I was, however, to pour out all my troubles to her, I was obliged to wait till the next day to do so, for the reception was an unusually crowded one. The Baroness von Hoogstraaten had many acquaintances, and, moreover, she was a great favourite with the Queen, who talked to her so long about the buildings that were being added to the Palace, and the improvements in the gardens, that I had no time to do more than greet her very warmly, and tell her, with a very rueful expression in my looks, how much I wanted to see her in private.

"Her Majesty has given you permission to come and breakfast with me to-morrow, Frances," she said, smiling at my dismal countenance; "so you must keep your budget of Court gossip till then. It must be a full one, to judge by your eager face."

'But I could not return the smile; and as I felt rather hurt at the allusion to Court "gossip," I felt a gloomy satisfaction in allowing Henrietta to depart under the impression that something very dreadful indeed had happened, rather hoping she would pass a sleepless night in trying to find out what it could possibly be. But when I met her next morning in her own garden, where she was superintending the fanciful clipping of the yew-trees Baron Hoogstraaten loved, I saw that she knew already part at least of what I had to tell.

"Forgive me, dear, for my little joke yesterday," she said. "Now I know that poor Lord Desmond is a prisoner in the Tower, I understand your troubled look well enough."

666 Ah, but you don't know all !" I said in a trembling voice. "Now listen, Henrietta, and give me all the help you can. I am half-distracted with trying to think what I had best do; for save Lord Desmond's life I must, and I know not how to set about it."

'I told my story without interruption, for Henrietta was never in a great hurry to express her own opinions; and we walked the whole length of the terrace, after I had finished, without her uttering a word. When we had reached the end of the long, straight path, she stopped, and said in her gentle, considerate voice

"Frances, dear, before I promise anything, I want you to answer me one question. Supposing it possible to gain Lord Desmond's pardon, as I hope and trust it may be, is his wife prepared to follow him into the exile and poverty I fear will still be his? or does she only want to pay the debt of gratitude she has owed so long, and be free?"

"I don't know-I don't know anything," I said, beginning to sob helplessly. "Oh, Henrietta, save him first, and we can settle everything else afterwards."

'Henrietta put her arm round my waist, and drew me towards the house, saying, as if I had given the most lucid and sensible answer in the world:

""Then come with me, dear, for there is no time to be lost. Lord Desmond's trial is to take place in a week; but if you are brave and patient, I THINK HE CAN BE

SAVED.

Uncle Algernon stopped here for a moment, and then said: 'The rest of the story must be told in Lord Desmond's words, for it concerns him even more nearly than his wife; and, besides, it really is his turn now: her Ladyship has had a great deal more than her fair share in the narrative.'

CHAPTER VII.

DOME hours after my incursion into the Palace of Hampton Court, I was wandering about under the chestnut-trees in Bushy Park. I

had been loitering there all that hot summer afternoon, watching from a distance the brightly-dressed group that had emerged from the Palace grounds, and crossed over the grass towards the piece of water at the south side of the park. I knew that it was Queen Mary and her ladies taking their usual afternoon stroll; and though I did not venture so near as to see their faces, there was a certain silver-grey gown and carnationcoloured petticoat which I recognised directly, and which I gazed upon with intense interest. They hovered about by the water-side for a while, and then strolled back again over the grass, and re-entered the great iron gates which separated the Palace gardens from the park. I watched them intently until they were out of sight; and then, turning away, wandered through the trees once more, until I came to the water's edge where they had been standing.

There I stood, staring absently down at the bright blue sky, dotted with soft flakes of cloud, like pink shells, which lay reflected in the water beneath me. I was thinking of that curious stolen interview with my wife, which I had so long set my heart upon obtaining, and which, after all, had been so short, hurried, and unsatisfactory. Not that I had been disappointed in her-no, indeed, far from it! Oliver's description had in some degree prepared me for her unusual beauty. I remembered, too, how Sir Harry used to prophesy that she would some day be a lovely woman; and the first glance told me that his prophecy had been a true one. Among all the many lovely faces that I had seen at the Hague, at St. Germains, even at the Court of Louis XIV. himself, not one was there which I thought so beautiful as hers. Besides the clearly cut features, the sparkling, mischievous hazel eyes, and brilliant yet delicate complexion, there was a peculiar expression, arch, bright, and what the French would call malin, and yet at the same time very sweet and thoughtful—a look which I had never seen in any other face but that of my friend Oliver. No, it was not that I was disappointed in Frances, but that I wanted to have seen more of herto have found out what her real wishes were, and whether they went with those of her father or of her brother. That question was a very difficult one to answer; for she had spoken but little, and the anxiety which she had shown on account of my peril, and the tears that rose in her eyes as she listened to my story, were doubtless simply because I was the friend of her favourite brother. How could I