bride, who wanted to show her lord, the pretty objects which had been to her, the source of so much pleasure and consolation in his absence. The sun was going down in a wide lake of gold, each pane of the western lattice windows, not only glittering with his rays, but the reflection in them was so great, that they appeared to possess a sun, and heaven in themselves. Sir Lionel and his Lady, upon winding round the sweep of the north-east battlements of the Castle, came in view of the flower-bed, on the centre of which stood the Ladye of the Rose, who was now seen nearer and to more advantage than ever. They stopped, struck with a delight more than human. The heavenly being was standing on the violets and snowdrops, whose slender heads but just yielded beneath the pressure of her tread. Not a leaf moved upon the still sunny air, which was illumined with her shining presence. Her instrument was silent. Now a leaf trembled with the breathing air, when it gave birth to soft gentle whisperings of angelic notes of music. Every leaf was again still, and the magic sounds died away in the echo of their wildness and beauty. Now the wind came in gentle puffs,when its sounds swelled with their power-with which, the soul melted, and then they subsided with the sighs of the breeze. All was again hushed. She then raised her instrument a little higher, and slowly mounted the air, in passing through which, it again played, and the ethereal beauty said: : 'My flight is mid the light of day, My steps are o'er the sea, My path's above the starry way,- Her movements were now accelerated, which created a breeze in the stagnant air, when the harmony from her instrument was, for a moment, incomparably wild and sweet, but all perception of her had passed, ere the strains ceased their vibration on the ear. In spite of every obstacle raised against it by Prince John, Richard's brother, Baron de Darbye succeeded in raising the amount of King Richard's ransom, advancing himself his last mark towards it, and restoring his highness to his loyal people, escorting him from the coast to the Tower of London. On the next anniversary of "the battle of the Mist," Richard, Coeur de Lion, at the peep of dawn, unfurled his royal banner, inscribed with the motto of "God and my right," before Darbye Castle, to pay an unexpected visit to its lord, by whom his grace was received with open heart and arms. With the most lively greetings, the king conveyed into the hands of Sir Lionel, in the presence of his lady, a small fold of parchment, conferring on him the dignity of an earl in the right, and by virtue of the tenure of Darbye Castle, with which it was ordered to co-exist, the barony of Glenvale, giving the title of Viscount to the eldest son. FINIS. J. Evans, Printer, 91, Bartholomew Close, London. |