aloud, when he had once more quitted her. "He too loves the Lady Rosamond! To be sure it is no business of mine, but I do wonder how it will all end."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE spot selected for the forest hunt of that morning, was an angle of the great wood stretching from the valley of the Wye nearly to the borders of Wales. It was called the Blue Forest, from the masses of pines, which, contrasted with the oak and chesnut, gave a bluish tint to the foliage. The wood was of almost impenetrable thickness; but, on the English side, many roads and alleys had been cut, so as to allow the huntsmen to pass back

wards and forwards in pursuit of their game. Very inadequate, however, were these means to the accomplishment of their purpose the immense extent of covert by which the wild animals of the forest were protected, would have rendered their destruction impossible, had it not been for the equally vast preparations which were then usual at hunting-parties, the nobles sparing neither trouble nor expense in pursuit of their favourite amusement. Whenever they decided to meet in any particular part of a forest, a large tract of the adjacent ground was immediately surrounded with nets, and hundreds of men were employed to collect and drive in the game, towards the quarter where it was desired to be found.

This was not the favourite way of hunting of Henry the Second, who much preferred following the game in the open country, and on horseback: but, on this occasion, he had selected the forest-hunt, in order to avoid fatigue; for as the Lady Rosamond was to be present, he ardently desired to retain her in the field during the hawking-party which was to follow the

earlier part of the sport. Already he had begun to feel that the hunt had lost its charm, when the graceful figure of Rosamond, upon her beautiful horse, could no longer be discerned among the gay groups of horsemen that followed the chase.

The spot chosen for the erection of the royal stand was a very little way within the border of the forest, where a natural opening in the trees left a considerable space of ground clear, and almost level, except to the right, where the hill rose abruptly, and was covered with heath and fern. The wood in front was lined with strong network, which was also placed at either side of the stand, so as to form a complete enclosure or broad lane, along which the game was to be driven from left to right. The stand was a temporary building of wood, with two long galleries, and was completely covered over with branches of trees, evergreens, and flowers, curiously twisted and interlaced so as to form an immense bower,-where, sheltered from the heat of the sun, or inclemency of the weather, the royal party could enjoy the somewhat tame amusement of shooting

with arrows and cross-bows at the various animals, as they passed. The upper gallery was appropriated to the King; and no one, save by special invitation, could enter it. But Henry delighted not in solitude; and as he sprang from his horse, to give his hand to the Lady Rosamond to dismount, he called to his favourites by name, so that very soon the whole front of the gallery presented a crowd of anxious faces, all eager for the commencement of the sport.

The King stood almost in the middle of the row; at one side was Rosamond, on the other Becket-who, since his arrival at the castle, had fully obeyed the injunctions of his friend, the primate, "to do as the King did." He was never absent from the royal presence, and joined in all the sports and exercises in which his soul had ever secretly revelled, with all the zest of a long pent-up passion suddenly let loose. Next to Becket stood the Lord de Clifford; and by his side was Henry de Essex, the hereditary standard-bearer of England, and an especial favourite of Henry's. On the left-hand of the King, and