A Victim to Gratitude. it only makes us ridiculed; besides, if you say your name is De Rosenvault, you may be asked why we are not in possession of the estates which gave us the titlethey have been lost to me for many years --but it may appear to the jealous Yorkists as if they had been confiscated, because we adhered to the Lancastrians." Though Maria had never harboured a suspicion that her husband was devoted to the rebel party, yet she plainly saw there was some mystery attached to his fate in life; what it was, was now of little avail to her. Why, thought she, should I commit a man, for so trifling a matter? the spelling of the name is immaterial to me; would to heaven, only, that I had never borne it! In a few days after she presented her petition under the name of Mrs. Maria Rosenwold; the daughter of the gallant Denbigh. The Dangers of a Court. CHAP. IV.. THE DANGERS OF A COURT. Amidst the roses, fierce repentance rears Her snaky crest. THOMSON. AS the royal mother of Edward was passing to her apartment from her morning's walk, a beautiful vision presented itself to her of a lovely young woman, kneeling, and presenting her a petition. The duchess graciously raised her up, and, taking her into a magnificent saloon, requested her to speak her wishes without restraint, as she should esteem herself truly happy, if the ability she possessed, afforded her the pleasure of being serviceable to her. The Dangers of a Court. Affluent ease, contrasted with distress, aids the cause of pleasure, and makes her appear more dangerously alluring. Maria, accustomed for many months to the coarse and unfeeling language of a churlish husband, felt her heart glow with satisfaction at the tender expressions and benevolent kindness of the mother of Edward. A luxurious and magnificent apartment, which seemed furnished with all the riches of different nations, where the most balsamic odours from exotic shrubs and flowers diffused their charms on the enraptured sense, while strains of soft music were heard floating on the air, from an open gallery erected in the garden; all these delights conspired to remind Maria of the very opposite appearance of her own ruinous home-a shattered fortune; an house, indebted only to her own taste, to make it appear in any The Dangers of a Court. degree comfortable, plain and scantily furnished. The duchess before her, adorned with all that art, fashion, and splendor could combine; Maria's elegant exterior all her own, and borrowing no charms from her apparel, but those which native taste and economy always enabled her to modernize. ·· The mother of Edward was far from handsome; but her manners were a sweet composition of majesty, grace, and affability. Possessed of a penetration the most acute, she could instantly discover the gentlewoman, in whatever circumstances she might have occasion to address her, or implore her assistance; and every gentlewoman she treated as her equal. She now ordered refreshments to be brought in for a guest who had so deeply interested her. Maria seemed lost in a The Dangers of a Court. delirium of intoxicating, though momentary, happiness. The blooming young ladies and beautiful little pages that attended them at a slight banquet, made her almost fancy herself among the loves and graces. After they had retired, the duchess attended to the subject of Maria's petition. "How many brave and gallant men," said she, on reading the name of Denbigh, "have been sacrificed in this fatal contest between the two families!"-a tear of benevolent pity fell from her eye. Why should royalty be ashamed to weep? -is it that they wish to appear above mortality?—what principle is there that ennobles the heart more than tenderness for another? HE, who formed the heart, and planted in it its most exalted affections, was not ashamed to drop a tear over the grave of his friend! |