of
immediate attendance, and all hesitation and inquiry was attempted to
be cut short by the announcement--"The relief of the malady, and not
the circumstances, of the patient is the province of the physician,
and for the present occasion you will best learn by an inspection of
the individual."

A carriage was in waiting, but, in true romantic style, it was
necessary that the doctor should consent to be blindfolded; an
indignity to which he refused to submit, until the stranger, with
effusive expressions of respect for his doubts, said the secret would
be embarrassing to its possessor, as it concerned the interest and
safety of the most illustrious of the Scottish Jacobites. The doctor's
reluctance now changed into eagerness; he readily agreed to follow his
guide, and was conveyed, partly by land and partly by water, to a
mansion, which they entered through a garden. After passing through a
long range of apartments, his mask was removed, and he looked round
upon a splendid saloon, hung with crimson velvet, and blazing with
mirrors which reached from floor to ceiling, while the dim perspective
of a long conservatory was revealed at the farther end. His conductor
rang a silver bell, which was immediately answered by a little page,
richly dressed in scarlet. This boy entered into conversation in
German with the cavalier, and gave very pleasing information to him,
which he, in turn, communicated to the doctor. "Signor Dottore," said
he, "the most important part of your occasion is past. The lady whom
you have been unhappily called to attend met with an alarming accident
in her carriage not half an hour before I found you in the church, and
the unlucky absence of her physician leaves her entirely in your
charge. Her accouchement is over, apparently without more than
exhaustion; but of that you will be the judge."

The mention of the carriage and the accident recalled to Dr. Beaton his
hasty vision of the prince, but, before he could collect his confused
thoughts, he was led through a splendid suite of apartments to a small
ante-room, decorated with several portraits, among which he instantly
recognised one of the Duke of Perth and another of King James VIII.
Thence he was conducted into a magnificent bed-chamber, where the
light of a single taper shed a dim glimmer through the apartment. A
lady who addressed him in English led him towards the bed. The
curtains were almost closed, and by the bed stood a female attendant
h