The noise that he had heard
just, before was now repeated louder and quicker; it came nearer and
nearer.
And now the door opened and a figure entered--a figure which made
the king stare with astonishment and admiration. It came nearer and
nearer, light, graceful, and with the freshness of youth; a gold-
brocade dress enveloped it; a diadem of diamonds sparkled on the
brow; and brighter yet than the diamonds beamed the eyes.
"No, the king was not mistaken. It was the queen, She was standing
before him--and yet she still lay motionless and stiff upon the
floor yonder.
The king uttered a cry, and, turning pale, reeled a step backward.
"The queen!" exclaimed Douglas, in terror; and he trembled so
violently that the paper in his hand rattled and fluttered.
"Yes, the queen!" said Catharine, with a haughty smile. "The queen,
who comes to scold her husband, that, contrary to his physician's
orders, he still refrains from his slumbers at so late an hour of
the night."
"And the fool!" said John Heywood, as with humorous pathos he
stepped forward from behind the queen--"the fool, who comes to ask
Earl Douglas how he dared deprive John Heywood of his office, and
usurp the place of king's fool to Henry, and deceive his most
gracious majesty with all manner of silly pranks and carnival
tricks."
"And who"--asked the king, in a voice quivering with rage, fastening
his flashing looks on Douglas with an annihilating expression--"
who, then, is that woman there? Who has dared with such cursed
mummery to deceive the king, and calumniate the queen?"
"Sire," said Earl Douglas, who very well knew that his future and
that of his daughter depended on the present moment, and whom this
consciousness had speedily restored to his self-possession and
calmness--"sire, I beseech your majesty for a moment of private
explanation; and I shall be entirely successful in vindicating
myself.
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