e was a mere pretext, I was not sorry to
ascertain, sigh by sigh, and word by word, the grounds on which he
stood with the enemy. And you should have heard how artfully he
contrived to lead her back to the fetes of Namur; asking, as with the
curiosity of a bumpkin, the whole details of the royal
entertainments! No small mind had I to rush in and chuck the hussy
into the torrent before me, when I heard the little fiend burst forth
into the most genuine and enthusiastic praises of the royal giver of
the feast,--'So young, so handsome, so affable, so courteous, so
passing the kingliness of kings.' She admitted, moreover, that it was
her frantic desire of beholding face to face the hero of Lepanto,
which had produced the concession on the part of her kinswoman so
severely visited by her father.

"'But surely,' pleaded this thoughtless prattler, 'one may admire the
noble deportment of a Papist, and perceive the native goodness
beaming in his eyes, without peril of salvation? This whole morning
hath my father's chaplain (who will be here anon) been giving
scripture warrant that I have no right to importune heaven with my
prayers for the conversion of Don John:--Yet, as my good aunt justly
observes, the great grandson of Mary of Burgundy has his pedestal
firm in our hearts, beyond reach of overthrow from all the
preachments of the Reformers'"--

"And you did not fling the bridles to the devil, and rush in to the
rescue of the unguarded soldier thus mischievously assailed?"--cried
Gonzaga.

"It needed not! The old lady could not sleep for ever; and I had the
comfort to hear her rouse herself, and suitably reprehend the want of
dignity of her charge in such strange familiarity with strangers. To
which the pretty Ulrica replied, 'That it was no fault of hers if
people wanted to convert a child into a woman!' A moment afterwards
and the ferryman and cortege arrived together; and a more glorious
figure of fun than the chaplain of the heretic general hath seldom
bestridden a pacing nag! However, I was too glad of his arrival to be
exceptious; and the whole party were speedily embarked in the ferry,
taking their turn as the first arrived at the spot, which we twain
abided, watching the punt across the stream, which, in consequence of
the strength of the current, it was indispensable to float down some
hundred yards, in order to reach the opposite shore.

"Hat in hand stood the prince, his eyes fixed upon the precious
freight, a