During this singular colloquy the countenance of the damsel had undergone many changes, but the bright eye of Charles rested not upon her homely lineaments.

"It waxes late, my daughter," said Grimwald, in a tone of parental affection, after the prince had taken his departure. "Let us quit this dreary scene.'

So saying, he pushed aside the light platform on which he had been sitting, and removing a heavy stone, there appeared beneath a wide, yawning chasm. A long staircase of granite stretched down into its depths; and the magician and his daughter, after securing their dwelling against intruders, and extinguishing the lamp which had hitherto guided them, descended into this gloomy abyss.

From the darkness they had left the scene changes, with a brilliant transition, to a vast subterranean apartment, vaulted with white marble, and hung with rich folds of silken tapestry. From the midst of the arched ceiling was suspended that living gem, the priceless carbuncle; and its rays afforded a mid-day splendour. Beneath it lay a carpet, so thick as to give no echo to the foot-fall; and lighted up by that wonderful stone, it looked more like the soft moss of some ancient forest, with its broidery of summer flowers, than aught else within the range of comparison. A table of bronze, supported by antique statues, was loaded with tempting delicacies; and near it, upon a couch of silver tissue, reclined that same Grimwald who had been so recently surrounded by all the coarse details of poverty. Before him knelt the maiden whom he had called his child; and an expression of troubled anxiety was depicted on her face, which contrasted strangely with the luxury that surrounded her. "My father," murmured the youthful suppliant, pressing the hand of the magician to her lips, "my father, must he die?"

"It is written, Himiltruda!” replied Grimwald. "Would'st thou cancel the decrees of Fate?"

"Are there no means by which his doom may be averted?" continued the damsel. So young, so brave, so noble; must he die, my Father?"

"He must," replied the magician firmly. "It is registered in the archives of heaven; and thy life-blood alone, Himiltruda, could efface those characters of flame."

"O, let me be the victim then!" exclaimed Himiltruda, clasping her hands with vehement energy. "Is my worthless life to be balanced against that of the noblest prince in Christendom? Now, even now, my Father, consummate the glorious sacrifice."

"Alas! my child," said Grimwald sadly," is thy young heart so early stricken? Hast thou ever looked upon the prince, Himiltru. da, before thou sawest him to-night?"

A deep blush burned upon the dark cheek of the maiden, and her accents were low and embarrassed.

"I have often watched him," replied she, "as he rode past our dwelling on his fiery barb, clad in the armour of a warrior; and far, oh, how far above all his train did he tower with a godlike majesty!" "Is that all that thou hast seen of him, Himiltruda?" continued the magician, searchingly. "Didst thou never before listen to his voice ?"

For a moment the young girl hesitated in her reply; but filial frankness triumphed over womanly diffidence.

“Once, my father," said she, "thou didst send me to the leech for a potent herb, and the shadows of twilight came on before I arrived at our threshold. A troop of horsemen encountered me in the chief street of the city who had apparently been indulging in wassail, for their voices were loud and clamorous. One of them jeered at my homely aspect; but Prince Charles, who was riding beside him, cried, "Shame, Carloman; the damsel is of gentle mien;" and I passed on, unmolested by further scoffings.

"And thou dost love this noble prince, my poor child?" said Grimwald, in accents of the tenderest pity. And thou would'st die, meek dove, that the eagle may still soar towards the sun."

The gentle girl dropped her head upon her bosom, and silence was her most eloquent confession.

66

"Must I then see thee pine, my Himiltruda, through long and cheerless years, like a plant from which the nourishment of heaven is withdrawn?" continued the magician. "I know thy constant heart, and sure am I that happiness will never again be thine. "Twere better to die at once, than thus to drag on a miserable life!” "Thou consentest then, my father," cried the maiden, clasping the knees of Grimwald. Joy! joy! Prince Charles is saved!" "Alas! alas!" said the magician, as if forgetful of her presence. "And yet the innocent child is right in contemning life! For more than two hundred years have I walked this weary world; and now that I have won the keys of knowledge, and subjected the spirits of the elements, gladly would I lay down in the cold grave, and shut my eyes for ever upon the creations of enchantment. But this may not be. Age after age shall roll away before the time will come for the angel of death to summon me. Once, once only, have I loved; and never again will my heart warm with the impulses of earthly passion. Shall I then chain down this high-souled being, bequeathed me by that idol of my affections, to a world which, for her, will have lost all its power of pleasing, in order that, during the short term of her mortal existence, I may have a companion to beguile my solitude? No! thy prayer is granted, Himiltruda!

The prince shall live; and thou, my daughter, shalt take his place. Yet a few brief years of happiness shall be allotted thee. Thou shalt be adored by him whom thou hast saved; and even after thy death, he shall prefer thee to any living love. A long life shall be his-and that life shall be one of conquest and of glory."

A beam of extatic joy lighted up the features of the maiden, and she kissed the lips which had proclaimed her doom with all the fervour of rapturous gratitude.

Seven years had passed since this promise of Grimwald. King Pepin slumbered with his fathers, and his sons Charles and Carlo. man were seated upon the throne of France. Many had been the whispers of the courtiers, and strange the tales that had been bruit. ed, when, from all the fairest daughters of the land, prince Charles had singled out the unattractive Himiltruda as the lady of his love. Those whispers were now, however, hushed, and the tales of malice had long died away among the supple throng; for a crown wreathed the brow of that once lowly maiden, and the heart of her royal consort was undividedly her's.

At the close of a long sultry day, after the perplexing duties of state had been all discharged, king Charles sought the apartment of his adored Himiltruda.

