CHAPTER XII.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 126, 1 October 1875, Page 6

CHAPTER XII.

"And think you, he had received our summons to return to England before he threw off his allegiance ?" and the voice of the queen was husky and tremulous as she spoke. " I should think not," -was the reply. " Nay, it is almost certain that he must have left head-quarters very quickly after his arrival, perhaps immediately. What had -we best do -with this girl —thiß O'Neill —on whose account we have summoned him here ?" " Detain her afc the palace till we see the issue of the present plot. You, my beloved husband, are obliged almost immediately to leave England. Confide to me the task of unravelling this knotty web, and of severely punishing its ringleaders, however lofty and exalted may be their rank. I shall regard this Florence as a prisoner, but treat her as a favored protegee —nor allow her to feel her imprisonment in its true light, but watch her very closely nevertheleis. I note every change in lier expressive countenance and have read every secret of her heart; she only feared St. John's return because she was resolved not to wed Mm, minion as she is whilst he was loyal to us. Now she shall know of his disloyalty, because the pleasure she would otherwise feel will meet mith aisting in the reflection that she it with me, and that he dare not now claim her for his wife. Really, I enjoy," added the queen, •' the tho ght of the new sorrow in store for this young fool with a fair face, who has presumed to make herself the judge as to ■whether Mary of Modena or myself should be her queen, but enough of her; St. John is rich, is he not ? of course you will see that his estates be instantly confiscated to the crown." " Stepß shall at once be at once taken for that end," said William, his usually grave and calm countenance disturbed as he mused over the defection of St. John, whomihe had really favored beyond many others, "and now be wary and not over-indulgent in my absence," he continued, " for I leave you at the helm, of government again, and above all crush this conspiracy immediately ; do not hesitate to single out for capital punishment the principal offenders, whoever they may be." " I will not be wanting, my beloved lord," said Mary, " nor shall I fail to count the days find hours of your absence. Truly," and Mary sighed wearily as she spoke, " my spirits are out of tune at these constant defections, but we must hope for the bes!;; our work cannot but be good, as God never fails to send us some little cross." It is laughable enough, certainly, but nevertheless perfectly true, that this princess, at the very moment when she was really engaged in promoting her own interest and that of her fondly-loved contort, by means which wera often far from good, and at times positively sinful, would quiet her conscience, or perhaps strive to do so, by endeavoring to believe that it was not her own woi'k she was about, or her own empire she was striving to establish, but rather the work of Almighty Q-od Himself. Then turning to the king, the usual affectionate parting took place between them, and Mary sought, in the solitude of her own apartment, to devise schemes for bringing wholly within her power those who were at the head of the present conspiracy, amongst whom she numbered, nob entirely without foundation, the fair descendant of the O'Neills.