the slaughtered Comyn, and will he not demand a stern account of the
deed that she hath done? will he not seek vengeance? and oh, will he
not, may he not in wrath part thee and me, and thus thy bodings be
fulfilled?"

"Agnes, never! The mandate of man shall never part us; the power of man,
unless my limbs be chained, shall never sever thee and me. He that hath
never acted a father's part, can have no power on his child. Thou art
mine, my beloved!--mine with thy mother's blessing; and mine thou shalt
be--no earthly power shall part us. Death, death alone can break the
links that bind us, and must be of God, though man may seem the cause.
Be comforted, sweet love. Hark! they are chiming vespers; I must be gone
for the solemn vigil of to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt arm thine own
true knight, mine Agnes, and deck me with that blue scarf, more precious
even than the jewelled sword my sovereign brother gives. Farewell, for a
brief, brief while; I go to watch and pray. Oh, let thy orisons attend
me, and surely then my vigil shall be blest."

"Pray thou for me, my Nigel," whispered the trembling girl, as he
clasped her in his arms, "that true as I may be, strength befitting thy
promised bride may be mine own. Nigel, my beloved, indeed I need such
prayer."

He whispered hope and comfort, and departed by the stone stairs which
led from the gothic casement where they had been sitting, into the
garden; he lingered to gather some delicate blue-bells which had just
blown, and turned back to place them in the lap of Agnes. She eagerly
raised them and pressed them to her lips, but either their fragile
blossoms could not bear even her soft touch, or the heavy air had
inwardly withered their bloom, for the blossoms fell from their stalks,