up a stair of great height, preceded by one of the 
 old women with a lamjD, At the head of the stair, which 
 seemed of almost immeasurable height, they crossed a short 
 wooden gallery, formed of black oak, and very narrow, at the 
 farther end of which was a strong oaken door, which opened 
 and admitted them into the miser's apartment, homely in its 
 accommodations in the very last degree, and, except in name, 
 little diif erent from a prison room. 
 
 Foster stopped at the door and gave the lamp to the coun- 
 tess, without either offering or permitting the attendance of 
 the old woman who had carried it. The lady stood not on 
 ceremony, but taking it hastily, barred the door, and secured 
 it with the ample means provided on the inside for that 
 purpose.
 
 KENILWORTH. 503 
 
 Varney, meanwhile, had lurked behind on the stairs, but 
 hearing the door barred, he now came up on tiptoe, and Fos- 
 ter, winking to him, pointed with self-complacence to a piece 
 of concealed machinery in the wall, which, playing with much 
 ease and little noise, dropped a part of the wooden gallery, 
 after the manner of a drawbridge, so as to cut off all communi- 
 cation between the deor of the bedroom, which he usually in- 
 habited, and the landing-place of the high winding stair which 
 ascended to it. The rope by which this machinery was 
 wrought was generally carried within the bedchamber, it 
 being Foster's object to provide against invasion from without; 
 but now that it was intended to secure the prisoner within, 
 the cord had been brought over to the landing-place, and was 
 there made fast, when Foster, with much complacency, had 
 dropped the unsuspected trap-door. 
 
 Varney looked with great attention at the machiBery, and 
 peeped more than once down the abyss which was opened by 
 the fall of the trap-door. It was dark as pitch, and seemed 
 profoundly deep, going, as Foster informed his confederate m 
 a whisper, nigh to the lowest vault of the castle. Varney cast 
 once more a fixed and long look dojwn into this sable gulf, and 
 then followed Foster to the part of the manoj-house most 
 usually inhabited. 
 
 When they arrived in the parlour which we have mentioned, 
 Varney requested Foster to get them supper and some of the» 
 choicest wine. "I will seek Alasco," he added; "we hav^ 
 work for him to do, and we must put him in good heart. " 
 
 Foster groaned at this intimation, but made no remonstrance. 
 The old woman assured Varney that Alasco had scarce eatert 
 or drunken since her master's departure, living perpetually 
 shut up in the laboratory, and talking as if the world's con- 
 tinuance depended on what he was doing there. 
 
 " I will teach him that the world hath other claims on him. '' 
 said Varney, seizing a light and going in quest of the alcht- 
 mist. He returned, after a considerable absence, very pale, 
 but yet \vith his habitual sneer on his cheek and nostril. 
 " Our friend, " he said, " has exhaled. " 
 
 "Howl what mean you?" said Foster. "Kun away — fled
 
 504 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 with my forty ijoimds, that should have been multiplied a 
 thousandfold? I will have hue and cry!" 
 
 '' I will tell thee a surer way, " said Varney. 
 
 "How! which way?" exclaimed Foster. " I will have back 
 my forty pounds — I deemed them as surely a thousand times 
 multiplied — I will have back my in-put, at the least." 
 
 " Go hang thyself, then, and sue Alasco in the Devil's Court 
 of Chancery, for thither he has carried the cause." 
 
 "How! what dost thou mean — is he dead?" 
 
 "Ay, truly is he," said Varney; " and properly swoln al- 
 ready in the face and body. He had been mixing some of 
 his devil's medicines, and the glass mask which he used con- 
 stantly had fallen from his face, so that the subtle poison 
 entered the brain and did its work." 
 
 " Sancta Maria ! " said Foster — " I mean, God in His mer- 
 cy preserve us from covetousness and deadly sin ! Had he 
 not had projection, think you? Saw you no ingots in the 
 crucibles?" 
 
 " Nay, I looked not but at the dead carrion, " answered Var- 
 ney — " an ugly spectacle : he was swoln like a corpse three 
 days exposed on the wheel. Pah! give me a cup of wine." 
 
 " I will go, " said Foster, " I will examine myself " He 
 
 took the lamp and hastened to the door, but there hesitated 
 and paused. " Will you not go with me?" said he to Varney. 
 
 " To what purpose?" said Varney ; " I have seen and smeUed 
 enough to spoil my appetite. I broke the window, however, 
 and let in the air ; it reeked of sulphur and such -like suffo- 
 cating steams, as if the very devil had been there." 
 
 " And might it not be the act of the demon himself?" said 
 Foster, still hesitating ; " I have heard he is powerful at such 
 times, and with such people. " 
 
 "Still, if it were that Satan of thine," answered Varney, 
 "who thus jades thy imagination, thou art in perfect safety, 
 unless he is a most unconscionable devil indeed. He hath 
 had two good sops of late." 
 
 "How, two sops — what mean you?" said Foster — "what 
 mean you?" 
 
 " You wiU know in time, " said Varney. " And then this
 
 KENILWORTH. 505 
 
 other banquet; but thou wilt esteem her too choice a morsel 
 for the fiend's tooth-; she must have her psahns, and harps, 
 and seraphs." 
 
 Anthony Foster heard, and came slowly back to the table : 
 "God! Sir Eichard, and must that then be done?" 
 
 "Ay, in very truth, Anthony, or there comes no copyhold 
 in thy way, " replied his inflexible associate. 
 
 " I always foresaw it would land there!" said Foster; "but 
 how. Sir Kichard — how? for not to win the world would I 
 put hands on her. " 
 
 " I cannot blame thee, " said Varney : " I should be reluctant 
 to do that myself; we miss Alasco and his manna sorely — ay, 
 and the dog Lambourne. " 
 
 "Why, where tarries Lambourne?" said Anthony. 
 
 " Ask no questions, " said Varney, " thou wilt see him one 
 day, if thy creed is true. But to our graver matter^ I will 
 teach thee a springe, Tony, to catch a pewit; yonder trap- 
 door — yonder gimcrack of thine, will remain secure in appear- 
 ance, will it not, though the supports are withdrawn beneath?" 
 
 " Ay, marry, will it, " said Foster ; " so long as it is not 
 trodden on." 
 
 " But were the lady to attempt an escape over it, " replied 
 Varney, "her weight would carry it down?" 
 
 "A mouse's weight would do it," said Foster. 
 
 " Why, then, she dies in attempting her escape, and what 
 could you or I help it, honest Tony? Let us to bed; we will 
 adjust our project to-morrow." 
 
 On the next day, when evening approached, Varney sum- 
 moned Foster to the execution of their plan. Tider and Fos- 
 ter's old man-servant were sent on a feigned errand down to 
 the village, and Anthony himself, as if anxious to see that the 
 countess suffered no want of accommodation, visited her place 
 of confinement. He was so much staggered at the mildness 
 and patience with which she seemed to endure her confinement 
 that he could not help earnestly recommending to her not to 
 cross the threshold of her room on any account whatever until 
 Lord Leicester should come, " Which, " he added, " I trust in 
 God, will be very soon." Amy patiently promised that she
 
 506 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 would resign herself to her fate, and Foster returned to his 
 hardened companion with his conscience half -eased of the 
 perilous load that weighed on it. *' I have warned her, " he 
 said; "surely in vain is the snare set in the sight of any 
 bird!" 
 
 He left, therefore, the countess's door unsecured on the 
 outside, and, under the eye of Varney, withdrew the supports 
 which sustained the falling trap, which, therefore, kept its 
 level position merely by a slight adhesion. They withdrew 
 to wait the issue on the ground-floor adjoining, but they 
 waited long in vain. At length Varney, after walking long 
 to and fro, with his face muffled in his cloak, threw it sudden- 
 ly back, and exclaimed, " Surely never was a woman fool 
 enough to neglect so fair an opportunity of escape!" 
 
 "Perhaps she is resolved," said Foster, "to await her hus- 
 band's return." 
 
 "True! — most true," said Varney, rushing out, "I had Hot 
 thought of that before." 
 
 In less than two minutes Foster, who remained behind, 
 heard the tread of a horse in the courtyard, and then a whistle 
 similar to that which was the earl's usual signal; the instant 
 after the door of the countess's chamber opened, and in the 
 same moment the trap-door gave way. There was a rushing 
 sound — a heavy fall — a faint groan — and all was over. 
 
 At the same instant, Varney called in at the window, in an 
 accent and tone which was an indescribable mixture betwixt 
 horror and raillery: "Is the bird caught? — is the deed 
 done?" 
 
 " God, forgive us !" replied Anthony Foster. 
 
 "Why, thou fool," said Varney, "thy toil is ended, and 
 thy reward secure. Look down into the vault — what seest 
 thou?" 
 
 " I see only a heap of white clothes, like a snowdrift," said 
 Foster. "0 God, she moves her arm!" 
 
 " Hurl something down on her — thy gold chest, Tony — it is 
 an heavy one." 
 
 "Varney, thou art an incarnate fiend!" replied Foster, 
 ** There needs nothing more — she is gone!"
 
 KENILWORTH. 607 
 
 " So pass our troubles, " said Yai-ney, entering the room. 
 ** I dreamed not I could have mimicked the earl's call so well." 
 
 " Oh, if there be judgment in Heaven, thou hast deserved 
 it, " said Foster, " and wilt meet it ! Thou hast destroyed her 
 by means of her best affections. It is a seething of the kid 
 in the mother's milk!" 
 
 " Thou art a fanatical ass, " replied Varney . " Let us now 
 think how the alarm should be given ; the body is to remain 
 where it is." 
 
 But their wickedness was to be permitted no longer; for, 
 even while they were at this consultation, Tressilian and 
 Raleigh broke in upon them, having obtained admittance by 
 means of Tider and Foster's servant, whom they had secured 
 at the village. 
 
 Anthony Foster fled on their entrance; and, knowing each 
 corner and pass of the intricate old house, escaped all search. 
 But Varney was taken on the spot ; and, instead of expressing 
 compunction for what he had done, seemed to take a fiendish 
 pleasure in pointing out to them the remains of the murdered 
 countess, while at the same time he defied them to show that 
 he had any share in her death. The despairing grief of Tres- 
 silian on viewing the mangled and yet warm remains of what 
 had lately been so lovely and so beloved, was such that 
 Raleigh was compelled to have him removed from the place 
 by force, while he himself assumed the direction of what was 
 to be done. 
 
 Varney, upon a second examination, made very little mys- 
 tery either of the crime or of its motives ; alleging, as a reason 
 for his frankness, that though much of what he confessed 
 could only have attached to him by suspicion, yet such sus- 
 picion would have been sufficient to deprive him of Leicester's 
 confidence, and to destroy all his towering plans of ambition. 
 "I was not bora," he said, "to drag on the remainder of life 
 a degraded outcast; nor will I so die that my fate shall make 
 a holiday to the vulgar herd." 
 
