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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18387-8.txt b/18387-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5dab4b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/18387-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14600 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Days of Bruce Vol 1, by Grace Aguilar + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Days of Bruce Vol 1 + A Story from Scottish History + +Author: Grace Aguilar + +Release Date: May 14, 2006 [EBook #18387] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + + + + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: p. 148.] + +The + +DAYS OF BRUCE + +BY + +GRACE AGUILAR + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. + +THE + +DAYS OF BRUCE; + +A Story + +FROM + + +SCOTTISH HISTORY. + +BY + +GRACE AGUILAR, + + AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE," + "WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," "THE VALE OF CEDARS" + ETC. ETC. + +IN TWO VOLUMES. + +VOL. I. + + + NEW YORK: + D. APPLETON & CO., 90, 92 & 94 GRAND ST. + 1871. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +As these pages have passed through the press, mingled feelings of pain +and pleasure have actuated my heart. Who shall speak the regret that +she, to whom its composition was a work of love, cannot participate in +the joy which its publication would have occasioned--who shall tell of +that anxious pleasure which I feel in witnessing the success of each and +all the efforts of her pen? + +THE DAYS OF BRUCE must be considered as an endeavor to place +before the reader an interesting narrative of a period of history, in +itself a romance, and one perhaps as delightful as could well have been +selected. In combination with the story of Scotland's brave deliverer, +it must be viewed as an illustration of female character, and +descriptive of much that its Author considered excellent in woman. In +the high minded Isabella of Buchan is traced the resignation of a heart +wounded in its best affections, yet trustful midst accumulated misery. +In Isoline may be seen the self-inflicted unhappiness of a too +confident and self reliant nature; while in Agnes is delineated the +overwhelming of a mind too much akin to heaven in purity and innocence +to battle with the stern and bitter sorrows with which her life is +strewn. + +How far the merits of this work may be perceived becomes not me to +judge; I only know and _feel_ that on me has devolved the endearing task +of publishing the writings of my lamented child--that I am fulfilling +the desire of her life. + +SARAH AGUILAR. + +_May_, 1852. + + + + +THE DAYS OF BRUCE. + +CHAPTER I. + + +The month of March, rough and stormy as it is in England, would perhaps +be deemed mild and beautiful as May by those accustomed to meet and +brave its fury in the eastern Highlands, nor would the evening on which +our tale commences bely its wild and fitful character. + +The wind howled round the ancient Tower of Buchan, in alternate gusts of +wailing and of fury, so mingled with the deep, heavy roll of the lashing +waves, that it was impossible to distinguish the roar of the one element +from the howl of the other. Neither tree, hill, nor wood intercepted the +rushing gale, to change the dull monotony of its gloomy tone. The Ythan, +indeed, darted by, swollen and turbid from continued storms, threatening +to overflow the barren plain it watered, but its voice was +undistinguishable amidst the louder wail of wind and ocean. Pine-trees, +dark, ragged, and stunted, and scattered so widely apart that each one +seemed monarch of some thirty acres, were the only traces of vegetation +for miles round. Nor were human habitations more abundant; indeed, few +dwellings, save those of such solid masonry as the Tower of Buchan, +could hope to stand scathless amidst the storms that in winter ever +swept along the moor. + +No architectural beauty distinguished the residence of the Earls of +Buchan; none of that tasteful decoration peculiar to the Saxon, nor of +the more sombre yet more imposing style introduced by the Norman, and +known as the Gothic architecture. + +Originally a hunting-lodge, it had been continually enlarged by +succeeding lords, without any regard either to symmetry or proportion, +elegance or convenience; and now, early in the year 1306, appeared +within its outer walls as a most heterogeneous mass of ill-shaped +turrets, courts, offices, and galleries, huddled together in ill-sorted +confusion, though presenting to the distant view a massive square +building, remarkable only for a strength and solidity capable of +resisting alike the war of elements and of man. + +Without all seemed a dreary wilderness, but within existed indisputable +signs of active life. The warlike inhabitants of the tower, though +comparatively few in number, were continually passing to and fro in the +courts and galleries, or congregating in little knots, in eager +converse. Some cleansing their armor or arranging banners; others, young +and active, practising the various manoeuvres of mimic war; each and +all bearing on their brow that indescribable expression of anticipation +and excitement which seems ever on the expectant of it knows not what. +The condition of Scotland was indeed such as to keep her sons constantly +on the alert, preparing for defence or attack, as the insurging efforts +of the English or the commands of their lords should determine. From the +richest noble to the veriest serf, the aged man to the little child, +however contrary their politics and feelings, one spirit actuated all, +and that spirit was war--war in all its deadliest evils, its unmitigated +horrors, for it was native blood which deluged the rich plains, the +smiling vales, and fertile hills of Scotland. + +Although the castle of Buchan resembled more a citadel intended for the +accommodation of armed vassals than the commodious dwelling of feudal +lords, one turret gave evidence, by its internal arrangement, of a +degree of refinement and a nearer approach to comfort than its fellows, +and seeming to proclaim that within its massive walls the lords of the +castle were accustomed to reside. The apartments were either hung with +heavy tapestry, which displayed, in gigantic proportions, the combats of +the Scots and Danes, or panelled with polished oak, rivalling ebony in +its glossy blackness, inlaid with solid silver. Heavy draperies of +damask fell from the ceiling to the floor at every window, a pleasant +guard, indeed, from the constant winds which found entrance through many +creaks and corners of the Gothic casements, but imparting a dingy aspect +to apartments lordly in their dimensions, and somewhat rich in +decoration. + +The deep embrasures of the casements were thus in a manner severed from +the main apartment, for even when the curtains were completely lowered +there was space enough to contain a chair or two and a table. The +furniture corresponded in solidity and proportion to the panelling or +tapestry of the walls; nor was there any approach even at those doubtful +comforts already introduced in the more luxurious Norman castles of +South Britain. + +The group, however, assembled in one of these ancient rooms needed not +the aid of adventitious ornament to betray the nobility of birth, and +those exalted and chivalric feelings inherent to their rank. The sun, +whose stormy radiance during the day had alternately deluged earth and +sky with fitful yet glorious brilliance, and then, burying itself in the +dark masses of overhanging clouds, robed every object in deepest gloom, +now seemed to concentrate his departing rays in one living flood of +splendor, and darting within the chamber, lingered in crimson glory +around the youthful form of a gentle girl, dyeing her long and +clustering curls with gold. Slightly bending over a large and cumbrous +frame which supported her embroidery, her attitude could no more conceal +the grace and lightness of her childlike form, than the glossy ringlets +the soft and radiant features which they shaded. There was archness +lurking in those dark blue eyes, to which tears seemed yet a stranger; +the clear and snowy forehead, the full red lip, and health-bespeaking +cheek had surely seen but smiles, and mirrored but the joyous light +which filled her gentle heart. Her figure seemed to speak a child, but +there was a something in that face, bright, glowing as it was, which yet +would tell of somewhat more than childhood--that seventeen summers had +done their work, and taught that guileless heart a sterner tale than +gladness. + +A young man, but three or four years her senior, occupied an embroidered +settle at her feet. In complexion, as in the color of his hair and eyes, +there was similarity between them, but the likeness went no further, nor +would the most casual observer have looked on them as kindred. Fair and +lovely as the maiden would even have been pronounced, it was perhaps +more the expression, the sweet innocence that characterized her features +which gave to them their charm; but in the young man there was +infinitely more than this, though effeminate as was his complexion, and +the bright sunny curls which floated over his throat, he was eminently +and indescribably beautiful, for it was the mind, the glorious mind, the +kindling spirit which threw their radiance over his perfect features; +the spirit and mind which that noble form enshrined stood apart, and +though he knew it not himself, found not their equal in that dark period +of warfare and of woe. The sword and lance were the only instruments of +the feudal aristocracy; ambition, power, warlike fame, the principal +occupants of their thoughts; the chase, the tourney, or the foray, the +relaxation of their spirits. But unless that face deceived, there was +more, much more, which charactered the elder youth within that chamber. + +A large and antique volume of Norse legends rested on his knee, which, +in a rich, manly voice, he was reading aloud to his companion, +diversifying his lecture with remarks and explanations, which, from the +happy smiles and earnest attention of the maiden, appeared to impart the +pleasure intended by the speaker. The other visible inhabitant of the +apartment was a noble-looking boy of about fifteen, far less steadily +employed than his companions, for at one time he was poising a heavy +lance, and throwing himself into the various attitudes of a finished +warrior; at others, brandished a two-handed sword, somewhat taller than +himself; then glancing over the shoulder of his sister--for so nearly +was he connected with the maiden, though the raven curls, the bright +flashing eye of jet, and darker skin, appeared to forswear such near +relationship--criticising her embroidery, and then transferring his +scrutiny to the strange figures on the gorgeously-illuminated +manuscript, and then for a longer period listening, as it were, +irresistibly to the wild legends which that deep voice was so +melodiously pouring forth. + +"It will never do, Agnes. You cannot embroider the coronation of Kenneth +MacAlpine and listen to these wild tales at one and the same time. Look +at your clever pupil, Sir Nigel; she is placing a heavy iron buckler on +the poor king's head instead of his golden crown." The boy laughed long +and merrily as he spoke, and even Sir Nigel smiled; while Agnes, +blushing and confused, replied, half jestingly and half earnestly, "And +why not tell me of it before, Alan? you must have seen it long ago." + +"And so I did, sweet sister mine; but I wished to see the effect of such +marvellous abstraction, and whether, in case of necessity, an iron +shield would serve our purpose as well as a jewelled diadem." + +"Never fear, my boy. Let but the king stand forth, and there will be +Scottish men enow and willing to convert an iron buckler into a goodly +crown;" and as Sir Nigel spoke his eyes flashed, and his whole +countenance irradiated with a spirit that might not have been suspected +when in the act of reading, but which evidently only slept till awakened +by an all-sufficient call. "Let the tyrant Edward exult in the +possession of our country's crown and sceptre--he may find we need not +them to make a king; aye, and a king to snatch the regal diadem from the +proud usurper's brow--the Scottish sceptre from his blood-stained +hands!" + +"Thou talkest wildly, Nigel," answered the lad, sorrowfully, his +features assuming an expression of judgment and feeling beyond his +years. "Who is there in Scotland will do this thing? who will dare again +the tyrant's rage? Is not this unhappy country divided within itself, +and how may it resist the foreign foe?" + +"Wallace! think of Wallace! Did he not well-nigh wrest our country from +the tyrant's hands? And is there not one to follow in the path he +trod--no noble heart to do what he hath done?" + +"Nigel, yes. Let but the rightful king stand forth, and were there none +other, I--even I, stripling as I am, with my good sword and single arm, +even with the dark blood of Comyn in my veins, Alan of Buchan, would +join him, aye, and die for him!" + +"There spoke the blood of Duff, and not of Comyn!" burst impetuously +from the lips of Nigel, as he grasped the stripling's ready hand; "and +doubt not, noble boy, there are other hearts in Scotland bold and true +as thine; and even as Wallace, one will yet arise to wake them from +their stagnant sleep, and give them freedom." + +"Wallace," said the maiden, fearfully; "ye talk of Wallace, of his bold +deeds and bolder heart, but bethink ye of his _fate_. Oh, were it not +better to be still than follow in his steps unto the scaffold?" + +"Dearest, no; better the scaffold and the axe, aye, even the iron +chains and hangman's cord, than the gilded fetters of a tyrant's yoke. +Shame on thee, sweet Agnes, to counsel thoughts as these, and thou a +Scottish maiden." Yet even as he spoke chidingly, the voice of Nigel +became soft and thrilling, even as it had before been bold and daring. + +"I fear me, Nigel, I have but little of my mother's blood within my +veins. I cannot bid them throb and bound as hers with patriotic love and +warrior fire. A lowly cot with him I loved were happiness for me." + +"But that cot must rest upon a soil unchained, sweet Agnes, or joy could +have no resting there. Wherefore did Scotland rise against her +tyrant--why struggle as she hath to fling aside her chains? Was it her +noble sons? Alas, alas! degenerate and base, they sought chivalric fame; +forgetful of their country, they asked for knighthood from proud +Edward's hand, regardless that that hand had crowded fetters on their +fatherland, and would enslave their sons. Not to them did Scotland owe +the transient gleam of glorious light which, though extinguished in the +patriot's blood, hath left its trace behind. With the bold, the hardy, +lowly Scot that gleam had birth; they would be free to them. What +mattered that their tyrant was a valiant knight, a worthy son of +chivalry: they saw but an usurper, an enslaver, and they rose and +spurned his smiles--aye, and they _will_ rise again. And wert thou one +of them, sweet girl; a cotter's wife, thou too wouldst pine for freedom. +Yes; Scotland will bethink her of her warrior's fate, and shout aloud +revenge for Wallace!" + +Either his argument was unanswerable, or the energy of his voice and +manner carried conviction with them, but a brighter glow mantled the +maiden's cheek, and with it stole the momentary shame--the wish, the +simple words that she had spoken could be recalled. + +"Give us but a king for whom to fight--a king to love, revere, obey--a +king from whose hand knighthood were an honor, precious as life itself, +and there are noble hearts enough to swear fealty to him, and bright +swords ready to defend his throne," said the young heir of Buchan, as he +brandished his own weapon above his head, and then rested his arms upon +its broad hilt, despondingly. "But where is that king? Men speak of my +most gentle kinsman Sir John Comyn, called the Red--bah! The sceptre +were the same jewelled bauble in his impotent hand as in his sapient +uncle's; a gem, a toy, forsooth, the loan of crafty Edward. No! the Red +Comyn is no king for Scotland; and who is there besides? The rightful +heir--a cold, dull-blooded neutral--a wild and wavering changeling. I +pray thee be not angered, Nigel; it cannot be gainsaid, e'en though he +is thy brother." + +"I know it Alan; know it but too well," answered Nigel, sadly, though +the dark glow rushed up to cheek and brow. "Yet Robert's blood is hot +enough. His deeds are plunged in mystery--his words not less so; yet I +cannot look on him as thou dost, as, alas! too many do. It may be that I +love him all too well; that dearer even than Edward, than all the rest, +has Robert ever been to me. He knows it not; for, sixteen years my +senior, he has ever held me as a child taking little heed of his wayward +course; and yet my heart has throbbed beneath his word, his look, as if +he were not what he seemed, but would--but must be something more." + +"I ever thought thee but a wild enthusiast, gentle Nigel, and this +confirms it. Mystery, aye, such mystery as ever springs from actions at +variance with reason, judgment, valor--with all that frames the patriot. +Would that thou wert the representative of thy royal line; wert thou in +Earl Robert's place, thus, thus would Alan kneel to thee and hail thee +king!" + +"Peace, peace, thou foolish boy, the crown and sceptre have no charm for +me; let me but see my country free, the tyrant humbled, my brother as my +trusting spirit whispers he _shall_ be, and Nigel asks no more." + +"Art thou indeed so modest, gentle Nigel--is thy happiness so distinct +from self? thine eyes tell other tales sometimes, and speak they false, +fair sir?" + +Timidly, yet irresistibly, the maiden glanced up from her embroidery, +but the gaze that met hers caused those bright eyes to fall more quickly +than they were raised, and vainly for a few seconds did she endeavor so +to steady her hand as to resume her task. Nigel was, however, spared +reply, for a sharp and sudden bugle-blast reverberated through the +tower, and with an exclamation of wondering inquiry Alan bounded from +the chamber. There was one other inmate of that apartment, whose +presence, although known and felt, had, as was evident, been no +restraint either to the employments or the sentiments of the two youths +and their companion. Their conversation had not passed unheeded, +although it had elicited no comment or rejoinder. The Countess of Buchan +stood within one of those deep embrasures we have noticed, at times +glancing towards the youthful group with an earnestness of sorrowing +affection that seemed to have no measure in its depth, no shrinking in +its might; at others, fixing a long, unmeaning, yet somewhat anxious +gaze on the wide plain and distant ocean, which the casement overlooked. + +It was impossible to look once on the countenance of Isabella of Buchan, +and yet forbear to look again, The calm dignity, the graceful majesty of +her figure seemed to mark her as one born to command, to hold in willing +homage the minds and inclinations of men; her pure, pale brow and marble +cheek--for the rich rose seemed a stranger there--the long silky lash of +jet, the large, full, black eye, in its repose so soft that few would +guess how it could flash fire, and light up those classic features with +power to stir the stagnant souls of thousands and guide them with a +word. She looked in feature as in form a queen; fitted to be beloved, +formed to be obeyed. Her heavy robe of dark brocade, wrought with thick +threads of gold, seemed well suited to her majestic form; its long, +loose folds detracting naught from the graceful ease of her carriage. +Her thick, glossy hair, vying in its rich blackness with the raven's +wing, was laid in smooth bands upon her stately brow, and gathered up +behind in a careless knot, confined with a bodkin of massive gold. The +hood or coif, formed of curiously twisted black and golden threads, +which she wore in compliance with the Scottish custom, that thus made +the distinction between the matron and the maiden, took not from the +peculiarly graceful form of the head, nor in any part concealed the +richness of the hair. Calm and pensive as was the general expression of +her countenance, few could look upon it without that peculiar sensation +of respect, approaching to awe, which restrained and conquered sorrow +ever calls for. Perchance the cause of such emotion was all too +delicate, too deeply veiled to be defined by those rude hearts who were +yet conscious of its existence; and for them it was enough to own her +power, bow before it, and fear her as a being set apart. + +Musingly she had stood looking forth on the wide waste; the distant +ocean, whose tumbling waves one moment gleamed in living light, at +others immersed in inky blackness, were barely distinguished from the +lowering sky. The moaning winds swept by, bearing the storm-cloud on +their wings; patches of blue gleamed strangely and brightly forth; and, +far in the west, crimson and amber, and pink and green, inlaid in +beautiful mosaic the departing luminary's place of rest. + +"Alas, my gentle one," she had internally responded to her daughter's +words, "if thy mother's patriot heart could find no shield for woe, nor +her warrior fire, as thou deemest it, guard her from woman's trials, +what will be thy fate? This is no time for happy love, for peaceful +joys, returned as it may be; for--may I doubt that truthful brow, that +knightly soul (her glance was fixed on Nigel)--yet not now may the +Scottish knight find rest and peace in woman's love. And better is it +thus--the land of the slave is no home for love." + +A faint yet a beautiful smile, dispersing as a momentary beam the +anxiety stamped on her features, awoke at the enthusiastic reply of +Nigel. Then she turned again to the casement, for her quick eye had +discerned a party of about ten horsemen approaching in the direction of +the tower, and on the summons of the bugle she advanced from her retreat +to the centre of the apartment. + +"Why, surely thou art but a degenerate descendant of the brave Macduff, +mine Agnes, that a bugle blast should thus send back every drop of blood +to thy little heart," she said, playfully. "For shame, for shame! how +art thou fitted to be a warrior's bride? They are but Scottish men, and +true, methinks, if I recognize their leader rightly. And it is even so." + +"Sir Robert Keith, right welcome," she added, as, marshalled by young +Alan, the knight appeared, bearing his plumed helmet in his hand, and +displaying haste and eagerness alike in his flushed features and soiled +armor. + +"Ye have ridden long and hastily. Bid them hasten our evening meal, my +son; or stay, perchance Sir Robert needs thine aid to rid him of this +garb of war. Thou canst not serve one nobler." + +"Nay, noble lady, knights must don, not doff their armor now. I bring ye +news, great, glorious news, which will not brook delay. A royal +messenger I come, charged by his grace my king--my country's king--with +missives to his friends, calling on all who spurn a tyrant's yoke--who +love their land, their homes, their freedom--on all who wish for +Wallace--to awake, arise, and join their patriot king!" + +"Of whom speakest thou, Sir Robert Keith? I charge thee, speak!" +exclaimed Nigel, starting from the posture of dignified reserve with +which he had welcomed the knight, and springing towards him. + +"The patriot and the king!--of whom canst thou speak?" said Alan, at the +same instant. "Thine are, in very truth, marvellous tidings, Sir Knight; +an' thou canst call up one to unite such names, and worthy of them, he +shall not call on me in vain." + +"Is he not worthy, Alan of Buchan, who thus flings down the gauntlet, +who thus dares the fury of a mighty sovereign, and with a handful of +brave men prepares to follow in the steps of Wallace, to the throne or +to the scaffold?" + +"Heed not my reckless boy, Sir Robert," said the countess, earnestly, as +the eyes of her son fell beneath the knight's glance of fiery reproach; +"no heart is truer to his country, no arm more eager to rise in her +defence." + +"The king! the king!" gasped Nigel, some strange over-mastering emotion +checking his utterance. "Who is it that has thus dared, thus--" + +"And canst thou too ask, young sir?" returned the knight, with a smile +of peculiar meaning. "Is thy sovereign's name unknown to thee? Is Robert +Bruce a name unknown, unheard, unloved, that thou, too, breathest it +not?" + +"My brother, my brave, my noble brother!--I saw it, I knew it! Thou wert +no changeling, no slavish neutral; but even as I felt, thou art, thou +wilt be! My brother, my brother, I may live and die for thee!" and the +young enthusiast raised his clasped hands above his head, as in +speechless thanksgiving for these strange, exciting news; his flushed +cheek, his quivering lip, his moistened eye betraying an emotion which +seemed for the space of a moment to sink on the hearts of all who +witnessed it, and hush each feeling into silence. A shout from the court +below broke that momentary pause. + +"God save King Robert! then, say I," vociferated Alan, eagerly grasping +the knight's hand. "Sit, sit, Sir Knight; and for the love of heaven, +speak more of this most wondrous tale. Erewhile, we hear of this goodly +Earl of Carrick at Edward's court, doing him homage, serving him as his +own English knight, and now in Scotland--aye, and Scotland's king. How +may we reconcile these contradictions?" + +"Rather how did he vanish from the tyrant's hundred eyes, and leave the +court of England?" inquired Nigel, at the same instant as the Countess +of Buchan demanded, somewhat anxiously-- + +"And Sir John Comyn, recognizes he our sovereign's claim? Is he amongst +the Bruce's slender train?" + +A dark cloud gathered on the noble brow of the knight, replacing the +chivalric courtesy with which he had hitherto responded to his +interrogators. He paused ere he answered, in a stern, deep voice-- + +"Sir John Comyn lived and died a traitor, lady. He hath received the +meed of his base treachery; his traitorous design for the renewed +slavery of his country--the imprisonment and death of the only one that +stood forth in her need." + +"And by whom did the traitor die?" fiercely demanded the young heir of +Buchan. "Mother, thy cheek is blanched; yet wherefore? Comyn as I am, +shall we claim kindred with a traitor, and turn away from the good +cause, because, forsooth, a traitorous Comyn dies? No; were the Bruce's +own right hand red with the recreant's blood--he only is the Comyn's +king." + +"Thou hast said it, youthful lord," said the knight, impressively. "Alan +of Buchan, bear that bold heart and patriot sword unto the Bruce's +throne, and Comyn's traitorous name shall be forgotten in the scion of +Macduff. Thy mother's loyal blood runs reddest in thy veins, young sir; +too pure for Comyn's base alloy. Know, then, the Bruce's hand is red +with the traitor's blood, and yet, fearless and firm in the holy justice +of his cause, he calls on his nobles and their vassals for their homage +and their aid--he calls on them to awake from their long sleep, and +shake off the iron yoke from their necks; to prove that Scotland--the +free, the dauntless, the unconquered soil, which once spurned the Roman +power, to which all other kingdoms bowed--is free, undaunted, and +unconquered still. He calls aloud, aye, even on ye, wife and son of +Comyn of Buchan, to snap the link that binds ye to a traitor's house, +and prove--though darkly, basely flows the blood of Macduff in one +descendant's veins, that the Earl of Fife refuses homage and allegiance +to his sovereign--in ye it rushes free, and bold, and loyal still." + +"And he shall find it so. Mother, why do ye not speak? You, from whose +lips my heart first learnt to beat for Scotland my lips to pray that one +might come to save her from the yoke of tyranny. You, who taught me to +forget all private feud, to merge all feeling, every claim, in the one +great hope of Scotland's freedom. Now that the time is come, wherefore +art thou thus? Mother, my own noble mother, let me go forth with thy +blessing on my path, and ill and woe can come not near me. Speak to thy +son!" The undaunted boy flung himself on his knee before the countess as +he spoke. There was a dark and fearfully troubled expression on her +noble features. She had clasped her hands together, as if to still or +hide their unwonted trembling; but when she looked on those bright and +glowing features, there came a dark, dread vision of blood, and the axe +and cord, and she folded her arms around his neck, and sobbed in all a +mother's irrepressible agony. + +"My own, my beautiful, to what have I doomed thee!" she cried. "To +death, to woe! aye, perchance, to that heaviest woe--a father's curse! +exposing thee to death, to the ills of all who dare to strike for +freedom. Alan, Alan, how can I bid thee forth to death? and yet it is I +have taught thee to love it better than the safety of a slave; longed, +prayed for this moment--deemed that for my country I could even give my +child--and now, now--oh God of mercy, give me strength!" + +She bent down her head on his, clasping him to her heart, as thus to +still the tempest which had whelmed it. There is something terrible in +that strong emotion which sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly overpowers +the calmest and most controlled natures. It speaks of an agony so +measureless, so beyond the relief of sympathy, that it falls like an +electric spell on the hearts of all witnesses, sweeping all minor +passions into dust before it. Little accustomed as was Sir Robert Keith +to sympathize in such emotions, he now turned hastily aside, and, as if +fearing to trust himself in silence, commenced a hurried detail to Nigel +Bruce of the Earl of Carrick's escape from London, and his present +position. The young nobleman endeavored to confine his attention to the +subject, but his eyes would wander in the direction of Agnes, who, +terrified at emotions which in her mother she had never witnessed +before, was kneeling in tears beside her brother. + +A strong convulsive shuddering passed over the bowed frame of Isabella +of Buchan; then she lifted up her head, and all traces of emotion had +passed from her features. Silently she pressed her lips on the fair +brows of her children alternately, and her voice faltered not as she +bade them rise and heed her not. + +"We will speak further of this anon, Sir Robert," she said, so calmly +that the knight started. "Hurried and important as I deem your mission, +the day is too far spent to permit of your departure until the morrow; +you will honor our evening meal, and this true Scottish tower for a +night's lodging, and then we can have leisure for discourse on the +weighty matters you have touched upon." + +She bowed courteously, as she turned with a slow, unfaltering step to +leave the room. Her resumed dignity recalled the bewildered senses of +her son, and, with graceful courtesy, he invited the knight to follow +him, and choose his lodging for the night. + +"Agnes, mine own Agnes, now, indeed, may I win thee," whispered Nigel, +as tenderly he folded his arm round her, and looked fondly in her face. +"Scotland shall be free! her tyrants banished by her patriot king; and +then, then may not Nigel Bruce look to this little hand as his reward? +Shall not, may not the thought of thy pure, gentle love be mine, in the +tented field and battle's roar, urging me on, even should all other +voice be hushed?" + +"Forgettest thou I am a Comyn, Nigel? That the dark stain of traitor, of +disloyalty is withering on our line, and wider and wider grows the +barrier between us and the Bruce?" The voice of the maiden was choked, +her bright eyes dim with tears. + +"All, all I do forget, save that thou art mine own sweet love; and +though thy name is Comyn, thy heart is all Macduff. Weep not, my Agnes; +thine eyes were never framed for tears. Bright times for us and Scotland +are yet in store!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +For the better comprehension of the events related in the preceding +chapter, it will be necessary to cast a summary glance on matters of +historical and domestic import no way irrelevant to our subject, save +and except their having taken place some few years previous to the +commencement of our tale. + +The early years of Isabella of Buchan had been passed in happiness. The +only daughter, indeed for seven years the only child, of Malcolm, Earl +of Fife, deprived of her mother on the birth of her brother, her youth +had been nursed in a tenderness and care uncommon in those rude ages; +and yet, from being constantly with her father, she imbibed those higher +qualities of mind which so ably fitted her for the part which in after +years it was her lot to play. The last words of his devoted wife, +imploring him to educate her child himself, and not to sever the tie +between them, by following the example of his compeers, and sending her +either to England, France, or Norway, had been zealously observed by the +earl; the prosperous calm, which was the happy portion of Scotland +during the latter years of Alexander III., whose favorite minister he +was, enabled him to adhere to her wishes far more successfully than +could have been the case had he been called forth to war. + +In her father's castle, then, were the first thirteen years of the Lady +Isabella spent, varied only by occasional visits to the court of +Alexander, where her beauty and vivacity rendered her a universal +favorite. Descended from one of the most ancient Scottish families, +whose race it was their boast had never been adulterated by the blood of +a foreigner, no Norman prejudice intermingled with the education of +Isabella, to tarnish in any degree those principles of loyalty and +patriotism which her father, the Earl of Fife, so zealously inculcated. +She was a more true, devoted Scottish woman at fourteen, than many of +her own rank whose years might double hers; ready even then to sacrifice +even life itself, were it called for in defence of her sovereign, or the +freedom of her country; and when, on the death of Alexander, clouds +began to darken the horizon of Scotland, her father scrupled not to +impart to her, child though she seemed, those fears and anxieties which +clouded his brow, and filled his spirit with foreboding gloom. It was +then that in her flashing eye and lofty soul, in the undaunted spirit, +which bore a while even his colder and more foreseeing mood along with +it, that he traced the fruit whose seed he had so carefully sown. + +"Why should you fear for Scotland, my father?" she would urge; "is it +because her queen is but a child and now far distant, that anarchy and +gloom shall enfold our land? Is it not shame in ye thus craven to deem +her sons, when in thy own breast so much devotion and loyalty have rest? +why not judge others by yourself, my father, and know the dark things of +which ye dream can never be?" + +"Thou speakest as the enthusiast thou art, my child. Yet it is not the +rule of our maiden queen my foreboding spirit dreads; 'tis that on such +a slender thread as her young life suspends the well-doing or the ruin +of her kingdom. If she be permitted to live and reign over us, all may +be well; 'tis on the event of her death for which I tremble." + +"Wait till the evil day cometh then, my father; bring it not nearer by +anticipation; and should indeed such be, thinkest thou not there are +bold hearts and loyal souls to guard our land from foreign foe, and give +the rightful heir his due?" + +"I know not, Isabella. There remain but few with the pure Scottish blood +within their veins, and it is but to them our land is so dear: they +would peril life and limb in her defence. It is not to the proud baron +descended from the intruding Norman, and thinking only of his knightly +sports and increase of wealth, by it matters not what war. Nor dare we +look with confidence to the wild chiefs of the north and the Lords of +the Isles; eager to enlarge their own dominions, to extend the terrors +of their name, they will gladly welcome the horrors and confusion that +may arise; and have we true Scottish blood enough to weigh against +these, my child? Alas! Isabella, our only hope is in the health and +well-doing of our queen, precarious as that is; but if she fail us, woe +to Scotland!" + +The young Isabella could not bring forward any solid arguments in answer +to this reasoning, and therefore she was silent; but she felt her +Scottish blood throb quicker in her veins, as he spoke of the few pure +Scottish men remaining, and inwardly vowed, woman as she was, to devote +both energy and life to her country and its sovereign. + +Unhappily for his children, though perhaps fortunately for himself, the +Earl of Fife was spared the witnessing in the miseries of his country +how true had been his forebodings. Two years after the death of his +king, he was found dead in his bed, not without strong suspicion of +poison. Public rumor pointed to his uncle, Macduff of Glamis, as the +instigator, if not the actual perpetrator of the deed; but as no decided +proof could be alleged against him, and the High Courts of Scotland not +seeming inclined to pursue the investigation, the rumor ceased, and +Macduff assumed, with great appearance of zeal, the guardianship of the +young Earl of Fife and his sister, an office bequeathed to him under the +hand and seal of the earl, his nephew. + +The character of the Lady Isabella was formed; that of her brother, a +child of eight, of course was not; and the deep, voiceless suffering her +father's loss occasioned her individually was painfully heightened by +the idea that to her young brother his death was an infinitely greater +misfortune than to herself. He indeed knew not, felt not the agony which +bound her; he knew not the void which was on her soul; how utterly, +unspeakably lonely that heart had become, accustomed as it had been to +repose its every thought, and hope, and wish, and feeling on a parent's +love; yet notwithstanding this, her clear mind felt and saw that while +for herself there was little fear that she should waver in those +principles so carefully instilled, for her brother there was much, very +much to dread. She did not and could not repose confidence in her +kinsman; for her parent's sake she struggled to prevent dislike, to +compel belief that the suavity, even kindness of his manner, the +sentiments which he expressed, had their foundation in sincerity; but +when her young brother became solely and entirely subject to his +influence, she could no longer resist the conviction that their guardian +was not the fittest person for the formation of a patriot. She could +not, she would not believe the rumor which had once, but once, reached +her ears, uniting the hitherto pure line of Macduff with midnight +murder; her own noble mind rejected the idea as a thing utterly and +wholly impossible, the more so perhaps, as she knew her father had been +latterly subject to an insidious disease, baffling all the leech's art, +and which he himself had often warned her would terminate suddenly; yet +still an inward shuddering would cross her heart at times, when in his +presence; she could not define the cause, or why she felt it sometimes +and not always, and so she sought to subdue it, but she sought in vain. + +Meanwhile an event approached materially connected with the Lady +Isabella, and whose consummation the late Thane of Fife had earnestly +prayed he might have been permitted to hallow with his blessing. +Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan and High Constable of Scotland, had been +from early youth the brother in arms and dearest friend of the Earl of +Fife, and in the romantic enthusiasm which ever characterized the +companionship of chivalry, they had exchanged a mutual vow that in after +years, should heaven grant them children, a yet nearer and dearer tie +should unite their houses. The birth of Isabella, two years after that +of an heir to Buchan, was hailed with increased delight by both fathers, +and from her earliest years she was accustomed to look to the Lord John +as her future husband. Perhaps had they been much thrown together, +Isabella's high and independent spirit would have rebelled against this +wish of her father, and preferred the choosing for herself; but from the +ages of eleven and nine they had been separated, the Earl of Buchan +sending his son, much against the advice of his friend, to England, +imagining that there, and under such a knight as Prince Edward, he would +better learn the noble art of war and all chivalric duties, than in the +more barbarous realm of Scotland. To Isabella, then, her destined +husband was a stranger; yet with a heart too young and unsophisticated +to combat her parent's wishes, by any idea of its affections becoming +otherwise engaged, and judging of the son by the father, to whom she was +ever a welcome guest, and who in himself was indeed a noble example of +chivalry and honor, Isabella neither felt nor expressed any repugnance +to her father's wish, that she should sign her name to a contract of +betrothal, drawn up by the venerable abbot of Buchan, and to which the +name of Lord John had been already appended; it was the lingering echoes +of that deep, yet gentle voice, blessing her compliance to his wishes, +which thrilled again and again to her heart, softening her grief, even +when that beloved voice was hushed forever, and she had no thought, no +wish to recall that promise, nay, even looked to its consummation with +joy, as a release from the companionship, nay, as at times she felt, the +wardance of her kinsman. + +But this calm and happy frame of mind was not permitted to be of long +continuance. In one of the brief intervals of Macduff's absence from the +castle, about eighteen months after her father's death, the young earl +prevailed on the aged retainer in whose charge he had been left, to +consent to his going forth to hunt the red deer, a sport of which, boy +as he was, he was passionately fond. In joyous spirits, and attended by +a gallant train, he set out, calling for and receiving the ready +sympathy of his sister, who rejoiced as himself in his emancipation from +restraint, which either was, or seemed to be, adverse to the usual +treatment of noble youths. + +Somewhat sooner than Isabella anticipated, they returned. Earl Duncan, +with a wilfulness which already characterized him, weary of the extreme +watchfulness of his attendants, who, in their anxiety to keep him from +danger, checked and interfered with his boyish wish to signalize himself +by some daring deed of agility and skill, at length separated himself, +except from one or two as wilful, and but little older than himself. The +young lord possessed all the daring of his race, but skill and foresight +he needed greatly, and dearly would he have paid for his rashness. A +young and fiery bull had chanced to cross his path, and disregarding the +entreaties of his followers, he taunted them with cowardice, and goaded +the furious animal to the encounter; too late he discovered that he had +neither skill nor strength for the combat he had provoked, and had it +not been for the strenuous exertions of a stranger youth, who diverted +aside the fury of the beast, he must have fallen a victim to his +thoughtless daring. Curiously, and almost enviously, he watched the +combat between the stranger and the bull, nor did any emotion of +gratitude rise in the boy's breast to soften the bitterness with which +he regarded the victory of the former, which the reproaches of his +retainers, who at that instant came up, and their condemnation of his +folly, did not tend to diminish; and almost sullenly he passed to the +rear, on their return, leaving Sir Malise Duff to make the +acknowledgments, which should have come from him, and courteously invite +the young stranger to accompany them home, an invitation which, somewhat +to the discomposure of Earl Duncan, was accepted. + +If the stranger had experienced any emotion of anger from the boy's +slight of his services, the gratitude of the Lady Isabella would have +banished it on the instant, and amply repaid them; with cheeks glowing, +eyes glistening, and a voice quivering with suppressed emotion, she had +spoken her brief yet eloquent thanks; and had he needed further proof, +the embrace she lavished on her young brother, as reluctantly, and after +a long interval, he entered the hall, said yet more than her broken +words. + +"Thou art but a fool, Isabella, craving thy pardon," was his ungracious +address, as he sullenly freed himself from her. "Had I brought thee the +bull's horns, there might have been some cause for this marvellously +warm welcome; but as it is--" + +"I joy thou wert not punished for thy rashness, Duncan. Yet 'twas not in +such mood I hoped to find thee; knowest thou that 'tis to yon brave +stranger thou owest thy life?" + +"Better it had been forfeited, than that he should stand between me and +mine honor. I thank him not for it, nor owe him aught like gratitude." + +"Peace, ungrateful boy, an thou knowest not thy station better," was his +sister's calm, yet dignified reply; and the stranger smiled, and by his +courteous manner, speedily dismissed her fears as to the impression of +her brother's words, regarding them as the mere petulance of a child. + +Days passed, and still the stranger lingered; eminently handsome, his +carriage peculiarly graceful, and even dignified, although it was +evident, from the slight, and as it were, unfinished roundness of his +figure, that he was but in the first stage of youth, yet his discourse +and manner were of a kind that would bespeak him noble, even had his +appearance been less convincing. According to the custom of the time, +which would have deemed the questioning a guest as to his name and +family a breach of all the rules of chivalry and hospitality, he +remained unknown. + +"Men call me Sir Robert, though I have still my spurs to win," he had +once said, laughingly, to Lady Isabella and her kinsman, Sir Malise +Duff, "but I would not proclaim my birth till I may bring it honor." + +A month passed ere their guest took his departure, leaving regard and +regret behind him, in all, perhaps, save in the childish breast of Earl +Duncan, whose sullen manner had never changed. There was a freshness and +light-heartedness, and a wild spirit of daring gallantry about the +stranger that fascinated, men scarce knew wherefore; a reckless +independence of sentiment which charmed, from the utter absence of all +affectation which it comprised. To all, save to the Lady Isabella, he +was a mere boy, younger even than his years; but in conversation with +her his superior mind shone forth, proving he could in truth appreciate +hers, and give back intellect for intellect, feeling for feeling; +perhaps her beauty and unusual endowments had left their impression upon +him. However it may be, one day, one little day after the departure of +Sir Robert, Isabella woke to the consciousness that the calm which had +so long rested on her spirit bad departed, and forever; and to what had +it given place? Had she dared to love, she, the betrothed, the promised +bride of another? No; she could not have sunk thus low, her heart had +been too long controlled to rebel now. She might not, she would not +listen to its voice, to its wild, impassioned throbs. Alas! she +miscalculated her own power; the fastnesses she had deemed secure were +forced; they closed upon their subtle foe, and held their conqueror +prisoner. + +But Isabella was not one to waver in a determination when once formed; +how might she break asunder links which the dead had hallowed? She +became the bride of Lord John; she sought with her whole soul to forget +the past, and love him according to her bridal vow, and as time passed +she ceased to think of that beautiful vision of her early youth, save as +a dream that had had no resting; and a mother's fond yearnings sent +their deep delicious sweetness as oil on the troubled waters of her +heart. She might have done this, but unhappily she too soon discovered +her husband was not one to aid her in her unsuspected task, to soothe +and guide, and by his affection demand her gratitude and reverence. +Enwrapped in selfishness or haughty indifference, his manner towards her +ever harsh, unbending, and suspicious, Isabella's pride would have +sustained her, had not her previous trial lowered her in self-esteem; +but as it was, meekly and silently she bore with the continued outbreak +of unrestrained passion, and never wavered from the path of duty her +clear mind had laid down. + +On the birth of a son, however, her mind regained its tone, and inwardly +yet solemnly she vowed that no mistaken sense of duty to her husband +should interfere with the education of her son. As widely opposed as +were their individual characters, so were the politics of the now Earl +and Countess of Buchan. Educated in England, on friendly terms with her +king, he had, as the Earl of Fife anticipated, lost all nationality, all +interest in Scotland, and as willingly and unconcernedly taken the vows +of homage to John Baliol, as the mere representative and lieutenant of +Edward, as he would have done to a free and unlimited king. He had been +among the very first to vote for calling in the King of England as +umpire; the most eager to second and carry out all Edward's views, and +consequently high in that monarch's favor, a reputation which his enmity +to the house of Bruce, one of the most troublesome competitors of the +crown, did not tend to diminish. Fortunately perhaps for Isabella, the +bustling politics of her husband constantly divided them. The births of +a daughter and son had no effect in softening his hard and selfish +temper; he looked on them more as incumbrances than pleasures, and +leaving the countess in the strong Tower of Buchan, he himself, with a +troop of armed and mounted Comyns, attached himself to the court and +interests of Edward, seeming to forget that such beings as a wife and +children had existence. Months, often years, would stretch between the +earl's visits to his mountain home, and then a week was the longest +period of his lingering; but no evidence of a gentler spirit or of less +indifference to his children was apparent, and years seemed to have +turned to positive evil, qualities which in youth had merely seemed +unamiable. + +Desolate as the situation of the countess might perhaps appear, she +found solace and delight in moulding the young minds of her children +according to the pure and elevated cast of her own. All the +long-suppressed tenderness of her nature was lavished upon them, and on +their innocent love she sought to rest the passionate yearnings of her +own. She taught them to be patriots, in the purest, most beautiful +appropriation of the term,--to spurn the yoke of the foreigner, and the +oppressor, however light and flowery the links of that yoke might seem. +She could not bid them love and revere their father as she longed to do, +but she taught them that where their duty to their country and their +free and unchained king interfered not, in all things they must obey and +serve their father, and seek to win his love. + +Once only had the Countess of Buchan beheld the vision which had crossed +her youth. He had come, it seemed unconscious of his track, and asked +hospitality for a night, evidently without knowing who was the owner of +the castle; perhaps his thoughts were preoccupied, for a deep gloom was +on his brow, and though he had started with evident pleasure when +recognizing his beautiful hostess, the gloom speedily resumed +ascendency. It was but a few weeks after the fatal battle of Falkirk, +and therefore Isabella felt there was cause enough for depression and +uneasiness. The graces of boyhood had given place to a finished +manliness of deportment, a calmer expression of feature, denoting that +years had changed and steadied the character, even as the form. He then +seemed as one laboring under painful and heavy thought, as one brooding +over some mighty change within, as if some question of weighty import +were struggling with recollections and visions of the past. He had +spoken little, evidently shrinking in pain from all reference to or +information on the late engagement. He tarried not long, departing with +dawn next day, and they did not meet again. + +And what had been the emotions of the countess? perhaps her heart had +throbbed, and her cheek paled and flushed, at this unexpected meeting +with one she had fervently prayed never to see again; but not one +feeling obtained ascendency in that heart which she would have dreaded +to unveil to the eye of her husband. She did indeed feel that had her +lot been cast otherwise, it must have been a happy one, but the thought +was transient. She was a wife, a mother, and in the happiness of her +children, her youth, and all its joys and pangs, and dreams and hopes, +were merged, to be recalled no more. + +The task of instilling patriotic sentiments in the breast of her son had +been insensibly aided by the countess's independent position amid the +retainers of Buchan. This earldom had only been possessed by the family +of Comyn since the latter years of the reign of William the Lion, +passing into their family by the marriage of Margaret Countess of Buchan +with Sir William Comyn, a knight of goodly favor and repute. This +interpolation and ascendency of strangers was a continual source of +jealousy and ire to the ancient retainers of the olden heritage, and +continually threatened to break out into open feud, had not the soothing +policy of the Countess Margaret and her descendants, by continually +employing them together in subjecting other petty clans, contrived to +keep them in good humor. As long as their lords were loyal to Scotland +and her king, and behaved so as to occasion no unpleasant comparison +between them and former superiors, all went on smoothly; but the haughty +and often outrageous conduct of the present earl, his utter neglect of +their interests, his treasonous politics, speedily roused the slumbering +fire into flame. A secret yet solemn oath went round the clan, by which +every fighting man bound himself to rebel against their master, rather +than betray their country by siding with a foreign tyrant; to desert +their homes, their all, and disperse singly midst the fastnesses and +rocks of Scotland, than lift up a sword against her freedom. The +sentiments of the countess were very soon discovered; and even yet +stronger than the contempt and loathing with which they looked upon the +earl was the love, the veneration they bore to her and to her children. +If his mother's lips had been silent, the youthful heir would have +learned loyalty and patriotism from his brave though unlettered +retainers, as it was to them he owed the skin and grace with which he +sate his fiery steed, and poised his heavy lance, and wielded his +stainless brand--to them he owed all the chivalric accomplishments of +the day; and though he had never quitted the territories of Buchan, he +would have found few to compete with him in his high and gallant spirit. + +Dark and troubled was the political aspect of unhappy Scotland, at the +eventful period at which our tale commences. The barbarous and most +unjust execution of Sir William Wallace had struck the whole country as +with a deadly panic, from which it seemed there was not one to rise to +cast aside the heavy chains, whose weight it seemed had crushed the +whole kingdom, and taken from it the last gleams of patriotism and of +hope. Every fortress of strength and consequence was in possession of +the English. English soldiers, English commissioners, English judges, +laws, and regulations now filled and governed Scotland. The abrogation +of all those ancient customs, which had descended from the Celts and +Picts, and Scots, fell upon the hearts of all true Scottish men as the +tearing asunder the last links of freedom, and branding them as slaves. +Her principal nobles, strangely and traitorously, preferred safety and +wealth, in the acknowledgment and servitude of Edward, to glory and +honor in the service of their country; and the spirits of the middle +ranks yet spurned the inglorious yoke, and throbbed but for one to lead +them on, if not to victory, at least to an honorable death. That one +seemed not to rise; it was as if the mighty soul of Scotland had +departed, when Wallace slept in death. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A bustling and joyous aspect did the ancient town of Scone present near +the end of March, 1306. Subdued indeed, and evidently under some +restraint and mystery, which might be accounted for by the near vicinity +of the English, who were quartered in large numbers over almost the +whole of Perthshire; some, however, appeared exempt from these most +unwelcome guests. The nobles, esquires, yeomen, and peasants--all, by +their national garb and eager yet suppressed voices, might be known at +once as Scotsmen right and true. + +It had been long, very long since the old quiet town had witnessed such +busy groups and such eager tongues as on all sides thronged it now; the +very burghers and men of handicraft wore on their countenances tokens of +something momentous. There were smiths' shops opening on every side, +armorers at work, anvils clanging, spears sharpening, shields +burnishing, bits and steel saddles and sharp spurs meeting the eye at +every turn. Ever and anon, came a burst of enlivening music, and well +mounted and gallantly attired, attended by some twenty or fifty +followers, as may be, would gallop down some knight or noble, his armor +flashing back a hundred fold the rays of the setting sun; his silken +pennon displayed, the device of which seldom failed to excite a hearty +cheer from the excited crowds; his stainless shield and heavy spear +borne by his attendant esquires; his vizor up, as if he courted and +dared recognition; his surcoat, curiously and tastefully embroidered; +his gold or silver-sheathed and hilted sword suspended by the silken +sash of many folds and brilliant coloring. On foot or on horseback, +these noble cavaliers were continually passing and repassing the ancient +streets, singly or in groups; then there were their followers, all +carefully and strictly armed, in the buff coat plaited with steel, the +well-quilted bonnet, the huge broadsword; Highlanders in their peculiar +and graceful costume; even the stout farmers, who might also be found +amongst this motley assemblage, wearing the iron hauberk and sharp sword +beneath their apparently peaceful garb. Friars in their gray frocks and +black cowls, and stately burghers and magistrates, in their velvet +cloaks and gold chains, continually mingled their peaceful forms with +their more warlike brethren, and lent a yet more varied character to the +stirring picture. + +Varied as were the features of this moving multitude, the expression on +every countenance, noble and follower, yeoman and peasant, burgher and +even monk, was invariably the same--a species of strong yet suppressed +excitement, sometimes shaded by anxiety, sometimes lighted by hope, +almost amounting to triumph; sometimes the dark frown of scorn and hate +would pass like a thunder-cloud over noble brows, and the mailed hand +unconsciously clutched the sword; and then the low thrilling laugh of +derisive contempt would disperse the shade, and the muttered oath of +vengeance drown the voice of execration. It would have been a strange +yet mighty study, the face of man in that old town; but men were all too +much excited to observe their fellows, to them it was enough--unspoken, +unimparted wisdom as it was--to know, to feel, one common feeling bound +that varied mass of men, one mighty interest made them brothers. + +The ancient Palace of Scone, so long unused, was now evidently the +head-quarters of the noblemen hovering about the town, for whatever +purpose they were there assembled. The heavy flag of Scotland, in all +its massive quarterings, as the symbol of a free unfettered kingdom, +waved from the centre tower; archers and spearmen lined the courts, +sentinels were at their posts, giving and receiving the watchword from +all who passed and repassed the heavy gates, which from dawn till +nightfall were flung wide open, as if the inmates of that regal dwelling +were ever ready to receive their friends, and feared not the approach of +foes. + +The sun, though sinking, was still bright, when the slow and dignified +approach of the venerable abbot of Scone occasioned some stir and bustle +amidst the joyous occupants of the palace yard; the wild joke was +hushed, the noisy brawl subsided, the games of quoit and hurling the bar +a while suspended, and the silence of unaffected reverence awaited the +good old man's approach and kindly-given benediction. Leaving his +attendants in one of the lower rooms, the abbot proceeded up the massive +stone staircase, and along a broad and lengthy passage, darkly panelled +with thick oak, then pushing aside some heavy arras, stood within one of +the state chambers, and gave his fervent benison on one within. This was +a man in the earliest and freshest prime of life, that period uniting +all the grace and beauty of youth with the mature thought, and steady +wisdom, and calmer views of manhood. That he was of noble birth and +blood and training one glance sufficed; peculiarly and gloriously +distinguished in the quiet majesty of his figure, in the mild attempered +gravity of his commanding features. Nature herself seemed to have marked +him out for the distinguished part it was his to play. Already there +were lines of thought upon the clear and open brow, and round the mouth; +and the blue eye shone with that calm, steady lustre, which seldom comes +till the changeful fire and wild visions of dreamy youth have departed. +His hair, of rich and glossy brown, fell in loose natural curls on +either side his face, somewhat lower than his throat, shading his +cheeks, which, rather pale than otherwise, added to the somewhat grave +aspect of his countenance; his armor of steel, richly and curiously +inlaid with burnished gold, sat lightly and easily upon his peculiarly +tall and manly figure; a sash, of azure silk and gold, suspended his +sword, whose sheath was in unison with the rest of his armor, though the +hilt was studded with gems. His collar was also of gold, as were his +gauntlets, which with his helmet rested on a table near him; a coronet +of plain gold surmounted his helmet, and on his surcoat, which lay on a +seat at the further end of the room, might be discerned the rampant lion +of Scotland, surmounted by a crown. + +The apartment in which he stood, though shorn of much of that splendor +which, ere the usurping invasion of Edward of England, had distinguished +it, still bore evidence of being a chamber of some state. The hangings +were of dark-green velvet embroidered, and with a very broad fringe of +gold; drapery of the same costly material adorned the broad casements, +which stood in heavy frames of oak, black as ebony. Large folding-doors, +with panels of the same beautiful material, richly carved, opened into +an ante-chamber, and thence to the grand staircase and more public parts +of the building. In this ante-chamber were now assembled pages, +esquires, and other officers bespeaking a royal household, though much +less numerous than is generally the case. + +"Sir Edward and the young Lord of Douglas have not returned, sayest +thou, good Athelbert? Knowest thou when and for what went they forth?" +were the words which were spoken by the noble we have described, as the +abbot entered, unperceived at first, from his having avoided the public +entrance to the state rooms; they were addressed to an esquire, who, +with cap in hand and head somewhat lowered, respectfully awaited the +commands of his master. + +"They said not the direction of their course, my liege; 'tis thought to +reconnoitre either the movements of the English, or to ascertain the +cause of the delay of the Lord of Fife. They departed at sunrise, with +but few followers." + +"On but a useless errand, good Athelbert, methinks, an they hope to +greet Earl Duncan, save with a host of English at his back. Bid Sir +Edward hither, should he return ere nightfall, and see to the instant +delivery of those papers; I fear me, the good lord bishop has waited for +them; and stay--Sir Robert Keith, hath he not yet returned?" + +"No, good my lord." + +"Ha! he tarrieth long," answered the noble, musingly. "Now heaven +forefend no evil hath befallen him; but to thy mission, Athelbert, I +must not detain thee with doubts and cavil. Ha! reverend father, right +welcome," he added, perceiving him as he turned again to the table, on +the esquire reverentially withdrawing from his presence, and bending his +head humbly in acknowledgment of the abbot's benediction. "Thou findest +me busied as usual. Seest thou," he pointed to a rough map of Scotland +lying before him, curiously intersected with mystic lines and crosses, +"Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, Lanark, Stirling, Dumbarton, in the power +of, nay peopled, by English. Argyle on the west, Elgin, Aberdeen, with +Banff eastward, teeming with proud, false Scots, hereditary foes to the +Bruce, false traitors to their land; the north--why, 'tis the same foul +tale; and yet I dare to raise my banner, dare to wear the crown, and +fling defiance in the teeth of all. What sayest thou, father--is't not a +madman's deed?" + +All appearance of gravity vanished from his features as he spoke. His +eye, seemingly so mild, flashed till its very color could not have been +distinguished, his cheek glowed, his lip curled, and his voice, ever +peculiarly rich and sonorous, deepened with the excitement of soul. + +"Were the fate of man in his own hands, were it his and his alone to +make or mar his destiny, I should e'en proclaim thee mad, my son, and +seek to turn thee from thy desperate purpose; but it is not so. Man is +but an instrument, and He who urged thee to this deed, who wills not +this poor land to rest enslaved, will give thee strength and wisdom for +its freedom. His ways are not as man's; and circled as thou seemest with +foes, His strength shall bring thee forth and gird thee with His glory. +Thou wouldst not turn aside, my son--thou fearest not thy foes?" + +"Fear! holy father: it is a word unknown to the children of the Bruce! I +do but smile at mine extensive kingdom--of some hundred acres square; +smile at the eagerness with which they greet me liege and king, as if +the words, so long unused, should now do double duty for long absence." + +"And better so, my son," answered the old man, cheerfully. "Devotion to +her destined savior argues well for bonny Scotland; better do homage +unto thee as liege and king, though usurpation hath abridged thy +kingdom, than to the hireling of England's Edward, all Scotland at his +feet. Men will not kneel to sceptred slaves, nor freemen fight for +tyrants' tools. Sovereign of Scotland thou art, thou shalt be, Robert +the Bruce! Too long hast thou kept back; but now, if arms can fight and +hearts can pray, thou shalt be king of Scotland." + +The abbot spoke with a fervor, a spirit which, though perhaps little +accordant with his clerical character, thrilled to the Bruce's heart. He +grasped the old man's hand. + +"Holy father," he said, "thou wouldst inspire hearts with ardor needing +inspiration more than mine; and to me thou givest hope, and confidence, +and strength. Too long have I slept and dreamed," his countenance +darkened, and his voice was sadder; "fickle in purpose, uncertain in +accomplishment; permitting my youth to moulder 'neath the blasting +atmosphere of tyranny. Yet will I now atone for the neglected past. +Atone! aye, banish it from the minds of men. My country hath a claim, a +double claim upon me; she calls upon me, trumpet-tongued, to arise, +avenge her, and redeem my misspent youth. Nor shall she call on me in +vain, so help me, gracious heaven!" + +"Amen," fervently responded the abbot; and the king continued more +hurriedly-- + +"And that stain, that blot, father? Is there mercy in heaven to wash its +darkness from my soul, or must it linger there forever preying on my +spirit, dashing e'en its highest hopes and noblest dreams with poison, +whispering its still voice of accusation, even when loudest rings the +praise and love of men? Is there no rest for this, no silence for that +whisper? Penitence, atonement, any thing thou wilt, let but my soul be +free!" Hastily, and with step and countenance disordered, he traversed +the chamber, his expressive countenance denoting the strife within. + +"It was, in truth, a rash and guilty deed, my son," answered the abbot, +gravely, yet mildly, "and one that heaven in its justice will scarce +pass unavenged. Man hath given thee the absolution accorded to the true +and faithful penitent, for such thou art; yet scarcely dare we hope +offended heaven is appeased. Justice will visit thee with trouble--sore, +oppressing, grievous trouble. Yet despair not: thou wilt come forth the +purer, nobler, brighter, from the fire; despair not, but as a child +receive a father's chastening; lean upon that love, which wills not +death, but penitence and life; that love, which yet will bring thee +forth and bless this land in thee. My son, be comforted; His mercy is +yet greater than thy sin." + +"And blest art thou, my father, for these _blessed_ words; a messenger +in truth thou art of peace and love; and oh, if prayers and penitence +avail, if sore temptation may be pleaded, I shall, I shall be pardoned. +Yet would I give my dearest hopes of life, of fame, of all--save +Scotland's freedom--that this evil had not chanced; that blood, his +blood--base traitor as he was--was not upon my hand." + +"And can it be thou art such craven, Robert, as to repent a Comyn's +death--a Comyn, and a traitor--e'en though his dastard blood be on thy +hand?--bah! An' such deeds weigh heavy on thy mind, a friar's cowl were +better suited to thy brow than Scotland's diadem." + +The speaker was a tall, powerful man, somewhat younger in appearance +than the king, but with an expression of fierceness and haughty pride, +contrasting powerfully with the benevolent and native dignity which so +characterized the Bruce. His voice was as harsh as his manner was +abrupt; yet that he was brave, nay, rash in his unthinking daring, a +very transient glance would suffice to discover. + +"I forgive thee thine undeserved taunt, Edward," answered the king, +calmly, though the hot blood rushed up to his cheek and brow. "I trust, +ere long, to prove thy words are as idle as the mood which prompted +them. I feel not that repentance cools the patriot fire which urges me +to strike for Scotland's weal--that sorrow for a hated crime unfits me +for a warrior. I would not Comyn lived, but that he had met a traitor's +fate by other hands than mine; been judged--condemned, as his black +treachery called for; even for our country's sake, it had been better +thus." + +"Thou art over-scrupulous, my liege and brother, and I too hasty," +replied Sir Edward Bruce, in the same bold, careless tone. "Yet beshrew +me, but I think that in these times a sudden blow and hasty fate the +only judgment for a traitor. The miscreant were too richly honored, that +by thy royal hand he fell." + +"My son, my son, I pray thee, peace," urged the abbot, in accents of +calm, yet grave authority. "As minister of heaven, I may not list such +words. Bend not thy brow in wrath, clad as thou art in mail, in youthful +might; yet in my Maker's cause this withered frame is stronger yet than +thou art. Enough of that which hath been. Thy sovereign spoke in lowly +penitence to me--to me, who frail and lowly unto thee, am yet the +minister of Him whom sin offends. To thee he stands a warrior and a +king, who rude irreverence may brook not, even from his brother. Be +peace between us, then, my son; an old man's blessing on thy fierce yet +knightly spirit rest." + +With a muttered oath Sir Edward had strode away at the abbot's first +words, but the cloud passed from his brow as he concluded, and slightly, +yet with something of reverence, he bowed his head. + +"And whither didst thou wend thy way, my fiery brother?" demanded +Robert. "Bringest thou aught of news, or didst thou and Douglas but set +foot in stirrup and hand on rein simply from weariness of quiet?" + +"In sober truth, 'twas even so; partly to mark the movements of the +English, an they make a movement, which, till Pembroke come, they are +all too much amazed to do; partly to see if in truth that poltroon +Duncan of Fife yet hangs back and still persists in forswearing the +loyalty of his ancestors, and leaving to better hands the proud task of +placing the crown of Scotland on thy head." + +"And thou art convinced at last that such and such only is his +intention?" The knight nodded assent, and Bruce continued, jestingly, +"And so thou mightst have been long ago, my sage brother, hadst thou +listened to me. I tell thee Earl Duncan hath a spite against me, not for +daring to raise the standard of freedom and proclaim myself a king, but +for very hatred of myself. Nay, hast thou not seen it thyself, when, +fellow-soldiers, fellow-seekers of the banquet, tournay, or ball, he +hath avoided, shunned me? and why should he seek me now?" + +"Why? does not Scotland call him, Scotland bid him gird his sword and +don his mail? Will not the dim spectres of his loyal line start from +their very tombs to call him to thy side, or brand him traitor and +poltroon, with naught of Duff about him but the name? Thou smilest." + +"At thy violence, good brother. Duncan of Fife loves better the silken +cords of peace and pleasure, e'en though those silken threads hide +chains, than the trumpet's voice and weight of mail. In England bred, +courted, flattered by her king, 'twere much too sore a trouble to excite +his anger and lose his favor; and for whom, for what?--to crown the man +he hateth from his soul?" + +"And knowest thou wherefore, good my son, in what thou hast offended?" + +"Offended, holy father? Nay, in naught unless perchance a service +rendered when a boy--a simple service, merely that of saving life--hath +rendered him the touchy fool he is. But hark! who comes?" + +The tramping of many horses, mingled with the eager voices of men, +resounded from the courtyard as he spoke, and Sir Edward strode hastily +to the casement. "Sir Robert Keith returned!" he exclaimed, joyfully; +"and seemingly right well attended. Litters too--bah! we want no more +women. 'Tis somewhat new for Keith to be a squire of dames. Why, what +banner is this? The black bear of Buchan--impossible! the earl is a foul +Comyn. I'll to the court, for this passes my poor wits." He turned +hastily to quit the chamber, as a youth entered, not without some +opposition, it appeared, from the attendants without, but eagerly he had +burst through them, and flung his plumed helmet from his beautiful brow, +and, after glancing hastily round the room, bounded to the side of +Robert, knelt at his feet, and clasped his knees without uttering a +syllable, voiceless from an emotion whose index was stamped upon his +glowing features. + +"Nigel, by all that's marvellous, and as moon-stricken as his wont! Why, +where the foul fiend hast thou sprung from? Art dumb, thou foolish boy? +By St. Andrew, these are times to act and speak, not think and feel! +Whence comest thou?" + +So spoke the impatient Edward, to whom the character of his youngest +brother had ever been a riddle, which it had been too much trouble to +expound, and that which it _seemed_ to his too careless thought he ever +looked upon with scorn and contempt. Not so, King Robert; he raised him +affectionately in his arms, and pressed him to his heart. + +"Thou'rt welcome, most, most welcome, Nigel; as welcome as unlooked for. +But why this quick return from scenes and studies more congenial to thy +gentle nature, my young brother? this fettered land is scarce a home for +thee; thy free, thy fond imaginings can scarce have resting here." He +spoke sadly, and his smile unwittingly was sorrowful. + +"And thinkest thou, Robert--nay, forgive me, good my liege--thinkest +thou, because I loved the poet's dream, because I turned, in sad and +lonely musing, from King Edward's court, I loved the cloister better +than the camp? Oh, do me not such wrong! thou knowest not the guidings +of my heart; nor needs it now, my sword shall better plead my cause than +can my tongue." He turned away deeply and evidently pained, and a half +laugh from Sir Edward prevented the king's reply. + +"Well crowed, my pretty fledgling," he said, half jesting, half in +scorn. "But knowest thou, to fight in very earnest is something +different than to read and chant it in a minstrel's lay? Better hie thee +back to Florence, boy; the mail suit and crested helm are not for such +as thee--better shun them now, than after they are donned." + +"How! darest thou, Edward? Edward, tempt me not too far," exclaimed +Nigel, his cheek flushing, and springing towards him, his hand upon his +half-drawn sword. "By heaven, wert thou not my mother's son, I would +compel thee to retract these words, injurious, unjust! How darest thou +judge me coward, till my cowardice is proved? Thy blood is not more red +than mine." + +"Peace, peace! what meaneth this unseemly broil?" said Robert, hastily +advancing between them, for the dark features of Edward were lowering in +wrath, and Nigel was excited to unwonted fierceness. "Edward, begone! +and as thou saidst, see to Sir Robert Keith--what news he brings. Nigel, +on thy love, thy allegiance so lately proffered, if I read thy greeting +right, I pray thee heed not his taunting words. I do not doubt thee; +'twas for thy happiness, not for thy gallantry, I trembled. Look not +thus dejected;" he held out his hand, which his brother knelt to salute. +"Nay, nay, thou foolish boy, forget my new dignity a while, and now that +rude brawler has departed, tell me in sober wisdom, how camest thou +here? How didst thou know I might have need of thee?" A quick blush +suffused the cheek of the young man; he hesitated, evidently confused. +"Why, what ails thee, boy? By St. Andrew, Nigel, I do believe thou hast +never quitted Scotland." + +"And if I have not, my lord, what wilt thou deem me?" + +"A very strangely wayward boy, not knowing his own mind," replied the +king, smiling. "Yet why should I say so? I never asked thy confidence, +never sought it, or in any way returned or appreciated thy boyish love, +and why should I deem thee wayward, never inquiring into thy +projects--passing thee by, perchance, as a wild visionary, much happier +than myself?" + +"And thou wilt think me yet more a visionary, I fear me, Robert; yet +thine interest is too dear to pass unanswered," rejoined Nigel, after +glancing round and perceiving they were alone, for the abbot had +departed with Sir Edward, seeking to tame his reckless spirit. + +"Know, then, to aid me in keeping aloof from the tyrant of my country, +whom instinctively I hated, I confined myself to books and such lore yet +more than my natural inclination prompted, though that was strong +enough--I had made a solemn vow, rather to take the monk's cowl and +frock, than receive knighthood from the hand of Edward of England, or +raise my sword at his bidding. My whole soul yearned towards the country +of my fathers, that country which was theirs by royal right; and when +the renown of Wallace reached my ears, when, in my waking and sleeping +dreams, I beheld the patriot struggling for freedom, peace, the only one +whose arm had struck for Scotland, whose tongue had dared to speak +resistance, I longed wildly, intensely, vainly, to burst the thraldom +which held my race, and seek for death beneath the patriot banner. I +longed, yet dared not. My own death were welcome; but mother, father, +brothers, sisters, all were perilled, had I done so. I stood, I deemed, +alone in my enthusiast dreams; those I loved best, acknowledged, bowed +before the man my very spirit loathed; and how dared I, a boy, a child, +stand forth arraigning and condemning? But wherefore art thou thus, +Robert? oh, what has thus moved thee?" + +Wrapped in his own earnest words and thoughts, Nigel had failed until +that moment to perceive the effect of his words upon his brother. +Robert's head had sunk upon his hand, and his whole frame shook beneath +some strong emotion; evidently striving to subdue it, some moments +elapsed ere he could reply, and then only in accents of bitter +self-reproach. "Why, why did not such thoughts come to me, instead of +thee?" he said. "My youth had not wasted then in idle folly--worse, oh, +worse--in slavish homage, coward indecision, flitting like the moth +around the destructive flame; and while I deemed thee buried in romantic +dreams, all a patriot's blood was rushing in thy veins, while mine was +dull and stagnant." + +"But to flow forth the brighter, my own brother," interrupted Nigel, +earnestly. "Oh, I have watched thee, studied thee, even as I loved thee, +long; and I have hoped, felt, _known_ that this day would dawn; that +thou _wouldst_ rise for Scotland, and she would rise for thee. Ah, now +thou smilest as thyself, and I will to my tale. The patriot died--let me +not utter how; no Scottish tongue should speak those words, save with +the upraised arm and trumpet shout of vengeance! I could not rest in +England then; I could not face the tyrant who dared proclaim and execute +as traitor the noblest hero, purest patriot, that ever walked this +earth. But men said I sought the lyric schools, the poet's haunts in +Provence, and I welcomed the delusion; but it was to Scotland that I +came, unknown, and silently, to mark if with her Wallace all life and +soul had fled. I saw enough to know that were there but a fitting head, +her hardy sons would struggle yet for freedom--but not yet; that chief +art thou, and at the close of the last year I took passage to Denmark, +intending to rest there till Scotland called me." + +"And 'tis thence thou comest, Nigel? Can it be, intelligence of my +movements hath reached so far north already?" inquired the king, +somewhat surprised at the abruptness of his brother's pause. + +"Not so, my liege. The vessel which bore me was wrecked off the breakers +of Buchan, and cast me back again to the arms of Scotland. I found +hospitality, shelter, kindness; nay more, were this a time and place to +speak of happy, trusting love--" he added, turning away from the Bruce's +penetrating eye, "and week after week passed, and found me still an +inmate of the Tower of Buchan." + +"Buchan!" interrupted the king, hastily; "the castle of a Comyn, and +thou speakest of love!" + +"Of as true, as firm-hearted a Scottish patriot, my liege, as ever lived +in the heart of woman--one that has naught of Comyn about her or her +fair children but the name, as speedily thou wilt have proof. But in +good time is my tale come to a close, for hither comes good Sir Robert, +and other noble knights, who, by their eager brows, methinks, have +matters of graver import for thy grace's ear." + +They entered as he spoke. The patriot nobles who, at the first call of +their rightful king, had gathered round his person, few in number, yet +firm in heart, ready to lay down fame, fortune, life, beside his +standard, rather than acknowledge the foreign foe, who, setting aside +all principles of knightly honor, knightly faith, sought to claim their +country as his own, their persons as his slaves. Eager was the greeting +of each and all to the youthful Nigel, mingled with some surprise. Their +conference with the king was but brief, and as it comprised matters more +of speculation than of decided import, we will pass on to a later period +of the same evening. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Buchan! the Countess of Buchan, sayest thou, Athelbert? nay, 'tis +scarce possible," said a fair and noble-looking woman, still in the +bloom of life, though early youth had passed, pausing on her way to the +queen's apartment, to answer some information given by the senior page. + +"Indeed, madam, 'tis even so; she arrived but now, escorted by Sir +Robert Keith and his followers, in addition to some fifty of the +retainers of Buchan." + +"And hath she lodging within the palace?" + +"Yes, madam; an it please you, I will conduct you to her, 'tis but a +step beyond the royal suite." + +She made him a sign of assent, and followed him slowly, as if musingly. + +"It is strange, it is very strange," she thought, "yet scarcely so; she +was ever in heart and soul a patriot, nor has she seen enough of her +husband to change such sentiments. Yet, for her own sake, perchance it +had been better had she not taken this rash step; 'tis a desperate game +we play, and the fewer lives and fortunes wrecked the better." + +Her cogitations were interrupted by hearing her name announced in a loud +voice by the page, and finding herself in presence of the object of her +thoughts. + +"Isabella, dearest Isabella, 'tis even thine own dear self. I deemed the +boy's tale well-nigh impossible," was her hasty exclamation, as with a +much quicker step she advanced towards the countess, who met her +half-way, and warmly returned her embrace, saying as she did so-- + +"This is kind, indeed, dearest Mary, to welcome me so soon; 'tis long, +long years since we have met; but they have left as faint a shadow on +thy affections as on mine." + +"Indeed, thou judgest me truly, Isabella. Sorrow, methinks, doth but +soften the heart and render the memory of young affections, youthful +pleasures, the more vivid, the more lasting: we think of what we have +been, or what we are, and the contrast heightens into perfect bliss that +which at the time, perchance, we deemed but perishable joy." + +"Hast thou too learnt such lesson, Mary? I hoped its lore was all +unknown to thee." + +"It was, indeed, deferred so long, so blessedly, I dared to picture +perfect happiness on earth; but since my husband's hateful captivity, +Isabella, there can be little for his wife but anxiety and dread. But +these--are these thine?" she added, gazing admiringly and tearfully on +Agnes and Alan, who had at their mother's sign advanced from the +embrasure, where they had held low yet earnest converse, and gracefully +acknowledged the stranger's notice. "Oh, wherefore bring them here, my +friend?" + +"Wherefore, lady?" readily and impetuously answered Alan; "art thou a +friend of Isabella of Buchan, and asketh wherefore? Where our sovereign +is, should not his subjects be?" + +"Thy mother's friend and sovereign's sister, noble boy, and yet I grieve +to see thee here. The Bruce is but in name a king, uncrowned as yet and +unanointed. His kingdom bounded by the confines of this one fair county, +struggling for every acre at the bright sword's point." + +"The greater glory for his subjects, lady," answered the youth. "The +very act of proclaiming himself king removes the chains of Scotland, and +flings down her gage. Fear not, he shall be king ere long in something +more than name." + +"And is it thus a Comyn speaks?" said the Lady Campbell. "Ah, were the +idle feuds of petty minds thus laid at rest, bold boy, thy dreams might +e'en be truth; but knowest thou, young man--knowest thou, Isabella, the +breach between the Comyn and the Bruce is widened, and, alas! by blood?" + +"Aye, lady; but what boots it? A traitor should have no name, no kin, or +those who bear that name should wash away their race's stain by nobler +deeds of loyalty and valor." + +"It would be well did others think with thee," replied Lady Campbell; +"yet I fear me in such sentiments the grandson of the loyal Fife will +stand alone. Isabella, dearest Isabella," she added, laying her hand on +the arm of the countess, and drawing her away from her children, "hast +thou done well in this decision? hast thou listened to the calmer voice +of prudence as was thy wont? hast thou thought on all the evils thou +mayest draw upon thy head, and upon these, so lovely and so dear?" + +"Mary, I have thought, weighed, pondered, and yet I am here," answered +the countess, firmly, yet in an accent that still bespoke some inward +struggle. "I know, I feel all, all that thou wouldst urge; that I am +exposing my brave boy to death, perchance, by a father's hand, bringing +him hither to swear fealty, to raise his sword for the Bruce, in direct +opposition to my husband's politics, still more to his will; yet, Mary, +there are mutual duties between a parent and a child. My poor boy has +ever from his birth been fatherless. No kindly word, no glowing smile +has ever met his infancy, his boyhood. He scarce can know his +father--the love, the reverence of a son it would have been such joy to +teach. Left to my sole care, could I instil sentiments other than those +a father's lips bestowed on me? Could I instruct him in aught save +love, devotion to his country, to her rights, her king? I have done this +so gradually, my friend, that for the burst of loyalty, of impetuous +gallantry, which answered Sir Robert Keith's appeal, I was well nigh +unprepared. My father, my noble father breathes in my boy; and oh, Mary, +better, better far lose him on the battle-field, struggling for +Scotland's freedom, glorying in his fate, rejoicing, blessing me for +lessons I have taught, than see him as my husband, as my brother--alas! +alas! that I should live to say it--cringing as slaves before the +footstool of a tyrant and oppressor. Had he sought it, had he +loved--treated me as a wife, Mary, I would have given my husband +all--all a woman's duty--all, save the dictates of my soul, but even +this he trampled on, despised, rejected; and shall I, dare I then +forget, oppose the precepts of that noble heart, that patriot spirit +which breathed into mine the faint reflection of itself?--offend the +dead, the hallowed dead, my father--the heart that loved me?" + +She paused, in strong, and for the moment overpowering, emotion. The +clear, rich tones had never faltered till she spoke of him beloved even +in death--faltered not, even when she spoke of death as the portion of +her child; it was but the quivering of lip and eye by which the anguish +of that thought could have been ascertained. Lady Campbell clasped her +hand. + +"Thou hast in very truth silenced me, my Isabella," she said; "there is +no combating with thoughts as these. Thine is still the same noble soul, +exalted mind that I knew in youth: sorrow and time have had no power on +these." + +"Save to chasten and to purify, I trust," rejoined the countess, in her +own calm tone. "Thrown back upon my own strength, it must have gathered +force, dear Mary, or have perished altogether. But thou speakest, +methinks, but too despondingly of our sovereign's prospects--are they +indeed so desperate?" + +"Desperate, indeed, Isabella. Even his own family, with the sole +exception of that rash madman, Edward, must look upon it thus. How +thinkest thou Edward of England will brook this daring act of defiance, +of what he will deem rank apostasy and traitorous rebellion? Aged, +infirm as he is now, he will not permit this bold attempt to pass +unpunished. The whole strength of England will be gathered together, +and pour its devastating fury on this devoted land. And what to this has +Robert to oppose? Were he undisputed sovereign of Scotland, we might, +without cowardice, be permitted to tremble, threatened as he is; but +confined, surrounded by English, with scarce a town or fort to call his +own, his enterprise is madness, Isabella, patriotic as it may be." + +"Oh, do not say so, Mary. Has he not some noble barons already by his +side? will not, nay, is not Scotland rising to support him? hath he not +the hearts, the prayers, the swords of all whose mountain homes and +freeborn rights are dearer than the yoke of Edward? and hath he not, if +rumor speaks aright, within himself a host--not mere valor alone, but +prudence, foresight, military skill--all, all that marks a general?" + +"As rumor speaks. Thou dost not know him then?" inquired Lady Campbell. + +"How could I, dearest? Hast thou forgotten thy anxiety that we should +meet, when we were last together, holding at naught, in thy merry mood, +my betrothment to Lord John--that I should turn him from his wandering +ways, and make him patriotic as myself? Thou seest, Mary, thy brother +needed not such influence." + +"Of a truth, no," answered her friend; "for his present partner is a +very contrast to thyself, and would rather, by her weak and trembling +fears, dissuade him from his purpose than inspire and encourage it. Well +do I remember that fancy of my happy childhood, and still I wish it had +been so, all idle as it seems--strange that ye never met." + +"Nay, save thyself, Mary, thy family resided more in England than in +Scotland, and for the last seventeen years the territory of Buchan has +been my only home, with little interruption to my solitude; yet I have +heard much of late of the Earl of Carrick, and from whom thinkest +thou?--thou canst not guess--even from thy noble brother Nigel." + +"Nigel!" repeated Lady Mary, much surprised. + +"Even so, sweet sister, learning dearer lore and lovelier tales than +even Provence could instil; 'tis not the land, it is the _heart_ where +poesie dwells," rejoined Nigel Bruce, gayly, advancing from the side of +Agnes, where he had been lingering the greater part of the dialogue +between his sister and the countess, and now joined them. "Aye, Mary," +he continued, tenderly, "my own land is dearer than the land of song." + +"And dear art thou to Scotland, Nigel; but I knew not thy fond dreams +and wild visions could find resting amid the desert crags and barren +plains of Buchan." + +"Yet have we not been idle. Dearest Agnes, wilt thou not speak for me? +the viol hath not been mute, nor the fond harp unstrung; and deeper, +dearer lessons have thy lips instilled, than could have flowed from +fairest lips and sweetest songs of Provence. Nay, blush not, dearest. +Mary, thou must love this gentle girl," he added, as he led her forward, +and laid the hand of Agnes in his sister's. + +"Is it so? then may we indeed be united, though not as I in my girlhood +dreamed, my Isabella," said Lady Campbell, kindly parting the clustering +curls, and looking fondly on the maiden's blushing face. She was about +to speak again, when steps were heard along the corridor, and +unannounced, unattended, save by the single page who drew aside the +hangings, King Robert entered. He had doffed the armor in which we saw +him first, for a plain yet rich suit of dark green velvet, cut and +slashed with cloth of gold, and a long mantle of the richest crimson, +secured at his throat by a massive golden clasp, from which gleamed the +glistening rays of a large emerald; a brooch of precious stones, +surrounded by diamonds, clasped the white ostrich feather in his cup, +and the shade of the drooping plume, heightened perhaps by the advance +of evening, somewhat obscured his features, but there was that in his +majestic mien, in the noble yet dignified bearing, which could not for +one moment be mistaken; and it needed not the word of Nigel to cause the +youthful Alan to spring from the couch where he had listlessly thrown +himself, and stand, suddenly silenced and abashed. + +"My liege and brother," exclaimed Lady Campbell, eagerly, as she hastily +led forward the Countess of Buchan, who sunk at once on her knee, +overpowered by the emotion of a patriot, thinking only of her country, +only of her sovereign, as one inspired by heaven to attempt her rescue, +and give her freedom. "How glad am I that it has fallen on me to present +to your grace, in the noble Countess of Buchan, the chosen friend of my +girlhood, the only descendant of the line of Macduff worthy to bear that +name. Allied as unhappily she is to the family of Comyn, yet still, +still most truly, gloriously, a patriot and loyal subject of your grace, +as her being here, with all she holds most dear, most precious upon +earth, will prove far better than her friend's poor words." + +"Were they most rich in eloquence, Mary, believe me, we yet should need +them not, in confirmation of this most noble lady's faithfulness and +worth," answered the king, with ready courtesy, and in accents that were +only too familiar to the ear of Isabella. She started, and gazed up for +the first time, seeing fully the countenance of the sovereign. "Rise, +lady, we do beseech you, rise; we are not yet so familiar with the forms +of royalty as to behold without some shame a noble lady at our feet. +Nay, thou art pale, very pale; thy coming hither hath been too rapid, +too hurried for thy strength, methinks; I do beseech you, sit." Gently +he raised her, and leading her gallantly to one of the cumbrous couches +near them, placed her upon it, and sat down beside her. "Ha! that is +well; thou art better now. Knowest thou, Mary, thine office would have +been more wisely performed, hadst thou presented _me_ to the Countess of +Buchan, not her to me." + +"Thou speakest darkly, good my liege, yet I joy to see thee thus +jestingly inclined." + +"Nay, 'tis no jest, fair sister; the Countess of Buchan and I have met +before, though she knew me but as a wild, heedless stripling first, and +a moody, discontented soldier afterwards. I owe thee much, gentle lady; +much for the night's lodging thy hospitality bestowed, though at the +time my mood was such it had no words of courtesy, no softening fancy, +even to thyself; much for the kindness thou didst bestow, not only then, +but when fate first threw us together; and therefore do I seek thee, +lady--therefore would I speak to thee, as the friend of former years, +not as the sovereign of Scotland, and as such received by thee." He +spoke gravely, with somewhat of sadness in his rich voice. Perhaps it +was well for the countess no other answer than a grateful bow was +needed, for the sudden faintness which had withdrawn the color from her +cheek yet lingered, sufficient to render the exertion of speaking +painful. + +"Yet pause one moment, my liege," said Nigel, playfully leading Alan +forward; "give me one moment, ere you fling aside your kingly state. +Here is a young soldier, longing to rush into the very thickest of a +fight that may win a golden spur and receive knighthood at your grace's +hand; a doughty spokesman, who was to say a marvellously long speech of +duty, homage, and such like, but whose tongue at sight of thee has +turned traitor to its cause. Have mercy on him, good my liege; I'll +answer that his arm is less a traitor than his tongue." + +"We do not doubt it, Nigel, and will accept thy words for his. Be +satisfied, young sir, the willing homage of all true men is precious to +King Robert. And thou, fair maiden, wilt thou, too, follow thy monarch's +fortunes, cloudy though they seem? we read thine answer in thy blushing +cheek, and thus we thank thee, maiden." + +He threw aside his plumed cap, and gallantly yet respectfully saluted +the fair, soft cheek; confused yet pleased, Agnes looked doubtingly +towards Nigel, who, smiling a happy, trusting, joyous smile, led her a +few minutes apart, whispered some fond words, raised her hand to his +lips, and summoning Alan, they left the room together. + +"Sir Robert Keith informs me, noble lady," said the king, again +addressing Isabella, "that it is your determination to represent, in +your own proper person, the ancient line of Duff at the approaching +ceremony, and demand from our hands, as such representative, the +privilege granted by King Malcolm to your noble ancestor and his +descendants, of placing on the sovereign's brow the coronet of Scotland. +Is it not so?" + +"I do indeed most earnestly demand this privilege, my gracious liege," +answered the countess, firmly; "demand it as a right, a glorious right, +made mine by the weak and fickle conduct of my brother. Alas! the only +male descendant of that line which until now hath never known a +traitor." + +"But hast thou well considered, lady? There is danger in this act, +danger even to thyself." + +"My liege, that there is danger threatening all the patriots of +Scotland, monarch or serf, male or female, I well know; yet in what does +it threaten me more in this act, than in the mere acknowledgment of the +Earl of Carrick as my sovereign?" + +"It will excite the rage of Edward of England against thyself +individually, lady; I know him well, only too well. All who join in +giving countenance and aid to my inauguration will be proclaimed, +hunted, placed under the ban of traitors, and, if unfortunately taken, +will in all probability share the fate of Wallace." His voice became +husky with strong emotion. "There is no exception in his sweeping +tyranny; youth and age, noble and serf, of either sex, of either land, +if they raise the sword for Bruce and freedom, will fall by the +hangman's cord or headsman's axe; and I, alas! must look on and bear, +for I have neither men nor power to avert such fate; and that hand which +places on my head the crown, death, death, a cruel death, will be the +doom of its patriot owner. Think, think on this, and oh, retract thy +noble resolution, ere it be too late." + +"Is she who gives the crown in greater danger, good my liege, than he +who wears it?" demanded the countess, with a calm and quiet smile. + +"Nay," he answered, smiling likewise for the moment, "but I were worse +than traitor, did I shrink from Scotland in her need, and refuse her +diadem, in fear, forsooth, of death at Edward's hands. No! I have held +back too long, and now will I not turn back till Scotland's freedom is +achieved, or Robert Bruce lies with the slain. Repentance for the past, +hope, ambition for the future; a firm heart and iron frame, a steady arm +and sober mood, to meet the present--I have these, sweet lady, to fit +and nerve me for the task, but not such hast thou. I doubt not thy +patriot soul; perchance 'twas thy lip that first awoke the slumbering +fire within my own breast, and though a while forgotten, recalled, when +again I looked on thee, after Falkirk's fatal battle, with the charge, +the solemn charge of Wallace yet ringing in mine ears. Yet, lady, noble +lady, tempt not the fearful fate which, shouldst thou fall into Edward's +hands, I know too well will be thine own. I dare not promise sure +defence from his o'erwhelming hosts: on every side they compass me. I +see sorrow and death for all I love, all who swear fealty to me. I shall +succeed in the end, for heaven, just heaven will favor the righteous +cause; but trouble and anguish must be my lot ere then, and I would save +those I can. Remain with us an thou wilt, gratefully I accept the homage +so nobly and unhesitatingly tendered; but still I beseech thee, lady, +expose not thy noble self to the blind wrath of Edward, as thou surely +wilt, if from thy hand I receive my country's crown." + +"My liege," answered the countess, in that same calm, quiet tone, "I +have heard thee with a deep grateful sense of the noble feeling, the +kindly care which dictates thy words; yet pardon me, if they fail to +shake my resolution--a resolution not lightly formed, not the mere +excitement of a patriotic moment, but one based on the principles of +years, on the firm, solemn conviction, that in taking this sacred office +on myself, the voice of the dead is obeyed, the memory of the dead, the +noble dead, preserved from stain, inviolate and pure. Would my father +have kept aloof in such an hour--refused to place on the brow of +Scotland's patriot king the diadem of his forefathers--held back in fear +of Edward? Oh! would that his iron hand and loyal heart were here +instead of mine; gladly would I lay me down in his cold home and place +him at thy side, might such things be: but as it is, my liege, I do +beseech thee, cease to urge me. I have but a woman's frame, a woman's +heart, and yet death hath no fear for me. Let Edward work his will, if +heaven ordain I fall into his ruthless hands; death comes but once, 'tis +but a momentary pang, and rest and bliss shall follow. My father's +spirit breathes within me, and as he would, so let his daughter do. 'Tis +not now a time to depart from ancient forms, my gracious sovereign, and +there are those in Scotland who scarce would deem thee crowned, did not +the blood of Fife perform that holy office." + +"And this, then, noble lady, is thy firm resolve--I may not hope to +change it?" + +"'Tis firm as the ocean rock, my liege. I do not sue thee to permit my +will; the blood of Macduff, which rushes in my veins, doth mark it as my +right, and as my right I do demand it." She stood in her majestic +beauty, proudly and firmly before him, and unconsciously the king +acknowledged and revered the dauntless spirit that lovely form +enshrined. + +"Lady," he said, raising her hand with reverence to his lips, "do as +thou wilt: a weaker spirit would have shrunk at once in terror from the +very thought of such open defiance to King Edward. I should have known +the mind that framed such daring purpose would never shrink from its +fulfilment, however danger threatened; enough, we know thy faithfulness +and worth, and where to seek for brave and noble counsel in the hour of +need. And now, may it be our privilege to present thee to our queen, +sweet lady? We shall rejoice to see thee ever near her person." + +"I pray your grace excuse me for this night," answered the countess; "we +have made some length of way to-day, and, if it please you, I would +seek rest. Agnes shall supply my place; Mary, thou wilt guard her, wilt +thou not?" + +"Nay, be mine the grateful task," said the king, gayly taking the +maiden's hand, and, after a few words of courtesy, he quitted the +chamber, followed by his sister. + +There were sounds of mirth and revelry that night in the ancient halls +of Scone, for King Robert, having taken upon himself the state and +consequence of sovereignty, determined on encouraging the high spirits +and excited joyousness of his gallant followers by all the amusements of +chivalry which his confined and precarious situation permitted, and +seldom was it that the dance and minstrelsy did not echo blithely in the +royal suite for many hours of the evening, even when the day had brought +with it anxiety and fatigue, and even intervals of despondency. There +were many noble dames and some few youthful maidens in King Robert's +court, animated by the same patriotic spirit which led their husbands +and brothers to risk fortune and life in the service of their country: +they preferred sharing and alleviating their dangers and anxieties, by +thronging round the Bruce's wife, to the precarious calm and safety of +their feudal castles; and light-heartedness and glee shed their bright +gleams on these social hours, never clouded by the gloomy shades that +darkened the political horizon of the Bruce's fortunes. Perchance this +night there was a yet brighter radiance cast over the royal halls, there +was a spirit of light and glory in every word and action of the youthful +enthusiast, Nigel Bruce, that acted as with magic power on all around; +known in the court of England but as a moody visionary boy, whose dreams +were all too ethereal to guide him in this nether world, whose hand, +however fitted to guide a pen, was all too weak to wield a sword; the +change, or we should rather say the apparent change, perceived in him +occasioned many an eye to gaze in silent wonderment, and, in the +superstition of the time, argue well for the fortunes of one brother +from the marvellous effect observable in the countenance and mood of the +other. + +The hopefulness of youth, its rosy visions, its smiling dreams, all +sparkled in his blight blue eye, in the glad, free, ringing joyance of +his deep rich voice, his cloudless smiles. And oh, who is there can +resist the witchery of life's young hopes, who does not feel the warm +blood run quicker through his veins, and bid his heart throb even as it +hath throbbed in former days, and the gray hues of life melt away before +the rosy glow of youth, even as the calm cold aspect of waning night is +lost in the warmth and loveliness of the infant morn? And what was the +magic acting on the enthusiast himself, that all traces of gloom and +pensive thought were banished from his brow, that the full tide of +poetry within his soul seemed thrilling on his lip, breathing in his +simplest word, entrancing his whole being in joy? Scarce could he +himself have defined its cause, such a multitude of strong emotions were +busy at his heart. He saw not the dangers overhanging the path of the +Bruce, he only saw and only felt him as his sovereign, as his brother, +his friend, destined to be all that he had hoped, prayed, and believed +he would be; willing to accept and return the affection he had so long +felt, and give him that friendship and confidence for which he had +yearned in vain so long. He saw his country free, independent, +unshackled, glorious as of old; and there was a light and lovely being +mingling in these stirring visions--when Scotland was free, what +happiness would not be his own! Agnes, who flitted before him in that +gay scene, the loveliest, dearest object there, clinging to him in her +timidity, shrinking from the gaze of the warriors around, respectful as +it was, feeling that all was strange, all save him to whom her young +heart was vowed--if such exclusiveness was dear to him, if it were bliss +to him to feel that, save her young brother, he alone had claim upon her +notice and her smile, oh! what would it be when she indeed was all, all +indivisibly his own? Was it marvel, then, his soul was full of the joy +that beamed forth from his eye, and lip, and brow--that his faintest +tone breathed gladness? + +There was music and mirth in the royal halls: the shadow of care had +passed before the full sunshine of hope; but within that palace wall, +not many roods removed from the royal suite, was one heart struggling +with its lone agony, striving for calm, for peace, for rest, to escape +from the deep waters threatening to overwhelm it. Hour after hour beheld +the Countess of Buchan in the same spot, well-nigh in the same attitude; +the agonized dream of her youth had come upon her yet once again, the +voice whose musical echoes had never faded from her ear, once more had +sounded in its own deep thrilling tones, his hand had pressed her own, +his eye had met hers, aye, and dwelt upon her with the unfeigned +reverence and admiration which had marked its expression years before; +and it was to him her soul had yearned in all the fervidness of loyalty, +not to a stranger, as she had deemed him. Loyalty, patriotism, reverence +her sovereign claimed, aye, and had received; but now how dare she +encourage such emotions towards one it had been, aye, it was her duty to +forget, to think of no more? Had her husband been fond, sought the noble +heart which felt so bitterly his neglect, the gulf which now divided +them might never have existed; and could she still the voice of that +patriotism, that loyalty towards a free just monarch, which the dying +words of a parent had so deeply inculcated, and which the sentiments of +her own heart had increased in steadiness and strength? On what had that +lone heart to rest, to subdue its tempest, to give it nerve and force, +to rise pure in thought as in deed, unstained, unshaded in its +nobleness, what but its own innate purity? Yet fearful was the storm +that passed over, terrible the struggle which shook that bent form, as +in lowliness and contrition, and agony of spirit, she knelt before the +silver crucifix, and called upon heaven in its mercy to give peace and +strength--fierce, fierce and terrible; but the agonized cry was heard, +the stormy waves were stilled. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Brightly and blithely dawned the 26th of March, 1306, for the loyal +inhabitants of Scone. Few who might gaze on the olden city, and marked +the flags and pennons waving gayly and proudly on every side; the rich +tapestry flung over balconies or hung from the massive windows, in every +street; the large branches of oak and laurel, festooned with gay +ribands, that stood beside the entrance of every house which boasted any +consequence; the busy citizens in goodly array, with their wives and +families, bedecked to the best of their ability, all, as inspired by one +spirit, hurrying in the direction of the abbey yard, joining the merry +clamor of eager voices to the continued peal of every bell of which the +old town could boast, sounding loud and joyously even above the roll of +the drum or the shrill trumpet call;--those who marked these things +might well believe Scotland was once again the same free land, which +had hailed in the same town the coronation of Alexander the Third, some +years before. Little would they deem that the foreign foeman still +thronged her feudal holds and cottage homes, that they waited but the +commands of their monarch, to pour down on all sides upon the daring +individual who thus boldly assumed the state and solemn honor of a king, +and, armed but by his own high heart and a handful of loyal followers, +prepared to resist, defend, and _free_, or _die_ for Scotland. + +There was silence--deep, solemn, yet most eloquent silence, reigning in +the abbey church of Scone. The sun shining in that full flood of glory +we sometimes find in the infant spring, illumined as with golden lustre +the long, narrow casements, falling thence in flickering brilliance on +the pavement floor, its rays sometimes arrested, to revolve in +heightened lustre from the glittering sword or the suit of half-mail of +one or other of the noble knights assembled there. The rich plate of the +abbey, all at least which had escaped the cupidity of Edward, was +arranged with care upon the various altars; in the centre of the church +was placed the abbot's oaken throne, which was to supply the place of +the ancient stone, the coronation seat of the Scottish kings--no longer +there, its absence felt by one and all within that church as the closing +seal to Edward's infamy--the damning proof that as his slave, not as his +sister kingdom, he sought to render Scotland. From the throne to the +high altar, where the king was to receive the eucharist, a carpet of +richly-brocaded Genoa velvet was laid down; a cushion of the same +elegantly-wrought material marked the place beside the spot where he was +to kneel. Priests, in their richest vestments, officiated at the high +altar; six beautiful boys, bearing alternately a large waxen candle, and +the golden censers filled with the richest incense, stood beside them, +while opposite the altar and behind the throne, in an elevated gallery, +were ranged the seventy choristers of the abbey, thirty of whom were +youthful novices; behind them a massive screen or curtain of tapestry +concealed the organ, and gave a yet more startling and thrilling effect +to its rich deep tones, thus bursting, as it were, from spheres unseen. + +The throne was already occupied by the patriot king, clothed in his +robes of state; his inner dress was a doublet and vest of white velvet, +slashed with cloth of silver; his stockings, fitting tight to the knee, +were of the finest woven white silk, confined where they met the doublet +with a broad band of silver; his shoes of white velvet, broidered with +silver, in unison with his dress; a scarf of cloth of silver passed over +his right shoulder, fastened there by a jewelled clasp, and, crossing +his breast, secured his trusty sword to his left side; his head, of +course, was bare, and his fair hair, parted carefully on his arched and +noble brow, descended gracefully on either side; his countenance was +perfectly calm, unexpressive of aught save of a deep sense of the solemn +service in which he was engaged. There was not the faintest trace of +either anxiety or exultation--naught that could shadow the brows of his +followers, or diminish by one particle the love and veneration which in +every heart were rapidly gaining absolute dominion. + +On the right of the king stood the Abbot of Scone, the Archbishop of St. +Andrew's, and Bishop of Glasgow, all of which venerable prelates had +instantaneously and unhesitatingly declared for the Bruce; ranged on +either side of the throne, according more to seniority than rank, were +seated the brothers of the Bruce and the loyal barons who had joined his +standard. Names there were already famous in the annals of +patriotism--Fraser, Lennox, Athol, Hay--whose stalwart arms had so nobly +struck for Wallace, whose steady minds had risen superior to the petty +emotions of jealousy and envy which had actuated so many of similar +rank. These were true patriots, and gladly and freely they once more +rose for Scotland. Sir Christopher Seaton, brother-in-law to the Bruce, +Somerville, Keith, St. Clair, the young Lord Douglas, and Thomas +Randolph, the king's nephew, were the most noted of those now around the +Bruce; yet on that eventful day not more than fourteen barons were +mustered round their sovereign, exclusive of his four gallant brothers, +who were in themselves a host. All these were attired with the care and +gallantry their precarious situation permitted; half armor, concealed by +flowing scarfs and graceful mantles, or suits of gayer seeming among the +younger knights, for those of the barons' followers of gentle blood and +chivalric training were also admitted within the church, forming a +goodly show of gallant men. Behind them, on raised seats, which were +divided from the body of the church by an open railing of ebony, sate +the ladies of the court, the seat of the queen distinguished from the +rest by its canopy and cushion of embroidered taffeta, and amongst +those gentle beings fairest and loveliest shone the maiden of Buchan, as +she sate in smiling happiness between the youthful daughter of the +Bruce, the Princess Margory, and his niece, the Lady Isoline, children +of ten and fourteen, who already claimed her as their companion and +friend. + +The color was bright on the soft cheek of Agnes, the smile laughed alike +in her lip and eye; for ever and anon, from amidst the courtly crowd +beneath, the deep blue orb of Nigel Bruce met hers, speaking in its +passioned yet respectful gaze, all that could whisper joy and peace unto +a heart, young, loving, and confiding, as that of Agnes. The evening +previous he had detached the blue riband which confined her flowing +curls, and it was with a feeling of pardonable pride she beheld it +suspended from his neck, even in that hour, when his rich habiliments +and the imposing ceremony of the day marked him the brother of a king. +Her brother, too, was at his side, gazing upon his sovereign with +feelings, whose index, marked as it was on his brow, gave him the +appearance of being older than he was. It was scarcely the excitement of +a mere boy, who rejoiced in the state and dignity around him; the +emotion of his mother had sunk upon his very soul, subduing the wild +buoyancy of his spirit, and bidding him feel deeply and sadly the +situation in which he stood. It seemed to him as if he had never thought +before, and now that reflection had come upon him, it was fraught with a +weight and gloom he could not remove and scarcely comprehend. He felt no +power on earth could prevent his taking the only path which was open to +the true patriot of Scotland, and in following that path he raised the +standard of revolt, and enlisted his own followers against his father. +Till the moment of action he had dreamed not of these things; but the +deep anxieties, the contending feelings of his mother, which, despite +her controlled demeanor, his heart perceived, could not but have their +effect; and premature manhood was stealing fast upon his heart. + +Upon the left of the king, and close beside his throne, stood the +Countess of Buchan, attired in robes of the darkest crimson velvet, with +a deep border of gold, which swept the ground, and long falling sleeves +with a broad fringe; a thick cord of gold and tassels confined the robe +around the waist, and thence fell reaching to her feet, and well-nigh +concealing the inner dress of white silk, which was worn to permit the +robes falling easily on either side, and thus forming a long train +behind. Neither gem nor gold adorned her beautiful hair; a veil was +twisted in its luxuriant tresses, and served the purpose of the matron's +coif. She was pale and calm, but such was the usual expression of her +countenance, and perhaps accorded better with the dignified majesty of +her commanding figure than a greater play of feature. It was not the +calmness of insensibility, of vacancy, it was the still reflection of a +controlled and chastened soul, of one whose depth and might was known +but to-herself. + +The pealing anthem for a while had ceased, and it was as if that church +was desolate, as if the very hearts that throbbed so quickly for their +country and their king were hushed a while and stilled, that every word +which passed between the sovereign and the primate should be heard. +Kneeling before him, his hands placed between those of the archbishop, +the king, in a clear and manly voice, received, as it were, the kingdom +from his hands, and swore to govern according to the laws of his +ancestors; to defend the liberties of his people alike from the foreign +and the civil foe; to dispense justice; to devote life itself to +restoring Scotland to her former station in the scale of kingdoms. +Solemnly, energetically, he took the required vows; his cheek flushed, +his eye glistened, and ere he rose he bent his brow upon his spread +hands, as if his spirit supplicated strength, and the primate, standing +over him, blessed him, in a loud voice, in the name of Him whose lowly +minister he was. + +A few minutes, and the king was again seated on his throne, and from the +hands of the Bishop of Glasgow, the Countess of Buchan received the +simple coronet of gold, which had been hastily made to supply the place +of that which Edward had removed. It was a moment of intense interest: +every eye was directed towards the king and the dauntless woman by his +side, who, rather than the descendant of Malcolm Cean Mohr should demand +in vain the service from the descendants of the brave Macduff, exposed +herself to all the wrath of a fierce and cruel king, the fury of an +incensed husband and brother, and in her own noble person represented +that ancient and most loyal line. Were any other circumstance needed to +enhance the excitement of the patriots of Scotland, they would have +found it in this. As it was, a sudden, irrepressible burst of applause +broke from many eager voices as the bishop placed the coronet in her +hands, but one glance from those dark, eloquent eyes sufficed to hush +it on the instant into stillness. + +Simultaneously all within the church stood up, and gracefully and +steadily, with a hand which trembled not, even to the observant and +anxious eyes of her son, Isabella of Buchan placed the sacred symbol of +royalty on the head of Scotland's king; and then arose, as with one +voice, the wild enthusiastic shout of loyalty, which, bursting from all +within the church, was echoed again and again from without, almost +drowning the triumphant anthem which at the same moment sent its rich, +hallowed tones through the building, and proclaimed Robert Bruce indeed +a king. + +Again and yet again the voice of triumph and of loyalty arose +hundred-tongued, and sent its echo even to the English camp; and when it +ceased, when slowly, and as it were reluctantly, it died away, it was a +grand and glorious sight to see those stern and noble barons one by one +approach their sovereign's throne and do him homage. + +It was not always customary for the monarchs of those days to receive +the feudal homage of their vassals the same hour of their coronation, it +was in general a distinct and almost equally gorgeous ceremony; but in +this case both the king and barons felt it better policy to unite them; +the excitement attendant on the one ceremonial they felt would prevent +the deficiency of numbers in the other being observed, and they acted +wisely. + +There was a dauntless firmness in each baron's look, in his manly +carriage and unwavering step, as one by one he traversed the space +between him and the throne, seeming to proclaim that in himself he held +indeed a host. To adhere to the usual custom of paying homage to the +suzerain bareheaded, barefooted, and unarmed, the embroidered slipper +had been adopted by all instead of the iron boot; and as he knelt before +the throne, the Earl of Lennox, for, first in rank, he first approached +his sovereign, unbuckling his trusty sword, laid it, together with his +dagger, at Robert's feet, and placing his clasped hands between those of +the king, repeated, in a deep sonorous voice, the solemn vow--to live +and die with him against all manner of men. Athol, Fraser, Seaton, +Douglas, Hay, gladly and willingly followed his example; and it was +curious to mark the character of each man, proclaimed in his mien and +hurried step. + +The calm, controlled, and somewhat thoughtful manner of those grown wise +in war, their bold spirits feeling to the inmost soul the whole extent +of the risk they run, scarcely daring to anticipate the freedom of their +country, the emancipation of their king from the heavy yoke that +threatened him, and yet so firm in the oath they pledged, that had +destruction yawned before them ere they reached the throne, they would +have dared it rather than turned back--and then again those hot and +eager youths, feeling, knowing but the excitement of the hour, believing +but as they hoped, seeing but a king, a free and independent king, +bounding from their seats to the monarch's feet, regardless of the +solemn ceremonial in which they took a part, desirous only, in the words +of their oath, to live and die for him--caused a brighter flush to +mantle on King Robert's cheek, and his eyes to shine with new and +radiant light. None knew better than himself the perils that encircled +him, yet there was a momentary glow of exultation in his heart as he +looked on the noble warriors, the faithful friends around him, and felt +that they, even they, representatives of the oldest, the noblest houses +in Scotland--men famed not alone for their gallant bearing in war, but +their fidelity and wisdom, and unstained honor and virtue in peace--even +they acknowledged him their king, and vowed him that allegiance which +was never known to fail. + +Alan of Buchan was the last of that small yet noble train who approached +his sovereign. There was a hot flush of impetuous feeling on the boy's +cheek, an indignant tear trembled in his dark flashing eye, and his +voice, sweet, thrilling as it was, quivered with the vain effort to +restrain his emotion. + +"Sovereign of Scotland," he exclaimed, "descendant of that glorious line +of kings to whom my ancestors have until this dark day vowed homage and +allegiance; sovereign of all good and faithful men, on whose inmost +souls the name of Scotland is so indelibly writ, that even in death it +may there be found, refuse not thou my homage. I have but my sword, not +e'en a name of which to boast, yet hear me swear," he raised his clasped +hands towards heaven, "swear that for thee, for my country, for thee +alone, will I draw it, alone shall my life be spent, my blood be shed. +Reject me not because my name is Comyn, because I alone am here of that +once loyal house. Oh! condemn me not; reject not untried a loyal heart +and trusty sword." + +"Reject thee," said King Robert, laying his hand kindly on the boy's +shoulder; "reject thee, young soldier," he said, cheeringly: "in Alan of +Buchan we see but the noble son of our right noble countrywoman, the +Lady Isabella; we see in him but a worthy descendant of Macduff, the +noble scion, though but by the mother's side, of the loyal house of +Fife. Young as thou art, we ask of thee but the heart and sword which +thou hast so earnestly proffered, nor can we, son of Isabella of Fife, +doubt their honesty and truth; thou shalt earn a loyal name for thyself, +and till then, as the brother in arms, the chosen friend of Nigel Bruce, +all shall respect and trust thee. We confer knighthood on twenty of our +youthful warriors seven days hence; prepare thyself to receive it with +our brother: enough for us to know thou hast learned the art of chivalry +at thy mother's hand." + +Dazzled, bewildered by the benign manner, and yet more gracious words of +his sovereign, the young heir of Buchan remained kneeling for a brief +space, as if rooted to the ground, but the deep earnest voice of his +mother, the kind greeting of Nigel Bruce, as he grasped his arm, and +hailed him companion in arms, roused him at once, and he sprung to his +feet; the despondency, shame, doubt, anxiety which like lead had weighed +down his heart before, dissolved before the glad, buoyant spirit, the +bright, free, glorious hopes, and dreams, and visions which are known to +youth alone. + +Stentorian and simultaneous was the eager shout that hailed the +appearance of the newly-anointed king, as he paused a moment on the +great stone staircase, leading from the principal doors of the abbey to +the abbey yard. For miles round, particularly from those counties which +were but thinly garrisoned by the English, the loyal Scots had poured at +the first rumor of the Bruce's rising, and now a rejoicing multitude +welcomed him with one voice, the execrations against their foes +forgotten in this outpouring of the heart towards their native prince. + +Inspired by this heartfelt greeting, the king advanced a few paces on +the stone terrace, and raised his right hand, as if about to speak; on +the instant every shout was hushed, and silence fell upon that eager +multitude, as deep and voiceless as if some mighty magic chained them +spell-bound where they stood, their very breathing hushed, fearful to +lose one word. + +Many an aged eye grew dim with tears, as it rested on the fair and +graceful form, the beautifully expressive face of him, who, with +eloquent fervor, referred to the ancient glory of their country; tears +of joy, for they felt they looked upon the good genius of their land, +that she was raised from her dejected stupor, to sleep a slave no more; +and the middle-aged and the young, with deafening shouts and eager +gestures, swore to give him the crown, the kingdom he demanded, free, +unshackled as his ancestors had borne them, or die around him to a man; +and blessings and prayers in woman's gentler voice mingled with the +swelling cry, and little children caught the Bruce's name and bade "God +bless him," and others, equally impetuous shouted "Bruce and freedom!" + +"Love, obey, follow me, for Scotland's sake; noble or gentle, let all +private feud be forgotten in this one great struggle for liberty or +death. Thus," he concluded, "united and faithful, the name of Wallace on +each lip, the weal of Scotland in each heart, her mountains our shield, +her freedom our sword, shall we, can we fail? No! no! Scotland shall be +free, or her green sod and mountain flowers shall bloom upon our graves. +I have no crown save that which Scotland gives, no kingdom save what +your swords shall conquer, and your hearts bestow; with you I live and +die." + +In the midst of the shouts and unrestrained clamor succeeding this +eloquent address, the fiery chargers of the king and his attendant +barons and esquires were led to the foot of the staircase. And a fair +and noble sight was the royal _cortège_ as slowly it passed through the +old town, with banners flying, lances gleaming, and the rich swell of +triumphant music echoing on the air. Nobles and dames mingled +indiscriminately together. Beautiful palfreys or well-trained glossy +mules, richly caparisoned, gracefully guided by the dames and maidens, +bore their part well amid the more fiery chargers of their companions. +The queen rode at King Robert's left hand, the primate of Scotland at +his right, Lennox, Seaton, and Hay thronged around the Countess of +Buchan, eager to pay her that courteous homage which she now no longer +refused, and willingly joined in their animated converse. The Lady Mary +Campbell and her sister Lady Seaton found an equally gallant and willing +escort, as did the other noble dames; but none ventured to dispute the +possession of the maiden of Buchan with the gallant Nigel, who, riding +close at her bridle rein, ever and anon whispered some magic words that +called a blush to her cheek and a smile on her lip, their attention +called off now and then by some wild jest or courteous word from the +young Lord Douglas, whose post seemed in every part of the royal train; +now galloping to the front, to caracole by the side of the queen, to +accustom her, he said, to the sight of good horsemanship, then lingering +beside the Countess of Buchan, to give some unexpected rejoinder to the +graver maxims of Lennox. The Princess Margory, her cousins, the Lady +Isoline Campbell and Alice and Christina Seaton, escorted by Alan of +Buchan, Walter Fitz-Alan, Alexander Fraser, and many other young +esquires, rejoicing in the task assigned them. + +It was a gay and gorgeous sight, and beautiful the ringing laugh and +silvery voice of youth. No dream of desponding dread shadowed their +hearts, though danger and suffering, and defeat and death, were darkly +gathering round them. Who, as he treads the elastic earth, fresh with +the breeze of day, as he gazes on the cloudless blue of the circling +sky, or the dazzling rays of the morning sun, as the hum of happy life +is round him--who is there thinks of the silence, and darkness, and +tempest that come in a few brief hours, on the shadowy pinions of night? + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Some ten or twelve days after the momentous event recorded in our last +chapter, King Edward's royal palace, at Winchester, was thronged at an +unusually early hour by many noble knights and barons, bearing on their +countenances symptoms of some new and unexpected excitement; and there +was a dark boding gloom on the now contracted brow and altered features +of England's king, as, weakened and well-nigh worn out by a lingering +disease, he reclined on a well-cushioned couch, to receive the +eagerly-offered homage of his loyal barons. He, who had been from +earliest youth a warrior, with whose might and dauntless prowess there +was not one, or prince, or noble, or English, or foreigner, could +compete, whose strength of frame and energy of mind had ever borne him +scathless and uninjured through scenes of fatigue, and danger, and +blood, and death; whose sword had restored a kingdom to his father--had +struggled for Palestine and her holy pilgrims--had given Wales to +England, and again and again prostrated the hopes and energies of +Scotland into the dust; even he, this mighty prince, lay prostrate now, +unable to conquer or to struggle with disease--disease that attacked the +slave, the lowest serf or yeoman of his land, and thus made manifest, +how in the sight of that King of kings, from whom both might and +weakness come, the prince and peasant are alike--the monarch and the +slave! + +The disease had been indeed in part subdued, but Edward could not close +his eyes to the fact that he should never again be what he had been; +that the strength which had enabled him to do and endure so much, the +energy which had ever led him on to victory, the fire which had so often +inspired his own heart, and urged on, as by magic power, his +followers--that all these were gone from him, and forever. Ambition, +indeed, yet burned within, strong, undying, mighty; aye, perhaps +mightier than ever, as the power of satisfying that ambition glided from +his grasp. He had rested, indeed, a brief while, secure in the +fulfilment of his darling wish, that every rood of land composing the +British Isles should be united under him as sole sovereign; he believed, +and rejoiced in the belief, that with Wallace all hope or desire of +resistance had departed. His disease had been at its height when Bruce +departed from his court, and disabled him a while from composedly +considering how that event would affect his interest in Scotland. As the +violence of the disease subsided, however, he had leisure to contemplate +and become anxious. Rumors, some extravagant, some probable, now floated +about; and the sovereign looked anxiously to the high festival of Easter +to bring all his barons around him, and by the absence or presence of +the suspected, discover at once how far his suspicions and the floating +rumors were correct. + +Although the indisposition of the sovereign prevented the feasting, +merry-making, and other customary marks of royal munificence, which ever +attended the solemnization of Easter, yet it did not in any way +interfere with the bounden duty of every earl and baron, knight and +liegeman, and high ecclesiastics of the realm to present themselves +before the monarch at such a time; Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, +being the seasons when every loyal subject of fit degree appeared +attendant on his sovereign, without any summons so to do. + +They had been seasons of peculiar interest since the dismemberment of +Scotland, for Edward's power was such, that seldom had the peers and +other great officers of that land refused the tacit acknowledgment of +England's supremacy by their non-appearance. Even in that which was +deemed the rebellion of Wallace, the highest families, even the +competitors for the crown, and all the knights and vassals in their +interest, had swelled the train of the conqueror; but this Easter ten or +twelve great barons and their followers were missing. The nobles had +eagerly and anxiously scanned the countenances of each, and whispered +suspicions and rumors, which one glance on their monarch's ruffled brow +confirmed. + +"So ho! my faithful lords and gallant knights," he exclaimed, after the +preliminaries of courtesy between each noble and his sovereign had been +more hastily than usual performed, speaking in a tone so unusually harsh +and sarcastic, that the terms "faithful and gallant" seemed used but in +mockery; "so ho! these are strange news we hear. Where be my lords of +Carrick, Athol, Lennox, Hay? Where be the knights of Seaton, Somerville, +Keith, and very many others we could name? Where be these proud lords, I +say? Are none of ye well informed on these things? I ask ye where be +they? Why are they not here?" + +There was a pause, for none dared risk reply. Edward's voice had waxed +louder and louder, his sallow cheek flushed with wrath, and he raised +himself from his couch, as if irritability of thought had imparted +strength to his frame. + +"I ask ye, where be these truant lords? There be some of ye who _can_ +reply; aye, and by good St. Edward, reply ye shall. Gloucester, my lord +of Gloucester, stand forth, I say," he continued, the thunderstorm +drawing to that climax which made many tremble, lest its bolt should +fall on the daring baron who rumor said was implicated in the flight of +the Bruce, and who now stood, his perfect self-possession and calmness +of mien and feature contrasting well with the fury of his sovereign. + +"And darest thou front me with that bold, shameless brow, false traitor +as thou art?" continued the king, as, with head erect and arms proudly +folded in his mantle, Gloucester obeyed the king's impatient summons. +"Traitor! I call thee traitor! aye, in the presence of thy country's +noblest peers, I charge thee with a traitor's deed; deny it, if thou +darest." + +"Tis my sovereign speaks the word, else had it not been spoken with +impunity," returned the noble, proudly and composedly, though his cheek +burned and his eye flashed. "Yes, monarch of England, I dare deny the +charge! Gloucester is no traitor!" + +"How! dost thou brave me, minion? Darest thou deny the fact, that from +thee, from thy traitorous hand, thy base connivance, Robert of Carrick, +warned that we knew his treachery, fled from our power--that 'tis to +thee, we owe the pleasant news we have but now received? Hast thou not +given that rebel Scotland a head, a chief, in this fell traitor, and art +thou not part and parcel of his guilt? Darest thou deny that from thee +he received intelligence and means of flight? Baron of Gloucester, thou +darest not add the stigma of falsity to thy already dishonored name!" + +"Sovereign of England, my gracious liege and honored king," answered +Gloucester, still apparently unmoved, and utterly regardless of the +danger in which he stood, "dishonor is not further removed from thy +royal name than it is from Gloucester's. I bear no stain of either +falsity or treachery; that which thou hast laid to my charge regarding +the Earl of Carrick, I shrink not, care not to acknowledge; yet, Edward +of England, I am no traitor!" + +"Ha! thou specious orator, reconcile the two an thou canst! Thou art a +scholar of deep research and eloquence profound we have heard. Speak on, +then, in heaven's name!" He flung himself back on his cushions as he +spoke, for, despite his wrath, his suspicions, there was that in the +calm, chivalric bearing of the earl that appealed not in vain to one who +had so long been the soul of chivalry himself. + +The tone in which his sovereign spoke was softened, though his words +were bitter, and Gloucester at once relaxed from his proud and cold +reserve; kneeling before him, he spoke with fervor and impassioned +truth-- + +"Condemn me not unheard, my gracious sovereign," he said. "I speak not +to a harsh and despotic king, who brings his faithful subjects to the +block at the first whisper of evil or misguided conduct cast to their +charge; were Edward such Gloucester would speak not, hope not for +justice at his hands; but to thee, my liege, to thee, to whom all true +knights may look up as to the minor of all that knight should be--the +life and soul of chivalry--to thee, the noblest warrior, the truest +knight that ever put lance in rest--to thee, I say, I am no traitor; and +appeal but to the spirit of chivalry actuating thine own heart to acquit +or condemn me, as it listeth. Hear me, my liege. Robert of Carrick and +myself were sworn brothers from the first hour of our entrance together +upon life, as pages, esquires, and finally, as knights, made such by +thine own royal hand; brothers in arms, in dangers, in victories, in +defeat; aye, and brothers--more than brothers--in mutual fidelity and +love; to receive life, to be rescued from captivity at each other's +hand, to become equal sharers of whatever honors might be granted to the +one and not the other. Need my sovereign be reminded that such +constitutes the ties of brothers in arms, and such brothers were Robert +of Carrick and Gilbert of Gloucester. There came a rumor that the +instigations of a base traitor had poisoned your grace's ear against one +of these sworn brothers, threatening his liberty, if not his life; that +which was revealed, its exact truth or falsehood, might Gloucester pause +to list or weigh? My liege, thou knowest it could not be. A piece of +money and a pair of spurs was all the hint, the warning, that he dared +to give, and it was given, and its warning taken; and the imperative +duty the laws of chivalry, of honor, friendship, all alike demanded +done. The brother by the brother saved! Was Gloucester, then, a traitor +to his sovereign, good my liege?" + +"Say first, my lord, how Gloucester now will reconcile these widely +adverse duties, how comport himself, if duty to his liege and sovereign +call on him to lift his sword against his brother?" demanded Edward, +raising himself on his elbow, and looking on the kneeling nobleman with +eyes which seemed to have recovered their flashing light to penetrate +his soul. Wrath itself appeared to have subsided before this calm yet +eloquent appeal, which in that age could scarcely have been resisted +without affecting the honor of the knight to whom it was addressed. + +An expression of suffering, amounting almost to anguish, took the place +of energy and fervor on the noble countenance of Gloucester, and his +voice, which had never once quivered or failed him in the height of +Edward's wrath, now absolutely shook with the effort to master his +emotion. Twice he essayed to speak ere words came; at length-- + +"With Robert of Carrick Gilbert of Gloucester was allied as brother, my +liege," he said. "With Robert the rebel, Robert the would-be king, the +daring opposer of my sovereign, Gloucester can have naught in common. My +liege, as a knight and gentleman, I have done my duty fearlessly, +openly; as fearlessly, as openly, as your grace's loyal liegeman, fief, +and subject, in the camp and in the court, in victory or defeat, against +all manner or ranks of men, be they friends or foes; to my secret heart +I am thine, and thine alone. In proof of which submission, my royal +liege, lest still in your grace's judgment Gloucester be not cleared +from treachery, behold I resign alike my sword and coronet to your royal +hands, never again to be resumed, save at my sovereign's bidding." + +His voice became again firm ere he concluded, and with the same +respectful deference yet manly pride which had marked his bearing +throughout, he laid his sheathed sword and golden coronet at his +sovereign's feet, and then rising steadily and unflinchingly, returned +Edward's searching glance, and calmly awaited his decision. + +"By St. Edward! Baron of Gloucester," he exclaimed, in his own tone of +kingly courtesy, mingled with a species of admiration he cared not to +conceal, "thou hast fairly challenged us to run a tilt with thee, not of +sword and lance, but of all knightly and generous courtesy. I were no +true knight to condemn, nor king to mistrust thee; yet, of a truth, the +fruit of thy rash act might chafe a cooler mood than ours. Knowest thou +Sir John Comyn is murdered--murdered by the arch traitor thou hast saved +from our wrath?" + +"I heard it, good my liege," calmly returned Gloucester. "Robert of +Carrick was no temper to pass by injuries, aggravated, traitorous +injuries, unavenged." + +"And this is all thou sayest!" exclaimed Edward, his wrath once again +gaining dominion. "Wouldst thou defend this base deed on plea, forsooth, +that Comyn was a traitor? Traitor--and to whom?" + +"To the man that trusted him, my liege; to him he falsely swore to +second and to aid. To every law of knighthood and of honor I say he was +a traitor, and deserved his fate." + +"And this to thy sovereign, madman? To us, whose dignity and person +have been insulted, lowered, trampled on! By all the saints, thou hast +tempted us too far! What ho, there, guards! Am I indeed so old and +witless," he muttered, sinking back again upon the couch from which he +had started in the moment of excitement, "as so soon to forget a +knightly nobleness, which in former days would have knitted my very soul +to his? Bah! 'tis this fell disease that spoke, not Edward. Away with +ye, sir guards, we want ye not," he added, imperatively, as they +approached at his summons. "And thou, sir earl, take up thy sword, and +hence from my sight a while;--answer not, but obey. I fear more for mine +own honor than thou dost for thy head. We neither disarm nor restrain +thee, for we trust thee still; but away with thee, for on our kingly +faith, thou hast tried us sorely." + +Gloucester flung himself on his knee beside his sovereign, his lips upon +the royal hand, which, though scarcely yielded to him, was not withheld, +and hastily resuming his sword and coronet, with a deep reverence, +silently withdrew. + +The king looked after him, admiration and fierce anger struggling for +dominion alike on his countenance as in his heart, and then sternly and +piercingly he scanned the noble crowd, who, hushed into a silence of +terror as well as of extreme interest during the scene they had beheld, +now seemed absolutely to shrink from the dark, flashing orbs of the +king, as they rested on each successively, as if the accusation of _lip_ +would follow that of eye, and the charge of treason fall +indiscriminately on all; but, exhausted from the passion to which he had +given vent, Edward once more stretched himself on his cushions, and +merely muttered-- + +"Deserved his fate--a traitor. Is Gloucester mad--or worse, disloyal? +No; that open brow and fearless eye are truth and faithfulness alone. I +will _not_ doubt him; 'tis but his lingering love for that foul traitor, +Bruce, which I were no true knight to hold in blame. But that murder, +that base murder--insult alike to our authority, our realm--by every +saint in heaven, it shall be fearfully avenged, and that madman rue the +day he dared fling down the gauntlet of rebellion!" and as he spoke, his +right hand instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, and half drew it +from its sheath. + +"Madman, in very truth, my liege," said Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, who, high in favor with his sovereign, alone ventured to +address him; "as your grace will believe, when I say not only hath he +dared defy thee by the murder of Comyn, but has had the presumptuous +folly to enact the farce of coronation, taking upon himself all the +insignia of a king." + +"How! what sayst thou, De Valence," returned Edward, again starting up, +"coronation--king? By St. Edward! this passeth all credence. Whence +hadst thou this witless news?" + +"From sure authority, my liege, marvellous as they seem. These papers, +if it please your grace to peruse, contain matters of import which +demand most serious attention." + +"Anon, anon, sir earl!" answered Edward, impatiently, as Pembroke, +kneeling, laid the papers on a small table of ivory which stood at the +monarch's side. "Tell me more of this strange farce; a king, ha! ha! +Does the rebel think 'tis but to put a crown upon his head and a sceptre +in his hand that makes the monarch--a king, forsooth. And who officiated +at this right solemn mockery? 'Twas, doubtless, a goodly sight!" + +"On my knightly faith, my liege, strangely, yet truly, 'twas a ceremony +regally performed, and, save for numbers, regally attended." + +"Thou darest not tell me so!" exclaimed the king, striking his clenched +hand fiercely on the table. "I tell thee thou darest not; 'tis a false +tale, a lie thrust upon thee to rouse thy spirit but to laugh at. De +Valence, I tell thee 'tis a thing that cannot be! Scotland is laid too +low, her energies are crushed; her best and bravest lying in no +bloodless graves. Who is there to attend this puppet king, save the few +we miss? who dared provoke our wrath by the countenance of such a deed? +Who would dare tempt our fury by placing a crown on the rebel's head? +I tell thee they have played thee false--it cannot be!" + +"Thy valor hath done much, my gracious liege," returned Pembroke, "far +more than ever king hath done before; but pardon me, your grace, the +_people_ of Scotland are not yet crushed, they lie apparently in peace, +till a chief capable of guiding, lordly in rank and knightly in war, +ariseth, and then they too stand forth. Yet what are they? they do but +nominally swell the rebel's court: they do but _seem_ a multitude, which +needs but thy presence to disperse. He cannot, if he dare, resist thee." + +"And wherefore should these tidings so disturb you grace?" interposed +the Earl of Hereford, a brave, blunt soldier, like his own charger, +snuffing the scent of war far off. "We have but to bridle on our +harness, and we shall hear no more of solemn farces like to this. Give +but the word, my sovereign, and these ignoble rebels shall be cut off to +a man, by an army as numerous and well appointed as any that have yet +followed your grace to victory; 'tis a pity they have but to encounter +traitors and rebels, instead of knightly foes," continued the High +Constable of England. + +"Perchance Robert of Carrick deems the assumption of king will provoke +your grace to combat even more than his traitorous rebellion, imagining, +in his madness, the title of king may make ye equals," laughingly +observed the Earl of Arundel; and remarks and opinions of similar import +passed round, but Edward, who had snatched the papers as he ceased to +speak, and was now deeply engrossed in their contents, neither replied +to nor heeded them. Darker and darker grew the frown upon his brow; his +tightly compressed lip, his heaving chest betraying the fearful passion +that agitated him; but when he spoke, there was evidently a struggle for +that dignified calmness which in general distinguished him, though ever +and anon burst forth the undisguised voice of wrath. + +"'Tis well, 'tis very well," he said. "These wild Scots would tempt us to +the utmost, and they shall be satisfied. Ah! my lords of Buchan and +Fife, give ye good morrow. What think ye of these doings amidst your +countrymen, bethink ye they have done well?" + +"Well, as relates to their own ruin, aye, very well, my liege; they act +but as would every follower of the murderer Bruce," replied Buchan, +harshly and sullenly. + +"They are mad, stark mad, your highness; the loss of a little blood may +bring them to their senses," rejoined the more volatile Fife. + +"And is it thus ye think, base, villainous traitors as ye are, leagued +with the rebel band in his coronation? My Lord of Chester, attach them +of high treason." + +"What means your grace?" exclaimed both noblemen at once, but in very +different accents, "Of what are we charged, and who dare make this lying +accusation?" + +"Are ye indeed so ignorant?" replied the king, jibingly. "Know ye not +that Isabella, Countess of Buchan, and representative, in the absence +of her brother, of the earldom of Fife, hath so dared our displeasure as +to place the crown on the rebel's head, and vow him homage?" + +"Hath she indeed dared so to do? By heaven, she shall rue this!" burst +wrathfully from Buchan, his swarthy countenance assuming a yet swarthier +aspect. "My liege, I swear to thee, by the Holy Cross, I knew no more of +this than did your grace. Thinkest thou I would aid and abet the cause +of one not merely a rebel and a traitor, but the foul murderer of a +Comyn--one at whose hands, by the sword's point, have I sworn to demand +my kinsman, and avenge him?" + +"And wherefore did Isabella of Buchan take upon herself this deed, my +liege, but because the only male descendant of her house refused to give +his countenance or aid to this false earl? Because Duncan of Fife was +neither a rebel himself nor gave his aid to rebels, On the honor of a +knight, my liege, I know naught of this foul deed." + +"It may be, it may be," answered Edward, impatiently. "We will see to +it, and condemn ye not unheard; but in times like these, when traitors +and rebels walk abroad and insult us to our very teeth, by St. Edward, +our honor, our safety demands the committal of the suspected till they +be cleared. Resign your swords to my Lord of Chester, and confine +yourselves to your apartments. If ye be innocent, we will find means to +repay you for the injustice we have done; if not, the axe and the block +shall make short work. Begone!" + +Black as a thunderbolt was the scowl that lowered over the brow of +Buchan, as he sullenly unclasped his sword and gave it into the Lord +Constable's hand; while with an action of careless recklessness the Earl +of Fife followed his example, and they retired together, the one +scowling defiance on all who crossed his path, the other jesting and +laughing with each and all. + +"I would not give my best falcon as pledge for the Countess of Buchan's +well-doing, an she hath done this without her lord's connivance," +whispered the Prince of Wales to one of his favorites, with many of whom +he had been conversing, in a low voice, as if his father's wrathful +accents were not particularly grateful to his ear. + +"Nor would I pledge a hawk for her safety, if she fall into his grace's +hands, whether with her lord's consent or no," replied the young +nobleman, laughing. "Your royal father is fearfully incensed." + +"Better destroy them root and branch at once," said the prince, who, +like all weak minds, loved any extremity better than a protracted +struggle. "Exterminate with fire and sword; ravage the land till there +be neither food for man nor beast; let neither noble nor serf remain, +and then, perchance, we shall hear no more of Scotland. On my faith, I +am sick of the word." + +"Not so the king, my royal lord," returned his companion. "See how +eagerly he talks to my lords of Pembroke and Hereford. We shall have our +sovereign yet again at our head." + +And it was even as he said. The king, with that strong self-command +which disease alone could in any way cause to fail, now conquering alike +his bitter disappointment and the fury it engendered, turned his whole +thought and energy towards obtaining the downfall of his insolent +opponents at one stroke; and for that purpose, summoning around him the +brave companions of former campaigns, and other officers of state, he +retired with them to his private closet to deliberate more at length on +the extraordinary news they had received, and the best means of nipping +the rebellion in the bud. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The evening of this eventful day found the Scottish earls seated +together in a small apartment of one of the buildings adjoining the +royal palace, which in the solemn seasons we have enumerated was always +crowded with guests, who were there feasted and maintained at the king's +expense during the whole of their stay. Inconveniences in their private +quarters were little heeded by the nobles, who seldom found themselves +there, save for the purpose of a few hours sleep, and served but to +enhance by contrast the lavish richness and luxury which surrounded them +in the palace and presence of their king; but to the Earls of Buchan and +Fife the inconveniences of their quarters very materially increased the +irritability and annoyance of their present situation. Fife had +stretched himself on two chairs, and leaning his elbows on the broad +shelf formed by the small casement, cast many wistful glances on the +street below, through which richly-attired gallants, both on foot and +horseback, were continually passing. He was one of those frivolous +little minds with whom the present is all in all, caring little for the +past, and still less for the future. It was no marvel, therefore, that +he preferred the utter abandonment of his distracted country for the +luxury and ease attending the court and camp of Edward, to the great +dangers and little recompense attending the toils and struggles of a +patriot. The only emotion of any weight with him was the remembrance of +and desire of avenging petty injuries, fancying and aggravating them +when, in fact, none was intended. + +Very different was the character of the Earl of Buchan; morose, fierce, +his natural hardness of disposition unsoftened by one whisper of +chivalry, although educated in the best school of knighthood, and +continually the follower of King Edward, he adhered to him first, simply +because his estates in England were far more to his taste than those in +Scotland, towards which he felt no filial tie; and soon after his +marriage, repugnance to his high-minded and richly-gifted countess, +which ever seemed a reproach and slur upon himself, kept him still more +aloof, satisfied that the close retirement in which she lived, the +desert and rugged situation of his castle, would effectually debar her +from using that influence he knew she possessed, and keep her wholly and +solely his own; a strange kind of feeling, when, in reality, the wide +contrast between them made her an object of dislike, only to be +accounted for by the fact that a dark, suspicious, jealous temper was +ever at work within him. + +"Now, do but look at that fellow's doublet, Comyn. Look, how gay they +pass below, and here am I, with my new, richly-broidered suit, with +which I thought to brave it with the best of them--here am I, I say, +pent up in stone walls like a caged goldfinch, 'stead of the +entertainment I had pictured; 'tis enough to chafe the spirit of a +saint." + +"And canst thou think of such things now, thou sorry fool?" demanded +Buchan, sternly, pausing in his hurried stride up and down the narrow +precincts of the chamber; "hast thou no worthier subject for +contemplation?" + +"None, save thy dutiful wife's most dutiful conduct, Comyn, which, +being the less agreeable of the two, I dismiss the first I owe her small +thanks for playing the representative of my house; methinks, her +imprisonment would better serve King Edward's cause and ours too." + +"Aye, imprisonment--imprisonment for life," muttered the earl, slowly. +"Let but King Edward restore me my good sword, and he may wreak his +vengeance on her as he listeth. Not all the castles of Scotland, the +arms of Scottish men, dare guard a wife against her husband; bitterly +shall she rue this deed." + +"And thy son, my gentle kinsman, what wilt thou do with him, bethink +thee? Thou wilt find him as great a rebel as his mother; I have ever +told thee thou wert a fool to leave him so long with his brainstruck +mother." + +"She hath not, she dared not bring him with her to the murderer of his +kinsman--Duncan of Fife, I tell thee she dare not; but if she hath, why +he is but a child, a mere boy, incapable of forming judgment one way or +the other." + +"Not so much a child as thou thinkest, my good lord; some sixteen years +or so have made a stalwart warrior ere this. Be warned; send off a +trusty messenger to the Tower of Buchan, and, without any time for +warning, bring that boy as the hostage of thy good faith and loyalty to +Edward; thou wilt thus cure him of his patriotic fancies, and render +thine interest secure, and as thou desirest to reward thy dutiful +partner, thou wilt do it effectually; for, trust me, that boy is the +very apple of her eye, in her affections her very doting-place." + +"Jest not, Duncan, or by all the saints, thou wilt drive me mad!" +wrathfully exclaimed Buchan. "It shall be as thou sayest; and more, I +will gain the royal warrant for the deed--permission to this effect may +shorten this cursed confinement for us both. I have forgotten the boy's +age; his mother's high-sounding patriotism may have tinctured him +already. Thou smilest." + +"At thy marvellous good faith in thy wife's _patriotism_, good +kinsman--oh, well perchance, like charity, it covereth a multitude of +sins." + +"What meanest thou, my Lord of Fife?" demanded Buchan, shortly and +abruptly, pausing in his walk to face his companion, his suspicious +temper instantly aroused by Fife's peculiar tone. "What wouldst thou +insinuate? Tamper not with me; thou knowest I am no subject for a +jest." + +"I have but to look on thee to know that, my most solemn-visaged +brother. I neither insinuate nor tamper with your lordship. Simply and +heartily I do but give thee joy for thy faith in female patriotism," +answered Fife, carelessly, but with an expression of countenance that +did not accord with his tone. + +"What, in the fiend's name, then, has urged her to this mad act, if it +be not what she and others as mad as she call patriotism?" + +"May not a lurking affection for the Bruce have given incentive to love +of country? Buchan, of a truth, thou art dull as a sword-blade when +plunged in muddy water." + +"Affection for the Bruce? Thou art mad as she is, Duncan. What the foul +fiend, knows she of the Bruce? No, no! 'tis too wild a tale--when have +they ever met?" + +"More often than thou listeth, gentle kinsman," returned Fife, with just +sufficient show of mystery to lash his companion into fury. "I could +tell thee of a time when Robert of Carrick was domesticated with my +immaculate sister, hunting with her, hawking with her, reading with her, +making favorable impressions on every heart in Fife Castle save mine +own." + +"And she loved him!--she was loved," muttered Buchan; "and she vowed her +troth to me, the foul-mouthed traitress! She loved him, saidst thou?" + +"On my faith, I know not, Comyn. Rumors, I know, went abroad that it +would have been better for the Lady Isabella's peace and honor if this +gallant, fair-spoken knight had kept aloof." + +"And then, her brother, carest not to speak these things, and in that +reckless tone? By St. Swithin, ye are well matched," returned Buchan, +with a short and bitter laugh of scorn. + +"Faith, Comyn, I love mine own life and comfort too well to stand up the +champion of woman's honor; besides, I vouch not for the truth of +floating rumors. I tell thee but what comes across my brain; for its +worth thou art the best judge." + +"I were a fool to mine own interest to doubt thee now, little worth as +are thy words in common," again muttered the incensed earl, resuming his +hasty strides. "Patriotism! loyalty! ha, ha! high-sounding words, +forsooth. And have they not met since then until now?" he demanded, +stopping suddenly before his companion. + +"Even so, fair kinsman. Whilst thou wert doing such loyal duty to +Edward, after the battle of Falkirk, forgetting thou hadst a wife and +castle to look after, Robert Earl of Carrick found a comfortable +domicile within thy stone walls, and in the fair, sweet company of thine +Isabella, my lord. No doubt, in all honorable and seemly intercourse; +gallant devotion on the one side, and dignified courtesy on the +other--nothing more, depend on't; still it seems but natural that the +memory of a comely face and knightly form should prove incentives to +loyalty and patriotism." + +"The foul fiend take thy jesting!" exclaimed Buchan. "Natural, forsooth; +aye, the same nature that bade me loathe the presence, aye, the very +name of that deceiving traitress. And so that smooth-faced villain +Carrick found welcome in the castle of a Comyn the months we missed him +from the court. Ha, ha! thou hast done me good service, Lord of Fife. I +had not enough of injuries before to demand at the hand of Robert Bruce. +And for Dame Isabella, may the fury of every fiend follow me, if I place +her not in the hands of Edward, alive or dead! his wrath will save me +the trouble of seeking further vengeance." + +"Nay, thou art a very fool to be so chafed," coolly observed Fife. "Thou +hast taken no care of thy wife, and therefore hast no right to demand +strict account of her amusements in thy absence; and how do we know she +is not as virtuous as the rest of them? I do but tell thee of these +things to pass away the time. Ha! there goes the prince's Gascon +favorite, by mine honor. Gaveston sports it bravely; look at his crimson +mantle wadded with sables. He hath changed his garb since morning. +Faith, he is a lucky dog! the prince's love may be valued at some +thousand marks a year--worth possessing, by St. Michael!" + +A muttered oath was all the reply which his companion vouchsafed, nor +did the thunder-cloud upon his brow disperse that evening. + +The careless recklessness of Fife had no power to lessen in the earl's +mind the weight of the shameful charge he had brought against the +countess. Buchan's dark, suspicious mind not alone received it, but +cherished it, revelled in it, as giving him that which he had long +desired, a good foundation for dislike and jealousy, a well-founded +pretence for every species of annoyance and revenge. The Earl of Fife, +who had, in fact, merely spoken, as he had said, to while away the +time, and for the pleasure of seeing his brother-in-law enraged, thought +as little of his words _after_ as he had _before_ they were uttered. A +licentious follower of pleasure in every form himself, he imagined, as +such thoughtless characters generally do, that everybody must be like +him. From his weak and volatile mind, then, all remembrance of that +evening's conversation faded as soon as it was spoken; but with the Earl +of Buchan it remained brooding on itself, and filling his dark spirit +with yet blacker fancies. + +The confinement of the Scottish noblemen was not of long duration. +Edward, whose temper, save when his ambition was concerned, was +generally just and equitable, discovering, after an impartial +examination, that they were in no ways connected with the affairs in the +north, and feeling also it was his interest to conciliate the regard of +all the Scottish nobles disaffected to Bruce, very soon restored them +alike to their personal liberty and to his favor; his courteous apology +for unjust suspicion, frankly acknowledging that the news from Scotland, +combined with his irritating disease, had rendered him blind and +suspicious, at once disarmed Fife of wrath. Buchan, perhaps, had not +been so easily appeased had his mind been less darkly engrossed. His +petition, that his son might be sent for, to be placed as a hostage in +the hands of Edward, and thus saved from the authority of his mother, +whom he represented as an artful, designing woman, possessed of +dangerous influence, was acceded to on the instant, and the king's full +confidence restored. It was easy to act upon Edward's mind, already +incensed against Isabella of Buchan for her daring defiance of his +power; and Buchan did work, till he felt perfectly satisfied that the +wife he hated would be fully cared for without the very smallest trouble +or interference on his part, save the obtaining possession of her +person; that the vengeance he had vowed would be fully perfected, +without any reproach or stigma cast upon his name. + +Meantime the exertions of the King of England for the suppression of the +rebels continued with unabated ardor. Orders were issued and proclaimed +in every part of England for the gathering together one of the noblest +and mightiest armies that had ever yet followed him to war. To render it +still more splendidly impressive, and give fresh incentive to his +subjects, whose warlike spirit he perhaps feared might be somewhat +depressed by this constant call upon them for the reduction of a +country ever rising in revolt, Edward caused proclamation to be +severally made in every important town or county, "that all who were +under the obligation to become knights, and possessed the necessary +means, should appear at Westminster on the coming solemn season of +Whitsuntide, where they should be furnished with every requisite, save +and except the trappings for their horses, from the king's wardrobe, and +be treated with all solemn honor and distinction as best befitted their +rank, and the holy vows they took upon themselves." + +A proclamation such as this, in the very heart of the chivalric era, was +all-sufficient to engage every Englishman heart and soul in the service +of his king; and ere the few weeks intervening between Easter and +Whitsuntide were passed, Westminster and its environs presented a scene +of martial magnificence and knightly splendor, which had never before +been equalled. Three hundred noble youths, sons of earls, barons, and +knights, speedily assembled at the place appointed, all attended +according to their rank and pretensions; all hot and fiery spirits, +eager to prove by their prompt attendance their desire to accept their +sovereign's invitation. The splendor of their attire seemed to demand +little increase from the bounty of the king, but nevertheless, fine +linen garments, rich purple robes, and superb mantles woven with gold, +were bestowed on each youthful candidate, thus strengthening the links +which bound him to his chivalric sovereign, by the gratification of his +vanity in addition to the envied honors of knighthood. As our tale +relates more to Scottish than to English history, we may not linger +longer on the affairs of South Britain than is absolutely necessary for +the clear comprehension of the situation of her far less flourishing +sister. Exciting therefore as was the scene enacted in Westminster, +descriptive as it was of the spirit of the age, we are compelled to give +it but a hasty glance, and pass on to events of greater moment. + +Glorious, indeed, to an eyewitness, must have been the ceremony of +admitting these noble and valiant youths into the solemn mysteries and +chivalric honors of knighthood. On that day the Prince of Wales was +first dubbed a knight, and made Duke of Aquitaine; and so great was the +pressure of the crowd, in their eagerness to witness the ceremonial in +the abbey, where the prince hastened to confer his newly-received +dignity on his companions, that three knights were killed, and several +fainted from heat and exhaustion. Strong war-horses were compelled to +drive back and divide the pressing crowds, ere the ceremony was allowed +to proceed. A solemn banquet succeeded; and then it was that Edward, +whose energy of mind appeared completely to have annihilated disease and +weakness of frame, made that extraordinary vow, which it has puzzled +both historian and antiquary satisfactorily to explain. The matter of +the vow merely betrayed the indomitable spirit of the man, but the +manner seemed strange even in that age. Two swans, decorated with golden +nets and gilded reeds, were placed in solemn pomp before the king, and +he, with imposing fervor, made a solemn vow to the Almighty and the +swans, that he would go to Scotland, and, living or dead, avenge the +murder of Comyn, and the broken faith of the traitorous Scots. Then, +with that earnestness of voice and majesty of mien for which he was +remarkable, he adjured his subjects, one and all, by the solemn fealty +they had sworn to him, that if he should die on the journey, they would +carry his body into Scotland, and never give it burial till the prince's +dominion was established in that country. Eagerly and willingly the +nobles gave the required pledge; and so much earnestness of purpose, so +much martial spirit pervaded that gorgeous assembly, that once more did +hope prevail in the monarch's breast, once more did he believe his +ambitious yearnings would all be fulfilled, and Scotland, rebellious, +haughty Scotland, lie crushed and broken at his feet. Once more his dark +eye flashed, his proud lip curled with its wonted smiles; his warrior +form, erect and firm as in former days, now spurned the couch of +disease, and rode his war-horse with all the grace and ease of former +years. A gallant army, under the command of Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, had already been dispatched towards Scotland, bearing with it +the messengers of the Earl of Buchan, armed both with their lord's +commands and Edward's warrant for the detention of the young heir of +Buchan, and to bring him with all honor to the head-quarters of the +king. The name of Isabella of Buchan was subjoined to that of the Bruce, +and together with all those concerned in his rising proclaimed as +traitors and a price set upon their heads. This done, the king had been +enabled to wait with greater tranquillity the assembling of his larger +army, and after the ceremonials of Westminster, orders were issued for +every earl and baron to proceed with their followers to Carlisle, which +was named the head-quarters of the army, there to join their sovereign +with his own immediate troops. The Scottish nobles Edward's usual policy +retained in honorable posts about his person, not choosing to trust +their fidelity beyond the reach of his own eye. + +Obedient to these commands, all England speedily appeared in motion, the +troops of every county moving as by one impulse to Carlisle. Yet there +were some of England's noblest barons in whose breasts a species of +admiration, even affection, was at work towards the very man they were +now marching to destroy, and this was frequently the case in the ages of +chivalry. Fickle as the character of Robert Bruce had appeared to be, +there was that in it which had ever attracted, riveted the regard of +many of the noble spirits in King Edward's court. The rash daring of his +enterprise, the dangers which encircled him, were such as dazzled and +fascinated the imagination of those knights in whom the true spirit of +chivalry found rest. Pre-eminent amongst these was the noble Earl of +Gloucester. His duty to his sovereign urged him to take the field; his +attachment for the Bruce would have held him neuter, for the ties that +bound brothers in arms were of no common or wavering nature. Brothers in +blood had frequently found themselves opposed horse to horse, and lance +to lance, on the same field, and no scruples of conscience, no pleadings +of affection, had power to avert the unnatural strife; but not such was +it with brothers in arms--a link strong as adamant, pure as their own +sword-steel, bound their hearts as one; and rather, much rather would +Gloucester have laid down his own life, than expose himself to the +fearful risk of staining his sword with the blood of his friend. The +deepest dejection took possession of his soul, which not all the +confidence of his sovereign, the gentle, affectionate pleadings of his +wife, could in any way assuage. