Page:Two Scenes in the Life of Anne Boleyn.pdf/2



was a small gothic room, panelled with dark wood, while the heavy curtains of green tapestry swept the ground. Yet it was not gloomy, for feminine taste gave its own lightness to the various arrangements of the little chamber. A wood fire burned upon the hearth, and two waxen tapers flung their light on a mirror, set in richly chased silver. A casket stood open on the table, and the fair occupant of the arm-chair beside, was employed in turning over its glittering contents. "I have seen them so often that they are not worth looking at. How I should like a massive gold chain, like that the duchess of Norfolk has just had from Italy!" exclaimed the maiden, turning away. "Ah! I may yet have one. If I had staid at court, I feel sure my royal conquest would have been completed; but shut up here, I am losing my chance—some new beauty will soon take my place. Les absens ont toujours tort." While she spoke, her eye fell upon a little ring, quaintly worked in a true-lover's-knot, with the single word "Fidelity" traced in golden characters. The colour came into Anna's face;—that ring had been given to her by Lord Percy, and she started to think how little her heart replied to the vows that had once made it beat with such