As to
her lips, by my soul, I never tasted such."
"And your majesty is not inexperienced in such matters," laughed
Suffolk. "For my own part, I was as much struck by her grace as by her
beauty, and can scarcely persuade myself she can be nothing more
than a mere forester's grand-daughter."
"Wolsey told me there was a mystery about her birth," rejoined Henry;
"but, pest on it; her beauty drove all recollection of the matter out of my
head. I will go back, and question her now."
"Your majesty forgets that your absence from the castle will occasion
surprise, if not alarm," said Suffolk. "The mystery will keep till to-
morrow."
"Tut, tut!--I will return," said the king perversely. And Suffolk, knowing
his wilfulness, and that all remonstrance would prove fruitless, retraced
his steps with him. They had not proceeded far when they perceived a
female figure at the bottom of the ascent, just where the path turned off
on the margin of the lake.
"As I live, there she is!" exclaimed the king joyfully. "She has divined my
wishes, and is come herself to tell me her history."
And he sprang forward, while Mabel advanced rapidly towards him.
They met half-way, and Henry would have caught her in his arms, but
she avoided him, exclaiming, in a tone of confusion and alarm, "Thank
Heaven, I have found you, sire!"
"Thank Heaven, too, sweetheart!" rejoined Henry.
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