KENILWORTH - Penn State University

Kenilworthsteps out of the grotto, and along the principal alley of thePleasance, dragging with her the terrified Countess, whomshe still held by the arm, and whose utmost exertions couldbut just keep pace with those of the indignant Queen.Leicester was at this moment the centre of a splendid groupof lords and ladies, assembled together under an arcade, orportico, which closed the alley. The company had drawn togetherin that place, to attend the commands of her Majestywhen the hunting-party should go forward, and their astonishmentmay be imagined when, instead of seeing Elizabethadvance towards them with her usual measured dignity ofmotion, they beheld her walking so rapidly that she was inthe midst of them ere they were aware; and then observed,with fear and surprise, that her features were flushed betwixtanger and agitation, that her hair was loosened by her haste ofmotion, and that her eyes sparkled as they were wont whenthe spirit of Henry VIII. mounted highest in his daughter.Nor were they less astonished at the appearance of the pale,attenuated, half-dead, yet still lovely female, whom the Queenupheld by main strength with one hand, while with the othershe waved aside the ladies and nobles who pressed towardsher, under the idea that she was taken suddenly ill. “Where ismy Lord of Leicester?” she said, in a tone that thrilled withastonishment all the courtiers who stood around. “Stand forth,my Lord of Leicester!”If, in the midst of the most serene day of summer, when allis light and laughing around, a thunderbolt were to fall fromthe clear blue vault of heaven, and rend the earth at the veryfeet of some careless traveller, he could not gaze upon thesmouldering chasm, which so unexpectedly yawned beforehim, with half the astonishment and fear which Leicester feltat the sight that so suddenly presented itself. He had thatinstant been receiving, with a political affectation of disavowingand misunderstanding their meaning, the half-uttered, halfintimatedcongratulations of the courtiers upon the favour ofthe Queen, carried apparently to its highest pitch during theinterview of that morning, from which most of them seemedto augur that he might soon arise from their equal in rank tobecome their master. And now, while the subdued yet proudsmile with which he disclaimed those inferences was yet curlinghis cheek, the Queen shot into the circle, her passionsexcited to the uttermost; and supporting with one hand, and382