"
"Tell that to the king, and by to-morrow the head of the traitor
falls. For the king is as jealous of his kingdom as ever a woman was
of her lover. Tell him that the duke bears his coat-of-arms, and his
destruction is certain."
"I will tell him so, daughter."
"We are sure of the father, but what have we for the son?"
"A sure and infallible means, that will as certainly dispatch him
into eternity as the hunter's tiny bullet slays the proudest stag.
Henry loves the queen; and I will furnish the king proof of that,"
said the young duchess.
"Then let us go to the king!" cried Arabella, impetuously.
"No, indeed! That would make a sensation, and might easily frustrate
our whole plan," said the Duchess of Richmond. "Let us first talk
with Earl Douglas, and hear his advice. Come; every minute is
precious! We owe it to our womanly honor to avenge ourselves. We
cannot and will not leave unpunished those who have despised our
love, wounded our honor, and trodden under foot the holiest ties of
nature!"
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The Princess Elizabeth was sitting in her room, melancholy and
absorbed in thought. Her eyes were red with weeping; and she pressed
her hand on her heart, as if she would repress its cry of anguish.
With a disconsolate, perplexed look she gazed around her chamber,
and its solitude was doubly painful to her to-day, for it testified
to her forsaken condition, to the disgrace that still rested on her.
Pages:
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357