and bright, and many coloured as the holly-hocks that lifted up their stately heads beside them. Nature, as well as Majesty, had decreed that it should be a jour de fete ; and smiles, music, and sunshine, united to adorn the scene.

Among the gallant cavaliers dispersed over the lawn -some standing uncovered to listen to the prattle of la blanche Wetenhall,'t or the graceful Chesterfield— others pointing out, les promenades délicieuses du riant Somerhill,'t to the maidens of the Queen-( a group as bright as the Pleiades themselves),— -one alone, the favourite the cynosure-the observed of all observers, was missing. Grammont was there, with his flaunting fopperies-Hamilton, with his air of graceful nonchathe all-conquering Jermyn- the handsome Sydney-Killigrew, in devoted attendance upon the thoughtless Lady Shrewsbury-and old Sir John Denham, following with equal assiduity the footsteps of his giddy wife, into whose willing ear his Highness of York was breathing 'sweet honey words,' somewhat closely-but Charles, Charles was absent.

iance

Methinks,' said George Hamilton, throwing himself at listless length upon a green bank, on which Sir Harry Brooke, the king's favourite page, was already lying in solitary rumination, Methinks 'tis graceless enough in Rowley to abandon our crack-brained hostess, the Princess of Babylon, in this her own particular day and domain, in order to loiter with the mad-cap Stewart, by greenwood tree or mossy dell.'

Hush!' replied Brooke, laying a cautionary finger upon his lips, and glancing towards the thick edge of bay-trees by which they were shaded. How know you what birds may build in the neighbouring covert?'

Tut! man-the ears thou dreadest must be as acute as those of Fine Oreille in the story, to render them dangerous. Rowley and his rattlepate ran laughing down yonder green alley, towards the stream in the hollow below; and, my life to a silver penny! they are even now fishing for minnows with the lady's silken sash and

+ Grammont's Memoirs,

étui pin. But thou lookest neither at brook nor dingle, Harry! What seest thou among the distant woods on which to gaze so earnestly?'

'I see the gleam of an ancient stone wall-I see a peaked roof rising above the dark chesnuts.'

And what then?'

'Tis the roof of Wildinghurst!'

• Et puis?'

Nay! nothing further,' replied Brooke, turning away his moistened eyes. Twere dull sport, Hamilton, for a gallant like yourself to listen to a tale of poor and unhappy, although God knows, of honest and faithful love!'

Hamilton raised his eyebrows to the utmost stretch of wonder and admiration, and a significant smile began to illuminate his handsome countenance, when a single glance towards his friend suddenly checked his rising mirth. 'Beshrew my heart, Harry,' exclaimed he, ' Ĭ guessed thee not for so stricken a deer! But, since 'tis thus with thee in sober sadness, speed me thy love. tale, man! the how-the wherefore the when. Trust me,' he continued, extending his hand in friendly cordiality,' I have both sympathy and counsel at thy service. What of Wildinghurst? and who dwelleth beneath yonder peaked roof, Harry, that moves thee so strangely?'

One who holds courts and courtiers as equally vile and worthless; the more especially, that he was forced to abandon both the one and the other, through lack of Rowley's good countenance-even old Sir Mark Willoughby'

And wherefore should the name of a worn-out cavalier-a frondeur, whom all the world beside hath forgotten, bring tears into thine eyes?'

Simply, because he hath one fair daughter.'

Hamilton's eye brightened, and his lip curled again. My story is as easily ended as begun,' quoth the page, reddening angrily. Grace Willoughby and myself were playmates in childhood-lovers in youthself-confident-and self-betrothed. But Sir Mark, who hrath endured unworthy neglect at his Majesty's hands,

would not, for the worth of the Exchequer, bestow his daughter upon a minion of the court; and he hath accordingly closed his door upon my further visits.'

In order that thou mayest find admission through the casement?'

No!' replied Brooke, haughtily. 'He gave me a fair choice, between his daughter and my loyal service.' 'And thou didst gallantly prefer a livery and court servitude, to freedom and the fair Grace?'

The livery I wear,' said Brooke, looking down on his embroidered sleeve, 'is that of my sovereign; and my service waits upon the noble descendant of a line of princes, to whom that of my forefathers has been devoted for centuries.'

Spoken with right earnest delivery and notable emphasis, like many another fustian rant!'

In sober English, then,' rejoined Brooke, warmly, I love Rowley. Despite his whimsies and vagaries, there lives not a nobler gentleman-a kinder friend. Born at Cologne, while my parents shared his exile, I have scarcely left his side since I was high enough to buckle his garter; and not even the love of my precious Grace shall tempt me to throw back his favours in his teeth. I have lived for him—with him—and I trust to die so.'