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +It was the month of June, and the beautiful county of Perth smiled in +all the richness and loveliness of early summer. Not yet had the signal +of war floated on the pure springy breeze, not yet had the stains of +blood desecrated the gladsome earth, although the army of De Valence was +now within very few miles of Scone, which was still the head-quarters of +the Scottish king. Aware of the very great disparity of numbers between +his gallant followers and those of Pembroke, King Robert preferred +entrenching himself in his present guarded situation, to meeting De +Valence in the open field, although, more than once tempted to do so, +and finding extreme difficulty in so curbing the dauntless spirit of his +followers as to incline them more towards the defensive than the attack. +Already had the fierce thunders of the Church been launched against him +for the sin of murder committed in consecrated ground. Excommunication +in all its horrors exposed him to death from any hand, that on any +pretence of private hate or public weal might choose to strike; but +already had there arisen spirits bold enough to dispute the awful +mandates of the Pope, and the patriotic prelates who had before +acknowledged and done homage to their sovereign, now neither wavered in +their allegiance nor in any way sought to promulgate the sentence +thundered against him. A calm smile had passed over the Bruce's noble +features as the intelligence of the wrath of Rome was communicated to +him. + +"The judge and the avenger is in heaven, holy father," he said; "to His +hands I commit my cause, conscious of deserving, as humbly awaiting, +chastisement for that sin which none can reprobate and abhor more +strongly than myself; if blood must flow for blood, His will be done. I +ask but to free my country, to leave her in powerful yet righteous +hands, and willingly I will depart, confident of mercy for my soul." + +Fearful, however, that this sentence might dispirit his subjects, King +Robert watched his opportunity of assembling and addressing them. In a +brief, yet eloquent speech, he narrated the base, cold-blooded system of +treachery of Comyn; how, when travelling to Scotland, firmly trusting +in, and depending on, the good faith the traitor had so solemnly +pledged, a brawl had arisen between his (Bruce's) followers and some men +in the garb of Borderers, who were discovered to be emissaries of the +Red Comyn, and how papers had been found on them, in which all that +could expose the Bruce to the deadly wrath of Edward was revealed, and +his very death advised as the only effectual means of quelling his +efforts for the freedom of Scotland, and crushing the last hopes of her +still remaining patriots. He told them how, on the natural indignation +excited by this black treachery subsiding, he had met Sir John Comyn at +Dumfries--how, knowing the fierce irascibility of his natural temper, he +had willingly agreed that the interview Comyn demanded should take place +in the church of the Minorite Friars, trusting that the sanctity of the +place would be sufficient to restrain him. + +"But who may answer for himself, my friends?" he continued, mournfully; +"it needs not to dilate on that dark and stormy interview, suffice it +that the traitor sought still to deceive, still to win me by his +specious sophistry to reveal my plans, again to be betrayed, and that +when I taunted him with his base, cowardly treachery, his black +dishonor, words of wrath and hate, and blind deluded passion arose +between us, and the spirit of evil at work within me urged my rash sword +to strike. Subjects and friends, I plead no temptation as excuse, I make +no defence; I deplore, I contemn the deed. If ye deem me worthy of +death, if ye believe the sentence of our holy father in God, his +holiness the Pope, be just, that it is wholly free from the machinations +of England, who, deeming force of arms not sufficient, would hurl the +wrath of heaven's viceregent on my devoted head, go, leave me to the +fate it brings; your oath of allegiance is dissolved. I have yet +faithful followers, to make one bold stand against the tyrant, and die +for Scotland; but if ye absolve me, if ye will yet give me your hearts +and swords, oh, fear me not, my countrymen, we may yet be free!" + +Cries, tears, and blessings followed this wisely-spoken appeal, one +universal shout reiterated their vows of allegiance; those who had felt +terrified at the mandate of their spiritual father, now traced it not to +his impartial judgment, but to the schemes of Edward, and instantly felt +its weight and magnitude had faded into air. The unwavering loyalty of +the Primate of Scotland, the Bishop of Glasgow, and the Abbot of Scone +strengthened them alike in their belief and allegiance, and a band of +young citizens were instantly provided with arms at the expense of the +town, and the king entreated by a deputation of the principal +magistrates to accept their services as a guard extraordinary, lest his +life should be yet more endangered from private individuals, by the +sentence under which he labored; and gratified by their devotedness, +though his bold spirit spurned all Fear of secret assassination, their +request was graciously accepted. + +The ceremony of knighthood which the king had promised to confer on +several of his young followers had been deferred until the present time, +to admit of their preparing for their inauguration with all the solemn +services of religion which the rites enjoined. + +The 15th day of June was the time appointed, and Nigel Bruce and Alan of +Buchan were to pass the night previous, in solemn prayer and vigil, in +the abbey church of Scone. That the rules of chivalry should not be +transgressed by his desire to confer some honor on the son of the +Countess of Buchan, which would demonstrate the high esteem in which she +was held by her sovereign, Alan had served the king, first as page and +then as esquire, in the interval that had elapsed since his coronation, +and now he beheld with ardor the near completion of the honor for which +he pined. His spirit had been wrung well-nigh to agony, when amidst the +list of the proscribed as traitors he beheld his mother's name; not so +much at the dangers that would encircle her--for from those he might +defend her--but that his father was still a follower of the unmanly +tyrant, who would even war against a woman--his father should still +calmly assist and serve the man who set a price upon his mother's head. +Alas! poor boy, he little knew that father's heart. + +It was evening, a still, oppressive evening, for though the sun yet +shone brightly as he sunk in the west, a succession of black +thunder-clouds, gradually rising higher and higher athwart the intense +blue of the firmament, seemed to threaten that the wings of the tempest +were already brooding on the dark bosom of night. The very flowers +appeared to droop beneath the weight of the atmosphere; the trees moved +not, the birds were silent, save when now and then a solitary note was +heard, and then hushed, as if the little warbler shrunk back in his +leafy nest, frightened at his own voice. Perchance it was the stillness +of nature which had likewise affected the inmates of a retired chamber +in the palace, for though they sate side by side, and their looks +betrayed that the full communion of soul was not denied, few words were +spoken. The maiden of Buchan bent over the frame which contained the +blue satin scarf she was embroidering with the device of Bruce, in gold +and gems, and it was Nigel Bruce who sate beside her, his deep, +expressive eyes fixed upon her in such fervid, such eloquent love, that +seldom was it she ventured to raise her glance to his. A slight shadow +was on those sweet and gentle features, perceptible, perchance, to the +eye of love alone; and it was this that, after enjoying that silent +communion of the spirit, so dear to those who love, which bade Nigel +fling his arm around that slender form, and ask-- + +"What is it, sweet one? why art thou sad?" + +"Do not ask me, Nigel, for indeed I know not," she answered, simply, +looking up a moment in his face, in that sweet touching confidence, +which made him draw her closer to his protecting heart; "save that, +perchance, the oppression of nature has extended to me, and filled my +soul with unfounded fancies of evil. I ought to be very happy, Nigel, +loved thus by _thee_," she hid her eyes upon his bosom; "received as thy +promised bride, not alone by thy kind sisters, thy noble brothers, +but--simple-hearted maiden as I am--deemed worthy of thee by good King +Robert's self. Nigel, dearest Nigel, why, in an hour of joy like this, +should dreams of evil come?" + +"To whisper, my beloved, that not on earth may we look for the +perfection of joy, the fulness of bliss; that while the mortal shell is +round us joy is chained to pain, and granted us but to lift up the +spirit to that heaven where pain is banished, bliss made perfect; +dearest, 'tis but for this!" answered the young enthusiast, and the rich +yet somewhat mournful tones of his voice thrilled to his listener's +heart. + +"Thou speakest as if thou, too, hadst experienced forebodings like to +these, my Nigel," said Agnes, thoughtfully. "I deemed them but the +foolishness of my weaker mind." + +"Deem them not foolishness, beloved. There are minds, indeed, that know +them not, but they are of that rude, coarse material which owns no +thought, hath no hopes but those of earth and earthly things, insensible +to that profundity of joy which makes us _feel_ its _chain_: 'tis not to +the lightly feeling such forebodings come." + +"But thou--hast thou felt them, Nigel, dearest? hast thou listened to, +_believed_ their voice? + +"I have felt, I feel when I gaze on thee, sweet one, a joy so deep, so +full, that I scarce dare trace it to an earthly cause," he said, +slightly evading a direct answer. "I cannot look forward and, as it +were, extend that deep joy to the future; but the fetter binding it to +pain reminds me I am mortal, that not an earth may I demand find seek +and hope to find its fulfilment." + +She looked up in his face, with an expression both of bewilderment and +fear, and her hand unconsciously closed on his arm, as thus to detain +him to her side. + +"Yes, my beloved," he added, with more animation, "it is not because I +put not my trust in earth for unfading joy that we shall find not its +sweet flowers below; that our paths on earth may be darkened, because +the fulness of bliss is alone to be found in heaven. Mine own sweet +Agnes, while darkness and strife, and blood and death, are thus at work +around us, is it marvel we should sometimes dream of sorrow? Yet, oh +yet, have we not both the same hope, the same God, the same home in +heaven; and if our doom be to part on earth, shall we not, oh, shall we +not meet in bliss? I say not such things will be, my best beloved; but +better look thus upon the dim shadow sometimes resting on the rosy wings +of joy, than ever dismiss it as the vain folly of a weakened mind." + +He pressed his lips, which quivered, on the fair, beautiful brow then +resting in irresistible sorrow on his bosom; but he did not attempt by +words to check that maiden's sudden burst of tears. After a while, when +he found his own emotion sufficiently restrained, soothingly and fondly +he cheered her to composure, and drew from her the thoughts which had +disturbed her when he first spoke. + +"'Twas of my mother, Nigel, of my beloved, my noble mother that I +thought; proscribed, hunted, set a price upon as a traitor. Can her +children think on such indignity without emotion--and when I remember +the great power of King Edward, who has done this--without fear for her +fate?" + +"Sweetest, fear not for her; her noble deed, her dauntless heroism has +circled her with such a guard of gallant knights and warriors, that, in +the hands of Edward, trust me, dearest, she shall never fall; and even +if such should be, still, I say, fear not. Unpitying and cruel as Edward +is, where his ambition is concerned, he is too true a knight, too noble +in spirit to take a woman's blood; he is now fearfully enraged, and +therefore has he done this. And as to indignity, 'tis shame to the +proscriber not to the proscribed, my love!" + +"There is one I fear yet more than Edward," continued the maiden, +fearfully; "one that I should love more. Oh, Nigel, my very spirit +shrinks from the image of my father. I have sought to love him, to +dismiss the dark haunting visions which his name has ever brought before +me. I saw him once, but once, and his stern terrible features and harsh +voice so terrified my childish fancies, that I hid myself till he had +departed, and I have never seen him since, and yet, oh yet, I fear him!" + +"What is it that thou fearest, love?" + +"I know not," she answered; "but if evil approach my mother, it will +come from him, and so silently, so unsuspectedly, that none may avoid +it. Nigel, he cannot love my mother! he is a foe to Bruce, a friend of +the slaughtered Comyn, and will he not demand a stern account of the +deed that she hath done? will he not seek vengeance? and oh, will he +not, may he not in wrath part thee and me, and thus thy bodings be +fulfilled?" + +"Agnes, never! The mandate of man shall never part us; the power of man, +unless my limbs be chained, shall never sever thee and me. He that hath +never acted a father's part, can have no power on his child. Thou art +mine, my beloved!--mine with thy mother's blessing; and mine thou shalt +be--no earthly power shall part us. Death, death alone can break the +links that bind us, and must be of God, though man may seem the cause. +Be comforted, sweet love. Hark! they are chiming vespers; I must be gone +for the solemn vigil of to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt arm thine own +true knight, mine Agnes, and deck me with that blue scarf, more precious +even than the jewelled sword my sovereign brother gives. Farewell, for a +brief, brief while; I go to watch and pray. Oh, let thy orisons attend +me, and surely then my vigil shall be blest." + +"Pray thou for me, my Nigel," whispered the trembling girl, as he +clasped her in his arms, "that true as I may be, strength befitting thy +promised bride may be mine own. Nigel, my beloved, indeed I need such +prayer." + +He whispered hope and comfort, and departed by the stone stairs which +led from the gothic casement where they had been sitting, into the +garden; he lingered to gather some delicate blue-bells which had just +blown, and turned back to place them in the lap of Agnes. She eagerly +raised them and pressed them to her lips, but either their fragile +blossoms could not bear even her soft touch, or the heavy air had +inwardly withered their bloom, for the blossoms fell from their stalks, +and scattered their beautiful petals at her feet. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The hour of vespers had come and passed; the organ and choir had hushed +their solemn sounds. The abbot and his attendant monks, the king who, +with his train, had that evening joined the solemn service, all had +departed, and but two inmates were left within the abbey church of +Scone. Darkness and silence had assumed their undisturbed dominion, for +the waxen tapers left burning on the altar lighted but a few yards +round, leaving the nave and cloisters in impenetrable gloom. Some twenty +or thirty yards east of the altar, elevated some paces from the ground, +in its light and graceful shrine, stood an elegantly sculptured figure +of the Virgin and Child. A silver lamp, whose pure flame was fed with +aromatic incense, burned within the shrine and shed its soft light on a +suit of glittering armor which was hanging on the shaft of a pillar +close beside it. Directly behind the altar was a large oriel window of +stained glass, representing subjects from Scripture. The window, with +its various mullions and lights, formed one high pointed arch, marked by +solid stone pillars on each side, the capitals of which traced the +commencement of the arch. Another window, similar in character, though +somewhat smaller in dimensions, lighted the west end of the church; and +near it stood another shrine containing a figure of St. Stephen, lighted +as was that of the Virgin and Child, and, like that, gleaming on a suit +of armor, and on the figure of the youthful candidate for knighthood, +whose task was to pass that night in prayer and vigil beside his armor, +unarmed, saved by that panoply of proof which is the Christian's +portion--faith, lowliness, and prayer. + +No word passed between these pledged brothers in arms. Their watch was +in opposite ends of the church, and save the dim, solemn light of the +altar, darkness and immeasurable space appeared to stretch between them. +Faintly and fitfully the moon had shone through one of the long, narrow +windows of the aisles, shedding its cold spectral light for a brief +space, then passing into darkness. Heavy masses of clouds sailed slowly +in the heavens, dimly discernible through the unpainted panes; the +oppression of the atmosphere increasing as the night approached her +zenith, and ever and anon a low, long peal of distant thunder, each +succeeding one becoming longer and louder than the last, and heralded by +the blue flash of vivid lightning, announced the fury of the coming +tempest. + +The imaginations even as the feelings of the young men were already +strongly excited, although their thoughts, perchance, were less akin +than might have been expected. The form of his mother passed not from +the mental vision of the young heir of Buchan: the tone of her voice, +the unwonted tear which had fallen on his cheek when he had knelt before +her that evening, ere he had departed to his post, craving her blessing +on his vigil, her prayers for him--that tone, that tear, lingered on his +memory, hallowing every dream of glory, every warrior hope that entered +in his soul. Internally he vowed he would raise the banner of his race, +and prove the loyalty, the patriotism, the glowing love of liberty which +her counsels, her example had planted in his breast; and if the +recollection of his mother's precarious situation as a proscribed +traitor to Edward, and of his father's desertion of his country and her +patriot king in his adherence to a tyrant--if these reflections came to +damp the bright glowing views of others, they did but call the indignant +blood to his cheek, and add greater firmness to his impatient step, for +yet more powerfully did they awake his indignation against Edward. Till +now he had looked upon him exclusively in the light of Scotland's +foe--one against whom he with all true Scottish men must raise their +swords, or live forever 'neath the brand of slaves and cowards; but now +a personal cause of anger added fuel to the fire already burning in his +breast. His mother was proscribed--a price set upon her head; and as if +to fill the measure of his cup of bitterness to overflowing, his own +father, he who should have been her protector, aided and abetted the +cruel, pitiless Edward. Traitress! Isabella of Buchan a traitress! the +noblest, purest, bravest amid Scotland's children. She who to him had +ever seemed all that was pure and good, and noblest in woman; and most +noble and patriot-hearted now, in the fulfilment of an office inherent +in the House of Fife. Agitated beyond expression, quicker and quicker he +strode up and down the precincts marked for his watch, the increasing +tempest without seeming to assimilate strangely with the storm within. +Silence would have irritated, would have chafed those restless smartings +into very agony, but the wild war of the elements, while they roused +his young spirit into yet stronger energy, removed its pain. + +"It matters not," his train of thought continued, "while this brain can +think, this heart can feel, this arm retain its strength, Isabella of +Buchan needs no other guardian but her son. It is as if years had left +their impress on my heart, as if I had grown in very truth to man, +thinking with man's wisdom, fighting with man's strength. He that hath +never given a father's love, hath never done a father's duty, hath no +claim upon his child; but she, whose untiring devotion, whose faithful +love hath watched over me, guarded, blessed from the first hour of my +life, instilled within me the principles of life on earth and +immortality in heaven--mother! mother! will not thy gentle virtues cling +around thy boy, and save him even from a father's curse? Can I do else +than devote the life thou gavest, to thee, and render back with my +stronger arm, but not less firm soul, the care, protection, love thou +hast bestowed on me? Mother, Virgin saint," he continued aloud, flinging +himself before the shrine to which we have alluded, "hear, oh hear my +prayer! Intercede for me above, that strength, prudence, wisdom may be +granted me in the accomplishment of my knightly vows; that my mother, my +own mother may be the first and dearest object of my heart: life, fame, +and honor I dedicate to her. Spare me, bless me but for her; if danger, +imprisonment be unavailingly her doom, let not my spirit waver, nor my +strength flag, nor courage nor foresight fail, till she is rescued to +liberty and life." + +Wrapt in the deep earnest might of prayer, the boy remained kneeling, +with clasped hands, and eyes fixed on the Virgin's sculptured face, his +spirit inwardly communing, long, long after his impassioned vows had +sunk in silence; the thunder yet rolled fearfully, and the blue +lightning flashed and played around him with scarce a minute's +intermission, but no emotion save that of a son and warrior took +possession of his soul. He knew a terrific storm was raging round him, +but it drew him not from earthly thoughts and earthly feelings, even +while it raised his soul in prayer. Very different was the effect of +this lonely vigil and awful night on the imaginative spirit of his +companion. + +It was not alone the spirit of chivalry which now burned in the noble +heart of Nigel Bruce. He was a poet, and the glowing hues of poesie +invested every emotion of his mind. He loved deeply, devotedly; and +love, pure, faithful, hopeful love, appeared to have increased every +feeling, whether of grief of joy, in intensity and depth. He felt too +deeply to be free from that peculiar whispering within, known by the +world as presentiment, and as such so often scorned and contemned as the +mere offspring of weak, superstitious minds, when it is in reality one +of those distinguishing marks of the higher, more ethereal temperament +of genius. + +Perchance it is the lively imagination of such minds, which in the very +midst of joy can so vividly portray and realize pain, or it may be, +indeed, the mysterious voice which links gifted man with a higher class +of beings to whom futurity is revealed. Be this as it may, even while +the youthful patriot beheld with, a visioned eye the liberty of his +country, and rejoiced in thus beholding, there ever came a dim and +silent shadowing, a whispering voice, that he should indeed behold it, +but not from earth. When the devoted brother and loyal subject pictured +his sovereign in very truth a free and honored King, his throne +surrounded by nobles and knights of his own free land, and many others, +the enthusiast saw not himself amongst them, and yet he rejoiced in the +faith such things would be. When the young and ardent lover sate by the +side of his betrothed, gazing on her sweet face, and drinking in deeply +the gushing tide of joy; when his spirit pictured yet dearer, lovelier, +more assured bliss, when Agnes would be in very truth his own, still did +that strange thrilling whisper come, and promise he should indeed +experience such bliss, but not on earth; and yet he loved, aye, and +rejoiced, and there came not one shadow on his bright, beautiful face, +not one sad echo in the rich, deep tones of his melodious voice to +betray such dim forebodings had found resting in his soul. + +Already excited by his conversation with Agnes, the service in which he +found himself engaged was not such as to tranquillize his spirit, or +still his full heart's quivering throb. His imaginative soul had already +flung its halo over the solemn rites which attended his inauguration as +a knight. Even to less enthusiastic spirits there was a glow, a glory in +this ceremony which seldom failed to awake the soul, and inspire it with +high and noble sentiments. It was not therefore strange that these +emotions should in the heart of Nigel Bruce obtain that ascendency, +which to sensitive minds must become pain. Had it been a night of calm +and holy stillness, he would in all probability have felt its soothing +effect; but as it was, every pulse throbbed and every nerve was strained +'neath his strong sense of the sublime. He could not be said to think, +although he had struggled long and fiercely to compose his mind for +those devotional exercises he deemed most fitted for the hour. Feeling +alone possessed him, overwhelming, indefinable; he deemed it admiration, +awe, adoration of Him at whose nod the mighty thunders rolled and the +destructive lightnings flashed, but he could not define it such. He did +not dream of earth, not even the form of Agnes flashed, as was its wont, +before him; no, it was of scenes and sounds undreamed of in earth's +philosophy he thought; and as he gazed on the impenetrable darkness, and +then beheld it dispersed by the repeated lightning, his excited fancy +almost believed that he should see it peopled by the spirits of the +mighty dead which slept within those walls, and no particle of terror +attended this belief. In the weak superstition of his age, Nigel Bruce +had never shared, but firmly and steadfastly he believed, even in his +calm and unexcited moments, that there was a link between the living and +the dead; that the freed spirits of the one were permitted to hold +commune with the other, not in visible shape, but in those thrilling +whispers which the spirit knows, while yet it would deny them even to +itself. It was the very age of superstition; religion itself was clothed +in a veil of solemn mystery, which to minds constituted as Nigel's gave +it a deeper, more impressive tone. Its ceremonies, its shrines, its +fictions, all gave fresh zest to the imagination, and filled the heart +of its votary with a species of devotion and excitement, which would now +be considered as mere visionary madness, little in accordance with the +true spirit of piety or acceptable to the Most High, but which was then +regarded as meritorious; and even as we look back upon the saints and +heroes of the past, even now should not be condemned; for, according to +the light bestowed, so is devotion demanded and accepted by the God of +all. + +Nigel Bruce had paused in his hasty walk, and leaning against the pillar +round which his armor hung, fixed his eyes for a space on the large +oriel window we have named, whose outline was but faintly discernible, +save on the left side, which was dimly illumined by the silver lamp +burning in the shrine of St. Stephen, close beside which the youthful +warrior stood. The storm had suddenly sunk into an awful and almost +portentous silence; and in that brief interval of stillness and gloom, +Nigel felt his blood flow more calmly in his veins, his pulses stilled +their starting throbs, and the young soldier crossed his arms on his +breast, and bent his uncovered head upon them in silent yet earnest +prayer. + +The deep, solemn chime of the abbey-bell, echoing like a spirit-voice +through the arched and silent church, roused him, and he looked up. At +the same moment a strong and awfully brilliant flash of lightning darted +through the window on which his eyes were fixed, followed by a mighty +peal of thunder, longer and louder than any that had come before. For +above a minute that blue flash lingered playing, it seemed, on steel, +and a cold shuddering thrill crept through the frame of Nigel Bruce, +sending the life-blood from his cheek back to his very heart, for either +fancy had again assumed her sway, and more vividly than before, or his +wild thoughts had found a shape and semblance. Within the arch formed by +the high window stood or seemed to stand a tall and knightly form, clad +from the gorget to the heel in polished steel; his head was bare, and +long, dark hair shaded a face pale and shadowy indeed, but strikingly +and eminently noble; there was a scarf across his breast, and on it +Nigel recognized the cognizance of his own line, the crest and motto of +the Bruce. It could not have been more than a minute that the blue +lightning lingered there, yet to his excited spirit it was long enough +to impress indelibly and startlingly every trace of that strange vision +upon his heart. The face was turned to his, with a solemn yet sorrowful +earnestness of expression, and the mailed hand raised on high, seemed +pointing unto heaven. The flash passed and all was darkness, the more +dense and impenetrable, from the vivid light which had preceded it; but +Nigel stirred not, moved not, his every sense absorbed, not in the +weakness of mortal terror, but in one overwhelming sensation of awe, +which, while it oppressed the spirit well-nigh to pain, caused it to +long with an almost sickening intensity for a longer and clearer view of +that which had come and passed with the lightning flash. Again the vivid +blaze dispersed the gloom, but no shadow met his fixed impassioned gaze. +Vision or reality, the form was gone; there was no trace, no sign of +that which had been. For several successive flashes Nigel remained +gazing on the spot where the mailed form had stood, as if he felt it +would, it must again appear; but as time sped, and he saw but space, the +soul relaxed from its high-wrought mood, the blood, which had seemed +stagnant in his veins, rushed back tumultuously through its varied +channels, and Nigel Bruce prostrated himself before the altar, to +wrestle with his perturbed spirit till it found calm in prayer. + +A right noble and glorious scene did the great hall of the palace +present the morning which followed this eventful night. The king, +surrounded by his highest prelates and nobles, mingling indiscriminately +with the high-born dames and maidens of his court, all splendidly +attired, occupied the upper part of the hall, the rest of which was +crowded both by his military followers and many of the good citizens of +Scone, who flocked in great numbers to behold the august ceremony of the +day. Two immense oaken doors at the south side of the hall were flung +open, and through them was discerned the large space forming the palace +yard, prepared as a tilting-ground, where the new-made knights were to +prove their skill. The storm had given place to a soft breezy morning, +the cool freshness of which appearing peculiarly grateful from the +oppressiveness of the night; light downy clouds sailed over the blue +expanse of heaven, tempering without clouding the brilliant rays of the +sun. Every face was clothed with smiles, and the loud shouts which +hailed the youthful candidates for knighthood, as they severally +entered, told well the feeling with which the patriots of Scotland were +regarded. + +Some twenty youths received the envied honor at the hand of their +sovereign this day, but our limits forbid a minute scrutiny of the +bearing of any, however well deserving, save of the two whose vigils +have already detained us so long. A yet longer and louder shout +proclaimed the appearance of the youngest scion of the house of Bruce, +and his companion. The daring patriotism of Isabella of Buchan had +enshrined her in every heart, and so disposed all men towards her +children, that the name of their traitorous father was forgotten. + +Led by their godfathers, Nigel by his brother-in-law, Sir Christopher +Seaton, and Alan by the Earl of Lennox, their swords, which had been +blessed by the abbot at the altar, slung round their necks, they +advanced up the hall. There was a glow on the cheek of the young Alan, +in which pride and modesty were mingled; his step at first was +unsteady, and his lip was seen to quiver from very bashfulness, as he +first glanced round the hall and felt that every eye was turned towards +him; but when that glance met his mother's fixed on him, and breathing +that might of love which filled her heart, all boyish tremors fled, the +calm, staid resolve of manhood took the place of the varying glow upon +his cheek, the quivering lip became compressed and firm, and his step +faltered not again. + +The cheek of Nigel Bruce was pale, but there was firmness in the glance +of his bright eye, and a smile unclouded in its joyance on his lip. The +frivolous lightness of the courtier, the mad bravado of knight-errantry, +which was not uncommon to the times, indeed, were not there. It was the +quiet courage of the resolved warrior, the calm of a spirit at peace +with itself, shedding its own high feeling and poetic glory over all +around him. + +On reaching the foot of King Robert's throne, both youths knelt and laid +their sheathed swords at his feet. Their armor-bearers then approached, +and the ceremony of clothing the candidates in steel commenced; the +golden spur was fastened on the left foot of each by his respective +godfather, while Athol, Hay, and other nobles advanced to do honor to +the youths, by aiding in the ceremony. Nor was it warriors alone. + +"Is this permitted, lady?" demanded the king, smiling, as the Countess +of Buchan approached the martial group, and, aided by Lennox, fastened +the polished cuirass on the form of her son. "Is it permitted for a +matron to arm a youthful knight? Is there no maiden to do such inspiring +office?" + +"Yes, when the knight be one as this, my liege," she answered, in the +same tone; "let a matron arm him, good my liege," she added, sadly--"let +a mother's hand enwrap his boyish limbs in steel, a mother's blessing +mark him thine and Scotland's, that those who watch his bearing in the +battle-field may know who sent him there, may thrill his heart with +memories of her who stands alone of her ancestral line, that though he +bears the name of Comyn, the blood of Fife flows reddest in his veins." + +"Arm him and welcome, noble lady," answered the king, and a buzz of +approbation ran through the hall; "and may thy noble spirit and +dauntless loyalty inspire him; we shall not need a trusty follower while +such as he are round us. Yet, in very deed, my youthful knight must +have a lady fair for whom he tilts to-day. Come hither, Isoline; thou +lookest verily inclined to envy thy sweet friend her office, and nothing +loth to have a loyal knight thyself. Come, come, my pretty one, no +blushing now. Lennox, guide those tiny hands aright." + +Laughing and blushing, Isoline, the daughter of Lady Campbell, a sister +of the Bruce, a graceful child of some thirteen summers, advanced, +nothing loth, to obey her royal uncle's summons, and an arch smile of +real enjoyment irresistibly stole over the countenance of Alan, +dispersing the emotion his mother's words produced. + +"Nay, tremble not, sweet one," the king continued, in a lower and yet +kinder tone, as he turned from the one youth to the other, and observed +that Agnes, overpowered by emotion, had scarcely power to perform her +part, despite the whispered words of encouraging affection Nigel +murmured in her ear. Imaginative to a degree, which, by her quiet, +subdued manners, was never suspected, the simple act of those early +flowers withering in her grasp, fresh as they were from the hand of her +betrothed, had weighed down her spirits as with an indefinable sense of +pain, which she could not combat. The war of the elements, attending as +it did the vigil of her lover, had not decreased these feelings, and the +morning found her dispirited and shrinking in sensitiveness from the +very scene she had anticipated with joy. + +"It must not be with a trembling hand the betrothed of a Bruce arms her +chosen knight, fair Agnes," continued the king, cheeringly. "She must +inspire him with valor and confidence. Smile, then, gentlest and +loveliest; we would have all smiles to-day." + +And she did smile, but it was a smile of tears, gleaming on her +beautiful face as a sunny beam through a glistening spray. One by one +the cuirass and shoulder-pieces, the greaves and gauntlets, the gorget +and brassards, the joints of which were so beautifully burnished that +they shone as mirrors, and so flexible every limb had its free use, +enveloped those manly forms. Their swords once again girt to their +sides, and once more keeling, the king descended from his throne, and +alternately dubbed them knight in the name of God, St. Michael, and St. +George. + +"Be faithful, brave, and hardy, youthful cavaliers," he said; "true to +the country which claims ye, to the monarch ye have sworn to serve, to +the knight from whose sword ye have received the honor ye have craved. +Remember, 'tis not the tournay nor the tilted field in which ye will +gain renown. For your country let your swords be drawn; against her foes +reap laurels. Sir Nigel, 'tis thine to retain unsullied the name thou +bearest, to let the Bruce be glorified in thee. And thou, Sir Alan, 'tis +thine to _earn_ a name--in very truth, to win thy golden spurs; to prove +we do no unwise deed, forgetting thy early years, to do honor to thy +mother's son." + +Lightly and eagerly the new-made knights sprung to their feet, the very +clang of their glittering armor ringing gratefully and rejoicingly in +their ears. Their gallant steeds, barded and richly caparisoned, held by +their esquires, stood neighing and pawing at the foot of the steps +leading from the oaken doors. + +Without touching the stirrup, both sprung at the same instant in their +saddles; the helmet, with its long graceful plume, was quickly donned; +the lance and shield received; the pennon adorning the iron head of each +lowered a moment in honor to their sovereign, then waved gayly in air, +and then each lance was laid in rest; a trumpet sounded, and onward +darted the fiery youths thrice round the lists, displaying a skill and +courage in horsemanship which was hailed with repeated shouts of +applause. But on the tournay and the banquet which succeeded the +ceremony we have described we may not linger, but pass rapidly on to a +later period of the same evening. + +Sir Nigel and his beautiful betrothed had withdrawn a while from the +glittering scene around them; they had done their part in the graceful +dance, and now they sought the comparative solitude and stillness of the +flower-gemmed terrace, on which the ball-room opened, to speak +unreservedly the thoughts which had filled each heart; perchance there +were some yet veiled, for the vision of the preceding night, the +strange, incongruous fancies it had engendered in the youthful warrior, +a solemn vow had buried deep in his own soul, and not even to Agnes, to +whom his heart was wont to be revealed, might such thoughts find words; +and she shrunk in timidity from avowing the inquietude of her own simple +heart, and thus it was that each, for the sake of the other, spoke +hopefully and cheeringly, and gayly, until at length they were but +conscious of mutual and devoted love--the darkening mists of the future +lost in the radiance of the present sun. + +A sudden pause in the inspiring music, the quick advance of all the +different groups towards one particular spot, had failed perchance to +interrupt the happy converse of the lovers, had not Sir Alan hastily +approached them, exclaiming, as he did so-- + +"For the love of heaven! Nigel, forget Agnes for one moment, and come +along with me. A messenger from Pembroke has just arrived, bearing a +challenge, or something very like it, to his grace the king; and it may +be we shall win our spurs sooner than we looked for this morning. The +sight of Sir Henry Seymour makes the war trumpet sound in mine ears. +Come, for truly there is something astir." + +With Agnes still leaning on his arm, Nigel obeyed the summons of his +impatient friend, and joined the group around the king. There was a +quiet dignity in the attitude and aspect of Robert Bruce, or it might be +the daring patriotism of his enterprise was appreciated by the gallant +English knight; certain it was that, though Sir Henry's bearing had been +somewhat haughty, his brow knit, and his head still covered, as he +passed up the hall, by an irresistible impulse he doffed his helmet as +he met the eagle glance of the Bruce, and bowed his head respectfully +before him, an example instantly followed by his attendants. + +"Sir Henry Seymour is welcome to our court," said the king, courteously; +"welcome, whatever message he may bear. How fares it with the chivalric +knight and worthy gentleman, Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke? Ye +bring us a message from him, 'tis said. Needs it a private hearing, sir +knight? if so, we are at your service; yet little is it Aymer de Valence +can say to Scotland's king which Scotland may not hear." + +"Pembroke is well, an please you, and sendeth greeting," replied the +knight. "His message, sent as it is to the Bruce, is well fitted for the +ears of his followers, therefore may it be spoken here. He sendeth all +loving and knightly greeting unto him known until now as Robert Earl of +Carrick, and bids him, an he would proclaim and prove the rights he hath +assumed, come forth from the narrow precincts of a palace and town, +which ill befit a warrior of such high renown, and give him battle in +the Park of Methven, near at hand. He challenges him to meet him there, +with nobles, knights, and yeomen, who proclaiming Robert Bruce their +sovereign, cast down the gauntlet of defiance and rebellion against +their rightful king and mine, his grace of England; he challenges thee, +sir knight, or earl, or king, whichever name thou bearest, and dares +thee to the field." + +"And what if we accept not his daring challenge?" demanded King Robert, +sternly, without permitting the expression of his countenance to satisfy +in any way the many anxious glances fixed upon it. + +"He will proclaim thee coward knight and traitor slave," boldly answered +Sir Henry. "In camp or in hall, in lady's bower or tented field, he will +proclaim thee recreant; one that took upon himself the state and pomp of +royalty without the spirit to defend and prove it." + +"Had he done so by our predecessor, Baliol, he had done well," returned +the king, calmly. "Nobles, and knights, and gentlemen," he added, the +lion spirit of his race kindling in his eye and cheek, "what say ye in +accepting the bold challenge of this courtly earl? Do we not read your +hearts as well as our own? Ye have chafed and fretted that we have +retained ye so long inactive: in very truth your monarch's spirit chafed +and fretted too. We will do battle with this knightly foe, and give him, +in all chivalric and honorable courtesy, the meeting he desires." + +One startling and energetic shout burst simultaneously from the warriors +around, forming a wild and thrilling response to their sovereign's +words. In vain they sought to restrain that outbreak of rejoicing, in +respect to the royal presence; they had pined, they had yearned for +action, and Sir Henry was too good a knight himself not to understand to +the full the patriotic fervor and chivalrous spirit from which that +shout had sprung. Proudly and joyfully the Bruce looked on his devoted +adherents, and then addressed the English knight. + +"Thou hast our answer, good Sir Henry," he said; "more thou couldst +scarcely need. Commend us to your master, and take heed thou sayest all +that thou hast heard and seen in answer to his challenge. In the Park of +Methven, three days hence, he may expect the King of Scotland and his +patriot troops with him, to do battle unto death. Edward, good brother, +thou, Seaton, and the Lord of Douglas, conduct this worthy knight in all +honor from the hall. Thou hast our answer." + +The knight bowed low, but ere he retreated he spoke again. "I am charged +with yet another matter, an it so please you," he said, evidently +studying to avoid all royal titles, although the bearing of the king +rendered his task rather more difficult than he could have imagined; "a +matter of small import, truly, yet must it be spoken. 'Tis rumored that +you have amid your household a child, a boy, whose father was a favored +servant of my gracious liege and yours, King Edward. The Earl of +Pembroke, in the name of his sovereign and of the child's father, bids +me demand him of thee, as having, from his tender years and +inexperience, no will nor voice in this matter, he having been brought +here by his mother, who, saving your presence, had done better to have +remembered her duty to her husband than encourage rebellion against her +king." + +"Keep to the import of thy message, nor give thy tongue such license, +sir," interrupted the Bruce, sternly; and many an eye flashed, and many +a hand sought his sword. "Sir Alan of Buchan, stand forth and give thine +own answer to this imperative demand; 'tis to thee, methinks, its import +would refer. Thou hast wisdom and experience, if not years enough, to +answer for thyself. + +"Tell Aymer de Valence, would he seek me, he will find me by the side of +my sovereign King Robert, in Methven Park, three days hence," boldly and +quickly answered the young soldier, stepping forward from his post in +the circle, and fronting the knight. "Tell him I am here of my own free +will, to acknowledge Robert the Bruce as mine and Scotland's king; to +defy the tyrant Edward, even to the death; tell him 'tis no child he +seeks, but a knight and soldier, who will meet him on the field." + +"It would seem we are under some mistake, young sir," replied Sir Henry, +gazing with unfeigned admiration on the well-knit frame and glowing +features of the youthful knight. "I speak of and demand the surrender of +the son and heir of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, who was represented to +me as a child of some ten or thirteen summers; 'tis with him, not with +thee, my business treats." + +"And 'tis the son--I know not how long _heir_--of John Comyn, Earl of +Buchan, who speaks with thee, sir knight. It may well be, my very age, +my very existence hath been forgotten by my father," he added, with a +fierceness and bitterness little in accordance with his years, "aye, +and would have been remembered no more, had not the late events recalled +them; yet 'tis even so--and that thy memory prove not treacherous, there +lies my gage. Foully and falsely hast thou spoken of Isabella of Buchan, +and her honor is dear to her son as is his own. In Methven Park we _two_ +shall meet, sir knight, and the child, the puny stripling, who hath of +his own nor voice nor will, will not fail thee, be thou sure." + +Proudly, almost sternly, the boy fixed his flashing orbs on the English +knight, and without removing his glance, strode to the side of his +mother and drew her arm within his own. There was something in the +accent, in the saddened yet resolute expression of his countenance, +which forbade all rejoinder, not from Sir Henry alone, but even from his +own friends. Seymour raised the gage, and with a meaning smile secured +it in his helmet; then respectfully saluting the group around him, +withdrew, attended as desired by the Bruce. + +"Heed it not, my boy, my own noble boy!" said the Countess of Buchan, in +those low, earnest, musical tones peculiarly her own; for she saw that +there was a quivering in the lip, a sudden paleness in the cheek of her +son, as he gazed up in her lace, when he thought they stood alone, which +denoted internal emotion yet stronger than that which had inspired his +previous words. "Their scorn, their contumely, I heed as little as the +mountain rock the hailstones which fall upon its sides, in vain seeking +to penetrate or wound. Nay, I could smile at them in very truth, were it +not that compelled as I am to act alone, to throw aside as worthless and +rejected those natural ties I had so joyed to wear, my heart seems +closed to smiles; but for words as those, or yet harsher scorn, grieve +not, my noble boy, they have no power to fret or hurt me." + +"Yet to hear them speak in such tone of thee--thee, whose high soul and +noble courage would shame a score of some who write themselves +men!--thee, who with all a woman's loving heart, and guileless, +unselfish, honorable mind, hath all a warrior's stern resolve, a +patriot's noble purpose! Mother, mother, how may thy son brook scorn and +falsity, and foul calumny cast upon thee?" and there was a choking +suffocation in his throat, filling his eyes perforce with tears; and had +it not been that manhood struggled for dominion, he would have flung +himself upon his mother's breast and wept. + +"As a soldier and a man, my son," she drew him closer to her as she +spoke; "as one who, knowing and feeling the worth of the contemned one, +is conscious that the foul tongues of evil men can do no ill, but fling +back the shame upon themselves. Arouse thee, my beloved son. Alas! when +I look on thee, on thy bright face, on those graceful limbs, so supple +now in health and life, and feel to what my deed may have devoted thee, +my child, my child, I need not slanderous tongues to grieve me!" + +"And doth the Countess of Buchan repent that deed?" asked the rich +sonorous voice of the Bruce, who, unobserved, had heard their converse. +"Would she recall that which she hath done?" + +"Sire, not so," she answered; "precious as is my child to this lone +heart--inexpressibly dear and precious--yet if the liberty of his +country demand me to resign him, the call shall be obeyed." + +"Speak not thus, noble lady," returned the king, cheerily. "He is but +_lent_, Scotland asks no more; and when heaven smiles on this poor +country, smiles in liberty and peace, trust me, such devotedness will +not have been in vain. Our youthful knight will lay many a wreath of +laurel at his mother's feet, nor will there then be need to guard her +name from scorn. See what new zest and spirit have irradiated the brows +of our warlike guests; we had scarce deemed more needed than was there +before, yet the visit of Sir Henry Seymour, bearing as it did a +challenge to strife and blood, hath given fresh lightness to every step, +new joyousness to every tone. Is not this as it should be?" + +"Aye, as it _must_ be, sire, while loyal hearts and patriot spirits form +thy court. Nobly and gallantly was the answer given to Pembroke's +challenge. Yet pardon me, sire, was it wise--was it well?" + +"Its wisdom, lady, rests with its success in the hands of a higher +power," answered the king, gravely, yet kindly. "Other than we did we +could not do; rashly and presumptuously we would not have left our +quarters. Not for the mere chase of, mad wish for glory would we have +risked the precious lives of our few devoted friends, but challenged as +we were, the soul of Bruce could not have spoken other than he did; nor +do we repent, nay, we rejoice that the stern duty of inaction is over. +Thine eye tells me thou canst understand this, lady, therefore we say no +more, save to beseech thee to inspire our consort with the necessity of +this deed; she trembles for the issue of our daring. See how grave and +sad she looks, so lately as she was all smiles." + +The countess did not reply, but hastened to the side of the amiable, but +yet too womanly Queen Margaret, and gently, but invisibly sought to +soothe her fears; and she partially succeeded, for the queen ever seemed +to feel herself a bolder and firmer character when in the presence and +under the influence of Isabella of Buchan. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +It was a gallant, though, alas! but too small a force which, richly and +bravely accoutred, with banners proudly flying, music sounding, superb +chargers caparisoned for war, lances in rest, and spear and bill, sword +and battle-axe, marched through the olden gates of Scone in a +south-westward direction, early on the morning of the 25th of June, +1306. Many were the admiring eyes and yearning hearts which followed +them, and if doubt and dread did mingle in the fervid aspirations raised +for their welfare and success, they were not permitted to gain +ascendency so long as the cheering tones and happy smiles of every one +of that patriot band lingered on the ear and sight. As yet there were +but few of the nobles and knights with their men. The troops had been +commanded to march leisurely forward, under charge of the esquires and +gentlemen, who were mostly lieutenants or cornets to their leaders' +respective bands of followers; and, if not overtaken before, to halt in +a large meadow to the north of Perth, which lay in their way. + +The knots of citizens, however, who had accompanied the army to the +farthest environs of the town, had not dispersed to their several homes +ere the quick, noisy clattering of a gallant troop of horse echoed along +the street, and the king, surrounded by his highest nobles and bravest +knights, galloped by, courteously returning the shouts and acclamations +of delight which hailed him on every side. His vizor was purposely left +up, and his noble countenance, beaming with animation and hope, seemed +to inspire fresh hope and confidence in all that gazed. A white ostrich +plume, secured to his helmet by a rich clasp of pearls and diamonds, +fell over his left shoulder till it well-nigh mingled with the flowing +mane of his charger, whose coal-black glossy hide was almost concealed +beneath the armor which enveloped him, and the saddle-cloth of crimson +velvet, whose golden fringe nearly swept the ground. King Robert was +clothed in the same superb suit of polished steel armor, inlaid and +curiously wrought with ingrained silver, in which we saw him at first; a +crimson scarf secured his trusty sword to his side, and a short mantle +of azure velvet, embroidered with the golden thistle of Scotland, and +lined with the richest sable, was secured at his throat by a splendid +collaret of gems. The costly materials of his dress, and, yet more, the +easy and graceful seat upon his charger, his chivalric bearing, and the +frank, noble expression of his countenance, made him, indeed, "look +every inch a king," and might well of themselves have inspired and +retained the devoted loyalty of his subjects, even had there been less +of chivalry in his daring rising. + +Edward Bruce was close beside his brother. With a figure and appearance +equally martial and equally prepossessing, he wanted the quiet dignity, +the self-possession of voice and feature which characterized the king. +He had not the mind of Robert, and consequently the uppermost passion of +the spirit was ever the one marked on his brow. On this morning he was +all animated smiles, for war was alike his vocation and his pastime. + +Thomas and Alexander Bruce were also there, both gallant men and +well-tried warriors, and eager as Edward for close encounter with the +foe. The Earls of Lennox and Athol, although perhaps in their secret +souls they felt that the enterprise was rash, gave no evidence of +reluctance in their noble bearing; indeed, had they been certain of +marching to their death, they would not have turned from the side of +Bruce. The broad banner of Scotland, whose ample folds waved in the +morning breeze, had been intrusted to the young heir of Buchan, who, +with the other young and new-made knights, eager and zealous to win +their spurs, had formed a body guard around the banner, swearing to +defend it to the last moment of their lives. Nigel Bruce was one of +these; he rode close beside his brother in arms, and midst that animated +group, those eager spirits throbbing for action, no heart beat quicker +than his own. All was animated life, anticipated victory; the very +heavens smiled as if they would shed no shadow on this patriot band. + +It was scarcely two hours after noon when King Robert and his troops +arrived at the post assigned--the park or wood of Methven; and believing +that it was not till the succeeding day to which the challenge of +Pembroke referred, he commanded his men to make every preparation for a +night encampment. The English troops lay at about a quarter of a mile +distant, on the side of a hill, which, as well as tree and furze would +permit, commanded a view of the Bruce's movements. There were tents +erected, horses picketed, and every appearance of quiet, confirming the +Scotch in their idea of no engagement taking place till the morrow. + +Aware of the great disparity of numbers, King Robert eagerly and +anxiously examined his ground as to the best spot for awaiting the +attack of the English. He fixed on a level green about half a mile +square, guarded on two sides by a thick wood of trees, on the third and +left by a deep running rivulet, and open on the fourth, encumbered only +by short, thick bushes and little knots of thorn, which the king +welcomed, as impeding the progress and obstructing the evolutions of +Pembroke's horse. The bushes which were scattered about on the ground he +had chosen, he desired his men to clear away, and ere the sun neared his +setting, all he wished was accomplished, and his plan of battle +arranged. He well remembered the impenetrable phalanx of the unfortunate +Wallace at the battle of Falkirk, and determined on exposing a steady +front of spears in the same manner. Not having above thirty horse on +whom he could depend, and well aware they would be but a handful against +Pembroke's two hundred, he placed them in the rear as a reserve, in the +centre of which waved the banner of Scotland. The remainder of his +troops he determined on arranging in a compact crescent, the bow exposed +to the English, the line stretching out against the wood. This was his +intended line of battle, but, either from mistake or purposed treachery +on the part of Pembroke, his plan was frustrated, and in addition to the +great disparity of numbers he had to struggle with surprise. + +The day had been extremely sultry, and trusting in full confidence to +the honor of his opponent, and willing to give his men all needful rest, +the king dismissed them from their ranks to refreshment and repose, +leaving but very few to guard, himself retiring with his older officers +to a tent prepared for his reception. + +Arm in arm, and deep in converse, Nigel Bruce and Alan of Buchan +wandered a little apart from their companions, preferring a hasty meal +and the calm beauty of a lovely summer evening, accompanied by a +refreshing breeze, to remaining beside the rude but welcome meal, and +sharing the festivity which enlivened it. + +"Thinkest thou not, Nigel, his grace trusts but too fully to the honor +of these Englishmen?" asked Alan, somewhat abruptly, turning the +conversation from the dearer topics of Agnes and her mother, which had +before engrossed them. + +"On my faith, if he judge of them by his own true, noble spirit, he +judges them too well." + +"Nay, thou art over-suspicious, friend Alan," answered Nigel, smiling. +"What fearest thou?" + +"I like not the absence of all guards, not so much for the safety of our +own camp, but to keep sharp watch on the movements of our friends +yonder. Nigel, there is some movement; they look not as they did an hour +ago." + +"Impossible, quite impossible, Alan; the English knights are too +chivalric, too honorable, to advance on us to-night. If they have made a +movement, 'tis but to repose." + +"Nigel, if Pembroke feel inclined to take advantage of our unguarded +situation, he will swear, as many have done before him, that a new day +began with the twelve-chime bell of this morning, and be upon us ere we +are aware; and I say again, there is movement, and warlike movement, +too, in yonder army. Are tents deserted, and horses and men collected, +for the simple purpose of retiring to rest? Come with me to yon mound, +and see if I be not correct in my surmise." + +Startled by Alan's earnest manner, despite his firm reliance on +Pembroke's honor, Nigel made no further objection, but hastened with him +to the eminence he named. It was only too true. Silently and guardedly +the whole English army, extending much further towards Perth than was +visible to the Scotch, had been formed in battle array, line after line +stretching forth its glittering files, in too compact and animated array +to admit of a doubt as to their intentions. The sun had completely sunk, +and dim mists were spreading up higher and higher from the horizon, +greatly aiding the treacherous movements of the English. + +"By heavens, 'tis but too true!" burst impetuously from Nigel's lips, +indignation expressed in every feature. "Base, treacherous cowards! Hie +thee to the king--fly for thy life--give him warning, while I endeavor +to form the lines. In vain, utterly in vain!" he muttered, as Alan with +the speed of lightning darted down the slope. "They are formed--fresh, +both man and horse--double, aye, more than treble our numbers; they will +be upon us ere the order of battle can be formed, and defeat _now_--" + +He would not give utterance to the dispiriting truth which closed that +thought, but springing forward, dashed through fern and brake, and +halted not till he stood in the centre of his companions, who, scattered +in various attitudes on the grass, were giving vent, in snatches of song +and joyous laughter, to the glee which filled their souls. + +"Up! up!--the foe!" shouted Nigel, in tones so unlike the silvery +accents which in general characterized him, that his companions +started to their feet and grasped their swords, as roused by the +sound of trumpet, "Pembroke is false: to arms--to your posts! +Fitz-Alan--Douglas--sound an alarm, and, in heaven's name, aid me in +getting the men under arms! Be calm, be steady; display no alarm, no +confusion, and all may yet be well." + +He was obeyed. The quick roll of the drum, the sharp, quick blast of the +trumpet echoed and re-echoed at different sides of the encampment; the +call to arms, in various stentorian tones, rung through the woodland +glades, quickly banishing all other sounds. Every man sprung at once +from his posture of repose, and gathered round their respective leaders; +startled, confused, yet still in order, still animated, still confident, +and yet more exasperated against their foe. + +The appearance of their sovereign, unchanged in his composed and warlike +mien, evincing perhaps yet more animation in his darkly flushing cheek, +compressed lip, and sparkling eye; his voice still calm, though his +commands were more than usually hurried; his appearance on every side, +forming, arranging, encouraging, almost at the same instant--at one +moment exciting their indignation against the treachery of the foe, at +others appealing to their love for their country, their homes, their +wives, to their sworn loyalty to himself--inspired courage and +confidence at the same instant as he allayed confusion; but despite +every effort both of leader and men, it needed time to form in the +compact order which the king had planned, and ere it was accomplished, +nearer and nearer came the English, increasing their pace to a run as +they approached, and finally charging in full and overwhelming career +against the unprepared but gallant Scots. Still there was no wavering +amid the Scottish troops; still they stood their ground, and forming, +almost as they fought, in closer and firmer order, exposing the might +and unflinching steadiness of desperate men, determined on liberty or +death, to the greater number and better discipline of their foe. It +mattered not that the fading light of day had given place to the darker +shades of night, but dimly illumined by the rising moon--they struggled +on, knowing as if by instinct friend from foe. And fearful was it to +watch the mighty struggles from figures gleaming as gigantic shadows in +the darkness; now and then came a deep smothered cry or bursting groan, +wrung from the throes of death, or the wild, piercing scream from a +slaughtered horse, but the tongues of life were silent; the clang of +armor, the clash of steel, the heavy fall of man and horse, indeed came +fitfully and fearfully on the night breeze, and even as the blue +spectral flash of summer lightning did the bright swords rise and fall +in the thick gloom. + +"Back, back, dishonored knight! back, recreant traitor!" shouted James +of Douglas; and his voice was heard above the roar of battle, and those +near him saw him at the same instant spring from his charger, thrust +back Pembroke and other knights who were thronging round him, and with +unrivalled skill and swiftness aid a tall and well-known form to rise +and spring on the horse he held for him. "Thinkest thou the sacred +person of the King of Scotland is for such as thee? back, I say!" And he +did force him, armed and on horseback as he was, many paces back, and +Robert Bruce again galloped over the field, bareheaded indeed, for his +helmet had fallen off in the strife, urging, inciting, leading on yet +again to the charge. And it was in truth as if a superhuman strength and +presence had been granted the patriot king that night, for there were +veteran warriors there, alike English and Scotch, who paused even in the +work of strife to gaze and tremble. + +Again was he unhorsed, crushed by numbers--one moment more and he had +fallen into the hands of his foes, and Scotland had lain a slave forever +at the feet of England; but again was relief at hand, and the young Earl +of Mar, dashing his horse between the prostrate monarch and his +thronging enemies, laid the foremost, who was his own countryman, dead +on the field, and remained fighting alone; his single arm dealing deadly +blows on every side at the same moment until Robert had regained his +feet, and, though wounded and well-nigh exhausted, turned in fury to the +rescue of his preserver. It was too late; in an agony of spirit no pen +can describe, he beheld his faithful and gallant nephew overpowered by +numbers and led off a captive, and he stood by, fighting indeed like a +lion, dealing death wherever his sword fell, but utterly unable to +rescue or defend him. Again his men thronged round him, their rallying +point, their inspiring hope, their guardian spirit; again he was on +horseback, and still, still that fearful strife continued. Aided by the +darkness, the Bruce in his secret soul yet encouraged one gleam of hope, +yet dreamed of partial success, at least of avoiding that almost worse +than death, a total and irremediable defeat. Alas, had the daylight +suddenly illumined that scene, he would have felt, have seen that hope +was void. + +Gallantly, meanwhile, gallantly even as a warrior of a hundred fields, +had the young heir of Buchan redeemed his pledge to his sovereign, and +devoted sword and exposed life in his cause. The standard of Scotland +had never touched the ground. Planting it firmly in the earth, he had +for a while defended it nobly where he stood, curbing alike the high +spirit of his prancing horse and his own intense longing to dash forward +in the thickest of the fight. He saw his companions fall one by one, +till he was well-nigh left alone. He heard confused cries, as of +triumph; he beheld above twenty Englishmen dashing towards him, and he +felt a few brief minutes and his precious charge might be waved in scorn +as a trophy by the victors; the tide of battle had left him for an +instant comparatively alone, and in that instant his plan was formed. + +"Strike hard, and fear not!" he cried to an old retainer, who stirred +not from his side; "divide this heavy staff, and I will yet protect my +charge, and thou and I, Donald, will to King Robert's side; he needs all +true men about him now." + +Even as he spoke his command was understood and obeyed. One sweep of the +stout Highlander's battle-axe severed full four feet of the heavy lance +to which the standard was attached and enabled Alan without any +inconvenience to grasp in his left hand the remainder, from which the +folds still waved: grasping his sword firmly in his right, and giving +his horse the rein, shouting, "Comyn, to the rescue!" he darted towards +the side where the strife waxed hottest. + +It was a cry which alike startled friends and foes, for that name was +known to one party as so connected with devotee adherence to Edward, to +the other so synonymous with treachery, that united as it was with "to +the rescue," some there were who paused to see whence and from whom it +came. The banner of Scotland quickly banished doubt as to which part; +that youthful warrior belonged; knights and yeomen alike threw +themselves in his path to obtain possession of so dear a prize. Followed +by about ten stalwart men of his clan, the young knight gallantly cut +his way through the greater number of his opponents, but a sudden gleam +on the helmet of one of them caused him to halt suddenly. + +"Ha! Sir Henry Seymour, we have met at length!" he shouted. "Thou +bearest yet my gage--'tis well. I am here to redeem it." + +"Give up that banner to a follower, then," returned Sir Henry, +courteously, checking his horse in its full career, "for otherwise we +meet at odds. Thou canst not redeem thy gage, and defend thy charge at +the same moment." + +"Give up my charge! Never, so help me heaven! Friend or foe shall claim +it but with my life," returned Alan, proudly. "Come on, sir knight; I am +here to defend the honor thou hast injured--the honor of one dearer than +my own." + +"Have then thy will, proud boy: thy blood be on thine own head," replied +Seymour; but ere he spurred on to the charge, he called aloud, "let none +come between us, none dare to interfere--'tis a quarrel touching none +save ourselves," and Alan bowed his head, in courteous recognition of +the strict observance of the rules of chivalry in his adversary, at the +very moment that he closed with him in deadly strife; and such was war +in the age of chivalry, and so strict were its rules, that even with the +standard of Scotland in his hand, the person of the heir of Buchan was +sacred to all save to his particular opponent. + +It was a brief yet determined struggle. Their swords crossed and +recrossed with such force and rapidity, that sparks of fire flashed from +the blades; the aim of both appeared rather to unhorse and disarm than +slay: Seymour, perhaps, from admiration of the boy's extraordinary +bravery and daring, and Alan from a feeling of respect for the true +chivalry of the English knight. The rush of battle for a minute +unavoidably separated them. About four feet of the banner-staff yet +remained uninjured, both in its stout wood and sharp iron head; with +unparalleled swiftness, Alan partly furled the banner round the pike, +and transferred it to his right hand, then grasping it firmly, and +aiming full at Sir Henry's helm, backed his horse several paces to allow +of a wider field, gave his steed the spur, and dashed forward quick as +the wind. The manoeuvre succeeded. Completely unprepared for this +change alike in weapon and attack, still dazzled and slightly confused +by the rush which had divided them, Sir Henry scarcely saw the youthful +knight, till he felt his helmet transfixed by the lance, and the blow +guided so well and true, that irresistibly it bore him from his horse, +and he lay stunned and helpless, but not otherwise hurt, at the mercy of +his foe. Recovering his weapon, Alan, aware that the great disparity of +numbers rendered the securing English prisoners but a mere waste of +time, contented himself by waving the standard high in air, and again +shouting his war-cry, galloped impetuously on. Wounded he was, but he +knew it not; the excitement, the inspiration of the moment was all he +felt. + +"To the king--to the king!" shouted Nigel Bruce, urging his horse to the +side of Alan, and ably aiding him to strike down their rapidly +increasing foes. "Hemmed in on all sides, he will fall beneath their +thirsting swords. To the king--to the king! Yield he never will; and +better he should not. On, on, for the love of life, of liberty, of +Scotland!--on to the king!" + +His impassioned words reached even hearts fainting 'neath exhaustion, +failing in hope, for they knew they strove in vain; yet did that tone, +those words rouse even them, and their flagging limbs grew strong for +Robert's sake, and some yet reached the spot to fight and die around +him; others--alas! the greater number--fell ere the envied goal was +gained. + +The sight of the royal standard drew, as Alan had hoped, the attention +of some from the king, and gave him a few moments to rally. Again there +was a moment of diversion in favor of the Scotch. The brothers of the +Bruce and some others of his bravest knights were yet around him, +seemingly uninjured, and each and all appeared endowed with the strength +of two. The gigantic form of Edward Bruce, the whelming sweep of his +enormous battle-axe, had cleared a partial space around the king, but +still the foes hemmed in, reinforced even as they fell. About this time +the moon, riding high in the heavens, had banished the mists which had +enveloped her rising, and flung down a clear, silvery radiance over the +whole field, disclosing for the first time to King Robert the exact +situation in which he stood. Any further struggle, and defeat, +imprisonment, death, all stared him in the face, and Scotland's liberty +was lost, and forever. The agony of this conviction was known to none +save to the sovereign's own heart, and to that Searcher of all, by whom +its every throb was felt. + +The wood behind him was still plunged in deep shadows, and he knew the +Grampian Hills, with all their inaccessible paths and mountain +fastnesses--known only to the true children of Scotland--could easily be +reached, were the pursuit of the English eluded, which he believed could +be easily accomplished, were they once enabled to retreat into the wood. + +The consummate skill and prudence of the Bruce characterizing him as a +general, even as his extraordinary daring and exhaustless courage marked +the warrior, enabled him to effect this precarious and delicate +movement, in the very sight of and almost surrounded by foes. Covering +his troops, or rather the scattered remnant of troops, by exposing his +own person to the enemy, the king was still the first object of attack, +the desire of securing his person, or, at least, obtaining possession of +his head, becoming more and more intense. But it seemed as though a +protecting angel hovered round him: for he had been seen in every part +of the field; wherever the struggle had been fiercest, he had been the +centre; twice he had been unhorsed, and bareheaded almost from the +commencement of the strife, yet there he was still, seemingly as firm in +his saddle, as strong in frame, as unscathed in limb, as determined in +purpose, as when he sent back his acceptance of Pembroke's challenge. +Douglas, Fitz-Alan, Alexander and Nigel Bruce, and Alan of Buchan, still +bearing the standard, were close around the king, and it was in this +time of precaution, of less inspiriting service, that the young Alan +became conscious that he was either severely wounded, or that the +strength he had taxed far beyond its natural powers was beginning to +fail. Still mechanically he grasped the precious banner, and still he +crossed his sword with every foe that came; but the quick eye of Nigel +discerned there was a flagging of strength, and he kept close beside him +to aid and defend. The desired goal was just attained, the foes were +decreasing in numbers, for they were scattered some distance from each +other, determined on scouring the woods in search of fugitives, the +horses of the king and his immediate followers were urged to quicken +their pace, when an iron-headed quarrel, discharged from an arbalist, +struck the royal charger, which, with a shrill cry of death, dropped +instantly, and again was the king unhorsed. The delay occasioned in +extricating him from the fallen animal was dangerous in the extreme; the +greater part of his men were at some distance, for the king had ordered +them, as soon as the unfrequented hollows of the wood were reached, to +disperse, the better to elude their pursuers. Douglas, Alexander Bruce, +and Fitz-Alan had galloped on, unconscious of the accident, and Nigel +and Alan were alone near him. A minute sufficed for the latter to spring +from his horse and aid the king to mount, and both entreated, conjured +him to follow their companions, and leave them to cover his retreat. A +while he refused, declaring he would abide with them: he would not so +cowardly desert them. + +"Leave you to death!" he cried; "my friends, my children; no, no! Urge +me no more. If I may not save my country, I may _die_ for her." + +"Thou shalt not, so help me heaven!" answered Nigel, impetuously. "King, +friend, brother, there is yet time. Hence, I do beseech thee, hence. +Nay, an thou wilt not, I will e'en forget thou art my king, and force +thee from this spot." + +He snatched the reins of his brother's horse, and urging it with his own +to their fullest speed, took the most unfrequented path, and dashing +over every obstacle, through brake and briar, and over hedge and ditch, +placed him in comparative safety. + +And was Alan deserted? Did his brother in arms, in his anxiety to save +the precious person of his royal brother, forget the tie that bound +them, and leave him to die alone? A sickening sense of inability, of +utter exhaustion, crept over the boy's sinking frame, inability even to +drag his limbs towards the wood and conceal himself from his foes. +Mechanically he at first stood grasping the now-tattered colors, as if +his hand were nailed unto the staff, his foot rooted to the ground. +There were many mingled cries, sending their shrill echoes on the night +breeze; there were chargers scouring the plain; bodies of men passing +and repassing within twenty yards of the spot where he stood, yet half +hidden by the deep shadow of a large tree, for some minutes he was +unobserved. An armed knight, with about twenty followers, were rushing +by; they stopped, they recognized the banner; they saw the bowed and +drooping figure who supported it, they dashed towards him. With a strong +effort Alan roused himself from that lethargy of faintness. Nearer and +nearer they came. + +"Yield, or you die!" were the words borne to his ear, shrill, loud, +fraught with death, and his spirit sprang up with the sound. He waved +his sword above his head, and threw himself into a posture of defence; +but ere they reached him, there was a sudden and rapid tramp of horse, +and the voice of Nigel Bruce shouted-- + +"Mount, mount! God in heaven be thanked, I am here in time!" + +Alan sprung into the saddle; he thought not to inquire how that charger +had been found, nor knew he till some weeks after that Nigel had exposed +his own person to imminent danger, to secure one of the many steeds +flying masterless over the plain. On, on they went, and frequently the +head of Alan drooped from very faintness to his saddle-bow, and Nigel +feared to see him fall exhausted to the earth, but still they pursued +their headlong way. Death was behind them, and the lives of all true and +loyal Scotsmen were too precious to admit a pause. + +The sun had risen when King Robert gazed round him on the remnant of his +troops. It was a wild brake, amid surrounding rocks and mountains where +they stood; a torrent threw itself headlong from a craggy steep, and +made its way to the glen, tumbling and roaring and dashing over the +black stones that opposed its way. The dark pine, the stunted fir, the +weeping birch, and many another mountain tree, marked the natural +fertility of the soil, although its aspect seemed wild and rude. It was +to this spot the king had desired the fugitives to direct their several +ways, and now he gazed upon all, all that were spared to him and +Scotland from that disastrous night. In scattered groups they stood or +sate; their swords fallen from their hands, their heads drooping on +their breasts, with the mien of men whose last hope had been cast on a +single die, and wrecked forever. And when King Robert thought of the +faithful men who, when the sun had set the previous evening, had +gathered round him in such devoted patriotism, such faithful love, and +now beheld the few there were to meet his glance, to give him the +sympathy, the hope he needed, scarcely could he summon energy sufficient +to speak against hope, to rally the failing spirits of his remaining +followers. Mar, Athol, Hay, Fraser, he knew were prisoners, and he knew, +too, that in their cases that word was but synonymous with death. +Lennox, his chosen friend, individually the dearest of all his +followers, he too was not there, though none remembered his being taken; +Randolph, his nephew, and about half of those gallant youths who not ten +days previous had received and welcomed the honor of knighthood, in all +the high hopes and buoyancy of youth and healthful life; more, many more +than half the number of the stout yeomen, who had risen at his call to +rescue their land from chains--where now were these? Was it wonder that +the king had sunk upon a stone, and bent his head upon his hands? But +speedily he rallied; he addressed each man by name; he spoke comfort, +hope, not lessening the magnitude of his defeat, but still promising +them liberty--still promising that yet would their homes be redeemed, +their country free; aye, even were he compelled to wander months, nay, +years in those mountain paths, with naught about him but the title of a +king; still, while he had life, would he struggle on for Scotland; still +did he feel, despite of blighted hope, of bitter disappointment, that to +him was intrusted the sacred task of her deliverance. Would he, might he +sink and relax in his efforts and resign his purpose, because his first +engagement was attended by defeat? had he done so, it was easy to have +found death on the field. Had he listened to the voice of despair, he +confessed, he would not have left that field alive. + +"But I lived for my country, for ye, her children," he continued, his +voice becoming impassioned in its fervor; "lived to redeem this night, +to suffer on a while, to be your savior still. Will ye then desert me? +will ye despond, because of one defeat--yield to despair, when Scotland +yet calls aloud? No, no, it cannot be!" and roused by his earnest, his +eloquent appeal, that devoted band sprung from their drooping posture, +and kneeling at his feet, renewed their oaths of allegiance to him; the +oath that bound them to seek liberty for Scotland. It was then, as one +by one advanced, the king for the first time missed his brother Nigel +and the heir of Buchan; amidst the overwhelming bitterness of thought +which had engrossed him, he had for a brief while forgotten the +precarious situation of Alan, and the determination of Nigel to seek and +save, or die with him; but now the recollection of both rushed upon him, +and the flush which his eloquence had summoned faded at once, and the +sudden expression of anguish passing over his features roused the +attention of all who stood near him. + +"They must have fallen," he murmured, and for the first time, in a +changed and hollow voice. "My brother, my brother, dearest, best! can it +be that, in thy young beauty, thou, too, art taken from me?--and Alan, +how can I tell his mother--how face her sorrow for her son?" + +Time passed, and there was no sound; the visible anxiety of the king +hushed into yet deeper stillness the voices hushed before. His meaning +was speedily gathered from his broken words, and many mounted the craggy +heights to mark if there might not yet be some signs of the missing +ones. Time seemed to linger on his flight. The intervening rocks and +bushes confined all sounds within a very narrow space; but at length a +faint unintelligible noise broke on the stillness, it came nearer, +nearer still, a moment more and the tread of horses' hoofs echoed +amongst the rocks--a shout, a joyful shout proclaimed them friends. The +king sprung to his feet. Another minute Nigel and Alan pressed around +him; with the banner still in his hand, Alan knelt and laid it at his +sovereign's feet. + +"From thy hand I received it, to thee I restore it," he said, but his +voice was scarcely articulate; he bowed his head to press Robert's +extended hand to his lips, and sunk senseless at his feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Rumors of the fatal issue of the engagement at Methven speedily reached +Scone, laden, of course, with, yet more disastrous tidings than had +foundation in reality. King Robert, it was said, and all his nobles and +knights--nay, his whole army--were cut off to a man; the king, if not +taken prisoner, was left dead on the field, and all Scotland lay again +crushed and enslaved at the feet of Edward. For four-and-twenty hours +did the fair inhabitants of the palace labor under this belief, +well-nigh stunned beneath the accumulation of misfortune. It was curious +to remark the different forms in which affliction appeared in different +characters, The queen, in loud sobs and repeated wailing, at one time +deplored her own misery; at others, accused her husband of rashness and +madness. Why had he not taken her advice and remained quiet? Why could +he not have been contented with the favor of Edward and a proud, fair +heritage? What good did he hope to get for himself by assuming the crown +of so rude and barren a land as Scotland? Had she not told him he was +but a summer king, that the winter would soon blight his prospects and +nip his budding hopes; and had she not proved herself wiser even than he +was himself? and then she would suddenly break off in these reproaches +to declare that, if he were a prisoner, she would go to him; she would +remain with him to the last; she would prove how much she idolized +him--her own, her brave, her noble Robert. And vain was every effort on +the part of her sisters-in-law and the Countess of Buchan, and other of +her friends, to mitigate these successive bursts of sorrow. The Lady +Seaton, of a stronger mind, yet struggled with despondency, yet strove +to hope, to believe all was not as overwhelming as had been described; +although, if rumor were indeed true, she had lost a husband and a son, +the gallant young Earl of Mar, whom she had trained to all noble deeds +and honorable thoughts, for he had been fatherless from infancy. Lady +Mary could forget her own deep anxieties, her own fearful forebodings, +silently and unobservedly to watch, to follow, to tend the Countess of +Buchan, whose marble cheek and lip, and somewhat sterner expression of +countenance than usual, alone betrayed the anxiety passing within, for +words it found not. She could share with her the task of soothing, of +cheering Agnes, whose young spirit lay crushed beneath this heavy blow. +She did not complain, she did not murmur, but evidently struggled to +emulate her mother's calmness, for she would bend over her frame and +endeavor to continue her embroidery. But those who watched her, marked +her frequent shudder, the convulsive sob, the tiny hands pressed closely +together, and then upon her eyes, as if to still their smarting throbs; +and Isoline, who sat in silence on a cushion at her feet, could catch +such low whispered words as these-- + +"Nigel, Nigel, could I but know thy fate! Dead, dead!--could I not die +with thee? Imprisoned, have I not a right to follow thee; to tend, to +soothe thee? Any thing, oh, any thing, but this horrible suspense! Alan, +my brother, thou too, so young, to die." + +The morning of the second day brought other and less distressing rumors; +all had not fallen, all were not taken. There were tales of courage, of +daring gallantry, of mighty struggles almost past belief; but what were +they, even in that era of chivalry, to the heart sinking under +apprehensions, the hopes just springing up amidst the wild chaos of +thoughts to smile a moment, to be crushed 'neath suspense, uncertainty, +the next? Still the eager tones of conjecture, the faintest-spoken +whispers of renewed hope, were better than the dead stillness, the heavy +hush of despair. + +And the queen's apartments, in which at sunset all her friends had +assembled, presented less decided sounds of mourning and of wail, than +the previous day. Margaret was indeed still one minute plunged in tears +and sobs, and the next hoping more, believing more than any one around +her. Agnes had tacitly accompanied her mother and Lady Mary to the royal +boudoir, but she had turned in very sickness of heart from all her +companions, and remained standing in a deep recess formed by the high +and narrow casement, alone, save Isoline, who still clung to her side, +pale, motionless as the marble statue near her, whose unconscious repose +she envied. + +"Speak, Isabella, why will you not speak to me?" said the queen, +fretfully. "My husband bade me look to thee for strength, for support +under care and affliction like to this, yet thou keepest aloof from me; +thou hast words of comfort, of cheering for all save me." + +"Not so, royal lady, not so," she answered, as with a faint, scarcely +perceptible smile, she advanced to the side of her royal mistress, and +took her hand in hers. "I have spoken, I have urged, entreated, conjured +thee to droop not; for thy husband's sake, to hope on, despite the +terrible rumors abroad. I have besought thee to seek firmness for his +sake; but thou didst but tell me, Isabella, Isabella, thou canst not +feel as I do, he is naught to thee but thy king; to me, what is he not? +king, hero, husband--all, my only all; and I have desisted, lady, for I +deemed my words offended, my counsel unadvised, and looked on but as +cold and foolish." + +"Nay, did I say all this to thee? Isabella, forgive me, for indeed, +indeed, I knew it not," replied Margaret, her previous fretfulness +subsiding into a softened and less painful burst of weeping. "He is in +truth, my all, my heart's dearest, best, and without him, oh! what am I? +even a cipher, a reed, useless to myself, to my child, as to all others. +I am not like thee, Isabella--would, would I were; I should be more +worthy of my Robert's love, and consequently dearer to his heart. I can +be but a burden to him now." + +"Hush, hush! would he not chide thee for such words, my Margaret?" +returned the countess, soothingly, and in a much lower voice, speaking +as she would to a younger sister. "Had he not deemed thee worthy, would +he have made thee his? oh, no, believe it not; he is too true, too +honorable for such thought." + +"He loved me, because he saw I loved," whispered the queen, perceiving +that her companions had left her well-nigh alone with the countess, and +following, as was her custom, every impulse of her fond but +ill-regulated heart. "I had not even strength to conceal that--that +truth which any other would have died rather than reveal. He saw it and +his noble spirit was touched; and he has been all, all, aye, more than I +could have dreamed, to me--so loving and so true." + +"Then why fancy thyself a burden, not a joy to him, sweet friend?" +demanded Isabella of Buchan, the rich accents of her voice even softer +and sweeter than usual, for there was something in the clinging +confidence of the queen it was impossible not to love. + +"I did not, I could not, for he cherished me so fondly till this sudden +rising--this time, when his desperate enterprise demands energy and +firmness, even from the humblest female, how much more from the Bruce's +wife! and his manner is not changed towards me, nor his love. I know he +loves me, cherishes me, as he ever did; but he must pity my weakness, my +want of nerve; when he compares me to himself, he must look on me with +almost contempt. For now it is, now that clearer than ever his character +stands forth in such glorious majesty, such moderation, such a daring +yet self-governed spirit, that I feel how utterly unworthy I am of him, +how little capable to give that spirit, that mind the reflection it must +demand; and when my weak fears prevail, my weak fancies speak only of +danger and defeat, how can he bear with me? Must I not become, if I am +not now, a burden?" + +"No, dearest Margaret," replied the countess, instantly. "The mind that +can so well _appreciate_ the virtues of her husband will never permit +herself, through weakness and want of nerve, to become a burden to him. +Thou hast but to struggle with these imaginary terrors, to endeavor to +encourage, instead of to dispirit, and he will love and cherish thee +even more than hadst thou never been unnerved." + +"Let him but be restored to me, and I will do all this. I will make +myself more worthy of his love; but, oh, Isabella, while I speak this, +perhaps he is lost to me forever; I may never see his face, never hear +that tone of love again!" and a fresh flood of weeping concluded her +words. + +"Nay, but thou wilt--I know thou wilt," answered the countess, +cheeringly. "Trust me, sweet friend, though defeat may attend him a +while, though he may pass through trial and suffering ere the goal be +gained, Robert Bruce will eventually deliver his country--will be her +king, her savior--will raise her in the scale of nations, to a level +even with the highest, noblest, most deserving. He is not lost to thee; +trial will but prove his worth unto his countrymen even more than would +success." + +"And how knowest thou these things, my Isabella?" demanded Margaret, +looking up in her face, with a half-playful, half-sorrowful smile. "Hast +thou the gift of prophecy?" + +"Prophecy!" repeated the countess, sadly. "Alas! 'tis but the character +of Robert which hath inspired my brighter vision. Had I the gift of +prophecy, my fond heart would not start and quiver thus, when it vainly +strives to know the fate of my only son. I, too, have anxiety, lady, +though it find not words." + +"Thou hast, thou hast, indeed; and yet I, weak, selfish as I am, think +only of myself. Stay by me, Isabella; oh, do not leave me, I am stronger +by thy side." + +It was growing darker and darker, and the hopes that, ere night fell, +new and more trustworthy intelligence of the movements of the fugitives +would be received were becoming fainter and fainter on every heart. +Voices were hushed to silence, or spoke only in whispers. Half an hour +passed thus, when the listless suffering on the lovely face of Agnes was +observed by Isoline to change to an expression of intense attention. + +"Hearest thou no step?" she said, in a low, piercing whisper, and laying +a cold and trembling hand on Isoline's arm. "It is, it is his--it is +Nigel's; he has not fallen--he is spared!" and she started up, a bright +flush on her cheek, her hands pressed convulsively on her heart. + +"Nay, Agnes, there is no sound, 'tis but a fancy," but even while she +spoke, a rapid step was heard along the corridor, and a shadow darkened +the doorway--but was that Nigel? There was no plume, no proud crest on +his helmet; its vizor was still closely barred, and a surcoat of coarse +black stuff was thrown over his armor, without any decoration to display +or betray the rank of the wearer. A faint cry of alarm broke from the +queen and many of her friends, but with one bound Agnes sprang to the +intruder, whose arms were open to receive her, and wildly uttering +"Nigel!" fainted on his bosom. + +"And didst thou know me even thus, beloved?" he murmured, rapidly +unclasping his helmet and dashing it from him, to imprint repeated +kisses on her cheek. "Wake, Agnes, best beloved, my own sweet love; what +hadst thou heard that thou art thus? Oh, wake, smile, speak to me: 'tis +thine own Nigel calls." + +And vainly, till that face smiled again on him in consciousness, would +the anxious inmates of that room have sought and received intelligence, +had he not been followed by Lord Douglas, Fitz-Alan, and others, their +armor and rank concealed as was Nigel's, who gave the required +information as eagerly as it was desired. + +"Robert--my king, my husband--where is he--why is he not here?" +reiterated Margaret, vainly seeking to distinguish his figure amid the +others, obscured as they were by the rapidly-increasing darkness. "Why +is he not with ye--why is he not here?" + +"And he is here, Meg; here to chide thy love as less penetrating, less +able to read disguise or concealment than our gentle Agnes there. Nay, +weep not, dearest; my hopes are as strong, my purpose as unchanged, my +trust in heaven as fervent as it was when I went forth to battle. Trial +and suffering must be mine a while, I have called it on my own head; but +still, oh, still thy Robert shall deliver Scotland--shall cast aside her +chains." + +The deep, manly voice of the king acted like magic on the depressed +spirits of those around him; and though there was grief, bitter, bitter +grief to tell, though many a heart's last lingering hopes were crushed +'neath that fell certainty, which they thought to have pictured during +the hours of suspense, and deemed themselves strengthened to endure, yet +still 'twas a grief that found vent in tears--grief that admitted of +soothing, of sympathy--grief time might heal, not the harrowing agony of +grief half told--hopes rising to be crushed. + +Still did the Countess of Buchan cling to the massive arm of the chair +which Margaret had left, utterly powerless, wholly incapacitated from +asking the question on which her very life seemed to depend. Not even +the insensibility of her Agnes had had the power to rouse her from the +stupor of anxiety which had spread over her, sharpening every faculty +and feeling indeed, but rooting her to the spot. Her boy, her Alan, he +was not amongst those warriors; she heard not the beloved accents of his +voice; she saw not his boyish form--darkness could not deceive her. +Disguise would not prevent him, were he amongst his companions, from +seeking her embrace. One word would end that anguish, would speak the +worst, end it--had he fallen! + +The king looked round the group anxiously and inquiringly. + +"The Countess of Buchan?" he said; "where is our noble friend? she +surely hath a voice to welcome her king, even though he return to her +defeated." + +"Sire, I am here," she said, but with difficulty; and Robert, as if he +understood it, could read all she was enduring, hastened towards her, +and took both her cold hands in his. + +"I give thee joy," he said, in accents that reassured her on the +instant. "Nobly, gallantly, hath thy patriot boy proved himself thy son; +well and faithfully hath he won his spurs, and raised the honor of his +mother's olden line. He bade me greet thee with all loving duty, and say +he did but regret his wounds that they prevented his attending me, and +throwing himself at his mother's feet." + +"He is wounded, then, my liege?" Robert felt her hands tremble in his +hold. + +"It were cruel to deceive thee, lady--desperately but not dangerously +wounded. On the honor of a true knight, there is naught to alarm, though +something, perchance, to regret; for he pines and grieves that it may be +yet a while ere he recover sufficient strength to don his armor. It is +not loss of blood, but far more exhaustion, from the superhuman +exertions that he made. Edward and Alexander are with him; the one a +faithful guard, in himself a host, the other no unskilful leech: trust +me, noble lady, there is naught to fear." + +He spoke, evidently to give her time to recover the sudden revulsion of +feeling which his penetrating eye discovered had nearly overpowered her, +and he succeeded; ere he ceased, that quivering of frame and lip had +passed, and Isabella of Buchan again stood calm and firm, enabled to +inquire all particulars of her child, and then join in the council held +as to the best plan to be adopted with regard to the safety of the queen +and her companions. + +In Scone, it was evident, they could not remain, for already the towns +and villages around, which had all declared for the Bruce, were hurrying +in the greatest terror to humble themselves before Pembroke, and entreat +his interference in their favor with his sovereign. There was little +hope, even if Scone remained faithful to his interests, that she would +be enabled to defend herself from the attacks of the English; and it +would be equally certain, that if the wife of Bruce, and the wives and +daughters of so many of his loyal followers remained within her walls, +to obtain possession of their persons would become Pembroke's first +object. It remained to decide whether they would accompany their +sovereign to his mountain fastnesses and expose themselves to all the +privations and hardships which would inevitably attend a wandering +life, or that they should depart under a safe escort to Norway, whose +monarch was friendly to the interests of Scotland. This latter scheme +the king very strongly advised, representing in vivid colors the misery +they might have to endure if they adhered to him; the continual danger +of their falling into the hands of Edward, and even could they elude +this, how was it possible their delicate frames, accustomed as they were +to luxury and repose, could sustain the rude fare, the roofless homes, +the continued wandering amid the crags and floods and deserts of the +mountains. He spoke eloquently and feelingly, and there was a brief +silence when he concluded. Margaret had thrown her arms round her +husband, and buried her face on his bosom; her child clung to her +father's knee, and laid her soft cheek caressingly by his. Isabella of +Buchan, standing a little aloof, remained silent indeed, but no one who +gazed on her could doubt her determination or believe she wavered. Agnes +was standing in the same recess she had formerly occupied, but how +different was the expression of her features. The arm of Nigel was +twined round her, his head bent down to hers in deep and earnest +commune; he was pleading against his own will and feelings it seemed, +and though he strove to answer every argument, to persuade her it was +far better she should seek safety in a foreign land, her determination +more firmly expressed than could have been supposed from her yielding +disposition, to abide with him, in weal or in woe, to share his +wanderings, his home, be it roofless on the mountain, or within palace +walls; that she was a Highland girl, accustomed to mountain paths and +woody glens, nerved to hardship and toil--this determination, we say, +contrary as it was to his eloquent pleadings, certainly afforded Nigel +no pain, and might his beaming features be taken as reply, it was +fraught with unmingled pleasure. In a much shorter time than we have +taken to describe this, however, the queen had raised her head, and +looking up in her husband's face with an expression of devotedness, +which gave her countenance a charm it had never had before, fervently +exclaimed-- + +"Robert, come woe or weal, I will abide with thee; her husband's side is +the best protection for a wife; and if wandering and suffering be his +portion, who will soothe and cheer as the wife of his love? My spirit is +but cowardly, my will but weak; but by thee I may gain the strength +which in foreign lands could never be my own. Imaginary terrors, fancied +horrors would be worse, oh, how much worse than reality! and when we met +again I should be still less worthy of thy love. No, Robert, no! urge me +not, plead to me no more. My friends may do as they will, but Margaret +abides with thee." + +"And who is there will pause, will hesitate, when their queen hath +spoken thus?" continued the Countess of Buchan in a tone that to +Margaret's ear whispered approval and encouragement. "Surely, there is +none here whose love for their country is so weak, their loyalty to +their sovereign of such little worth, that at the first defeat, the +first disappointment, they would fly over seas for safety, and +contentedly leave the graves of their fathers, the hearths of their +ancestors, the homes of their childhood to be desecrated by the chains +of a foreign tyrant, by the footsteps of his hirelings? Oh, do not let +us waver! Let us prove that though the arm of woman is weaker than that +of man, her spirit is as firm, her heart as true; and that privation, +and suffering, and hardship encountered amid the mountains of our land, +the natural fastnesses of Scotland, in company with our rightful king, +our husbands, our children--all, all, aye, death itself, were preferable +to exile and separation. 'Tis woman's part to gild, to bless, and make a +home, and still, still we may do this, though our ancestral homes be in +the hands of Edward. Scotland has still her sheltering breast for all +her children; and shall we desert her now?" + +"No, no, no!" echoed from every side, enthusiasm kindling with her +words. "Better privation and danger in Scotland, than safety and comfort +elsewhere." + +Nor was this the mere decision of the moment, founded on its enthusiasm. +The next morning found them equally firm, equally determined; even the +weak and timid Margaret rose in that hour of trial superior to herself, +and preparations were rapidly made for their departure. Nor were the +prelates of Scotland, who had remained at Scone during the king's +engagement, backward in encouraging and blessing their decision. His +duties prevented the Abbot of Scone accompanying them; but it was with +deep regret he remained behind, not from any fear of the English, for a +warrior spirit lurked beneath those episcopal robes, but from his deep +reverence for the enterprise, and love for the person of King Robert. He +acceded to the necessity of remaining in his abbey with the better +grace, as he fondly hoped to preserve the citizens in the good faith and +loyalty they had so nobly demonstrated. The Archbishop of St. Andrew's +and the Bishop of Glasgow determined on following their sovereign to the +death; and the spirit of Robert, wounded as it had been, felt healed and +soothed, and inspired afresh, as the consciousness of his power over +some true and faithful hearts, of every grade and rank of either sex, +became yet more strongly proved in this hour of depression. He ceased to +speak of seeking refuge for his fair companions in another land, their +determination to abide with him, and their husbands and sons, was too +heartfelt, too unwavering, to allow of a hope to change it; and he well +knew that their presence, instead of increasing the cares and anxieties +of his followers, would rather lessen, them, by shedding a spirit of +chivalry even over the weary wanderings he knew must be their portion +for a while, by gilding with the light of happier days the hours of +darkness that might surround them. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +The queen and her companions were conveyed in detachments from the +palace and town of Scone, the Bruce believing, with justice, they would +thus attract less notice, and be better able to reach the mountains in +safety. The Countess of Buchan, her friend Lady Mary, Agnes, and +Isoline, attended by Sir Nigel, were the first to depart, for though she +spoke it not, deep anxiety was on the mother's heart for the fate of her +boy. They mostly left Scone at different hours of the night; and the +second day from the king's arrival, the palace was untenanted, all signs +of the gallant court, which for a brief space had shed such lustre, such +rays of hope on the old town, were gone, and sorrowfully and +dispiritedly the burghers and citizens went about their several +occupations, for their hearts yet throbbed in loyalty and patriotism, +though hope they deemed was wholly at an end. Still they burned with +indignation at every intelligence of new desertions to Edward, and +though the power of Pembroke compelled them to bend unwillingly to the +yoke, it was as a bow too tightly strung, which would snap rather than +use its strength in the cause of Edward. + +A few weeks' good nursing from his mother and sister, attended as it was +by the kindness and warm friendship of the sovereign he adored, and the +constant care of Nigel, speedily restored the heir of Buchan, if not +entirely to his usual strength, at least with sufficient to enable him +to accompany the royal wanderers wherever they pitched their tent, and +by degrees join in the adventurous excursions of his young companions to +supply them with provender, for on success in hunting entirely depended +their subsistence. + +It was in itself a strange romance, the life they led. Frequently the +blue sky was their only covering, the purple heath their only bed; nor +would the king fare better than his followers. Eagerly, indeed, the +young men ever exerted themselves to form tents or booths of brushwood, +branches of trees, curiously and tastefully interwoven with the wild +flowers that so luxuriantly adorned the rocks, for the accommodation of +the faithful companions who preferred this precarious existence with +them, to comfort, safety, and luxury in a foreign land. Nature, indeed, +lavishly supplied them with beautiful materials, and where the will was +good, exertion proved but a new enjoyment. Couches and cushions of the +softest moss formed alike seats and places of repose; by degrees almost +a village of these primitive dwellings would start into being, in the +centre of some wild rocks, which formed natural barriers around them, +watered, perhaps, by some pleasant brook rippling and gushing by in +wild, yet soothing music, gemmed by its varied flowers. + +Here would be the rendezvous for some few weeks; here would Margaret and +her companions rest a while from their fatiguing wanderings; and could +they have thought but of the present, they would have been completely +happy. Here would their faithful knights return laden with the spoils of +the chase, or with some gay tale of danger dared, encountered, and +conquered; here would the song send its full tone amid the responding +echoes. The harp and muse of Nigel gave a refinement and delicacy to +these meetings, marking them, indeed, the days of chivalry and poetry. +Even Edward Bruce, the stern, harsh, dark, passioned warrior, even he +felt the magic of the hour, and now that the courage of Nigel had been +proved, gave willing ear, and would be among the first to bid him wake +his harp, and soothe the troubled visions of the hour; and Robert, who +saw so much of his own soul reflected in his young brother, mingled as +it was with yet more impassioned fervor, more beautiful, more endearing +qualities, for Nigel had needed not trial to purify his soul, and mark +him out a patriot. Robert, in very truth, loved him, and often would +share with him his midnight couch, his nightly watchings, that he might +confide to that young heart the despondency, the hopelessness, that to +none other might be spoken, none other might suspect--the secret fear +that his crime would be visited on his unhappy country, and he forbidden +to secure her freedom even by the sacrifice of his life. + +"If it be so, it must be so; then be thou her savior, her deliverer, my +Nigel," he would often urge; "droop not because I may have departed; +struggle on, do as thy soul prompts, and success will, nay, must attend +thee; for thou art pure and spotless, and well deserving of all the +glory, the blessedness, that will attend the sovereign of our country +freed from chains; thou art, in truth, deserving of all this, but I--" + +"Peace, peace, my brother!" would be Nigel's answer; "thou, only thou +shalt deliver our country, shall be her free, her patriot king! Have we +not often marked the glorious sun struggling with the black masses of +clouds which surround and obscure his rising, struggling, and in vain, +to penetrate their murky folds, and deluge the world with light, shining +a brief moment, and then immersed in darkness, until, as he nears the +western horizon, the heaviest clouds flee before him, the spotless azure +spreadeth its beautiful expanse, the brilliant rays dart on every side, +warming and cheering the whole earth with reviving beams, and finally +sinking to his rest in a flood of splendor, more dazzling, more imposing +than ever attends his departure when his dawn hath been one of joy. Such +is thy career, my brother; such will be thy glorious fate. Oh, droop not +even to me--to thyself! Hope on, strive on, and thou shalt succeed!" + +"Would I had thy hopeful spirit, my Nigel, an it pictured and believed +things as these!" mournfully would the Bruce reply, and clasp the young +warrior to his heart; but it was only Nigel's ear that heard these +whispers of despondency, only Nigel's eye which could penetrate the +inmost folds of that royal heart. Not even to his wife--his Margaret, +whose faithfulness in these hours of adversity had drawn her yet closer +to her husband--did he breathe aught save encouragement and hope; and to +his followers he was the same as he had been from the first, resolute, +unwavering; triumphing over every obstacle; cheering the faint-hearted; +encouraging the desponding; smiling with his young followers, ever on +the alert to provide amusement for them, to approve, guide, instruct; +gallantly and kindly to smooth the path for his female companions, +joining in every accommodation for them, even giving his manual labor +with the lowest of his followers, if his aid would lessen fatigue, or +more quickly enhance comfort. And often and often in the little +encampment we have described, when night fell, and warrior and dame +would assemble, in various picturesque groups, on the grassy mound, the +king, seated in the midst of them, would read aloud, and divert even the +most wearied frame and careworn mind by the stirring scenes and +chivalric feelings his MSS. recorded. The talent of deciphering +manuscripts, indeed of reading any thing, was one seldom attained or +even sought for in the age of which we treat; the sword and spear were +alike the recreation and the business of the nobles. Reading and writing +were in general confined to monks, and the other clergy; but Robert, +even as his brother Nigel, possessed both these accomplishments, +although to the former their value never seemed so fully known as in his +wanderings. His readings were diversified by rude narratives or tales, +which he demanded in return from his companions, and many a hearty laugh +would resound from the woodland glades, at the characteristic humor with +which these demands were complied with: the dance, too, would diversify +these meetings. A night of repose might perhaps succeed, to be disturbed +at its close by a cause for alarm, and those pleasant resting-places +must be abandoned, the happy party be divided, and scattered far and +wide, to encounter fatigue, danger, perchance even death, ere they met +again. + +Yet still they drooped not, murmured not. No voice was ever heard to +wish the king's advice had been taken, and they had sought refuge in +Norway. Not even Margaret breathed one sigh, dropped one tear, in her +husband's presence, although many were the times that she would have +sunk from exhaustion, had not Isabella of Buchan been near as her +guardian angel to revive, encourage, infuse a portion of her own spirit +in the weaker heart, which so confidingly clung to her. The youngest +and most timid maiden, the oldest and most ailing man, still maintained +the same patriotic spirit and resolute devotion which had upheld them at +first. "The Bruce and Scotland" were the words imprinted on their souls, +endowed with a power to awake the sinking heart, and rouse the fainting +frame. + +To Agnes and Nigel, it was shrewdly suspected, these wanderings in the +centre of magnificent nature, their hearts open to each other, revelling +in the scenes around them, were seasons of unalloyed enjoyment, +happiness more perfect than the state and restraint of a court. +Precarious, indeed, it was, but even in moments of danger they were not +parted; for Nigel was ever the escort of the Countess of Buchan, and +danger by his side lost half its terror to Agnes. He left her side but +to return to it covered with laurels, unharmed, uninjured, even in the +midst of foes; and so frequently did this occur, that the fond, +confiding spirit of the young Agnes folded itself around the belief that +he bore a charmed life; that evil and death could not injure one so +faultless and beloved. Their love grew stronger with each passing week; +for nature, beautiful nature, is surely the field of that interchange of +thought, for that silent commune of soul so dear to those that love. The +simplest flower, the gushing brooks, the frowning hills, the varied hues +attending the rising and the setting of the sun, all were turned to +poetry when the lips of Nigel spoke to the ears of love. The mind of +Agnes expanded before these rich communings. She was so young, so +guileless, her character moulded itself on his. She learned yet more to +comprehend, to appreciate the nobility of his soul, to cling yet closer +to him, as the consciousness of the rich treasure she possessed in his +love became more and more unfolded to her view. The natural fearfulness +of her disposition gave way, and the firmness, the enthusiasm of +purpose, took possession of her heart, secretly and silently, indeed; +for to all, save to herself, she was the same gentle, timid, clinging +girl that she had ever been. + +So passed the summer months; but as winter approached, and the prospects +of the king remained as apparently hopeless and gloomy as they were on +his first taking refuge in the mountains, it was soon pretty evident +that some other plan must be resorted to; for strong as the resolution +might be, the delicate frames of his female companions, already +suffering from the privations to which they had been exposed, could not +sustain the intense cold and heavy snows peculiar to the mountain +region. Gallantly as the king had borne himself in every encounter with +the English and Anglo-Scots, sustaining with unexampled heroism repeated +defeats and blighted hopes, driven from one mountainous district by the +fierce opposition of its inhabitants, from another by a cessation of +supplies, till famine absolutely threatened, closely followed by its +grim attendant, disease, all his efforts to collect and inspire his +countrymen with his own spirit, his own hope, were utterly and entirely +fruitless, for his enemies appeared to increase around him, the autumn +found him as far, if not further, from the successful termination of his +desires than he had been at first. + +All Scotland lay at the feet of his foe. John of Lorn, maternally +related to the slain Red Comyn, had collected his forces to the number +of a thousand, and effectually blockaded his progress through the +district of Breadalbane, to which he had retreated from a superior body +of English, driving him to a narrow pass in the mountains, where the +Bruce's cavalry had no power to be of service; and had it not been for +the king's extraordinary exertions in guarding the rear, and there +checking the desperate fury of the assailants, and interrupting their +headlong pursuit of the fugitives, by a strength, activity, and +prudence, that in these days would seem incredible, the patriots must +have been cut off to a man. Here it was that the family of Lorn obtained +possession of that brooch of Bruce, which even to this day is preserved +as a relic, and lauded as a triumph, proving how nearly their redoubted +enemy had fallen into their hands. Similar struggles had marked his +progress through the mountains ever since the defeat of Methven; but +vain was every effort of his foes to obtain possession of his person, +destroy his energy, and thus frustrate his purpose. Perth, Inverness, +Argyle, and Aberdeen had alternately been the scene of his wanderings. +The middle of autumn found him with about a hundred followers, amongst +whom were the Countess of Buchan and her son, amid the mountains which +divide Kincardine from the southwest boundary of Aberdeen. The remainder +of his officers and men, divided into small bands, each with some of +their female companions under their especial charge, were scattered over +the different districts, as better adapted to concealment and rest. + +It was that part of the year when day gives place to night so suddenly, +that the sober calm of twilight even appears denied to us. The streams +rushed by, turbid and swollen from the heavy autumnal rains. A rude wind +had robbed most of the trees of their foliage; the sere and withered +leaves, indeed, yet remained on the boughs, beautiful even in, their +decay, but the slightest breath would carry them away from their +resting-places, and the mountain passes were incumbered, and often +slippery from the fallen leaves. The mountains looked frowning and bare, +the pine and fir bent and rocked in their craggy cradles, and the wind +moaned through their dark branches sadly and painfully. The sun had, +indeed, shone fitfully through the day, but still the scene was one of +melancholy desolation, and the heart of the Countess of Buchan, bold and +firm in general, could not successfully resist the influence of Nature's +sadness. She sat comparatively alone; a covering had, indeed, been +thrown over some thick poles, which interwove with brushwood, and with a +seat and couch of heather, which was still in flower, formed a rude +tent, and was destined for her repose; but until night's dark mantle was +fully unfurled, she had preferred the natural seat of a jutting crag, +sheltered from the wind by an overhanging rock and some spreading firs. +Her companions were scattered in different directions in search of food, +as was their wont. Some ten or fifteen men had been left with her, and +they were dispersed about the mountain collecting firewood, and a supply +of heath and moss for the night encampment; within hail, indeed, but +scarcely within sight, for the space where the countess sate commanded +little more than protruding crags and stunted trees, and mountains +lifting their dark, bare brows to the starless sky. + +It was not fear which had usurped dominion in the Lady Isabella's heart, +it was that heavy, sluggish, indefinable weight which sometimes clogs +the spirit we know not wherefore, until some event following quick upon +it forces us, even against our will, to believe it the overhanging +shadow of the future which had darkened the present. She was sad, very +sad, yet she could not, as was ever her custom, bring that sadness to +judgment, and impartially examining and determining its cause, remove it +if possible, or banish it resolutely from her thoughts. + +An impulse indefinable, yet impossible to be resisted, had caused her to +intrust her Agnes to the care of Lady Mary and Nigel, and compelled her +to follow her son, who had been the chosen companion of the king. +Rigidly, sternly, she had questioned her own heart as to the motives of +this decision. It was nothing new her accompanying her son, for she had +invariably done so; but it was something unusual her being separated +from the queen, and though her heart told her that her motives were so +upright, so pure, they could have borne the sternest scrutiny, there was +naught which the most rigid mentor could condemn, yet a feeling that +evil would come of this was amongst the many others which weighed on her +heart. She could not tell wherefore, yet she wished it had been +otherwise, wished the honor of being selected as the king's companion +had fallen on other than her son, for separate herself from him she +could not. One cause of this despondency might have been traced to the +natural sinking of the spirit when it finds itself alone, with time for +its own fancies, after a long period of exertion, and that mental +excitement which, unseen to all outward observers, preys upon itself. +Memory had awakened dreams and visions she had long looked upon as dead; +it did but picture brightly, beautifully, joyously what might have been, +and disturbed the tranquil sadness which was usual to her now; disturb +it as with phantasmagoria dancing on the brain, yet it was a struggle +hard and fierce to banish them again. As one sweet fancy sunk another +rose, even as gleams of moonlight on the waves which rise and fall with +every breeze. Fancy and reason strove for dominion, but the latter +conquered. What could be now the past, save as a vision of the night; +the present, a stern reality with all its duties--duties not alone to +others, but to herself. These were the things on which her thoughts must +dwell; these must banish all which might have been and they did; and +Isabella of Buchan came through that fiery ordeal unscathed, uninjured +in her self-esteem, conscious that not in one thought did she wrong her +husband, in not one dream did she wrong the gentle heart of the queen +which so clung to her; in not the wildest flight of fancy did she look +on Robert as aught save as the deliverer of his country, the king of all +true Scottish men. + +She rose up from that weakness of suffering, strengthened in her resolve +to use every energy in the queen's service in supporting, encouraging, +endeavoring so to work on her appreciation of her husband's character, +as to render her yet more worthy of his love. She had ever sought to +remain beside the queen, ever contrived they should be of the same +party; that her mind was ever on the stretch, on the excitement, could +not be denied, but she knew not how great its extent till the call for +exertion was comparatively over, and she found herself, she scarcely +understood how, the only female companion of her sovereign, the +situation she had most dreaded, most determined to avoid. While engaged +in the performance of her arduous task, the schooling her own heart and +devoting herself to Robert's wife, virtue seemed to have had its own +reward, for a new spirit had entwined her whole being--excitement, +internal as it was, had given a glow to thought and action; but in her +present solitude the reaction of spirit fell upon her as a dull, +sluggish weight of lead. She had suffered, too, from both privation and +fatigue, and she was aware her strength was failing, and this perhaps +was another cause of her depression; but be that as it may, darkness +closed round her unobserved, and when startled by some sudden sound, she +raised her head from her hands, she could scarcely discern one object +from another in the density of gloom. "Surely night has come suddenly +upon us," she said, half aloud; "it is strange they have not yet +returned," and rising, she was about seeking the tent prepared for her, +when a rude grasp was laid on her arm, and a harsh, unknown voice +uttered, in suppressed accents-- + +"Not so fast, fair mistress, not so fast! My way does not lie in that +direction, and, with your leave, my way is yours." + +"How, man! fellow, detain me at your peril!" answered the countess, +sternly, permitting no trace of terror to falter in her voice, although +a drawn sword gleamed by her side, and a gigantic form fully armed had +grasped her arm. "Unhand me, or I will summon those that will force +thee. I am not alone, and bethink thee, insult to me will pass not with +impunity." + +The man laughed scornfully. "Boldly answered, fair one," he said; "of a +truth thou art a brave one. I grieve such an office should descend upon +me as the detention of so stout a heart; yet even so. In King Edward's +name, you are my prisoner." + +"Your prisoner, and wherefore?" demanded the countess believing that +calmness would be a better protection than any symptoms of fear. "You +are mistaken, good friend, I knew not Edward warred with women." + +"Prove my mistake, fair mistress, and I will crave your pardon," replied +the man, "We have certain intelligence that a party of Scottish rebels, +their quondam king perhaps among them, are hidden in these mountains. +Give us trusty news of their movements, show us their track, and Edward +will hold you in high favor, and grant liberty and rich presents in +excuse of his servant's too great vigilance. Hearest thou, what is the +track of these rebels--what their movements?" + +"Thou art a sorry fool, Murdock," retorted another voice, ere the +countess could reply, and hastily glancing around, she beheld herself +surrounded by armed men; "a sorry fool, an thou wastest the precious +darkness thus. Is not one rank rebel sufficient, think you, to satisfy +our lord? he will get intelligence enough out of her, be sure. Isabella +of Buchan is not fool enough to hold parley with such as we, rely on't." + +A suppressed exclamation of exultation answered the utterance of that +name, and without further parley the arms of the countess were strongly +pinioned, and with the quickness of thought the man who had first spoken +raised her in his arms, and bore her through the thickest brushwood and +wildest crags in quite the contrary direction to the encampment; their +movements accelerated by the fact that, ere her arms were confined, the +countess, with admirable presence of mind, had raised to her lips a +silver whistle attached to her girdle, and blown a shrill, distinct +blast. A moment sufficed to rudely tear it from her hand, and hurry her +off as we have said; and when that call was answered, which it was as +soon as the men scattered on the mountain sufficiently recognized the +sound, they flung down their tools and sprung to the side whence it +came, but there was no sign, no trace of her they sought; they scoured +with lighted torches every mossy path or craggy slope, but in vain; +places of concealment were too numerous, the darkness too intense, save +just the space illumined by the torch, to permit success. The trampling +of horses announced the return of the king and his companions, ere their +search was concluded; his bugle summoned the stragglers, and speedily +the loss of the countess was ascertained, their fruitless search +narrated, and anxiety and alarm spread over the minds of all. The agony +of the youthful Alan surpassed description, even the efforts of his +sovereign failed to calm him. Nor was the Bruce himself much less +agitated. + +"She did wrong, she did wrong," he said, "to leave herself so long +unguarded; yet who was there to commit this outrage? There is some +treachery here, which we must sift; we must not leave our noble +countrywoman in the hands of these marauders. Trust me, Alan, we shall +recover her yet." + +But the night promised ill for the fulfilment of this trust. Many hours +passed in an utterly fruitless search, and about one hour before +midnight a thick fog increased the dense gloom, and even prevented all +assistance from the torches, for not ten yards before them was +distinguishable. Dispirited and disappointed, the king and his +companions threw themselves around the watchfires, in gloomy meditation, +starting at the smallest sound, and determined to renew their search +with the first gleam of dawn; the hurried pace of Alan, as he strode up +and down, for he could not rest, alone disturbing the stillness all +around. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +It was already two hours after midnight when a hurried tread, distinct +from Alan's restless pacing, disturbed the watchers, and occasioned many +to raise themselves on their elbows and listen. + +It came nearer and nearer, and very soon a young lad, recognized as Sir +Alan's page, was discerned, springing from crag to crag in breathless +haste, and finally threw himself at his sovereign's feet. + +"It is not too late--up, up, and save her!" were the only words he had +power to gasp, panting painfully for the breath of which speed had +deprived him. His hair and dress were heavy with the damp occasioned by +the fog, and his whole appearance denoting no common agitation. + +"Where?" "How?" "What knowest thou?" "Speak out." "What ailest thee, +boy?" were the eager words uttered at once by all, and the king and +others sprung to their feet, while Alan laid a heavy hand on the boy's +shoulder, and glared on him in silence; the lad's glance fell beneath +his, and he sobbed forth-- + +"Mercy, mercy! my thoughtlessness has done this, yet I guessed not, +dreamed not this ill would follow. But oh, do not wait for my tale now; +up, up, and save her ere it be too late!" + +"And how may we trust thee now, an this is the effect of former +treachery?" demanded Robert, with a sternness that seemed to awe the +terrified boy into composure. + +"I am not treacherous, sire. No, no! I would have exposed my throat to +your grace's sword rather than do a traitor's deed: trust me, oh, trust +me, and follow without delay!" + +"Speak first, and clearly," answered Alan, fiercely; "even for my +mother's sake the sacred person of the King of Scotland shall not be +risked by a craven's word. Speak, an thou wouldst bid me trust +thee--speak, I charge thee." + +"He is right--he is right; let him explain this mystery ere we follow," +echoed round; and thus urged, the boy's tale was hurriedly told. + +It was simply this. Some days previous, when wandering alone about the +rocks, he had met a woodman, whom he recognized as one of the retainers +of Buchan, and, as such, believed him as loyal and faithful to King +Robert's interest as himself and others in the countess's train. The man +had artfully evaded all young Malcolm's expression of astonishment and +inquiries as to why Donald MacAlpine, whom he well knew to be one of the +stoutest and most sturdy men-at-arms which the clan possessed, should +have taken to so peaceful an employment as cutting wood, and skilfully +drew from the boy much information concerning the movements of the party +to whom he belonged. Malcolm freely spoke of Sir Alan and the Countess +of Buchan, dilating with no little pleasure on his young master having +received knighthood at the hand of his king, and all the honors and +delights which accompanied it. Aware, however, of the dangers which +environed the Bruce, he spoke of him more cautiously, and the more +Donald sought to discover if the king were near at hand, the more +carefully did Malcolm conceal that he was, telling the woodman if he +wished to know all particulars, he had better turn his sickle into a +spear, his cap into a helmet, and strike a good blow for Scotland and +King Robert. This the man refused to do, alleging he loved his own +sturdy person and independent freedom too well to run his neck into such +a noose; that King Robert might do very well for a while, but eventually +he must fall into King Edward's hands. Malcolm angrily denied this, and +they parted, not the best friends imaginable. On reviewing all that had +passed, the boy reproached himself incessantly for having said too much, +and was continually tormented by an indefinable fear that some evil +would follow. This fear kept him by the side of the countess, instead +of, as was his wont, following Sir Alan to the chase. The increasing +darkness had concealed her from him, but he was the first to distinguish +her whistle. He had reached the spot time enough to recognize the +supposed woodman in the second speaker, and to feel with painful +acuteness his boyish thoughtlessness had brought this evil on a +mistress, to serve whom he would willingly have laid down his life. +Resistance he knew, on his part, was utterly useless, and therefore he +determined to follow their track, and thus bring accurate intelligence +to the king. The minds of the men preoccupied by the thought of their +distinguished prisoner, and the thickening gloom, aided his resolution. +Happening to have a quantity of thick flax in his pocket, the boy, with +admirable foresight, fastened it to different shrubs and stones as he +passed, and thus secured his safe return; a precaution very necessary, +as from the windings and declivities, and in parts well-nigh impregnable +hollows, into which he followed the men, his return in time would have +been utterly frustrated. + +The gathering mist had occasioned a halt, and a consultation as to +whether they could reach the encampment to which they belonged, or +whether it would not be better to halt till dawn. They had decided in +favor of the latter, fearing, did they continue marching, they might +lose their track, and perhaps fall in with the foe. He had waited, he +said, till he saw them making such evident preparations for a halt of +some hours, that he felt certain they would not remove till daylight. It +was a difficult and precarious path, he said, yet he was quite sure he +could lead fifteen or twenty men easily to the spot, and, taken by +surprise, nothing would prevent the recovery of the countess: less than +two hours would take them there. + +This tale was told in less time than we have taken to transcribe it, and +not twenty minutes after Malcolm's first appearance, the king and Sir +Alan, with fifteen tried followers, departed on their expedition. There +had been some attempt to dissuade the king from venturing his own person +where further treachery might yet lurk, but the attempt was vain. + +"She has perilled her life for me," was his sole answer, "and were there +any real peril, mine would be hazarded for her; but there is none--'tis +but a child's work we are about to do, not even glory enough to call for +envy." + +The fog had sufficiently cleared to permit of their distinguishing the +route marked out by Malcolm, but not enough to betray their advance, +even had there been scouts set to watch the pass. Not a word passed +between them. Rapidly, stealthily they advanced, and about three in the +morning stood within sight of their foes, though still unseen +themselves. There was little appearance of caution: two large fires had +been kindled, round one of which ten or twelve men were stretched their +full length, still armed indeed, and their hands clasping their +unsheathed swords, but their senses fast locked in slumber. Near the +other, her arms and feet pinioned, Alan, with a heart beating almost +audibly with indignation, recognized his mother. Two men, armed with +clubs, walked up and down beside her, and seven others were grouped in +various attitudes at her feet, most of them fast asleep. It was evident +that they had no idea of surprise, and that their only fear was +associated with the escape of their prisoner. + +"They are little more than man to man," said the Bruce; "therefore is +there no need for further surprise than will attend the blast of your +bugle, Sir Alan. Sound the reveillé, and on to the rescue." + +He was obeyed, and the slumberers, with suppressed oaths, started to +their feet, glancing around them a brief minute in inquiring +astonishment as to whence the sound came. It was speedily explained: man +after man sprang through the thicket, and rushed upon the foes, several +of whom, gathering themselves around their prisoner, seemed determined +that her liberty should not be attained with her life, more than once +causing the swords of the Bruce's followers to turn aside in their rapid +descent, less they should injure her they sought to save. Like a young +lion Alan fought, ably seconded by the king, whose gigantic efforts +clearing his path, at length enabled himself and Alan to stand uninjured +beside the countess, and thus obtain possession of her person, and guard +her from the injury to which her captors voluntarily exposed her. There +was at first no attempt at flight, although the Bruce's men carried all +before them; the men fell where they stood, till only five remained, +and these, after a moment's hesitation, turned and fled. A shrill cry +from Malcolm had turned the king's and Alan's attention in another +direction, and it was well they did so. Determined on foiling the +efforts of his foes, Donald MacAlpine, who was supposed to be among the +fallen, had stealthily approached the spot where the countess, overcome +with excessive faintness, still reclined, then noiselessly rising, his +sword was descending on her unguarded head, when Alan, aroused by +Malcolm's voice, turned upon him and dashed his weapon from his grasp, +at the same minute that the Bruce's sword pierced the traitor's heart: +he sprung in the air with a loud yell of agony, and fell, nearly +crushing the countess with his weight. + +It was the voice of Alan which aroused that fainting heart. It was in +the bosom of her son those tearful eyes were hid, after one startled and +bewildered gaze on the countenance of her sovereign, who had been +leaning over her in unfeigned anxiety. A thicket of thorn, mingled with +crags, divided her from the unseemly signs of the late affray; but +though there was naught to renew alarm, it was with a cold shudder she +had clung to her son, as if even her firm, bold spirit had given way. +Gently, cheeringly the king addressed her, and she evidently struggled +to regain composure; but her powers of body were evidently so +prostrated, that her friends felt rest of some kind she must have, ere +she could regain sufficient strength to accompany them on their +wanderings. She had received three or four wounds in the mêlée, which +though slight, the loss of blood that had followed materially increased +her weakness, and the king anxiously summoned his friends around him to +deliberate on the best measures to pursue. + +Amongst them were two of Sir Alan's retainers, old and faithful Scottish +men, coeval with his grandfather, the late Earl of Buchan. Devoted alike +to the countess, the king, and their country, they eagerly listened to +all that was passing, declaring that rather than leave the Lady Isabella +in a situation of such danger as the present, they would take it by +turns to carry her in their arms to the encampment. The king listened +with a benevolent smile. + +"Is there no hut or house, or hunting-lodge to which we could convey +your lady," he asked, "where she might find quieter shelter and greater +rest than hitherto? An ye knew of such, it would be the wiser plan to +seek it at break of day." + +A hunting-lodge, belonging to the Earls of Buchan, there was, or ought +to be, the old men said, near the head of the Tay, just at the entrance +of Athol Forest. It had not been used since their old master's days; he +had been very partial to it when a boy, and was continually there; it +had most likely fallen into decay from disuse, as they believed the +present earl did not even know of its existence, but that was all the +better, as it would be a still more safe and secure retreat for the +countess, and they were sure, when once out of the hollows and +intricacies of their present halting-place, they could easily discover +the path to it. + +And how long did they think it would be, the king inquired, before their +lady could be taken to it? the sooner, they must perceive as well as +himself, the better for her comfort. He was relieved when they declared +that two days, or at the very utmost three, would bring them there, if, +as the old men earnestly entreated he would, they retraced their steps +to the encampment as soon as daylight was sufficiently strong for them +clearly to distinguish their path. This was unanimously resolved on, and +the few intervening hours were spent by the countess in calm repose. + +Conscious that filial affection watched over her, the sleep of the +countess tranquillized her sufficiently to commence the return to the +encampment with less painful evidences of exhaustion. A rude litter +waited for her, in which she could recline when the pass allowed its +safe passage, and which could be easily borne by the bearers when the +intricacies of the path prevented all egress save by pedestrianism. It +had been hurriedly made by her devoted adherents, and soothed and +gratified, her usual energy seemed for the moment to return. By nine +o'clock forenoon all traces of the Bruce and his party had departed from +the glen, the last gleam of their armor was lost in the winding path, +and then it was that a man, who had lain concealed in a thicket from the +moment of the affray, hearing all that had passed, unseen himself, now +slowly, cautiously raised himself on his knees, gazed carefully round +him, then with a quicker but as silent motion sprung to his feet, and +raised his hands in an action of triumph. + +"_He is_ amongst them, then," he muttered, "the traitor Bruce himself. +This is well. The countess, her son, find the would-be king--ha! ha! My +fortune's made!" and he bounded away in quite a contrary direction to +that taken by the Bruce. + +The old retainers of Buchan were correct in their surmises. The evening +of the second day succeeding the event we have narrated brought them to +the hunting-lodge. It was indeed very old, and parts had fallen almost +to ruins, but there were still three or four rooms remaining, whose +compact walls and well-closed roofs rendered them a warm and welcome +refuge for the Countess of Buchan, whose strenuous exertions the two +preceding days had ended, as was expected, by exhaustion more painful +and overpowering than before. + +The exertions of her friends--for the Bruce and his followers with one +consent had permitted their wanderings to be guided by the old +men--speedily rendered the apartments habitable. Large fires were soon +blazing on the spacious hearths, and ere night fell, all appearance of +damp and discomfort had vanished. The frugal supper was that night a +jovial meal; the very look of a cheerful blaze beneath a walled roof was +reviving to the wanderers; the jest passed round, the wine-cup sparkled +to the health of the countess, and many a fervent aspiration echoed +round for the speedy restoration of her strength; for truly she was the +beloved, the venerated of all, alike from her sovereign to his lowest +follower. + +"Trust my experience, my young knight," had been the Bruce's address to +Alan ere they parted for the night. "A few days' complete repose will +quite restore your valued parent and my most honored friend. This +hunting-lodge shall be our place of rendezvous for a time, till she is +sufficiently restored to accompany us southward. You are satisfied, are +you not, with the diligence of our scouts?" + +"Perfectly, your highness," was Alan's reply; for well-tried and +intelligent men had been sent in every direction to discover, if +possible, to what party of the enemy the captors of the Lady Isabella +belonged, and to note well the movements and appearance, not only of any +martial force, but of the country people themselves. They had executed +their mission as well as the intricate passes and concealed hollows of +the mountains permitted, and brought back the welcome intelligence, that +for miles round the country was perfectly clear, and to all appearance +peaceful. The hunting-lodge, too, was so completely hidden by dark woods +of pine and overhanging crags, that even had there been foes prowling +about the mountains, they might pass within twenty yards of its vicinity +and yet fail to discover it. The very path leading to the bottom of the +hollow in which it stood was concealed at the entrance by thick shrubs +and an arch of rock, which had either fallen naturally into that shape, +or been formed by the architects of the lodge. It seemed barely possible +that the retreat could be discovered, except by the basest treachery, +and therefore the king and Sir Alan felt perfectly at rest regarding the +safety of the countess, even though they could only leave with her a +guard of some twenty or thirty men. + +So much was she refreshed the following morning, that the hopes of her +son brightened, and with that filial devotion so peculiarly his +characteristic, he easily obtained leave of absence from his sovereign, +to remain by the couch of his mother for at least that day, instead of +accompanying him, as was his wont, in the expeditions of the day. The +countess combated this decision, but in vain. Alan was resolved. He was +convinced, he said, her former capture, and all its ill consequences, +would not have taken place had he been by her side; and even were she +not now exposed to such indignity, she would be lonely and sad without +him, and stay, in consequence, he would. The king and his officers +approved of the youth's resolution, and reluctantly Isabella yielded. + +About two hours before noon the Bruce and his companions departed, +desiring Sir Alan not to expect their return till near midnight, as they +intended penetrating a part of the country which had not yet been +explored; they might be a few hours sooner, but they scarcely expected +it. It was afterwards remembered that a peculiar expression of sadness +overclouded the countenance of the countess, as for a moment she fixed +her speaking eyes on the king's face when he cheerfully bade her +farewell, and said, in a low emphatic voice-- + +"Farewell, sire! It may be the hour of meeting is longer deferred than +we either of us now believe. Fain would I beseech your grace to grant me +one boon, make me but one promise ere you depart." + +"Any boon, any promise that our faithful friend and subject can demand, +is granted ere 'tis asked," answered the king, without a moment's pause, +though startled alike at the expression of her features and the sadness +of her voice. "Gladly would we give any pledge that could in any way +bespeak our warm sense of thy true merit, lady, therefore speak, and +fear not." + +"'Tis simply this, sire," she said, and her voice was still mournful, +despite her every effort to prevent its being so. "Should unforeseen +evil befall me, captivity, danger of death, or aught undreamed of now, +give me your royal word as a knight and king, that you will not peril +your sacred person, and with it the weal and liberty of our unhappy +country, for my sake, but leave me to my fate; 'tis a strange and +fanciful boon, yet, gracious sovereign, refuse it not. I mean not +treachery such as we have encountered, where your grace's noble +gallantry rescued me with little peril to yourself. No; I mean other and +greater danger; where I well know that rather than leave me exposed to +the wrath of my husband and Edward of England, you would risk your own +precious life, and with it the liberty of Scotland. Grant me this boon, +my liege, and perchance this heavy weight upon my spirit will pass and +leave me free." + +"Nay, 'tis such a strange and unknightly promise, lady, how may I pledge +my word to its fulfilment?" answered Robert, gravely and sadly. "You bid +me pledge mine honor to a deed that will stain my name with an +everlasting infamy, that even the liberty of Scotland will not wash +away. How may I do this thing? You press me sorely, lady. Even for thee, +good and faithful as thou art, how may I hurt my knightly fame?" + +"Sire, thou wilt not," she returned, still more entreatingly; "thy +brilliant fame, thy noble name, will never--can never, receive a stain. +I do but ask a promise whose fulfilment may never be demanded. I do but +bid thee remember thou art not only a knight, a noble, a king, but one +by whom the preservation, the independence of our country can alone be +achieved--one on whose safety and freedom depends the welfare of a +nation, the unchained glory of her sons. Were death thy portion, +Scotland lies a slave forever at the feet of England, and therefore is +it I do beseech thee, King of Scotland, make me this pledge. I know thy +noble spirit well, and I know thy too chivalric honor would blind thee +to a sense of danger, to a sense of country, duty, glory, of all save +the rescue of one who, though she be faithful to thee and to her +country, is but as a drop of water in the ocean, compared to other +claims. My liege, thy word is already in part pledged," she continued, +more proudly. "Any pledge or promise I might demand is granted ere it is +asked, your highness deigned to say; thou canst not retract it now." + +"And wherefore shouldst thou, royal brother?" cheeringly interrupted +Alexander Bruce. "The Lady Isahella asks not unreasonably; she does but +suggest _what may be_, although that may be is, as we all know, next to +impossible, particularly now when nature has fortified this pleasant +lodge even as would a garrison of some hundred men. Come, be not so +churlish in thy favors, good my liege; give her the pledge she demands, +and be sure its fulfilment will never be required." + +"Could I but think so," he replied, still gravely. "Lady, I do entreat +thee, tell me wherefore thou demandest this strange boon; fearest thou +evil--dreamest thou aught of danger hovering near? If so, as there is a +God in heaven, I will not go forth to-day!" + +"Pardon me, gracious sovereign," answered Isabella, evasively; "I ask +it, because since the late adventure there has been a weight upon my +spirit as if I, impotent, of little consequence as I am, yet even I +might be the means of hurling down evil on thy head, and through thee on +Scotland; and, therefore, until thy promise to the effect I have +specified is given, I cannot, I will not rest--even though, as Lord +Alexander justly believes, its fulfilment will never be required. Evil +here, my liege, trust me, cannot be; therefore go forth in confidence. I +fear not to await your return, e'en should I linger here alone. Grant +but my boon." + +"Nay, an it must be, lady, I promise all thou demandest," answered +Bruce, more cheerfully, for her words reassured him; "but, by mine +honor, thou hast asked neither well nor kindly. Remember, my pledge is +passed but for real danger, and that only for Scotland's sake, not for +mine own; and now farewell, lady. I trust, ere we meet again, these +depressing fancies will have left thee." + +"They have well-nigh departed now, my liege; 'twas simply for thee and +Scotland these heavy bodings oppressed me. My son," she added, after a +brief pause, "I would your highness could prevail on him to accompany +you to-day. Wherefore should he stay with me?" + +"Wherefore not rather, lady?" replied the king, smiling. "I may not +leave thee to thine own thoughts to weave fresh boons like to the last. +No, no! our young knight must guard thee till we meet again," and with +these words he departed. They did not, however, deter the countess from +resuming her persuasions to Alan to accompany his sovereign, but without +success. Isabella of Buchan had, however, in this instance departed from +her usual strict adherence to the truth, she did not feel so secure that +no evil would befall her in the absence of the Bruce, as she had +endeavored to make him believe. + +Some words she had caught during her brief captivity caused her, she +scarcely knew why, to believe that the Earl of Buchan himself was in the +neighborhood; nay, that the very party which had captured her were +members of the army under his command. She had gathered, too, that it +was a very much larger force than the king's, and therefore it was that +she had made no objection to Robert's wish that she should rest some few +days in the hunting-lodge. She knew that, however her failing strength +might detain and harass their movements, Bruce and his followers would +never consent to leave her, unless, as in the present case, under a +comparatively comfortable roof and well-concealed shelter; and she knew, +too, that however she might struggle to accompany them in their +wanderings, the struggle in her present exhausted state would be utterly +in vain, and lingering for her might expose her sovereign to a renewal +of the ills with which he had already striven so nobly, and perchance to +yet more irreparable misfortune. The information of the scouts had +partially reassured her, at least to the fact that no immediate danger +was to be apprehended, and for a while she indulged the hope that safety +might be found in this hidden spot until the peril passed. She had full +confidence in the fidelity of the old retainers who had guided them to +the spot, and sought to feel satisfied that its vicinity was unknown to +the earl, her husband; but, whether from the restlessness of a slight +degree of fever, or from that nervous state of mind attendant on +worn-out strength, ere the Bruce departed the same foreboding came on +her again, and all her desire was the absence of her sovereign and his +followers, to have some hold upon his almost too exalted sense of +chivalry, which would prevent any rash act of daring on his part; and +this, as we have seen, she obtained. + +Could she but have prevailed on her son to accompany them, she would +calmly and resignedly have awaited her fate, whatever it might be; but +the horror of beholding him a prisoner in the hands of his father--that +father perhaps so enraged at the boy's daring opposition to his will and +political opinions, that he would give him up at once to the wrath of +Edward--was a picture of anguish from which her mind revolted in such +intense suffering, she could not rest. She strove with the fancy; she +sought to rouse every energy, to feel secure in her present +resting-place. But who can resist the influence of feelings such as +these? What mother's heart cannot enter into the emotions of Isabella of +Buchan, as she gazed on her noble boy, improved as he was in manliness +and beauty, and with the dread anticipation of evil, believing only +absence could protect him; that perchance the very love which kept him +by her side would expose him to danger, imprisonment, and death? She did +not speak her fears, but Alan vainly sought to soothe that unwonted +restlessness. She had endeavored to secure the Bruce's safety by the aid +of Malcolm, the young page, by whose instrumentality she had been both +captured and released. Taking advantage of Sir Alan's absence, she had +called the boy to her side, and made him promise that, at the first +manifest sign of danger, he would make his escape, which, by his extreme +agility and address, would easily be achieved, seek the king, and give +him exact information of the numbers, strength, and situation of the +foes, reminding him, at the same time, of his solemn pledge. She made +him promise the profoundest secrecy, and adjured him at all hazards to +save the king. + +The boy, affected by the solemnity of her manner, promised faithfully to +observe her minutest sign, and on the re-entrance of Sir Alan departed, +to marvel wherefore his lady should so have spoken, and examine the +localities around, as to the best means of concealment and escape. + +The hours waned, and night fell, as is usual in October, some five hours +after noon, the gloom perhaps greatly increased by the deep shades in +which their place of concealment lay. Sir Alan roused the fire to a +cheerful blaze, and lighting a torch of pine-wood, placed it in an iron +bracket projecting from the wall, and amused himself by polishing his +arms, and talking in that joyous tone his mother so loved, on every +subject that his affection fancied might interest and amuse her. He was +wholly unarmed, except his sword, which, secured to his waist by a +crimson sash, he never laid aside; and fair and graceful to his mother's +eye did he look in his simple doublet of Lincoln-green, cut and slashed +with ruby velvet, his dark curls clustering round his bare throat, and +his bright face beaming in all the animation of youth and health, +spiritualized by the deeper feelings of his soul; and she, too, was +still beautiful, though her frame was slighter, her features more +attenuated than when we first beheld her. He had insisted on her +reclining on the couch, and drawn from her otherwise painful thoughts by +his animated sallies, smiles circled her pale lip, and her sorrows were +a while forgotten. + +An hour, perhaps rather more, elapsed, and found the mother and son +still as we have described, There had been no sound without, but about +that period many heavy footsteps might have been distinguished, +cautiously, it seemed, advancing. Alan started up and listened; the +impatient neigh of a charger was heard, and then voices suppressed, yet, +as he fancied, familiar. + +"King Robert returned already!" he exclaimed; "they must have had an +unusually successful chase. I must e'en seek them and inquire." + +"Alan! my child!" He started at the voice, it was so unlike his +mother's. She had risen and flung her arm around him with a pressure so +convulsive, he looked at her with terror. There was no time to answer; a +sudden noise usurped the place of the previous stillness--a struggle--a +heavy fall; the door was flung rudely open, and an armed man stood upon +the threshold, his vizor up, but even had it not been, the heart of the +countess too truly told her she gazed upon her husband! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A brief pause followed the entrance of this unexpected visitor. Standing +upon the threshold, his dark brow knit, his eyes fixed on his prisoners, +the Earl of Buchan stood a few minutes immovable. Alan saw but a +mail-clad warrior, more fierce and brutal in appearance than the +generality of their foes, and felt, with all that heart-sinking +despondency natural to youth, that they were betrayed, that resistance +was in vain, for heavier and louder grew the tramp of horse and man, and +the narrow passage, discernible through the open door, was filled with +steel-clad forms, their drawn swords glancing in the torchlight, their +dark brows gleaming in ill-concealed triumph. Alan was still a boy in +years, despite his experience as a warrior, and in the first agony of +this discovery, the first dream of chains and captivity, when his young +spirit revelled in the thought of freedom, and joyed as a bird in the +fresh air of mount and stream, weaving bright hopes, not exile or +wandering could remove, his impulse had been to dash his useless sword +in anguish to the earth, and weep; but the sight of his mother checked +that internal weakness. He felt her convulsive clasp; he beheld the +expression on her features,--how unlike their wont--terror, suffering, +whose _entire_ cause he vainly endeavored to define, and he roused +himself for her. And she, did she see more than her son? She _knew_ that +face, and as she gazed, she felt hope had departed; she beheld naught +but a long, endless vista of anguish; yet she felt not for herself, she +thought but of her child. And the earl, can we define his exulting +mood?--it was the malice, the triumph of a fiend. + +"Who and what art thou?" demanded Alan, fiercely, laying his right hand +on his sword, and with the left firmly clasping his mother's waist. +"What bold knight and honorable chevalier art thou, thus seeking by +stealth the retreat of a wanderer, and overpowering by numbers and +treachery men, who on the field thou and such as thou had never dared to +meet?" + +The earl laughed; that bitter, biting laugh of contempt and triumph so +difficult to bear. + +"Thou hast a worthy tongue, my pretty springald," said he; "canst thou +use thy sword as bravely? Who and what am I? ask of the lady thou hast +so caressingly encircled with thine arm, perchance she can give thee +information." + +Alan started, a cold thrill passed through his frame, as the real cause +of his mother's terror flashed on his mind; her lips, parched and +quivering, parted as to speak, but there was no sound. + +"Mother," he said, "mother, speak to thy son. Why, why art thou thus? +it is not the dread of imprisonment, of death. No, no; they have no +terrors for such as thee. Who is this man?" + +Engrossed in his own agitation, Alan had not heard the muttered +exclamation which burst from Buchan's lips with his first words, for +great was the earl's surprise as he looked on his son; the impression he +was still a child had remained on his mind despite all reports to the +contrary, but no softer feeling obtained dominion. + +"Who and what am I?" he continued, after a brief pause. "Wouldst thou +know, Alan of Buchan? Even a faithful knight, soldier, and subject of +his Royal Highness Edward, king of England and Scotland, and +consequently thy foe; the insulted and dishonored husband of the woman +thou callest mother, and consequently thy father, young man. Ha! have I +spoken home? Thy sword, thy sword; acknowledge thy disloyalty to thy +father and king, and for thee all may yet be well." + +"Never!" answered Alan, proudly, the earl's concluding words rousing the +spirit which the knowledge of beholding his father and the emotion of +his mother seemed to have crushed. "Never, Lord of Buchan! for father I +cannot call thee. Thou mayest force me to resign my sword, thou mayest +bring me to the block, but acknowledge allegiance to a foreign tyrant, +who hath no claims on Scotland or her sons, save those of hate and +detestation, that thou canst never do, even if thy sword be pointed at +my heart." + +"Boy!" burst from the earl's lips, in accents of irrepressible rage, but +he checked himself; "thou hast learned a goodly lesson of disobedience +and daring, of a truth, and I should tender grateful thanks to thy most +worthy, most efficient and virtuous teacher," he added, in his own +bitterly sarcastic tone. "The Lady Isabella deems, perchance, she has +done her duty to her husband in placing a crown on the head of his +hereditary and hated foe, and leading his son in the same path of +rebellion and disloyalty, and giving his service to the murderer of his +kinsman." + +"Earl of Buchan, I have done my duty alike to my country and my son," +replied the countess, her high spirit roused by the taunts of her +husband. "According to the dictates of my conscience, mine honor as a +Scottish woman, the mother of a Scottish warrior, I have done my duty, +and neither imprisonment, nor torture, nor death will bid me retract +those principles, or waver in my acknowledgment of Scotland and her +king. Pardon me, my lord; but there is no rebellion in resisting the +infringement of a tyrant, no disloyalty in raising the standard against +Edward, for there is no treason when there is no lawful authority; and +by what right is Edward of England king of Scotland? Lord of Buchan, I +have done my duty. As my father taught _me_ I have taught my child!" + +"Regarding, of course, madam, all which that child's father would have +taught him, particularly that most Christian virtue returning good for +evil, as in the fact of revenging the death of a kinsman with the gift +of a crown. Oh! thou hast done well, most intrinsically well." + +"I own no relationship with a traitor," burst impetuously from Alan. +"Sir John Comyn was honored in his death, for the sword of the Bruce was +too worthy a weapon for the black heart of a traitor. Lord of Buchan, we +are in thy power, it is enough. Hadst thou wished thy son to imbibe thy +peculiar principles, to forget his country and her lights, it had been +better perchance hadst thou remembered thou hadst a child--a son. Had +the duty of a father been performed, perchance I had not now forgotten +mine as a son! As it is, we stand as strangers and as foes. Against thee +in truth I will not raise my sword; but further, we are severed and +forever!" He crossed his arms proudly on his bosom, and returned the +dark, scowling glance of his father with a flashing eye, and a mien as +firm and nobler than his own. + +"It is well, young man; I thank you for my freedom," returned the earl, +between his teeth. "As my son, I might stand between thee and Edward's +wrath; as a stranger and my foe, why, whatever his sentence be--the axe +and block without doubt--let it work, it will move me little." + +"Heed not his rash words, in mercy, heed them not!" exclaimed the +countess, her voice of agony contrasting strangely with its former proud +reserve. "Neglected, forgotten him as thou hast, yet, Lord of Buchan, he +is still thy son. Oh, in mercy, expose him not to the deadly wrath of +Edward! thou canst save him, thou canst give him freedom. It is I--I who +am the attainted traitor, not my child. Give me up to Edward, and he +will heed not, ask not for thy son. It is I who have offended him and +thee, not my child. Art thou not a Scottish noble, descendant of a +house as purely loyal and devoted to their country as mine own--art thou +not indeed this man, and yet hath Edward, the deadly foe of thy race, +thy land, thy countrymen, more exalted claims than thine own blood? No, +no, it cannot be! thou wilt relent, thou wilt have mercy; let him be but +free, and do with me even what thou wilt!" + +"Free! go free!" repeated the earl, with a hoarse laugh, ere Alan could +interfere. "Let him go free, forsooth, when he tells me he is my foe, +and will go hence and join my bitterest enemies the moment he is free. +Go free! and who art thou who askest this boon? Hast thou such claims +upon me, that for thy pleasure I should give freedom to thy son?" + +"My lord, my lord, 'tis for thine own sake, for his, thy child as well +as mine, I do beseech, implore thy mercy? draw not the curse of heaven +on thy heart by exposing him to death. Thou wilt know and feel him as +indeed thy child when he lies bleeding before thee, when thine own hand +hath forged the death-bolt, and then, then it will be too late; thou +wilt yearn for his voice in vain. Oh! is it not sufficient triumph to +have in thy power the wife who hath dared thy authority, who hath joined +the patriot band, and so drawn down on her the vengeance of Edward? The +price of a traitor is set upon her head. My lord, my lord, is not one +victim enough--will not my capture insure thee reward and honor in the +court of Edward? Then do with me what thou wilt--chains, torture, death; +but my child, my brave boy--oh, if thou hast one spark of mercy in thy +heart, let him go!" + +"Mother," hoarsely murmured Alan, as he strove to raise her from her +suppliant posture, "mother, this shall not be! look upon that face and +know thou pleadest in vain. I will not accept my freedom at such a +price; thy knee, thy supplications unto a heart of stone, for me! No, +no; mother, dear mother, we will die together!" + +"Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, my beloved, my beautiful! thy death +will be on my head, though it come from a father's hand. I will plead, I +will be heard! My lord, my lord," she continued, wrought to a pitch of +agonized feeling, no heart save that to which she pleaded could have +heard unmoved, "I ask but his freedom, the freedom of a boy, a +child--and of whom do I ask it?--of his father, his own father! Speak to +me, answer me; thou canst not be so lost to the voice, the feelings of +nature. For the sake of the mother who loved, the father who blessed +_thee_, whose blessing hallowed our union and smiled on our infant boy, +have mercy on me, on thyself--let him, oh, let him be free!" + +"Mercy on thee, thou false and perjured woman!" the earl burst forth, +the cold sarcastic expression with which he had at first listened to her +impassioned entreaties giving way to the fearful index of ungoverned +rage; "on thee, thou false traitress, not alone to thy husband's +principles but to his honor! Do I not know thee, minion--do I not know +the motives of thy conduct in leaving thy husband's castle for the court +of Bruce? Patriotism, forsooth--patriotism, ha! the patriotism that had +vent in giving and receiving love from him; it was so easy to do homage +to him in public as thy king. Oh, most rare and immaculate specimen of +female loyalty and virtue, I know thee well!" + +"Man!" answered the countess, springing from her knee, and standing +before him with a mien and countenance of such majestic dignity, that +for a brief moment it awed even him, and her bewildered son gazed at her +with emotions of awe, struggling with surprise. + +"Ha! faithless minion, thou bravest it well," continued Buchan, +determined on evincing no faltering in his purpose, "but thou bravest it +in vain; dishonored thou art, and hast been, aye, from the time thy +minion Robert visited thee in Buchan Tower, and lingered with thee the +months he had disappeared from Edward's court. Would Isabella of Buchan +have rendered homage to any other bold usurper, save her minion Robert? +Would the murder of a Comyn have passed unavenged by her had the +murderer been other than her gallant Bruce? Would Isabella of Buchan be +here, the only female in the Bruce's train--for I know that he is with +thee--were loyalty and patriotism her only motive? Woman, I know thee! I +know that thou didst love him, ere that false hand and falser heart were +given to me; thy lips spoke perfidy when they vowed allegiance at the +altar; and shall I have mercy on thy son, for such as thee? Mercy! ha, +have I silenced thy eloquence now?" + +"Silenced, false, blasphemous villain!" vociferated Alan, every other +feeling lost in the whirlwind of passion, and springing on the earl, +with his drawn sword. "'Tis thou who art the false and faithless--thou +who art lost to every feeling of honor and of truth. Thy words are false +as hell, from whence they spring!" + +"Alan, by the love thou bearest me, I charge thee put up thy sword--it +is thy father!" exclaimed, the countess, commandingly, and speaking the +last word in a tone that thrilled to the boy's heart. He checked himself +in his full career; he snapped his drawn sword in twain, he cast it +passionately from him, and uttering, convulsively, "Oh God, oh God, my +father!" flung himself in agony on the ground. With arms folded and the +smile of a demon on his lip the earl had awaited his attack, but there +was disappointment within, for his foul charge had failed in its +intended effect. Prouder, colder, more commandingly erect had become the +mein of the countess as he spoke, till she even appeared to increase in +stature; her flashing eyes had never moved from his face, till his fell +beneath them; her lip had curled, his cheek had flushed: powerful indeed +became the contrast between the accused and the accuser. + +"Arise, my son," she said, "arise and look upon thy mother; her brow +even as her heart is unstained with shame; she fears not to meet the +glance of her child. Look up, my boy; I speak these words to _thee_, not +to that bold, bad man, who hath dared unite the name of a daughter of +Fife with shame. He hath no word either of exculpation, denial, or +assent from me. But to thee, my child, my young, my innocent child, +thee, whose ear, when removed from me, they may strive to poison with +false tales, woven with such skill that hadst thou not thy mother's +word, should win thee to belief--to thee I say, look on me, Alan--is +this a brow of guilt?" + +"No, no, no, I will not look on thee, my mother! I need not to gaze on +thee to know the horrid falsity of the charge," answered Alan, flinging +his arms passionately around his mother. "Did I never see thee more, +never list that voice again, and did all the fiends of hell come around +me with their lies, I would not hear, much less believe such charge. No, +no! oh God, 'tis my father, speaks it! Father--and my hand is powerless +to avenge." + +"I need not vengeance, my beloved; grieve not, weep not that thy hand is +chained, and may not defend thy mother's stainless name; I need it not. +My heart is known unto my God, my innocence to thee; his blessing rest +with thee, my beautiful, and give thee strength for all thou mayest +endure." + +She bent down to kiss his brow, which was damp with the dew of intense +anguish. He started up, he gave one long look on her calm and noble +face, and then he flung himself in her arms, and sobbed like a child on +her bosom. It was a fearful moment for that woman heart; had she been +alone with her child, both nerve and spirit must have given way, but +fortunately, perhaps, for the preservation of her fortitude, the Earl of +Buchan was still the witness of that scene, triumphing in the sufferings +he had caused. The countess did indeed fold her boy convulsively to her +breast, but she did not bend her head on his, as Nature prompted; it was +still erect; her mien majestic still, and but a slight quivering in her +beautiful lip betrayed emotion. + +"Be firm; be thy noble self," she said. "Forget not thou art a knight +and soldier amid the patriots of Scotland. And now a while, farewell." + +She extricated herself with some difficulty from his embrace; she paused +not to gaze again upon the posture of overwhelming despondency in which +he had sunk, but with a step quick and firm advanced to the door. + +"Whither goest thou, madam?" demanded the earl fiercely. "Bold as thou +art, it is well to know thou art a prisoner, accused of high treason +against King Edward." + +"I need not your lordship's voice to give me such information," she +answered, proudly. "Methinks these armed followers are all-sufficient +evidence. Guard me, aye, confine me with fetters an thou wilt, but in +thy presence thou canst not force me to abide." + +"Bid a last farewell to thy son, then, proud minion," he replied, with +fiendish malignity; "for an ye part now, it is forever. Ye see him not +again." + +"Then be it so," she rejoined; "we shall meet where falsehood and +malignant hate can never harm us more," and with a gesture of dignity, +more irritating to the earl than the fiercest demonstration of passion, +she passed the threshold. A sign from Buchan surrounded her with guards, +and by them she was conducted to a smaller apartment, which was first +carefully examined as to any concealed means of escape, and then she was +left alone, a strong guard stationed at the door. + +The first few minutes after the disappearance of the countess were +passed by her husband in rapidly striding up and down the room, by her +son, in the same posture of mute and motionless anguish in which she had +left him. There is no need to define that suffering, his peculiar +situation is all-sufficient to explain it. Hurriedly securing the door +from all intruders, the earl at length approached his son. + +"Wouldst thou be free?" he said, abruptly. "Methinks thou art young +enough still to love liberty better than chains, and perchance death. +Speak, I tell thee; wouldst thou be free?" + +"Free!" answered Alan, raising his head, with flashing eye and burning +cheek; "would I be free? Ask of the chained lion, the caged bird, and +they will tell thee the greenwood and forest glade are better, dearer, +even though the chain were gemmed, the prison gilded. Would I be free? +Thou knowest that I would." + +"Swear, then, that thou wilt quit Scotland, and vow fealty to Edward; +that never more will thy sword be raised save against the contemned and +hated Bruce. Be faithful but to me and to King Edward, and thou shalt be +free." + +"Never!" answered Alan, proudly. "Earl of Buchan, I accept no conditions +with my freedom; I will not be free, if only on this base condition. +Turn recreant and traitor to my country and my king! resign the precious +privilege of _dying_, if I may not _live_, for Scotland--I tell thee, +never! Urge me no more." + +"Nay, thou art but a boy, a foolish boy," continued the earl, struggling +to speak persuadingly, "incapable of judging that which is right and +best. I tell thee, I will give thee not freedom alone, but honor, +station, wealth; I will acknowledge thee as my well-beloved son and +heir; I will forget all that is past; nay, not e'en thy will or actions +will I restrain; I will bind thee by no vow; thou shalt take no part +with Edward; I will interfere not with thy peculiar politics; e'en what +thou wilt thou shalt do, aye, and have--and all this but on one +condition, so slight and simple that thou art worse than fool an thou +refusest." + +"Speak on," muttered Alan, without raising his head. "I hear." + +"Give me but information of the movements of him thou callest king," +replied Buchan, in a low yet emphatically distinct voice; "give me but a +hint as to where we may meet him in combat--in all honorable and +knightly combat, thou knowest that I mean--give me but information such +as this, and thou art free, unshackled, in condition as in limb." + +"In other words, _betray him,_" replied Alan, starting up. "Purchase my +freedom with the price of his! mine, of nothing worth, aye, less than +nothing, redeemed by his! Oh, shame, shame on thee, my lord! Well mayest +thou offer me freedom of action as in will on such condition. Of little +heed to Edward were the resistance of all Scotland, were Robert in his +power. Honor, station, wealth!