alas! do you know of me, except that I am a penniless unknown knight, hunting through this broad realm for a parentage?” The maiden did not answer the question of her lover directly, but seemed lost in thought. She gazed wonderingly upon the speaker, and said,— “Strange!—if it should prove to be so.” Wondering at her inexplicable question, her lover said,— “What is strange, dearest?” But scarcely had this inquiry been made, when a servant appeared, informing the lovers, that the uncle of the lady Eleanor had arrived unexpectedly from court, and begged at once to be allowed to pay his thanks to the brave knight who had rescued his niece. * * * * * It was a fortnight later in our history. A small cavalcade was winding along a romantic road, late in the afternoon. At its front rode two knights, completely armed, except as to their heads, which were covered with light caps, instead of helmets. A palfrey, upon which rode a lady, and the numerous handmaidens in the group, showed the cavalcade to be that of a woman of rank. Suddenly the procession reached the brow of a hill, overlooking a wide reach of pasture and woodland. An extensive valley stretched below, through which meandered a stream, that now glittered in the sunlight, and was now lost to sight as it entered the mazes of the forest. In the very centre of the valley, and on a gentle elevation, stood a large and extensive castle, its defences reaching completely around the low hill upon which it stood. As the prospect broke upon the sight, the two knights drew in their reins, and the elder turning to the younger one, whom the reader will instantly recognise as the hero of our tale, said,— “Yonder is Torston castle, and in less than an hour we shall be within its walls.” “And a noble fortress it is, my lord. I have seen many both in this fair realm and in France, but few to equal yon proud castle.” “The landscape is itself a fine one,” said Lord Torston, “though few of our profession of arms have an eye for beauty.” “The rudest boor, my lord, could not fail to admire this scene. And yet it does not seem wholly new to me. I have an indistinct impression of having beheld something like it before.” “Perhaps, in some fair valley of France. But we must push on, or we shall not reach the castle until nightfall.”