she returned them this
gracious answer: »That she was sorry she was not better qualified to decide upon
the doubtful question which had been propounded to her by the direction of the
famous Merlin, but that it seemed to her that no single one of these celebrated
nations could claim pre-eminence over the others, as having most contributed to
form the Englishman of her own time, who unquestionably derived from each of
them some worthy attribute of his character. Thus,« she said, »the Englishman
had from the ancient Briton his bold and tameless spirit of freedom, - from the
Roman his disciplined courage in war, with his love of letters and civilisation
in time of peace, - from the Saxon his wise and equitable laws, - and from the
chivalrous Norman his love of honour and courtesy, with his generous desire for
glory.«
    Merlin answered with readiness, that it did indeed require that so many
choice qualities should meet in the English, as might render them in some
measure the muster of the perfections of other nations, since that alone could
render them in some degree deserving of the blessings they enjoyed under the
reign of England's Elizabeth.
    The music then sounded, and the quadrilles, together with Merlin and his
assistants, had begun to remove from the crowded hall, when Leicester, who was,
as we have mentioned, stationed for the moment near the bottom of the hall, and
consequently engaged in some degree in the crowd, felt himself pulled by the
cloak, while a voice whispered in his ear, »My lord, I do desire some instant
conference with you.«
 

                             Chapter Thirty-Eighth

 How is 't with me when every noise appals me?
                                                                        Macbeth.
 
»I desire some conference with you.« The words were simple in themselves, but
Lord Leicester was in that alarmed and feverish state of mind when the most
ordinary occurrences seem fraught with alarming import; and he turned hastily
round to survey the person by whom they had been spoken. There was nothing
remarkable in the speaker's appearance, which consisted of a black silk doublet
and short mantle, with a black vizard on his face; for it appeared he had been
among the crowd of masks who had thronged into the hall in the retinue of
Merlin, though he did not wear any of the extravagant disguises by which most of
them were distinguished.
    »Who are you, or what do you want with me?« said Leicester, not without
betraying, by his accents, the hurried state of his spirits.
    »No evil, my lord,« answered the mask, »but much