--oh, knowest thou the human heart so +little as to believe these can exist with black treachery and fell +remorse? Once and forever, I tell thee thine offers are in vain. Were +death in one scale, and free, unshackled liberty in the other, and thou +badest me choose between, I would not so stain my soul. Death, death +itself were welcome, aye, worse than death--confinement, chains. I would +hug them to my heart as precious boons, rather than live and walk the +earth a traitor." + +"Beware!" muttered the earl; "tempt me not too far, rash boy. I would +not do thee ill; I would have pity on thy erring youth, remembering the +evil counsels, the base heart which hath guided thee." + +"Do thou beware!" retorted Alan, fiercely. "Speak not such foul words to +me. Father, as I know thou art in blood, there are ties far stronger +which bind me to my mother--ties, neglect, forgetfulness, indifference +as thine can never know. Pity, aye, mercy's self, I scorn them, for I +need them not." + +"Ha! sayest thou so; then I swear thou shalt not have them!" exclaimed +the earl, rage again obtaining the ascendant. "I would have saved thee; +I would have given thee freedom, though I needed not the condition that +I offered. Thinkest thou I do not know that the traitor Bruce and his +followers will return hither, and fall into the net prepared? thinkest +thou I know not he is with thee, aye, that he would not have left his +patriot countess thus slightly guarded, an he hoped not to return +himself? He cannot escape me--the murder of Sir John Comyn will be +avenged." + +"He shall, he will escape thee, proud earl," undauntedly returned Alan. +"The savior of his wretched country will not be forced to bow before +such as thee; he will be saved out of the net prepared--harassed, +chased, encompassed as he is. I tell thee, Earl of Buchan, he will +escape thee yet." + +"Then, by heaven, thy head shall fall for his!" fiercely replied the +earl. "If he return not, he has been forewarned, prepared, and I, fool +as I was, have thought not of this danger. Look to it, proud boy, if the +Bruce return not forty-eight hours hence, and thou art still silent, +thou diest." + +He held up his clenched hand in a threatening attitude, but Alan neither +moved nor spoke, firmly returning the earl's infuriated gaze till the +door closed on his father's retreating form. He heard the bolts drawn, +the heavy tramp of the guard, and then he threw himself on the couch, +and buried his face in his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +While these fearful scenes were passing in the hunting-lodge, Malcolm, +the young page already mentioned, had contrived to elude the vigilance +of the earl's numerous followers, and reach the brow of the hollow in +perfect safety. Endowed with a sense and spirit above his years, and +inspired by his devoted attachment to the countess and Sir Alan, the boy +did not merely think of his own personal security, and of the simple act +of warning the king against the treachery which awaited his return, but, +with an eye and mind well practised in intelligent observation, he +scanned the numbers, character, and peculiar situation of the foes which +had so unexpectedly come upon them. Being peculiarly small and light in +figure, and completely clothed in a dark green tunic and hose, which was +scarcely discernible from the trees and shrubs around, he stole, in and +out every brake and hollow, clambering lightly and noiselessly over +crags, hanging like a broken branch from stunted trees, leaping with the +elasticity of a youthful fawn over stream and shrub, and thus obtained a +true and exact idea of the matter he desired. The boy's heart did indeed +sink as he felt rescue would be utterly impossible; that in one +direction the English force extended nearly a mile, guarding every +avenue, every hollow in the forest, till it seemed next to impossible +King Robert could escape, even if forewarned. Wherever he turned his +steps the enemy appeared to lurk, but he wavered not in his purpose. +Aware of the direction which the king would take in returning, Malcolm +slackened not his speed until some three hours after he had quitted the +hollow, and he stood before his sovereign well-nigh too exhausted for +the utterance of his tale. + +The first impulse of the king and his true-hearted followers was to dare +all danger, and rescue the countess and her brave son at the expense of +their lives; but Malcolm, flinging himself at the feet of Robert, +adjured him, in the name of the countess, to remember and act upon the +vow he had so solemnly pledged at parting. He earnestly and emphatically +repeated the last injunctions of his lady, her deep anguish that the +king, the savior of Scotland, should hazard all for her and her +child--better they should die than Robert; but these entreaties were but +anguish to the noble spirit who heard, aye, and felt their truth, though +abide by them he could not. Again and again he questioned and +cross-questioned as to their numbers and their strength, but Malcolm +never wavered from his first account; clearly and concisely he gave +every required information, and with bleeding hearts that little band of +patriots felt they dared not hope to rescue and to conquer. Yet tacitly +to assent to necessity, to retreat without one blow, to leave their +faithful companions to death, without one stroke for vengeance at least, +if not for relief, this should not be. + +"We will see with our own eyes, hear with our own ears, at least, my +friends," King Robert said. "Is there one among ye would retreat, from, +the narrative of a child, true as it may be? Remember the pass in +Argyle; if necessary, your sovereign can protect your retreat now as +then, and we shall at least feel we have struggled to rescue, striven +for the mastery, even if it be in vain. Were my death, aye, the death of +Scotland the forfeit, I could not so stain my knightly fame by such +retreat. Let but the morning dawn, and we will ourselves mark the +strength of our foes." + +There was not one dissenting voice, rash as his determination might +appear. The extraordinary skill and courage of their sovereign, +displayed in so many instances during their perilous wanderings, were +too fresh in their memories to permit of one doubt, one fear, even had +he led them on to certain death. To throw themselves from their tired +chargers, to give them food, to lie down themselves for a brief repose +on the turf, that they might be strengthened and cheered for the work of +the morning, all this did not occupy much time; and if their slumbers +were brief and troubled, it did not prevent their rising with, alacrity +at the first peep of day to polish their arms, look to the sharpening of +their swords and spears, share the rude huntsman's meal, and mount and +ride with the first signal of their king. + +But bold and brave as were these true-hearted men, successful as, +comparatively speaking, they were in the numberless skirmishes which +took place that day, darkness overtook them, with increase of glory +indeed, but no nearer the accomplishment of their object than they had +been in the morning. + +With bitter sorrow King Robert had perceived the full confirmation of +the page's words. The early close of the night attendant on the autumn +season was also unfavorable to his views; the events of the day had +fully convinced him that many an ambush was set in his path, that his +personal safety was wholly incompatible with a night attack, and +therefore he was compelled to remain on the defensive in one spot, which +was fortunately barricaded and concealed by Nature, during the many long +and weary hours forming an October night. Yet still the following day +beheld him struggling on, in the face alike of disappointment, defeat, +and danger the most imminent; still seeking the same object, still +hoping against hope, and retreating only because the welfare of his +country, of her unfortunate children, depended upon him; bands more and +more numerous pressed upon him, coming from every side, that scarcely +was one skilfully eluded ere he had to struggle against another. Nothing +but the most consummate skill, the most patient courage, and coolest +address could have extricated him from the fearful dangers which +encompassed him. Again did his followers believe he bore a charmed life, +for not only did he deal destruction, unhurt himself, but after three +days almost incessant fighting and fatigue, he had brought them to a +place of safety, with but the loss of five-and-twenty men. + +But though painfully conscious that further efforts for the rescue of +his friends were completely useless, King Robert could not rest +satisfied without some more accurate knowledge of their fate, and after +some hurried yet anxious consultation. Sir James Douglas, with that +daring which so marked his simplest action, declared that at all risks +he would seek some tidings that would end their anxiety. In the disguise +of a peasant he would be secure from all discovery, he said; and he had +not the slightest fear as to the success of the adventure. Five others +started up as he spoke entreating permission to take the same disguise +and accompany him. It was granted; King Robert advising them, however, +to adopt a diversity of costume, and keep each one apart as they +approached inhabited districts, as their numbers might excite suspicion, +even though the actual disguise was complete. With arms concealed +beneath their various disguises, they departed that same evening, +engaging to meet the king at the base of Ben-Cruchan, some miles more +south than their present trysting. It was an anxious parting, and yet +more when they were actually gone; for the high spirit and vein of humor +which characterized the young Lord Douglas had power to cheer his +friends even in the most painful moments. King Robert, indeed, exerted +himself, but this last stroke had been a heavy one; knowing so well the +character of Edward, he trembled both for the countess and her noble +son, perhaps less for the latter than the former, for he hoped and +believed the Earl of Buchan, if indeed he were their captor, would at +least have some mercy on his son, but for the countess he knew that +there was no hope. The character, the sentiments of the earl had been +noticed by the Bruce when both were at the court of Edward, and he felt +and knew that any excuse to rid him of a wife whose virtues were +obnoxious to him would be acted on with joy. And here, perhaps, it may +be well to say a few words as to the real nature of King Robert's +sentiments towards Isabella of Buchan, as from the anxiety her detention +occasioned they may be so easily misunderstood. + +We have performed our task but ill if our readers have imagined aught +but the most purely noble, most chivalric sentiments actuated the heart +of the king. Whatever might have been the nature of those sentiments in +earlier days, since his marriage with the daughter of the Earl of Mar +they had never entered his soul. + +He had always believed the Lady Isabella's union with Lord John Comyn +was one of choice, not of necessity, nor did his visit to her after the +battle of Falkirk recall any former feeling. His mind had been under the +heavy pressure of that self-reproach which the impressive words of +Wallace had first awakened; the wretched state of his country, the +tyranny of Edward, occupied the mind of the man in which the emotions of +the boy had merged. He was, too, a husband and a father; and he was, as +his fond wife so trustingly believed, too nobly honorable to entertain +one thought to her dishonor. He looked on Isabella of Buchan as one +indeed demanding his utmost esteem and gratitude, his most faithful +friendship, and he secretly vowed that she should have it; but these +emotions took not their coloring from the past, they were excited simply +by her high-minded devotion to the cause of her country, her unshrinking +patriotism, her noble qualities, alike as a mother, subject, friend. He +felt but as one noble spirit ever feels for a kindred essence, +heightened perhaps by the dissimilarity of sex, but aught of love, even +in its faintest shadow, aught of dishonorable feelings towards her or +his own wife never entered his wildest dream. It was the recollection of +her unwavering loyalty, of the supporting kindness she had ever shown +his queen, which occasioned his bitter sorrow at her detention by the +foe; it was the dread that the cruel wrath of Edward would indeed +condemn her to death for the active part she had taken in his +coronation; the conviction, so agonizing to a mind like his, that he had +no power to rescue and avenge; the fearful foreboding that thus would +all his faithful friends fall from him--this, only this, would be the +reward of all who served and loved him; and even while still, with +undaunted firmness, cheering the spirits of his adherents, speaking hope +to them, his own inward soul was tortured with doubts as to the wisdom +of his resistance, lingering regrets for the fate of those of his +friends already lost to him, and painful fears for the final doom of +those who yet remained. + +It was in such moments of despondency that remorse, too, ever gained +dominion, and heightened his inward struggles. Robert's hand was not +framed for blood; his whole soul revolted from the bitter remembrance of +that fatal act of passion which had stained his first rising. He would +have given worlds, if he had had them, to have recalled that deed. Busy +fancy represented a hundred ways of punishing treachery other than that +which his fury had adopted; and this remembrance ever increased the +anguish with which he regarded the fate of his friends. His lot was +indeed as yet one of unexampled suffering, borne by heroism as great as +unequalled but the lustre of the latter too frequently dazzles the mind, +and prevents the full meed of glory being obtained. His heroism is known +to all, his sufferings to but a few; but perhaps it was the latter yet +more than the former which gave to Scotland the glory and honor she +acquired in his reign. Heroism is scarce separable from ambition, but to +mere ambition, the voice of suffering is seldom heard. Heroism dazzles +the crowd, suffering purifies the man. If Robert the Bruce were +ambitious, the passion in him assumed a nobler and better form; yet we +can scarcely call that ambition which sought but the delivery of +Scotland from chains, but the regaining an ancient heritage, and sought +no more. It was patriotism hallowed by suffering, purified by adversity; +patriotism the noblest, purest which ever entered the heart of man. + +King Robert and his handful of followers not only reached their +trysting-place themselves, but were joined by the queen, and many of her +female companions and their attendant warriors, ere Lord James of +Douglas returned; three of his companions had straggled in, one by one, +with various accounts, but none so satisfactory as the king desired, and +he believed with justice, that Douglas lingered to bring, if not +satisfactory (for that, alas! could not be) yet accurate intelligence. +If aught could have comforted Agnes in these moments of agonized +suspense, it would have been not alone the redoubled affection of her +Nigel, but the soothing kindness, the love and sympathy of a father, +which was lavished on her by King Robert; nay, each of those rude +warriors softened in address and tone, as they looked on and spoke to +that fair, fragile being, whom they feared now stood alone. She did not +weep when other eyes than those of Nigel, or the Lady Campbell, or the +gentle Isoline were on her, but that deadly pallor, that quivering lip, +and heavy eye spoke all that she endured. + +A large cavern, divided by Nature into many compartments, was now the +temporary shelter of the king and his friends. It was situated at the +base of Ben-Cruchan, which, though at the entrance of the territories of +Lorn, was now comparatively secure, the foe imagining the Bruce still +amidst the mountains of Aberdeenshire. + +The evening meal was spread; a huge fire blazing in the stony cavity +removed all appearance of damp or discomfort, and shed a warm, ruddy +light on the groups within. It was a rude home for the King of Scotland +and his court, yet neither murmuring nor despondency was marked on the +bold brows of the warriors, or the gentler and paler features of their +faithful companions; their frames, indeed, showed the effect of +wandering and anxiety; many an eye which had been bright was sunken, +many a blooming cheek was paled; but the lip yet smiled, the voice had +yet its gleesome tones to soothe and cheer their warrior friends; the +eager wish to prepare the couch and dress the simple meal, to perform +those many little offices of love and kindness so peculiarly a woman's, +and engaged in with a zest, a skill which was intuitive, for there had +been a time, and one not far distant, when those high-born females +little dreamed such household deeds would be their occupation. + +Brightly and beautifully shone forth conjugal and filial love in those +wandering hours; the wife, the child, the sister bound themselves yet +closer to the warrior husband, father, brother, which claimed them his. +Yet sweet, most sweet as were those acts of love, there were anxious and +loving hearts which felt that soon, too soon, they must part from them, +they must persuade those gentle ones to accede to a temporary +separation--they could not, they would not expose them to the snows and +killing frosts of a Scottish winter. + +Anxiety, deep anxiety was on the heart of King Robert, becoming more +painful with each glance he fixed on Agnes, who was sitting apart with +Nigel, her aching head resting on his shoulder, but he strove to return +the caresses of his daughter, to repay with fond smiles the exertions of +his wife. Sir Niel Campbell (who, after many painful trials, had +rejoined the king) and others strove to disperse the silently gathering +gloom by jest and song, till the cavern walls re-echoed with their +soldier mirth. Harshly and mournfully it fell on the ear and heart of +the maiden of Buchan, but she would not have it stilled. + +"No, no; do thou speak to me, Nigel, and I shall only list to thee. Why +should the noble efforts of these brave men--for I know even to them +mirth is now an effort--be chilled and checked, because my sick heart +beats not in unison? Oh, when will Lord James return?" + +Nigel sought to soothe, to speak hope, but though his words fell like +balm on the bleeding heart he held to his, it was the rich melody of +their voice, not the matter of their meaning. + +The hour of rest was fast approaching, when the well-known signal was +heard without, and the young Lord Douglas, with his two companions, were +hastily and eagerly admitted within the cave. Their looks denoted great +fatigue, and the eager eyes which scanned their countenances read little +to hope, yet much, much, alas! to fear. + +"Thou hast so far succeeded as to obtain the intelligence we need," was +the king's instant greeting, as he released his favorite young follower +from his embrace; "that I can read, but further, I fear me, thou hast +little to communicate which we shall love to hear." + +"My tidings are ill indeed, your highness; aggravated and most +undreamed-of ill. But, perchance," and the young man hesitated, for his +eye caught the pallid face of Agnes, who had irresistibly drawn closer +to the circle about the king, and fixed her eyes on him with an +expression almost wild in its agony, "perchance they had better first +meet your grace's private ear." + +"No, no!" reiterated Agnes, springing forward, and clinging convulsively +to his arm. "It is only me thou fearest, I know; I know thou wouldst +spare me, but do not, do not. I can bear all, every thing, save this +horrible suspense; speak out, let me but know all, and then I can teach +my soul to bear it. Oh, do not hesitate, do not pause; in mercy, tell +me--oh, tell me all!" + +Thus adjured, but feeling most painfully the suffering his tale would +produce, Douglas struggled with his own emotion, and repeated all the +information he had obtained. Guardedly as he spoke, evidently as he +endeavored to prepare the mind of Agnes, and thus soften its woe, his +tale was yet such as to harrow up the hearts of all his hearers, how +much more the frail and gentle being to whom it more immediately +related; yet she stood calm, pale, indeed, and quivering, but with a +desperate effort conquering the weakness of her nature, and bearing that +deep woe as the daughter of her mother, the betrothed of Nigel Bruce. + +The young lord's information was simply this. On nearing the +hunting-lodge, which was his first object, he found it very nearly +deserted, but a few stragglers, amounting perhaps to fifty in number of +the followers of Buchan, remaining behind, with orders to follow their +master to Dunkeld without delay. Mingling with these as a countryman of +the more northern counties, eager to obtain every species of +intelligence respecting the movements of the English and the hunted +Bruce, whom he pretended to condemn and vilify after the fashion of the +Anglo-Scots, and feeling perfectly secure not only in the disguise he +had assumed, but in the peculiar accent and intonation of the +north-country peasant, which he could assume at pleasure, he made +himself a welcome guest, and with scarcely any trouble received much of +the information he desired. He was told of the first capture and rescue +of the Countess of Buchan; that it was through one of the men left for +dead on the scene of the skirmish the earl had received such exact +information concerning the movements and intended destination of the +Bruce; that immediately on receiving this intelligence he had gathered +all his force, amounting to five hundred men, and dividing them into +different bands, sent skilful guides with each, and was thus enabled to +surround the lodge, and command five different avenues of the forest, +without interruption or discovery. He learned, too, that a stormy +interview had taken place between the earl, his wife, and son, the +particulars of which, however, had not transpired; that the earl's rage +had been terrific when he found the night passed, and the Bruce had not +fallen into the snare laid for him; and he had sworn a fearful oath, +that if the countess would not betray him into his power, her son should +die; that both mother and son had stood this awful trial without +shrinking; that no word either to betray their king or implore life and +mercy had been wrung from them. Incensed beyond all measure, Buchan had +sent on the countess with a numerous guard, his men believed, either to +Dunkeld or Perth, in both of which towns there was a strong garrison of +English, and lingered yet another day and night in the hope of dragging +some intelligence from the lips of Alan, or persuading him into acting +the spy upon the actions and movements of the Bruce. He succeeded in +neither; and the men continued to state, with shuddering horror, which +even their rude natures could not suppress, that they believed the son +had actually fallen a victim to his father's rage--that he had actually +been murdered. Numerous reports to that effect had been circulated on +all sides, and though they had watched narrowly, they had seen nothing +to contradict it. The body of the unfortunate boy had been cast into a +deep well, heaps of rubbish flung over it, and the well built up. This +they knew as a positive certainty, for they had seen it. + +Douglas heard this tale with an intensity of horror, of loathing, which +at first deprived him almost of every other feeling; but when he could +withdraw himself from the horrible idea, a species of disbelief took +possession of him. It was impossible such utter depravity, such fearful +insensibility to the claims of nature could exist in the breast of any +man; it was a tale forged to inflict fresh agony on the mother's heart, +and he determined on discovering, if possible, the truth. He pretended +entirely to disbelieve it; declared it was not possible; that the earl +had practised on their credulity, and would laugh at them afterwards; +and contrived so well, that three or four declared he should be +convinced with his own eyes, and set about pulling down the slight +brickwork which covered the well. This was what Douglas wanted, and he +eagerly lent them a helping hand. + +A body there was indeed, in form and in clothing so exactly that of the +unhappy Alan, that, even though the face was so marred it could not be +recognized, the young earl could doubt no longer; the young, the brave, +the beautiful, and true, had fallen a victim to his own patriot loyalty, +and by a father's hand. The deep suffering this certainly occasioned was +regarded by his companions as sulkiness for having been proved wrong in +his judgment; they jeered and laughed at him accordingly, and harshly as +these sounds reverberated in his heart, they were welcome, as enabling +him still more easily to continue his disguise. + +He accompanied them to Dunkeld, and found the earl had proceeded with +his wife as prisoner to the castle of Stirling, there to deliver her +over to the Earl of Hereford, through whom to be sent on to Edward. +Determined on seeing her, if possible, Douglas resolved on daring the +danger, and venturing even to the very stronghold of his foes. The +horror which this unnatural act of the earl had excited in the minds of +his men, he found had extended even over those in Dunkeld, and through +them he learned that, directly on reaching the town, the earl had sought +the countess, brutally communicated the death of her son, and placed in +her hands the raven curls as all which remained of him, some of which +were dabbled in blood; that she had remained apparently unmoved while in +his presence, but the moment he left her had sunk into a succession of +the most fearful fainting fits, in one of which she had been removed to +Stirling. + +Withdrawing himself from his companions, under pretence of returning to +his home in the north, having, he said, loitered too long, Douglas +concealed himself for some days in the abbey of Scone, the holy inmates +of which still retained their loyalty and patriotism, notwithstanding +their revered abbot, unable to remain longer inactive, had donned the +warrior's dress, and departed to join and fight with his king. Assuming +the cowl and robes of one of the lay brothers, and removing the red wig +and beard he had adopted with his former costume, the young lord took +the staff in his hand, and with difficulty bringing his hasty pace to a +level with the sober step and grave demeanor of a reverend monk, reached +Stirling just as the cavalcade, with the litter intended for the captive +countess, had assembled before the castle gate. Agitated almost beyond +the power of control, Douglas made his way through the gathering crowds, +and stood unquestioned close beside the litter. He did not wait long. +Respectfully supported by the Earl of Hereford himself, the Countess of +Buchan, with a firm, unfaltering step, approached the litter. The hood +was thrown back, and Douglas could read the effects of withering agony +on the marble stillness of those beautiful features, though to all else +they spoke but firm and calm resolve; there was not a vestige of color +on cheek or lip or brow; and though her figure was as commanding, as +majestic as heretofore, there was a fearful attenuation about it, +speaking volumes to Lord James's heart. Hereford placed her in the +litter, and with a respectful salutation turned away to give some +necessary orders to his men. Bold in his disguise, Douglas bent over the +countess, and spoke in a low, feigned voice those words of comfort and +of peace suited to his assumed character; but feigned as it was, the +countess recognized him on that instant; a convulsive shudder passed +through her every limb, contracting her features with very agony. + +"My child--my Alan!" she whispered, harrowing his very soul beneath that +voice's thrilling woe. "Douglas, hast thou heard?--yes, yes; I can read +it in thine awe-struck face. This, this is all I have left of him," and +she partly drew from her bosom the clustering ringlets he recognized at +once; "yet, wherefore should I mourn him: he is happy. Bid his memory be +honored among ye; and oh, tell the sovereign for whom he fell, better a +death like this than treachery and shame." + +She had paused as fearing observation, but perceiving the attention of +all more fixed on the glittering cavalcade than on herself, she placed +one of those glossy curls in the young earl's hand, and continued-- + +"Give this to my poor Agnes, with her mother's blessing, and bid her +take comfort, bid her not weep and mourn for me. A prison, even death is +preferable now to life, for she is cared for. I trust her to Sir Nigel's +love; I know that he will tend her as a brother till a happier hour +makes her all his own. Commend me to my sovereign, and tell him, might I +choose my path again, despite its anguish, 'twould be that which I have +trod. And now farewell, young lord, I bless thee for this meeting." + +"Dominus vobiscum mea filia, et vale," responded the supposed monk, in a +loud voice, for he had only time to assure the countess by a look of +deep sympathy of his willingness to execute her simplest wish, and hide +the ringlet in his bosom, ere Hereford turned towards him, with a gaze +of stern inquiry. Ably concealing alike his emotion and the expression +of his countenance, Douglas evaded discovery, and even obtained +permission to follow the litter to the environs of the town. He did so, +but the countess addressed him not again; and it was with a +heart-sinking despondency he had turned to the mountains, when the +cavalcade disappeared from his view. He retained his monkish garb till +he entered the mountain district, where he fell in with his two +companions, and they proceeded, as we have seen, to the quarters of +their king. + +A pause of horror followed his narrative, told more forcibly and briefly +by the lips of Douglas than through the cooler medium of the historian's +pen. Stunned, overwhelmed, as if incapable of movement or speech, though +sense remained, Agnes stood insensible, even to the voice of Nigel, +whose soothing accents strove to whisper peace; but when Douglas placed +in her cold hand the raven curls she knew so well, when tenderly yet +earnestly he repeated her mother's words, the poor girl repeatedly +pressed the hair to her parched lips, and laid it in her bosom; and then +perceiving the sad and anxious face of her beloved, she passed her hand +hurriedly over her brow, and burying her head on his breast, sense was +preserved by an agony of tears. + +It was long, long ere this aggravated wretchedness was calmed, though +the love of many, the devotion of one were ever round her to strengthen +and console. Sympathy, the most heartfelt, reigned in every bosom. Of +the many misfortunes which had befallen this patriot band, this seemed, +if not really the severest, more fraught with horror than any which had +come before; the youth, the gallant bearing, the endearing qualities of +the heir of Buchan stood forth with vivid clearness in the memories of +all, and there were times when they felt it could not be, it was too +fearful; and then again, the too certain evidence of the fact, witnessed +as it had been by one of such tried truth as James of Douglas, brought +conviction too clearly home, and the sternest warrior, who would have +faced his own captivity and death unmoved, felt no shame in the dimness +which gathered in his eye for the fearful fate of the murdered boy. + +In King Robert's breast these emotions obtained yet more powerful +dominion; again did remorse distract him, and there were moments of +darkness, when his spirit questioned the justice of the Creator. Why was +not his crime visited on his own head? Why did the guiltless and +unstained fall thus around him, and he remain unharmed? and it needed +all the eloquence of Nigel, the pious reasonings of the Abbot of Scone, +to convince him that, dark and inscrutable as the decrees of Omnipotence +sometimes seemed, in his case they were as clear as the wisdom from +which they sprung. By chastisement he was purified; he was not yet fit +to receive the reward of the righteous waiting on death. Destined to be +the savior of his unhappy country, the remorse which bowed down his +naturally haughty spirit was more acceptable in the sight of his God, +more beneficial to his own soul, than the one act of devotedness +included in a brave man's death. Robert struggled with his despondency, +with his soul's deep grief, known as it was but to himself, his +confessor, and his young brother; he felt its encouragement would +unnerve him for his destined task. Other imperative matters now pressed +round him, and by presenting fresh and increased danger, roused his +energies once more to their wonted action. + +The winter had set in with unexampled severity, overwhelming snow-storms +filled up the rude paths of the mountains, till egress and ingress +appeared impossible. The Earl of Athol himself, who had been the +inseparable companion of the Bruce in all his wanderings, now spoke of +retiring, and passing the winter within stone walls, urging his +sovereign with earnest eloquence to take refuge in Ireland till the +spring, when they would reassemble under arms, and perhaps take the +tyrant Edward once more by surprise. + +Bruce knew the veteran nobleman too well to attribute this advice to any +motive save deep interest in his safety. He saw, too, that it was +utterly impossible for them to remain as they then were, without serious +evils alike to his female and male companions; the common soldiers, +steady and firm as they still continued in loyalty, yet were continually +dispersing, promising to reassemble in the spring, but declaring that it +was useless to think of struggling against the English, when the very +elements were at war against them. With a sad foreboding, Robert saw, +and communicated to his devoted wife the necessity of their separation. +He felt that it was right and best, and therefore he resisted all her +tearful entreaties still to linger by his side; her child was suffering, +for her tender years could not bear up against the cold and the want of +proper nourishment, and yet even that claim seemed less to the mother's +heart than the vision of her husband enduring increase of hardship +alone. Her acquiescence was indeed at length obtained, but dimmed by +many very bitter tears. + +A hasty consultation with his few remaining friends speedily decided the +Bruce's plans. The castle of Kildrummie, a strong fortress situated at +the head of the Don, in Aberdeenshire, yet remained to him, and thither, +under the escort of his brother Nigel and three hundred men, the king +determined to send his wife and child, and the other ladies of his +court. Himself, his three brothers, Edward, Alexander, and Thomas, +Douglas, Sir Niel Campbell, and his remaining two hundred followers, +resolved on cautiously making their way southward across Loch Lomond, +and proceed thence to the coast of Ireland, there to await the spring. +In pursuance of this plan, Sir Niel Campbell was dispatched without +delay to conciliate Angus, Lord of the Isles, to whom Cantire then +belonged. Knowing he was unfriendly to his near neighbors, the Lords of +Lorn, the king trusted he should find in him a powerful ally. To appeal +yet more strongly to the chivalric hospitality which characterized the +chieftain, Sir Niel consented that his wife and daughter Isoline should +accompany him. Lady Campbell had too lately undergone the grief and +anxiety attendant on the supposed loss of her husband to consent to +another parting. Even the king, her brother, sought not to dissuade her; +but all persuasions to induce Agnes to accompany them were vain; bitter +as the pang of separation was to her already aching heart--for Lady +Campbell and Isoline were both most dear to her--she steadily resolved +to remain with the queen and her attendants, and thus share the fate of +her betrothed. + +"Did not my mother commend me to thy care? Did she not bid thee tend me +as a brother until happier hours, and shall I seek other guardianship +than thine, my Nigel?" were her whispered words, and Nigel could not +answer them. So pure, so unselfish was her love, that though he felt his +happiness would have departed with her presence, could he have commanded +words he would have implored her to seek the hospitality of the Lord of +the Isles as a securer home than Kildrummie. Those forebodings already +alluded to had returned with darker weight from the hour his separation +from his brother was resolved on. He evinced no sign of his inward +thoughts, he uttered no word of dissent, for the trust reposed in him by +his sovereign was indeed as precious as it was honorable; but there was +a mournful expression on his beautiful countenance--when unobserved, it +would rest upon his brother--that Agnes could not define, although it +filled her spirit with incomprehensible alarm, and urged her yet more to +abide by his side. + +The dreaded day arrived at length, and agonized was indeed that parting. +Cheerfully the king looked, and hopefully he spoke, but it had no power +to calm the whelming tide of sorrow in which his wife clung to his +embrace. Again and again she returned to that faithful heart which bore +so fondly, so forbearingly, with all her faults and weaknesses; and +Margory, although she could not comprehend the extent of sorrow +experienced by her mother, wept bitterly at her side. Nor were they the +only sufferers. Some indeed were fortunate enough to have relatives amid +the band which accompanied them to Kildrummie, but by far the greater +number clung to the necks of brothers, fathers, husbands, whose faithful +and loving companions they had been so long--clung to them and wept, as +if a long dim vista of sorrow and separation stretched before them. +Danger, indeed, was around them, and the very fact of their being thus +compelled to divide, appeared to heighten the perils, and tacitly +acknowledge them as too great to be endured. + +With pain and difficulty the iron-souled warriors at length tore +themselves from the embrace of those they held most dear. The knights +and their followers had closed round the litters, and commenced their +march. No clarion sent its shrill blast on the mountain echoes, no +inspiring drum reverberated through the glens--all was mournfully still; +as the rudest soldier revered the grief he beheld, and shrunk from +disturbing it by a sound. + +King Robert stood alone, on the spot where Sir Christopher Seaton had +borne from him his wife and child. His eyes still watched their litter; +his thoughts still lingered with them alone; full of affection, anxiety, +sadness, they were engrossed, but not defined. He was aroused by the +sudden appearance of his younger brother, who, bareheaded, threw himself +at his feet, and, in a voice strangely husky, murmured-- + +"My sovereign, my brother, bless me, oh, bless me, ere we part!" + +"My blessing--the blessing of one they deem accursed; and to thee, good, +noble, stainless as thou art! Nigel, Nigel, do not mock me thus," +answered the king, bitterness struggling with the deepest melancholy, as +he laid his hand, which strangely trembled, on the young man's lowered +head. "Alas! bring I not evil and misery and death on all who love me? +What, what may my blessing bring to thee?" + +"Joy, bright joy in the hour of mirth and comfort; oh, untold-of comfort +in the time of sorrow, imprisonment, death! My brother, my brother, oh, +refuse it not; thou knowest not, thou canst not know how Nigel loves +thee!" + +Robert gazed at him till every thought, every feeling was lost in the +sudden sensation of dread lest ill should come to him; it had overtaken +one as fair in promise, as beloved, and yet younger; and oh, if death +selected the best, the loveliest, the dearest, would it next fall on +him? The thought was such absolute agony, that the previous suffering +of that hour was lost before it. + +"Bless thee--oh, may God in heaven bless thee, my brave, my noble +Nigel!" he exclaimed, with a burst of emotion, perfectly appalling in +one generally so controlled, and raising him, he strained him +convulsively to his heart. "Yet why should we part?" he added, after a +long pause; "why did I fix on thee for this office--are there not +others? Nigel, Nigel, say but the word, and thou shalt rest with me: +danger, privation, exile we have borne, and may still share together. +Why should I send thee from me, dearest, most beloved of all who call me +brother?" + +"Why?" answered Nigel, raising his glistening eyes from his brother's +shoulder, "why, dear Robert? because thine eye could read my heart and +trust it; because thou knewest I would watch over those who bear thy +name, who are dear to thee, even as thy noble self. Oh, do not repent +thee of thy choice; 'tis hard to bear alone danger, so long encountered +hand in hand, yet as thou hast decided let it be. Thy words have soothed +my yearning heart, which craved to list thy voice once more; and now +then, my noble liege and brother, farewell. Think on thy Nigel's words; +even when misery is round thee thou shalt, thou shalt be blessed. Think +on them, my Robert, and then when joy and liberty and conquest crown +thee, oh, forget not Nigel." + +He threw his arms around him, imprinted a fervent kiss on his cheek, and +was out of sight ere the king by sign or word could arrest his progress. +One hasty bound forward Robert indeed made, but a dimness stole over his +sight, and for one brief minute he sunk down on the grass, and when he +lifted his head again, there were burning tears upon his cheek. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The hardships and dangers attendant on King Robert's progress southward, +mingled as they were with the very spirit of romance, are so well known +to every reader of Scottish history that they must be excluded from our +pages, although a tale of chivalry would seem the very place for their +insertion. + +The life of no hero, no sovereign, no general, presents us with a +parallel to the lone and dreary passage of Loch Lomond. We hear of an +ancient and a modern Hannibal crossing the snowy Alps, but it was at the +head of triumphant armies; it was carrying war and victory into an +enemy's land, and there was glory in the danger--the glory and pride of +successful ambition. But there was greater and truer heroism in the +spirit which struggled on when the broad, deep waters of Loch Lomond lay +between them and comparative safety; when 'mid falling snow and howling +winds he cheered his drooping and exhausted followers by reading aloud a +spirit-stirring romance, to which they listened enwrapt and charmed, +little imagining their own situation was one of far greater peril, of +more exciting romance than any which the volume so vividly described. A +leaky boat, which scarcely allowed three men to cross in safety, was +their only means of conveyance, and a day and night passed ere the two +hundred followers of the Bruce assembled on the opposite side. The +cheerful blast of his bugle, which sounded to form them in bands before +him on the beach, was answered by one whose unexpected appearance +occasioned such joy to the heart of the king, that the exertions both of +body and mind of the last few hours were forgotten. It was the Earl of +Lennox, who since the fatal battle of Methven had been numbered amongst +the dead, and lamented by his royal master with grief as deep as the joy +was exceeding which greeted him again. Mutual was the tale of suffering +each had to relate, few and faint the hopes and prospects to +communicate, but so many were the friends the patriots had lost, that +the reappearance of the venerable nobleman infused a new and brighter +spirit amid the almost despairing men. + +That the Earl of Lennox had found a kind and hospitable home in the +dominions of the Lord of the Isles, and received welcome and favor from +the chieftain himself, was justly a subject of rejoicing to the fugitive +king. Guided by him, the intricacies of their path were smoothed, and +they reached their destination in a much shorter time than would +otherwise have been the case. Sir Niel Campbell had performed his +mission well, and kindness and truth so long unknown, now eagerly +opened their hearths and hearts to the patriot king. Scorning alike the +Scottish and English authority, Angus, Lord of the Isles, had formed an +independent sovereignty, and now felt pride in receiving in his +territories the only sovereign he had felt inclination to revere. The +daring heroism, the unshaken spirit of the Bruce, were akin to his own +wild, and reckless courage, and had there been no actual claim and right +in Robert's pretensions to the crown, Angus would still have declared +that he, and he alone, was the sovereign worthy to assume it. All, then, +of state and dignity which he could assemble round him were proffered to +the king, and had there been less generosity, less chivalric honor in +his character King Robert might have passed the winter months in +comparative security and comfort. + +Angus indeed spoke daringly and slightly of the English force, and had +his inmost soul been read, would have joyed had they ventured to attack +him, that he might show his skill and bravery in resisting and defending +against their united force the sovereign who had confided in his +gallantry and honor; but Robert knew better than the rude chieftain the +devastating warfare which characterized Edward's efforts at subjection, +and his whole soul shrunk from exposing Angus and his true-hearted +followers to the utter ruin which, if he were once known to be amongst +them, would inevitably ensue. At once to secure his personal +concealment, and yet to withdraw from Cantire without in any way +offending the high spirit of the island chieftain, Bruce resolved on +making the little island of Rathlin the winter refuge of himself and his +two hundred followers. + +Inhabited by the MacDonalds, who were of course subject to their general +chief, though divided from him by the channel, Bruce was still under the +generous protection of his friend, and therefore Angus could bring +forward no objection to the proposal, save the miserable poverty, the +many discomforts of the barren islet, and entreat with all his natural +eloquence that King Robert would still remain in the peninsula. The +arguments of the king, however, prevailed. A small fleet, better manned +than built, was instantly made ready for his service, and Angus himself +conveyed the king in his own galley to his destined residence. The +aspect of the island, the savage appearance and manner of its +inhabitants were indeed such as to strike despondingly and painfully on +the hearts of any less inured to suffering than King Robert and his +devoted adherents. To them it was welcome, for they justly felt the eye +of Edward could scarcely reach them there. It was a painful alternative +to warrior spirits such as theirs that the safety of their country +depended on their inaction and concealment; yet as their king, their +patriot king, was still amongst them, there was much, much to hope and +cherish still. That their gentler friends and relatives were, they hoped +and believed, in a place of safety, was a matter of rejoicing, though +neither entreaty nor command could persuade the Lady Campbell and her +daughter Isoline to accept the proffered hospitality of the island +chieftain. It was nothing to them that they were the only females 'mid +that warrior train, that many hardships were around them still. Neither +Sir Kiel nor the king could resist their pleadings, and ere the sun of +spring had shed its influence on the heart of man as well as the +hardened earth, there were many who mourned that a separation had taken +place, who wished that fatigue and anxiety had still been met together. + +Many weeks before King Robert retreated to the island of Rathlin, Sir +Nigel Bruce had conducted his precious charge in safety to the castle of +Kildrummie, whose feeble garrison gladly flung open their gates to +receive them. + +It was a strong fortress situated on a circular mount, overhanging the +river Don, which at that point ever rushed darkly and stormily along; +the mount, though not steep, was full two miles in circumference, from +base to brow occupied by the castle, which was erected in that massive +yet irregular form peculiar to the architecture of the middle ages. A +deep, broad moat or fosse, constantly supplied by the river, defended +the castle wall, which ran round the mound, irregularly indeed, for +there were indentations and sharp angles, occasioned by the uneven +ground, each of which was guarded by a strong turret or tower, rising +from the wall. The wall itself was some four-and-twenty feet in height, +and nine in thickness, consequently the spaces between the turrets on +the top of the wall formed broad level platforms, which in case of a +siege were generally kept strongly guarded. Facing the east, and +commanding a view of the river and adjacent country, stood the barbacan +gate and drawbridge, which latter was further defended by strong oaken +doors and an iron portcullis, forming the great gate of the castle +wall, and the principal entrance into the fortress. Two towers of +immense strength, united by a narrow, dimly-lighted passage, guarded +this gate, and on these depended the grate or portcullis, which was +lowered or raised by internal machinery. Within the castle wall was the +outer ballium or court, containing some small, low-roofed dwellings, the +residence of many feudal retainers of the baron. A rude church or chapel +was also within this court, holding a communication with the keep or +principal part of the castle by means of a passage in the third wall, +which divided the ballium from the inner court. In very large castles +there were in general a second fosse, wall, gate, and towers guarding +the keep, and thus making a complete division between it and the +ballium; but the original owners of Kildrummie, less rich and powerful +suzerains than their equals in South Britain, were probably contented +with merely a stout wall to divide their own sovereign residence from +their more plebeian followers. The keep itself, constructed like all +other similar buildings of the age, was a massive tower, covering but a +small square, and four or five stories high. There were attempts at +luxury in the chambers within, but to modern taste the Norman luxury was +little better than rudeness; and certainly though the cushions were soft +and richly embroidered, the arras in some of the apartments splendid +specimens of needlework, and the beautifully carved and often inlaid +oaken walls of others, gave evidence of both taste and talent, yet the +dim light seemed to shed a gloom and heaviness over the whole range of +rooms and passages, which no skill of workmanship or richness of +material could remove. The windows were invariably small, and very long +and narrow, and set in walls of such huge thickness, that the sun had +barely power even in his summer splendor, to penetrate the dusky panes. +In this keep was the great hall of audience, and for the banquet, at the +upper end of which the dais was invariably found, and dark and loathsome +dungeons formed its basement. + +The roof of Kildrummie keep was flatter than the generality of Norman +castles, its four angles being surmounted more by the appearance than +the reality of turrets; but one rose from the centre, round, and pierced +by loopholes, turreted at the top, and commanding an extensive view of +the adjoining country: from this tower the banner of the baron always +waved, and its non-appearance excited some indignation in the breast of +Nigel Bruce, for his warrior spirit had no sympathy with that timorous +excuse, that did it wave at such a time it might excite the attention of +the English, whereas did it elevate no symbol of defiance its garrison +might pass unquestioned. + +"Up with the banner of Scotland and the Bruce!" were the first commands +of Sir Nigel, as he stood within the ballium, surrounded by his charge +and followers. "Shall we, pledged as we are to our country and king, +even seem to stand neutral and conceal our colors, as ashamed of them? +Shall this be?" + +He was answered by a simultaneous rush towards the keep, and at his word +the folds of the broad banner waved exultingly from the tower, its +appearance hailed by a loud shout from those beneath, and by a bright +and momentary gleam of sunshine flashing through the heavy clouds. + +"Ha! see ye, my friends, even heaven smiles on us," exclaimed the young +knight triumphantly, and smiling cheerily on his fair friends, as with +gay words and graceful action he marshalled them into the keep. It was +while doing so, that Agnes marked the figure of an old yet +majestic-looking man, whose eyes, still bright and flashing, though his +white hair denoted extreme old age, were fixed immovably on the face and +form of Nigel. It was a peculiar glance, strained, eager, and yet +mournful, holding her attention so fascinated that she paused in her +onward way, and pointed him out to Nigel. + +"I know him not, love," he said, in, answer to her inquiry. "I should +deem him minstrel by his garb, or seer, or both perchance, as is +sometimes the case, conjoined. I will speak with him when my present +grateful task is done." + +But it was the next morning ere he had the opportunity of doing so, for +much devolved on the young seneschal. He had to visit the outworks, the +stores, the offices, to give multitudinous orders, and receive various +intelligences, to review the present garrison and his own followers, and +assign to each his post; and though ably aided by Sir Christopher Seaton +and other of his officers, all this occupied much time. The outworks he +found in excellent condition; the barbacan, of massive stone, seemed +well enabled to resist attack, should it be made; the machinery of the +drawbridge was in good order, and enabled to be drawn up or let down at +a moment's warning. The stores and granaries, which were contained in +the towers on the castle wall, were very amply provided, though Nigel, +taking advantage of the present peaceful temper of the country, +dispatched trusty messengers without delay for further supplies. That +this fortress, almost the only one remaining to his brother, would +remain unmolested, Nigel did not for one moment believe, but he did hope +that, in case of a siege, if amply provided with stores, it might hold +out till the intense cold of the season and climate would turn the +besiegers from their purpose; at all events, the advancing winter would +be more favorable to the besieged than the besiegers, and though the +garrison was comparatively small, the place itself was of such great +strength as to guarantee the indulgence of his hopes. That the original +garrison were too timorous and wavering for him to place much dependence +on them he readily perceived, but he trusted much to the beneficial +influence which his own steady, true-hearted followers might be enabled +to infuse. + +Nigel was young, brave, and animated by every feeling which inspires +courage and hope in the buoyant heart of youth. The gloom which had +oppressed him in parting with his brother, and indeed had partially +clouded his spirit during their rapid journey, vanished before the +duties and responsibilities which thronged round him, now that he felt +himself the guard and seneschal of the castle intrusted to his charge; +now that new duties devolved on him, duties particularly dear to a young +and gallant spirit like his own; duties, too, that bound him closer and +closer with the gentle being in whose welfare and happiness his own were +shrined. It was with a bright smile, then, and animated brow he joined +his Agnes early the following morning, in a stroll through a small woody +inclosure dignified by the name of garden, which occupied part of the +inner court. The old minstrel who had so attracted the attention of +Agnes was there before them. He stood against a projecting buttress, his +arms folded, his eyes fixed, it seemed on vacancy, and evidently not +aware he was approached till Nigel spoke. + +"Good morrow, father. I thought we had been the earliest to greet this +fresh and frosty air, save those on guard, yet you are before us. Nay, +wherefore doff thy cap, good father? The air is somewhat too frosty for +thy silvered head." + +"I cannot doff it to a nobler, gentle youth," answered the old man, +courteously, "save to my sovereign's self; and as his representative, I +pay willing homage to his brother." + +"Ha! dost thou know me, father? And was it because I am King Robert's +brother thine eyes so rested on me yester morn, mournfully, methought, +as if the joy with which I hailed the gleam of sunshine smiling on our +banner had little echo in thy breast?" + +"Not that, not that," answered the old man, tremulous; "I scarce +remarked it, for my thoughts were in that future which is sometimes +given me to read. I saw thee, noble youth, but 'twas not here. Dim +visions come across my waking hours; it is not well to note them," and +he turned away as if he might not meet those eager eyes. + +"Not here! yet I was at his side, good father," and Agnes laid her fair +hand on the old man's arm. + +"Thou wert, thou wert, my child. Beautiful, beautiful!" he half +whispered, as he laid his hand dreamily on those golden curls, and +looked on her face; "yet hath sorrow touched thee, maiden. Thy morn of +life hath been o'erclouded; its shadow lingers yet." + +"Too truly speakest thou, father," replied Nigel, drawing Agnes closer +to his heart, for tears were starting in her eyes; "yet will not love +soon chase that sorrow? Thou who canst penetrate the future, seer of the +Bruce's line, tell me, shall she not be mine?" + +The old man looked on them both, and then his eyes became fixed on +vacancy; long and painfully once or twice he passed his hand across his +high, pale brow. + +"Vain, vain," he said, sadly; "but one vision comes to mine aching +sight, and there she seems thine own. She is thine own--but I know not +how that will be. Ask me no more; the dream is passing. 'Tis a sad and +fearful gift. Others may triumph in the power, but for me 'tis sad, 'tis +very sad." + +"Sad! nay, is it not joy, the anticipating joy," answered Nigel, with +animation, "to look on a beloved one, and mark, amid the clouds of +distance, glory, and honor, and love entwining on, his path? to look +through shades of present sorrow, and discern the sunbeam afar off--is +there not joy in this?" + +"Aye, gentle youth; but now, oh, now is there aught in Scotland to +whisper these bright things? There was rejoicing, find glory, and +triumph around the patriot Wallace. Scotland sprung from her sluggish +sleep, and gave back her echo to his inspiring call. I looked upon the +hero's beaming brow, I met the sparkle of his brilliant eye, I bowed +before the native majesty of his god-like form, but there was no joy +for me. Dark masses of clouds closed round the present sunshine; the +present fled like a mist before them, and they oped, and then--there was +still Wallace; but oh! how did I see him? the scaffold, the cord, the +mocking crowds, the steel-clad guards--all, all, even as he fell. My +children! my children! was there joy in this?" + +There was a thrilling pathos in the old man's voice that touched the +very heart of his listeners. Agnes clung closer to the arm of her +betrothed, and looked up tearfully in his face; his cheek was very pale, +and his lip slightly quivered. There was evidently a desire to speak, to +utter some inquiry, but he looked on that sweet face upturned to his, +and the unspoken words died in an inarticulate murmur on his lips. + +"My brother," he said, at length, and with some difficulty, though it +was evident from the expression of his countenance this was not the +question he had meant to ask, "my noble brother, will thy glorious +struggles, thy persevering valor, end in this? No, no, it cannot be. +Prophet and seer, hast thou e'er gazed on him--him, the hope, the joy, +the glory of the line of Bruce? Hast thou gazed on him, and was there no +joy there?" + +"Yes!" answered the old man, starting from his posture of despondency, +and raising his hands with animated fervor, while his cheek flushed, and +his eyes, fixed on distance, sparkled with all the fire of youth. "Yes! +I have gazed upon that face, and in present and in future it is glorious +still. Thick mists have risen round him, well-nigh concealing him within +their murky folds, but still, still as a star penetrating through cloud, +and mist, and space, till it sees its own bright semblance in the ocean +depths, so has that brow, circled by its diadem of freedom, gleamed back +upon mine aching sight, and I have seen and known there is joy for Bruce +and Scotland yet!" + +"Then is there joy for all true Scottish men, good father, and so will +we chase all sadness from our brows and hearts," replied Nigel, lightly. +"Come, tell us of the past, and not the future, while we stroll; thou +hast traditions, hast thou not, to while away an hour?" + +"Nay, my young lord," replied the seer, "hast thou not enough in the +present, embodied as it is in this fair maiden's dreaming eye and loving +heart? The minstrel's harp and ancient lore are for the evening hour, +not for a time and companion such as this," and with an audible blessing +he turned away, leaving them to their stroll together. + +It was not, however, without an effort Nigel could take advantage of his +absence, and make good use of moments so blissful to hearts that love. +There was something in the old man's mournful tone and glance when it +rested upon him, that answered strangely and sadly to the spirit-voice +breathing in his own bold breast. It seemed to touch that chord +indefinably, yet felt by the vibration of every nerve which followed. He +roused himself, however, and ere they joined the morning meal, there was +a brighter smile on the lip and heart of Agnes than had rested there for +many a long day. + +For a few weeks there was peace both within and without the castle of +Kildrummie. The relief, the shelter which its walls afforded to the +wearied and exhausted wanderers was at first felt and enjoyed alone. +Many of the frailer sex were far too exhausted and disabled by a variety +of sufferings, to be sensible of any thing but that greater comforts +than had been theirs for many painful months were now possessed; but +when their strength became partially restored, when these comforts +became sufficiently familiar to admit of other thoughts, the queen's +fortitude began to waver. It was not the mere impulse of the moment +which caused her to urge her accompanying her husband, on the plea of +becoming more and more unworthy of his love if separated from him. +Margaret of Mar was not born for a heroine; more especially to act on +such a stormy stage as Scotland. Full of kindly feeling, of affection, +confidence, gentleness, one that would have drooped and died had her +doom been to pass through life unloved, her yielding mind took its tone +and coloring from those with whom she most intimately associated; not +indeed from the rude and evil, for from those she intuitively shrunk. +Beneath her husband's influence, cradled in his love, her spirit +received and cherished the _reflection_ of his strength; of itself, she +too truly felt it had none; and consequently when that beloved one was +far away, the reflection passed from her mind even as the gleam of his +armor from the mirror on which it glanced, and Margaret was weak and +timorous again. She had thought, and hoped, and prayed, her unfeigned +admiration of Isabella of Buchan, her meek and beautiful appreciation of +those qualities and candid acknowledgment that such was the character +most adapted to her warrior husband, would bring more steadiness and +courage to her own woman breast. Alas! the fearful fate which had +overtaken the heroic countess came with such a shock to the weaker soul +of Margaret, that if she had obtained any increase of courage, it was at +once annihilated, and the desponding fancy entered her mind that if evil +reached one so noble, so steadfast in thought and in action, how might +she hope to escape; and now, when weakened and depressed alike by bodily +and mental suffering, such fancies obtained so much possession of her +that she became more and more restless. The exertions of Sir Nigel and +his companions, even of her own friends, failed in rousing or infusing +strength. Sometimes it was vague conjectures as to the fate of her +husband, the dread that he had fallen into the hands of his foes--a +catastrophe which not only herself but many stronger minds imagined +could scarcely be avoided. She would dwell on these fancies till +suspense became intolerable; and then, if these were partially calmed, +came personal fears: the belief that if attacked the castle could not +muster force enough for defence; suspicions of treachery in the +garrison, and other symptoms of the wavering nature of her mind, till +Sir Nigel felt too truly that if danger did come she would not stay to +meet it. Her wishes ever turned to the sanctuary of St. Duthac in the +domains of the Earl of Ross, believing the sanctity of the place would +be more effectual protection than the strongest castle and bravest +force. In vain Sir Nigel remonstrated, nay, assured her that the +fidelity of the Lord of Ross was impugned; that he doubted his +flattering overtures; that he was known to be in correspondence with +England. But he spoke in vain--the queen persisted in trusting him; that +he had ever been a friend of her father and brother the Earls of Mar, +and he would be faithful to her interests now. Her opinion weighed with +many of the ladies of her court, even amongst those who were not +affected with her fears. At such times Agnes never spoke, but there was +a calm, quiet determination in her expression that convinced the Lady +Seaton, who alone had leisure to observe her, that her resolution was +already taken and unalterable. + +All that could be done to calm, the queen's perturbed spirits by way of +amusement Sir Nigel did; but his task was not an easy one, and the rumor +which about this time reached him that the Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster, with a very large force, were rapidly advancing towards +Aberdeenshire, did not lessen its difficulties. He sought to keep the +information as long as possible from all his female charge, although the +appearance of many terrified villagers flying from their homes to the +protection of the castle hardly enabled him to do so, and confirmed +without doubt the truth of what he had heard. Nigel felt the moment of +peril was approaching, and he nerved both mind and frame to meet it. The +weak terrors of the queen and some of her train increased with every +rumor, and, despite every persuasion of Sir Nigel, Seaton, and other +brave and well-tried warriors, she rested not till a negotiation was +entered into with the Earl of Ross to grant them a safe conduct through +his lands, and permission to enter the sanctuary of St. Duthac. + +Perplexed with many sad thoughts, Nigel Bruce was one day slowly +traversing a long gallery leading to some uninhabited chambers in the +west wing of the building; it was of different architecture, and ruder, +heavier aspect than the remainder of the castle. Tradition said that +those rooms had been the original building inhabited by an ancestor of +the line of Bruce, and the remainder had been gradually added to them; +that some dark deed of blood had been there committed, and consequently +they were generally kept locked, none of the vassals in the castle +choosing to run the risk of meeting the spirits which they declared +abode there. We have before said that Nigel was not superstitious, +though his mind being of a cast which, adopting and embodying the ideal, +he was likely to be supposed such. The particulars of the tradition he +had never heard, and consequently it was always with a smile of +disbelief he listened to the oft-repeated injunction not to walk at dusk +in the western turret. This warning came across him now, but his mind +was far otherwise engrossed, too much so indeed for him even to give +more than a casual glance to the rude portraits which hung on either +side the gallery. + +He mistrusted the Earl of Ross, and there came a fear upon his noble +spirit that, in permitting the departure of the queen and her +attendants, he might be liable to the censure of his sovereign, that he +was failing in his trust; yet how was he to act, how put a restraint +upon his charge? Had he indeed believed that the defence of the castle +would be successful, that he should be enabled to force the besiegers +to raise the siege, he might perhaps have felt justified in restraining +the queen--but he did not feel this. He had observed there were many +discontented and seditious spirits in the castle, not indeed in the +three hundred of his immediate followers; but what were they compared to +the immense force now pouring over the country, and whose goal he knew +was Kildrummie? The increase of inmates also, from the number of small +villages which had emptied their inhabitants into his walls till he was +compelled to prevent further ingress, must inevitably diminish his +stores, and when once blockaded, to replenish them would be impossible. +No personal fears, no weakness of purpose entered the high soul of Nigel +Bruce amid these painful cogitations. He well knew no shade of dishonor +_could_ fall on him; he thought not one moment of his own fate, although +if the castle were taken he knew death awaited him, either by the +besieger's sword or the hangman's cord, for he would make no condition; +he thought only that this was well-nigh the last castle in his brother's +keeping, which, if lost, would in the present depressed state of his +affairs be indeed a fatal blow, and a still greater triumph to England. + +These thoughts naturally engrossed his mind to the exclusion of all +imaginative whisperings, and therefore was it that he drew back the bolt +of a door which closed the passage, without any of those peculiar +feelings that at a less anxious time might have possessed him; for souls +less gifted than that of Nigel Bruce can seldom enter a spot hallowed by +tradition without the electric thrill which so strangely unites the +present with the past. + +It was a chamber of moderate dimensions to which the oaken door admitted +him, hung with coarse and faded tapestry, which, disturbed by the wind, +disclosed an opening into another passage, through which he pursued his +way. In the apartment on which the dark and narrow passage ended, +however, his steps were irresistibly arrested. It was panelled with +black-oak, of which the floor also was composed, giving the whole an +aspect calculated to infect the most thoughtless spirit with gloom. Two +high and very narrow windows, the small panes of which were quite +incrusted with dust, were the only conductors of light, with the +exception of a loophole--for it could scarcely be dignified by the name +of casement--on the western side. Through this loophole the red light +of a declining winter sun sent its rays, which were caught and stayed on +what seemed at the distance an antique picture-frame. Wondering to +perceive a picture out of its place in the gallery, Nigel hastily +advanced towards it, pausing, however, on his way to examine, with some +surprise, one of the planks in the floor, which, instead of the +beautiful black polish which age had rather heightened than marred in +the rest, was rough and white, with all the appearance of having been +hewn and scraped by some sharp instrument. + +It is curious to mark how trifling a thing will sometimes connect, +arrange, and render clear as day to the mind all that has before been +vague, imperfect, and indistinct. It is like the touch of lightning on +an electric chain, link after link starts up till we see the illumined +whole. We have said Nigel had never heard the particulars of the +tradition; but he looked on that misshapen plank, and in an instant a +tale of blood and terror weaved itself in his mind; in that room the +deed, whatever it was, had been done, and from that plank the sanguine +evidence of murder had been with difficulty erased. A cold shuddering +passed over him, and he turned instinctively away, and strode hastily to +examine the frame which had attracted him. It did contain a picture--we +should rather say a portrait--for it comprised but one figure, the +half-length of a youthful warrior, clad in steel, save the +beautifully-formed head, which was covered only by his own luxuriant +raven curls. In a better light it could not have been placed, +particularly in the evening; the rays, condensed and softened, seemed to +gather up their power into one focus, and throw such an almost +supernatural glow on the half face, give such an extraordinary +appearance of life to the whole figure, that a casual visitant to that +chamber might well fancy it was no picture but reality on which he +gazed. But no such emotion was at work in the bosom of Nigel Bruce, +though his first glance upon that face occasioned an almost convulsive +start, and then a gaze of such intense, such almost fearful interest, +that he stood as if fascinated by some overpowering spell. His features, +worked with internal emotions, flushed and paled alternately. It was no +weak-minded terror which bound him there, no mood in which a step or +sound could chill and startle, for so wrapt was he in his own strange +dreams that he heard not a slow and measured step approach him; he did +not even start when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the melodious +voice of the seer caused him to turn slowly around. + +"The warnings thou hast heard have no power on thee, young lord," he +said, slightly smiling, "or I should not see thee here at this hour +alone. Yet thou wert strangely wrapt." + +"Knowest thou aught of _him_, good father?" answered Nigel, in a voice +that to his own ears sounded hoarse and unnatural, and turning his +glance once again to the portrait. "My thoughts are busy with that face +and yon tale-telling plank; there are wild, feverish, incongruous dreams +within me, and I would have them solved. Thou of all others art best +fitted to the task, for amid the records of the past, where thou hast +loved to linger, thou hast surely found the tradition of this tower. I +shame not to confess there is in my heart a deep yearning to learn the +truth. Wherefore, when thy harp and song have so pleasantly whiled the +evening hours, did not this tale find voice, good father?" + +"Alas! my son, 'tis too fraught with horror, too sad for gentle ears. A +few stern, rugged words will best repeat it. I love not to linger on the +theme; listen then now, and it shall be told thee." + +"In the reign of Malcolm the Second, the districts now called Aberdeen +and Forfar were possessed, and had been so, so tradition saith, since +Kenneth MacAlpine, by the Lords of Brus or Bris, a family originally +from the North. They were largely and nobly connected, particularly with +Norway and Gaul. It is generally supposed the first possessions in +Scotland held in fief by the line of Bruce can be traced back only to +the time of David I., in the person of Robert de Bruce, an Anglo-Norman +baron, whose father came over to England with the Conqueror. The cause +of this supposition my tale will presently explain. + +"Haco Brus or Bris was the Lord of Aberdeen in the reign of Malcolm the +Second. He spent many years abroad; indeed, was supposed to have married +and settled there, when, to the surprise of his vassals, he suddenly +returned unmarried, and soon after uniting himself with a beautiful and +accomplished girl, nearly related to the blood-royal of Scotland, +settled quietly in this tower, which was the stronghold of his +possessions. Years passed; the only child of the baron, a son, born in +the first year of his marriage, grew up in strength and beauty, the idol +not only of his mother, but of his father, a man stern and cold in +seeming, even morose, but with passions fearful alike in their influence +and extent. Your eye glances to that pictured face, he was not the +baron's son of whom I speak. The affections, nay, the very passions of +the baron were centered in this boy. It is supposed pride and ambition +were their origin, for he looked, through his near connection with the +sovereign, for further aggrandizement for himself. There were some who +declared ambition was not the master-passion, that a deeper, sterner, +fiercer emotion dwelt within. Whether they spoke thus from the sequel, I +know not, but that sequel proved their truth. + +"There was a gathering of all the knightly and noble in King Malcolm's +court, not perchance for trials at arms resembling the tournays of the +present day, but very similar in their motive and bearing, though ruder +and more dangerous. Tho wreath of glory and victory was ever given by +the gentle hand of beauty. Bright eyes and lovely forms presided at the +sports even as now, and the king and his highest nobles joined in the +revels. + +"The wife of the Baron of Brus and his son, now a fine boy of thirteen, +were of course amongst the royal guests. Though matron grace and +dignified demeanor had taken the place of the blushing charms of early +girlhood, the Lady Helen Brus was still very beautiful, and as the niece +of the king and wife of such a distinguished baron, commanded and +received universal homage. Among the combatants was a youthful knight, +of an exterior and bearing so much more polished and graceful than the +sons of the soil or their more northern visitors, that he was instantly +recognized as coming from Gaul, then as now the most polished kingdom of +the south. Delighted with his bravery, his modesty, and most chivalric +bearing, the king treated him with most distinguished honor, invited him +to his palace, spoke with him as friend with friend on the kingdoms of +Normandy and France, to the former of which he was subject. There was a +mystery, too, about the young knight, which heightened the interest he +excited; he bore no device on his shield, no cognizance whatever to mark +his name and birth and his countenance, beautiful as it was, often when +in repose expressed sadness and care unusual to his years, for he was +still very young, though in reply to the king's solicitations that he +would choose one of Scotland's fairest maidens (her dower should be +princely), and make the Scottish court his home, he had smilingly avowed +that he was already a husband and father. + +"The notice of the king, of course, inspired the nobles with similar +feelings of hospitality. Attention and kindness were lavished on the +stranger from all, and nothing was talked of but the nameless knight. +The Lord of Brus, who had been absent on a mission to a distant court +during the continuance of the martial games, was on his return presented +by the king himself to the young warrior. It is said that both were so +much moved by this meeting, that all present were mystified still more. +The baron, with that deep subtlety for which he was remarkable, +recovered himself the first, and accounted for his emotion to the +satisfaction of his hearers, though not apparently to that of the +stranger, who, though his cheek was blanched, still kept his bright +searching eyes upon him, till the baron's quailed 'neath his gaze. The +hundred tongues of rumor chose to speak of relationship, that there was +a likeness between them, yet I know not how that could be. There is no +impress of the fiendish passion at work in the baron's soul on those +bright, beautiful features." + +"Ha! Is it of him you speak?" involuntarily escaped from Nigel, as the +old man for a moment paused; "of him? Methought yon portrait was of an +ancestor of Bruce, or wherefore is it here?" + +"Be patient, good my son. My narrative wanders, for my lips shrink from +its tale. That the baron and the knight met, not in warlike joust but in +peaceful converse, and at the request of the latter, is known, but on +what passed in that interview even tradition is silent, it can only be +imagined by the sequel; they appeared, however, less reserved than at +first. The baron treated him with the same distinction as his +fellow-nobles, and the stranger's manner towards him was even more +respectful than the mere difference of age appeared to demand. Important +business with the Lord of Brus was alleged as the cause of his accepting +that nobleman's invitation to the tower of Kildrummie, in preference to +others earlier given and more eagerly enforced. They departed together, +the knight accompanied but by two of his followers, and the baron +leaving the greater number of his in attendance on his wife and child, +who, for some frivolous reason, he left with the court. It was a strange +thing for him to do, men said, as he had never before been known to lose +sight of his boy even for a day. For some days all seemed peace and +hospitality within the tower. The stranger was too noble himself, and +too kindly disposed towards all his fellow-creatures, to suspect aught +of treachery, or he might have remarked the retainers of the baron were +changed; that ruder forms and darker visages than at first were +gathering around him. How the baron might have intended to make use of +them--almost all robbers and murderers by trade--cannot be known, though +it may be suspected. In this room the last interview between them took +place, and here, on this silent witness of the deed, the hand of the +father was bathed in the blood of the son!" + +"God in heaven!" burst from Nigel's parched lips, as he sprang up. "The +son--how could that be? how known?" + +"Fearfully, most fearfully!" shudderingly answered the old man; "through +the dying ravings of the maniac Lord of Brus himself. Had not heaven, in +its all-seeing justice, thus revealed it, the crime would ever have +remained concealed. His bandit hirelings were at hand to remove and +bury, many fathoms deep in moat and earth, all traces of the deed. One +of the unfortunate knight's followers was supposed to have shared the +fate of his master, and to the other, who escaped almost miraculously, +you owe the preservation of your royal line. + +"But there was one witness of the deed neither time nor the most cunning +art could efface. The blood lay in a pool on the oaken floor, and the +voice of tradition whispers that day after day it was supernaturally +renewed; that vain were the efforts to absorb it, it ever seemed moist +and red; and that to remove the plank and re-floor the apartment was +attempted again and again in vain. However this may be, it is evident +that _erasing it_ was attended with extreme difficulty; that the blood +had penetrated well-nigh through the immense thickness of the wood." + +Nigel stooped down over the crumbling fragment; years, aye, centuries +had rolled away, yet there it still stood, arrested it seemed even in +its decay, not permitted to crumble into dust, but to remain an +everlasting monument of crime and its retribution. After a brief pause +Nigel resumed his seat, and pushing the hair from his brow, which was +damp with some untold emotion, signed to the old man to proceed. + +"That the stranger warrior returned not to Malcolm's court, and had +failed in his promises to various friends, was a matter of +disappointment, and for a time, of conjecture to the king and his court. +That his followers, in obedience, it was said, to their master's signet, +set off instantly to join him either in England or Normandy, for both of +which places they had received directions, satisfied the greater number. +If others suspected foul play, it was speedily hushed up; for the baron +was too powerful, too closely related to the throne, and justice then +too weak in Scotland to permit accusation or hope for conviction. Time +passed, and the only change observable in the baron was, that he became +more gloomy, more abstracted, wrapt up, as it were, in one dark +remembrance, one all-engrossing thought. Towards his wife he was +changed--harsh, cold, bitterly sarcastic; as if her caresses had turned +to gall. Her gentle spirit sunk beneath the withering blight, and he was +heard to laugh, the mocking laugh of a fiend, as he followed her to the +grave; her child, indeed, he still idolized, but it was a fearful +affection, and a just heaven permitted not its continuance. The child, +to whom many had looked as likely to ascend the Scottish throne, from +the failure of all direct heirs, the beautiful and innocent child of a +most guilty father, faded like a lovely flower before him, so softly, so +gradually, that there came no suspicion of death till the cold hand was +on his heart, and he lay lifeless before him who had plunged his soul in +deadliest crime through that child to aggrandize himself. Then was it +that remorse, torturing before, took the form of partial madness, and +there was not one who had power to restrain, or guide, or soothe. + +"Then it was the fearful tale was told, freezing the blood, not so much +with the wild madness of the tone, but that the words were too +collected, too stamped with truth, to admit of aught like doubt. The +couch of the baron was, at his own command, placed here, where we now +stand, covering the spot where his first-born fell, and that portrait, +obtained from Normandy, hung where it now is, ever in his sight. The +dark tale which those wild ravings revealed was simply this: + +"He had married, as was suspected, during his wanderings, but soon tired +of the yoke, more particularly as his wife possessed a spirit proud and +haughty as his own, and all efforts to mould her to his will were +useless, he plunged anew into his reckless career. He had never loved +his wife, marrying her simply because it suited his convenience, and +brought him increase of wealth and station; and her ill-disguised +abhorrence of many of his actions, her beautiful adherence to virtue, +however tempted, occasioned all former feelings to concentrate in hatred +the most deadly. More than one attempt to rid himself of her by poison +she had discovered and frustrated, and at last removed herself and her +child, under a feigned name, to Normandy, and ably eluded all pursuit +and inquiry. + +"The baron's search continued some time, in the hope of silencing her +forever, as he feared she might prove a dangerous enemy, but failing in +his wishes, he travelled some time over different countries, returned at +length to Scotland, and acted as we have seen. The young knight had been +informed of his birthright by his mother, at her death, which took place +two years before he made his appearance in Scotland; that she had +concealed from him the fearful character of his father, being unable so +completely to divest herself of all feeling towards the father of her +child, as to make him an object of aversion to his son. She had long +told him his real name, and urged him to demand from his father an +acknowledgment of his being heir to the proud barony of the Bruce. His +likeness to herself was so strong, that she knew it must carry +conviction to his father; but to make his identity still more certain, +she furnished him with certain jewels and papers, none but herself could +produce. She had done this in the presence of two faithful witnesses, +the father and brother of her son's betrothed bride, high lords of +Normandy, the former of which made it a condition annexed to his consent +to the marriage, that as soon as possible afterwards he should urge and +claim his rights. Sir Walter, of course, willingly complied; they were +married by the name of Brus, and their child so baptized. A war, which +retained Sir Walter in arms with his sovereign, prevented his seeking +Scotland till his boy was a year old, and then for his sake, far more +than for his own, the young father determined on asserting his +birthright, his child should not be nameless, as he had been; but to +spare his unknown parent all public mortification, he joined the martial +games without any cognizance or bearing on his shield. + +"Terrible were the ravings in which the baron alluded to the interview +he had had with his murdered child; the angelic mildness and generosity +of the youthful warrior; that, amid all his firmness never to depart +from his claim--as it was not alone himself but his child he would +irreparably injure--he never wavered in his respectful deference to his +parent. He quitted the court in the belief that the baron sought +Kildrummie to collect the necessary papers for substantiating his claim; +but ere he died, it appeared his eyes were opened. The fierce passions +of the baron had been too long restrained in the last interview; they +burst even his politic control, and he had flung the papers received +from, the hand of his too-confiding son on the blazing hearth, and with +dreadful oaths swore that if he would not instantly retract his claim, +and bind himself by the most sacred promise never to breathe the foul +tale again, death should be its silent keeper. He would not bring his +own head low, and avow that he had dishonored a scion of the +blood-royal. + +"Appalled far more at the dark, fiendish passions he beheld than the +threat held out to himself, Sir Walter stood silent a while, and then +mildly demanded to be heard; that if so much public mortification to his +parent would attend the pursuance of his claims at the present time, he +would consent to forego them, on condition of his father's solemnly +promising on his deathbed to reveal the truth, and do him tardy justice +then, but forego them altogether he would not, were his life the +forfeit. The calm firmness of his tone, it is supposed, lashed his +father into greater madness, and thus the dark deed was done. + +"That the baron several times endeavored to possess himself of the +infant child of Sir Walter, also came to light in his dying moments; +that he had determined to exterminate root and branch, fearful he should +still possess some clue to his birth; he had frantically avowed, but in +his last hour, he would have given all his amassed treasure, his +greatness, his power, but for one little moment of assurance that his +grandson lived. He left him all his possessions, his lordship, his name, +but as there were none came forth to claim, they of necessity passed to +the crown." + +"But the child, the son of Sir Walter--if from him our line descends, he +must have lived to manhood--why did not he demand his rights?" + +"He lived, aye, and had a goodly progeny; but the fearful tale of his +father's fate related to him again and again by the faithful Edric, who +had fled from his master's murdered corse to watch over the safety of +that master's child, and warn all who had the charge of him of the fiend +in human shape who would probably seek the boy's life as he had his +father's, caused him to shun the idea of his Scottish possessions with a +loathing horror which he could not conquer; they were associated with +the loss of both his parents, for his father's murder killed his devoted +mother. He was contented to feel himself Norman in possessions as well +as in name. He received lands and honors from the Dukes of Normandy, and +at the advanced age of seventy and five, accompanied Duke William to +England. The third generation from him obtained anew Scottish +possessions, and gradually Kildrummie and its feudal tenures returned to +its original lords; but the tower had been altered and enlarged, and +except the tradition of these chambers, the fearful fate of the second +of the line has faded from the minds of his descendants, unless casually +or supernaturally recalled." + +"Ha! supernaturally, sayest thou?" interrupted Nigel, in a tone so +peculiar it almost startled his companion. "Are there those who assert +they have seen his semblance--good, gifted, beautiful as thou hast +described him? why not at once deem him the guardian spirit of our +house?" + +"And there are those who deem him so, young lord," answered the seer. +"It is said that until the Lords of Bruce again obtained possession of +these lands, in the visions of the night the form of the murdered +warrior, clad as in yon portrait, save with the addition of a scarf +across his breast bearing the crest and cognizance of the Bruce, +appeared once in his lifetime to each lineal descendant. Such +visitations are said to have ceased, and he is now only seen by those +destined like himself to an early and bloody death, cut off in the prime +of manhood, nobleness, and joy." + +"And where--sleeping or waking?" demanded the young nobleman, in a low, +deep tone, laying his hand on the minstrel's arm, and looking fixedly on +his now strangely agitated face. + +"Sleeping or waking? it hath been both," he answered, and his voice +faltered. "If it be in the front of the war, amid the press, the crush, +the glory of the battle, he hath come, circled with bright forms and +brighter dreams, to the sleeping warrior on the eve of his last fight; +if"--and his voice grew lower and huskier yet--"if by the red hand of +the foe, by the captive's chain and headsman's axe, as the noble +Wallace, there have been those who say--I vouch not for its truth--he +hath been seen in the vigils of the night on the eve of knighthood, when +the young, aspiring warrior hath watched and prayed beside his arms. +Boy! boy! why dost thou look upon me thus?" + +"Because thine eye hath read my doom," he said, in a firm, sweet tone; +"and if there be aught of truth in thy tale, thou knowest, feelest I +have seen him. God of mercy, the captive's chain, the headsman's axe! +Yet 'tis Thy will, and for my country--let it come." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"Thou art idle, maiden; wherefore not gather thy robes and other gear +together, as thy companions? Knowest thou not in twenty-four hours we +shall be, heaven willing, safely sheltered under the holy wing of St. +Duthac?" was Queen Margaret's address to Agnes, about a week after the +conversation we have recorded. There were many signs of confusion and +tokens of removal in her scanty train, but the maiden of Buchan stood +apart, offering assistance when needed, but making no arrangements for +herself. + +"I seek not such holy keeping, may it please you, madam," she replied. +"I do not quit this castle." + +"How!" exclaimed Margaret. "Art thou mad?" + +"In what, royal madam?" + +"Or hath love blinded thee, girl? Knowest thou not Hereford and +Lancaster are advancing as rapidly as their iron-clad force permits, and +in less than seven days the castle must be besieged in form?" + +"I know it, madam." + +"And thou wilt brave it, maiden?--dare a danger that may be avoided? Is +thy life of so little worth, or if not thy life, thy liberty?" + +"When a life is wrapt up in one--when there is none on earth save that +one to whom that life is of any worth, wherefore should I seek safety +save by his side? Royal madam, I am not mad nor blind; but desolate as +I am,--nay, were I not 'twould be the same--I covet to share Sir Nigel's +fate; the blow that strikes him shall lay me at his side, be it in +prison or in death. My safety is with him; and were the danger ten times +as great as that which threatens now, I'd share it with him still." + +"Nay, thou art but a loving fool, Agnes. Be advised, seek safety in the +sanctuary; peril cannot reach us there." + +"Save by the treachery of the dark-browed earl who grants that shelter. +Nay, pardon me, madam; thou lovest not to list that theme, believing him +as honorable and faithful as thyself. God grant he prove so! If," she +added, with a faint smile, "if it be such mad folly to cling to a +beloved one in danger as in joy, in adversity as in triumph, forgive me, +royal lady, but thy maidens have learned that tale of thee." + +"And would to God I could teach them thus again!" exclaimed the queen, +tears coursing down her cheeks. "Oh, Agnes, Agnes, were Robert here, not +death itself should part us. For my child's sake, for his, I go hence +for safety. Could my resting, nay, my death benefit him, Agnes, I would +meet it, weak as thou deemest me." + +"Nay, nay, I doubt it not, my queen," answered Agnes, soothingly, "It is +best thou shouldst find some place of repose till this struggle be past. +If it end in victory, it will be joy to hail thee once again within its +walls; if otherwise, better thy safety should be cared for." + +"But for thee, my child, is it not unmaidenly for thee to linger here?" + +"It would be, royal madam," and a bright vivid flush glowed on her pale +cheeks, "but for the protection of the Lady Seaton, who will not leave +her husband." + +"I may not blame her, after mine own words," said the queen, +sorrowfully; "yet she is one I could have wished beside me. Ha! that +trumpet. Merciful heaven! is it the foe?" and trembling with alarm, she +dispatched attendant after attendant to know the cause. + +The English force was known to be so near that many a warrior-heart beat +quicker at any unusual blast, and it was not marvel the queen's terrors +should very often affect her attendants. Agnes alone, amid the maiden +train, ever retained a calm self-possession; strange in one who, till +the last eventful year, had seemed such a very child. Her mother +trembled lest the turmoils and confusion of her country should ever +approach her or those she loved; how might she, timid, nay; often +fearful, weak, and yielding, as the flower on the heath, how might she +encounter storm, and grief, and care? Had her mother's eye been on her +now, and could have followed her in yet deeper trials, that mother +scarce had known her child. + +She it was whose coolness enabled her easily to recognize and explain +the trumpet's blast. It was an officer with an escort from the Lord of +Ross, informing the queen that, from late intelligence respecting the +movements of the English, he deemed it better they should not defer +their departure from the castle another night. + +On the receipt of this message all was increased hurry and confusion in +the apartments of the queen. The advice was to be followed on the +instant, and ere sunset the litters and mules, and other accommodation +for the travellers, waited their pleasure in the outer court. + +It was with a mien of princely dignity, a countenance grave and +thoughtful, with which the youthful seneschal attended the travellers to +the great gate of the castle. In after years the expression of his +features flashed again and again upon those who looked upon him them. +Calmly he bade his sister-in-law farewell, and bade her, should she be +the first to see his brother, tell him that it was at her own free will +and pleasure she thus departed; that neither advice nor persuasion on +his part had been used; she had of her own will released him from his +sacred charge; and if ill came of it, to free his memory from blame. + +"Trust me, Nigel; oh, surely you may trust me! You will not part from me +in anger at my wilfulness?" entreated Margaret, as clinging to his arm, +she retained him a few minutes ere he placed her in the litter. + +"In anger, my sweet sister, nay, thou wrongest me!" he said, a bright +smile dispersing a moment the pensive cast of his features. "In sorrow, +perchance, for I love not him to whose care thou hast committed thyself; +yet if ill await this castle, and thou wert with me, 'twould enhance its +bitterness. No, tis better thou shouldst go; though I would it were not +to the Lord of Ross." + +"And wherefore?" demanded the deep stern voice of the officer beside +him. + +"Because I doubt him, Archibald Macfarlane," sternly replied the young +nobleman, fixing his flashing eyes upon him; "and thou mayst so inform +him an thou wilt. An I do him wrong, let him deliver the Queen of +Scotland and her attendants in safety to King Robert, in the forthcoming +spring, and Nigel Bruce will crave forgiveness for the wrong that he +hath done him; nay, let his conduct give my doubts the lie, and I will +even thank him, sir." + +Turning on his heel, he conducted the queen to her litter, and bade a +graceful farewell to all her fair companions, bidding good angels speed +them on their way. The heavy gates were thrown back, the portcullis +raised and the drawbridge lowered, and amid a parting cheer from the +men-at-arms drawn up in the court in military homage to their queen, the +cavalcade departed, attended only by the men of Ross, for the number of +the garrison was too limited to admit of their attendance anywhere, save +within and on the walls. + +With folded arms and an anxious brow, Sir Nigel stood beside the gate, +marking the progress of the train; a gentle voice aroused him. It +playfully said, "Come to the highest turret, Nigel, there thou wilt +trace their path as long as light remains." He started, for Agnes was at +his side. He drew her arm within his own, briefly gave the command to +close the gate and make all secure, and turned with her in the direction +of the keep. + +"Have I done right," he said, as, when they had reached a more retired +path, he folded his arm caressingly around her, and drew her closer to +him, "to list thy pleadings, dearest, to grant thy boon? oh, if _they_ +go to safety, why did I listen to thee and permit thee to remain?" + +"Nay, there is equal safety within these walls, Nigel. Be assured, thine +Agnes hath neither regret nor doubt when thou art by her side," she +answered, still playfully. "I love not the sanctuaries they go to seek; +the stout hearts and trusty blades of warriors like thee and thine, my +Nigel, are better and truer safeguards." + +"Alas! Agnes, I fear me not in cases such as these. I am not wont to be +desponding, but from the small number of true men which garrison this +castle, I care not to acknowledge I had loved better to meet my foe on +open ground. Here I can scarce know friend from foe; traitors may be +around me, nay, in my very confidence, and I know it not." + +"Art thou not infected with Queen Margaret's suspicions, Nigel? Why +ponder on such uneasy dreams?" + +"Because, my best love, I am a better adept in the perusal of men's +countenances and manners than many, and there are signs of lowering +discontent and gloomy cowardice, arguing ill for unity of measures, on +which our safety greatly rests. Yet my fancies may be wrong, and at all +hazards my duty shall be done. The issue is in the hands of a higher +power; we cannot do wrong in committing ourselves to Him, for thou +knowest He giveth not the battle to the strong, and right and justice we +have on Scotland's side." + +Agnes looked on his face, and she saw, though he spoke cheerfully, his +thoughts echoed not his words. She would not express her own anxiety, +but led him gently to explain to her his plan of defence, and prepare +her for all she might have to encounter. + +Five days passed, and all within and without the walls remained the +same; the sixth was the Sabbath, and the greater part of the officers +and garrison were assembled in the chapel, where divine service was +regularly read by the Abbot of Scone, whom we should perhaps before have +mentioned as having, at the king's especial request, accompanied the +queen and her attendants to Kildrummie. It was a solemn yet stirring +sight, that little edifice, filled as it was with steel-clad warriors +and rude and dusky forms, now bending in one prayer before their God. +The proud, the lowly, the faithless, and the true, the honorable and the +base, the warrior, whose whole soul burned and throbbed but for his +country and his king, the coward, whose only thought was how he could +obtain life for himself and save the dread of war by the surrender of +the castle--one and all knelt there, the workings of those diverse +hearts known but to Him before whom they bent. Strangely and mournfully +did that little group of delicate females gleam forth amidst the darker +and harsher forms around, as a knot of fragile flowers blooming alone, +and unsheltered amidst some rude old forest trees, safe in their own +lowliness from the approaching tempest, but liable to be overwhelmed in +the fall of their companions, whom yet they would not leave. As calmly +as in his own abbey the venerable abbot read the holy service, and +administered the rites of religion to all who sought. It was in the deep +silence of individual prayer which preceded the chanting of the +conclusion of the service that a shrill, peculiar blast of a trumpet was +heard. On the instant it was recognized as the bugle of the warder +stationed on the centre turret of the keep, as the blast which told the +foe was at length in sight. Once, twice, thrice it sounded, at irregular +intervals, even as Nigel had commanded; the notes were caught up by the +warders on the walls, and repeated again and again. A sudden cry of "The +foe!" broke from the soldiers scattered round, and again all was +silence. There had been a movement, almost a confusion in some parts of +the church, but the officers and those who had followed them from the +mountains neither looted up nor stirred. The imperative gesture of the +abbot commanded and retained order and silence, the service proceeded; +there might have been some faltering in the tones of the choir, but the +swelling notes of the organ concealed the deficiency. + +The eye of Agnes voluntarily sought her betrothed. His head was still +bent down in earnest prayer, but she had not looked long before she saw +him raise it, and lift up his clasped hands in the evident passionate +fervor of his prayer. So beautiful, so gloriously beautiful was that +countenance thus breathing prayer, so little seemed that soul of earth, +that tears started to the eyes of Agnes, and the paleness of strong +emotion over-spread the cheek, aye, and the quivering lip, which the war +and death-speaking trumpet had had no power to disturb. + +"Let me abide by him, merciful Father, in weal or in woe; oh, part us +not!" she prayed again and yet again, and the bright smile which now +encircled his lips--for he had caught her glance--seemed an answer to +her prayer. + +It was a beautiful, though perhaps to many of the inmates of Kildrummie +a terrible sight, which from the roof of the turret now presented itself +to their view. The English force lay before them, presenting many a +solid phalanx of steel, many a glancing wood of spears. Nor were these +all; the various engines used in sieges at this time, battering-rams, +and others, whose technical names are unfortunately lost to us, but used +to fling stones of immense weight to an almost incredible distance; +arbalists, and the incomparable archer, who carried as many lives as +arrows in his belt; wagons, heavily laden, with all things necessary +for a close and numerous encampment--all these could be plainly +distinguished in rapid advance towards the castle, marking their path +through the country by the smoke of the hamlets they had burned. Many +and eager voices resounded in various parts of the castle; numbers had +thronged to the tower, with their own eyes to mark the approach of the +enemy, and to report all they had seen to their companions below, +triumphantly or despondingly, according to the temper of their minds. +Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, with others of the superior +officers, stood a little apart, conversing eagerly and animatedly, and +finally separating, with an eager grasp of the hand, to perform the +duties intrusted to each. + +"Ha! Christine, and thou, fair maiden," exclaimed Sir Christopher, +gayly, as on turning he encountered his wife and Agnes arm-in-arm. "By +mine honor, this is bravely done; ye will not wait in your tiring-bower +till your knights seek ye, but come for information yourselves. Well, +'tis a goodly company, is't not? as gallant a show as ever mustered, by +my troth. Those English warriors tacitly do us honor, and proclaim our +worth by the numbers of gallant men they bring against us. We shall +return the compliment some day, and pay them similar homage." + +His wife smiled at his jest, and even felt reassured, for it was not the +jest of a mind ill at ease, it was the same bluff, soldier spirit she +had always loved. + +"And, Nigel, what thinkest thou?" + +"Think, dearest?" he said, answering far more the appealing look of +Agnes than her words; "think? that we shall do well, aye, nobly well; +they muster not half the force they led me to expect. The very sight of +them has braced me with new spirit, and put to ignominious flight the +doubts and dreams I told thee had tormented me." + +Movement and bustle now pervaded every part of the castle, but all was +conducted with an order and military skill that spoke well for the +officers to whom it was intrusted. The walls were manned; pickaxes and +levers, for the purposes of hurling down stones on the besiegers, +collected and arranged on the walls; arms polished, and so arranged that +the hand might grasp them at a minute's warning, were brought from the +armory to every court and tower; the granaries and storehouses were +visited, and placed under trustworthy guards. A band of picked men, +under an experienced officer, threw themselves into the barbacan, +determined to defend it to the last. Sir Nigel and Sir Christopher +visited every part of the outworks, displaying the most unceasing care, +encouraged the doubting, roused the timid, and cheered and inspired the +boldest with new confidence, new hope; but one feeling appeared to +predominate--liberty and Scotland seemed the watchword of one and all. + +Onward, like a mighty river, rolled the English force; nearer and +nearer, till the middle of the second day saw them encamped within a +quarter of a mile from the palisades and outworks raised on either side +of the barbacan. Obtaining easy possession of the river--for Sir Nigel, +aware of the great disparity of numbers, had not even attempted its +defence--they formed three distinct bodies round the walls, the +strongest and noblest setting down before the barbacan, as the principal +point of attack. Numerous as they had appeared in the distance, well +provided with all that could forward their success, it was not till +closer seen all their strength could be discovered; but there was no +change in the hopes and gallant feelings of the Scottish officers and +their men-at-arms, though, could hearts have been read, the timidity, +the doubts, the anxious wishes to make favorable peace with the English +had in some of the original garrison alarmingly increased. + +Before, however, any recourse was made to arms, an English herald, +properly supported, demanded and obtained admission within the gates, on +a mission from the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster, to Sir Christopher +Seaton, Sir Nigel Bruce, and others of command. They were summoned to +deliver up the castle and themselves to their liege lord and sovereign, +King Edward; to submit to his mercy, and grace should be shown to them, +and safe conduct granted to all those who, taking refuge within the +walls and adopting a position of defence, proclaimed themselves rebels +and abettors of rebellion; that they should have freedom to return to +their homes uninjured, not only in their persons but in their +belongings; and this should be on the instant the gates were thrown +open, and the banner of England had taken the place of that of Scotland +now floating from their keep. + +"Tell thy master, thou smooth-tongued knave," burst angrily from the +lips of Sir Christopher Seaton, as he half rose from his seat and +clenched his mailed hand at the speaker, and then hastily checking +himself, added, in a lower tone, "Answer him, Nigel; thou hast eloquence +at thy command, I have none, save at my sword's point, and my temper is +somewhat too hot to list such words, courteous though they may be." + +"Tell your master, sir herald," continued Nigel, rising as his colleague +flung himself back on his seat, and though his voice was sternly calm, +his manner was still courteous, "tell them they may spare themselves the +trouble, and their followers the danger, of all further negotiation. We +are Scottish men and Scottish subjects, and consequently to all the +offers of England we are as if we heard not. Neither rebels nor abettors +of rebels, we neither acknowledge the necessity of submitting ourselves +to a tyrant's mercy, nor desire the advantage of his offered grace. +Return, sir herald; we scorn the conditions proposed. We are here for +Scotland and for Scotland's king, and for them we know both how to live +and how to die." + +His words were echoed by all around him, and there was a sharp clang of +steel, as if each man half drew his eager sword, which spoke yet truer +than mere words. Dark brows and features stern were bent upon the herald +as he left their presence, and animated council followed his departure. + +No new movement followed the return of the herald. For some days no +decisive operation was observable in the English force; and when they +did attack the outworks, it was as if more to pass the time than with +any serious intent. It was a period of fearful suspense to the besieged. +Their storehouses were scarcely sufficiently provided to hold out for +any great length of time, and they almost imagined that to reduce them +to extremities by famine was the intention of the besiegers. The +greatest danger, if encountered hand to hand in the _mêlée_, was +welcome, but the very idea of a slow, lingering fate, with the enemy +before them, mocking their misery, was terrible to the bravest. A daring +sally into the very thickest of the enemy's camp, headed by Nigel and +his own immediate followers, carrying all before them, and when by +numbers compelled to retreat, bearing both booty and prisoners with +them, roused the English from their confident supposition that the +besieged would soon be obliged to capitulate, and urged them into +action. The ire of the haughty English blazed up at what seemed such +daring insolence in their petty foe. Decisive measures were resorted to +on the instant, and increased bustle appeared to pervade both besiegers +and besieged. + +"Pity thou art already a knight, Nigel!" bluffly exclaimed Seaton, +springing into his saddle by torchlight the following morning, as with a +gallant band he was about dashing over the drawbridge, to second the +defenders of the barbacan and palisades. "How shall we reward thee, my +boy? Thou hast brought the foe to bay. Hark! they are there before me," +and he spurred on to the very centre of the _mêlée_. + +Sir Nigel was not long after him. The enemy was driven back with fearful +loss. Scaling-ladders were thrown down; the archers on the walls, better +accustomed to their ground, marking their foes by the torches they +carried, but concealed themselves by the darkness, dealt destruction +with as unerring hand as their more famous English brethren. Shouts and +cries rose on either side; the English bore back before the sweeping +stroke of Nigel Bruce as before the scythe of death. For the brief space +of an hour the strife lasted, and still victory was on the side of the +Scots--glorious victory, purchased with scarce the loss of ten men. The +English fled back to their camp, leaving many wounded and dead on the +field, and some prisoners in the hands of the Scots. Ineffectual efforts +were made to harass the Scots, as with a daring coolness seldom +equalled, they repaired the outworks, and planted fresh palisades to +supply those which had fallen in the strife, in the very face of the +English, many of them coolly detaching the arrows which, shot at too +great distance, could not penetrate the thick lining of their buff +coats, and scornfully flinging them back. Several sharp skirmishes took +place that day, both under the walls and at a little distance from them; +but in all the Scots were victorious, and when night fell all was joy +and triumph in the castle; shame, confusion, and fury in the English +camp. + +For several days this continued. If at any time the English, by +superiority of numbers, were victorious, they were sure to be taken by +surprise by an impetuous sally from the besieged, and beaten back with +loss, and so sudden and concealed were the movements of Nigel and +Seaton, that though the besiegers lay closer and closer round the +castle, the moment of their setting forth on their daring expeditions +could never be discovered. + +"Said I not we should do well, right well, sweet Agnes," exclaimed +Nigel, one night, on his return from an unusually successful sally, "and +are not my words true? Hast thou looked forth on the field to-day, and +seen how gloriously it went? Oh, to resign this castle to my brother's +hands unscathed, even as he intrusted it; to hold it for him, threatened +as it is!" + +He smiled gayly as he spoke, for the consciousness of power was upon +him--power to _will_ and _do_, to win and to retain--that most blessed +consciousness, whether it bless a hero's breast or poet's soul, a +maiden's heart or scholar's dream, this checkered world can know. + +"I did look forth, my Nigel, for I could not rest; yet ask me not to +tell thee how the battle went," she added, with a faint flush, as she +looked up in his noble face, beaming as it was with every feeling dear +to the heart that loved, "for I traced but the course of one charger, +saw but the waving of one plume." + +"And thou didst not fear the besiegers' arrows, my beloved? Didst stand +in the shelter I contrived? Thou must not risk danger, dearest; better +not list the urgings of thy noble spirit than be aught exposed." + +"There was no danger, Nigel, at least there seemed none," she said. "I +felt no fear, for I looked on thee." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Had the gallant defenders of Kildrummie Castle been conscious that the +at first dilatory and then uncertain measures of their foes originated +in the fact that the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster were not themselves +yet on the field, and that they had with them a vast addition to their +forces, they would not perhaps have rested so securely on the hopes +which their unexpected success very naturally engendered. Attack on one +side they knew they could resist; their only dread had been that, from +the numbers of the English, the angle towers, each of which covered a +postern, might be attacked at once, and thus discover the real weakness +of their forces. The obstinate struggle for the barbacan, the strongest +point of the castle, had been welcomed with joy by the Scotch, for there +they could overlook every movement of the besiegers. Some wonder it did +cause that such renowned knights as the earls were known to be, should +not endeavor to throw them off their guard by a division of attack; but +this wonder could not take from the triumph of success. + +It was from no want of observation the absence of the two earls remained +undiscovered by the besieged. Engaged on a secret expedition, whose +object will be seen in the sequel, they had commanded the message +demanding surrender to be given in their names, their pavilions to be +pitched in sight of the castle as if they were already there, their +banners to wave above them, esquires and pages to be in attendance, and +their war-cries to be shouted, as was the custom when they led on in +person. The numerous knights, clothed in bright armor from head to heel +ever traversing the field, assisted the illusion, and the Scotch never +once suspected the truth. + +Imagining a very brief struggle would deliver the castle into their +hands, even if its garrison were mad enough to refuse compliance with +King Edward's terms, the earls had not hurried themselves on their +expedition, and a fortnight after the siege had begun, were reposing +themselves very cavalierly in the stronghold of an Anglo-Scottish baron, +some thirty miles southward of the scene of action. + +It was the hour of supper, a rude repast of venison, interspersed with +horn and silver flagons filled with the strong liquors of the day, and +served up in a rude hall, of which the low round arches in the roof, the +massive walls without buttresses, and windows running small outside, but +spreading as to become much larger within, all denoted the Saxon +architecture unsoftened by any of the Norman improvements. + +The earls and their host, with some attendant knights, sat as usual +round the dais or raised part of the hall, their table distinguished it +may be by some gold as well as silver vessels, and a greater variety of +liquor, particularly hypocras and claret of the day, the one formed of +wine and honey, the other of wine and spices; by the sinnel and wastel +cakes, but certainly not by the superior refinement of the more solid +food. The huge silver saltcellar alone divided the table of the baron +from that of his dependants, yet the distinction of sitting above and +below the salt was as great as the division between the master and +servant of the present day; the jest, the loud laugh seasoned the +viands placed before them, and the hearty draught from the welcome +flagon. Nor was the baron's own table much quieter; remarks on the state +of the country, speculations as to the hiding-place of King Robert, and +when they should receive tidings of the surrender of Kildrummie, formed +topics of conversation alternately with discussions on the excellence of +the wines, the flavor of the venison, the difference between English and +Scottish cookery, and such like matters, important in the days of our +ancestors as in our own. + +"You have ridden long enough to-day, good my lords, to make a hearty +charge on your suppers; a long journey and a tough battle, commend me to +them for helps to the appetite," said the Scottish baron, joyously +inviting them by his own example to eat on and spare not. + +"Commend me to the latter, an ye will," answered Hereford, on whose brow +a cloud of something like distaste had spread; "but by mine honor, I +love not the business of the last week. I have brought it to a close, +however, and praise the saints for it." + +"Bah! thou art over-squeamish, Hereford. Edward would give us the second +best jewel in his chaplet for the rich prize we have sent him," resumed +Lancaster. + +"Reserving the first, of course, for the traitor Bruce himself," +interposed their host. "Ah! such a captive were in truth worth an +earldom." + +"Then, by my troth, the traitor's wife is worth a barony," returned +Lancaster, laughing; "and her fair bevy of attendants, amongst whom are +the wives, daughters, and sisters of many a rebel, thinkest thou not we +shall be high in Edward's favor for them, too? I tell thee we might have +fought many a good fight, and not have done him such good service." + +"It may be, it may be," answered Hereford, impatiently, "had it been at +the sword's point, had they been prisoners by force of arms, I would +have joyed too, and felt it was good service; but such rank treachery, +decoyed, entrapped by that foul prince of lies, the Lord of Ross--faugh! +I could have rammed his treachery back into his throat." + +"And done the king, perchance, good service too," rejoined Lancaster, +still excessively amused, "for I have no faith in a traitor, however he +may serve us a while; yet thou art not over-wise, good friend, to let +such trifles chafe thee thus. Trust me, Edward will think more of the +captives than the capture." + +"There was a time he would not," answered the earl, mournfully; "a time, +when Edward would have held it foul scorn to war with women, and worse +than scorn to obtain their persons by treachery, as now." + +"Aye, but he has changed, and we must change too, would we please him," +said the baron; "such notions might have done in former days, but they +are too high-flown for the present time, my good lord. I marvel they +should have lingered so long with thee." + +A frown gathered on Hereford's broad and noble brow, but remembering the +forbearance due to his host, he checked an angry reply. "The king _has_ +changed," he said, "darkly and painfully changed; ambition has warped +the noblest, knightliest heart which ever beat for chivalry." + +"Hush, ere thou speakest treason, Sir Earl; give me not the pain of +draining another flagon of this sparkling hypocras to gain strength for +thine arrest, good friend," exclaimed Lancaster, laying the flat of his +sword on the earl's shoulder. + +Hereford half smiled. "Thou art too happy in thy light-hearted mirth for +me to say aught that would so disturb it," he said; "yet I say, and will +say again, would to heaven, I had been before the gates of Kildrummie, +and left to thee all the honor and glory, an thou wilt, of this +capture." + +"Honor and glory, thou bitter piece of satire!" rejoined Lancaster, +holding up a large golden flagon, to hide his face from the earl. +"Unhappy me, were this all the glory I could win. I will wipe away the +stain, if stain there be, at Kildrummie, an it be not surrendered ere we +reach it." + +"The stain is with the base traitor Ross, not with thee or me," answered +Hereford; "'tis that I abhor the nature of such expeditions, that I +loathe, aye, loathe communication with such as he, and that--if it can +be--that worse traitor Buchan, that makes me rejoice I have naught +before me now but as fair a field as a siege may be. Would to God, this +devastating and most cruel war were over, I do say! on a fair field it +may be borne, but not to war with women and children, as has been my +fate." + +"Aye, by the way, this is not the first fair prize thou hast sent to +Edward; the Countess of Buchan was a rare jewel for our coveting +monarch--somewhat more than possession, there was room for vengeance +there. Bore she her captivity more queenly than the sobbing and weeping +Margaret?" + +The question was reiterated by most of the knights around the dais, but +Hereford evidently shrunk from the inquiry. + +"Speak not of it, I charge ye," he said. "There is no room for jesting +on grief as hers; majestic and glorious she was, but if the reported +tale be true, her every thought, her every feeling was, as I even then +imagined, swallowed up in one tearless and stern but all-engrossing +anguish." + +"The reported tale! meanest thou the fate of her son?" asked one of the +knights. + +"If it be true!" resumed another; "believest thou, my lord, there is +aught of hope to prove it false?" + +"More likely to be true than false," added Lancaster; "I can believe any +thing of that dark scowling villain Buchan--even the murder of his +child." + +"I believe it _not_," answered Hereford; "bad as that man is, hard in +heart as in temper, he has too much policy to act thus, even if he had +no feelings of nature rising to prevent it. No, no; I would wager the +ruby brooch in my helmet that boy lives, and his father will make use of +him to forward his own interests yet." + +"But why then forge this tale?" demanded their host; "how may that serve +his purpose?" + +"Easily enough, with regard to the vengeance we all know he vowed to +wreak on his unhappy wife. What deeper misery could he inflict upon her +than the belief her boy was murdered? and as for its effect on Edward, +trust a Comyn to make his own way clear." + +"But what do with the boy meanwhile?" + +"Keep him under lock and key; chained up, may be, as a dog in a kennel, +till he has broken his high spirit, and moulds him to the tool he +wills," answered Hereford, "or at least till his mother is out of his +path." + +"Ha! thinkest thou the king will demand such sweeping vengeance? He +surely will not sentence a woman to death." + +"Had I thought so, had I only dreamed so," replied Hereford, with almost +startling sternness, "as there is a God above us, I would have risked +the charge of treason and refused to give her up! But no, my lords, no; +changed as Edward is, he would not, he dared not use his power thus. I +meant but imprisonment, when I said out of the boy's path--more he will +not do; but even such I love not. Bold as it was to crown the rebel +Bruce, the deed sprung from a noble heart, and noble deeds should meet +with noble judgment." + +A bugle sounded twice or thrice sharply without, and occasioning some +bustle at the lower part of the ball, interrupted for a brief space the +converse of the lords. A few minutes after, the seneschal, attended by +two or three higher servants, returned, marshalling in due form two +young men in the garb of esquires, followed by some fifteen or twenty +men-at-arms. + +"Ha! Fitz-Ernest and Hugo; well met, and ye bring us good tidings from +Kildrummie," exclaimed both the English earls at once, as cap in hand +the esquires slowly walked up the hall, and did obeisance to their +masters. + +"Yet your steps are somewhat laggard, as they bring us news of victory. +By my troth, were it not utterly impossible, I could deem ye had been +worsted in the strife," continued the impatient Lancaster, while the +cooler and more sagacious Hereford scanned the countenances of the +esquires in silence. "Yet and ye come not to tell of victory, why have +ye come at all?" + +"To beseech your lordship's speedy return, to the camp," replied +Fitz-Ernest, after a moment's hesitation, his cheek still flushed from +his master's words. "There is division of purpose and action in the +camp, and an ye not return and head the attack your noble selves, I fear +me there is little hope of victory." + +"Peace, fool! is there such skill and wisdom needed? Division in purpose +and action! Quarrelling, methinks, had better be turned against the +enemy than against yourselves. Hugo, do thou speak; in plain terms, +wherefore come ye?" + +"In plain terms, then, good my lord, as yet we have had the worst of +it," answered the esquire, bluntly. "The Scotch fight like very devils, +attacking us instead of waiting for our attack, penetrating into the +very centre of our camp, one knows not how or whence, bearing off +prisoners and booty in our very teeth." + +"Prisoners--booty--worsted! Thou durst not tell me so!" exclaimed +Lancaster, furiously, as he started up and half drew his sword. + +"Peace, peace, I pray thee, good friend, peace," continued Hereford, +laying his hand on Lancaster's shoulder, with a force which compelled +him to resume his seat. "Let us at least hear and understand their +mission. Speak out, Hugo, and briefly--what has befallen?" + +In a few straightforward words his esquire gave all the information +which was needed, interrupted only now and then by a brief interrogation +from Hereford, and some impatient starts and muttering from his +colleague. The success of the Scots, described in a former page, had +continued, despite the action of the mangonels and other engines which +the massive walls appeared to hold in defiance. So watchful and skilful +were the besieged, that the greatest havoc had been made amongst the men +employed in working the engines, and not yet had even the palisades and +barbacan been successfully stormed. + +"Have they tried any weaker point?" Hereford asked, and the answer was, +that it was on this very matter division had spread amongst the knights, +some insisting on carrying the barbacan as the most important point, and +others advising and declaring their only hope of success lay in a +divided attack on two of the weaker sides at once. + +"The fools, the sorry fools!" burst again from Lancaster. "They deserve +to be worsted for their inordinate pride and folly; all wanted to lead, +and none would follow. Give you good e'en, my lord," he added, turning +hastily to his host; "I'll to the courtyard and muster forth my men. +Fitz-Ernest, thou shalt speak on as we go," and drawing his furred +mantle around him, he strode rapidly yet haughtily from the hall. +Hereford only waited to learn all from Hugo, to hold a brief +consultation with some of his attendant knights, and he too, despite the +entreaties of his host to tarry with him at least till morning, left the +banquet to don his armor. + +"Silence and speed carry all before them, my good lord," he said, +courteously. "In such a case, though I fear no eventual evil, they must +not be neglected. I would change the mode of attack on these Scotch, ere +they are even aware their foes are reinforced." + +"Eventual evil, of a truth, there need not be, my lord," interposed his +esquire, "even should no force of arms prevail. I have heard there are +some within the walls who need but a golden bribe to do the work for +us." + +"Peace!" said the nobleman, sternly. "I loathe the very word +betray--spoken or intended. Shame, shame on thee to speak it, and yet +more shame to imagine it needed! Art thou of Norman birth, and deemest a +handful of Scotch like these will bid us raise the siege and tamely +depart?--yet better so than gained by treachery." + +Hugo and the Scottish baron alike shrunk back from the reproving look of +Hereford, and both silently followed him to the courtyard. Already it +was a scene of bustling animation: trumpets were sounding and drums +rolling; torches flashing through the darkness on the mailed coats of +the knights and on gleaming weapons; and the heavy tramp of near two +hundred horse, hastily accoutred and led from the stable, mingled with +the hoarse winds of winter, howling tempestuously around. The reserve +which Hereford had retained to guard the prisoners so treacherously +delivered over to him, was composed of the noblest amidst his army, +almost all mounted chevaliers; and, therefore, though he might not add +much actual force to the besiegers, the military skill and experience +which that little troop included argued ill for the besieged. Some of +the heaviest engines he had kept back also, particularly a tower some +four or five stories high, so constructed that it could be rolled to the +walls, and its inmates ascend unscathed by the weapons of their +defenders. Not imagining it would be needed, he had not sent it on with +the main body, but now he commanded twelve of the strongest horses to be +yoked to it, and on went the unwieldy engine, rumbling and staggering on +its ill-formed wheels. Lancaster, whose impatience no advice could ever +control, dashed on with the first troop, leaving his cooler comrade to +look to the yoking of the engines and the marshalling the men, and with +his own immediate attendants bringing up the rear, a task for which +Hereford's self-command as well fitted him as his daring gallantry to +head the foremost charge. + +"Ye will have a rough journey, my good lord; yet an ye deem it best, +farewell and heaven speed ye," was the parting greeting of the baron, as +he stood beside the impatient charger of the earl. + +"The rougher the better," was that nobleman's reply; "the noise of the +wind will conceal our movements better than a calmer night. Farewell, +and thanks--a soldier's thanks, my lord, poor yet honest--for thy right +noble welcome." + +He bent his head courteously, set spurs to his steed, and dashed over +the drawbridge as the last of his men disappeared through the outer +gate. The Scottish nobleman looked after him with many mingled feelings. + +"As noble a warrior as ever breathed," he muttered; "it were honor to +serve under him, yet an he wants me not I will not join him. I love not +the Bruce, yet uncalled, unneeded, I will not raise sword against my +countrymen," and with slow, and equal steps he returned to the hall. + +Hereford was correct in his surmises. The pitchy darkness of a winter +night would scarcely have sufficed to hide the movements attendant on +the sudden arrival of a large body of men in the English camp, had not +the hoarse artillery of the wind, moaning, sweeping, and then rushing +o'er the hills with a crashing sound like thunder, completely smothered +every other sound, and if at intervals of quiet unusual sounds did +attract the ears of those eager watchers on the Scottish walls, the +utter impossibility of kindling torches or fires in either camp +frustrated every effort of discovery. Hoarser and wilder grew the +whirlwind with the waning hours, till even the steel-clad men-at-arms +stationed on the walls moved before it, and were compelled to crouch +down till its violence had passed. Favored by the elements, Hereford +proceeded to execute his measures, heedless alike of the joyful surprise +his sudden appearance occasioned, and of the tale of division and +discord which Hugo and Fitz-Ernest had reported as destroying the unity +of the camp. Briefly and sternly refusing audience to each who pressed +forward, eager to exculpate himself at the expense of his companions, he +desired his esquire to proclaim a general amnesty to all who allowed +themselves to have been in error, and would henceforth implicitly obey +his commands; he returned to his pavilion, with the Earl of Lancaster, +summoning around him the veterans of the army, and a brief consultation +was held. They informed him the greatest mischief had been occasioned by +the injuries done to the engines, which had been brought to play against +the walls. Stones of immense weight had been hurled upon them, +materially injuring their works, and attended with such fatal slaughter +to the men who worked them, that even the bravest shrunk back appalled; +that the advice of the senior officers had been to hold back until these +engines were repaired, merely keeping strict guard against unexpected +sallies on the part of the Scotch, as this would not only give them time +to recruit their strength, but in all probability throw the besieged off +their guard. Not above half of the army, however, agreed with this +counsel; the younger and less wary spurned it as cowardice and folly, +and rushing on to the attack, ill-formed and ill-conducted, had ever +been beaten back with immense loss; defeat, however, instead of teaching +prudence, lashed them into greater fury, which sometimes turned upon +each other. + +Hereford listened calmly, yet with deep attention, now and then indeed +turning his expressive eyes towards his colleague, as if entreating him +to observe that the mischief which had befallen them proceeded greatly +from impetuosity and imprudence, and beseeching his forbearance. Nor was +Lancaster regardless of this silent appeal; conscious of his equality +with Hereford in bravery and nobleness, he disdained not to acknowledge +his inferiority to him in that greater coolness, which in a siege is so +much needed, and grasping his hand with generous fervor, bade him speak, +advise, command, and he would find no one in the camp more ready to be +counselled and to obey than Lancaster. To tear down those rebel colors +and raise those of England in their stead, was all he asked. + +"And fear not that task shall be other than thine own, my gallant +friend," was Hereford's instant reply, his features kindling at +Lancaster's words more than they had done yet; and then again quickly +resuming his calm unimpassioned exterior, he inquired if the mangonels +and other engines were again fit for use. There were several that could +instantly be put in action was the reply. Had the numbers of fighting +men within the castle been ascertained? They had, a veteran answered, +from a prisoner, who had appeared so willing to give information, that +his captors imagined there were very many malcontents within the walls. +Of stalwart fighting men there were scarcely more than three hundred; +others there were, of whose number was the prisoner, who fought because +their companions' swords would else have been at their throats, but that +they would be glad enough to be made prisoners, to escape the horrors of +the siege. + +"I am sorry for it," was the earl's sole rejoinder, "there will be less +glory in the conquest." + +"And this Sir Nigel Bruce, whoe'er he be, hath to combat against +fearful odds," remarked Lancaster; "and these Scotch-men, by my troth, +seem touched by the hoof of the arch-deceiver--treachery from the earl +to the peasant. Hast noticed how this scion of the Bruce bears +himself?--right gallantly, 'tis said." + +"As a very devil, my lord," impetuously answered a knight; "in the walls +or out of them, there's no standing before him. He sweeps down his foes, +line after line, as cards blown before the wind; he is at the head of +every charge, the last of each retreat. But yesternight there were those +who marked him covering the retreat of his men absolutely alone; his +sword struck down two at every sweep, till his passage was cleared; he +darted on--the drawbridge trembled in its grooves--for he had given the +command to raise it, despite his own danger--his charger, mad as +himself, sprang forward, and like a lightning flash, both disappeared +within the portcullis as the bridge uprose." + +"Gallantly done!" exclaimed Lancaster, who had listened to this recital +almost breathlessly. "By St. George, a foe worthy to meet and struggle +with! But who is he--what is he?" + +"Knowest thou not?" said Hereford, surprised; "the brother, youngest +brother I have heard, of this same daring Earl of Carrick who has so +troubled our sovereign." + +"Nigel, the brother of Robert! What, the scribe, the poet, the dreamer +of Edward's court? a poor youth, with naught but his beauty to recommend +him. By all good angels, this metamorphosis soundeth strangely! art sure +'tis the same, the very same?" + +"I have heard so," was Hereford's quiet reply, and continuing his more +important queries with the veterans around, while Lancaster, his gayer +spirit roused by this account of Nigel, demanded every minute particular +concerning him, that he might seek him hand to hand. + +"Steel armor inlaid with silver--blue scarf across his breast, +embroidered with his cognizance in gold--blue plume, which no English +sword hath ever soiled--humph! that's reserved for me--charger white as +the snow on the ground--sits his steed as man and horse were one. Well, +gloriously well, there will be no lack of glory here!" he said, +joyously, as one by one he slowly enumerated the symbols by which he +might recognize his foe. So expeditiously had Hereford conducted his +well-arranged plans, that when his council was over, it still wanted two +hours to dawn, and these Hereford commanded the men who had accompanied +him to pass in repose. + +But he himself partook not of this repose, passing the remainder of the +darkness in carefully reviewing the forces which were still fresh and +prepared for the onset, in examining the nature of the engines, and +finally, still aided by the noise of the howling winds, marshalled them +in formidable array in very front of the barbacan, the heavy mist thrown +onward by the blasts effectually concealing their near approach. To +Lancaster the command of this party was intrusted; Hereford reserving to +himself the desirable yet delicate task of surveying the ground, +confident that the attack on the barbacan would demand the whole +strength and attention of the besieged, and thus effectually cover his +movements. + +His plan succeeded. A fearful shout, seconded by a tremendous discharge +of huge stones, some of which rattled against the massive walls in vain, +others flying across the moat and crushing some of the men on the inner +wall, were the first terrific sounds which unexpectedly greeted the +aroused attention of the Scotch. The armor of their foes flashing +through the mist, the furious charge of the knights up to the very gates +of the barbacan, seemingly in sterner and more compact array than of +late had been their wont, the immense body which followed them, +appearing in that dim light more numerous than reality, struck a +momentary chill on the Scottish garrison; but the unwonted emotion was +speedily dissipated by the instant and unhesitating sally of Sir +Christopher Seaton and his brave companions. The impetuosity of their +charge, the suddenness of their appearance, despite their great +disparity of numbers, caused the English a moment to bear back, and kept +them in full play until Nigel and his men-at-arms, rushing over the +lowered drawbridge, joined in the strife. A brief, very brief interval +of fighting convinced both the Scottish leaders that a master-spirit now +headed their foes; that they were struggling at infinitely greater odds +than before; that unity of purpose, greater sagacity, and military skill +were now at work against them, they scarce knew wherefore, for they +recognized the same war-cry, the same banners; there were the same +gallant show of knights, for in the desperate _mêlée_ it was scarcely +possible to distinguish the noble form of Lancaster from his fellows, +although marking the azure plume, which even then waved high above all +others, though round it the work of death ever waxed hottest; the +efforts of the English earl were all bent to meet its gallant wearer +hand to hand, but the press of war still held them apart, though both +seemed in every part of the field. It was a desperate struggle man to +man; the clash of swords became one strange continuous mass of sound, +instead of the fearful distinctness which had marked their work before. +Shouts and cries mingled fearfully with the sharper clang, the heavy +fall of man and horse, the creaking of the engines, the wild shrieks of +the victims within the walls mangled by the stones, or from the +survivors who witnessed their fall--all formed a din as terrific to +hear, as dreadful to behold. With even more than their wonted bravery +the Scotch fought, but with less success. The charge of the English was +no longer the impetuous fury of a few hot-headed young men, more eager +to _despite_ their cooler advisers, than gain any permanent good for +themselves. Now, as one man fell another stepped forward in his place, +and though the slaughter might have been equal, nay, greater on the side +of the besiegers than the besieged, by one it was scarcely felt, by the +other the death of each man was even as the loss of a host. Still, still +they struggled on, the English obtaining possession of the palisades, +though the immense strength of the barbacan itself, defended as it was +by the strenuous efforts of the Scotch, still resisted all attack: +bravely, nobly, the besieged retreated within their walls, pellmell +their foes dashed after them, and terrific was the combat on the +drawbridge, which groaned and creaked beneath the heavy tramp of man and +horse. Many, wrestling in the fierceness of mortal strife, fell together +in the moat, and encumbered with heavy armor, sunk in each other's arms, +in the grim clasp of death. + +Then it was Lancaster met hand to hand the gallant foe he sought, +covering the retreat of his men, who were bearing Sir Christopher +Seaton, desperately wounded, to the castle. Sir Nigel stood well-nigh +alone on the bridge; his bright armor, his foaming charger bore evident +marks of the fray, but still he rode his steed firmly and unbent, his +plume yet waved untouched by the foeman's sword. Nearer and nearer +pressed forward the English earl, signing to his men to secure without +wounding his gallant foe; round him they closely gathered, but Nigel +evinced no sign either of trepidation or anger, fearlessly, gallantly, +he returned the earl's impetuous charge, backing his steed slowly as he +did so, and keeping his full front to his foe. On, on pressed Lancaster, +even to the postern; a bound, a shout, and scarcely was he aware that +his sword had ceased to cross with Nigel's, before he was startled by +the heavy fall of the portcullis, effectually dividing them, and utterly +frustrating further pursuit. A cry of rage, of disappointment broke from +the English, as they were compelled to turn and rejoin their friends. + +The strife still continued within and without the barbacan, and ended +without much advantage on either side. The palisades and outward +barriers had indeed fallen into the hands of the English, which was the +first serious loss yet sustained by the besieged; from the barbacan they +had gallantly and successfully driven their foe, but that trifling +success was so counterbalanced by the serious loss of life amid the +garrison which it included, that both Nigel and Sir Christopher felt the +next attack must deliver it into the hands of the besiegers. Their loss +of men was in reality scarcely a third of the number which had fallen +among the English, yet to them that loss was of infinitely more +consequence than to the foe. Bitter and painful emotions filled the +noble spirit of Nigel, as he gazed on the diminished number of his men, +and met the ill-suppressed groans and lamentations of those who had, at +the first alarm of the English, sought shelter and protection in the +castle; their ill-suppressed entreaties that he would struggle no longer +against such odds grated harshly and ominously on his ear; but sternly +he turned from them to the men-at-arms, and in their steadfast bravery +and joyous acclamations found some degree of hope. + +Yet ere the day closed the besieged felt too truly their dreams of +triumph, of final success, little short of a miracle would realize. +Their fancy that some new and mightier spirit of generalship was at work +within the English camp was confirmed. Two distinct bodies were observed +at work on the eastern and southern sides of the mount, the one +evidently employed in turning aside the bed of the river, which on that +side flowed instead of the moat beneath the wall, the other in +endeavoring to fill up the moat by a causeway, so as to admit of an +easy access to the outer wall. The progress they had made in their work +the first day, while the attention of the Scotch had been confined to +the attack on the barbacan, was all-sufficient evidence of their intent; +and with bitter sorrow Sir Nigel and his brother-in-law felt that their +only means of any efficient defence lay in resigning the long-contested +barbacan to the besiegers. An important point it certainly was, but +still to retain it the walls overlooking the more silent efforts of the +English must be left comparatively unguarded, and they might obtain an +almost uninterrupted and scarce-contested passage within the walls, +while the whole strength and attention of the besieged were employed, as +had already been the case, on a point that they had scarce a hope +eventually to retain. With deep and bitter sorrow the alternative was +proposed and carried in a hurried council of war, and so well acted +upon, that, despite the extreme watchfulness of the English, men, +treasure, arms, and artillery, all that the strong towers contained, +were conveyed at dead of night over the drawbridge into the castle, and +the following morning, Lancaster, in utter astonishment, took possession +of the deserted fort. + +Perhaps to both parties this resolution was alike a disappointment and +restraint. The English felt there was no glory in their prize, they had +not obtained possession through their own prowess and skill; and now +that the siege had become so much closer, and this point of +communication was entirely stopped, the hand-to-hand combat, the +glorious _mélée_, the press of war, which to both parties had been an +excitement, and little more than warlike recreation, had of course +entirely ceased, but Hereford heeded not the disappointment of his men; +his plans were progressing as he had desired, even though his workmen +were greatly harassed by the continued discharge of arrows and immense +stones from the walls. + +The desertion of the barbacan was an all-convincing proof of the very +small number of the garrison; and though the immense thickness and +solidity of the walls bespoke time, patience, and control, the English +earl never wavered from his purpose, and by his firmness, his personal +gallantry, his readily-bestowed approbation on all who demanded it, he +contrived to keep his more impatient followers steadily to their task; +while Nigel, to prevent the spirits of his men from sinking, would +frequently lead them forth at night, and by a sudden attack annoy and +often cut off many of the men stationed within the barbacan. The +drawbridge was the precarious ground of many a midnight strife, till the +daring gallantry of Nigel Bruce became the theme of every tongue; a +gallantry equalled only by the consummate skill which he displayed, in +retreating within his entrenchments frequently without the loss of a +single man either as killed or wounded. Often would Sir Christopher +Seaton, whose wounds still bound him a most unwilling prisoner to his +couch, entreat him to avoid such rash exposures of his life, but Nigel +only answered him with a smile and an assurance he bore a charmed life, +which the sword of the foe could not touch. + +The siege had now lasted six weeks, and the position of both parties +continued much as we have seen, save that the bed of the river had now +begun to appear, promising a free passage to the English on the eastern +side, and on the south a broad causeway had stretched itself over the +moat, on which the towers for defending the ascent of the walls, +mangonels and other engines, were already safely bestowed, and all +promised fair to the besiegers, whose numerous forces scarcely appeared +to have suffered any diminution, although in reality some hundreds had +fallen; while on the side of the besieged, although the walls were still +most gallantly manned, and the first efforts of the English to scale the +walls had been rendered ineffectual by huge stones hurled down upon +them, still a look of greater care was observable on the brows of both +officers and men; and provisions had now begun to be doled out by weight +and measure, for though the granaries still possessed stores sufficient +for some weeks longer, the apparent determination of the English to +permit no relaxation in their close attack, demanded increase of caution +on the part of the besieged. + +About this time an event occurred, which, though comparatively trifling +in itself, when the lives of so many were concerned, was fraught in +effect with fatal consequences to all the inmates of Kildrummie. The +conversation of the next chapter, however, will better explain it, and +to it we refer our readers. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +In a circular apartment of the lower floor in Kildrummie keep, its stone +floor but ill covered with rushes, and the walls hung with the darkest +and rudest arras, Sir Christopher Seaton reclined on a rough couch, in +earnest converse with his brother-in-law, Nigel. Lady Seaton was also +within the chamber, at some little distance from the knights, engaged in +preparing lint and healing ointments, with the aid of an attendant, for +the wounded, and ready at the first call to rise and attend them, as she +had done unremittingly during the continuance of the siege. The +countenances of both warriors were slightly changed from the last time +we beheld them. The severity of his wounds had shed a cast almost of age +on the noble features of Seaton, but care and deep regret had mingled +with that pallor; and perhaps on the face of Nigel, which three short +weeks before had beamed forth such radiant hope, the change was more +painful. He had escaped with but slight flesh wounds, but disappointment +and anxiety were now vividly impressed on his features; the smooth brow +would unconsciously wrinkle in deep and unexpressed thought; the lip, to +which love, joy, and hope alone had once seemed natural, now often +compressed, and his eye flashed, till his whole countenance seemed +stern, not with the sternness of a tyrannical, changed and chafing +mood--no, 'twas the sternness most fearful to behold in youth, of +thought, deep, bitter, whelming thought; and sterner even than it had +been yet was the expression on his features as he spoke this day with +Seaton. + +"He must die," were the words which broke a long and anxious pause, and +fell in deep yet emphatic tones from the lips of Seaton; "yes, die! +Perchance the example may best arrest the spreading contagion of +treachery around us." + +"I know not, I fear not; yet as thou sayest he must die," replied Nigel, +speaking as in deep thought; "would that the noble enemy, who thus +scorned to benefit by the offered treason, had done on him the work of +death himself. I love not the necessity nor the deed." + +"Yet it must be, Nigel. Is there aught else save death, the death of a +traitor, which can sufficiently chastise a crime like this? Well was it +the knave craved speech of Hereford himself. I marvel whether the +majesty of England had resisted a like temptation." + +"Seaton, he would not," answered the young man. "I knew him, aye, +studied him in his own court, and though I doubt not there was a time +when chivalry was strongest in the breast of Edward, it was before +ambition's fatal poison had corroded his heart. Now he would deem all +things honorable in the art of war, aye, even the delivery of a castle +through the treachery of a knave." + +"And he hath more in yon host to think with him than with the noble +Hereford," resumed Sir Christopher; "yet this is but idle parley, and +concerneth but little our present task. In what temper do our men +receive the tidings of this foul treason?" + +"Our own brave fellows call aloud for vengeance on the traitor; nay, had +I not rescued him from their hands, they would have torn him limb from +limb in their rage. But there are others, Seaton--alas! the more +numerous body now--and they speak not, but with moody brows and gloomy +mutterings prowl up and down the courts." + +"Aye, the coward hearts," answered Seaton, "their good wishes went with +him, and but low-breathed curses follow our efforts for their freedom. +Yes, it must be, if it be but as a warning unto others. See to it, +Nigel; an hour before the set of sun he dies." + +A brief pause followed his words, whose low sternness of tone betrayed +far more than the syllables themselves. Both warriors remained a while +plunged in moody thought, which Seaton was the first to break. + +"And how went the last attack and defence?" he asked; "they told me, +bravely." + +"Aye, so bravely, that could we but reinforce our fighting men, aided as +we are by impenetrable walls, we might dream still of conquest; they +have gained little as yet, despite their nearer approach. Hand to hand +we have indeed struggled on the walls, and hurled back our foremost foes +in their own intrenchments. Our huge fragments of rocks have dealt +destruction on one of their towers, crushing all who manned it beneath +the ruins." + +"And I lie here when such brave work is going on beside me, even as a +bedridden monk or coward layman, when my whole soul is in the fight," +said the knight, bitterly, and half springing from his couch. "When will +these open wounds--to the foul fiend with them and those who gave +them!--when will they let me mount and ride again as best befits a +warrior? Better slain at once than lie here a burden, not a help--taking +from those whose gallant efforts need it more the food we may not have +for long. I will not thus be chained; I'll to the action, be my life the +forfeit!" + +He sprung up, and for a moment stood upon his feet, but with a low groan +of pain instantly fell back, the dew of weakness gathering on his brow. +Lady Seaton was at his side on the instant to bathe his temples and his +hands, yet without one reproachful word, for she knew the anguish it was +to his brave heart to lie thus disabled, when every loyal hand was +needed for his country. + +"Nigel, I would that I might join thee. Remember, 'tis no mean game we +play; we hold not out as marauding chieftains against a lawful king; we +struggle not in defence of petty rights, of doubtful privileges. 