ess their meaning, not for me to name it."

"Name it, I conjure you--name it, I command you!" said the Earl, his
eyes brightening as he spoke.

"I may not, and I will not," replied the old man. "The ire of princes Is
as the wrath of the lion. But mark, and judge for thyself. Here Venus,
ascendant in the House of Life, and conjoined with Sol, showers down
that flood of silver light, blent with gold, which promises power,
wealth, dignity, all that the proud heart of man desires, and in such
abundance that never the future Augustus of that old and mighty Rome
heard from his HARUSPICES such a tale of glory, as from this rich text
my lore might read to my favourite son."

"Thou dost but jest with me, father," said the Earl, astonished at the
strain of enthusiasm in which the astrologer delivered his prediction.

"Is it for him to jest who hath his eye on heaven, who hath his foot in
the grave?" returned the old man solemnly.

The Earl made two or three strides through the apartment, with his hand
outstretched, as one who follows the beckoning signal of some phantom,
waving him on to deeds of high import. As he turned, however, he caught
the eye of the astrologer fixed on him, while an observing glance of
the most shrewd penetration shot from under the penthouse of his shaggy,
dark eyebrows. Leicester's haughty and suspicious soul at once caught
fire. He darted towards the old man from the farther end of the lofty
apartment, only standing still when his extended hand was within a foot
of the astrologer's body.

"Wretch!" he said, "if you dare to palter with me, I will have your skin
stripped from your living flesh! Confess thou hast been hired to deceive
and to betray me--that thou art a cheat, and I thy silly prey and
booty!"

The old man exhibited some symptoms of emotion, but not more than the
furious deportment of his patron might have extorted from innocence
itself.

"What means this violence, my lord?" he answered, "or in what can I have
deserved it at your hand?"

"Give me proof," said the Earl vehemently, "that you have not tampered
with mine enemies."

"My lord," replied the old man, with dignity, "you can have no better
proof than that which you yourself elected. In that turret I have spent
the last twenty-four hours under the key which has been in your own
custody. The hours of darkness I have spent in gazing on the heavenly
bodies with these dim eyes, and during those of light I have toiled this
aged