s apartment.
At last, however, when Nicholas had seen him fairly deposited in his
truckle-bed, and had bestowed one or two hearty kicks, and as hearty
curses, on the boots, which, in his lately acquired spirit of foppery,
he considered as a strong symptom, if not the cause, of his friend's
malady, he contented himself with the modified measure of locking the
door on the unfortunate Tressilian, whose gallant and disinterested
efforts to save a female who had treated him with ingratitude thus
terminated for the present in the displeasure of his Sovereign and the
conviction of his friends that he was little better than a madman.

CHAPTER XXXII.

The wisest Sovereigns err like private men,
And royal hand has sometimes laid the sword
Of chivalry upon a worthless shoulder,
Which better had been branded by the hangman.
What then?--Kings do their best; and they and we
Must answer for the intent, and not the event.--OLD PLAY.

"It is a melancholy matter," said the Queen, when Tressilian was
withdrawn, "to see a wise and learned man's wit thus pitifully
unsettled. Yet this public display of his imperfection of brain plainly
shows us that his supposed injury and accusation were fruitless; and
therefore, my Lord of Leicester, we remember your suit formerly made
to us in behalf of your faithful servant Varney, whose good gifts and
fidelity, as they are useful to you, ought to have due reward from us,
knowing well that your lordship, and all you have, are so earnestly
devoted to our service. And we render Varney the honour more especially
that we are a guest, and, we fear, a chargeable and troublesome one,
under your lordship's roof; and also for the satisfaction of the good
old Knight of Devon, Sir Hugh Robsart, whose daughter he hath married,
and we trust the especial mark of grace which we are about to confer may
reconcile him to his son-in-law.--Your sword, my Lord of Leicester."

The Earl unbuckled his sword, and taking it by the point, presented on
bended knee the hilt to Elizabeth.

She took it slowly drew it from the scabbard, and while the ladies who
stood around turned away their eyes with real or affected shuddering,
she noted with a curious eye the high polish and rich, damasked
ornaments upon the glittering blade.

"Had I been a man," she said, "methinks none of my ancestors would have
loved a good sword better. As it is with me, I like to look on one, and
could, like the F