the smile of scorn play upon his lip. Not for an instant, however, did he hesitate to accept the proffered task. With himself he was no hypocrite; and his heart danced with joy in his bosom at this extraordinary turn of fortune in his favour. Visions of future grandeur floated before him. In his superiority of mind, he rested his confidence of success; and when he thought of Henry, a prince of no ordinary endowments, his pride rose higher and higher. He felt the contest was worthy of him. To govern the multitude is easy; but to rule a single mind of nearly equal intelligence with one's own, is a triumph of which the proudest may be proud.

his room.

The day wore away in dreams of coming bliss, and the prior had not yet quitted He felt he could not sufficiently subdue the joy that filled his soul; and he cared not to let it appear. As to the task, he must play his allotted part before the world; he would not quit the convent with too much alacrity. He must seem to do so solely in obedience to the orders of his superior. He resolved, therefore, to wait patiently for the return of the messenger

he had despatched with his answer to the archbishop.

Not long, however, was he doomed to suppress the feelings of triumph in which he revelled. A few minutes only had elapsed since, with beating heart, he had watched the departure of his faithful and confidential servant, Edward Grimm, for Canterbury, charged with the expressions of his gratitude and love towards Theobald. when another, and scarcely less important letter was put into his hands. It was the summons of Lord de Clifford to attend him in his castle, and there to be presented to the King.

Father Thomas could scarcely believe in the reality of the words on which his eyes rested. The summons, however, was urgent. There was not a moment to be lost. With the utmost haste he concluded the few preparations he was enabled to make, in order to appear before the King. His brain whirled with anticipations of power. All seemed to unite in rendering the bright path he was about to tread easy A little while since, and his hopes had been raised to their zenith by

and sure.

the unexpected letter of the archbishop; but how much more gratifying to his vanity, and congenial to his wishes, to be thus summoned by the sovereign himself, and to enter upon his new duties under the auspices of a friend so powerful and devoted as the Lord of Clifford Castle!

Everything seemed to smile upon the future, as the prior looked towards it; his active mind sketched out plans which had no limit; scenes of wondrous glory rose before his dazzled eyes; and England-Europethe whole world!—-seemed all too small a field for the vastness of his ambition.

In this joyous flow of spirits, Father Thomas bade adieu to the Monastery of Severnstoke; and amidst the blessings, and, perhaps, the prayers of all its inhabitanty mounted the noble horse, for with his former humble mule was now exchanged, and took the road towards Clifford Case

CHAPTER XV.

Few monarchs ever mounted the throne with so fair a prospect of happiness as Henry the Second of England; and yet few individuals in any station of life ever suffered so deeply. Called to the throne upon the death of Stephen by the unanimous voice of the nation, he had no difficulty in establishing his right, and was received with acclamations by all classes of his subjects. He was then a very powerful prince, and possessed of large terri

tories in France, as well as of the whole of England. Anjou, Maine, and Fontaine, he inherited from his father: but by his wife Eleanor, the divorced queen of Louis of France, he acquired seven other provinces in that kingdom; which being at least a third of the whole French monarchy, gave him a greater extent of dominion than any English sovereign had yet possessed; and though by the law of his tenure he was forced to do homage to Louis, yet in reality his power surpassed that of the French king.

No sooner, however, was he seated upon his throne, than he began to find out the turbulence of the spirits over which he had been called to reign, being continually harassed by the Scotch on one side, while the Welsh, unheeding their promises, or the treaties that bound them, poured down from their fastnesses in the mountains, and devastating all the provinces within their reach, engaged him in a long and disas trous war, in which he very nearly suffered captivity and defeat. By his courage and

Guienne, Poitou, Saintonge, Auvergne, Perigord, Anguemois, and Limousin.