aving been destroyed by a storm had
restored the spirits of the Court; and in the nursery very little
was known of the feelings of the kingdom at large. Dr. Woodford did
not venture on writing freely to his niece, lest he should
compromise her, and she only vaguely detected that he was uneasy.

So came All Saints' Day Eve, when there was to be a special service
late in the evening at the Romanised Chapel Royal at St. James's,
with a sermon by a distinguished Dominican, to which all the elder
and graver members of the household were eager to go. And there was
another very different attraction at the Cockpit, where good-natured
Princess Anne had given permission for a supper, to be followed by
burning of nuts and all the divinations proper to Hallowmas Eve, to
which were invited all the subordinates of the Whitehall
establishment who could be spared.

Pauline Dunord was as eager for the sermon as Jane Humphreys was for
the supper, and Hester Bridgeman was in an odd mood of uncertainty,
evidently longing after the sports, but not daring to show that she
did so, and trying to show great desire to hear the holy man preach,
together with a polite profession of self-denial in giving up her
place in case there should not be room for all. However, as it
appeared that even the two chief nurses meant to combine sermon and
the latter end of the supper, she was at ease. The foster-mother
and one of the Protestant rockers were supposed to be enough to
watch over the Prince, but the former, who had been much petted and
spoilt since she had been at the palace, and was a young creature,
untrained and wilful, cried so much at the idea of missing the
merrymaking, that as it was reckoned important to keep her in good
humour and good spirits, Mrs. Labadie decided on winking at her
absence from the nursery, since Miss Woodford was quite competent to
the charge for the short time that both the church-goers and the
supper-goers would all be absent together.

"But are you not afraid to stay alone?" asked Mrs. Labadie, with a
little compunction.

"What is there to be afraid of?" asked Anne. "There are the
sentinels at the foot of the stairs, and what should reach us here?"

"I would not be alone here," said more than one voice. "Nor I!"--
"Nor I!"

"And on this night of all others!" said Hester.

"But why?"

"They say he walks!" whispered Jane in a voice of awe.

"Who walks?"

"The old King?" asked Hester.

"No; the last Ki