CONTENTS

I.[The Child of Prophecy]3
II.[The Way of Youth]18
III.[The Music of the World]33
IV.[Cydaria revealed]49
V.[I am forbidden to forget]65
VI.[An Invitation to Court]84
VII.[What came of Honesty]103
VIII.[Madness, Magic, and Moonshine]122
IX.[Of Gems and Pebbles]140
X.[Je Viens, Tu Viens, Il Vient] 160
XI.[The Gentleman from Calais]180
XII.[The Deference of His Grace the Duke]201
XIII.[The Meed of Curiosity]222
XIV.[The King's Cup]244
XV.[M. de Perrencourt whispers]263
XVI.[M. de Perrencourt wonders]283
XVIII.[Some Mighty Silly Business]324
XIX. [A Night on the Road]345
XX.[The Vicar's Proposition]362
XXI.[The Strange Conjuncture of Two Gentlemen]378
XXII.[The Device of Lord Carford]396
XXIII.[A Pleasant Penitence]414
XXIV.[A Comedy before the King]434
XXV. [The Mind of M. de Fontelles]451
XXVI.[I come Home]468

SIMON DALE

CHAPTER I

THE CHILD OF PROPHECY

One who was in his day a person of great place and consideration, and has left a name which future generations shall surely repeat so long as the world may last, found no better rule for a man's life than that he should incline his mind to move in Charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of Truth. This condition, says he, is Heaven upon Earth; and although what touches truth may better befit the philosopher who uttered it than the vulgar and unlearned, for whom perhaps it is a counsel too high and therefore dangerous, what comes before should surely be graven by each of us on the walls of our hearts. For any man who lived in the days that I have seen must have found much need of trust in Providence, and by no whit the less of charity for men. In such trust and charity I have striven to write: in the like I pray you to read.