"Fly with me, fly!--with thy heart and hand reward my love, and think no
more of those grim walls, and sullen citizens, with souls as iron as their
beavers, and hearts as cold as the waters of their river."

"Oh! no, no, no! my father's head is grey, and but for me alone all his
affections, all his hopes are buried in my mother's grave. He hates thee
and thy cause. When I told him a stranger had rescued his daughter from
the wave, he raised his hands to heaven and blessed him. I told him that
that stranger was a follower of the Spensers'; he checked his unfinished
benediction, and cursed him. But if he knew thee, Walter, thy noble heart,
thy constant love, methinks that time and entreaty would make him listen
to his daughter's prayer."

"Alas! my Isabel, entreaty would be vain, and time is already flapping his
wings, loaded with inevitable ruin, over yon devoted city and its
inhabitants. Thy father shall be safe--trust that to me; and trust me, too,
that what I promise I can perform. But thou, my loved one, thou must not
look upon the horrid face of war: and though my power extends to save thy
father from injury, it would be easier to save the wall-flowers on the
ramparts of the city from the foot of the invader, than one so fair, so
feeble, from his violence and lust."

"Whoe'er thou art," she said, "there is a spell upon my heart which love
and gratitude have twined, and which makes it thine for ever: but sooner
would I lock my hand with that of the savage Spenser himself, when reeking
with the best blood of Hereford's citizens, than leave my father's side
when his gray hairs are in danger, and my native city, when treachery is
in her streets and outrage is approaching her walls."

These words were uttered with an animation and vehemence so unusual to