been trained in the belief that they were of far more delicate mould than were any of their subjects or fellow-countrymen.

Mistress Norton hesitated; indeed, she would fain have led the orphan child back to her own home, and shared her own children's bread with her, though she found some difficulty in making the worthy notary's few marks and fewer guineas sufficient to provide for the manifold wants of her obstreperous boys and hoydenish girl; but Kitty's sparkling eyes told her more plainly than many words could have done, that the child was delighted beyond measure at the thought of attending in any form upon her ideal of loveliness and goodness, the Lady. Jane Grey. So arrangements were made for her departure to Seymour Place, London, whither her young mistress had preceded her.

E have said that the Duke of Somerset had planned to marry his son, the Earl of

Hertford, to the Lady Jane Grey; and in addition to this, he had received a solemn promise from the Marquis of Dorset that Jane should be given in marriage to the young earl, a promise which doubtless would have been performed had not a greater ambition presented itself to the timeserving marquis. Moreover, the children were taught to consider themselves betrothed, and it is

* Thrushes.

assumed, not without reason, that for once the scheming of old heads and the impulses of young hearts were in unison. If, as it is thought to be the case, the Lady Jane was really attached to this young nobleman, we can well understand that the project later formed of wedding her to the young king, and at the king's death, that of uniting her to Lord Guildford Dudley, mingled more bitterness in her cup than lies upon the surface of her history.

We will now introduce this young noble, also the youthful Edward VI. of England.

Seated before a frame was a lady deep in the mysteries of embroidery, her steady eye and nimble fingers forming an elaborate design in needlework. At a little distance from her, with her head resting upon her hand, and her eyes fixed upon the pages of a volume which lay upon the table before her, sat a young girl with a fair face and a high, smooth forehead. Kneeling upon a cushion beside the girl and eagerly scanning the same book, was a delicate-looking boy, evidently about her own age; and a few yards away, regarding the studious pair closely, was a tall, handsome youth who had been ushered into the apartment unperceived, except by the elder lady, who had returned his courteous greeting with the words—

"A fair good morrow to you, my lord!" then had smilingly whispered

"I marvel much how long the king and Lady Jane will remain deaf to all that passeth in this room; truly the Greek author hath laid a spell upon them!"

"I will e'en bide his majesty's time, madam," was the reply. "Mayhap he will rouse himself ere long."

"Ah, good morrow, my cousin!" suddenly exclaimed the king, rising from his cushion and presenting his hand to the Earl of Hertford, for it was he; upon which the Lady Jane looked up, and also offered greeting to the young noble.

"Marry!" but I thought that the Lady Jane and yourself were so deep in study that I, your majesty's most humble servant, might come and go unheeded.”

"We were lost in the beauties of Plato, most noble cousin," returned the boy king, in conciliating tones: and the Lady Jane smiled and said, “I crave your pardon, in truth, I wis not that you were there."

"Granted a thousand times to you," was the reply, given with a courteous bow.

"And to me?" queried the king playfully.

"I' faith I am but your majesty's humble and loyal subject."

"And my majesty's near kith and kin; so no more of thy courtly phrases, fair cousin. But now, with Mistress Asherly's permission, let us beg the

Lady Jane to exercise her skilful fingers upon the virginal, and her sweet voice in singing some lay to charm us."

In a few moments the Lady Jane was playing an accompaniment upon the instrument, while her clear voice sang

"I wandered through the palace halls,

I hied me to the cot,

I travelled over east and west,

I wis where wealth was not;
And still I found where'er I hied,
In lowly cot or hall of pride,
That sweet content, the jewel bright,
Sheddeth the most of gracious light;
And gentle, loving piety

Bringeth more peace and joy, I see,
Than crowns of gold and wealth untold,

Before the song was finished, the singer was summoned to the presence of her mother, who had just arrived on horseback from her home in Leicestershire.

The colour mounted to the girl's cheeks as she said to Mistress Asherly, her governess

"I knew not, madam, that my mother was expected so soon."

"I too am somewhat surprised at the speed with which her ladyship hath journeyed-howe'er, you must now hasten to your noble mother's presence.

In a few moments the child stood before the