hardened and coarse features as he perused it. Close to him sat a man enveloped in a large cloak gathered closely round him, and his dark visage shaded by a cavalier's hat and plume ; but, although the feathers were large and heavy, they could not wholly conceal features of no ordinary cast, for on every line was stamped baseness and treachery so legibly that no one who looked on that stern brow could dream that any thing but deceit and villainy inhabited the soul. And so it was. That man was one who afterward played a conspicuous part on the stage of history as the odiously renowned Guido Fawkes ;-a name which will be shuddered at by the virtuous in all ages.
So deeply were the conspirators engaged, one with the manuscript, and the other with his thoughts, that Gerald Lorton's entrance was unheeded, until he advanced, and laying his hand on the table, exclaimed, My Lord !" A dark scowl passed over Manvers as he looked up, and said, "By my faith, Lorton ! I knew not you were here ; business has cast its iron bonds around me, and I am intent on this title deed ;" he added, folding up the scroll, " it concerns an estate left to Master Carlton, my nephew ; and his interests are mine." Here the deceiver paused, and glanced seemingly at Fawkes, as if to know whether he approved this specimen of wily deceit, but Fawkes did not look up, and Lord Manvers continued, " Business is not for one so young as yourself;-go and find my daughter. We will require your presence again- but not now." Lord Manvers ceased, and gazed for a moment on Gerald Lorton's noble brow as he stood unsuspiciously before him, and he stepped forward to open the door, saying, " Lorton !-can I trust you ?"
" Yes !" was the answer. "I would not betray you even on the scaffold !"
"Good !" said Lord Manvers, and he closed and bolted the hall-door. " Now, Guido," said Manvers, throwing himself back in his large arm-chair, “ I know that stripling's courage, he can serve our purpose well. We must dupe him by stratagem ; he already knows too much, for it was but yester-eye we heard Winter speak of destroying that heretic and his nobles." "Trust him not !" said Fawkes sullenly, "he has a Protestant's eye, and I like not his open forehead, or his proud curled lip. By our Lady, I would not trust him !" "Guido, he shall be told !" exclaimed Manvers, " mark me, he can serve me a good turn , or if I trust him not our purpose and intent will be frustrated. Zesmond is even now dying ! Yes," continued Manvers, " and unless some one quickly supply his place, all is at an end." " Well-what can that boy do ?" asked Fawkes, impatiently. 66 Much ;-he must start for London to-morrow with money, to purchase the house my friends have taken,
and also be the bearer of despatches to Catesby and Percy ; and, above all, we must keep him from Emily, or, by my faith ! young Harrington will not gain his bride, and he comes to-morrow." " Ah! I see," said Fawkes, raising his dark eyes, "and she is the price of Harrington's share in this project-good. I approve your plot." And here the conversation ended. Manvers resumed his scroll, and Guido walked stealthily away. During this conversation, a different scene was passing in a distant part of the building, between Emily Manvers and Gerald Lorton, who had long sought for an interview with his idol, and he now found her alone. "Gerald !" she exclaimed, as he entered the apartment, and arose to greet him ; " Gerald, I have watched for you this long weary day, and now you are so late, and I am so miserable. Oh ! Geraldmy heart will break," and she burst into tears. "Emily, you are ill," he said, leading her to a chair, "or something has happened ; -what can distress you ?" "My father," sobbed the wretched girl, " has betrothed me to George Harrington, and I love him not ; yet he will not listen to me, plead as I will." "By all that is sacred you shall not wed him !" exclaimed Gerald Lorton, " I will die before you are his bride. No ! -by heaven ! I will see him a cold corpse at my feet before he shall call Emily Manvers wife." A flush overspread the pale cheek of the weeping girl as she gazed on the animated Lorton , but the knowledge that he loved her brought also the conviction that she had yet a deeper wound to inflict. " Be calm, Gerald, I entreat-be calm ; I have more to tell ; my tale is not long, but it must be told, or else you cannot aid me. Gerald ! listen, and then leave me to quiet reflection." The agitated young man paused in his hurried walk, which he had commenced up and down the room , and threw himself beside the beautiful girl, little dreaming that in a few moments more and his peace of mind was gone for ever. " Gerald, my brother- my dear friend," at length said Emily, with an attempt at calmness, "you know how I have trusted you,-you will not betray me now ?" he pressed her hand, and she proceeded, " months since I went to reside with my aunt Lady Digby, and at her house I met the noble and elegant Lord Monteagle ; he came day after day, and hour by hour, we sat together, Gerald ; I know not how my heart was won, but, oh ! if maiden ever loved a being fondly, it is I,-and if there is a creature worthy of love, it is Monteagle. Now, Gerald," added Emily, as she covered her beautiful face with her handkerchief, "I have told my folly, but as my last request, I beseech you to hear me, and grant my prayer." 'Speak, Miss Manvers," answered Lorton, his whole frame convulsed with suppressed feeling, " speak- I
