y name upon her lips had a strange effect on me. It was like the
wafting to my nostrils of a sweet forgotten odor, or the falling upon my
ears of a tender refrain of bygone days. Her voice in uttering my name
thrilled me, and I hated myself for my weakness.

I told Mary that I did not know Dorothy's reasons, and she continued:--

"Malcolm, you were not a party to my betrayal for the sake of revenging
yourself on me?"

"God forbid!" I answered. "Sir John Manners will assure you of my
innocence. I rode with Mistress Vernon to a cross-road within a league of
Rutland, hoping thereby to assist her to give you and Sir John the alarm."

My admission soon brought me into trouble.

"I alone am to blame," said Dorothy, faintly.

"I can easily believe you," said Mary, sharply. "Did you expect to injure
me?"

No answer came from Dorothy.

"If you expect to injure me," Mary continued, "you will be disappointed. I
am a queen, and my Cousin Elizabeth would not dare to harm me, even though
she might wish to do so. We are of the same blood, and she will not wish
to do me injury. Your doting lover will probably lose his head for
bringing me to England without his queen's consent. He is her subject. I
am not. I wish you joy of the trouble you have brought upon him and upon
yourself."

"Upon him!" cried Dorothy.

"Yes, upon him," continued Mary, relishing the torture she was inflicting.
"You will enjoy seeing him beheaded, will you not, you fool, you huzzy,
you wretch? I hope his death will haunt you till the end of your days."

Poor Dorothy, leaning against me, said faintly:--

"It will--it will. You--you devil."

The girl was almost dead from exhaustion and anguish, but she would have
been dead indeed had she lacked the power to strike back. I believe had it
not been for Dorothy's physical weakness she would have silenced Mary with
her hands.

After a little time Dorothy's heavy breathing indicated that she had
fallen asleep. Her head rested upon my shoulder, and the delicious perfume
of her hair and the sweet warm breath from her lips were almost
intoxicating even to me, though I was not in love with her. How great must
their effect have been coming upon John hot from her intense young soul!

As the link-boys passed the coach some and some with their flambeaux I
could see Dorothy's sweet pale face, almost hidden in the tangled golden
red hair which fell in floods about her. The perfect oval of her cheek,
the long wet l