 From these words it was appreJiended he had some design 
 upon himself, and he was carefully deprived of all means by 
 which such could be carried into execution. But, like some
 
 508 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 of the heroes of antiquity, he carried about his person a small 
 quantity of strong poison, prepared probably by the celebrated 
 Demetrius Alasco. Having swallowed this potion over-night, 
 he was found next morning dead in his cell ; nor did he appear 
 to have suffered much agony, his countenance presenting, even 
 in death, the habitual expression of sneering sarcasm, which 
 was predominant while he lived. " The wicked man, " saith 
 Scripture, " hath no bonds in his death. " 
 
 The fate of his colleague in wickedness was long unknown. 
 Cumnor Place was deserted immediately after the murder; 
 for, in the vicinity of what was called the Lady Dudley's 
 chamber the domestics pretended to hear groans, and screams, 
 and other supernatural noises. After a certain length of 
 time, Janet, hearing no tidings of her father, became the un- 
 controlled mistress of his property, and conferred it with her 
 hand upon Wayland, now a man of settled character, and 
 holding a place in Elizabeth's household. But it was after 
 they had been both dead for some years, that their eldest son 
 and heir, in making some researches about Cumnor Hall, dis- 
 covered a secret passage, closed by an iron door, which, open- 
 ing from behind the bed in the Lady Dudley's chamber, de- 
 scended to a sort of cell, in which they found an iron chest 
 containing a quantity of gold, and a human skeleton stretched 
 above it. The fate of Anthony Foster was now manifest. He 
 had fled to this place of concealment, forgetting the key of the 
 spring-lock ; and being barred from escape by the means he 
 had used for preservation of that gold for which he had sold 
 his salvation, he had there perished miserably. L^nquestion- 
 ably the groans and screams heard by the domestics were not 
 entirely imaginary, but were those of this wretch, who, in his 
 agony, was crying for relief and succour. 
 
 The news of the countess's dreadful fate put a sudden period 
 to the pleasures of Kenilworth. Leicester retired from court, 
 and for a considerable time abandoned himself to his remorse. 
 But as Varney, in his last declaration, had been studious to 
 spare the character of his patron, the earl was the object rather 
 of compassion than resentment. The Queen at length recalled 
 him to court; he was once more distinguished as a statesman
 
 KENILWORTH. 509 
 
 and favourite, and the rest of his career is well known to 
 history. But there was something retributive in his death, 
 if, according to an account very generally received, it took 
 place from his swallowing a draught of poison which was 
 designed by him for another person.' 
 
 Sir Hugh Robsart died very soon after his daughter, having 
 settled his estate on Tressilian. But neither the prospect of 
 rural independence nor the promises of favour which Elizabeth 
 held out to induce him to follow the court, could remove his 
 profound melancholy. Wherever he went, he seemed to see 
 before him the disfigured corpse of the early and only object 
 of his aifection. At length, having made provision for the 
 maintenance of the old friends and old servants who formed 
 Sir Hugh's family at Lidcote Hall, he himself embarked with 
 his friend Raleigh for the Virginia expedition, and, young in 
 years but old in grief, died before his day in that foreign land. 
 
 Of inferior persons it is only necessary to say, that Blount's 
 wit grew brighter as his yellow roses faded: that, doing his 
 part as a brave commander in the wars, he was much more in 
 his element than during the short period of his following the 
 court; and that Flibbertigibbet's acute genius raised him to 
 favour and distinction in the employment both, of Burleigh 
 and Cecil. 
 
 > S«e Death of Earl of Leicester. Note 20.
 
 NOTES TO KENILWORTH. 
 
 Note 1. — Cumnob Hall, p. 8. 
 
 In a valuable work, by Mr, Adlard, on Amy Rohsart, the Earl ofleiceittr 
 and Kenilworth, 8vo, London, 1870, the author says [pp. 2i, 25] that Cunni». 
 Place was originally one of the country seats of the abbots of Abingdon, 
 and that, on the dissolution of the monasteries, it was granted by Henry 
 VIII. to his physician, George Owen. At Owen's death in 1561, it was 
 bought by Anthony Forster, and was occupied by him for several years ; 
 and at his demise it passed into the hands of the Earl of Leicester. The 
 Place ultimately became the property of Lord Abingdon. 
 
 "For a long period," says Mr. Adlard, "Cumnor was deserted; the 
 recollection of Amy Dudley's melancholy end was revived amongst the 
 ignorant villagers, whose imaginations conjured up forms and horrors be- 
 fore unheard of. and hence arose the legendary tales that have descended 
 to the present day. Decay followed fast on desertion, and, with the aid of 
 the wanton and mischievous, before a century had rolled away it had be- 
 come almost a ruin. ... 
 
 "A few fine elms scattered here and there are all that Is left to aid in 
 realizing the former picturesque appearance of this retreat, where we are 
 privileged to sympathise with suffering innocence and blighted affection." 
 
 The ballad of "Cumnor Hall," as stated in the Introduction, appeared, 
 "now first printed," in Evans's Collection of Old Ballads, vol, iv. p. 130, 
 1784 ; and in the new edition (the editor discarding the antique mode of 
 spelling), vol. iv. p. 94, 1810. In this form it is given above. The author, 
 William Julius Mickle, was a son of the minister of Langholm, in Dum- 
 friesshire, where he was born in 1734, and died at London in 1788. He is 
 now chiefly known by his translation from Camoens of the Lusiad {Laing). 
 
 Note 2.— Fostee, Lamboubne, and the Black Beas, p. 4G. 
 
 If faith is to be put in epitaphs, Anthony Forster was something the very 
 reverse of the character represented in the novel. Ashmole gives this de- 
 scription of his tomb — I copy from the Antiquities of Berkshire, vol. i. 
 p, 143. 
 
 " In the north wall of the chancel [at Cumnor Church] is a monument 
 of grey marble, whereon, in crass plates, are engraved a man in armour, 
 and his wife in the habit of her times, both kneeling before a fald-stoole, 
 together with the figures of three sons kneeling behind their mother. Un- 
 der the figure of the man is this inscription : 
 
 Antonius Forster, generis generosa propago. 
 Cumnerse Domiuus Bercheriensis erat.
 
 512 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Armiger, Armigero prognatus patre Ricardo, 
 
 Qui quondam Iphletbaj Salopiensis erat. 
 Quatuor ex isto fluxerunt stemmate nati, 
 
 Ex isto Antonius stemmate quartus erat. 
 
 Mente sagax, animo precellens, corjKjre promptua, 
 
 Eloquii dulcis, ore disertus erat. 
 In factis probitas, fuit in sermone venustas, 
 
 In vultu gravitas, relligione fides, 
 In patriam pietas, in egenos grata voluntas, 
 
 Accedunt reliquis annumeranda bonis. 
 Si quod cuncta rapit, rapuit non omnia Lethum, 
 
 Si quod Mors rapuit, vivida fama dedit. 
 
 ** These verses following are writ at length, two by two, in praise of himr 
 
 Argute resonas Cithare pretendere chordas 
 
 Novit, et Aonia concrepuisse Lyra. 
 Gaudebat terre teneras defigere plantas ; 
 
 Et mira pulchras construere arte domos, 
 Composita varias lingua formare loquelas 
 
 Doctus, et edocta scribere multa manu. 
 
 " The arms over it thus : 
 
 Ouart I ^- ^ Hunter^s horns stringed. 
 
 ^ " ( II. 3 Pinions with their points upwards. 
 
 " The crest is a stag couchant, vulnerated through the neck by a broad 
 arrow ; on his side is a martlett for a difference." 
 
 From this monumental inscription it appears that Anthony Forster, in- 
 stead of being a vulgar, low-bred, Puritanical churl, was in fact a gentle- 
 man of birth and consideration, distinguished for his skill in the arts of 
 music and horticulture, as also in languages. In so far, therefoi'e, the 
 Anthony Foster of the romance has nothing but the name in common 
 with the real individual, But, notwithstanding the charity, benevolence, 
 and religious faith imputed by the monument of grey marble to its tenant, 
 tradition, as well as secret history, name him as the active agent in the 
 death of the countess; and it is added, that from being a jovial and con- 
 vivial gallant, as we may infer from acme expressions in the epitaph, h« 
 sunk, after the fatal deed, into a man of gloomy and retired habits, whosu 
 looks and manners indicated that he suffered under the pressure of som* 
 atrocious secret. 
 
 The name of Lambourne is still known in the vicinity, and it is said 
 some of the clan partake the habits, as well as name, of the Michael Lam- 
 bourne of the romance. A man of this name lately murdered his wife, 
 outdoing Michael in this respect, who only was concerned in the murder 
 of the wife of another man. 
 
 I have only to add, that the jolly Black Bear has been restored to his 
 predominance over bowl and bottle, in the village of Cumnor. 
 
 Note 3. — Martin Swakt, p. 114. 
 
 The first verse or something similar, occurs in a long ballad, or poem, on 
 Flodden Field, reprinted by the late Henry Weber. — 
 See "Weber's Notes in the above volume, p. 182 {Laing).
 
 NOTES. 513 
 
 The second verse, from an old song, actually occurs in an old play, where 
 the singer boasts — 
 
 Courteously I can both counter and knack 
 Of Martin Swart and all his merry-men. 
 
 Note 4. — Legend of Wayland Smith, p. 171. 
 
 The great defeat given by Alfred to the Danish invaders is said, by Mr- 
 Gough, to have taken place near Ashdown, in Berkshire. "The burial- 
 place of Bacseg, the Danish chief, who was slain in this fight, is distin- 
 guished by a parcel of stones, less than a mile from the hill, set on edge, 
 inclosing a piece of ground somewhat raised. On the east side of the 
 southern extremity stand three squarish flat stones, of about four or five 
 feet over either way, supporting a fourth . . . and now called by the vul- 
 gar Wayland Smith, from an idle tradition about an invisible smith replac- 
 ing lost horse-shoes here." — Gough's Edition of Camden's Britannia, vol. 
 i., p. 221. 
 
 The popular belief still retains memory of this wild legend, which, con- 
 nected as it is with the site of a Danish sepulchre, may have arisen from 
 some legend concerning the northern Duergar, who resided in the rocks, 
 and were cunning workers in steel and iron. It was believed that Way- 
 land Smith's fee was sixpence, and that, unlike other workmen, he was 
 offended if more was offered. Of late his offices have again been calle<l to 
 memory : but fiction has in this, as in other cases, taken the liberty to 
 pillage the stores of oral tradition. This monument must be very ancient, 
 for it has been kindly pointed out to me that it is referred to in an ancient 
 Saxon charter as a landmark. The monument has been of late cleared 
 out, and made considerably more conspicuous. — 
 
 The Vale of the Whitehorse derives its name from the figure of a horse 
 ■which has been described on the hillside at this place, the turf having 
 been removed from the chalky soil in such a way as to show at a distance 
 the form of a white horse. This figure is supposed to have been cut out 
 during the Saxon period to celebrate some victory. On certain occasions 
 the white horse is "scoured " or repaired by the peasantry of the neigh- 
 bourhood, who turn out in large numbers and remove any turf that may 
 have settled itself on the figure of the horse {Laing). 
 
 Note 5.— Orvietan, p. 177. 
 
 Orvietan, or Venice treacle, as it was sometimes called, was understood 
 to be a sovereign remedy against poison ; and the reader must be contented, 
 for the time he peruses these pages, to hold the same opinion, which was 
 once universally received by the learned as well as the vulgar. 
 
 Note 6. — Leicestek akd Sussex, p. 180. 
 
 Naunton gives us numerous and curious particulars of the jealous strug- 
 gle which took place between Ratcliffe Earl of Sussex and the rising fa- 
 Tourite Leicester. The former, when on his death-bed, predicted to his fol- 
 lowers that, after his death, the gipsy (so he called Leicester, from his 
 dark complexion) would prove too many for them. 
 
 Note 7. — Sib Walter Raleigh, p. 183. 
 
 Among the attendants and adherents of Sussex, we have ventured to 
 introduce the celebrated Ealeigh, in the dawn of his court favour. 
 
