h splendour day and night,
With rich perfume
In every room,
That did delight that princely train,
These again shall be,
When the time we see,
That the king shall enjoy his own again.'

Heavy and hot were the tears that rolled down the youth's cheeks, for
he was thinking of home and long ago--of that far-away home where loving
hearts had clustered round him. He could recall, too, the little room,
the little bed he slept in, and he pondered over his strange, forlorn
destiny. And yet, thought he suddenly, 'What is there in my fate equal
to that poor Prince's? I am a Geraldine, they say, but I have none to
own or acknowledge me. Who knows in what condition of shame I came into
the world, since none will call me theirs? This noble name is little
better than a scoff upon me.' The boy's heart felt bursting at this sad
retrospect of his lot. 'Would that I had never left the college!' cried
he in his misery. 'Another year or two had, doubtless, calmed down the
rebellious longings of my heart for a life of action, and then I should
have followed my calling humbly, calmly, perhaps contentedly.'

Partly to divert his thoughts from this theme, he turned to the memoir
of the Prince's expedition, and soon became so deeply interested in its
details as to forget himself and his own sorrows. Brief and sketchy as
the narrative was, it displayed in all the warm colouring of a
romance that glorious outburst of national chivalry which gathered
the chieftains around their sovereign--all the graces, too, of his own
captivating manner, his handsome person, his courtly address, were dwelt
upon, exerting as they did an almost magical influence upon every
one who came before him. The short and bloody struggle which began at
Preston and ended at Culloden was before his eyes, with all its errors
exposed, all its mistakes displayed; every fault of strategy dwelt upon,
and every miscalculation criticised. All the train of events which might
have occurred had this or that policy been adopted was set forth in most
persuasive form; till, when the youth arose from the perusal, such a
conviction was forced upon him that rashness alone had defeated the
enterprise, that he sprang to his feet, and paced the room in passionate
indignation. As he thought over the noble devotion of Charles Edward's
followers, he felt as if such a cause could not die. 'The right is
there,' muttered he, 'and ther