Surrounded by her maidens, she was busily engaged in a work of female skill; for even royal ladies, in those days, did not disdain to be industrious.

"Methinks thou art sad, my love!" exclaimed the monarch endearingly, after the attendants had withdrawn. "Is there aught that troubles thee, Himiltruda? Wilt thou not smile upon thy Charles, and repay him, by one bright glance, for all those vexatious toils which keep him from thy side?"

"Alas! my lord," said the queen, attempting faintly to comply with his request, "during all this day my heart has been oppressed with an unwonted weight. I have longed to behold thee, and have chid the tardy hours that they sped not faster; yet now that thou art here, a still deeper gloom steals upon my soul."

"Thus let me dispel it, sweet!" exclaimed Charles, imprinting a fond caress upon her brow.

"Unworthy am I, my lord, to be thus beloved," said Himiltru. da mournfully. "No eye, save thine, can discern in me a single

charm."

"And does not that suffice, my queen ?" said the monarch proudly. I require neither the plaudits of my subjects, nor the approval of my royal brother, to invest her whom I have chosen with additional lustre. I will be my own judge of what is lovely; and truly

do I deem, my Himiltruda, that thou hast not thy peer upon this earth. From the time when I first beheld thee in an ante-chamber of my father's palace, thou hast reigned the mistress of my soul, as thou now dost the sovereign of my dominions."

→These are honeyed words, Charles," said the queen," and they fall gratefully upon my ear; but confess, flatterer, didst thou never see one who resembled me ?"

"Never!" replied the king; and yet I have often thought that thou didst recall some long vanished recollection. But it was only fancy-or, perchance, ere my eyes were gladdened with thy beauty, thou wert shadowed forth in the visions of my slumber. It is af. firmed by sages that those circumstances and persons who are fated to exert an influence upon our destiny, haunt us from our earliest childhood; but I have not much faith in the sayings of seers, Himiltruda. Seven years' ago I consulted one of the fraternity named Grimwald, and the lying knave told me that I should speedily die. Perhaps he had been employed to compass his prediction, and was foiled by some interposition of my good angel; for soon after he suddenly disappeared, and has never been heard of since."

“Thou art wrong, my lord, in thus despising the announcements of heaven," said Himiltruda solemnly. "There is truth in these mysterious messages. It has been revealed to me, Charles, that this night I must leave thee, and thou now understandest the cause of the sorrow thou hast blamed. Before that water has ceased drop. ping," continued she, pointing to an instrument resembling an hour glass which stood near, "I shall no longer be sensible to thy affec tion."

"These are idle fancies, my love," exclaimed the king, encircling her in his arms; "for the sake of thy Charles, let me entreat thee to banish them."

While he yet spake, a mortal paleness overspread the countenance of Himiltruda, and gasping for breath, she fell back powerless in his

embrace.

"Ho! within there!" cried Charles in agony. "Help! help! the queen is dying!"

One gentle pressure of his trembling hand, one glance of unutter. able tenderness from those glazing orbs, and the form which he sup. ported became a cold and breathless burthen.

Summoned by his cries, the attendants came thronging to the scene, Restoratives were applied, prayers were breathed; but the soul of the young queen was beyond the recall of science or of piety.

The rushing pinions of Time swept on, and the career of Char. lemagne was at its acme of glory. The death of his colleague

Carloman had early left him sole monarch of France; and, supported by his chivalrous Paladins, he achieved victory after victory, until at last the iron crown of Italy was added to his hereditary diadem.

Was the conqueror happy? Had he forgotten his Himiltruda ? Reposing in a jewelled coffin, and clad in imperial robes, the embalmed body of that lost one accompanied him in all his peaceful journeyings and warlike expeditions. The policy of state had wedded him to another; but his heart was still constant to his first love. From the halls of regal splendour, and the acclaiming shouts of myriads, he would steal away to the lonely turret or the silent tent which contained those lifeless remains, and straining them wildly to his breast, give way to the bitterness of inextinguishable grief.

Returning from that memorable visit to Rome when all the magnificence of the Cæsars seemed revived to do him honour, Charle. magne, with his family and court, paused for awhile at Parma.

The palace assigned for their temporary occupancy stood in the midst of delicious gardens, and the fragrance of the orange and the myrtle came wafted through its lofty chambers. The enervating softness of a southern clime exerted its influence upon these Gallic strangers, and an abandonment of etiquette was sanctioned by their indulgent sovereign.

One dreamy afternoon the Queen Ildegarda had dismissed her maidens that she might enjoy the luxury of solitary thought. From the reverie into which she had fallen she was aroused by the entrance of an officer of her household, who announced that there was a Monk without, earnestly soliciting a private interview.

The amiable character of Ildegarda indisposed her to refuse, and her pious veneration for the church was an additional incentive to compliance. She accordingly gave orders that the holy Father should be immediately admitted.

The Monk, who now reverently entered, was a tall, stately look. ing man, of middle age; and the flowing vestments of his order enhanced the dignity of his mien.

Apparently the utmost privacy was requisite in the audience; for, after paying the customary obeisance, he glanced furtively around, as if to assure himself that the apartment contained no possible lurking place to conceal a listener.

After a brief silence, the Queen encouragingly inquired his errand. "My Daughter," replied the Monk, fixing his eyes intently upon her beautiful face, "I come to fulfil thy dearest wish. Canst thou not form a shrewd surmise of my mission?"

The fair temples of Ildegarda were suffused with the deepest