he monarch. And, as he spoke, he turned his
horse's head, and moved towards the spot where Leonard was kneeling
beside Isabella, and supporting her. Some restoratives having been
applied by Doctor Hodges, she had regained her sensibility, and was
murmuring her thanks to her deliverer.

"She has not lost her beauty, I perceive," cried Charles, gazing at her
with admiration, and feeling something of his former passion revive
within his breast.

"Your majesty, I trust, will not mar their happiness," said Rochester,
noticing the monarch's libertine look with uneasiness. "Remember, you
owe your life to that young man."

"And I will pay the debt royally," replied Charles; "I will give him
permission to marry her."

"Your majesty's permission is scarcely needed," muttered Rochester.

"There you are wrong, my lord," replied the king. "She is now my ward,
and I can dispose of her in marriage as I please; nor will I so dispose
of her except to her equal in rank."

"I discern your majesty's gracious intentions," replied Rochester,
gratefully inclining his head.

"I almost forget my deliverer's name," whispered Charles, with a smile,
"but it is of no consequence, since he will so speedily change it."

"His name is Leonard Holt," replied Rochester, in the same tone.

"Ah!--true," returned the king. "What ho! good Master Leonard Holt," he
added, addressing the young man, "commit the Lady Isabella Argentine to
the care of our worthy friend Doctor Hodges for a moment, and stand up
before me." His injunctions being complied with, he continued, "The Lady
Isabella Argentine and I owe our lives to you, and we must both evince
our gratitude--she by devoting that life, which, if I am not
misinformed, she will be right willing to do, to you, and I by putting
you in a position to unite yourself to her. The title of Argentine has
been this day extinguished by most unhappy circumstances; I therefore
confer the title on you, and here in this presence create you Baron
Argentine, of Argentine, in Staffordshire. Your patent shall be made out
with all convenient despatch, and with it you shall receive the hand of
the sole representative of that ancient and noble house."

"Your majesty overwhelms me," replied Leonard, falling on his knee and
pressing the king's hand, which was kindly extended towards him, to his
lips. "I can scarcely persuade myself I am not in a dream."

"You will soon awaken to the sense of the joyful reality," returned