dge ere thou hadst found his heart,
and thou wouldst find thyself insolvent of virtue."

"Thou hast overreached artifice, Janet, and gone back to Bible days
and corrupted them by borrowing parabolic speech to waste upon
deaf-eared seventeenth century maid."

"Ah, Lambkin; with closed ears thou dost not becalm sight and wit,
they cease not to fructify under suasion of childhood impregnations.
I fear not for thee, if thou art forewarned. If thou art taken to the
King, he will straightway be enamoured of thy beauteous face and will
wish to have thee near him, and because he is of so great a title, he
will expect to mould thee to his desires, whether 'tis thy will or
not. He may perhaps overawe thee, and thou wilt feel flattered by his
approaches, which will seem sincere to thy untutored perceptions.
'Twill be thy first meeting with a King. There is one thing most sure,
thou wilt not think him handsome; he has not the rich colouring that
so marks Lord Cedric's face, nor yet the clearness of countenance. The
King is most swarthy, gross featured and unfitted to thy fancy.
And how wouldst thou like such to approach thee and fondle thy
hand--perhaps imprint thy cheek with a caress, or his long fingers to
go a foraging on thy slender neck?"

"Nay, nay, Janet; I should most surely hate such an one. I am sure I
should hate! hate!"

"But 'tis surely to what thou art coming."

"But, Janet, the Duke of Monmouth is the King's son, and his Grace of
Buckingham his friend; and with these two at my side, what harm could
come to me?"

"Should the King propose to keep thee with him, could they lie like
slaves or dogs across thy threshold in the dead hours of night to keep
unwelcome visitors from thy door?" Katherine's eyes appeared on a
sudden to open wide upon a thing she had not dreamed of before.

"Indeed, Janet, I think I see the trend of thy parables. He is then
debauched and given to entering rooms not his own at any hour he
chooses. I will be most careful and avoid spending the night."

"But he may insist on thy presence, and no one dare gainsay the Royal
will."

"I am for the time of his dominion, but we can claim at any moment
King Louis' protection, and therefore I may defy him if I wish?"

"'Twill be like jumping from the river into the sea. I understand,
Lambkin, thou art bent upon paying well for thy popish idolatry. If
his Majesty sets black eyes on thee, thou art undone. If thou art
determined to go, we must have