had just left her, plunged in the deepest distress, from the
extraordinary fact that her husband, summoned seemingly in all amity by
the king, had been arrested by the Lord Marshal of England as an aider
and abettor of treason, and was now in strict confinement within the
castle; not permitted to embrace his wife and children, whom he had not
seen since his arrival from Scotland, where he had so gallantly assisted
the cause of Edward, and whence he had but just returned in triumph. No
other cause was assigned saving having given countenance to treason and
_leze majeste_, but that the irritation of the king had prohibited all
hope of present pardon;--she, Lady Hereford, though his own daughter,
having been refused admission to his presence. Both the Earl and
Countess of Gloucester had anxiously striven to comfort the anxious
wife, conquering their own fears to assure her that hers were
groundless; that though from some mysterious cause at present irritated,
as they knew too well a trifle made him now, Hereford was too good and
loyal a subject for the king to proceed to extremities, whatever might
have been his fault. Rumors of the confusion at Berwick had indeed
reached Carlisle, and it was to have them confirmed or denied, or
connected with some appearance of veracity, the Earl of Gloucester had
quitted the royal sisters, determining to use his influence with his
sovereign, even to dare his wrath, for the release of Hereford, whose
good services in Scotland deserved a somewhat different recompense. Lady
Hereford, too anxious and dispirited to remain long in one place, soon
departed to seek the youthful Margaret of France, her father's beautiful
wife, and beseech her influence with him, either for the pardon of her
husband, or at least communication with him.

It was these sad thoughts which engrossed the Princess Joan, and they
lingered too on Hereford's prisoner, the brave, and noble Nigel, for
both to her husband and herself he had been in his boyhood an object not
only of interest but of love. His beauty, his extraordinary talents, had
irresistibly attracted them; and yet scarcely could they now believe the
youthful knight, with whose extraordinary valor not only Scotland but
England rung, could be that same enthusiast boy. That he had been taken,
was now a prisoner in Berwick Castle, on whom sentence of death sooner
or later would be passed, brought conviction but too sadly to their
hearts, and made them feel yet m