earnest a respect in his mien and gesture, that she had not the heart
to draw back the fair hand he lifted to his lips.

"No, flee not, sweet donzell; leave not the desert court, without the
flower and the laurel, the beauty and the wisdom, that scent the hour,
and foretype eternity. I have conferred with thy father,--I will
obtain his prayer from the king. His mind shall be free to follow its
own impulse, and thou"--he whispered--"pardon--pardon an offence of
too much love. Never shall it wound again."

Her eyes, swimming with delicious tears, were fixed upon the floor.
Poor child! with so much love, how could she cherish anger? With so
much purity, how distrust herself? And while, at least, he spoke, the
dangerous lover was sincere. So from that hour peace was renewed
between Sibyll and Lord Hastings.--Fatal peace! alas for the girl who
loves--and has no mother!

True to his word, the courtier braved the displeasure of the Duchess
of Bedford, in inducing the king to consider the expediency of
permitting Adam to relinquish alchemy, and repair his model. Edward
summoned a deputation from the London merchants and traders, before
whom Adam appeared and explained his device. But these practical men
at first ridiculed the notion as a madman's fancy, and it required all
the art of Hastings to overcome their contempt, and appeal to the
native acuteness of the king. Edward, however, was only caught by
Adam's incidental allusions to the application of his principle to
ships. The merchant-king suddenly roused himself to attention, when
it was promised to him that his galleys should cross the seas without
sail, and against wind and tide.