"That he could soon prove my father's truth by sending him orders to
come back and take his place in the regiment."

"Ah!" sighed Lady Gowan; and she let her head fall once more upon her
son's shoulder.

Frank started impatiently.

"Oh!" he cried, "and you will go on believing it. There, I can't be
angry with you now, you are so ill; but try and believe the truth,
mother. Father is the King's servant, and he would not--he could not
break his oaths. There, you will see the truth when you get better; and
you must, you must get better now. It was this news which made you so
ill?"

"Yes, my boy, yes," she said, in a faint whisper; "and I blame myself
for not going with him. If I had been by his side, he would not have
changed."

"He has not changed, mother," said the lad firmly. "But how did you get
the news?"

"It came through Andrew Forbes's father--Mr George Selby, as he calls
himself now. He sent it to--to one of the gentlemen in the Palace. I
must not mention names."

"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Frank scornfully. "I thought it was some
miserable, hatched-up lie. Mr George Selby has been playing a
contemptible, spy-like part, trying to gain over people in the Palace.
He and his party tried to get me to join them."

"You, my boy?" cried Lady Gowan, in wonder; "and you did not tell me."

"No; conspiracies are not for women to know anything about," said the
boy, talking grandly. "But I did tell my father."

"Yes; and what did he say?"

"Almost nothing. I forget now, mother. Treated it with contempt.
There, I must go now."

"Back under arrest?"

"Arrest? No, dear. I am the Prince's page, and he knows now that I am
no rebel. I am to go back to my duties as if nothing had happened."

Lady Gowan uttered a sigh full of relief.

"But I'm going to prove first of all how terribly wrong you have been,
mother, in believing this miserable scandal. It is because my poor
father is down, and everybody is ready to trample upon him. But we'll
show them yet. You must be brave, mother, and look and speak as if now
you did not believe a word about the story. Do as I will do: go back to
your place with the Princess, and hold up your head proudly."

"No, no, no, my boy; I have been praying the Princess to let us both go
away from the court, for that our position here was horrible."

"Ah! and what did she say?" cried Frank excitedly.

"That it was impossible; that we were not to blame, and that I was more