• Praying that time and our Lady's grace may remove old Willoughby's prejudices. Well, well, I shall marvel no more at the staid gravity of thy demeanour, nor at the philosophical coldness with which thou receivest the bright glances I have seen levelled at thee from behind her Majesty's chair. But we must up and away, Harry, for the hall bell sounds boardward;' and the two young men, after hurrying towards the stately gallery of Somerhill, in which the groaning tables were sumptuously spread, scarcely reached the upper end in time to assume their post, as the gay monarch entered from the garden; and, by his high-bred courtesies and cheerful gallantry, soon appeased the wounded pride of his irate hostess-the absurd and far-famed Lady Muskerry.

It was some days after the festivities at Somerhill

that, one evening towards night-fall, two travellers were seen riding at a brisk pace along one of the numerous green lanes between Tunbridge and Knowle. They were habited alike, in sad-coloured suits, and appeared to belong to the class of poorer gentry; while the horses on which they were mounted might have laid claim to a higher pedigree. Yonder is the house, if my memory serves me,' said the elder of the two, as they crossed the high road towards a plantation that appeared to surround a mansion of respectability. The other, immediately dismounting, opened an entrance gate, and as they passed into a small wood, the moon shone out brightly through the thickly interwoven branches, and cast a Mosaic-like reflection upon the wild flowers with which it was carpeted. The weeping birch, that lady of the woods,' hung garlanding their winding road, while the majestic pines, that rose with a protecting air in the interior of the shrubbery, sent forth a spicy fragrance as the heavy night-dew clung to the medicinable gums' of their spreading branches. There was not a breath stirring to wave the festoons of wild honeysuckles, that flung their scattered blossoms from bough to bough.

A brighter radiance soon shone through the receding trees; and, reaching a second gate, the travellers suddenly came upon an open platform, in the centre of which rose the sequestered Hall of Wildinghurst. It was a low stone mansion, after the fashion of the early manorial houses-half-castellated-belonging to no order-and boasting few ornaments, save the carved masonry of its porch. The strangers having advanced within the screen of open stone-work fronting the house, the younger hastened to set the great bell of the hall in vigorous motion, till its clang broke inharmoniously upon the soft and slumberous effect of the moon. light stillness around. The heavy portal soon swung upon its hinges; and out bounded two gaunt, active blood-hounds, eager to prove their instinctive discrimination of friend or foe upon the new-comers; closely followed by a decrepid serving-man in a faded livery, VOL. I. 1828.

D

who, after receiving with civility the self-announcement of the elder stranger, as Master Hemsworth, of Manorfield, in the marshes of Kent, proceeded to refer his request for a night's hospitality at Wildinghurst, to the superior powers within. The plea of a lame horse, and a pressing representation of the perils of a midnight journey, with a well-filled purse, and without fire-arms, were judged sufficiently urgent by the old cavalier; who was aware that not a hostel of credit stood within ten miles of his gate; and the gentlemen were accordingly requested to dismount and enter the hall.

The younger of the two, conscious, perhaps, that the appearance of their horses might controvert the truth of their alleged dilemma, insisted upon officiating in the stable; and having been placed by the staid maggior d'uomo under the guidance of a red-headed savage of a farming-lad, he proceeded, with no small awkwardness, to fulfil his self imposed duties. Softly, my bonny Bess!' he exclaimed, as he ensconsed his mettled steed in one of the forty oaken stalls of the stable, each of which was richly paved, and carved to terminate in the Willoughby crest. 'Softly, my dainty dame! Thou wilt have nor master nor mate unto whom to grumble of hard fare and chilly housing, save yonder wheezing padnag, who, I wager a pistole, belongeth to no less a person than the sleek chaplain of the hall!' The wooden leg of the veteran proprietor suggested, indeed, a ready excuse for the lamentable scantiness of his stud; but there was a general coldness, an air of decay and degradation shed over all at Wildinghurst, that accorded well with the rumours of its family anuals.

The young esquire, after loitering over his task, in order to afford an opportunity to his companion of telling their story in his own way, proceeded with some hesitation towards the hall; but he was quickly reassured, by the shouts of laughter issuing from the door, and by the familiar attitude in which, on his entrance, he found Master Hemsworth seated at his host's right hand. On the rudely covered board, stood the remains of a pasty and of a portly sirloin, now rapidly