 33
 
 514 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 In Aubrey's Correspondence there are some curious particulars of Sir 
 Walter Raleigh. " He was a tall, handsome and bold man ; but his nceve- 
 was that he was danmably proud. Old Sir Robert Harley of Brampton 
 Brian Castle, who knew him, would say, 'twas a great question who was 
 the proudest, Sir Walter or Sir Thomas Overbury; but the difference that 
 was was judged on Sir Thomas's side. ... In the great parlour at Down- 
 ton, at Mr. Raleigh's, is a good piece, an original of Sir Walter, in a white 
 satin doublet, all embroidered with rich pearls, and a mighty rich chain of 
 great pearls about his neck. The old servants have told me that the [real] 
 pearls were near as big as the painted ones. He had a most remarkable 
 aspect, an exceeding high forehead, long-faced, and sour-eyelidded. A 
 rebus is added, to this purpose : 
 
 " The enemy to the stomach, and the words of disgrace. 
 Is the name of the gentleman with a bold face." 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh's beard turned up naturally, which gave him an ad- 
 vantage over the gallants of the time, whose mustachios received a touch 
 of the barber's art to give them the air then most admired.— See vol. ii. 
 part ii. pp. 509-512 [ed. 1813]. 
 
 Note 8.— Court Favour of Sir Walter Raleigh, p. 198. 
 
 The gallant incident of the cloak is the traditional account of this cele- 
 brated statesman's rise at court. None of Elizabeth's courtiers knew better 
 than he how to make his court to her personal vanity, or could more justly 
 estimate the quantity of flattery which she could condescend to swaUow. 
 Being confined in the Tower for some offence, and understanding the 
 Queen was about to pass to Greenwich in her barge, he insisted on ap- 
 proaching the window, that he might see, at whatever distance, the queen 
 of his affections, the most beautiful object which the earth bore on its sur- 
 face. The lieutenant of the Tower (his own particular friend) threw him- 
 self between his prisoner and the window ; while Sir Walter, apparently 
 inflained with a fit of unrestrainable passion, swore he would not be de- 
 barred from seeing his light, his life, his goddess ! A scuffle ensued, got up 
 for effect's sake, in which the lieutenant and his captive grappled and 
 struggled with fury, tore each other's hair, and at length drew daggers, 
 and were only separated by force. The Queen being informed of this scene 
 exhibited by her frantic adorer, it wrought, as was to be expected, much 
 in favour of the captive Paladin. There is little doubt that his quarrel 
 with the lieutenant was entirely contrived for the purpose which it 
 produced. 
 
 Note 9. — Robert Laneham, p. 227. 
 
 Little is known of Robert Laneham, save in his curious letter to a friend 
 in London, giving an account of Queen Elizabeth's entertainments at Ken- 
 ilwortb, written in a style of the most intolerable affectation, both in point 
 of composition and orthography. He describes himself as a bon t-ivant, 
 who was wont to be jolly and dry in the morning, and by his good-will 
 would be chiefly in the company of the ladies. He was, by the interest of 
 Lord Leicester, clerk of the council-chamber door, and also keeper of the 
 same. "When council sits," says he, "I am at hand. If any makes a 
 babbling, ' Peace,' say I. If I see a Ustener or a pryer in at the chinks or 
 lockhole, I am presently at the bones of him. If a friend comes, I make
 
 NOTES. 515 
 
 him sit down by me on a form or chest. The rest may walk, a God's 
 name ! " There has been seldom a better portrait of the pragmatic con- 
 ceit and self-importance of a small man in oflSce. [Compare Note 16.] 
 
 Note 10. — Scottish Wild Cattle, p. 242. 
 
 A remnant of the wild cattle of Scotland are preserved at Chillingham 
 Castle, near Wooler, in Northumberland, the seat of Lord Tankerville. 
 They fly before strangers ; but if disturbed and followed, they turn with 
 fury on those who persist in annoying them. [See also Bride of Lammer- 
 moor, chap, v., and a note to Castle Dangerous.'] 
 
 Note 11. — De. Julio, p. 2.56. 
 
 The Earl of Leicester's Italian physician, Julio, was affirmed by his con- 
 temporaries to be a skilful compounder of poisons, which he applied with 
 such frequency that the Jesuit Parsons extols ironically the marvellous 
 good luck of this great favourite in the opportune deaths of those who 
 stood in the way of his wishes. There is a curious passage on the subject: 
 
 " Long after this, he fell in love with the Lady Sheffield, whom I signi- 
 fied before, and then also had he the same fortune to have her husband 
 die quickly, with an extreme reume in his head (as it was given out), but 
 as other say, of an [artiiiciall catarre, that stopped his breath. The like 
 good chance had he in the death of my Lord of Essex (as I have said be- 
 fore), and that at a time most fortunate for his purpose ; for when he was 
 coming home from Ireland, with intent to revenge himselfe upon my Lord 
 of Leycester for begetting his wife with childe in his absence (the childe 
 was a daughter, and brought up by the Lady Shandoies, W. Knooles his 
 wife), my Lord of Ley. hearing thereof, wanted not a friend or two to ac- 
 company the deputy, as among other a couple of the Earles owne servants, 
 Crompton (if I misse not his name), yeomen of his bottels, and Lloid his 
 secretary, entertained afterward by my Lord of Leycester, and so he died 
 in the way of an extreame flux, caused by an Italian recipe, and all his 
 friends are well assured, the maker whereof was a surgion (as is believed) 
 that then was newly come to my Lord from Italy--a cunning man and 
 sure in operation, with whom, if the good Lady had beene sooner ac- 
 quainted, and used his helpe, she should not have needed to have srtten so 
 pensive at home, and fearefull of her husband's former returne out of the 
 same countrey. . . . Neither must you marvaile though all these died iu 
 divers manners of outward diseases, for this is the excellency of the Italian 
 art, for which this surgion and Dr. Julio were entertained so carefully, who 
 can make a man die in what manner or shew of sicknesse you will ; by 
 whose instructions no doubt but his lordship is now cunning, especially 
 adding also to these the counsell of his Doctor Bayly, a man also not a 
 little studied (as he seemeth) in his art; for I heard him once myselfe, in 
 publique act in Oxford (and that in presence of my Lord of Leycester if I 
 be not deceived), maintaine that poison might so be tempered and given 
 as it should not appeare presently, and yet should kill the party afterward, 
 at what time should be appointed ; which argument belike pleased well 
 his lordship, and therefore was chosen to be discussed in his audience, if I 
 be not deceived of his being that day present. So. though one die of a 
 flux, and another of a catarre, yet this importeth little to the matter, bur 
 sheweth rather the great cunning and skill of the artificer."— Parsons' j 
 Leicister's Commonwealth, pp. 23, 24.
 
 616 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 It is unnecessary to state the numerous reasons why the earl is repre- 
 sented in the tale as being rather the dupe of villains than the unprin- 
 cipled author of their atrocities. In the later capacity, which a part at 
 least of his contemporaries imputed to him, he would have made a char- 
 acter too disgustingly wicked to be useful for the purposes of fiction. 
 
 I have only to add, that the union of the poisoner, the quacksalver, the 
 alchemist, and the astrologer in the same person was familiar to the pre- 
 tenders to the mystic sciences. 
 
 Note 12. — Pilgrims to Kenilworth, p. 331. 
 
 Dr. Beattie, in his Castles of England [vol. i, p. 214, 1844], says, "The 
 romance of Kenilworth, it is probable, has brought within the last fifteen 
 years more pilgrims to this town and neighbourhood than ever resorted to 
 its ancient shrine of the Virgin, more knights and dames than ever figured 
 in its tilts and tournaments" {Laing). 
 
 Note 13. — Amy Robsart at Kenilworth, p. 338. 
 
 The historical critic will recognize an obvious anachronism in the 
 Author's account of Amy's visit to Kenilworth Castle. The festivities 
 there took place in July 1575, several years after the death of the real Amy 
 Dudley. It may be mentioned, however, that during these festivities the 
 Earl of Leicester was living in secret wedlock with Lady Sheffield. 
 
 With reference to these historical liberties, see the conclusion to the 
 Monastery {Laing). 
 
 Note 14. — Chopin, p. 339. 
 
 The old traveller Coryat, in his amusing work called Crudities [vol. ii. p. 
 36] , 1611, says the chopin is a thing ' ' so common in Venice, that no woman 
 whatsoever goeth without it, either in her house or abroad — a thing made 
 of wood, and covered with leather of sundry colours, some with white, some 
 redde, some yellow. It is called a 'chapiny,' which they weare under 
 their shoes. . . . There are many of these chapineys of a great height, 
 even half a yard high, which maketh many of their women that are very 
 short seeme much taller than the tallest women we have in England " 
 {Lai7ig), 
 
 Note 15. — Imitation of Gascoigne, p. 376. 
 
 This is an imitation of Gascoigne' s verses spoken by the herculean porter, 
 as mentioned in the text. The original may be found in the republication 
 of the Princely Pleasures of Kenilworth, by the same author, in the History 
 of Kenilworth, Chiswick, 1821. 
 
 Note 16. — Festivities at Kenilworth, p. 379. 
 
 See Laneham's Account of the Qiieen^s Entertainment at KiUingworth Castle 
 in 1575, a very diverting tract, written by as great a coxcomb as ever 
 blotted paper. [See Note 9 above.] The original is extremely rare, but it 
 has been twice reprinted; once in Mr. Nichols's very curious and interest- 
 ing collection of the Progresses ami Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 
 i. ; and more lately in a beautiful antiquarian publication termed Kenil- 
 worth Illustrated, printed at Chiswick for Merridew of Coventry and Rad- 
 clyfife of Birmingham [1821] . It contains reprints of Laneham's Letter^
 
 NOTES. 517 
 
 Gascoigne's Princely Progress, and other scarce pieces, annotated with ac- 
 curacy and ability. The Author takes the liberty to refer to this work as 
 his authority for the account of the festivities. 
 
 Note 17. — Elizabeth and Leicester, p. 380. 
 
 To justify what may be considered as a high-coloured picture, the Author 
 quotes the original of the courtly and shrewd Sir James Melville, being 
 then Queen Mary's envoy at the Court of London. 
 
 " I was required," says Sir James, " to stay till I had seen him made Earl 
 of Leicester and Baron of Denbigh, with great solemnity at Westmester ; 
 herself (Elizabeth) helping to put on his ceremonial, he sitting upon his 
 knees before her, keeping a great gravity and discreet behavior ; but she 
 could not refrain from putting her hand in his neck to kittle {i.e. tickle) 
 him, smilingly, the French ambassador and I standing beside her." — 
 Memoirs, Bannatyne Edition, p. 120. 
 
 Note 18. — Italian Poetry, p. 390. 
 
 The incident alluded to occurs in the poem of Orlando Innamorato of 
 Boiardo, libro ii. canto 4, stanza 26. 
 
 Non si ritrova, etc. 
 
 , It may be rendered thus : — 
 
 As then, perchance, unguarded was the tower 
 
 So enter'd free Anglante's dauntless knight. , _, 
 
 No monster and no giant guard the bower ' ' 
 
 In whose recess reclined the fairy light, 
 Robed in a loose cymar of lily white. 
 
 And on her lap a sword of breadth and might, 
 In whose broad blade, as in a mirror bright. 
 
 Like maid that trims her for a festal night. 
 The fairy deck'd her hair and placed her coronet aright. 
 
 Elizabeth's attachment to the Italian school of poetry was singularly 
 manifested on a well-known occasion. Her godson, Sir John Harrington, 
 having offended her delicacy by translating some of the licentious passages 
 of the Orlando Furioso, she imposed on him, as a penance, the task of 
 rendering the ivhole poem into English. 
 
 Note 19. — Furniture of Kenilwoeth, p. 394. 
 