'Tis +for Scotland, for King Robert still we strive. Did this castle hold out, +aye, compel the foe to raise the siege, much, much would be done for +Scotland. Others would do as we have done; many, whose strongholds rest +in English hands, would rise and expel the foe. Had we but +reinforcements of men and stores, all might still be well." + +"Aye," answered Nigel, bitterly, "but with all Scotland crushed 'neath +English chains, her king and his bold patriots fugitives and exiles, +ourselves the only Scottish force in arms, the only Scottish castle +which resists the tyrant, how may this be, whence may come increase of +force, of store? Seaton Seaton, thine are bright dreams--would that they +were real." + +"Wouldst thou then give up at once, and strive no more? It cannot be." + +"Never!" answered his companion, passionately. "Ere English feet shall +cross these courts and English colors wave above these towers, the blood +of the defenders must flow beneath their steps. They gain not a yard of +earth save at the bright sword's point; not a rood of grass unstained by +Scottish blood. Give up! not till my arm can wield no sword, my voice no +more shout 'Forward for the Bruce!'" + +"Then we will hope on, dream on, Nigel, and despair not," replied +Seaton, in the same earnest tone. "We know not yet what may be, and, +improbable as it seems now, succors may yet arrive. How long doth last +the truce?" + +"For eighteen hours, two of which have passed." + +"Didst thou demand it?" + +"No," replied Nigel. "It was proffered by the earl, as needed for a +strict examination of the traitor Evan Roy, and accepted in the spirit +with which it was offered." + +"Thou didst well; and the foul traitor--where hast thou lodged him?" + +"In the western turret, strongly guarded. I would not seek thy counsel +until I had examined and knew the truth." + +"And thine own judgment?" + +"Was as thine. It is an ill necessity, yet it must be." + +"Didst pronounce his sentence?" + +Nigel answered in the affirmative. + +"And how was it received?" + +"In the same sullen silence on the part of the criminal as he had borne +during his examination. Methought a low murmur of discontent escaped +from some within the hall, but it was drowned in the shout of +approbation from the men-at-arms, and the execrations they lavished on +the traitor as they bore him away, so I heeded it not." + +"But thou wilt heed it," said a sweet voice beside him, and Agnes, who +had just entered the chamber, laid her hand on his arm and looked +beseechingly in his face. "Dearest Nigel, I come a pleader." + +"And for whom, my beloved?" he asked, his countenance changing into its +own soft beautiful expression as he gazed on her, "What can mine Agnes +ask that Nigel may not grant?" + +"Nay, I am no pleader for myself," she said; "I come on the part of a +wretched wife and aged mother, beseeching the gift of life." + +"And for a traitor, Agnes?" + +"I think of him but as a husband and son, dearest Nigel," she said, more +timidly, for his voice was stern. "They tell me he is condemned to +death, and his wretched wife and mother besought my influence with thee; +and indeed it needed little entreaty, for when death is so busy around +us, when in this fearful war we see the best and bravest of our friends +fall victims every day, oh, I would beseech you to spare life when it +may be. Dearest, dearest Nigel, have mercy on this wretched man; traitor +as he is, oh, do not take his life--do not let thy lips sentence him to +death. Wilt thou not be merciful?" + +"If the death of one man will preserve the lives of many, how may that +one be spared?" said Sir Nigel, folding the sweet pleader closer to him, +though his features spoke no relaxation of his purpose. "Sweet Agnes, do +not ask this, give me not the bitter pain of refusing aught to thee. +Thou knowest not all the mischief and misery which pardon to a traitor +such as this will do; thou listenest only to thy kind heart and the sad +pleadings of those who love this man. Now listen to me, beloved, and +judge thyself. Did I believe a pardon would bring back the traitor to a +sense of duty, to a consciousness of his great crime--did I believe +giving life to him would deter others from the same guilt, I should +scarce wait even for thy sweet pleading to give him both liberty and +life; but I know him better than thou, mine Agnes. He is one of those +dark, discontented, rebellious spirits, that never rest in stirring up +others to be like them; who would employ even the life I gave him to my +own destruction, and that of the brave and faithful soldiers with me." + +"But send him hence, dearest Nigel," still entreated Agnes. "Give him +life, but send him from the castle; will not this remove the danger of +his influence with others?" + +"And give him field and scope to betray us yet again, sweet one. It were +indeed scorning the honorable counsel of Hereford to act thus; for trust +me, Agnes, there are not many amid our foes would resist temptation as +he hath done." + +"Yet would not keeping him close prisoner serve thee as well as death, +Nigel? Bethink thee, would it not spare the ill of taking life?" + +"Dearest, no," he answered. "There are many, alas! too many within these +walls who need an example of terror to keep them to their duty. They +will see that treachery avails not with the noble Hereford, and that, +discovered by me, it hath no escape from death. If this man be, as I +imagine, in league with other contentious spirits--for he could scarce +hope to betray the castle into the hands of the English without some aid +within--his fate may strike such terror into other traitor hearts that +their designs will be abandoned. Trust me, dearest, I do not do this +deed of justice without deep regret; I grieve for the necessity even as +the deed, and yet it must be; and bitter as it is to refuse thee aught, +indeed I cannot grant thy boon." + +"Yet hear me once more, Nigel. Simple and ignorant as I am, I cannot +answer such arguments as thine; yet may it not be that this deed of +justice, even while it strikes terror, may also excite the desire for +revenge, and situated as we are were it not better to avoid all such +bitterness, such heart-burnings amongst the people?" + +"We must brave it, dearest," answered Nigel, firmly, "The direct line of +justice and of duty may not be turned aside for such fears as these." + +"Nor do I think they have foundation," continued Sir Christopher Seaton. +"Thou hast pleaded well and kindly, gentle maiden, yet gladly as we +would do aught to pleasure thee, this that thou hast asked, alas! must +not be. The crime itself demands punishment, and even could we pardon +that, duty to our country, our king, ourselves, calls loudly for his +death, lest his foul treachery should spread." + +The eyes of the maiden filled with tears. + +"Then my last hope is over," she said, sadly. "I looked to thy +influence, Sir Christopher, to plead for me, even if mine own +supplications should fail; and thou judgest even as Nigel, not as my +heart could wish." + +"We judge as men and soldiers, gentle maiden; as men who, charged with a +most solemn responsibility, dare listen to naught save the voice of +justice, however loudly mercy pleads." + +"And didst thou think, mine Agnes, if thy pleading was of no avail, the +entreaty of others could move me?" whispered Nigel, in a voice which, +though tender, was reproachful. "Dearest and best, oh, thou knowest not +the pang it is to refuse thee even this, and to feel my words have +filled those eyes with tears. Say thou wilt not deem me cruel, abiding +by justice when there is room for mercy?" + +"I know thee better than to judge thee thus," answered Agnes, tearfully; +"the voice of duty must have spoken loudly to urge thee to this +decision, and I may not dispute it; yet would that death could be +averted. There was madness in that woman's eyes," and she shuddered as +she spoke. + +"Of whom speakest thou, love?" Nigel asked, and Seaton looked the +question. + +"Of his wife," she replied. "She came to me distracted, and used such +dreadful words, menaces and threats they seemed; but his mother, more +composed, assured me they meant nothing, they were but the ravings of +distress, and yet I fear to look on her again without his pardon." + +"And thou shalt not, my beloved; these are not scenes and words for such +as thee. Rest here with Christine and good Sir Christopher; to tend and +cheer a wounded knight is a fitter task for thee, sweet one, than thus +to plead a traitor's cause." + +Pressing his lips upon her brow as he spoke, he placed her gently on a +settle by Sir Christopher; then crossing the apartment, he paused a +moment to whisper to Lady Seaton. + +"Look to her, my dear sister; she has been terrified, though she would +conceal it. Let her not leave thee till this fatal duty is +accomplished." + +Lady Seaton assured him of her compliance, and he left the apartment. + +He had scarcely quitted the postern before he himself encountered Jean +Roy, a woman who, even in her mildest moments, evinced very little +appearance of sanity, and who now, from her furious and distracting +gestures, seemed wrought up to no ordinary pitch of madness. She kept +hovering round him, uttering menaces and entreaties in one and the same +breath, declaring one moment that her husband was no traitor, and had +only done what every true-hearted Scotsman ought to do, if he would save +himself and those he loved from destruction; the next, piteously +acknowledging his crime, and wildly beseeching mercy. For a while Nigel +endeavored, calmly and soothingly, to reason with her, but it was of no +avail: louder and fiercer became her curses and imprecations; beseeching +heaven to hurl down all its maledictions upon him and the woman he +loved, and refuse him mercy when he most needed it. Perceiving her +violence becoming more and more outrageous, Nigel placed her in charge +of two of his men-at-arms, desiring them to treat her kindly, but not to +lose sight of her, and keep her as far as possible from the scene about +to be enacted. She was dragged away, struggling furiously, and Nigel +felt his heart sink heavier within him. It was not that he wavered in +his opinion, that he believed, situated as he was, it was better to +spare the traitor's life than excite to a flame the already aroused and +angered populace. He thought indeed terror might do much; but whether it +was the entreating words of Agnes, or the state of the unhappy Jean, +there had come upon him a dim sense of impending ill; an impression that +the act of justice about to be performed would bring matters to a +crisis, and the ruin of the garrison be consummated, ere he was aware it +had begun. The shadow of the future appeared to have enfolded him, but +still he wavered not. The hours sped: his preparations were completed, +and at the time appointed by Seaton, with as much of awful solemnity as +circumstances would admit, the soul of the traitor was launched into +eternity. Men, women, and children had gathered round the temporary +scaffold; every one within the castle, save the maimed and wounded, +thronged to that centre court, and cheers and shouts, and groans and +curses, mingled strangely on the air. + +Clad in complete steel, but bareheaded, Sir Nigel Bruce had witnessed +the act of justice his voice had pronounced, and, after a brief pause, +he stood forward on the scaffold, and in a deep, rich voice addressed +the multitude ere they separated. Eloquently, forcibly, he spoke of the +guilt, the foul guilt of treachery, now when Scotland demanded all men +to join together hand and heart as one--now when the foe was at their +gates; when, if united, they might yet bid defiance to the tyrant, who, +if they were defeated, would hold them slaves. He addressed them as +Scottish men and freemen, as soldiers, husbands, and fathers, as +children of the brave, who welcomed death with joy, rather than life in +slavery and degradation; and when his words elicited a shout of +exultation and applause from the greater number, he turned his eye on +the group of malcontents, and sternly and terribly bade them beware of a +fate similar to that which they had just witnessed; for the gallant Earl +of Hereford, he said, would deal with all Scottish traitors as with Evan +Roy, and once known as traitors within the castle walls, he need not +speak their doom, for they had witnessed it; and then changing his tone, +frankly and beseechingly he conjured them to awake from the dull, +sluggish sleep of indifference and fear, to put forth their energies as +men, as warriors; their country, their king, their families, called on +them, and would they not hear? He bade them arise, awake to their duty, +and all that had been should never be recalled. He spoke with a brief +yet mighty eloquence that seemed to carry conviction with it. Many a +stern face and darkened brow relaxed, and there was hope in many a +patriot breast as that group dispersed, and all was once more martial +bustle on the walls. + +"Well and wisely hast thou spoken, my son," said the aged Abbot of +Scone, who had attended the criminal's last moments, and now, with +Nigel, sought the keep. "Thy words have moved those rebellious spirits, +have calmed the rising tempest even as oil flung on the troubled waves; +thine eloquence was even as an angel voice 'mid muttering fiends. Yet +thou art still sad, still anxious. My son, this should not be." + +"It _must_ be, father," answered the young man. "I have looked beyond +that oily surface and see naught save darker storms and fiercer +tempests; those spirits need somewhat more than a mere voice. Father, +reproach me not as mistrusting the gracious heaven in whose keeping lie +our earthly fates. I know the battle is not to the strong, 'tis with the +united, the faithful, and those men are neither. My words have stirred +them for the moment, as a pebble flung 'mid the troubled waters--a few +brief instants and all trace is passed, we see naught but the blackened +wave. But speak not of these things; my trust is higher than earth, and +let man work his will." + +Another week passed, and the fierce struggle continued, alternating +success, one day with the besiegers, the next with the besieged. The +scene of action was now principally on the walls--a fearful field, for +there was no retreat--and often the combatants, entwined in a deadly +struggle, fell together into the moat. Still there were no signs of +wavering on either side, still did the massive walls give no sign of +yielding to the tremendous and continued discharge of heavy stones, that +against battlements less strongly constructed must long ere this have +dealt destruction and inevitable mischief to the besieged. One tower, +commanding the causeway across the moat and its adjoining platform on +the wall, had indeed been taken by the English, and was to them a +decided advantage, but still their further progress even to the next +tower was lingering and dubious, and it appeared evident to both parties +that, from the utter impossibility of the Scotch obtaining supplies of +provision and men, success must finally attend the English; they would +succeed more by the effects of famine than by their swords. + +It was, as we have said, seven days after the execution of the traitor +Roy. A truce for twelve hours had been concluded with the English, at +the request of Sir Nigel Bruce, and safe conduct granted by the Earl of +Hereford to those men, women, and children of the adjoining villages who +chose even at this hour to leave the castle, but few, a very few took +advantage of this permission, and these were mostly the widows and +children of those who had fallen in the siege; a fact which caused some +surprise, as the officers and men-at-arms imagined it would have been +eagerly seized upon by all those contentious spirits who had appeared so +desirous of a league with England. A quiet smile slightly curled the +lips of Nigel as this information was reported to him--a smile as of a +mind prepared for and not surprised at what he heard; but when left +alone, the smile was gone, he folded his arms on his breast, his head +was slightly bent forward, but had there been any present to have +remarked him, they would have seen his features move and work with the +intensity of internal emotion. Some mighty struggle he was enduring; +something there was passing at his very heart, for when recalled from +that trance by the heavy bell of the adjoining church chiming the hour +of five, and he looked up, there were large drops of moisture on his +brow, and his beautiful eye seemed for the moment strained and +blood-shot. He paced the chamber slowly and pensively till there was no +outward mark of agitation, and then he sought for Agnes. + +She was alone in an upper chamber of the keep, looking out from the +narrow casement on a scene of hill and vale, and water, which, though +still wintry from the total absence of leaf and flower, was yet calm and +beautiful in the declining sun, and undisturbed by the fearful scenes +and sounds which met the glance and ear on every other side, seemed even +as a paradise of peace. It had been one of those mild, soft days of +February, still more rare in Scotland than in England, and on the heart +and sinking frame of Agnes its influence had fallen, till, almost +unconsciously, she wept. The step of Nigel caused her hastily to dash +these tears aside, and as he stood by her and silently folded his arm +around her, she looked up in his face with a smile. He sought to return +it, but the sight of such emotion, trifling as it was, caused his heart +to sink with indescribable fear; his lip quivered, as utterly to prevent +the words he sought to speak, and as he clasped her to his bosom and +bent his head on hers, a low yet instantly suppressed moan burst from +him. + +"Nigel, dearest Nigel, what has chanced? Oh, speak to me!" she +exclaimed, clasping his hand in both hers, and gazing wildly in his +face. "Thou art wounded or ill, or wearied unto death. Oh, let me undo +this heavy armor, dearest; seek but a brief interval of rest. Speak to +me, I know thou art not well." + +"It is but folly, my beloved, a momentary pang that weakness caused. +Indeed, thy fears are causeless; I am well, quite well," he answered, +struggling with himself, and subduing with an effort his emotion. "Mine +own Agnes, thou wilt not doubt me; look not upon me so tearfully, 'tis +passed, 'tis over now." + +"And thou wilt not tell me that which caused it, Nigel? Hast thou aught +of suffering which thou fearest to tell thine Agnes? Oh! do not fear it; +weak, childlike as I am, my soul will find strength for it." + +"And thou shalt know all, all in a brief while," he said, her sweet +pleading voice rendering the task of calmness more difficult. "Yet tell +me first thy thoughts, my love. Methought thy gaze was on yon peaceful +landscape as I entered, and yet thine eyes were dimmed with tears." + +"And yet I know not wherefore," she replied, "save the yearnings for +peace were stronger, deeper than they should be, and I pictured a cot +where love might dwell in yon calm valley, and wished that this fierce +strife was o'er." + +"'Tis in truth no scene for thee, mine own. I know, I feel thou pinest +for freedom, for the fresh, pure, stainless air of the mountain, the +valley's holy calm; thine ear is sick with the fell sounds that burst +upon it; thine eye must turn in loathing from this fierce strife. Agnes, +mine own Agnes, is it not so? would it not be happiness, aye, heaven's +own bliss, to seek some peaceful home far, far away from this?" + +He spoke hurriedly and more passionately than was his wont, but Agnes +only answered-- + +"With thee, Nigel, it were bliss indeed." + +"With me," he said; "and couldst thou not be happy were I not at thy +side? Listen to me, beloved," and his voice became as solemnly earnest +as it had previously been hurried. "I sought thee, armed I thought with +fortitude sufficient for the task; sought thee, to beseech, implore thee +to seek safety and peace for a brief while apart from me, till these +fearful scenes are passed. Start not, and oh, do not look upon me thus. +I know all that strength of nerve, of soul, which bids thee care not for +the dangers round thee. I know that where I am thy loving spirit feels +no fear; but oh, Agnes, for my sake, if not for thine own, consent to +fly ere it be too late; consent to seek safety far from this fatal +tower. Let me not feel that on thee, on thee, far dearer than my life, +destruction, and misery, and suffering in a thousand fearful shapes may +fall. Let me but feel thee safe, far from this terrible scene, and then, +come what will, it can have no pang." + +"And thee," murmured the startled girl, on whose ear the words of Nigel +had fallen as with scarce half their meaning, "thee, wouldst thou bid me +leave thee, to strive on, suffer on, and oh, merciful heaven! perchance +fall _alone_? Nigel, Nigel, how may this be? are we not one, only one, +and how may I dwell in safety without thee--how mayest thou suffer +without me?" + +"Dearest and best!" he answered, passionately, "oh, that we were indeed +one; that the voice of heaven had bound us one, long, long ere this! and +yet--no, no, 'tis better thus," and again he struggled with emotion, and +spoke calmly. "Agnes, beloved, precious as thou art in these hours of +anxiety, dear, dearer than ever, in thy clinging, changeless love, yet +tempt me not selfishly to retain thee by my side, when liberty, and +life, and joy await thee beyond these fated walls. Thy path is secured; +all that can assist, can accelerate thy flight waits but thy approval. +The dress of a minstrel boy is procured, and will completely conceal and +guard thee through the English camp. Our faithful friend, the minstrel +seer, will be thy guide, and lead thee to a home of peace and safety, +until my brother's happier fortune dawns; he will guard and love thee +for thine own and for my sake. Speak to me, beloved; thou knowest this +good old man, and I so trust him that I have no fear for thee. Oh, do +not pause, and ere this truce be over let me, let me feel that thou art +safe and free, and may in time be happy." + +"In time," she repeated slowly, as if to herself, and then, rousing +herself from that stupor of emotion, looked up with a countenance on +which a sudden glow had spread. "And why hast thou so suddenly resolved +on this?" she asked, calmly; "why shouldst thou fear for me more now +than hitherto, dearest Nigel? Hath not the danger always been the same, +and yet thou ne'er hast breathed of parting? are not thy hopes the +same--what hath chanced unknown to me, that thou speakest and lookest +thus? tell me, ere thou urgest more." + +"I will tell thee what I fear, my love," he answered, reassured by her +firmness; "much that is seen not, guessed not by my comrades. They were +satisfied that my appeal had had its effect, and the execution of Evan +Roy was attended with no disturbance, no ill will amongst those supposed +to be of his party--nay, that terror did its work, and all ideas of +treachery which might have been before encouraged were dismissed. I, +too, believed this, Agnes, for a while; but a few brief hours were +sufficient to prove the utter fallacy of the dream. Some secret +conspiracy is, I am convinced, carrying on within these very walls. I +know and feel this, and yet so cautious, so secret are their movements, +whatever they may be, that I cannot guard against them. There are, as +thou knowest, fewer true fighting men amongst us than any other class, +and these are needed to man the walls and guard against the foe without; +they may not be spared to watch as spies their comrades--nay, I dare not +even breathe such thoughts, lest their bold hearts should faint and +fail, and they too demand surrender ere evil come upon us from within. +What will be that evil I know not, and therefore cannot guard against +it. I dare not employ these men upon the walls, I dare not bring them +out against the foe, for so bitterly do I mistrust them, I should fear +even then they would betray us. I only know that evil awaits us, and +therefore, my beloved, I do beseech thee, tarry not till it be upon us; +depart while thy path is free." + +"Yet if they sought safety and peace, if they tire of this warfare," she +replied, disregarding his last words, "wherefore not depart to-day, when +egress was permitted; bethink thee, dearest Nigel, is not this proof thy +fears are ill founded, and that no further ill hangs over us than that +which threatens from without?" + +"Alas! no," he said, "it but confirms my suspicions; I obtained this +safe conduct expressly to nullify or confirm them. Had they departed as +I wished, all would have been well; but they linger, and I can feel +their plans are maturing, and therefore they will not depart. Oh, +Agnes," he continued, bitterly, "my very soul is crushed beneath this +weight of unexpressed anxiety and care. Had I but to contend with our +English foe, but to fight a good and honorable fight, to struggle on, +conscious that to the last gasp the brave inmates of this fortress would +follow me, and Edward would find naught on which to wreak his vengeance +but the dead bodies of his foes, my task were easy as 'twere glorious; +but to be conscious of secret brooding evil each morn that rises, each +night that falls, to dread what yet I know not, to see, perchance, my +brave fellows whelmed, chained, through a base treachery impossible to +guard against--oh! Agnes, 'tis this I fear." + +"Yet have they not seemed more willing, more active in their assigned +tasks since the execution of their comrade," continued Agnes, with all a +woman's gentle artifice, still seeking to impart hope, even when she +felt that none remained; "may it not be that, in reality, they repent +them of former traitorous designs, and remain behind to aid thee to the +last? Thou sayest that palpable proof of this brooding evil thou canst +not find, then do not heed its voice. Let no fear of me, of my safety, +add its pang; mine own Nigel, indeed I fear them not." + +"I know that all I urge will naught avail with thee, beloved," he +answered, somewhat less agitated. "I know thy gentle love is all too +deep, too pure, too strong, to share my fears for thee, and oh, I bless +thee, bless thee for the sweet solace of that faithful love! yet, yet, I +may not listen to thy wishes. All that thou sayest is but confirmation +of the brooding evil; they are active, willing, but to hide their dark +designs. Yet even were there not this evil to dread, no dream of +treachery, still, still, I would send thee hence, sweet one. Famine and +blood, and chains, and death--oh, no, no! thou must not stay for these." + +"And whither wouldst thou send me, Nigel, and for what?" she asked, +still calmly, though her quivering lip denoted that self-possession was +fast failing. "Why?" + +"Whither? to safety, freedom, peace, my best beloved!" he answered, +fervently; "for what? that happier, brighter days may beam for thee, +that thou mayest live to bless and be a blessing; dearest, best, cling +not to a withered stem, thou mayest be happy yet." + +"And wilt thou join me, if I seek this home of safety, Nigel?" she laid +her hand on his arm, and fixed her eyes unflinchingly upon his face. He +could not meet that glance, a cold shudder passed over his frame ere he +could reply. + +"Mine own Agnes," and even then he paused, for his quivering lip could +not give utterance to his thoughts, and a minute rolled in that deep +stillness, and still those anxious eyes moved not from his face. At +length voice returned, and it was sad yet deeply solemn, "Our lives rest +not in our own hands," he said; "and who when they part may look to meet +again? Beloved, if life be spared, canst doubt that I will join thee? +yet, situated as I am, governor of a castle about to fall, a patriot, +and a Bruce, brother to the noble spirit who wears our country's crown, +and has dared to fling down defiance to a tyrant, Agnes, mine own Agnes, +how may I dream of life? I would send thee hence ere that fatal moment +come; I would spare thee this deep woe. I would bid thee live, beloved, +live till years had shed sweet peace upon thy heart, and thou wert happy +once again." + +There was a moment's pause; the features of Agnes had become convulsed +with agony as Nigel spoke, and her hands had closed with fearful +pressure on his arm, but his last words, spoken in his own rich, +thrilling voice, called back the stagnant blood. + +"No, no; I will not leave thee!" she sobbed forth, as from the sudden +failing of strength in every limb she sunk kneeling at his feet. "Nigel, +Nigel, I will not leave thee; in life or in death I will abide by thee. +Force me not from thee; seek not to tempt me by the tale of safety, +freedom, peace; thou knowest not the depth, the might of woman's love, +if thou thinkest things like these can weigh aught with her, even if +chains and death stood frowningly beside. I will not leave thee; whom +have I beside thee, for whom else wouldst thou call on me to live? +Alone, alone, utterly alone, save _thee_! Wilt thou bid me hence, and +leave thee to meet thy fate alone--thee, to whom my mother gave +me--thee, without whom my very life is naught? Nigel, oh, despise me not +for these wild words, unmaidenly as they sound; oh, let me speak them, +or my heart will break!" + +"Despise thee for these blessed words!" Nigel answered, passionately, as +he raised her from the ground, and clasped her to his heart. "Oh, thou +knowest not the bliss they give; yet, yet would I speak of parting, +implore thee still to leave me, aye, though in that parting my very +heart-strings snap. Agnes, how may I bear to see thee in the power of +the foe, perchance insulted, persecuted, tortured with the ribald +admiration of the rude crowd, and feel I have no power to save thee, no +claim to bind thee to my side. What are the mere chains of love in such +an hour, abiding by me, as thou mightst, till our last hope is over, and +English colors wave above this fortress--then, dearest, oh, must we not, +shall we not be rudely parted?" + +"No, no! Who shall dare to part us?" she said, as she clung sobbing to +his breast. "Who shall dare to do this thing, and say I may not tend +thee, follow thee, even until death?" + +"Who? our captors, dearest. Thinkest thou they will heed thy tender +love, thine anguish? will they have hearts for aught save for thy +loveliness, sweet one? Think, think of terrors like to this, and oh, +still wilt thou refuse to fly?" + +"But thy sister, the Lady Seaton, Nigel, doth she not stay, doth she not +brave these perils?" asked Agnes, shuddering at her lover's words, yet +clinging to him still. "If she escapes such evil, why, oh, why may not +I?" + +"She is Seaton's wife, sweet one, bound to him by the voice of heaven, +by the holiest of ties; the noble knights who head our foes will protect +her in all honorable keeping; but for thee, Agnes, even if the ills I +dread be as naught, there is yet one I have dared not name, lest it +should pain thee, yet one that is most probable as 'tis most fearful; +thou canst not hide thy name, and as a daughter of Buchan, oh, will they +not give thee to a father's keeping?" + +"The murderer of my brother--my mother's jailer! Oh, Nigel, Nigel, to +look on him were more than death!" she wildly exclaimed. "Yet, yet once +known as Agnes of Buchan, this will, this must be; but leave thee now, +leave thee to a tyrant's doom, if indeed, indeed thou fallest in his +hands--leave thee, when faithful love and woman's tenderness are more +than ever needed--leave thee for a fear like this, no, no, I will not. +Nigel, I will rest with thee. Speak not, answer not; give us one short +moment, and then--oh, all the ills may be averted by one brief word--and +I, oh, can I speak it?" She paused in fearful agitation, and every limb +shook as if she must have fallen; the blood rushed up to cheek, and +brow, and neck, as, fixing her beautiful eyes on Nigel's face, she said, +in a low yet thrilling voice, "Let the voice of heaven hallow the vows +we have so often spoken, Nigel. Give me a right, a sacred right to bear +thy name, to be thine own, at the altar's foot, by the holy abbot's +blessing. Let us pledge our troth, and then let what will come, no man +can part us. I am thine, only thine!" + +Without waiting for a reply, she buried her face in his bosom, and Nigel +could feel her heart throb as if 'twould burst its bounds, her frame +quiver as if the torrent of blood, checked and stayed to give strength +for the effort, now rushed back with such overwhelming force through its +varied channels as to threaten life itself. + +"Agnes, my own noble, self-devoted love! oh, how may I answer thee?" he +cried, tears of strong emotion coursing down his cheek--tears, and the +warrior felt no shame. "How have I been deserving of love like this--how +may I repay it? how bless thee for such words? Mine own, mine own! this +would indeed guard thee from the most dreaded ills; yet how may I link +that self-devoted heart to one whose thread of life is well-nigh spun? +how may I make thee mine, when a few brief weeks of misery and horror +must part us, and on earth, forever?" + +"No, no; thou knowest not all a wife may do, my Nigel," she said, as she +raised her head from his bosom, and faintly smiled, though her frame +still shook; "how she may plead even with a tyrant, and find mercy; or +if this fail, how she may open iron gates and break through bonds, till +freedom may be found. Oh, no, we shall not wed to part, beloved; but +live and yet be happy, doubt it not; and then, oh, then forget the words +that joined us, made us one, had birth from other lips than thine;--thou +wilt forget, forgive this, Nigel?" + +"Forget--forgive! that to thy pure, unselfish soul I owe the bliss which +e'en at this hour I feel," he answered, passionately kissing the +beautiful brow upturned to his; "forget words that have proved--had I +needed proof--how purely, nobly, faithfully I am beloved; how utterly, +how wholly thou hast forgotten all of self for me! No, no! were thy +words proved true, might I indeed live blessed with thee the life +allotted man, each year, each month I would recall this hour, and bless +thee for its love. But oh, it may not be!" and his voice so suddenly +lost its impassioned fervor, that the breast of Agnes filled with new +alarm. "Dearest, best! thou must not dream of life, of happiness with +me. I may not mock thee with such blessed, but, alas! delusive hopes; my +doom hath gone forth, revealed when I knew it not, confirmed by that +visioned seer but few short weeks ago. Agnes, my noble Agnes, wherefore +shouldst thou wed with death? I know that I must die!" + +The solemn earnestness of his words chased the still lingering glow from +the lips and cheek of the maiden, and a cold shiver passed through her +frame, but still she clung to him, and said-- + +"It matters not; my maiden love, my maiden troth is pledged to thee--in +life or in death I am thine alone. I will not leave thee," she said, +firmly and calmly. "Nigel, if it be indeed as thou sayest, that +affliction, and--and all thou hast spoken, must befall thee, the more +need is there for the sustaining and the soothing comfort of a woman's +love. Fear not for me, weak as I may have seemed, there is yet a spirit +in me worthy of thy love. I will not unman thee for all thou mayest +encounter. No, even if I follow thee to--to death, it shall be as a +Bruce's wife. Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee undiscovered, +when, if it must be, the foe is triumphant; it will take time, and we +have none to lose. Thou hast promised to forget all I have urged, all, +save my love for thee; then, oh, fear me not, doubt me not, thine Agnes +will not fail thee!" + +Nigel gazed at her almost with surprise; she was no longer the gentle +timid being who but a few minutes since had clung weeping to his bosom +as a child. She was indeed very pale, and on her features was the +stillness of marble; but she stood erect and unfaltering in her innocent +loveliness, sustained by that mighty spirit which dwelt within. An +emotion of deep reverence took possession of that warrior heart, and +unable to resist the impulse, he bent his knee before her. + +"Then let it be so," he said, solemnly, but oh, how fervently. "I will +not torture mine own heart and thine by conjuring thee to fly; and now, +here, at thy feet, Agnes, noble, generous being, let me swear solemnly, +sacredly swear, that should life be preserved to me longer than I now +dream of, should I indeed be spared to lavish on thee all a husband's +love and care, never, never shalt thou have cause to regret this day! to +mourn thy faithful love was shown as it hath been--to weep the hour +that, in the midst of danger, and darkness, and woe, hath joined our +earthly fates, and made us one. And now," he continued, rising and +folding her once more in his arms, "wilt thou meet me at the altar ere +the truce concludes? 'tis but a brief while, a very brief while, my +love; yet if it can be, I know thou wilt not shrink." + +"I will not," she answered. "The hour thou namest I will meet thee. Lady +Seaton," she added, slightly faltering, and the vivid blush rose to her +temples, "I would see her, speak with her; yet--" + +"She shall come to thee, mine own, prepared to love and hail thee +sister, as she hath long done. She will not blame thee dearest; she +loves, hath loved too faithfully herself. Fear not, I will leave naught +for thee to tell that can bid that cheek glow as it doth now. She, too, +will bless thee for thy love." + +He imprinted a fervent kiss on her cheek, and hastily left her. Agnes +remained standing as he had left her for several minutes, her hands +tightly clasped, her whole soul speaking in her beautiful features, and +then she sunk on her knees before a rudely-carved image of the Virgin +and child, and prayed long and fervently. She did not weep, her spirit +had been too painfully excited for such relief, but so wrapt was she in +devotion, she knew not that Lady Seaton, with a countenance beaming in +admiration and love, stood beside her, till she spoke. + +"Rouse thee, my gentle one," she said, tenderly, as she twined her arm +caressingly around her; "I may not let thee linger longer even here, for +time passes only too quickly, and I shall have but little time to attire +my beautiful bride for the altar. Nigel hath been telling such a tale of +woman's love, that my good lord hath vowed, despite his weakness and his +wounds, none else shall lead thee to the altar, and give thee to my +brother, save himself. I knew that not even Nigel's influence would bid +thee leave us, dearest," she continued, as Agnes hid her face in her +bosom, "but I dreamed not such a spirit dwelt within this childlike +heart, sweet one; thy lot must surely be for joy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was something past the hour of nine, when Agnes, leaning on the arm +of Sir Christopher Seaton, and followed by Lady Seaton and two young +girls, their attendants, entered the church, and walked, with an +unfaltering step and firm though modest mien, up to the altar, beside +which Nigel already stood. She was robed entirely in white, without the +smallest ornament save the emerald clasp which secured, and the +beautiful pearl embroidery which adorned her girdle. Her mantle was of +white silk, its little hood thrown back, disclosing a rich lining of the +white fox fur. Lady Seaton had simply arranged her hair in its own +beautiful curls, and not a flower or gem peeped through them; a silver +bodkin secured the veil, which was just sufficiently transparent to +permit her betrothed to look upon her features, and feel that, pale and +still as they were, they evinced no change in her generous purpose. He, +too, was pale, for he felt those rites yet more impressively holy than +he had deemed them, even when his dreams had pictured them peculiarly +and solemnly holy; for he looked not to a continuance of life and +happiness, he felt not that ceremony set its seal upon joy, and bound +it, as far as mortality might hope, forever on their hearts. He was +conscious only of the deep unutterable fulness of that gentle being's +love, of the bright, beautiful lustre with which it shone upon his path. +The emotion of his young and ardent breast was perhaps almost too holy, +too condensed, to be termed joy; but it was one so powerful, so blessed, +that all of earth and earthly care was lost before it. The fears and +doubts which he had so lately felt, for the time completely faded from +his memory. That there were foes without and yet darker foes within he +might have known perhaps, but at that moment they did not occupy a +fleeting thought. He had changed his dress for one of richness suited to +his rank, and though at the advice of his friends he still retained the +breastplate and some other parts of his armor, his doublet of azure +velvet, cut and slashed with white satin, and his long, flowing mantle +lined with sable, and so richly decorated with silver stars that its +color could scarcely be distinguished, removed all appearance of a +martial costume, and well became the graceful figure they adorned; two +of the oldest knights and four other officers, all gayly attired as the +hurry of the moment would permit, had at his own request attended him to +the altar. + +Much surprise this sudden intention had indeed caused, but it was an +excitement, a change from the dull routine of the siege, and +consequently welcomed with joy, many indeed believing Sir Nigel had +requested the truce for the purpose. Sir Christopher, too, though pale +and gaunt, and compelled to use the support of a cane in walking, was +observed to look upon his youthful charge with all his former hilarity +of mien, chastened by a kindly tenderness, which seemed indeed that of +the father whom he personated; and Lady Seaton had donned a richer garb +than was her wont, and stood encouragingly beside the bride. About +twenty men-at-arms, their armor and weapons hastily burnished, that no +unseemly soil should mar the peaceful nature of the ceremony by +recalling thoughts of war, were ranged on either side. The church was +lighted, dimly in the nave and aisles, but softly and somewhat with a +holy radiance where the youthful couple knelt, from the large waxen +tapers burning in their silver stands upon the altar. + +The Abbot of Scone was at his post, attended by the domestic chaplain of +Kildrummie; there was a strange mixture of admiration and anxiety on the +old man's face, but Agnes saw it not; she saw nothing save him at whose +side she knelt. + +Nigel, even in the agitation of mind in which he had quitted Agnes--an +agitation scarcely conquered in hastily informing his sister and her +husband of all that had passed between them, and imploring their +countenance and aid--yet made it his first care strictly to make the +round of the walls, to notice all that might be passing within the +courts, and see that the men-at-arms were at their posts. In consequence +of the truce, for the conclusion of which it still wanted some little +time, there were fewer men on the walls than usual, their commanders +having desired them to take advantage of this brief cessation of +hostilities and seek refreshment and rest. A trumpet was to sound at the +hour of ten, half an hour before the truce concluded, to summon them +again to their posts. The men most acute in penetration, most firm and +steady in purpose, Nigel selected as sentries along the walls; the post +of each being one of the round towers we have mentioned, the remaining +spaces were consequently clear. Night had already fallen, and anxiously +observing the movements on the walls; endeavoring to discover whether +the various little groups of men and women in the ballium meant any +thing more than usual, Sir Nigel did not notice various piles or stacks +of straw and wood which were raised against the wall in many parts where +the shadows lay darkest, and some also against the other granaries which +were contained in low, wooden buildings projecting from the wall. +Neither he nor his friends, nor even the men-at-arms, noticed them, or +if they did, imagined them in the darkness to be but the stones and +other weights generally collected there, and used to supply the engines +on the wails. + +With the exception of the sentries and the men employed by Nigel, all +the garrison had assembled in the hall of the keep for their evening +meal, the recollection of whose frugality they determined to banish by +the jest and song; there were in consequence none about the courts, and +therefore that dark forms were continually hovering about beneath the +deep shadows of the walls, increasing the size of the stacks, remained +wholly undiscovered. + +Agnes had entered the church by a covered passage, which united the keep +to its inner wall, and thence by a gallery through the wall itself, +dimly lighted by loopholes, to the edifice, whose southern side was +formed by this same wall. It was therefore, though in reality situated +within the ballium or outer court, nearer by many hundred yards to the +dwelling of the baron than to the castle walls, its granaries, towers, +etc. This outward ballium indeed was a very large space, giving the +appearance of a closely-built village or town, from the number of low +wooden and thatched-roofed dwellings, which on either side of the large +open space before the great gate were congregated together. This account +may, we fear at such a moment, seem somewhat out of place, but events in +the sequel compel us to be thus particular. A space about half a mile +square surrounded the church, and this position, when visited, by Sir +Nigel at nine o'clock, was quiet and deserted; indeed there was very +much less confusion and other evidences of disquiet within the dwellings +than was now usual, and this circumstance perhaps heightened the calm +which, as we have said, had settled on Sir Nigel's mind. + +There was silence within that little sacred edifice, the silence of +emotion; for not one could gaze upon that young fair girl, could think +of that devoted spirit, which at such a time preferred to unite her fate +with a beloved one than seek safety and freedom in flight, without being +conscious of a strange swelling of the heart and unwonted moisture in +the eye; and there was that in the expression of the beautiful features +of Nigel Bruce none could remark unmoved. He was so young, so gifted, so +strangely uniting the gift of the sage, the poet, with the glorious +achievements of the most perfect knight, that he had bound himself alike +to every heart, however varied their dispositions, however opposite +their tastes; and there was not one, from the holy Abbot of Scone to the +lowest and rudest of the men-at-arms, who would not willingly, aye, +joyfully have laid down life for his, have gladly accepted chains to +give him freedom. + +The deep, sonorous voice of the abbot audibly faltered as he commenced +the sacred service, and looked on the fair beings kneeling, in the +beauty and freshness of their youth, before him. Accustomed, however, to +control every human emotion, he speedily recovered himself, and +uninterruptedly the ceremony continued. Modestly, yet with a voice that +never faltered, Agnes made the required responses; and so deep was the +stillness that reigned around not a word was lost, but, sweetly and +clearly as a silver clarion, it sunk on every ear and thrilled to every +heart; to his who knelt beside her, as if each tone revealed yet more +the devoted love which led her there. Towards the conclusion of the +service, and just as every one within the church knelt in general +prayer, a faint, yet suffocating odor, borne on what appeared a light +mist, was distinguished, and occasioned some slight surprise; by the +group around the altar, however, it was unnoticed; and the men-at-arms, +on looking towards the narrow windows and perceiving nothing but the +intense darkness of the night, hushed the rising exclamation, and +continued in devotion. Two of the knights, too, were observed to glance +somewhat uneasily around, still nothing was perceivable but the light +wreaths of vapor penetrating through the northern aisle, and dissolving +ere long the arches of the roof. Almost unconsciously they listened, and +became aware of some sounds in the distance, but so faint and +indefinable as to permit them to rest in the belief that it must be the +men-at-arms hurrying from the keep to the walls, although they were +certain the trumpet had not yet sounded. Determined not to heed such +vague sounds, they looked again to the altar. The abbot had laid a +trembling hand on either low-bent head, and was emphatically pronouncing +his blessing on their vows, calling on heaven in its mercy to bless and +keep them, and spare them to each other for a long and happy life; or if +it must be that a union commenced in danger should end in sorrow, to +keep them still, and fit them for a union in eternity. His words were +few but earnest, and for the first time the lip of Agnes was observed to +quiver--they were ONE. Agnes was clasped to the heart of her +husband; she heard him call her his own--his wife--that man should never +part them more. The voice of congratulation woke around her, but ere +either could gaze around to look their thanks, or clasp the eagerly +proffered hand, a cry of alarm, of horror, ran though the building. A +red, lurid light, impossible to be mistaken, illumined every window, as +from a fearful conflagration without; darkness had fled before it. On +all sides it was light--light the most horrible, the most awful, though +perchance the most fascinating the eye can behold; fearful shouts and +cries, and the rush of many feet, mingled with the now easily +distinguished roar of the devouring element, burst confusedly on the +ear. A minute sufficed to fling open the door of the church for knights +and men-at-arms to rush forth in one indiscriminate mass. Sir +Christopher would have followed them, utterly regardless of his +inability, had not his wife clung to him imploringly, and effectually +restrained him. The abbot, grasping the silver crosier by his side, with +a swift, yet still majestic stride, made his way through the church, and +vanished by the widely opened door. Agnes and Sir Nigel stood +comparatively alone; not a cry, not a word passed her lips; every +feature was wrapped in one absorbing look upon her husband. He had +clasped his hands convulsively together, his brow was knit, his lip +compressed, his eye fixed and rigid, though it gazed on vacancy. + +"It hath fallen, it hath fallen!" he muttered. "Fool, fool that I was +never to dream of this! Friends, followers, all I hold most dear, +swallowed up in this fell swoop! God of mercy, how may it be born! And +thou, thou," he added, in increased agony, roused from that stupor by +the wild shouts of "Sir Nigel, Sir Nigel! where is he? why does he tarry +in such an hour?" that rung shrilly on the air. "Agnes, mine own, it is +not too late even now to fly. Ha! son of Dermid, in good tune thou art +here; save her, in mercy save her! I know not when, or how, or where we +may meet again; I may not tarry here." He clasped her in his arms, +imprinted an impassioned kiss on her now death-like cheek, placed her at +once in the arms of the seer (who, robed as a minstrel, had stood +concealed behind a projecting pillar during the ceremony, and now +approached), and darted wildly from the church. What a scene met his +gaze! All the buildings within the ballium, with the sole exception of +the church, were in one vivid blaze of fire; the old dry wood and thatch +of which they were composed, kindling with a mere spark. The wind blew +the flames in the direction of the principal wall, which was already +ignited from the heaps of combustibles that had been raised within for +the purpose; although it was likely that, from its extreme thickness and +strength, the fire had there done but partial evil, had not the +conflagration within the court spread faster and nearer every moment, +and from the blazing rafters and large masses of thatch caught by the +wind and hurled on the very wall, done greater and more irreparable +mischief than the combustibles themselves. Up, up, seeming to the very +heavens, the lurid flames ascended, blazing and roaring, and lighting +the whole scene as with the glare of day. Fantastic wreaths of red fire +danced in the air against the pitchy blackness of the heavens, rising +and falling in such graceful, yet terrible shapes, that the very eye +felt riveted in admiration, while the heart quailed with horror. +Backwards and forwards gleamed the forms of men in the dusky glare; and +oaths and cries, and the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women, +terrified by the destruction they had not a little assisted to +ignite--the sudden rush of horses bursting from their stables, and +flying here and there, scared by the unusual sight and horrid +sounds--the hissing streams of water which, thrown from huge buckets on +the flames, seemed but to excite them to greater fury instead of +lessening their devouring way--the crackling of straw and wood, as of +the roar of a hundred furnaces--these were the varied sounds and sights +that burst upon the eye and ear of Nigel, as, richly attired as he was, +his drawn sword in his hand, his fair hair thrown back from his +uncovered brow and head, he stood in the very centre of the scene. One +glance sufficed to perceive that the rage of the men-at-arms was turned +on their treacherous countrymen; that the work of war raged even +then--the swords of Scotsmen were raised against each other. Even women +fell in that fierce slaughter, for the demon of revenge was at work, and +sought but blood. In vain the holy abbot, heedless that one sudden gust +and his flowing garments must inevitably catch fire, uplifted his +crosier, and called on them to forbear. In vain the officers rushed +amidst the infuriated men, bidding them keep their weapons and their +lives for the foe, who in such a moment would assuredly be upon them; in +vain they commanded, exhorted, implored; but on a sudden, the voice of +Sir Nigel Bruce was heard above the tumult, loud, stern, commanding. His +form was seen hurrying from group to group, turning back with his own +sword the weapons of his men, giving life even to those who had wrought +this woe; and there was a sudden hush, a sudden pause. + +"Peace, peace!" he cried. "Would ye all share the madness of these men? +They have hurled down destruction, let them reap it; let them live to +thrive and fatten in their chains; let them feel the yoke they pine for. +For us, my friends and fellow-soldiers, let us not meet our glorious +fate with the blood of Scotsmen on our swords. We have striven for our +country; we have striven gloriously, faithfully, and now we have but to +die for her. Ha! do I speak in vain? Again--back, coward! wouldst thou +slay a woman?" and, with a sudden bound, he stood beside one of the +soldiers, who was in the act of plunging his dagger in the breast of a +kneeling and struggling female. One moment sufficed to wrench the dagger +from his grasp, and release the woman from his hold. + +"It is ill done, your lordship; it is the fiend, the arch-fiend that has +planned it all," loudly exclaimed the man. "She has been heard to mutter +threats of vengeance, and blood and fire against thee, and all belonging +to thee. Let her not go free, my lord; thou mayest repent it still." + +"Repent giving a woman life?--bah! Thou art a fool, though a faithful +one," answered Sir Nigel; but even he started as he recognized the +features of Jean Roy. She gave him no time to restrain her, however; +for, sliding from his hold, she bounded several paces from him, singing, +as she did so, "Repent, ye shall repent! Where is thy buxom bride? Jean +Roy will see to her safety. A bonny courtship ye shall have!" Tossing up +her arms wildly, she vanished as she spoke; seeming in that light in +very truth more like a fiend than woman. A chill sunk on the heart of +Nigel, but, "No, no," he said, internally, as again he sought the spot +where confusion and horror waxed thickest; "Dermid will care for Agnes, +and guard her. I will not think of that mad woman's words." Yet even as +he rushed onwards, giving directions, commands, lending his aid to every +effort made for extinguishing the fire, a prayer for his wife was +uttered in his heart. + +The fire continued its rapid progress, buttress after buttress, tower +after tower caught on the walls, causing the conflagration to continue, +even when, by the most strenuous efforts, it had been partially +extinguished amongst the dwellings of the court. The wind blowing from +the north fortunately preserved the keep, inner wall, and even the +church, uninjured, save that the scorched and blackened sides of the +latter gave evidence of the close vicinity of the flames, and how +narrowly it had escaped. With saddened hearts, the noble defenders of +Scotland's last remaining bulwark, beheld their impregnable wall, the +scene of such dauntless valor, such unconquered struggles, against which +the whole force of their mighty foes had been of no avail--that wall +crumbling into dust and ashes in their very sight, opening a broad +passage to the English foe. Yet still there was no evidence that to +yield were preferable than to die; still, though well-nigh exhausted +with their herculean efforts to quench the flames, there was no +cessation, no pause, although the very height of the wall prevented +success, for they had not the facilities afforded by the engines of the +present day. Sir Nigel, his knights, nay, the venerable abbot himself, +seconded every effort of the men. It seemed as if little more could add +to the horror of the scene, and yet the shouts of "The granaries, the +granaries--merciful heaven, all is consumed!" came with such appalling +consciousness on every ear, that for a brief while, the stoutest arm +hung powerless, the firmest spirit quailed. Famine stood suddenly before +them as a gaunt, terrific spectre, whose cold hand it seemed had grasped +their very hearts. Nobles and men, knights and soldiers, alike stood +paralyzed, gazing at each other with a blank, dim, unutterable despair. +The shrill blast of many trumpets, the roll of heavy drums, broke that +deep stillness. "The foe! the foe!" was echoed round, fiercely, yet +rejoicingly. "They are upon us--they brave the flames--well done! Now +firm and steady; to your arms--stand close. Sound trumpets--the +defiance, the Bruce and Scotland!" and sharply and clearly, as if but +just arrayed for battle, as if naught had chanced to bend those gallant +spirits to the earth, the Scottish clarions sent back their answering +blast, and the men gathered in compact array around their gallant +leader. + +"My horse--my horse!" shouted Nigel Bruce, as he sprung from rank to +rank of the little phalanx, urging, commanding, entreating them to make +one last stand, and fall as befitted Scottish patriots. The keep and +inner ballium was still their own as a place of retreat, however short a +period it might remain so. A brave defence, a glorious death would still +do much for Scotland. + +Shouts, cheers, blessings on his name awoke in answer, as unfalteringly, +as bravely as those of the advancing foes. Prancing, neighing, rearing, +the superb charger was at length brought to the dauntless leader. + +"Not thus, my lord; in heaven's name, do not mount thus, unarmed, +bareheaded as thou art!" exclaimed several voices, and two or three of +his esquires crowded round him. "Retire but for a brief space within the +church." + +"And turn my back upon my foes, Hubert; not for worlds! No, no; bring me +the greaves, gauntlets, and helmet here, if thou wilt, and an they give +me time, I will arm me in their very teeth. Haste ye, my friends, if ye +will have it so; for myself these garments would serve me well enough;" +but ere he ceased to speak they had flown to obey, and returned ere a +dozen more of the English had made their way across the crumbling wall. +Coolly, composedly, Nigel threw aside his mantle and doublet, and +permitted his esquires to assist in arming him, speaking at the same +time in a tone so utterly unconcerned, that ere their task was finished, +his coolness had extended unto them. He had allowed some few of the +English to make an unmolested way; his own men were drawn up in close +lines against the inner wall, so deep in shadow that they were at first +unobserved by the English. He could perceive by the still, clear light +of the flames, troop after troop of the besiegers were marching forward +in the direction both of the causeway and the river; several were +plunging in the moat, sword in hand, and attack threatened on every +side. He waited no longer; springing on his charger, with a movement so +sudden and unexpected, the helmet fell from his esquire's hand, and +waving his sword above his undefended head, he shouted aloud his +war-cry, and dashed on, followed by his men, to the spot where a large +body of his foes already stood. + +Desperately they struggled, most gallantly they fought; man after man of +the English fell before them. On, on they struggled; a path seemed +cleared before them; the English were bearing back, despite their +continued reinforcements from the troops, that so thronged the causeway +it appeared but one mass of men. But other shouts rent the air. The +besiegers now poured in on every side; wherever that gallant body turned +they were met by English. On, on they came, fresh from some hours of +repose, buoyed up by the certainty of conquest; unnumbered swords and +spears, and coats of mail, gleaming in that lurid light; on came the +fiery steeds, urged by the spur and rein, till through the very flames +they bore their masters; on through the waters of the moat, up the +scorching ruins, and with a sound as of thunder, clearing with a single +bound all obstacles into the very court. It was a fearful sight; that +little patriot band, hemmed in on every side, yet struggling to the +last, clearing a free passage through men and horse, and glancing swords +and closing multitudes, nearing the church, slowly, yet surely, forming +in yet closer order as they advanced; there, there they stood, as a +single bark amid the troubled waves, cleaving them asunder, but to close +again in fatal fury on her track. + +In vain, amid that furious strife, did the Earl of Lancaster seek out +the azure plume and golden helmet that marked the foe he still desired +to meet; there was indeed a face, beautiful and glorious even in that +moment, ever in the very thickest of the fight, alike the front, the +centre, the rear-guard of his men; there was indeed that stately form, +sitting his noble charger as if horse and man were one; and that +unhelmed brow, that beautifully formed head, with its long curls +streaming in the night wind, which towered unharmed, unbent, above his +foes; and where that was, the last hope of his country had gathered. The +open door of the church was gained, and there the Scottish patriots made +a stand, defended in their rear by the building. A brief and desperate +struggle partially cleared their foes, and ere those in the rear could +press forward, the besieged had disappeared, and the heavy doors were +closed. The sudden pause of astonishment amidst the assailants was +speedily dispelled by the heavy blows of axes and hatchets, the sudden +shout "To the wall! to the wall!" while several ran to plant +scaling-ladders and mount the inner barrier, left unhappily unguarded +from the diminished numbers of the Scotch; there, however, their +progress was impeded, for the space which that wall inclosed being +scarce half the size of the ballium, and the barrier itself uninjured, +they were repulsed with loss from within. The church-doors meanwhile had +given way, and permitted ingress to the assailants, but the door leading +to the passage through the inner wall, and by which in reality the +Scotch had effected their retreat, was carefully closed and barred +within, and had so completely the same appearance as the wall of the +church in which it stood, that the English gazed round them fairly +puzzled and amazed. + +This movement, however, on the part of the besieged occasioned a brief +cessation of hostilities on both sides. The flames had subsided, except +here and there, where the passing wind fanned the red-hot embers anew +into life, and caused a flickering radiance to pass athwart the pitchy +darkness of the night, and over the bustling scene on either side the +ruins. + +There was no moon, and Hereford imagined the hours of darkness might be +better employed in active measures for resuming the attack by dawn than +continuing it then. Much, very much had been gained: a very brief +struggle more he knew must now decide it, and he hoped, though against +his better judgment, that the garrison, would surrender without further +loss of blood. Terms he could not propose, none at least that could +prevail on the brave commanders to give up with life, and so great was +the admiration Nigel's conduct had occasioned, that this true son of +chivalry ardently wished he would eventually fall in combat rather than +be consigned to the fearful fate which he knew would be inflicted on him +by the commands of Edward. Commands to the troops without were forwarded +by trusty esquires; the wounded conveyed to the camp, and their places +supplied by fresh forces, who, with the joyous sound of trumpet and +drum, marched over by torchlight into the ballium, so long the coveted +object of their attack. + +Sir Nigel meanwhile had desired his exhausted men to lie down in their +arms, ready to start up at the faintest appearance of renewed +hostility, and utterly worn out, they most willingly obeyed. But the +young knight himself neither shared nor sought for that repose; he stood +against a buttress on the walls, leaning on a tall spear, and gazing at +once upon his wearied followers, and keeping a strict watch on the +movements of his foes. A tall form, clothed in complete armor, suddenly +stood beside him; he started. + +"Seaton!" he said; "thou here, and in armor?" + +"Aye," answered the knight, his voice from very weakness sounding hollow +in his helmet. "Aye, to make one last stand, and, if it may be, die as I +have lived for Scotland. I have strength to strike one last blow, for +last it will be--all is lost!" + +A low groan broke from Nigel's lips, but he made no further answer than +the utterance of one word--"Agnes!" + +"Is safe, I trust," rejoined the knight. "The son of Dermid, in whose +arms I last saw her, knoweth many a secret path and hidden passage, and +can make his way wherever his will may lead." + +"How! thinkest thou he will preserve her, save her even now from the +foe?" + +"Aye, perchance conceal her till the castle be dismantled. But what do +they now? See, a herald and white flag," he added, abruptly, as by the +light of several torches a trumpeter, banner-bearer, herald, and five +men-at-arms were discerned approaching the walls. + +"What would ye? Halt, and answer," demanded Sir Nigel, recalled on the +instant to his sterner duties, and advancing, spear in hand, to the +utmost verge of the wall. + +"We demand speech of Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, +governors of this castle," was the brief reply. + +"Speak on, then, we are before ye, ready to list your say. What would +your lords?" + +"Give ye not admittance within the wall?" inquired the herald; "'tis +somewhat strange parleying without." + +"No!" answered Nigel, briefly and sternly; "speak on, and quickly. We +doubt not the honor of the noble Earl of Hereford--it hath been too +gloriously proved; but we are here to list your mission. What would ye?" + +"That ye surrender this fortress by to-morrow's dawn, and strive no +longer with the destiny against you. Ye have neither men nor stores, and +in all good and chivalric feeling, the noble Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster call on ye to surrender without further loss of blood." + +"And if we do this?" demanded Nigel. + +"They promise all honorable treatment and lenient captivity to the +leaders of the rebels, until the pleasure of his grace the king be +known; protection to all females; liberty to those whose rank demands +not their detention; and for the common soldiers, on the delivery of +their arms and upper garments, and their taking a solemn oath that +within seven days they will leave Scotland never to return, liberty and +life shall be mercifully extended unto one and all." + +"And if we do _not_ this?" + +"Your blood be upon your own rebellious heads! Sacking and pillage must +take their course." + +"Ye have heard," were the sole words that passed the lips of Nigel, +turning to his men, who, roused by the first sound of the trumpet, had +started from their slumbers, and falling in a semicircle round him and +Sir Christopher, listened with intense eagerness to the herald's words. +"Ye have heard. Speak, then--your answer; yours shall be ours." + +"Death! death! death!" was the universally reiterated shout. "We will +struggle to the death. Our king and country shall not say we deserted +them because we feared to die; or surrendered on terms of shame as +these! No; let the foe come on! we will die, if we may not live, still +patriots of Scotland! King Robert will avenge us! God save the Bruce!" + +Again, and yet again they bade God bless him; and startlingly and +thrillingly was the united voice of that desperate, devoted band borne +on the wings of night to the very furthest tents of their foes. Calmly +Sir Nigel turned again to the herald. + +"Thou hast Scotland's answer," he said; "'tis in such men as these her +glorious spirit lives! they will fall not unavenged. Commend us to your +masters; we await them with the dawn," and, turning on his heel, he +reassumed the posture of thought as if he had never been aroused. + +The dawn uprose, the attack was renewed with increased vigor, and +defended with the same calm, determined spirit which had been ever +shown; the patriots fell where they fought, leaving fearful traces of +their desperate courage in the numbers of English that surrounded each. +It was now before the principal entrance to the keep they made their +final stand, and horrible was the loss of life, fierce and deadly the +strife, ere that entrance was forced, and the shrieks of women and +children within proclaimed the triumph of the foe. Then came a shout, +loud ringing, joyous, echoed and re-echoed by the blast of the trumpets +both within and without, and the proud banner of Scotland was hurled +contemptuously to the earth, and the flag of England floated in its +place. Many a dying eye, unclosed by those sudden sounds, looked on that +emblem of defeat and moved not in life again; others sprung up to their +feet with wild shrieks of defiance, and fell back, powerless, in death. + +Sir Christopher Seaton, whose exhausted frame could barely sustain the +weight of his armor, had been taken in the first charge, fighting +bravely, but falling from exhaustion to the earth. And where was +Nigel?--hemmed in on all sides, yet seemingly unwounded, unconquered +still, his face indeed was deadly pale, and there were moments when his +strokes flagged as from an utter failing of strength; but if, on +observing this, his foes pressed closer, strength appeared to return, +and still, still he struggled on. He sought for death; he felt that he +dared his destiny, but death shunned him; he strove with his destiny in +vain. Not thus might he fall, the young, the generous, the gifted. On +foot, his armor hacked and stained with blood, not yet had the word +"yield" been shouted in his ear. + +"Back, back! leave me this glorious prize!" shouted Lancaster, spurring +on his charger through the crowd, and leaping from him the instant he +neared the spot where Nigel stood. "Take heed of my gallant horse, I +need him not--I shall not need him now. Ha! bareheaded too; well, so +shall it be with me--hand to hand, foot to foot. Turn, noble Nigel, we +are well-nigh equals now, and none shall come between us." He hastily +unclasped his helmet, threw it from his brow, and stood in the attitude +of defence. + +One moment Sir Nigel paused; his closing foes had fallen from him at the +words of their leader; he hesitated one brief instant as to whether +indeed he should struggle more, or deliver up his sword to the generous +earl, when the shout of triumph from the topmost turret, proclaiming the +raising of the banner, fell upon his ear, and nerved him to the onset. + +"Noble and generous!" he exclaimed, as their swords crossed. "Might I +choose my fate, I would fall by thy knightly sword." + +As stupefied with wonder at the skill, the extraordinary velocity and +power of the combatants, the men-at-arms stood round, without making one +movement to leave the spot; and fearful indeed was that deadly strife; +equal they seemed in stature, in the use of their weapons, in every +mystery of the sword; the eye ached with the rapid flashing of the +blades, the ear tired of the sharp, unwavering clash, but still they +quailed not, moved not from the spot where the combat had commenced. + +How long this fearful struggle would have continued, or who would +finally be victor, was undecided still, when suddenly the wild mocking +laugh of madness sounded in the very ear of Nigel, and a voice shouted +aloud, "Fight on, my bonny lord; see, see, how I care for your winsome +bride," and the maniac form of Jean Roy rushed by through the thickest +ranks of the men, swift, swift as the lightning track. A veil of silver +tissue floated from her shoulder, and she seemed to be bearing something +in her arms, but what, the rapidity of her way precluded all discovery. +The fierce soldiers shrunk away from her, as if appalled by her gaunt, +spectral look, or too much scared by her sudden appearance to attempt +detaining her. The eye of Nigel involuntarily turned from his foe to +follow her; he recognized the veil, and fancy did the rest. He saw her +near a part of the wall which was tottering beneath the engines of the +English; there was a wild shriek in other tones than hers, the wall +fell, burying the maniac in its ruins. A mist came over the senses of +the young knight, strength suddenly fled his arm, he stepped back as to +recover himself, but slipped and fell, the violence of the fall dashing +his sword many yards in air. "I yield me true prisoner, rescue or no +rescue," he said, in a tone so startling in its agony that the rudest +heart beside him shrunk within itself appalled, and for a minute +Lancaster checked the words upon his lips. + +"Nay, nay, yield not in such tone, my gallant foe!" he said, with eager +courtesy, and with his own hand aiding him to rise. "Would that I were +the majesty of England, I should deem myself debased did I hold such +gallantry in durance. Of a truth, thou hast robbed me of my conquest, +fair sir, for it was no skill of mine which brought thee to the ground. +I may thank that shrieking mad woman, perchance, for the preservation +of my laurels." + +"I give you thanks for your courtesy, my lord," replied Sir Nigel, +striving to recover himself; "but I pray you pardon me, if I beseech you +let that falling mass be cleared at once, and note if that unhappy woman +breathes. Methought," he added, in stronger agitation, "she carried +something in her arms." + +"She did," answered many voices; "some child or girl, who was +struggling, though the head was muffled up as if to prevent all sounds." + +"See to it, and bring us news of what you find," said Lancaster, +hastily, for the same ghastly expression passed over the countenance of +his prisoner as had startled him at first. "Thou art not well, my good +lord?" he continued kindly. + +"Nay, I am well, my lord; but I will go with you," replied the young +knight, slowly, as if collecting strength ere he could speak. "I am +wearied with the turmoil of the last twelve hours' fighting against fire +and sword at once; I would fain see the noble Hereford, and with his +permission rest me a brief while." + +Lancaster made no further comment, and the two knights, who but a few +minutes before had been engaged in deadly strife, now made their way +together through the heaps of the dying and the dead, through many a +group of rude soldiery, who scowled on Nigel with no friendly eye, for +they only recognized him as the destroyer of hundreds of their +countrymen, not the chivalric champion who had won the enthusiastic +admiration of their leaders, and soon found themselves in the +castle-hall, in the presence of the Earl of Hereford, who was surrounded +by his noblest officers, Sir Christopher and Lady Seaton, and some few +other Scottish prisoners, most of whom were badly wounded. He advanced +to meet Sir Nigel, courteously, though gravely. + +"It grieves me," he said, "to receive as a prisoner a knight of such +high renown and such chivalric bearing as Sir Nigel Bruce; I would he +had kept those rare qualities for the sovereign to whom they were +naturally due, and who would have known how to have appreciated and +honor them, rather than shed such lustre on so weak a cause." + +"Does your lordship regard the freedom of an oppressed country so weak +a cause?" replied Nigel, the hot blood mounting to his cheek; "the +rising in defence of a rightful king, in lieu of slavishly adhering to +one, who, though so powerful, all good men, aye, even all good +Englishmen, must look on, in his claims to Scotland, as an ambitious +usurper. My lord, my lord, the spirit of Hereford spoke not in those +words; but I forgive them, for I have much for which to proffer thanks +unto the noble Hereford, much, that his knightly soul scorned treachery +and gave us a fair field. Durance is but a melancholy prospect, yet an +it must be I would not nobler captors." + +"Nor would I forfeit the esteem in which you hold me, gallant sir," +replied the earl, "and therefore do I pray you, command my services in +aught that can pleasure you, and an it interfere not with my duty to my +sovereign, I shall be proud to give them. Speak, I pray you." + +"Nay, I can ask naught which the Earl of Hereford hath not granted of +himself," said Sir Nigel. "I would beseech you to extend protection to +all the females of this unhappy castle; to part not my sister from her +lord, for, as you see, his wounds and weakness call for woman's care; to +grant the leech's aid to those who need it; and if there be some unhappy +men of my faithful troop remaining, I would beseech you show mercy unto +them, and let them go free--they can work no further ill to Edward; they +can fight no more for Scotland, for she lieth chained; they have no head +and therefore no means of resistance--I beseech you give them freedom +unshackled by conditions." + +"It shall be, it shall be," replied Hereford, hastily, and evidently +moved; "but for thyself, young sir, thyself, can we do naught for thee?" + +"Nothing," answered the young man, calmly. "I need little more on earth, +for neither my youth, my birth, nor what it pleaseth thee to term my +gallantry, will save me from the sweeping axe of Edward. I would beseech +thee to let my death atone for all, and redeem my noble friends; but I +ask it not, for I know in this thou hast no power; and yet, though I ask +nothing now," he added, after a brief pause, and in a lower voice, as to +be heard only by Hereford, "ere we march to England I may have a boon to +crave--protection, liberty for a beloved one, whose fate as yet I know +not." He spoke almost inarticulately, for again it seemed the horrid +words and maniac laugh of Jean Roy resounded in his ears. There was +that in the look and manner of the English earl inviting confidence: a +moment the tortured young man longed to pour all into his ear, to +conjure him to find Agnes, and give her to his arms; the next he +refrained, for her words, "Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee +undiscovered by the foe," suddenly flashed on his memory, with the +conviction that if she were indeed still in life, and he acknowledged +her his wife, Hereford would feel himself compelled to keep her under +restraint, as he did Lady Seaton and the wives of other noble Scotsmen. +His lip trembled, but fortunately for the preservation of his composure, +Hereford's attention was called from him by the eager entrance of +several other officers, who all crowded round him, alike in +congratulation, and waiting his commands, and perceiving he was +agitated, the earl turned from him with a courteous bow. Eagerly he +seized that moment to spring to the side of his sister, to whisper the +impatient inquiry, "Agnes, where is Agnes?" To feel his heart a moment +throb high, and then sink again by her reply, that she had not seen her +since he had placed her in the arms of the seer; that in the fearful +confusion which followed, she had looked for her in vain, examined all +her accustomed haunts, but discovered no traces of her, save the silver +tissue veil. There was, however, some hope in that; Jean Roy, misled by +the glittering article, and seeing it perchance in the hands of another, +might have been deceived in her prey. Nay, he welcomed the uncertainty +of suspense; there was something so fearful, so horrible in the idea +that his own faithful Agnes was among those blackened and mangled +bodies, which Lancaster informed him had been discovered beneath the +ruins, something so sickening, so revolting, he could not take advantage +of the earl's offer to examine them himself, though, Lancaster added, it +would not be of much use, for he challenged their dearest friends to +recognize them. He could not believe such was her fate. Dermid had not +been seen since the fatal conclusion of their marriage; he knew his +fidelity, his interest in both Agnes and himself, and he could not, he +would not believe the maniac had decoyed her from his care. But where +was she?--where, in such a moment, could he have conveyed her?--what +would be her final fate?--how would she rejoin him? were questions ever +thronging on his heart and brain, struggling with doubts, with the +horrible suspicion still clinging to that shriek which had sounded as +the ruins fell. Darker and more forebodingly oppressive grew these +conflicting thoughts, as day after day passed, and still she came not, +nor were there any tidings of the seer. + +A very brief interval sufficed for the English earls to conclude their +arrangements at Kildrummie, and prepare to march southward, Berwick +being the frontier town to which the Scottish prisoners were usually +conveyed. Their loss had been greater than at any other similar siege; +more than a third of their large army had fallen, several others were +wounded, and not much above a third remained who were fitted to continue +in arms. It was a fearful proof of the desperate valor of the besieged, +but both earls felt it would so exasperate their sovereign against the +Scottish commanders, as to remove the slightest hope of mercy. The ruins +were with some labor cleared away, the remains of the outer wall +levelled with the earth, except the tower communicating with the +drawbridge and barbacan, which could be easily repaired. The inner wall +Hereford likewise commanded to be restored; the keep he turned into a +hospital for the wounded, leaving with them a sufficient garrison to +defend the castle, in case of renewed incursions of the Scottish +patriots, a case, in the present state of the country, not very +probable. True to his promise, these men-at-arms who survived, and whose +wounds permitted their removal, Hereford set at liberty, not above ten +in number; dispirited, heart-broken, he felt indeed there was no need to +impose conditions on them. Those of the traitors who remained, +endeavored by cringing humility, to gain the favor of the English; but +finding themselves shunned and despised, for the commonest English +soldier was of a nature too noble to bear with aught of treachery, they +dispersed over the country, finding little in its miserable condition to +impart enjoyment to the lives they had enacted so base a part to +preserve. It may be well to state, ere we entirely leave the subject, +that the execution of Evan Roy exciting every evil passion in their +already rebellious hearts, had determined them to conspire for a signal +revenge, the ravings of Jean Roy and the desperate counsels of her +mother-in-law urging them to the catastrophe we have related; the murder +of Nigel had been first planned, but dismissed as likely to be +discovered and thwarted, and bring vengeance on their own heads instead +of his. Before the execution of their comrade and head of the +conspiracy, they had only been desirous of shunning the horrors of a +prolonged siege; but afterwards, revenge became stronger than mere +personal safety, and therefore was it they refused to take advantage of +the safe conduct demanded by Nigel, and granted, as we have said. + +The Scottish prisoners were removed from the castle a few hours after +its capitulation, and placed in honorable restraint, in separate +pavilions. Lancaster, whose romantic admiration for his antagonist had +not been in the least diminished by Sir Nigel's bearing in captivity and +the lofty tone of the young knight's society and conversation, which he +frequently courted, absolutely made him shrink from heading the force +which was to conduct him a prisoner to England, for he well knew those +very qualities, calling forth every spark of chivalry in his own bosom, +would be only so many incitements to Edward for his instant execution. +He therefore demanded that the superintending the works of the garrison +and keeping a strict watch upon the movements of the adjoining country +should devolve on him, and Hereford, as the older and wiser, should +conduct his prisoners to the border, and report the events of the siege +to his sovereign. His colleague acceded, and the eighth day from the +triumph of the besiegers was fixed on to commence their march. + +It was on the evening of the seventh day that the Earl of Hereford, then +engaged in earnest council with Lancaster, on subjects relating to their +military charge, was informed that an old man and a boy so earnestly +entreated speech with him, that they had even moved the iron heart of +Hugo de l'Orme, the earl's esquire, who himself craved audience for +them. + +"They must bear some marvellous charm about them, an they have worked +upon thee, De l'Orme," said his master, smiling. "In good sooth, let +them enter." + +Yet there was nothing very striking in their appearance when they came. +The old man indeed was of a tall, almost majestic figure, and it was +only the snowy whiteness of his hair and flowing beard that betrayed his +age, for his eye was still bright, his form unbent. He was attired as a +minstrel, his viol slung across his breast, a garb which obtained for +its possessor free entrance alike into camp and castle, hall and bower, +to all parties, to all lands, friendly or hostile, as it might be. His +companion was a slight boy, seemingly little more than thirteen or +fourteen, with small, exquisitely delicate features; his complexion +either dark or sunburnt; his eyes were bent down, and their long, very +dark lashes rested on his cheek, but when raised, their beautiful blue +seemed so little in accordance with the brunette skin, that the sun +might be deemed more at fault than Nature; his hair, of the darkest +brown, clustered closely round his throat in short thick curls; his garb +was that of a page, but more rude than the general habiliments of those +usually petted members of noble establishments, and favored both +Hereford and Lancaster's belief that he was either the son or grandson +of his companion. + +"Ye are welcome, fair sirs," was the elder earl's kindly salutation, +when his esquire had retired. "Who and what are ye, and what crave ye +with me?" + +"We are Scotsmen, an it so please you, noble lords," replied the old +man; "followers and retainers of the house of Bruce, more particularly +of him so lately fallen into your power." + +"Then, by mine honor, my good friends, ye had done wiser to benefit by +the liberty I promised and gave to those of his followers who escaped +this devastating siege. Wherefore are ye here?" + +"In the name of this poor child, to beseech a boon, my noble lord; for +me, my calling permitteth my going where I list, unquestioned, +unrestrained, and if I ask permission to abide with ye, Scotsman and +follower of the Bruce as I am, I know ye will not say me nay." + +"I would not, an ye besought such a boon, old man," answered the earl; +"yet I would advise thee to tempt not thy fate, for even thy minstrel +garb, an thou braggest of thy service to the Bruce, I cannot promise to +be thy safeguard in Edward's court, whither I give ye notice I wend my +way to-morrow's dawn. For this child, what wouldst thou--hath he no +voice, no power of his own to speak?" + +The aged minstrel looked at his charge, whose eyes were still bent on +the floor; the heaving of his doublet denoted some internal emotion, but +ere the old man could answer for him, he had made a few hasty steps +forward, and bent his knee before Hereford. + +"'Tis a simple boon I crave, my lord," he said, in a voice so peculiarly +sweet, that it seemed to impart new beauty to his features; "a very +simple boon, yet my lips tremble to ask it, for thou mayest deem it more +weighty than it seemeth to me, and thou alone canst grant it." + +"Speak it, fair child, whate'er it be," replied the earl, reassuringly, +and laying his hand caressingly on the boy's head. "Thou art, methinks, +over young to crave a boon we may not grant; too young, although a +Scotsman, for Hereford to treat thee aught but kindly. What wouldst +thou?" + +"Permission to tend on my young lord, Sir Nigel Bruce," answered the +boy, more firmly, and for the first time fixing the full gaze of his +beautiful eyes on the earl's face. "Oh, my lord, what is there in that +simple boon to bid thee knit thy brow as if it must not be?" he added, +more agitated. "The noble Hereford cannot fear a child; or, if he +doubted me, he cannot doubt the honor of his prisoner, an honor pure, +unsullied as his own." + +"Thou speakest not as the child thou seemest," replied Hereford, +musingly; "and yet I know not, misery makes sager of us long ere the +rose of youth hath faded. For this, thy boon, I know not how it may be +granted; it is not usual to permit other than English attendants on our +Scottish prisoners. Since Sir Niel Campbell's escape through the agency +of his Scottish attendant, it hath been most strictly prohibited." + +"Oh, do not, do not say me nay!" entreated the boy; "I ask but to share +his imprisonment, to be with him, serve him, tend him. I ask no more +liberty than is granted unto him; the rudest, coarsest fare, a little +straw, or the bare ground beside his couch. I can do naught to give him +freedom, and if I could, were there an open path before him--did I +beseech him on my knees to fly--if he hath surrendered, as I have heard, +to thee, rescue or no rescue, he would scorn my counsel, and abide thy +prisoner still. Oh, no, no! I swear to thee I will do naught that can +make thee regret thou hast granted an orphan's prayer." + +"And who art thou that pleadeth thus?" inquired the earl, moved alike by +the thrilling sweetness of his voice and the earnestness of his manner. +"Thou must have some wondrous interest in him to prefer imprisonment +with him to all the joys which liberty can give." + +"And I have interest," answered the boy, fervently; "the interest of +gratitude, and faithfulness, and love. An orphan, miserably an +orphan--alone upon the wide earth--he hath protected, cherished, aye, +and honored me with his confidence and love. He tended me in sorrow, and +I would pour back into his noble heart all the love, the devotion he +hath excited in mine. Little can I do, alas! naught but love and serve; +yet, yet, I know he would not reject even this--he would let me love him +still!" + +"Grant the poor boy his boon," whispered Lancaster, hurriedly; "of a +truth he moveth even me." + +"Thine heart is of right true mettle, my child," said his colleague, +even tenderly. "Yet bethink thee all thou must endure if I grant thy +boon; not while with me, for there would be a foul blot upon my +escutcheon did so noble a knight as Sir Nigel Bruce receive aught save +respect and honor at my hands. But in this business I am but a tool, an +agent; when once within the boundaries of Edward's court, Sir Nigel is +no longer my prisoner; I must resign him to my sovereign; and then, I +dare not give thee hope of gentle treatment either for thyself or him." + +"I will brave it," answered the boy, calmly; "danger, aye, death in his +service, were preferable to my personal liberty, with the torture of the +thought upon me, that I shrunk from his side when fidelity and love were +most needed." + +"But that very faithfulness, that very love, my child, will make thy +fate the harder; the scaffold and the axe, if not the cord," he added, +in a low, stifled tone, "I fear me, will be his doom, despite his youth, +his gallantry--all that would make _me_ save him. Thou turnest pale at +the bare mention of such things, how couldst thou bear to witness them?" + +"Better than to think of them; to sit me down in idle safety and feel +that he hath gone forth to this horrible doom, and I have done naught to +soothe and tend him on his way," replied the boy, firmly, though his +very lip blanched at Hereford's words. "But must these things be? Is +Edward so inexorable?" + +"Aye, unto all who thwart him now," said the earl; "there is no hope for +any of the race of Bruce. Be advised, then, gentle boy, retain thy +freedom while thou mayest." + +"No, no!" he answered, passionately, "Oh, do not seek to fright me from +my purpose; do not think aught of me, save but to grant my boon, and oh, +I will bless thee, pray for thee to my dying hour! thou wilt, I know +thou wilt." + +"I were no father could I refuse thee, my poor child," he replied, with +earnest tenderness. "Alas! I fear me thou hast asked but increase of +misery, yet be it as thou list. And yet," he added, after a brief pause, +during which the boy had sprung from his knee, with an inarticulate cry +of joy, and flung himself into the minstrel's arms, "Sir Nigel hath +resolutely refused the attendance of any of his former followers, who +would willingly have attended him to England. Hast thou so much +influence, thinkest thou, to change his purpose in thy favor?" + +"I know not," answered the boy, timidly; "yet an it please your noble +lordship to permit my pleading mine own cause without witness, I may +prevail, as I have done before." + +"Be it so, then," replied the earl. "And now, ere we part, I would bid +thee remember I have trusted thee; I have granted that to thee, without +_condition_, with perfect liberty of action, which to others could only +have been granted on their surrendering themselves, rescue or no rescue, +even as thy master. I have done this, trusting to that noble +faithfulness, the candor and honesty of youth, which hath breathed forth +in all that thou hast said. Let me not repent it. And now, Hugo de +l'Orme," he called aloud, but Lancaster himself declared his intention +of conducting the boy to Sir Nigel's tent, and the esquire was +consequently dismissed; but ere they departed, the boy turned once more +to the aged minstrel. + +"And thou--whither goest thou?" he said, in low yet thrilling tones. "My +more than father, thou hast seen thy child's earnest wish fulfilled; +that for which thou didst conduct me hither is accomplished; yet ere I +say farewell, tell me--oh, tell me, whither goest thou?" + +"I know not," answered the old man, struggling with unexpressed emotion; +"yet think not of me, my child, I shall be free, be safe, untouched by +aught of personal ill, while young and lovely ones, for whom it would be +bliss to die, are crushed and bleeding in their spring; the mountains, +and rocks, and woods, yet unstained with blood, call on me to return, +and be at rest within their caves. The love I bear to thee and him thou +seekest hath yet a louder voice to bid me follow ye. I know not whither +I shall go, yet an my vision telleth that thou needst my aid, I shall +not be far from thee. Farewell, my child; and ye, true-hearted lords, +the blessing of an aged man repay ye for the kindly deed this day that +ye have done." He pressed the boy in his arms, reverentially saluted the +earls, and passed from the tent as he spoke. + +A few words passed between the warriors, and then Lancaster desired the +page to follow him. In silence they proceeded through the camp, avoiding +the more bustling parts, where the soldiery were evidently busied in +preparing for the morrow's march, and inclining towards the wooded bank +of the river. The eye of the Earl of Lancaster had scarcely moved from +the page during his interview with Hereford, though the boy, engrossed +in his own feelings, had failed to remark it. He now glanced rapidly and +searchingly round him, and perceiving the ground perfectly clear, not a +soldier visible, he suddenly paused in his hasty stride, and laying his +hand heavily on the boy's shoulder, said, in a deep, impressive voice, +"I know not who or what thou art, but I love thy master, and know that +he is ill at ease, not from captivity, but from uncertainty as to the +fate of one beloved. If it be, as I suspect, in thy power entirely to +remove this uneasiness, be cautioned, and whoever thou mayest be, let +not one in this camp, from the noble Earl of Hereford himself to the +lowest soldier, suspect thou art other than thou seemest--a faithful +page. The rage of Edward is deadly, and all who bear the name of Bruce, +be it male or female, will suffer from that wrath. Tell this to thy +lord. I ask not his confidence nor thine, nay, I would refuse it were it +offered--I would know no more than my own thoughts, but I honor him, +aye, and from my very heart I honor thee! Hush! not a word in answer; my +speech is rude, but my heart is true; and now a few steps more and we +are there," and without waiting for reply he turned suddenly, and the +page found himself in the very centre of the camp, near the entrance of +a small pavilion, before which two sentinels were stationed, fully +armed, and pacing up and down their stated posts; the pennon of Hereford +floated from the centre staff, above the drapery, marking the tent and +all its appurtenances peculiarly the earl's. The watchword was +exchanged, and the sentinels lowered their arms on recognizing one of +their leaders. + +"Let this boy have egress and ingress from and to this tent, +unquestioned and unmolested," he said; "he has the Earl of Hereford's +permission, nay, commands, to wait on Sir Nigel Bruce. His business +lieth principally with him; but if he hath need to quit his side, he is +to pass free. Report this to your comrades." The soldiers bowed in +respectful acquiescence. "For thee, young man, this toy will give thee +free passage where thou listeth, none shall molest thee; and now, +farewell--God speed thee." He unclasped a ruby brooch, curiously set in +antique gold, from his collar, and placed it in the boy's hand. + +"Dost thou not enter?" asked the page, in a voice that quivered, and the +light of the torches falling full on his face disclosed to Lancaster a +look of such voiceless gratitude, it haunted him for many a long day. + +"No," he said, half smiling, and in a lower voice; "hast thou forgotten +thy cause was to be pleaded without witness? I have not, if thou hast. I +will see thy noble master ere he depart, not now; thou wilt, I trust me, +take him better comfort than I could." + +He lifted the hangings as he spoke, and the boy passed in, his heart +beating well-nigh to suffocation as he did so. It was in a small +compartment leading to the principal chamber of the tent he found +himself at first, and Sir Nigel was not there. With a fleet, yet +noiseless movement, he drew aside the massive curtain, let it fall again +behind him, and stood unperceived in the presence of him he sought. + +The brow of Sir Nigel rested on his hand, his attitude was as one bowed +and drooping 'neath despondency; the light of the taper fell full upon +his head, bringing it out in beautiful profile. It was not his capture +alone which had made him thus, the boy felt and knew; the complicated +evils which attended his king and country in his imprisonment were yet +not sufficient to crush that spirit to the earth. It was some other +anxiety, some yet nearer woe; there had been many strange rumors afloat, +both of Sir Nigel's bridal and the supposed fate of that bride, and the +boy, though he knew them false, aye, and that the victim of Jean Roy was +a young attendant of Agnes, who had been collecting together the +trinkets of her mistress, to save them from the pillage which would +attend the conquest of the English, and had been thus mistaken by the +maniac--the boy, we say, though he knew this, had, instead of denying +it, encouraged the report, and therefore was at no loss to discover his +master's woe. He advanced, knelt down, and in a trembling, husky voice, +addressed him. "My lord--Sir Nigel." + +The young knight started, and looked at the intruder, evidently without +recognizing him. "What wouldst thou?" he said, in a tone somewhat stern. +"Who art thou, thus boldly intruding on my privacy? Begone, I need thee +not!" + +"The Earl of Hereford hath permitted me to tend thee, follow thee," +answered the page in the same subdued voice. "My gracious lord, do not +thou refuse me." + +"Tend me--follow me! whither--to the scaffold? Seek some other master, +my good boy. I know thee not, and can serve thee little, and need no +earthly aid. An thou seekest noble service, go follow Hereford; he is a +generous and knightly lord." + +"But I am Scotch, my lord, and would rather follow thee to death than +Hereford to victory." + +"Poor child, poor child!" repeated Nigel, sadly. "I should know thee, +methinks, an thou wouldst follow me so faithfully, and yet I do not. +What claim have I upon thy love?" + +"Dost thou _not_ know me, Nigel?" The boy spoke in his own peculiarly +sweet and most thrilling voice, and raising his head, fixed his full +glance upon the knight. + +A wild cry burst from Nigel's lips, he sprang up, gazed once again, and +in another moment the page and knight had sprung into each other's arms; +the arms of the former were twined round the warrior's neck, and Sir +Nigel had bent down his lordly head; burning tears and impassioned +kisses were mingled on the soft cheek that leaned against his breast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The ancient town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, associated as it is with +Scottish and English history from the time these two kingdoms had a +name, presented a somewhat different aspect in the year 1307 to that of +the present day. The key to both countries, it was ever a scene of +struggle, unless the sister kingdoms chanced to be at peace, an event in +the middle ages of rare occurrence, and whoever was its fortunate +possessor was undeniably considered as the greater power. Since the +death of Alexander it had been captured no less than three times by +Edward in 1296, by Wallace the succeeding year, and recaptured by the +English the following spring. To Edward, consequently, it now belonged, +and many and fearful had been the sanguinary executions its walls had +beheld. Its streets had been deluged with noble Scottish blood; its +prisons filled with the nobles of Scotland; even high-minded women, who +by their countenance and faithfulness had given a yet higher tone to +patriotism and valor, were said to be there immured. It might have been +termed not alone the key, but the dungeon and grave of Scotland; and +many a noble spirit which had never quailed in the battle's front, +shrunk back appalled as it neared those dismal walls. + +In the time of Edward, the fortifications, though merely consisting of a +deep moat and wooden palisades, instead of the stone wall still +remaining, inclosed a much larger space than the modern town. A +magnificent castle, with its "mounts, rampiers, and flankers," its +towers, walls, and courts, crowned an easy ascent overhanging the Tweed, +and was at this period peopled by a powerful garrison, filled with +immense stores, both of arms, artillery, and provisions, and many +unhappy prisoners, who from their lonely turrets could look beyond the +silver Tweed on their own beautiful land, their hearts burning with the +vain desire to free her from her chains. Both square and round towers +guarded the palisades and moat surrounding the town, which presented a +goodly collection of churches, hospitals, dwelling-houses, stores, and +monastic buildings; from all of which crowds were continually passing +and repassing on their several ways, and forming altogether a motley +assemblage of knights, nobles, men-at-arms, archers, the various orders +of monks, the busy leech from the hospital, the peaceful burgher, the +bustling storekeeper, and artisan, noble dames and pretty maidens--all +in the picturesque costumes of the day, jostling one another, +unconscious of the curious effect they each assisted to produce, and +ever and anon came the trampling of fiery steeds. It was a rich, +thriving, bustling town, always presenting curious scenes of activity, +at present apparently under some excitement, which the gay knights and +their followers tended not a little to increase. + +The popular excitement had, strange to say, been confined for an +unusually long time to one subject. Orders had been received from King +Edward for the erection of an extraordinary cage or tower, curiously +worked in stone and iron, on the very highest turret of the castle, +visible to every eye, of a circular form, with pyramidal points, +supporting gilded balls, giving it the appearance, when completed, of a +huge coronet or crown. It was barred and cross-barred with iron on all +sides, effectually preventing egress from within, but exposing its +inmate, whoever that might be, to every passer-by. The impatient king +had commanded several of the artisans employed in its erection to be +thrown into prison, because it was not completed fast enough to please +him; but, despite his wrath and impatience, the work of fashioning the +iron, wood, and stone, as he required, occasioned them to proceed but +slowly, and it was now, three months after the royal order had been +given, only just completed, and firmly fixed on the principal turret of +the castle. Day after day the people flocked to gaze and marvel for whom +it could be intended, and when it would be occupied; their thoughts only +turned from it by the intelligence that the Earl of Hereford, with some +Scottish prisoners of high rank, was within four-and-twenty hours' march +of the town, and was there to deliver up his captives to the seneschal +of the castle, the Earl of Berwick. At the same time rumors were afloat, +that the prisoner for whom that cage had been erected was, under a +strong guard, advancing from Carlisle, and likely to encounter Hereford +at the castle gates. + +The popular excitement increased threefold; the whole town seemed under +the influence of a restless fever, utterly preventing the continuance of +their usual avocations, or permitting them to rest quiet in their +houses. Crowds filled the streets, and pressed and fumed to obtain +places by the great gates and open squares of the castle, through which +both parties must pass. That wind, rain, and sunshine alternately ruled +the day, was a matter of small importance; nor did it signify that +English soldiers were returning victorious, with Scottish prisoners, +being a thing now of most common occurrence. Before the day was over, +however, they found anticipation for once had been less marvellous than +reality, and stranger things were seen and heard than they had dreamed +of. + +From sunrise till noon they waited and watched, and waxed impatient in +vain. About that time trumpets and drums were heard from the south, and +there was a general rush towards the bridge, and hearts beat high in +expectancy of they knew not what, as a gallant band of English archers +and men-at-arms, headed by some few knights, were discovered slowly and +solemnly advancing from the Carlisle road. Where, and who was the +prisoner? A person of some consequence, of dangerous influence it must +be, else why had the king made such extraordinary provision for +confinement? There were not wanting suggestions and guesses, and +wondrous fancies; for as yet there was such a close guard in the centre +of the cavalcade, that the very person of the prisoner could not be +distinguished. Nay, there were some who ventured to hint and believe it +might be the excommunicated Earl of Carrick himself. It was most likely, +for whom else could the cage, so exactly like a crown, be intended? and +there were many who vaunted the wise policy of Edward, at having hit on +such an expedient for lowering his rival's pride. Others, indeed, +declared the idea was all nonsense; it was not likely he would incur +such expense, king as he was, merely to mortify a traitor he had sworn +to put to death. The argument waxed loud and warm. Meanwhile the +cavalcade had crossed the bridge, been received through the south gate, +and in the same slow and solemn pomp proceeded through the town. + +"By all the saints, it is only a woman!" was the information shouted by +an eager spectator, who had clambered above the heads of his fellows to +obtain the first and most coveted view. His words were echoed in blank +amazement. + +"Aye, clothed in white like a penitent, with her black hair streaming +all over her shoulders, without any covering on her head at all, and +nothing but a thin, torn sandal on her bare feet; and the knights look +black as thunder, as if they like not the business they are engaged in." + +It was even so. There was an expression on the face of the officers +impossible to be misunderstood; frowningly, darkly, they obeyed their +sovereign's mandate, simply because they dared not disobey; but there +was not one among them who would not rather have sought the most deadly +front of battle than thus conduct a woman, aye, and a most noble one, +unto her prison. The very men, rude, stern, as they mostly were, shared +this feeling; they guarded her with lowered heads and knitted brows; and +if either officer or man-at-arms had to address her, it was with an +involuntary yet genuine movement and manner of respect that little +accorded with their present relative position. The crowds looked first +at the cavalcade and marvelled, then at the prisoner, and they did not +marvel more. + +Clad as she was, in white, flowing garments, very similar to those worn +by penitents, her head wholly undefended from cold or rain even by a +veil; her long, luxuriant, jet-black hair, in which as yet, despite of +care and woe, no silver thread had mingled, falling round her from her +noble brow, which shone forth from its shade white as snow, and +displaying that most perfect face, which anguish had only chiselled into +paler, purer marble; it could not rob it of its beauty, that beauty +which is the holy emanation of the soul, _that_ lingered still with +power to awe the rudest heart, to bow the proudest in voluntary respect. + +The sovereign of England had commanded this solemn procession and its +degrading accompaniments to humble, to crush to dust, the woman who had +dared defy his power, but it was himself alone he humbled. As she walked +there, surrounded by guards, by gazing hundreds, on foot, and but +protected from the flinty ground by a thin sandal, her step was as firm +and unfaltering, her attitude, her bearing as dignified, as calmly, +imposingly majestic as when, in the midst of Scotland's patriots, she +had placed the crown on the Bruce's head. Edward sought to debase her, +but she was not debased; to compel her to regret the part that she had +acted, but she gloried in it still; to acknowledge his power--but in all +he failed. + +Calmly and majestically the Countess of Buchan proceeded on her way, +neither looking to the right or left, nor evincing by the slightest +variation of countenance her consciousness of the many hundreds gazing +on, or that they annoyed or disturbed her; her spirit was wrapt in +itself. We should assert falsehood did we say she did not suffer; she +did, but it was a mother's agony heightened by a patriot's grief. She +believed her son, who had been in truth the idol of her mourning heart, +had indeed fallen. Her Agnes was not amongst the queen's train, of whose +captivity she had been made aware, though not allowed speech with them. +Where was _she_--what would be her fate? She only knew her as a lovely, +fragile flower, liable to be crushed under the first storm; and pictured +her, rudely severed from Nigel, perchance in the hands of some lawless +spoiler, and heart-broken, dying. Shuddering with anguish, she thought +not of her own fate--she thought but of her children, of her country; +and if King Robert did enter these visions, it was simply as her +sovereign, as one whose patriotism would yet achieve the liberty of +Scotland; but there was a dimness even o'er that dream, for the figure +of her noble boy was gone, naught but a blank--dull, shapeless--occupied +that spot in the vision of the future, which once his light had filled. + +The castle-yard was at length gained, and a half and some change in the +line of march ensued; the officers and men formed in a compact crescent, +leaving the countess, a herald, trumpeters, and some of the highest +knights, in front. So intense was the interest of the crowd at this +moment, that they did not heed the rapid advance of a gallant body of +horse and foot from the north, except to rail at the pressure they +occasioned in forcing their way through. They gained the castle-yard at +length, and there halted, and fell back in utter astonishment at the +scene they witnessed. + +The herald had drawn a parchment from his belt, and made a step forward +as if to speak. The knights, in sullen silence, leant upon their +sheathed swords, without even glancing at their prisoner, who appeared +far the most composed and dignified of all present, and, after a brief +pause, words to this effect were distinguished by the crowd. + +"To our loyal and loving subjects of both North and South Britain, +Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Wales, France, and +Scotland, greeting. Whereas Isabella, born of Fife, and late of Buchan, +which latter she hath, by foul dishonor and utter disregard of marriage +vows, now forfeited, hath done traitorously and disloyally alike to her +sovereign lord the king, and to her gracious lord and husband, John, +Earl of Buchan, whom, for his fidelity, we hold in good favor. As she +hath not struck by the sword, so she shall not perish by the sword; but +for her lawless conspiracy, she shall be shut up in a stone and iron +chamber, circular as the crown she gave, in this proclaiming to both +countries her everlasting infamy. And this we do in mercy; for, whereas +she deserveth death, we do remit the same, and give her time to repent +her of her heinous crime. + +"Given at our palace of Carlisle, this twenty-third day of February, in +the year of our Lord and Saviour, one thousand three hundred and seven. +God save the King!" + +But the loyal ejaculation was not echoed, nay, the herald himself had +read the proclamation, as if every word had been forced from him, and +the eyes of every knight and soldier had been fixed upon the ground, as +if shame rested on them rather than on their prisoner. A dead silence +for a few minutes followed, broken only by some faint cries of "God save +King Edward, and down with all traitors!" which seemed raised more to +drown the groans which involuntarily burst forth, than as the echo of +the heart. They dared not evince the faintest sign of disapproval, for +they stood on precarious ground; a groan even might be punished by their +irritable king as treachery; but there was one present who cared little +for this charge. Scarcely had the words passed the herald's lips, before +a young man, whose bare head and lack of all weapons would have +proclaimed him one of the Earl of Hereford's prisoners, had not the +attention of all been turned from him by the one engrossing object, now +snatching a sword from a soldier near him, sprung from his horse, and +violently attacking the herald, exclaimed, in a voice of thunder-- + +"Liar and slave! thinkest thou there is none near to give the lie to thy +foul slanders--none to defend the fair fame, the stainless honor of this +much-abused lady? Dastard and coward, fit mouthpiece of a dishonored and +blasphemous tyrant! go tell him, his prisoner--aye, Nigel Bruce--thrusts +back his foul lies into his very teeth. Ha! coward and slave, wouldst +thou shun me?" + +A scene of indescribable confusion now ensued. The herald, a man not +much in love with war, stood cowering and trembling before his +adversary, seeking to cover himself with his weapon, but, from his +trembling hold, ineffectually. The stature of the youthful Scotsman +appeared towering, as he stood over him with his uplifted sword, +refusing to strike a defenceless man, but holding him with a gripe of +iron; his cheek flushed crimson, his nostrils distended, for his soul +was moved with a mightier, darker passion than had ever stirred its +depths before. The soldiers of both parties, joined, too, by some from +the castle--for a party headed by the Earl of Berwick himself had +attended to give countenance to the proclamation--rushed forward, but +involuntarily fell back, awed for the moment by the mighty spirit of one +man; the knights, roused from their sullen posture, looked much as if +they would, if they dared, have left the herald to his fate. Hereford +and Berwick at the same instant spurred forward their steeds, the one +exclaiming, "Madman, let go your hold--you are tempting your own fate! +Nigel, for the love of heaven! for the sake of those that love you, be +not so rash!" the other thundering forth, "Cut down the traitor, an he +will not loose his hold. Forward, cowardly knaves! will ye hear your +king insulted, and not revenge it?--forward, I say! fear ye a single +man?" + +And numbers, spurred on by his words, dashed forward to obey him, but +fearlessly Sir Nigel Bruce retained his hold with his left hand, and +with his right grasped tighter his sword, and stood, with the fierce +undaunted port of a lion lashed into fury, gazing on his foes; but ere +he had crossed with the foremost weapons, a slight lad burst through the +gathering crowd, and with a piercing shriek threw himself at his +master's feet, and grasping his knees, seemed by his pleading looks, for +his words were inaudible, imploring him to desist from his rashness. At +the same moment another form pressed through the soldiers, her look, her +mien compelling them involuntarily to open their ranks and give her +passage. The sword of Nigel was in the act of falling on a second foe, +the first lay at his feet, when his arm was caught in its descent, and +Isabella of Buchan stood at his side. + +"Forbear!" she said, in those rich impressive tones that ever forced +obedience. "Nigel Bruce, brother of my sovereign, friend of my son, +forbear! strike not one blow for me. Mine honor needs no defence by +those that love me; my country will acquit me; the words of England's +monarch, angered at a woman's defiance of his power, affect me not! +Noble Nigel, excite not further wrath against thyself by this vain +struggle for my sake; put up thy sword, ere it is forced from thee. Let +go thy hold; this man is but an instrument, why wreak thy wrath on him? +Must I speak, implore in vain? Nay, then, I do command thee!" + +And those who gazed on her, as she drew that stately form to its full +height, as they heard those accents of imperative command, scarce +marvelled that Edward should dread her influence, woman as she was. +Despite the increasing wrath on the Earl of Berwick's brow, the men +waited to see the effect of these words. There was still an expression +of ill-controlled passion on Nigel's features. He waited one moment when +she ceased to speak, then slowly and deliberately shook the herald by +the collar, and hurled him from his hold; snapped his sword in twain, +and flinging it from him, folded his arms on his breast, and calmly +uttering, "Pardon me, noble lady, mine honor were impugned had I +suffered that dastardly villain to pass hence unpunished--let Edward act +as he lists, it matters little now," waited with impenetrable resolve +the rage he had provoked. + +"Nigel, Nigel, rash, impetuous boy, what hast thou done?" exclaimed the +countess, losing all mien and accent of command in the terror with which +she clung round him, as if to protect him from all ill, in the tone and +look of maternal tenderness with which she addressed him. "Why, why must +it be my ill fate to hurl down increase of misery and danger on all whom +I love?" + +"Speak not so, noble lady, in mercy do not!" he whispered in reply; +"keep that undaunted spirit shown but now, I can better bear it than +this voice of anguish. And thou," he added, laying his hand on the +shoulder of the boy, who still clung to his knees, as if fascinated +there by speechless terror, and gazed alternately on him and the +countess with eyes glazed almost in madness, "up, up; this is no place +for thee. What can they do with me but slay--let them come on--better, +far better than a scaffold!" but the boy moved not, Nigel spoke in vain. + +The fate he dared seemed indeed threatening. Wrought well-nigh to +phrensy at this daring insult to his sovereign, in whose acts of cruelty +and oppression he could far better sympathize than in his more knightly +qualities, the Earl of Berwick loudly and fiercely called on his +soldiers to advance and cut down the traitor, to bring the heaviest +fetters and bear him to the lowest dungeon. The men, roused from their +stupor of amaze, rushed on impetuously to obey him; their naked swords +already gleamed round Nigel; the Countess of Buchan was torn from his +side, her own especial guards closing darkly around her; but vainly did +they seek to unclasp the convulsive grasp of the boy from Nigel, he +neither shrieked nor spake, but he remained in that one posture, rigid +as stone. + +"Fiends! monsters! would ye, dare ye touch a boy, a child as this!" +shouted Nigel, struggling with herculean strength to free himself from +the rude grasp of the soldiers, as he beheld the sharp steel pointed at +the breast of the boy, to compel him to unloose his hold. "Villains, +cowards! bear back and let me speak with him," and nerved to madness by +the violence of his emotions, he suddenly wrenched himself away, the +rapidity of the movement throwing one of the men to the earth, and bent +over the boy; again they rushed forward, they closed upon him, they tore +away the lad by force of numbers, and flung him senseless on the earth; +they sought to bear away their prisoner, but at that moment Hereford, +who had been parleying loudly and wrathfully with Berwick, spurred his +charger in the very midst of them, and compelled them to bear back. + +"Back, back!" he exclaimed, making a path for himself with his drawn +sword; "how dare ye thrust yourselves betwixt me and my lawful prisoner, +captive of my sword and power? what right have ye to dare detain him? +Let go your hold, none but the men whose prowess gained this gallant +prize shall guard him till my sovereign's will be known. Back, back, I +say!" + +"Traitor!" retorted Berwick, "he is no longer your prisoner. An insult +offered to King Edward, in the loyal citadel of Berwick, in my very +presence, his representative as I stand, shall meet with fit +retribution. He hath insulted his sovereign by act and word, and I +attach him of high treason and will enforce my charge. Forward, I say!" + +"And I say back!" shouted the Earl of Hereford; "I tell thee, proud +earl, he is my prisoner, and mine alone. Thou mayest vaunt thy loyalty, +thy representation of majesty, as thou listeth, mine hath been proved at +the good sword's point, and Edward will deem me no traitor because I +protect a captive, who hath surrendered himself a knight to a knight, +rescue or no rescue, from this unseemly violence. I bandy no more words +with such as thee; back! the first man that dares lay hold on him I +chastise with my sword." + +"Thou shalt repent this!" muttered Berwick, with a suppressed yet +terrible oath, but he dared proceed no further. + +A signal from their leader brought up all Hereford's men, who, in +compact order and perfect silence, surrounded their prisoner. Sternly +the earl called for a pair of handcuffs, and with his own hands fastened +them on his captive. "It grieves me," he said, "to see a brave man thus +manacled, but thine own mad act hath brought it on thyself. And now, my +Lord of Berwick, an it please thee to proceed, we demand admission to +thy citadel in King Edward's name. Bring up the other prisoners." + +Concealing his wrath with difficulty, the Earl of Berwick and his +attendants dashed forward over the drawbridge into the castle at full +speed, closing the gates and lowering the portcullis after them. After a +brief space, the portcullis was again raised, the gates flung wide +apart, and the men-at-arms were discerned lining either side, in all due +form and homage to the officers of their sovereign. During the wrathful +words passing between the two earls, the attention of the crowd had been +given alternately to them and to the Countess of Buchan, who had utterly +forgotten her own precarious situation in anxiety for Nigel, and in pity +for the unfortunate child, who had been hurled by the soldiers close to +the spot where she stood. + +"Do not leave him there, he will be trampled on," she said, imploringly, +to the officers beside her. "He can do no harm, poor child, Scotch +though he be. A little water, only bring me a little water, and he will +speedily recover." + +All she desired was done, the boy was tenderly raised and brought within +the circle of her guards, and laid on the ground at her feet. She knelt +down beside him, chafed his cold hands within her own, and moistened his +lips and brow with water. After a while his scattered senses returned, +he started up in a sitting posture, and gazed in wild inquiry around +him, uttering a few inarticulate words, and then saying aloud, "Sir +Nigel, my lord, my--my--master, where is he? oh! let me go to him; why +am I here?" + +"Thou shalt go to him, poor boy, as soon as thy strength returns; an +they have let thee follow him from Scotland, surely they will not part +ye now," said the countess soothingly, and her voice seemed to rouse the +lad into more consciousness. He gazed long in her face, with an +expression which at that time she could not define, but which startled +and affected her, and she put her arm round him and kissed his brow. A +convulsive almost agonized sob broke from the boy's breast, and caused +his slight frame to shake as with an ague, then suddenly he knelt before +her, and, in accents barely articulate, murmured-- + +"Bless me, oh bless me!" while another word seemed struggling for +utterance, but checked with an effort which caused it to die on his lips +in indistinct murmurs. + +"Bless thee, poor child! from my very heart I do, if the blessing of one +sorrowing and afflicted as myself can in aught avail thee. For thy +faithfulness to thy master, I bless thee, for it speaketh well for thee, +and that face would bid me love and bless thee for thyself, I know not +wherefore. Good angels keep and bless thee, gentle boy, thou hast +Isabella's prayers, and may they give thee peace." + +"Pray for me, aye, pray for me," repeated the boy, in the same murmured +tones. He clasped her hands in both his, he pressed them again and again +to his lips, repeated sobs burst from his laboring breast, and then he +sprung up, darted away, and stood at Sir Nigel's side, just as the Earl +of Hereford had commanded his men to wheel a little to the right, to +permit the Countess of Buchan, her guards and officers, free passage +over the drawbridge, and first entrance within the fortress. + +The brow of this noble son of chivalry darkened as, sitting motionless +on his tall steed, his gaze rested on the noble woman whom it had +originally been his painful charge to deliver over to his sovereign. He +had not dreamed of a vengeance such as this. He could not have believed +a change so dark as this had fallen on the character of a sovereign whom +he still loved, still sought to admire and revere, and his spirit sunk +'neath the sorrow this conviction caused. Almost involuntarily, as the +procession slowly proceeded, and the countess passed within three paces +of his horse's head, he bent his lordly brow in silent homage; she saw +it and returned it, more effected by the unfeigned commiseration on that +warrior's face, than at aught which had occurred to shame and humble her +that morning. + +A brief pause took place in the movements of the officers and their +prisoners, when they reached the great hall of the castle. For a brief +minute Lady Seaton and the Countess of Buchan had met, had clasped +hands, in sad, yet eager greeting. "My child, mine Agnes?" had been by +the latter hurriedly whispered, and the answer, "Safe, I trust, safe," +just permitted to reach her ear, when roughly and fiercely the Earl of +Berwick summoned the Lady of Buchan to proceed to the chamber appointed +for her use. Those simple words had, however, removed a load of anxiety +from her mind, for they appeared to confirm what she had sometimes +permitted herself to hope, that Agnes had shared King Robert's exile, +under the care of Lady Campbell; prevailed on to do so, perchance, by +the entreaties of Nigel, who in all probability had deemed that course, +though one of hardship, less perilous than remaining with him. She hoped +indeed against her better judgment, for though she knew not the depth, +the might of her daughter's feelings, she knew it must have been a +terrible trial so to part, and she absolutely shuddered when she thought +of the whelming blow it would be to that young heart when the fate of +her betrothed was ascertained. + +Lady Seaton had spoken as she believed. No communication had been +permitted between the prisoners on their way to England; indeed, from +Sir Christopher's wounded and exhausted state, he had travelled more +leisurely in a litter, always in the rear of the earl's detachment, and +occupied by her close attendance upon him, his wife had scarcely been +aware of the young page ever in attendance on her brother, or deemed +him, if she did observe him, a retainer of Hereford's own. There was so +much of fearful peril and misery hovering over her in her husband's +fate, that it was not much wonder her thoughts lingered there more than +on Agnes, and that she was contented to believe as she had spoken, that +she at least was safe. + +Night fell on the town of Berwick. Silence and darkness had come on her +brooding wings; the varied excitement of the day was now but a matter of +wondering commune round the many blazing hearths, where the busy crowds +of the morning had now gathered. Night came, with her closing pall, her +softened memories, her sleeping visions, and sad waking dreams. She had +come, alike to the mourned and mourner, the conqueror and his captive, +the happy and the wretched. She had found the Earl of Berwick pacing up +and down his stately chamber, his curtained couch unsought, devising +schemes to lower the haughty pride of the gallant warrior whom he yet +feared. She had looked softly within the room where that warrior lay, +and found him, too, sleepless, but not from the same dark dreams. He +grieved for his sovereign, for the fate of one noble spirit shrined in a +woman's form, and restless and fevered, turned again and again within +his mind how he might save from a yet darker doom the gallant youth his +arms had conquered. And not alone on them did night look down. She sent +her sweet, reviving influence, on the rays of a bright liquid star, +through the narrow casement which gave light to the rude unfurnished +chamber where Sir Nigel Bruce and his attendant lay. They had not torn +that poor faithful child from his side. Hereford's last commands had +been that they should not part them, and there they now lay; and sleep, +balmy sleep had for them descended on the wings of night, hovering over +that humble pallet of straw, when from the curtained couch of power, the +downy bed of luxury, she fled. There they lay; but it was the boy who +lay on the pallet of straw, his head pillowed by the arm of the knight, +who sat on a wooden settle at his side. He had watched for a brief space +those troubled slumbers, but as they grew calmer and calmer, he had +pressed one light kiss on the soft yielding cheek, and then leant his +head on his breast, and he too slept--even in sleep tending one beloved. + +And in the dark, close sleeping-chamber within the prison cage of the +noble Countess of Buchan, night too looked pityingly. Sleep indeed was +not there; it had come and gone, for in a troubled slumber a dream had +come of Agnes, and she had woke to think upon her child, and pray for +her; and as she prayed, she thought of her promise to the poor boy who +had so strangely moved her. She could not trace how one thought had +sprung from the other, nor why in the darkness his features so suddenly +flashed before her; but so it was. His face seemed to gleam upon her +with the same strange, indefinable expression which, even at the time, +had startled her; and then a sudden flash appeared to illumine that +darkness of bewilderment. She started up from her reclining posture; she +pressed both hands on her throbbing eyeballs; a wild, sickening yearning +took possession of her whole soul; and then she felt, in its full +bitterness, she was a chained and guarded prisoner and the deep anguish +of her spirit found vent in the convulsive cry-- + +"Fool, fool that I was--my child! my child!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Leaving the goodly town of Berwick and its busy citizens, its castle and +its prisoners, for a brief space, we must now transport our readers to +a pleasant chamber overlooking the Eden, in the castle of Carlisle, now +a royal residence; a fact which, from its numerous noble inmates, its +concourse of pages, esquires, guards, and various other retainers of a +royal establishment, the constant ingress and egress of richly-attired +courtiers, the somewhat bustling, yet deferential aspect of the scene, a +very cursory glance would have been all-sufficient to prove. + +It had been with a full determination to set all obstacles, even disease +itself, at defiance, King Edward, some months before, had quitted +Winchester, and directed his march towards the North, vowing vengeance +on the rebellious and disaffected Scots, and swearing death alone should +prevent the complete and terrible extermination of the traitors. He had +proceeded in this spirit to Carlisle, disregarding the threatening +violence of disease, so sustained by the spirit of disappointed ambition +within as scarcely to be conscious of an almost prostrating increase of +weakness and exhaustion. He had determined to make a halt of some weeks +at Carlisle, to wait the effect of the large armies he had sent forward +to overrun Scotland, and to receive intelligence of the measures they +had already taken. Here, then, disease, as if enraged that he should +have borne up so long, that his spirit had mastered even her, convened +the whole powers of suffering, and compelled him not alone to +acknowledge, but to writhe beneath her sway. His whole frame was shaken; +intolerable pains took possession of him, and though the virulence of +the complaint was at length so far abated as to permit him a short +continuance of life, he could never sit his horse again, or even hope to +carry on in his own person his plans for the total reduction of +Scotland. But as his frame weakened, as he became the victim of almost +continual pain, all the darker and fiercer passions of his nature gained +yet more fearful ascendency. The change had been some time gathering, +but within the last twelve months its effects were such, that his +noblest, most devoted knights, blind as their affection for his person +rendered them, could scarce recognize in the bloodthirsty, ambitious +tyrant they now beheld their gallant, generous, humane, and most +chivalric sovereign, who had won golden opinions from all sorts and +conditions of men; who had performed the duties of a son and husband so +as to fix the eyes of all Europe on him in admiration; who had swayed +the sceptre of his mighty kingdom with such a powerful and fearless +hand, it had been long since England had acquired such weight in the +scale of kingdoms. Wise, moderate, merciful even in strict justice as he +had been, could it be that ambition had wrought such change; that +disease had banished every feeling from his breast, save this one dark, +fiend-like passion, for the furtherance of which, or in revenge of its +disappointment, noble blood flowed like water--the brave, the good, the +young, the old, the noble and his follower, alike fell before the axe or +the cord of the executioner? Could it indeed be that Edward, once such a +perfect, glorious scion of chivalry, had now shut up his heart against +its every whisper, lest it should interfere with his brooding visions of +revenge; forgot each feeling, lest he should involuntarily sympathize +with the noble and knightly spirit of the patriots of Scotland, whom he +had sworn to crush? Alas! it was even so; ruthless and tyrannical, the +nobles he had once favored, once loved, now became odious to him, for +their presence made him painfully conscious of the change within +himself; and he now associated but with spirits dark, fierce, cruel as +his own--men he would once have shunned, have banished from his court, +as utterly unworthy of his favor. + +It was, then, in a royally-furnished chamber, pleasantly overlooking the +river Eden and the adjoining country, that about a week after the events +narrated in the preceding chapter, King Edward reclined. His couch was +softly and luxuriously cushioned, and not a little art had been expended +in the endeavor to lighten his sufferings, and enable him to rest at +ease. The repeated contraction of his countenance, however, betrayed how +impotent was even luxury when brought in contact with disease. The +richly-furred and wadded crimson velvet robe could not conceal the +attenuation of his once peculiarly fine and noble form; his great length +of limb, which had gained him, and handed down to posterity, the +inelegant surname of Longshanks, rendered his appearance yet more gaunt +and meagre; while his features, which once, from the benignity and +nobleness of his character, had been eminently handsome, now pale, thin, +and pointed, seemed to express but the one passion of his soul--its +gratification of revenge. His expansive brow was now contracted and +stern, rendered more so perhaps by the lack of hair about the temples; +he wore a black velvet cap, circled coronet-wise with large diamonds +from which a white feather drooped to his shoulder. There was a slight, +scarcely visible, sneer resting on his features that morning, called +forth perhaps by his internal scorn of the noble with whom he had +deigned a secret conference; but the Earl of Buchan had done him good +service, had ably forwarded his revenge, and he would not therefore +listen to that still voice of scorn. + +"Soh! she is secure, and your desires on that head accomplished, sir +earl," he said, in continuance of some subject they had been discussing. +"Thou hast done us good service, and by mine honor, it would seem we +have done your lordship the same." + +"Aye," muttered the earl, whose dark features had not grown a whit more +amiable since we last beheld him; "aye, we are both avenged." + +"How, sir I darest thou place thyself on a par with me?" angrily +retorted Edward; "thinkest thou the sovereign of England can have aught +in common with such as thee? Isabella of Buchan, or of Fife, an thou +likest that better, is debased, imprisoned, because she hath dared +insult our person, defy our authority, to act treasonably and +mischievously, and sow dissension and rebellion amid our Scottish +subjects--for this she is chastised; an it gratify your matrimonial +revenge, I am glad on't; but Edward of England brooks no equality with +Comyn of Buchan, though it be but equality in revenge." + +Buchan bent his knee, and humbly apologized. + +"Well, well, let it be; thou hast served us too faithfully to be +quarrelled with, for perchance unintentional irreverence. The imposition +of her child's murder, when he lives and is well, is the coinage of +thine own brain, sir earl, and thou must reconcile it to thine own +conscience. We hold ourselves exempt from all such peculiar mercy, for +we scarce see its wisdom." There was a slight bitterness in Edward's +tone. + +"Wisdom, my sovereign liege, deemest thou there is no wisdom in +revenge?" and the brow of the earl grew dark with passion, as he spoke. +"Have I naught to punish, naught to avenge in this foul +traitress--naught, that her black treachery has extended to my son, my +heir, even to his tender years? I would not have her death; no, let her +live and feed on the belief that her example, her counsels have killed +her own child; that had it not been for her, he might have lived, been +prosperous, aye, and happy now. Is there no wisdom in such revenge? and +if there be none, save that which my own heart feels, I could give your +grace another and a better reason for this proceeding." + +"Speak it, in St. George's name," replied the king; "of a truth thou art +of most clear conception in all schemes of vengeance. I might have +thought long enough, ere I could have lighted on such as this. What +more?" + +"Simply, your grace, that by encouraging a little while the report of +his death, his friends in Scotland will forget that he ever existed, and +make no effort for his rescue; which belief, wild and unfounded as it +is, I imagine supports him in his strenuous determination to live and +die a traitor to your highness. I have no hatred to the boy; nay, an he +would let me, could love and be proud of him, now his mother cannot +cross my path, and would gladly see him devoted, as myself, to the +interests of your grace. Nor do I despair of this; he is very young, and +his character cannot be entirely formed. He will tire in time of dark +and solitary confinement, and gladly accept any conditions I may offer." + +"Gives he any proof as yet of this yielding mood?" + +"By mine honor, no, your highness; he is firm and steadfast as the ocean +rock." + +"Then wherefore thinkest thou he will change in time?" + +"Because as yet, my gracious liege, the foul, treacherous principles of +his mother have not ceased to work. An entire cessation of intercourse +between them will show him his mistake at last, and this could never be, +did she know he lived. Imprisoned, guarded as she is, she would yet find +some means of communication with him, and all my efforts would be of no +avail. Let a year roll by, and I will stake my right hand that Alan of +Buchan becomes as firm a supporter and follower of King Edward as ever +his father was. Is the boy more than mortal, and does your grace think +life, liberty, riches, honors, will not weigh against perpetual +imprisonment and daily thoughts of death?" + +So spoke the Earl of Buchan, judging, as most men, others by himself, +utterly unable to comprehend the high, glorious, self-devoted, patriotic +spirit of his noble son. He persevered in his course of fiend-like +cruelty, excusing it to his own conscience, if he had any, by the +belief it would end but in his son's good--an end, indeed, he seldom +thought of attaining; but there was something in the idea of a son, an +heir, and one so prepossessing in appearance as Alan of Buchan, that +touched his pride, the only point on which his flinty heart was +vulnerable. + +"So thou thinkest, sir earl?" resumed the king, who perhaps in his own +secret soul did not entirely think with him. "Meanwhile the stripling +may laugh thy parental care to scorn, by escaping from iron chains and +stone walls, and seeking out the arch rebel Bruce, make up at the +sword's point for lost time. Beware, sir earl, an he be taken again thus +in arms against us, even thy loyal services will not save his head!" + +"I should not even ask your grace's clemency," replied the earl, his +features assuming a fearful expression as he spoke. "An he thus turned +traitor again to his father's house, spurning mine and your grace's +favor, to join the base murderer of his kinsman, he shall be no more to +me than others, whose treason hath cost their heads; but I have no fear +of this. He cannot escape, guarded as he is, by alike the most ruthless +and the most faithful of my followers; and while there, if all else +fail, I will publish that he lives, but so poison the ears of his rebel +Scottish friends against him, he will not, dare not join them, and in +his own despite, will be compelled to act as befitting his father's son. +Trust me, my liege. To thy royal clemency I owe his life; be it my duty, +then, to instil into him other principles than those which actuated him +before." + +"But your own character, my lord, meanwhile, care ye naught for the +stain supposed to rest upon it? Thy plans sound wise, and we thank thee +for thy loyalty; but we would not ye burdened your name with a deed not +its own, an ye cared for the world's applause." + +"Not a whit, not a whit, your highness; countenanced by your grace's +favor, absolved in your opinion from the barbarity others charge me +with, I care not for them, I have been too long mine own +conscience-keeper to heed the whispers of the world," he added, his dark +brows knitting closer as he spoke. + +Edward smiled grimly. "Be it so, then," he said; "my Lord of Buchan, we +understand each other. An that boy escapes and rejoins the traitors, and +is taken, his head answers for it. An ye succeed in making him loyal as +yourself, as eager a pursuer of the murderous traitor, Bruce, we will +give thee the palm for policy and wisdom in our court, ourself not +excepted. And now another question; it was reported Isabella of Buchan +joined the rebel's court with her _two_ children. Who and where is the +second? we have heard but of one." + +"A puny, spiritless wench, as I have heard, my liege; one little likely +to affect your highness, and not worth the seeking." + +"Nay, an she hath her mother's influence, we differ from thee, sir earl, +and would rather see her within the walls of our court than in the +traitor's train. I remember not her name amid those taken with the +Bruce's wife. Hast inquired aught concerning her?" + +"Not I, your grace," carelessly replied the earl; "of a truth, I had +weightier thoughts than the detention or interest of a simple wench, +who, if her mother has taught to forget me as her father, is not worth +my remembering as a child." + +"I give you joy of your most fatherly indifference, sir earl," answered +the king, with an ill-suppressed sneer. "It would concern you little if +she takes unto herself a husband midst your foes; the rebel Robert hath +goodly brothers, and the feud between thy house and theirs may but +impart a double enjoyment to the union." + +The earl started, as if an adder had stung him. "She dare not do this +thing," he said, fiercely; "she will not--she dare not. A thousand +curses light upon her head even if she dreams it!" + +"Nay, waste not thy breath in curses, good my lord, but up an prevent +the very possibility of such a thing, an it move thee so deeply. I say +not it is, but some such floating rumor has reached my ears, I can +scarce trace how, save through the medium of our numerous prisoners." + +"But how obtain information--where seek her? I pray you pardon me, your +grace, but there are a thousand furies in the thought!" and scarcely +could the consciousness of the royal presence restrain the rage which +gathered on the swarthy features of the earl from finding vent in words. + +"Nay, nay, my lord, let not your marvellous wisdom and sage indifference +be so speedily at fault. An she be not in Margaret Bruce's train, that +goodly dame may give thee some information. Seek her, and may be thou +wilt learn more of this wench than thou hast since her birth. In pity to +this sudden interest, we grant thee permission to visit these partners +of treason in their respective convents, and learn what thou canst; an +she be within thy reach, be advised, and find her a husband thyself, the +best find most speedy means of eradicating her mother's counsels." + +Buchan's reply was arrested on his lips by the entrance of the royal +chamberlain, announcing that the Earl of Berwick had arrived in all +haste from Berwick, and earnestly besought a few minutes' audience with +his sovereign. + +"Berwick!" repeated Edward, half raising himself in his surprise from +his reclining posture. "Berwick! what the foul fiend brings him from his +post at such a time? Bid him enter; haste, I charge thee." + +His impatient command was speedily obeyed, The Earl of Berwick was close +on the heels of the chamberlain, and now appeared, his lowly obeisance +not concealing from the quick eye of his master that wrath, black as a +thunder-cloud, was resting on his brow. + +"How now," said the king, "what means this unseemly gear, sir earl? thou +must have neither rested spur nor slackened rein, methinks, an thy garb +tell truth; and wherefore seekest thou our presence in such fiery haste? +Wouldst thou be private? My Lord of Buchan, thou hadst best follow our +counsel ere thy interest cools." + +"Nay, your grace, bid not yon noble earl depart to grant me hearing; I +would speak before him, aye, and the whole court, were it needed. 'Tis +but to lay the sword and mantle, with which your highness invested me as +governor of the citadel of Berwick, at your grace's feet, and beseech +you to accept my resignation of the same." With well-affected humility +the Earl of Berwick unclasped his jewelled mantle, and kneeling down, +laid it with his sheathed sword at King Edward's feet, remaining on his +knee. + +"Art craven, fool, or traitor?" demanded Edward, when his astonishment +permitted words. "What means this? Speak out, and instantly; we are not +wont to be thus trifled with. My Lord of Berwick, wherefore dost thou do +this?" + +"Not because I am a craven, good my liege," replied the nobleman, still +on his knee, "for had I been so, King Edward's penetration would have +discovered it ere he intrusted me with so great a charge--nor because I +am a witless fool, unconscious of the high honor I thus tamely +resign--and not because I am a traitor, gracious sovereign, for 'tis +from insult and interruption in the arrest of a blasphemous traitor I am +here." + +"Insult--interruption!" fiercely exclaimed the king, starting up. "Who +has dared--who loves his life so little as to do this? But speak on, +speak on, we listen." + +"Pardon me, your highness, I came to tender my resignation, not an +accusation," resumed the wily earl, cautiously lashing his sovereign +into fury, aware that it was much easier to gain what he wished in such +moods than as he found him now. "I came but to beseech your highness to +resume that which your own royal hands had given me. My authority +trampled upon, my loyalty insulted, my zeal in your grace's service +derided, my very men compelled, perforce of arms, to disobey me, and +this by one high in your grace's estimation, nay, connected with your +royal self. Surely, my gracious liege, I do but right in resigning the +high honor your highness bestowed. I can have little merit to retain it, +and such things be." + +"But they shall not be, sir. As there is a God above us, they shall not +be!" exclaimed the king, in towering wrath, and striking his hand on a +small table of crystal near him with such violence as to shiver it to +pieces. "By heaven and hell! they shall repent this, be it mine own son +who hath been thus insolent. Speak out, I tell thee, as thou lovest thy +life, speak out; drive me not mad by this cautiously-worded tale. Who +hath dared trample on authority mine own hand and seal hath given--who +is the traitor? Speak out, I charge thee!" and strengthened by his own +passion, the king sate upright on his couch, clenching his hand till the +blood sprung, and fixing his dark, fiery eyes on the earl. It was the +mood he had tried for, and now artfully and speciously, with many +additions, he narrated all that had passed the preceding day in the +castle-yard of Berwick. Fiercer and fiercer waxed the wrath of the king. + +"Fling him in the lowest dungeon, load him with the heaviest fetters +hands can forge!" were the words first distinguished, when passion +permitted articulation. "The villain, the black-faced traitor! it is not +enough he hath dared raise arms against me, but he must beard me to the +very teeth, defy me in my very palace, throw scorn upon me, maltreat an +officer of mine own person! Is there no punishment but death for this +foul insolence! As there is a God in heaven, he shall feel my vengeance +ere he reach the scaffold--feel it, aye, till death be but too welcome!" +He sunk back, exhausted by his own violence; but not a minute passed ere +again he burst forth. "And Hereford, the traitor Hereford, he dared +defend him! dared assault thee in the pursuance of thy duty, the +audacious insolent! Doth he think, forsooth, his work in Scotland will +exempt him from the punishment of insolence, of treason? as an aider and +abettor of treachery he shares its guilt, and shall know whom he hath +insulted. Back to thy citadel, my Lord of Berwick, see to the strict +incarceration of this foul branch of treachery, aye, and look well about +ye, lest any seditious citizen or soldier hath, by look or word, given +aught of encouragement, or failed in due respect to our proclamation. An +Hereford abet the traitor, others may be but too willing to do the like. +By heaven, they shall share his fate! Bid Hereford hither on the +instant, say naught of having been beforehand with him; I would list the +insolent's own tale. Rest thee a brief while, my lord, and our great +seal shall insure thee prompt obedience. Bid Sir Edmund Stanley attend +us, my Lord of Buchan. I need scarce warn a Comyn to be secret on what +has passed; I would not have the foul insolence cast into our teeth as +yet proclaimed. Begone, both of ye; we would be a brief space alone." + +The deadly pallor which had usurped the flush of fury on the monarch's +cheek afforded such strong evidence of a sharp renewal of his internal +pains, that both noblemen hesitated to obey. The damp of agony stood +upon his forehead a moment in large drops, then absolutely poured down +his cheeks, while his gaunt frame shook with the effort to suppress the +groan which his throes wrung from him. Seizing a cordial near him, +Buchan presented it on his knee, but Edward only waved them both away, +angrily and impatiently pointing to the door. He loved not the weakness +of an appalling disease to be witnessed by his courtiers. When utterly +incapacitated from either the appearance or functions of the sovereign, +he chose to be alone, his pride scarcely brooking even the cares of his +young and beautiful wife, or the yet wiser and truer affection of his +daughters. The effects of this interview will be seen in a future +chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +There was an expression of both sorrow and care on the fine and winning +features of the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, as she sat busied +in embroidery in an apartment of Carlisle Castle, often pausing to rest +her head upon her hand, and glance out of the broad casement near which +she sat, not in admiration of the placid scene which stretched beyond, +but in the mere forgetfulness of uneasy thought. Long the favorite +daughter of King Edward, perchance because her character more resembled +that of her mother, Queen Eleanor, than did either of her sisters, she +had till lately possessed unbounded influence over him. Not only his +affection but his pride was gratified in her, for he saw much of his own +wisdom, penetration, and high sense of honor reflected upon her, far +more forcibly than in his weak and yielding son. But lately, the change +which had so painfully darkened the character and actions of her father +had extended even to her. Her affection for a long time blinded her to +this painful truth, but by slow degrees it became too evident to be +mistaken, and she had wept many bitter tears, less perhaps for herself +than for her father, whom she had almost idolized. His knightly +qualities, his wisdom, the good he had done his country, all were +treasured up by her and rejoiced in with never-failing delight. His +reputation, his popularity, were dear to her, even as her noble +husband's. She had not only loved, she had reverenced him as some +superior being who had come but to do good, to leave behind him through +succeeding ages an untarnished name, enshrined in such love, England +would be long ere she spoke it without tears. And now, alas! she had +outlived such dreams; her reverence, lingering still, had been impaired +by deeds of blood her pride in him crushed; naught but a daughter's love +remaining, which did but more strongly impress upon her heart the fatal +change. And now the last blow was given; he shunned her, scarcely ever +summoned her to his presence, permitted the wife of a day to tend him in +his sufferings, rather than the daughter of his former love, one +hallowed by the memories of her mother, the beloved and faithful partner +of his youth. + +It was not, however, these thoughts which entirely engrossed her now +not undivided sorrows. Her sister Elizabeth, the Countess of Hereford, +had just left her, plunged in the deepest distress, from the +extraordinary fact that her husband, summoned seemingly in all amity by +the king, had been arrested by the Lord Marshal of England as an aider +and abettor of treason, and was now in strict confinement within the +castle; not permitted to embrace his wife and children, whom he had not +seen since his arrival from Scotland, where he had so gallantly assisted +the cause of Edward, and whence he had but just returned in triumph. No +other cause was assigned saving having given countenance to treason and +_lèze majesté_, but that the irritation of the king had prohibited all +hope of present pardon;--she, Lady Hereford, though his own daughter, +having been refused admission to his presence. Both the Earl and +Countess of Gloucester had anxiously striven to comfort the anxious +wife, conquering their own fears to assure her that hers were +groundless; that though from some mysterious cause at present irritated, +as they knew too well a trifle made him now, Hereford was too good and +loyal a subject for the king to proceed to extremities, whatever might +have been his fault. Rumors of the confusion at Berwick had indeed +reached Carlisle, and it was to have them confirmed or denied, or +connected with some appearance of veracity, the Earl of Gloucester had +quitted the royal sisters, determining to use his influence with his +sovereign, even to dare his wrath, for the release of Hereford, whose +good services in Scotland deserved a somewhat different recompense. Lady +Hereford, too anxious and dispirited to remain long in one place, soon +departed to seek the youthful Margaret of France, her father's beautiful +wife, and beseech her influence with him, either for the pardon of her +husband, or at least communication with him. + +It was these sad thoughts which engrossed the Princess Joan, and they +lingered too on Hereford's prisoner, the brave, and noble Nigel, for +both to her husband and herself he had been in his boyhood an object not +only of interest but of love. His beauty, his extraordinary talents, had +irresistibly attracted them; and yet scarcely could they now believe the +youthful knight, with whose extraordinary valor not only Scotland but +England rung, could be that same enthusiast boy. That he had been taken, +was now a prisoner in Berwick Castle, on whom sentence of death sooner +or later would be passed, brought conviction but too sadly to their +hearts, and made them feel yet more bitterly their influence with Edward +was of no account. + +"Hast thou succeeded, Gilbert? Oh, say that poor Elizabeth may at least +be permitted access to her husband," was the countess's eager salutation +to her husband, as he silently approached her. He shook his head +sorrowfully. + +"Alas! not even this. Edward is inexorable, possessed by I know not what +spirit of opposition and wrath, furiously angered against Hereford, to +the utter forgetfulness of all his gallant deeds in Scotland." + +"But wherefore? What can have chanced in this brief period to occasion +this? but a few days since he spoke of Hereford as most loyal and +deserving." + +"Aye, that was on the news of Kildrummie's surrender; now forgotten, +from anger at a deed which but a few years back he would have been the +first to have admired. That rash madman, Nigel Bruce, hath not only +trebly sealed his own fate, but hurled down this mishap on his captor," +and briefly he narrated all he had learned. + +"It was, indeed, a rash action, Gilbert; yet was it altogether +unnatural? Alas, no! the boy had had no spark of chivalry or patriotism +about him, had he stood tamely by; and Gloucester," she added, with +bitter tears, "years back would my father have given cause for +this--would he thus have treated an unhappy woman, thus have added +insult to misery, for an act which, shown to other than his rival, he +would have honored, aye, not alone the deed, but the doer of it? If we, +his own children, feel shamed and indignant at this cruelty, oh, what +must be the feelings of her countrymen, her friends?" + +"Then thou believest not the foul slander attached to the Countess of +Buchan, my Joan?" + +"Believe it!" she answered, indignantly; "who that has looked on that +noble woman's face can give it the smallest credence? No, Gilbert, no. +'Tis published by those base spirits so utterly incapable of honor, +knighthood, and patriotism themselves, that they cannot conceive these +qualities in others, particularly in a female breast, and therefore +assign it to motives black as the hearts which thought them; and even if +it were true, is a kingly conqueror inflicting justice for treason +against himself, to assign other motives for that justice? Doth he not +lower himself--his own cause?" + +"Alas, yes!" replied her husband, sorrowfully; "he hath done his +character more injury by this last act than any which preceded. Though +men might wish less blood were shed, yet still, traitors taken in arms +against his person justice must condemn; but a woman, a sad and grieving +woman--but do not weep thus, my gentle wife," he added, tenderly. + +"Can a daughter of Edward do other than weep, my husband? Oh, if I loved +him not, if my very spirit did not cling round him so closely that the +fibres of both seem entwined, and his deeds of wrath, of exacting +justice, fall on me as if I had done them, and overwhelm me with their +shame, their remorse, then indeed I might not weep; but as it is, do not +chide me, Gilbert, for weep I must." + +"Thou art too noble-hearted, Joan," he said, kindly, as he circled her +waist with his arm, "only too noble-hearted for these fearful times. +'Tis but too sad a proof of the change in thy royal father, that he +shuns thy presence now even as he once loved it." + +A confusion in the passage and ante-room disturbed their converse, and +Gloucester turned towards the door to inquire the cause. + +"Tis but a troublesome boy, demanding access to her highness the +countess, my lord," was the reply. "I have asked his name and business, +questions he deigns not, forsooth, to answer, and looks so wild and +distracted, that I scarce think it accords with my duty to afford him +admittance. He is no fit recipient of my lady's bounty, good my lord; +trust me, he will but fright her." + +"I have no such fear, my good Baldwin," said the princess, as, on +hearing her name, she came forward to the centre of the chamber; "thou +knowest my presence is granted to all who seek it, an this poor child +seems so wild, he is the fitter object of my care. They are using +violence methinks; give him entrance instantly." + +The attendant departed, and returned in a very brief space, followed by +a lad, whose torn and muddy garments, haggard features, and dishevelled +hair indeed verified the description given. He glanced wildly round him +a moment, and then flinging himself at the feet of the princess, clasped +her robe and struggled to say something, of which the words "mercy, +protection," were alone audible. + +"Mercy, my poor child! what mercy dost thou crave? Protection I may give +thee, but how may I show thee mercy?" + +"Grant me but a few moments, lady, let me but speak with thee alone. I +bear a message which I may not deliver to other ears save thine," said +or rather gasped the boy, for he breathed with difficulty, either from +exhaustion or emotion. + +"Alone!" replied the countess, somewhat surprised. "Leave us, Baldwin," +she added, after a moment's pause. "I am privately engaged for the next +hour, denied to all, save his grace the king." He withdrew, with a +respectful bow. "And now, speak, poor child, what wouldst thou? Nay, I +hear nothing which my husband may not hear," she said, as the eyes of +her visitor gazed fearfully on the earl, who was looking at him with +surprise. + +"Thy husband, lady--the Earl of Gloucester? oh, it was to him too I +came; the brother-in-arms of my sovereign, one that showed kindness +to--to Sir Nigel in his youth, ye will not, ye will not forsake him +now?" + +Few and well-nigh inarticulate as were those broken words, they betrayed +much which at once excited interest in both the earl and countess, and +told the reason of the lad's earnest entreaty to see them alone. + +"Forsake him!" exclaimed the earl, after carefully examining that the +door was closed; "would to heaven I could serve him, free him! that +there was but one slender link to lay hold of, to prove him innocent and +give him life, I would do it, did it put my own head in jeopardy." + +"And is there none, none?" burst wildly from the boy's lips, as he +sprung from his knees, and grasped convulsively the earl's arm. "Oh, +what has he done that they should slay him? why do they call him guilty? +He was not Edward's subject, he owed him no homage, no service, he has +but fought to free his country, and is there guilt in this? oh, no, no, +save him, in mercy save him!" + +"Thou knowest not what thou askest, boy, how wholly, utterly impossible +it is to save him. He hath hurled down increase of anger on his own head +by his daring insult of King Edward's herald; had there been hope before +there is none now." + +A piercing cry escaped the boy, and he would have fallen had he not been +supported by the countess; he looked at her pitying face, and again +threw himself at her feet. + +"Canst _thou_ not, wilt _thou_ not save him?" he cried; "art thou not +the daughter of Edward, his favorite, his dearly beloved, and will he +not list to thee--will he not hear thy pleadings? Oh, seek him, kneel to +him as I to thee, implore his mercy--life, life, only the gift of life; +sentence him to exile, perpetual exile, what he will, only let him live: +he is too young, too good, too beautiful to die. Oh! do not look as if +this could not be. He has told me how you both loved him, not that I +should seek ye. It is not at his request I come; no, no, no, he spurns +life, if it be granted on conditions. But they have torn me from him, +they have borne him to the lowest dungeon, they have loaded him with +fetters, put him to the torture. I would have clung to him still, but +they spurned me, trampled on me, cast me forth--to die, if I may not +save him! Wilt thou not have mercy, princess? daughter of Edward, oh, +save him, save him!" + +It is impossible in the above incoherent words to convey to the reader +even a faint idea of the agonized wildness with which they were spoken; +the impression of unutterable misery they gave to those who listened to +them, and marked their reflection in the face of the speaker. + +"Fetters--the lowest dungeon--torture," repeated Gloucester, pacing up +and down with disordered steps. "Can these things be? merciful heaven, +how low hath England fallen! Boy, boy, can it be thou speakest truth?" + +"As there is a God above, it is truth!" he answered, passionately. "Oh, +canst thou not save him from this? is there no justice, no mercy? +Rise--no, no; wherefore should I rise?" he continued, clinging +convulsively to the knees of the princess, as she soothingly sought to +raise him. "I will kneel here till thou hast promised to plead for him +with thy royal father, promised to use thine influence for his life. Oh, +canst thou once have loved him and yet hesitate for this?" + +"I do not, I would not hesitate, unhappy boy," replied the princess, +tenderly. "God in heaven knows, were there the slenderest chance of +saving him, I would kneel at my father's feet till pardon was obtained, +but angered as he is now it would irritate him yet more. Alas! alas! +poor child, they told thee wrong who bade thee come to Joan for +influence with Edward; I have none now, less than any of his court," and +the large tears fell from the eyes of the princess on the boy's upturned +face. + +"Then let me plead for him; give me access to Edward. Oh, I will so +beseech, conjure him, he cannot, he will not say me nay. Oh, if his +heart be not of steel, he will have mercy on our wretchedness; he will +pardon, he will spare my husband!" + +The sob with which that last word was spoken shook that slight frame, +till it bowed to the very ground, and the supporting arm of the countess +alone preserved her from falling. + +"Thy husband!--Gracious heaven! who and what art thou?" exclaimed the +earl, springing towards her, at the same instant that his wife raised +her in her arras, and laid her on a couch beside them, watching with the +soothing tenderness of a sister, till voice and strength returned. + +"Alas! I feared there was more in this deep agony than we might see," +she said; "but I imagined not, dared not imagine aught like this. Poor +unhappy sufferer, the saints be praised thou hast come to me! thy +husband's life I may not save, but I can give protection, tenderness to +thee--aye weep, weep, there is life, reason in those tears." + +The gentle voice of sympathy, of kindness, had come upon that +overcharged heart, and broke the icy agony which had closed it to the +relief of tears. Mind and frame were utterly exhausted, and Agnes buried +her face in the hands of the princess, which she had clasped +convulsively within both hers, and wept, till the wildness of agony +indeed departed, but not the horrible consciousness of the anguish yet +to come. Gradually her whole tale was imparted: from the resolution to +follow her betrothed even to England, and cling to him to the last; the +fatal conclusion of that rite which had made them one; the anxiety and +suffering which had marked the days spent in effecting a complete +disguise, ere she could venture near him and obtain Hereford's consent +to her attending him as a page; the risks and hardships which had +attended their journey to Berwick, till even a prison seemed a relief +and rest; and then the sudden change, that a few days previous, the Earl +of Berwick had entered Sir Nigel's prison, at the head of five or ten +ruffians, had loaded him with fetters, conveyed him to the lowest and +filthiest dungeon, and there had administered the torture, she knew not +wherefore. Her shriek of agony had betrayed that she had followed them, +and she was rudely and forcibly dragged from him, and thrust from the +fortress. Her brain had reeled, her senses a brief while forsaken her, +and when she recovered, her only distinct thought was to find her way to +Carlisle, and there obtain access to the Earl and Countess of +Gloucester, of whom her husband had spoken much during their journey to +England, not with any wish or hope of obtaining mercy through their +influence, but simply as the friends of former years; he had spoken of +them to while away the tedious hours of their journey, and besought her, +if she should be parted from him on their arrival at Berwick, to seek +them, and implore their protection till her strength was restored. Of +herself, however, in thus seeking them, she had thought not; the only +idea, the only thought clearly connected in her mind was to beseech +their influence with Edward in obtaining her husband's pardon. Misery +and anxiety, in a hundred unlooked-for shapes, had already shown the +fallacy of those dreams which in the hour of peril had strengthened her, +and caused her to fancy that when once his wife she not only might abide +by him, but that she might in some manner obtain his liberation. She did +not, indeed, lament her fate was joined to his--lament! she could not +picture herself other than she was, by her husband's side, but she felt, +how bitterly felt, she had no power to avert his fate. Despair was upon +her, cold, black, clinging despair, and she clung to the vain dream of +imploring Edward's mercy, feeling at the same moment it was but the +_ignis fatui_ to her heart--urging lighting, impelling her on, but to +sink in pitchy darkness when approached. + +Gradually and painfully this narrative of anguish was drawn from her +lips, often unconnectedly, often incoherently, but the earl and countess +heard enough, to fill their hearts alike with pity and respect for the +deep, unselfish love unconsciously revealed. She had told, too, her +maiden name, had conjured them to conceal her from the power of her +father, at whose very name she shuddered; and both those noble hearts +shared her anxiety, sympathized in her anguish; and speedily she felt, +if there could be comfort in such deep wretchedness, she had told her +tale to those ready and willing, and able to bestow it. + +The following day the barons sat in judgment on Sir Nigel Bruce, and +Gloucester was obliged to join them. It was useless, both he and the +princess felt, to implore the king's mercy till sentence was passed; +alas! it was useless at any time, but it must have been a colder and +harder heart than the Princess Joan's to look upon the face of Agnes, +and yet determine on not even making one effort in his favor. At first +the unhappy girl besought the earl to permit her accompanying him back +to Berwick, to attend her husband on his trial; but on his proving it +would but be uselessly harrowing the feelings of both, for it would not +enable her to go back with him to prison, that it would be better for +her to remain under the protection of the countess, endeavoring to +regain strength for whatever she might have to encounter, either to +accompany him to exile, if grace were indeed granted, or to return to +her friends in Scotland, she yielded mournfully, deriving some faint +degree of comfort in the earl's assurance that she should rejoin her +husband as soon as possible, and the countess's promise that if she +wished it, she should herself be witness of her interview with Edward. +It was indeed poor comfort, but her mind was well-nigh wearied out with +sorrow, as if incapable of bearing more, and she acquiesced from very +exhaustion. + +The desire that she herself should conjure the mercy of Edward had been +negatived even to her anxious heart by the assurance of both the earl +and the princess, that instead of doing good to her husband's cause she +would but sign her own doom, perchance be consigned to the power of her +father, and be compelled to relinquish the poor consolation of being +with her husband to the last. It was better she should retain the +disguise she had assumed, adopting merely in addition the dress of one +of the princess's own pages, a measure which would save her from all +observation in the palace, and give her admittance to Sir Nigel, +perchance, when as his own attendant it would be denied. + +The idea of rejoining her husband would have reconciled Agnes to any +thing that might have been proposed, and kneeling at the feet of her +protectress, she struggled to speak her willingness and blessing on her +goodness, but her tongue was parched, her lips were mute, and the +princess turned away, for her gentle spirit could not read unmoved the +silent thankfulness of that young and breaking heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +It would be useless to linger on the trial of Nigel Bruce, in itself a +mockery of justice, as were all those which had proceeded, and all that +followed it. The native nobility of Scotland were no subjects of the +King of England; they owed him homage, perchance, for lands held in +England, but on flocking to the standard of the Bruce these had at once +been voluntarily forfeited, and they fought but as Scottish men +determined to throw off the yoke of a tyrant whose arms had overrun a +land to which he had no claim. They fought for the freedom of a country, +for their own liberty, and therefore were no traitors; but these facts +availed not with the ruthless sovereign, to whom opposition was treason. +The mockery of justice proceeded, it gave a deeper impression, a graver +solemnity to their execution, and therefore for not one of his prisoners +was the ceremony dispensed with. Sir Christopher Seaton had been +conveyed to the Tower, with his wife, under pretence of there waiting +till his wounds were cured, to abide his trial, and in that awful hour +Sir Nigel stood alone. Yet he was undaunted, for he feared not death +even at the hangman's hand; his spirit was at peace, for he was innocent +of sin; unbowed, for he was no traitor--he was a patriot warrior still. +Pale he was, indeed, ashy pale, but it told a tale of intense bodily +anguish. They had put him to the torture, to force from his lips the +place of his brother's retreat, that being the only pretence on which +the rage of Edward and the malice of Berwick could rest for the +infliction of their cruelty. They could drag naught from his lips; they +could not crush that exalted soul, or compel it to utter more than a +faint, scarcely articulate groan, as proof that he suffered, that the +beautiful frame was well-nigh shattered unto death. And now he stood +upright, unshrinking; and there were hearts amid those peers inwardly +grieving at their fell task, gazing on him with unfeigned admiration; +while others gloried that another obstacle to their sovereign's schemes +of ambition would be removed, finding, perchance, in his youth, beauty, +and noble bearing, from their contrast with themselves, but fresh +incentives to the doom of death, and determining, even as they sate and +scowled on him, to aggravate the bitterness of that doom with all the +ignominy that cruelty could devise. + +He had listened in stern silence to the indictment, and evinced no sign +of emotion even when, in the virulence of some witnesses against him, +the most degrading epithets were lavished on himself, his family, and +friends. Only once had his eye flashed fire and his cheek burned, and +his right hand unconsciously sought where his weapon should have hung, +when his noble brother was termed a ribald assassin, an excommunicated +murderer; but quickly he checked that natural emotion, and remained +collected as before. He was silent till the usual question was asked, +"If he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be +pronounced upon him?" and then he made a step forward, looked boldly and +sternly around him, and spoke, in a rich, musical voice, the following +brief, though emphatic words: + +"Ye ask me if I could say aught why sentence of death should not be +pronounced. Nobles of England, in denying the charge of treason with +which ye have indicted me, I have said enough. Before ye, aye, before +your sovereign, I have done nothing to merit death, save that death +which a conqueror bestows on his captive, when he deems him too powerful +to live. The death of a traitor I protest against; for to the King of +England I am no subject, and in consequence no traitor! I have but done +that which every true and honorable man must justify, and in justifying +respect. I have sought with my whole heart the liberty of my country, +the interest of my lawful sovereign, and will die asserting the honor +and justice of my cause, even as I have lived. I plead not for mercy, +for were it offered, on condition of doing homage unto Edward, I would +refuse it, and choose death; protesting to the last that Robert Bruce, +and he alone, is rightful king of Scotland. My lords, in condemning me +to death as a captive taken in war, ye may be justified by the law of +battles, I dispute not the justice of your doom; but an ye sentence me +as traitor, I do deny the charge, and say my condemnation is unjust and +foul, and ye are perjured in its utterance. I have said. Now let your +work proceed." + +He folded his arms on his breast, and awaited in unbroken silence his +doom. A brief pause had followed his words. The Earl of Gloucester, who, +from his rank and near connection with the king, occupied one of the +seats of honor at the upper end of the large hall, and had, during the +trial, vainly sought to catch the prisoner's eye, now reclined back on +his seat, his brow resting on his hand, his features completely +concealed by the dark drapery of his cloak. In that position he +remained, not only during the pause, but while the fatal sentence was +pronounced. + +"By the laws of your country, and the sentence of your peers," so it +ran, "you, Nigel Bruce, by manifold acts of rebellion, disaffection, and +raising up arms against your lawful king, Edward, the sovereign of +England and Scotland, and all the realms, castles, and lordships thereto +pertaining, are proved guilty of high treason and _lèse majesté_, and +are thereby condemned to be divested of all symbols of nobility and +knighthood, which you have disgraced; to be dragged on a hurdle to the +common gibbet, and there hung by the neck till you are dead; your head +to be cut off; your body quartered and exposed at the principal towns as +a warning to the disaffected and the traitorous of all ranks in either +nation, and this is to be done at whatsoever time the good pleasure of +our sovereign lord the king may please to appoint. God save King Edward, +and so perish all his foes!" + +Not a muscle of the prisoner's face had moved during the utterance of +this awful sentence. He had glanced fearlessly around him to the last, +his eye resting on the figure of the Earl of Gloucester with an +expression of pitying commiseration for a moment, as if he felt for him, +for his deep regret in his country's shame, infinitely more than for +himself. Proudly erect he held himself, as they led him in solemn pomp +from the great hall of the castle, across the court to the dungeons of +the condemned, gazing calmly and unflinchingly on the axe, which carried +with its edge towards him proclaimed him condemned, though his doom was +more ignominious than the axe bestowed. There was a time when he had +shrunk from the anticipated agony of a degradation so complete as +this--but not now; his spirit was already lifted up above the honors and +humiliations of earth. But one dream of this world remained--one sad, +sweet dream clung to his heart, and bound it with silver chains below. +Where was that gentle being? He fondly hoped she had sought the friends +of his boyhood, as he had implored her, should they be parted; he strove +to realize comfort in the thought they would protect and save her the +agony of a final parting; but he strove in vain. One wild yearning +possessed him, to gaze upon her face, to fold her to his heart once, but +once again: it was the last lingering remnant of mortality; he had not +another thought of life but this, and this grew stronger as its hope +seemed vain. But there was one near to give him comfort, when he +expected it not. + +Wrapped so closely in his dark, shrouding mantle that naught but the +drooping feather of his cap could be distinguished, the Earl of +Gloucester drew near the prisoner, and as he paused, ere the gates and +bars of the prison entrance could be drawn back, whispered hurriedly yet +emphatically-- + +"A loved one is safe and shall be so. Would to God I could do more!" + +Suppressing with extreme difficulty a start of relief and surprise, the +young nobleman glanced once on Gloucester's face, pressed his hands +together, and answered, in the same tone-- + +"God in heaven bless thee! I would see her once, only once more, if it +can be without danger to her; it is life's last link, I cannot snap +it--parted thus." They hurried him through the entrance with the last +word lingering on his lips, and before Gloucester could make even a sign +of reply. + +Early in the evening of the same day, King Edward was reclining on his +couch, in the chamber we have before described, and, surrounded by some +few of his favorite noblemen, appeared so animated by a new cause of +excitement as to be almost unconscious of the internal pains which even +at that moment were more than usually intense. His courtiers looked on +unconcernedly while, literally shaking with disease and weakness, he +coolly and deliberately traced those letters which gave a base and +ignominious death to one of the best, the noblest, loveliest spirits +that ever walked the earth, and signed the doom of misery and madness to +another; and yet no avenging hand stretched forth between him and his +victim, no pang was on his heart to bid him pause, be merciful, and +spare. Oh, what would this earth be were it all in all, and what were +life if ending in the grave? Faith, thou art the crystal key opening to +the spirit the glorious vision of immortality, bidding the trusting +heart, when sick and weary of the dark deeds and ruthless spoilers of +this lovely earth, rest on thy downy wings, and seek for peace and +comfort there. + +"Who waits?" demanded the king, as his pen ceased in its task. + +"Sir Stephen Fitzjohn, my liege, sent by the Earl of Berwick with the +warrant, for which he waits." + +"He need wait no longer then, for it is there. Two hours before noon the +traitor dies; we give him grace till then, that our good subjects of +Berwick may take warning by his fate, and our bird in the cage witness +the end of the gallant so devoted to her cause. Bid the knight begone, +my Lord of Arundel; he hath too long waited our pleasure. Ha! whom have +we here? who craves admittance thus loudly?" he added, observing, as the +earl lifted the hangings to depart, some bustle in the ante-room. "Who +is it so boldly demanding speech with us?" + +"Her Highness the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, please you, my +liege," replied the chamberlain; "she will not take denial." + +"Is it so hard a thing for a daughter to gain admittance to a father, +even though he be a sovereign?" interrupted the princess, who, attended +only by a single page bearing her train, advanced within the chamber, +her firm and graceful deportment causing the lords to fall back on +either side, and give her passage, though the expression of their +monarch's countenance denoted the visit was unwelcome. + +"Humbly and earnestly I do beseech your grace's pardon for this +over-bold intrusion," she said, bending one knee before him; "but indeed +my business could not be delayed. My liege and father, grant me but a +few brief minutes. Oh, for the sake of one that loved us both, the +sainted one now gone to heaven, for the memory of whom thou didst once +bless me with fonder love than thou gavest to my sisters, because my +features bore her stamp, my king, my father, pardon me and let me +speak!" + +"Speak on," muttered the king, passing his hand over his features, and +turning slightly from her, if there were emotion, to conceal it. "Thou +hast, in truth, been over-bold, yet as thou art here, speak on. What +wouldst thou?" + +"A boon, a mighty boon, most gracious father; one only thou canst grant, +one that in former years thou wouldst have loved me for the asking, and +blessed me by fulfilment," she said, as she continued to kneel; and by +her beseeching voice and visible emotion effectually confining the +attention of the courtiers, now assembled in a knot at the farther end +of the apartment, and preventing their noticing the deportment of the +page who had accompanied her; he was leaning against a marble pillar +which supported the canopy raised over the king's couch, his head bent +on his breast, the short, thick curls which fell over his forehead +concealing his features; his hands, too, crossed on his breast, +convulsively clenched the sleeves of his doublet, as if to restrain the +trembling which, had any one been sufficiently near, or even imagined +him worthy of a distant glance, must have been observable pervading his +whole frame. + +"A boon," repeated the king, as the princess paused, almost breathless +with her own emotion; "a mighty boon! What can the Countess of +Gloucester have to ask of me, that it moves her thus? Are we grown so +terrible that even our own children tremble ere they speak? What is this +mighty boon? we grant not without hearing." + +"'Tis the boon of life, my liege, of life thou canst bestow. Oh, while +in this world thou rulest, viceregent of the King of kings on high, +combining like Him justice and mercy, in the government of his +creatures, oh! like, Him, let mercy predominate over justice; deprive +not of life, in the bloom, the loveliness of youth! Be merciful, my +father, oh, be merciful! forgive as thou wouldst be forgiven--grant me +the life I crave!" + +Urged on by emotion, the princess had scarcely heard the suppressed +interjection of the king which her first words had occasioned, and she +scarcely saw the withering sternness which gathered on his brow. + +"Thou hast in truth learnt oratory, most sapient daughter," he said, +bitterly; "thou pleadest well and flowingly, yet thou hast said not for +whom thou bearest this marvellous interest--it can scarce be for a +traitor? Methinks the enemies of Edward should be even such unto his +children." + +"Yet 'tis for one of these mistaken men I plead, most gracious +sovereign," resumed Joan, intimidated not by his sarcasm. "Oh, my +father, the conqueror's triumph consists not in the number of rebellious +heads that fall before him--not in the blood that overflows his way; +magnanimity, mercy, will conquer yet more than his victorious sword. +Traitor as he seem, have mercy on Nigel Bruce; oh, give--" + +"Mercy on a Bruce! May the thunder of heaven blast me when I show it!" +burst furiously from Edward's lips, as he started upon his couch and +gazed on his suppliant child with eyes that seemed absolutely to blaze +in wrath. "Mercy on a branch of that house which has dared defy me, +dared to insult my power, trample on my authority, upraised the standard +of rebellion, and cost me the lives of thousands of my faithful +subjects! Mercy on him, the daring traitor, who, even in his chains, has +flung redoubled insult and treason into our very teeth! Mercy--may the +God of heaven deny me all mercy when I show it unto him!" + +"Oh, no, no, my father! My father, in mercy speak not such terrible +words!" implored the princess, clinging to his robe. "Call not the wrath +of heaven on thy head; think of his youth, the temptations that have +beset him, the difficult task to remain faithful when all other of his +house turned astray. Mistaken as he hath been, as he is, have mercy. +Compel him to prove, to feel, to acknowledge thou art not the tyrant he +hath been taught to deem thee; exile, imprisonment, all--any thing, but +death. Oh, do not turn from me; be thyself, the good, the magnanimous +Edward of former days, have mercy on thy foe!" + +"I tell thee, never! by every saint in heaven, I tell thee, never!" +shouted the king. "I will hear no more; begone, lest I deem my own child +part and parcel of the treasons formed against me. Trouble me not with +these vain prayers. I will not pardon, I have sworn it; begone, and +learn thy station better than to plead for traitors. Thy husband braved +me once; beware, lest in these pleadings I hear _his_ voice again. I +tell him and thee that ere to-morrow's noon be passed the soul of Nigel +Bruce shall stand in judgment; not another day, not another hour he +lives to blast me with the memory of his treason. The warrant hath been +signed, and is on its way to Berwick, to give his body to the hangman +and his soul to Satan--his death is sealed." + +"Oh, no, no, no!" shrieked a voice of sudden anguish, startling all who +heard, and even Edward, by its piteous tones, and the form of a page +suddenly fell prostrate before the monarch. "Mercy, mercy! for the love +of God, have mercy!" he struggled to articulate, but there was no sound +save a long and piercing shriek, and the boy lay senseless on the +ground. + +"Ha! by St. George, beardest thou me with traitors in my very palace, +before my very eyes?" exclaimed the angry monarch, as his astonished +courtiers gathered round. "Put him in ward; away with him, I say!" + +"Pardon me, your highness, but this is needless," interposed the +princess, with a calm majesty, that subdued even the irritation of her +father, and undauntedly waving back the courtiers, although perfectly +sensible of the imminent danger in which she was placed. "If there be +blame, let it be visited on me; this poor child has been ill and weakly +from many causes, terrified, almost maddened, by sounds, and sights of +blood. I deemed him perfectly recovered, or he had not attended me here. +I pray your grace permit his removal to my apartments." + +The king laid a heavy hand on his daughter's arm as she stood beside +him, and fixed a gaze on her face that would have terrified any less +noble spirit into a betrayal of the truth; but firm in her own +integrity, in her own generous purpose, she calmly and inquiringly +returned his gaze. + +"Go to, thou art a noble wench, though an over-bold and presuming one," +he said, in a much mollified tone, for there was that in the dauntless +behavior of his daughter which found an echo in his heart even now, +deadened as it was to aught of gentle feeling, and he was glad of this +interruption to entreaties which, resolved not to grant, had lashed him +into fury, while her presence made him feel strangely ashamed. "Do as +thou wilt with thine own attendants; but be advised, tempt not thine own +safety again; thou hast tried us sore with thy ill-advised entreaties, +but we forgive thee, on condition they are never again renewed. Speak +not, we charge thee. What ho! Sir Edmund Stanley," he called aloud, and +the chamberlain appeared at the summons. "Here, let this boy be +carefully raised and borne according to the pleasure of his mistress. +See, too, that the Countess of Gloucester be conducted with due respect +to her apartments. Begone!" he added, sternly, as the eyes of Joan still +seemed to beseech mercy; "I will hear no more--the traitor dies!