ous obeisance.

"Ramorny," said the Prince, "is there in the household any female of
reputation who is fit to wait on this young woman till we can send her
where she may desire to go?"

"I fear," replied Ramorny, "if it displease not your Highness to hear
the truth, your household is indifferently provided in that way; and
that, to speak the very verity, the glee maiden is the most decorous
amongst us."

"Let her wait upon this young person, then, since better may not be. And
take patience, maiden, for a few hours."

Catharine retired.

"So, my lord, part you so soon from the Fair Maid of Perth? This is,
indeed, the very wantonness of victory."

"There is neither victory nor defeat in the case," returned the Prince,
drily. "The girl loves me not; nor do I love her well enough to torment
myself concerning her scruples."

"The chaste Malcolm the Maiden revived in one of his descendants!" said
Ramorny.

"Favour me, sir, by a truce to your wit, or by choosing a different
subject for its career. It is noon, I believe, and you will oblige me by
commanding them to serve up dinner."

Ramorny left the room; but Rothsay thought he discovered a smile upon
his countenance, and to be the subject of this man's satire gave him no
ordinary degree of pain. He summoned, however, the knight to his table,
and even admitted Dwining to the same honour. The conversation was of
a lively and dissolute cast, a tone encouraged by the Prince, as if
designing to counterbalance the gravity of his morals in the morning,
which Ramorny, who was read in old chronicles, had the boldness to liken
to the continence of Scipio.

The banquet, nothwithstanding the Duke's indifferent health, was
protracted in idle wantonness far beyond the rules of temperance; and,
whether owing simply to the strength of the wine which he drank, or the
weakness of his constitution, or, as it is probable, because the last
wine which he quaffed had been adulterated by Dwining, it so happened
that the Prince, towards the end of the repast, fell into a lethargic
sleep, from which it seemed impossible to rouse him. Sir John Ramorny
and Dwining carried him to his chamber, accepting no other assistance
than that of another person, whom we will afterwards give name to.

Next morning, it was announced that the Prince was taken ill of
an infectious disorder; and, to prevent its spreading through the
household, no one was admitted to wait on him save his late master of
hors