"Well, well," said Lady Shrewsbury, "a morning's sail upon the Thames will do you no harm; and no one can say you have not a right to amuse yourself with a water-party for an hour or two. Quick, girl; do not tremble, but get some few clothes together. Let your gentlewoman go down to the stairs with them. You and I will follow; and a barge in two or three hours will carry you to your husband's ship." "But Seymour--Seymour!" cried Arabella; "I fear more for him than for myself." "Leave that to me!" answered the Countess. "I will send off a messenger instantly to warn him.--You get ready,--quick!" In a few minutes Lady Shrewsbury joined her niece in her own room. Ida Mara, with one small box in her hand, was already at the door when the Countess entered. "Where are the two maids, Ida?" asked Lady Shrewsbury. "In the waiting-room, madam," replied Ida Mara. "And the door shut?" said the Countess. "Quick, then, go down; and we will follow you in two minutes." Without reply, the girl quitted the chamber; and Lady Shrewsbury, turning to her niece, kissed her cheek, whispering, "Take courage, take courage, Arabel. I trust all will go well. 'Tis but a little hurry." The next instant, however, Ida Mara returned, with a pale cheek, and the tears in her eyes. "There is a guard at the foot of the stairs," she said, "who would not let me pass. He has orders, he told me, to stop every one, and turn them back." Arabella sank into a seat, and covered her eyes with her hands, while the Countess gazed down stedfastly upon the ground, in deep thought. At length she exclaimed,-- "Call the girl hither, Ida, who came in a few minutes ago." The fair Italian obeyed at once, and in a moment or two a pretty-looking maid, somewhat vain and coquettish in her dress and appearance, presented herself before the Countess. "Now, answer me truly, girl," said Lady Shrewsbury. "To whom did you show the note that was given to you a few minutes ago for your mistress?" The girl's cheek turned crimson, and she was silent. "Answer me," exclaimed the Countess, sternly; "answer me. Your face betrays you!" The girl burst into tears. "He took it out of my hand," she said. "I stopped a minute to speak with him; and he took it out of my hand." "What is his name?" demanded the Countess, in the same tone. "Maxwell," faltered the girl. "From whom did you receive the note?" asked the Countess. "From Sir Thomas Overbury," was the reply.