despair. "This is kind," she cried; "this is
noble, my own beloved! O fear not disgrace or lowly fortune, while you have
your Perdita; fear not sorrow, while our child lives and smiles. Let us go
even where you will; the love that accompanies us will prevent our
regrets."

Locked in his embrace, she spoke thus, and cast back her head, seeking an
assent to her words in his eyes--they were sparkling with ineffable
delight. "Why, my little Lady Protectress," said he, playfully, "what is
this you say? And what pretty scheme have you woven of exile and obscurity,
while a brighter web, a gold-enwoven tissue, is that which, in truth, you
ought to contemplate?"

He kissed her brow--but the wayward girl, half sorry at his triumph,
agitated by swift change of thought, hid her face in his bosom and wept. He
comforted her; he instilled into her his own hopes and desires; and soon
her countenance beamed with sympathy. How very happy were they that night!
How full even to bursting was their sense of joy!

CHAPTER VII.

HAVING seen our friend properly installed in his new office, we turned our
eyes towards Windsor. The nearness of this place to London was such, as to
take away the idea of painful separation, when we quitted Raymond and
Perdita. We took leave of them in the Protectoral Palace. It was pretty
enough to see my sister enter as it were into the spirit of the drama, and
endeavour to fill her station with becoming dignity. Her internal pride and
humility of manner were now more than ever at war. Her timidity was not
artificial, but arose from that fear of not being properly appreciated,
that slight estimation of the neglect of the world, which also
characterized Raymond. But then Perdita thought more constantly of others
than he; and part of her bashfulness arose from a wish to take from those
around her a sense of inferiority; a feeling which never crossed her mind.
From the circumstances of her birth and education, Idris would have been
better fitted for the formulae of ceremony; but the very ease which
accompanied such actions with her, arising from habit, rendered them
tedious; while, with every drawback, Perdita evidently enjoyed her
situation. She was too full of new ideas to feel much pain when we
departed; she took an affectionate leave of us, and promised to visit us
soon; but she did not regret the circumstances that caused our separation.
The spirits of Raymond were unbounded; he did not know what to do