of analogy. What had never happened in his time, he was
perfectly persuaded never could happen. Thus, though generally esteemed
an able diplomatist, he had the cunning of the intriguant, and not
the providence of a statesman. If, however, pride made him arrogant
in prosperity, it supported him in misfortune. And in the earlier
vicissitudes of a life which had partly been consumed in exile, he
had developed many noble qualities of fortitude, endurance, and real
greatness of soul; which showed that his failings were rather acquired
by circumstance than derived from nature. His numerous and highborn race
were proud of their chief; and with justice; for he was the ablest and
most honoured, not only of the direct branch of the Colonna, but also,
perhaps, of all the more powerful barons.

Seated at the same table with Stephen Colonna was a man of noble
presence, of about three or four and thirty years of age, in whom Adrian
instantly recognised Walter de Montreal. This celebrated knight was
scarcely of the personal appearance which might have corresponded with
the terror his name generally excited. His face was handsome, almost to
the extreme of womanish delicacy. His fair hair waved long and freely
over a white and unwrinkled forehead: the life of a camp and the suns of
Italy had but little embrowned his clear and healthful complexion, which
retained much of the bloom of youth. His features were aquiline
and regular; his eyes, of a light hazel, were large, bright, and
penetrating; and a short, but curled beard and moustachio, trimmed
with soldier-like precision, and very little darker than the hair, gave
indeed a martial expression to his comely countenance, but rather the
expression which might have suited the hero of courts and tournaments,
than the chief of a brigand's camp. The aspect, manner, and bearing, of
the Provencal were those which captivate rather than awe,--blending,
as they did, a certain military frankness with the easy and graceful
dignity of one conscious of gentle birth, and accustomed to mix, on
equal terms, with the great and noble. His form happily contrasted and
elevated the character of a countenance which required strength and
stature to free its uncommon beauty from the charge of effeminacy,
being of great height and remarkable muscular power, without the least
approach to clumsy and unwieldy bulk: it erred, indeed, rather to the
side of leanness than flesh,--at once robust and slender. But the chief