interests might be urged to their completion over the dead body of his lord. He had already unfolded to the king his suspicions; who, though at first he had turned from them with proud confidence, yet began to fail when the artful minister skilfully contrived to bring in with merciless accuracy, many trifling, yet, at the same time, connected circumstances; and when he promised, if he would but hear him advance his accusation, to prove it to his own satisfaction.

It was a lovely evening, and the young queen sat musing over the loss sustained by the country, in the death of its future sovereign. She had been able to appreciate the high qualities, which, had they been allowed to come to perfection, would have been well fitted to adorn a throne; and had deeply lamented his untimely death. She also was a spirit of a kindred mould, and she mourned him as a brother. She had wept deeply when the cloud of death, and the still more savage hand of man, extinguished those glorious energies before they were permitted to unfold themselves for the benefit of mankind; though it would be too severe on the frailty of human nature to inquire whether the thought that she was the mother of the destined king of France did not contribute to insinuate rays of hope and of splendor through the darkness of that universal sorrow which attended upon the death of the Dauphin. She was sitting silently in her own apartments, attended only by two of her favourite maidens, and conversing with them freely and affectionately, when the king entered suddenly. He appeared excessively agitated, and there was an expression in his eye which betokened more than grief, as he addressed the queen; and his

voice, though perfectly calm, appeared almost as if it were not his own. The queen felt surprised at the sound, and almost started as he spoke to her. It might be only that from the excessive agitation marked on every feature, the studied calmness of his voice and manner, appeared strange, and even fearful; and the matter of his speech, which was indifferent, and even gay, sounded still more terrible. "This is the first time, Philip," she exclaimed," that I have been forbidden to share your griefs. I have been accustomed to consider myself as the partner of your sorrows, as well as of your splendor; do not then refuse me the dearest privilege of a wife, when the hand of sorrow is heaviest upon you." Philip seemed to hesitate, but he turned suddenly away, and appeared to struggle with some internal emotion; and then, as he again turned to address her, the queen observed, with a mixture of sympathy and terror, that although the words were kind, they were delivered with a conviction of fierce and withering scorn, in his manner of addressing her, though she thought that it seemed involuntary; and that though they were gay, even too gay, considering the recent tragedy which had deprived him of a son whom he had idolized, she saw that the big drops were standing on his brow, and the stain of blood upon his lips as he replied. ¢ Why should my fair wife conceive me to be so overcome with grief? It is true," and his brow darkened as he spoke, "that I have lost a brave son; it is true that his spirit seems to call for vengeance on his murderers, and by the living God" he continued, grasping her arm with a violence of which he himself was perhaps unaware,

"if I can but discover who they were that planned that deadly deed, I will take the deepest revenge that was ever yet taken by a king and a Christian"-There was a deep pause-and he resumed in a tone of bitter irony, "But the hour that has bereft me of my son, has proved to me how tender and faithful is my wife, who can sympathize with her husband in the death of his first born, even though it should elevate her to the dignity of the mother of the Dauphin." The queen gazed in astonishment for some time, half doubting whether excessive grief had not injured his usually powerful understanding; when suddenly the extent of his unjust suspicions flashed across her mind for a moment she appeared overwhelmed by the enormity of the alleged crime, till the pride of virtue and of birth came to her aid, and turning with dignity to Philip, she said, while her cheek reddened with honest indignation, and her eyes kindled as she spoke, "I see, Philip, whither these insinuations tend; you have dared to imagine (and may God pardon you the injustice of your thoughts), that you are indebted to the wife of your bosom, for the murder of your child. I will not ask you to bring forward your witnesses, for no witnesses can justify you in the belief. I should have! thought, that the confidence of Philip in me was too deeply rooted to be shaken by the representations of artful and designing men; if, however, he can think vilely and falsely enough of the woman whom he has selected as a queen, to believe that such mean and paltry motives as he has dared to impute, could possibly influence her, even to think without horror of so foul a crime, it matters little whether she be guilty or not; if he does her no

wrong in supposing it possible that she should do so, the woman, be she a king's daughter, is unworthy to be the wife of the poorest gentleman in France. If he do her wrong by that supposition, as I call God to witness he now does, though he be the mightiest of Europe's monarchs, is unworthy to touch the hand of the meanest peasant girl in his wide dominions." The pride of innocence unjustly aspersed, had supported her so far, but oppressed by a variety of conflicting emotions, she sunk into a seat, and found relief in a flood of tears. The king appeared considerably affected, and turned away, exclaiming, "Oh, if I could believe the truth of her honest indignation! But I cannot ; the deepest villain that ever breathed, would not have had the audacity to forge an accusation against so lovely a creature. He warned me, too, not to be entrapped into a belief of her innocence, by her assumption of surprise and indignation. But yet, it is impossible that one so beautiful and virtuous should have committed a crime so deadly! I will not—I cannot believe it!" He turned round as the queen was vainly endeavouring to overcome the feeling of the moment, threw himself at her feet, exclaiming, as he raised her hand to his lips, "I believe you-upon the honour of a king, and a gentleman, I believe you-only say once more ‘I am innocent."""No," she replied proudly, as she dried her tears, "I will not owe my life to the feeling which a moment has kindled, and a moment may extinguish ; I am confident in my own integrity, and I will defy the malice of my enemies, trusting in heaven to overthrow and confound their designs." She retired hastily as she concluded, and Philip departed to join his minister, who had

promised to bring the proofs which should establish the guilt of the queen. He entered the room, and weaving together artfully much trifling circumstantial evidence, proceeded to call the servants of the queen, whom he had corrupted to perjure themselves against their mistress. The king, no longer under the influence of her tears, was, with much difficulty, persuaded to believe the guilt of his consort; and exclaimed, "I will see the base wretch once more; I will upbraid her with her perfidy and dissimulation, and stab her with my own hands; the spirit of my slaughtered son calls on me for vengeance, I cannot wait for the slow forms of law!" "My gracious liege," interrupted the wily minister, "do not again trust yourself within the influence of her fascinations; remember, that she almost made you believe her innocence." Finding, however, that the king seemed resolved to persist, and dreading lest the queen should be punished in this summary manner; he resolved, however he might wish ultimately for her death, to stand between the infuriated sovereign and his destined victim; and making a forcible appeal to the nobler feelings of his master, he succeeded for the present in tranquillizing his excessive agitation: "Son of a race of kings, be not in the hour of trial unkingly; if you stain your royal hands with the blood of this woman, murderess though she be, you are degraded to her level. God nequr book knows, that since the blood of my royal master rests upon her head, her death were more welcome to me than her life. But it is not to glut the passing hatred of a moment, that a king must break through the eternal laws of justice; think how will it sound to the ears of posterity,"

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