Duke, "as the stewartry of
Renfrew can tell. But stay, Ramorny--hold; did I not hear Errol say
that the Lady Marjory Douglas, whom they call Duchess of Rothsay, is
at Falkland? I would neither dwell with that lady nor insult her by
dislodging her."

"The lady was there, my lord," replied Ramorny; "I have sure advice that
she is gone to meet her father."

"Ha! to animate the Douglas against me? or perhaps to beg him to spare
me, providing I come on my knees to her bed, as pilgrims say the emirs
and amirals upon whom a Saracen soldan bestows a daughter in marriage
are bound to do? Ramorny, I will act by the Douglas's own saying, 'It
is better to hear the lark sing than the mouse squeak.' I will keep both
foot and hand from fetters."

"No place fitter than Falkland," replied Ramorny. "I have enough of good
yeomen to keep the place; and should your Highness wish to leave it, a
brief ride reaches the sea in three directions."

"You speak well. But we shall die of gloom yonder. Neither mirth, music,
nor maidens--ha!" said the heedless Prince.

"Pardon me, noble Duke; but, though the Lady Marjory Douglas be
departed, like an errant dame in romance, to implore succour of her
doughty sire, there is, I may say, a lovelier, I am sure a younger,
maiden, either presently at Falkland or who will soon be on the road
thither. Your Highness has not forgotten the Fair Maid of Perth?"

"Forget the prettiest wench in Scotland! No--any more than thou hast
forgotten the hand that thou hadst in the Curfew Street onslaught on St.
Valentine's Eve."

"The hand that I had! Your Highness would say, the hand that I lost. As
certain as I shall never regain it, Catharine Glover is, or will soon
be, at Falkland. I will not flatter your Highness by saying she
expects to meet you; in truth, she proposes to place herself under the
protection of the Lady Marjory."

"The little traitress," said the Prince--"she too to turn against me?
She deserves punishment, Ramorny."

"I trust your Grace will make her penance a gentle one," replied the
knight.

"Faith, I would have been her father confessor long ago, but I have ever
found her coy."

"Opportunity was lacking, my lord," replied Ramorny; "and time presses
even now."

"Nay, I am but too apt for a frolic; but my father--"

"He is personally safe," said Ramorny, "and as much at freedom as ever
he can be; while your Highness--"

"Must brook fetters, conjugal or literal--I know it. Yonder come