Gifford was his devotion to him. It is said that scarcely an instance is
recorded of any of those who were closely associated with Sir Philip Sidney
who did not, in those last years of his short life, feel ennobled by his
influence. And Humphrey Ratcliffe was no exception to this all but
universal law.

Mean men, with base, low aims and motives, shunned the society of this
noble Christian gentleman. His clever and accomplished uncle, the brilliant
and unscrupulous Earl of Leicester, must often have been constrained to
feel, and perhaps acknowledge, that there was something in his nephew which
raised him to a height he had never attained--with all his success at
Court, his Queen's devotion, and the fame which ranked him in foreign
countries as the most successful of all Elizabeth's favourites.

Lady Pembroke awaited her brother's return from the house. Going towards
it to meet him, she put her hand in his arm and said,--

'Let us have our talk in the familiar place where we have wandered together
so often, Philip.'

'Yes,' he said, 'all these fair slopes and pleasant prospects bring back to
me, Mary, the days, the many days, when I found my best comforter in you.
How fares it with the _Arcadia_?'

'It is winding out its long story,' Lady Pembroke said, laughing. 'Too
long, methinks, for there is much that I would blot out if I dare essay to
do so. But tell me, Philip, of this great appointment. Are you not glad now
that the design respecting Sir Francis Drake's expedition fell to nought. I
ever thought that expedition, at the best, one of uncertain issue and great
risk. Sure, Philip, you are of my mind now.'

'Nay, Mary, not altogether. I hailed the chance of getting free from
idleness and the shackles of the Court. And moreover,' he said, 'it is a
splendid venture, and my heart swelled with triumph as I saw that grand
armament ready to sail from Plymouth. Methinks, even now, I feel a burning
desire to be one of those brave men who are crossing the seas with Drake to
those far-off islands and territories, with all their wondrous treasures,
of which such stories are told.'

As Philip spoke, his sister saw his face kindling with an almost boyish
enthusiasm, and the ardent young soldier, eager, and almost wild, to set
sail across the great dividing sea, seemed to replace for the moment the
more dignified man of matured powers, who was now Governor of Flushing.

'It is all past,' he said, 'and I will do my utmost to f