"I hope so," gravely answered the Lady Margaret's page, though not without a colour mounting to his youthful cheek, and a humid expression of sensibility moistening his brilliant eye.

"At peace with St. Julian, too?" demanded Sir Walter De Ruthen. "You said at peace with all mankind; and St. Julian is a man, and a man of mettle, is not he?"

"And St. Julian is a man that I venerate most highly," said the page; "and wherefore should my tongue be silent in his praise? When a boy, scarce twenty years ago, I listened to the great exploits and the battles fought and won by the youthful conqueror, St. Julian. Oft has my father, once high and mighty in arms on the plains of Corsica, dwelt on the perfections of the martial hero, till my young heart has panted to become like him, so virtuous, and like him, so renowned; who ne'er returned from battle but with victorious wreaths shining o'er his brow: and with such modest grace, they say, he wore his laurels too, that, wheresoe'er he went, he was the idol and the wonder of an admiring world. Ah, I have heard it whispered, too," cried Sir Orville, lowering his voice to the softest whisper, "before I came hither, in the service of Albino's lady, that St. Julian loved, and was beloved by the daughter of our late gallant chief, the Lord Albino-the lovely Augustina. Did report err, when it rumoured thus? or, did the lady fancy only that she loved? or, was it the mere flower of youth only in the great St. Julian to admire her? Yet, surely Augustina, of all Bohemian maids, is the fairest-the best-the most discreet! I do not think there is a model of such a lady in all womankind!"

"By my faith, it would seem so," cried Sir Walter, bluntly; "for thou art marvellously fond of dwelling on perfections so rare and unexampled; yet thou art young, and it is a trick of youth to like that best which seemeth lovely to the eye. For the Bohemian maid, I have heard somewhat of the beauty you extol, but never heard the idle tale you speak of, that St. Julian ever loved her. The rumour is false, believe me but, were it true, what doth that concern you or I? to mention it so slightly. Boy, you will do well to hold this thought in silence; or, reaching the ear of the haughty Margaret, thy place in office will be resigned to one less apt of speech, and far less apt of thought than thou art. Dost thou not understand me rightly? I will tell thee that thou wouldst be dismissed the service of the Lady Margaret, should once thy thoughts be known. Thus I have spoken of St. Julian and the fair Bohemian Lady that fills thy heart with such enraptured praise. Soldiers in camps should have still tongues, and they will have wise heads. How long hast thou been in the service of Albino's wife ?"

"Since my great father died, and the Austrian army has been victorious," replied Sir Orville. "My late father, Sir Herbert Faulkner, served under the command of the Lord Albino: I was then but a stripling, and when I sought advancement, I was brought to these gothic towers, and told, that I should become the page of Lady Margaret! and so I have :-ah! much rather had I been a soldier, and served in shining arms!"

and

'Well hast thou said," cried Sir Walter, shortly shalt thou profit by thy wisdom, and thy seemingly valliant disposition; which, ere long, may be fully

gratified, shouldst thou leave thy present fortune, to follow those more worthy of a man, and list into the service even of him thy soul so loveth-St. Julian! Hast thou faith, boy, and confidence ?-thou shalt never repent thy purpose,-answer me!"

"Faith and confidence! aye, truly have I, both!" answered Sir Orville; "both in St. Julian, and not less in the brave and gallant Sir Walter De Ruthen. I would go hence ;-for while I linger here, there is more peril in the bright presence of a beauteous lady, than were I to face the angry cannon's roar, the sound of trumpets, the clash of swords, or neigh of fiery steeds. A as, there is more danger in one glance from the fair Bohemian maid, than all the perils of war, though e'er so raging."

Sir Walter could not now doubt of the sincerity of the youthful page; and though he still cautiously evaded any conversation that might lead to the subject against which he had warned him not to be inquisitive; yet he began to be irresistibly charmed at the unaffected display of good humour, and urbanity of manners that nature seemed to have stamped so ingenuously on the countenance of the youthful speaker; and viewing him with an air of complacency, now perfectly free from restraint, he exclaimed,

"Promise me, then, that you will gain me an audience with the Lady of Albino, when no one else shall intrude upon our privacy :-I have for her secret ear, somewhat of importance. I must speak to the Lady Margaret when no mortal breathing shall listen to our discourse; promise me this, and, by the honour of a soldier, I promise thee in return, the protection, the friendship, of the great St. Julian! Thou shalt

shine in valour, boy; and though the wars are over, and for a while peace waves the banner o'er the head of the mighty conqueror, there will be more battles, and more smiling victories! and you shall share the glories and the pride of martial conquest. If thy young heart so pants for military ardour, (and much I prize thee for it) soon shall a soldier's triumph grace thy brows, and St. Julian advance thee to a soldier's fame!"

"You may command Orville Faulkner in all that I can serve you, with my poor ability," uttered the grateful page. "I will attempt to forward your wishes, though at the hazard of all I hold dear in existence, Yes, Sir Walter, when the midnight hour shall advance, and all is locked in fast repose in the gothic towers of St. Clair, I will conduct you to the armory, where the Lady Margaret passes some hours in silent meditation o'er the trophies of her buried ancestors; and where some of the mysteries of this castle are nightly performed, doubtless with her and ber emissaries. I have seen strange things, and heard strange things, since I have been the page of the Lady Margaret, truly, Sir Walter !-but I am forbidden to reveal aught that may discredit the high reputed character of this illustrious lady! Yet I like not some of her proceedings. She is, I fear, the mortal enemy of the great St. Julian."

"Thou canst not tell me more of the Lady Margaret than I already know," uttered Sir Walter; "but St. Julian is beyond the power of his vindictive foes! a bright meridian star, that foul malignant envy cannot. reach. Of the mysteries thou hast beheld, they are only mysteries to thee; to me they are familiar as the spirit who directs them, which, truly, is an evil one,

But let this matter pass. I will not question thee of their import. How bore the Lady of Albino the death of her husband, and the loss of her son?"

To which the youthful page replied,—

"Oh, it was passing strange, and, indeed, most wonderful, to see the lady, calm and undismayed, even in that fearful hour which makes the stoutest heart to tremble, and the most roseate cheek to blanch with fear! No tear bedew'd her cheek!—no heaving sigh swell'd her bosom!-no terrors possess'd her mind! and, while she denounced curses on the head of St. Julian, she wept not-she spoke not of the gallant slain ones! But the beauteous Augustina! ah, how many tears stained that lovely check, more fair than the dewy lily on the mountain top, or purer than the alpine. snows ere they dissolve, and mix with the grosser substance of the earth. Her blue eyes, (deep as the violet's hue, or gently raised from their silken fringes but more resemble the azure canopy of heaven) were cast in silent dejection on the ground, as she listened to the mournful tidings of Albino's fate, and what she loved more than light or life, her young brother, slain— the brave Fernando! Motionless she sat awhile, absorbed in grief, her golden tresses waving in rude. negligence, on her fair and open brows; and while her cherub lips softly murmured forth the name of Fernando, her stern mother haughtily repulsed her eloquent tears, and bade them cease to flow. Never shall I forget the Lady Margaret, as in accents of reproach, she thus addressed the weep.ng lovely maid :

"I command you, Augustina, instantly command you, on peril of my extreme displeasure, to hide these