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +The shades of advancing night had already appeared to have enwrapped the +earth some hours, when Nigel Bruce was startled from an uneasy slumber +by the creaking sounds of bolts and bars announcing the entrance of some +one within the dungeon. The name of his beloved, his devoted Agnes, +trembled on his lips, but fearful of betraying her to unfriendly ears, +ho checked himself, and started up, exclaiming, "Who comes?" No answer +was vouchsafed, but the dim light of a lamp, placed by the intruder on +the floor, disclosed a figure wrapped from head to foot in the shrouding +mantle of the time, not tall, but appearing a stout muscular person, +banishing on the instant Nigel's scarcely-formed hope that it was the +only one he longed to see. + +"What wouldst thou?" he said, after a brief pause. "Doth Edward practise +midnight murder? Speak, who art thou?" + +"Midnight murder, thou boasting fool; I love thee not well enough to +cheat the hangman of his prey," replied a harsh and grating voice, +which, even without the removal of the cloak, would have revealed to +Nigel's astonished ears the Earl of Buchan. "Ha! I have startled +thee--thou didst not know the deadly enemy of thy accursed race!" + +"I know thee now, my Lord of Buchan," replied the young man, calmly; +"yet know I not wherefore thou art here, save to triumph over the fallen +fortunes of thy foe; if so, scorn on--I care not. A few brief hours, and +all of earth and earthly feeling is at rest." + +"To triumph--scorn! I had scarce travelled for petty satisfaction such +as that, when to-morrow sees thee in the hangman's hands, the scorn of +thousands! Hath Buchan no other work with thee, thinkest thou? dost thou +affirm thou knowest naught for which he hath good cause to seek thee?" + +"Earl of Buchan, I dare affirm it," answered Nigel, proudly; "I know of +naught to call for words or tones as these, save, perchance, that the +love and deep respect in which I hold thine injured countess, my +friendship for thy murdered son, hath widened yet more the breach +between thy house and mine--it may be so; yet deem not, cruel as thou +art, I will deny feelings in which I glory, at thy bidding. An thou +comest to reproach me with these things, rail on, they affect me as +little as thy scorn." + +"Hadst thou said love for her they call my daughter, thou hadst been +nearer the mark," retorted the earl, fury rapidly gaining possession of +heart and voice; "but thou art too wise, too politic for that." + +"Aye," retorted Nigel, after a fearful struggle with himself, "aye, thou +mayest well add love for Agnes of Buchan, as well as friendship for her +brother. Thinkest thou I would deny it--hide it? little dost thou know +its thrilling, its inspiring power; little canst thou know how I glory +in it, cherish, linger on it still. But wherefore speak thus to thee, +thou man of wickedness and blood. I love thy pure and spotless child, +rejoice that thou didst so desert, so utterly neglect her, that thou +couldst no more leave a shadow on her innocent heart than a cloud upon +her way. I love her, glory in that love, and what is it to thee?" + +"What is it to me? that a child of the house of Comyn dare hold commune +with a Bruce; that thou hast dared to love a daughter of my house, aye, +to retain her by thy side a willing mistress, when all others of her sex +forsook thee--what is it to me? Did not to-morrow give thee to a +traitor's doom, thy blood should answer thee; but as it is, villain and +slave, give her to me--where is her hiding-place? speak, or the torture +shall wring it from thee." + +"Thinkest thou such threats will in aught avail thee?" calmly replied +Nigel. "Thou knowest not the Bruce. Agnes is no longer a Comyn, no +longer a subject to thy guardianship. The voice of God, the rites at the +altar's foot, have broken every link, save that which binds her to her +husband. She is mine, before God and man is mine--mine own faithful and +lawful wife!" + +"Thou liest, false villain!" furiously retorted Buchan. "The church +shall undo these bonds, shall give her back to the father she has thus +insulted. She shall repent, repent with tears of blood, her desertion of +her race. Canst thou protect her in death, thou fool--canst thou still +cherish and save her, thinkest thou, when the hangman hath done his +work?" + +"Aye, even then she will be cherished, loved for Nigel's sake, and for +her own; there will be faithful friends around her to protect her from +thee still, tyrant! Thou canst not break the bonds that bind us; thou +hast done no father's part. Forsaken and forgotten, thy children owe +thee no duty, no obedience; thou canst bring forward no plea to +persecute thy child. In life and in death she is mine, mine alone; the +power and authority thou hast spurned so long can no longer be assumed; +the love, the obedience thou didst never heed, nay, trampled on, hath +been transferred to one who glories in them both. She is in +safety--slay, torture as thou wilt, I tell thee no more." Fettered, +unarmed, firm, undauntedly erect, stood Nigel Bruce, gazing with curling +lip and flashing eyes upon his foe. The foam had gathered on the earl's +lip, his hand, clenching his sword, had trembled with passion as Nigel +spoke, He sought to suppress that rage, to remember a public execution +would revenge him infinitely more than a blow of his sword, but he had +been too long unused to control; lashed into ungovernable fury by the +demeanor of Nigel, even more than by his words, the sword flashed from +its scabbard, was raised, and fell--but not upon his foe, for the Earl +of Gloucester suddenly stood between them. + +"Art thou mad, or tired of life, my Lord of Buchan?" he said. "Knowest +thou not thou art amenable to the law, an thou thus deprivest justice of +her victim? Shame, shame, my lord; I deemed thee not a midnight +murderer." + +"Darest thou so speak to me?" replied Buchan, fiercely; "by every fiend +in hell, thou shalt answer this! Begone, and meddle not with that which +concerneth thee nothing." + +"It doth concern me, proud earl," replied Gloucester, standing +immediately before Nigel, whose emotion at observing the page by whom he +was accompanied, though momentary, must otherwise have been observed. +"The person of the prisoner is sacred to the laws of his country, the +mandate of his sovereign; on thy life thou darest not injure him--thou +knowest that thou darest not. Do thou begone, ere I summon those who, at +the mere mention of assault on one condemned, will keep thee in ward +till thou canst wreak thy vengeance on naught but clay; begone, I say!" + +"I will not," sullenly answered the earl, unwillingly conscious of the +truth of his words; "I will not, till he hath answered me. Once more," +he added, turning to Nigel with a demoniac scowl, "where is she whom +thou hast dared to call thy wife? answer me, or as there is a hell +beneath us, the torture shall wring it from thee!" + +"In safety, where thine arm shall never reach her," haughtily answered +the young nobleman. "Torture! what wilt thou torture--the senseless +clay? Hence--I defy thee! Death will protect me from thy lawless power; +death will set his seal upon me ere we meet again." + +The earl muttered a deep and terrible oath, and then he strode away, +coming in such violent contact against the slight and almost paralyzed +form of Gloucester's page as he stood in the doorway, as nearly to throw +him to the ground. Nigel sprung forward, but was held back with a grasp +of iron by the Earl of Gloucester, nor did he relinquish his hold till +Buchan had passed through the doorway, till the heavy hinges had firmly +closed again, and the step of the departing earl had entirely faded in +distance. + +"Now, then, we are safe," he said; "thank heaven!" but his words were +scarcely heard, for the page had bounded within the extended arms of +Nigel, had clung so closely to his heart, he could feel nothing, see +nothing, save that slender form; could hear nothing but those deep, +agonized sobs, which are so terrible when unaccompanied by the relief of +tears. For a while Nigel could not speak--he could not utter aught of +comfort, for he felt it not; that moment was the bitterness of death. + +"Torture! did he not speak of torture? will he not come again?" were the +words that at length fell, shudderingly, from the lips of Agnes. "Nigel, +Nigel, if it must be, give me up; he cannot inflict aught more of misery +now." + +"Fear not, lady; he dare not," hastily rejoined Gloucester. "The torture +dare not be administered without consent of Edward, and that now cannot +be obtained; he will not have sufficient--" time, he was going to say, +but checked himself; for the agonized look of Agnes told him his meaning +was more than sufficiently understood. "Nigel," he added, laying his +hand on the young man's shoulder, "Nigel, my noble, gallant friend--for +so I will call thee, though I sat in judgment on thee, aye, and tacitly +acquiesced in thy sentence--shrink not, oh, shrink not now! I saw not a +quiver on thy lip, a pallor on thy cheek, nay, nor faltering in thy +step, when they read a doom at which I have marked the bravest blench; +oh, let not, that noble spirit fail thee now!" + +"Gloucester, it shall not!" he said, with suddenly regained firmness, as +supporting Agnes with his right arm he convulsively wrung the hand of +his friend with the other. "It was but the sight of this beloved one, +the thought--no matter, it is over. Agnes, my beloved, my own, oh, look +on me; speak, tell me all that hath befallen thee since they tore thee +from me, and filled my soul with darker dread for thee than for myself. +To see thee with this noble earl is enough to know how heavy a burden of +gratitude I owe him, which thou, sweetest, must discharge. Yet speak to +me, beloved; tell me all, all." + +Emulating his calmness, remembering even at that moment her promise not +to unman him in the moment of trial by vain repinings, Agnes complied +with his request. Her tale was frequently interrupted by those terrible +sobs, which seemed to threaten annihilation; but Nigel could gather from +it so much of tenderness and care on the part of the princess, that the +deepest gratitude filled his heart, and spoke in his impassioned words. + +"Tell her, oh, tell her, if the prayers of the dying can in aught avail +her, the blessedness of heaven shall be hers even upon earth!" he +exclaimed, gazing up in the earl's face with eyes that spoke his soul. +"Oh, I knew her not, when in former years I did but return her kindness +with silence and reserve; I saw in her little more than the daughter of +Edward. Tell her, on my knees I beseech her pardon for that wrong; in my +last prayers I shall breathe her name." + +"And wherefore didst thou go with her?" he continued, on Agnes narrating +the scene between the princess and the king. "Alas! my gentle one, hadst +thou not endured enough, that thou wouldst harrow up thy soul by hearing +the confirmation of my doom from the tyrant's own ruthless lips--didst +dream of pardon? dearest, no, thou couldst not." + +"Nigel, Nigel, I did, even at that moment, though they told me thou wert +condemned, that nothing could save thee; though the princess besought me +almost on her knees to spare myself this useless trial, I would not +listen to her. I would not believe that all was hopeless; I dreamed +still, still of pardon, that Edward would listen to his noble child, +would forgive, and I thought, even if she failed, I would so plead he +must have mercy, he would listen to me and grant my prayer. I did dream +of pardon, but it was vain, vain! Nigel, Nigel, why did my voice fail, +my eye grow dim? I might have won thy pardon yet." + +"Beloved, thou couldst not," he answered, mournfully. "Mine own sweet +Agnes, take comfort, 'tis but a brief farewell; we shall meet where war +and blood and death can never enter more." + +"I know it, Oh, I know it," she sobbed; "but to part thus, to lose thee, +and by such a death, oh, it is horrible, most horrible!" + +"Nay, look not on it thus, beloved; there is no shame even in this +death, if there be no shame in him who dies." + +"Shame!" she repeated; "couldst think I could couple aught of shame with +thee, my own? even this dark fate is noble when borne by such as thee." + +Nigel held her closer to his heart, and for his sole answer pressed a +quivering kiss upon her cheek. Gloucester, who had been in earnest +commune with the sentinel without the door, now returned, and informed +him that the soldier, who was well known to him and who much disliked +his present watch, had willingly consented that the page (whom +Gloucester had represented as a former attendant of Sir Nigel's, though +now transferred to his service) should remain with his former master, on +condition that the earl would come for him before the priests and others +who were to attend him to the scaffold entered the dungeon, as this +departure from the regular prison discipline, shown as it was to one +against whom the king was unusually irritated, might cost him his head. +Gloucester had promised faithfully, and he offered them the melancholy +option of parting now, or a few sad hours hence. + +"Let me, do let me stay; Nigel, my husband, send me not from thee now!" +exclaimed Agnes, sinking at his feet and clasping his knees. "I will not +weep, nor moan, nor in aught afflict thee. Nigel, dearest Nigel, I will +not leave thee now." + +"But is it wise, is it well, my best beloved? think, if in the deep +anguish of to-morrow thy disguise be penetrated, thy sex discovered, and +thy cruel father claim thee, dragging thee even from the protection of +the princess--oh, the bitterness of death were doubled then! Thou +thinkest but of me, mine own, but thy safety, thy future peace is all +now left for me." + +"Safety, peace--oh, do not, do not mock me, Nigel--where are they for +poor Agnes, save in her husband's grave? What is life now, that thou +shouldst seek to guard it? no, no, I will abide by thee, thou shalt not +send me hence." + +"But to-morrow, lady, to-morrow," interposed Gloucester, with deep +commiseration. "I would not, from any selfish fear, shorten by one +minute the few sad hours ye may yet pass together, but bethink ye, I +dare not promise to shield thee from the horrors of to-morrow, for I +cannot. Fearful scenes and sounds may pass before thee; thou mayest come +in contact with men from whom thou wilt shrink in horror, and though +thine own safety be of little worth, remember the betrayal of thy sex +and rank may hurl down the royal vengeance on the head of thy +protectress, daughter of Edward though she be. Canst thou be firm--wilt +thou, canst thou await the morrow?" + +"Yes," answered Agnes, the wildness of her former accents subsiding into +almost solemnity; "the safety of thy noble countess shall not be +hazarded through me. Leave me with my husband, add but this last mercy +to the many thou hast showered on me, and the blessing of God will rest +on thee and thy noble wife forever." + +She raised his hand to her lips, and Gloucester, much affected, placed +hers in her husband's, and wrung them convulsively together. "We shall +meet again," was all he trusted his voice to utter, and departed. + +The hours waned, each one finding no change in the position of those +loving ones. The arm of Agnes twined around the neck of her beloved, her +brow leaned against his bosom, her left hand clasped his right, and his +left arm, though fettered, could yet fold that slender waist, could yet +draw her closer to him, with an almost unconscious pressure; his lips +repeatedly pressed that pale brow, which only moved from its position to +lift up her eyes at his entreaty in his face, and he would look on those +features, lovely still, despite their attenuation and deep sorrow, gaze +at them with an expression that, spite of his words of consoling love, +betrayed that the dream of earth yet lingered; he could not close his +eyes on her without a thrill of agony, sharper than the pang of death. +But the enthusiast and the patriot spoke not at that hour only of +himself, or that dearer self, the only being he had loved. He spoke of +his country, aye, and less deplored the chains which bound her then, +than with that prophetic spirit sometimes granted to the departing, +dilated on her future glory. He conjured Agnes, for his sake, to +struggle on and live; to seek his brother and tell him that, save +herself, Nigel's last thought, last prayer was his; that standing on the +brink of eternity, the mists of the present had rolled away, he saw but +the future--Scotland free, and Robert her beloved and mighty king. + +"Bid him not mourn for Nigel," he said; "bid him not waver from his +glorious purpose, because so many of his loved and noble friends must +fall--their blood is their country's ransom; tell him, had I a hundred +lives, I would have laid them down for him and for my country as gladly, +as unhesitatingly as the one I now resign; and tell him, dearest, how I +loved him to the last, how the recollection of his last farewell, his +fervent blessing lingered with me to the end, giving me strength to +strive for him and die, as becomes his brother; tell him I glory in my +death--it has no shame, no terror, for it is for him and Scotland. Wilt +thou remember all this, sweet love? wilt thou speak to him these words?" + +"Trust me I will, all, all that thou hast said; they are written here," +placing her hand on her heart, "here, and they will not leave me, even +if all else fail." + +"And thou wilt say to him, mine own, that Nigel besought his love, his +tenderness for thee," he continued, losing the enthusiasm of the patriot +in the tenderness of the husband; "tell him I look to him in part to +discharge the debt of love, of gratitude I owe to thee; to guard thee, +cherish thee as his own child. Alas! alas! I speak as if thou must reach +him, and yet, beset with danger, misery, as thou art, how may this be?" + +"Fear not for me; it shall be, my husband. I will do thy bidding, I will +seek my king," she said, for when comfort failed for him, she sought to +give it. "Hast forgotten Dermid's words? He would be near me when I +needed him, and he will be, my beloved, I doubt him not." + +"Could I but think so, could I but know that he would be near to shield +thee, oh, life's last care would be at an end, said Nigel, earnestly; +and then for some time that silence, more eloquent, more fraught with +feeling in such an hour than the most impassioned words, fell on them +both. When again he spoke, it was on a yet more holy theme; the +thoughts, the dreams of heaven, which from boyhood had been his, now +found vent in words and tones, which thrilled to the inmost spirit of +his listener, and lingered there, when all other sense had fled. He had +lived in an era of darkness. Revelation in its doctrines belonged to the +priests alone; faith and obedience demanded by the voice of man alone, +were all permitted to the laity, and spirits like Nigel's consequently +formed a natural religion, in which they lived and breathed, hallowing +the rites which they practised, giving scope and glory to their faith. +He pictured the world, on whose threshold he now stood, pictured it, not +with a bold unhallowed hand, but as the completion, the consummation of +all those dim whisperings of joy, and hope, and wisdom, which had +engrossed him below--the perfection of that beauty, that loveliness, in +the material and immaterial, he had yearned for in vain on earth. + +"And this world of incomparable unshadowed loveliness awaits me," he +said, the superstition of the age mingling for the moment with thoughts +which seemed to mark him a century beyond his compeers; "purchased by +that single moment of suffering called death. It is mine, my beloved, +and shall be thine; and oh, when we meet there, how trivial will seem +the dark woes and boding cares of earth! I have told thee the vision of +my vigil, Agnes, my beloved; again I have seen that blessed spirit, aye, +and there was no more sadness on his pale brow, naught, naught of +earth--spiritualized, etherealized. He hovered over my sleep, and with a +smile beckoned me to the glorious world he inhabits; he seemed to call +me, to await me, and then the shrouding clouds on which he lay closed +thicker and thicker round him, till naught but his celestial features +beamed on me. Agnes, dearest, best, think of me thus, as blessed +eternally, unchangeably, as awaiting thee to share that blessedness, not +as one lost to thee, beloved; and peace, aye, joy e'en yet shall smile +for thee." + +"Nigel, Nigel, are there such things for the desolate, the lone?" +murmured Agnes, raising her pale brow and looking despairingly in his +face. "Oh, I will think on thee, picture thee in thy thrice-glorified +home, but it will be with all of mortal clinging to me still, and the +wild yearnings to come to thee will banish all of peace. Speak not such +words to thy poor weak Agnes, my beloved. I will struggle on to bear thy +message to my sovereign; there lies my path when thou art gone, darkness +envelops it when that goal is gained--I have no future now, save that +which gives me back to thee." + +He could not answer, and then again there was silence, broken only by +the low voice of prayer. They knelt together on the cold stones, he +raised her cold hands with his in supplication; he prayed for mercy, +pardon for himself, for comfort, strength for her; he prayed for his +country and her king, her chained and sorrowing sons, and the soft, +liquid star of morning, gloaming forth through heavy masses of murky +clouds directly on them as they knelt, appeared an angel's answer. The +dawn broke; bluer and bluer became the small and heavily-barred +casement, clearer and clearer grew the damp walls of the dungeons, and +morning, in its sunshine and gladness, laughed along the earth. Closer +and closer did Agnes cling to that noble heart, but she spoke no word. +"He tarries long--merciful heaven, grant he be not detained too late!" +she heard her husband murmur, as to himself, as time waned and +Gloucester came not, and she guessed his thoughts. + +"I care not," she answered, in a voice so hollow he shuddered; "I will +go with thee, even to the scaffold." + +But Gloucester, true to his promise, came at length; he was evidently +anxious and disturbed, and a few hurried words told how the Earl of +Berwick had detained him in idle converse, as if determined to prevent +any private interview with the prisoner; even now the officers and +priests were advancing to the dungeons, their steps already reverberated +through the passages, and struck on the heart of Agnes as a bolt of ice. +"I had much, much I wished to say, but even had I time, what boots it +now? Nigel, worthy brother of him I so dearly loved, aye, even now would +die to serve, fear not for the treasure thou leavest to my care; as +there is a God above us, I will guard her as my sister! They +come--farewell, thou noble heart, thou wilt leave many a foe to mourn +thee!" The voice of the earl quivered with emotion. Nigel convulsively +pressed his extended hand, and then he folded Agnes in his arms; he +kissed her lips, her brow, her cheek, he parted those clustering curls +to look again and yet again upon her face--pale, rigid as sculptured +marble. She uttered no sound, she made no movement, but consciousness +had not departed; the words of Gloucester on the previous night rung in +her ears, demanding control, and mechanically she let her arms unloose +their convulsive grasp of Nigel, and permitted the earl gently to lead +her to the door, but ere it opened, she turned again to look on Nigel. +He stood, his hands clasped in that convulsive pressure of agony, his +every feature working with the mighty effort at control with the last +struggle of the mortal shell. With one faint yet thrilling cry she +bounded back, she threw herself upon his swelling bosom, her lips met +his in one last lingering kiss, and Gloucester tore her from his arms. +They passed the threshold, another minute and the officers, and guard, +and priest stood within the dungeon, and a harsh, rude voice bade the +confessor haste to shrive the prisoner, for the hour of execution was at +hand. + +Bearing the slight form of the supposed page in his arms, Gloucester +hastily threaded the passages leading from the dungeon to the postern by +which he had intended to depart. His plan had been to rejoin his +attendants and turn his back upon the city of Berwick ere the execution +could take place; a plan which, from his detention, he already found was +futile. The postern was closed and secured, and he was compelled to +retrace his steps to a gate he had wished most particularly to avoid, +knowing that it opened on a part of the court which, from its commanding +a view of the scaffold, he justly feared would be crowded. He had paused +but to speak one word of encouragement to Agnes, who, with a calmness +appalling from the rigidity of feature which accompanied it, now stood +at his side; he bade her only hold by his cloak, and he hoped speedily +to lead her to a place of safety. She heard him and made a sign of +obedience. They passed the gate unquestioned, traversed an inner court, +and made for the great entrance of the castle; there, unhappily, their +progress was impeded. The scaffold, by order of Edward, had been erected +on the summit of a small green ascent exactly opposite the prison of the +Countess of Buchan, and extending in a direct line about half a quarter +of a mile to the right of the castle gates, which had been flung wide +open, that all the inhabitants of Berwick might witness the death of a +traitor. Already the courts and every vacant space was crowded. A sea of +human heads was alone visible, nay, the very buttresses and some +pinnacles of the castle, which admitted any footing, although of the +most precarious kind, had been appropriated. The youth, the +extraordinary beauty, and daring conduct of the prisoner had excited an +unusual sensation in the town, and the desire to mark how such a spirit +would meet his fate became irresistibly intense. Already it seemed as if +there could be no space for more, yet numbers were still pouring in, not +only most completely frustrating the intentions of the Earl of +Gloucester, but forcing him, by the pressure of multitudes, with them +towards the scaffold. In vain he struggled to free himself a passage; +in vain he haughtily declared his rank and bade the presumptuous serfs +give way. Some, indeed, fell back, but uselessly, for the crowds behind +pushed on those before, and there was no retreating, no possible means +of escaping from that sight of horror which Gloucester had designed so +completely to avoid. In the agony of disappointment, not a little mixed +with terror as to its effects, he looked on his companion. There was not +a particle of change upon her countenance; lips, cheek, brow, were +indeed bloodless as marble, and as coldly still; her eyes were +fascinated on the scaffold, and they moved not, quivered not. Even when +the figure of an aged minstrel, in the garb of Scotland, suddenly stood +between them and the dread object of their gaze, their expression +changed not; she placed her hand in his, she spoke his name to her +conductor, but it was as if a statue was suddenly endowed with voice and +motion, so cold was the touch of that hand, so sepulchral was that +voice; she motioned him aside with a gesture that compelled obedience, +and again she looked upon the scaffold. The earl welcomed the old man +gladly, for the tale of Agnes had already prepared him to receive him, +and to rely on his care to convey her back to Scotland. Engrossed with +his anxiety for her, and whenever that permitted him, speaking earnestly +to the old man, Gloucester remained wholly unconscious of the close +vicinity of one he was at that moment most desirous to avoid. + +The Earl of Buchan, in the moment of ungovernable rage, had indeed flung +himself on horseback and galloped from the castle the preceding night, +intending to seek the king, and petition that the execution might be +deferred till the torture had dragged the retreat of Agnes from Nigel's +lips. The cool air of night, however, had had the effect of so far +dissipating the fumes of passion, as to convince him that it would be +well-nigh impossible to reach Carlisle, obtain an interview with Edward +at such an unseasonable hour, and return to Berwick in sufficient time +for the execution of his diabolical scheme. He let the reins fall on his +horse's neck, to ponder, and finally made up his mind it was better to +let things take their course, and the sentence of the prisoner proceed +without interruption; a determination hastened by the thought that +should he die under the torture, all the ignominy and misery of a public +execution would be eluded. The night was very dark and misty, the road +in some parts passing through, woods and morasses, and the earl, too +much engrossed with his own dark thoughts to attend to his path, lost +the track and wandered round and round, instead of going forward. This +heightened not the amiability of his previous mood; but until dawn his +efforts to retrace his steps or even discover where he was were useless. +The morning, however, enabled him to reach Berwick, which he did just as +the crowds were pouring into the castle-yard, and the heavy toll of the +bell announced the commencement of that fatal tragedy. He hastily +dismounted and mingled with the populace, they bore him onward through +another postern to that by which the other crowds had impelled +Gloucester. Finding the space before them already occupied, these two +human streams, of course, met and conjoined in the centre; and the two +earls stood side by side. Gloucester, as we have said, wholly +unconscious of Buchan's vicinity, and Buchan watching his anxious and +sorrowful looks with the satisfaction of a fiend, revelling in his being +thus hemmed in on all sides, and compelled to witness the execution of +his friend. He watched him closely as he spoke with the minstrel, but +tried in vain to distinguish what they said. He looked on the page too, +and with some degree of wonder, though he believed it only mortal terror +which made him look thus, natural in so young a child; but afterwards +that look was only too fatally recalled. + +Sleepless and sad had been that long night to another inmate of Berwick +Castle, as well as to Nigel and his Agnes. It was not till the dawn had +broken that the Countess of Buchan had sunk into a deep though troubled +slumber, for it was not till then the confused sounds of the workmen +employed in erecting the scaffold had ceased. She knew not for whom it +was upraised, what noble friend and gallant patriot would there be +sacrificed. She would not, could not believe it was for Nigel; for when +his name arose in her thoughts, it was shudderingly repelled, and with +him came the thought of her child--where, oh, where was she?--what would +be her fate? The tolling of the bell awoke her from the brief trance of +utter unconsciousness into which, from exhaustion, she had fallen. She +glanced once beneath her. The crowds, the executioner at his post, the +guard already round the scaffold, too truly told the hour was at hand, +and though her heart turned sick with apprehension, and she felt as if +to know the worst were preferable to the hour of suspense, she could not +look again, and she would have sought the inner chamber, and endeavor to +close both ears and eyes to all that was passing without, when the Earl +of Berwick suddenly entered, and harshly commanded her to stir not from +the cage. + +"It is your sovereign's will, madam, that you witness the fate of the +traitor so daring in your cause," he said, as with a stern grasp he +forced her to the grating and retained his hold upon her arm; "that you +may behold in his deserved fate the type of that which will at length +befall the yet blacker traitor of his name. It is fitting so loyal a +patriot as thyself should look on a patriot's fate, and profit thereby." + +"Aye, learn how a patriot can die--how, when his life may no more +benefit his country and his kin, he may serve them in his death," calmly +and proudly she answered. "It is well; perchance, when my turn cometh, I +may thank thy master for the lesson now rudely forced upon me. The hour +will come when the blood that he now so unjustly sheds shall shriek +aloud for vengeance. On me let him work his will--I fear him not." + +"Be silent, minion! I listen not to thy foul treason," said the earl, +hoarse with suppressed passion at the little effect his sovereign's +mandate produced, when he had hoped to have enforced it midst sobs and +tears; and she was silent, for her eye had caught one face amidst the +crowd that fascinated its gaze, and sent back the blood, which had +seemed to stagnate when the idea that it was indeed Nigel now about to +suffer had been thus rudely thrust upon her--sent it with such sudden +revulsion through its varied channels, that it was only with a desperate +struggle she retained her outward calmness, and then she stood, to the +eye of Berwick, proud, dignified, collected, seemingly so cold, that he +doubted whether aught of feeling could remain, or marvelled if the +mandate of Edward had indeed power to inflict aught of pain. But +within--oh, the veriest tyrant must have shuddered, could he have known +the torture there; she saw, she recognized her child; she read naught +but madness in that chiselled gaze; she saw at a glance there was no +escaping from beholding, to the dreadful end, the fate of her beloved; +before, behind, on every side, the crowds pressed round, yet from the +slightly elevated position of the scaffold, failing to conceal it from +her gaze. The Earl of Gloucester she perceived close at her side, as if +protecting her; but if indeed she was under his care, how came she on +such a spot, at such a time?--did he know her sex, or only looked on her +as a favored page of Nigel's, and as such protected? Yet would not the +anguish of that hour betray her not alone to him, but to that dark and +cruel man whom she also marked beside her, and who, did he once know +her, would demand the right of a father, to give her to his care? and +oh, how would that right be exercised! would the murderer of his son, +his heir, have pity on a daughter? But it would be a vain effort to +picture the deep anguish of that mother's heart, as in that dread moment +she looked upon her child, knowing, feeling _her_ might of grief, as if +it had been her own; well-nigh suffocated with the wild yearning to fold +her to her maternal bosom, to bid her weep there, to seek to comfort, to +soothe, by mingling her tears with hers, to protect, to hide her misery +from all save her mother's eye--to feel this till every pulse throbbed +as to threaten her with death, and yet to breathe no word, to give no +sign that such things were, lest she should endanger that precious one +yet more. She dared not breathe one question of the many crowding on her +heart, she could but gaze and feel. She had thought, when, they told her +that her boy was dead, that she had caused his death, there was little +more of misery fate could weave, but at that moment even Alan was +forgotten. It was her own wretchedness she had had then to bear, for he +was at rest; but now it was the anguish of that dearer self, her sole +remaining child--and oh, a mother's heart can better bear its individual +woes than those that crash a daughter to the earth. + +A sudden rush amidst the crowd, where a movement could take place, the +heavy roll of muffled drums, and the yet deeper, more wailing toll of +the funeral bell, announced that the prisoner had left the dungeon, and +irresistibly the gaze of the countess turned from her child to seek him; +perchance it was well, for the preservation of her composure, that the +intervening crowd prevented her beholding him till he stood upon the +scaffold, for hardly could she have borne unmoved the sight of that +noble and gallant form--beloved alike as the friend of her son, the +betrothed of her daughter, the brother of her king--degraded of all +insignia of rank, chained to the hurdle, and dragged as the commonest, +the vilest criminal, exposed to the mocking gaze of thousands, to the +place of execution. She saw him not thus, and therefore she knew not +wherefore the features of Agnes had become yet more rigid, bore yet more +the semblance of chiselled marble. He stood at length upon the scaffold, +as calmly majestic in his bearing as if he had borne no insult, suffered +no indignity. His beautiful hair had been arranged with care on either +side his face, and still fell in its long, rich curls, about his throat; +and so beautiful, so holy was the expression of his perfect features, +that the assembled crowds hushed their very breath in admiration and in +awe; it seemed as if the heaven, on whose threshold he stood, had +already fixed its impress on his brow. Every eye was upon him, and all +perceived that holy calmness was for one brief minute disturbed; but +none, save three of those who marked it, knew or even guessed the cause. +The countess had watched his glance, as at first composedly it had +wandered over the multitude beneath and around him, and she saw it rest +on that one face, which, in its sculptured misery, stood alone amidst +thousands, and she alone perceived the start of agony that sight +occasioned, but speedily even that emotion passed; he looked from that +loved face up to the heaven on which his hopes were fixed, in whose care +for her he trusted--and that look was prayer. She saw him as he knelt in +prayer, undisturbed by the clang of instruments still kept up around +him; she saw him rise, and then a deadly sickness crept over her every +limb, a thick mist obscured her sight, sense seemed on the point of +deserting her, when it was recalled by a sound of horror--a shriek so +wild, so long, so thrilling, the rudest spirit midst those multitudes +shrunk back appalled, and crossed themselves in terror. On one ear it +fell with a sense of agony almost equal to that from whence it came; the +mother recognized the voice, and feeling, sight, hearing, as by an +electric spell, returned. She looked forth again, and though her eye +caught the noble form of Nigel Bruce yet quivering in the air, she +shrunk not, she sickened not, for its gaze sought her child; she had +disappeared from the place she had occupied. She saw the Earl of +Gloucester making a rapid way through the dispersing crowds, a sudden +gust blew aside his wrapping-cloak, the face of her child was exposed to +her view, there was a look of death upon her brow; and if the Earl of +Berwick had lingered to note whether indeed this scene of horror would +pass unnoticed, unfelt by his prisoner, he was gratified at length, for +Isabella of Buchan lay senseless on her prison floor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +"And she is in safety, Gilbert?" inquired the Princess Joan, the evening +of the day following the execution, lifting her eyes, swimming in tears, +to her husband's face. They were sitting alone in their private +apartments, secured from all intruders by a page stationed in the +ante-room; and the earl had been relating some important particulars of +the preceding day. + +"I trust in heaven she is, and some miles ere now on her road to +Scotland," was his answer. "I fear for nothing save for the beautiful +mind that fragile shell contains; alas! my Joan, I fear me that has gone +forever!" + +"Better, oh better, then, that fainting-fit had indeed been death," she +said, "that the thread of life had snapped than twisted thus in madness. +Yet thou sayest her purpose seemed firm, her intellect clear, in her +intense desire to reach Scotland. Would this be, thinkest thou, were +they disordered?" + +"I think yes; for hadst thou seen, as I, the expression of countenance, +the unearthly calmness with which this desire was enforced, the +constant, though unconscious, repetition of words as these, 'to the +king, to the king, my path lies there, he bade me seek him; perchance he +will be there to meet me,' thou too wouldst feel that, when that goal is +gained, her husband's message given, sense must fail or life itself +depart. But once for a few brief minutes I saw that calmness partly +fail, and I indulged in one faint hope she would be relieved by tears. +She saw old Dermid gaze on her and weep; she clung to his neck, her +features worked convulsively, and her voice was choked and broken, as +she said, We must not tarry, Dermid, we must not wait to weep and moan; +I must seek King Robert while I can. There is a fire on my brain and +heart, which will soon scorch up all memory but one; I must not wait +till it has reached _his_ words, and burned them up too--oh, let us on +at once;' but the old man's kindly words had not the effect I hoped, she +only shook her head, and then, as if the horrible recollection of the +past flashed back, a convulsive shuddering passed through her frame, and +when she raised her face from her hand its marble rigidity had +returned." + +"Alas! alas! poor sufferer," exclaimed the princess, in heartfelt +sorrow; "I fear indeed, if such things be, there is little hope of +reason. I would thou hadst conveyed her here, perchance the soothing and +sympathy of one of her own sex had averted this evil." + +"T doubt, my kind Joan," replied her husband; "thy words had such +beneficial power before, because hope had still possession of her +breast, she hoped to the very last, aye, even when she so madly went +with thee to Edward; now that is over; hope is crushed, when despair has +risen. Thou couldst not have soothed; it would have been but wringing +thy too kind heart, and exposing her to other and heightened evils." The +princess looked up inquiringly. "Knowest thou not Buchan hath discovered +that his daughter remained with Nigel Bruce, as his engaged bride, at +Kildrummie, and is even now seeking her retreat, vowing she shall repent +with tears of blood her connection with a Bruce?" + +"I did not indeed; how came this?" + +"How, I know not, save that it was reported Buchan had left the court, +on a mission to the convent where the Countess of Carrick and her +attendants are immured, and in all probability learnt this important +fact from them. I only know that at the instant I entered the prisoner's +dungeon, Buchan was demanding, at the sword's point, the place of her +retreat, incited to the deadliest fury at Nigel's daring avowal that +Agnes was his wife." + +"Merciful heaven! and Agnes, what did she?" + +"I know not, for I dared not, absolutely dared not look upon her face. +Her husband's self-control saved her, for he stood and answered as +calmly and collectedly as if indeed she were in the safety he declared; +her father brushed by, nay, well-nigh stumbled over her, as he furiously +quitted the dungeon, glared full at her, but knew her not. But I dared +not again bring her here, it was in too close vicinity with the king and +her cruel father, for her present state of mind must have betrayed every +disguise." + +"And thinkest thou he could have the heart to injure her, separated as +she is by death from the husband of her love?" + +"Aye, persecute her as he hath his wife and son. Joan, I would rather +lose my own right hand than that unhappy girl should fall into her +father's power. Confinement, indeed, though it would add but little real +misery to her present lot, yet I feel that with her present wild +yearnings to rejoin the Bruce, to fulfil to the very utmost her +husband's will, it would increase tenfold the darkness round her; the +very dread of her father would unhinge the last remaining link of +intellect." + +Joan shuddered. "God in mercy forefend such ill!" she said, fervently; +"I would I could have seen her once again, for she has strangely twined +herself about my heart; but thou hast judged wisely, my Gilbert, her +safety is too precious to be thus idly risked; and this old man, canst +thou so trust him--will he guide her tenderly and well?" + +"Aye, I would stake my life upon his truth; he is the seer and minstrel +of the house of Bruce, and that would be all-sufficient to guarantee his +unwavering fidelity and skill. He has wandered on foot from Scotland, to +look on his beloved master once again; to watch over, as a guardian +spirit, the fate of that master's devoted wife, and he will do this, I +doubt not, and discover Carrick's place of retreat, were it at the +utmost boundaries of the earth. I only dread pursuit." + +"Pursuit! and by whom?" + +"By her father. Men said he was close beside me during that horrible +hour, though I saw him not; if he observed her, traced to her lips that +maddening shriek, it would excite his curiosity quite sufficiently for +him to trace my steps, and discovery were then inevitable." + +"But did he do this--hast seen him since?" + +"No, he has avoided me; but still, for her sake, I fear him. I know not +how or when, but there are boding whispers within me that all will not +be well. Now I would have news from thee. Is Hereford released?" + +"Yes; coupled with the condition that he enters not my father's presence +until Easter. He is deeply and justly hurt; but more grieved at the +change in his sovereign than angered at the treatment of himself." + +"No marvel; for if ever there were a perfect son of chivalry, one most +feelingly alive to its smallest point of honor, it is Humphrey Bohun." + +So spoke Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, unconscious that he +himself had equal right to a character so exalted; that both Scottish +and English historians would emulate each other in handing his name down +to posterity, surrounded by that lucid halo of real worth, on which the +eye turns again and again to rest for relief from the darker minds and +ruder hearts which formed the multitude of the age in which he lived. +The duties of friendship were performed in his preservation of the +person, and constant and bold defence of the character of the Bruce; the +duties of a subject, in dying on the battle-field in service for his +king. + +The boding prognostics of the Earl of Gloucester were verified ere that +day closed. While still in earnest converse with his countess, a +messenger came from the king, demanding their instant presence in his +closet. The summons was so unusual, that in itself it was alarming, nor +did the sight of the Earl of Buchan in close conference with the monarch +decrease their fears. As soon as a cessation of his pains permitted the +exertion, Buchan had been sent for by the king; the issue of his +inquiries after his daughter demanded, and all narrated; his interview +with Sir Nigel dwelt upon with all the rancor of hate. Edward had +listened without making any observation; a twinkle of his still bright +eye, an expression about the lips alone betraying that he not only heard +but was forming his own conclusions from the tale. + +"And you have no clue, no thought of her retreat?" he asked, at length, +abruptly, when the earl ceased. + +"Not the very faintest, your grace. Had not that interfering Gloucester +come between me and my foe, I had forced it from him at the sharp +sword's point." + +"Gloucester--humph!" muttered the king. "Yet an so bloody was thy +purpose, my good lord, his interference did thee no ill. How was the +earl accompanied--was he alone?" + +"If I remember rightly, alone, your grace. No, by my faith, there was a +page with him!" + +"A page--ha! and what manner of man was he?" + +"Man! your highness, say rather a puny stripling, with far more of the +woman about him than the man." + +"Ha!" again uttered the king; "looked he so weakly--did thy fury permit +such keen remark?" + +"Not at that time, your highness; but he was, with Gloucester, compelled +to witness the execution of this black traitor, and he looked white, +statue-like, and uttered a shriek, forsooth, likely to scare back the +villain's soul even as it took flight. Gloucester cared for the dainty +brat, as if he had been a son of your highness, not a page in his +household, for he lifted him up in his arms, and bore him out of the +crowd." + +"Humph!" said Edward again, in a tone likely to have excited curiosity +in any mind less obtuse on such matters than that of the Scottish earl. +"And thou sayest," he added, after some few minutes pause, "this daring +traitor, so lately a man, would tell thee no more than that thy daughter +was his wife, and in safety--out of thy reach?" + +Buchan answered in the affirmative. + +"And thou hast not the most distant idea where he hath concealed her?" + +"None, your highness." + +"Then I will tell thee, sir earl; and if thou dost not feel inclined to +dash out thine own brains with vexation at letting thy prey so slip out +of thy grasp, thou art not the man I took thee for," and Edward fixed +his eyes on his startled companion with a glance at once keen and +malicious. + +"The white and statue-looking page, with more of woman about him than +the man, was the _wife_ of this rank villain, Sir Nigel Bruce, and thy +daughter, my Lord of Buchan. The Earl of Gloucester may, perchance, tell +thee more." + +The earl started from his seat with an oath, which the presence of +majesty itself could not restrain. The dulness of his brain was +dissolved as by a flash of lightning; the ghastly appearance, the +maddening shriek, the death-like faint, all of which he had witnessed in +Gloucester's supposed page, nay, the very disturbed and anxious look of +the earl himself, gave truth and life to Edward's words, and he struck +his clenched fist against his brow, and strode up and down the royal +closet, in a condition as frantically disturbed as the monarch could +possibly have desired; and then, hastily and almost incoherently, +besought the king's aid in sifting the matter to the very bottom, and +obtaining repossession of his daughter, entreating leave of absence to +seek out Gloucester and tax him with the fact. + +Edward, whose fury against the house of Bruce--whether man, woman, or +child, noble or serf, belonging to them--had been somewhat soothed by +the ignominious execution of Nigel, had felt almost as much amused as +angered at the earl's tale, and enjoyed the idea of a man, whom in his +inmost heart he most thoroughly despised, having been so completely +outwitted, and for the time so foiled. The feud between the Comyn and +the Bruce was nothing to him, except where it forwarded his own +interests. He had incited Buchan to inquire about his daughter, simply +because the occupation would remove that earl out of his way for a short +time, and perhaps, if the rumor of her engagement with one of the +brothers of the Bruce were true, set another engine at work to discover +the place of their concealment. The moment Buchan informed him it was to +Nigel she had been engaged, with Nigel last seen, his acute penetration +recalled the page who had accompanied the princess when she supplicated +mercy, and had he heard no more, would have pointed there for the +solution of the mystery. Incensed he was and deeply, at the fraud +practised upon him at the Karl and Countess of Gloucester daring to +harbor, nay, protect and conceal the wife of a traitor; but his anger +was subdued in part by the belief that now it was almost impossible she +could escape the wardance of her father, and _his_ vengeance would be +more than sufficient to satisfy him; nay, when he recalled the face and +the voice, it was so like madness and death, and he was, moreover, so +convinced that now her husband was dead she could do him no manner of +harm, that he inwardly and almost unconsciously hoped she might +eventually escape her father's power, although he composedly promised +the earl to exercise his authority, and give him the royal warrant for +the search and committal of her person wherever she might be. Anger, +that Gloucester and his wife should so have dared his sovereign power, +was now the prevailing feeling, and therefore was it he commanded their +presence, determined to question them himself, rather than through the +still enraged Buchan. + +Calmly and collectedly the noble pair received alike the displeasure of +their sovereign and the ill-concealed fury of Buchan. They neither +denied the charge against them nor equivocated in their motives for +their conduct; alarmed they were, indeed, for the unhappy Agnes; but as +denial and concealment were now alike impossible, and could avail her +nothing, they boldly, nay, proudly acknowledged that which they had +done, and openly rejoiced it had been theirs to give one gleam of +comfort to the dying Nigel, by extending protection to his wife. + +"And are ye not traitors--bold, presuming traitors--deserving the +chastisement of such, bearding me thus in my very palace?" wrathfully +exclaimed Edward. "Know ye not both are liable to the charge of treason, +aye, treason--and fear ye to brave us thus?" + +"My liege, we are no traitors, amenable to no such charge," calmly +answered Gloucester; "far, far more truly, faithfully, devotedly your +grace's subjects than many of those who had shrunk from an act as this. +That in so doing we were likely to incur your royal displeasure, we +acknowledge with deep regret and sorrow, and I take it no shame thus on +my knee to beseech your highness's indulgence for the fault; but if you +deem it worthy of chastisement, we are ready to submit to it, denying, +however, all graver charge, than that of failing in proper deference to +your grace." + +"All other charge! By St. Edward, is not that enough?" answered the +king, but in a mollified tone. "And thou, minion, thou whom we deemed +the very paragon of integrity and honor, hast thou aught to say? Did not +thy lips frame falsehood, and thy bold looks confirm it?" + +"My father, my noble father, pardon me that in this I erred," answered +Joan, kneeling by his side, and, despite his efforts to prevent it, +clasping his hand and covering it with kisses; "yet I spoke no +falsehood, uttered naught which was not truth. She _was_ ill and weakly; +she was well-nigh maddened from scenes and sounds of blood. I had +besought her not to attend me, but a wife's agony could not be +restrained, and if we had refused her the protection she so wildly +craved, had discovered her person to your highness, would it have +availed thee aught? a being young, scarce past her childhood--miserable, +maddened well-nigh to death, her life wrapt up in her husband's, which +was forfeited to thee." + +"The wife of a traitor, the offspring of a traitress, connected on every +side with treason, and canst ask if her detention would have availed us +aught? Joan, Joan, thy defence is but a weak one," answered the king, +sternly, but he called her "Joan," and that simple word thrilled to her +heart as the voice of former years, and her father felt a sudden gush +of tears fall on the hand he had not withdrawn, and vainly he struggled +against the softening feelings those tears had brought. It was strange +that, angered as he really was, the better feelings of Edward should in +such a moment have so completely gained the ascendency. Perhaps he was +not proof against the contrast before him, presented in the persons of +Buchan and Gloucester; the base villainy of the one, the exalted +nobility of the other, alike shone forth the clearer from their +unusually close contact. In general, Edward was wont to deem these +softening emotions foolish weaknesses, which he would banish by shunning +the society of all those who could call them forth. Their candid +acknowledgment of having deserved his displeasure, and submission to his +will, however, so soothed his self-love, his fondness for absolute +power, that he permitted them to have vent with but little restraint. +Agnes might have been the wife of a traitor, but he was out of Edward's +way; the daughter of a traitress, but she was equally powerless; linked +with treason, but too much crashed by her own misery to be sensible of +aught else. Surely she was too insignificant for him to persevere in +wrath, and alienate by unmerited severity yet more the hearts which at +such moments he felt he valued, despite his every effort to the +contrary. + +So powerfully was he worked upon, that had it not been for the +ill-restrained fury of Buchan, it was possible the subject would have +been in the end peaceably dismissed; but on that earl's reminding him of +his royal word, the king commanded Gloucester to deliver up his charge +to her rightful guardian, and all the past should be forgiven. The earl +quietly and respectfully replied he could not, for he knew not where she +was. Wrath gathered on Edward's brow, and Buchan laid his hand on his +sword; but neither the royal commands nor Buchan's muttered threats and +oaths of vengeance could elicit from Gloucester more than that she had +set off to return to Scotland with an aged man, not three hours after +the execution had taken place. He had purposely avoided all inquiries as +to their intended route, and therefore not any cross-questioning on the +part of the king caused him to waver in the smallest point from his +original tale, or afforded any evidence that he knew more than he said. + +"Get thee to Sir Edward Cunningham, my Lord of Buchan, and bid him draw +up a warrant for the detention and committal of these two persons +wherever they may be," the king said, "and away with thee, and a trusty +troop, with all speed to Berwick. Make inquiries of all who at that +particular hour passed the gates, and be assured thou wilt find some +clue. Take men enough to scour the country in all directions; provide +them with an exact description of the prisoners they seek, and tarry +not, and thou wilt yet gain thy prize; living or dead, we resign all our +right over her person to thee, and give thee power, as her father, to do +with her what may please thee best. Away with thee, my lord, and heaven +speed thee!" + +"My liege and father, oh, why hast thou done this?" exclaimed the +princess, imploringly, as, with a low obeisance to the king and a +gesture of triumph at the Earl of Gloucester, Buchan departed. "Hath she +not borne misery enough!" + +"Nay, we do but our duty to our subjects in aiding fathers to repress +rebellious children," replied the king. "Of a truth, fair dame of +Gloucester, thy principles of filial duty seem somewhat as loose and +light as those which counselled abetting, protecting, and concealing the +partner of a traitor. Wouldst have us refuse Buchan's most fatherly +desire? Surely thou wouldst not part him from his child?" + +"Forever and forever!" exclaimed the princess, fervently. "Great God in +heaven, that such a being should call that monster father, and owe him +the duty of a child! But, oh, thou dost but jest, my father; in mercy +recall that warrant--expose her not to wretchedness as this!" + +"Peace," replied the king, sternly. "As thou valuest thine own and thy +husband's liberty and life, breathe not another syllable, speak not +another word for her, or double misery shall be her portion. We have +shown enough of mercy in demanding no further punishment for that which +ye have done, than that for ten days ye remain prisoners in your own +apartments. Answer not; we will have no more of this." + +The Earl of Buchan, meanwhile, had made no delay in gaining the +necessary aids to his plan. Ere two hours passed, he was on his road to +Berwick, backed with a stout body of his own retainers, and bearing a +commission to the Earl of Berwick to provide him with as many more as he +desired. He went first to the hostelry near the outskirts of the town, +where he remembered Gloucester had borne the supposed page. There he +obtained much desirable information, an exact description of the dress, +features, and appearance of both the page and his companion; of the +former, indeed, he recollected all-sufficient, even had the description +been less exact. The old minstrel had attracted the attention of many +within the hostel, and consequently enabled Buchan to obtain information +from various sources, all of which agreed so well that he felt sure of +success. + +Backed by the warrant of Edward, he went to the civil authorities of the +town, obtained four or five technically drawn-up descriptions of the +prisoners, and intrusted them to the different officers, who, with bands +of fifty men, he commanded to search every nook and corner of the +country round Berwick, in various directions. He himself discovering +they had passed through the Scotch gate and appeared directing their +course in a westerly direction, took with him one hundred men, and +followed that track, buoyed up by the hope not only of gaining +possession of his daughter, but perhaps of falling in with the retreat +even of the detested Bruce, against whom he had solemnly recorded a vow +never to let the sword rest in the scabbard till he had revenged the +murder of his kinsman, the Red Comyn. Some words caught by a curious +listener, passing between the page and minstrel, and eagerly reported to +him, convinced him it was Robert Bruce they sought, and urged him to +continue the search with threefold vigor. + +Slowly and sadly meanwhile had the hours of their weary pilgrimage +passed for the poor wanderers, and little did they imagine, as they +threaded the most intricate paths of the borders of Scotland, that they +were objects of persecution and pursuit. Though the bodily strength of +Agnes had well-nigh waned, though the burning cheek and wandering, too +brightly flashing eye denoted how fearfully did fever rage internally, +she would not pause save when absolutely compelled. She could neither +sleep nor eat: her only cry was, "To the king--bring me but to King +Robert while I may yet speak!" her only consciousness, that she had a +mission to perform, that she was intrusted with a message from the dead; +all else was a void, dark, shapeless, in which thought framed no image; +mind, not a wish. Insensibility it was not, alas! no, that void was woe, +all woe, which folded up heart and brain as with a cloak of fire, +scorching up thought, memory, hope--all that could recall the past, +vivify the present, or vision forth the future. She breathed indeed and +spoke, and clung to that aged man with all the clinging helplessness of +her sex, but scarce could she be said to live; all that was real of life +had twined round her husband's soul, and with it fled. + +The old man felt not his advanced age, the consciousness of the many +dangers hovering on their way; his whole thought was for her, to bring +her to the soothing care and protection of the king, and then he cared +not how soon his sand run out. When wandering in the districts of +Annandale and Carrick, before he had arrived at Berwick, he had learned +the secret but most important intelligence that King Robert had passed +the winter off the coast of Ireland, and was supposed to be only waiting +a favorable opportunity to return to Scotland, and once more upraise his +standard. This news had been most religiously and strictly preserved a +secret amid the few faithful adherents of the Bruce, who perhaps spoke +yet more as they hoped than as a fact well founded. + +For some days their way had been more fatiguing than dangerous, for +though the country was overrun with English, a minstrel and a page were +objects far too insignificant, in the present state of excitement, to +meet with either detention or notice. Not a week had passed, however, +before rumors of Buchan's parties reached the old man's ears, and filled +him with anxiety and dread. The feverish restlessness of Agnes to +advance yet quicker on their way, precluded all idea of halting, save in +woods and caverns, till the danger had passed. Without informing her of +all he had heard, and the danger he apprehended, he endeavored to avoid +all towns and villages; but the heavy rains which had set in rendered +their path through the country yet more precarious and uncertain, and +often compelled him most unwillingly to seek other and better shelter. +At Strathaven he became conscious that their dress and appearance were +strictly scrutinized, and some remarks that he distinguished convinced +him that Buchan had either passed through that town, or was lingering in +its neighborhood still. Turning sick with apprehension, the old man +hastily retraced his steps to the hostel, where he had left Agnes, and +found her, for the first time since their departure, sunk into a kind of +sleep or stupor from exhaustion, from which he could not bear to arouse +her. Watching her for some little time in silence, his attention was +attracted by whispering voices, only separated from him by a thin +partition. They recounted and compared one by one the dress and peculiar +characteristics of himself and his companion, seeming to compare it with +a written list. Then followed an argument as to whether it would not be +better to arrest their progress at once, or send on to the Earl of +Buchan, who was at a castle only five miles distant. How it was +determined Dermid knew not, for the voices faded in the distance; but he +had heard enough, and it seemed indeed as if detention and restraint +were at length at hand. What to do he knew not. Night had now some hours +advanced, and to attempt leaving the hostel at such an unseasonable hour +would be of itself sufficient to confirm suspicion. All seemed at rest +within the establishment; there was no sound to announce that a +messenger had been dispatched to the earl, and he determined to await as +calmly as might be the dawn. + +The first streak of light, however, was scarce visible in the east +before, openly and loudly, so as to elude all appearance of flight, he +declared his intention of pursuing his journey, as the weather had +already detained them too long. He called on the hostess to receive her +reckoning, commanded the mules to be saddled, all of which was done, to +his surprise, without comment or question, and they departed +unrestrained; the old man too much overjoyed at this unexpected escape +to note that they were followed by two Englishmen, the one on horseback, +the other on foot. Anxiety indeed had still possession of him, for he +could not reconcile the words he had overheard with their quiet +departure; but as the day passed, and they plunged thicker and thicker +in the woods of Carrick, and there was no sign of pursuit, or even of a +human form, he hailed with joy a solitary house, and believed the danger +passed. + +The inmates received them with the utmost hospitality; the order for +their detention had evidently not reached them, and Dermid determined on +waiting quietly there till the exhausted strength of his companion +should be recruited, and permit them to proceed. An hour and more passed +in cheerful converse with the aged couple who owned the house, and who, +with the exception of one or two servants, were its sole inhabitants. +The tales of the minstrel were called for and received with a glee which +seemed to make all his listeners feel young again. Agnes alone sate +apart; her delicate frame and evident exhaustion concealing deeper +sufferings from her hosts, who vied with each other in seeking to +alleviate her fatigue and give bodily comfort, if they could offer no +other consolation. Leaning back in a large settle in the chimney corner, +she had seemed unconscious of the cheerful sociability around her, when +suddenly she arose, and advancing to Dermid, laid a trembling hand on +his arm. He looked up surprised. + +"Hist!" she murmured, throwing back the hair from her damp brow. "Hear +ye no sound?" + +All listened for a time in vain. + +"Again," she said; "'tis nearer, more distinct. Who comes with a troop +of soldiers here?" + +It was indeed the heavy trampling of many horse, at first so distant as +scarcely to be distinguished, save by ears anxious and startled as old +Dermid's; but nearer and nearer they came, till even the inmates of the +house all huddled, together in alarm. Agnes remained standing, her hand +on Dermid's arm, her head thrown back, her features bearing an +expression scarce to be defined. The horses' hoofs, mingled with the +clang of armor, rung sharp and clear on the stones of the courtyard. +They halted: the pommel of a sword was struck against the oaken door, +and a night's lodging courteously demanded. The terror of the owners of +the house subsided, for the voice they heard was Scotch. + +The door was thrown open, the request granted, with the same hospitality +as had been extended to the minstrel and the page. On the instant there +was a confused sound of warriors dismounting, of horses eager for +stabling and forage; and one tall and stately figure, clad from head to +foot in mail, entered the house, and removing his helmet, addressed some +words of courteous greeting and acknowledgment to its inmates. A loud +exclamation burst from the minstrel's lips; but Agnes uttered no sound, +she made one bound forward, and dropped senseless at the warrior's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +It was on a cool evening, near the end of September, 1311, that a troop, +consisting of about thirty horse, and as many on foot, were leisurely +traversing the mountain passes between the counties of Dumfries and +Lanark. Their arms were well burnished; their buff coats and half-armor +in good trim; their banner waved proudly from its staff, as bright and +gay as if it had not even neared a scene of strife; and there was an air +of hilarity and gallantry about them that argued well for success, if +about to commence an expedition, or if returning, told with equal +emphasis they had been successful. That the latter was the case was +speedily evident, from the gay converse passing between them; their +allusions to some late gallant achievement of their patriot sovereign; +their joyous comparisons between good King Robert and his weak opponent, +Edward II. of England, marvelling how so wavering and indolent a son +could have sprung from so brave and determined a sire; for, Scotsmen as +they were, they were now FREE, and could thus afford to allow +the "hammer" of their country some knightly qualities, despite the stern +and cruel tyranny which to them had ever marked his conduct. They spoke +in laughing scorn of the second Edward's efforts to lay his father's +yoke anew upon their necks; they said a just heaven had interfered and +urged him to waste the decisive moment of action in indolence and folly, +in the flatteries of his favorite, to the utter exclusion of those wiser +lords, whose counsels, if followed on the instant, might have shaken +even the wise and patriot Bruce. Yet they were so devoted to their +sovereign, they idolized him alike as a warrior and a man too deeply, to +allow that to the weak and vacillating conduct of Edward they owed the +preservation of their country. It was easy to perceive by the springy +step, the flashing eye, the ringing, tone with which that magic name, +the Bruce, was spoken, how deeply it was written on the heart; the joy +it was to recall his deeds, and feel it was through him that they were +free! Their converse easily betrayed them to be one of those +well-ordered though straggling parties into which King Robert's invading +armies generally dispersed at his command, when returning to their own +fastnesses, after a successful expedition to the English border. + +The laugh and jest resounded, as we have said, amongst both officers and +men; but their leader, who was riding about a stone's throw ahead, gave +no evidence of sharing their mirth. He was clad from head to foot in +chain armor, of a hue so dark as to be mistaken for black, and from his +wearing a surcoat of the same color, unenlivened by any device, gave him +altogether a somewhat sombre appearance, although it could not detract +in the smallest degree from the peculiar gracefulness and easy dignity +of his form, which was remarkable both on horseback and on foot. He was +evidently very tall, and by his firm seat in the saddle, had been early +accustomed to equestrian exercises; but his limbs were slight almost to +delicacy, and though completely ensheathed in mail, there was an +appearance of extreme youth about him, that perhaps rendered the absence +of all gayety the more striking. Yet on the battle-field he gave no +evidence of inexperience as a warrior, no sign that he was merely a +scholar in the art of war; there only did men believe he must be older +than he seemed; there only his wonted depression gave place to an +energy, a fire, second to none amongst the Scottish patriots, not even +to the Bruce himself; then only was the naturally melancholy music of +his voice lost in accents of thrilling power, of imperative command, and +the oldest warriors followed him as if under the influence of some +spell. But of his appearance on the field we must elsewhere speak. He +now led his men through the mountain defiles mechanically, as if buried +in meditation, and that meditation not of the most pleasing nature. His +vizor was closed, but short clustering curls, of a raven blackness, +escaped beneath the helmet, and almost concealed the white linen and +finely embroidered collar which lay over his gorget, and was secured in +front by a ruby clasp; a thick plume of black feathers floated from his +helmet, rivalling in color the mane of his gallant charger, which pawed +the ground, and held his head aloft as if proud of the charge he bore. A +shield was slung round the warrior's neck, and its device and motto +seemed in melancholy accordance with the rest of his attire. On a field +argent lay the branch of a tree proper, blasted and jagged, with the +words "_Ni nom ni paren, je suis seul_," rudely engraved in Norman +French beneath; his helmet bore no crest, nor did his war-cry on the +field, "Amiot for the Bruce and freedom," offer any clue to the curious +as to his history, for that there was some history attached to him all +chose to believe, though the age was too full of excitement to allow +much of wonderment or curiosity to be expended upon him. His golden +spurs gave sufficient evidence that he was a knight; his prowess on the +field proclaimed whoever had given him that honor had not bestowed it on +the undeserving. His deeds of daring, unequalled even in that age, +obtained him favor in the eyes of every soldier; and if there were some +in the court and camp of Bruce who were not quite satisfied, and loved +not the mystery which surrounded him, it mattered not, Sir Amiot of the +Branch, or the Lonely Chevalier, as he was generally called, went on his +way unquestioned. + +"Said not Sir Edward Bruce he would meet us hereabouts at set of sun?" +were the first words spoken by the knight, as, on issuing from the +mountains, they found themselves on a broad plain to the east of Lanark, +bearing sad tokens of a devastating war, in the ruined and blackened +huts which were the only vestiges of human habitations near. The answer +was in the affirmative; and the knight, after glancing in the direction +of the sun, which wanted about an hour to its setting, commanded a halt, +and desired that, while waiting the arrival of their comrades, they +should take their evening meal. + +On the instant the joyous sounds of dismounting, leading horses to +picquet, unclasping helmets, throwing aside the more easily displaced +portions of their armor, shields, and spears, took the place of the +steady tramp and well-ordered march. Flinging themselves in various +attitudes on the greensward, provender was speedily laid before them, +and rare wines and other choice liquors, fruits of their late campaign, +passed gayly round. An esquire had, at the knight's sign, assisted him +to remove his helmet, shield, and gauntlets; but though this removal +displayed a beautifully formed head, thickly covered with dark hair, his +features were still concealed by a species of black mask, the mouth, +chin, and eyes being alone visible, and therefore his identity was +effectually hidden. The mouth and chin were both small and delicately +formed; the slight appearance of beard and moustache seeming to denote +his age as some one-and-twenty years. His eyes, glancing through the +opening in the mask, were large and very dark, often flashing brightly, +when his outward bearing was so calm and quiet as to afford little +evidence of emotion. Some there were, indeed, who believed the eye the +truer index of the man than aught else about him, and to fancy there was +far more in that sad and lonely knight than was revealed. + +It was evident, however, that to the men now with him his remaining so +closely masked was no subject of surprise, that they regarded it as an +ordinary thing, which in consequence had lost its strangeness. They were +eager and respectful in their manner towards him, offering to raise him +a seat of turf at some little distance from their noisy comrades; but +acknowledging their attention with kindness and courtesy, he refused it, +and rousing himself with some difficulty from his desponding thoughts, +threw himself on the sward beside his men, and joined in their mirth and +jest. + +"Hast thou naught to tell to while away this tedious hour, good +Murdoch?" he asked, after a while, addressing a gray-headed veteran. + +"Aye, aye, a tale, a tale; thou hast seen more of the Bruce than all of +us together," repeated many eager voices, "and knowest yet more of his +deeds than we do; a tale an thou wilt, but of no other hero than the +Bruce." + +"The Bruce!" echoed the veteran; "see ye not his deeds yourselves, need +ye more of them?" but there was a sly twinkle in his eye that betrayed +his love to speak was as great as his comrades to hear him. "Have ye not +heard, aye, and many of you seen his adventures and escapes in Carrick, +hunted even as he was by bloodhounds; his guarding that mountain pass, +one man against sixty, aye, absolutely alone against the Galwegian host +of men and bloodhounds; Glen Fruin, Loudun Hill, Aberdeen; the harrying +of Buchan; charging the treacherous foe, when they had to bear him from +his litter to his horse, aye, and support him there; springing up from +his couch of pain, and suffering, and depression, agonizing to witness, +to hurl vengeance on the fell traitors; aye, and he did it, and brought +back health to his own heart and frame; and Forfar, Lorn, +Dunstaffnage--know ye not all these things? Nay, have ye not seen, +shared in them all--what would ye more?" + +"The harrying of Buchan, tell us of that," loudly exclaimed many voices; +while some others shouted, "the landing of the Bruce--tell us of his +landing, and the spirit fire at Turnberry Head; the strange woman that +addressed him." + +"Now which am I to tell, good my masters?" laughingly answered the old +man, when the tumult in a degree subsided. "A part of one, and part of +the other, and leave ye to work out the rest yourselves; truly, a +pleasant occupation. Say, shall it be thus? yet stay, what says Sir +Amiot?" + +"As you will, my friends," answered the knight, cheerily; "but decide +quickly, or we shall hear neither. I am for the tale of Buchan," there +was a peculiarly thrilling emphasis in his tone as he pronounced the +word, "for I was not in Scotland at the time, and have heard but +disjointed rumors of the expedition." + +The veteran looked round on his eager comrades with an air of +satisfaction, then clearing his voice, and drawing more to the centre of +the group; "Your worship knows," he began, addressing Sir Amiot, who, +stretched at full length on the sward, had fixed his eyes upon him, +though their eagle glance was partly shaded by his hand, "that our good +King Robert the Bruce, determined on the reduction of the north of his +kingdom, advanced thereto in the spring of 1308, accompanied by his +brother, Lord Edward, that right noble gentleman the Earl of Lennox, Sir +Gilbert Hay, Sir Robert Boyd, and others, with a goodly show of men and +arms, for his successes at Glen Fruin and Loudun Hill had brought him a +vast accession of loyal subjects. And they were needed, your worship, of +a truth, for the traitorous Comyns had almost entire possession of the +castles and forts of the north, and thence were wont to pour down their +ravaging hordes upon the true Scotsmen, and menace the king, till he +scarcely knew which side to turn to first. Your worship coming, I have +heard, from the low country, can scarcely know all the haunts and +lurking-places for treason the highlands of our country present; how +hordes of traitors may be trained and armed in these remote districts, +without the smallest suspicion being attached to them till it is +well-nigh too late, and the mischief is done. Well, to drive out these +black villains, to free his kingdom, not alone from the yoke of an +English Edward, but a Scottish Comyn, good King Robert was resolved--and +even as he resolved he did. Inverness, the citadel of treason and +disloyalty, fell before him; her defences, and walls, and turrets, and +towers, all dismantled and levelled, so as to prevent all further +harborage of treason; her garrison marched out, the ringleaders sent +into secure quarters, and all who hastened to offer homage and swear +fidelity, received with a courtesy and majesty which I dare to say did +more for the cause of our true king than a Comyn could ever do against +it. Other castles followed the fate of Inverness, till at length the +north, even as the south, acknowledged the Bruce, not alone as their +king, but as their deliverer and savior. + +"It was while rejoicing over these glorious successes, the lords and +knights about the person of their sovereign began to note with great +alarm that his strength seemed waning, his brow often knit as with +inward pain, his eye would grow dim, and his limbs fail him, without a +moment's warning; and that extreme depression would steal over his manly +spirit even in the very moment of success. They watched in alarm, but +silently; and when they saw the renewed earnestness and activity with +which, on hearing of the approach of Comyn of Buchan, Sir John de +Mowbray, and that worst of traitors, his own nephew, Sir David of +Brechin, he rallied his forces, advanced to meet them, and compelled +them to retreat confusedly to Aberdeen, they hoped they had been +deceived, and all was well. + +"But the fell disease gained ground; at first he could not guide his +charger's reins, and then he could not mount at all; his voice failed, +his sight passed; they were compelled to lay him in a litter, and bear +him in the midst of them, and they felt as if the void left by their +sovereign's absence from their head was filled with the dim shadow of +death. Nobly and gallantly did Lord Edward endeavor to remedy this fatal +evil; Lennox, Hay, even the two Frasers, who had so lately joined the +king, seemed as if paralyzed by this new grief, and hung over the +Bruce's litter as if their strength waned with his. Sternly, nay, at +such a moment it seemed almost harshly, Lord Edward rebuked this +weakness, and, conducting them to Slenath, formed some strong +entrenchments, of which the Bruce's pavilion was the centre, intending +there to wait his brother's recovery. Ah, my masters, if ye were not +with good King Robert then, ye have escaped the bitterest trial. Ye know +not what it was to behold him--the savior of his country, the darling of +his people, the noblest knight and bravest warrior who ever girded on a +sword--lie there, so pale, so faint, with scarce a voice or passing sigh +to say he breathed. The hand which grasped the weal of Scotland, the arm +that held her shield, lay nerveless as the dead; the brain which thought +so well and wisely for his fettered land, lay powerless and still; the +thrilling voice was hushed, the flashing eye was closed. The foes were +close around him, and true friends in tears and woe beside his couch, +were all alike unknown. Ah! then was the time for warrior's tears, for +men of iron frame and rugged mood to soften into woman's woe, and weep. +Men term Lord Edward Bruce so harsh and stern, one whom naught of grief +for others or himself can move; they saw him not as I have. It was mine +to watch my sovereign, when others sought their rest; and I have seen +that rugged chieftain stand beside his brother's couch alone, unmarked, +and struggle with his spirit till his brow hath knit, his lip become +convulsed, and then as if 'twere vain, all vain, sink on his knee, clasp +his sovereign's hand, and bow his head and weep. 'Tis passed and over +now, kind heaven be praised! yet I cannot recall that scene, unbind the +folds of memory, unmoved." + +The old man passed his rough hand across his eyes, and for a brief +moment paused; his comrades, themselves affected, sought not to disturb +him, and quickly he resumed. + +"Days passed, and still King Robert gave no sign of amendment, except, +indeed, there were intervals when his eyes wandered to the countenances +of his leaders, as if he knew them, and would fain have addressed them +as his wont. Then it was our men were annoyed by an incessant discharge +from Buchan's archers, which, though they could do perhaps no great +evil, yet wounded many of our men, and roused Lord Edward's spirit to +resent the insult. His determination to leave the entrenchments and +retreat to Strathbogie, appeared at first an act of such unparalleled +daring as to startle all his brother leaders, and they hesitated; but +there never was any long resisting Sir Edward's plans; he bears a spell +no spirit with a spark of gallantry about him can resist. The retreat +was in consequence determined on, to the great glee of our men, who were +tired of inaction, and imagined they should feel their sovereign's +sufferings less if engaged hand to hand with, the foe, in his service, +than watching him as they had lately done, and dreading yet greater +evils. + +"Ye have heard of this daring retreat, my friends; it was in the mouth +of every Scotsman, aye, and of Englishman too, for King Robert himself +never accomplished a deed of greater skill. The king's litter was placed +in the centre of a square, which presented on either side such an +impenetrable fence of spears and shields, that though Buchan and De +Mowbray mustered more than double our number, they never ventured an +attack, and a retreat, apparently threatening total destruction, from +its varied dangers, was accomplished without the loss of a single man. +At Strathbogie we halted but a short space, for finding no obstruction +in our path, we hastened southward, in the direction of Inverury; there +we pitched the tent for the king, and, taking advantage of a natural +fortification, dispersed our men around it, still in a compact square. +Soon after this had been accomplished, news was received that our foes +were concentrating their numerous forces at Old Meldrum, scarcely two +miles from us, and consequently we must hold ourselves in constant +readiness to receive their attack. + +"Well, the news that the enemy was so near us might not perhaps have +been particularly pleasing, had they not been more than balanced by the +conviction--far more precious than a large reinforcement, for in itself +it was a host--the king was recovering. Yes, scarcely as we dared hope, +much less believe it, the disease, which had fairly baffled all the +leech's art, which had hung over our idolized monarch so long, at length +showed symptoms of giving way, and there was as great rejoicing in the +camp as if neither danger nor misfortune could assail us more; a new +spirit sparkled in every eye, as if the awakening lustre in the Bruce's +glance, the still faint, yet thrilling accents of a voice we had feared +was hushed forever, had lighted on every heart, and kindled anew their +slumbering fire. One day, Lord Edward, the Earl of Lennox, and a gallant +party, were absent scouring the country about half a mile round our +entrenchments, and in consequence, one side of our square was more than +usually open, but we did not think it signified, for there wore no +tidings of the enemy; well, this day the king had called me to him, and +bade me relate the particulars of the retreat, which I was proud enough +to do, my masters, and which of you would not be, speaking as I did with +our gallant sovereign as friend with friend?" + +"Aye, and does he not make us all feel this?" burst simultaneously from +many voices; "does he not speak, and treat us all as if we were his +friends, and not his subjects only? Thine was a proud task, good +Murdoch, but which of us has good King Robert not addressed with kindly +words and proffered hand?" + +"Right! right!" joyously responded the old man; "still I say that hour +was one of the proudest in my life, and an eventful one too for Scotland +ere it closed. King Robert heard me with flashing eye and kindling +cheek, and his voice, as he burst forth in high praise and love for his +daring brother, sounded almost as strong and thrilling as was its wont +in health; just then a struggle was heard without the tent, a scuffle, +as of a skirmish, confused voices, clashing of weapons, and war-cries. +Up started the king, with eagle glance and eager tone. 'My arms,' he +cried, 'bring me my arms! Ha hear ye that?' and sure enough, 'St. David +for De Brechin, and down with the Bruce!' resounded so close, that it +seemed as if but the curtain separated the traitor from his kinsman and +his king. Never saw I the Bruce so fearfully aroused, the rage of the +lion was upon him. 'Hear ye that?' he repeated, as, despite my +remonstrances, and these of the officers who rushed into the tent, he +sprang from the couch, and, with the rapidity of light, assumed his +long-neglected armor. 'The traitorous villain! would he beard me to my +teeth? By the heaven above us, he shall rue this insolence! Bring me my +charger. Beaten off, say ye? I doubt it not, my gallant friends; but it +is now the Bruce's turn, his kindred traitors are not far off, and we +would try their mettle now. Nay, restrain me not, these folk will work a +cure for me--there, I am a man again!' and as he stood upright, sheathed +in his glittering mail, his drawn sword in his gauntleted hand, a wild +shout of irrepressible joy burst from us all, and, caught up by the +soldiers without the tent, echoed and re-echoed through the camp. The +sudden appearance of the Bruce's charger, caparisoned for battle, +standing before his master's tent, the drums rolling for the muster, the +lightning speed with which Sir Edward Bruce, Lennox, and Hay, after +dispersing De Brechin's troop, as dust on the plain, galloped to the +royal pavilion, themselves equally at a loss to understand the bustle +there, all prepared the men-at-arms for what was to come. Eagerly did +the gallant knights remonstrate with their sovereign, conjure him to +follow the battle in his litter, rather than attempt to mount his +charger; they besought him to think what his life, his safety was to +them, and not so rashly risk it. Lord Edward did entreat him to reserve +his strength till there was more need; the field was then clear, the +foes had not appeared; but all in vain their eloquence, the king +combated it all. 'We will go seek them, brother,' cheerily answered the +king; 'we will go tell them insult to the Bruce passes not unanswered. +On, on, gallant knights, our men wax impatient.' Hastening from the +tent, he stood one moment in the sight of all his men: removing his +helmet, he smiled a gladsome greeting. Oh, what a shout rung forth from +those iron ranks! There was that noble face, pale, attenuated indeed, +but beaming on them in all its wonted animation, confidence, and love; +there was that majestic form towering again in its princely dignity, +seeming the nobler from being so long unseen. Again and again that shout +arose, till the wild birds rose screaming over our heads, in untuned, +yet exciting chorus. Nor did the fact that the king, strengthened as he +was by his own glorious soul, had in reality not bodily force enough to +mount his horse without support, take from the enthusiasm of his men, +nay, it was heightened and excited to the wildest pitch. 'For Scotland +and freedom!' shouted the king, as for one moment he rose in his +stirrups and waved his bright blade above his head. 'For Bruce and +Scotland!' swelled the answering shout. We formed, we gathered in +compact array around our leaders, loudly clashed our swords against our +shields; we marched a brief while slowly and majestically along the +plain; we neared the foe, who, with its multitude in terrible array, +awaited our coming; we saw, we hurled defiance in a shout which rent the +very air. Quicker and yet quicker we advanced; on, on--we scoured the +dusty plain, we pressed, we flew, we rushed upon the foe; the Bruce was +at our head, and with him victory. We burst through their ranks; we +compelled them, at the sword's point, to turn and fight even to the +death; we followed them foot to foot, and hand to hand, disputing every +inch of ground; they sought to retreat, to fly--but no! Five miles of +Scottish ground, five good broad miles, was that battle-field; the enemy +lay dead in heaps upon the field, the remainder fled." + +"And the king!" exclaimed the knight of the mask, half springing up in +the excitement the old man's tale had aroused. "How bore he this day's +wondrous deed--was not his strength exhausted anew?" + +"Aye, what of the king?" repeated many of the soldiers, who had held +their very breath while the veteran spoke, and clenched their swords, as +if they were joining in the strife he so energetically described. + +"The king, my masters," replied Murdoch, "why, if it could be, he looked +yet more the mighty warrior at the close than at the commencement of the +work. We had seen him the first in the charge, in the pursuit; we had +marked his white plume waving above all others, where the strife waxed +hottest; and when we gathered round him, when the fight was done, he +was seated on the ground in truth, and there was the dew of extreme +fatigue on his brow--he had flung aside his helmet--and his cheek was +hotly flushed, and his voice, as he thanked us for our gallant conduct, +and bade us return thanks to heaven for this great victory, was somewhat +quivering; but for all that, my masters, he looked still the warrior and +the king, and his voice grew firmer and louder as he bade us have no +fears for him. He dismissed us with our hearts as full of joy and love +for him as of triumph on our humbled foes." + +"No doubt," responded many voices; "but Buchan, Mowbray, De +Brechin--what came of them--were they left on the field?" + +"They fled, loving their lives better than their honor; they fled, like +cowards as they were. The two first slackened not their speed till they +stood on English ground. De Brechin, ye know, held out Angus as long as +he could, and was finally made captive." + +"Aye, and treated with far greater lenity than the villain deserved. He +will never be a Randolph." + +"A Randolph! Not a footboy in Randolph's train but is more Randolph than +he. But thou sayest Buchan slackened not rein till he reached English +ground; he lingered long enough for yet blacker treachery, if rumor +speaks aright. Was it not said the king's life was attempted by his +orders, and by one of the Comyn's own followers?" + +"Ha!" escaped Sir Amiot's lips. "Say they this?" but he evidently had +spoken involuntarily, for the momentary agitation which had accompanied +the words was instantly and forcibly suppressed. + +"Aye, your worship, and it is true," replied the veteran "It was two +nights after the battle. All the camp was at rest; I was occupied as +usual, by my honored watch in my sovereign's tent. The king was sleeping +soundly, and a strange drowsiness appeared creeping over me too, +confusing all my thoughts. At first I imagined the wind was agitating a +certain corner of the tent, and my eyes, half asleep and half wakeful, +became fascinated upon it; presently, what seemed a bale of carpets, +only doubled up in an extraordinary small space, appeared within the +drapery. It moved; my senses were instantly aroused. Slowly and +cautiously the bale grew taller, then the unfolding carpet fell, and a +short, well-knit, muscular form appeared. He was clothed in those +padded jerkins and hose, plaited with steel, which are usual to those of +his rank; the steel, however, this night was covered with thin, black +stuff, evidently to assist concealment. He looked cautiously around him. +I had creeped noiselessly, and on all fours, within the shadow of the +king's couch, where I could observe the villain's movements myself +unseen. I saw a gleam of triumph twinkle in his eye, so sure he seemed +of his intended victim. He advanced; his dagger flashed above the Bruce. +With one bound, one shout, I sprang on the murderous wretch, wrenched +the dagger from his grasp, and dashed him to the earth. He struggled, +but in vain; the king started from that deep slumber, one moment gazed +around him bewildered, the next was on his feet, and by my side. The +soldiers rushed into the tent, and confusion for the moment waxed loud +and warm; but the king quelled it with a word. The villain was raised, +pinioned, brought before the Bruce, who sternly demanded what was his +intent, and who was his employer. Awhile the miscreant paused, but then, +as if spell-bound by the flashing orb upon him, confessed the whole, +aye, and more; that his master, the Earl of Buchan, had sworn a deep and +deadly oath to relax not in his hot pursuit till the life-blood of the +Bruce had avenged the death of the Red Comyn, and that, though he had +escaped now, he must fall at length, for the whole race of Comyn had +joined hands upon their chieftain's oath. The brow of the king grew +dark, terrible wrath beamed from his eyes, and it seemed for the moment +as if he would deliver up the murderous villain into the hands that +yearned to tear him piecemeal. There was a struggle, brief yet terrible, +then he spoke, and calmly, yet with a bitter stinging scorn. + +"'And this is Buchan's oath,' he said. 'Ha! doth he not bravely, my +friends, to fly the battle-field, to shun us there, that hireling hands +may do a deed he dares not? For this poor fool, what shall we do with +him?' + +"'Death, death--torture and death! what else befits the sacrilegious +traitor?' burst from many voices, pressing forward to seize and bear him +from the tent; but the king signed them to forbear, and oh, what a smile +took the place of his previous scorn! + +"'And I say neither torture nor death, my friends,' he tried. 'What, are +we sunk so low, as to revenge this insult on a mere tool, the +instrument of a villainous master? No, no! let him go free, and tell his +lord how little the Bruce heeds him; that guarded as he is by a free +people's love, were the race of Comyn as powerful and numerous as +England's self, their oath would avail them nothing. Let the poor fool +go free!' + +"A deep wild murmur ran through the now crowded tent, and so mingled +were the tones of applause and execration, we knew not which the most +prevailed. + +"'And shall there be no vengeance for this dastard deed?' at length the +deep, full voice of Lord Edward Bruce arose, distinct above the rest. +'Shall the Bruce sit tamely down to await the working of the villain +oath, and bid its tools go free, filling the whole land with +well-trained murderers? Shall Buchan pass scathless, to weave yet +darker, more atrocious schemes?' + +"'Brother, no,' frankly rejoined the king. 'We will make free to go and +visit our friends in Buchan, and there, an thou wilt, thou shalt pay +them in coin for their kindly intents and deeds towards us; but for this +poor fool, again I say, let him go free. Misery and death, God wot, we +are compelled to for our country's sake, let us spare where but our own +person is endangered.' + +"And they let him free, my masters, unwise as it seemed to us; none +could gainsay our sovereign's words. Sullen to the last, the only +symptom of gratitude he vouchsafed was to mutter forth, in, answer to +the Bruce's warning words to hie him to his comrades in Buchan, and bid +them, an they feared fire and devastation, to fly without delay, 'Aye, +only thus mayest thou hope to exterminate the traitors; pity none, spare +none. The whole district of Buchan is peopled by the Comyn, bound by +this oath of blood,' and thus he departed." + +"And spoke he truth?" demanded Sir Amiot, hoarsely, and with an +agitation that, had others more suspicious been with him, must have been +remarked, although forcibly and painfully suppressed; "spoke he truth? +Methought the district of Buchan had only within the last century +belonged to the Comyn, and that the descendants of the Countess +Margaret's vassals still kept apart, loving not the intermixture of +another clan. Said they not it was on this account the Countess of +Buchan had exercised such influence, and herself beaded a gallant troop +at the first rising of the Bruce? an the villain spoke truth, whence +came this change?" + +"Why, for that matter, your worship, it is easy enough explained," +answered Murdoch, "and, trust me, King Robert set inquiries enough +afloat ere he commenced his scheme of retaliation. Had there been one of +the Lady Isabella's own followers there, one who, in her name, claimed +his protection, he would have given it; not a hair of their heads would +have been injured; but there were none of these, your worship. The few +of the original clan which had not joined him were scattered all over +the country, mingling with other loyal clans; their own master had +hunted them away, when he came down to his own districts, just before +the capture of his wife and son. He filled the Tower of Buchan with his +own creatures, scattered the Comyns all over the land, with express +commands to attack, hunt, or resist all of the name of Bruce to the last +ebb of their existence. He left amongst them officers and knights as +traitorous, and spirits well-nigh as evil as his own, and they obeyed +him to the letter, for amongst the most inveterate, the most +treacherous, and most dishonorable persecutors of the Bruce stood first +and foremost the Comyns of Buchan. Ah! the land was changed from the +time when the noble countess held sway there, and so they felt to their +cost. + +"It was a grand yet fearful sight, those low hanging woods and glens all +in one flame; the spring had been particularly dry and windy, and the +branches caught almost with a spark, and crackled and sparkled, and +blazed, and roared, till for miles round we could see and hear the work +of devastation. Aye, the coward earl little knew what was passing in his +territories, while he congratulated himself on his safe flight into +England. It was a just vengeance, a deserved though terrible +retaliation, and the king felt it as such, my masters. He had borne with +the villains as long as he could, and would have borne with them still, +had he not truly felt nothing would quench their enmity, and in +consequence secure Scotland's peace and safety, but their utter +extermination, and all the time he regretted it, I know, for there was a +terrible look of sternness and determination about him while the work +lasted; he never relaxed into a smile, he never uttered a jovial word, +and we followed him, our own wild spirits awed into unwonted silence. +There was not a vestige of natural or human life in the district--all +was one mass of black, discolored ashes, utter ruin and appalling +devastation. Not a tower of Buchan remains." + +"All--sayest thou all?" said Sir Amiot, suddenly, yet slowly, and with +difficulty. "Left not the Bruce one to bear his standard, and thus mark +his power?" + +"Has not your worship remarked that such is never the Bruce's policy? +Three years ago, he had not force enough to fortify the castles he took +from the English, and leaving them standing did but offer safe harbors +for the foe, so it was ever his custom to dismantle, as utterly to +prevent their reestablishment; and if he did this with the castles of +his own friends, who all, as the Douglas saith, 'love better to hear the +lark sing than the mouse squeak,' it was not likely he would spare +Buchan's. But there was one castle, I remember, cost him a bitter +struggle to demolish. It was the central fortress of the district, +distinguished, I believe, by the name of 'the Tower of Buchan,' and had +been the residence of that right noble lady, the Countess Isabella and +her children. Nay, from what I overheard his grace say to Lord Edward, +it had formerly given him shelter and right noble hospitality, and a +dearer, more precious remembrance still to his noble heart--it had been +for many months the happy home of his brother, Sir Nigel, and we know +what magic power all associated with _him_ has upon the king; and had it +not been for the expostulations of Lord Edward, his rough yet earnest +entreaty, methinks that fortress had been standing yet. That sternness, +terrible to behold, for it ever tells of some mighty inward passions +conquered, again gathered on our sovereign's brow, but he turned his +charger's head, and left to Lord Edward the destruction of the fortress, +and he made quick work of it; you will scarce find two stones together +of its walls." + +"He counselled right," echoed many voices, the eagerness with which they +had listened, and now spoke, effectually turning their attention from +their mysterious leader, who at old Murdoch's last words had with +difficulty prevented the utterance of a deep groan, and then, as if +startled at his own emotion, sprung up from his reclining posture, and +joined his voice to those of his men. "He counselled, and did rightly," +they repeated; "it would have been an ill deed to spare a traitor's den +for such softening thoughts. Could we but free the Countess Isabella, +she would not want a home in Buchan--nay, the further from her cruel +husband's territories the better and for her children--the one, poor +innocent, is cared for, and the other--" + +"Aye, my masters, and trust me, that other was in our sovereign's heart +as forcibly as the memories he spoke. That which we know now concerning +him was then undreamed of; it was only faintly rumored that Lord Douglas +had been deceived, and Alan of Buchan had not fallen by a father's hand, +or at least by his orders; that he was in life, in close confinement; my +old ears did catch something of this import from the king, as he spoke +with his brother." + +"What import?" asked Sir Amiot, hoarsely. + +"Only, your worship, that, for the sake of the young heir of Buchan, he +wished that such total devastation could have been spared; if he were +really in life, as rumor said, it was hard to act as if he were +forgotten by his friends." + +"And what was Sir Edward's reply?" + +"First, that he doubted the rumor altogether; secondly, that if he did +return to the king, his loss might be more than made up; and thirdly, +that it was more than probable that, young as he was, if he really did +live, the arts of his father would prevail, and he would purchase his +freedom by homage and fidelity to England." + +"Ha! said he so--and the king?" + +"Did not then think with him, nay, declared he would stake his right +hand that the boy, young as he was, had too much of his mother's noble +spirit for such a deed. It was well the stake was not accepted, for, by +St. Andrew, as the tale now goes, King Robert would have lost." + +"As the tale now goes, thou unbelieving skeptic," replied one of his +comrades, laughing; "has not the gallant been seen, recognized--is he +not known as one of King Edward's minions, and lords it bravely? But +hark! there are chargers pricking over the plain. Hurrah! Sir Edward and +Lord James," and on came a large body of troopers and infantry even as +he spoke. + +Up started Sir Amiot's men in eager readiness to greet and join; their +armor and weapons they had laid aside were resumed, and ere their +comrades reached them all were in readiness. Sir Amiot, attended by his +esquires and a page, galloped forward, and the two knights, perceiving +his advance, spurred on before their men, and hasty and cordial +greetings were exchanged. We should perhaps note that Sir Amiot's manner +slightly differed in his salutation of the two knights. To Lord Edward +Bruce he was eager, frank, cordial, as that knight himself; to the +other, whom one glance proclaimed as the renowned James Lord Douglas, +there was an appearance of pride or reserve, and it seemed an effort to +speak with him at all. Douglas perhaps did not perceive this, or was +accustomed to it, for it seemed to affect him little; and Lord Edward's +bluff address prevented all manifestation of difference between his +colleagues, even if there existed any. + +"Ready to mount and ride; why that's well," he cried. "We are beyond our +time, but it is little reck, we need but spur the faster, which our men +seem all inclined to do. What news? why, none since we parted, save that +his grace has resolved on the siege of Perth without further delay." + +"Nay, but that is news, so please you," replied Sir Amiot. "When I +parted from his grace, there was no talk of it." + +"There was talk of it, but no certainty; for our royal brother kept his +own counsel, and spoke not of this much-desired event till his way lay +clear before him. There have been some turbulent spirits in the +camp--your humble servant, this black lord, and Randolph amongst +them--who in truth conspired to let his grace know no peace by night or +day till this object was attained; but our prudent monarch gave us +little heed till his wiser brain arranged the matters we but burned to +execute." + +"And what, think you, fixed this resolve?" + +"Simply that for a time we are clear of English thieves and Norman +rogues, and can march northward, and sit down before Perth without fear +of being called southward again. Edward will have enow on his hands to +keep his own frontiers from invasion; 'twill be some time ere he see the +extent of our vengeance, and meanwhile our drift is gained." + +"Aye, it were a sin and crying shame to let Perth remain longer in +English hands," rejoined Douglas; "strongly garrisoned it may be; but +what matter?" + +"What matter! why, 'tis great matter," replied Sir Edward, joyously. +"What glory were it to sit down before a place and take it at first +charge? No, give me good fighting, tough assault, and brave defence. +Think you I would have so urged the king, did I not scent a glorious +struggle before the walls? Strongly garrisoned! I would not give one +link of this gold chain for it, were it not. But a truce to this idle +parley; we must make some miles ere nightfall. Sir Knight of the Branch, +do your men need further rest? if not, give the word, and let them fall +in with their comrades, and on." + +"Whither?" demanded Sir Amiot, as he gave the required orders. "Where +meet we the king?" + +"In the Glen of Auchterader, south of the Erne. Lady Campbell and +Isoline await us there, with the troops left as their guard at +Dumbarton. So you perceive our friend Lord Douglas here hath double +cause to use the spur; times like these afford little leisure for +wooing, and such love-stricken gallants as himself must e'en make the +most of them." + +"And trust me for doing so," laughingly rejoined Douglas. "Scoff' at me +as you will, Edward, your time will come." + +"Not it," answered the warrior; "glory is my mistress. I love better to +clasp my true steel than the softest and fairest hand in Christendom; to +caress my noble steed and twine my hand thus in his flowing mane, and +feel that he bears me gallantly and proudly wherever my spirit lists, +than to press sweet kisses on a rosy lip, imprisoned by a woman's +smile." + +"Nay, shame on thee!" replied Douglas, still jestingly. "Thou a true +knight, and speak thus; were there not other work to do, I would e'en +run a tilt with thee, to compel thee to forswear thy foul treason +against the fair." + +"Better spend thy leisure in wooing Isoline; trust me, she will not be +won ere wooed. How now, Sir Knight of the Branch, has the fiend +melancholy taken possession of thee again? give her a thrust with thy +lance, good friend, and unseat her. Come, soul of fire as thou art in +battle, why dost thou mope in ashes in peace? Thou speakest neither for +nor against these matters of love; wilt woo or scorn the little god?" + +"Perchance both, perchance neither," replied the knight, and his voice +sounded sadly, though he evidently sought to speak in jest. He had +fallen back from the side of Douglas during the previous conversation, +but the flashing eye denoted that it had passed not unremarked. He now +rode up to the side of Lord Edward, keeping a good spear's length from +Lord James, and their converse turning on martial subjects, became more +general. Their march being performed without any incident of note, we +will, instead of following them, take a brief retrospective glance on +those historical events which had so completely and gloriously turned +the fate of Scotland and her patriots, in those five years which the +thread of our narrative compels us to leave a blank. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + * * * * * + + + + +GRACE AGUILAR'S WORKS. + + +HOME INFLUENCE. +MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE. +VALE OF CEDARS. +WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP. +DAYS OF BRUCE. +WOMEN OF ISRAEL. +HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES. + +_1 vol., 12mo, Illustrated, price $1, with a Memoir of the Author,_ + +HOME INFLUENCE, + +A TALE FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +"Grace Aguilar wrote and spoke as one inspired; she condensed and +spiritualized, and all her thoughts and feelings were steeped in the +essence of celestial love and truth. To those who really knew Grace +Aguilar, all eulogium falls short of her deserts, and she has left a +blank in her particular walk of literature, which we never expect to see +filled up."--_Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. Hall._ + +"A clever and interesting tale, corresponding well to its name, +illustrating the silent, constant influence of a wise and affectionate +parent over characters the most diverse."--_Christian Lady's Magazine._ + +"This interesting volume unquestionably contains many valuable hints on +domestic education, much powerful writing, and a _moral_ of vast +importance."--_Englishwoman's Magazine._ + +"It is very pleasant, after reading a book, to speak of it in terms of +high commendation. The tale before us is an admirable one, and is +executed with taste and ability. The language is beautiful and +appropriate; the analysis of character is skilful and varied. The work +ought to be in the hands of all who are interested in the proper +training of the youthful mind."--_Palladium._ + +"In reviewing this work, we hardly know what words in the English +language are strong enough to express the admiration we have felt in its +perusal."--_Bucks Chronicle._ + +"The object and end of the writings of Grace Aguilar were to improve the +heart, and to lead her readers to the consideration of higher motives +and objects than this world can ever afford."--_Bell's Weekly +Messenger._ + +"'Home Influence' will not be forgotten by any who have perused +it."--_Critic._ + +"A well-known and valuable tale."--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"A work which, possesses an extraordinary amount of influence to elevate +the mind and educate the heart, by showing that rectitude and virtue +conduce no less to material prosperity, and worldly comfort and +happiness, than to the satisfaction of the conscience, the approval of +the good, and the hope and certainty of bliss hereafter."--_Herts County +Press._ + + + * * * * * + + +THE SEQUEL TO HOME INFLUENCE. + + +THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE. + +A SEQUEL TO + +_"Home Influence, a Tale for Mothers and Daughters."_ + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +1 VOL., 12MO. CLOTH. $1. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +"Grace Aguilar belonged to the school of which Maria Edgeworth was the +foundress. The design of the book is carried out forcibly and +constantly, 'The Home Influence' exercised in earlier years being shown +in its active germination."--_Atlas._ + +"The writings of Grace Aguilar have a charm inseparable from productions +in which feeling is combined with intellect; they go directly to the +heart. 'Home Influence,' the deservedly popular story to which this is a +sequel, admirably teaches the lesson implied in its name. In the present +tale we have the same freshness, earnestness, and zeal--the same spirit +of devotion, and love of virtue--the same enthusiasm and sincere +religion which characterized that earlier work. We behold the mother now +blessed in the love of good and affectionate offspring, who, parents +themselves, are, after her example, training _their_ children in the way +of rectitude and piety."--_Morning Chronicle._ + +"This beautiful story was completed when the authoress was little above +the age of nineteen, yet it has the sober sense of middle age. There is +no age nor sex that will not profit by its perusal, and it will afford +as much pleasure as profit to the reader."--_Critic._ + +"The same kindly spirit, the same warm charity and fervor of devotion +which breathes in every line of that admirable book, 'Home Influence,' +will be found adorning and inspiring 'The Mother's Recompense.'"--_Morning +Advertiser._ + +"The good which, she (Grace Aguilar) has effected is acknowledged on all +hands, and it cannot be doubted but that the appearance of this volume +will increase the usefulness of one who may yet be said to be still +speaking to the heart and to the affections of human nature."--_Bell's +Messenger._ + +"It will be found an interesting supplement, not only to the book to +which it specially relates, but to all the writer's other +works."--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"'The Mother's Recompense' forms a fitting close to its predecessor, +'Home Influence.' The results of maternal care are fully developed, its +rich rewards are set forth, and its lesson and its moral are powerfully +enforced."--_Morning Post._ + +"We heartily commend this volume; a better or more useful present to a +youthful friend or a young wife could not well be selected."--_Herts +County Press._ + +"We look upon 'The Days of Bruce' as an elegantly-written and +interesting romance, and place it by the side of Miss Porter's 'Scottish +Chiefs.'"--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"A very pleasing and successful attempt to combine ideal delineation of +character with the records of history. Very beautiful and very true are +the portraits of the female mind and heart which Grace Aguilar knew how +to draw. This is the chief charm of all her writings, and in 'The Days +of Bruce' the reader will have the pleasure of viewing this skillful +portraiture in the characters of Isoline and Agnes, and Isabella of +Buchan."--_Literary Gazette._ + +"What a fertile mind was that of Grace Aguilar! What an early +development of reflection, of feeling, of taste, of power of invention, +or true and earnest eloquence! 'The Days of Bruce' is a composition of +her early youth, but full of beauty. Grace Aguilar knew the female heart +better than any writer of our day, and in every fiction from her pen we +trace the same masterly analysis and development of the motives and +feelings of woman's nature. 'The Days of Bruce' possesses also the +attractions of an extremely interesting story, that absorbs the +attention, and never suffers it to flag till the last page is closed, +and then the reader will lay down the volume with regret."--_Critic._ + + + * * * * * + + +HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES, + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. + +One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. + +The Perez Family. The Stone-Cutter's Boy of Possagno. Amete and +Yafeh. The Fugitive. The Edict; A Tale of 1492. The Escape; A Tale of +1755. Red Rose Villa. Gonzalvo's Daughter. The Authoress. + +Helon. +Lucy. +The Spirit's Entreaty. +Idalie. +Lady Gresham's Fete. +The Group of Sculpture. +The Spirit of Night. +Recollections of a Rambler. +Cast thy Bread upon the Waters. +The Triumph of Love. + + + * * * * * + + +THE WOMEN OF ISRAEL; + +Or, Characters and Sketches from the Holy Scriptures, illustrative +of the past History, present Duties, and future Destiny of Hebrew +Females, as based on the Word of God. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +Two volumes, 12mo. Price $2.00. + + +PRINCIPAL CONTENTS. + +FIRST PERIOD--WIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS. +Eve.--Sarah.--Rebekah.--Leah and Rachel. + +SECOND PERIOD--THE EXODUS AND THE LAW. +Egyptian Captivity, and Jochebed.--The Exodus--Mothers of Israel.--Laws +for Wives in Israel.--Laws for Widows and Daughters In +Israel.--Maid-servants in Israel, and other Laws. + +THIRD PERIOD--BETWEEN THIS DELIVERY OF THE LAW AND THE MONARCHY. +Miriam.--Tabernacle Workers--Caleb's Daughter.--Deborah.--Wife of +Manoah.--Naomi.--Hannah. + +FOURTH PERIOD--THE MONARCHY. +Michal.--Abigail.--Wise Women of Tekoah.--Woman of +Abel.--Rispah.--Prophet's Widow.--The Shunamite.--Little Israelitish +Maid.--Huldah. + +FIFTH PERIOD--BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. +The Captivity.--Review of Book of Ezra.--Suggestions as to the identity +of the Ahasuerus of Scripture.--Esther.--Review of Events narrated in Ezra +and Nehemiah. + +SIXTH PERIOD--CONTINUANCE OF THE SECOND TEMPLE. +Review of Jewish History, from the Return from Babylon to the Appeal of +Hycanus and Aristobulus to Pompey.--Jewish History from the Appeal to +Pompey to the Death of Herod.--Jewish History from the Death of Herod to +the War.--The Martyr Mother.--Alexandra.--Mariamne.--Salome.--Helena. +--Berenice. + + +SEVENTH PERIOD--WOMEN OF ISRAEL IN THE PRESENT AS INFLUENCED BY THE PAST. +The War and Dispersion.--Thoughts on the Talmud.--Talmudic Ordinances +and Tales.--Effects of Dispersion and Persecution.--General Remarks. + + +"A work that is sufficient of itself to create and crown a +reputation."--_Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. S. C. Hall._ + + + * * * * * + + +WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP. + +A STORY OF DOMESTIC LIFE. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +_With Illustrations. One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00._ + + "To show us how divine a thing + A woman may be made."--Wordsworth. + +"This story illustrates, with feeling and power, that beneficial +influence which women exercise, in their own quiet way, over characters +and events in our every-day life."--_Britannia._ + +"The book is one of more than ordinary interest in various ways, and +presents an admirable conception of the depths and sincerity of female +friendship, as exhibited in England by English women."--_Weekly +Chronicle._ + +"We began to read the volume late in the evening; and, although it +consists of about 400 pages, our eyes could not close in sleep until we +had read the whole. This excellent book should find a place on every +drawing-room table--nay, in every library in the kingdom."--_Bucks +Chronicle._ + +"We congratulate Miss Aguilar on the spirit, motive, and composition of +this story. Her aims are eminently moral, and her cause comes +recommended by the most beautiful associations. These, connected with +the skill here evinced in their development, insure the success of her +labors."--_Illustrated News._ + +"As a writer of remarkable grace and delicacy, she devoted herself to +the inculcation of the virtues, more especially those which are the +peculiar charm of women."--_Critic._ + +"It is a book for all classes of readers; and we have no hesitation in +saying, that it only requires to be generally known to become +exceedingly popular. In our estimation it has far more attractions +than Miss Burney's celebrated, but overestimated, novel of +'Cecilia.'"--_Herts County Press._ + +"This very interesting and agreeable tale has remained longer without +notice on our part than we could have desired; but we would now endeavor +to make amends for the delay, by assuring our readers that it is a most +ably-written publication, full of the nicest points of information and +utility that could have been by any possibility constructed; and, as a +proof of its value, it may suffice to say, that it has been taken from +our table again and again by several individuals, from the +recommendation of those who had already perused it, and be prevented our +giving an earlier attention to its manifold claims for the favorable +criticism. It is peculiarly adapted for the young, and wherever it goes +will be received with gratification, and command very extensive +approbation."--_Bell's Weekly Messenger._ + +"This is a handsome volume: just such a book as we would expect to find +among the volumes composing a lady's library. Its interior corresponds +with its exterior; it is a most fascinating tale, full of noble and just +sentiments."--_Palladium._ + + + * * * * * + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS + +or, + +THE MARTYR. + +A STORY OF SPAIN IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +_With Illustrations. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, $1.00._ + +"The authoress of this most fascinating volume has selected for her field +one of the most remarkable eras in modern history--the reigns of Ferdinand +and Isabella. The tale turns on the extraordinary extent to which concealed +Judaism had gained footing at that period in Spain. It is marked by much +power of description, and by a woman's delicacy of touch, and it will add +to its writer's well-earned reputation."--_Eclectic Review._ + +"The scene of this interesting tale is laid during the reign of +Ferdinand and Isabella. The Vale of Cedars is the retreat of a Jewish +family, compelled by persecution to perform their religions rites with +the utmost secrecy. On the singular position of this fated race in the +most Catholic land of Europe, the interest of the tale mainly +depends; whilst a few glimpses of the horrors of the terrible +Inquisition are afforded the reader, and heighten the interest +of the narrative."--_Sharpe's Magazine._ + +"Any thing which proceeds from the pen of the authoress of this volume +is sure to command attention and appreciation. There is so much of +delicacy and refinement about her style, and each a faithful delineation +of nature in all she attempts, that she has taken her place amongst the +highest class of modern writers of fiction. We consider this to be one +of Miss Aguilar's best efforts."--_Bell's Weekly Messenger._ + +"We heartily commend the work to our readers as one exhibiting, not +merely talent, but genius, and a degree of earnestness, fidelity to +Nature, and artistic grace, rarely found."--_Herts County Press._ + +"The 'Vale of Cedars' is indeed one of the most touching and interesting +stories that have ever issued from the press. There is a life-like +reality about it which is not often observed in works of this nature; +while we read it we felt as if we were witnesses of the various scenes +it depicts."--_Bucks Chronicle._ + +"It is a tale of deep and pure devotion, very touchingly +narrated."--_Atlas._ + +"The authoress has already received our commendation; her present work +is calculated to sustain, her reputation."--_Illustrated News._ + +"It is indeed a historical romance of a high class. Seeing how steady +and yet rapid was her improvement--how rich the promise of her +genius--it is impossible to close this notice of her last and best work, +without lamenting that the authoress was so untimely snatched from a +world she appeared destined, as certainly she was singularly qualified, +to adorn and to improve."--_Critic._ + + +New York: D. APPLETON & CO. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Days of Bruce Vol 1, by Grace Aguilar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 18387-8.txt or 18387-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/8/18387/ + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/18387-8.zip b/18387-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..70d58b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/18387-8.zip diff --git a/18387-h.zip b/18387-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75db912 --- /dev/null +++ b/18387-h.zip diff --git a/18387-h/18387-h.htm b/18387-h/18387-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e08f629 --- /dev/null +++ b/18387-h/18387-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14752 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Days of Bruce, by Grace Aguilar. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .author {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Days of Bruce Vol 1, by Grace Aguilar + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Days of Bruce Vol 1 + A Story from Scottish History + +Author: Grace Aguilar + +Release Date: May 14, 2006 [EBook #18387] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + + + + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img002.jpg" alt="Frontis" title="Frontis" /></div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img001.jpg" alt="Illustration for p. 148" title="Illustration for p. 148" /></div> +<h4><a href='#Page_148'>see p. 148</a></h4> + +<p><br /><br /></p> +<h1>THE</h1> + +<h1>DAYS OF BRUCE;</h1> + +<h3>A Story</h3> + +<h4>FROM</h4> + + +<h3>SCOTTISH HISTORY.</h3> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>GRACE AGUILAR,</h2> + +<p class='center'> +AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE,"<br /> +"WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," "THE VALE OF CEDARS"<br /> +ETC. ETC. +</p> + +<h4>IN TWO VOLUMES.</h4> + +<h2>VOL. I.</h2> + + +<p class='center'> +NEW YORK:<br /> +D. APPLETON & CO., 90, 92 & 94 GRAND ST.<br /> +1871. +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>As these pages have passed through the press, mingled feelings of pain +and pleasure have actuated my heart. Who shall speak the regret that +she, to whom its composition was a work of love, cannot participate in +the joy which its publication would have occasioned—who shall tell of +that anxious pleasure which I feel in witnessing the success of each and +all the efforts of her pen?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Days of Bruce</span> must be considered as an endeavor to place +before the reader an interesting narrative of a period of history, in +itself a romance, and one perhaps as delightful as could well have been +selected. In combination with the story of Scotland's brave deliverer, +it must be viewed as an illustration of female character, and +descriptive of much that its Author considered excellent in woman. In +the high minded Isabella of Buchan is traced the resignation of a heart +wounded in its best affections, yet trustful midst accumulated misery. +In Isoline may be seen the self-inflicted unhappiness of a too +confident and self reliant nature; while in Agnes is delineated the +overwhelming of a mind too much akin to heaven in purity and innocence +to battle with the stern and bitter sorrows with which her life is +strewn.</p> + +<p>How far the merits of this work may be perceived becomes not me to +judge; I only know and <i>feel</i> that on me has devolved the endearing task +of publishing the writings of my lamented child—that I am fulfilling +the desire of her life.</p> + +<p class='author'><span class="smcap">Sarah Aguilar</span>.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>May</i>, 1852.</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE DAYS OF BRUCE.</h2> + + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + + +<p>The month of March, rough and stormy as it is in England, would perhaps +be deemed mild and beautiful as May by those accustomed to meet and +brave its fury in the eastern Highlands, nor would the evening on which +our tale commences bely its wild and fitful character.</p> + +<p>The wind howled round the ancient Tower of Buchan, in alternate gusts of +wailing and of fury, so mingled with the deep, heavy roll of the lashing +waves, that it was impossible to distinguish the roar of the one element +from the howl of the other. Neither tree, hill, nor wood intercepted the +rushing gale, to change the dull monotony of its gloomy tone. The Ythan, +indeed, darted by, swollen and turbid from continued storms, threatening +to overflow the barren plain it watered, but its voice was +undistinguishable amidst the louder wail of wind and ocean. Pine-trees, +dark, ragged, and stunted, and scattered so widely apart that each one +seemed monarch of some thirty acres, were the only traces of vegetation +for miles round. Nor were human habitations more abundant; indeed, few +dwellings, save those of such solid masonry as the Tower of Buchan, +could hope to stand scathless amidst the storms that in winter ever +swept along the moor.</p> + +<p>No architectural beauty distinguished the residence of the Earls of +Buchan; none of that tasteful decoration peculiar to the Saxon, nor of +the more sombre yet more imposing style introduced by the Norman, and +known as the Gothic architecture.</p> + +<p>Originally a hunting-lodge, it had been continually enlarged by +succeeding lords, without any regard either to symmetry or proportion, +elegance or convenience; and now, early in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> year 1306, appeared +within its outer walls as a most heterogeneous mass of ill-shaped +turrets, courts, offices, and galleries, huddled together in ill-sorted +confusion, though presenting to the distant view a massive square +building, remarkable only for a strength and solidity capable of +resisting alike the war of elements and of man.</p> + +<p>Without all seemed a dreary wilderness, but within existed indisputable +signs of active life. The warlike inhabitants of the tower, though +comparatively few in number, were continually passing to and fro in the +courts and galleries, or congregating in little knots, in eager +converse. Some cleansing their armor or arranging banners; others, young +and active, practising the various manœuvres of mimic war; each and +all bearing on their brow that indescribable expression of anticipation +and excitement which seems ever on the expectant of it knows not what. +The condition of Scotland was indeed such as to keep her sons constantly +on the alert, preparing for defence or attack, as the insurging efforts +of the English or the commands of their lords should determine. From the +richest noble to the veriest serf, the aged man to the little child, +however contrary their politics and feelings, one spirit actuated all, +and that spirit was war—war in all its deadliest evils, its unmitigated +horrors, for it was native blood which deluged the rich plains, the +smiling vales, and fertile hills of Scotland.</p> + +<p>Although the castle of Buchan resembled more a citadel intended for the +accommodation of armed vassals than the commodious dwelling of feudal +lords, one turret gave evidence, by its internal arrangement, of a +degree of refinement and a nearer approach to comfort than its fellows, +and seeming to proclaim that within its massive walls the lords of the +castle were accustomed to reside. The apartments were either hung with +heavy tapestry, which displayed, in gigantic proportions, the combats of +the Scots and Danes, or panelled with polished oak, rivalling ebony in +its glossy blackness, inlaid with solid silver. Heavy draperies of +damask fell from the ceiling to the floor at every window, a pleasant +guard, indeed, from the constant winds which found entrance through many +creaks and corners of the Gothic casements, but imparting a dingy aspect +to apartments lordly in their dimensions, and somewhat rich in +decoration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>The deep embrasures of the casements were thus in a manner severed from +the main apartment, for even when the curtains were completely lowered +there was space enough to contain a chair or two and a table. The +furniture corresponded in solidity and proportion to the panelling or +tapestry of the walls; nor was there any approach even at those doubtful +comforts already introduced in the more luxurious Norman castles of +South Britain.</p> + +<p>The group, however, assembled in one of these ancient rooms needed not +the aid of adventitious ornament to betray the nobility of birth, and +those exalted and chivalric feelings inherent to their rank. The sun, +whose stormy radiance during the day had alternately deluged earth and +sky with fitful yet glorious brilliance, and then, burying itself in the +dark masses of overhanging clouds, robed every object in deepest gloom, +now seemed to concentrate his departing rays in one living flood of +splendor, and darting within the chamber, lingered in crimson glory +around the youthful form of a gentle girl, dyeing her long and +clustering curls with gold. Slightly bending over a large and cumbrous +frame which supported her embroidery, her attitude could no more conceal +the grace and lightness of her childlike form, than the glossy ringlets +the soft and radiant features which they shaded. There was archness +lurking in those dark blue eyes, to which tears seemed yet a stranger; +the clear and snowy forehead, the full red lip, and health-bespeaking +cheek had surely seen but smiles, and mirrored but the joyous light +which filled her gentle heart. Her figure seemed to speak a child, but +there was a something in that face, bright, glowing as it was, which yet +would tell of somewhat more than childhood—that seventeen summers had +done their work, and taught that guileless heart a sterner tale than +gladness.</p> + +<p>A young man, but three or four years her senior, occupied an embroidered +settle at her feet. In complexion, as in the color of his hair and eyes, +there was similarity between them, but the likeness went no further, nor +would the most casual observer have looked on them as kindred. Fair and +lovely as the maiden would even have been pronounced, it was perhaps +more the expression, the sweet innocence that characterized her features +which gave to them their charm; but in the young man there was +infinitely more than this, though effem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>inate as was his complexion, and +the bright sunny curls which floated over his throat, he was eminently +and indescribably beautiful, for it was the mind, the glorious mind, the +kindling spirit which threw their radiance over his perfect features; +the spirit and mind which that noble form enshrined stood apart, and +though he knew it not himself, found not their equal in that dark period +of warfare and of woe. The sword and lance were the only instruments of +the feudal aristocracy; ambition, power, warlike fame, the principal +occupants of their thoughts; the chase, the tourney, or the foray, the +relaxation of their spirits. But unless that face deceived, there was +more, much more, which charactered the elder youth within that chamber.</p> + +<p>A large and antique volume of Norse legends rested on his knee, which, +in a rich, manly voice, he was reading aloud to his companion, +diversifying his lecture with remarks and explanations, which, from the +happy smiles and earnest attention of the maiden, appeared to impart the +pleasure intended by the speaker. The other visible inhabitant of the +apartment was a noble-looking boy of about fifteen, far less steadily +employed than his companions, for at one time he was poising a heavy +lance, and throwing himself into the various attitudes of a finished +warrior; at others, brandished a two-handed sword, somewhat taller than +himself; then glancing over the shoulder of his sister—for so nearly +was he connected with the maiden, though the raven curls, the bright +flashing eye of jet, and darker skin, appeared to forswear such near +relationship—criticising her embroidery, and then transferring his +scrutiny to the strange figures on the gorgeously-illuminated +manuscript, and then for a longer period listening, as it were, +irresistibly to the wild legends which that deep voice was so +melodiously pouring forth.</p> + +<p>"It will never do, Agnes. You cannot embroider the coronation of Kenneth +MacAlpine and listen to these wild tales at one and the same time. Look +at your clever pupil, Sir Nigel; she is placing a heavy iron buckler on +the poor king's head instead of his golden crown." The boy laughed long +and merrily as he spoke, and even Sir Nigel smiled; while Agnes, +blushing and confused, replied, half jestingly and half earnestly, "And +why not tell me of it before, Alan? you must have seen it long ago."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And so I did, sweet sister mine; but I wished to see the effect of such +marvellous abstraction, and whether, in case of necessity, an iron +shield would serve our purpose as well as a jewelled diadem."</p> + +<p>"Never fear, my boy. Let but the king stand forth, and there will be +Scottish men enow and willing to convert an iron buckler into a goodly +crown;" and as Sir Nigel spoke his eyes flashed, and his whole +countenance irradiated with a spirit that might not have been suspected +when in the act of reading, but which evidently only slept till awakened +by an all-sufficient call. "Let the tyrant Edward exult in the +possession of our country's crown and sceptre—he may find we need not +them to make a king; aye, and a king to snatch the regal diadem from the +proud usurper's brow—the Scottish sceptre from his blood-stained +hands!"</p> + +<p>"Thou talkest wildly, Nigel," answered the lad, sorrowfully, his +features assuming an expression of judgment and feeling beyond his +years. "Who is there in Scotland will do this thing? who will dare again +the tyrant's rage? Is not this unhappy country divided within itself, +and how may it resist the foreign foe?"</p> + +<p>"Wallace! think of Wallace! Did he not well-nigh wrest our country from +the tyrant's hands? And is there not one to follow in the path he +trod—no noble heart to do what he hath done?"</p> + +<p>"Nigel, yes. Let but the rightful king stand forth, and were there none +other, I—even I, stripling as I am, with my good sword and single arm, +even with the dark blood of Comyn in my veins, Alan of Buchan, would +join him, aye, and die for him!"</p> + +<p>"There spoke the blood of Duff, and not of Comyn!" burst impetuously +from the lips of Nigel, as he grasped the stripling's ready hand; "and +doubt not, noble boy, there are other hearts in Scotland bold and true +as thine; and even as Wallace, one will yet arise to wake them from +their stagnant sleep, and give them freedom."</p> + +<p>"Wallace," said the maiden, fearfully; "ye talk of Wallace, of his bold +deeds and bolder heart, but bethink ye of his <i>fate</i>. Oh, were it not +better to be still than follow in his steps unto the scaffold?"</p> + +<p>"Dearest, no; better the scaffold and the axe, aye, even the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> iron +chains and hangman's cord, than the gilded fetters of a tyrant's yoke. +Shame on thee, sweet Agnes, to counsel thoughts as these, and thou a +Scottish maiden." Yet even as he spoke chidingly, the voice of Nigel +became soft and thrilling, even as it had before been bold and daring.</p> + +<p>"I fear me, Nigel, I have but little of my mother's blood within my +veins. I cannot bid them throb and bound as hers with patriotic love and +warrior fire. A lowly cot with him I loved were happiness for me."</p> + +<p>"But that cot must rest upon a soil unchained, sweet Agnes, or joy could +have no resting there. Wherefore did Scotland rise against her +tyrant—why struggle as she hath to fling aside her chains? Was it her +noble sons? Alas, alas! degenerate and base, they sought chivalric fame; +forgetful of their country, they asked for knighthood from proud +Edward's hand, regardless that that hand had crowded fetters on their +fatherland, and would enslave their sons. Not to them did Scotland owe +the transient gleam of glorious light which, though extinguished in the +patriot's blood, hath left its trace behind. With the bold, the hardy, +lowly Scot that gleam had birth; they would be free to them. What +mattered that their tyrant was a valiant knight, a worthy son of +chivalry: they saw but an usurper, an enslaver, and they rose and +spurned his smiles—aye, and they <i>will</i> rise again. And wert thou one +of them, sweet girl; a cotter's wife, thou too wouldst pine for freedom. +Yes; Scotland will bethink her of her warrior's fate, and shout aloud +revenge for Wallace!"</p> + +<p>Either his argument was unanswerable, or the energy of his voice and +manner carried conviction with them, but a brighter glow mantled the +maiden's cheek, and with it stole the momentary shame—the wish, the +simple words that she had spoken could be recalled.</p> + +<p>"Give us but a king for whom to fight—a king to love, revere, obey—a +king from whose hand knighthood were an honor, precious as life itself, +and there are noble hearts enough to swear fealty to him, and bright +swords ready to defend his throne," said the young heir of Buchan, as he +brandished his own weapon above his head, and then rested his arms upon +its broad hilt, despondingly. "But where is that king? Men speak of my +most gentle kinsman Sir John Comyn, called the Red—bah! The sceptre +were the same jewelled bauble in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> impotent hand as in his sapient +uncle's; a gem, a toy, forsooth, the loan of crafty Edward. No! the Red +Comyn is no king for Scotland; and who is there besides? The rightful +heir—a cold, dull-blooded neutral—a wild and wavering changeling. I +pray thee be not angered, Nigel; it cannot be gainsaid, e'en though he +is thy brother."</p> + +<p>"I know it Alan; know it but too well," answered Nigel, sadly, though +the dark glow rushed up to cheek and brow. "Yet Robert's blood is hot +enough. His deeds are plunged in mystery—his words not less so; yet I +cannot look on him as thou dost, as, alas! too many do. It may be that I +love him all too well; that dearer even than Edward, than all the rest, +has Robert ever been to me. He knows it not; for, sixteen years my +senior, he has ever held me as a child taking little heed of his wayward +course; and yet my heart has throbbed beneath his word, his look, as if +he were not what he seemed, but would—but must be something more."</p> + +<p>"I ever thought thee but a wild enthusiast, gentle Nigel, and this +confirms it. Mystery, aye, such mystery as ever springs from actions at +variance with reason, judgment, valor—with all that frames the patriot. +Would that thou wert the representative of thy royal line; wert thou in +Earl Robert's place, thus, thus would Alan kneel to thee and hail thee +king!"</p> + +<p>"Peace, peace, thou foolish boy, the crown and sceptre have no charm for +me; let me but see my country free, the tyrant humbled, my brother as my +trusting spirit whispers he <i>shall</i> be, and Nigel asks no more."</p> + +<p>"Art thou indeed so modest, gentle Nigel—is thy happiness so distinct +from self? thine eyes tell other tales sometimes, and speak they false, +fair sir?"</p> + +<p>Timidly, yet irresistibly, the maiden glanced up from her embroidery, +but the gaze that met hers caused those bright eyes to fall more quickly +than they were raised, and vainly for a few seconds did she endeavor so +to steady her hand as to resume her task. Nigel was, however, spared +reply, for a sharp and sudden bugle-blast reverberated through the +tower, and with an exclamation of wondering inquiry Alan bounded from +the chamber. There was one other inmate of that apartment, whose +presence, although known and felt, had, as was evident, been no +restraint either to the employments or the sentiments of the two youths +and their companion. Their conversation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> had not passed unheeded, +although it had elicited no comment or rejoinder. The Countess of Buchan +stood within one of those deep embrasures we have noticed, at times +glancing towards the youthful group with an earnestness of sorrowing +affection that seemed to have no measure in its depth, no shrinking in +its might; at others, fixing a long, unmeaning, yet somewhat anxious +gaze on the wide plain and distant ocean, which the casement overlooked.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to look once on the countenance of Isabella of Buchan, +and yet forbear to look again, The calm dignity, the graceful majesty of +her figure seemed to mark her as one born to command, to hold in willing +homage the minds and inclinations of men; her pure, pale brow and marble +cheek—for the rich rose seemed a stranger there—the long silky lash of +jet, the large, full, black eye, in its repose so soft that few would +guess how it could flash fire, and light up those classic features with +power to stir the stagnant souls of thousands and guide them with a +word. She looked in feature as in form a queen; fitted to be beloved, +formed to be obeyed. Her heavy robe of dark brocade, wrought with thick +threads of gold, seemed well suited to her majestic form; its long, +loose folds detracting naught from the graceful ease of her carriage. +Her thick, glossy hair, vying in its rich blackness with the raven's +wing, was laid in smooth bands upon her stately brow, and gathered up +behind in a careless knot, confined with a bodkin of massive gold. The +hood or coif, formed of curiously twisted black and golden threads, +which she wore in compliance with the Scottish custom, that thus made +the distinction between the matron and the maiden, took not from the +peculiarly graceful form of the head, nor in any part concealed the +richness of the hair. Calm and pensive as was the general expression of +her countenance, few could look upon it without that peculiar sensation +of respect, approaching to awe, which restrained and conquered sorrow +ever calls for. Perchance the cause of such emotion was all too +delicate, too deeply veiled to be defined by those rude hearts who were +yet conscious of its existence; and for them it was enough to own her +power, bow before it, and fear her as a being set apart.</p> + +<p>Musingly she had stood looking forth on the wide waste; the distant +ocean, whose tumbling waves one moment gleamed in living light, at +others immersed in inky blackness, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> barely distinguished from the +lowering sky. The moaning winds swept by, bearing the storm-cloud on +their wings; patches of blue gleamed strangely and brightly forth; and, +far in the west, crimson and amber, and pink and green, inlaid in +beautiful mosaic the departing luminary's place of rest.</p> + +<p>"Alas, my gentle one," she had internally responded to her daughter's +words, "if thy mother's patriot heart could find no shield for woe, nor +her warrior fire, as thou deemest it, guard her from woman's trials, +what will be thy fate? This is no time for happy love, for peaceful +joys, returned as it may be; for—may I doubt that truthful brow, that +knightly soul (her glance was fixed on Nigel)—yet not now may the +Scottish knight find rest and peace in woman's love. And better is it +thus—the land of the slave is no home for love."</p> + +<p>A faint yet a beautiful smile, dispersing as a momentary beam the +anxiety stamped on her features, awoke at the enthusiastic reply of +Nigel. Then she turned again to the casement, for her quick eye had +discerned a party of about ten horsemen approaching in the direction of +the tower, and on the summons of the bugle she advanced from her retreat +to the centre of the apartment.</p> + +<p>"Why, surely thou art but a degenerate descendant of the brave Macduff, +mine Agnes, that a bugle blast should thus send back every drop of blood +to thy little heart," she said, playfully. "For shame, for shame! how +art thou fitted to be a warrior's bride? They are but Scottish men, and +true, methinks, if I recognize their leader rightly. And it is even so."</p> + +<p>"Sir Robert Keith, right welcome," she added, as, marshalled by young +Alan, the knight appeared, bearing his plumed helmet in his hand, and +displaying haste and eagerness alike in his flushed features and soiled +armor.</p> + +<p>"Ye have ridden long and hastily. Bid them hasten our evening meal, my +son; or stay, perchance Sir Robert needs thine aid to rid him of this +garb of war. Thou canst not serve one nobler."</p> + +<p>"Nay, noble lady, knights must don, not doff their armor now. I bring ye +news, great, glorious news, which will not brook delay. A royal +messenger I come, charged by his grace my king—my country's king—with +missives to his friends, calling on all who spurn a tyrant's yoke—who +love their land,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> their homes, their freedom—on all who wish for +Wallace—to awake, arise, and join their patriot king!"</p> + +<p>"Of whom speakest thou, Sir Robert Keith? I charge thee, speak!" +exclaimed Nigel, starting from the posture of dignified reserve with +which he had welcomed the knight, and springing towards him.</p> + +<p>"The patriot and the king!—of whom canst thou speak?" said Alan, at the +same instant. "Thine are, in very truth, marvellous tidings, Sir Knight; +an' thou canst call up one to unite such names, and worthy of them, he +shall not call on me in vain."</p> + +<p>"Is he not worthy, Alan of Buchan, who thus flings down the gauntlet, +who thus dares the fury of a mighty sovereign, and with a handful of +brave men prepares to follow in the steps of Wallace, to the throne or +to the scaffold?"</p> + +<p>"Heed not my reckless boy, Sir Robert," said the countess, earnestly, as +the eyes of her son fell beneath the knight's glance of fiery reproach; +"no heart is truer to his country, no arm more eager to rise in her +defence."</p> + +<p>"The king! the king!" gasped Nigel, some strange over-mastering emotion +checking his utterance. "Who is it that has thus dared, thus—"</p> + +<p>"And canst thou too ask, young sir?" returned the knight, with a smile +of peculiar meaning. "Is thy sovereign's name unknown to thee? Is Robert +Bruce a name unknown, unheard, unloved, that thou, too, breathest it +not?"</p> + +<p>"My brother, my brave, my noble brother!—I saw it, I knew it! Thou wert +no changeling, no slavish neutral; but even as I felt, thou art, thou +wilt be! My brother, my brother, I may live and die for thee!" and the +young enthusiast raised his clasped hands above his head, as in +speechless thanksgiving for these strange, exciting news; his flushed +cheek, his quivering lip, his moistened eye betraying an emotion which +seemed for the space of a moment to sink on the hearts of all who +witnessed it, and hush each feeling into silence. A shout from the court +below broke that momentary pause.</p> + +<p>"God save King Robert! then, say I," vociferated Alan, eagerly grasping +the knight's hand. "Sit, sit, Sir Knight; and for the love of heaven, +speak more of this most wondrous tale. Erewhile, we hear of this goodly +Earl of Carrick at Edward's court, doing him homage, serving him as his +own English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> knight, and now in Scotland—aye, and Scotland's king. How +may we reconcile these contradictions?"</p> + +<p>"Rather how did he vanish from the tyrant's hundred eyes, and leave the +court of England?" inquired Nigel, at the same instant as the Countess +of Buchan demanded, somewhat anxiously—</p> + +<p>"And Sir John Comyn, recognizes he our sovereign's claim? Is he amongst +the Bruce's slender train?"</p> + +<p>A dark cloud gathered on the noble brow of the knight, replacing the +chivalric courtesy with which he had hitherto responded to his +interrogators. He paused ere he answered, in a stern, deep voice—</p> + +<p>"Sir John Comyn lived and died a traitor, lady. He hath received the +meed of his base treachery; his traitorous design for the renewed +slavery of his country—the imprisonment and death of the only one that +stood forth in her need."</p> + +<p>"And by whom did the traitor die?" fiercely demanded the young heir of +Buchan. "Mother, thy cheek is blanched; yet wherefore? Comyn as I am, +shall we claim kindred with a traitor, and turn away from the good +cause, because, forsooth, a traitorous Comyn dies? No; were the Bruce's +own right hand red with the recreant's blood—he only is the Comyn's +king."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast said it, youthful lord," said the knight, impressively. "Alan +of Buchan, bear that bold heart and patriot sword unto the Bruce's +throne, and Comyn's traitorous name shall be forgotten in the scion of +Macduff. Thy mother's loyal blood runs reddest in thy veins, young sir; +too pure for Comyn's base alloy. Know, then, the Bruce's hand is red +with the traitor's blood, and yet, fearless and firm in the holy justice +of his cause, he calls on his nobles and their vassals for their homage +and their aid—he calls on them to awake from their long sleep, and +shake off the iron yoke from their necks; to prove that Scotland—the +free, the dauntless, the unconquered soil, which once spurned the Roman +power, to which all other kingdoms bowed—is free, undaunted, and +unconquered still. He calls aloud, aye, even on ye, wife and son of +Comyn of Buchan, to snap the link that binds ye to a traitor's house, +and prove—though darkly, basely flows the blood of Macduff in one +descendant's veins, that the Earl of Fife refuses homage and allegiance +to his sovereign—in ye it rushes free, and bold, and loyal still."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And he shall find it so. Mother, why do ye not speak? You, from whose +lips my heart first learnt to beat for Scotland my lips to pray that one +might come to save her from the yoke of tyranny. You, who taught me to +forget all private feud, to merge all feeling, every claim, in the one +great hope of Scotland's freedom. Now that the time is come, wherefore +art thou thus? Mother, my own noble mother, let me go forth with thy +blessing on my path, and ill and woe can come not near me. Speak to thy +son!" The undaunted boy flung himself on his knee before the countess as +he spoke. There was a dark and fearfully troubled expression on her +noble features. She had clasped her hands together, as if to still or +hide their unwonted trembling; but when she looked on those bright and +glowing features, there came a dark, dread vision of blood, and the axe +and cord, and she folded her arms around his neck, and sobbed in all a +mother's irrepressible agony.</p> + +<p>"My own, my beautiful, to what have I doomed thee!" she cried. "To +death, to woe! aye, perchance, to that heaviest woe—a father's curse! +exposing thee to death, to the ills of all who dare to strike for +freedom. Alan, Alan, how can I bid thee forth to death? and yet it is I +have taught thee to love it better than the safety of a slave; longed, +prayed for this moment—deemed that for my country I could even give my +child—and now, now—oh God of mercy, give me strength!"</p> + +<p>She bent down her head on his, clasping him to her heart, as thus to +still the tempest which had whelmed it. There is something terrible in +that strong emotion which sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly overpowers +the calmest and most controlled natures. It speaks of an agony so +measureless, so beyond the relief of sympathy, that it falls like an +electric spell on the hearts of all witnesses, sweeping all minor +passions into dust before it. Little accustomed as was Sir Robert Keith +to sympathize in such emotions, he now turned hastily aside, and, as if +fearing to trust himself in silence, commenced a hurried detail to Nigel +Bruce of the Earl of Carrick's escape from London, and his present +position. The young nobleman endeavored to confine his attention to the +subject, but his eyes would wander in the direction of Agnes, who, +terrified at emotions which in her mother she had never witnessed +before, was kneeling in tears beside her brother.</p> + +<p>A strong convulsive shuddering passed over the bowed frame<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> of Isabella +of Buchan; then she lifted up her head, and all traces of emotion had +passed from her features. Silently she pressed her lips on the fair +brows of her children alternately, and her voice faltered not as she +bade them rise and heed her not.</p> + +<p>"We will speak further of this anon, Sir Robert," she said, so calmly +that the knight started. "Hurried and important as I deem your mission, +the day is too far spent to permit of your departure until the morrow; +you will honor our evening meal, and this true Scottish tower for a +night's lodging, and then we can have leisure for discourse on the +weighty matters you have touched upon."</p> + +<p>She bowed courteously, as she turned with a slow, unfaltering step to +leave the room. Her resumed dignity recalled the bewildered senses of +her son, and, with graceful courtesy, he invited the knight to follow +him, and choose his lodging for the night.</p> + +<p>"Agnes, mine own Agnes, now, indeed, may I win thee," whispered Nigel, +as tenderly he folded his arm round her, and looked fondly in her face. +"Scotland shall be free! her tyrants banished by her patriot king; and +then, then may not Nigel Bruce look to this little hand as his reward? +Shall not, may not the thought of thy pure, gentle love be mine, in the +tented field and battle's roar, urging me on, even should all other +voice be hushed?"</p> + +<p>"Forgettest thou I am a Comyn, Nigel? That the dark stain of traitor, of +disloyalty is withering on our line, and wider and wider grows the +barrier between us and the Bruce?" The voice of the maiden was choked, +her bright eyes dim with tears.</p> + +<p>"All, all I do forget, save that thou art mine own sweet love; and +though thy name is Comyn, thy heart is all Macduff. Weep not, my Agnes; +thine eyes were never framed for tears. Bright times for us and Scotland +are yet in store!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>For the better comprehension of the events related in the preceding +chapter, it will be necessary to cast a summary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> glance on matters of +historical and domestic import no way irrelevant to our subject, save +and except their having taken place some few years previous to the +commencement of our tale.</p> + +<p>The early years of Isabella of Buchan had been passed in happiness. The +only daughter, indeed for seven years the only child, of Malcolm, Earl +of Fife, deprived of her mother on the birth of her brother, her youth +had been nursed in a tenderness and care uncommon in those rude ages; +and yet, from being constantly with her father, she imbibed those higher +qualities of mind which so ably fitted her for the part which in after +years it was her lot to play. The last words of his devoted wife, +imploring him to educate her child himself, and not to sever the tie +between them, by following the example of his compeers, and sending her +either to England, France, or Norway, had been zealously observed by the +earl; the prosperous calm, which was the happy portion of Scotland +during the latter years of Alexander III., whose favorite minister he +was, enabled him to adhere to her wishes far more successfully than +could have been the case had he been called forth to war.</p> + +<p>In her father's castle, then, were the first thirteen years of the Lady +Isabella spent, varied only by occasional visits to the court of +Alexander, where her beauty and vivacity rendered her a universal +favorite. Descended from one of the most ancient Scottish families, +whose race it was their boast had never been adulterated by the blood of +a foreigner, no Norman prejudice intermingled with the education of +Isabella, to tarnish in any degree those principles of loyalty and +patriotism which her father, the Earl of Fife, so zealously inculcated. +She was a more true, devoted Scottish woman at fourteen, than many of +her own rank whose years might double hers; ready even then to sacrifice +even life itself, were it called for in defence of her sovereign, or the +freedom of her country; and when, on the death of Alexander, clouds +began to darken the horizon of Scotland, her father scrupled not to +impart to her, child though she seemed, those fears and anxieties which +clouded his brow, and filled his spirit with foreboding gloom. It was +then that in her flashing eye and lofty soul, in the undaunted spirit, +which bore a while even his colder and more foreseeing mood along with +it, that he traced the fruit whose seed he had so carefully sown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why should you fear for Scotland, my father?" she would urge; "is it +because her queen is but a child and now far distant, that anarchy and +gloom shall enfold our land? Is it not shame in ye thus craven to deem +her sons, when in thy own breast so much devotion and loyalty have rest? +why not judge others by yourself, my father, and know the dark things of +which ye dream can never be?"</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest as the enthusiast thou art, my child. Yet it is not the +rule of our maiden queen my foreboding spirit dreads; 'tis that on such +a slender thread as her young life suspends the well-doing or the ruin +of her kingdom. If she be permitted to live and reign over us, all may +be well; 'tis on the event of her death for which I tremble."</p> + +<p>"Wait till the evil day cometh then, my father; bring it not nearer by +anticipation; and should indeed such be, thinkest thou not there are +bold hearts and loyal souls to guard our land from foreign foe, and give +the rightful heir his due?"</p> + +<p>"I know not, Isabella. There remain but few with the pure Scottish blood +within their veins, and it is but to them our land is so dear: they +would peril life and limb in her defence. It is not to the proud baron +descended from the intruding Norman, and thinking only of his knightly +sports and increase of wealth, by it matters not what war. Nor dare we +look with confidence to the wild chiefs of the north and the Lords of +the Isles; eager to enlarge their own dominions, to extend the terrors +of their name, they will gladly welcome the horrors and confusion that +may arise; and have we true Scottish blood enough to weigh against +these, my child? Alas! Isabella, our only hope is in the health and +well-doing of our queen, precarious as that is; but if she fail us, woe +to Scotland!"</p> + +<p>The young Isabella could not bring forward any solid arguments in answer +to this reasoning, and therefore she was silent; but she felt her +Scottish blood throb quicker in her veins, as he spoke of the few pure +Scottish men remaining, and inwardly vowed, woman as she was, to devote +both energy and life to her country and its sovereign.</p> + +<p>Unhappily for his children, though perhaps fortunately for himself, the +Earl of Fife was spared the witnessing in the miseries of his country +how true had been his forebodings. Two years after the death of his +king, he was found dead in his bed, not without strong suspicion of +poison. Public rumor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> pointed to his uncle, Macduff of Glamis, as the +instigator, if not the actual perpetrator of the deed; but as no decided +proof could be alleged against him, and the High Courts of Scotland not +seeming inclined to pursue the investigation, the rumor ceased, and +Macduff assumed, with great appearance of zeal, the guardianship of the +young Earl of Fife and his sister, an office bequeathed to him under the +hand and seal of the earl, his nephew.</p> + +<p>The character of the Lady Isabella was formed; that of her brother, a +child of eight, of course was not; and the deep, voiceless suffering her +father's loss occasioned her individually was painfully heightened by +the idea that to her young brother his death was an infinitely greater +misfortune than to herself. He indeed knew not, felt not the agony which +bound her; he knew not the void which was on her soul; how utterly, +unspeakably lonely that heart had become, accustomed as it had been to +repose its every thought, and hope, and wish, and feeling on a parent's +love; yet notwithstanding this, her clear mind felt and saw that while +for herself there was little fear that she should waver in those +principles so carefully instilled, for her brother there was much, very +much to dread. She did not and could not repose confidence in her +kinsman; for her parent's sake she struggled to prevent dislike, to +compel belief that the suavity, even kindness of his manner, the +sentiments which he expressed, had their foundation in sincerity; but +when her young brother became solely and entirely subject to his +influence, she could no longer resist the conviction that their guardian +was not the fittest person for the formation of a patriot. She could +not, she would not believe the rumor which had once, but once, reached +her ears, uniting the hitherto pure line of Macduff with midnight +murder; her own noble mind rejected the idea as a thing utterly and +wholly impossible, the more so perhaps, as she knew her father had been +latterly subject to an insidious disease, baffling all the leech's art, +and which he himself had often warned her would terminate suddenly; yet +still an inward shuddering would cross her heart at times, when in his +presence; she could not define the cause, or why she felt it sometimes +and not always, and so she sought to subdue it, but she sought in vain.