ood to woman; and fair in the eyes of the happy sun is the waking of holy sleep, a

t and care vanish, the aching heart is lulled in the body's rest, the hard lines relax into flexile ease, a softer, warmer bloom steals over the cheek, and, relieved from the stiff restraints of dress, the rounded limbs repose in a more alluring grace

yes, "you are here, you are safe!-blessed be the saints and our L

blithe and golden," said

from yon recess, and, crawling to your pillow, I heard its hiss, and strove to come to your aid, but in vain; a spell seemed to chain my limbs.

for I, too, dreamed of another, dreamed that I stood by the altar with one far away, and when I woke-fo

n appeared in the chamber all the stateliness of retinue allotted to t

my first task on rising," r

o, at a later hour. Find me he

turely set; yet she had all gifts of person in her favour, and a sleek smoothness of manner that seemed to the superficial formed to win; but the voice was artificial, and the eye cold and stealthy. About her formal precision there was an eternal consciousness of self, a breathing egotism. Her laugh was displeasing,-cynical, not mirthful; she had none of that forgetfulness of self, that warmth when gay, that earnestness when sad, which create sympathy. Her beauty was without loveliness, her character without charm; every proportion in her form might allure the sensualist; but there stopped the fascination. The mind was trivial, though cunning and dissimulating; and the very evenness of her temper seemed but the clockwork of a heart insensible to its own movements. Vain in p

h all a girl's fresh delight that Anne escaped at last to her own chamber, where she found Sibyll; and, with her guidance, she threaded the glo

At that time a horn sounded at a little distance off; a clangour of arms, as the sentries saluted, was heard; the demoiselles retreated through the arch, and mounted the stair conducting to the very room, then unoccupied, in which tradition records the murder of the Third Richard's nephews; and scarcely had they gained this retreat, ere towards the Bloody Gate, and before the prison tower, rode the king who had mounted the captive's throne. His steed, gaudy with its housing, his splendid dress, the knights and squires who started forward from every corner to hol

as if gently to rebuke the mockery; then he clo

Oh, hard heart!" murmured Anne, as, when Edward had dis

ck approve thy pity,

by

eturned Anne, wiping the tears from her eyes; "how o

ters and open to a courtyard. At one end of this corridor a door opened upon the passage, in which was situated the chamber of the Lady Anne; the other extremity communicated with a rugged stair of stone, conducting to the rooms tenanted by Warner. Leaving Sibyll to present h

roached the two, and said, with a forced smile, "

moment. I received a letter last evening from the Duke of Gloucester, and as I know the love borne by the prin

tidings be?" asked

late he

te the purport of the letter in his presence. The young duke informs me that he hath long conceived an affection which he would improve into marriage, but befo

George of Clarence! But who can he have seen

ufficiently notorious to his friends and many of the court; it is an affection for a

f the prelate's arm, on which he had been

o be one Nevile? Have I not sufficiently narrowed the basis of my throne? Instead of mating my daughter to a foreign power,-to Sp

s arm, as if to caution him against so imprudent a display of resentment; but the king walked on, not heeding

ought your chamber, but you were abroad, to say that I have received intelligence of a fresh rising of the Lancastrians in Lincolnshire, u

s!" said the king, i

ments when the human h

s wise and honest! No

ile

od on the spot on which the king had left him, his a

alliance, have repaired the occasion of confirming my dynasty abroad, which Clarence lost. But no matter! Of these things we will speak

ls are headed by lords and knights. Robin of Redesdale, who, methinks, bears a charmed

towards the turret that held his captive, "well

zeal that draws me from the care of the Church to that of the State, I have summoned the Lords St. John, De Fulke, and others, to my house of the More,-praying your Highness to

. I will come to your pala

s for the barons to ar

e the tenth d

sing men in the neighbourhood of his castle, and in defeating the treason of this Redesdale knave. We will give commission to him and to Clarence to levy troops; Hastings, see to this forthwith. Ye say Sir Robert Welles leads the Lincolnshire varlets; I know the nat

t heart to while an hour in my pleasurement. I will but see the friends of our House now

ed to you, cardinal t

tin

rite took their way in

is alliance,-abet him not!

Reflect what danger may ensue if an ambitious lord, discontented with your reign, obtains the hand of th

ed by his passions. He stamped his foot violently on the floor. "Hastings!" he exclaimed, "be silent! or-" He stopped sho

rmy against the rebels (whose force daily increased, despite the captivity of Lord Welles and Sir Thomas Dymoke, who, on the summons of the king, had first taken sanctuary, and then yielded their persons on the promise of pardon and safety), and restore Anne to her mother,-as this time drew near, his perturbation of mind became visible to the whole court; but, with the instinct of his native craft, he contrived to conceal its cause. For the first time in his life he had no confidant-he did not dare trust his secret to Hastings. His heart gnawed itself. Neither, though constantly stealing to Anne's side, could he venture upon language that might startle and enlighten her. He felt that even those attentions, which on the first evening of her arrival had been noticed by the courtiers, could not be safely renewed. He was grave and constrained, even when by her side, and the etiquette of the court allowed him no opportunity for unwitnessed conference. In this suppressed and unequal struggle with himself the time pass

r's labours, thanked Edward with simple earnestness, and withdrew. In the anteroom she encountered Hastings, on his way to the

proof of power, Sibyll added, "The king has been kindly speaking to me of my father's health." The courtier's brow c

causes for alarm by recalling the state cares which pressed heavily upon him, and whispering to herself that word of "wife," which, coming in passionate music from those beloved lips, had thrown a mist over the present, a glory over the future! and in the king's retention of Adam Warner, despite the Duchess of Bedford's strenuous desire to carry him off with F

But, oh! when we taste of power and greatness, and master the world's dark wisdom, what doth love shrink to?-an hour's bliss and a life's folly." His delicate lip curled, and breaking from his soliloq

g, "knowest thou that men

a sweet face hath captured thy gr

h, for verily love is t

e his chamber with a qui

o thou lovest the multi

left me. Art

looks that have the gloss of the raven, a

lden sunbeams! But to set thy mind at rest, Will, know that I have but compassionated the sickly state of the scholar, whom thou prizest s

were, be

looke

u art the flower and prince of my new seignorie,-thou must mate thyself with a name and a barony that shall be worthy thy fame

on to these words. The king did not wai

rafty gallant, if thou do

lls of youth and b

the king, in a hollo

f Clarence. "Ha!" said Edward, "George comes to importune me for leave to depart to the government

h I deemed you too generous in the appoin

wine, by the way, in which poor George swears he would be content to drown himself. Viceroy of Ireland! My f

her's crown. Has he the wit or the energy

arks to a silver penny that my jester shall talk giddie Georgie