Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-03-23
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TROUBLE IN BILLINGsGATE WARD

v and came very near terminating his ca brought about situation of affairs that showed the difference in the quail ity of these two persons thrown so marvelously together from their far distant stations at each end of the lad der of fortune in way that reflected very little credit upon the one from the upper end. But before I tell you of that. I will relate briefly one or two other matters that had bearing upon what was done and the motives prompt tng it.
 To begin with, Brandon had kept himself entirely away from the prin- cess ever since the afternoon at thet kings antechamber. The first day or so she sighed, but thought little of his absence; then she wept and, as usual, began to grow piqued and irritable.
 What was left of her Judgment told her it was better for them to remain apart, but her longing to see Brandon grew stronger as the prospect of 1t grew less, and she became angry that 1t could not be gratified. Jane was right; an unsatisfied desire with Mary was torture. Even her sense of the great distance between them had be- gun to fade, and wi n she so wished for him and he did not come their posi- tons seemed to be reversed. At the end of the third day she sent for him to come to her rooms, but he by a mighty effort sent back brief note saying that he could not and ought not to go. This, of course, threw Mary into a great passion, for she judged him by herself, q very common but dangerous method of Judgment, and thought that if he felt at all as she did he would throw prudence to the winds and come to her, as she knew she would go to him if she could. It did not occur to her that Brandon knew himself well enough to be sure he would never go to New Spain if he allowed another grain of temptation to fall into the bal ance against him, but would remain in London to love hopelessly, to try to win a hopeless cause and end 1t all by placing his head upon the block
 It required all his strength even now to hold fast his determination to go to New Spain. He had reached his Him. it. He had fund of that most use- ful of all wisdom, knowledge of self, and knew his Limitations, little mat ter concerning which nine men out of ten go all their lives in blissless ig- porance.
 Mary, who was no more given to self analysis than her pet linnet, did not appreciate Brandon's potent reasons and was in flaming passion when she received his answer. Rage and humili- ation completely smothered for the time her affection, and she said to her. self over and over again: "I hate the lowborn. wretch. Oh, to think what ha 7ermittedv' It seemed only too ell Tt she had been too quick to gi very comforting thought to a pro Il even though mistaken one.
 AS tie days went by and Brandon did not come her anger cooled as usual, and again her heart began to ache, but her sense of injury grew stronger day by day and sue thought she was be. yond doubt the most ill used of wo- men.
 The negotiations for Mary's marriage with old Louis XII. of France were be- ginning to be an open secret about the court The Due de Longueville, who had been held by Henry for some time as a sort of hostage from the French king, had opened negotiations by in- flaming the hickering passions of old Louis with descriptions of Mary's beau ty. As there was prospect of new emperor soon and as the imperial bee had of late been making most vehe- ment buzzing in Henry's bonnet, he encouraged De Longueville and thought it would be q good time to purchase the help of France at the cost of his beautiful sister and a handsome dover. Mary of course had not been consulted, and although she had coaxed her brother out of other marriage projects Henry had gone about this as if he were in earnest, and it was thought throughout the court that Mary's coax ings would be all in vain-a fear which she herself had begun to share, not withstanding her usual self confidence.
 She hated the thought of the mar riage and dreaded it as she would death itself, though she said nothing to any one but Jane and was holding her forces in reserve for grand attack. She was preparing the way by being very sweet and kind to Henry.
 Now, all of this. coming upon the heels of her trouble with Brandon, made her most wretched indeed. For the first time in her life she began to feel suffering-tha great broadener, in fact maker, of human character.
 Above all, there was an alarming sense of uncertainty in everything. She could hardly bring herself to believe that Brandon would really go to New Spain and that she would actually lose him, although she did not want him as yet-that is, as a prospective husband. Flashes of all sorts of wild schemes had begun to shoot through her anger and grief when she stared in the face the prospect of her double separation from him, her marriage to another and the countless miles of fathomless sea that would be between them. She could endure anything better than uncer- tainty. A menacing future is the keen est of all tortures for any of us to bear, but especially for girl like Mary. Death itself is not so terrible as the