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile an event approached materially connected with the Lady +Isabella, and whose consummation the late Thane of Fife had earnestly +prayed he might have been permitted to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> hallow with his blessing. +Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan and High Constable of Scotland, had been +from early youth the brother in arms and dearest friend of the Earl of +Fife, and in the romantic enthusiasm which ever characterized the +companionship of chivalry, they had exchanged a mutual vow that in after +years, should heaven grant them children, a yet nearer and dearer tie +should unite their houses. The birth of Isabella, two years after that +of an heir to Buchan, was hailed with increased delight by both fathers, +and from her earliest years she was accustomed to look to the Lord John +as her future husband. Perhaps had they been much thrown together, +Isabella's high and independent spirit would have rebelled against this +wish of her father, and preferred the choosing for herself; but from the +ages of eleven and nine they had been separated, the Earl of Buchan +sending his son, much against the advice of his friend, to England, +imagining that there, and under such a knight as Prince Edward, he would +better learn the noble art of war and all chivalric duties, than in the +more barbarous realm of Scotland. To Isabella, then, her destined +husband was a stranger; yet with a heart too young and unsophisticated +to combat her parent's wishes, by any idea of its affections becoming +otherwise engaged, and judging of the son by the father, to whom she was +ever a welcome guest, and who in himself was indeed a noble example of +chivalry and honor, Isabella neither felt nor expressed any repugnance +to her father's wish, that she should sign her name to a contract of +betrothal, drawn up by the venerable abbot of Buchan, and to which the +name of Lord John had been already appended; it was the lingering echoes +of that deep, yet gentle voice, blessing her compliance to his wishes, +which thrilled again and again to her heart, softening her grief, even +when that beloved voice was hushed forever, and she had no thought, no +wish to recall that promise, nay, even looked to its consummation with +joy, as a release from the companionship, nay, as at times she felt, the +wardance of her kinsman.</p> + +<p>But this calm and happy frame of mind was not permitted to be of long +continuance. In one of the brief intervals of Macduff's absence from the +castle, about eighteen months after her father's death, the young earl +prevailed on the aged retainer in whose charge he had been left, to +consent to his going forth to hunt the red deer, a sport of which, boy +as he was,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> he was passionately fond. In joyous spirits, and attended by +a gallant train, he set out, calling for and receiving the ready +sympathy of his sister, who rejoiced as himself in his emancipation from +restraint, which either was, or seemed to be, adverse to the usual +treatment of noble youths.</p> + +<p>Somewhat sooner than Isabella anticipated, they returned. Earl Duncan, +with a wilfulness which already characterized him, weary of the extreme +watchfulness of his attendants, who, in their anxiety to keep him from +danger, checked and interfered with his boyish wish to signalize himself +by some daring deed of agility and skill, at length separated himself, +except from one or two as wilful, and but little older than himself. The +young lord possessed all the daring of his race, but skill and foresight +he needed greatly, and dearly would he have paid for his rashness. A +young and fiery bull had chanced to cross his path, and disregarding the +entreaties of his followers, he taunted them with cowardice, and goaded +the furious animal to the encounter; too late he discovered that he had +neither skill nor strength for the combat he had provoked, and had it +not been for the strenuous exertions of a stranger youth, who diverted +aside the fury of the beast, he must have fallen a victim to his +thoughtless daring. Curiously, and almost enviously, he watched the +combat between the stranger and the bull, nor did any emotion of +gratitude rise in the boy's breast to soften the bitterness with which +he regarded the victory of the former, which the reproaches of his +retainers, who at that instant came up, and their condemnation of his +folly, did not tend to diminish; and almost sullenly he passed to the +rear, on their return, leaving Sir Malise Duff to make the +acknowledgments, which should have come from him, and courteously invite +the young stranger to accompany them home, an invitation which, somewhat +to the discomposure of Earl Duncan, was accepted.</p> + +<p>If the stranger had experienced any emotion of anger from the boy's +slight of his services, the gratitude of the Lady Isabella would have +banished it on the instant, and amply repaid them; with cheeks glowing, +eyes glistening, and a voice quivering with suppressed emotion, she had +spoken her brief yet eloquent thanks; and had he needed further proof, +the embrace she lavished on her young brother, as reluctantly, and after +a long interval, he entered the hall, said yet more than her broken +words.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thou art but a fool, Isabella, craving thy pardon," was his ungracious +address, as he sullenly freed himself from her. "Had I brought thee the +bull's horns, there might have been some cause for this marvellously +warm welcome; but as it is—"</p> + +<p>"I joy thou wert not punished for thy rashness, Duncan. Yet 'twas not in +such mood I hoped to find thee; knowest thou that 'tis to yon brave +stranger thou owest thy life?"</p> + +<p>"Better it had been forfeited, than that he should stand between me and +mine honor. I thank him not for it, nor owe him aught like gratitude."</p> + +<p>"Peace, ungrateful boy, an thou knowest not thy station better," was his +sister's calm, yet dignified reply; and the stranger smiled, and by his +courteous manner, speedily dismissed her fears as to the impression of +her brother's words, regarding them as the mere petulance of a child.</p> + +<p>Days passed, and still the stranger lingered; eminently handsome, his +carriage peculiarly graceful, and even dignified, although it was +evident, from the slight, and as it were, unfinished roundness of his +figure, that he was but in the first stage of youth, yet his discourse +and manner were of a kind that would bespeak him noble, even had his +appearance been less convincing. According to the custom of the time, +which would have deemed the questioning a guest as to his name and +family a breach of all the rules of chivalry and hospitality, he +remained unknown.</p> + +<p>"Men call me Sir Robert, though I have still my spurs to win," he had +once said, laughingly, to Lady Isabella and her kinsman, Sir Malise +Duff, "but I would not proclaim my birth till I may bring it honor."</p> + +<p>A month passed ere their guest took his departure, leaving regard and +regret behind him, in all, perhaps, save in the childish breast of Earl +Duncan, whose sullen manner had never changed. There was a freshness and +light-heartedness, and a wild spirit of daring gallantry about the +stranger that fascinated, men scarce knew wherefore; a reckless +independence of sentiment which charmed, from the utter absence of all +affectation which it comprised. To all, save to the Lady Isabella, he +was a mere boy, younger even than his years; but in conversation with +her his superior mind shone forth, proving he could in truth appreciate +hers, and give back intellect for intel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>lect, feeling for feeling; +perhaps her beauty and unusual endowments had left their impression upon +him. However it may be, one day, one little day after the departure of +Sir Robert, Isabella woke to the consciousness that the calm which had +so long rested on her spirit bad departed, and forever; and to what had +it given place? Had she dared to love, she, the betrothed, the promised +bride of another? No; she could not have sunk thus low, her heart had +been too long controlled to rebel now. She might not, she would not +listen to its voice, to its wild, impassioned throbs. Alas! she +miscalculated her own power; the fastnesses she had deemed secure were +forced; they closed upon their subtle foe, and held their conqueror +prisoner.</p> + +<p>But Isabella was not one to waver in a determination when once formed; +how might she break asunder links which the dead had hallowed? She +became the bride of Lord John; she sought with her whole soul to forget +the past, and love him according to her bridal vow, and as time passed +she ceased to think of that beautiful vision of her early youth, save as +a dream that had had no resting; and a mother's fond yearnings sent +their deep delicious sweetness as oil on the troubled waters of her +heart. She might have done this, but unhappily she too soon discovered +her husband was not one to aid her in her unsuspected task, to soothe +and guide, and by his affection demand her gratitude and reverence. +Enwrapped in selfishness or haughty indifference, his manner towards her +ever harsh, unbending, and suspicious, Isabella's pride would have +sustained her, had not her previous trial lowered her in self-esteem; +but as it was, meekly and silently she bore with the continued outbreak +of unrestrained passion, and never wavered from the path of duty her +clear mind had laid down.</p> + +<p>On the birth of a son, however, her mind regained its tone, and inwardly +yet solemnly she vowed that no mistaken sense of duty to her husband +should interfere with the education of her son. As widely opposed as +were their individual characters, so were the politics of the now Earl +and Countess of Buchan. Educated in England, on friendly terms with her +king, he had, as the Earl of Fife anticipated, lost all nationality, all +interest in Scotland, and as willingly and unconcernedly taken the vows +of homage to John Baliol, as the mere representative and lieutenant of +Edward, as he would have done to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> a free and unlimited king. He had been +among the very first to vote for calling in the King of England as +umpire; the most eager to second and carry out all Edward's views, and +consequently high in that monarch's favor, a reputation which his enmity +to the house of Bruce, one of the most troublesome competitors of the +crown, did not tend to diminish. Fortunately perhaps for Isabella, the +bustling politics of her husband constantly divided them. The births of +a daughter and son had no effect in softening his hard and selfish +temper; he looked on them more as incumbrances than pleasures, and +leaving the countess in the strong Tower of Buchan, he himself, with a +troop of armed and mounted Comyns, attached himself to the court and +interests of Edward, seeming to forget that such beings as a wife and +children had existence. Months, often years, would stretch between the +earl's visits to his mountain home, and then a week was the longest +period of his lingering; but no evidence of a gentler spirit or of less +indifference to his children was apparent, and years seemed to have +turned to positive evil, qualities which in youth had merely seemed +unamiable.</p> + +<p>Desolate as the situation of the countess might perhaps appear, she +found solace and delight in moulding the young minds of her children +according to the pure and elevated cast of her own. All the +long-suppressed tenderness of her nature was lavished upon them, and on +their innocent love she sought to rest the passionate yearnings of her +own. She taught them to be patriots, in the purest, most beautiful +appropriation of the term,—to spurn the yoke of the foreigner, and the +oppressor, however light and flowery the links of that yoke might seem. +She could not bid them love and revere their father as she longed to do, +but she taught them that where their duty to their country and their +free and unchained king interfered not, in all things they must obey and +serve their father, and seek to win his love.</p> + +<p>Once only had the Countess of Buchan beheld the vision which had crossed +her youth. He had come, it seemed unconscious of his track, and asked +hospitality for a night, evidently without knowing who was the owner of +the castle; perhaps his thoughts were preoccupied, for a deep gloom was +on his brow, and though he had started with evident pleasure when +recognizing his beautiful hostess, the gloom speedily resumed +ascendency. It was but a few weeks after the fatal battle of Falkirk,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +and therefore Isabella felt there was cause enough for depression and +uneasiness. The graces of boyhood had given place to a finished +manliness of deportment, a calmer expression of feature, denoting that +years had changed and steadied the character, even as the form. He then +seemed as one laboring under painful and heavy thought, as one brooding +over some mighty change within, as if some question of weighty import +were struggling with recollections and visions of the past. He had +spoken little, evidently shrinking in pain from all reference to or +information on the late engagement. He tarried not long, departing with +dawn next day, and they did not meet again.</p> + +<p>And what had been the emotions of the countess? perhaps her heart had +throbbed, and her cheek paled and flushed, at this unexpected meeting +with one she had fervently prayed never to see again; but not one +feeling obtained ascendency in that heart which she would have dreaded +to unveil to the eye of her husband. She did indeed feel that had her +lot been cast otherwise, it must have been a happy one, but the thought +was transient. She was a wife, a mother, and in the happiness of her +children, her youth, and all its joys and pangs, and dreams and hopes, +were merged, to be recalled no more.</p> + +<p>The task of instilling patriotic sentiments in the breast of her son had +been insensibly aided by the countess's independent position amid the +retainers of Buchan. This earldom had only been possessed by the family +of Comyn since the latter years of the reign of William the Lion, +passing into their family by the marriage of Margaret Countess of Buchan +with Sir William Comyn, a knight of goodly favor and repute. This +interpolation and ascendency of strangers was a continual source of +jealousy and ire to the ancient retainers of the olden heritage, and +continually threatened to break out into open feud, had not the soothing +policy of the Countess Margaret and her descendants, by continually +employing them together in subjecting other petty clans, contrived to +keep them in good humor. As long as their lords were loyal to Scotland +and her king, and behaved so as to occasion no unpleasant comparison +between them and former superiors, all went on smoothly; but the haughty +and often outrageous conduct of the present earl, his utter neglect of +their interests, his treasonous politics, speedily roused the slumbering +fire into flame. A secret yet solemn oath went round the clan, by which +every fighting man bound himself to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> rebel against their master, rather +than betray their country by siding with a foreign tyrant; to desert +their homes, their all, and disperse singly midst the fastnesses and +rocks of Scotland, than lift up a sword against her freedom. The +sentiments of the countess were very soon discovered; and even yet +stronger than the contempt and loathing with which they looked upon the +earl was the love, the veneration they bore to her and to her children. +If his mother's lips had been silent, the youthful heir would have +learned loyalty and patriotism from his brave though unlettered +retainers, as it was to them he owed the skin and grace with which he +sate his fiery steed, and poised his heavy lance, and wielded his +stainless brand—to them he owed all the chivalric accomplishments of +the day; and though he had never quitted the territories of Buchan, he +would have found few to compete with him in his high and gallant spirit.</p> + +<p>Dark and troubled was the political aspect of unhappy Scotland, at the +eventful period at which our tale commences. The barbarous and most +unjust execution of Sir William Wallace had struck the whole country as +with a deadly panic, from which it seemed there was not one to rise to +cast aside the heavy chains, whose weight it seemed had crushed the +whole kingdom, and taken from it the last gleams of patriotism and of +hope. Every fortress of strength and consequence was in possession of +the English. English soldiers, English commissioners, English judges, +laws, and regulations now filled and governed Scotland. The abrogation +of all those ancient customs, which had descended from the Celts and +Picts, and Scots, fell upon the hearts of all true Scottish men as the +tearing asunder the last links of freedom, and branding them as slaves. +Her principal nobles, strangely and traitorously, preferred safety and +wealth, in the acknowledgment and servitude of Edward, to glory and +honor in the service of their country; and the spirits of the middle +ranks yet spurned the inglorious yoke, and throbbed but for one to lead +them on, if not to victory, at least to an honorable death. That one +seemed not to rise; it was as if the mighty soul of Scotland had +departed, when Wallace slept in death.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>A bustling and joyous aspect did the ancient town of Scone present near +the end of March, 1306. Subdued indeed, and evidently under some +restraint and mystery, which might be accounted for by the near vicinity +of the English, who were quartered in large numbers over almost the +whole of Perthshire; some, however, appeared exempt from these most +unwelcome guests. The nobles, esquires, yeomen, and peasants—all, by +their national garb and eager yet suppressed voices, might be known at +once as Scotsmen right and true.</p> + +<p>It had been long, very long since the old quiet town had witnessed such +busy groups and such eager tongues as on all sides thronged it now; the +very burghers and men of handicraft wore on their countenances tokens of +something momentous. There were smiths' shops opening on every side, +armorers at work, anvils clanging, spears sharpening, shields +burnishing, bits and steel saddles and sharp spurs meeting the eye at +every turn. Ever and anon, came a burst of enlivening music, and well +mounted and gallantly attired, attended by some twenty or fifty +followers, as may be, would gallop down some knight or noble, his armor +flashing back a hundred fold the rays of the setting sun; his silken +pennon displayed, the device of which seldom failed to excite a hearty +cheer from the excited crowds; his stainless shield and heavy spear +borne by his attendant esquires; his vizor up, as if he courted and +dared recognition; his surcoat, curiously and tastefully embroidered; +his gold or silver-sheathed and hilted sword suspended by the silken +sash of many folds and brilliant coloring. On foot or on horseback, +these noble cavaliers were continually passing and repassing the ancient +streets, singly or in groups; then there were their followers, all +carefully and strictly armed, in the buff coat plaited with steel, the +well-quilted bonnet, the huge broadsword; Highlanders in their peculiar +and graceful costume; even the stout farmers, who might also be found +amongst this motley assemblage, wearing the iron hauberk and sharp sword +beneath their apparently peaceful garb. Friars in their gray frocks and +black cowls, and stately burghers and magistrates, in their velvet +cloaks and gold chains, continually mingled their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> peaceful forms with +their more warlike brethren, and lent a yet more varied character to the +stirring picture.</p> + +<p>Varied as were the features of this moving multitude, the expression on +every countenance, noble and follower, yeoman and peasant, burgher and +even monk, was invariably the same—a species of strong yet suppressed +excitement, sometimes shaded by anxiety, sometimes lighted by hope, +almost amounting to triumph; sometimes the dark frown of scorn and hate +would pass like a thunder-cloud over noble brows, and the mailed hand +unconsciously clutched the sword; and then the low thrilling laugh of +derisive contempt would disperse the shade, and the muttered oath of +vengeance drown the voice of execration. It would have been a strange +yet mighty study, the face of man in that old town; but men were all too +much excited to observe their fellows, to them it was enough—unspoken, +unimparted wisdom as it was—to know, to feel, one common feeling bound +that varied mass of men, one mighty interest made them brothers.</p> + +<p>The ancient Palace of Scone, so long unused, was now evidently the +head-quarters of the noblemen hovering about the town, for whatever +purpose they were there assembled. The heavy flag of Scotland, in all +its massive quarterings, as the symbol of a free unfettered kingdom, +waved from the centre tower; archers and spearmen lined the courts, +sentinels were at their posts, giving and receiving the watchword from +all who passed and repassed the heavy gates, which from dawn till +nightfall were flung wide open, as if the inmates of that regal dwelling +were ever ready to receive their friends, and feared not the approach of +foes.</p> + +<p>The sun, though sinking, was still bright, when the slow and dignified +approach of the venerable abbot of Scone occasioned some stir and bustle +amidst the joyous occupants of the palace yard; the wild joke was +hushed, the noisy brawl subsided, the games of quoit and hurling the bar +a while suspended, and the silence of unaffected reverence awaited the +good old man's approach and kindly-given benediction. Leaving his +attendants in one of the lower rooms, the abbot proceeded up the massive +stone staircase, and along a broad and lengthy passage, darkly panelled +with thick oak, then pushing aside some heavy arras, stood within one of +the state chambers, and gave his fervent benison on one within. This was +a man in the earliest and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> freshest prime of life, that period uniting +all the grace and beauty of youth with the mature thought, and steady +wisdom, and calmer views of manhood. That he was of noble birth and +blood and training one glance sufficed; peculiarly and gloriously +distinguished in the quiet majesty of his figure, in the mild attempered +gravity of his commanding features. Nature herself seemed to have marked +him out for the distinguished part it was his to play. Already there +were lines of thought upon the clear and open brow, and round the mouth; +and the blue eye shone with that calm, steady lustre, which seldom comes +till the changeful fire and wild visions of dreamy youth have departed. +His hair, of rich and glossy brown, fell in loose natural curls on +either side his face, somewhat lower than his throat, shading his +cheeks, which, rather pale than otherwise, added to the somewhat grave +aspect of his countenance; his armor of steel, richly and curiously +inlaid with burnished gold, sat lightly and easily upon his peculiarly +tall and manly figure; a sash, of azure silk and gold, suspended his +sword, whose sheath was in unison with the rest of his armor, though the +hilt was studded with gems. His collar was also of gold, as were his +gauntlets, which with his helmet rested on a table near him; a coronet +of plain gold surmounted his helmet, and on his surcoat, which lay on a +seat at the further end of the room, might be discerned the rampant lion +of Scotland, surmounted by a crown.</p> + +<p>The apartment in which he stood, though shorn of much of that splendor +which, ere the usurping invasion of Edward of England, had distinguished +it, still bore evidence of being a chamber of some state. The hangings +were of dark-green velvet embroidered, and with a very broad fringe of +gold; drapery of the same costly material adorned the broad casements, +which stood in heavy frames of oak, black as ebony. Large folding-doors, +with panels of the same beautiful material, richly carved, opened into +an ante-chamber, and thence to the grand staircase and more public parts +of the building. In this ante-chamber were now assembled pages, +esquires, and other officers bespeaking a royal household, though much +less numerous than is generally the case.</p> + +<p>"Sir Edward and the young Lord of Douglas have not returned, sayest +thou, good Athelbert? Knowest thou when and for what went they forth?" +were the words which were spoken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> by the noble we have described, as the +abbot entered, unperceived at first, from his having avoided the public +entrance to the state rooms; they were addressed to an esquire, who, +with cap in hand and head somewhat lowered, respectfully awaited the +commands of his master.</p> + +<p>"They said not the direction of their course, my liege; 'tis thought to +reconnoitre either the movements of the English, or to ascertain the +cause of the delay of the Lord of Fife. They departed at sunrise, with +but few followers."</p> + +<p>"On but a useless errand, good Athelbert, methinks, an they hope to +greet Earl Duncan, save with a host of English at his back. Bid Sir +Edward hither, should he return ere nightfall, and see to the instant +delivery of those papers; I fear me, the good lord bishop has waited for +them; and stay—Sir Robert Keith, hath he not yet returned?"</p> + +<p>"No, good my lord."</p> + +<p>"Ha! he tarrieth long," answered the noble, musingly. "Now heaven +forefend no evil hath befallen him; but to thy mission, Athelbert, I +must not detain thee with doubts and cavil. Ha! reverend father, right +welcome," he added, perceiving him as he turned again to the table, on +the esquire reverentially withdrawing from his presence, and bending his +head humbly in acknowledgment of the abbot's benediction. "Thou findest +me busied as usual. Seest thou," he pointed to a rough map of Scotland +lying before him, curiously intersected with mystic lines and crosses, +"Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, Lanark, Stirling, Dumbarton, in the power +of, nay peopled, by English. Argyle on the west, Elgin, Aberdeen, with +Banff eastward, teeming with proud, false Scots, hereditary foes to the +Bruce, false traitors to their land; the north—why, 'tis the same foul +tale; and yet I dare to raise my banner, dare to wear the crown, and +fling defiance in the teeth of all. What sayest thou, father—is't not a +madman's deed?"</p> + +<p>All appearance of gravity vanished from his features as he spoke. His +eye, seemingly so mild, flashed till its very color could not have been +distinguished, his cheek glowed, his lip curled, and his voice, ever +peculiarly rich and sonorous, deepened with the excitement of soul.</p> + +<p>"Were the fate of man in his own hands, were it his and his alone to +make or mar his destiny, I should e'en proclaim thee mad, my son, and +seek to turn thee from thy desperate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> purpose; but it is not so. Man is +but an instrument, and He who urged thee to this deed, who wills not +this poor land to rest enslaved, will give thee strength and wisdom for +its freedom. His ways are not as man's; and circled as thou seemest with +foes, His strength shall bring thee forth and gird thee with His glory. +Thou wouldst not turn aside, my son—thou fearest not thy foes?"</p> + +<p>"Fear! holy father: it is a word unknown to the children of the Bruce! I +do but smile at mine extensive kingdom—of some hundred acres square; +smile at the eagerness with which they greet me liege and king, as if +the words, so long unused, should now do double duty for long absence."</p> + +<p>"And better so, my son," answered the old man, cheerfully. "Devotion to +her destined savior argues well for bonny Scotland; better do homage +unto thee as liege and king, though usurpation hath abridged thy +kingdom, than to the hireling of England's Edward, all Scotland at his +feet. Men will not kneel to sceptred slaves, nor freemen fight for +tyrants' tools. Sovereign of Scotland thou art, thou shalt be, Robert +the Bruce! Too long hast thou kept back; but now, if arms can fight and +hearts can pray, thou shalt be king of Scotland."</p> + +<p>The abbot spoke with a fervor, a spirit which, though perhaps little +accordant with his clerical character, thrilled to the Bruce's heart. He +grasped the old man's hand.</p> + +<p>"Holy father," he said, "thou wouldst inspire hearts with ardor needing +inspiration more than mine; and to me thou givest hope, and confidence, +and strength. Too long have I slept and dreamed," his countenance +darkened, and his voice was sadder; "fickle in purpose, uncertain in +accomplishment; permitting my youth to moulder 'neath the blasting +atmosphere of tyranny. Yet will I now atone for the neglected past. +Atone! aye, banish it from the minds of men. My country hath a claim, a +double claim upon me; she calls upon me, trumpet-tongued, to arise, +avenge her, and redeem my misspent youth. Nor shall she call on me in +vain, so help me, gracious heaven!"</p> + +<p>"Amen," fervently responded the abbot; and the king continued more +hurriedly—</p> + +<p>"And that stain, that blot, father? Is there mercy in heaven to wash its +darkness from my soul, or must it linger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> there forever preying on my +spirit, dashing e'en its highest hopes and noblest dreams with poison, +whispering its still voice of accusation, even when loudest rings the +praise and love of men? Is there no rest for this, no silence for that +whisper? Penitence, atonement, any thing thou wilt, let but my soul be +free!" Hastily, and with step and countenance disordered, he traversed +the chamber, his expressive countenance denoting the strife within.</p> + +<p>"It was, in truth, a rash and guilty deed, my son," answered the abbot, +gravely, yet mildly, "and one that heaven in its justice will scarce +pass unavenged. Man hath given thee the absolution accorded to the true +and faithful penitent, for such thou art; yet scarcely dare we hope +offended heaven is appeased. Justice will visit thee with trouble—sore, +oppressing, grievous trouble. Yet despair not: thou wilt come forth the +purer, nobler, brighter, from the fire; despair not, but as a child +receive a father's chastening; lean upon that love, which wills not +death, but penitence and life; that love, which yet will bring thee +forth and bless this land in thee. My son, be comforted; His mercy is +yet greater than thy sin."</p> + +<p>"And blest art thou, my father, for these <i>blessed</i> words; a messenger +in truth thou art of peace and love; and oh, if prayers and penitence +avail, if sore temptation may be pleaded, I shall, I shall be pardoned. +Yet would I give my dearest hopes of life, of fame, of all—save +Scotland's freedom—that this evil had not chanced; that blood, his +blood—base traitor as he was—was not upon my hand."</p> + +<p>"And can it be thou art such craven, Robert, as to repent a Comyn's +death—a Comyn, and a traitor—e'en though his dastard blood be on thy +hand?—bah! An' such deeds weigh heavy on thy mind, a friar's cowl were +better suited to thy brow than Scotland's diadem."</p> + +<p>The speaker was a tall, powerful man, somewhat younger in appearance +than the king, but with an expression of fierceness and haughty pride, +contrasting powerfully with the benevolent and native dignity which so +characterized the Bruce. His voice was as harsh as his manner was +abrupt; yet that he was brave, nay, rash in his unthinking daring, a +very transient glance would suffice to discover.</p> + +<p>"I forgive thee thine undeserved taunt, Edward," answered the king, +calmly, though the hot blood rushed up to his cheek<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> and brow. "I trust, +ere long, to prove thy words are as idle as the mood which prompted +them. I feel not that repentance cools the patriot fire which urges me +to strike for Scotland's weal—that sorrow for a hated crime unfits me +for a warrior. I would not Comyn lived, but that he had met a traitor's +fate by other hands than mine; been judged—condemned, as his black +treachery called for; even for our country's sake, it had been better +thus."</p> + +<p>"Thou art over-scrupulous, my liege and brother, and I too hasty," +replied Sir Edward Bruce, in the same bold, careless tone. "Yet beshrew +me, but I think that in these times a sudden blow and hasty fate the +only judgment for a traitor. The miscreant were too richly honored, that +by thy royal hand he fell."</p> + +<p>"My son, my son, I pray thee, peace," urged the abbot, in accents of +calm, yet grave authority. "As minister of heaven, I may not list such +words. Bend not thy brow in wrath, clad as thou art in mail, in youthful +might; yet in my Maker's cause this withered frame is stronger yet than +thou art. Enough of that which hath been. Thy sovereign spoke in lowly +penitence to me—to me, who frail and lowly unto thee, am yet the +minister of Him whom sin offends. To thee he stands a warrior and a +king, who rude irreverence may brook not, even from his brother. Be +peace between us, then, my son; an old man's blessing on thy fierce yet +knightly spirit rest."</p> + +<p>With a muttered oath Sir Edward had strode away at the abbot's first +words, but the cloud passed from his brow as he concluded, and slightly, +yet with something of reverence, he bowed his head.</p> + +<p>"And whither didst thou wend thy way, my fiery brother?" demanded +Robert. "Bringest thou aught of news, or didst thou and Douglas but set +foot in stirrup and hand on rein simply from weariness of quiet?"</p> + +<p>"In sober truth, 'twas even so; partly to mark the movements of the +English, an they make a movement, which, till Pembroke come, they are +all too much amazed to do; partly to see if in truth that poltroon +Duncan of Fife yet hangs back and still persists in forswearing the +loyalty of his ancestors, and leaving to better hands the proud task of +placing the crown of Scotland on thy head."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And thou art convinced at last that such and such only is his +intention?" The knight nodded assent, and Bruce continued, jestingly, +"And so thou mightst have been long ago, my sage brother, hadst thou +listened to me. I tell thee Earl Duncan hath a spite against me, not for +daring to raise the standard of freedom and proclaim myself a king, but +for very hatred of myself. Nay, hast thou not seen it thyself, when, +fellow-soldiers, fellow-seekers of the banquet, tournay, or ball, he +hath avoided, shunned me? and why should he seek me now?"</p> + +<p>"Why? does not Scotland call him, Scotland bid him gird his sword and +don his mail? Will not the dim spectres of his loyal line start from +their very tombs to call him to thy side, or brand him traitor and +poltroon, with naught of Duff about him but the name? Thou smilest."</p> + +<p>"At thy violence, good brother. Duncan of Fife loves better the silken +cords of peace and pleasure, e'en though those silken threads hide +chains, than the trumpet's voice and weight of mail. In England bred, +courted, flattered by her king, 'twere much too sore a trouble to excite +his anger and lose his favor; and for whom, for what?—to crown the man +he hateth from his soul?"</p> + +<p>"And knowest thou wherefore, good my son, in what thou hast offended?"</p> + +<p>"Offended, holy father? Nay, in naught unless perchance a service +rendered when a boy—a simple service, merely that of saving life—hath +rendered him the touchy fool he is. But hark! who comes?"</p> + +<p>The tramping of many horses, mingled with the eager voices of men, +resounded from the courtyard as he spoke, and Sir Edward strode hastily +to the casement. "Sir Robert Keith returned!" he exclaimed, joyfully; +"and seemingly right well attended. Litters too—bah! we want no more +women. 'Tis somewhat new for Keith to be a squire of dames. Why, what +banner is this? The black bear of Buchan—impossible! the earl is a foul +Comyn. I'll to the court, for this passes my poor wits." He turned +hastily to quit the chamber, as a youth entered, not without some +opposition, it appeared, from the attendants without, but eagerly he had +burst through them, and flung his plumed helmet from his beautiful brow, +and, after glancing hastily round the room, bounded to the side of +Robert,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> knelt at his feet, and clasped his knees without uttering a +syllable, voiceless from an emotion whose index was stamped upon his +glowing features.</p> + +<p>"Nigel, by all that's marvellous, and as moon-stricken as his wont! Why, +where the foul fiend hast thou sprung from? Art dumb, thou foolish boy? +By St. Andrew, these are times to act and speak, not think and feel! +Whence comest thou?"</p> + +<p>So spoke the impatient Edward, to whom the character of his youngest +brother had ever been a riddle, which it had been too much trouble to +expound, and that which it <i>seemed</i> to his too careless thought he ever +looked upon with scorn and contempt. Not so, King Robert; he raised him +affectionately in his arms, and pressed him to his heart.</p> + +<p>"Thou'rt welcome, most, most welcome, Nigel; as welcome as unlooked for. +But why this quick return from scenes and studies more congenial to thy +gentle nature, my young brother? this fettered land is scarce a home for +thee; thy free, thy fond imaginings can scarce have resting here." He +spoke sadly, and his smile unwittingly was sorrowful.</p> + +<p>"And thinkest thou, Robert—nay, forgive me, good my liege—thinkest +thou, because I loved the poet's dream, because I turned, in sad and +lonely musing, from King Edward's court, I loved the cloister better +than the camp? Oh, do me not such wrong! thou knowest not the guidings +of my heart; nor needs it now, my sword shall better plead my cause than +can my tongue." He turned away deeply and evidently pained, and a half +laugh from Sir Edward prevented the king's reply.</p> + +<p>"Well crowed, my pretty fledgling," he said, half jesting, half in +scorn. "But knowest thou, to fight in very earnest is something +different than to read and chant it in a minstrel's lay? Better hie thee +back to Florence, boy; the mail suit and crested helm are not for such +as thee—better shun them now, than after they are donned."</p> + +<p>"How! darest thou, Edward? Edward, tempt me not too far," exclaimed +Nigel, his cheek flushing, and springing towards him, his hand upon his +half-drawn sword. "By heaven, wert thou not my mother's son, I would +compel thee to retract these words, injurious, unjust! How darest thou +judge me coward, till my cowardice is proved? Thy blood is not more red +than mine."</p> + +<p>"Peace, peace! what meaneth this unseemly broil?" said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> Robert, hastily +advancing between them, for the dark features of Edward were lowering in +wrath, and Nigel was excited to unwonted fierceness. "Edward, begone! +and as thou saidst, see to Sir Robert Keith—what news he brings. Nigel, +on thy love, thy allegiance so lately proffered, if I read thy greeting +right, I pray thee heed not his taunting words. I do not doubt thee; +'twas for thy happiness, not for thy gallantry, I trembled. Look not +thus dejected;" he held out his hand, which his brother knelt to salute. +"Nay, nay, thou foolish boy, forget my new dignity a while, and now that +rude brawler has departed, tell me in sober wisdom, how camest thou +here? How didst thou know I might have need of thee?" A quick blush +suffused the cheek of the young man; he hesitated, evidently confused. +"Why, what ails thee, boy? By St. Andrew, Nigel, I do believe thou hast +never quitted Scotland."</p> + +<p>"And if I have not, my lord, what wilt thou deem me?"</p> + +<p>"A very strangely wayward boy, not knowing his own mind," replied the +king, smiling. "Yet why should I say so? I never asked thy confidence, +never sought it, or in any way returned or appreciated thy boyish love, +and why should I deem thee wayward, never inquiring into thy +projects—passing thee by, perchance, as a wild visionary, much happier +than myself?"</p> + +<p>"And thou wilt think me yet more a visionary, I fear me, Robert; yet +thine interest is too dear to pass unanswered," rejoined Nigel, after +glancing round and perceiving they were alone, for the abbot had +departed with Sir Edward, seeking to tame his reckless spirit.</p> + +<p>"Know, then, to aid me in keeping aloof from the tyrant of my country, +whom instinctively I hated, I confined myself to books and such lore yet +more than my natural inclination prompted, though that was strong +enough—I had made a solemn vow, rather to take the monk's cowl and +frock, than receive knighthood from the hand of Edward of England, or +raise my sword at his bidding. My whole soul yearned towards the country +of my fathers, that country which was theirs by royal right; and when +the renown of Wallace reached my ears, when, in my waking and sleeping +dreams, I beheld the patriot struggling for freedom, peace, the only one +whose arm had struck for Scotland, whose tongue had dared to speak +resistance, I longed wildly, intensely, vainly, to burst the thraldom +which held my race, and seek for death beneath the patriot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> banner. I +longed, yet dared not. My own death were welcome; but mother, father, +brothers, sisters, all were perilled, had I done so. I stood, I deemed, +alone in my enthusiast dreams; those I loved best, acknowledged, bowed +before the man my very spirit loathed; and how dared I, a boy, a child, +stand forth arraigning and condemning? But wherefore art thou thus, +Robert? oh, what has thus moved thee?"</p> + +<p>Wrapped in his own earnest words and thoughts, Nigel had failed until +that moment to perceive the effect of his words upon his brother. +Robert's head had sunk upon his hand, and his whole frame shook beneath +some strong emotion; evidently striving to subdue it, some moments +elapsed ere he could reply, and then only in accents of bitter +self-reproach. "Why, why did not such thoughts come to me, instead of +thee?" he said. "My youth had not wasted then in idle folly—worse, oh, +worse—in slavish homage, coward indecision, flitting like the moth +around the destructive flame; and while I deemed thee buried in romantic +dreams, all a patriot's blood was rushing in thy veins, while mine was +dull and stagnant."</p> + +<p>"But to flow forth the brighter, my own brother," interrupted Nigel, +earnestly. "Oh, I have watched thee, studied thee, even as I loved thee, +long; and I have hoped, felt, <i>known</i> that this day would dawn; that +thou <i>wouldst</i> rise for Scotland, and she would rise for thee. Ah, now +thou smilest as thyself, and I will to my tale. The patriot died—let me +not utter how; no Scottish tongue should speak those words, save with +the upraised arm and trumpet shout of vengeance! I could not rest in +England then; I could not face the tyrant who dared proclaim and execute +as traitor the noblest hero, purest patriot, that ever walked this +earth. But men said I sought the lyric schools, the poet's haunts in +Provence, and I welcomed the delusion; but it was to Scotland that I +came, unknown, and silently, to mark if with her Wallace all life and +soul had fled. I saw enough to know that were there but a fitting head, +her hardy sons would struggle yet for freedom—but not yet; that chief +art thou, and at the close of the last year I took passage to Denmark, +intending to rest there till Scotland called me."</p> + +<p>"And 'tis thence thou comest, Nigel? Can it be, intelligence of my +movements hath reached so far north already?" inquired the king, +somewhat surprised at the abruptness of his brother's pause.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not so, my liege. The vessel which bore me was wrecked off the breakers +of Buchan, and cast me back again to the arms of Scotland. I found +hospitality, shelter, kindness; nay more, were this a time and place to +speak of happy, trusting love—" he added, turning away from the Bruce's +penetrating eye, "and week after week passed, and found me still an +inmate of the Tower of Buchan."</p> + +<p>"Buchan!" interrupted the king, hastily; "the castle of a Comyn, and +thou speakest of love!"</p> + +<p>"Of as true, as firm-hearted a Scottish patriot, my liege, as ever lived +in the heart of woman—one that has naught of Comyn about her or her +fair children but the name, as speedily thou wilt have proof. But in +good time is my tale come to a close, for hither comes good Sir Robert, +and other noble knights, who, by their eager brows, methinks, have +matters of graver import for thy grace's ear."</p> + +<p>They entered as he spoke. The patriot nobles who, at the first call of +their rightful king, had gathered round his person, few in number, yet +firm in heart, ready to lay down fame, fortune, life, beside his +standard, rather than acknowledge the foreign foe, who, setting aside +all principles of knightly honor, knightly faith, sought to claim their +country as his own, their persons as his slaves. Eager was the greeting +of each and all to the youthful Nigel, mingled with some surprise. Their +conference with the king was but brief, and as it comprised matters more +of speculation than of decided import, we will pass on to a later period +of the same evening.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>"Buchan! the Countess of Buchan, sayest thou, Athelbert? nay, 'tis +scarce possible," said a fair and noble-looking woman, still in the +bloom of life, though early youth had passed, pausing on her way to the +queen's apartment, to answer some information given by the senior page.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, madam, 'tis even so; she arrived but now, escorted by Sir +Robert Keith and his followers, in addition to some fifty of the +retainers of Buchan."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And hath she lodging within the palace?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madam; an it please you, I will conduct you to her, 'tis but a +step beyond the royal suite."</p> + +<p>She made him a sign of assent, and followed him slowly, as if musingly.</p> + +<p>"It is strange, it is very strange," she thought, "yet scarcely so; she +was ever in heart and soul a patriot, nor has she seen enough of her +husband to change such sentiments. Yet, for her own sake, perchance it +had been better had she not taken this rash step; 'tis a desperate game +we play, and the fewer lives and fortunes wrecked the better."</p> + +<p>Her cogitations were interrupted by hearing her name announced in a loud +voice by the page, and finding herself in presence of the object of her +thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Isabella, dearest Isabella, 'tis even thine own dear self. I deemed the +boy's tale well-nigh impossible," was her hasty exclamation, as with a +much quicker step she advanced towards the countess, who met her +half-way, and warmly returned her embrace, saying as she did so—</p> + +<p>"This is kind, indeed, dearest Mary, to welcome me so soon; 'tis long, +long years since we have met; but they have left as faint a shadow on +thy affections as on mine."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, thou judgest me truly, Isabella. Sorrow, methinks, doth but +soften the heart and render the memory of young affections, youthful +pleasures, the more vivid, the more lasting: we think of what we have +been, or what we are, and the contrast heightens into perfect bliss that +which at the time, perchance, we deemed but perishable joy."</p> + +<p>"Hast thou too learnt such lesson, Mary? I hoped its lore was all +unknown to thee."</p> + +<p>"It was, indeed, deferred so long, so blessedly, I dared to picture +perfect happiness on earth; but since my husband's hateful captivity, +Isabella, there can be little for his wife but anxiety and dread. But +these—are these thine?" she added, gazing admiringly and tearfully on +Agnes and Alan, who had at their mother's sign advanced from the +embrasure, where they had held low yet earnest converse, and gracefully +acknowledged the stranger's notice. "Oh, wherefore bring them here, my +friend?"</p> + +<p>"Wherefore, lady?" readily and impetuously answered Alan; "art thou a +friend of Isabella of Buchan, and asketh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> wherefore? Where our sovereign +is, should not his subjects be?"</p> + +<p>"Thy mother's friend and sovereign's sister, noble boy, and yet I grieve +to see thee here. The Bruce is but in name a king, uncrowned as yet and +unanointed. His kingdom bounded by the confines of this one fair county, +struggling for every acre at the bright sword's point."</p> + +<p>"The greater glory for his subjects, lady," answered the youth. "The +very act of proclaiming himself king removes the chains of Scotland, and +flings down her gage. Fear not, he shall be king ere long in something +more than name."</p> + +<p>"And is it thus a Comyn speaks?" said the Lady Campbell. "Ah, were the +idle feuds of petty minds thus laid at rest, bold boy, thy dreams might +e'en be truth; but knowest thou, young man—knowest thou, Isabella, the +breach between the Comyn and the Bruce is widened, and, alas! by blood?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, lady; but what boots it? A traitor should have no name, no kin, or +those who bear that name should wash away their race's stain by nobler +deeds of loyalty and valor."</p> + +<p>"It would be well did others think with thee," replied Lady Campbell; +"yet I fear me in such sentiments the grandson of the loyal Fife will +stand alone. Isabella, dearest Isabella," she added, laying her hand on +the arm of the countess, and drawing her away from her children, "hast +thou done well in this decision? hast thou listened to the calmer voice +of prudence as was thy wont? hast thou thought on all the evils thou +mayest draw upon thy head, and upon these, so lovely and so dear?"</p> + +<p>"Mary, I have thought, weighed, pondered, and yet I am here," answered +the countess, firmly, yet in an accent that still bespoke some inward +struggle. "I know, I feel all, all that thou wouldst urge; that I am +exposing my brave boy to death, perchance, by a father's hand, bringing +him hither to swear fealty, to raise his sword for the Bruce, in direct +opposition to my husband's politics, still more to his will; yet, Mary, +there are mutual duties between a parent and a child. My poor boy has +ever from his birth been fatherless. No kindly word, no glowing smile +has ever met his infancy, his boyhood. He scarce can know his +father—the love, the reverence of a son it would have been such joy to +teach. Left to my sole care, could I instil sentiments other than those +a father's lips be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>stowed on me? Could I instruct him in aught save +love, devotion to his country, to her rights, her king? I have done this +so gradually, my friend, that for the burst of loyalty, of impetuous +gallantry, which answered Sir Robert Keith's appeal, I was well nigh +unprepared. My father, my noble father breathes in my boy; and oh, Mary, +better, better far lose him on the battle-field, struggling for +Scotland's freedom, glorying in his fate, rejoicing, blessing me for +lessons I have taught, than see him as my husband, as my brother—alas! +alas! that I should live to say it—cringing as slaves before the +footstool of a tyrant and oppressor. Had he sought it, had he +loved—treated me as a wife, Mary, I would have given my husband +all—all a woman's duty—all, save the dictates of my soul, but even +this he trampled on, despised, rejected; and shall I, dare I then +forget, oppose the precepts of that noble heart, that patriot spirit +which breathed into mine the faint reflection of itself?—offend the +dead, the hallowed dead, my father—the heart that loved me?"</p> + +<p>She paused, in strong, and for the moment overpowering, emotion. The +clear, rich tones had never faltered till she spoke of him beloved even +in death—faltered not, even when she spoke of death as the portion of +her child; it was but the quivering of lip and eye by which the anguish +of that thought could have been ascertained. Lady Campbell clasped her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast in very truth silenced me, my Isabella," she said; "there is +no combating with thoughts as these. Thine is still the same noble soul, +exalted mind that I knew in youth: sorrow and time have had no power on +these."</p> + +<p>"Save to chasten and to purify, I trust," rejoined the countess, in her +own calm tone. "Thrown back upon my own strength, it must have gathered +force, dear Mary, or have perished altogether. But thou speakest, +methinks, but too despondingly of our sovereign's prospects—are they +indeed so desperate?"</p> + +<p>"Desperate, indeed, Isabella. Even his own family, with the sole +exception of that rash madman, Edward, must look upon it thus. How +thinkest thou Edward of England will brook this daring act of defiance, +of what he will deem rank apostasy and traitorous rebellion? Aged, +infirm as he is now, he will not permit this bold attempt to pass +unpunished. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> whole strength of England will be gathered together, +and pour its devastating fury on this devoted land. And what to this has +Robert to oppose? Were he undisputed sovereign of Scotland, we might, +without cowardice, be permitted to tremble, threatened as he is; but +confined, surrounded by English, with scarce a town or fort to call his +own, his enterprise is madness, Isabella, patriotic as it may be."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not say so, Mary. Has he not some noble barons already by his +side? will not, nay, is not Scotland rising to support him? hath he not +the hearts, the prayers, the swords of all whose mountain homes and +freeborn rights are dearer than the yoke of Edward? and hath he not, if +rumor speaks aright, within himself a host—not mere valor alone, but +prudence, foresight, military skill—all, all that marks a general?"</p> + +<p>"As rumor speaks. Thou dost not know him then?" inquired Lady Campbell.</p> + +<p>"How could I, dearest? Hast thou forgotten thy anxiety that we should +meet, when we were last together, holding at naught, in thy merry mood, +my betrothment to Lord John—that I should turn him from his wandering +ways, and make him patriotic as myself? Thou seest, Mary, thy brother +needed not such influence."</p> + +<p>"Of a truth, no," answered her friend; "for his present partner is a +very contrast to thyself, and would rather, by her weak and trembling +fears, dissuade him from his purpose than inspire and encourage it. Well +do I remember that fancy of my happy childhood, and still I wish it had +been so, all idle as it seems—strange that ye never met."</p> + +<p>"Nay, save thyself, Mary, thy family resided more in England than in +Scotland, and for the last seventeen years the territory of Buchan has +been my only home, with little interruption to my solitude; yet I have +heard much of late of the Earl of Carrick, and from whom thinkest +thou?—thou canst not guess—even from thy noble brother Nigel."</p> + +<p>"Nigel!" repeated Lady Mary, much surprised.</p> + +<p>"Even so, sweet sister, learning dearer lore and lovelier tales than +even Provence could instil; 'tis not the land, it is the <i>heart</i> where +poesie dwells," rejoined Nigel Bruce, gayly, advancing from the side of +Agnes, where he had been lingering the greater part of the dialogue +between his sister and the countess, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> now joined them. "Aye, Mary," +he continued, tenderly, "my own land is dearer than the land of song."</p> + +<p>"And dear art thou to Scotland, Nigel; but I knew not thy fond dreams +and wild visions could find resting amid the desert crags and barren +plains of Buchan."</p> + +<p>"Yet have we not been idle. Dearest Agnes, wilt thou not speak for me? +the viol hath not been mute, nor the fond harp unstrung; and deeper, +dearer lessons have thy lips instilled, than could have flowed from +fairest lips and sweetest songs of Provence. Nay, blush not, dearest. +Mary, thou must love this gentle girl," he added, as he led her forward, +and laid the hand of Agnes in his sister's.</p> + +<p>"Is it so? then may we indeed be united, though not as I in my girlhood +dreamed, my Isabella," said Lady Campbell, kindly parting the clustering +curls, and looking fondly on the maiden's blushing face. She was about +to speak again, when steps were heard along the corridor, and +unannounced, unattended, save by the single page who drew aside the +hangings, King Robert entered. He had doffed the armor in which we saw +him first, for a plain yet rich suit of dark green velvet, cut and +slashed with cloth of gold, and a long mantle of the richest crimson, +secured at his throat by a massive golden clasp, from which gleamed the +glistening rays of a large emerald; a brooch of precious stones, +surrounded by diamonds, clasped the white ostrich feather in his cup, +and the shade of the drooping plume, heightened perhaps by the advance +of evening, somewhat obscured his features, but there was that in his +majestic mien, in the noble yet dignified bearing, which could not for +one moment be mistaken; and it needed not the word of Nigel to cause the +youthful Alan to spring from the couch where he had listlessly thrown +himself, and stand, suddenly silenced and abashed.</p> + +<p>"My liege and brother," exclaimed Lady Campbell, eagerly, as she hastily +led forward the Countess of Buchan, who sunk at once on her knee, +overpowered by the emotion of a patriot, thinking only of her country, +only of her sovereign, as one inspired by heaven to attempt her rescue, +and give her freedom. "How glad am I that it has fallen on me to present +to your grace, in the noble Countess of Buchan, the chosen friend of my +girlhood, the only descendant of the line of Macduff worthy to bear that +name. Allied as unhappily she is to the family of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> Comyn, yet still, +still most truly, gloriously, a patriot and loyal subject of your grace, +as her being here, with all she holds most dear, most precious upon +earth, will prove far better than her friend's poor words."</p> + +<p>"Were they most rich in eloquence, Mary, believe me, we yet should need +them not, in confirmation of this most noble lady's faithfulness and +worth," answered the king, with ready courtesy, and in accents that were +only too familiar to the ear of Isabella. She started, and gazed up for +the first time, seeing fully the countenance of the sovereign. "Rise, +lady, we do beseech you, rise; we are not yet so familiar with the forms +of royalty as to behold without some shame a noble lady at our feet. +Nay, thou art pale, very pale; thy coming hither hath been too rapid, +too hurried for thy strength, methinks; I do beseech you, sit." Gently +he raised her, and leading her gallantly to one of the cumbrous couches +near them, placed her upon it, and sat down beside her. "Ha! that is +well; thou art better now. Knowest thou, Mary, thine office would have +been more wisely performed, hadst thou presented <i>me</i> to the Countess of +Buchan, not her to me."</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest darkly, good my liege, yet I joy to see thee thus +jestingly inclined."</p> + +<p>"Nay, 'tis no jest, fair sister; the Countess of Buchan and I have met +before, though she knew me but as a wild, heedless stripling first, and +a moody, discontented soldier afterwards. I owe thee much, gentle lady; +much for the night's lodging thy hospitality bestowed, though at the +time my mood was such it had no words of courtesy, no softening fancy, +even to thyself; much for the kindness thou didst bestow, not only then, +but when fate first threw us together; and therefore do I seek thee, +lady—therefore would I speak to thee, as the friend of former years, +not as the sovereign of Scotland, and as such received by thee." He +spoke gravely, with somewhat of sadness in his rich voice. Perhaps it +was well for the countess no other answer than a grateful bow was +needed, for the sudden faintness which had withdrawn the color from her +cheek yet lingered, sufficient to render the exertion of speaking +painful.</p> + +<p>"Yet pause one moment, my liege," said Nigel, playfully leading Alan +forward; "give me one moment, ere you fling aside your kingly state. +Here is a young soldier, longing to rush into the very thickest of a +fight that may win a golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> spur and receive knighthood at your grace's +hand; a doughty spokesman, who was to say a marvellously long speech of +duty, homage, and such like, but whose tongue at sight of thee has +turned traitor to its cause. Have mercy on him, good my liege; I'll +answer that his arm is less a traitor than his tongue."</p> + +<p>"We do not doubt it, Nigel, and will accept thy words for his. Be +satisfied, young sir, the willing homage of all true men is precious to +King Robert. And thou, fair maiden, wilt thou, too, follow thy monarch's +fortunes, cloudy though they seem? we read thine answer in thy blushing +cheek, and thus we thank thee, maiden."</p> + +<p>He threw aside his plumed cap, and gallantly yet respectfully saluted +the fair, soft cheek; confused yet pleased, Agnes looked doubtingly +towards Nigel, who, smiling a happy, trusting, joyous smile, led her a +few minutes apart, whispered some fond words, raised her hand to his +lips, and summoning Alan, they left the room together.</p> + +<p>"Sir Robert Keith informs me, noble lady," said the king, again +addressing Isabella, "that it is your determination to represent, in +your own proper person, the ancient line of Duff at the approaching +ceremony, and demand from our hands, as such representative, the +privilege granted by King Malcolm to your noble ancestor and his +descendants, of placing on the sovereign's brow the coronet of Scotland. +Is it not so?"</p> + +<p>"I do indeed most earnestly demand this privilege, my gracious liege," +answered the countess, firmly; "demand it as a right, a glorious right, +made mine by the weak and fickle conduct of my brother. Alas! the only +male descendant of that line which until now hath never known a +traitor."</p> + +<p>"But hast thou well considered, lady? There is danger in this act, +danger even to thyself."</p> + +<p>"My liege, that there is danger threatening all the patriots of +Scotland, monarch or serf, male or female, I well know; yet in what does +it threaten me more in this act, than in the mere acknowledgment of the +Earl of Carrick as my sovereign?"</p> + +<p>"It will excite the rage of Edward of England against thyself +individually, lady; I know him well, only too well. All who join in +giving countenance and aid to my inauguration will be proclaimed, +hunted, placed under the ban of traitors, and, if unfortunately taken, +will in all probability share the fate of Wallace." His voice became +husky with strong emotion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> "There is no exception in his sweeping +tyranny; youth and age, noble and serf, of either sex, of either land, +if they raise the sword for Bruce and freedom, will fall by the +hangman's cord or headsman's axe; and I, alas! must look on and bear, +for I have neither men nor power to avert such fate; and that hand which +places on my head the crown, death, death, a cruel death, will be the +doom of its patriot owner. Think, think on this, and oh, retract thy +noble resolution, ere it be too late."</p> + +<p>"Is she who gives the crown in greater danger, good my liege, than he +who wears it?" demanded the countess, with a calm and quiet smile.</p> + +<p>"Nay," he answered, smiling likewise for the moment, "but I were worse +than traitor, did I shrink from Scotland in her need, and refuse her +diadem, in fear, forsooth, of death at Edward's hands. No! I have held +back too long, and now will I not turn back till Scotland's freedom is +achieved, or Robert Bruce lies with the slain. Repentance for the past, +hope, ambition for the future; a firm heart and iron frame, a steady arm +and sober mood, to meet the present—I have these, sweet lady, to fit +and nerve me for the task, but not such hast thou. I doubt not thy +patriot soul; perchance 'twas thy lip that first awoke the slumbering +fire within my own breast, and though a while forgotten, recalled, when +again I looked on thee, after Falkirk's fatal battle, with the charge, +the solemn charge of Wallace yet ringing in mine ears. Yet, lady, noble +lady, tempt not the fearful fate which, shouldst thou fall into Edward's +hands, I know too well will be thine own. I dare not promise sure +defence from his o'erwhelming hosts: on every side they compass me. I +see sorrow and death for all I love, all who swear fealty to me. I shall +succeed in the end, for heaven, just heaven will favor the righteous +cause; but trouble and anguish must be my lot ere then, and I would save +those I can. Remain with us an thou wilt, gratefully I accept the homage +so nobly and unhesitatingly tendered; but still I beseech thee, lady, +expose not thy noble self to the blind wrath of Edward, as thou surely +wilt, if from thy hand I receive my country's crown."</p> + +<p>"My liege," answered the countess, in that same calm, quiet tone, "I +have heard thee with a deep grateful sense of the noble feeling, the +kindly care which dictates thy words; yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> pardon me, if they fail to +shake my resolution—a resolution not lightly formed, not the mere +excitement of a patriotic moment, but one based on the principles of +years, on the firm, solemn conviction, that in taking this sacred office +on myself, the voice of the dead is obeyed, the memory of the dead, the +noble dead, preserved from stain, inviolate and pure. Would my father +have kept aloof in such an hour—refused to place on the brow of +Scotland's patriot king the diadem of his forefathers—held back in fear +of Edward? Oh! would that his iron hand and loyal heart were here +instead of mine; gladly would I lay me down in his cold home and place +him at thy side, might such things be: but as it is, my liege, I do +beseech thee, cease to urge me. I have but a woman's frame, a woman's +heart, and yet death hath no fear for me. Let Edward work his will, if +heaven ordain I fall into his ruthless hands; death comes but once, 'tis +but a momentary pang, and rest and bliss shall follow. My father's +spirit breathes within me, and as he would, so let his daughter do. 'Tis +not now a time to depart from ancient forms, my gracious sovereign, and +there are those in Scotland who scarce would deem thee crowned, did not +the blood of Fife perform that holy office."</p> + +<p>"And this, then, noble lady, is thy firm resolve—I may not hope to +change it?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis firm as the ocean rock, my liege. I do not sue thee to permit my +will; the blood of Macduff, which rushes in my veins, doth mark it as my +right, and as my right I do demand it." She stood in her majestic +beauty, proudly and firmly before him, and unconsciously the king +acknowledged and revered the dauntless spirit that lovely form +enshrined.</p> + +<p>"Lady," he said, raising her hand with reverence to his lips, "do as +thou wilt: a weaker spirit would have shrunk at once in terror from the +very thought of such open defiance to King Edward. I should have known +the mind that framed such daring purpose would never shrink from its +fulfilment, however danger threatened; enough, we know thy faithfulness +and worth, and where to seek for brave and noble counsel in the hour of +need. And now, may it be our privilege to present thee to our queen, +sweet lady? We shall rejoice to see thee ever near her person."</p> + +<p>"I pray your grace excuse me for this night," answered the countess; "we +have made some length of way to-day, and, if it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> please you, I would +seek rest. Agnes shall supply my place; Mary, thou wilt guard her, wilt +thou not?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, be mine the grateful task," said the king, gayly taking the +maiden's hand, and, after a few words of courtesy, he quitted the +chamber, followed by his sister.</p> + +<p>There were sounds of mirth and revelry that night in the ancient halls +of Scone, for King Robert, having taken upon himself the state and +consequence of sovereignty, determined on encouraging the high spirits +and excited joyousness of his gallant followers by all the amusements of +chivalry which his confined and precarious situation permitted, and +seldom was it that the dance and minstrelsy did not echo blithely in the +royal suite for many hours of the evening, even when the day had brought +with it anxiety and fatigue, and even intervals of despondency. There +were many noble dames and some few youthful maidens in King Robert's +court, animated by the same patriotic spirit which led their husbands +and brothers to risk fortune and life in the service of their country: +they preferred sharing and alleviating their dangers and anxieties, by +thronging round the Bruce's wife, to the precarious calm and safety of +their feudal castles; and light-heartedness and glee shed their bright +gleams on these social hours, never clouded by the gloomy shades that +darkened the political horizon of the Bruce's fortunes. Perchance this +night there was a yet brighter radiance cast over the royal halls, there +was a spirit of light and glory in every word and action of the youthful +enthusiast, Nigel Bruce, that acted as with magic power on all around; +known in the court of England but as a moody visionary boy, whose dreams +were all too ethereal to guide him in this nether world, whose hand, +however fitted to guide a pen, was all too weak to wield a sword; the +change, or we should rather say the apparent change, perceived in him +occasioned many an eye to gaze in silent wonderment, and, in the +superstition of the time, argue well for the fortunes of one brother +from the marvellous effect observable in the countenance and mood of the +other.</p> + +<p>The hopefulness of youth, its rosy visions, its smiling dreams, all +sparkled in his blight blue eye, in the glad, free, ringing joyance of +his deep rich voice, his cloudless smiles. And oh, who is there can +resist the witchery of life's young hopes, who does not feel the warm +blood run quicker through his veins,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> and bid his heart throb even as it +hath throbbed in former days, and the gray hues of life melt away before +the rosy glow of youth, even as the calm cold aspect of waning night is +lost in the warmth and loveliness of the infant morn? And what was the +magic acting on the enthusiast himself, that all traces of gloom and +pensive thought were banished from his brow, that the full tide of +poetry within his soul seemed thrilling on his lip, breathing in his +simplest word, entrancing his whole being in joy? Scarce could he +himself have defined its cause, such a multitude of strong emotions were +busy at his heart. He saw not the dangers overhanging the path of the +Bruce, he only saw and only felt him as his sovereign, as his brother, +his friend, destined to be all that he had hoped, prayed, and believed +he would be; willing to accept and return the affection he had so long +felt, and give him that friendship and confidence for which he had +yearned in vain so long. He saw his country free, independent, +unshackled, glorious as of old; and there was a light and lovely being +mingling in these stirring visions—when Scotland was free, what +happiness would not be his own! Agnes, who flitted before him in that +gay scene, the loveliest, dearest object there, clinging to him in her +timidity, shrinking from the gaze of the warriors around, respectful as +it was, feeling that all was strange, all save him to whom her young +heart was vowed—if such exclusiveness was dear to him, if it were bliss +to him to feel that, save her young brother, he alone had claim upon her +notice and her smile, oh! what would it be when she indeed was all, all +indivisibly his own? Was it marvel, then, his soul was full of the joy +that beamed forth from his eye, and lip, and brow—that his faintest +tone breathed gladness?</p> + +<p>There was music and mirth in the royal halls: the shadow of care had +passed before the full sunshine of hope; but within that palace wall, +not many roods removed from the royal suite, was one heart struggling +with its lone agony, striving for calm, for peace, for rest, to escape +from the deep waters threatening to overwhelm it. Hour after hour beheld +the Countess of Buchan in the same spot, well-nigh in the same attitude; +the agonized dream of her youth had come upon her yet once again, the +voice whose musical echoes had never faded from her ear, once more had +sounded in its own deep thrilling tones, his hand had pressed her own, +his eye had met hers, aye, and dwelt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> upon her with the unfeigned +reverence and admiration which had marked its expression years before; +and it was to him her soul had yearned in all the fervidness of loyalty, +not to a stranger, as she had deemed him. Loyalty, patriotism, reverence +her sovereign claimed, aye, and had received; but now how dare she +encourage such emotions towards one it had been, aye, it was her duty to +forget, to think of no more? Had her husband been fond, sought the noble +heart which felt so bitterly his neglect, the gulf which now divided +them might never have existed; and could she still the voice of that +patriotism, that loyalty towards a free just monarch, which the dying +words of a parent had so deeply inculcated, and which the sentiments of +her own heart had increased in steadiness and strength? On what had that +lone heart to rest, to subdue its tempest, to give it nerve and force, +to rise pure in thought as in deed, unstained, unshaded in its +nobleness, what but its own innate purity? Yet fearful was the storm +that passed over, terrible the struggle which shook that bent form, as +in lowliness and contrition, and agony of spirit, she knelt before the +silver crucifix, and called upon heaven in its mercy to give peace and +strength—fierce, fierce and terrible; but the agonized cry was heard, +the stormy waves were stilled.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>Brightly and blithely dawned the 26th of March, 1306, for the loyal +inhabitants of Scone. Few who might gaze on the olden city, and marked +the flags and pennons waving gayly and proudly on every side; the rich +tapestry flung over balconies or hung from the massive windows, in every +street; the large branches of oak and laurel, festooned with gay +ribands, that stood beside the entrance of every house which boasted any +consequence; the busy citizens in goodly array, with their wives and +families, bedecked to the best of their ability, all, as inspired by one +spirit, hurrying in the direction of the abbey yard, joining the merry +clamor of eager voices to the continued peal of every bell of which the +old town could boast, sounding loud and joyously even above the roll of +the drum or the shrill trumpet call;—those who marked these things +might well be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>lieve Scotland was once again the same free land, which +had hailed in the same town the coronation of Alexander the Third, some +years before. Little would they deem that the foreign foeman still +thronged her feudal holds and cottage homes, that they waited but the +commands of their monarch, to pour down on all sides upon the daring +individual who thus boldly assumed the state and solemn honor of a king, +and, armed but by his own high heart and a handful of loyal followers, +prepared to resist, defend, and <i>free</i>, or <i>die</i> for Scotland.</p> + +<p>There was silence—deep, solemn, yet most eloquent silence, reigning in +the abbey church of Scone. The sun shining in that full flood of glory +we sometimes find in the infant spring, illumined as with golden lustre +the long, narrow casements, falling thence in flickering brilliance on +the pavement floor, its rays sometimes arrested, to revolve in +heightened lustre from the glittering sword or the suit of half-mail of +one or other of the noble knights assembled there. The rich plate of the +abbey, all at least which had escaped the cupidity of Edward, was +arranged with care upon the various altars; in the centre of the church +was placed the abbot's oaken throne, which was to supply the place of +the ancient stone, the coronation seat of the Scottish kings—no longer +there, its absence felt by one and all within that church as the closing +seal to Edward's infamy—the damning proof that as his slave, not as his +sister kingdom, he sought to render Scotland. From the throne to the +high altar, where the king was to receive the eucharist, a carpet of +richly-brocaded Genoa velvet was laid down; a cushion of the same +elegantly-wrought material marked the place beside the spot where he was +to kneel. Priests, in their richest vestments, officiated at the high +altar; six beautiful boys, bearing alternately a large waxen candle, and +the golden censers filled with the richest incense, stood beside them, +while opposite the altar and behind the throne, in an elevated gallery, +were ranged the seventy choristers of the abbey, thirty of whom were +youthful novices; behind them a massive screen or curtain of tapestry +concealed the organ, and gave a yet more startling and thrilling effect +to its rich deep tones, thus bursting, as it were, from spheres unseen.</p> + +<p>The throne was already occupied by the patriot king, clothed in his +robes of state; his inner dress was a doublet and vest of white velvet, +slashed with cloth of silver; his stockings, fitting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> tight to the knee, +were of the finest woven white silk, confined where they met the doublet +with a broad band of silver; his shoes of white velvet, broidered with +silver, in unison with his dress; a scarf of cloth of silver passed over +his right shoulder, fastened there by a jewelled clasp, and, crossing +his breast, secured his trusty sword to his left side; his head, of +course, was bare, and his fair hair, parted carefully on his arched and +noble brow, descended gracefully on either side; his countenance was +perfectly calm, unexpressive of aught save of a deep sense of the solemn +service in which he was engaged. There was not the faintest trace of +either anxiety or exultation—naught that could shadow the brows of his +followers, or diminish by one particle the love and veneration which in +every heart were rapidly gaining absolute dominion.</p> + +<p>On the right of the king stood the Abbot of Scone, the Archbishop of St. +Andrew's, and Bishop of Glasgow, all of which venerable prelates had +instantaneously and unhesitatingly declared for the Bruce; ranged on +either side of the throne, according more to seniority than rank, were +seated the brothers of the Bruce and the loyal barons who had joined his +standard. Names there were already famous in the annals of +patriotism—Fraser, Lennox, Athol, Hay—whose stalwart arms had so nobly +struck for Wallace, whose steady minds had risen superior to the petty +emotions of jealousy and envy which had actuated so many of similar +rank. These were true patriots, and gladly and freely they once more +rose for Scotland. Sir Christopher Seaton, brother-in-law to the Bruce, +Somerville, Keith, St. Clair, the young Lord Douglas, and Thomas +Randolph, the king's nephew, were the most noted of those now around the +Bruce; yet on that eventful day not more than fourteen barons were +mustered round their sovereign, exclusive of his four gallant brothers, +who were in themselves a host. All these were attired with the care and +gallantry their precarious situation permitted; half armor, concealed by +flowing scarfs and graceful mantles, or suits of gayer seeming among the +younger knights, for those of the barons' followers of gentle blood and +chivalric training were also admitted within the church, forming a +goodly show of gallant men. Behind them, on raised seats, which were +divided from the body of the church by an open railing of ebony, sate +the ladies of the court, the seat of the queen distinguished from the +rest by its canopy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> and cushion of embroidered taffeta, and amongst +those gentle beings fairest and loveliest shone the maiden of Buchan, as +she sate in smiling happiness between the youthful daughter of the +Bruce, the Princess Margory, and his niece, the Lady Isoline, children +of ten and fourteen, who already claimed her as their companion and +friend.</p> + +<p>The color was bright on the soft cheek of Agnes, the smile laughed alike +in her lip and eye; for ever and anon, from amidst the courtly crowd +beneath, the deep blue orb of Nigel Bruce met hers, speaking in its +passioned yet respectful gaze, all that could whisper joy and peace unto +a heart, young, loving, and confiding, as that of Agnes. The evening +previous he had detached the blue riband which confined her flowing +curls, and it was with a feeling of pardonable pride she beheld it +suspended from his neck, even in that hour, when his rich habiliments +and the imposing ceremony of the day marked him the brother of a king. +Her brother, too, was at his side, gazing upon his sovereign with +feelings, whose index, marked as it was on his brow, gave him the +appearance of being older than he was. It was scarcely the excitement of +a mere boy, who rejoiced in the state and dignity around him; the +emotion of his mother had sunk upon his very soul, subduing the wild +buoyancy of his spirit, and bidding him feel deeply and sadly the +situation in which he stood. It seemed to him as if he had never thought +before, and now that reflection had come upon him, it was fraught with a +weight and gloom he could not remove and scarcely comprehend. He felt no +power on earth could prevent his taking the only path which was open to +the true patriot of Scotland, and in following that path he raised the +standard of revolt, and enlisted his own followers against his father. +Till the moment of action he had dreamed not of these things; but the +deep anxieties, the contending feelings of his mother, which, despite +her controlled demeanor, his heart perceived, could not but have their +effect; and premature manhood was stealing fast upon his heart.</p> + +<p>Upon the left of the king, and close beside his throne, stood the +Countess of Buchan, attired in robes of the darkest crimson velvet, with +a deep border of gold, which swept the ground, and long falling sleeves +with a broad fringe; a thick cord of gold and tassels confined the robe +around the waist, and thence fell reaching to her feet, and well-nigh +concealing the inner dress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> of white silk, which was worn to permit the +robes falling easily on either side, and thus forming a long train +behind. Neither gem nor gold adorned her beautiful hair; a veil was +twisted in its luxuriant tresses, and served the purpose of the matron's +coif. She was pale and calm, but such was the usual expression of her +countenance, and perhaps accorded better with the dignified majesty of +her commanding figure than a greater play of feature. It was not the +calmness of insensibility, of vacancy, it was the still reflection of a +controlled and chastened soul, of one whose depth and might was known +but to-herself.</p> + +<p>The pealing anthem for a while had ceased, and it was as if that church +was desolate, as if the very hearts that throbbed so quickly for their +country and their king were hushed a while and stilled, that every word +which passed between the sovereign and the primate should be heard. +Kneeling before him, his hands placed between those of the archbishop, +the king, in a clear and manly voice, received, as it were, the kingdom +from his hands, and swore to govern according to the laws of his +ancestors; to defend the liberties of his people alike from the foreign +and the civil foe; to dispense justice; to devote life itself to +restoring Scotland to her former station in the scale of kingdoms. +Solemnly, energetically, he took the required vows; his cheek flushed, +his eye glistened, and ere he rose he bent his brow upon his spread +hands, as if his spirit supplicated strength, and the primate, standing +over him, blessed him, in a loud voice, in the name of Him whose lowly +minister he was.</p> + +<p>A few minutes, and the king was again seated on his throne, and from the +hands of the Bishop of Glasgow, the Countess of Buchan received the +simple coronet of gold, which had been hastily made to supply the place +of that which Edward had removed. It was a moment of intense interest: +every eye was directed towards the king and the dauntless woman by his +side, who, rather than the descendant of Malcolm Cean Mohr should demand +in vain the service from the descendants of the brave Macduff, exposed +herself to all the wrath of a fierce and cruel king, the fury of an +incensed husband and brother, and in her own noble person represented +that ancient and most loyal line. Were any other circumstance needed to +enhance the excitement of the patriots of Scotland, they would have +found it in this. As it was, a sudden, irrepressible burst of applause +broke from many eager voices as the bishop placed the coronet in her +hands,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> but one glance from those dark, eloquent eyes sufficed to hush +it on the instant into stillness.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously all within the church stood up, and gracefully and +steadily, with a hand which trembled not, even to the observant and +anxious eyes of her son, Isabella of Buchan placed the sacred symbol of +royalty on the head of Scotland's king; and then arose, as with one +voice, the wild enthusiastic shout of loyalty, which, bursting from all +within the church, was echoed again and again from without, almost +drowning the triumphant anthem which at the same moment sent its rich, +hallowed tones through the building, and proclaimed Robert Bruce indeed +a king.</p> + +<p>Again and yet again the voice of triumph and of loyalty arose +hundred-tongued, and sent its echo even to the English camp; and when it +ceased, when slowly, and as it were reluctantly, it died away, it was a +grand and glorious sight to see those stern and noble barons one by one +approach their sovereign's throne and do him homage.</p> + +<p>It was not always customary for the monarchs of those days to receive +the feudal homage of their vassals the same hour of their coronation, it +was in general a distinct and almost equally gorgeous ceremony; but in +this case both the king and barons felt it better policy to unite them; +the excitement attendant on the one ceremonial they felt would prevent +the deficiency of numbers in the other being observed, and they acted +wisely.</p> + +<p>There was a dauntless firmness in each baron's look, in his manly +carriage and unwavering step, as one by one he traversed the space +between him and the throne, seeming to proclaim that in himself he held +indeed a host. To adhere to the usual custom of paying homage to the +suzerain bareheaded, barefooted, and unarmed, the embroidered slipper +had been adopted by all instead of the iron boot; and as he knelt before +the throne, the Earl of Lennox, for, first in rank, he first approached +his sovereign, unbuckling his trusty sword, laid it, together with his +dagger, at Robert's feet, and placing his clasped hands between those of +the king, repeated, in a deep sonorous voice, the solemn vow—to live +and die with him against all manner of men. Athol, Fraser, Seaton, +Douglas, Hay, gladly and willingly followed his example; and it was +curious to mark the character of each man, proclaimed in his mien and +hurried step.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>The calm, controlled, and somewhat thoughtful manner of those grown wise +in war, their bold spirits feeling to the inmost soul the whole extent +of the risk they run, scarcely daring to anticipate the freedom of their +country, the emancipation of their king from the heavy yoke that +threatened him, and yet so firm in the oath they pledged, that had +destruction yawned before them ere they reached the throne, they would +have dared it rather than turned back—and then again those hot and +eager youths, feeling, knowing but the excitement of the hour, believing +but as they hoped, seeing but a king, a free and independent king, +bounding from their seats to the monarch's feet, regardless of the +solemn ceremonial in which they took a part, desirous only, in the words +of their oath, to live and die for him—caused a brighter flush to +mantle on King Robert's cheek, and his eyes to shine with new and +radiant light. None knew better than himself the perils that encircled +him, yet there was a momentary glow of exultation in his heart as he +looked on the noble warriors, the faithful friends around him, and felt +that they, even they, representatives of the oldest, the noblest houses +in Scotland—men famed not alone for their gallant bearing in war, but +their fidelity and wisdom, and unstained honor and virtue in peace—even +they acknowledged him their king, and vowed him that allegiance which +was never known to fail.</p> + +<p>Alan of Buchan was the last of that small yet noble train who approached +his sovereign. There was a hot flush of impetuous feeling on the boy's +cheek, an indignant tear trembled in his dark flashing eye, and his +voice, sweet, thrilling as it was, quivered with the vain effort to +restrain his emotion.</p> + +<p>"Sovereign of Scotland," he exclaimed, "descendant of that glorious line +of kings to whom my ancestors have until this dark day vowed homage and +allegiance; sovereign of all good and faithful men, on whose inmost +souls the name of Scotland is so indelibly writ, that even in death it +may there be found, refuse not thou my homage. I have but my sword, not +e'en a name of which to boast, yet hear me swear," he raised his clasped +hands towards heaven, "swear that for thee, for my country, for thee +alone, will I draw it, alone shall my life be spent, my blood be shed. +Reject me not because my name is Comyn, because I alone am here of that +once loyal house. Oh! condemn me not; reject not untried a loyal heart +and trusty sword."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Reject thee," said King Robert, laying his hand kindly on the boy's +shoulder; "reject thee, young soldier," he said, cheeringly: "in Alan of +Buchan we see but the noble son of our right noble countrywoman, the +Lady Isabella; we see in him but a worthy descendant of Macduff, the +noble scion, though but by the mother's side, of the loyal house of +Fife. Young as thou art, we ask of thee but the heart and sword which +thou hast so earnestly proffered, nor can we, son of Isabella of Fife, +doubt their honesty and truth; thou shalt earn a loyal name for thyself, +and till then, as the brother in arms, the chosen friend of Nigel Bruce, +all shall respect and trust thee. We confer knighthood on twenty of our +youthful warriors seven days hence; prepare thyself to receive it with +our brother: enough for us to know thou hast learned the art of chivalry +at thy mother's hand."</p> + +<p>Dazzled, bewildered by the benign manner, and yet more gracious words of +his sovereign, the young heir of Buchan remained kneeling for a brief +space, as if rooted to the ground, but the deep earnest voice of his +mother, the kind greeting of Nigel Bruce, as he grasped his arm, and +hailed him companion in arms, roused him at once, and he sprung to his +feet; the despondency, shame, doubt, anxiety which like lead had weighed +down his heart before, dissolved before the glad, buoyant spirit, the +bright, free, glorious hopes, and dreams, and visions which are known to +youth alone.</p> + +<p>Stentorian and simultaneous was the eager shout that hailed the +appearance of the newly-anointed king, as he paused a moment on the +great stone staircase, leading from the principal doors of the abbey to +the abbey yard. For miles round, particularly from those counties which +were but thinly garrisoned by the English, the loyal Scots had poured at +the first rumor of the Bruce's rising, and now a rejoicing multitude +welcomed him with one voice, the execrations against their foes +forgotten in this outpouring of the heart towards their native prince.</p> + +<p>Inspired by this heartfelt greeting, the king advanced a few paces on +the stone terrace, and raised his right hand, as if about to speak; on +the instant every shout was hushed, and silence fell upon that eager +multitude, as deep and voiceless as if some mighty magic chained them +spell-bound where they stood, their very breathing hushed, fearful to +lose one word.</p> + +<p>Many an aged eye grew dim with tears, as it rested on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> fair and +graceful form, the beautifully expressive face of him, who, with +eloquent fervor, referred to the ancient glory of their country; tears +of joy, for they felt they looked upon the good genius of their land, +that she was raised from her dejected stupor, to sleep a slave no more; +and the middle-aged and the young, with deafening shouts and eager +gestures, swore to give him the crown, the kingdom he demanded, free, +unshackled as his ancestors had borne them, or die around him to a man; +and blessings and prayers in woman's gentler voice mingled with the +swelling cry, and little children caught the Bruce's name and bade "God +bless him," and others, equally impetuous shouted "Bruce and freedom!"</p> + +<p>"Love, obey, follow me, for Scotland's sake; noble or gentle, let all +private feud be forgotten in this one great struggle for liberty or +death. Thus," he concluded, "united and faithful, the name of Wallace on +each lip, the weal of Scotland in each heart, her mountains our shield, +her freedom our sword, shall we, can we fail? No! no! Scotland shall be +free, or her green sod and mountain flowers shall bloom upon our graves. +I have no crown save that which Scotland gives, no kingdom save what +your swords shall conquer, and your hearts bestow; with you I live and +die."</p> + +<p>In the midst of the shouts and unrestrained clamor succeeding this +eloquent address, the fiery chargers of the king and his attendant +barons and esquires were led to the foot of the staircase. And a fair +and noble sight was the royal <i>cortège</i> as slowly it passed through the +old town, with banners flying, lances gleaming, and the rich swell of +triumphant music echoing on the air. Nobles and dames mingled +indiscriminately together. Beautiful palfreys or well-trained glossy +mules, richly caparisoned, gracefully guided by the dames and maidens, +bore their part well amid the more fiery chargers of their companions. +The queen rode at King Robert's left hand, the primate of Scotland at +his right, Lennox, Seaton, and Hay thronged around the Countess of +Buchan, eager to pay her that courteous homage which she now no longer +refused, and willingly joined in their animated converse. The Lady Mary +Campbell and her sister Lady Seaton found an equally gallant and willing +escort, as did the other noble dames; but none ventured to dispute the +possession of the maiden of Buchan with the gallant Nigel, who, riding +close at her bridle rein, ever and anon whispered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> some magic words that +called a blush to her cheek and a smile on her lip, their attention +called off now and then by some wild jest or courteous word from the +young Lord Douglas, whose post seemed in every part of the royal train; +now galloping to the front, to caracole by the side of the queen, to +accustom her, he said, to the sight of good horsemanship, then lingering +beside the Countess of Buchan, to give some unexpected rejoinder to the +graver maxims of Lennox. The Princess Margory, her cousins, the Lady +Isoline Campbell and Alice and Christina Seaton, escorted by Alan of +Buchan, Walter Fitz-Alan, Alexander Fraser, and many other young +esquires, rejoicing in the task assigned them.</p> + +<p>It was a gay and gorgeous sight, and beautiful the ringing laugh and +silvery voice of youth. No dream of desponding dread shadowed their +hearts, though danger and suffering, and defeat and death, were darkly +gathering round them. Who, as he treads the elastic earth, fresh with +the breeze of day, as he gazes on the cloudless blue of the circling +sky, or the dazzling rays of the morning sun, as the hum of happy life +is round him—who is there thinks of the silence, and darkness, and +tempest that come in a few brief hours, on the shadowy pinions of night?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>Some ten or twelve days after the momentous event recorded in our last +chapter, King Edward's royal palace, at Winchester, was thronged at an +unusually early hour by many noble knights and barons, bearing on their +countenances symptoms of some new and unexpected excitement; and there +was a dark boding gloom on the now contracted brow and altered features +of England's king, as, weakened and well-nigh worn out by a lingering +disease, he reclined on a well-cushioned couch, to receive the +eagerly-offered homage of his loyal barons. He, who had been from +earliest youth a warrior, with whose might and dauntless prowess there +was not one, or prince, or noble, or English, or foreigner, could +compete, whose strength of frame and energy of mind had ever borne him +scathless and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> uninjured through scenes of fatigue, and danger, and +blood, and death; whose sword had restored a kingdom to his father—had +struggled for Palestine and her holy pilgrims—had given Wales to +England, and again and again prostrated the hopes and energies of +Scotland into the dust; even he, this mighty prince, lay prostrate now, +unable to conquer or to struggle with disease—disease that attacked the +slave, the lowest serf or yeoman of his land, and thus made manifest, +how in the sight of that King of kings, from whom both might and +weakness come, the prince and peasant are alike—the monarch and the +slave!</p> + +<p>The disease had been indeed in part subdued, but Edward could not close +his eyes to the fact that he should never again be what he had been; +that the strength which had enabled him to do and endure so much, the +energy which had ever led him on to victory, the fire which had so often +inspired his own heart, and urged on, as by magic power, his +followers—that all these were gone from him, and forever. Ambition, +indeed, yet burned within, strong, undying, mighty; aye, perhaps +mightier than ever, as the power of satisfying that ambition glided from +his grasp. He had rested, indeed, a brief while, secure in the +fulfilment of his darling wish, that every rood of land composing the +British Isles should be united under him as sole sovereign; he believed, +and rejoiced in the belief, that with Wallace all hope or desire of +resistance had departed. His disease had been at its height when Bruce +departed from his court, and disabled him a while from composedly +considering how that event would affect his interest in Scotland. As the +violence of the disease subsided, however, he had leisure to contemplate +and become anxious. Rumors, some extravagant, some probable, now floated +about; and the sovereign looked anxiously to the high festival of Easter +to bring all his barons around him, and by the absence or presence of +the suspected, discover at once how far his suspicions and the floating +rumors were correct.</p> + +<p>Although the indisposition of the sovereign prevented the feasting, +merry-making, and other customary marks of royal munificence, which ever +attended the solemnization of Easter, yet it did not in any way +interfere with the bounden duty of every earl and baron, knight and +liegeman, and high ecclesiastics of the realm to present themselves +before the monarch at such a time; Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, +being the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> seasons when every loyal subject of fit degree appeared +attendant on his sovereign, without any summons so to do.</p> + +<p>They had been seasons of peculiar interest since the dismemberment of +Scotland, for Edward's power was such, that seldom had the peers and +other great officers of that land refused the tacit acknowledgment of +England's supremacy by their non-appearance. Even in that which was +deemed the rebellion of Wallace, the highest families, even the +competitors for the crown, and all the knights and vassals in their +interest, had swelled the train of the conqueror; but this Easter ten or +twelve great barons and their followers were missing. The nobles had +eagerly and anxiously scanned the countenances of each, and whispered +suspicions and rumors, which one glance on their monarch's ruffled brow +confirmed.</p> + +<p>"So ho! my faithful lords and gallant knights," he exclaimed, after the +preliminaries of courtesy between each noble and his sovereign had been +more hastily than usual performed, speaking in a tone so unusually harsh +and sarcastic, that the terms "faithful and gallant" seemed used but in +mockery; "so ho! these are strange news we hear. Where be my lords of +Carrick, Athol, Lennox, Hay? Where be the knights of Seaton, Somerville, +Keith, and very many others we could name? Where be these proud lords, I +say? Are none of ye well informed on these things? I ask ye where be +they? Why are they not here?"</p> + +<p>There was a pause, for none dared risk reply. Edward's voice had waxed +louder and louder, his sallow cheek flushed with wrath, and he raised +himself from his couch, as if irritability of thought had imparted +strength to his frame.</p> + +<p>"I ask ye, where be these truant lords? There be some of ye who <i>can</i> +reply; aye, and by good St. Edward, reply ye shall. Gloucester, my lord +of Gloucester, stand forth, I say," he continued, the thunderstorm +drawing to that climax which made many tremble, lest its bolt should +fall on the daring baron who rumor said was implicated in the flight of +the Bruce, and who now stood, his perfect self-possession and calmness +of mien and feature contrasting well with the fury of his sovereign.</p> + +<p>"And darest thou front me with that bold, shameless brow, false traitor +as thou art?" continued the king, as, with head erect and arms proudly +folded in his mantle, Gloucester obeyed the king's impatient summons. +"Traitor! I call thee traitor!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> aye, in the presence of thy country's +noblest peers, I charge thee with a traitor's deed; deny it, if thou +darest."</p> + +<p>"Tis my sovereign speaks the word, else had it not been spoken with +impunity," returned the noble, proudly and composedly, though his cheek +burned and his eye flashed. "Yes, monarch of England, I dare deny the +charge! Gloucester is no traitor!"</p> + +<p>"How! dost thou brave me, minion? Darest thou deny the fact, that from +thee, from thy traitorous hand, thy base connivance, Robert of Carrick, +warned that we knew his treachery, fled from our power—that 'tis to +thee, we owe the pleasant news we have but now received? Hast thou not +given that rebel Scotland a head, a chief, in this fell traitor, and art +thou not part and parcel of his guilt? Darest thou deny that from thee +he received intelligence and means of flight? Baron of Gloucester, thou +darest not add the stigma of falsity to thy already dishonored name!"</p> + +<p>"Sovereign of England, my gracious liege and honored king," answered +Gloucester, still apparently unmoved, and utterly regardless of the +danger in which he stood, "dishonor is not further removed from thy +royal name than it is from Gloucester's. I bear no stain of either +falsity or treachery; that which thou hast laid to my charge regarding +the Earl of Carrick, I shrink not, care not to acknowledge; yet, Edward +of England, I am no traitor!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! thou specious orator, reconcile the two an thou canst! Thou art a +scholar of deep research and eloquence profound we have heard. Speak on, +then, in heaven's name!" He flung himself back on his cushions as he +spoke, for, despite his wrath, his suspicions, there was that in the +calm, chivalric bearing of the earl that appealed not in vain to one who +had so long been the soul of chivalry himself.</p> + +<p>The tone in which his sovereign spoke was softened, though his words +were bitter, and Gloucester at once relaxed from his proud and cold +reserve; kneeling before him, he spoke with fervor and impassioned +truth—</p> + +<p>"Condemn me not unheard, my gracious sovereign," he said. "I speak not +to a harsh and despotic king, who brings his faithful subjects to the +block at the first whisper of evil or misguided conduct cast to their +charge; were Edward such Gloucester would speak not, hope not for +justice at his hands;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> but to thee, my liege, to thee, to whom all true +knights may look up as to the minor of all that knight should be—the +life and soul of chivalry—to thee, the noblest warrior, the truest +knight that ever put lance in rest—to thee, I say, I am no traitor; and +appeal but to the spirit of chivalry actuating thine own heart to acquit +or condemn me, as it listeth. Hear me, my liege. Robert of Carrick and +myself were sworn brothers from the first hour of our entrance together +upon life, as pages, esquires, and finally, as knights, made such by +thine own royal hand; brothers in arms, in dangers, in victories, in +defeat; aye, and brothers—more than brothers—in mutual fidelity and +love; to receive life, to be rescued from captivity at each other's +hand, to become equal sharers of whatever honors might be granted to the +one and not the other. Need my sovereign be reminded that such +constitutes the ties of brothers in arms, and such brothers were Robert +of Carrick and Gilbert of Gloucester. There came a rumor that the +instigations of a base traitor had poisoned your grace's ear against one +of these sworn brothers, threatening his liberty, if not his life; that +which was revealed, its exact truth or falsehood, might Gloucester pause +to list or weigh? My liege, thou knowest it could not be. A piece of +money and a pair of spurs was all the hint, the warning, that he dared +to give, and it was given, and its warning taken; and the imperative +duty the laws of chivalry, of honor, friendship, all alike demanded +done. The brother by the brother saved! Was Gloucester, then, a traitor +to his sovereign, good my liege?"</p> + +<p>"Say first, my lord, how Gloucester now will reconcile these widely +adverse duties, how comport himself, if duty to his liege and sovereign +call on him to lift his sword against his brother?" demanded Edward, +raising himself on his elbow, and looking on the kneeling nobleman with +eyes which seemed to have recovered their flashing light to penetrate +his soul. Wrath itself appeared to have subsided before this calm yet +eloquent appeal, which in that age could scarcely have been resisted +without affecting the honor of the knight to whom it was addressed.</p> + +<p>An expression of suffering, amounting almost to anguish, took the place +of energy and fervor on the noble countenance of Gloucester, and his +voice, which had never once quivered or failed him in the height of +Edward's wrath, now absolutely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> shook with the effort to master his +emotion. Twice he essayed to speak ere words came; at length—</p> + +<p>"With Robert of Carrick Gilbert of Gloucester was allied as brother, my +liege," he said. "With Robert the rebel, Robert the would-be king, the +daring opposer of my sovereign, Gloucester can have naught in common. My +liege, as a knight and gentleman, I have done my duty fearlessly, +openly; as fearlessly, as openly, as your grace's loyal liegeman, fief, +and subject, in the camp and in the court, in victory or defeat, against +all manner or ranks of men, be they friends or foes; to my secret heart +I am thine, and thine alone. In proof of which submission, my royal +liege, lest still in your grace's judgment Gloucester be not cleared +from treachery, behold I resign alike my sword and coronet to your royal +hands, never again to be resumed, save at my sovereign's bidding."</p> + +<p>His voice became again firm ere he concluded, and with the same +respectful deference yet manly pride which had marked his bearing +throughout, he laid his sheathed sword and golden coronet at his +sovereign's feet, and then rising steadily and unflinchingly, returned +Edward's searching glance, and calmly awaited his decision.</p> + +<p>"By St. Edward! Baron of Gloucester," he exclaimed, in his own tone of +kingly courtesy, mingled with a species of admiration he cared not to +conceal, "thou hast fairly challenged us to run a tilt with thee, not of +sword and lance, but of all knightly and generous courtesy. I were no +true knight to condemn, nor king to mistrust thee; yet, of a truth, the +fruit of thy rash act might chafe a cooler mood than ours. Knowest thou +Sir John Comyn is murdered—murdered by the arch traitor thou hast saved +from our wrath?"</p> + +<p>"I heard it, good my liege," calmly returned Gloucester. "Robert of +Carrick was no temper to pass by injuries, aggravated, traitorous +injuries, unavenged."</p> + +<p>"And this is all thou sayest!" exclaimed Edward, his wrath once again +gaining dominion. "Wouldst thou defend this base deed on plea, forsooth, +that Comyn was a traitor? Traitor—and to whom?"</p> + +<p>"To the man that trusted him, my liege; to him he falsely swore to +second and to aid. To every law of knighthood and of honor I say he was +a traitor, and deserved his fate."</p> + +<p>"And this to thy sovereign, madman? To us, whose dig<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>nity and person +have been insulted, lowered, trampled on! By all the saints, thou hast +tempted us too far! What ho, there, guards! Am I indeed so old and +witless," he muttered, sinking back again upon the couch from which he +had started in the moment of excitement, "as so soon to forget a +knightly nobleness, which in former days would have knitted my very soul +to his? Bah! 'tis this fell disease that spoke, not Edward. Away with +ye, sir guards, we want ye not," he added, imperatively, as they +approached at his summons. "And thou, sir earl, take up thy sword, and +hence from my sight a while;—answer not, but obey. I fear more for mine +own honor than thou dost for thy head. We neither disarm nor restrain +thee, for we trust thee still; but away with thee, for on our kingly +faith, thou hast tried us sorely."</p> + +<p>Gloucester flung himself on his knee beside his sovereign, his lips upon +the royal hand, which, though scarcely yielded to him, was not withheld, +and hastily resuming his sword and coronet, with a deep reverence, +silently withdrew.</p> + +<p>The king looked after him, admiration and fierce anger struggling for +dominion alike on his countenance as in his heart, and then sternly and +piercingly he scanned the noble crowd, who, hushed into a silence of +terror as well as of extreme interest during the scene they had beheld, +now seemed absolutely to shrink from the dark, flashing orbs of the +king, as they rested on each successively, as if the accusation of <i>lip</i> +would follow that of eye, and the charge of treason fall +indiscriminately on all; but, exhausted from the passion to which he had +given vent, Edward once more stretched himself on his cushions, and +merely muttered—</p> + +<p>"Deserved his fate—a traitor. Is Gloucester mad—or worse, disloyal? +No; that open brow and fearless eye are truth and faithfulness alone. I +will <i>not</i> doubt him; 'tis but his lingering love for that foul traitor, +Bruce, which I were no true knight to hold in blame. But that murder, +that base murder—insult alike to our authority, our realm—by every +saint in heaven, it shall be fearfully avenged, and that madman rue the +day he dared fling down the gauntlet of rebellion!" and as he spoke, his +right hand instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, and half drew it +from its sheath.</p> + +<p>"Madman, in very truth, my liege," said Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, who, high in favor with his sovereign, alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> ventured to +address him; "as your grace will believe, when I say not only hath he +dared defy thee by the murder of Comyn, but has had the presumptuous +folly to enact the farce of coronation, taking upon himself all the +insignia of a king."</p> + +<p>"How! what sayst thou, De Valence," returned Edward, again starting up, +"coronation—king? By St. Edward! this passeth all credence. Whence +hadst thou this witless news?"</p> + +<p>"From sure authority, my liege, marvellous as they seem. These papers, +if it please your grace to peruse, contain matters of import which +demand most serious attention."</p> + +<p>"Anon, anon, sir earl!" answered Edward, impatiently, as Pembroke, +kneeling, laid the papers on a small table of ivory which stood at the +monarch's side. "Tell me more of this strange farce; a king, ha! ha! +Does the rebel think 'tis but to put a crown upon his head and a sceptre +in his hand that makes the monarch—a king, forsooth. And who officiated +at this right solemn mockery? 'Twas, doubtless, a goodly sight!"</p> + +<p>"On my knightly faith, my liege, strangely, yet truly, 'twas a ceremony +regally performed, and, save for numbers, regally attended."</p> + +<p>"Thou darest not tell me so!" exclaimed the king, striking his clenched +hand fiercely on the table. "I tell thee thou darest not; 'tis a false +tale, a lie thrust upon thee to rouse thy spirit but to laugh at. De +Valence, I tell thee 'tis a thing that cannot be! Scotland is laid too +low, her energies are crushed; her best and bravest lying in no +bloodless graves. Who is there to attend this puppet king, save the few +we miss? who dared provoke our wrath by the countenance of such a deed? +Who would dare tempt our fury by placing a crown on the rebel's head? +I tell thee they have played thee false—it cannot be!"</p> + +<p>"Thy valor hath done much, my gracious liege," returned Pembroke, "far +more than ever king hath done before; but pardon me, your grace, the +<i>people</i> of Scotland are not yet crushed, they lie apparently in peace, +till a chief capable of guiding, lordly in rank and knightly in war, +ariseth, and then they too stand forth. Yet what are they? they do but +nominally swell the rebel's court: they do but <i>seem</i> a multitude, which +needs but thy presence to disperse. He cannot, if he dare, resist thee."</p> + +<p>"And wherefore should these tidings so disturb you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> grace?" interposed +the Earl of Hereford, a brave, blunt soldier, like his own charger, +snuffing the scent of war far off. "We have but to bridle on our +harness, and we shall hear no more of solemn farces like to this. Give +but the word, my sovereign, and these ignoble rebels shall be cut off to +a man, by an army as numerous and well appointed as any that have yet +followed your grace to victory; 'tis a pity they have but to encounter +traitors and rebels, instead of knightly foes," continued the High +Constable of England.</p> + +<p>"Perchance Robert of Carrick deems the assumption of king will provoke +your grace to combat even more than his traitorous rebellion, imagining, +in his madness, the title of king may make ye equals," laughingly +observed the Earl of Arundel; and remarks and opinions of similar import +passed round, but Edward, who had snatched the papers as he ceased to +speak, and was now deeply engrossed in their contents, neither replied +to nor heeded them. Darker and darker grew the frown upon his brow; his +tightly compressed lip, his heaving chest betraying the fearful passion +that agitated him; but when he spoke, there was evidently a struggle for +that dignified calmness which in general distinguished him, though ever +and anon burst forth the undisguised voice of wrath.</p> + +<p>"'Tis well, 'tis very well," he said. "These wild Scots would tempt us to +the utmost, and they shall be satisfied. Ah! my lords of Buchan and +Fife, give ye good morrow. What think ye of these doings amidst your +countrymen, bethink ye they have done well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, as relates to their own ruin, aye, very well, my liege; they act +but as would every follower of the murderer Bruce," replied Buchan, +harshly and sullenly.</p> + +<p>"They are mad, stark mad, your highness; the loss of a little blood may +bring them to their senses," rejoined the more volatile Fife.</p> + +<p>"And is it thus ye think, base, villainous traitors as ye are, leagued +with the rebel band in his coronation? My Lord of Chester, attach them +of high treason."</p> + +<p>"What means your grace?" exclaimed both noblemen at once, but in very +different accents, "Of what are we charged, and who dare make this lying +accusation?"</p> + +<p>"Are ye indeed so ignorant?" replied the king, jibingly. "Know ye not +that Isabella, Countess of Buchan, and repre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>sentative, in the absence +of her brother, of the earldom of Fife, hath so dared our displeasure as +to place the crown on the rebel's head, and vow him homage?"</p> + +<p>"Hath she indeed dared so to do? By heaven, she shall rue this!" burst +wrathfully from Buchan, his swarthy countenance assuming a yet swarthier +aspect. "My liege, I swear to thee, by the Holy Cross, I knew no more of +this than did your grace. Thinkest thou I would aid and abet the cause +of one not merely a rebel and a traitor, but the foul murderer of a +Comyn—one at whose hands, by the sword's point, have I sworn to demand +my kinsman, and avenge him?"</p> + +<p>"And wherefore did Isabella of Buchan take upon herself this deed, my +liege, but because the only male descendant of her house refused to give +his countenance or aid to this false earl? Because Duncan of Fife was +neither a rebel himself nor gave his aid to rebels, On the honor of a +knight, my liege, I know naught of this foul deed."</p> + +<p>"It may be, it may be," answered Edward, impatiently. "We will see to +it, and condemn ye not unheard; but in times like these, when traitors +and rebels walk abroad and insult us to our very teeth, by St. Edward, +our honor, our safety demands the committal of the suspected till they +be cleared. Resign your swords to my Lord of Chester, and confine +yourselves to your apartments. If ye be innocent, we will find means to +repay you for the injustice we have done; if not, the axe and the block +shall make short work. Begone!"</p> + +<p>Black as a thunderbolt was the scowl that lowered over the brow of +Buchan, as he sullenly unclasped his sword and gave it into the Lord +Constable's hand; while with an action of careless recklessness the Earl +of Fife followed his example, and they retired together, the one +scowling defiance on all who crossed his path, the other jesting and +laughing with each and all.</p> + +<p>"I would not give my best falcon as pledge for the Countess of Buchan's +well-doing, an she hath done this without her lord's connivance," +whispered the Prince of Wales to one of his favorites, with many of whom +he had been conversing, in a low voice, as if his father's wrathful +accents were not particularly grateful to his ear.</p> + +<p>"Nor would I pledge a hawk for her safety, if she fall into his grace's +hands, whether with her lord's consent or no," re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>plied the young +nobleman, laughing. "Your royal father is fearfully incensed."</p> + +<p>"Better destroy them root and branch at once," said the prince, who, +like all weak minds, loved any extremity better than a protracted +struggle. "Exterminate with fire and sword; ravage the land till there +be neither food for man nor beast; let neither noble nor serf remain, +and then, perchance, we shall hear no more of Scotland. On my faith, I +am sick of the word."</p> + +<p>"Not so the king, my royal lord," returned his companion. "See how +eagerly he talks to my lords of Pembroke and Hereford. We shall have our +sovereign yet again at our head."</p> + +<p>And it was even as he said. The king, with that strong self-command +which disease alone could in any way cause to fail, now conquering alike +his bitter disappointment and the fury it engendered, turned his whole +thought and energy towards obtaining the downfall of his insolent +opponents at one stroke; and for that purpose, summoning around him the +brave companions of former campaigns, and other officers of state, he +retired with them to his private closet to deliberate more at length on +the extraordinary news they had received, and the best means of nipping +the rebellion in the bud.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>The evening of this eventful day found the Scottish earls seated +together in a small apartment of one of the buildings adjoining the +royal palace, which in the solemn seasons we have enumerated was always +crowded with guests, who were there feasted and maintained at the king's +expense during the whole of their stay. Inconveniences in their private +quarters were little heeded by the nobles, who seldom found themselves +there, save for the purpose of a few hours sleep, and served but to +enhance by contrast the lavish richness and luxury which surrounded them +in the palace and presence of their king; but to the Earls of Buchan and +Fife the inconveniences of their quarters very materially increased the +irritability and annoy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>ance of their present situation. Fife had +stretched himself on two chairs, and leaning his elbows on the broad +shelf formed by the small casement, cast many wistful glances on the +street below, through which richly-attired gallants, both on foot and +horseback, were continually passing. He was one of those frivolous +little minds with whom the present is all in all, caring little for the +past, and still less for the future. It was no marvel, therefore, that +he preferred the utter abandonment of his distracted country for the +luxury and ease attending the court and camp of Edward, to the great +dangers and little recompense attending the toils and struggles of a +patriot. The only emotion of any weight with him was the remembrance of +and desire of avenging petty injuries, fancying and aggravating them +when, in fact, none was intended.</p> + +<p>Very different was the character of the Earl of Buchan; morose, fierce, +his natural hardness of disposition unsoftened by one whisper of +chivalry, although educated in the best school of knighthood, and +continually the follower of King Edward, he adhered to him first, simply +because his estates in England were far more to his taste than those in +Scotland, towards which he felt no filial tie; and soon after his +marriage, repugnance to his high-minded and richly-gifted countess, +which ever seemed a reproach and slur upon himself, kept him still more +aloof, satisfied that the close retirement in which she lived, the +desert and rugged situation of his castle, would effectually debar her +from using that influence he knew she possessed, and keep her wholly and +solely his own; a strange kind of feeling, when, in reality, the wide +contrast between them made her an object of dislike, only to be +accounted for by the fact that a dark, suspicious, jealous temper was +ever at work within him.</p> + +<p>"Now, do but look at that fellow's doublet, Comyn. Look, how gay they +pass below, and here am I, with my new, richly-broidered suit, with +which I thought to brave it with the best of them—here am I, I say, +pent up in stone walls like a caged goldfinch, 'stead of the +entertainment I had pictured; 'tis enough to chafe the spirit of a +saint."</p> + +<p>"And canst thou think of such things now, thou sorry fool?" demanded +Buchan, sternly, pausing in his hurried stride up and down the narrow +precincts of the chamber; "hast thou no worthier subject for +contemplation?"</p> + +<p>"None, save thy dutiful wife's most dutiful conduct, Comyn,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> which, +being the less agreeable of the two, I dismiss the first I owe her small +thanks for playing the representative of my house; methinks, her +imprisonment would better serve King Edward's cause and ours too."</p> + +<p>"Aye, imprisonment—imprisonment for life," muttered the earl, slowly. +"Let but King Edward restore me my good sword, and he may wreak his +vengeance on her as he listeth. Not all the castles of Scotland, the +arms of Scottish men, dare guard a wife against her husband; bitterly +shall she rue this deed."</p> + +<p>"And thy son, my gentle kinsman, what wilt thou do with him, bethink +thee? Thou wilt find him as great a rebel as his mother; I have ever +told thee thou wert a fool to leave him so long with his brainstruck +mother."</p> + +<p>"She hath not, she dared not bring him with her to the murderer of his +kinsman—Duncan of Fife, I tell thee she dare not; but if she hath, why +he is but a child, a mere boy, incapable of forming judgment one way or +the other."</p> + +<p>"Not so much a child as thou thinkest, my good lord; some sixteen years +or so have made a stalwart warrior ere this. Be warned; send off a +trusty messenger to the Tower of Buchan, and, without any time for +warning, bring that boy as the hostage of thy good faith and loyalty to +Edward; thou wilt thus cure him of his patriotic fancies, and render +thine interest secure, and as thou desirest to reward thy dutiful +partner, thou wilt do it effectually; for, trust me, that boy is the +very apple of her eye, in her affections her very doting-place."</p> + +<p>"Jest not, Duncan, or by all the saints, thou wilt drive me mad!" +wrathfully exclaimed Buchan. "It shall be as thou sayest; and more, I +will gain the royal warrant for the deed—permission to this effect may +shorten this cursed confinement for us both. I have forgotten the boy's +age; his mother's high-sounding patriotism may have tinctured him +already. Thou smilest."</p> + +<p>"At thy marvellous good faith in thy wife's <i>patriotism</i>, good +kinsman—oh, well perchance, like charity, it covereth a multitude of +sins."</p> + +<p>"What meanest thou, my Lord of Fife?" demanded Buchan, shortly and +abruptly, pausing in his walk to face his companion, his suspicious +temper instantly aroused by Fife's peculiar tone. "What wouldst thou +insinuate? Tamper not with me; thou knowest I am no subject for a +jest."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have but to look on thee to know that, my most solemn-visaged +brother. I neither insinuate nor tamper with your lordship. Simply and +heartily I do but give thee joy for thy faith in female patriotism," +answered Fife, carelessly, but with an expression of countenance that +did not accord with his tone.</p> + +<p>"What, in the fiend's name, then, has urged her to this mad act, if it +be not what she and others as mad as she call patriotism?"</p> + +<p>"May not a lurking affection for the Bruce have given incentive to love +of country? Buchan, of a truth, thou art dull as a sword-blade when +plunged in muddy water."</p> + +<p>"Affection for the Bruce? Thou art mad as she is, Duncan. What the foul +fiend, knows she of the Bruce? No, no! 'tis too wild a tale—when have +they ever met?"</p> + +<p>"More often than thou listeth, gentle kinsman," returned Fife, with just +sufficient show of mystery to lash his companion into fury. "I could +tell thee of a time when Robert of Carrick was domesticated with my +immaculate sister, hunting with her, hawking with her, reading with her, +making favorable impressions on every heart in Fife Castle save mine +own."</p> + +<p>"And she loved him!—she was loved," muttered Buchan; "and she vowed her +troth to me, the foul-mouthed traitress! She loved him, saidst thou?"</p> + +<p>"On my faith, I know not, Comyn. Rumors, I know, went abroad that it +would have been better for the Lady Isabella's peace and honor if this +gallant, fair-spoken knight had kept aloof."</p> + +<p>"And then, her brother, carest not to speak these things, and in that +reckless tone? By St. Swithin, ye are well matched," returned Buchan, +with a short and bitter laugh of scorn.</p> + +<p>"Faith, Comyn, I love mine own life and comfort too well to stand up the +champion of woman's honor; besides, I vouch not for the truth of +floating rumors. I tell thee but what comes across my brain; for its +worth thou art the best judge."</p> + +<p>"I were a fool to mine own interest to doubt thee now, little worth as +are thy words in common," again muttered the incensed earl, resuming his +hasty strides. "Patriotism! loyalty! ha, ha! high-sounding words, +forsooth. And have they not met since then until now?" he demanded, +stopping suddenly before his companion.</p> + +<p>"Even so, fair kinsman. Whilst thou wert doing such loyal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> duty to +Edward, after the battle of Falkirk, forgetting thou hadst a wife and +castle to look after, Robert Earl of Carrick found a comfortable +domicile within thy stone walls, and in the fair, sweet company of thine +Isabella, my lord. No doubt, in all honorable and seemly intercourse; +gallant devotion on the one side, and dignified courtesy on the +other—nothing more, depend on't; still it seems but natural that the +memory of a comely face and knightly form should prove incentives to +loyalty and patriotism."</p> + +<p>"The foul fiend take thy jesting!" exclaimed Buchan. "Natural, forsooth; +aye, the same nature that bade me loathe the presence, aye, the very +name of that deceiving traitress. And so that smooth-faced villain +Carrick found welcome in the castle of a Comyn the months we missed him +from the court. Ha, ha! thou hast done me good service, Lord of Fife. I +had not enough of injuries before to demand at the hand of Robert Bruce. +And for Dame Isabella, may the fury of every fiend follow me, if I place +her not in the hands of Edward, alive or dead! his wrath will save me +the trouble of seeking further vengeance."</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou art a very fool to be so chafed," coolly observed Fife. "Thou +hast taken no care of thy wife, and therefore hast no right to demand +strict account of her amusements in thy absence; and how do we know she +is not as virtuous as the rest of them? I do but tell thee of these +things to pass away the time. Ha! there goes the prince's Gascon +favorite, by mine honor. Gaveston sports it bravely; look at his crimson +mantle wadded with sables. He hath changed his garb since morning. +Faith, he is a lucky dog! the prince's love may be valued at some +thousand marks a year—worth possessing, by St. Michael!"</p> + +<p>A muttered oath was all the reply which his companion vouchsafed, nor +did the thunder-cloud upon his brow disperse that evening.</p> + +<p>The careless recklessness of Fife had no power to lessen in the earl's +mind the weight of the shameful charge he had brought against the +countess. Buchan's dark, suspicious mind not alone received it, but +cherished it, revelled in it, as giving him that which he had long +desired, a good foundation for dislike and jealousy, a well-founded +pretence for every species of annoyance and revenge. The Earl of Fife, +who had, in fact, merely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> spoken, as he had said, to while away the +time, and for the pleasure of seeing his brother-in-law enraged, thought +as little of his words <i>after</i> as he had <i>before</i> they were uttered. A +licentious follower of pleasure in every form himself, he imagined, as +such thoughtless characters generally do, that everybody must be like +him. From his weak and volatile mind, then, all remembrance of that +evening's conversation faded as soon as it was spoken; but with the Earl +of Buchan it remained brooding on itself, and filling his dark spirit +with yet blacker fancies.</p> + +<p>The confinement of the Scottish noblemen was not of long duration. +Edward, whose temper, save when his ambition was concerned, was +generally just and equitable, discovering, after an impartial +examination, that they were in no ways connected with the affairs in the +north, and feeling also it was his interest to conciliate the regard of +all the Scottish nobles disaffected to Bruce, very soon restored them +alike to their personal liberty and to his favor; his courteous apology +for unjust suspicion, frankly acknowledging that the news from Scotland, +combined with his irritating disease, had rendered him blind and +suspicious, at once disarmed Fife of wrath. Buchan, perhaps, had not +been so easily appeased had his mind been less darkly engrossed. His +petition, that his son might be sent for, to be placed as a hostage in +the hands of Edward, and thus saved from the authority of his mother, +whom he represented as an artful, designing woman, possessed of +dangerous influence, was acceded to on the instant, and the king's full +confidence restored. It was easy to act upon Edward's mind, already +incensed against Isabella of Buchan for her daring defiance of his +power; and Buchan did work, till he felt perfectly satisfied that the +wife he hated would be fully cared for without the very smallest trouble +or interference on his part, save the obtaining possession of her +person; that the vengeance he had vowed would be fully perfected, +without any reproach or stigma cast upon his name.</p> + +<p>Meantime the exertions of the King of England for the suppression of the +rebels continued with unabated ardor. Orders were issued and proclaimed +in every part of England for the gathering together one of the noblest +and mightiest armies that had ever yet followed him to war. To render it +still more splendidly impressive, and give fresh incentive to his +subjects, whose warlike spirit he perhaps feared might be somewhat +de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>pressed by this constant call upon them for the reduction of a +country ever rising in revolt, Edward caused proclamation to be +severally made in every important town or county, "that all who were +under the obligation to become knights, and possessed the necessary +means, should appear at Westminster on the coming solemn season of +Whitsuntide, where they should be furnished with every requisite, save +and except the trappings for their horses, from the king's wardrobe, and +be treated with all solemn honor and distinction as best befitted their +rank, and the holy vows they took upon themselves."</p> + +<p>A proclamation such as this, in the very heart of the chivalric era, was +all-sufficient to engage every Englishman heart and soul in the service +of his king; and ere the few weeks intervening between Easter and +Whitsuntide were passed, Westminster and its environs presented a scene +of martial magnificence and knightly splendor, which had never before +been equalled. Three hundred noble youths, sons of earls, barons, and +knights, speedily assembled at the place appointed, all attended +according to their rank and pretensions; all hot and fiery spirits, +eager to prove by their prompt attendance their desire to accept their +sovereign's invitation. The splendor of their attire seemed to demand +little increase from the bounty of the king, but nevertheless, fine +linen garments, rich purple robes, and superb mantles woven with gold, +were bestowed on each youthful candidate, thus strengthening the links +which bound him to his chivalric sovereign, by the gratification of his +vanity in addition to the envied honors of knighthood. As our tale +relates more to Scottish than to English history, we may not linger +longer on the affairs of South Britain than is absolutely necessary for +the clear comprehension of the situation of her far less flourishing +sister. Exciting therefore as was the scene enacted in Westminster, +descriptive as it was of the spirit of the age, we are compelled to give +it but a hasty glance, and pass on to events of greater moment.</p> + +<p>Glorious, indeed, to an eyewitness, must have been the ceremony of +admitting these noble and valiant youths into the solemn mysteries and +chivalric honors of knighthood. On that day the Prince of Wales was +first dubbed a knight, and made Duke of Aquitaine; and so great was the +pressure of the crowd, in their eagerness to witness the ceremonial in +the abbey, where the prince hastened to confer his newly-received +dignity on his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> companions, that three knights were killed, and several +fainted from heat and exhaustion. Strong war-horses were compelled to +drive back and divide the pressing crowds, ere the ceremony was allowed +to proceed. A solemn banquet succeeded; and then it was that Edward, +whose energy of mind appeared completely to have annihilated disease and +weakness of frame, made that extraordinary vow, which it has puzzled +both historian and antiquary satisfactorily to explain. The matter of +the vow merely betrayed the indomitable spirit of the man, but the +manner seemed strange even in that age. Two swans, decorated with golden +nets and gilded reeds, were placed in solemn pomp before the king, and +he, with imposing fervor, made a solemn vow to the Almighty and the +swans, that he would go to Scotland, and, living or dead, avenge the +murder of Comyn, and the broken faith of the traitorous Scots. Then, +with that earnestness of voice and majesty of mien for which he was +remarkable, he adjured his subjects, one and all, by the solemn fealty +they had sworn to him, that if he should die on the journey, they would +carry his body into Scotland, and never give it burial till the prince's +dominion was established in that country. Eagerly and willingly the +nobles gave the required pledge; and so much earnestness of purpose, so +much martial spirit pervaded that gorgeous assembly, that once more did +hope prevail in the monarch's breast, once more did he believe his +ambitious yearnings would all be fulfilled, and Scotland, rebellious, +haughty Scotland, lie crushed and broken at his feet. Once more his dark +eye flashed, his proud lip curled with its wonted smiles; his warrior +form, erect and firm as in former days, now spurned the couch of +disease, and rode his war-horse with all the grace and ease of former +years. A gallant army, under the command of Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, had already been dispatched towards Scotland, bearing with it +the messengers of the Earl of Buchan, armed both with their lord's +commands and Edward's warrant for the detention of the young heir of +Buchan, and to bring him with all honor to the head-quarters of the +king. The name of Isabella of Buchan was subjoined to that of the Bruce, +and together with all those concerned in his rising proclaimed as +traitors and a price set upon their heads. This done, the king had been +enabled to wait with greater tranquillity the assembling of his larger +army, and after the ceremonials of Westminster, orders were issued for +every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> earl and baron to proceed with their followers to Carlisle, which +was named the head-quarters of the army, there to join their sovereign +with his own immediate troops. The Scottish nobles Edward's usual policy +retained in honorable posts about his person, not choosing to trust +their fidelity beyond the reach of his own eye.</p> + +<p>Obedient to these commands, all England speedily appeared in motion, the +troops of every county moving as by one impulse to Carlisle. Yet there +were some of England's noblest barons in whose breasts a species of +admiration, even affection, was at work towards the very man they were +now marching to destroy, and this was frequently the case in the ages of +chivalry. Fickle as the character of Robert Bruce had appeared to be, +there was that in it which had ever attracted, riveted the regard of +many of the noble spirits in King Edward's court. The rash daring of his +enterprise, the dangers which encircled him, were such as dazzled and +fascinated the imagination of those knights in whom the true spirit of +chivalry found rest. Pre-eminent amongst these was the noble Earl of +Gloucester. His duty to his sovereign urged him to take the field; his +attachment for the Bruce would have held him neuter, for the ties that +bound brothers in arms were of no common or wavering nature. Brothers in +blood had frequently found themselves opposed horse to horse, and lance +to lance, on the same field, and no scruples of conscience, no pleadings +of affection, had power to avert the unnatural strife; but not such was +it with brothers in arms—a link strong as adamant, pure as their own +sword-steel, bound their hearts as one; and rather, much rather would +Gloucester have laid down his own life, than expose himself to the +fearful risk of staining his sword with the blood of his friend. The +deepest dejection took possession of his soul, which not all the +confidence of his sovereign, the gentle, affectionate pleadings of his +wife, could in any way assuage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>It was the month of June, and the beautiful county of Perth smiled in +all the richness and loveliness of early summer. Not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> yet had the signal +of war floated on the pure springy breeze, not yet had the stains of +blood desecrated the gladsome earth, although the army of De Valence was +now within very few miles of Scone, which was still the head-quarters of +the Scottish king. Aware of the very great disparity of numbers between +his gallant followers and those of Pembroke, King Robert preferred +entrenching himself in his present guarded situation, to meeting De +Valence in the open field, although, more than once tempted to do so, +and finding extreme difficulty in so curbing the dauntless spirit of his +followers as to incline them more towards the defensive than the attack. +Already had the fierce thunders of the Church been launched against him +for the sin of murder committed in consecrated ground. Excommunication +in all its horrors exposed him to death from any hand, that on any +pretence of private hate or public weal might choose to strike; but +already had there arisen spirits bold enough to dispute the awful +mandates of the Pope, and the patriotic prelates who had before +acknowledged and done homage to their sovereign, now neither wavered in +their allegiance nor in any way sought to promulgate the sentence +thundered against him. A calm smile had passed over the Bruce's noble +features as the intelligence of the wrath of Rome was communicated to +him.</p> + +<p>"The judge and the avenger is in heaven, holy father," he said; "to His +hands I commit my cause, conscious of deserving, as humbly awaiting, +chastisement for that sin which none can reprobate and abhor more +strongly than myself; if blood must flow for blood, His will be done. I +ask but to free my country, to leave her in powerful yet righteous +hands, and willingly I will depart, confident of mercy for my soul."</p> + +<p>Fearful, however, that this sentence might dispirit his subjects, King +Robert watched his opportunity of assembling and addressing them. In a +brief, yet eloquent speech, he narrated the base, cold-blooded system of +treachery of Comyn; how, when travelling to Scotland, firmly trusting +in, and depending on, the good faith the traitor had so solemnly +pledged, a brawl had arisen between his (Bruce's) followers and some men +in the garb of Borderers, who were discovered to be emissaries of the +Red Comyn, and how papers had been found on them, in which all that +could expose the Bruce to the deadly wrath of Edward was revealed, and +his very death advised as the only effectual means of quelling his +efforts for the freedom of Scotland, and crushing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> the last hopes of her +still remaining patriots. He told them how, on the natural indignation +excited by this black treachery subsiding, he had met Sir John Comyn at +Dumfries—how, knowing the fierce irascibility of his natural temper, he +had willingly agreed that the interview Comyn demanded should take place +in the church of the Minorite Friars, trusting that the sanctity of the +place would be sufficient to restrain him.</p> + +<p>"But who may answer for himself, my friends?" he continued, mournfully; +"it needs not to dilate on that dark and stormy interview, suffice it +that the traitor sought still to deceive, still to win me by his +specious sophistry to reveal my plans, again to be betrayed, and that +when I taunted him with his base, cowardly treachery, his black +dishonor, words of wrath and hate, and blind deluded passion arose +between us, and the spirit of evil at work within me urged my rash sword +to strike. Subjects and friends, I plead no temptation as excuse, I make +no defence; I deplore, I contemn the deed. If ye deem me worthy of +death, if ye believe the sentence of our holy father in God, his +holiness the Pope, be just, that it is wholly free from the machinations +of England, who, deeming force of arms not sufficient, would hurl the +wrath of heaven's viceregent on my devoted head, go, leave me to the +fate it brings; your oath of allegiance is dissolved. I have yet +faithful followers, to make one bold stand against the tyrant, and die +for Scotland; but if ye absolve me, if ye will yet give me your hearts +and swords, oh, fear me not, my countrymen, we may yet be free!"</p> + +<p>Cries, tears, and blessings followed this wisely-spoken appeal, one +universal shout reiterated their vows of allegiance; those who had felt +terrified at the mandate of their spiritual father, now traced it not to +his impartial judgment, but to the schemes of Edward, and instantly felt +its weight and magnitude had faded into air. The unwavering loyalty of +the Primate of Scotland, the Bishop of Glasgow, and the Abbot of Scone +strengthened them alike in their belief and allegiance, and a band of +young citizens were instantly provided with arms at the expense of the +town, and the king entreated by a deputation of the principal +magistrates to accept their services as a guard extraordinary, lest his +life should be yet more endangered from private individuals, by the +sentence under which he labored; and gratified by their devotedness, +though his bold spirit spurned all Fear of secret assassination, their +request was graciously accepted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>The ceremony of knighthood which the king had promised to confer on +several of his young followers had been deferred until the present time, +to admit of their preparing for their inauguration with all the solemn +services of religion which the rites enjoined.</p> + +<p>The 15th day of June was the time appointed, and Nigel Bruce and Alan of +Buchan were to pass the night previous, in solemn prayer and vigil, in +the abbey church of Scone. That the rules of chivalry should not be +transgressed by his desire to confer some honor on the son of the +Countess of Buchan, which would demonstrate the high esteem in which she +was held by her sovereign, Alan had served the king, first as page and +then as esquire, in the interval that had elapsed since his coronation, +and now he beheld with ardor the near completion of the honor for which +he pined. His spirit had been wrung well-nigh to agony, when amidst the +list of the proscribed as traitors he beheld his mother's name; not so +much at the dangers that would encircle her—for from those he might +defend her—but that his father was still a follower of the unmanly +tyrant, who would even war against a woman—his father should still +calmly assist and serve the man who set a price upon his mother's head. +Alas! poor boy, he little knew that father's heart.</p> + +<p>It was evening, a still, oppressive evening, for though the sun yet +shone brightly as he sunk in the west, a succession of black +thunder-clouds, gradually rising higher and higher athwart the intense +blue of the firmament, seemed to threaten that the wings of the tempest +were already brooding on the dark bosom of night. The very flowers +appeared to droop beneath the weight of the atmosphere; the trees moved +not, the birds were silent, save when now and then a solitary note was +heard, and then hushed, as if the little warbler shrunk back in his +leafy nest, frightened at his own voice. Perchance it was the stillness +of nature which had likewise affected the inmates of a retired chamber +in the palace, for though they sate side by side, and their looks +betrayed that the full communion of soul was not denied, few words were +spoken. The maiden of Buchan bent over the frame which contained the +blue satin scarf she was embroidering with the device of Bruce, in gold +and gems, and it was Nigel Bruce who sate beside her, his deep, +expressive eyes fixed upon her in such fervid, such eloquent love, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +seldom was it she ventured to raise her glance to his. A slight shadow +was on those sweet and gentle features, perceptible, perchance, to the +eye of love alone; and it was this that, after enjoying that silent +communion of the spirit, so dear to those who love, which bade Nigel +fling his arm around that slender form, and ask—</p> + +<p>"What is it, sweet one? why art thou sad?"</p> + +<p>"Do not ask me, Nigel, for indeed I know not," she answered, simply, +looking up a moment in his face, in that sweet touching confidence, +which made him draw her closer to his protecting heart; "save that, +perchance, the oppression of nature has extended to me, and filled my +soul with unfounded fancies of evil. I ought to be very happy, Nigel, +loved thus by <i>thee</i>," she hid her eyes upon his bosom; "received as thy +promised bride, not alone by thy kind sisters, thy noble brothers, +but—simple-hearted maiden as I am—deemed worthy of thee by good King +Robert's self. Nigel, dearest Nigel, why, in an hour of joy like this, +should dreams of evil come?"</p> + +<p>"To whisper, my beloved, that not on earth may we look for the +perfection of joy, the fulness of bliss; that while the mortal shell is +round us joy is chained to pain, and granted us but to lift up the +spirit to that heaven where pain is banished, bliss made perfect; +dearest, 'tis but for this!" answered the young enthusiast, and the rich +yet somewhat mournful tones of his voice thrilled to his listener's +heart.</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest as if thou, too, hadst experienced forebodings like to +these, my Nigel," said Agnes, thoughtfully. "I deemed them but the +foolishness of my weaker mind."</p> + +<p>"Deem them not foolishness, beloved. There are minds, indeed, that know +them not, but they are of that rude, coarse material which owns no +thought, hath no hopes but those of earth and earthly things, insensible +to that profundity of joy which makes us <i>feel</i> its <i>chain</i>: 'tis not to +the lightly feeling such forebodings come."</p> + +<p>"But thou—hast thou felt them, Nigel, dearest? hast thou listened to, +<i>believed</i> their voice?</p> + +<p>"I have felt, I feel when I gaze on thee, sweet one, a joy so deep, so +full, that I scarce dare trace it to an earthly cause," he said, +slightly evading a direct answer. "I cannot look forward and, as it +were, extend that deep joy to the future; but the fetter binding it to +pain reminds me I am mortal, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> not an earth may I demand find seek +and hope to find its fulfilment."</p> + +<p>She looked up in his face, with an expression both of bewilderment and +fear, and her hand unconsciously closed on his arm, as thus to detain +him to her side.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my beloved," he added, with more animation, "it is not because I +put not my trust in earth for unfading joy that we shall find not its +sweet flowers below; that our paths on earth may be darkened, because +the fulness of bliss is alone to be found in heaven. Mine own sweet +Agnes, while darkness and strife, and blood and death, are thus at work +around us, is it marvel we should sometimes dream of sorrow? Yet, oh +yet, have we not both the same hope, the same God, the same home in +heaven; and if our doom be to part on earth, shall we not, oh, shall we +not meet in bliss? I say not such things will be, my best beloved; but +better look thus upon the dim shadow sometimes resting on the rosy wings +of joy, than ever dismiss it as the vain folly of a weakened mind."</p> + +<p>He pressed his lips, which quivered, on the fair, beautiful brow then +resting in irresistible sorrow on his bosom; but he did not attempt by +words to check that maiden's sudden burst of tears. After a while, when +he found his own emotion sufficiently restrained, soothingly and fondly +he cheered her to composure, and drew from her the thoughts which had +disturbed her when he first spoke.</p> + +<p>"'Twas of my mother, Nigel, of my beloved, my noble mother that I +thought; proscribed, hunted, set a price upon as a traitor. Can her +children think on such indignity without emotion—and when I remember +the great power of King Edward, who has done this—without fear for her +fate?"</p> + +<p>"Sweetest, fear not for her; her noble deed, her dauntless heroism has +circled her with such a guard of gallant knights and warriors, that, in +the hands of Edward, trust me, dearest, she shall never fall; and even +if such should be, still, I say, fear not. Unpitying and cruel as Edward +is, where his ambition is concerned, he is too true a knight, too noble +in spirit to take a woman's blood; he is now fearfully enraged, and +therefore has he done this. And as to indignity, 'tis shame to the +proscriber not to the proscribed, my love!"</p> + +<p>"There is one I fear yet more than Edward," continued the maiden, +fearfully; "one that I should love more. Oh, Nigel,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> my very spirit +shrinks from the image of my father. I have sought to love him, to +dismiss the dark haunting visions which his name has ever brought before +me. I saw him once, but once, and his stern terrible features and harsh +voice so terrified my childish fancies, that I hid myself till he had +departed, and I have never seen him since, and yet, oh yet, I fear him!"</p> + +<p>"What is it that thou fearest, love?"</p> + +<p>"I know not," she answered; "but if evil approach my mother, it will +come from him, and so silently, so unsuspectedly, that none may avoid +it. Nigel, he cannot love my mother! he is a foe to Bruce, a friend of +the slaughtered Comyn, and will he not demand a stern account of the +deed that she hath done? will he not seek vengeance? and oh, will he +not, may he not in wrath part thee and me, and thus thy bodings be +fulfilled?"</p> + +<p>"Agnes, never! The mandate of man shall never part us; the power of man, +unless my limbs be chained, shall never sever thee and me. He that hath +never acted a father's part, can have no power on his child. Thou art +mine, my beloved!—mine with thy mother's blessing; and mine thou shalt +be—no earthly power shall part us. Death, death alone can break the +links that bind us, and must be of God, though man may seem the cause. +Be comforted, sweet love. Hark! they are chiming vespers; I must be gone +for the solemn vigil of to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt arm thine own +true knight, mine Agnes, and deck me with that blue scarf, more precious +even than the jewelled sword my sovereign brother gives. Farewell, for a +brief, brief while; I go to watch and pray. Oh, let thy orisons attend +me, and surely then my vigil shall be blest."</p> + +<p>"Pray thou for me, my Nigel," whispered the trembling girl, as he +clasped her in his arms, "that true as I may be, strength befitting thy +promised bride may be mine own. Nigel, my beloved, indeed I need such +prayer."</p> + +<p>He whispered hope and comfort, and departed by the stone stairs which +led from the gothic casement where they had been sitting, into the +garden; he lingered to gather some delicate blue-bells which had just +blown, and turned back to place them in the lap of Agnes. She eagerly +raised them and pressed them to her lips, but either their fragile +blossoms could not bear even her soft touch, or the heavy air had +inwardly withered their bloom, for the blossoms fell from their stalks, +and scattered their beautiful petals at her feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>The hour of vespers had come and passed; the organ and choir had hushed +their solemn sounds. The abbot and his attendant monks, the king who, +with his train, had that evening joined the solemn service, all had +departed, and but two inmates were left within the abbey church of +Scone. Darkness and silence had assumed their undisturbed dominion, for +the waxen tapers left burning on the altar lighted but a few yards +round, leaving the nave and cloisters in impenetrable gloom. Some twenty +or thirty yards east of the altar, elevated some paces from the ground, +in its light and graceful shrine, stood an elegantly sculptured figure +of the Virgin and Child. A silver lamp, whose pure flame was fed with +aromatic incense, burned within the shrine and shed its soft light on a +suit of glittering armor which was hanging on the shaft of a pillar +close beside it. Directly behind the altar was a large oriel window of +stained glass, representing subjects from Scripture. The window, with +its various mullions and lights, formed one high pointed arch, marked by +solid stone pillars on each side, the capitals of which traced the +commencement of the arch. Another window, similar in character, though +somewhat smaller in dimensions, lighted the west end of the church; and +near it stood another shrine containing a figure of St. Stephen, lighted +as was that of the Virgin and Child, and, like that, gleaming on a suit +of armor, and on the figure of the youthful candidate for knighthood, +whose task was to pass that night in prayer and vigil beside his armor, +unarmed, saved by that panoply of proof which is the Christian's +portion—faith, lowliness, and prayer.</p> + +<p>No word passed between these pledged brothers in arms. Their watch was +in opposite ends of the church, and save the dim, solemn light of the +altar, darkness and immeasurable space appeared to stretch between them. +Faintly and fitfully the moon had shone through one of the long, narrow +windows of the aisles, shedding its cold spectral light for a brief +space, then passing into darkness. Heavy masses of clouds sailed slowly +in the heavens, dimly discernible through the unpainted panes; the +oppression of the atmosphere increasing as the night<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> approached her +zenith, and ever and anon a low, long peal of distant thunder, each +succeeding one becoming longer and louder than the last, and heralded by +the blue flash of vivid lightning, announced the fury of the coming +tempest.</p> + +<p>The imaginations even as the feelings of the young men were already +strongly excited, although their thoughts, perchance, were less akin +than might have been expected. The form of his mother passed not from +the mental vision of the young heir of Buchan: the tone of her voice, +the unwonted tear which had fallen on his cheek when he had knelt before +her that evening, ere he had departed to his post, craving her blessing +on his vigil, her prayers for him—that tone, that tear, lingered on his +memory, hallowing every dream of glory, every warrior hope that entered +in his soul. Internally he vowed he would raise the banner of his race, +and prove the loyalty, the patriotism, the glowing love of liberty which +her counsels, her example had planted in his breast; and if the +recollection of his mother's precarious situation as a proscribed +traitor to Edward, and of his father's desertion of his country and her +patriot king in his adherence to a tyrant—if these reflections came to +damp the bright glowing views of others, they did but call the indignant +blood to his cheek, and add greater firmness to his impatient step, for +yet more powerfully did they awake his indignation against Edward. Till +now he had looked upon him exclusively in the light of Scotland's +foe—one against whom he with all true Scottish men must raise their +swords, or live forever 'neath the brand of slaves and cowards; but now +a personal cause of anger added fuel to the fire already burning in his +breast. His mother was proscribed—a price set upon her head; and as if +to fill the measure of his cup of bitterness to overflowing, his own +father, he who should have been her protector, aided and abetted the +cruel, pitiless Edward. Traitress! Isabella of Buchan a traitress! the +noblest, purest, bravest amid Scotland's children. She who to him had +ever seemed all that was pure and good, and noblest in woman; and most +noble and patriot-hearted now, in the fulfilment of an office inherent +in the House of Fife. Agitated beyond expression, quicker and quicker he +strode up and down the precincts marked for his watch, the increasing +tempest without seeming to assimilate strangely with the storm within. +Silence would have irritated, would have chafed those restless smartings +into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> very agony, but the wild war of the elements, while they roused +his young spirit into yet stronger energy, removed its pain.</p> + +<p>"It matters not," his train of thought continued, "while this brain can +think, this heart can feel, this arm retain its strength, Isabella of +Buchan needs no other guardian but her son. It is as if years had left +their impress on my heart, as if I had grown in very truth to man, +thinking with man's wisdom, fighting with man's strength. He that hath +never given a father's love, hath never done a father's duty, hath no +claim upon his child; but she, whose untiring devotion, whose faithful +love hath watched over me, guarded, blessed from the first hour of my +life, instilled within me the principles of life on earth and +immortality in heaven—mother! mother! will not thy gentle virtues cling +around thy boy, and save him even from a father's curse? Can I do else +than devote the life thou gavest, to thee, and render back with my +stronger arm, but not less firm soul, the care, protection, love thou +hast bestowed on me? Mother, Virgin saint," he continued aloud, flinging +himself before the shrine to which we have alluded, "hear, oh hear my +prayer! Intercede for me above, that strength, prudence, wisdom may be +granted me in the accomplishment of my knightly vows; that my mother, my +own mother may be the first and dearest object of my heart: life, fame, +and honor I dedicate to her. Spare me, bless me but for her; if danger, +imprisonment be unavailingly her doom, let not my spirit waver, nor my +strength flag, nor courage nor foresight fail, till she is rescued to +liberty and life."</p> + +<p>Wrapt in the deep earnest might of prayer, the boy remained kneeling, +with clasped hands, and eyes fixed on the Virgin's sculptured face, his +spirit inwardly communing, long, long after his impassioned vows had +sunk in silence; the thunder yet rolled fearfully, and the blue +lightning flashed and played around him with scarce a minute's +intermission, but no emotion save that of a son and warrior took +possession of his soul. He knew a terrific storm was raging round him, +but it drew him not from earthly thoughts and earthly feelings, even +while it raised his soul in prayer. Very different was the effect of +this lonely vigil and awful night on the imaginative spirit of his +companion.</p> + +<p>It was not alone the spirit of chivalry which now burned in the noble +heart of Nigel Bruce. He was a poet, and the glow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>ing hues of poesie +invested every emotion of his mind. He loved deeply, devotedly; and +love, pure, faithful, hopeful love, appeared to have increased every +feeling, whether of grief of joy, in intensity and depth. He felt too +deeply to be free from that peculiar whispering within, known by the +world as presentiment, and as such so often scorned and contemned as the +mere offspring of weak, superstitious minds, when it is in reality one +of those distinguishing marks of the higher, more ethereal temperament +of genius.</p> + +<p>Perchance it is the lively imagination of such minds, which in the very +midst of joy can so vividly portray and realize pain, or it may be, +indeed, the mysterious voice which links gifted man with a higher class +of beings to whom futurity is revealed. Be this as it may, even while +the youthful patriot beheld with, a visioned eye the liberty of his +country, and rejoiced in thus beholding, there ever came a dim and +silent shadowing, a whispering voice, that he should indeed behold it, +but not from earth. When the devoted brother and loyal subject pictured +his sovereign in very truth a free and honored King, his throne +surrounded by nobles and knights of his own free land, and many others, +the enthusiast saw not himself amongst them, and yet he rejoiced in the +faith such things would be. When the young and ardent lover sate by the +side of his betrothed, gazing on her sweet face, and drinking in deeply +the gushing tide of joy; when his spirit pictured yet dearer, lovelier, +more assured bliss, when Agnes would be in very truth his own, still did +that strange thrilling whisper come, and promise he should indeed +experience such bliss, but not on earth; and yet he loved, aye, and +rejoiced, and there came not one shadow on his bright, beautiful face, +not one sad echo in the rich, deep tones of his melodious voice to +betray such dim forebodings had found resting in his soul.</p> + +<p>Already excited by his conversation with Agnes, the service in which he +found himself engaged was not such as to tranquillize his spirit, or +still his full heart's quivering throb. His imaginative soul had already +flung its halo over the solemn rites which attended his inauguration as +a knight. Even to less enthusiastic spirits there was a glow, a glory in +this ceremony which seldom failed to awake the soul, and inspire it with +high and noble sentiments. It was not therefore strange that these +emotions should in the heart of Nigel Bruce obtain that ascen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>dency, +which to sensitive minds must become pain. Had it been a night of calm +and holy stillness, he would in all probability have felt its soothing +effect; but as it was, every pulse throbbed and every nerve was strained +'neath his strong sense of the sublime. He could not be said to think, +although he had struggled long and fiercely to compose his mind for +those devotional exercises he deemed most fitted for the hour. Feeling +alone possessed him, overwhelming, indefinable; he deemed it admiration, +awe, adoration of Him at whose nod the mighty thunders rolled and the +destructive lightnings flashed, but he could not define it such. He did +not dream of earth, not even the form of Agnes flashed, as was its wont, +before him; no, it was of scenes and sounds undreamed of in earth's +philosophy he thought; and as he gazed on the impenetrable darkness, and +then beheld it dispersed by the repeated lightning, his excited fancy +almost believed that he should see it peopled by the spirits of the +mighty dead which slept within those walls, and no particle of terror +attended this belief. In the weak superstition of his age, Nigel Bruce +had never shared, but firmly and steadfastly he believed, even in his +calm and unexcited moments, that there was a link between the living and +the dead; that the freed spirits of the one were permitted to hold +commune with the other, not in visible shape, but in those thrilling +whispers which the spirit knows, while yet it would deny them even to +itself. It was the very age of superstition; religion itself was clothed +in a veil of solemn mystery, which to minds constituted as Nigel's gave +it a deeper, more impressive tone. Its ceremonies, its shrines, its +fictions, all gave fresh zest to the imagination, and filled the heart +of its votary with a species of devotion and excitement, which would now +be considered as mere visionary madness, little in accordance with the +true spirit of piety or acceptable to the Most High, but which was then +regarded as meritorious; and even as we look back upon the saints and +heroes of the past, even now should not be condemned; for, according to +the light bestowed, so is devotion demanded and accepted by the God of +all.</p> + +<p>Nigel Bruce had paused in his hasty walk, and leaning against the pillar +round which his armor hung, fixed his eyes for a space on the large +oriel window we have named, whose outline was but faintly discernible, +save on the left side, which was dimly illumined by the silver lamp +burning in the shrine of St.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> Stephen, close beside which the youthful +warrior stood. The storm had suddenly sunk into an awful and almost +portentous silence; and in that brief interval of stillness and gloom, +Nigel felt his blood flow more calmly in his veins, his pulses stilled +their starting throbs, and the young soldier crossed his arms on his +breast, and bent his uncovered head upon them in silent yet earnest +prayer.</p> + +<p>The deep, solemn chime of the abbey-bell, echoing like a spirit-voice +through the arched and silent church, roused him, and he looked up. At +the same moment a strong and awfully brilliant flash of lightning darted +through the window on which his eyes were fixed, followed by a mighty +peal of thunder, longer and louder than any that had come before. For +above a minute that blue flash lingered playing, it seemed, on steel, +and a cold shuddering thrill crept through the frame of Nigel Bruce, +sending the life-blood from his cheek back to his very heart, for either +fancy had again assumed her sway, and more vividly than before, or his +wild thoughts had found a shape and semblance. Within the arch formed by +the high window stood or seemed to stand a tall and knightly form, clad +from the gorget to the heel in polished steel; his head was bare, and +long, dark hair shaded a face pale and shadowy indeed, but strikingly +and eminently noble; there was a scarf across his breast, and on it +Nigel recognized the cognizance of his own line, the crest and motto of +the Bruce. It could not have been more than a minute that the blue +lightning lingered there, yet to his excited spirit it was long enough +to impress indelibly and startlingly every trace of that strange vision +upon his heart. The face was turned to his, with a solemn yet sorrowful +earnestness of expression, and the mailed hand raised on high, seemed +pointing unto heaven. The flash passed and all was darkness, the more +dense and impenetrable, from the vivid light which had preceded it; but +Nigel stirred not, moved not, his every sense absorbed, not in the +weakness of mortal terror, but in one overwhelming sensation of awe, +which, while it oppressed the spirit well-nigh to pain, caused it to +long with an almost sickening intensity for a longer and clearer view of +that which had come and passed with the lightning flash. Again the vivid +blaze dispersed the gloom, but no shadow met his fixed impassioned gaze. +Vision or reality, the form was gone; there was no trace, no sign of +that which had been. For several succes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>sive flashes Nigel remained +gazing on the spot where the mailed form had stood, as if he felt it +would, it must again appear; but as time sped, and he saw but space, the +soul relaxed from its high-wrought mood, the blood, which had seemed +stagnant in his veins, rushed back tumultuously through its varied +channels, and Nigel Bruce prostrated himself before the altar, to +wrestle with his perturbed spirit till it found calm in prayer.</p> + +<p>A right noble and glorious scene did the great hall of the palace +present the morning which followed this eventful night. The king, +surrounded by his highest prelates and nobles, mingling indiscriminately +with the high-born dames and maidens of his court, all splendidly +attired, occupied the upper part of the hall, the rest of which was +crowded both by his military followers and many of the good citizens of +Scone, who flocked in great numbers to behold the august ceremony of the +day. Two immense oaken doors at the south side of the hall were flung +open, and through them was discerned the large space forming the palace +yard, prepared as a tilting-ground, where the new-made knights were to +prove their skill. The storm had given place to a soft breezy morning, +the cool freshness of which appearing peculiarly grateful from the +oppressiveness of the night; light downy clouds sailed over the blue +expanse of heaven, tempering without clouding the brilliant rays of the +sun. Every face was clothed with smiles, and the loud shouts which +hailed the youthful candidates for knighthood, as they severally +entered, told well the feeling with which the patriots of Scotland were +regarded.</p> + +<p>Some twenty youths received the envied honor at the hand of their +sovereign this day, but our limits forbid a minute scrutiny of the +bearing of any, however well deserving, save of the two whose vigils +have already detained us so long. A yet longer and louder shout +proclaimed the appearance of the youngest scion of the house of Bruce, +and his companion. The daring patriotism of Isabella of Buchan had +enshrined her in every heart, and so disposed all men towards her +children, that the name of their traitorous father was forgotten.</p> + +<p>Led by their godfathers, Nigel by his brother-in-law, Sir Christopher +Seaton, and Alan by the Earl of Lennox, their swords, which had been +blessed by the abbot at the altar, slung round their necks, they +advanced up the hall. There was a glow on the cheek of the young Alan, +in which pride<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> and modesty were mingled; his step at first was +unsteady, and his lip was seen to quiver from very bashfulness, as he +first glanced round the hall and felt that every eye was turned towards +him; but when that glance met his mother's fixed on him, and breathing +that might of love which filled her heart, all boyish tremors fled, the +calm, staid resolve of manhood took the place of the varying glow upon +his cheek, the quivering lip became compressed and firm, and his step +faltered not again.</p> + +<p>The cheek of Nigel Bruce was pale, but there was firmness in the glance +of his bright eye, and a smile unclouded in its joyance on his lip. The +frivolous lightness of the courtier, the mad bravado of knight-errantry, +which was not uncommon to the times, indeed, were not there. It was the +quiet courage of the resolved warrior, the calm of a spirit at peace +with itself, shedding its own high feeling and poetic glory over all +around him.</p> + +<p>On reaching the foot of King Robert's throne, both youths knelt and laid +their sheathed swords at his feet. Their armor-bearers then approached, +and the ceremony of clothing the candidates in steel commenced; the +golden spur was fastened on the left foot of each by his respective +godfather, while Athol, Hay, and other nobles advanced to do honor to +the youths, by aiding in the ceremony. Nor was it warriors alone.</p> + +<p>"Is this permitted, lady?" demanded the king, smiling, as the Countess +of Buchan approached the martial group, and, aided by Lennox, fastened +the polished cuirass on the form of her son. "Is it permitted for a +matron to arm a youthful knight? Is there no maiden to do such inspiring +office?