 In revising this work for the present edition, I have had the means of 
 making some accurate additions to my attempt to describe the princely 
 pleasures of Kenilworth, by the kindness of my friend William Hamper, 
 Esq., who had the goodness to communicate to me an inventory of the 
 furniture of Kenilworth in the days of the magnificent Earl of Leicester. 
 I have adorned the text with some of the splendid articles mentioned in 
 the inventory, but antiquaries, especially, will be desirous to see a more 
 full specimen than the story leaves room for. 
 
 Extracts from Kenilworth Inventory, a. d. 1584. 
 
 A salte, ship-fashion, of the mother of perle, garnished w"' silver and 
 divers workes, warlike ensignes, and ornaments, with xvj peeces of ordi-
 
 518 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 nence. whereof ij on wheles, two anckei's on tlie foreparts, and on the 
 stearne the image of Dame Fortune standing on a globe with a flag in her 
 band. Pois xxxij oz. 
 
 A gilte salte like a swann, mother of perle. Pois xxx oz. iij q'ters. 
 
 A George on horseback, of wood, painted and gilt, with a case for 
 knives in the tayle of the horse, and a case for oyster knives in the brest 
 of the dragon. 
 
 A green barge-cloth, embrother'd w* white lioris and beares. 
 
 A perfuming pan, of silver. Pois xix oz. 
 
 In the halle. Tabells, long andshort, vj. Formes, long and short, xiiij. 
 
 Hangings. 
 
 These are minutely specified, and consisted of the following subjects in 
 tapestry and gilt and red leather. 
 
 Flowers, beasts, and pillars arched. Forest worke. Historic. Storie of 
 Susanna, the Prodigall Childe, Saule, Tobie, Hercules, Lady Fame, Hawk- 
 ing and Hunting, Jezabell, Judith and Holofernes, David, Abraham, Samp- 
 son, Hippolitus, Alexander the Great, Naaman the Assyrian, Jacob, etc. 
 
 Bedsteds, with theik Fcrniture. 
 
 These are magnificent and numerous. I shall copy, verbatim, the 
 description of what appears to have been one of the best. 
 
 A bedsted of wallnutt-tree, toppe fashion, the pillers redd and var- 
 nished, the ceelor, tester, and single vallance of crimson sattin, paned 
 with a broad border of bone lace of golde and silver. The tester richlie 
 embrothered with my Lo: armes in a garland of hoppes, roses, and pome- 
 granetts, and lyned with buckerom. Fyve curteins of crimson sattin to 
 the same bedsted, striped downe with a bone lace of gold and silver, 
 garnished with buttons and loops of crimson silk and golde, containing 
 xiiij bredths of sattin, and one yarde iy q'ters deepe. The celor, vallance, 
 and curteins lyned with cxymson taffata sarsenet. 
 
 A crymson sattin counterpointe, quilted and embr: wilh a golde twi^e, 
 and lyned with redd sarsenet, being in length iij yards good, and in 
 breadth iij scant. 
 
 A chaise of crymson sattin, suteable. 
 
 A fayre quilte of crymson sattin, vj breadths, iy yardes 3 q'ters naile 
 deepe, all lozenged over with silver twiste, in the midst a cinquefoile 
 within a garland of ragged staves, fringed rounds aboute with a small 
 fringe of crymson silke, lyned throughe with white fustian. 
 
 Fyve plumes of coolered feathers, garnished with bone lace and spangells 
 of goulde and silver, standing in cups' knitt all over with goulde, silver, 
 ;ind crymson silk. 
 
 A carpett for a cupboarde of crymson sattin, embrothered with a border 
 of goulde twiste, aboute iij parts of it fringed with silk and goulde, lyned 
 with bridges sattin ; in length ij yards, and ij bredths of sattin. 
 
 " Probably on the centre and four corners of the bedstead. Four bears 
 and ragged staves occupied a similar position on another of these sumptu- 
 ous pieces of furniture.
 
 NOTES. 519 
 
 There were eleven down beds and ninety feather beds, besides thirty- 
 seven mattresses. 
 
 Chatees, Stooles, and Cushens. 
 
 These were equally splendid with the beds, etc. I shall here copy that 
 which stands at the head of the list. 
 
 A chaier of crimson velvet, the seate and backe partlie embrothered, with 
 R. L. in cloth of goulde, the bears and ragged staffe in clothe of silver, 
 garnished with lace and fringe of goulde, silver, and crimson silck. The 
 frame covered with velvet, bonnde aboute the edge with goulde lace, and 
 studded with gilte nailes. 
 
 A square stoole and a foote stoole, of crimson velvet, fringed and 
 garnished suteable. 
 
 A long cushen of crimson velvet, embr: with the ragged staflfe in a 
 wreathe of goulde, with my Lo: posie " Droyte et Loyall" written in the 
 same, and the l''" R. L. in clothe of goulder being garnished with lace, 
 fringe, buttons, and tassells, of gold, silver, and crimson sUck, lyned with 
 crimson tafF: being in length 1 yard q'ter. 
 
 A square cushen, of the like velvet, embr: suteable to the long cnshen. 
 
 Carpets. 
 
 There were 10 velvet catpets for tables and windows, 49 Turkey carpets for 
 floors, and 32 cloth carpets. One of each I will now specify. 
 
 A carpett of crimson velvet, richlie embr: with my Lo: posie, beares and 
 ragged staves, etc., of clothe of goulde and silver, garnished upon the 
 seames and aboute with golde lace, fringed accordinglie, lyned with crim- 
 son taffata sarsenett, being 3 breadths of velvet, one yard 3 q'ters long. 
 
 Agreat Turquoy carpett, the grownde blew, with a list of yelloe at each 
 end, being in length x yards, in bredthe iiij yards and q'ter. 
 
 A long carpett of blew clothe, lyned with bridges sattin, fringed with 
 blew silck and goulde, in length vj yards lack a q'ter, the whole bredth of 
 the clothe. 
 
 Pictures. 
 Chiefly described as having curtains. 
 
 The Queene's Majestie (2 great tables). 3 of my Lord. St. Jerome. Lo: 
 of Arundell. Lord Mathevers, Lord of Pembroke. Counte Egmondt. 
 The Queene of Scotts. King Philip. The Baker's Daughters. The Duke 
 of Feria. Alexander Magnus. Two Yonge Ladies. Pompaea Sabina. 
 Fred: D. of Saxony. Emp^ Charles. K. Philip's Wife. Prince of Orange 
 and his Wife. Marq: of Berges and his Wife. Counte de Home. Count 
 Holstrate. Monsr. Brederode. Duke Alva. Cardinal Grandville. Duches 
 of Parma. Henrie E. of Pembrooke and his young Countess. Countis of 
 Essex. Occa^on and Repentance. Lord Mowntacute. Sir Ja'- Crofts. Sir 
 W>-- Mildmay. S'- W°^ Pickering. Edwin Abp. of York. 
 
 A tabell of an historic of men, weomen, and children, molden in wax. 
 
 A little foulding table of ebanie, garnished with white bone, wherein are 
 written verses with 1''™ of goulde. 
 
 A table of my Lord's armes. 
 
 Pyve of the plannetts, painted in frames. 
 
 Twentie-three cardes, or maps of countries.
 
 620 WAVERLET NOVELS. 
 
 Instbuments. 
 
 I shall give two specimens. 
 
 An instrument of organs, regalls, and virginalls, covered with crimson 
 velvet, and garnished with goulde lace. 
 A fair pair of double virginalls. 
 
 Cabonktts. 
 
 A cabonett of crimson sattin, richlie embr: with a device of hunting the 
 stagg, in goulde, silver, and silck, with iiij glasses in the topp thereof, xvj 
 cupps of flowers made of golde, silver, and silck, in a case of leather, lyned 
 with greene sattin of bridges. 
 
 Ano'' of purple velvet. A desk of red leather. 
 
 A chess horde of ebanie, with checkars of christall and other stones, 
 layed with silver, garnished with beares and ragged staves, and cinquefoiles 
 of silver. The xxxij men likewyse of christall and other stones sett, the 
 one sorte in silver white, the other gilte, in a case gilded and lyned with 
 green cotton. 
 
 Ano'' of bone and ebanie. A pair of tabells of bone. 
 
 A great brason candelstick to hang in the roofe of the bowse, verie fayer 
 and curiouslye wrought, with xx^^iiij branches, xij greate and xij of lesser 
 size, 6 rowlers and ij wings for the spreade eagle, xxiiij socketts for 
 candells, xij greater and xij of a lesser sorte, xxiiij sawcers, or candle- 
 cupps, of like propor^on to putt under the socketts, iij images of men and 
 iij of weomen, of brass, verie finely and artificiallie done. 
 
 These specimens of Leicester's magnificence may serve to assure the 
 reader that it scarce lay in the power of a modern author to exaggerate the 
 lavish style of expense displayed in the princely pleasures of Kenilworth. 
 
 Note 20. — Death of the Earl of Leicester, p. 509. 
 
 In a curious manuscript copy of the information given by Ben Jonson 
 to Drummond of Hawthornden, as abridged by Sir Robert Sibbald, 
 Leicester's death is ascribed to poison administered as a cordial by his 
 countess, to whom he had given it, representing it to be a restorative in 
 any faintness, in the hope that she herself might be cut off by using it. 
 We have already quoted Jonson's account of this merited stroke of retribu- 
 tion (see note on p. 7 of Introduction). It may be here added, that the 
 following satirical epitaph on Leicester occurs in Drummond's Collections^ 
 but is evidently not of his composition: — 
 
 epitaph on the erle op leisteb. 
 
 Here lies a valiant warrior. 
 
 Who never drew a sword ; 
 Here lies a noble courtier. 
 
 Who never kept his word ; 
 Here lies the Earle of Leister, 
 
 Who govern'd the estates, 
 Whom the earth could never living love, 
 
 And the just Heaven now hates. — 
 
 See Archseologia Scotica, vol. iv.; and the volume published by the Shake- 
 speare Society, Notes on Ben Jonson's Conversations, p. 24, 1842 {Laing).
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 OF 
 WORDS, PHRASES, AND ALLUSIONS. 
 
 Abte, suffer for 
 
 Accolade, the light touch made 
 with the sword on the shoulder 
 of one who is knighted 
 
 Afrite, an evil demon in Mahom- 
 medan mythology 
 
 AiGUiLLETTE, lace tag 
 
 Albumazar, a famous Arabian as- 
 tronomer, born in Persia near 
 close of 8th century a.d., wrote 
 Flores Astrologici (Augsburg, 
 1488) , and other works on astrol- 
 ogy 
 
 Alicant, Spanish wine 
 
 Allan, or Allen, Thomas, mathe- 
 matician (1542-1632), regarded by 
 the vulgar as a magician 
 
 Almains, Germans 
 
 Alter ego, second self 
 
 Almoret, the beau-ideal of female 
 beauty in the Faerie Queene, Bk. 
 iii. 
 
 Amsterdam, great scholar of. 
 Erasmus was a native not of Am- 
 sterdam, but of Rotterdam. 
 
