Seymour bowed, and withdrew; and, to say the truth, had not the matter so much affected his happiness, he might have inclined to laugh at the reprimand of the King. James's broad Scottish accent, which sounded uncouth enough in his moments of uproarious jocularity, became even more ludicrous when delivering any of his solemn harangues, especially as he had an inveterate habit of interlarding, even his most studied sentences, with the peculiar idioms and phraseology of his own nation, and with illustrations often the most homely and absurd--and often the most profane, not to say blasphemous. To these we cannot attempt to do justice; but it is well known that the sudden utterance of such words and figures, in the midst of an oration delivered with mock majesty and solemnity, has overset the gravity, even of an indignant House of Commons, and caused the members to shrink behind each other, lest their laughter should be too apparent. Arabella remained before the Council, in anxious expectation of what was to come next; but, much to her gratification, as the King was commencing a long admonition, he was drawn away by some word which he himself made use of--we believe it was _callant_--to enter into a tedious discussion upon the derivation thereof, which occupied him for the space of nearly twenty minutes, at the end of which time he dismissed her, without returning to the original subject. Retiring gladly to her own chamber, the lady gave way to the feelings she had feared to display before the eyes of the heartless monarch and his cold councillors. The storm had passed away for the time, but it left clouds behind it; and though she felt relieved, there was enough of agitation and apprehension remaining to bring the tears into her eyes. CHAPTER XXIII. As with the ancient walls of palaces and halls, as with the dungeon and the court of law--so with the old hawthorn tree of the wide chase, the yew tree of the churchyard, or the broad oak of the park:--many a tale could be told by the silent witnesses of man's passions, joys, and sufferings, had they but a voice to speak that which they have seen; and how instructive might the homily be, if, as we have reason to believe, vice seldom goes without its punishment on earth, though virtue may have to look to Heaven for its reward! In the wildest part of that tract of ground called Bushy Park, which, in the days we speak of, showed far less trace of man's handywork than at present, amidst fern, and whitethorn, and starting deer, walked along a lady and gentleman, both exquisitely beautiful in person, whatever they might be in heart. With her two fair hands clasped together, she hung upon his arm, gazing up through her mask at his face, while he looked down at her with admiration, of a kind to which it would be almost profane to give the name of love. "Nay," she said, in a laughing tone, "I did not send it. You do not suppose that I need to court any man."