his ears boxed for a malapert varlet.

Will Cavendish declared that the least the fair damsel could do for
her knight-errant was to bind up his wounds, but Cis was too shy to
show any disposition so to do, and it was Mrs. Talbot who salved the
scratch for him. She had a feeling for the motherless youth, upon
whom she foreboded that a fatal game might be played.

When quiet was restored, Mr. Talbot craved license from his guests,
and opened the packet. There was a letter for Mistress Cicely Talbot
in Queen Mary's well-known beautiful hand, which Antony followed with
eager eyes, and a low gasp of "Ah! favoured maiden," making the good
mother, who overheard it, say to herself, "Methinks his love is
chiefly for the maid as something appertaining to the Queen, though
he wots not how nearly. His heart is most for the Queen herself,
poor lad."

The maiden did not show any great haste to open the letter, being
aware that the true gist of it could only be discovered in private,
and her father was studying his own likewise in silence. It was from
Sir Ralf Sadler to request that Mistress Cicely might be permitted to
become a regular member of the household. There was now a vacancy
since, though Mrs. Curll was nearly as much about the Queen as ever,
it was as the secretary's wife, not as one of the maiden attendants;
and Sir Ralf wrote that he wished the more to profit by the
opportunity, as he might soon be displaced by some one not of a
temper greatly to consider the prisoner's wishes. Moreover, he said
the poor lady was ill at ease, and much dejected at the tenor of her
late letters from Scotland, and that she had said repeatedly that
nothing would do her good but the presence of her pretty playfellow.