 Anan, I beg your pardon? pres- 
 ently 
 
 Angel, gold coin = 10s. in Eliza- 
 beth's reign 
 
 Another -guess, another sort of, 
 kind of 
 
 Anticly, grotesquely 
 
 Arcanum, the great secret of the 
 conversion of base metals into 
 gold 
 
 Argent, silver 
 
 Arion, ancient Greek poet, who, 
 when driven into the sea by en- 
 vious sailors, was carried to land 
 on a dolphin's back 
 
 Arrow, e'er a, ever a 
 
 Ascapart, a giant overcome by Sir 
 Be vis of Hampton (South- 
 ampton) 
 
 Ascham, Roger, tutor to Elizabeth, 
 and royal secretary to Edward 
 VI., Mary, and Elizabeth 
 
 Aspic, the asp 
 
 Astra eegunt, etc. (p. 247), The 
 stars rule men, but God rules the 
 stars 
 
 A-towling, a-tolling 
 
 AuTOLYcus, a crafty pedlar in Tlie 
 Winter's Tale 
 
 Ave Maria, ora pro nobis, Hail 
 Mary, pray for us 
 
 AvisED OF, aware of 
 
 Babies, to look, small images of 
 oneself reflected in the eyes of 
 another 
 
 Baillie, Harry, op the Tabard, 
 mine host of the Tabard Inn in 
 Southwark, where Chaucer's Can- 
 terbury Pilgrims assembled 
 
 Bartholomew Fair, held at West 
 Smithfield, London, on 24th Au- 
 gust (3d September from 1753), a 
 great cloth market and pleasure 
 fair, illustrated in Ben Jonson's 
 play Bnrtholomexv Fair 
 
 Base, a plaited skirt, sometimes im- 
 itated in mailed armour 
 
 Bastard, a sweet Spanish wine, re- 
 sembling Mugcadel 
 
 Bears, are you there with your. 
 A man, disliking a sermon on 
 Elisha and the bears, went on 
 the following Sunday to another 
 church ; but the sermon was on 
 the same subject, leading him to 
 utter this exclamation
 
 522 
 
 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 Bear the bell, take the first place; 
 comp. the bell-wether, that guides 
 the flock 
 
 Belianis, hero of the chivalric ro- 
 mance, Don Belianis of Greece 
 
 Bell Savage, or Belle Sauvage, 
 inn in Ludgate Hill, London. 
 See Spectator, No. 28 
 
 Belus, Bel, or Baal, the sun-god 
 of Assyrians and Babylonians 
 
 Besognio, worthless fellow 
 
 Bittern bump, the deep trumpet- 
 like boom of the bittern or but- 
 ter-bump 
 
 Black Bull, perhaps the Red Bull, 
 in St. John's Street, Smithfield ; 
 perhaps the Bull in Bishopsgate 
 Street, both theatres 
 
 Black-jack, a large jug of waxed 
 leather, for holding ale 
 
 Black Sanctds, a burlesque of the 
 Sanctus of the Roman missal 
 
 Board of Green Cloth, a com- 
 mittee of the royal household, 
 formerly charged with the duties 
 of purveyance 
 
 Bona-roba, a wench, a showy wan- 
 ton 
 
 Boon whids, cut, give good words 
 
 Botcher, a cobbler, a tailor who 
 does repairs 
 
 B ratchet, a little brat 
 
 Briareus, the hundred-armed giant 
 in ancient Greek mythology 
 
 Bridges sattin, satin made at 
 Bruges, in Flanders 
 
 Brill, or Briel, captured in "1572 
 by the patriotic "Beggars of the 
 Sea," who shortly after were in 
 their turn besieged there by th-e 
 Spaniards 
 
 Burleigh and Cecil, Elizabeth's 
 great statesman William Cecil, 
 Lord Burleigh, and his son, Sir 
 Robert Cecil, whom Elizabeth 
 made Secretary of State in 1596 
 
 Bush over the door, a sign that 
 the house so adorned was an inn 
 
 Cabala, a mystic system of mingled 
 philosophy, theology, and magic 
 that originated amongst the Jews 
 of the "Middle Ages; cabalists, 
 alchemists, dealers in magic 
 
 Cacodemon, an evil spirit 
 
 Calipolis, wife of the Moorish 
 prince in Peele's play. The Battle 
 of Alcazar 
 
 Ca'liver, 16th century musket 
 
 Cameeadoes, comladea 
 
 Camici^, shirts 
 
 Capotaine, or capote, close-utting 
 hat 
 
 Gardes, charts, maps 
 
 Casting bottle, bottle for sprink- 
 ling perfumed waters 
 
 Cateb-cousin, on terms of close in- 
 timacy 
 
 Catlowdie, Or Catlowdy, a village 
 in the extreme north of Cumber- 
 land 
 
 Ceelor, or CELURE, bed-hangings, 
 a canopy covering a bed 
 
 C'est l'homjie qui, etc. (p. 160), 
 'Tis the man who does the fight- 
 ing and gives counsel 
 
 Charlatan:, charlatans 
 
 CherryI-pit, a game in which 
 cherry-stones are thrown into a 
 hole in the ground 
 
 Chopin, a high-soled shoe, worn in 
 Spain and Italy about 1600 
 
 Clary, a mixture of wine, honey, 
 and spices 
 
 Cockatrices, prostitutes 
 
 Cod's-head, fool 
 
 Coslebs, unwed 
 
 Cog's wounds, God's wounds, a 
 form of oath 
 
 Coif, a lady's head-dress 
 
 Coil, here's a, here's a to-do, 
 pother; keep a coil, make a^fuss, 
 ado, about 
 
 CoLBHAND, a Danish giant slain by 
 Sir Guy of Warwick 
 
 Combust, astrological term applied 
 to a planet when it is so near to 
 the sun as to be almost burnt up 
 or extingTiished 
 
 Compos voti, having accomplished 
 your wish 
 
 Compter, a prison for debtors. 
 London had two in the 16th cen- 
 tury, one in the Poultry, the other 
 in Wood Street 
 
 Cordovan, Spanish leather 
 
 Corinthian, a bully, adventurer 
 
 CoRHAGio, courage 
 
 Costard, the head 
 
 Cote, pass, overtake 
 
 Couchek, going to bed 
 
 Cricket, a small, low stool 
 
 Cross, silver coin marked with a 
 cross 
 
 CuLiss, or CT7LLIS, broth of boiled 
 meat 'strained 
 
 CuRETUR jentaculum, Look after 
 the breakfast
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 523 
 
 Cut boos whids, give good words 
 
 CuTTEB, bully, sharper; cutteh's 
 LAW, thieves' law ; cuttikg, swag- 
 gering 
 
 Cyclops, ok Cyclopes, the assistants 
 of Vulcan, who laboured in his 
 workshops in Etna and other 
 volcanoes 
 
 Cymae, a loose, light robe 
 
 Cypkcs, cypress, or ciprus, a thin, 
 transparent kind of crape 
 
 Dan, a complimentary title, equiva- 
 lent to Master, sir, common with 
 the old poets 
 
 Daxdiepeat, dwarf, urchin 
 
 Deboshed, debauched 
 
 Dee, Dr. John, a London alche- 
 mist, who lived in the reigns from 
 Edward VI. to James I. 
 
 Devil looking over Lincoln, a 
 phrase referring to one of the fol- 
 lowing — a gargoyle, shaped Uke 
 a diabolic figure on a witch's 
 back, near the south porch of the 
 cathedral; a figure of Satan at 
 the east end of the south chapel 
 of the nave ; a figure of the devil 
 on the top of Lincoln College, 
 Oxford 
 
 Diablotin, little devil, mischievous 
 young imp 
 
 Died without his shoes, i.e. in bed 
 
 Difficilium, etc. (p. 127), endur- 
 ance of hardships from day to day 
 
 Dink, trim, tidy 
 
 DioNYSics, the Younger, tyrant of 
 Syracuse, retired after his second 
 expulsion in 343 b.c. to Corinth, 
 where he is said to have earned 
 his living as a schoolmaster 
 
 DiRL, thrill, vibrate 
 
 Dole. See Happy man be his dole 
 
 Douse, blow, stroke 
 
 Drap-de-buee, or bure, coarse 
 woollen stuff 
 
 DuDMAN AND Ramhead, two capes, 
 20 miles apart, on the Cornish 
 coast, which of course can never 
 meet 
 
 DuERGAR, or Dverger, the dwarfs 
 of Scandinavian mythology and 
 folklore 
 
 Duke of Norfolk's affair. 
 Thomas Howard, 4th Duke, was 
 beheaded in 1572 for treasonable 
 plotting in behalf of ^Inry Queen 
 of Scots and the Eoman Catholic 
 interest 
 
 Electttart, a medicine, consisting 
 of powders, etc., mixed with 
 honey or syrup, and licked by 
 the patient 
 
 Ell-wand, measuring-rod an ell 
 long 
 
 Erasmus Ab Die Fausto, Erasmus 
 de Holiday 
 
 Ergo, heus, etc. (p. 130), So ho 
 there, Richard, my pupil, come 
 hither, I pray thee 
 
 Et sic de ceteris, and so on with 
 the rest 
 
 EuMENipEs, Stygiumque nefas, the 
 Furies and the Stygian monster 
 
 Excalibue, famous sword of King 
 Arthur 
 
 Ex nomine, etc. (p. 126), From 
 w'hose name is derived the com- 
 mon word "gibberish" 
 
 Eye, by the, in abundance 
 
 Faeer fereabius, blacksmith 
 
 Faitoce, rogue, hypocrite 
 
 Fald-stqole, a folding stool or 
 chair, camp-stool 
 
 Fall back, fall edge, come what 
 may 
 
 Farcy, a disease of horses 
 
 Fatidic^, those who predict fate 
 
 Favete linguis, keep silence 
 
 Felix bis terque, twice, yea, three 
 times fortunate 
 
 Ferrateen, perhaps Ferrandin, a 
 kind of poplin ; perhaps harba- 
 teen, a coarse woollen cloth 
 
 Festina lente, make haste slowly, 
 don't be imi>atient 
 
 Flaw, a sudden and violent wind- 
 storm 
 
 Flight-shot, bowshot 
 
 Fcenum habet in corntj, It has hay 
 wrapped about its horns — a pro- 
 verbial expression for a danger- 
 ous fellow 
 
 Fortune, the, a theatre in Alders- 
 gate, London, opened about 1600, 
 after the time of this novel 
 
 Four-nooked, four-cornered 
 
 Fox, an old name for the .broad- 
 sword 
 
 Foxes and Firebrands, or a Speci- 
 men of tlic Danger and Harmony 
 of Popery and Separation (1682), 
 in verse, author not positively 
 known 
 
 Frippery, old clothes 
 
 Furens quid femina, what a fren- 
 zied woman (can do)
 
 524 
 
 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 FcRMiTY, hulled wheat or rice 
 boiled in milk, and seasoned with 
 currants, raisins, etc. 
 
 FusiLLE, or FUSIL, an elongated 
 lozenge, term in heraldry 
 
 Galliaed, lively, jaunty 
 
 Galloon, worsted lace 
 
 Gambade, gambol, curvet 
 
 Gaudet nomine Sibylljs,' She re- 
 joices in the name of Sibyl 
 
 Gaze, to look attentively upon 
 
 Gaze-hound, greyhound 
 
 Gear, affair, thing, business 
 
 Geber, a famous Arabian alchemist 
 of the 8th century 
 
 Genethliacally, by calculating 
 nativities 
 
 Gillian, Rake. See Rare Gillian 
 of Croydon 
 
 Globe, the, a theatre on the south 
 bank of the Thames between 
 London and Blackfriars Bridges 
 
 GoGSNOUNS, a similar corruption to 
 Cog's wounds {q.v.) 
 
 Gold by the eye, money in plenty, 
 gold in abundance 
 
 Golden opinions, etc. (p. 193), 
 quoted from Macbeth, act i., sc. 7; 
 Shakespeare is therefore alluded to 
 
 GooDjERE, or GOUJEEKS, a coarsc ex- 
 pletive, the pox ! 
 
 Grave Maurice, Count Maurice of 
 Nassau, second son and successor 
 of William of Orange as Gover- 
 nor of the Netherlands 
 
 Groat, silver coin worth 4d. 
 
