himself, or be immediately set at liberty. Her courageous self-acting mind needed no counsellor in this affair; and with her usual disregard of appearances, where there was a great object in view, she set out alone to execute her project. On her arrival in London, however, she found it necessary to consult some friend as to the best method of gaining access to his Majesty; and proceeding for this purpose to Alderman Staunton, then staying at his country house, near Hampton, she had not only the satisfaction of learning that the Court was at the neighbouring palace, but that the King had signified his intention of visiting the alderman, for the purpose of inspecting the alterations he had been making in his house and grounds. This was an opportunity which suggested itself to her as infinitely better adapted to her purpose than the publicity of a court; and instantly determining to avail herself of it, she awaited, with some impatience, the arrival of the day appointed for the royal visit. On

that morning, she paid a more than usual attention to her toilette, and arrayed herself in the most becoming garb that her mourning, which she still retained, would allow; whispering to herself, as if her lofty mind needed an excuse for this uncustomary vanity, that whatever personal attractions she possessed might at least be rendered subservient to a good cause, when so many others in the neighbourhood of the Court perverted their's to far different purposes.

The King, who came almost unattended, (except by a long retinue of dogs, which, to the grievous annoyance of the alderman, left marks of their visit in every room,) had no sooner seen Constantia, than he started with surprise and pleasure; and having whispered to the alderman to inquire who she was, continued in the

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same low tone, Tilly vally, Mr. Alderman! there is no Dutch blood in her. On my life! her mother must have played the worthy Burgomaster false with some gallant Cavalier of

Gaul, for she is a French woman all over, and i'faith a stately damsel she is. Why have you not brought her to our Court? So noble an eagle ought not to be kept any longer in the Mew." At these words he went up to Constantia, and addressing her with that elegant courtesy, which he so well knew how to assume, fell into a conversation with her that lasted a considerable time. If he had been struck in the first instance with the grand and majestic sedateness of her beauty, so different from the languishing and voluptuous frivolity of countenance to which he had been accustomed, he found in the solidity of her judgment, and the pure lofty tone of her sentiments, a not less forcible contrast to the loose blandishments and jejune flippancy of the Court females. Even the decorous style of her dress, sombre as it was, seemed to assimilate with the character of her beauty, and to possess peculiar attractions for one who had been so long satiated with an unreserved display of personal charms, that he

VOL. III.

rather desired provocatives for his imagination than his eye. Having long since exhausted the ordinary routine of enjoyments, novelty had become his great desideratum; here he beheld it in its most piquant and delectable form; and such was its fascination, that his enjoyment seemed to increase with the protraction of their colloquy.

How much longer it might have lasted, it would be difficult to determine, had not Alderman Staunton, who was quite in a fidget till his Majesty could inspect the alterations in his grounds and gardens, approached to inquire when he would be pleased to visit his pinehouses, where he had some fruit raised from seed given to him by the royal gardener, Mr. Rose, of larger dimensions than any that had been yet produced. "'Ods fish! Mr. Alderinan," cried Charles, gaily, "we crave your pardon, but had you invited us to see the gardens of Alcinous, or those whose golden fruit

was entrusted to the Hesperides, we should have forgotten them all, while listening to this fair enchantress. Lead on: the King shall follow you, and this shall be his queen, worthy indeed to reign upon Olympus, as being still more majestic and beautiful than Homer's oxeyed Juno." He bowed, and tendered his arm; Constantia accepted it, and they proceeded to the pinery, where the worthy alderman's prolix history of every pine, which he usually narrated to every visitant, was cut short by the disappearance of his royal guest, who walked out of an opposite door, and strolled with his fair companion among the walks and parterres of the garden, until they entered a small arbour, in which he invited Constantia to sit down and rest herself.

Deeming this an advantageous opportunity for her purpose, she implored his Majesty's pardon for the liberty she was about to take, especially in the first interview with which she