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that Philip murdered the woman whom he had first wrongfully accused—that is," he exclaimed (endeavouring to correct the expression in the heat of his address), "whom they will say was proved innocent, by what was in reality the punishment of her guilt. Not so must the spirit of your son be avenged by the murder of a defenceless woman; let her die according to law and justice.' The king acquiesced moodily; and, throwing himself on a chair, leant his head upon his hands in a paroxysm of mental agony; the tears actually forcing their way through his fingers as he wept. The minister, who really did feel an attachment to his master, whatever his other crimes might be, stood irresolute, as he muttered, brushing his hand across his eyes, "I half repent me of the deed, but I have thrown for a high stake, life or death, power or ignominy, and I must not now fail, whatever be the feelings which assail me in the course of the game." Both remained in deep silence, when Philip started suddenly up and seized him by the throat. "Villain, thou hast slain my son! and now, now you wish to deprive me of my wife, that I may be a widower, as well as childless." The villain, who had grown pale at the commencement of this attack, rallied his spirits, and exclaimed in a bold tone, which was fearfully belied by the pale expression of horror and despair which yet stood upon his features; "I the murderer of my young lord! my gracious liege, be yourself, suffer not these chimeras to exert the pernicious influence of insanity over your understanding; retire to your chamber, my lord; and endeavour to tranquillize your spirits, for the trying scenes which we must go through to-morrow."-"Aye,

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my good and faithful servant," answered Philip, recovering himself, "I did thee wrong; but believe me it was under the influence of grief, which prompted me to attack thee, scarcely knowing who thou wert. Evil indeed must that influence have been that could prompt me to doubt thy fidelity; yet, alas! I once thought myself equally sure of the truth and tenderness of my wife. Fare thee well." The king retired privately, and the minister, wrapping his cloak around him, reached his palace, where, throwing himself on a couch, he endeavoured to gain a short oblivion of his guilt. For a long time he was unsuccessful; visions of splendor, darkly relieved by the horrors of crime, floated before his eyes in terrible succession, and the thickening fancies came over him in wild confusion, and frequently as he was dropping into a sort of fevered sleep, he started up with a gasp of agony, appalled at the form of the murdered prince as it flitted slowly before him, and laid its cold hand on his burning brow. Even as he woke and sat upright on the bed, he seemed to see it slowly retiring through the draperies of the ample room, and then, cursing his weakness, again endeavoured to compose himself to rest, and at length succeeded; which, however, was but an increase of the intensity of his feelings, and the agony of his remorse, as the same figures flitted slowly before him, and the sleep he had so long coveted, only deprived him, as it came deeper upon him, of the power of breaking the spell by starting from his slumbers. His young son, the brave Auguste, who had been the intimate friend of the unfortunate prince, and who nearly resembled him in the chivalrous gallantry of his disposition, had been much in the habit of living on terms of almost equal friendship

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with his young lord, and having been captivated by the charms of the young queen, who, with the grace that never deserted her, had been particularly attentive to the friend of her step-son, had dwelt upon this dangerous subject, till it became an essential part of himself; and the grief which he felt at the death of his friend, his brother in arms, and his prince, was almost drowned in the overwhelming horror and indignation which he felt against those who had dared to cast so foul an imputation upon the honour of the queen. He was awake in the adjoining chamber, fevered with honest indignation, when his quick ear caught a broken exclamation of his father's on the subject which lay next his heart, he caught the name of the queen, and with a wild laugh, the sleeping villain exclaimed; "Innocent! yes I know you are so! But will nevertheless die! Do I not know that I poisoned" -a strong shudder passed over his features, and he almost instantly resumed, bursting into a laugh of wild and demoniac triumph, "But that which I did it for is mine." As these sounds reached him, considering the internal interest which he felt in the guilt or innocence of the queen, it was not in human nature not to listen, and, cautiously opening the door, he stole into the room, and bent in dreadful anxiety over the couch of his guilty father, whose sleeping remorse soon wrung from him the confession of the plot which he had laid, and disclosed the depth and extent of his guilt to his unfortunate son. Yet the first feeling which came over his mind, was joy at the establishment of the queen's innocence; it was almost instantly succeeded by a sense of deep and terrible humiliation, as he reflected that the unhappy being who

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lay before him with a mind lacerated by remorse, the worm of the mind that never dieth-who was stained with the deadliest crimes that it is in the power of man to perpetrate-was nevertheless his father. He could not suffer the young queen, rich in all the graces of beauty and innocence, to perish, through the subtle and savage machinations of a hoary traitor-but then that traitor was his father. And to bear the name of parricide !-He could not, would not live as the murderer of his father. The struggle was powerful, but his noble spirit prevailed: "I can yet," he said, "save the queen by dying for her. It is indeed hard to die, to go down into cold obscurity, when we have scarce entered life in all the glow of generous feeling and youthful happiness! It is yet harder to take upon myself the guilt of a crime at which my soul revolts, and to leave that name, which I once fondly imagined was to shine in the annals of my country as an object of generous emulation to the heroes of posterity, to be remembered, when the hand of time. should have laid me in the unbroken slumber of the grave among the old warriors of our line, whose deeds are sung by minstrels, to incite the young, the brave, and the generous, to imitation, a name which should now only be mentioned in execration, as the dark and midnight assassin, whose revenge came in the hour of darkness like a deadly blight upon the hopes of France, and left them to weep over the promise of youthful virtue unaccomplished, and the youthful pledges of glory unredeemed. But it is yet harder to see her in all the pride of innocence, led forth to an ignominious death, it is yet harder to bear the mark of Cain upon my brow, and to be pointed at in fear and

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wonder, as the murderer of my father. He left the room hastily, and having first gone to the servants of the who had been corrupted by his father, and whose names he had gathered from the broken exclamations in his sleep, and explaining to them the manner in which he had discovered the guilt of his father, told them that they might yet save their lives if they would swear secrecy, and do as he commanded them. "Go, then," said he, "to the king as if ye repented, and I hope ye do repent, the part ye have had in this foul business, and say that ye had been corrupted by me; as if I had murdered the prince, and place me as the principal instead of my father." They did so; and immediately after, as if it were done spontaneously, and without knowing their motions, he . went to throw himself at the feet of the king; and protesting the innocence of the queen, avowed himself as the murderer of the prince, which he said he had wished to lay to the charge of the queen; but finding that the innocent blood was heavy on his soul, he came and delivered himself to death; and demanded one boon as the reward of his voluntary confession, "And what boon, villain," said the infuriated king, "can the murderer of the Dauphin have to ask of the king of France?"-“That my death may be private and instantaneous."-" No,” answered the king, "not for worlds shall the murderer of my son escape. Ho, guards! seize this traitor and bear him to the deepest dungeon, while his tortures are preparing to glut my revenge!"-" Thus, then," said the youth, drawing his dagger and stabbing himself, "I die, I can bear death, but not the execration of the multitude. For the last time, I protest, the queen is innocent.” He

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