 Grogram, or GROGRAiN, a texture 
 of silk and mohair or silk and 
 wool, stiffened with gum 
 
 Groyne (the), old name for Co- 
 runna in Spain 
 
 Halgaver, Mayor of. See Mayor 
 of Halgaver 
 
 Hali, or Ali ibn Aben-Ragel, an 
 Arab astrologer of the 11th cen- 
 tury, wrote De Judiciis Astrorum 
 (Venice, 1485) 
 
 Handsel, earnest-money of a bar- 
 gain 
 
 Happy man be his dole, may his 
 lot be that of a happy man 
 
 Haro, an old Norman cry for help 
 
 Harrowtry, heraldry 
 
 Harry noble. See Noble 
 
 Haruspices, soothsayers, diviners 
 
 Hays, or Hay, a country dance, 
 danced in a ring 
 
 Head-borough, head of a borough^ 
 
 petty constable 
 
 Heart-spone, the depression in the 
 breast-bone ; the breast-bone 
 
 Hermetic, relating to alchemy, as- 
 trology, magic 
 
 Hilding, a mean, worthless wretch 
 
 HocKTiDE, second Tuesday after 
 Easter day 
 
 HoisE, to hoist, lift 
 
 HoLPED UP, embarrassed, in a pickle 
 
 HoR-sE-couRSER, dealer in horses 
 
 HospiTiuM, inn, tavern 
 
 HuNSDON, Lord, was Elizabeth's 
 first cousin, being the son of her 
 mother's sister 
 
 Incontinent, immediately 
 
 Incuerpo, in plain undress, without 
 cloak, naked 
 
 Indamira, more correctly Inda* 
 MORA, the heroine of Dryden's 
 tragedy Aurungzebe 
 
 In fumo, in smoke 
 
 Ingle, favourite, intimate 
 
 In rerum natura, as an actual fact 
 
 Iphyclus, one of the Argonauts, 
 and owner of large herds of cattle; 
 QUID hoc, etc. (p. 126), is a pro- 
 verbial phrase of uncertain origin 
 
 Ivy-tod, ivy bush 
 
 Jape, jest, trick 
 
 .TowRiNG, scolding, cursing 
 
 Juvenal, a youth 
 
 Ka me, ka thee, Help me, and I'll 
 help you 
 
 Keep a coil. See coil 
 
 Kennel, the gutter 
 
 Kernes, light-armed foot soldiers 
 
 King Cambyses's vein, i.e. bluster- 
 ing [and bullying. The original 
 character figures in Elkanah 
 Settle's Cambyses King of Persia 
 (1671) 
 
 Lachry'm^ (Cheisti), red Italian 
 wine, grown on the slopes of Mt. 
 Vesuvius 
 
 Lacs d' amour, laquei amoris, love 
 snares 
 
 Largesse, etc. (p. 394), Your gifts, 
 your gifts, bold knights 
 
 Left-handed, morganatic 
 
 Levanter easterly Mediterranean 
 wind 
 
 Lex Julia, law of the Roman Em- 
 peror Augustus, designed to pro-
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 525 
 
 mote marriage and punish 
 adultery 
 
 Limber, supple, pliant 
 
 LiNDABKiDES, heroine in the Spanish 
 romance of The Mirror of Knight- 
 hood ; a kept mistress 
 
 Lingua Latins, etc. (p. 123), 
 Though not altogether ignorant of 
 Latin, most learned sir, I prefer 
 to speak in my mother tongue 
 I List (of yelloe), edge, border 
 ,' LiTTOCKs, rags and tatters 
 
 Loon, fellow 
 
 LuciNA FER OPEM, Luciua, give 
 thine aid. Lucina was the god- 
 dess who presided over childbirth 
 
 LuDi MAGisTER, master of the 
 school ; also master of children's 
 play, he7ice holiday-master 
 
 Lyme-hound, sporting dog, that 
 hunts by scent 
 
 Maddow, right, in all probability 
 mead-wort or meadow-sweet is 
 meant, which, if gathered on the 
 right day, St. John's Day, will 
 reveal a thief 
 
 Madge-howlet, the barn owl 
 
 Maestricht, besieged and sacked 
 by the Spanish forces under 
 Alexander of Parma in 1579 
 
 Magister artium, the degree of 
 M.A. 
 
 Magisterium, the philosopher's 
 stone 
 
 Mandragora, mandrake, plant be- 
 lieved to possess magic qualities 
 
 Manna of St. Nicholas (of Bari), 
 the clear, tasteless poison sold by 
 the infamous hag Toffania of 
 Naples in the beginning of the 
 18th century 
 
 Marcus Tullius, i.e. Cicero, the 
 Roman orator 
 
 Maro, i.e. Virgil, the Roman poet 
 
 Martin Swart. The old song in 
 which the second verse (p. 114) oc- 
 curs is Skelton's Against a Comely 
 Coystrowne 
 
 Matamoros, or Matamork, the con- 
 ventional boaster of Spanish 
 comedy, the name signifying 
 "Slayer of Moors" 
 
 " Match for match," quoth the 
 DEVIL to the collier, in the old 
 farce The Collier of Croydon 
 
 Mayor of Halgaver, an imagi- 
 nary potentate, similar to the 
 Mayor of Garrat, •who enforced 
 
 offences against the unwritten 
 laws of popular opinion — A Cor- 
 nish proverb 
 
 Ml anime, corculum meum, my life, 
 my little heart 
 
 Minikin, minion, a little darling 
 
 MocKADo, a mixture of silk and 
 wool, or of either with flax, and 
 resembling velveteen 
 
 Monsieur, the Duke of Anjou, 
 youngest son of Henry II. of 
 France, a courtier and suitor of 
 Queen Elizabeth 
 
 Moppet, pretty young girl 
 
 MoRioR, etc. (p. 21), I die, I have 
 died, to die 
 
 MOUNTAIN-ASH, Or ROWAN-TREE, WaS 
 
 regarded as a safeguard against 
 
 witchcraft 
 Mr. Bayes's tragedy, TJie Rehearsal 
 
 (1671), by George Villiers, Duke 
 
 of Buckingham, Bayes being the 
 
 name of the hero 
 MuLciBER, Vulcan, the ancient 
 
 Roman god of fire. 
 Murrey, mulberry-coloured 
 Muscadine, a rich sweet wine 
 MusQUETOON, light, short hand-gun 
 Muster, pattern 
 
 NaAS, THE TYRANT, OT NaHASH, king 
 
 of the Ammonites. See 1 Sam. xi. 
 Naunton, Sir Robert, author of 
 
 The Court of Queen Elizabeth (1641) 
 
 and Fragmenta Regalia (1642) 
 Ne quisquam, etc. (p. 252), No one 
 
 but Ajax can conquer Ajax 
 Ne semissem quidem, not a single 
 
 groat 
 Nether-stocks, stockings 
 Nil ultra, nothing beyond 
 Noble, a gold coin==6s. 8d. ; Harry 
 
 NOBLE, a noble coined in the reign 
 
 of Henry VIII.; rose noble, noble 
 
 bearing representation of a rose, 
 
 first coined under Edward VI., 
 
 and worth 10s. 
 Nonsuch, a royal castle. 3 or 4 miles 
 
 from Epsom in Surrey 
 Nooning, rest and repast at noon 
 Nostra paupera regna, our poor 
 
 domains 
 NuG.E, trifles 
 NuMiNiBUs, etc. (p. 123), prayers 
 
 heard by unfriendly deities 
 
 Oberon, vision of, from Midsummer 
 Night's Dream, which was not 
 acted until 1600. Shakisfeabb
 
 526 
 
 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 himself was only a boy at the date 
 of this romance 
 
 c^cA MENS MOETALiuM, O dark- 
 ened mind of man 
 
 Or, gold 
 
 Ordinaky, eating house 
 
 Orion, a gigantic hunter of hand- 
 some appearance ; See Homer's 
 Odyssey, Bks. v. and xi. 
 
 Palabras, talk, palaver 
 
 Pantoufle, slipper 
 
 Parcel, partly 
 
 Paropa, a kind of textile material. 
 
 /Sfc Taylor (Water-Poet), Praise of 
 
 Hempseed 
 Partlet, covering for a woman's 
 
 neck and shoulders, kerchief 
 Parvo contentus, content with 
 
 little 
 Passant, walking — term in her- 
 aldry 
 Pass-devant, a fashionable dress, a 
 
 dress worn atda.nces 
 Passtime of the People, a rare 
 
 chronicle (1529) by John Rastell 
 Patienta, patience 
 Pauca verba, (say) few words, have 
 
 done 
 Perdue, hidden, in concealment 
 Per pale, by a vertical line ; said of 
 
 an esciitcheon 
 Pert-S)sa BARBARA LOQUEL^, heart- 
 ily sick of a language not her own 
 Pewit, the lapwing 
 Phaeton, the charioteer of the Sun 
 Philippine Cheney, that is Philip 
 
 and Cheney (i.e. China), some 
 
 kind of worsted or woollen stuff. 
 
 " Philip and Cheney," is an early 
 
 equivalent of "Dick-, Tom, and 
 
 Harry " 
 Phrenesis, violent madness, frenzy 
 Picaroon, one who lives by his wits ; 
 
 a rogue 
 Piccadilloe, sort of deep stiff collar 
 PizE, term of mild execration 
 Place of removal, cell, or pSace of 
 
 confinement 
 PoKiNG-AWL, rod for curling the 
 
 ruff, sometimes used as a stiletto 
 Portmantle, portmanteau 
 Port St. Mary's, town in the bay 
 
 of Cadiz, Spain 
 Post Christum katum, after the 
 
 birth of Christ, a.d. 
 Potosi, a town in South America 
 
 (Bolivia) with rich silver mines, 
 
 famous since the Spanish conquest 
 
 Peecisian. Puritan 
 
 Primo Henrici Septimi, in the first 
 year of Henry VII. 's reign 
 
 Pkincox, or princock, a coxcomb 
 
 Profecto, literally so 
 
 Projection, the process of trans- 
 muting metals, especially the ac- 
 tual fusing of the metals in the 
 crucible 
 
 Provant rapier, army sword 
 
 Puckfist, a niggardly person 
 
 PusEY horn. The manor of Pusey 
 in Berkshire is held by virtue of 
 an oxhorn, presented to the Pusey 
 family by Canute the Great 
 
 Quasi lucus a non lucendo, for the 
 reverse of the most obvious reason, 
 for an absurd reason 
 
 Quid mihi cum caballo? What 
 have I to do with the nag ? 
 
 Quintilian, celebrated Roman 
 grammarian and teacher of 
 rhetoric of the 1st century a.d. 
 
