, closely followed by his
host; he put his knee to the ground and kissed it, as she said, "You
must pardon me, Mr. Talbot, for discourtesy, if I am less agile than
when we were at Buxton. You see my old foe lies in wait to plague me
with aches and pains so soon as the year declines."

"I am sorry to see your Grace thus," returned Richard, standing on the
step.

"The while I am glad to see you thus well, sir. And how does the good
lady, your wife, and my sweet playfellow, your daughter?"

"Well, madam, I thank your Grace, and Cicely has presumed to send a
billet by mine hand."

"Ah! the dear bairnie," and all the Queen's consummate art could not
repress the smile of gladness and the movement of eager joy with which
she held out her hand for it, so that Richard regretted its extreme
brevity and unsatisfying nature, and Mary, recollecting herself in a
second, added, smiling at Sadler, "Mr. Talbot knows how a poor prisoner
must love the pretty playfellows that are lent to her for a time."

Sir Ralf's presence hindered any more intimate conversation, and
Richard had certainly committed a solecism in giving Cicely's letter
the precedence over the Earl's. The Queen, however, had recalled her
caution, and inquired for the health of the Lord and Lady, and, with a
certain sarcasm on her lips, trusted that the peace of the family was
complete, and that they were once more setting Hallamshire the example
of living together as household doves.

Her hazel eyes meantime archly scanned the face of Richard, who could
not quite forget the very undovelike treatment he had received, though
he could and did sturdily aver that "my Lord and my Lady were perfectly
reconciled, and seemed most happy in their reunion."

"Well-a-day, let us trust that there will be no further disturbances to
their harmony," said Mary, "a prayer I may utter most sincerely. Is the
little Arbell come back with them?"

"Yea, madam."

"And is she installed in my former rooms, with the canopy over her
cradle to befit her strain of royalty?"

"I think not, madam. Meseems that my Lady Countess hath seen reason to
be heedful on that score. My young lady hath come back with a grave
gouvernante, who makes her read her primer and sew her seam, and save
that she sat next my Lady at the wedding feast there is little
difference made between her and the other grandchildren."

The Queen then inquired into the circumstances of the wedding
festivities with the int