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, when the knight be one as this, my liege," she answered, in the +same tone; "let a matron arm him, good my liege," she added, sadly—"let +a mother's hand enwrap his boyish limbs in steel, a mother's blessing +mark him thine and Scotland's, that those who watch his bearing in the +battle-field may know who sent him there, may thrill his heart with +memories of her who stands alone of her ancestral line, that though he +bears the name of Comyn, the blood of Fife flows reddest in his veins."</p> + +<p>"Arm him and welcome, noble lady," answered the king, and a buzz of +approbation ran through the hall; "and may thy noble spirit and +dauntless loyalty inspire him; we shall not need a trusty follower while +such as he are round us. Yet, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> very deed, my youthful knight must +have a lady fair for whom he tilts to-day. Come hither, Isoline; thou +lookest verily inclined to envy thy sweet friend her office, and nothing +loth to have a loyal knight thyself. Come, come, my pretty one, no +blushing now. Lennox, guide those tiny hands aright."</p> + +<p>Laughing and blushing, Isoline, the daughter of Lady Campbell, a sister +of the Bruce, a graceful child of some thirteen summers, advanced, +nothing loth, to obey her royal uncle's summons, and an arch smile of +real enjoyment irresistibly stole over the countenance of Alan, +dispersing the emotion his mother's words produced.</p> + +<p>"Nay, tremble not, sweet one," the king continued, in a lower and yet +kinder tone, as he turned from the one youth to the other, and observed +that Agnes, overpowered by emotion, had scarcely power to perform her +part, despite the whispered words of encouraging affection Nigel +murmured in her ear. Imaginative to a degree, which, by her quiet, +subdued manners, was never suspected, the simple act of those early +flowers withering in her grasp, fresh as they were from the hand of her +betrothed, had weighed down her spirits as with an indefinable sense of +pain, which she could not combat. The war of the elements, attending as +it did the vigil of her lover, had not decreased these feelings, and the +morning found her dispirited and shrinking in sensitiveness from the +very scene she had anticipated with joy.</p> + +<p>"It must not be with a trembling hand the betrothed of a Bruce arms her +chosen knight, fair Agnes," continued the king, cheeringly. "She must +inspire him with valor and confidence. Smile, then, gentlest and +loveliest; we would have all smiles to-day."</p> + +<p>And she did smile, but it was a smile of tears, gleaming on her +beautiful face as a sunny beam through a glistening spray. One by one +the cuirass and shoulder-pieces, the greaves and gauntlets, the gorget +and brassards, the joints of which were so beautifully burnished that +they shone as mirrors, and so flexible every limb had its free use, +enveloped those manly forms. Their swords once again girt to their +sides, and once more keeling, the king descended from his throne, and +alternately dubbed them knight in the name of God, St. Michael, and St. +George.</p> + +<p>"Be faithful, brave, and hardy, youthful cavaliers," he said;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> "true to +the country which claims ye, to the monarch ye have sworn to serve, to +the knight from whose sword ye have received the honor ye have craved. +Remember, 'tis not the tournay nor the tilted field in which ye will +gain renown. For your country let your swords be drawn; against her foes +reap laurels. Sir Nigel, 'tis thine to retain unsullied the name thou +bearest, to let the Bruce be glorified in thee. And thou, Sir Alan, 'tis +thine to <i>earn</i> a name—in very truth, to win thy golden spurs; to prove +we do no unwise deed, forgetting thy early years, to do honor to thy +mother's son."</p> + +<p>Lightly and eagerly the new-made knights sprung to their feet, the very +clang of their glittering armor ringing gratefully and rejoicingly in +their ears. Their gallant steeds, barded and richly caparisoned, held by +their esquires, stood neighing and pawing at the foot of the steps +leading from the oaken doors.</p> + +<p>Without touching the stirrup, both sprung at the same instant in their +saddles; the helmet, with its long graceful plume, was quickly donned; +the lance and shield received; the pennon adorning the iron head of each +lowered a moment in honor to their sovereign, then waved gayly in air, +and then each lance was laid in rest; a trumpet sounded, and onward +darted the fiery youths thrice round the lists, displaying a skill and +courage in horsemanship which was hailed with repeated shouts of +applause. But on the tournay and the banquet which succeeded the +ceremony we have described we may not linger, but pass rapidly on to a +later period of the same evening.</p> + +<p>Sir Nigel and his beautiful betrothed had withdrawn a while from the +glittering scene around them; they had done their part in the graceful +dance, and now they sought the comparative solitude and stillness of the +flower-gemmed terrace, on which the ball-room opened, to speak +unreservedly the thoughts which had filled each heart; perchance there +were some yet veiled, for the vision of the preceding night, the +strange, incongruous fancies it had engendered in the youthful warrior, +a solemn vow had buried deep in his own soul, and not even to Agnes, to +whom his heart was wont to be revealed, might such thoughts find words; +and she shrunk in timidity from avowing the inquietude of her own simple +heart, and thus it was that each, for the sake of the other, spoke +hopefully and cheeringly, and gayly, until at length they were but +conscious of mutual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> and devoted love—the darkening mists of the future +lost in the radiance of the present sun.</p> + +<p>A sudden pause in the inspiring music, the quick advance of all the +different groups towards one particular spot, had failed perchance to +interrupt the happy converse of the lovers, had not Sir Alan hastily +approached them, exclaiming, as he did so—</p> + +<p>"For the love of heaven! Nigel, forget Agnes for one moment, and come +along with me. A messenger from Pembroke has just arrived, bearing a +challenge, or something very like it, to his grace the king; and it may +be we shall win our spurs sooner than we looked for this morning. The +sight of Sir Henry Seymour makes the war trumpet sound in mine ears. +Come, for truly there is something astir."</p> + +<p>With Agnes still leaning on his arm, Nigel obeyed the summons of his +impatient friend, and joined the group around the king. There was a +quiet dignity in the attitude and aspect of Robert Bruce, or it might be +the daring patriotism of his enterprise was appreciated by the gallant +English knight; certain it was that, though Sir Henry's bearing had been +somewhat haughty, his brow knit, and his head still covered, as he +passed up the hall, by an irresistible impulse he doffed his helmet as +he met the eagle glance of the Bruce, and bowed his head respectfully +before him, an example instantly followed by his attendants.</p> + +<p>"Sir Henry Seymour is welcome to our court," said the king, courteously; +"welcome, whatever message he may bear. How fares it with the chivalric +knight and worthy gentleman, Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke? Ye +bring us a message from him, 'tis said. Needs it a private hearing, sir +knight? if so, we are at your service; yet little is it Aymer de Valence +can say to Scotland's king which Scotland may not hear."</p> + +<p>"Pembroke is well, an please you, and sendeth greeting," replied the +knight. "His message, sent as it is to the Bruce, is well fitted for the +ears of his followers, therefore may it be spoken here. He sendeth all +loving and knightly greeting unto him known until now as Robert Earl of +Carrick, and bids him, an he would proclaim and prove the rights he hath +assumed, come forth from the narrow precincts of a palace and town, +which ill befit a warrior of such high renown, and give him battle in +the Park of Methven, near at hand. He challenges him to meet him there, +with nobles, knights, and yeomen, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> proclaiming Robert Bruce their +sovereign, cast down the gauntlet of defiance and rebellion against +their rightful king and mine, his grace of England; he challenges thee, +sir knight, or earl, or king, whichever name thou bearest, and dares +thee to the field."</p> + +<p>"And what if we accept not his daring challenge?" demanded King Robert, +sternly, without permitting the expression of his countenance to satisfy +in any way the many anxious glances fixed upon it.</p> + +<p>"He will proclaim thee coward knight and traitor slave," boldly answered +Sir Henry. "In camp or in hall, in lady's bower or tented field, he will +proclaim thee recreant; one that took upon himself the state and pomp of +royalty without the spirit to defend and prove it."</p> + +<p>"Had he done so by our predecessor, Baliol, he had done well," returned +the king, calmly. "Nobles, and knights, and gentlemen," he added, the +lion spirit of his race kindling in his eye and cheek, "what say ye in +accepting the bold challenge of this courtly earl? Do we not read your +hearts as well as our own? Ye have chafed and fretted that we have +retained ye so long inactive: in very truth your monarch's spirit chafed +and fretted too. We will do battle with this knightly foe, and give him, +in all chivalric and honorable courtesy, the meeting he desires."</p> + +<p>One startling and energetic shout burst simultaneously from the warriors +around, forming a wild and thrilling response to their sovereign's +words. In vain they sought to restrain that outbreak of rejoicing, in +respect to the royal presence; they had pined, they had yearned for +action, and Sir Henry was too good a knight himself not to understand to +the full the patriotic fervor and chivalrous spirit from which that +shout had sprung. Proudly and joyfully the Bruce looked on his devoted +adherents, and then addressed the English knight.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast our answer, good Sir Henry," he said; "more thou couldst +scarcely need. Commend us to your master, and take heed thou sayest all +that thou hast heard and seen in answer to his challenge. In the Park of +Methven, three days hence, he may expect the King of Scotland and his +patriot troops with him, to do battle unto death. Edward, good brother, +thou, Seaton, and the Lord of Douglas, conduct this worthy knight in all +honor from the hall. Thou hast our answer."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>The knight bowed low, but ere he retreated he spoke again. "I am charged +with yet another matter, an it so please you," he said, evidently +studying to avoid all royal titles, although the bearing of the king +rendered his task rather more difficult than he could have imagined; "a +matter of small import, truly, yet must it be spoken. 'Tis rumored that +you have amid your household a child, a boy, whose father was a favored +servant of my gracious liege and yours, King Edward. The Earl of +Pembroke, in the name of his sovereign and of the child's father, bids +me demand him of thee, as having, from his tender years and +inexperience, no will nor voice in this matter, he having been brought +here by his mother, who, saving your presence, had done better to have +remembered her duty to her husband than encourage rebellion against her +king."</p> + +<p>"Keep to the import of thy message, nor give thy tongue such license, +sir," interrupted the Bruce, sternly; and many an eye flashed, and many +a hand sought his sword. "Sir Alan of Buchan, stand forth and give thine +own answer to this imperative demand; 'tis to thee, methinks, its import +would refer. Thou hast wisdom and experience, if not years enough, to +answer for thyself.</p> + +<p>"Tell Aymer de Valence, would he seek me, he will find me by the side of +my sovereign King Robert, in Methven Park, three days hence," boldly and +quickly answered the young soldier, stepping forward from his post in +the circle, and fronting the knight. "Tell him I am here of my own free +will, to acknowledge Robert the Bruce as mine and Scotland's king; to +defy the tyrant Edward, even to the death; tell him 'tis no child he +seeks, but a knight and soldier, who will meet him on the field."</p> + +<p>"It would seem we are under some mistake, young sir," replied Sir Henry, +gazing with unfeigned admiration on the well-knit frame and glowing +features of the youthful knight. "I speak of and demand the surrender of +the son and heir of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, who was represented to +me as a child of some ten or thirteen summers; 'tis with him, not with +thee, my business treats."</p> + +<p>"And 'tis the son—I know not how long <i>heir</i>—of John Comyn, Earl of +Buchan, who speaks with thee, sir knight. It may well be, my very age, +my very existence hath been forgotten by my father," he added, with a +fierceness and bitterness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> little in accordance with his years, "aye, +and would have been remembered no more, had not the late events recalled +them; yet 'tis even so—and that thy memory prove not treacherous, there +lies my gage. Foully and falsely hast thou spoken of Isabella of Buchan, +and her honor is dear to her son as is his own. In Methven Park we <i>two</i> +shall meet, sir knight, and the child, the puny stripling, who hath of +his own nor voice nor will, will not fail thee, be thou sure."</p> + +<p>Proudly, almost sternly, the boy fixed his flashing orbs on the English +knight, and without removing his glance, strode to the side of his +mother and drew her arm within his own. There was something in the +accent, in the saddened yet resolute expression of his countenance, +which forbade all rejoinder, not from Sir Henry alone, but even from his +own friends. Seymour raised the gage, and with a meaning smile secured +it in his helmet; then respectfully saluting the group around him, +withdrew, attended as desired by the Bruce.</p> + +<p>"Heed it not, my boy, my own noble boy!" said the Countess of Buchan, in +those low, earnest, musical tones peculiarly her own; for she saw that +there was a quivering in the lip, a sudden paleness in the cheek of her +son, as he gazed up in her lace, when he thought they stood alone, which +denoted internal emotion yet stronger than that which had inspired his +previous words. "Their scorn, their contumely, I heed as little as the +mountain rock the hailstones which fall upon its sides, in vain seeking +to penetrate or wound. Nay, I could smile at them in very truth, were it +not that compelled as I am to act alone, to throw aside as worthless and +rejected those natural ties I had so joyed to wear, my heart seems +closed to smiles; but for words as those, or yet harsher scorn, grieve +not, my noble boy, they have no power to fret or hurt me."</p> + +<p>"Yet to hear them speak in such tone of thee—thee, whose high soul and +noble courage would shame a score of some who write themselves +men!—thee, who with all a woman's loving heart, and guileless, +unselfish, honorable mind, hath all a warrior's stern resolve, a +patriot's noble purpose! Mother, mother, how may thy son brook scorn and +falsity, and foul calumny cast upon thee?" and there was a choking +suffocation in his throat, filling his eyes perforce with tears; and had +it not been that manhood struggled for dominion, he would have flung +himself upon his mother's breast and wept.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As a soldier and a man, my son," she drew him closer to her as she +spoke; "as one who, knowing and feeling the worth of the contemned one, +is conscious that the foul tongues of evil men can do no ill, but fling +back the shame upon themselves. Arouse thee, my beloved son. Alas! when +I look on thee, on thy bright face, on those graceful limbs, so supple +now in health and life, and feel to what my deed may have devoted thee, +my child, my child, I need not slanderous tongues to grieve me!"</p> + +<p>"And doth the Countess of Buchan repent that deed?" asked the rich +sonorous voice of the Bruce, who, unobserved, had heard their converse. +"Would she recall that which she hath done?"</p> + +<p>"Sire, not so," she answered; "precious as is my child to this lone +heart—inexpressibly dear and precious—yet if the liberty of his +country demand me to resign him, the call shall be obeyed."</p> + +<p>"Speak not thus, noble lady," returned the king, cheerily. "He is but +<i>lent</i>, Scotland asks no more; and when heaven smiles on this poor +country, smiles in liberty and peace, trust me, such devotedness will +not have been in vain. Our youthful knight will lay many a wreath of +laurel at his mother's feet, nor will there then be need to guard her +name from scorn. See what new zest and spirit have irradiated the brows +of our warlike guests; we had scarce deemed more needed than was there +before, yet the visit of Sir Henry Seymour, bearing as it did a +challenge to strife and blood, hath given fresh lightness to every step, +new joyousness to every tone. Is not this as it should be?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, as it <i>must</i> be, sire, while loyal hearts and patriot spirits form +thy court. Nobly and gallantly was the answer given to Pembroke's +challenge. Yet pardon me, sire, was it wise—was it well?"</p> + +<p>"Its wisdom, lady, rests with its success in the hands of a higher +power," answered the king, gravely, yet kindly. "Other than we did we +could not do; rashly and presumptuously we would not have left our +quarters. Not for the mere chase of, mad wish for glory would we have +risked the precious lives of our few devoted friends, but challenged as +we were, the soul of Bruce could not have spoken other than he did; nor +do we repent, nay, we rejoice that the stern duty of inaction is over.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +Thine eye tells me thou canst understand this, lady, therefore we say no +more, save to beseech thee to inspire our consort with the necessity of +this deed; she trembles for the issue of our daring. See how grave and +sad she looks, so lately as she was all smiles."</p> + +<p>The countess did not reply, but hastened to the side of the amiable, but +yet too womanly Queen Margaret, and gently, but invisibly sought to +soothe her fears; and she partially succeeded, for the queen ever seemed +to feel herself a bolder and firmer character when in the presence and +under the influence of Isabella of Buchan.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>It was a gallant, though, alas! but too small a force which, richly and +bravely accoutred, with banners proudly flying, music sounding, superb +chargers caparisoned for war, lances in rest, and spear and bill, sword +and battle-axe, marched through the olden gates of Scone in a +south-westward direction, early on the morning of the 25th of June, +1306. Many were the admiring eyes and yearning hearts which followed +them, and if doubt and dread did mingle in the fervid aspirations raised +for their welfare and success, they were not permitted to gain +ascendency so long as the cheering tones and happy smiles of every one +of that patriot band lingered on the ear and sight. As yet there were +but few of the nobles and knights with their men. The troops had been +commanded to march leisurely forward, under charge of the esquires and +gentlemen, who were mostly lieutenants or cornets to their leaders' +respective bands of followers; and, if not overtaken before, to halt in +a large meadow to the north of Perth, which lay in their way.</p> + +<p>The knots of citizens, however, who had accompanied the army to the +farthest environs of the town, had not dispersed to their several homes +ere the quick, noisy clattering of a gallant troop of horse echoed along +the street, and the king, surrounded by his highest nobles and bravest +knights, galloped by, courteously returning the shouts and acclamations +of delight which hailed him on every side. His vizor was purposely left +up, and his noble countenance, beaming with animation and hope, seem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>ed +to inspire fresh hope and confidence in all that gazed. A white ostrich +plume, secured to his helmet by a rich clasp of pearls and diamonds, +fell over his left shoulder till it well-nigh mingled with the flowing +mane of his charger, whose coal-black glossy hide was almost concealed +beneath the armor which enveloped him, and the saddle-cloth of crimson +velvet, whose golden fringe nearly swept the ground. King Robert was +clothed in the same superb suit of polished steel armor, inlaid and +curiously wrought with ingrained silver, in which we saw him at first; a +crimson scarf secured his trusty sword to his side, and a short mantle +of azure velvet, embroidered with the golden thistle of Scotland, and +lined with the richest sable, was secured at his throat by a splendid +collaret of gems. The costly materials of his dress, and, yet more, the +easy and graceful seat upon his charger, his chivalric bearing, and the +frank, noble expression of his countenance, made him, indeed, "look +every inch a king," and might well of themselves have inspired and +retained the devoted loyalty of his subjects, even had there been less +of chivalry in his daring rising.</p> + +<p>Edward Bruce was close beside his brother. With a figure and appearance +equally martial and equally prepossessing, he wanted the quiet dignity, +the self-possession of voice and feature which characterized the king. +He had not the mind of Robert, and consequently the uppermost passion of +the spirit was ever the one marked on his brow. On this morning he was +all animated smiles, for war was alike his vocation and his pastime.</p> + +<p>Thomas and Alexander Bruce were also there, both gallant men and +well-tried warriors, and eager as Edward for close encounter with the +foe. The Earls of Lennox and Athol, although perhaps in their secret +souls they felt that the enterprise was rash, gave no evidence of +reluctance in their noble bearing; indeed, had they been certain of +marching to their death, they would not have turned from the side of +Bruce. The broad banner of Scotland, whose ample folds waved in the +morning breeze, had been intrusted to the young heir of Buchan, who, +with the other young and new-made knights, eager and zealous to win +their spurs, had formed a body guard around the banner, swearing to +defend it to the last moment of their lives. Nigel Bruce was one of +these; he rode close beside his brother in arms, and midst that animated +group, those eager spirits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> throbbing for action, no heart beat quicker +than his own. All was animated life, anticipated victory; the very +heavens smiled as if they would shed no shadow on this patriot band.</p> + +<p>It was scarcely two hours after noon when King Robert and his troops +arrived at the post assigned—the park or wood of Methven; and believing +that it was not till the succeeding day to which the challenge of +Pembroke referred, he commanded his men to make every preparation for a +night encampment. The English troops lay at about a quarter of a mile +distant, on the side of a hill, which, as well as tree and furze would +permit, commanded a view of the Bruce's movements. There were tents +erected, horses picketed, and every appearance of quiet, confirming the +Scotch in their idea of no engagement taking place till the morrow.</p> + +<p>Aware of the great disparity of numbers, King Robert eagerly and +anxiously examined his ground as to the best spot for awaiting the +attack of the English. He fixed on a level green about half a mile +square, guarded on two sides by a thick wood of trees, on the third and +left by a deep running rivulet, and open on the fourth, encumbered only +by short, thick bushes and little knots of thorn, which the king +welcomed, as impeding the progress and obstructing the evolutions of +Pembroke's horse. The bushes which were scattered about on the ground he +had chosen, he desired his men to clear away, and ere the sun neared his +setting, all he wished was accomplished, and his plan of battle +arranged. He well remembered the impenetrable phalanx of the unfortunate +Wallace at the battle of Falkirk, and determined on exposing a steady +front of spears in the same manner. Not having above thirty horse on +whom he could depend, and well aware they would be but a handful against +Pembroke's two hundred, he placed them in the rear as a reserve, in the +centre of which waved the banner of Scotland. The remainder of his +troops he determined on arranging in a compact crescent, the bow exposed +to the English, the line stretching out against the wood. This was his +intended line of battle, but, either from mistake or purposed treachery +on the part of Pembroke, his plan was frustrated, and in addition to the +great disparity of numbers he had to struggle with surprise.</p> + +<p>The day had been extremely sultry, and trusting in full confidence to +the honor of his opponent, and willing to give his men all needful rest, +the king dismissed them from their ranks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> to refreshment and repose, +leaving but very few to guard, himself retiring with his older officers +to a tent prepared for his reception.</p> + +<p>Arm in arm, and deep in converse, Nigel Bruce and Alan of Buchan +wandered a little apart from their companions, preferring a hasty meal +and the calm beauty of a lovely summer evening, accompanied by a +refreshing breeze, to remaining beside the rude but welcome meal, and +sharing the festivity which enlivened it.</p> + +<p>"Thinkest thou not, Nigel, his grace trusts but too fully to the honor +of these Englishmen?" asked Alan, somewhat abruptly, turning the +conversation from the dearer topics of Agnes and her mother, which had +before engrossed them.</p> + +<p>"On my faith, if he judge of them by his own true, noble spirit, he +judges them too well."</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou art over-suspicious, friend Alan," answered Nigel, smiling. +"What fearest thou?"</p> + +<p>"I like not the absence of all guards, not so much for the safety of our +own camp, but to keep sharp watch on the movements of our friends +yonder. Nigel, there is some movement; they look not as they did an hour +ago."</p> + +<p>"Impossible, quite impossible, Alan; the English knights are too +chivalric, too honorable, to advance on us to-night. If they have made a +movement, 'tis but to repose."</p> + +<p>"Nigel, if Pembroke feel inclined to take advantage of our unguarded +situation, he will swear, as many have done before him, that a new day +began with the twelve-chime bell of this morning, and be upon us ere we +are aware; and I say again, there is movement, and warlike movement, +too, in yonder army. Are tents deserted, and horses and men collected, +for the simple purpose of retiring to rest? Come with me to yon mound, +and see if I be not correct in my surmise."</p> + +<p>Startled by Alan's earnest manner, despite his firm reliance on +Pembroke's honor, Nigel made no further objection, but hastened with him +to the eminence he named. It was only too true. Silently and guardedly +the whole English army, extending much further towards Perth than was +visible to the Scotch, had been formed in battle array, line after line +stretching forth its glittering files, in too compact and animated array +to admit of a doubt as to their intentions. The sun had completely sunk, +and dim mists were spreading up higher and higher from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> the horizon, +greatly aiding the treacherous movements of the English.</p> + +<p>"By heavens, 'tis but too true!" burst impetuously from Nigel's lips, +indignation expressed in every feature. "Base, treacherous cowards! Hie +thee to the king—fly for thy life—give him warning, while I endeavor +to form the lines. In vain, utterly in vain!" he muttered, as Alan with +the speed of lightning darted down the slope. "They are formed—fresh, +both man and horse—double, aye, more than treble our numbers; they will +be upon us ere the order of battle can be formed, and defeat <i>now</i>—"</p> + +<p>He would not give utterance to the dispiriting truth which closed that +thought, but springing forward, dashed through fern and brake, and +halted not till he stood in the centre of his companions, who, scattered +in various attitudes on the grass, were giving vent, in snatches of song +and joyous laughter, to the glee which filled their souls.</p> + +<p>"Up! up!—the foe!" shouted Nigel, in tones so unlike the silvery +accents which in general characterized him, that his companions started +to their feet and grasped their swords, as roused by the sound of +trumpet, "Pembroke is false: to arms—to your posts! +Fitz-Alan—Douglas—sound an alarm, and, in heaven's name, aid me in +getting the men under arms! Be calm, be steady; display no alarm, no +confusion, and all may yet be well."</p> + +<p>He was obeyed. The quick roll of the drum, the sharp, quick blast of the +trumpet echoed and re-echoed at different sides of the encampment; the +call to arms, in various stentorian tones, rung through the woodland +glades, quickly banishing all other sounds. Every man sprung at once +from his posture of repose, and gathered round their respective leaders; +startled, confused, yet still in order, still animated, still confident, +and yet more exasperated against their foe.</p> + +<p>The appearance of their sovereign, unchanged in his composed and warlike +mien, evincing perhaps yet more animation in his darkly flushing cheek, +compressed lip, and sparkling eye; his voice still calm, though his +commands were more than usually hurried; his appearance on every side, +forming, arranging, encouraging, almost at the same instant—at one +moment exciting their indignation against the treachery of the foe, at +others appealing to their love for their country, their homes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> their +wives, to their sworn loyalty to himself—inspired courage and +confidence at the same instant as he allayed confusion; but despite +every effort both of leader and men, it needed time to form in the +compact order which the king had planned, and ere it was accomplished, +nearer and nearer came the English, increasing their pace to a run as +they approached, and finally charging in full and overwhelming career +against the unprepared but gallant Scots. Still there was no wavering +amid the Scottish troops; still they stood their ground, and forming, +almost as they fought, in closer and firmer order, exposing the might +and unflinching steadiness of desperate men, determined on liberty or +death, to the greater number and better discipline of their foe. It +mattered not that the fading light of day had given place to the darker +shades of night, but dimly illumined by the rising moon—they struggled +on, knowing as if by instinct friend from foe. And fearful was it to +watch the mighty struggles from figures gleaming as gigantic shadows in +the darkness; now and then came a deep smothered cry or bursting groan, +wrung from the throes of death, or the wild, piercing scream from a +slaughtered horse, but the tongues of life were silent; the clang of +armor, the clash of steel, the heavy fall of man and horse, indeed came +fitfully and fearfully on the night breeze, and even as the blue +spectral flash of summer lightning did the bright swords rise and fall +in the thick gloom.</p> + +<p>"Back, back, dishonored knight! back, recreant traitor!" shouted James +of Douglas; and his voice was heard above the roar of battle, and those +near him saw him at the same instant spring from his charger, thrust +back Pembroke and other knights who were thronging round him, and with +unrivalled skill and swiftness aid a tall and well-known form to rise +and spring on the horse he held for him. "Thinkest thou the sacred +person of the King of Scotland is for such as thee? back, I say!" And he +did force him, armed and on horseback as he was, many paces back, and +Robert Bruce again galloped over the field, bareheaded indeed, for his +helmet had fallen off in the strife, urging, inciting, leading on yet +again to the charge. And it was in truth as if a superhuman strength and +presence had been granted the patriot king that night, for there were +veteran warriors there, alike English and Scotch, who paused even in the +work of strife to gaze and tremble.</p> + +<p>Again was he unhorsed, crushed by numbers—one moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> more and he had +fallen into the hands of his foes, and Scotland had lain a slave forever +at the feet of England; but again was relief at hand, and the young Earl +of Mar, dashing his horse between the prostrate monarch and his +thronging enemies, laid the foremost, who was his own countryman, dead +on the field, and remained fighting alone; his single arm dealing deadly +blows on every side at the same moment until Robert had regained his +feet, and, though wounded and well-nigh exhausted, turned in fury to the +rescue of his preserver. It was too late; in an agony of spirit no pen +can describe, he beheld his faithful and gallant nephew overpowered by +numbers and led off a captive, and he stood by, fighting indeed like a +lion, dealing death wherever his sword fell, but utterly unable to +rescue or defend him. Again his men thronged round him, their rallying +point, their inspiring hope, their guardian spirit; again he was on +horseback, and still, still that fearful strife continued. Aided by the +darkness, the Bruce in his secret soul yet encouraged one gleam of hope, +yet dreamed of partial success, at least of avoiding that almost worse +than death, a total and irremediable defeat. Alas, had the daylight +suddenly illumined that scene, he would have felt, have seen that hope +was void.</p> + +<p>Gallantly, meanwhile, gallantly even as a warrior of a hundred fields, +had the young heir of Buchan redeemed his pledge to his sovereign, and +devoted sword and exposed life in his cause. The standard of Scotland +had never touched the ground. Planting it firmly in the earth, he had +for a while defended it nobly where he stood, curbing alike the high +spirit of his prancing horse and his own intense longing to dash forward +in the thickest of the fight. He saw his companions fall one by one, +till he was well-nigh left alone. He heard confused cries, as of +triumph; he beheld above twenty Englishmen dashing towards him, and he +felt a few brief minutes and his precious charge might be waved in scorn +as a trophy by the victors; the tide of battle had left him for an +instant comparatively alone, and in that instant his plan was formed.</p> + +<p>"Strike hard, and fear not!" he cried to an old retainer, who stirred +not from his side; "divide this heavy staff, and I will yet protect my +charge, and thou and I, Donald, will to King Robert's side; he needs all +true men about him now."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke his command was understood and obeyed. One sweep of the +stout Highlander's battle-axe severed full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> four feet of the heavy lance +to which the standard was attached and enabled Alan without any +inconvenience to grasp in his left hand the remainder, from which the +folds still waved: grasping his sword firmly in his right, and giving +his horse the rein, shouting, "Comyn, to the rescue!" he darted towards +the side where the strife waxed hottest.</p> + +<p>It was a cry which alike startled friends and foes, for that name was +known to one party as so connected with devotee adherence to Edward, to +the other so synonymous with treachery, that united as it was with "to +the rescue," some there were who paused to see whence and from whom it +came. The banner of Scotland quickly banished doubt as to which part; +that youthful warrior belonged; knights and yeomen alike threw +themselves in his path to obtain possession of so dear a prize. Followed +by about ten stalwart men of his clan, the young knight gallantly cut +his way through the greater number of his opponents, but a sudden gleam +on the helmet of one of them caused him to halt suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Sir Henry Seymour, we have met at length!" he shouted. "Thou +bearest yet my gage—'tis well. I am here to redeem it."</p> + +<p>"Give up that banner to a follower, then," returned Sir Henry, +courteously, checking his horse in its full career, "for otherwise we +meet at odds. Thou canst not redeem thy gage, and defend thy charge at +the same moment."</p> + +<p>"Give up my charge! Never, so help me heaven! Friend or foe shall claim +it but with my life," returned Alan, proudly. "Come on, sir knight; I am +here to defend the honor thou hast injured—the honor of one dearer than +my own."</p> + +<p>"Have then thy will, proud boy: thy blood be on thine own head," replied +Seymour; but ere he spurred on to the charge, he called aloud, "let none +come between us, none dare to interfere—'tis a quarrel touching none +save ourselves," and Alan bowed his head, in courteous recognition of +the strict observance of the rules of chivalry in his adversary, at the +very moment that he closed with him in deadly strife; and such was war +in the age of chivalry, and so strict were its rules, that even with the +standard of Scotland in his hand, the person of the heir of Buchan was +sacred to all save to his particular opponent.</p> + +<p>It was a brief yet determined struggle. Their swords cross<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>ed and +recrossed with such force and rapidity, that sparks of fire flashed from +the blades; the aim of both appeared rather to unhorse and disarm than +slay: Seymour, perhaps, from admiration of the boy's extraordinary +bravery and daring, and Alan from a feeling of respect for the true +chivalry of the English knight. The rush of battle for a minute +unavoidably separated them. About four feet of the banner-staff yet +remained uninjured, both in its stout wood and sharp iron head; with +unparalleled swiftness, Alan partly furled the banner round the pike, +and transferred it to his right hand, then grasping it firmly, and +aiming full at Sir Henry's helm, backed his horse several paces to allow +of a wider field, gave his steed the spur, and dashed forward quick as +the wind. The manœuvre succeeded. Completely unprepared for this +change alike in weapon and attack, still dazzled and slightly confused +by the rush which had divided them, Sir Henry scarcely saw the youthful +knight, till he felt his helmet transfixed by the lance, and the blow +guided so well and true, that irresistibly it bore him from his horse, +and he lay stunned and helpless, but not otherwise hurt, at the mercy of +his foe. Recovering his weapon, Alan, aware that the great disparity of +numbers rendered the securing English prisoners but a mere waste of +time, contented himself by waving the standard high in air, and again +shouting his war-cry, galloped impetuously on. Wounded he was, but he +knew it not; the excitement, the inspiration of the moment was all he +felt.</p> + +<p>"To the king—to the king!" shouted Nigel Bruce, urging his horse to the +side of Alan, and ably aiding him to strike down their rapidly +increasing foes. "Hemmed in on all sides, he will fall beneath their +thirsting swords. To the king—to the king! Yield he never will; and +better he should not. On, on, for the love of life, of liberty, of +Scotland!—on to the king!"</p> + +<p>His impassioned words reached even hearts fainting 'neath exhaustion, +failing in hope, for they knew they strove in vain; yet did that tone, +those words rouse even them, and their flagging limbs grew strong for +Robert's sake, and some yet reached the spot to fight and die around +him; others—alas! the greater number—fell ere the envied goal was +gained.</p> + +<p>The sight of the royal standard drew, as Alan had hoped, the attention +of some from the king, and gave him a few mo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>ments to rally. Again there +was a moment of diversion in favor of the Scotch. The brothers of the +Bruce and some others of his bravest knights were yet around him, +seemingly uninjured, and each and all appeared endowed with the strength +of two. The gigantic form of Edward Bruce, the whelming sweep of his +enormous battle-axe, had cleared a partial space around the king, but +still the foes hemmed in, reinforced even as they fell. About this time +the moon, riding high in the heavens, had banished the mists which had +enveloped her rising, and flung down a clear, silvery radiance over the +whole field, disclosing for the first time to King Robert the exact +situation in which he stood. Any further struggle, and defeat, +imprisonment, death, all stared him in the face, and Scotland's liberty +was lost, and forever. The agony of this conviction was known to none +save to the sovereign's own heart, and to that Searcher of all, by whom +its every throb was felt.</p> + +<p>The wood behind him was still plunged in deep shadows, and he knew the +Grampian Hills, with all their inaccessible paths and mountain +fastnesses—known only to the true children of Scotland—could easily be +reached, were the pursuit of the English eluded, which he believed could +be easily accomplished, were they once enabled to retreat into the wood.</p> + +<p>The consummate skill and prudence of the Bruce characterizing him as a +general, even as his extraordinary daring and exhaustless courage marked +the warrior, enabled him to effect this precarious and delicate +movement, in the very sight of and almost surrounded by foes. Covering +his troops, or rather the scattered remnant of troops, by exposing his +own person to the enemy, the king was still the first object of attack, +the desire of securing his person, or, at least, obtaining possession of +his head, becoming more and more intense. But it seemed as though a +protecting angel hovered round him: for he had been seen in every part +of the field; wherever the struggle had been fiercest, he had been the +centre; twice he had been unhorsed, and bareheaded almost from the +commencement of the strife, yet there he was still, seemingly as firm in +his saddle, as strong in frame, as unscathed in limb, as determined in +purpose, as when he sent back his acceptance of Pembroke's challenge. +Douglas, Fitz-Alan, Alexander and Nigel Bruce, and Alan of Buchan, still +bearing the standard, were close around the king, and it was in this +time of precaution, of less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> inspiriting service, that the young Alan +became conscious that he was either severely wounded, or that the +strength he had taxed far beyond its natural powers was beginning to +fail. Still mechanically he grasped the precious banner, and still he +crossed his sword with every foe that came; but the quick eye of Nigel +discerned there was a flagging of strength, and he kept close beside him +to aid and defend. The desired goal was just attained, the foes were +decreasing in numbers, for they were scattered some distance from each +other, determined on scouring the woods in search of fugitives, the +horses of the king and his immediate followers were urged to quicken +their pace, when an iron-headed quarrel, discharged from an arbalist, +struck the royal charger, which, with a shrill cry of death, dropped +instantly, and again was the king unhorsed. The delay occasioned in +extricating him from the fallen animal was dangerous in the extreme; the +greater part of his men were at some distance, for the king had ordered +them, as soon as the unfrequented hollows of the wood were reached, to +disperse, the better to elude their pursuers. Douglas, Alexander Bruce, +and Fitz-Alan had galloped on, unconscious of the accident, and Nigel +and Alan were alone near him. A minute sufficed for the latter to spring +from his horse and aid the king to mount, and both entreated, conjured +him to follow their companions, and leave them to cover his retreat. A +while he refused, declaring he would abide with them: he would not so +cowardly desert them.</p> + +<p>"Leave you to death!" he cried; "my friends, my children; no, no! Urge +me no more. If I may not save my country, I may <i>die</i> for her."</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt not, so help me heaven!" answered Nigel, impetuously. "King, +friend, brother, there is yet time. Hence, I do beseech thee, hence. +Nay, an thou wilt not, I will e'en forget thou art my king, and force +thee from this spot."</p> + +<p>He snatched the reins of his brother's horse, and urging it with his own +to their fullest speed, took the most unfrequented path, and dashing +over every obstacle, through brake and briar, and over hedge and ditch, +placed him in comparative safety.</p> + +<p>And was Alan deserted? Did his brother in arms, in his anxiety to save +the precious person of his royal brother, forget the tie that bound +them, and leave him to die alone? A sick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>ening sense of inability, of +utter exhaustion, crept over the boy's sinking frame, inability even to +drag his limbs towards the wood and conceal himself from his foes. +Mechanically he at first stood grasping the now-tattered colors, as if +his hand were nailed unto the staff, his foot rooted to the ground. +There were many mingled cries, sending their shrill echoes on the night +breeze; there were chargers scouring the plain; bodies of men passing +and repassing within twenty yards of the spot where he stood, yet half +hidden by the deep shadow of a large tree, for some minutes he was +unobserved. An armed knight, with about twenty followers, were rushing +by; they stopped, they recognized the banner; they saw the bowed and +drooping figure who supported it, they dashed towards him. With a strong +effort Alan roused himself from that lethargy of faintness. Nearer and +nearer they came.</p> + +<p>"Yield, or you die!" were the words borne to his ear, shrill, loud, +fraught with death, and his spirit sprang up with the sound. He waved +his sword above his head, and threw himself into a posture of defence; +but ere they reached him, there was a sudden and rapid tramp of horse, +and the voice of Nigel Bruce shouted—</p> + +<p>"Mount, mount! God in heaven be thanked, I am here in time!"</p> + +<p>Alan sprung into the saddle; he thought not to inquire how that charger +had been found, nor knew he till some weeks after that Nigel had exposed +his own person to imminent danger, to secure one of the many steeds +flying masterless over the plain. On, on they went, and frequently the +head of Alan drooped from very faintness to his saddle-bow, and Nigel +feared to see him fall exhausted to the earth, but still they pursued +their headlong way. Death was behind them, and the lives of all true and +loyal Scotsmen were too precious to admit a pause.</p> + +<p>The sun had risen when King Robert gazed round him on the remnant of his +troops. It was a wild brake, amid surrounding rocks and mountains where +they stood; a torrent threw itself headlong from a craggy steep, and +made its way to the glen, tumbling and roaring and dashing over the +black stones that opposed its way. The dark pine, the stunted fir, the +weeping birch, and many another mountain tree, marked the natural +fertility of the soil, although its aspect seemed wild<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> and rude. It was +to this spot the king had desired the fugitives to direct their several +ways, and now he gazed upon all, all that were spared to him and +Scotland from that disastrous night. In scattered groups they stood or +sate; their swords fallen from their hands, their heads drooping on +their breasts, with the mien of men whose last hope had been cast on a +single die, and wrecked forever. And when King Robert thought of the +faithful men who, when the sun had set the previous evening, had +gathered round him in such devoted patriotism, such faithful love, and +now beheld the few there were to meet his glance, to give him the +sympathy, the hope he needed, scarcely could he summon energy sufficient +to speak against hope, to rally the failing spirits of his remaining +followers. Mar, Athol, Hay, Fraser, he knew were prisoners, and he knew, +too, that in their cases that word was but synonymous with death. +Lennox, his chosen friend, individually the dearest of all his +followers, he too was not there, though none remembered his being taken; +Randolph, his nephew, and about half of those gallant youths who not ten +days previous had received and welcomed the honor of knighthood, in all +the high hopes and buoyancy of youth and healthful life; more, many more +than half the number of the stout yeomen, who had risen at his call to +rescue their land from chains—where now were these? Was it wonder that +the king had sunk upon a stone, and bent his head upon his hands? But +speedily he rallied; he addressed each man by name; he spoke comfort, +hope, not lessening the magnitude of his defeat, but still promising +them liberty—still promising that yet would their homes be redeemed, +their country free; aye, even were he compelled to wander months, nay, +years in those mountain paths, with naught about him but the title of a +king; still, while he had life, would he struggle on for Scotland; still +did he feel, despite of blighted hope, of bitter disappointment, that to +him was intrusted the sacred task of her deliverance. Would he, might he +sink and relax in his efforts and resign his purpose, because his first +engagement was attended by defeat? had he done so, it was easy to have +found death on the field. Had he listened to the voice of despair, he +confessed, he would not have left that field alive.</p> + +<p>"But I lived for my country, for ye, her children," he continued, his +voice becoming impassioned in its fervor; "lived to redeem this night, +to suffer on a while, to be your savior still.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> Will ye then desert me? +will ye despond, because of one defeat—yield to despair, when Scotland +yet calls aloud? No, no, it cannot be!" and roused by his earnest, his +eloquent appeal, that devoted band sprung from their drooping posture, +and kneeling at his feet, renewed their oaths of allegiance to him; the +oath that bound them to seek liberty for Scotland. It was then, as one +by one advanced, the king for the first time missed his brother Nigel +and the heir of Buchan; amidst the overwhelming bitterness of thought +which had engrossed him, he had for a brief while forgotten the +precarious situation of Alan, and the determination of Nigel to seek and +save, or die with him; but now the recollection of both rushed upon him, +and the flush which his eloquence had summoned faded at once, and the +sudden expression of anguish passing over his features roused the +attention of all who stood near him.</p> + +<p>"They must have fallen," he murmured, and for the first time, in a +changed and hollow voice. "My brother, my brother, dearest, best! can it +be that, in thy young beauty, thou, too, art taken from me?—and Alan, +how can I tell his mother—how face her sorrow for her son?"</p> + +<p>Time passed, and there was no sound; the visible anxiety of the king +hushed into yet deeper stillness the voices hushed before. His meaning +was speedily gathered from his broken words, and many mounted the craggy +heights to mark if there might not yet be some signs of the missing +ones. Time seemed to linger on his flight. The intervening rocks and +bushes confined all sounds within a very narrow space; but at length a +faint unintelligible noise broke on the stillness, it came nearer, +nearer still, a moment more and the tread of horses' hoofs echoed +amongst the rocks—a shout, a joyful shout proclaimed them friends. The +king sprung to his feet. Another minute Nigel and Alan pressed around +him; with the banner still in his hand, Alan knelt and laid it at his +sovereign's feet.</p> + +<p>"From thy hand I received it, to thee I restore it," he said, but his +voice was scarcely articulate; he bowed his head to press Robert's +extended hand to his lips, and sunk senseless at his feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>Rumors of the fatal issue of the engagement at Methven speedily reached +Scone, laden, of course, with, yet more disastrous tidings than had +foundation in reality. King Robert, it was said, and all his nobles and +knights—nay, his whole army—were cut off to a man; the king, if not +taken prisoner, was left dead on the field, and all Scotland lay again +crushed and enslaved at the feet of Edward. For four-and-twenty hours +did the fair inhabitants of the palace labor under this belief, +well-nigh stunned beneath the accumulation of misfortune. It was curious +to remark the different forms in which affliction appeared in different +characters, The queen, in loud sobs and repeated wailing, at one time +deplored her own misery; at others, accused her husband of rashness and +madness. Why had he not taken her advice and remained quiet? Why could +he not have been contented with the favor of Edward and a proud, fair +heritage? What good did he hope to get for himself by assuming the crown +of so rude and barren a land as Scotland? Had she not told him he was +but a summer king, that the winter would soon blight his prospects and +nip his budding hopes; and had she not proved herself wiser even than he +was himself? and then she would suddenly break off in these reproaches +to declare that, if he were a prisoner, she would go to him; she would +remain with him to the last; she would prove how much she idolized +him—her own, her brave, her noble Robert. And vain was every effort on +the part of her sisters-in-law and the Countess of Buchan, and other of +her friends, to mitigate these successive bursts of sorrow. The Lady +Seaton, of a stronger mind, yet struggled with despondency, yet strove +to hope, to believe all was not as overwhelming as had been described; +although, if rumor were indeed true, she had lost a husband and a son, +the gallant young Earl of Mar, whom she had trained to all noble deeds +and honorable thoughts, for he had been fatherless from infancy. Lady +Mary could forget her own deep anxieties, her own fearful forebodings, +silently and unobservedly to watch, to follow, to tend the Countess of +Buchan, whose marble cheek and lip, and somewhat sterner expression of +countenance than usual, alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> betrayed the anxiety passing within, for +words it found not. She could share with her the task of soothing, of +cheering Agnes, whose young spirit lay crushed beneath this heavy blow. +She did not complain, she did not murmur, but evidently struggled to +emulate her mother's calmness, for she would bend over her frame and +endeavor to continue her embroidery. But those who watched her, marked +her frequent shudder, the convulsive sob, the tiny hands pressed closely +together, and then upon her eyes, as if to still their smarting throbs; +and Isoline, who sat in silence on a cushion at her feet, could catch +such low whispered words as these—</p> + +<p>"Nigel, Nigel, could I but know thy fate! Dead, dead!—could I not die +with thee? Imprisoned, have I not a right to follow thee; to tend, to +soothe thee? Any thing, oh, any thing, but this horrible suspense! Alan, +my brother, thou too, so young, to die."</p> + +<p>The morning of the second day brought other and less distressing rumors; +all had not fallen, all were not taken. There were tales of courage, of +daring gallantry, of mighty struggles almost past belief; but what were +they, even in that era of chivalry, to the heart sinking under +apprehensions, the hopes just springing up amidst the wild chaos of +thoughts to smile a moment, to be crushed 'neath suspense, uncertainty, +the next? Still the eager tones of conjecture, the faintest-spoken +whispers of renewed hope, were better than the dead stillness, the heavy +hush of despair.</p> + +<p>And the queen's apartments, in which at sunset all her friends had +assembled, presented less decided sounds of mourning and of wail, than +the previous day. Margaret was indeed still one minute plunged in tears +and sobs, and the next hoping more, believing more than any one around +her. Agnes had tacitly accompanied her mother and Lady Mary to the royal +boudoir, but she had turned in very sickness of heart from all her +companions, and remained standing in a deep recess formed by the high +and narrow casement, alone, save Isoline, who still clung to her side, +pale, motionless as the marble statue near her, whose unconscious repose +she envied.</p> + +<p>"Speak, Isabella, why will you not speak to me?" said the queen, +fretfully. "My husband bade me look to thee for strength, for support +under care and affliction like to this, yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> thou keepest aloof from me; +thou hast words of comfort, of cheering for all save me."</p> + +<p>"Not so, royal lady, not so," she answered, as with a faint, scarcely +perceptible smile, she advanced to the side of her royal mistress, and +took her hand in hers. "I have spoken, I have urged, entreated, conjured +thee to droop not; for thy husband's sake, to hope on, despite the +terrible rumors abroad. I have besought thee to seek firmness for his +sake; but thou didst but tell me, Isabella, Isabella, thou canst not +feel as I do, he is naught to thee but thy king; to me, what is he not? +king, hero, husband—all, my only all; and I have desisted, lady, for I +deemed my words offended, my counsel unadvised, and looked on but as +cold and foolish."</p> + +<p>"Nay, did I say all this to thee? Isabella, forgive me, for indeed, +indeed, I knew it not," replied Margaret, her previous fretfulness +subsiding into a softened and less painful burst of weeping. "He is in +truth, my all, my heart's dearest, best, and without him, oh! what am I? +even a cipher, a reed, useless to myself, to my child, as to all others. +I am not like thee, Isabella—would, would I were; I should be more +worthy of my Robert's love, and consequently dearer to his heart. I can +be but a burden to him now."</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush! would he not chide thee for such words, my Margaret?" +returned the countess, soothingly, and in a much lower voice, speaking +as she would to a younger sister. "Had he not deemed thee worthy, would +he have made thee his? oh, no, believe it not; he is too true, too +honorable for such thought."</p> + +<p>"He loved me, because he saw I loved," whispered the queen, perceiving +that her companions had left her well-nigh alone with the countess, and +following, as was her custom, every impulse of her fond but +ill-regulated heart. "I had not even strength to conceal that—that +truth which any other would have died rather than reveal. He saw it and +his noble spirit was touched; and he has been all, all, aye, more than I +could have dreamed, to me—so loving and so true."</p> + +<p>"Then why fancy thyself a burden, not a joy to him, sweet friend?" +demanded Isabella of Buchan, the rich accents of her voice even softer +and sweeter than usual, for there was something in the clinging +confidence of the queen it was impossible not to love.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I did not, I could not, for he cherished me so fondly till this sudden +rising—this time, when his desperate enterprise demands energy and +firmness, even from the humblest female, how much more from the Bruce's +wife! and his manner is not changed towards me, nor his love. I know he +loves me, cherishes me, as he ever did; but he must pity my weakness, my +want of nerve; when he compares me to himself, he must look on me with +almost contempt. For now it is, now that clearer than ever his character +stands forth in such glorious majesty, such moderation, such a daring +yet self-governed spirit, that I feel how utterly unworthy I am of him, +how little capable to give that spirit, that mind the reflection it must +demand; and when my weak fears prevail, my weak fancies speak only of +danger and defeat, how can he bear with me? Must I not become, if I am +not now, a burden?"</p> + +<p>"No, dearest Margaret," replied the countess, instantly. "The mind that +can so well <i>appreciate</i> the virtues of her husband will never permit +herself, through weakness and want of nerve, to become a burden to him. +Thou hast but to struggle with these imaginary terrors, to endeavor to +encourage, instead of to dispirit, and he will love and cherish thee +even more than hadst thou never been unnerved."</p> + +<p>"Let him but be restored to me, and I will do all this. I will make +myself more worthy of his love; but, oh, Isabella, while I speak this, +perhaps he is lost to me forever; I may never see his face, never hear +that tone of love again!" and a fresh flood of weeping concluded her +words.</p> + +<p>"Nay, but thou wilt—I know thou wilt," answered the countess, +cheeringly. "Trust me, sweet friend, though defeat may attend him a +while, though he may pass through trial and suffering ere the goal be +gained, Robert Bruce will eventually deliver his country—will be her +king, her savior—will raise her in the scale of nations, to a level +even with the highest, noblest, most deserving. He is not lost to thee; +trial will but prove his worth unto his countrymen even more than would +success."</p> + +<p>"And how knowest thou these things, my Isabella?" demanded Margaret, +looking up in her face, with a half-playful, half-sorrowful smile. "Hast +thou the gift of prophecy?"</p> + +<p>"Prophecy!" repeated the countess, sadly. "Alas! 'tis but the character +of Robert which hath inspired my brighter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> vision. Had I the gift of +prophecy, my fond heart would not start and quiver thus, when it vainly +strives to know the fate of my only son. I, too, have anxiety, lady, +though it find not words."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast, thou hast, indeed; and yet I, weak, selfish as I am, think +only of myself. Stay by me, Isabella; oh, do not leave me, I am stronger +by thy side."</p> + +<p>It was growing darker and darker, and the hopes that, ere night fell, +new and more trustworthy intelligence of the movements of the fugitives +would be received were becoming fainter and fainter on every heart. +Voices were hushed to silence, or spoke only in whispers. Half an hour +passed thus, when the listless suffering on the lovely face of Agnes was +observed by Isoline to change to an expression of intense attention.</p> + +<p>"Hearest thou no step?" she said, in a low, piercing whisper, and laying +a cold and trembling hand on Isoline's arm. "It is, it is his—it is +Nigel's; he has not fallen—he is spared!" and she started up, a bright +flush on her cheek, her hands pressed convulsively on her heart.</p> + +<p>"Nay, Agnes, there is no sound, 'tis but a fancy," but even while she +spoke, a rapid step was heard along the corridor, and a shadow darkened +the doorway—but was that Nigel? There was no plume, no proud crest on +his helmet; its vizor was still closely barred, and a surcoat of coarse +black stuff was thrown over his armor, without any decoration to display +or betray the rank of the wearer. A faint cry of alarm broke from the +queen and many of her friends, but with one bound Agnes sprang to the +intruder, whose arms were open to receive her, and wildly uttering +"Nigel!" fainted on his bosom.</p> + +<p>"And didst thou know me even thus, beloved?" he murmured, rapidly +unclasping his helmet and dashing it from him, to imprint repeated +kisses on her cheek. "Wake, Agnes, best beloved, my own sweet love; what +hadst thou heard that thou art thus? Oh, wake, smile, speak to me: 'tis +thine own Nigel calls."</p> + +<p>And vainly, till that face smiled again on him in consciousness, would +the anxious inmates of that room have sought and received intelligence, +had he not been followed by Lord Douglas, Fitz-Alan, and others, their +armor and rank concealed as was Nigel's, who gave the required +information as eagerly as it was desired.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Robert—my king, my husband—where is he—why is he not here?" +reiterated Margaret, vainly seeking to distinguish his figure amid the +others, obscured as they were by the rapidly-increasing darkness. "Why +is he not with ye—why is he not here?"</p> + +<p>"And he is here, Meg; here to chide thy love as less penetrating, less +able to read disguise or concealment than our gentle Agnes there. Nay, +weep not, dearest; my hopes are as strong, my purpose as unchanged, my +trust in heaven as fervent as it was when I went forth to battle. Trial +and suffering must be mine a while, I have called it on my own head; but +still, oh, still thy Robert shall deliver Scotland—shall cast aside her +chains."</p> + +<p>The deep, manly voice of the king acted like magic on the depressed +spirits of those around him; and though there was grief, bitter, bitter +grief to tell, though many a heart's last lingering hopes were crushed +'neath that fell certainty, which they thought to have pictured during +the hours of suspense, and deemed themselves strengthened to endure, yet +still 'twas a grief that found vent in tears—grief that admitted of +soothing, of sympathy—grief time might heal, not the harrowing agony of +grief half told—hopes rising to be crushed.</p> + +<p>Still did the Countess of Buchan cling to the massive arm of the chair +which Margaret had left, utterly powerless, wholly incapacitated from +asking the question on which her very life seemed to depend. Not even +the insensibility of her Agnes had had the power to rouse her from the +stupor of anxiety which had spread over her, sharpening every faculty +and feeling indeed, but rooting her to the spot. Her boy, her Alan, he +was not amongst those warriors; she heard not the beloved accents of his +voice; she saw not his boyish form—darkness could not deceive her. +Disguise would not prevent him, were he amongst his companions, from +seeking her embrace. One word would end that anguish, would speak the +worst, end it—had he fallen!</p> + +<p>The king looked round the group anxiously and inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"The Countess of Buchan?" he said; "where is our noble friend? she +surely hath a voice to welcome her king, even though he return to her +defeated."</p> + +<p>"Sire, I am here," she said, but with difficulty; and Robert,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> as if he +understood it, could read all she was enduring, hastened towards her, +and took both her cold hands in his.</p> + +<p>"I give thee joy," he said, in accents that reassured her on the +instant. "Nobly, gallantly, hath thy patriot boy proved himself thy son; +well and faithfully hath he won his spurs, and raised the honor of his +mother's olden line. He bade me greet thee with all loving duty, and say +he did but regret his wounds that they prevented his attending me, and +throwing himself at his mother's feet."</p> + +<p>"He is wounded, then, my liege?" Robert felt her hands tremble in his +hold.</p> + +<p>"It were cruel to deceive thee, lady—desperately but not dangerously +wounded. On the honor of a true knight, there is naught to alarm, though +something, perchance, to regret; for he pines and grieves that it may be +yet a while ere he recover sufficient strength to don his armor. It is +not loss of blood, but far more exhaustion, from the superhuman +exertions that he made. Edward and Alexander are with him; the one a +faithful guard, in himself a host, the other no unskilful leech: trust +me, noble lady, there is naught to fear."</p> + +<p>He spoke, evidently to give her time to recover the sudden revulsion of +feeling which his penetrating eye discovered had nearly overpowered her, +and he succeeded; ere he ceased, that quivering of frame and lip had +passed, and Isabella of Buchan again stood calm and firm, enabled to +inquire all particulars of her child, and then join in the council held +as to the best plan to be adopted with regard to the safety of the queen +and her companions.</p> + +<p>In Scone, it was evident, they could not remain, for already the towns +and villages around, which had all declared for the Bruce, were hurrying +in the greatest terror to humble themselves before Pembroke, and entreat +his interference in their favor with his sovereign. There was little +hope, even if Scone remained faithful to his interests, that she would +be enabled to defend herself from the attacks of the English; and it +would be equally certain, that if the wife of Bruce, and the wives and +daughters of so many of his loyal followers remained within her walls, +to obtain possession of their persons would become Pembroke's first +object. It remained to decide whether they would accompany their +sovereign to his mountain fastnesses and expose themselves to all the +privations and hardships which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> would inevitably attend a wandering +life, or that they should depart under a safe escort to Norway, whose +monarch was friendly to the interests of Scotland. This latter scheme +the king very strongly advised, representing in vivid colors the misery +they might have to endure if they adhered to him; the continual danger +of their falling into the hands of Edward, and even could they elude +this, how was it possible their delicate frames, accustomed as they were +to luxury and repose, could sustain the rude fare, the roofless homes, +the continued wandering amid the crags and floods and deserts of the +mountains. He spoke eloquently and feelingly, and there was a brief +silence when he concluded. Margaret had thrown her arms round her +husband, and buried her face on his bosom; her child clung to her +father's knee, and laid her soft cheek caressingly by his. Isabella of +Buchan, standing a little aloof, remained silent indeed, but no one who +gazed on her could doubt her determination or believe she wavered. Agnes +was standing in the same recess she had formerly occupied, but how +different was the expression of her features. The arm of Nigel was +twined round her, his head bent down to hers in deep and earnest +commune; he was pleading against his own will and feelings it seemed, +and though he strove to answer every argument, to persuade her it was +far better she should seek safety in a foreign land, her determination +more firmly expressed than could have been supposed from her yielding +disposition, to abide with him, in weal or in woe, to share his +wanderings, his home, be it roofless on the mountain, or within palace +walls; that she was a Highland girl, accustomed to mountain paths and +woody glens, nerved to hardship and toil—this determination, we say, +contrary as it was to his eloquent pleadings, certainly afforded Nigel +no pain, and might his beaming features be taken as reply, it was +fraught with unmingled pleasure. In a much shorter time than we have +taken to describe this, however, the queen had raised her head, and +looking up in her husband's face with an expression of devotedness, +which gave her countenance a charm it had never had before, fervently +exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Robert, come woe or weal, I will abide with thee; her husband's side is +the best protection for a wife; and if wandering and suffering be his +portion, who will soothe and cheer as the wife of his love? My spirit is +but cowardly, my will but weak;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> but by thee I may gain the strength +which in foreign lands could never be my own. Imaginary terrors, fancied +horrors would be worse, oh, how much worse than reality! and when we met +again I should be still less worthy of thy love. No, Robert, no! urge me +not, plead to me no more. My friends may do as they will, but Margaret +abides with thee."</p> + +<p>"And who is there will pause, will hesitate, when their queen hath +spoken thus?" continued the Countess of Buchan in a tone that to +Margaret's ear whispered approval and encouragement. "Surely, there is +none here whose love for their country is so weak, their loyalty to +their sovereign of such little worth, that at the first defeat, the +first disappointment, they would fly over seas for safety, and +contentedly leave the graves of their fathers, the hearths of their +ancestors, the homes of their childhood to be desecrated by the chains +of a foreign tyrant, by the footsteps of his hirelings? Oh, do not let +us waver! Let us prove that though the arm of woman is weaker than that +of man, her spirit is as firm, her heart as true; and that privation, +and suffering, and hardship encountered amid the mountains of our land, +the natural fastnesses of Scotland, in company with our rightful king, +our husbands, our children—all, all, aye, death itself, were preferable +to exile and separation. 'Tis woman's part to gild, to bless, and make a +home, and still, still we may do this, though our ancestral homes be in +the hands of Edward. Scotland has still her sheltering breast for all +her children; and shall we desert her now?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" echoed from every side, enthusiasm kindling with her +words. "Better privation and danger in Scotland, than safety and comfort +elsewhere."</p> + +<p>Nor was this the mere decision of the moment, founded on its enthusiasm. +The next morning found them equally firm, equally determined; even the +weak and timid Margaret rose in that hour of trial superior to herself, +and preparations were rapidly made for their departure. Nor were the +prelates of Scotland, who had remained at Scone during the king's +engagement, backward in encouraging and blessing their decision. His +duties prevented the Abbot of Scone accompanying them; but it was with +deep regret he remained behind, not from any fear of the English, for a +warrior spirit lurked beneath those episcopal robes, but from his deep +reverence for the enterprise, and love for the person of King Robert. He +acceded to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> necessity of remaining in his abbey with the better +grace, as he fondly hoped to preserve the citizens in the good faith and +loyalty they had so nobly demonstrated. The Archbishop of St. Andrew's +and the Bishop of Glasgow determined on following their sovereign to the +death; and the spirit of Robert, wounded as it had been, felt healed and +soothed, and inspired afresh, as the consciousness of his power over +some true and faithful hearts, of every grade and rank of either sex, +became yet more strongly proved in this hour of depression. He ceased to +speak of seeking refuge for his fair companions in another land, their +determination to abide with him, and their husbands and sons, was too +heartfelt, too unwavering, to allow of a hope to change it; and he well +knew that their presence, instead of increasing the cares and anxieties +of his followers, would rather lessen, them, by shedding a spirit of +chivalry even over the weary wanderings he knew must be their portion +for a while, by gilding with the light of happier days the hours of +darkness that might surround them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>The queen and her companions were conveyed in detachments from the +palace and town of Scone, the Bruce believing, with justice, they would +thus attract less notice, and be better able to reach the mountains in +safety. The Countess of Buchan, her friend Lady Mary, Agnes, and +Isoline, attended by Sir Nigel, were the first to depart, for though she +spoke it not, deep anxiety was on the mother's heart for the fate of her +boy. They mostly left Scone at different hours of the night; and the +second day from the king's arrival, the palace was untenanted, all signs +of the gallant court, which for a brief space had shed such lustre, such +rays of hope on the old town, were gone, and sorrowfully and +dispiritedly the burghers and citizens went about their several +occupations, for their hearts yet throbbed in loyalty and patriotism, +though hope they deemed was wholly at an end. Still they burned with +indignation at every intelligence of new desertions to Edward, and +though the power of Pembroke compelled them to bend unwillingly to the +yoke, it was as a bow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> too tightly strung, which would snap rather than +use its strength in the cause of Edward.</p> + +<p>A few weeks' good nursing from his mother and sister, attended as it was +by the kindness and warm friendship of the sovereign he adored, and the +constant care of Nigel, speedily restored the heir of Buchan, if not +entirely to his usual strength, at least with sufficient to enable him +to accompany the royal wanderers wherever they pitched their tent, and +by degrees join in the adventurous excursions of his young companions to +supply them with provender, for on success in hunting entirely depended +their subsistence.</p> + +<p>It was in itself a strange romance, the life they led. Frequently the +blue sky was their only covering, the purple heath their only bed; nor +would the king fare better than his followers. Eagerly, indeed, the +young men ever exerted themselves to form tents or booths of brushwood, +branches of trees, curiously and tastefully interwoven with the wild +flowers that so luxuriantly adorned the rocks, for the accommodation of +the faithful companions who preferred this precarious existence with +them, to comfort, safety, and luxury in a foreign land. Nature, indeed, +lavishly supplied them with beautiful materials, and where the will was +good, exertion proved but a new enjoyment. Couches and cushions of the +softest moss formed alike seats and places of repose; by degrees almost +a village of these primitive dwellings would start into being, in the +centre of some wild rocks, which formed natural barriers around them, +watered, perhaps, by some pleasant brook rippling and gushing by in +wild, yet soothing music, gemmed by its varied flowers.</p> + +<p>Here would be the rendezvous for some few weeks; here would Margaret and +her companions rest a while from their fatiguing wanderings; and could +they have thought but of the present, they would have been completely +happy. Here would their faithful knights return laden with the spoils of +the chase, or with some gay tale of danger dared, encountered, and +conquered; here would the song send its full tone amid the responding +echoes. The harp and muse of Nigel gave a refinement and delicacy to +these meetings, marking them, indeed, the days of chivalry and poetry. +Even Edward Bruce, the stern, harsh, dark, passioned warrior, even he +felt the magic of the hour, and now that the courage of Nigel had been +proved, gave willing ear, and would be among the first to bid him wake +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> harp, and soothe the troubled visions of the hour; and Robert, who +saw so much of his own soul reflected in his young brother, mingled as +it was with yet more impassioned fervor, more beautiful, more endearing +qualities, for Nigel had needed not trial to purify his soul, and mark +him out a patriot. Robert, in very truth, loved him, and often would +share with him his midnight couch, his nightly watchings, that he might +confide to that young heart the despondency, the hopelessness, that to +none other might be spoken, none other might suspect—the secret fear +that his crime would be visited on his unhappy country, and he forbidden +to secure her freedom even by the sacrifice of his life.</p> + +<p>"If it be so, it must be so; then be thou her savior, her deliverer, my +Nigel," he would often urge; "droop not because I may have departed; +struggle on, do as thy soul prompts, and success will, nay, must attend +thee; for thou art pure and spotless, and well deserving of all the +glory, the blessedness, that will attend the sovereign of our country +freed from chains; thou art, in truth, deserving of all this, but I—"</p> + +<p>"Peace, peace, my brother!" would be Nigel's answer; "thou, only thou +shalt deliver our country, shall be her free, her patriot king! Have we +not often marked the glorious sun struggling with the black masses of +clouds which surround and obscure his rising, struggling, and in vain, +to penetrate their murky folds, and deluge the world with light, shining +a brief moment, and then immersed in darkness, until, as he nears the +western horizon, the heaviest clouds flee before him, the spotless azure +spreadeth its beautiful expanse, the brilliant rays dart on every side, +warming and cheering the whole earth with reviving beams, and finally +sinking to his rest in a flood of splendor, more dazzling, more imposing +than ever attends his departure when his dawn hath been one of joy. Such +is thy career, my brother; such will be thy glorious fate. Oh, droop not +even to me—to thyself! Hope on, strive on, and thou shalt succeed!"</p> + +<p>"Would I had thy hopeful spirit, my Nigel, an it pictured and believed +things as these!" mournfully would the Bruce reply, and clasp the young +warrior to his heart; but it was only Nigel's ear that heard these +whispers of despondency, only Nigel's eye which could penetrate the +inmost folds of that royal heart. Not even to his wife—his Margaret, +whose faithfulness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> in these hours of adversity had drawn her yet closer +to her husband—did he breathe aught save encouragement and hope; and to +his followers he was the same as he had been from the first, resolute, +unwavering; triumphing over every obstacle; cheering the faint-hearted; +encouraging the desponding; smiling with his young followers, ever on +the alert to provide amusement for them, to approve, guide, instruct; +gallantly and kindly to smooth the path for his female companions, +joining in every accommodation for them, even giving his manual labor +with the lowest of his followers, if his aid would lessen fatigue, or +more quickly enhance comfort. And often and often in the little +encampment we have described, when night fell, and warrior and dame +would assemble, in various picturesque groups, on the grassy mound, the +king, seated in the midst of them, would read aloud, and divert even the +most wearied frame and careworn mind by the stirring scenes and +chivalric feelings his MSS. recorded. The talent of deciphering +manuscripts, indeed of reading any thing, was one seldom attained or +even sought for in the age of which we treat; the sword and spear were +alike the recreation and the business of the nobles. Reading and writing +were in general confined to monks, and the other clergy; but Robert, +even as his brother Nigel, possessed both these accomplishments, +although to the former their value never seemed so fully known as in his +wanderings. His readings were diversified by rude narratives or tales, +which he demanded in return from his companions, and many a hearty laugh +would resound from the woodland glades, at the characteristic humor with +which these demands were complied with: the dance, too, would diversify +these meetings. A night of repose might perhaps succeed, to be disturbed +at its close by a cause for alarm, and those pleasant resting-places +must be abandoned, the happy party be divided, and scattered far and +wide, to encounter fatigue, danger, perchance even death, ere they met +again.</p> + +<p>Yet still they drooped not, murmured not. No voice was ever heard to +wish the king's advice had been taken, and they had sought refuge in +Norway. Not even Margaret breathed one sigh, dropped one tear, in her +husband's presence, although many were the times that she would have +sunk from exhaustion, had not Isabella of Buchan been near as her +guardian angel to revive, encourage, infuse a portion of her own spirit +in the weaker heart, which so confidingly clung to her. The youngest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +and most timid maiden, the oldest and most ailing man, still maintained +the same patriotic spirit and resolute devotion which had upheld them at +first. "The Bruce and Scotland" were the words imprinted on their souls, +endowed with a power to awake the sinking heart, and rouse the fainting +frame.</p> + +<p>To Agnes and Nigel, it was shrewdly suspected, these wanderings in the +centre of magnificent nature, their hearts open to each other, revelling +in the scenes around them, were seasons of unalloyed enjoyment, +happiness more perfect than the state and restraint of a court. +Precarious, indeed, it was, but even in moments of danger they were not +parted; for Nigel was ever the escort of the Countess of Buchan, and +danger by his side lost half its terror to Agnes. He left her side but +to return to it covered with laurels, unharmed, uninjured, even in the +midst of foes; and so frequently did this occur, that the fond, +confiding spirit of the young Agnes folded itself around the belief that +he bore a charmed life; that evil and death could not injure one so +faultless and beloved. Their love grew stronger with each passing week; +for nature, beautiful nature, is surely the field of that interchange of +thought, for that silent commune of soul so dear to those that love. The +simplest flower, the gushing brooks, the frowning hills, the varied hues +attending the rising and the setting of the sun, all were turned to +poetry when the lips of Nigel spoke to the ears of love. The mind of +Agnes expanded before these rich communings. She was so young, so +guileless, her character moulded itself on his. She learned yet more to +comprehend, to appreciate the nobility of his soul, to cling yet closer +to him, as the consciousness of the rich treasure she possessed in his +love became more and more unfolded to her view. The natural fearfulness +of her disposition gave way, and the firmness, the enthusiasm of +purpose, took possession of her heart, secretly and silently, indeed; +for to all, save to herself, she was the same gentle, timid, clinging +girl that she had ever been.</p> + +<p>So passed the summer months; but as winter approached, and the prospects +of the king remained as apparently hopeless and gloomy as they were on +his first taking refuge in the mountains, it was soon pretty evident +that some other plan must be resorted to; for strong as the resolution +might be, the delicate frames of his female companions, already +suffering from the privations to which they had been exposed, could not +sus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>tain the intense cold and heavy snows peculiar to the mountain +region. Gallantly as the king had borne himself in every encounter with +the English and Anglo-Scots, sustaining with unexampled heroism repeated +defeats and blighted hopes, driven from one mountainous district by the +fierce opposition of its inhabitants, from another by a cessation of +supplies, till famine absolutely threatened, closely followed by its +grim attendant, disease, all his efforts to collect and inspire his +countrymen with his own spirit, his own hope, were utterly and entirely +fruitless, for his enemies appeared to increase around him, the autumn +found him as far, if not further, from the successful termination of his +desires than he had been at first.</p> + +<p>All Scotland lay at the feet of his foe. John of Lorn, maternally +related to the slain Red Comyn, had collected his forces to the number +of a thousand, and effectually blockaded his progress through the +district of Breadalbane, to which he had retreated from a superior body +of English, driving him to a narrow pass in the mountains, where the +Bruce's cavalry had no power to be of service; and had it not been for +the king's extraordinary exertions in guarding the rear, and there +checking the desperate fury of the assailants, and interrupting their +headlong pursuit of the fugitives, by a strength, activity, and +prudence, that in these days would seem incredible, the patriots must +have been cut off to a man. Here it was that the family of Lorn obtained +possession of that brooch of Bruce, which even to this day is preserved +as a relic, and lauded as a triumph, proving how nearly their redoubted +enemy had fallen into their hands. Similar struggles had marked his +progress through the mountains ever since the defeat of Methven; but +vain was every effort of his foes to obtain possession of his person, +destroy his energy, and thus frustrate his purpose. Perth, Inverness, +Argyle, and Aberdeen had alternately been the scene of his wanderings. +The middle of autumn found him with about a hundred followers, amongst +whom were the Countess of Buchan and her son, amid the mountains which +divide Kincardine from the southwest boundary of Aberdeen. The remainder +of his officers and men, divided into small bands, each with some of +their female companions under their especial charge, were scattered over +the different districts, as better adapted to concealment and rest.</p> + +<p>It was that part of the year when day gives place to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> night so suddenly, +that the sober calm of twilight even appears denied to us. The streams +rushed by, turbid and swollen from the heavy autumnal rains. A rude wind +had robbed most of the trees of their foliage; the sere and withered +leaves, indeed, yet remained on the boughs, beautiful even in, their +decay, but the slightest breath would carry them away from their +resting-places, and the mountain passes were incumbered, and often +slippery from the fallen leaves. The mountains looked frowning and bare, +the pine and fir bent and rocked in their craggy cradles, and the wind +moaned through their dark branches sadly and painfully. The sun had, +indeed, shone fitfully through the day, but still the scene was one of +melancholy desolation, and the heart of the Countess of Buchan, bold and +firm in general, could not successfully resist the influence of Nature's +sadness. She sat comparatively alone; a covering had, indeed, been +thrown over some thick poles, which interwove with brushwood, and with a +seat and couch of heather, which was still in flower, formed a rude +tent, and was destined for her repose; but until night's dark mantle was +fully unfurled, she had preferred the natural seat of a jutting crag, +sheltered from the wind by an overhanging rock and some spreading firs. +Her companions were scattered in different directions in search of food, +as was their wont. Some ten or fifteen men had been left with her, and +they were dispersed about the mountain collecting firewood, and a supply +of heath and moss for the night encampment; within hail, indeed, but +scarcely within sight, for the space where the countess sate commanded +little more than protruding crags and stunted trees, and mountains +lifting their dark, bare brows to the starless sky.</p> + +<p>It was not fear which had usurped dominion in the Lady Isabella's heart, +it was that heavy, sluggish, indefinable weight which sometimes clogs +the spirit we know not wherefore, until some event following quick upon +it forces us, even against our will, to believe it the overhanging +shadow of the future which had darkened the present. She was sad, very +sad, yet she could not, as was ever her custom, bring that sadness to +judgment, and impartially examining and determining its cause, remove it +if possible, or banish it resolutely from her thoughts.</p> + +<p>An impulse indefinable, yet impossible to be resisted, had caused her to +intrust her Agnes to the care of Lady Mary and Nigel, and compelled her +to follow her son, who had been the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> chosen companion of the king. +Rigidly, sternly, she had questioned her own heart as to the motives of +this decision. It was nothing new her accompanying her son, for she had +invariably done so; but it was something unusual her being separated +from the queen, and though her heart told her that her motives were so +upright, so pure, they could have borne the sternest scrutiny, there was +naught which the most rigid mentor could condemn, yet a feeling that +evil would come of this was amongst the many others which weighed on her +heart. She could not tell wherefore, yet she wished it had been +otherwise, wished the honor of being selected as the king's companion +had fallen on other than her son, for separate herself from him she +could not. One cause of this despondency might have been traced to the +natural sinking of the spirit when it finds itself alone, with time for +its own fancies, after a long period of exertion, and that mental +excitement which, unseen to all outward observers, preys upon itself. +Memory had awakened dreams and visions she had long looked upon as dead; +it did but picture brightly, beautifully, joyously what might have been, +and disturbed the tranquil sadness which was usual to her now; disturb +it as with phantasmagoria dancing on the brain, yet it was a struggle +hard and fierce to banish them again. As one sweet fancy sunk another +rose, even as gleams of moonlight on the waves which rise and fall with +every breeze. Fancy and reason strove for dominion, but the latter +conquered. What could be now the past, save as a vision of the night; +the present, a stern reality with all its duties—duties not alone to +others, but to herself. These were the things on which her thoughts must +dwell; these must banish all which might have been and they did; and +Isabella of Buchan came through that fiery ordeal unscathed, uninjured +in her self-esteem, conscious that not in one thought did she wrong her +husband, in not one dream did she wrong the gentle heart of the queen +which so clung to her; in not the wildest flight of fancy did she look +on Robert as aught save as the deliverer of his country, the king of all +true Scottish men.</p> + +<p>She rose up from that weakness of suffering, strengthened in her resolve +to use every energy in the queen's service in supporting, encouraging, +endeavoring so to work on her appreciation of her husband's character, +as to render her yet more worthy of his love. She had ever sought to +remain beside the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> queen, ever contrived they should be of the same +party; that her mind was ever on the stretch, on the excitement, could +not be denied, but she knew not how great its extent till the call for +exertion was comparatively over, and she found herself, she scarcely +understood how, the only female companion of her sovereign, the +situation she had most dreaded, most determined to avoid. While engaged +in the performance of her arduous task, the schooling her own heart and +devoting herself to Robert's wife, virtue seemed to have had its own +reward, for a new spirit had entwined her whole being—excitement, +internal as it was, had given a glow to thought and action; but in her +present solitude the reaction of spirit fell upon her as a dull, +sluggish weight of lead. She had suffered, too, from both privation and +fatigue, and she was aware her strength was failing, and this perhaps +was another cause of her depression; but be that as it may, darkness +closed round her unobserved, and when startled by some sudden sound, she +raised her head from her hands, she could scarcely discern one object +from another in the density of gloom. "Surely night has come suddenly +upon us," she said, half aloud; "it is strange they have not yet +returned," and rising, she was about seeking the tent prepared for her, +when a rude grasp was laid on her arm, and a harsh, unknown voice +uttered, in suppressed accents—</p> + +<p>"Not so fast, fair mistress, not so fast! My way does not lie in that +direction, and, with your leave, my way is yours."</p> + +<p>"How, man! fellow, detain me at your peril!" answered the countess, +sternly, permitting no trace of terror to falter in her voice, although +a drawn sword gleamed by her side, and a gigantic form fully armed had +grasped her arm. "Unhand me, or I will summon those that will force +thee. I am not alone, and bethink thee, insult to me will pass not with +impunity."</p> + +<p>The man laughed scornfully. "Boldly answered, fair one," he said; "of a +truth thou art a brave one. I grieve such an office should descend upon +me as the detention of so stout a heart; yet even so. In King Edward's +name, you are my prisoner."</p> + +<p>"Your prisoner, and wherefore?" demanded the countess believing that +calmness would be a better protection than any symptoms of fear. "You +are mistaken, good friend, I knew not Edward warred with women."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Prove my mistake, fair mistress, and I will crave your pardon," replied +the man, "We have certain intelligence that a party of Scottish rebels, +their quondam king perhaps among them, are hidden in these mountains. +Give us trusty news of their movements, show us their track, and Edward +will hold you in high favor, and grant liberty and rich presents in +excuse of his servant's too great vigilance. Hearest thou, what is the +track of these rebels—what their movements?"</p> + +<p>"Thou art a sorry fool, Murdock," retorted another voice, ere the +countess could reply, and hastily glancing around, she beheld herself +surrounded by armed men; "a sorry fool, an thou wastest the precious +darkness thus. Is not one rank rebel sufficient, think you, to satisfy +our lord? he will get intelligence enough out of her, be sure. Isabella +of Buchan is not fool enough to hold parley with such as we, rely on't."</p> + +<p>A suppressed exclamation of exultation answered the utterance of that +name, and without further parley the arms of the countess were strongly +pinioned, and with the quickness of thought the man who had first spoken +raised her in his arms, and bore her through the thickest brushwood and +wildest crags in quite the contrary direction to the encampment; their +movements accelerated by the fact that, ere her arms were confined, the +countess, with admirable presence of mind, had raised to her lips a +silver whistle attached to her girdle, and blown a shrill, distinct +blast. A moment sufficed to rudely tear it from her hand, and hurry her +off as we have said; and when that call was answered, which it was as +soon as the men scattered on the mountain sufficiently recognized the +sound, they flung down their tools and sprung to the side whence it +came, but there was no sign, no trace of her they sought; they scoured +with lighted torches every mossy path or craggy slope, but in vain; +places of concealment were too numerous, the darkness too intense, save +just the space illumined by the torch, to permit success. The trampling +of horses announced the return of the king and his companions, ere their +search was concluded; his bugle summoned the stragglers, and speedily +the loss of the countess was ascertained, their fruitless search +narrated, and anxiety and alarm spread over the minds of all. The agony +of the youthful Alan surpassed description, even the efforts of his +sovereign failed to calm him. Nor was the Bruce himself much less +agitated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She did wrong, she did wrong," he said, "to leave herself so long +unguarded; yet who was there to commit this outrage? There is some +treachery here, which we must sift; we must not leave our noble +countrywoman in the hands of these marauders. Trust me, Alan, we shall +recover her yet."</p> + +<p>But the night promised ill for the fulfilment of this trust. Many hours +passed in an utterly fruitless search, and about one hour before +midnight a thick fog increased the dense gloom, and even prevented all +assistance from the torches, for not ten yards before them was +distinguishable. Dispirited and disappointed, the king and his +companions threw themselves around the watchfires, in gloomy meditation, +starting at the smallest sound, and determined to renew their search +with the first gleam of dawn; the hurried pace of Alan, as he strode up +and down, for he could not rest, alone disturbing the stillness all +around.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<p>It was already two hours after midnight when a hurried tread, distinct +from Alan's restless pacing, disturbed the watchers, and occasioned many +to raise themselves on their elbows and listen.</p> + +<p>It came nearer and nearer, and very soon a young lad, recognized as Sir +Alan's page, was discerned, springing from crag to crag in breathless +haste, and finally threw himself at his sovereign's feet.</p> + +<p>"It is not too late—up, up, and save her!" were the only words he had +power to gasp, panting painfully for the breath of which speed had +deprived him. His hair and dress were heavy with the damp occasioned by +the fog, and his whole appearance denoting no common agitation.</p> + +<p>"Where?" "How?" "What knowest thou?" "Speak out." "What ailest thee, +boy?" were the eager words uttered at once by all, and the king and +others sprung to their feet, while Alan laid a heavy hand on the boy's +shoulder, and glared on him in silence; the lad's glance fell beneath +his, and he sobbed forth—</p> + +<p>"Mercy, mercy! my thoughtlessness has done this, yet I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> guessed not, +dreamed not this ill would follow. But oh, do not wait for my tale now; +up, up, and save her ere it be too late!"</p> + +<p>"And how may we trust thee now, an this is the effect of former +treachery?" demanded Robert, with a sternness that seemed to awe the +terrified boy into composure.</p> + +<p>"I am not treacherous, sire. No, no! I would have exposed my throat to +your grace's sword rather than do a traitor's deed: trust me, oh, trust +me, and follow without delay!"</p> + +<p>"Speak first, and clearly," answered Alan, fiercely; "even for my +mother's sake the sacred person of the King of Scotland shall not be +risked by a craven's word. Speak, an thou wouldst bid me trust +thee—speak, I charge thee."</p> + +<p>"He is right—he is right; let him explain this mystery ere we follow," +echoed round; and thus urged, the boy's tale was hurriedly told.</p> + +<p>It was simply this. Some days previous, when wandering alone about the +rocks, he had met a woodman, whom he recognized as one of the retainers +of Buchan, and, as such, believed him as loyal and faithful to King +Robert's interest as himself and others in the countess's train. The man +had artfully evaded all young Malcolm's expression of astonishment and +inquiries as to why Donald MacAlpine, whom he well knew to be one of the +stoutest and most sturdy men-at-arms which the clan possessed, should +have taken to so peaceful an employment as cutting wood, and skilfully +drew from the boy much information concerning the movements of the party +to whom he belonged. Malcolm freely spoke of Sir Alan and the Countess +of Buchan, dilating with no little pleasure on his young master having +received knighthood at the hand of his king, and all the honors and +delights which accompanied it. Aware, however, of the dangers which +environed the Bruce, he spoke of him more cautiously, and the more +Donald sought to discover if the king were near at hand, the more +carefully did Malcolm conceal that he was, telling the woodman if he +wished to know all particulars, he had better turn his sickle into a +spear, his cap into a helmet, and strike a good blow for Scotland and +King Robert. This the man refused to do, alleging he loved his own +sturdy person and independent freedom too well to run his neck into such +a noose; that King Robert might do very well for a while, but eventually +he must fall into King Edward's hands.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> Malcolm angrily denied this, and +they parted, not the best friends imaginable. On reviewing all that had +passed, the boy reproached himself incessantly for having said too much, +and was continually tormented by an indefinable fear that some evil +would follow. This fear kept him by the side of the countess, instead +of, as was his wont, following Sir Alan to the chase. The increasing +darkness had concealed her from him, but he was the first to distinguish +her whistle. He had reached the spot time enough to recognize the +supposed woodman in the second speaker, and to feel with painful +acuteness his boyish thoughtlessness had brought this evil on a +mistress, to serve whom he would willingly have laid down his life. +Resistance he knew, on his part, was utterly useless, and therefore he +determined to follow their track, and thus bring accurate intelligence +to the king. The minds of the men preoccupied by the thought of their +distinguished prisoner, and the thickening gloom, aided his resolution. +Happening to have a quantity of thick flax in his pocket, the boy, with +admirable foresight, fastened it to different shrubs and stones as he +passed, and thus secured his safe return; a precaution very necessary, +as from the windings and declivities, and in parts well-nigh impregnable +hollows, into which he followed the men, his return in time would have +been utterly frustrated.</p> + +<p>The gathering mist had occasioned a halt, and a consultation as to +whether they could reach the encampment to which they belonged, or +whether it would not be better to halt till dawn. They had decided in +favor of the latter, fearing, did they continue marching, they might +lose their track, and perhaps fall in with the foe. He had waited, he +said, till he saw them making such evident preparations for a halt of +some hours, that he felt certain they would not remove till daylight. It +was a difficult and precarious path, he said, yet he was quite sure he +could lead fifteen or twenty men easily to the spot, and, taken by +surprise, nothing would prevent the recovery of the countess: less than +two hours would take them there.</p> + +<p>This tale was told in less time than we have taken to transcribe it, and +not twenty minutes after Malcolm's first appearance, the king and Sir +Alan, with fifteen tried followers, departed on their expedition. There +had been some attempt to dissuade the king from venturing his own person +where further treachery might yet lurk, but the attempt was vain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She has perilled her life for me," was his sole answer, "and were there +any real peril, mine would be hazarded for her; but there is none—'tis +but a child's work we are about to do, not even glory enough to call for +envy."</p> + +<p>The fog had sufficiently cleared to permit of their distinguishing the +route marked out by Malcolm, but not enough to betray their advance, +even had there been scouts set to watch the pass. Not a word passed +between them. Rapidly, stealthily they advanced, and about three in the +morning stood within sight of their foes, though still unseen +themselves. There was little appearance of caution: two large fires had +been kindled, round one of which ten or twelve men were stretched their +full length, still armed indeed, and their hands clasping their +unsheathed swords, but their senses fast locked in slumber. Near the +other, her arms and feet pinioned, Alan, with a heart beating almost +audibly with indignation, recognized his mother. Two men, armed with +clubs, walked up and down beside her, and seven others were grouped in +various attitudes at her feet, most of them fast asleep. It was evident +that they had no idea of surprise, and that their only fear was +associated with the escape of their prisoner.</p> + +<p>"They are little more than man to man," said the Bruce; "therefore is +there no need for further surprise than will attend the blast of your +bugle, Sir Alan. Sound the reveillé, and on to the rescue."</p> + +<p>He was obeyed, and the slumberers, with suppressed oaths, started to +their feet, glancing around them a brief minute in inquiring +astonishment as to whence the sound came. It was speedily explained: man +after man sprang through the thicket, and rushed upon the foes, several +of whom, gathering themselves around their prisoner, seemed determined +that her liberty should not be attained with her life, more than once +causing the swords of the Bruce's followers to turn aside in their rapid +descent, less they should injure her they sought to save. Like a young +lion Alan fought, ably seconded by the king, whose gigantic efforts +clearing his path, at length enabled himself and Alan to stand uninjured +beside the countess, and thus obtain possession of her person, and guard +her from the injury to which her captors voluntarily exposed her. There +was at first no attempt at flight, although the Bruce's men carried all +before them; the men fell where they stood, till only five re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>mained, +and these, after a moment's hesitation, turned and fled. A shrill cry +from Malcolm had turned the king's and Alan's attention in another +direction, and it was well they did so. Determined on foiling the +efforts of his foes, Donald MacAlpine, who was supposed to be among the +fallen, had stealthily approached the spot where the countess, overcome +with excessive faintness, still reclined, then noiselessly rising, his +sword was descending on her unguarded head, when Alan, aroused by +Malcolm's voice, turned upon him and dashed his weapon from his grasp, +at the same minute that the Bruce's sword pierced the traitor's heart: +he sprung in the air with a loud yell of agony, and fell, nearly +crushing the countess with his weight.</p> + +<p>It was the voice of Alan which aroused that fainting heart. It was in +the bosom of her son those tearful eyes were hid, after one startled and +bewildered gaze on the countenance of her sovereign, who had been +leaning over her in unfeigned anxiety. A thicket of thorn, mingled with +crags, divided her from the unseemly signs of the late affray; but +though there was naught to renew alarm, it was with a cold shudder she +had clung to her son, as if even her firm, bold spirit had given way. +Gently, cheeringly the king addressed her, and she evidently struggled +to regain composure; but her powers of body were evidently so +prostrated, that her friends felt rest of some kind she must have, ere +she could regain sufficient strength to accompany them on their +wanderings. She had received three or four wounds in the mêlée, which +though slight, the loss of blood that had followed materially increased +her weakness, and the king anxiously summoned his friends around him to +deliberate on the best measures to pursue.</p> + +<p>Amongst them were two of Sir Alan's retainers, old and faithful Scottish +men, coeval with his grandfather, the late Earl of Buchan. Devoted alike +to the countess, the king, and their country, they eagerly listened to +all that was passing, declaring that rather than leave the Lady Isabella +in a situation of such danger as the present, they would take it by +turns to carry her in their arms to the encampment. The king listened +with a benevolent smile.</p> + +<p>"Is there no hut or house, or hunting-lodge to which we could convey +your lady," he asked, "where she might find quieter shelter and greater +rest than hitherto? An ye knew of such, it would be the wiser plan to +seek it at break of day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>A hunting-lodge, belonging to the Earls of Buchan, there was, or ought +to be, the old men said, near the head of the Tay, just at the entrance +of Athol Forest. It had not been used since their old master's days; he +had been very partial to it when a boy, and was continually there; it +had most likely fallen into decay from disuse, as they believed the +present earl did not even know of its existence, but that was all the +better, as it would be a still more safe and secure retreat for the +countess, and they were sure, when once out of the hollows and +intricacies of their present halting-place, they could easily discover +the path to it.</p> + +<p>And how long did they think it would be, the king inquired, before their +lady could be taken to it? the sooner, they must perceive as well as +himself, the better for her comfort. He was relieved when they declared +that two days, or at the very utmost three, would bring them there, if, +as the old men earnestly entreated he would, they retraced their steps +to the encampment as soon as daylight was sufficiently strong for them +clearly to distinguish their path. This was unanimously resolved on, and +the few intervening hours were spent by the countess in calm repose.</p> + +<p>Conscious that filial affection watched over her, the sleep of the +countess tranquillized her sufficiently to commence the return to the +encampment with less painful evidences of exhaustion. A rude litter +waited for her, in which she could recline when the pass allowed its +safe passage, and which could be easily borne by the bearers when the +intricacies of the path prevented all egress save by pedestrianism. It +had been hurriedly made by her devoted adherents, and soothed and +gratified, her usual energy seemed for the moment to return. By nine +o'clock forenoon all traces of the Bruce and his party had departed from +the glen, the last gleam of their armor was lost in the winding path, +and then it was that a man, who had lain concealed in a thicket from the +moment of the affray, hearing all that had passed, unseen himself, now +slowly, cautiously raised himself on his knees, gazed carefully round +him, then with a quicker but as silent motion sprung to his feet, and +raised his hands in an action of triumph.</p> + +<p>"<i>He is</i> amongst them, then," he muttered, "the traitor Bruce himself. +This is well. The countess, her son, find the would-be king—ha! ha! My +fortune's made!" and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> bounded away in quite a contrary direction to +that taken by the Bruce.</p> + +<p>The old retainers of Buchan were correct in their surmises. The evening +of the second day succeeding the event we have narrated brought them to +the hunting-lodge. It was indeed very old, and parts had fallen almost +to ruins, but there were still three or four rooms remaining, whose +compact walls and well-closed roofs rendered them a warm and welcome +refuge for the Countess of Buchan, whose strenuous exertions the two +preceding days had ended, as was expected, by exhaustion more painful +and overpowering than before.</p> + +<p>The exertions of her friends—for the Bruce and his followers with one +consent had permitted their wanderings to be guided by the old +men—speedily rendered the apartments habitable. Large fires were soon +blazing on the spacious hearths, and ere night fell, all appearance of +damp and discomfort had vanished. The frugal supper was that night a +jovial meal; the very look of a cheerful blaze beneath a walled roof was +reviving to the wanderers; the jest passed round, the wine-cup sparkled +to the health of the countess, and many a fervent aspiration echoed +round for the speedy restoration of her strength; for truly she was the +beloved, the venerated of all, alike from her sovereign to his lowest +follower.</p> + +<p>"Trust my experience, my young knight," had been the Bruce's address to +Alan ere they parted for the night. "A few days' complete repose will +quite restore your valued parent and my most honored friend. This +hunting-lodge shall be our place of rendezvous for a time, till she is +sufficiently restored to accompany us southward. You are satisfied, are +you not, with the diligence of our scouts?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, your highness," was Alan's reply; for well-tried and +intelligent men had been sent in every direction to discover, if +possible, to what party of the enemy the captors of the Lady Isabella +belonged, and to note well the movements and appearance, not only of any +martial force, but of the country people themselves. They had executed +their mission as well as the intricate passes and concealed hollows of +the mountains permitted, and brought back the welcome intelligence, that +for miles round the country was perfectly clear, and to all appearance +peaceful. The hunting-lodge, too, was so completely hidden by dark woods +of pine and overhanging crags, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> even had there been foes prowling +about the mountains, they might pass within twenty yards of its vicinity +and yet fail to discover it. The very path leading to the bottom of the +hollow in which it stood was concealed at the entrance by thick shrubs +and an arch of rock, which had either fallen naturally into that shape, +or been formed by the architects of the lodge. It seemed barely possible +that the retreat could be discovered, except by the basest treachery, +and therefore the king and Sir Alan felt perfectly at rest regarding the +safety of the countess, even though they could only leave with her a +guard of some twenty or thirty men.</p> + +<p>So much was she refreshed the following morning, that the hopes of her +son brightened, and with that filial devotion so peculiarly his +characteristic, he easily obtained leave of absence from his sovereign, +to remain by the couch of his mother for at least that day, instead of +accompanying him, as was his wont, in the expeditions of the day. The +countess combated this decision, but in vain. Alan was resolved. He was +convinced, he said, her former capture, and all its ill consequences, +would not have taken place had he been by her side; and even were she +not now exposed to such indignity, she would be lonely and sad without +him, and stay, in consequence, he would. The king and his officers +approved of the youth's resolution, and reluctantly Isabella yielded.</p> + +<p>About two hours before noon the Bruce and his companions departed, +desiring Sir Alan not to expect their return till near midnight, as they +intended penetrating a part of the country which had not yet been +explored; they might be a few hours sooner, but they scarcely expected +it. It was afterwards remembered that a peculiar expression of sadness +overclouded the countenance of the countess, as for a moment she fixed +her speaking eyes on the king's face when he cheerfully bade her +farewell, and said, in a low emphatic voice—</p> + +<p>"Farewell, sire! It may be the hour of meeting is longer deferred than +we either of us now believe. Fain would I beseech your grace to grant me +one boon, make me but one promise ere you depart."</p> + +<p>"Any boon, any promise that our faithful friend and subject can demand, +is granted ere 'tis asked," answered the king, without a moment's pause, +though startled alike at the expression of her features and the sadness +of her voice. "Gladly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> would we give any pledge that could in any way +bespeak our warm sense of thy true merit, lady, therefore speak, and +fear not."</p> + +<p>"'Tis simply this, sire," she said, and her voice was still mournful, +despite her every effort to prevent its being so. "Should unforeseen +evil befall me, captivity, danger of death, or aught undreamed of now, +give me your royal word as a knight and king, that you will not peril +your sacred person, and with it the weal and liberty of our unhappy +country, for my sake, but leave me to my fate; 'tis a strange and +fanciful boon, yet, gracious sovereign, refuse it not. I mean not +treachery such as we have encountered, where your grace's noble +gallantry rescued me with little peril to yourself. No; I mean other and +greater danger; where I well know that rather than leave me exposed to +the wrath of my husband and Edward of England, you would risk your own +precious life, and with it the liberty of Scotland. Grant me this boon, +my liege, and perchance this heavy weight upon my spirit will pass and +leave me free."</p> + +<p>"Nay, 'tis such a strange and unknightly promise, lady, how may I pledge +my word to its fulfilment?" answered Robert, gravely and sadly. "You bid +me pledge mine honor to a deed that will stain my name with an +everlasting infamy, that even the liberty of Scotland will not wash +away. How may I do this thing? You press me sorely, lady. Even for thee, +good and faithful as thou art, how may I hurt my knightly fame?"</p> + +<p>"Sire, thou wilt not," she returned, still more entreatingly; "thy +brilliant fame, thy noble name, will never—can never, receive a stain. +I do but ask a promise whose fulfilment may never be demanded. I do but +bid thee remember thou art not only a knight, a noble, a king, but one +by whom the preservation, the independence of our country can alone be +achieved—one on whose safety and freedom depends the welfare of a +nation, the unchained glory of her sons. Were death thy portion, +Scotland lies a slave forever at the feet of England, and therefore is +it I do beseech thee, King of Scotland, make me this pledge. I know thy +noble spirit well, and I know thy too chivalric honor would blind thee +to a sense of danger, to a sense of country, duty, glory, of all save +the rescue of one who, though she be faithful to thee and to her +country, is but as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> drop of water in the ocean, compared to other +claims. My liege, thy word is already in part pledged," she continued, +more proudly. "Any pledge or promise I might demand is granted ere it is +asked, your highness deigned to say; thou canst not retract it now."</p> + +<p>"And wherefore shouldst thou, royal brother?" cheeringly interrupted +Alexander Bruce. "The Lady Isahella asks not unreasonably; she does but +suggest <i>what may be</i>, although that may be is, as we all know, next to +impossible, particularly now when nature has fortified this pleasant +lodge even as would a garrison of some hundred men. Come, be not so +churlish in thy favors, good my liege; give her the pledge she demands, +and be sure its fulfilment will never be required."</p> + +<p>"Could I but think so," he replied, still gravely. "Lady, I do entreat +thee, tell me wherefore thou demandest this strange boon; fearest thou +evil—dreamest thou aught of danger hovering near? If so, as there is a +God in heaven, I will not go forth to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, gracious sovereign," answered Isabella, evasively; "I ask +it, because since the late adventure there has been a weight upon my +spirit as if I, impotent, of little consequence as I am, yet even I +might be the means of hurling down evil on thy head, and through thee on +Scotland; and, therefore, until thy promise to the effect I have +specified is given, I cannot, I will not rest—even though, as Lord +Alexander justly believes, its fulfilment will never be required. Evil +here, my liege, trust me, cannot be; therefore go forth in confidence. I +fear not to await your return, e'en should I linger here alone. Grant +but my boon."</p> + +<p>"Nay, an it must be, lady, I promise all thou demandest," answered +Bruce, more cheerfully, for her words reassured him; "but, by mine +honor, thou hast asked neither well nor kindly. Remember, my pledge is +passed but for real danger, and that only for Scotland's sake, not for +mine own; and now farewell, lady. I trust, ere we meet again, these +depressing fancies will have left thee."</p> + +<p>"They have well-nigh departed now, my liege; 'twas simply for thee and +Scotland these heavy bodings oppressed me. My son," she added, after a +brief pause, "I would your highness could prevail on him to accompany +you to-day. Wherefore should he stay with me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wherefore not rather, lady?" replied the king, smiling. "I may not +leave thee to thine own thoughts to weave fresh boons like to the last. +No, no! our young knight must guard thee till we meet again," and with +these words he departed. They did not, however, deter the countess from +resuming her persuasions to Alan to accompany his sovereign, but without +success. Isabella of Buchan had, however, in this instance departed from +her usual strict adherence to the truth, she did not feel so secure that +no evil would befall her in the absence of the Bruce, as she had +endeavored to make him believe.</p> + +<p>Some words she had caught during her brief captivity caused her, she +scarcely knew why, to believe that the Earl of Buchan himself was in the +neighborhood; nay, that the very party which had captured her were +members of the army under his command. She had gathered, too, that it +was a very much larger force than the king's, and therefore it was that +she had made no objection to Robert's wish that she should rest some few +days in the hunting-lodge. She knew that, however her failing strength +might detain and harass their movements, Bruce and his followers would +never consent to leave her, unless, as in the present case, under a +comparatively comfortable roof and well-concealed shelter; and she knew, +too, that however she might struggle to accompany them in their +wanderings, the struggle in her present exhausted state would be utterly +in vain, and lingering for her might expose her sovereign to a renewal +of the ills with which he had already striven so nobly, and perchance to +yet more irreparable misfortune. The information of the scouts had +partially reassured her, at least to the fact that no immediate danger +was to be apprehended, and for a while she indulged the hope that safety +might be found in this hidden spot until the peril passed. She had full +confidence in the fidelity of the old retainers who had guided them to +the spot, and sought to feel satisfied that its vicinity was unknown to +the earl, her husband; but, whether from the restlessness of a slight +degree of fever, or from that nervous state of mind attendant on +worn-out strength, ere the Bruce departed the same foreboding came on +her again, and all her desire was the absence of her sovereign and his +followers, to have some hold upon his almost too exalted sense of +chivalry, which would prevent any rash act of daring on his part; and +this, as we have seen, she obtained.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>Could she but have prevailed on her son to accompany them, she would +calmly and resignedly have awaited her fate, whatever it might be; but +the horror of beholding him a prisoner in the hands of his father—that +father perhaps so enraged at the boy's daring opposition to his will and +political opinions, that he would give him up at once to the wrath of +Edward—was a picture of anguish from which her mind revolted in such +intense suffering, she could not rest. She strove with the fancy; she +sought to rouse every energy, to feel secure in her present +resting-place. But who can resist the influence of feelings such as +these? What mother's heart cannot enter into the emotions of Isabella of +Buchan, as she gazed on her noble boy, improved as he was in manliness +and beauty, and with the dread anticipation of evil, believing only +absence could protect him; that perchance the very love which kept him +by her side would expose him to danger, imprisonment, and death? She did +not speak her fears, but Alan vainly sought to soothe that unwonted +restlessness. She had endeavored to secure the Bruce's safety by the aid +of Malcolm, the young page, by whose instrumentality she had been both +captured and released. Taking advantage of Sir Alan's absence, she had +called the boy to her side, and made him promise that, at the first +manifest sign of danger, he would make his escape, which, by his extreme +agility and address, would easily be achieved, seek the king, and give +him exact information of the numbers, strength, and situation of the +foes, reminding him, at the same time, of his solemn pledge. She made +him promise the profoundest secrecy, and adjured him at all hazards to +save the king.</p> + +<p>The boy, affected by the solemnity of her manner, promised faithfully to +observe her minutest sign, and on the re-entrance of Sir Alan departed, +to marvel wherefore his lady should so have spoken, and examine the +localities around, as to the best means of concealment and escape.</p> + +<p>The hours waned, and night fell, as is usual in October, some five hours +after noon, the gloom perhaps greatly increased by the deep shades in +which their place of concealment lay. Sir Alan roused the fire to a +cheerful blaze, and lighting a torch of pine-wood, placed it in an iron +bracket projecting from the wall, and amused himself by polishing his +arms, and talking in that joyous tone his mother so loved, on every +subject that his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> affection fancied might interest and amuse her. He was +wholly unarmed, except his sword, which, secured to his waist by a +crimson sash, he never laid aside; and fair and graceful to his mother's +eye did he look in his simple doublet of Lincoln-green, cut and slashed +with ruby velvet, his dark curls clustering round his bare throat, and +his bright face beaming in all the animation of youth and health, +spiritualized by the deeper feelings of his soul; and she, too, was +still beautiful, though her frame was slighter, her features more +attenuated than when we first beheld her. He had insisted on her +reclining on the couch, and drawn from her otherwise painful thoughts by +his animated sallies, smiles circled her pale lip, and her sorrows were +a while forgotten.</p> + +<p>An hour, perhaps rather more, elapsed, and found the mother and son +still as we have described, There had been no sound without, but about +that period many heavy footsteps might have been distinguished, +cautiously, it seemed, advancing. Alan started up and listened; the +impatient neigh of a charger was heard, and then voices suppressed, yet, +as he fancied, familiar.</p> + +<p>"King Robert returned already!" he exclaimed; "they must have had an +unusually successful chase. I must e'en seek them and inquire."</p> + +<p>"Alan! my child!" He started at the voice, it was so unlike his +mother's. She had risen and flung her arm around him with a pressure so +convulsive, he looked at her with terror. There was no time to answer; a +sudden noise usurped the place of the previous stillness—a struggle—a +heavy fall; the door was flung rudely open, and an armed man stood upon +the threshold, his vizor up, but even had it not been, the heart of the +countess too truly told her she gazed upon her husband!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + + +<p>A brief pause followed the entrance of this unexpected visitor. Standing +upon the threshold, his dark brow knit, his eyes fixed on his prisoners, +the Earl of Buchan stood a few minutes immovable. Alan saw but a +mail-clad warrior, more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> fierce and brutal in appearance than the +generality of their foes, and felt, with all that heart-sinking +despondency natural to youth, that they were betrayed, that resistance +was in vain, for heavier and louder grew the tramp of horse and man, and +the narrow passage, discernible through the open door, was filled with +steel-clad forms, their drawn swords glancing in the torchlight, their +dark brows gleaming in ill-concealed triumph. Alan was still a boy in +years, despite his experience as a warrior, and in the first agony of +this discovery, the first dream of chains and captivity, when his young +spirit revelled in the thought of freedom, and joyed as a bird in the +fresh air of mount and stream, weaving bright hopes, not exile or +wandering could remove, his impulse had been to dash his useless sword +in anguish to the earth, and weep; but the sight of his mother checked +that internal weakness. He felt her convulsive clasp; he beheld the +expression on her features,—how unlike their wont—terror, suffering, +whose <i>entire</i> cause he vainly endeavored to define, and he roused +himself for her. And she, did she see more than her son? She <i>knew</i> that +face, and as she gazed, she felt hope had departed; she beheld naught +but a long, endless vista of anguish; yet she felt not for herself, she +thought but of her child. And the earl, can we define his exulting +mood?—it was the malice, the triumph of a fiend.</p> + +<p>"Who and what art thou?" demanded Alan, fiercely, laying his right hand +on his sword, and with the left firmly clasping his mother's waist. +"What bold knight and honorable chevalier art thou, thus seeking by +stealth the retreat of a wanderer, and overpowering by numbers and +treachery men, who on the field thou and such as thou had never dared to +meet?"</p> + +<p>The earl laughed; that bitter, biting laugh of contempt and triumph so +difficult to bear.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast a worthy tongue, my pretty springald," said he; "canst thou +use thy sword as bravely? Who and what am I? ask of the lady thou hast +so caressingly encircled with thine arm, perchance she can give thee +information."</p> + +<p>Alan started, a cold thrill passed through his frame, as the real cause +of his mother's terror flashed on his mind; her lips, parched and +quivering, parted as to speak, but there was no sound.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he said, "mother, speak to thy son. Why, why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> art thou thus? +it is not the dread of imprisonment, of death. No, no; they have no +terrors for such as thee. Who is this man?"</p> + +<p>Engrossed in his own agitation, Alan had not heard the muttered +exclamation which burst from Buchan's lips with his first words, for +great was the earl's surprise as he looked on his son; the impression he +was still a child had remained on his mind despite all reports to the +contrary, but no softer feeling obtained dominion.</p> + +<p>"Who and what am I?" he continued, after a brief pause. "Wouldst thou +know, Alan of Buchan? Even a faithful knight, soldier, and subject of +his Royal Highness Edward, king of England and Scotland, and +consequently thy foe; the insulted and dishonored husband of the woman +thou callest mother, and consequently thy father, young man. Ha! have I +spoken home? Thy sword, thy sword; acknowledge thy disloyalty to thy +father and king, and for thee all may yet be well."</p> + +<p>"Never!" answered Alan, proudly, the earl's concluding words rousing the +spirit which the knowledge of beholding his father and the emotion of +his mother seemed to have crushed. "Never, Lord of Buchan! for father I +cannot call thee. Thou mayest force me to resign my sword, thou mayest +bring me to the block, but acknowledge allegiance to a foreign tyrant, +who hath no claims on Scotland or her sons, save those of hate and +detestation, that thou canst never do, even if thy sword be pointed at +my heart."</p> + +<p>"Boy!" burst from the earl's lips, in accents of irrepressible rage, but +he checked himself; "thou hast learned a goodly lesson of disobedience +and daring, of a truth, and I should tender grateful thanks to thy most +worthy, most efficient and virtuous teacher," he added, in his own +bitterly sarcastic tone. "The Lady Isabella deems, perchance, she has +done her duty to her husband in placing a crown on the head of his +hereditary and hated foe, and leading his son in the same path of +rebellion and disloyalty, and giving his service to the murderer of his +kinsman."</p> + +<p>"Earl of Buchan, I have done my duty alike to my country and my son," +replied the countess, her high spirit roused by the taunts of her +husband. "According to the dictates of my conscience, mine honor as a +Scottish woman, the mother of a Scottish warrior, I have done my duty, +and neither imprison<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>ment, nor torture, nor death will bid me retract +those principles, or waver in my acknowledgment of Scotland and her +king. Pardon me, my lord; but there is no rebellion in resisting the +infringement of a tyrant, no disloyalty in raising the standard against +Edward, for there is no treason when there is no lawful authority; and +by what right is Edward of England king of Scotland? Lord of Buchan, I +have done my duty. As my father taught <i>me</i> I have taught my child!"</p> + +<p>"Regarding, of course, madam, all which that child's father would have +taught him, particularly that most Christian virtue returning good for +evil, as in the fact of revenging the death of a kinsman with the gift +of a crown. Oh! thou hast done well, most intrinsically well."</p> + +<p>"I own no relationship with a traitor," burst impetuously from Alan. +"Sir John Comyn was honored in his death, for the sword of the Bruce was +too worthy a weapon for the black heart of a traitor. Lord of Buchan, we +are in thy power, it is enough. Hadst thou wished thy son to imbibe thy +peculiar principles, to forget his country and her lights, it had been +better perchance hadst thou remembered thou hadst a child—a son. Had +the duty of a father been performed, perchance I had not now forgotten +mine as a son! As it is, we stand as strangers and as foes. Against thee +in truth I will not raise my sword; but further, we are severed and +forever!" He crossed his arms proudly on his bosom, and returned the +dark, scowling glance of his father with a flashing eye, and a mien as +firm and nobler than his own.</p> + +<p>"It is well, young man; I thank you for my freedom," returned the earl, +between his teeth. "As my son, I might stand between thee and Edward's +wrath; as a stranger and my foe, why, whatever his sentence be—the axe +and block without doubt—let it work, it will move me little."</p> + +<p>"Heed not his rash words, in mercy, heed them not!" exclaimed the +countess, her voice of agony contrasting strangely with its former proud +reserve. "Neglected, forgotten him as thou hast, yet, Lord of Buchan, he +is still thy son. Oh, in mercy, expose him not to the deadly wrath of +Edward! thou canst save him, thou canst give him freedom. It is I—I who +am the attainted traitor, not my child. Give me up to Edward, and he +will heed not, ask not for thy son. It is I who have offended him and +thee, not my child. Art thou not a Scottish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> noble, descendant of a +house as purely loyal and devoted to their country as mine own—art thou +not indeed this man, and yet hath Edward, the deadly foe of thy race, +thy land, thy countrymen, more exalted claims than thine own blood? No, +no, it cannot be! thou wilt relent, thou wilt have mercy; let him be but +free, and do with me even what thou wilt!"</p> + +<p>"Free! go free!" repeated the earl, with a hoarse laugh, ere Alan could +interfere. "Let him go free, forsooth, when he tells me he is my foe, +and will go hence and join my bitterest enemies the moment he is free. +Go free! and who art thou who askest this boon? Hast thou such claims +upon me, that for thy pleasure I should give freedom to thy son?"</p> + +<p>"My lord, my lord, 'tis for thine own sake, for his, thy child as well +as mine, I do beseech, implore thy mercy? draw not the curse of heaven +on thy heart by exposing him to death. Thou wilt know and feel him as +indeed thy child when he lies bleeding before thee, when thine own hand +hath forged the death-bolt, and then, then it will be too late; thou +wilt yearn for his voice in vain. Oh! is it not sufficient triumph to +have in thy power the wife who hath dared thy authority, who hath joined +the patriot band, and so drawn down on her the vengeance of Edward? The +price of a traitor is set upon her head. My lord, my lord, is not one +victim enough—will not my capture insure thee reward and honor in the +court of Edward? Then do with me what thou wilt—chains, torture, death; +but my child, my brave boy—oh, if thou hast one spark of mercy in thy +heart, let him go!"</p> + +<p>"Mother," hoarsely murmured Alan, as he strove to raise her from her +suppliant posture, "mother, this shall not be! look upon that face and +know thou pleadest in vain. I will not accept my freedom at such a +price; thy knee, thy supplications unto a heart of stone, for me! No, +no; mother, dear mother, we will die together!"</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, my beloved, my beautiful! thy death +will be on my head, though it come from a father's hand. I will plead, I +will be heard! My lord, my lord," she continued, wrought to a pitch of +agonized feeling, no heart save that to which she pleaded could have +heard unmoved, "I ask but his freedom, the freedom of a boy, a +child—and of whom do I ask it?—of his father, his own father! Speak to +me, answer me; thou canst not be so lost to the voice, the feelings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> of +nature. For the sake of the mother who loved, the father who blessed +<i>thee</i>, whose blessing hallowed our union and smiled on our infant boy, +have mercy on me, on thyself—let him, oh, let him be free!"</p> + +<p>"Mercy on thee, thou false and perjured woman!" the earl burst forth, +the cold sarcastic expression with which he had at first listened to her +impassioned entreaties giving way to the fearful index of ungoverned +rage; "on thee, thou false traitress, not alone to thy husband's +principles but to his honor! Do I not know thee, minion—do I not know +the motives of thy conduct in leaving thy husband's castle for the court +of Bruce? Patriotism, forsooth—patriotism, ha! the patriotism that had +vent in giving and receiving love from him; it was so easy to do homage +to him in public as thy king. Oh, most rare and immaculate specimen of +female loyalty and virtue, I know thee well!"</p> + +<p>"Man!" answered the countess, springing from her knee, and standing +before him with a mien and countenance of such majestic dignity, that +for a brief moment it awed even him, and her bewildered son gazed at her +with emotions of awe, struggling with surprise.</p> + +<p>"Ha! faithless minion, thou bravest it well," continued Buchan, +determined on evincing no faltering in his purpose, "but thou bravest it +in vain; dishonored thou art, and hast been, aye, from the time thy +minion Robert visited thee in Buchan Tower, and lingered with thee the +months he had disappeared from Edward's court. Would Isabella of Buchan +have rendered homage to any other bold usurper, save her minion Robert? +Would the murder of a Comyn have passed unavenged by her had the +murderer been other than her gallant Bruce? Would Isabella of Buchan be +here, the only female in the Bruce's train—for I know that he is with +thee—were loyalty and patriotism her only motive? Woman, I know thee! I +know that thou didst love him, ere that false hand and falser heart were +given to me; thy lips spoke perfidy when they vowed allegiance at the +altar; and shall I have mercy on thy son, for such as thee? Mercy! ha, +have I silenced thy eloquence now?"</p> + +<p>"Silenced, false, blasphemous villain!" vociferated Alan, every other +feeling lost in the whirlwind of passion, and springing on the earl, +with his drawn sword. "'Tis thou who art<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the false and faithless—thou +who art lost to every feeling of honor and of truth. Thy words are false +as hell, from whence they spring!"</p> + +<p>"Alan, by the love thou bearest me, I charge thee put up thy sword—it +is thy father!" exclaimed, the countess, commandingly, and speaking the +last word in a tone that thrilled to the boy's heart. He checked himself +in his full career; he snapped his drawn sword in twain, he cast it +passionately from him, and uttering, convulsively, "Oh God, oh God, my +father!" flung himself in agony on the ground. With arms folded and the +smile of a demon on his lip the earl had awaited his attack, but there +was disappointment within, for his foul charge had failed in its +intended effect. Prouder, colder, more commandingly erect had become the +mein of the countess as he spoke, till she even appeared to increase in +stature; her flashing eyes had never moved from his face, till his fell +beneath them; her lip had curled, his cheek had flushed: powerful indeed +became the contrast between the accused and the accuser.</p> + +<p>"Arise, my son," she said, "arise and look upon thy mother; her brow +even as her heart is unstained with shame; she fears not to meet the +glance of her child. Look up, my boy; I speak these words to <i>thee</i>, not +to that bold, bad man, who hath dared unite the name of a daughter of +Fife with shame. He hath no word either of exculpation, denial, or +assent from me. But to thee, my child, my young, my innocent child, +thee, whose ear, when removed from me, they may strive to poison with +false tales, woven with such skill that hadst thou not thy mother's +word, should win thee to belief—to thee I say, look on me, Alan—is +this a brow of guilt?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no, I will not look on thee, my mother! I need not to gaze on +thee to know the horrid falsity of the charge," answered Alan, flinging +his arms passionately around his mother. "Did I never see thee more, +never list that voice again, and did all the fiends of hell come around +me with their lies, I would not hear, much less believe such charge. No, +no! oh God, 'tis my father, speaks it! Father—and my hand is powerless +to avenge."</p> + +<p>"I need not vengeance, my beloved; grieve not, weep not that thy hand is +chained, and may not defend thy mother's stainless name; I need it not. +My heart is known unto my God, my innocence to thee; his blessing rest +with thee, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> beautiful, and give thee strength for all thou mayest +endure."</p> + +<p>She bent down to kiss his brow, which was damp with the dew of intense +anguish. He started up, he gave one long look on her calm and noble +face, and then he flung himself in her arms, and sobbed like a child on +her bosom. It was a fearful moment for that woman heart; had she been +alone with her child, both nerve and spirit must have given way, but +fortunately, perhaps, for the preservation of her fortitude, the Earl of +Buchan was still the witness of that scene, triumphing in the sufferings +he had caused. The countess did indeed fold her boy convulsively to her +breast, but she did not bend her head on his, as Nature prompted; it was +still erect; her mien majestic still, and but a slight quivering in her +beautiful lip betrayed emotion.</p> + +<p>"Be firm; be thy noble self," she said. "Forget not thou art a knight +and soldier amid the patriots of Scotland. And now a while, farewell."</p> + +<p>She extricated herself with some difficulty from his embrace; she paused +not to gaze again upon the posture of overwhelming despondency in which +he had sunk, but with a step quick and firm advanced to the door.</p> + +<p>"Whither goest thou, madam?" demanded the earl fiercely. "Bold as thou +art, it is well to know thou art a prisoner, accused of high treason +against King Edward."</p> + +<p>"I need not your lordship's voice to give me such information," she +answered, proudly. "Methinks these armed followers are all-sufficient +evidence. Guard me, aye, confine me with fetters an thou wilt, but in +thy presence thou canst not force me to abide."</p> + +<p>"Bid a last farewell to thy son, then, proud minion," he replied, with +fiendish malignity; "for an ye part now, it is forever. Ye see him not +again."</p> + +<p>"Then be it so," she rejoined; "we shall meet where falsehood and +malignant hate can never harm us more," and with a gesture of dignity, +more irritating to the earl than the fiercest demonstration of passion, +she passed the threshold. A sign from Buchan surrounded her with guards, +and by them she was conducted to a smaller apartment, which was first +carefully examined as to any concealed means of escape, and then she was +left alone, a strong guard stationed at the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first few minutes after the disappearance of the countess were +passed by her husband in rapidly striding up and down the room, by her +son, in the same posture of mute and motionless anguish in which she had +left him. There is no need to define that suffering, his peculiar +situation is all-sufficient to explain it. Hurriedly securing the door +from all intruders, the earl at length approached his son.</p> + +<p>"Wouldst thou be free?" he said, abruptly. "Methinks thou art young +enough still to love liberty better than chains, and perchance death. +Speak, I tell thee; wouldst thou be free?"</p> + +<p>"Free!" answered Alan, raising his head, with flashing eye and burning +cheek; "would I be free? Ask of the chained lion, the caged bird, and +they will tell thee the greenwood and forest glade are better, dearer, +even though the chain were gemmed, the prison gilded. Would I be free? +Thou knowest that I would."</p> + +<p>"Swear, then, that thou wilt quit Scotland, and vow fealty to Edward; +that never more will thy sword be raised save against the contemned and +hated Bruce. Be faithful but to me and to King Edward, and thou shalt be +free."</p> + +<p>"Never!" answered Alan, proudly. "Earl of Buchan, I accept no conditions +with my freedom; I will not be free, if only on this base condition. +Turn recreant and traitor to my country and my king! resign the precious +privilege of <i>dying</i>, if I may not <i>live</i>, for Scotland—I tell thee, +never! Urge me no more."</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou art but a boy, a foolish boy," continued the earl, struggling +to speak persuadingly, "incapable of judging that which is right and +best. I tell thee, I will give thee not freedom alone, but honor, +station, wealth; I will acknowledge thee as my well-beloved son and +heir; I will forget all that is past; nay, not e'en thy will or actions +will I restrain; I will bind thee by no vow; thou shalt take no part +with Edward; I will interfere not with thy peculiar politics; e'en what +thou wilt thou shalt do, aye, and have—and all this but on one +condition, so slight and simple that thou art worse than fool an thou +refusest."</p> + +<p>"Speak on," muttered Alan, without raising his head. "I hear."</p> + +<p>"Give me but information of the movements of him thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> callest king," +replied Buchan, in a low yet emphatically distinct voice; "give me but a +hint as to where we may meet him in combat—in all honorable and +knightly combat, thou knowest that I mean—give me but information such +as this, and thou art free, unshackled, in condition as in limb."</p> + +<p>"In other words, <i>betray him,</i>" replied Alan, starting up. "Purchase my +freedom with the price of his! mine, of nothing worth, aye, less than +nothing, redeemed by his! Oh, shame, shame on thee, my lord! Well mayest +thou offer me freedom of action as in will on such condition. Of little +heed to Edward were the resistance of all Scotland, were Robert in his +power. Honor, station, wealth!—oh, knowest thou the human heart so +little as to believe these can exist with black treachery and fell +remorse? Once and forever, I tell thee thine offers are in vain. Were +death in one scale, and free, unshackled liberty in the other, and thou +badest me choose between, I would not so stain my soul. Death, death +itself were welcome, aye, worse than death—confinement, chains. I would +hug them to my heart as precious boons, rather than live and walk the +earth a traitor."</p> + +<p>"Beware!" muttered the earl; "tempt me not too far, rash boy. I would +not do thee ill; I would have pity on thy erring youth, remembering the +evil counsels, the base heart which hath guided thee."</p> + +<p>"Do thou beware!" retorted Alan, fiercely. "Speak not such foul words to +me. Father, as I know thou art in blood, there are ties far stronger +which bind me to my mother—ties, neglect, forgetfulness, indifference +as thine can never know. Pity, aye, mercy's self, I scorn them, for I +need them not."</p> + +<p>"Ha! sayest thou so; then I swear thou shalt not have them!" exclaimed +the earl, rage again obtaining the ascendant. "I would have saved thee; +I would have given thee freedom, though I needed not the condition that +I offered. Thinkest thou I do not know that the traitor Bruce and his +followers will return hither, and fall into the net prepared? thinkest +thou I know not he is with thee, aye, that he would not have left his +patriot countess thus slightly guarded, an he hoped not to return +himself? He cannot escape me—the murder of Sir John Comyn will be +avenged."</p> + +<p>"He shall, he will escape thee, proud earl," undauntedly returned Alan. +"The savior of his wretched country will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> not be forced to bow before +such as thee; he will be saved out of the net prepared—harassed, +chased, encompassed as he is. I tell thee, Earl of Buchan, he will +escape thee yet."</p> + +<p>"Then, by heaven, thy head shall fall for his!" fiercely replied the +earl. "If he return not, he has been forewarned, prepared, and I, fool +as I was, have thought not of this danger. Look to it, proud boy, if the +Bruce return not forty-eight hours hence, and thou art still silent, +thou diest."</p> + +<p>He held up his clenched hand in a threatening attitude, but Alan neither +moved nor spoke, firmly returning the earl's infuriated gaze till the +door closed on his father's retreating form. He heard the bolts drawn, +the heavy tramp of the guard, and then he threw himself on the couch, +and buried his face in his hands.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<p>While these fearful scenes were passing in the hunting-lodge, Malcolm, +the young page already mentioned, had contrived to elude the vigilance +of the earl's numerous followers, and reach the brow of the hollow in +perfect safety. Endowed with a sense and spirit above his years, and +inspired by his devoted attachment to the countess and Sir Alan, the boy +did not merely think of his own personal security, and of the simple act +of warning the king against the treachery which awaited his return, but, +with an eye and mind well practised in intelligent observation, he +scanned the numbers, character, and peculiar situation of the foes which +had so unexpectedly come upon them. Being peculiarly small and light in +figure, and completely clothed in a dark green tunic and hose, which was +scarcely discernible from the trees and shrubs around, he stole, in and +out every brake and hollow, clambering lightly and noiselessly over +crags, hanging like a broken branch from stunted trees, leaping with the +elasticity of a youthful fawn over stream and shrub, and thus obtained a +true and exact idea of the matter he desired. The boy's heart did indeed +sink as he felt rescue would be utterly impossible; that in one +direction the English force extended nearly a mile, guarding every +ave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>nue, every hollow in the forest, till it seemed next to impossible +King Robert could escape, even if forewarned. Wherever he turned his +steps the enemy appeared to lurk, but he wavered not in his purpose. +Aware of the direction which the king would take in returning, Malcolm +slackened not his speed until some three hours after he had quitted the +hollow, and he stood before his sovereign well-nigh too exhausted for +the utterance of his tale.</p> + +<p>The first impulse of the king and his true-hearted followers was to dare +all danger, and rescue the countess and her brave son at the expense of +their lives; but Malcolm, flinging himself at the feet of Robert, +adjured him, in the name of the countess, to remember and act upon the +vow he had so solemnly pledged at parting. He earnestly and emphatically +repeated the last injunctions of his lady, her deep anguish that the +king, the savior of Scotland, should hazard all for her and her +child—better they should die than Robert; but these entreaties were but +anguish to the noble spirit who heard, aye, and felt their truth, though +abide by them he could not. Again and again he questioned and +cross-questioned as to their numbers and their strength, but Malcolm +never wavered from his first account; clearly and concisely he gave +every required information, and with bleeding hearts that little band of +patriots felt they dared not hope to rescue and to conquer. Yet tacitly +to assent to necessity, to retreat without one blow, to leave their +faithful companions to death, without one stroke for vengeance at least, +if not for relief, this should not be.</p> + +<p>"We will see with our own eyes, hear with our own ears, at least, my +friends," King Robert said. "Is there one among ye would retreat, from, +the narrative of a child, true as it may be? Remember the pass in +Argyle; if necessary, your sovereign can protect your retreat now as +then, and we shall at least feel we have struggled to rescue, striven +for the mastery, even if it be in vain. Were my death, aye, the death of +Scotland the forfeit, I could not so stain my knightly fame by such +retreat. Let but the morning dawn, and we will ourselves mark the +strength of our foes."</p> + +<p>There was not one dissenting voice, rash as his determination might +appear. The extraordinary skill and courage of their sovereign, +displayed in so many instances during their perilous wanderings, were +too fresh in their memories to permit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> of one doubt, one fear, even had +he led them on to certain death. To throw themselves from their tired +chargers, to give them food, to lie down themselves for a brief repose +on the turf, that they might be strengthened and cheered for the work of +the morning, all this did not occupy much time; and if their slumbers +were brief and troubled, it did not prevent their rising with, alacrity +at the first peep of day to polish their arms, look to the sharpening of +their swords and spears, share the rude huntsman's meal, and mount and +ride with the first signal of their king.</p> + +<p>But bold and brave as were these true-hearted men, successful as, +comparatively speaking, they were in the numberless skirmishes which +took place that day, darkness overtook them, with increase of glory +indeed, but no nearer the accomplishment of their object than they had +been in the morning.</p> + +<p>With bitter sorrow King Robert had perceived the full confirmation of +the page's words. The early close of the night attendant on the autumn +season was also unfavorable to his views; the events of the day had +fully convinced him that many an ambush was set in his path, that his +personal safety was wholly incompatible with a night attack, and +therefore he was compelled to remain on the defensive in one spot, which +was fortunately barricaded and concealed by Nature, during the many long +and weary hours forming an October night. Yet still the following day +beheld him struggling on, in the face alike of disappointment, defeat, +and danger the most imminent; still seeking the same object, still +hoping against hope, and retreating only because the welfare of his +country, of her unfortunate children, depended upon him; bands more and +more numerous pressed upon him, coming from every side, that scarcely +was one skilfully eluded ere he had to struggle against another. Nothing +but the most consummate skill, the most patient courage, and coolest +address could have extricated him from the fearful dangers which +encompassed him. Again did his followers believe he bore a charmed life, +for not only did he deal destruction, unhurt himself, but after three +days almost incessant fighting and fatigue, he had brought them to a +place of safety, with but the loss of five-and-twenty men.</p> + +<p>But though painfully conscious that further efforts for the rescue of +his friends were completely useless, King Robert could not rest +satisfied without some more accurate knowledge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> of their fate, and after +some hurried yet anxious consultation. Sir James Douglas, with that +daring which so marked his simplest action, declared that at all risks +he would seek some tidings that would end their anxiety. In the disguise +of a peasant he would be secure from all discovery, he said; and he had +not the slightest fear as to the success of the adventure. Five others +started up as he spoke entreating permission to take the same disguise +and accompany him. It was granted; King Robert advising them, however, +to adopt a diversity of costume, and keep each one apart as they +approached inhabited districts, as their numbers might excite suspicion, +even though the actual disguise was complete. With arms concealed +beneath their various disguises, they departed that same evening, +engaging to meet the king at the base of Ben-Cruchan, some miles more +south than their present trysting. It was an anxious parting, and yet +more when they were actually gone; for the high spirit and vein of humor +which characterized the young Lord Douglas had power to cheer his +friends even in the most painful moments. King Robert, indeed, exerted +himself, but this last stroke had been a heavy one; knowing so well the +character of Edward, he trembled both for the countess and her noble +son, perhaps less for the latter than the former, for he hoped and +believed the Earl of Buchan, if indeed he were their captor, would at +least have some mercy on his son, but for the countess he knew that +there was no hope. The character, the sentiments of the earl had been +noticed by the Bruce when both were at the court of Edward, and he felt +and knew that any excuse to rid him of a wife whose virtues were +obnoxious to him would be acted on with joy. And here, perhaps, it may +be well to say a few words as to the real nature of King Robert's +sentiments towards Isabella of Buchan, as from the anxiety her detention +occasioned they may be so easily misunderstood.</p> + +<p>We have performed our task but ill if our readers have imagined aught +but the most purely noble, most chivalric sentiments actuated the heart +of the king. Whatever might have been the nature of those sentiments in +earlier days, since his marriage with the daughter of the Earl of Mar +they had never entered his soul.</p> + +<p>He had always believed the Lady Isabella's union with Lord John Comyn +was one of choice, not of necessity, nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> did his visit to her after the +battle of Falkirk recall any former feeling. His mind had been under the +heavy pressure of that self-reproach which the impressive words of +Wallace had first awakened; the wretched state of his country, the +tyranny of Edward, occupied the mind of the man in which the emotions of +the boy had merged. He was, too, a husband and a father; and he was, as +his fond wife so trustingly believed, too nobly honorable to entertain +one thought to her dishonor. He looked on Isabella of Buchan as one +indeed demanding his utmost esteem and gratitude, his most faithful +friendship, and he secretly vowed that she should have it; but these +emotions took not their coloring from the past, they were excited simply +by her high-minded devotion to the cause of her country, her unshrinking +patriotism, her noble qualities, alike as a mother, subject, friend. He +felt but as one noble spirit ever feels for a kindred essence, +heightened perhaps by the dissimilarity of sex, but aught of love, even +in its faintest shadow, aught of dishonorable feelings towards her or +his own wife never entered his wildest dream. It was the recollection of +her unwavering loyalty, of the supporting kindness she had ever shown +his queen, which occasioned his bitter sorrow at her detention by the +foe; it was the dread that the cruel wrath of Edward would indeed +condemn her to death for the active part she had taken in his +coronation; the conviction, so agonizing to a mind like his, that he had +no power to rescue and avenge; the fearful foreboding that thus would +all his faithful friends fall from him—this, only this, would be the +reward of all who served and loved him; and even while still, with +undaunted firmness, cheering the spirits of his adherents, speaking hope +to them, his own inward soul was tortured with doubts as to the wisdom +of his resistance, lingering regrets for the fate of those of his +friends already lost to him, and painful fears for the final doom of +those who yet remained.</p> + +<p>It was in such moments of despondency that remorse, too, ever gained +dominion, and heightened his inward struggles. Robert's hand was not +framed for blood; his whole soul revolted from the bitter remembrance of +that fatal act of passion which had stained his first rising. He would +have given worlds, if he had had them, to have recalled that deed. Busy +fancy represented a hundred ways of punishing treachery other than that +which his fury had adopted; and this remembrance ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> increased the +anguish with which he regarded the fate of his friends. His lot was +indeed as yet one of unexampled suffering, borne by heroism as great as +unequalled but the lustre of the latter too frequently dazzles the mind, +and prevents the full meed of glory being obtained. His heroism is known +to all, his sufferings to but a few; but perhaps it was the latter yet +more than the former which gave to Scotland the glory and honor she +acquired in his reign. Heroism is scarce separable from ambition, but to +mere ambition, the voice of suffering is seldom heard. Heroism dazzles +the crowd, suffering purifies the man. If Robert the Bruce were +ambitious, the passion in him assumed a nobler and better form; yet we +can scarcely call that ambition which sought but the delivery of +Scotland from chains, but the regaining an ancient heritage, and sought +no more. It was patriotism hallowed by suffering, purified by adversity; +patriotism the noblest, purest which ever entered the heart of man.</p> + +<p>King Robert and his handful of followers not only reached their +trysting-place themselves, but were joined by the queen, and many of her +female companions and their attendant warriors, ere Lord James of +Douglas returned; three of his companions had straggled in, one by one, +with various accounts, but none so satisfactory as the king desired, and +he believed with justice, that Douglas lingered to bring, if not +satisfactory (for that, alas! could not be) yet accurate intelligence. +If aught could have comforted Agnes in these moments of agonized +suspense, it would have been not alone the redoubled affection of her +Nigel, but the soothing kindness, the love and sympathy of a father, +which was lavished on her by King Robert; nay, each of those rude +warriors softened in address and tone, as they looked on and spoke to +that fair, fragile being, whom they feared now stood alone. She did not +weep when other eyes than those of Nigel, or the Lady Campbell, or the +gentle Isoline were on her, but that deadly pallor, that quivering lip, +and heavy eye spoke all that she endured.</p> + +<p>A large cavern, divided by Nature into many compartments, was now the +temporary shelter of the king and his friends. It was situated at the +base of Ben-Cruchan, which, though at the entrance of the territories of +Lorn, was now comparatively secure, the foe imagining the Bruce still +amidst the mountains of Aberdeenshire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>The evening meal was spread; a huge fire blazing in the stony cavity +removed all appearance of damp or discomfort, and shed a warm, ruddy +light on the groups within. It was a rude home for the King of Scotland +and his court, yet neither murmuring nor despondency was marked on the +bold brows of the warriors, or the gentler and paler features of their +faithful companions; their frames, indeed, showed the effect of +wandering and anxiety; many an eye which had been bright was sunken, +many a blooming cheek was paled; but the lip yet smiled, the voice had +yet its gleesome tones to soothe and cheer their warrior friends; the +eager wish to prepare the couch and dress the simple meal, to perform +those many little offices of love and kindness so peculiarly a woman's, +and engaged in with a zest, a skill which was intuitive, for there had +been a time, and one not far distant, when those high-born females +little dreamed such household deeds would be their occupation.</p> + +<p>Brightly and beautifully shone forth conjugal and filial love in those +wandering hours; the wife, the child, the sister bound themselves yet +closer to the warrior husband, father, brother, which claimed them his. +Yet sweet, most sweet as were those acts of love, there were anxious and +loving hearts which felt that soon, too soon, they must part from them, +they must persuade those gentle ones to accede to a temporary +separation—they could not, they would not expose them to the snows and +killing frosts of a Scottish winter.</p> + +<p>Anxiety, deep anxiety was on the heart of King Robert, becoming more +painful with each glance he fixed on Agnes, who was sitting apart with +Nigel, her aching head resting on his shoulder, but he strove to return +the caresses of his daughter, to repay with fond smiles the exertions of +his wife. Sir Niel Campbell (who, after many painful trials, had +rejoined the king) and others strove to disperse the silently gathering +gloom by jest and song, till the cavern walls re-echoed with their +soldier mirth. Harshly and mournfully it fell on the ear and heart of +the maiden of Buchan, but she would not have it stilled.</p> + +<p>"No, no; do thou speak to me, Nigel, and I shall only list to thee. Why +should the noble efforts of these brave men—for I know even to them +mirth is now an effort—be chilled and checked, because my sick heart +beats not in unison? Oh, when will Lord James return?"</p> + +<p>Nigel sought to soothe, to speak hope, but though his words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> fell like +balm on the bleeding heart he held to his, it was the rich melody of +their voice, not the matter of their meaning.</p> + +<p>The hour of rest was fast approaching, when the well-known signal was +heard without, and the young Lord Douglas, with his two companions, were +hastily and eagerly admitted within the cave. Their looks denoted great +fatigue, and the eager eyes which scanned their countenances read little +to hope, yet much, much, alas! to fear.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast so far succeeded as to obtain the intelligence we need," was +the king's instant greeting, as he released his favorite young follower +from his embrace; "that I can read, but further, I fear me, thou hast +little to communicate which we shall love to hear."</p> + +<p>"My tidings are ill indeed, your highness; aggravated and most +undreamed-of ill. But, perchance," and the young man hesitated, for his +eye caught the pallid face of Agnes, who had irresistibly drawn closer +to the circle about the king, and fixed her eyes on him with an +expression almost wild in its agony, "perchance they had better first +meet your grace's private ear."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" reiterated Agnes, springing forward, and clinging convulsively +to his arm. "It is only me thou fearest, I know; I know thou wouldst +spare me, but do not, do not. I can bear all, every thing, save this +horrible suspense; speak out, let me but know all, and then I can teach +my soul to bear it. Oh, do not hesitate, do not pause; in mercy, tell +me—oh, tell me all!"</p> + +<p>Thus adjured, but feeling most painfully the suffering his tale would +produce, Douglas struggled with his own emotion, and repeated all the +information he had obtained. Guardedly as he spoke, evidently as he +endeavored to prepare the mind of Agnes, and thus soften its woe, his +tale was yet such as to harrow up the hearts of all his hearers, how +much more the frail and gentle being to whom it more immediately +related; yet she stood calm, pale, indeed, and quivering, but with a +desperate effort conquering the weakness of her nature, and bearing that +deep woe as the daughter of her mother, the betrothed of Nigel Bruce.</p> + +<p>The young lord's information was simply this. On nearing the +hunting-lodge, which was his first object, he found it very nearly +deserted, but a few stragglers, amounting perhaps to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> fifty in number of +the followers of Buchan, remaining behind, with orders to follow their +master to Dunkeld without delay. Mingling with these as a countryman of +the more northern counties, eager to obtain every species of +intelligence respecting the movements of the English and the hunted +Bruce, whom he pretended to condemn and vilify after the fashion of the +Anglo-Scots, and feeling perfectly secure not only in the disguise he +had assumed, but in the peculiar accent and intonation of the +north-country peasant, which he could assume at pleasure, he made +himself a welcome guest, and with scarcely any trouble received much of +the information he desired. He was told of the first capture and rescue +of the Countess of Buchan; that it was through one of the men left for +dead on the scene of the skirmish the earl had received such exact +information concerning the movements and intended destination of the +Bruce; that immediately on receiving this intelligence he had gathered +all his force, amounting to five hundred men, and dividing them into +different bands, sent skilful guides with each, and was thus enabled to +surround the lodge, and command five different avenues of the forest, +without interruption or discovery. He learned, too, that a stormy +interview had taken place between the earl, his wife, and son, the +particulars of which, however, had not transpired; that the earl's rage +had been terrific when he found the night passed, and the Bruce had not +fallen into the snare laid for him; and he had sworn a fearful oath, +that if the countess would not betray him into his power, her son should +die; that both mother and son had stood this awful trial without +shrinking; that no word either to betray their king or implore life and +mercy had been wrung from them. Incensed beyond all measure, Buchan had +sent on the countess with a numerous guard, his men believed, either to +Dunkeld or Perth, in both of which towns there was a strong garrison of +English, and lingered yet another day and night in the hope of dragging +some intelligence from the lips of Alan, or persuading him into acting +the spy upon the actions and movements of the Bruce. He succeeded in +neither; and the men continued to state, with shuddering horror, which +even their rude natures could not suppress, that they believed the son +had actually fallen a victim to his father's rage—that he had actually +been murdered. Numerous reports to that effect had been circulated on +all sides, and though they had watched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> narrowly, they had seen nothing +to contradict it. The body of the unfortunate boy had been cast into a +deep well, heaps of rubbish flung over it, and the well built up. This +they knew as a positive certainty, for they had seen it.</p> + +<p>Douglas heard this tale with an intensity of horror, of loathing, which +at first deprived him almost of every other feeling; but when he could +withdraw himself from the horrible idea, a species of disbelief took +possession of him. It was impossible such utter depravity, such fearful +insensibility to the claims of nature could exist in the breast of any +man; it was a tale forged to inflict fresh agony on the mother's heart, +and he determined on discovering, if possible, the truth. He pretended +entirely to disbelieve it; declared it was not possible; that the earl +had practised on their credulity, and would laugh at them afterwards; +and contrived so well, that three or four declared he should be +convinced with his own eyes, and set about pulling down the slight +brickwork which covered the well. This was what Douglas wanted, and he +eagerly lent them a helping hand.