 Rabatine, broad collar 
 
 Raddle, thrash, beat 
 
 Ram's alley, off Fleet Street and 
 near Whitefriars, a resort of 
 thieves and bad characters, and 
 noted for its dirty cookshops ; 
 now called Hare Place 
 
 Rare Gillian of Croydon, if the 
 old farce. The Collier of Croydon, is 
 meant, for Gillian read Marian 
 
 Raro antecedentem, an allusion to 
 a passage in Horace's Odes, iii. 2, in 
 which punishment is said nearly 
 always to dog the heels of the evil- 
 doer 
 
 Rash, species of inferior silk 
 
 Ratcliffe, or Radcliffe, Earl of 
 Sussex, was Robert, not Thomas 
 
 Recte quidem, etc. <p. 322), As- 
 suredly we are, most worthy sir 
 
 Reeve, steward 
 
 Regalls, or REGAL, a small portable 
 organ 
 
 Reguardant, turned to look back 
 
 RiCARDE, ADsis, NEBULO, Richard, 
 you idle scamp, come hither 
 
 Robertson, William, Scottish his- 
 torian, died in 1793 
 
 Rosy Cross, order of, or Rosiceu- 
 ciANS, mystical philosophers, who 
 professed the transmutation of 
 metals, alchemy, magic, etc. : 
 flourished jirincipally in 17th and 
 18th centuries
 
 GLOSSARY, 
 
 527 
 
 EotrNDELL, anythicg round, an ar- 
 ticle of feminine attire 
 RuFFLEH, bully, swaggerer 
 
 Sadler, Sib Ralph, whom Eliza- 
 beth employed in her dealings 
 with Scotland ; he was educated 
 under Thomas Cromwell, Earl of 
 Essex 
 
 St. Antonlin's, or rather St. An- 
 tholin's, a church (pulled down. 
 1874) in Watling Straet, London, 
 where in 1599 the Puyitans began 
 to hold very early morning ser- 
 vices 
 
 St. Austen's Eve. St. Augustine's 
 (Austin's) Day was 28th August 
 
 St. Barnaby, or Babna bas. the com- 
 panion of St. Paul 
 
 St. John's Berg, the Rhine wine 
 known as Johannisberger 
 
 St. Julian, patron saint of travel- 
 lers and hospitality 
 
 St. Lucy's Eve, 18th September. St. 
 Lucy was the "daughter to a 
 king of the Scots," lived in soli- 
 tude beside the river Meuse in 
 France, and died in 1090 
 
 St. Luke's Hospital, asylum in 
 Moorfields, London 
 
 St. Michael's Mount, rock off the 
 Cornish coast, near Penzance 
 
 St. Petee of the Fetters, best ex- 
 plained by a refer'^nce to Acts sii. 
 I The chains with which the Apos- 
 tle was bound, were, it is said, 
 ' carried to Rome by Eudocia, wife 
 of Theodosius the Younger, in 
 439, and from that time regarded 
 with almost idolatrous veneration 
 
 Saltim banqui, quacks, mounte- 
 banks 
 
 Salve, domine, etc. (p. 123), Hail, 
 sir, dost thou understand Latin 
 
 Salving the weapon, etc. (p. 126), 
 as for instance with Sir Kenelm 
 Digby's sympathetic powder 
 
 Santo Diavolo, St. Satan 
 
 Sarsenet, thin, soft woven silk 
 
 Savin, oil of juniper 
 
 Scholar, great, of Amsterdam! 
 should be, of Rotterdam, where 
 Erasmus was born 
 
 Sconce, a fort, detached outwork 
 
 Scot aiJt) Lot, rates and taxes 
 
 Scroyle, a mean fellow, wretch 
 
 Seiant, sitting, a term in heraldry 
 
 Seven sleepers, martyrs of Ephe- 
 sus, who, according to the legend, 
 
 slept nearly two hundred years in 
 a cave, from the reign of the Em- 
 peror Decius to that of Theodo- 
 sius II 
 
 Shag, sort of rough cloth 
 
 Sheres, Jeres, town in Spain, fa- 
 mous lor its wine (sherry) 
 
 She-wolv of France, Isabella, 
 daughter of Philip V., king of 
 France 
 
 Shooter's Hill, near Greenwich, a 
 favourite haunt of highwaymen 
 
 Shot-window, window projecting 
 from a wall, used for defence 
 
 Shovel-board, in which the players 
 pushed pieces of money or count- 
 ers on to certain lines and squares 
 on a board 
 
 Shrewsbury, Countess of. Queen 
 Mary was at this time in the cus- 
 tody of the Earl of Shrewsbury 
 
 Sidney, Philip, the gallant poet 
 and soldier who fell before Zut- 
 phen in Holland in 1586 
 
 Sieve and shears, divination by 
 means of a sieve and a pair of 
 shears 
 
 Si fixum solvas, etc. (p. 144), If 
 you dissolve a fixed substance 
 and make the solution tly, and 
 then fix it again, being volatile, 
 you will live safe and sound ; if 
 the process causes a wind, it is 
 worth a hundred pieces of gold. 
 The wind blows where it lists. 
 Catch who catch can 
 
 Sine prole, childless 
 
 Sir Pandarus of Troy, chief of 
 thfi Lycians in the Trojan War, 
 but degraded in the romances of 
 chivalry to a pimp or procurer 
 
 Sib Talbot, a dog's name 
 
 Skelton's Books, or fuller, Certaine 
 Bokes compiled by Master Skeltov, 
 Poet Lanreat, of various contents 
 
 Skene, short sword, knife 
 
 Skinker, a tapster 
 
 Sleuth-hound, bloodhound 
 
 Slocket, to convey things privately 
 out of the house 
 
 Slop, sort of trousers ; a long, loose 
 outer sack-like garment 
 
 Smock-faced, of girlish face or com- 
 plexion 
 
 Snails, an oath, corrupted from 
 Christ's (God's) nails, with which 
 his hands and feet were pierced 
 
 Snick up, go, go and be hanged ! 
 "Snick up," or "sneck up," is
 
 528 
 
 WAVERLEY NOVELS. 
 
 possibly a corruption of *' Lis 
 neck up" 
 
 Spital, hospital 
 
 Spitchcocked, split and broiled 
 
 Stand and deliver, the formula 
 of highwaymen 
 
 Startup, high-topped shoe, bus- 
 kin 
 
 Stirabout, oatmeal and dripping 
 stirred together in a frying-pan 
 whilst cooking 
 
 S T o u p , a drinking-vessel, liquid 
 measure 
 
 Strappado, a military punishment; 
 the offender was drawn to a con- 
 siderable height and suddenly let 
 fall 
 
 Sufflamina, be silent 
 
 Swarf, faint swoon 
 
 Swashing, bullying, bragging 
 
 Taffeta, silk stuff 
 
 Tarleton, the player, was Rich- 
 ard Tarlton, (died 1588), a comic 
 actor and jester, patronised by 
 Leicester 
 
 Tau, letter, from the Greek alpha- 
 bet, corresponds to "t" 
 
 Tent stitch, single stitch in worsted 
 work and embroidery 
 
 Tertio Mari^, the third year of 
 Mary's reign, 1556 
 
 Three Crakes in the Vintrt, a 
 celebrated tavern in Upper 
 Thames Street, between London 
 Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge 
 
 Trismegistus, the name given in 
 the early Christian ages to the 
 Egyptian god Thoth, whom the 
 Ancient Greeks identified with 
 their god Hermes. Trismegistus 
 was regarded by the alchemists 
 as a father of their art 
 
 Trowl, to pass round 
 
 Truepenny, the name Hamlet ap- 
 plies to his Father's Ghost in Act 
 i. sc. 5 
 
 TuGURiA, huts, cottages 
 
 TURNBALL, or TURNBULL, StREET, 
 
 now Turnmill Street, near Clerk- 
 enwell, formerly a resort of bul- 
 lies and low characters 
 
 Twin streams (p. 221), the Rhone 
 and the Saone. See Caesar, JDe 
 Bell. Gall. Bk. i. 
 
 Ttbubn tippet, halter 
 
 Tyke, a dog 
 
 Uno atulso, etc. (p. 127), when one 
 
 has been torn off, another grows 
 
 in its place 
 Untimeously, untimely 
 Up sey es, a corrupted Dutch or 
 
 German phrase, meaning toss it 
 
 off! here it goes! 
 
 Vails, a windfall, tip, gratuity 
 given to servants 
 
 Vanbrugh, Sir John, dramatist 
 and architect of Queen Anne's 
 reign 
 
 Varium et mutabile, changeful 
 and capricious 
 
 Venlo, was besieged, but unsuccess- 
 fully, by the Spaniards in Novem- 
 ber 1578 
 
 Via ! away ! '^'r ' 
 
 Virginal, small harpsichord or 
 old-fashioned piano without legs 
 
 Vogue la galere, come what may 
 
 VoTo A Dios, Spanish oath of men- 
 ace. By God ! 
 
 Wassail, spiced ale or wine 
 
 Watchet, pale blue 
 
 " What man that sees," etc. (p. 
 
 182), from Spenser's Cantos on 
 
 Mutability, a fragment of the 
 
 Faerie Queene 
 Whiteboy, pet, darling, a term of 
 
 endearment 
 White witch, wizard or witch of 
 
 beneficent disposition 
 Whittle, a large knife, generally 
 
 one carried in the girdle 
 Wife of Bath, one of Chaucer's 
 
 Canterbury Pilgrims 
 Willoughby, Lord, Peregrine 
 
 Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eres- 
 
 by, a distinguished soldier, hero 
 
 of the ballad of " The Brave Lord 
 
 Willoughby" 
 Witch's elm, or rather rowan-tree, 
 
 as in the passage a few para- ^ 
 
 graphs lower down (p. 130) \ 
 
 Witch's mark, a wart or mark, in- " 
 
 sensible to pain, made by the 
 
 devil on his vassals 
 Won'd, dwelt 
 Wus, know 
 Wyvern, a winged dragon, a hei> 
 
 aldic term
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abiasd, Amy Rohsart, qnoted, 511 
 Aglionby, Recorder of Warwick, 
 
 333 
 Alasco, Holiday's account of, 127; 
 
 Way land's, 143; his interview 
 
 with Leicester, 246 ; with Varney, 
 
 250; sent down to Cumnor, 257; 
 
 his specious casuistry, 300 ; found 
 
 dead, 503 
 Ashraole, Antiquities of Berkshire, 
 
 quoted, 6, 511 
 Astrology, belief in, 143, 246, 300 
 Aubrey, Correspondence, quoted, 514 
 Author's Introduction, 5 
 
 Badger, Will, the huntsman, 114 ; 
 
 describes his master's condition, 
 
 156 
 Bear, the Leicester cognizance, 97 
 Bear-baiting, described, 233 
 Seattle, Castles of England, quoted, 
 
 516 
 Black Bear Inn, Cumnor, 13, 259, 
 
 511 
 Blount, Nicholas, at Say's Court, 
 
 180; sent to court to make Sussex's 
 
 apologies, 189 ; his gay dress, 369 ; 
 
 knighted, 392 ; his astonishment 
 
 at court intrigues, 483 
 Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato, 517 
 Burleigh, advises the Queen, 485 
 
 Camdkn's Britannia, quoted, 513 
 
 Chopin, or'chapiney, Coryat on, 516 
 
 Coryat, Crudities, quoted, 516 
 
 Coventry custom, 473 
 
 Coxe, Captain, of Coventry, 473 
 
 Crane, Mistress, 150 
 
 Crank, Dame, 151 
 
 Cumnor, village, 13 ; Black Bear 
 Inn, 13, 259, 511 ; park, 38 ; Hall 
 or Place, 42, 511 ; apartments at, 
 70 ; secret trap-door, 503 
 
 Cumnor Hall, poem, 8, 511 
 
 Curate of Lidcote, 158 
 
 DoBOOBiE, Dr. See Alasco 
 34 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, her mode of 
 governing, 178 ; on the river, 193 ; 
 her attention drawn to Raleigh, 
 194 ; visits Say's Court, 200 ; holds 
 court at Greenwich, 208 ; cross- 
 questions Varney, 213 ; gives audi- 
 ence to Tressilian, 218 ; receives 
 Leicester on her barge, 229 ; com- 
 pletes Raleigh's verse, 238; her 
 peculiar temper, 278 ; entry into 
 Kenilworth, 373 ; calls for Amy, 
 383; discovers her in the grotto, 
 414 ; scene with Leicester, 418 ; 
 her anger on his disclosure, 484 
 
