to my necessities! Ay, I will consult—I will consult, I must not die yet. I have—let me see, three—four grades to gain before the ladder is scaled. And, above all, I must regain my child! Lucy married to Mauleverer, myself a peer, my son wedded to—whom? Pray God he be not married already! my nephews and my children nobles! the House of Brandon restored, my power high in the upward gaze of men; my fame set on a more lasting basis than a skill in the quirks of law, these are yet to come, these I will not die till I have enjoyed! Men die not till their destinies are fulfilled. The spirit that swells and soars within me, says that the destiny of William Brandon is but half begun!"
With this conclusion, Brandon sought his pillow. What were the reflections of the prisoner whom he was to judge? Need we ask? Let us picture to ourselves his shattered health, the languor of sickness heightening the gloom which makes the very air of a gaol—his certainty of the doom to be passed against him, his knowledge that the uncle of Lucy Brandon was to be his judge, that Mauleverer was to be his accuser;
