. To-morrow the brave knight must withdraw, and
the "Queen of Beauty," homaged for a day, give place to another whose
reign should be as brief and as unenduring. In this distempered mood,
with a heart all moved to sadness, did the Lady Isabel pass the first
hours of the following night.

Suddenly the sharp twang of a citerne was heard in the street below her
window,--nothing new in these piping times of love and minstrelsy; but
so sensitive was the ear now become to exterior impressions, that she
started, as though expecting a salutation from the midnight rambler. Her
anticipations were in some measure realised, the minstrel pausing
beneath her lattice. A wooden balcony projected from it, concealing the
musician. Isabella threw a light mantle around her, and rousing one of
her maidens, she opened the window. The rich melody came upon her senses
through the balmy odour of myrtle boughs and leaves of honeysuckle. The
chords were touched with a skilful hand, and the prelude, a wild and
extempore commentary on the ballad, was succeeded by the following
ditty:--

"My ladye love, my ladye love,
The moon through the lift is breaking;
The sky is bright, and through the night
The queen of love is waking.
Yon little star that twinkleth so,
Fluttering her bright eyes to and fro,
How doth she chide,
That thou shouldest hide,
All joyance thus forsaking.
My ladye love, my ladye love,
The moon through the lift is breaking;
The sky is bright, and through the night
The queen of love is waking."

The singer withdrew; and Isabella was convinced, or her eyes were
befooled by her fancy, that, as he emerged from his concealment, his
form could be none other than the one her imagination was too familiar
with to mistake. He, too, had caught a glance of the listeners, for
presently a folded paper was thrown over the balusters, and the minstrel
departed. The first light that came through the long low casements
revealed all that her hopes anticipated. The billet was from Sir John
Stanley, whose regrets, mingled with vows and protestations of love,
were to this purport, that he must needs be away before daybreak, on
urgent business from the king. He sent a sigh and a love-token,
commending himself to her best thoughts, until he should gain his
acquittance so far as to visit Lathom.

Passing over the departure, the bustle, and the weariness of a twelve
days' journey, le