sily step to faith. He saw that
the earl was a handsome man, and he believed, at least he hoped, that the
fascinating lord might, if he were given an opportunity, woo Dorothy's
heart away from the hated scion of a hated race. Sir George, therefore,
after several interviews with the earl, grew anxious to give his Lordship
an opportunity to win her. But both Sir George and my lord feared
Elizabeth's displeasure, and the meeting between Leicester and the girl
seemed difficult to contrive. Sir George felt confident that Dorothy
could, if she would, easily capture the great lord in a few private
interviews; but would she? Dorothy gave her father no encouragement in the
matter, and took pains to shun Leicester rather than to seek him.

As Dorothy grew unwilling, Leicester and Sir George grew eager, until at
length the latter felt that it was almost time to exert his parental
authority. He told Aunt Dorothy his feeling on the subject, and she told
her niece. It was impossible to know from what source Dorothy might draw
inspiration for mischief. It came to her with her father's half-command
regarding Leicester.

Winter had again asserted itself. The weather was bitter cold and snow
covered the ground to the depth of a horse's fetlock.

The eventful night of the grand ball arrived, and Dorothy's heart throbbed
till she thought surely it would burst.

At nightfall guests began to arrive, and Sir George, hospitable soul that
he was, grew boisterous with good humor and delight.

The rare old battlements of Haddon were ablaze with flambeaux, and inside
the rooms were alight with waxen tapers. The long gallery was brilliant
with the smiles of bejewelled beauty, and laughter, song, and merriment
filled the grand old Hall from terrace to Entrance Tower. Dorothy, of
course, was brought down from her prison to grace the occasion with a
beauty which none could rival. Her garments were of soft, clinging,
bright-colored silks and snowy laces, and all who saw her agreed that a
creature more radiant never greeted the eye of man.

When the guests had all arrived, the pipers in the balcony burst forth in
heart-swelling strains of music, and every foot in the room longed for the
dance to begin.

I should like to tell you how Elizabeth most graciously opened the ball
with his Majesty, the King of the Peak, amid the plaudits of worshipping
subjects, and I should enjoy describing the riotous glory which
followed,--for although I was not ther