CHAPTER IV.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 117, 23 July 1875, Page 6

CHAPTER IV.

TBUI TO PRINCIPLE. Early next morning Sir Reginald met his host at the breakfast table, but Florence was not visible, and he easily accounted for her absence, conscious that she must be aware that his visit to the Grange had been made to answer some political purpose or end of the Dutch monarch. A long and anxious conference it was, which the baronet held with his guest later in the morning in the privacy of his own apartment. He was a timid, quiet county gentleman, caring not one jot about etate affairs, scarcely heeding whether James the Second, or the usurping William sat upon the throne, so that he could but be quiet, and yet he was about to be dragged from his own home to have the questionable honour of an audience with the king, who could not get rid of the idea that the baronet, leading the life of a country gentleman, had it in his power to be of great service, if he would but conquer that absurd timidity, which he had been told had grown up with him from his youth. The time was come then when it appeared he must abandon his seclusion, and though until now, when he was turned sixty years of age, he never adopted any definite line of action ; he was reqiiired to do so instanier, for hia sovereign required the aid of all well-wishers to the present government. "An honour, i' faith," he muttered to himself, "it is an honour then I would be very glad to decline accepting ; his^Majesty will make me pay dearly for it one way or another." Sir Charles was, however, of a very hesitating disposition, and so in the end, Sir Eeginald gained his point, and it was agreed that 1 the baronet should in «, very few days leave the Grange for London, where he would have the audience which the king wished to give him. In the evening, St. John was to take his leave, and as the i day wore on he began to entertain some apprehensions lest he should not see Florence before his departure. I In this idea, however, he was mistaken, for chance brought [ that about which solicitation would not have procured. He had missed his way through the interminable galleries of the old house and instead of returning to the room in which he had at last sue ceeded in exhorting the unwilling consent of the baronet to appear 6n the scene of public life, he entered tho library, the door of whicl ' stood ajur. Florence was seated at a table unmindful of his pre sence, till he stood beside her, and extending his hand, he ex claimed : " Dearpst Florence, have I offended you beyond forgiveness Is loyalty a virtue in you, and a sin in me ? Grant me, at least, i hearing before we part, and allow me to feel some attachment fo the king whose very name displeases you, even as you feel love fo .Tnmoß S+nn.rt nnd Maw of Modena? Do not shrink from m<

Florence," he added, as with averted head she gazed abstractedly oiifc on the scene beyond the 'Grange, "but do believe me, my betrothed- one, William of Oran£- is not so vilely bad, James Stuart not bo impeccable as you consider them to be." * "I beg you, sir, not to offend my ears by your pleadings for this Dutch usurper," said Florence. "In my eyes it is rank heresy to pollute the name of the lawful King of England by mentioning it with that of his traitorous and usurping nephew. Oh, Reginald," she added, in. a tone of mingled softness and sorrow, " you know not how I grieve that you should have bound yourself to the service of this man. You remind me of our betrothal, sanctioned years since by my departed mother. Do you think that those to whom I owe all I possess, those in whose service my kinsfolk have fought and died, "and for whom I, too, would peril my own life — can you, for one moment, think that I could, ever hope to win their consent to our union?" The last words were spoken in a tone of inexpressible sadness. St. John replied : " We do not need the consent of the ex-king or his consort to our nuptials, my Florence. William and Mary will prove to us friends equally as dear, and will grace our bridal with their presence. Your uncle, too, will not frown upon our union, for by the end of the week he will be, admitted to the favour of an audience with the king on affairs connected with the State," For one moment Florence was silent; the tear of human tenderness, the tribute to the weakness of woman's nature, which a moment since had trembled in her eye, was proudly dashed aside, and she exclaimed : "Reginald, are you playing with the fears of my woman's heart, or are you speaking in earnest; ? My uncle, timid as he is, is still true to the Stuart cause, though he has persistently held aloof from mixing in any political cabal. Surely your errand here has not been to lead him from* his allegiance. Have you spoken the truth, Reginald?" " I have spoken the simple truth, and am rejoiced that the good baronet yielded, because I regarded the idea of his adhesion to William's government as an incentive to induce my beloved Florence to cast away her prejudices ?" "You are bold as well as insolent," »aid Florence, bitterly. "Do you" think this is a seemly way to win my consent to our union ? You do not know me, I think ; but understand, that yonder sun is as likely to fall from the heavens as I to unite my fate with that of so devoted an adherent of the Dutch king. No, not a word more,"' she added, wrenching her hand from his grasp, "my heart may break at witnessing the mistaken prejudices, harbored under the name of loyalty, of those I love ; but never shall it forswear, whatever be it* struggles, its allegiance to the Stuarts."