other. To make my honoured lady a countess, you have missed the chance of being yourself"

He paused and seemed unwilling to complete the sen

tence.

"Of being myself what ?" 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."

"Be

"Thou ravest, Varney," answered Leicester. sides, our times have seen enough to make men loathe the crown matrimonial 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 experienced a husband of different metal; and her husband had 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 say'st, Varney," said Leicester, a brief smile of self-satisfaction passing over his anxious countenance. 66 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 lovetokens, 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 writes 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 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."

you

"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 reasonable?-that is the question.-Her religious scruples are solved-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 companyWhat 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; "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 else perfect the device I have 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 dark ened 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 dan-. gerous 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 horoscopes, 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 small turret 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 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 eye

His

brows 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. 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, 22 VOL. I.

though respectful, seemed altogether at his ease, and even assumed a tone of instruction and command, in conversing with the prime favourite of Elizabeth.

"Your prognostications have failed, Alasco," said the earl, when they had exchanged salutations-"He is recovering."

66

'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 regunt homines, sed regit 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 a higher power. Thus, in reviewing the horoscope which your lordship subjected to my skill, you will observe that Saturn, being in the sixth House in opposition 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 66 ; 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?"

66

My art stands at your command," said the old man ; "and here, my son, is the map of thy fortunes, brilliant in aspect as ever 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 inti

It is for

mate yet a prouder title, yet a higher rank. 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, astonished 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 import. As he turned, however, he caught the eye of the astrologer fixed on him, while an observing glance of the most shrewd penetration shot from under the penthouse of his shaggy dark eyebrows. Leicester's haughty and suspicious soul 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 body.

;

"Wretch !" he said, "if you dare to palter with 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!"