 Evelyn, Mr,, 178 
 
 Flibbertigibbet, 130; guides Tres- 
 silian, 132 ; blows up the smithy, 
 148 ; replies to Varney's questions, 
 322; makes himself known to 
 Wayland, 324 ; his inquisitive- 
 ness, 324, 349 ; drops upon Way- 
 land's horse, 338 ; astonishes the 
 porter, 341 ; prompts him, 376 ; 
 stays Leicester, 477 ; explains his 
 behavior, 480 
 
 Foster, Anthony, 28 ; personal ap- 
 pearance of, 43; interview with 
 Lambourne, 46 ; his conversations 
 with Varney, 60, 98 ; attempts to 
 quiet Lambourne, 274 ; quotes 
 Scripture to Amy, 293 ; brings the 
 poison to Amy, 296 ; prays in his 
 sleep, 494 ; arranges the trap, 506 ; 
 his end, 508; the real Anthony 
 Forster, 511 
 
 Foster, Janet, 60, 74 ; declines the 
 earl's ring, 89 ; her dislike to the 
 pedlar, 269; overhears Lam- 
 boume's ravings, 273; intercepts 
 the poison, 297 ; aids Amy to es- 
 cape, 303 ; weds Wayland, 508 
 
 Gascoigne, imitation of, 370, 510 
 Goldthred, Laurence, the mercer, 
 20; tells of the lady at Cumnor 
 Place, 29 ; his wager with Lam-
 
 530 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hourne, 32; carouses with him, 
 263 ; his horse seized by Way- 
 land, 314 
 
 Cosling, Cicely, 36 
 
 Uosling, Giles, landlord of the Black 
 Bear, 13 ; his concern about Tres- 
 silian, 23 ; conversation with him. 
 Ill; sends Wayland to Cumnor 
 Place, 266 
 
 Grimesby, Gaffer, 149 
 
 Hakrington, Sir John, 278, 517 
 Hobgoblin., See Flibbertigibbet 
 Holiday, Erasmus, 122, 125 
 Hostler, Jack, of Marlborough, 150 
 Hunsdon, Lord, 420, 470 
 
 Inteoduction, Author's, 5 
 
 JrLio, Dr., 515 
 
 Ke^iilworth, the novel, 5 
 
 Kenilworth Castle, 334 ; royal entry 
 into, 372 ; entertainments at, 377, 
 454, 472, 516 ; pilgrims to, 516 ; 
 furniture in, 517 
 
 Lambourne, Michael, returns to 
 Cumnor, 14 ; his wager with Gold- 
 thred, 32; visits Foster, 42, 54; 
 interrupts Varney and Tressilian, 
 57 ; taken into Varney' s service, 
 103; takes Alasco to Cumnor, 
 257 ; commands Fosterto the inn, 
 .264 ; his drunken ravings, 274 ; 
 encounter with Tressilian at Ken- 
 ilworth, 356 ; turns Wayland out 
 of the castle, 363 ; his welcome to 
 the Queen, 379; enters Amy's 
 apartment, 405; sent after Var- 
 ney, 463, his death, 492 ; shot by 
 Varney, 500; note on his name, 
 512 
 
 Laneham, Robert, pays court to 
 Leicester, 226 ; his description of 
 Kenilworth's festivities, 379, 516 ; 
 account of him, 514 
 
 Leicester, Earl of, visits Amy at 
 Cumnor, 84 ; offers Janet a pres- 
 ent, 89; talks of retiring from 
 court, 92 ; takes farewell of Amy, 
 95 ; at Woodstock, 108 ; in con- 
 sultation with Varney, 202, 243, 
 280, 395, 426 • summoned to Green- 
 wich, 206 ; difficulties of his posi- 
 tion, 222, 277; courted by Lane- 
 )iam, 226 ; summoned to the 
 Queen's barge, 228 ; Consults 
 Alasco, 246 ; receives the Queen 
 at Kenilworth, 380 ; his dress. 
 
 382; love passages with the Queen. 
 412, 517 ; confronted with Amy, 
 419 ; last interview with her, 429 ; 
 his desperate strait, 435 ; fatal de- 
 cision, 444 ; gives Varney his sig- 
 net ring, 451 ; accosted by Tres- 
 silian, 458 ; sends Lambourne 
 after Varney, 463 ; his meeting 
 with Tressilian, 466, 476; inter- 
 rupted by Flibbertigibbet, 477; 
 before the Queen, 484 ; his death, 
 520 
 
 Leicester's Commonwealth, 7, 515 
 
 Lidcote Hall, 155 
 
 Masters, the physician, turned 
 away by Raleigh, 187 ; his report 
 as to Amy's condition, 453 
 
 Mervyn's Bower, Kenilworth, 344 
 
 Mickle, author of Cumnor Hall, 8, 
 511 
 
 Mumblazen, Master, 157 ; gives his 
 purse to Tressilian, 166 
 
 " Of all the birds on bush or tree," 26 
 Orvietan, or Venice treacle, 177, 51? 
 
 Paget, Lady, 237 
 Pedlars, time of tale, 259 
 Pinnit, Orson, petition of, 231 
 Pleasance, at Kenilworth, 344, 409 
 Porter, gigantic, atKenilworth, 339 ; 
 his address to the Queen, 376 
 
 Raleigh, Walter, at Say's Court, 
 180 ; refuses to admit Dr. Masters, 
 187 ; accompanies Blount to court, 
 189 ; lays down his cloak for the 
 Queen, 192 ; in the royal barge, 
 194; recites the "Vision of Obe- 
 ron," 235 : writes on the window- 
 pane, 238; at Kenilworth, 368; 
 knighted, 392; sets off for Cum- 
 nor, 491 ; Aubrey's description of, 
 514 ; his skill as a courtier, 514 
 
 Robsart, Amy, Goldthred's account 
 of, 29 ; interview with Tressilian, 
 51 ; reception of Varney, 59 ; _ in 
 her new apartments, 73 ; interview 
 with Varney, 77 ; visit of Lei- 
 cester, 84 ; Leicester takes farewell, 
 95; buys from the pedlar, 269; 
 her tastes and training, 286, 327 ; 
 exciting interview with Varney, 
 289 ; drinks the poison, 302 ; es- 
 capes from Cumnor, 304 ; entrusts 
 herselfto Wayland, 311; amongst 
 the masquers, 321; her irresolu- 
 tion, 328 ; on the way to Kenil- 
 worth, 331 ; enters the chase, 337 ;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 531 
 
 in Kenilworth Castle, 340; gives 
 Wayland tlie letter, 345 ; discov- 
 ered by Tressilian, 352 ; her case 
 before the Queen, 383; in Mervyn's 
 Bower, •402 ; her privacy invaded 
 by Lambourne, 405 ; discovered 
 by the Queen, 414 ; screens Leices- 
 ter. 421 ; put in confinement, 422 ; 
 last interview with Leicester, 429 ; 
 slandered by Varney, 439 ; car- 
 ried back to Cumnor, 493 ; arrives 
 there, 501 ; her death, 506 ; an- 
 achronisms regarding, 516 
 Kobsart, Sir Hugh, 114, 158, 509 
 Robsart, Sir Roger, 113, 159 
 Rutland, Duchess of, proposes Ra- 
 leigh for knighthood, 392 
 
 Say's CouKT, 178 
 
 Shakspeare, 225, 232, 234 ; his "Vi- 
 sion of Oberon," 235 
 
 Shrewsbury, Earl of, 420, 484 
 
 Sludge, Gammer. 122 
 
 Sludge, Richard. See Flibberti- 
 gibbet 
 
 Staples, Laurence, 362, 407 
 
 Sussex, Earl of, his letter to Tres- 
 silian, 168; his lineage, 179; takes 
 Wayland's drugs, 185 ; surprised 
 by Elizabeth, 200 ; summoned to 
 Greenwich, 206; supports Orson 
 Pinnit's petition, 231; proposes 
 Blount for knighthood, 391 ; his 
 jealousy of Leicester, 513 
 
 Swart, Martin, 113, 512 
 
 TiDEE, Robin, 493 
 Tracy, Earl of Sussex's man, 187 
 Tressilian, Edmund, at Cumnor, 
 22 ; his interest in the lady, 30 ; 
 joins Lambourne in his wager, 
 32 ; visits Cumnor Place, 42 ; his 
 interview with Amy, 51 ; encoun- 
 ter with Varney, 56 ; conversation 
 with Giles Gosling, 111 ; in the 
 Vale of Whitehorse, 121 ; inter- 
 view with Wayland, 138 ; at Marl- 
 borough, 149 ; arrives at Lidcote 
 Hall, 154 ; summoned to court 
 by Sussex, 168; goes with Way- 
 land to buy drugs. 173 ; arrives 
 at Say's Court, 180 ; before the 
 Queen, 218 ; returns to Kenil- 
 worth, 350 ; discovers Amy in 
 Mervyn's Bower, 352 ; meeting 
 with Lambourne, 356; hears 
 Wayland's report, 359 ; offends 
 the Queen, 385 ; accosts Leicester, 
 458; fights with him, 468, 476; 
 
 saved by Flibbertigibbet, 477; 
 summoned before the Queen, 483 ; 
 sets off for Cumnor, 491; his end, 
 509 
 
 Varney, Richard, encounter with 
 Tressilian, 56 ; reception of, by 
 Amy, 59; conversation with 
 Foster, 60 ; interview with Amy, 
 77 ; in counsel with Leicester, 92, 
 202, 243. 280, 395, 426; consults 
 with Foster, 98 ; takes Lambourne 
 into his service, 103 ; refused ad- 
 mission by Bowyer, 207; examined 
 by the Queen, 213 ; his talk with 
 Alasco, 250 ; sends him to Cimi- 
 nor, 257 ; ominous visit to Amy, 
 289 ; constrains her to take the 
 poison, 301 ; overtakes the mas- 
 quers, 322 ; presents the certifi- 
 cates, 384 ; knighted, 390; extri- 
 cates Leicester from his dilemma, 
 421; argues with him, 437, 448; 
 slanders Amy, 439 ; carries her off 
 to Cumnor, 494 ; shoots Lam- 
 bourne, 500; imitates Leicester's 
 whistle, 506 ; his suicide, 508 
 
 Venice treacle, or orvietan, 177, 513. 
 
 Wayland Smith, Holiday's account 
 of, 127 ; surprised by Tressilian. 
 138 ; his history, 142 ; his haunt 
 blown up, 148 ; at Marlborough, 
 149 ; gives a draught to Sir Hujrh 
 Robsart, 166; buys drugs, 173; 
 prescribes for the Earl of Sussex, 
 184 ; his fear of Alasco, 241 ; sent 
 down to Cumnor. 242; disguised 
 as a pedlar, 259 ; has audience of 
 Amy, 269 ; guides her to Kenil- 
 worth, 311 ; appropriates Gold- 
 thred's horse, 314 ; mingles with 
 the masquers, 321 ; accosted by 
 Flibbertigibbet, 324 ; on the way 
 to K e n i 1 w o r t h . 331 ; enters the 
 chase, 3.37 ; watches for Tressilian, 
 348 ; loss of the letter, 360 ; ex- 
 pelled by Lambourne, 363 ; ap- 
 pears before Leicester and Tres- 
 silian, 479 : weds Janet Foster, 
 508; note on, from Camden's 
 Britniuiiii, 513 
 "What stir, what turmoil," 376 
 Whiteliorse. Vale of, 121, 513 
 Wild cattle, Scottish, 242, 515 
 Willoughbv. Lord. 230 
 Woodstock Park, 106 
 
 YoGLAN, the Jew, 174
 
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