'My dear Mistress Margaret,' she said in a puzzled tone. 'I mean--I mean it is beautiful,' I hastily corrected myself. 'Why, Sir Hubert,' exclaimed Lady Caroline, 'what have you been talking about to her instead of telling her all that I enjoined upon you to say about our poor young king and his successor?' Sir Hubert looked rather confused. 'The fact was,' said he, 'this garden of yours is so beautiful. We admired the flowers, and conversed of them until----' 'You admired each other and conversed of that instead,' she interrupted merrily. 'Oh! Sir Hubert, fie! You a diplomatist! You a soldier! You a lover of your country----' 'I am a lover of one in it, if you like, madam,' he said, and forthwith we took Lady Caroline into our confidence and confessed that we were in love. 'I am delighted to hear it,' said Lady Caroline, adding: 'By your valour in defending Mistress Margaret Brown the other day, and perchance saving her life, Sir Hubert, you have earned the right to aspire to her hand; still I think you must remember that her father ought to be consulted before you become really betrothed to her.' 'Her father!' cried Sir Hubert, taken aback. 'Where is he?' I explained where my home was, adding dutifully that my father said business of importance prevented his personally conducting me to London, yet I could see, even as I said it, that my companions thought it very remiss of him to leave the care of me on the long journey to servants, however trustworthy, and not wishing them to blame him, I went on to say that he was somewhat delicate and his life was a very valuable one. They seemed to think better of him after that, and not by any means worse of me, and I have ever noticed that judicious praise of and speaking up for others endears ourselves to those to whom we speak. Lady Caroline went away presently, and Sir Hubert and I spent a blissful hour or two in that quaint little garden amongst the primroses and early wallflowers, violets and wood anemones. Our happy time together came to an end only too soon, for we were summoned to dinner, and afterwards Sir William himself came to me and Lady Caroline as we sat in the drawing-room, and carefully instructed me as to the way in which, should opportunity occur, I was to talk to Lady Jane Grey, touching the matter of her possible succession to the crown. 'You must tell her,' said Sir William, 'that the welfare of English Protestants all over the kingdom rests in her hands. There will be no religious freedom if Princess Mary becomes queen. Tell Lady Jane she must not think of herself, for, student as she is, no doubt the cares and the pomps and ceremonies of royalty will be distasteful to her; but she must be willing to sacrifice her own wishes to the good of the people. Yes, that is the way you must put it; for they tell me she is exceedingly good and kind, self-denying and merciful.'