sight of God, I am no longer
bound by the union she has broken. Kingdoms shall divide us, oceans roll
betwixt us, and their waves, whose abysses have swallowed whole navies,
shall be the sole depositories of the deadly mystery."

By such a train of argument did Leicester labour to reconcile his
conscience to the prosecution of plans of vengeance, so hastily adopted,
and of schemes of ambition, which had become so woven in with every
purpose and action of his life that he was incapable of the effort of
relinquishing them, until his revenge appeared to him to wear a face of
justice, and even of generous moderation.

In this mood the vindictive and ambitious Earl entered the superb
precincts of the Pleasance, then illumined by the full moon. The broad,
yellow light was reflected on all sides from the white freestone, of
which the pavement, balustrades, and architectural ornaments of the
place were constructed; and not a single fleecy cloud was visible in the
azure sky, so that the scene was nearly as light as if the sun had but
just left the horizon. The numerous statues of white marble glimmered
in the pale light like so many sheeted ghosts just arisen from their
sepulchres, and the fountains threw their jets into the air as if they
sought that their waters should be brightened by the moonbeams ere they
fell down again upon their basins in showers of sparkling silver. The
day had been sultry, and the gentle night-breeze which sighed along the
terrace of the Pleasance raised not a deeper breath than the fan in the
hand of youthful beauty. The bird of summer night had built many a nest
in the bowers of the adjacent garden, and the tenants now indemnified
themselves for silence during the day by a full chorus of their
own unrivalled warblings, now joyous, now pathetic, now united, now
responsive to each other, as if to express their delight in the placid
and delicious scene to which they poured their melody.

Musing on matters far different from the fall of waters, the gleam of
moonlight, or the song of the nightingale, the stately Leicester walked
slowly from the one end of the terrace to the other, his cloak wrapped
around him, and his sword under his arm, without seeing anything
resembling the human form.

"I have been fooled by my own generosity," he said, "if I have suffered
the villain to escape me--ay, and perhaps to go to the rescue of the
adulteress, who is so poorly guarded."

These were his thoughts, which w