</p> + +<p>A body there was indeed, in form and in clothing so exactly that of the +unhappy Alan, that, even though the face was so marred it could not be +recognized, the young earl could doubt no longer; the young, the brave, +the beautiful, and true, had fallen a victim to his own patriot loyalty, +and by a father's hand. The deep suffering this certainly occasioned was +regarded by his companions as sulkiness for having been proved wrong in +his judgment; they jeered and laughed at him accordingly, and harshly as +these sounds reverberated in his heart, they were welcome, as enabling +him still more easily to continue his disguise.</p> + +<p>He accompanied them to Dunkeld, and found the earl had proceeded with +his wife as prisoner to the castle of Stirling, there to deliver her +over to the Earl of Hereford, through whom to be sent on to Edward. +Determined on seeing her, if possible, Douglas resolved on daring the +danger, and venturing even to the very stronghold of his foes. The +horror which this unnatural act of the earl had excited in the minds of +his men, he found had extended even over those in Dunkeld, and through +them he learned that, directly on reaching the town, the earl had sought +the countess, brutally communicated the death of her son, and placed in +her hands the raven curls as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> all which remained of him, some of which +were dabbled in blood; that she had remained apparently unmoved while in +his presence, but the moment he left her had sunk into a succession of +the most fearful fainting fits, in one of which she had been removed to +Stirling.</p> + +<p>Withdrawing himself from his companions, under pretence of returning to +his home in the north, having, he said, loitered too long, Douglas +concealed himself for some days in the abbey of Scone, the holy inmates +of which still retained their loyalty and patriotism, notwithstanding +their revered abbot, unable to remain longer inactive, had donned the +warrior's dress, and departed to join and fight with his king. Assuming +the cowl and robes of one of the lay brothers, and removing the red wig +and beard he had adopted with his former costume, the young lord took +the staff in his hand, and with difficulty bringing his hasty pace to a +level with the sober step and grave demeanor of a reverend monk, reached +Stirling just as the cavalcade, with the litter intended for the captive +countess, had assembled before the castle gate. Agitated almost beyond +the power of control, Douglas made his way through the gathering crowds, +and stood unquestioned close beside the litter. He did not wait long. +Respectfully supported by the Earl of Hereford himself, the Countess of +Buchan, with a firm, unfaltering step, approached the litter. The hood +was thrown back, and Douglas could read the effects of withering agony +on the marble stillness of those beautiful features, though to all else +they spoke but firm and calm resolve; there was not a vestige of color +on cheek or lip or brow; and though her figure was as commanding, as +majestic as heretofore, there was a fearful attenuation about it, +speaking volumes to Lord James's heart. Hereford placed her in the +litter, and with a respectful salutation turned away to give some +necessary orders to his men. Bold in his disguise, Douglas bent over the +countess, and spoke in a low, feigned voice those words of comfort and +of peace suited to his assumed character; but feigned as it was, the +countess recognized him on that instant; a convulsive shudder passed +through her every limb, contracting her features with very agony.</p> + +<p>"My child—my Alan!" she whispered, harrowing his very soul beneath that +voice's thrilling woe. "Douglas, hast thou heard?—yes, yes; I can read +it in thine awe-struck face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> This, this is all I have left of him," and +she partly drew from her bosom the clustering ringlets he recognized at +once; "yet, wherefore should I mourn him: he is happy. Bid his memory be +honored among ye; and oh, tell the sovereign for whom he fell, better a +death like this than treachery and shame."</p> + +<p>She had paused as fearing observation, but perceiving the attention of +all more fixed on the glittering cavalcade than on herself, she placed +one of those glossy curls in the young earl's hand, and continued—</p> + +<p>"Give this to my poor Agnes, with her mother's blessing, and bid her +take comfort, bid her not weep and mourn for me. A prison, even death is +preferable now to life, for she is cared for. I trust her to Sir Nigel's +love; I know that he will tend her as a brother till a happier hour +makes her all his own. Commend me to my sovereign, and tell him, might I +choose my path again, despite its anguish, 'twould be that which I have +trod. And now farewell, young lord, I bless thee for this meeting."</p> + +<p>"Dominus vobiscum mea filia, et vale," responded the supposed monk, in a +loud voice, for he had only time to assure the countess by a look of +deep sympathy of his willingness to execute her simplest wish, and hide +the ringlet in his bosom, ere Hereford turned towards him, with a gaze +of stern inquiry. Ably concealing alike his emotion and the expression +of his countenance, Douglas evaded discovery, and even obtained +permission to follow the litter to the environs of the town. He did so, +but the countess addressed him not again; and it was with a +heart-sinking despondency he had turned to the mountains, when the +cavalcade disappeared from his view. He retained his monkish garb till +he entered the mountain district, where he fell in with his two +companions, and they proceeded, as we have seen, to the quarters of +their king.</p> + +<p>A pause of horror followed his narrative, told more forcibly and briefly +by the lips of Douglas than through the cooler medium of the historian's +pen. Stunned, overwhelmed, as if incapable of movement or speech, though +sense remained, Agnes stood insensible, even to the voice of Nigel, +whose soothing accents strove to whisper peace; but when Douglas placed +in her cold hand the raven curls she knew so well, when tenderly yet +earnestly he repeated her mother's words, the poor girl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> repeatedly +pressed the hair to her parched lips, and laid it in her bosom; and then +perceiving the sad and anxious face of her beloved, she passed her hand +hurriedly over her brow, and burying her head on his breast, sense was +preserved by an agony of tears.</p> + +<p>It was long, long ere this aggravated wretchedness was calmed, though +the love of many, the devotion of one were ever round her to strengthen +and console. Sympathy, the most heartfelt, reigned in every bosom. Of +the many misfortunes which had befallen this patriot band, this seemed, +if not really the severest, more fraught with horror than any which had +come before; the youth, the gallant bearing, the endearing qualities of +the heir of Buchan stood forth with vivid clearness in the memories of +all, and there were times when they felt it could not be, it was too +fearful; and then again, the too certain evidence of the fact, witnessed +as it had been by one of such tried truth as James of Douglas, brought +conviction too clearly home, and the sternest warrior, who would have +faced his own captivity and death unmoved, felt no shame in the dimness +which gathered in his eye for the fearful fate of the murdered boy.</p> + +<p>In King Robert's breast these emotions obtained yet more powerful +dominion; again did remorse distract him, and there were moments of +darkness, when his spirit questioned the justice of the Creator. Why was +not his crime visited on his own head? Why did the guiltless and +unstained fall thus around him, and he remain unharmed? and it needed +all the eloquence of Nigel, the pious reasonings of the Abbot of Scone, +to convince him that, dark and inscrutable as the decrees of Omnipotence +sometimes seemed, in his case they were as clear as the wisdom from +which they sprung. By chastisement he was purified; he was not yet fit +to receive the reward of the righteous waiting on death. Destined to be +the savior of his unhappy country, the remorse which bowed down his +naturally haughty spirit was more acceptable in the sight of his God, +more beneficial to his own soul, than the one act of devotedness +included in a brave man's death. Robert struggled with his despondency, +with his soul's deep grief, known as it was but to himself, his +confessor, and his young brother; he felt its encouragement would +unnerve him for his destined task. Other imperative matters now pressed +round him, and by presenting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> fresh and increased danger, roused his +energies once more to their wonted action.</p> + +<p>The winter had set in with unexampled severity, overwhelming snow-storms +filled up the rude paths of the mountains, till egress and ingress +appeared impossible. The Earl of Athol himself, who had been the +inseparable companion of the Bruce in all his wanderings, now spoke of +retiring, and passing the winter within stone walls, urging his +sovereign with earnest eloquence to take refuge in Ireland till the +spring, when they would reassemble under arms, and perhaps take the +tyrant Edward once more by surprise.</p> + +<p>Bruce knew the veteran nobleman too well to attribute this advice to any +motive save deep interest in his safety. He saw, too, that it was +utterly impossible for them to remain as they then were, without serious +evils alike to his female and male companions; the common soldiers, +steady and firm as they still continued in loyalty, yet were continually +dispersing, promising to reassemble in the spring, but declaring that it +was useless to think of struggling against the English, when the very +elements were at war against them. With a sad foreboding, Robert saw, +and communicated to his devoted wife the necessity of their separation. +He felt that it was right and best, and therefore he resisted all her +tearful entreaties still to linger by his side; her child was suffering, +for her tender years could not bear up against the cold and the want of +proper nourishment, and yet even that claim seemed less to the mother's +heart than the vision of her husband enduring increase of hardship +alone. Her acquiescence was indeed at length obtained, but dimmed by +many very bitter tears.</p> + +<p>A hasty consultation with his few remaining friends speedily decided the +Bruce's plans. The castle of Kildrummie, a strong fortress situated at +the head of the Don, in Aberdeenshire, yet remained to him, and thither, +under the escort of his brother Nigel and three hundred men, the king +determined to send his wife and child, and the other ladies of his +court. Himself, his three brothers, Edward, Alexander, and Thomas, +Douglas, Sir Niel Campbell, and his remaining two hundred followers, +resolved on cautiously making their way southward across Loch Lomond, +and proceed thence to the coast of Ireland, there to await the spring. +In pursuance of this plan, Sir Niel Campbell was dispatched without +delay to conciliate Angus, Lord of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> the Isles, to whom Cantire then +belonged. Knowing he was unfriendly to his near neighbors, the Lords of +Lorn, the king trusted he should find in him a powerful ally. To appeal +yet more strongly to the chivalric hospitality which characterized the +chieftain, Sir Niel consented that his wife and daughter Isoline should +accompany him. Lady Campbell had too lately undergone the grief and +anxiety attendant on the supposed loss of her husband to consent to +another parting. Even the king, her brother, sought not to dissuade her; +but all persuasions to induce Agnes to accompany them were vain; bitter +as the pang of separation was to her already aching heart—for Lady +Campbell and Isoline were both most dear to her—she steadily resolved +to remain with the queen and her attendants, and thus share the fate of +her betrothed.</p> + +<p>"Did not my mother commend me to thy care? Did she not bid thee tend me +as a brother until happier hours, and shall I seek other guardianship +than thine, my Nigel?" were her whispered words, and Nigel could not +answer them. So pure, so unselfish was her love, that though he felt his +happiness would have departed with her presence, could he have commanded +words he would have implored her to seek the hospitality of the Lord of +the Isles as a securer home than Kildrummie. Those forebodings already +alluded to had returned with darker weight from the hour his separation +from his brother was resolved on. He evinced no sign of his inward +thoughts, he uttered no word of dissent, for the trust reposed in him by +his sovereign was indeed as precious as it was honorable; but there was +a mournful expression on his beautiful countenance—when unobserved, it +would rest upon his brother—that Agnes could not define, although it +filled her spirit with incomprehensible alarm, and urged her yet more to +abide by his side.</p> + +<p>The dreaded day arrived at length, and agonized was indeed that parting. +Cheerfully the king looked, and hopefully he spoke, but it had no power +to calm the whelming tide of sorrow in which his wife clung to his +embrace. Again and again she returned to that faithful heart which bore +so fondly, so forbearingly, with all her faults and weaknesses; and +Margory, although she could not comprehend the extent of sorrow +experienced by her mother, wept bitterly at her side. Nor were they the +only sufferers. Some indeed were fortunate enough to have relatives amid +the band which accompanied them to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> Kildrummie, but by far the greater +number clung to the necks of brothers, fathers, husbands, whose faithful +and loving companions they had been so long—clung to them and wept, as +if a long dim vista of sorrow and separation stretched before them. +Danger, indeed, was around them, and the very fact of their being thus +compelled to divide, appeared to heighten the perils, and tacitly +acknowledge them as too great to be endured.</p> + +<p>With pain and difficulty the iron-souled warriors at length tore +themselves from the embrace of those they held most dear. The knights +and their followers had closed round the litters, and commenced their +march. No clarion sent its shrill blast on the mountain echoes, no +inspiring drum reverberated through the glens—all was mournfully still; +as the rudest soldier revered the grief he beheld, and shrunk from +disturbing it by a sound.</p> + +<p>King Robert stood alone, on the spot where Sir Christopher Seaton had +borne from him his wife and child. His eyes still watched their litter; +his thoughts still lingered with them alone; full of affection, anxiety, +sadness, they were engrossed, but not defined. He was aroused by the +sudden appearance of his younger brother, who, bareheaded, threw himself +at his feet, and, in a voice strangely husky, murmured—</p> + +<p>"My sovereign, my brother, bless me, oh, bless me, ere we part!"</p> + +<p>"My blessing—the blessing of one they deem accursed; and to thee, good, +noble, stainless as thou art! Nigel, Nigel, do not mock me thus," +answered the king, bitterness struggling with the deepest melancholy, as +he laid his hand, which strangely trembled, on the young man's lowered +head. "Alas! bring I not evil and misery and death on all who love me? +What, what may my blessing bring to thee?"</p> + +<p>"Joy, bright joy in the hour of mirth and comfort; oh, untold-of comfort +in the time of sorrow, imprisonment, death! My brother, my brother, oh, +refuse it not; thou knowest not, thou canst not know how Nigel loves +thee!"</p> + +<p>Robert gazed at him till every thought, every feeling was lost in the +sudden sensation of dread lest ill should come to him; it had overtaken +one as fair in promise, as beloved, and yet younger; and oh, if death +selected the best, the loveliest, the dearest, would it next fall on +him? The thought was such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> absolute agony, that the previous suffering +of that hour was lost before it.</p> + +<p>"Bless thee—oh, may God in heaven bless thee, my brave, my noble +Nigel!" he exclaimed, with a burst of emotion, perfectly appalling in +one generally so controlled, and raising him, he strained him +convulsively to his heart. "Yet why should we part?" he added, after a +long pause; "why did I fix on thee for this office—are there not +others? Nigel, Nigel, say but the word, and thou shalt rest with me: +danger, privation, exile we have borne, and may still share together. +Why should I send thee from me, dearest, most beloved of all who call me +brother?"</p> + +<p>"Why?" answered Nigel, raising his glistening eyes from his brother's +shoulder, "why, dear Robert? because thine eye could read my heart and +trust it; because thou knewest I would watch over those who bear thy +name, who are dear to thee, even as thy noble self. Oh, do not repent +thee of thy choice; 'tis hard to bear alone danger, so long encountered +hand in hand, yet as thou hast decided let it be. Thy words have soothed +my yearning heart, which craved to list thy voice once more; and now +then, my noble liege and brother, farewell. Think on thy Nigel's words; +even when misery is round thee thou shalt, thou shalt be blessed. Think +on them, my Robert, and then when joy and liberty and conquest crown +thee, oh, forget not Nigel."</p> + +<p>He threw his arms around him, imprinted a fervent kiss on his cheek, and +was out of sight ere the king by sign or word could arrest his progress. +One hasty bound forward Robert indeed made, but a dimness stole over his +sight, and for one brief minute he sunk down on the grass, and when he +lifted his head again, there were burning tears upon his cheek.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + + +<p>The hardships and dangers attendant on King Robert's progress southward, +mingled as they were with the very spirit of romance, are so well known +to every reader of Scottish history that they must be excluded from our +pages, although<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> a tale of chivalry would seem the very place for their +insertion.</p> + +<p>The life of no hero, no sovereign, no general, presents us with a +parallel to the lone and dreary passage of Loch Lomond. We hear of an +ancient and a modern Hannibal crossing the snowy Alps, but it was at the +head of triumphant armies; it was carrying war and victory into an +enemy's land, and there was glory in the danger—the glory and pride of +successful ambition. But there was greater and truer heroism in the +spirit which struggled on when the broad, deep waters of Loch Lomond lay +between them and comparative safety; when 'mid falling snow and howling +winds he cheered his drooping and exhausted followers by reading aloud a +spirit-stirring romance, to which they listened enwrapt and charmed, +little imagining their own situation was one of far greater peril, of +more exciting romance than any which the volume so vividly described. A +leaky boat, which scarcely allowed three men to cross in safety, was +their only means of conveyance, and a day and night passed ere the two +hundred followers of the Bruce assembled on the opposite side. The +cheerful blast of his bugle, which sounded to form them in bands before +him on the beach, was answered by one whose unexpected appearance +occasioned such joy to the heart of the king, that the exertions both of +body and mind of the last few hours were forgotten. It was the Earl of +Lennox, who since the fatal battle of Methven had been numbered amongst +the dead, and lamented by his royal master with grief as deep as the joy +was exceeding which greeted him again. Mutual was the tale of suffering +each had to relate, few and faint the hopes and prospects to +communicate, but so many were the friends the patriots had lost, that +the reappearance of the venerable nobleman infused a new and brighter +spirit amid the almost despairing men.</p> + +<p>That the Earl of Lennox had found a kind and hospitable home in the +dominions of the Lord of the Isles, and received welcome and favor from +the chieftain himself, was justly a subject of rejoicing to the fugitive +king. Guided by him, the intricacies of their path were smoothed, and +they reached their destination in a much shorter time than would +otherwise have been the case. Sir Niel Campbell had performed his +mission well, and kindness and truth so long unknown, now eagerly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +opened their hearths and hearts to the patriot king. Scorning alike the +Scottish and English authority, Angus, Lord of the Isles, had formed an +independent sovereignty, and now felt pride in receiving in his +territories the only sovereign he had felt inclination to revere. The +daring heroism, the unshaken spirit of the Bruce, were akin to his own +wild, and reckless courage, and had there been no actual claim and right +in Robert's pretensions to the crown, Angus would still have declared +that he, and he alone, was the sovereign worthy to assume it. All, then, +of state and dignity which he could assemble round him were proffered to +the king, and had there been less generosity, less chivalric honor in +his character King Robert might have passed the winter months in +comparative security and comfort.</p> + +<p>Angus indeed spoke daringly and slightly of the English force, and had +his inmost soul been read, would have joyed had they ventured to attack +him, that he might show his skill and bravery in resisting and defending +against their united force the sovereign who had confided in his +gallantry and honor; but Robert knew better than the rude chieftain the +devastating warfare which characterized Edward's efforts at subjection, +and his whole soul shrunk from exposing Angus and his true-hearted +followers to the utter ruin which, if he were once known to be amongst +them, would inevitably ensue. At once to secure his personal +concealment, and yet to withdraw from Cantire without in any way +offending the high spirit of the island chieftain, Bruce resolved on +making the little island of Rathlin the winter refuge of himself and his +two hundred followers.</p> + +<p>Inhabited by the MacDonalds, who were of course subject to their general +chief, though divided from him by the channel, Bruce was still under the +generous protection of his friend, and therefore Angus could bring +forward no objection to the proposal, save the miserable poverty, the +many discomforts of the barren islet, and entreat with all his natural +eloquence that King Robert would still remain in the peninsula. The +arguments of the king, however, prevailed. A small fleet, better manned +than built, was instantly made ready for his service, and Angus himself +conveyed the king in his own galley to his destined residence. The +aspect of the island, the savage appearance and manner of its +inhabitants were indeed such as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> strike despondingly and painfully on +the hearts of any less inured to suffering than King Robert and his +devoted adherents. To them it was welcome, for they justly felt the eye +of Edward could scarcely reach them there. It was a painful alternative +to warrior spirits such as theirs that the safety of their country +depended on their inaction and concealment; yet as their king, their +patriot king, was still amongst them, there was much, much to hope and +cherish still. That their gentler friends and relatives were, they hoped +and believed, in a place of safety, was a matter of rejoicing, though +neither entreaty nor command could persuade the Lady Campbell and her +daughter Isoline to accept the proffered hospitality of the island +chieftain. It was nothing to them that they were the only females 'mid +that warrior train, that many hardships were around them still. Neither +Sir Kiel nor the king could resist their pleadings, and ere the sun of +spring had shed its influence on the heart of man as well as the +hardened earth, there were many who mourned that a separation had taken +place, who wished that fatigue and anxiety had still been met together.</p> + +<p>Many weeks before King Robert retreated to the island of Rathlin, Sir +Nigel Bruce had conducted his precious charge in safety to the castle of +Kildrummie, whose feeble garrison gladly flung open their gates to +receive them.</p> + +<p>It was a strong fortress situated on a circular mount, overhanging the +river Don, which at that point ever rushed darkly and stormily along; +the mount, though not steep, was full two miles in circumference, from +base to brow occupied by the castle, which was erected in that massive +yet irregular form peculiar to the architecture of the middle ages. A +deep, broad moat or fosse, constantly supplied by the river, defended +the castle wall, which ran round the mound, irregularly indeed, for +there were indentations and sharp angles, occasioned by the uneven +ground, each of which was guarded by a strong turret or tower, rising +from the wall. The wall itself was some four-and-twenty feet in height, +and nine in thickness, consequently the spaces between the turrets on +the top of the wall formed broad level platforms, which in case of a +siege were generally kept strongly guarded. Facing the east, and +commanding a view of the river and adjacent country, stood the barbacan +gate and drawbridge, which latter was further defended by strong oaken +doors and an iron portcullis, forming the great gate of the cas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>tle +wall, and the principal entrance into the fortress. Two towers of +immense strength, united by a narrow, dimly-lighted passage, guarded +this gate, and on these depended the grate or portcullis, which was +lowered or raised by internal machinery. Within the castle wall was the +outer ballium or court, containing some small, low-roofed dwellings, the +residence of many feudal retainers of the baron. A rude church or chapel +was also within this court, holding a communication with the keep or +principal part of the castle by means of a passage in the third wall, +which divided the ballium from the inner court. In very large castles +there were in general a second fosse, wall, gate, and towers guarding +the keep, and thus making a complete division between it and the +ballium; but the original owners of Kildrummie, less rich and powerful +suzerains than their equals in South Britain, were probably contented +with merely a stout wall to divide their own sovereign residence from +their more plebeian followers. The keep itself, constructed like all +other similar buildings of the age, was a massive tower, covering but a +small square, and four or five stories high. There were attempts at +luxury in the chambers within, but to modern taste the Norman luxury was +little better than rudeness; and certainly though the cushions were soft +and richly embroidered, the arras in some of the apartments splendid +specimens of needlework, and the beautifully carved and often inlaid +oaken walls of others, gave evidence of both taste and talent, yet the +dim light seemed to shed a gloom and heaviness over the whole range of +rooms and passages, which no skill of workmanship or richness of +material could remove. The windows were invariably small, and very long +and narrow, and set in walls of such huge thickness, that the sun had +barely power even in his summer splendor, to penetrate the dusky panes. +In this keep was the great hall of audience, and for the banquet, at the +upper end of which the dais was invariably found, and dark and loathsome +dungeons formed its basement.</p> + +<p>The roof of Kildrummie keep was flatter than the generality of Norman +castles, its four angles being surmounted more by the appearance than +the reality of turrets; but one rose from the centre, round, and pierced +by loopholes, turreted at the top, and commanding an extensive view of +the adjoining country: from this tower the banner of the baron always +waved, and its non-appearance excited some indignation in the breast of +Nigel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> Bruce, for his warrior spirit had no sympathy with that timorous +excuse, that did it wave at such a time it might excite the attention of +the English, whereas did it elevate no symbol of defiance its garrison +might pass unquestioned.</p> + +<p>"Up with the banner of Scotland and the Bruce!" were the first commands +of Sir Nigel, as he stood within the ballium, surrounded by his charge +and followers. "Shall we, pledged as we are to our country and king, +even seem to stand neutral and conceal our colors, as ashamed of them? +Shall this be?"</p> + +<p>He was answered by a simultaneous rush towards the keep, and at his word +the folds of the broad banner waved exultingly from the tower, its +appearance hailed by a loud shout from those beneath, and by a bright +and momentary gleam of sunshine flashing through the heavy clouds.</p> + +<p>"Ha! see ye, my friends, even heaven smiles on us," exclaimed the young +knight triumphantly, and smiling cheerily on his fair friends, as with +gay words and graceful action he marshalled them into the keep. It was +while doing so, that Agnes marked the figure of an old yet +majestic-looking man, whose eyes, still bright and flashing, though his +white hair denoted extreme old age, were fixed immovably on the face and +form of Nigel. It was a peculiar glance, strained, eager, and yet +mournful, holding her attention so fascinated that she paused in her +onward way, and pointed him out to Nigel.</p> + +<p>"I know him not, love," he said, in, answer to her inquiry. "I should +deem him minstrel by his garb, or seer, or both perchance, as is +sometimes the case, conjoined. I will speak with him when my present +grateful task is done."</p> + +<p>But it was the next morning ere he had the opportunity of doing so, for +much devolved on the young seneschal. He had to visit the outworks, the +stores, the offices, to give multitudinous orders, and receive various +intelligences, to review the present garrison and his own followers, and +assign to each his post; and though ably aided by Sir Christopher Seaton +and other of his officers, all this occupied much time. The outworks he +found in excellent condition; the barbacan, of massive stone, seemed +well enabled to resist attack, should it be made; the machinery of the +drawbridge was in good order, and enabled to be drawn up or let down at +a moment's warning. The stores and granaries, which were contained in +the towers on the castle wall, were very amply provided, though Nigel, +taking advantage of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> present peaceful temper of the country, +dispatched trusty messengers without delay for further supplies. That +this fortress, almost the only one remaining to his brother, would +remain unmolested, Nigel did not for one moment believe, but he did hope +that, in case of a siege, if amply provided with stores, it might hold +out till the intense cold of the season and climate would turn the +besiegers from their purpose; at all events, the advancing winter would +be more favorable to the besieged than the besiegers, and though the +garrison was comparatively small, the place itself was of such great +strength as to guarantee the indulgence of his hopes. That the original +garrison were too timorous and wavering for him to place much dependence +on them he readily perceived, but he trusted much to the beneficial +influence which his own steady, true-hearted followers might be enabled +to infuse.</p> + +<p>Nigel was young, brave, and animated by every feeling which inspires +courage and hope in the buoyant heart of youth. The gloom which had +oppressed him in parting with his brother, and indeed had partially +clouded his spirit during their rapid journey, vanished before the +duties and responsibilities which thronged round him, now that he felt +himself the guard and seneschal of the castle intrusted to his charge; +now that new duties devolved on him, duties particularly dear to a young +and gallant spirit like his own; duties, too, that bound him closer and +closer with the gentle being in whose welfare and happiness his own were +shrined. It was with a bright smile, then, and animated brow he joined +his Agnes early the following morning, in a stroll through a small woody +inclosure dignified by the name of garden, which occupied part of the +inner court. The old minstrel who had so attracted the attention of +Agnes was there before them. He stood against a projecting buttress, his +arms folded, his eyes fixed, it seemed on vacancy, and evidently not +aware he was approached till Nigel spoke.</p> + +<p>"Good morrow, father. I thought we had been the earliest to greet this +fresh and frosty air, save those on guard, yet you are before us. Nay, +wherefore doff thy cap, good father? The air is somewhat too frosty for +thy silvered head."</p> + +<p>"I cannot doff it to a nobler, gentle youth," answered the old man, +courteously, "save to my sovereign's self; and as his representative, I +pay willing homage to his brother."</p> + +<p>"Ha! dost thou know me, father? And was it because I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> am King Robert's +brother thine eyes so rested on me yester morn, mournfully, methought, +as if the joy with which I hailed the gleam of sunshine smiling on our +banner had little echo in thy breast?"</p> + +<p>"Not that, not that," answered the old man, tremulous; "I scarce +remarked it, for my thoughts were in that future which is sometimes +given me to read. I saw thee, noble youth, but 'twas not here. Dim +visions come across my waking hours; it is not well to note them," and +he turned away as if he might not meet those eager eyes.</p> + +<p>"Not here! yet I was at his side, good father," and Agnes laid her fair +hand on the old man's arm.</p> + +<p>"Thou wert, thou wert, my child. Beautiful, beautiful!" he half +whispered, as he laid his hand dreamily on those golden curls, and +looked on her face; "yet hath sorrow touched thee, maiden. Thy morn of +life hath been o'erclouded; its shadow lingers yet."</p> + +<p>"Too truly speakest thou, father," replied Nigel, drawing Agnes closer +to his heart, for tears were starting in her eyes; "yet will not love +soon chase that sorrow? Thou who canst penetrate the future, seer of the +Bruce's line, tell me, shall she not be mine?"</p> + +<p>The old man looked on them both, and then his eyes became fixed on +vacancy; long and painfully once or twice he passed his hand across his +high, pale brow.</p> + +<p>"Vain, vain," he said, sadly; "but one vision comes to mine aching +sight, and there she seems thine own. She is thine own—but I know not +how that will be. Ask me no more; the dream is passing. 'Tis a sad and +fearful gift. Others may triumph in the power, but for me 'tis sad, 'tis +very sad."</p> + +<p>"Sad! nay, is it not joy, the anticipating joy," answered Nigel, with +animation, "to look on a beloved one, and mark, amid the clouds of +distance, glory, and honor, and love entwining on, his path? to look +through shades of present sorrow, and discern the sunbeam afar off—is +there not joy in this?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, gentle youth; but now, oh, now is there aught in Scotland to +whisper these bright things? There was rejoicing, find glory, and +triumph around the patriot Wallace. Scotland sprung from her sluggish +sleep, and gave back her echo to his inspiring call. I looked upon the +hero's beaming brow, I met the sparkle of his brilliant eye, I bowed +before the native ma<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>jesty of his god-like form, but there was no joy +for me. Dark masses of clouds closed round the present sunshine; the +present fled like a mist before them, and they oped, and then—there was +still Wallace; but oh! how did I see him? the scaffold, the cord, the +mocking crowds, the steel-clad guards—all, all, even as he fell. My +children! my children! was there joy in this?"</p> + +<p>There was a thrilling pathos in the old man's voice that touched the +very heart of his listeners. Agnes clung closer to the arm of her +betrothed, and looked up tearfully in his face; his cheek was very pale, +and his lip slightly quivered. There was evidently a desire to speak, to +utter some inquiry, but he looked on that sweet face upturned to his, +and the unspoken words died in an inarticulate murmur on his lips.</p> + +<p>"My brother," he said, at length, and with some difficulty, though it +was evident from the expression of his countenance this was not the +question he had meant to ask, "my noble brother, will thy glorious +struggles, thy persevering valor, end in this? No, no, it cannot be. +Prophet and seer, hast thou e'er gazed on him—him, the hope, the joy, +the glory of the line of Bruce? Hast thou gazed on him, and was there no +joy there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" answered the old man, starting from his posture of despondency, +and raising his hands with animated fervor, while his cheek flushed, and +his eyes, fixed on distance, sparkled with all the fire of youth. "Yes! +I have gazed upon that face, and in present and in future it is glorious +still. Thick mists have risen round him, well-nigh concealing him within +their murky folds, but still, still as a star penetrating through cloud, +and mist, and space, till it sees its own bright semblance in the ocean +depths, so has that brow, circled by its diadem of freedom, gleamed back +upon mine aching sight, and I have seen and known there is joy for Bruce +and Scotland yet!"</p> + +<p>"Then is there joy for all true Scottish men, good father, and so will +we chase all sadness from our brows and hearts," replied Nigel, lightly. +"Come, tell us of the past, and not the future, while we stroll; thou +hast traditions, hast thou not, to while away an hour?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, my young lord," replied the seer, "hast thou not enough in the +present, embodied as it is in this fair maiden's dreaming eye and loving +heart? The minstrel's harp and ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> lore are for the evening hour, +not for a time and companion such as this," and with an audible blessing +he turned away, leaving them to their stroll together.</p> + +<p>It was not, however, without an effort Nigel could take advantage of his +absence, and make good use of moments so blissful to hearts that love. +There was something in the old man's mournful tone and glance when it +rested upon him, that answered strangely and sadly to the spirit-voice +breathing in his own bold breast. It seemed to touch that chord +indefinably, yet felt by the vibration of every nerve which followed. He +roused himself, however, and ere they joined the morning meal, there was +a brighter smile on the lip and heart of Agnes than had rested there for +many a long day.</p> + +<p>For a few weeks there was peace both within and without the castle of +Kildrummie. The relief, the shelter which its walls afforded to the +wearied and exhausted wanderers was at first felt and enjoyed alone. +Many of the frailer sex were far too exhausted and disabled by a variety +of sufferings, to be sensible of any thing but that greater comforts +than had been theirs for many painful months were now possessed; but +when their strength became partially restored, when these comforts +became sufficiently familiar to admit of other thoughts, the queen's +fortitude began to waver. It was not the mere impulse of the moment +which caused her to urge her accompanying her husband, on the plea of +becoming more and more unworthy of his love if separated from him. +Margaret of Mar was not born for a heroine; more especially to act on +such a stormy stage as Scotland. Full of kindly feeling, of affection, +confidence, gentleness, one that would have drooped and died had her +doom been to pass through life unloved, her yielding mind took its tone +and coloring from those with whom she most intimately associated; not +indeed from the rude and evil, for from those she intuitively shrunk. +Beneath her husband's influence, cradled in his love, her spirit +received and cherished the <i>reflection</i> of his strength; of itself, she +too truly felt it had none; and consequently when that beloved one was +far away, the reflection passed from her mind even as the gleam of his +armor from the mirror on which it glanced, and Margaret was weak and +timorous again. She had thought, and hoped, and prayed, her unfeigned +admiration of Isabella of Buchan, her meek and beautiful appreciation of +those qualities and candid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> acknowledgment that such was the character +most adapted to her warrior husband, would bring more steadiness and +courage to her own woman breast. Alas! the fearful fate which had +overtaken the heroic countess came with such a shock to the weaker soul +of Margaret, that if she had obtained any increase of courage, it was at +once annihilated, and the desponding fancy entered her mind that if evil +reached one so noble, so steadfast in thought and in action, how might +she hope to escape; and now, when weakened and depressed alike by bodily +and mental suffering, such fancies obtained so much possession of her +that she became more and more restless. The exertions of Sir Nigel and +his companions, even of her own friends, failed in rousing or infusing +strength. Sometimes it was vague conjectures as to the fate of her +husband, the dread that he had fallen into the hands of his foes—a +catastrophe which not only herself but many stronger minds imagined +could scarcely be avoided. She would dwell on these fancies till +suspense became intolerable; and then, if these were partially calmed, +came personal fears: the belief that if attacked the castle could not +muster force enough for defence; suspicions of treachery in the +garrison, and other symptoms of the wavering nature of her mind, till +Sir Nigel felt too truly that if danger did come she would not stay to +meet it. Her wishes ever turned to the sanctuary of St. Duthac in the +domains of the Earl of Ross, believing the sanctity of the place would +be more effectual protection than the strongest castle and bravest +force. In vain Sir Nigel remonstrated, nay, assured her that the +fidelity of the Lord of Ross was impugned; that he doubted his +flattering overtures; that he was known to be in correspondence with +England. But he spoke in vain—the queen persisted in trusting him; that +he had ever been a friend of her father and brother the Earls of Mar, +and he would be faithful to her interests now. Her opinion weighed with +many of the ladies of her court, even amongst those who were not +affected with her fears. At such times Agnes never spoke, but there was +a calm, quiet determination in her expression that convinced the Lady +Seaton, who alone had leisure to observe her, that her resolution was +already taken and unalterable.</p> + +<p>All that could be done to calm, the queen's perturbed spirits by way of +amusement Sir Nigel did; but his task was not an easy one, and the rumor +which about this time reached him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> that the Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster, with a very large force, were rapidly advancing towards +Aberdeenshire, did not lessen its difficulties. He sought to keep the +information as long as possible from all his female charge, although the +appearance of many terrified villagers flying from their homes to the +protection of the castle hardly enabled him to do so, and confirmed +without doubt the truth of what he had heard. Nigel felt the moment of +peril was approaching, and he nerved both mind and frame to meet it. The +weak terrors of the queen and some of her train increased with every +rumor, and, despite every persuasion of Sir Nigel, Seaton, and other +brave and well-tried warriors, she rested not till a negotiation was +entered into with the Earl of Ross to grant them a safe conduct through +his lands, and permission to enter the sanctuary of St. Duthac.</p> + +<p>Perplexed with many sad thoughts, Nigel Bruce was one day slowly +traversing a long gallery leading to some uninhabited chambers in the +west wing of the building; it was of different architecture, and ruder, +heavier aspect than the remainder of the castle. Tradition said that +those rooms had been the original building inhabited by an ancestor of +the line of Bruce, and the remainder had been gradually added to them; +that some dark deed of blood had been there committed, and consequently +they were generally kept locked, none of the vassals in the castle +choosing to run the risk of meeting the spirits which they declared +abode there. We have before said that Nigel was not superstitious, +though his mind being of a cast which, adopting and embodying the ideal, +he was likely to be supposed such. The particulars of the tradition he +had never heard, and consequently it was always with a smile of +disbelief he listened to the oft-repeated injunction not to walk at dusk +in the western turret. This warning came across him now, but his mind +was far otherwise engrossed, too much so indeed for him even to give +more than a casual glance to the rude portraits which hung on either +side the gallery.</p> + +<p>He mistrusted the Earl of Ross, and there came a fear upon his noble +spirit that, in permitting the departure of the queen and her +attendants, he might be liable to the censure of his sovereign, that he +was failing in his trust; yet how was he to act, how put a restraint +upon his charge? Had he indeed believed that the defence of the castle +would be successful, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> he should be enabled to force the besiegers +to raise the siege, he might perhaps have felt justified in restraining +the queen—but he did not feel this. He had observed there were many +discontented and seditious spirits in the castle, not indeed in the +three hundred of his immediate followers; but what were they compared to +the immense force now pouring over the country, and whose goal he knew +was Kildrummie? The increase of inmates also, from the number of small +villages which had emptied their inhabitants into his walls till he was +compelled to prevent further ingress, must inevitably diminish his +stores, and when once blockaded, to replenish them would be impossible. +No personal fears, no weakness of purpose entered the high soul of Nigel +Bruce amid these painful cogitations. He well knew no shade of dishonor +<i>could</i> fall on him; he thought not one moment of his own fate, although +if the castle were taken he knew death awaited him, either by the +besieger's sword or the hangman's cord, for he would make no condition; +he thought only that this was well-nigh the last castle in his brother's +keeping, which, if lost, would in the present depressed state of his +affairs be indeed a fatal blow, and a still greater triumph to England.</p> + +<p>These thoughts naturally engrossed his mind to the exclusion of all +imaginative whisperings, and therefore was it that he drew back the bolt +of a door which closed the passage, without any of those peculiar +feelings that at a less anxious time might have possessed him; for souls +less gifted than that of Nigel Bruce can seldom enter a spot hallowed by +tradition without the electric thrill which so strangely unites the +present with the past.</p> + +<p>It was a chamber of moderate dimensions to which the oaken door admitted +him, hung with coarse and faded tapestry, which, disturbed by the wind, +disclosed an opening into another passage, through which he pursued his +way. In the apartment on which the dark and narrow passage ended, +however, his steps were irresistibly arrested. It was panelled with +black-oak, of which the floor also was composed, giving the whole an +aspect calculated to infect the most thoughtless spirit with gloom. Two +high and very narrow windows, the small panes of which were quite +incrusted with dust, were the only conductors of light, with the +exception of a loophole—for it could scarcely be dignified by the name +of casement—on the western<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> side. Through this loophole the red light +of a declining winter sun sent its rays, which were caught and stayed on +what seemed at the distance an antique picture-frame. Wondering to +perceive a picture out of its place in the gallery, Nigel hastily +advanced towards it, pausing, however, on his way to examine, with some +surprise, one of the planks in the floor, which, instead of the +beautiful black polish which age had rather heightened than marred in +the rest, was rough and white, with all the appearance of having been +hewn and scraped by some sharp instrument.</p> + +<p>It is curious to mark how trifling a thing will sometimes connect, +arrange, and render clear as day to the mind all that has before been +vague, imperfect, and indistinct. It is like the touch of lightning on +an electric chain, link after link starts up till we see the illumined +whole. We have said Nigel had never heard the particulars of the +tradition; but he looked on that misshapen plank, and in an instant a +tale of blood and terror weaved itself in his mind; in that room the +deed, whatever it was, had been done, and from that plank the sanguine +evidence of murder had been with difficulty erased. A cold shuddering +passed over him, and he turned instinctively away, and strode hastily to +examine the frame which had attracted him. It did contain a picture—we +should rather say a portrait—for it comprised but one figure, the +half-length of a youthful warrior, clad in steel, save the +beautifully-formed head, which was covered only by his own luxuriant +raven curls. In a better light it could not have been placed, +particularly in the evening; the rays, condensed and softened, seemed to +gather up their power into one focus, and throw such an almost +supernatural glow on the half face, give such an extraordinary +appearance of life to the whole figure, that a casual visitant to that +chamber might well fancy it was no picture but reality on which he +gazed. But no such emotion was at work in the bosom of Nigel Bruce, +though his first glance upon that face occasioned an almost convulsive +start, and then a gaze of such intense, such almost fearful interest, +that he stood as if fascinated by some overpowering spell. His features, +worked with internal emotions, flushed and paled alternately. It was no +weak-minded terror which bound him there, no mood in which a step or +sound could chill and startle, for so wrapt was he in his own strange +dreams that he heard not a slow and measured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> step approach him; he did +not even start when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the melodious +voice of the seer caused him to turn slowly around.</p> + +<p>"The warnings thou hast heard have no power on thee, young lord," he +said, slightly smiling, "or I should not see thee here at this hour +alone. Yet thou wert strangely wrapt."</p> + +<p>"Knowest thou aught of <i>him</i>, good father?" answered Nigel, in a voice +that to his own ears sounded hoarse and unnatural, and turning his +glance once again to the portrait. "My thoughts are busy with that face +and yon tale-telling plank; there are wild, feverish, incongruous dreams +within me, and I would have them solved. Thou of all others art best +fitted to the task, for amid the records of the past, where thou hast +loved to linger, thou hast surely found the tradition of this tower. I +shame not to confess there is in my heart a deep yearning to learn the +truth. Wherefore, when thy harp and song have so pleasantly whiled the +evening hours, did not this tale find voice, good father?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! my son, 'tis too fraught with horror, too sad for gentle ears. A +few stern, rugged words will best repeat it. I love not to linger on the +theme; listen then now, and it shall be told thee."</p> + +<p>"In the reign of Malcolm the Second, the districts now called Aberdeen +and Forfar were possessed, and had been so, so tradition saith, since +Kenneth MacAlpine, by the Lords of Brus or Bris, a family originally +from the North. They were largely and nobly connected, particularly with +Norway and Gaul. It is generally supposed the first possessions in +Scotland held in fief by the line of Bruce can be traced back only to +the time of David I., in the person of Robert de Bruce, an Anglo-Norman +baron, whose father came over to England with the Conqueror. The cause +of this supposition my tale will presently explain.</p> + +<p>"Haco Brus or Bris was the Lord of Aberdeen in the reign of Malcolm the +Second. He spent many years abroad; indeed, was supposed to have married +and settled there, when, to the surprise of his vassals, he suddenly +returned unmarried, and soon after uniting himself with a beautiful and +accomplished girl, nearly related to the blood-royal of Scotland, +settled quietly in this tower, which was the stronghold of his +possessions. Years passed; the only child of the baron, a son, born<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> in +the first year of his marriage, grew up in strength and beauty, the idol +not only of his mother, but of his father, a man stern and cold in +seeming, even morose, but with passions fearful alike in their influence +and extent. Your eye glances to that pictured face, he was not the +baron's son of whom I speak. The affections, nay, the very passions of +the baron were centered in this boy. It is supposed pride and ambition +were their origin, for he looked, through his near connection with the +sovereign, for further aggrandizement for himself. There were some who +declared ambition was not the master-passion, that a deeper, sterner, +fiercer emotion dwelt within. Whether they spoke thus from the sequel, I +know not, but that sequel proved their truth.</p> + +<p>"There was a gathering of all the knightly and noble in King Malcolm's +court, not perchance for trials at arms resembling the tournays of the +present day, but very similar in their motive and bearing, though ruder +and more dangerous. Tho wreath of glory and victory was ever given by +the gentle hand of beauty. Bright eyes and lovely forms presided at the +sports even as now, and the king and his highest nobles joined in the +revels.</p> + +<p>"The wife of the Baron of Brus and his son, now a fine boy of thirteen, +were of course amongst the royal guests. Though matron grace and +dignified demeanor had taken the place of the blushing charms of early +girlhood, the Lady Helen Brus was still very beautiful, and as the niece +of the king and wife of such a distinguished baron, commanded and +received universal homage. Among the combatants was a youthful knight, +of an exterior and bearing so much more polished and graceful than the +sons of the soil or their more northern visitors, that he was instantly +recognized as coming from Gaul, then as now the most polished kingdom of +the south. Delighted with his bravery, his modesty, and most chivalric +bearing, the king treated him with most distinguished honor, invited him +to his palace, spoke with him as friend with friend on the kingdoms of +Normandy and France, to the former of which he was subject. There was a +mystery, too, about the young knight, which heightened the interest he +excited; he bore no device on his shield, no cognizance whatever to mark +his name and birth and his countenance, beautiful as it was, often when +in repose expressed sadness and care unusual to his years, for he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +still very young, though in reply to the king's solicitations that he +would choose one of Scotland's fairest maidens (her dower should be +princely), and make the Scottish court his home, he had smilingly avowed +that he was already a husband and father.</p> + +<p>"The notice of the king, of course, inspired the nobles with similar +feelings of hospitality. Attention and kindness were lavished on the +stranger from all, and nothing was talked of but the nameless knight. +The Lord of Brus, who had been absent on a mission to a distant court +during the continuance of the martial games, was on his return presented +by the king himself to the young warrior. It is said that both were so +much moved by this meeting, that all present were mystified still more. +The baron, with that deep subtlety for which he was remarkable, +recovered himself the first, and accounted for his emotion to the +satisfaction of his hearers, though not apparently to that of the +stranger, who, though his cheek was blanched, still kept his bright +searching eyes upon him, till the baron's quailed 'neath his gaze. The +hundred tongues of rumor chose to speak of relationship, that there was +a likeness between them, yet I know not how that could be. There is no +impress of the fiendish passion at work in the baron's soul on those +bright, beautiful features."</p> + +<p>"Ha! Is it of him you speak?" involuntarily escaped from Nigel, as the +old man for a moment paused; "of him? Methought yon portrait was of an +ancestor of Bruce, or wherefore is it here?"</p> + +<p>"Be patient, good my son. My narrative wanders, for my lips shrink from +its tale. That the baron and the knight met, not in warlike joust but in +peaceful converse, and at the request of the latter, is known, but on +what passed in that interview even tradition is silent, it can only be +imagined by the sequel; they appeared, however, less reserved than at +first. The baron treated him with the same distinction as his +fellow-nobles, and the stranger's manner towards him was even more +respectful than the mere difference of age appeared to demand. Important +business with the Lord of Brus was alleged as the cause of his accepting +that nobleman's invitation to the tower of Kildrummie, in preference to +others earlier given and more eagerly enforced. They departed together, +the knight accompanied but by two of his followers, and the baron +leaving the greater<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> number of his in attendance on his wife and child, +who, for some frivolous reason, he left with the court. It was a strange +thing for him to do, men said, as he had never before been known to lose +sight of his boy even for a day. For some days all seemed peace and +hospitality within the tower. The stranger was too noble himself, and +too kindly disposed towards all his fellow-creatures, to suspect aught +of treachery, or he might have remarked the retainers of the baron were +changed; that ruder forms and darker visages than at first were +gathering around him. How the baron might have intended to make use of +them—almost all robbers and murderers by trade—cannot be known, though +it may be suspected. In this room the last interview between them took +place, and here, on this silent witness of the deed, the hand of the +father was bathed in the blood of the son!"</p> + +<p>"God in heaven!" burst from Nigel's parched lips, as he sprang up. "The +son—how could that be? how known?"</p> + +<p>"Fearfully, most fearfully!" shudderingly answered the old man; "through +the dying ravings of the maniac Lord of Brus himself. Had not heaven, in +its all-seeing justice, thus revealed it, the crime would ever have +remained concealed. His bandit hirelings were at hand to remove and +bury, many fathoms deep in moat and earth, all traces of the deed. One +of the unfortunate knight's followers was supposed to have shared the +fate of his master, and to the other, who escaped almost miraculously, +you owe the preservation of your royal line.</p> + +<p>"But there was one witness of the deed neither time nor the most cunning +art could efface. The blood lay in a pool on the oaken floor, and the +voice of tradition whispers that day after day it was supernaturally +renewed; that vain were the efforts to absorb it, it ever seemed moist +and red; and that to remove the plank and re-floor the apartment was +attempted again and again in vain. However this may be, it is evident +that <i>erasing it</i> was attended with extreme difficulty; that the blood +had penetrated well-nigh through the immense thickness of the wood."</p> + +<p>Nigel stooped down over the crumbling fragment; years, aye, centuries +had rolled away, yet there it still stood, arrested it seemed even in +its decay, not permitted to crumble into dust, but to remain an +everlasting monument of crime and its retribution. After a brief pause +Nigel resumed his seat, and push<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>ing the hair from his brow, which was +damp with some untold emotion, signed to the old man to proceed.</p> + +<p>"That the stranger warrior returned not to Malcolm's court, and had +failed in his promises to various friends, was a matter of +disappointment, and for a time, of conjecture to the king and his court. +That his followers, in obedience, it was said, to their master's signet, +set off instantly to join him either in England or Normandy, for both of +which places they had received directions, satisfied the greater number. +If others suspected foul play, it was speedily hushed up; for the baron +was too powerful, too closely related to the throne, and justice then +too weak in Scotland to permit accusation or hope for conviction. Time +passed, and the only change observable in the baron was, that he became +more gloomy, more abstracted, wrapt up, as it were, in one dark +remembrance, one all-engrossing thought. Towards his wife he was +changed—harsh, cold, bitterly sarcastic; as if her caresses had turned +to gall. Her gentle spirit sunk beneath the withering blight, and he was +heard to laugh, the mocking laugh of a fiend, as he followed her to the +grave; her child, indeed, he still idolized, but it was a fearful +affection, and a just heaven permitted not its continuance. The child, +to whom many had looked as likely to ascend the Scottish throne, from +the failure of all direct heirs, the beautiful and innocent child of a +most guilty father, faded like a lovely flower before him, so softly, so +gradually, that there came no suspicion of death till the cold hand was +on his heart, and he lay lifeless before him who had plunged his soul in +deadliest crime through that child to aggrandize himself. Then was it +that remorse, torturing before, took the form of partial madness, and +there was not one who had power to restrain, or guide, or soothe.</p> + +<p>"Then it was the fearful tale was told, freezing the blood, not so much +with the wild madness of the tone, but that the words were too +collected, too stamped with truth, to admit of aught like doubt. The +couch of the baron was, at his own command, placed here, where we now +stand, covering the spot where his first-born fell, and that portrait, +obtained from Normandy, hung where it now is, ever in his sight. The +dark tale which those wild ravings revealed was simply this:</p> + +<p>"He had married, as was suspected, during his wanderings, but soon tired +of the yoke, more particularly as his wife possessed a spirit proud and +haughty as his own, and all efforts to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> mould her to his will were +useless, he plunged anew into his reckless career. He had never loved +his wife, marrying her simply because it suited his convenience, and +brought him increase of wealth and station; and her ill-disguised +abhorrence of many of his actions, her beautiful adherence to virtue, +however tempted, occasioned all former feelings to concentrate in hatred +the most deadly. More than one attempt to rid himself of her by poison +she had discovered and frustrated, and at last removed herself and her +child, under a feigned name, to Normandy, and ably eluded all pursuit +and inquiry.</p> + +<p>"The baron's search continued some time, in the hope of silencing her +forever, as he feared she might prove a dangerous enemy, but failing in +his wishes, he travelled some time over different countries, returned at +length to Scotland, and acted as we have seen. The young knight had been +informed of his birthright by his mother, at her death, which took place +two years before he made his appearance in Scotland; that she had +concealed from him the fearful character of his father, being unable so +completely to divest herself of all feeling towards the father of her +child, as to make him an object of aversion to his son. She had long +told him his real name, and urged him to demand from his father an +acknowledgment of his being heir to the proud barony of the Bruce. His +likeness to herself was so strong, that she knew it must carry +conviction to his father; but to make his identity still more certain, +she furnished him with certain jewels and papers, none but herself could +produce. She had done this in the presence of two faithful witnesses, +the father and brother of her son's betrothed bride, high lords of +Normandy, the former of which made it a condition annexed to his consent +to the marriage, that as soon as possible afterwards he should urge and +claim his rights. Sir Walter, of course, willingly complied; they were +married by the name of Brus, and their child so baptized. A war, which +retained Sir Walter in arms with his sovereign, prevented his seeking +Scotland till his boy was a year old, and then for his sake, far more +than for his own, the young father determined on asserting his +birthright, his child should not be nameless, as he had been; but to +spare his unknown parent all public mortification, he joined the martial +games without any cognizance or bearing on his shield.</p> + +<p>"Terrible were the ravings in which the baron alluded to the interview +he had had with his murdered child; the angelic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> mildness and generosity +of the youthful warrior; that, amid all his firmness never to depart +from his claim—as it was not alone himself but his child he would +irreparably injure—he never wavered in his respectful deference to his +parent. He quitted the court in the belief that the baron sought +Kildrummie to collect the necessary papers for substantiating his claim; +but ere he died, it appeared his eyes were opened. The fierce passions +of the baron had been too long restrained in the last interview; they +burst even his politic control, and he had flung the papers received +from, the hand of his too-confiding son on the blazing hearth, and with +dreadful oaths swore that if he would not instantly retract his claim, +and bind himself by the most sacred promise never to breathe the foul +tale again, death should be its silent keeper. He would not bring his +own head low, and avow that he had dishonored a scion of the +blood-royal.</p> + +<p>"Appalled far more at the dark, fiendish passions he beheld than the +threat held out to himself, Sir Walter stood silent a while, and then +mildly demanded to be heard; that if so much public mortification to his +parent would attend the pursuance of his claims at the present time, he +would consent to forego them, on condition of his father's solemnly +promising on his deathbed to reveal the truth, and do him tardy justice +then, but forego them altogether he would not, were his life the +forfeit. The calm firmness of his tone, it is supposed, lashed his +father into greater madness, and thus the dark deed was done.</p> + +<p>"That the baron several times endeavored to possess himself of the +infant child of Sir Walter, also came to light in his dying moments; +that he had determined to exterminate root and branch, fearful he should +still possess some clue to his birth; he had frantically avowed, but in +his last hour, he would have given all his amassed treasure, his +greatness, his power, but for one little moment of assurance that his +grandson lived. He left him all his possessions, his lordship, his name, +but as there were none came forth to claim, they of necessity passed to +the crown."</p> + +<p>"But the child, the son of Sir Walter—if from him our line descends, he +must have lived to manhood—why did not he demand his rights?"</p> + +<p>"He lived, aye, and had a goodly progeny; but the fearful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> tale of his +father's fate related to him again and again by the faithful Edric, who +had fled from his master's murdered corse to watch over the safety of +that master's child, and warn all who had the charge of him of the fiend +in human shape who would probably seek the boy's life as he had his +father's, caused him to shun the idea of his Scottish possessions with a +loathing horror which he could not conquer; they were associated with +the loss of both his parents, for his father's murder killed his devoted +mother. He was contented to feel himself Norman in possessions as well +as in name. He received lands and honors from the Dukes of Normandy, and +at the advanced age of seventy and five, accompanied Duke William to +England. The third generation from him obtained anew Scottish +possessions, and gradually Kildrummie and its feudal tenures returned to +its original lords; but the tower had been altered and enlarged, and +except the tradition of these chambers, the fearful fate of the second +of the line has faded from the minds of his descendants, unless casually +or supernaturally recalled."</p> + +<p>"Ha! supernaturally, sayest thou?" interrupted Nigel, in a tone so +peculiar it almost startled his companion. "Are there those who assert +they have seen his semblance—good, gifted, beautiful as thou hast +described him? why not at once deem him the guardian spirit of our +house?"</p> + +<p>"And there are those who deem him so, young lord," answered the seer. +"It is said that until the Lords of Bruce again obtained possession of +these lands, in the visions of the night the form of the murdered +warrior, clad as in yon portrait, save with the addition of a scarf +across his breast bearing the crest and cognizance of the Bruce, +appeared once in his lifetime to each lineal descendant. Such +visitations are said to have ceased, and he is now only seen by those +destined like himself to an early and bloody death, cut off in the prime +of manhood, nobleness, and joy."</p> + +<p>"And where—sleeping or waking?" demanded the young nobleman, in a low, +deep tone, laying his hand on the minstrel's arm, and looking fixedly on +his now strangely agitated face.</p> + +<p>"Sleeping or waking? it hath been both," he answered, and his voice +faltered. "If it be in the front of the war, amid the press, the crush, +the glory of the battle, he hath come, circled with bright forms and +brighter dreams, to the sleeping warrior on the eve of his last fight; +if"—and his voice grew lower and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> huskier yet—"if by the red hand of +the foe, by the captive's chain and headsman's axe, as the noble +Wallace, there have been those who say—I vouch not for its truth—he +hath been seen in the vigils of the night on the eve of knighthood, when +the young, aspiring warrior hath watched and prayed beside his arms. +Boy! boy! why dost thou look upon me thus?"</p> + +<p>"Because thine eye hath read my doom," he said, in a firm, sweet tone; +"and if there be aught of truth in thy tale, thou knowest, feelest I +have seen him. God of mercy, the captive's chain, the headsman's axe! +Yet 'tis Thy will, and for my country—let it come."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + + +<p>"Thou art idle, maiden; wherefore not gather thy robes and other gear +together, as thy companions? Knowest thou not in twenty-four hours we +shall be, heaven willing, safely sheltered under the holy wing of St. +Duthac?" was Queen Margaret's address to Agnes, about a week after the +conversation we have recorded. There were many signs of confusion and +tokens of removal in her scanty train, but the maiden of Buchan stood +apart, offering assistance when needed, but making no arrangements for +herself.</p> + +<p>"I seek not such holy keeping, may it please you, madam," she replied. +"I do not quit this castle."</p> + +<p>"How!" exclaimed Margaret. "Art thou mad?"</p> + +<p>"In what, royal madam?"</p> + +<p>"Or hath love blinded thee, girl? Knowest thou not Hereford and +Lancaster are advancing as rapidly as their iron-clad force permits, and +in less than seven days the castle must be besieged in form?"</p> + +<p>"I know it, madam."</p> + +<p>"And thou wilt brave it, maiden?—dare a danger that may be avoided? Is +thy life of so little worth, or if not thy life, thy liberty?"</p> + +<p>"When a life is wrapt up in one—when there is none on earth save that +one to whom that life is of any worth, wherefore should I seek safety +save by his side? Royal madam, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> am not mad nor blind; but desolate as +I am,—nay, were I not 'twould be the same—I covet to share Sir Nigel's +fate; the blow that strikes him shall lay me at his side, be it in +prison or in death. My safety is with him; and were the danger ten times +as great as that which threatens now, I'd share it with him still."</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou art but a loving fool, Agnes. Be advised, seek safety in the +sanctuary; peril cannot reach us there."</p> + +<p>"Save by the treachery of the dark-browed earl who grants that shelter. +Nay, pardon me, madam; thou lovest not to list that theme, believing him +as honorable and faithful as thyself. God grant he prove so! If," she +added, with a faint smile, "if it be such mad folly to cling to a +beloved one in danger as in joy, in adversity as in triumph, forgive me, +royal lady, but thy maidens have learned that tale of thee."</p> + +<p>"And would to God I could teach them thus again!" exclaimed the queen, +tears coursing down her cheeks. "Oh, Agnes, Agnes, were Robert here, not +death itself should part us. For my child's sake, for his, I go hence +for safety. Could my resting, nay, my death benefit him, Agnes, I would +meet it, weak as thou deemest me."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, I doubt it not, my queen," answered Agnes, soothingly, "It is +best thou shouldst find some place of repose till this struggle be past. +If it end in victory, it will be joy to hail thee once again within its +walls; if otherwise, better thy safety should be cared for."</p> + +<p>"But for thee, my child, is it not unmaidenly for thee to linger here?"</p> + +<p>"It would be, royal madam," and a bright vivid flush glowed on her pale +cheeks, "but for the protection of the Lady Seaton, who will not leave +her husband."</p> + +<p>"I may not blame her, after mine own words," said the queen, +sorrowfully; "yet she is one I could have wished beside me. Ha! that +trumpet. Merciful heaven! is it the foe?" and trembling with alarm, she +dispatched attendant after attendant to know the cause.</p> + +<p>The English force was known to be so near that many a warrior-heart beat +quicker at any unusual blast, and it was not marvel the queen's terrors +should very often affect her attendants. Agnes alone, amid the maiden +train, ever retained a calm self-possession; strange in one who, till +the last eventful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> year, had seemed such a very child. Her mother +trembled lest the turmoils and confusion of her country should ever +approach her or those she loved; how might she, timid, nay; often +fearful, weak, and yielding, as the flower on the heath, how might she +encounter storm, and grief, and care? Had her mother's eye been on her +now, and could have followed her in yet deeper trials, that mother +scarce had known her child.</p> + +<p>She it was whose coolness enabled her easily to recognize and explain +the trumpet's blast. It was an officer with an escort from the Lord of +Ross, informing the queen that, from late intelligence respecting the +movements of the English, he deemed it better they should not defer +their departure from the castle another night.</p> + +<p>On the receipt of this message all was increased hurry and confusion in +the apartments of the queen. The advice was to be followed on the +instant, and ere sunset the litters and mules, and other accommodation +for the travellers, waited their pleasure in the outer court.</p> + +<p>It was with a mien of princely dignity, a countenance grave and +thoughtful, with which the youthful seneschal attended the travellers to +the great gate of the castle. In after years the expression of his +features flashed again and again upon those who looked upon him them. +Calmly he bade his sister-in-law farewell, and bade her, should she be +the first to see his brother, tell him that it was at her own free will +and pleasure she thus departed; that neither advice nor persuasion on +his part had been used; she had of her own will released him from his +sacred charge; and if ill came of it, to free his memory from blame.</p> + +<p>"Trust me, Nigel; oh, surely you may trust me! You will not part from me +in anger at my wilfulness?" entreated Margaret, as clinging to his arm, +she retained him a few minutes ere he placed her in the litter.</p> + +<p>"In anger, my sweet sister, nay, thou wrongest me!" he said, a bright +smile dispersing a moment the pensive cast of his features. "In sorrow, +perchance, for I love not him to whose care thou hast committed thyself; +yet if ill await this castle, and thou wert with me, 'twould enhance its +bitterness. No, tis better thou shouldst go; though I would it were not +to the Lord of Ross."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And wherefore?" demanded the deep stern voice of the officer beside +him.</p> + +<p>"Because I doubt him, Archibald Macfarlane," sternly replied the young +nobleman, fixing his flashing eyes upon him; "and thou mayst so inform +him an thou wilt. An I do him wrong, let him deliver the Queen of +Scotland and her attendants in safety to King Robert, in the forthcoming +spring, and Nigel Bruce will crave forgiveness for the wrong that he +hath done him; nay, let his conduct give my doubts the lie, and I will +even thank him, sir."</p> + +<p>Turning on his heel, he conducted the queen to her litter, and bade a +graceful farewell to all her fair companions, bidding good angels speed +them on their way. The heavy gates were thrown back, the portcullis +raised and the drawbridge lowered, and amid a parting cheer from the +men-at-arms drawn up in the court in military homage to their queen, the +cavalcade departed, attended only by the men of Ross, for the number of +the garrison was too limited to admit of their attendance anywhere, save +within and on the walls.</p> + +<p>With folded arms and an anxious brow, Sir Nigel stood beside the gate, +marking the progress of the train; a gentle voice aroused him. It +playfully said, "Come to the highest turret, Nigel, there thou wilt +trace their path as long as light remains." He started, for Agnes was at +his side. He drew her arm within his own, briefly gave the command to +close the gate and make all secure, and turned with her in the direction +of the keep.</p> + +<p>"Have I done right," he said, as, when they had reached a more retired +path, he folded his arm caressingly around her, and drew her closer to +him, "to list thy pleadings, dearest, to grant thy boon? oh, if <i>they</i> +go to safety, why did I listen to thee and permit thee to remain?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, there is equal safety within these walls, Nigel. Be assured, thine +Agnes hath neither regret nor doubt when thou art by her side," she +answered, still playfully. "I love not the sanctuaries they go to seek; +the stout hearts and trusty blades of warriors like thee and thine, my +Nigel, are better and truer safeguards."</p> + +<p>"Alas! Agnes, I fear me not in cases such as these. I am not wont to be +desponding, but from the small number of true men which garrison this +castle, I care not to acknowledge I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> had loved better to meet my foe on +open ground. Here I can scarce know friend from foe; traitors may be +around me, nay, in my very confidence, and I know it not."</p> + +<p>"Art thou not infected with Queen Margaret's suspicions, Nigel? Why +ponder on such uneasy dreams?"</p> + +<p>"Because, my best love, I am a better adept in the perusal of men's +countenances and manners than many, and there are signs of lowering +discontent and gloomy cowardice, arguing ill for unity of measures, on +which our safety greatly rests. Yet my fancies may be wrong, and at all +hazards my duty shall be done. The issue is in the hands of a higher +power; we cannot do wrong in committing ourselves to Him, for thou +knowest He giveth not the battle to the strong, and right and justice we +have on Scotland's side."</p> + +<p>Agnes looked on his face, and she saw, though he spoke cheerfully, his +thoughts echoed not his words. She would not express her own anxiety, +but led him gently to explain to her his plan of defence, and prepare +her for all she might have to encounter.</p> + +<p>Five days passed, and all within and without the walls remained the +same; the sixth was the Sabbath, and the greater part of the officers +and garrison were assembled in the chapel, where divine service was +regularly read by the Abbot of Scone, whom we should perhaps before have +mentioned as having, at the king's especial request, accompanied the +queen and her attendants to Kildrummie. It was a solemn yet stirring +sight, that little edifice, filled as it was with steel-clad warriors +and rude and dusky forms, now bending in one prayer before their God. +The proud, the lowly, the faithless, and the true, the honorable and the +base, the warrior, whose whole soul burned and throbbed but for his +country and his king, the coward, whose only thought was how he could +obtain life for himself and save the dread of war by the surrender of +the castle—one and all knelt there, the workings of those diverse +hearts known but to Him before whom they bent. Strangely and mournfully +did that little group of delicate females gleam forth amidst the darker +and harsher forms around, as a knot of fragile flowers blooming alone, +and unsheltered amidst some rude old forest trees, safe in their own +lowliness from the approaching tempest, but liable to be overwhelmed in +the fall of their companions, whom yet they would not leave. As calmly +as in his own ab<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>bey the venerable abbot read the holy service, and +administered the rites of religion to all who sought. It was in the deep +silence of individual prayer which preceded the chanting of the +conclusion of the service that a shrill, peculiar blast of a trumpet was +heard. On the instant it was recognized as the bugle of the warder +stationed on the centre turret of the keep, as the blast which told the +foe was at length in sight. Once, twice, thrice it sounded, at irregular +intervals, even as Nigel had commanded; the notes were caught up by the +warders on the walls, and repeated again and again. A sudden cry of "The +foe!" broke from the soldiers scattered round, and again all was +silence. There had been a movement, almost a confusion in some parts of +the church, but the officers and those who had followed them from the +mountains neither looted up nor stirred. The imperative gesture of the +abbot commanded and retained order and silence, the service proceeded; +there might have been some faltering in the tones of the choir, but the +swelling notes of the organ concealed the deficiency.</p> + +<p>The eye of Agnes voluntarily sought her betrothed. His head was still +bent down in earnest prayer, but she had not looked long before she saw +him raise it, and lift up his clasped hands in the evident passionate +fervor of his prayer. So beautiful, so gloriously beautiful was that +countenance thus breathing prayer, so little seemed that soul of earth, +that tears started to the eyes of Agnes, and the paleness of strong +emotion over-spread the cheek, aye, and the quivering lip, which the war +and death-speaking trumpet had had no power to disturb.</p> + +<p>"Let me abide by him, merciful Father, in weal or in woe; oh, part us +not!" she prayed again and yet again, and the bright smile which now +encircled his lips—for he had caught her glance—seemed an answer to +her prayer.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful, though perhaps to many of the inmates of Kildrummie +a terrible sight, which from the roof of the turret now presented itself +to their view. The English force lay before them, presenting many a +solid phalanx of steel, many a glancing wood of spears. Nor were these +all; the various engines used in sieges at this time, battering-rams, +and others, whose technical names are unfortunately lost to us, but used +to fling stones of immense weight to an almost incredible distance; +arbalists, and the incomparable archer, who carried as many lives as +arrows in his belt; wagons, heavily laden, with all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> things necessary +for a close and numerous encampment—all these could be plainly +distinguished in rapid advance towards the castle, marking their path +through the country by the smoke of the hamlets they had burned. Many +and eager voices resounded in various parts of the castle; numbers had +thronged to the tower, with their own eyes to mark the approach of the +enemy, and to report all they had seen to their companions below, +triumphantly or despondingly, according to the temper of their minds. +Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, with others of the superior +officers, stood a little apart, conversing eagerly and animatedly, and +finally separating, with an eager grasp of the hand, to perform the +duties intrusted to each.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Christine, and thou, fair maiden," exclaimed Sir Christopher, +gayly, as on turning he encountered his wife and Agnes arm-in-arm. "By +mine honor, this is bravely done; ye will not wait in your tiring-bower +till your knights seek ye, but come for information yourselves. Well, +'tis a goodly company, is't not? as gallant a show as ever mustered, by +my troth. Those English warriors tacitly do us honor, and proclaim our +worth by the numbers of gallant men they bring against us. We shall +return the compliment some day, and pay them similar homage."</p> + +<p>His wife smiled at his jest, and even felt reassured, for it was not the +jest of a mind ill at ease, it was the same bluff, soldier spirit she +had always loved.</p> + +<p>"And, Nigel, what thinkest thou?"</p> + +<p>"Think, dearest?" he said, answering far more the appealing look of +Agnes than her words; "think? that we shall do well, aye, nobly well; +they muster not half the force they led me to expect. The very sight of +them has braced me with new spirit, and put to ignominious flight the +doubts and dreams I told thee had tormented me."</p> + +<p>Movement and bustle now pervaded every part of the castle, but all was +conducted with an order and military skill that spoke well for the +officers to whom it was intrusted. The walls were manned; pickaxes and +levers, for the purposes of hurling down stones on the besiegers, +collected and arranged on the walls; arms polished, and so arranged that +the hand might grasp them at a minute's warning, were brought from the +armory to every court and tower; the granaries and storehouses were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +visited, and placed under trustworthy guards. A band of picked men, +under an experienced officer, threw themselves into the barbacan, +determined to defend it to the last. Sir Nigel and Sir Christopher +visited every part of the outworks, displaying the most unceasing care, +encouraged the doubting, roused the timid, and cheered and inspired the +boldest with new confidence, new hope; but one feeling appeared to +predominate—liberty and Scotland seemed the watchword of one and all.</p> + +<p>Onward, like a mighty river, rolled the English force; nearer and +nearer, till the middle of the second day saw them encamped within a +quarter of a mile from the palisades and outworks raised on either side +of the barbacan. Obtaining easy possession of the river—for Sir Nigel, +aware of the great disparity of numbers, had not even attempted its +defence—they formed three distinct bodies round the walls, the +strongest and noblest setting down before the barbacan, as the principal +point of attack. Numerous as they had appeared in the distance, well +provided with all that could forward their success, it was not till +closer seen all their strength could be discovered; but there was no +change in the hopes and gallant feelings of the Scottish officers and +their men-at-arms, though, could hearts have been read, the timidity, +the doubts, the anxious wishes to make favorable peace with the English +had in some of the original garrison alarmingly increased.</p> + +<p>Before, however, any recourse was made to arms, an English herald, +properly supported, demanded and obtained admission within the gates, on +a mission from the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster, to Sir Christopher +Seaton, Sir Nigel Bruce, and others of command. They were summoned to +deliver up the castle and themselves to their liege lord and sovereign, +King Edward; to submit to his mercy, and grace should be shown to them, +and safe conduct granted to all those who, taking refuge within the +walls and adopting a position of defence, proclaimed themselves rebels +and abettors of rebellion; that they should have freedom to return to +their homes uninjured, not only in their persons but in their +belongings; and this should be on the instant the gates were thrown +open, and the banner of England had taken the place of that of Scotland +now floating from their keep.</p> + +<p>"Tell thy master, thou smooth-tongued knave," burst an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>grily from the +lips of Sir Christopher Seaton, as he half rose from his seat and +clenched his mailed hand at the speaker, and then hastily checking +himself, added, in a lower tone, "Answer him, Nigel; thou hast eloquence +at thy command, I have none, save at my sword's point, and my temper is +somewhat too hot to list such words, courteous though they may be."</p> + +<p>"Tell your master, sir herald," continued Nigel, rising as his colleague +flung himself back on his seat, and though his voice was sternly calm, +his manner was still courteous, "tell them they may spare themselves the +trouble, and their followers the danger, of all further negotiation. We +are Scottish men and Scottish subjects, and consequently to all the +offers of England we are as if we heard not. Neither rebels nor abettors +of rebels, we neither acknowledge the necessity of submitting ourselves +to a tyrant's mercy, nor desire the advantage of his offered grace. +Return, sir herald; we scorn the conditions proposed. We are here for +Scotland and for Scotland's king, and for them we know both how to live +and how to die."</p> + +<p>His words were echoed by all around him, and there was a sharp clang of +steel, as if each man half drew his eager sword, which spoke yet truer +than mere words. Dark brows and features stern were bent upon the herald +as he left their presence, and animated council followed his departure.</p> + +<p>No new movement followed the return of the herald. For some days no +decisive operation was observable in the English force; and when they +did attack the outworks, it was as if more to pass the time than with +any serious intent. It was a period of fearful suspense to the besieged. +Their storehouses were scarcely sufficiently provided to hold out for +any great length of time, and they almost imagined that to reduce them +to extremities by famine was the intention of the besiegers. The +greatest danger, if encountered hand to hand in the <i>mêlée</i>, was +welcome, but the very idea of a slow, lingering fate, with the enemy +before them, mocking their misery, was terrible to the bravest. A daring +sally into the very thickest of the enemy's camp, headed by Nigel and +his own immediate followers, carrying all before them, and when by +numbers compelled to retreat, bearing both booty and prisoners with +them, roused the English from their confident supposition that the +besieged would soon be obliged to capitulate, and urged them into +action. The ire of the haughty English blazed up at what seemed such +dar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>ing insolence in their petty foe. Decisive measures were resorted to +on the instant, and increased bustle appeared to pervade both besiegers +and besieged.</p> + +<p>"Pity thou art already a knight, Nigel!" bluffly exclaimed Seaton, +springing into his saddle by torchlight the following morning, as with a +gallant band he was about dashing over the drawbridge, to second the +defenders of the barbacan and palisades. "How shall we reward thee, my +boy? Thou hast brought the foe to bay. Hark! they are there before me," +and he spurred on to the very centre of the <i>mêlée</i>.</p> + +<p>Sir Nigel was not long after him. The enemy was driven back with fearful +loss. Scaling-ladders were thrown down; the archers on the walls, better +accustomed to their ground, marking their foes by the torches they +carried, but concealed themselves by the darkness, dealt destruction +with as unerring hand as their more famous English brethren. Shouts and +cries rose on either side; the English bore back before the sweeping +stroke of Nigel Bruce as before the scythe of death. For the brief space +of an hour the strife lasted, and still victory was on the side of the +Scots—glorious victory, purchased with scarce the loss of ten men. The +English fled back to their camp, leaving many wounded and dead on the +field, and some prisoners in the hands of the Scots. Ineffectual efforts +were made to harass the Scots, as with a daring coolness seldom +equalled, they repaired the outworks, and planted fresh palisades to +supply those which had fallen in the strife, in the very face of the +English, many of them coolly detaching the arrows which, shot at too +great distance, could not penetrate the thick lining of their buff +coats, and scornfully flinging them back. Several sharp skirmishes took +place that day, both under the walls and at a little distance from them; +but in all the Scots were victorious, and when night fell all was joy +and triumph in the castle; shame, confusion, and fury in the English +camp.</p> + +<p>For several days this continued. If at any time the English, by +superiority of numbers, were victorious, they were sure to be taken by +surprise by an impetuous sally from the besieged, and beaten back with +loss, and so sudden and concealed were the movements of Nigel and +Seaton, that though the besiegers lay closer and closer round the +castle, the moment of their setting forth on their daring expeditions +could never be discovered.</p> + +<p>"Said I not we should do well, right well, sweet Agnes,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> exclaimed +Nigel, one night, on his return from an unusually successful sally, "and +are not my words true? Hast thou looked forth on the field to-day, and +seen how gloriously it went? Oh, to resign this castle to my brother's +hands unscathed, even as he intrusted it; to hold it for him, threatened +as it is!"</p> + +<p>He smiled gayly as he spoke, for the consciousness of power was upon +him—power to <i>will</i> and <i>do</i>, to win and to retain—that most blessed +consciousness, whether it bless a hero's breast or poet's soul, a +maiden's heart or scholar's dream, this checkered world can know.</p> + +<p>"I did look forth, my Nigel, for I could not rest; yet ask me not to +tell thee how the battle went," she added, with a faint flush, as she +looked up in his noble face, beaming as it was with every feeling dear +to the heart that loved, "for I traced but the course of one charger, +saw but the waving of one plume."</p> + +<p>"And thou didst not fear the besiegers' arrows, my beloved? Didst stand +in the shelter I contrived? Thou must not risk danger, dearest; better +not list the urgings of thy noble spirit than be aught exposed."</p> + +<p>"There was no danger, Nigel, at least there seemed none," she said. "I +felt no fear, for I looked on thee."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + + +<p>Had the gallant defenders of Kildrummie Castle been conscious that the +at first dilatory and then uncertain measures of their foes originated +in the fact that the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster were not themselves +yet on the field, and that they had with them a vast addition to their +forces, they would not perhaps have rested so securely on the hopes +which their unexpected success very naturally engendered. Attack on one +side they knew they could resist; their only dread had been that, from +the numbers of the English, the angle towers, each of which covered a +postern, might be attacked at once, and thus discover the real weakness +of their forces. The obstinate struggle for the barbacan, the strongest +point of the castle, had been welcomed with joy by the Scotch, for there +they could overlook<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> every movement of the besiegers. Some wonder it did +cause that such renowned knights as the earls were known to be, should +not endeavor to throw them off their guard by a division of attack; but +this wonder could not take from the triumph of success.</p> + +<p>It was from no want of observation the absence of the two earls remained +undiscovered by the besieged. Engaged on a secret expedition, whose +object will be seen in the sequel, they had commanded the message +demanding surrender to be given in their names, their pavilions to be +pitched in sight of the castle as if they were already there, their +banners to wave above them, esquires and pages to be in attendance, and +their war-cries to be shouted, as was the custom when they led on in +person. The numerous knights, clothed in bright armor from head to heel +ever traversing the field, assisted the illusion, and the Scotch never +once suspected the truth.</p> + +<p>Imagining a very brief struggle would deliver the castle into their +hands, even if its garrison were mad enough to refuse compliance with +King Edward's terms, the earls had not hurried themselves on their +expedition, and a fortnight after the siege had begun, were reposing +themselves very cavalierly in the stronghold of an Anglo-Scottish baron, +some thirty miles southward of the scene of action.</p> + +<p>It was the hour of supper, a rude repast of venison, interspersed with +horn and silver flagons filled with the strong liquors of the day, and +served up in a rude hall, of which the low round arches in the roof, the +massive walls without buttresses, and windows running small outside, but +spreading as to become much larger within, all denoted the Saxon +architecture unsoftened by any of the Norman improvements.</p> + +<p>The earls and their host, with some attendant knights, sat as usual +round the dais or raised part of the hall, their table distinguished it +may be by some gold as well as silver vessels, and a greater variety of +liquor, particularly hypocras and claret of the day, the one formed of +wine and honey, the other of wine and spices; by the sinnel and wastel +cakes, but certainly not by the superior refinement of the more solid +food. The huge silver saltcellar alone divided the table of the baron +from that of his dependants, yet the distinction of sitting above and +below the salt was as great as the division between the master and +servant of the present day; the jest, the loud laugh seasoned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> the +viands placed before them, and the hearty draught from the welcome +flagon. Nor was the baron's own table much quieter; remarks on the state +of the country, speculations as to the hiding-place of King Robert, and +when they should receive tidings of the surrender of Kildrummie, formed +topics of conversation alternately with discussions on the excellence of +the wines, the flavor of the venison, the difference between English and +Scottish cookery, and such like matters, important in the days of our +ancestors as in our own.</p> + +<p>"You have ridden long enough to-day, good my lords, to make a hearty +charge on your suppers; a long journey and a tough battle, commend me to +them for helps to the appetite," said the Scottish baron, joyously +inviting them by his own example to eat on and spare not.</p> + +<p>"Commend me to the latter, an ye will," answered Hereford, on whose brow +a cloud of something like distaste had spread; "but by mine honor, I +love not the business of the last week. I have brought it to a close, +however, and praise the saints for it."</p> + +<p>"Bah! thou art over-squeamish, Hereford. Edward would give us the second +best jewel in his chaplet for the rich prize we have sent him," resumed +Lancaster.</p> + +<p>"Reserving the first, of course, for the traitor Bruce himself," +interposed their host. "Ah! such a captive were in truth worth an +earldom."</p> + +<p>"Then, by my troth, the traitor's wife is worth a barony," returned +Lancaster, laughing; "and her fair bevy of attendants, amongst whom are +the wives, daughters, and sisters of many a rebel, thinkest thou not we +shall be high in Edward's favor for them, too? I tell thee we might have +fought many a good fight, and not have done him such good service."</p> + +<p>"It may be, it may be," answered Hereford, impatiently, "had it been at +the sword's point, had they been prisoners by force of arms, I would +have joyed too, and felt it was good service; but such rank treachery, +decoyed, entrapped by that foul prince of lies, the Lord of Ross—faugh! +I could have rammed his treachery back into his throat."</p> + +<p>"And done the king, perchance, good service too," rejoined Lancaster, +still excessively amused, "for I have no faith in a traitor, however he +may serve us a while; yet thou art not over-wise, good friend, to let +such trifles chafe thee thus. Trust<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> me, Edward will think more of the +captives than the capture."</p> + +<p>"There was a time he would not," answered the earl, mournfully; "a time, +when Edward would have held it foul scorn to war with women, and worse +than scorn to obtain their persons by treachery, as now."</p> + +<p>"Aye, but he has changed, and we must change too, would we please him," +said the baron; "such notions might have done in former days, but they +are too high-flown for the present time, my good lord. I marvel they +should have lingered so long with thee."</p> + +<p>A frown gathered on Hereford's broad and noble brow, but remembering the +forbearance due to his host, he checked an angry reply. "The king <i>has</i> +changed," he said, "darkly and painfully changed; ambition has warped +the noblest, knightliest heart which ever beat for chivalry."</p> + +<p>"Hush, ere thou speakest treason, Sir Earl; give me not the pain of +draining another flagon of this sparkling hypocras to gain strength for +thine arrest, good friend," exclaimed Lancaster, laying the flat of his +sword on the earl's shoulder.</p> + +<p>Hereford half smiled. "Thou art too happy in thy light-hearted mirth for +me to say aught that would so disturb it," he said; "yet I say, and will +say again, would to heaven, I had been before the gates of Kildrummie, +and left to thee all the honor and glory, an thou wilt, of this +capture."</p> + +<p>"Honor and glory, thou bitter piece of satire!" rejoined Lancaster, +holding up a large golden flagon, to hide his face from the earl. +"Unhappy me, were this all the glory I could win. I will wipe away the +stain, if stain there be, at Kildrummie, an it be not surrendered ere we +reach it."</p> + +<p>"The stain is with the base traitor Ross, not with thee or me," answered +Hereford; "'tis that I abhor the nature of such expeditions, that I +loathe, aye, loathe communication with such as he, and that—if it can +be—that worse traitor Buchan, that makes me rejoice I have naught +before me now but as fair a field as a siege may be. Would to God, this +devastating and most cruel war were over, I do say! on a fair field it +may be borne, but not to war with women and children, as has been my +fate."</p> + +<p>"Aye, by the way, this is not the first fair prize thou hast sent to +Edward; the Countess of Buchan was a rare jewel for our coveting +monarch—somewhat more than possession, there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> was room for vengeance +there. Bore she her captivity more queenly than the sobbing and weeping +Margaret?"</p> + +<p>The question was reiterated by most of the knights around the dais, but +Hereford evidently shrunk from the inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Speak not of it, I charge ye," he said. "There is no room for jesting +on grief as hers; majestic and glorious she was, but if the reported +tale be true, her every thought, her every feeling was, as I even then +imagined, swallowed up in one tearless and stern but all-engrossing +anguish."</p> + +<p>"The reported tale! meanest thou the fate of her son?" asked one of the +knights.</p> + +<p>"If it be true!" resumed another; "believest thou, my lord, there is +aught of hope to prove it false?"</p> + +<p>"More likely to be true than false," added Lancaster; "I can believe any +thing of that dark scowling villain Buchan—even the murder of his +child."</p> + +<p>"I believe it <i>not</i>," answered Hereford; "bad as that man is, hard in +heart as in temper, he has too much policy to act thus, even if he had +no feelings of nature rising to prevent it. No, no; I would wager the +ruby brooch in my helmet that boy lives, and his father will make use of +him to forward his own interests yet."</p> + +<p>"But why then forge this tale?" demanded their host; "how may that serve +his purpose?"</p> + +<p>"Easily enough, with regard to the vengeance we all know he vowed to +wreak on his unhappy wife. What deeper misery could he inflict upon her +than the belief her boy was murdered? and as for its effect on Edward, +trust a Comyn to make his own way clear."</p> + +<p>"But what do with the boy meanwhile?"</p> + +<p>"Keep him under lock and key; chained up, may be, as a dog in a kennel, +till he has broken his high spirit, and moulds him to the tool he +wills," answered Hereford, "or at least till his mother is out of his +path."</p> + +<p>"Ha! thinkest thou the king will demand such sweeping vengeance? He +surely will not sentence a woman to death."</p> + +<p>"Had I thought so, had I only dreamed so," replied Hereford, with almost +startling sternness, "as there is a God above us, I would have risked +the charge of treason and refused to give her up! But no, my lords, no; +changed as Edward is, he would not, he dared not use his power thus. I +meant but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> imprisonment, when I said out of the boy's path—more he will +not do; but even such I love not. Bold as it was to crown the rebel +Bruce, the deed sprung from a noble heart, and noble deeds should meet +with noble judgment."</p> + +<p>A bugle sounded twice or thrice sharply without, and occasioning some +bustle at the lower part of the ball, interrupted for a brief space the +converse of the lords. A few minutes after, the seneschal, attended by +two or three higher servants, returned, marshalling in due form two +young men in the garb of esquires, followed by some fifteen or twenty +men-at-arms.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Fitz-Ernest and Hugo; well met, and ye bring us good tidings from +Kildrummie," exclaimed both the English earls at once, as cap in hand +the esquires slowly walked up the hall, and did obeisance to their +masters.</p> + +<p>"Yet your steps are somewhat laggard, as they bring us news of victory. +By my troth, were it not utterly impossible, I could deem ye had been +worsted in the strife," continued the impatient Lancaster, while the +cooler and more sagacious Hereford scanned the countenances of the +esquires in silence. "Yet and ye come not to tell of victory, why have +ye come at all?"</p> + +<p>"To beseech your lordship's speedy return, to the camp," replied +Fitz-Ernest, after a moment's hesitation, his cheek still flushed from +his master's words. "There is division of purpose and action in the +camp, and an ye not return and head the attack your noble selves, I fear +me there is little hope of victory."</p> + +<p>"Peace, fool! is there such skill and wisdom needed? Division in purpose +and action! Quarrelling, methinks, had better be turned against the +enemy than against yourselves. Hugo, do thou speak; in plain terms, +wherefore come ye?"</p> + +<p>"In plain terms, then, good my lord, as yet we have had the worst of +it," answered the esquire, bluntly. "The Scotch fight like very devils, +attacking us instead of waiting for our attack, penetrating into the +very centre of our camp, one knows not how or whence, bearing off +prisoners and booty in our very teeth."</p> + +<p>"Prisoners—booty—worsted! Thou durst not tell me so!" exclaimed +Lancaster, furiously, as he started up and half drew his sword.</p> + +<p>"Peace, peace, I pray thee, good friend, peace," continued Hereford, +laying his hand on Lancaster's shoulder, with a force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> which compelled +him to resume his seat. "Let us at least hear and understand their +mission. Speak out, Hugo, and briefly—what has befallen?"</p> + +<p>In a few straightforward words his esquire gave all the information +which was needed, interrupted only now and then by a brief interrogation +from Hereford, and some impatient starts and muttering from his +colleague. The success of the Scots, described in a former page, had +continued, despite the action of the mangonels and other engines which +the massive walls appeared to hold in defiance. So watchful and skilful +were the besieged, that the greatest havoc had been made amongst the men +employed in working the engines, and not yet had even the palisades and +barbacan been successfully stormed.</p> + +<p>"Have they tried any weaker point?" Hereford asked, and the answer was, +that it was on this very matter division had spread amongst the knights, +some insisting on carrying the barbacan as the most important point, and +others advising and declaring their only hope of success lay in a +divided attack on two of the weaker sides at once.</p> + +<p>"The fools, the sorry fools!" burst again from Lancaster. "They deserve +to be worsted for their inordinate pride and folly; all wanted to lead, +and none would follow. Give you good e'en, my lord," he added, turning +hastily to his host; "I'll to the courtyard and muster forth my men. +Fitz-Ernest, thou shalt speak on as we go," and drawing his furred +mantle around him, he strode rapidly yet haughtily from the hall. +Hereford only waited to learn all from Hugo, to hold a brief +consultation with some of his attendant knights, and he too, despite the +entreaties of his host to tarry with him at least till morning, left the +banquet to don his armor.</p> + +<p>"Silence and speed carry all before them, my good lord," he said, +courteously. "In such a case, though I fear no eventual evil, they must +not be neglected. I would change the mode of attack on these Scotch, ere +they are even aware their foes are reinforced."</p> + +<p>"Eventual evil, of a truth, there need not be, my lord," interposed his +esquire, "even should no force of arms prevail. I have heard there are +some within the walls who need but a golden bribe to do the work for +us."</p> + +<p>"Peace!" said the nobleman, sternly. "I loathe the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> word +betray—spoken or intended. Shame, shame on thee to speak it, and yet +more shame to imagine it needed! Art thou of Norman birth, and deemest a +handful of Scotch like these will bid us raise the siege and tamely +depart?—yet better so than gained by treachery."</p> + +<p>Hugo and the Scottish baron alike shrunk back from the reproving look of +Hereford, and both silently followed him to the courtyard. Already it +was a scene of bustling animation: trumpets were sounding and drums +rolling; torches flashing through the darkness on the mailed coats of +the knights and on gleaming weapons; and the heavy tramp of near two +hundred horse, hastily accoutred and led from the stable, mingled with +the hoarse winds of winter, howling tempestuously around. The reserve +which Hereford had retained to guard the prisoners so treacherously +delivered over to him, was composed of the noblest amidst his army, +almost all mounted chevaliers; and, therefore, though he might not add +much actual force to the besiegers, the military skill and experience +which that little troop included argued ill for the besieged. Some of +the heaviest engines he had kept back also, particularly a tower some +four or five stories high, so constructed that it could be rolled to the +walls, and its inmates ascend unscathed by the weapons of their +defenders. Not imagining it would be needed, he had not sent it on with +the main body, but now he commanded twelve of the strongest horses to be +yoked to it, and on went the unwieldy engine, rumbling and staggering on +its ill-formed wheels. Lancaster, whose impatience no advice could ever +control, dashed on with the first troop, leaving his cooler comrade to +look to the yoking of the engines and the marshalling the men, and with +his own immediate attendants bringing up the rear, a task for which +Hereford's self-command as well fitted him as his daring gallantry to +head the foremost charge.</p> + +<p>"Ye will have a rough journey, my good lord; yet an ye deem it best, +farewell and heaven speed ye," was the parting greeting of the baron, as +he stood beside the impatient charger of the earl.</p> + +<p>"The rougher the better," was that nobleman's reply; "the noise of the +wind will conceal our movements better than a calmer night. Farewell, +and thanks—a soldier's thanks, my lord, poor yet honest—for thy right +noble welcome."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>He bent his head courteously, set spurs to his steed, and dashed over +the drawbridge as the last of his men disappeared through the outer +gate. The Scottish nobleman looked after him with many mingled feelings.</p> + +<p>"As noble a warrior as ever breathed," he muttered; "it were honor to +serve under him, yet an he wants me not I will not join him. I love not +the Bruce, yet uncalled, unneeded, I will not raise sword against my +countrymen," and with slow, and equal steps he returned to the hall.</p> + +<p>Hereford was correct in his surmises. The pitchy darkness of a winter +night would scarcely have sufficed to hide the movements attendant on +the sudden arrival of a large body of men in the English camp, had not +the hoarse artillery of the wind, moaning, sweeping, and then rushing +o'er the hills with a crashing sound like thunder, completely smothered +every other sound, and if at intervals of quiet unusual sounds did +attract the ears of those eager watchers on the Scottish walls, the +utter impossibility of kindling torches or fires in either camp +frustrated every effort of discovery. Hoarser and wilder grew the +whirlwind with the waning hours, till even the steel-clad men-at-arms +stationed on the walls moved before it, and were compelled to crouch +down till its violence had passed. Favored by the elements, Hereford +proceeded to execute his measures, heedless alike of the joyful surprise +his sudden appearance occasioned, and of the tale of division and +discord which Hugo and Fitz-Ernest had reported as destroying the unity +of the camp. Briefly and sternly refusing audience to each who pressed +forward, eager to exculpate himself at the expense of his companions, he +desired his esquire to proclaim a general amnesty to all who allowed +themselves to have been in error, and would henceforth implicitly obey +his commands; he returned to his pavilion, with the Earl of Lancaster, +summoning around him the veterans of the army, and a brief consultation +was held. They informed him the greatest mischief had been occasioned by +the injuries done to the engines, which had been brought to play against +the walls. Stones of immense weight had been hurled upon them, +materially injuring their works, and attended with such fatal slaughter +to the men who worked them, that even the bravest shrunk back appalled; +that the advice of the senior officers had been to hold back until these +engines were repaired, merely keeping strict guard against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> unexpected +sallies on the part of the Scotch, as this would not only give them time +to recruit their strength, but in all probability throw the besieged off +their guard. Not above half of the army, however, agreed with this +counsel; the younger and less wary spurned it as cowardice and folly, +and rushing on to the attack, ill-formed and ill-conducted, had ever +been beaten back with immense loss; defeat, however, instead of teaching +prudence, lashed them into greater fury, which sometimes turned upon +each other.</p> + +<p>Hereford listened calmly, yet with deep attention, now and then indeed +turning his expressive eyes towards his colleague, as if entreating him +to observe that the mischief which had befallen them proceeded greatly +from impetuosity and imprudence, and beseeching his forbearance. Nor was +Lancaster regardless of this silent appeal; conscious of his equality +with Hereford in bravery and nobleness, he disdained not to acknowledge +his inferiority to him in that greater coolness, which in a siege is so +much needed, and grasping his hand with generous fervor, bade him speak, +advise, command, and he would find no one in the camp more ready to be +counselled and to obey than Lancaster. To tear down those rebel colors +and raise those of England in their stead, was all he asked.</p> + +<p>"And fear not that task shall be other than thine own, my gallant +friend," was Hereford's instant reply, his features kindling at +Lancaster's words more than they had done yet; and then again quickly +resuming his calm unimpassioned exterior, he inquired if the mangonels +and other engines were again fit for use. There were several that could +instantly be put in action was the reply. Had the numbers of fighting +men within the castle been ascertained? They had, a veteran answered, +from a prisoner, who had appeared so willing to give information, that +his captors imagined there were very many malcontents within the walls. +Of stalwart fighting men there were scarcely more than three hundred; +others there were, of whose number was the prisoner, who fought because +their companions' swords would else have been at their throats, but that +they would be glad enough to be made prisoners, to escape the horrors of +the siege.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for it," was the earl's sole rejoinder, "there will be less +glory in the conquest."</p> + +<p>"And this Sir Nigel Bruce, whoe'er he be, hath to combat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> against +fearful odds," remarked Lancaster; "and these Scotch-men, by my troth, +seem touched by the hoof of the arch-deceiver—treachery from the earl +to the peasant. Hast noticed how this scion of the Bruce bears +himself?—right gallantly, 'tis said."</p> + +<p>"As a very devil, my lord," impetuously answered a knight; "in the walls +or out of them, there's no standing before him. He sweeps down his foes, +line after line, as cards blown before the wind; he is at the head of +every charge, the last of each retreat. But yesternight there were those +who marked him covering the retreat of his men absolutely alone; his +sword struck down two at every sweep, till his passage was cleared; he +darted on—the drawbridge trembled in its grooves—for he had given the +command to raise it, despite his own danger—his charger, mad as +himself, sprang forward, and like a lightning flash, both disappeared +within the portcullis as the bridge uprose."</p> + +<p>"Gallantly done!" exclaimed Lancaster, who had listened to this recital +almost breathlessly. "By St. George, a foe worthy to meet and struggle +with! But who is he—what is he?"</p> + +<p>"Knowest thou not?" said Hereford, surprised; "the brother, youngest +brother I have heard, of this same daring Earl of Carrick who has so +troubled our sovereign."</p> + +<p>"Nigel, the brother of Robert! What, the scribe, the poet, the dreamer +of Edward's court? a poor youth, with naught but his beauty to recommend +him. By all good angels, this metamorphosis soundeth strangely! art sure +'tis the same, the very same?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard so," was Hereford's quiet reply, and continuing his more +important queries with the veterans around, while Lancaster, his gayer +spirit roused by this account of Nigel, demanded every minute particular +concerning him, that he might seek him hand to hand.</p> + +<p>"Steel armor inlaid with silver—blue scarf across his breast, +embroidered with his cognizance in gold—blue plume, which no English +sword hath ever soiled—humph! that's reserved for me—charger white as +the snow on the ground—sits his steed as man and horse were one. Well, +gloriously well, there will be no lack of glory here!" he said, +joyously, as one by one he slowly enumerated the symbols by which he +might rec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>ognize his foe. So expeditiously had Hereford conducted his +well-arranged plans, that when his council was over, it still wanted two +hours to dawn, and these Hereford commanded the men who had accompanied +him to pass in repose.</p> + +<p>But he himself partook not of this repose, passing the remainder of the +darkness in carefully reviewing the forces which were still fresh and +prepared for the onset, in examining the nature of the engines, and +finally, still aided by the noise of the howling winds, marshalled them +in formidable array in very front of the barbacan, the heavy mist thrown +onward by the blasts effectually concealing their near approach. To +Lancaster the command of this party was intrusted; Hereford reserving to +himself the desirable yet delicate task of surveying the ground, +confident that the attack on the barbacan would demand the whole +strength and attention of the besieged, and thus effectually cover his +movements.</p> + +<p>His plan succeeded. A fearful shout, seconded by a tremendous discharge +of huge stones, some of which rattled against the massive walls in vain, +others flying across the moat and crushing some of the men on the inner +wall, were the first terrific sounds which unexpectedly greeted the +aroused attention of the Scotch. The armor of their foes flashing +through the mist, the furious charge of the knights up to the very gates +of the barbacan, seemingly in sterner and more compact array than of +late had been their wont, the immense body which followed them, +appearing in that dim light more numerous than reality, struck a +momentary chill on the Scottish garrison; but the unwonted emotion was +speedily dissipated by the instant and unhesitating sally of Sir +Christopher Seaton and his brave companions. The impetuosity of their +charge, the suddenness of their appearance, despite their great +disparity of numbers, caused the English a moment to bear back, and kept +them in full play until Nigel and his men-at-arms, rushing over the +lowered drawbridge, joined in the strife. A brief, very brief interval +of fighting convinced both the Scottish leaders that a master-spirit now +headed their foes; that they were struggling at infinitely greater odds +than before; that unity of purpose, greater sagacity, and military skill +were now at work against them, they scarce knew wherefore, for they +recognized the same war-cry, the same banners; there were the same +gallant show of knights, for in the desperate <i>mêlée</i> it was scarcely +pos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>sible to distinguish the noble form of Lancaster from his fellows, +although marking the azure plume, which even then waved high above all +others, though round it the work of death ever waxed hottest; the +efforts of the English earl were all bent to meet its gallant wearer +hand to hand, but the press of war still held them apart, though both +seemed in every part of the field. It was a desperate struggle man to +man; the clash of swords became one strange continuous mass of sound, +instead of the fearful distinctness which had marked their work before. +Shouts and cries mingled fearfully with the sharper clang, the heavy +fall of man and horse, the creaking of the engines, the wild shrieks of +the victims within the walls mangled by the stones, or from the +survivors who witnessed their fall—all formed a din as terrific to +hear, as dreadful to behold. With even more than their wonted bravery +the Scotch fought, but with less success. The charge of the English was +no longer the impetuous fury of a few hot-headed young men, more eager +to <i>despite</i> their cooler advisers, than gain any permanent good for +themselves. Now, as one man fell another stepped forward in his place, +and though the slaughter might have been equal, nay, greater on the side +of the besiegers than the besieged, by one it was scarcely felt, by the +other the death of each man was even as the loss of a host. Still, still +they struggled on, the English obtaining possession of the palisades, +though the immense strength of the barbacan itself, defended as it was +by the strenuous efforts of the Scotch, still resisted all attack: +bravely, nobly, the besieged retreated within their walls, pellmell +their foes dashed after them, and terrific was the combat on the +drawbridge, which groaned and creaked beneath the heavy tramp of man and +horse. Many, wrestling in the fierceness of mortal strife, fell together +in the moat, and encumbered with heavy armor, sunk in each other's arms, +in the grim clasp of death.</p> + +<p>Then it was Lancaster met hand to hand the gallant foe he sought, +covering the retreat of his men, who were bearing Sir Christopher +Seaton, desperately wounded, to the castle. Sir Nigel stood well-nigh +alone on the bridge; his bright armor, his foaming charger bore evident +marks of the fray, but still he rode his steed firmly and unbent, his +plume yet waved untouched by the foeman's sword. Nearer and nearer +pressed forward the English earl, signing to his men to secure without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +wounding his gallant foe; round him they closely gathered, but Nigel +evinced no sign either of trepidation or anger, fearlessly, gallantly, +he returned the earl's impetuous charge, backing his steed slowly as he +did so, and keeping his full front to his foe. On, on pressed Lancaster, +even to the postern; a bound, a shout, and scarcely was he aware that +his sword had ceased to cross with Nigel's, before he was startled by +the heavy fall of the portcullis, effectually dividing them, and utterly +frustrating further pursuit. A cry of rage, of disappointment broke from +the English, as they were compelled to turn and rejoin their friends.</p> + +<p>The strife still continued within and without the barbacan, and ended +without much advantage on either side. The palisades and outward +barriers had indeed fallen into the hands of the English, which was the +first serious loss yet sustained by the besieged; from the barbacan they +had gallantly and successfully driven their foe, but that trifling +success was so counterbalanced by the serious loss of life amid the +garrison which it included, that both Nigel and Sir Christopher felt the +next attack must deliver it into the hands of the besiegers. Their loss +of men was in reality scarcely a third of the number which had fallen +among the English, yet to them that loss was of infinitely more +consequence than to the foe. Bitter and painful emotions filled the +noble spirit of Nigel, as he gazed on the diminished number of his men, +and met the ill-suppressed groans and lamentations of those who had, at +the first alarm of the English, sought shelter and protection in the +castle; their ill-suppressed entreaties that he would struggle no longer +against such odds grated harshly and ominously on his ear; but sternly +he turned from them to the men-at-arms, and in their steadfast bravery +and joyous acclamations found some degree of hope.</p> + +<p>Yet ere the day closed the besieged felt too truly their dreams of +triumph, of final success, little short of a miracle would realize. +Their fancy that some new and mightier spirit of generalship was at work +within the English camp was confirmed. Two distinct bodies were observed +at work on the eastern and southern sides of the mount, the one +evidently employed in turning aside the bed of the river, which on that +side flowed instead of the moat beneath the wall, the other in +endeavoring to fill up the moat by a causeway, so as to admit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> of an +easy access to the outer wall. The progress they had made in their work +the first day, while the attention of the Scotch had been confined to +the attack on the barbacan, was all-sufficient evidence of their intent; +and with bitter sorrow Sir Nigel and his brother-in-law felt that their +only means of any efficient defence lay in resigning the long-contested +barbacan to the besiegers. An important point it certainly was, but +still to retain it the walls overlooking the more silent efforts of the +English must be left comparatively unguarded, and they might obtain an +almost uninterrupted and scarce-contested passage within the walls, +while the whole strength and attention of the besieged were employed, as +had already been the case, on a point that they had scarce a hope +eventually to retain. With deep and bitter sorrow the alternative was +proposed and carried in a hurried council of war, and so well acted +upon, that, despite the extreme watchfulness of the English, men, +treasure, arms, and artillery, all that the strong towers contained, +were conveyed at dead of night over the drawbridge into the castle, and +the following morning, Lancaster, in utter astonishment, took possession +of the deserted fort.</p> + +<p>Perhaps to both parties this resolution was alike a disappointment and +restraint. The English felt there was no glory in their prize, they had +not obtained possession through their own prowess and skill; and now +that the siege had become so much closer, and this point of +communication was entirely stopped, the hand-to-hand combat, the +glorious <i>mélée</i>, the press of war, which to both parties had been an +excitement, and little more than warlike recreation, had of course +entirely ceased, but Hereford heeded not the disappointment of his men; +his plans were progressing as he had desired, even though his workmen +were greatly harassed by the continued discharge of arrows and immense +stones from the walls.</p> + +<p>The desertion of the barbacan was an all-convincing proof of the very +small number of the garrison; and though the immense thickness and +solidity of the walls bespoke time, patience, and control, the English +earl never wavered from his purpose, and by his firmness, his personal +gallantry, his readily-bestowed approbation on all who demanded it, he +contrived to keep his more impatient followers steadily to their task; +while Nigel, to prevent the spirits of his men from sinking, would +frequently lead them forth at night, and by a sudden attack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> annoy and +often cut off many of the men stationed within the barbacan. The +drawbridge was the precarious ground of many a midnight strife, till the +daring gallantry of Nigel Bruce became the theme of every tongue; a +gallantry equalled only by the consummate skill which he displayed, in +retreating within his entrenchments frequently without the loss of a +single man either as killed or wounded. Often would Sir Christopher +Seaton, whose wounds still bound him a most unwilling prisoner to his +couch, entreat him to avoid such rash exposures of his life, but Nigel +only answered him with a smile and an assurance he bore a charmed life, +which the sword of the foe could not touch.</p> + +<p>The siege had now lasted six weeks, and the position of both parties +continued much as we have seen, save that the bed of the river had now +begun to appear, promising a free passage to the English on the eastern +side, and on the south a broad causeway had stretched itself over the +moat, on which the towers for defending the ascent of the walls, +mangonels and other engines, were already safely bestowed, and all +promised fair to the besiegers, whose numerous forces scarcely appeared +to have suffered any diminution, although in reality some hundreds had +fallen; while on the side of the besieged, although the walls were still +most gallantly manned, and the first efforts of the English to scale the +walls had been rendered ineffectual by huge stones hurled down upon +them, still a look of greater care was observable on the brows of both +officers and men; and provisions had now begun to be doled out by weight +and measure, for though the granaries still possessed stores sufficient +for some weeks longer, the apparent determination of the English to +permit no relaxation in their close attack, demanded increase of caution +on the part of the besieged.</p> + +<p>About this time an event occurred, which, though comparatively trifling +in itself, when the lives of so many were concerned, was fraught in +effect with fatal consequences to all the inmates of Kildrummie. The +conversation of the next chapter, however, will better explain it, and +to it we refer our readers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + + +<p>In a circular apartment of the lower floor in Kildrummie keep, its stone +floor but ill covered with rushes, and the walls hung with the darkest +and rudest arras, Sir Christopher Seaton reclined on a rough couch, in +earnest converse with his brother-in-law, Nigel. Lady Seaton was also +within the chamber, at some little distance from the knights, engaged in +preparing lint and healing ointments, with the aid of an attendant, for +the wounded, and ready at the first call to rise and attend them, as she +had done unremittingly during the continuance of the siege. The +countenances of both warriors were slightly changed from the last time +we beheld them. The severity of his wounds had shed a cast almost of age +on the noble features of Seaton, but care and deep regret had mingled +with that pallor; and perhaps on the face of Nigel, which three short +weeks before had beamed forth such radiant hope, the change was more +painful. He had escaped with but slight flesh wounds, but disappointment +and anxiety were now vividly impressed on his features; the smooth brow +would unconsciously wrinkle in deep and unexpressed thought; the lip, to +which love, joy, and hope alone had once seemed natural, now often +compressed, and his eye flashed, till his whole countenance seemed +stern, not with the sternness of a tyrannical, changed and chafing +mood—no, 'twas the sternness most fearful to behold in youth, of +thought, deep, bitter, whelming thought; and sterner even than it had +been yet was the expression on his features as he spoke this day with +Seaton.</p> + +<p>"He must die," were the words which broke a long and anxious pause, and +fell in deep yet emphatic tones from the lips of Seaton; "yes, die! +Perchance the example may best arrest the spreading contagion of +treachery around us."</p> + +<p>"I know not, I fear not; yet as thou sayest he must die," replied Nigel, +speaking as in deep thought; "would that the noble enemy, who thus +scorned to benefit by the offered treason, had done on him the work of +death himself. I love not the necessity nor the deed."</p> + +<p>"Yet it must be, Nigel. Is there aught else save death, the death of a +traitor, which can sufficiently chastise a crime like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> this? Well was it +the knave craved speech of Hereford himself. I marvel whether the +majesty of England had resisted a like temptation."</p> + +<p>"Seaton, he would not," answered the young man. "I knew him, aye, +studied him in his own court, and though I doubt not there was a time +when chivalry was strongest in the breast of Edward, it was before +ambition's fatal poison had corroded his heart. Now he would deem all +things honorable in the art of war, aye, even the delivery of a castle +through the treachery of a knave."</p> + +<p>"And he hath more in yon host to think with him than with the noble +Hereford," resumed Sir Christopher; "yet this is but idle parley, and +concerneth but little our present task. In what temper do our men +receive the tidings of this foul treason?"</p> + +<p>"Our own brave fellows call aloud for vengeance on the traitor; nay, had +I not rescued him from their hands, they would have torn him limb from +limb in their rage. But there are others, Seaton—alas! the more +numerous body now—and they speak not, but with moody brows and gloomy +mutterings prowl up and down the courts."</p> + +<p>"Aye, the coward hearts," answered Seaton, "their good wishes went with +him, and but low-breathed curses follow our efforts for their freedom. +Yes, it must be, if it be but as a warning unto others. See to it, +Nigel; an hour before the set of sun he dies."</p> + +<p>A brief pause followed his words, whose low sternness of tone betrayed +far more than the syllables themselves. Both warriors remained a while +plunged in moody thought, which Seaton was the first to break.</p> + +<p>"And how went the last attack and defence?" he asked; "they told me, +bravely."</p> + +<p>"Aye, so bravely, that could we but reinforce our fighting men, aided as +we are by impenetrable walls, we might dream still of conquest; they +have gained little as yet, despite their nearer approach. Hand to hand +we have indeed struggled on the walls, and hurled back our foremost foes +in their own intrenchments. Our huge fragments of rocks have dealt +destruction on one of their towers, crushing all who manned it beneath +the ruins."</p> + +<p>"And I lie here when such brave work is going on beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> me, even as a +bedridden monk or coward layman, when my whole soul is in the fight," +said the knight, bitterly, and half springing from his couch. "When will +these open wounds—to the foul fiend with them and those who gave +them!—when will they let me mount and ride again as best befits a +warrior? Better slain at once than lie here a burden, not a help—taking +from those whose gallant efforts need it more the food we may not have +for long. I will not thus be chained; I'll to the action, be my life the +forfeit!"</p> + +<p>He sprung up, and for a moment stood upon his feet, but with a low groan +of pain instantly fell back, the dew of weakness gathering on his brow. +Lady Seaton was at his side on the instant to bathe his temples and his +hands, yet without one reproachful word, for she knew the anguish it was +to his brave heart to lie thus disabled, when every loyal hand was +needed for his country.</p> + +<p>"Nigel, I would that I might join thee. Remember, 'tis no mean game we +play; we hold not out as marauding chieftains against a lawful king; we +struggle not in defence of petty rights, of doubtful privileges. 'Tis +for Scotland, for King Robert still we strive. Did this castle hold out, +aye, compel the foe to raise the siege, much, much would be done for +Scotland. Others would do as we have done; many, whose strongholds rest +in English hands, would rise and expel the foe. Had we but +reinforcements of men and stores, all might still be well."</p> + +<p>"Aye," answered Nigel, bitterly, "but with all Scotland crushed 'neath +English chains, her king and his bold patriots fugitives and exiles, +ourselves the only Scottish force in arms, the only Scottish castle +which resists the tyrant, how may this be, whence may come increase of +force, of store? Seaton Seaton, thine are bright dreams—would that they +were real."</p> + +<p>"Wouldst thou then give up at once, and strive no more? It cannot be."</p> + +<p>"Never!" answered his companion, passionately. "Ere English feet shall +cross these courts and English colors wave above these towers, the blood +of the defenders must flow beneath their steps. They gain not a yard of +earth save at the bright sword's point; not a rood of grass unstained by +Scottish blood. Give up! not till my arm can wield no sword, my voice no +more shout 'Forward for the Bruce!'"</p> + +<p>"Then we will hope on, dream on, Nigel, and despair not,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> replied +Seaton, in the same earnest tone. "We know not yet what may be, and, +improbable as it seems now, succors may yet arrive. How long doth last +the truce?"</p> + +<p>"For eighteen hours, two of which have passed."</p> + +<p>"Didst thou demand it?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Nigel. "It was proffered by the earl, as needed for a +strict examination of the traitor Evan Roy, and accepted in the spirit +with which it was offered."</p> + +<p>"Thou didst well; and the foul traitor—where hast thou lodged him?"</p> + +<p>"In the western turret, strongly guarded. I would not seek thy counsel +until I had examined and knew the truth."</p> + +<p>"And thine own judgment?"</p> + +<p>"Was as thine. It is an ill necessity, yet it must be."</p> + +<p>"Didst pronounce his sentence?"</p> + +<p>Nigel answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"And how was it received?"</p> + +<p>"In the same sullen silence on the part of the criminal as he had borne +during his examination. Methought a low murmur of discontent escaped +from some within the hall, but it was drowned in the shout of +approbation from the men-at-arms, and the execrations they lavished on +the traitor as they bore him away, so I heeded it not."</p> + +<p>"But thou wilt heed it," said a sweet voice beside him, and Agnes, who +had just entered the chamber, laid her hand on his arm and looked +beseechingly in his face. "Dearest Nigel, I come a pleader."</p> + +<p>"And for whom, my beloved?" he asked, his countenance changing into its +own soft beautiful expression as he gazed on her, "What can mine Agnes +ask that Nigel may not grant?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I am no pleader for myself," she said; "I come on the part of a +wretched wife and aged mother, beseeching the gift of life."</p> + +<p>"And for a traitor, Agnes?"</p> + +<p>"I think of him but as a husband and son, dearest Nigel," she said, more +timidly, for his voice was stern. "They tell me he is condemned to +death, and his wretched wife and mother besought my influence with thee; +and indeed it needed little entreaty, for when death is so busy around +us, when in this fearful war we see the best and bravest of our friends +fall victims every day, oh, I would beseech you to spare life when it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +may be. Dearest, dearest Nigel, have mercy on this wretched man; traitor +as he is, oh, do not take his life—do not let thy lips sentence him to +death. Wilt thou not be merciful?"</p> + +<p>"If the death of one man will preserve the lives of many, how may that +one be spared?" said Sir Nigel, folding the sweet pleader closer to him, +though his features spoke no relaxation of his purpose. "Sweet Agnes, do +not ask this, give me not the bitter pain of refusing aught to thee. +Thou knowest not all the mischief and misery which pardon to a traitor +such as this will do; thou listenest only to thy kind heart and the sad +pleadings of those who love this man. Now listen to me, beloved, and +judge thyself. Did I believe a pardon would bring back the traitor to a +sense of duty, to a consciousness of his great crime—did I believe +giving life to him would deter others from the same guilt, I should +scarce wait even for thy sweet pleading to give him both liberty and +life; but I know him better than thou, mine Agnes. He is one of those +dark, discontented, rebellious spirits, that never rest in stirring up +others to be like them; who would employ even the life I gave him to my +own destruction, and that of the brave and faithful soldiers with me."</p> + +<p>"But send him hence, dearest Nigel," still entreated Agnes. "Give him +life, but send him from the castle; will not this remove the danger of +his influence with others?"</p> + +<p>"And give him field and scope to betray us yet again, sweet one. It were +indeed scorning the honorable counsel of Hereford to act thus; for trust +me, Agnes, there are not many amid our foes would resist temptation as +he hath done."</p> + +<p>"Yet would not keeping him close prisoner serve thee as well as death, +Nigel? Bethink thee, would it not spare the ill of taking life?"</p> + +<p>"Dearest, no," he answered. "There are many, alas! too many within these +walls who need an example of terror to keep them to their duty. They +will see that treachery avails not with the noble Hereford, and that, +discovered by me, it hath no escape from death. If this man be, as I +imagine, in league with other contentious spirits—for he could scarce +hope to betray the castle into the hands of the English without some aid +within—his fate may strike such terror into other traitor hearts that +their designs will be abandoned. Trust me, dearest, I do not do this +deed of justice without deep regret; I grieve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> for the necessity even as +the deed, and yet it must be; and bitter as it is to refuse thee aught, +indeed I cannot grant thy boon."</p> + +<p>"Yet hear me once more, Nigel. Simple and ignorant as I am, I cannot +answer such arguments as thine; yet may it not be that this deed of +justice, even while it strikes terror, may also excite the desire for +revenge, and situated as we are were it not better to avoid all such +bitterness, such heart-burnings amongst the people?"</p> + +<p>"We must brave it, dearest," answered Nigel, firmly, "The direct line of +justice and of duty may not be turned aside for such fears as these."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I think they have foundation," continued Sir Christopher Seaton. +"Thou hast pleaded well and kindly, gentle maiden, yet gladly as we +would do aught to pleasure thee, this that thou hast asked, alas! must +not be. The crime itself demands punishment, and even could we pardon +that, duty to our country, our king, ourselves, calls loudly for his +death, lest his foul treachery should spread."</p> + +<p>The eyes of the maiden filled with tears.</p> + +<p>"Then my last hope is over," she said, sadly. "I looked to thy +influence, Sir Christopher, to plead for me, even if mine own +supplications should fail; and thou judgest even as Nigel, not as my +heart could wish."</p> + +<p>"We judge as men and soldiers, gentle maiden; as men who, charged with a +most solemn responsibility, dare listen to naught save the voice of +justice, however loudly mercy pleads."</p> + +<p>"And didst thou think, mine Agnes, if thy pleading was of no avail, the +entreaty of others could move me?" whispered Nigel, in a voice which, +though tender, was reproachful. "Dearest and best, oh, thou knowest not +the pang it is to refuse thee even this, and to feel my words have +filled those eyes with tears. Say thou wilt not deem me cruel, abiding +by justice when there is room for mercy?"</p> + +<p>"I know thee better than to judge thee thus," answered Agnes, tearfully; +"the voice of duty must have spoken loudly to urge thee to this +decision, and I may not dispute it; yet would that death could be +averted. There was madness in that woman's eyes," and she shuddered as +she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Of whom speakest thou, love?" Nigel asked, and Seaton looked the +question.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of his wife," she replied. "She came to me distracted, and used such +dreadful words, menaces and threats they seemed; but his mother, more +composed, assured me they meant nothing, they were but the ravings of +distress, and yet I fear to look on her again without his pardon."</p> + +<p>"And thou shalt not, my beloved; these are not scenes and words for such +as thee. Rest here with Christine and good Sir Christopher; to tend and +cheer a wounded knight is a fitter task for thee, sweet one, than thus +to plead a traitor's cause."</p> + +<p>Pressing his lips upon her brow as he spoke, he placed her gently on a +settle by Sir Christopher; then crossing the apartment, he paused a +moment to whisper to Lady Seaton.</p> + +<p>"Look to her, my dear sister; she has been terrified, though she would +conceal it. Let her not leave thee till this fatal duty is +accomplished."</p> + +<p>Lady Seaton assured him of her compliance, and he left the apartment.</p> + +<p>He had scarcely quitted the postern before he himself encountered Jean +Roy, a woman who, even in her mildest moments, evinced very little +appearance of sanity, and who now, from her furious and distracting +gestures, seemed wrought up to no ordinary pitch of madness. She kept +hovering round him, uttering menaces and entreaties in one and the same +breath, declaring one moment that her husband was no traitor, and had +only done what every true-hearted Scotsman ought to do, if he would save +himself and those he loved from destruction; the next, piteously +acknowledging his crime, and wildly beseeching mercy. For a while Nigel +endeavored, calmly and soothingly, to reason with her, but it was of no +avail: louder and fiercer became her curses and imprecations; beseeching +heaven to hurl down all its maledictions upon him and the woman he +loved, and refuse him mercy when he most needed it. Perceiving her +violence becoming more and more outrageous, Nigel placed her in charge +of two of his men-at-arms, desiring them to treat her kindly, but not to +lose sight of her, and keep her as far as possible from the scene about +to be enacted. She was dragged away, struggling furiously, and Nigel +felt his heart sink heavier within him. It was not that he wavered in +his opinion, that he believed, situated as he was, it was better to +spare the traitor's life than excite to a flame<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> the already aroused and +angered populace. He thought indeed terror might do much; but whether it +was the entreating words of Agnes, or the state of the unhappy Jean, +there had come upon him a dim sense of impending ill; an impression that +the act of justice about to be performed would bring matters to a +crisis, and the ruin of the garrison be consummated, ere he was aware it +had begun. The shadow of the future appeared to have enfolded him, but +still he wavered not. The hours sped: his preparations were completed, +and at the time appointed by Seaton, with as much of awful solemnity as +circumstances would admit, the soul of the traitor was launched into +eternity. Men, women, and children had gathered round the temporary +scaffold; every one within the castle, save the maimed and wounded, +thronged to that centre court, and cheers and shouts, and groans and +curses, mingled strangely on the air.</p> + +<p>Clad in complete steel, but bareheaded, Sir Nigel Bruce had witnessed +the act of justice his voice had pronounced, and, after a brief pause, +he stood forward on the scaffold, and in a deep, rich voice addressed +the multitude ere they separated. Eloquently, forcibly, he spoke of the +guilt, the foul guilt of treachery, now when Scotland demanded all men +to join together hand and heart as one—now when the foe was at their +gates; when, if united, they might yet bid defiance to the tyrant, who, +if they were defeated, would hold them slaves. He addressed them as +Scottish men and freemen, as soldiers, husbands, and fathers, as +children of the brave, who welcomed death with joy, rather than life in +slavery and degradation; and when his words elicited a shout of +exultation and applause from the greater number, he turned his eye on +the group of malcontents, and sternly and terribly bade them beware of a +fate similar to that which they had just witnessed; for the gallant Earl +of Hereford, he said, would deal with all Scottish traitors as with Evan +Roy, and once known as traitors within the castle walls, he need not +speak their doom, for they had witnessed it; and then changing his tone, +frankly and beseechingly he conjured them to awake from the dull, +sluggish sleep of indifference and fear, to put forth their energies as +men, as warriors; their country, their king, their families, called on +them, and would they not hear? He bade them arise, awake to their duty, +and all that had been should never be recalled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> He spoke with a brief +yet mighty eloquence that seemed to carry conviction with it. Many a +stern face and darkened brow relaxed, and there was hope in many a +patriot breast as that group dispersed, and all was once more martial +bustle on the walls.</p> + +<p>"Well and wisely hast thou spoken, my son," said the aged Abbot of +Scone, who had attended the criminal's last moments, and now, with +Nigel, sought the keep. "Thy words have moved those rebellious spirits, +have calmed the rising tempest even as oil flung on the troubled waves; +thine eloquence was even as an angel voice 'mid muttering fiends. Yet +thou art still sad, still anxious. My son, this should not be."</p> + +<p>"It <i>must</i> be, father," answered the young man. "I have looked beyond +that oily surface and see naught save darker storms and fiercer +tempests; those spirits need somewhat more than a mere voice. Father, +reproach me not as mistrusting the gracious heaven in whose keeping lie +our earthly fates. I know the battle is not to the strong, 'tis with the +united, the faithful, and those men are neither. My words have stirred +them for the moment, as a pebble flung 'mid the troubled waters—a few +brief instants and all trace is passed, we see naught but the blackened +wave. But speak not of these things; my trust is higher than earth, and +let man work his will."</p> + +<p>Another week passed, and the fierce struggle continued, alternating +success, one day with the besiegers, the next with the besieged. The +scene of action was now principally on the walls—a fearful field, for +there was no retreat—and often the combatants, entwined in a deadly +struggle, fell together into the moat. Still there were no signs of +wavering on either side, still did the massive walls give no sign of +yielding to the tremendous and continued discharge of heavy stones, that +against battlements less strongly constructed must long ere this have +dealt destruction and inevitable mischief to the besieged. One tower, +commanding the causeway across the moat and its adjoining platform on +the wall, had indeed been taken by the English, and was to them a +decided advantage, but still their further progress even to the next +tower was lingering and dubious, and it appeared evident to both parties +that, from the utter impossibility of the Scotch obtaining supplies of +provision and men, success must finally attend the Eng<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>lish; they would +succeed more by the effects of famine than by their swords.</p> + +<p>It was, as we have said, seven days after the execution of the traitor +Roy. A truce for twelve hours had been concluded with the English, at +the request of Sir Nigel Bruce, and safe conduct granted by the Earl of +Hereford to those men, women, and children of the adjoining villages who +chose even at this hour to leave the castle, but few, a very few took +advantage of this permission, and these were mostly the widows and +children of those who had fallen in the siege; a fact which caused some +surprise, as the officers and men-at-arms imagined it would have been +eagerly seized upon by all those contentious spirits who had appeared so +desirous of a league with England. A quiet smile slightly curled the +lips of Nigel as this information was reported to him—a smile as of a +mind prepared for and not surprised at what he heard; but when left +alone, the smile was gone, he folded his arms on his breast, his head +was slightly bent forward, but had there been any present to have +remarked him, they would have seen his features move and work with the +intensity of internal emotion. Some mighty struggle he was enduring; +something there was passing at his very heart, for when recalled from +that trance by the heavy bell of the adjoining church chiming the hour +of five, and he looked up, there were large drops of moisture on his +brow, and his beautiful eye seemed for the moment strained and +blood-shot. He paced the chamber slowly and pensively till there was no +outward mark of agitation, and then he sought for Agnes.</p> + +<p>She was alone in an upper chamber of the keep, looking out from the +narrow casement on a scene of hill and vale, and water, which, though +still wintry from the total absence of leaf and flower, was yet calm and +beautiful in the declining sun, and undisturbed by the fearful scenes +and sounds which met the glance and ear on every other side, seemed even +as a paradise of peace. It had been one of those mild, soft days of +February, still more rare in Scotland than in England, and on the heart +and sinking frame of Agnes its influence had fallen, till, almost +unconsciously, she wept. The step of Nigel caused her hastily to dash +these tears aside, and as he stood by her and silently folded his arm +around her, she looked up in his face with a smile. He sought to return +it, but the sight of such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> emotion, trifling as it was, caused his heart +to sink with indescribable fear; his lip quivered, as utterly to prevent +the words he sought to speak, and as he clasped her to his bosom and +bent his head on hers, a low yet instantly suppressed moan burst from +him.</p> + +<p>"Nigel, dearest Nigel, what has chanced? Oh, speak to me!" she +exclaimed, clasping his hand in both hers, and gazing wildly in his +face. "Thou art wounded or ill, or wearied unto death. Oh, let me undo +this heavy armor, dearest; seek but a brief interval of rest. Speak to +me, I know thou art not well."</p> + +<p>"It is but folly, my beloved, a momentary pang that weakness caused. +Indeed, thy fears are causeless; I am well, quite well," he answered, +struggling with himself, and subduing with an effort his emotion. "Mine +own Agnes, thou wilt not doubt me; look not upon me so tearfully, 'tis +passed, 'tis over now."</p> + +<p>"And thou wilt not tell me that which caused it, Nigel? Hast thou aught +of suffering which thou fearest to tell thine Agnes? Oh! do not fear it; +weak, childlike as I am, my soul will find strength for it."</p> + +<p>"And thou shalt know all, all in a brief while," he said, her sweet +pleading voice rendering the task of calmness more difficult. "Yet tell +me first thy thoughts, my love. Methought thy gaze was on yon peaceful +landscape as I entered, and yet thine eyes were dimmed with tears."</p> + +<p>"And yet I know not wherefore," she replied, "save the yearnings for +peace were stronger, deeper than they should be, and I pictured a cot +where love might dwell in yon calm valley, and wished that this fierce +strife was o'er."</p> + +<p>"'Tis in truth no scene for thee, mine own. I know, I feel thou pinest +for freedom, for the fresh, pure, stainless air of the mountain, the +valley's holy calm; thine ear is sick with the fell sounds that burst +upon it; thine eye must turn in loathing from this fierce strife. Agnes, +mine own Agnes, is it not so? would it not be happiness, aye, heaven's +own bliss, to seek some peaceful home far, far away from this?"</p> + +<p>He spoke hurriedly and more passionately than was his wont, but Agnes +only answered—</p> + +<p>"With thee, Nigel, it were bliss indeed."</p> + +<p>"With me," he said; "and couldst thou not be happy were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> I not at thy +side? Listen to me, beloved," and his voice became as solemnly earnest +as it had previously been hurried. "I sought thee, armed I thought with +fortitude sufficient for the task; sought thee, to beseech, implore thee +to seek safety and peace for a brief while apart from me, till these +fearful scenes are passed. Start not, and oh, do not look upon me thus. +I know all that strength of nerve, of soul, which bids thee care not for +the dangers round thee. I know that where I am thy loving spirit feels +no fear; but oh, Agnes, for my sake, if not for thine own, consent to +fly ere it be too late; consent to seek safety far from this fatal +tower. Let me not feel that on thee, on thee, far dearer than my life, +destruction, and misery, and suffering in a thousand fearful shapes may +fall. Let me but feel thee safe, far from this terrible scene, and then, +come what will, it can have no pang."</p> + +<p>"And thee," murmured the startled girl, on whose ear the words of Nigel +had fallen as with scarce half their meaning, "thee, wouldst thou bid me +leave thee, to strive on, suffer on, and oh, merciful heaven! perchance +fall <i>alone</i>? Nigel, Nigel, how may this be? are we not one, only one, +and how may I dwell in safety without thee—how mayest thou suffer +without me?"</p> + +<p>"Dearest and best!" he answered, passionately, "oh, that we were indeed +one; that the voice of heaven had bound us one, long, long ere this! and +yet—no, no, 'tis better thus," and again he struggled with emotion, and +spoke calmly. "Agnes, beloved, precious as thou art in these hours of +anxiety, dear, dearer than ever, in thy clinging, changeless love, yet +tempt me not selfishly to retain thee by my side, when liberty, and +life, and joy await thee beyond these fated walls. Thy path is secured; +all that can assist, can accelerate thy flight waits but thy approval. +The dress of a minstrel boy is procured, and will completely conceal and +guard thee through the English camp. Our faithful friend, the minstrel +seer, will be thy guide, and lead thee to a home of peace and safety, +until my brother's happier fortune dawns; he will guard and love thee +for thine own and for my sake. Speak to me, beloved; thou knowest this +good old man, and I so trust him that I have no fear for thee. Oh, do +not pause, and ere this truce be over let me, let me feel that thou art +safe and free, and may in time be happy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + +<p>"In time," she repeated slowly, as if to herself, and then, rousing +herself from that stupor of emotion, looked up with a countenance on +which a sudden glow had spread. "And why hast thou so suddenly resolved +on this?" she asked, calmly; "why shouldst thou fear for me more now +than hitherto, dearest Nigel? Hath not the danger always been the same, +and yet thou ne'er hast breathed of parting? are not thy hopes the +same—what hath chanced unknown to me, that thou speakest and lookest +thus? tell me, ere thou urgest more."</p> + +<p>"I will tell thee what I fear, my love," he answered, reassured by her +firmness; "much that is seen not, guessed not by my comrades. They were +satisfied that my appeal had had its effect, and the execution of Evan +Roy was attended with no disturbance, no ill will amongst those supposed +to be of his party—nay, that terror did its work, and all ideas of +treachery which might have been before encouraged were dismissed. I, +too, believed this, Agnes, for a while; but a few brief hours were +sufficient to prove the utter fallacy of the dream. Some secret +conspiracy is, I am convinced, carrying on within these very walls. I +know and feel this, and yet so cautious, so secret are their movements, +whatever they may be, that I cannot guard against them. There are, as +thou knowest, fewer true fighting men amongst us than any other class, +and these are needed to man the walls and guard against the foe without; +they may not be spared to watch as spies their comrades—nay, I dare not +even breathe such thoughts, lest their bold hearts should faint and +fail, and they too demand surrender ere evil come upon us from within. +What will be that evil I know not, and therefore cannot guard against +it. I dare not employ these men upon the walls, I dare not bring them +out against the foe, for so bitterly do I mistrust them, I should fear +even then they would betray us. I only know that evil awaits us, and +therefore, my beloved, I do beseech thee, tarry not till it be upon us; +depart while thy path is free."</p> + +<p>"Yet if they sought safety and peace, if they tire of this warfare," she +replied, disregarding his last words, "wherefore not depart to-day, when +egress was permitted; bethink thee, dearest Nigel, is not this proof thy +fears are ill founded, and that no further ill hangs over us than that +which threatens from without?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Alas! no," he said, "it but confirms my suspicions; I obtained this +safe conduct expressly to nullify or confirm them. Had they departed as +I wished, all would have been well; but they linger, and I can feel +their plans are maturing, and therefore they will not depart. Oh, +Agnes," he continued, bitterly, "my very soul is crushed beneath this +weight of unexpressed anxiety and care. Had I but to contend with our +English foe, but to fight a good and honorable fight, to struggle on, +conscious that to the last gasp the brave inmates of this fortress would +follow me, and Edward would find naught on which to wreak his vengeance +but the dead bodies of his foes, my task were easy as 'twere glorious; +but to be conscious of secret brooding evil each morn that rises, each +night that falls, to dread what yet I know not, to see, perchance, my +brave fellows whelmed, chained, through a base treachery impossible to +guard against—oh! Agnes, 'tis this I fear."</p> + +<p>"Yet have they not seemed more willing, more active in their assigned +tasks since the execution of their comrade," continued Agnes, with all a +woman's gentle artifice, still seeking to impart hope, even when she +felt that none remained; "may it not be that, in reality, they repent +them of former traitorous designs, and remain behind to aid thee to the +last? Thou sayest that palpable proof of this brooding evil thou canst +not find, then do not heed its voice. Let no fear of me, of my safety, +add its pang; mine own Nigel, indeed I fear them not."</p> + +<p>"I know that all I urge will naught avail with thee, beloved," he +answered, somewhat less agitated. "I know thy gentle love is all too +deep, too pure, too strong, to share my fears for thee, and oh, I bless +thee, bless thee for the sweet solace of that faithful love! yet, yet, I +may not listen to thy wishes. All that thou sayest is but confirmation +of the brooding evil; they are active, willing, but to hide their dark +designs. Yet even were there not this evil to dread, no dream of +treachery, still, still, I would send thee hence, sweet one. Famine and +blood, and chains, and death—oh, no, no! thou must not stay for these."</p> + +<p>"And whither wouldst thou send me, Nigel, and for what?" she asked, +still calmly, though her quivering lip denoted that self-possession was +fast failing. "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Whither? to safety, freedom, peace, my best beloved!" he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> answered, +fervently; "for what? that happier, brighter days may beam for thee, +that thou mayest live to bless and be a blessing; dearest, best, cling +not to a withered stem, thou mayest be happy yet."</p> + +<p>"And wilt thou join me, if I seek this home of safety, Nigel?" she laid +her hand on his arm, and fixed her eyes unflinchingly upon his face. He +could not meet that glance, a cold shudder passed over his frame ere he +could reply.</p> + +<p>"Mine own Agnes," and even then he paused, for his quivering lip could +not give utterance to his thoughts, and a minute rolled in that deep +stillness, and still those anxious eyes moved not from his face. At +length voice returned, and it was sad yet deeply solemn, "Our lives rest +not in our own hands," he said; "and who when they part may look to meet +again? Beloved, if life be spared, canst doubt that I will join thee? +yet, situated as I am, governor of a castle about to fall, a patriot, +and a Bruce, brother to the noble spirit who wears our country's crown, +and has dared to fling down defiance to a tyrant, Agnes, mine own Agnes, +how may I dream of life? I would send thee hence ere that fatal moment +come; I would spare thee this deep woe. I would bid thee live, beloved, +live till years had shed sweet peace upon thy heart, and thou wert happy +once again."</p> + +<p>There was a moment's pause; the features of Agnes had become convulsed +with agony as Nigel spoke, and her hands had closed with fearful +pressure on his arm, but his last words, spoken in his own rich, +thrilling voice, called back the stagnant blood.</p> + +<p>"No, no; I will not leave thee!" she sobbed forth, as from the sudden +failing of strength in every limb she sunk kneeling at his feet. "Nigel, +Nigel, I will not leave thee; in life or in death I will abide by thee. +Force me not from thee; seek not to tempt me by the tale of safety, +freedom, peace; thou knowest not the depth, the might of woman's love, +if thou thinkest things like these can weigh aught with her, even if +chains and death stood frowningly beside. I will not leave thee; whom +have I beside thee, for whom else wouldst thou call on me to live? +Alone, alone, utterly alone, save <i>thee</i>! Wilt thou bid me hence, and +leave thee to meet thy fate alone—thee, to whom my mother gave +me—thee, without whom my very life is naught? Nigel, oh, despise me not +for these wild words,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> unmaidenly as they sound; oh, let me speak them, +or my heart will break!"</p> + +<p>"Despise thee for these blessed words!" Nigel answered, passionately, as +he raised her from the ground, and clasped her to his heart. "Oh, thou +knowest not the bliss they give; yet, yet would I speak of parting, +implore thee still to leave me, aye, though in that parting my very +heart-strings snap. Agnes, how may I bear to see thee in the power of +the foe, perchance insulted, persecuted, tortured with the ribald +admiration of the rude crowd, and feel I have no power to save thee, no +claim to bind thee to my side. What are the mere chains of love in such +an hour, abiding by me, as thou mightst, till our last hope is over, and +English colors wave above this fortress—then, dearest, oh, must we not, +shall we not be rudely parted?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! Who shall dare to part us?" she said, as she clung sobbing to +his breast. "Who shall dare to do this thing, and say I may not tend +thee, follow thee, even until death?"</p> + +<p>"Who? our captors, dearest. Thinkest thou they will heed thy tender +love, thine anguish? will they have hearts for aught save for thy +loveliness, sweet one? Think, think of terrors like to this, and oh, +still wilt thou refuse to fly?"</p> + +<p>"But thy sister, the Lady Seaton, Nigel, doth she not stay, doth she not +brave these perils?" asked Agnes, shuddering at her lover's words, yet +clinging to him still. "If she escapes such evil, why, oh, why may not +I?"</p> + +<p>"She is Seaton's wife, sweet one, bound to him by the voice of heaven, +by the holiest of ties; the noble knights who head our foes will protect +her in all honorable keeping; but for thee, Agnes, even if the ills I +dread be as naught, there is yet one I have dared not name, lest it +should pain thee, yet one that is most probable as 'tis most fearful; +thou canst not hide thy name, and as a daughter of Buchan, oh, will they +not give thee to a father's keeping?"</p> + +<p>"The murderer of my brother—my mother's jailer! Oh, Nigel, Nigel, to +look on him were more than death!" she wildly exclaimed. "Yet, yet once +known as Agnes of Buchan, this will, this must be; but leave thee now, +leave thee to a tyrant's doom, if indeed, indeed thou fallest in his +hands—leave thee, when faithful love and woman's tenderness are more +than ever needed—leave thee for a fear like this, no, no, I will not. +Nigel, I will rest with thee. Speak not, answer not; give us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> one short +moment, and then—oh, all the ills may be averted by one brief word—and +I, oh, can I speak it?" She paused in fearful agitation, and every limb +shook as if she must have fallen; the blood rushed up to cheek, and +brow, and neck, as, fixing her beautiful eyes on Nigel's face, she said, +in a low yet thrilling voice, "Let the voice of heaven hallow the vows +we have so often spoken, Nigel. Give me a right, a sacred right to bear +thy name, to be thine own, at the altar's foot, by the holy abbot's +blessing. Let us pledge our troth, and then let what will come, no man +can part us. I am thine, only thine!"</p> + +<p>Without waiting for a reply, she buried her face in his bosom, and Nigel +could feel her heart throb as if 'twould burst its bounds, her frame +quiver as if the torrent of blood, checked and stayed to give strength +for the effort, now rushed back with such overwhelming force through its +varied channels as to threaten life itself.</p> + +<p>"Agnes, my own noble, self-devoted love! oh, how may I answer thee?" he +cried, tears of strong emotion coursing down his cheek—tears, and the +warrior felt no shame. "How have I been deserving of love like this—how +may I repay it? how bless thee for such words? Mine own, mine own! this +would indeed guard thee from the most dreaded ills; yet how may I link +that self-devoted heart to one whose thread of life is well-nigh spun? +how may I make thee mine, when a few brief weeks of misery and horror +must part us, and on earth, forever?"</p> + +<p>"No, no; thou knowest not all a wife may do, my Nigel," she said, as she +raised her head from his bosom, and faintly smiled, though her frame +still shook; "how she may plead even with a tyrant, and find mercy; or +if this fail, how she may open iron gates and break through bonds, till +freedom may be found. Oh, no, we shall not wed to part, beloved; but +live and yet be happy, doubt it not; and then, oh, then forget the words +that joined us, made us one, had birth from other lips than thine;—thou +wilt forget, forgive this, Nigel?"</p> + +<p>"Forget—forgive! that to thy pure, unselfish soul I owe the bliss which +e'en at this hour I feel," he answered, passionately kissing the +beautiful brow upturned to his; "forget words that have proved—had I +needed proof—how purely, nobly, faithfully I am beloved; how utterly, +how wholly thou hast forgotten all of self for me! No, no! were thy +words proved true, might I indeed live blessed with thee the life +allotted man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> each year, each month I would recall this hour, and bless +thee for its love. But oh, it may not be!" and his voice so suddenly +lost its impassioned fervor, that the breast of Agnes filled with new +alarm. "Dearest, best! thou must not dream of life, of happiness with +me. I may not mock thee with such blessed, but, alas! delusive hopes; my +doom hath gone forth, revealed when I knew it not, confirmed by that +visioned seer but few short weeks ago. Agnes, my noble Agnes, wherefore +shouldst thou wed with death? I know that I must die!"</p> + +<p>The solemn earnestness of his words chased the still lingering glow from +the lips and cheek of the maiden, and a cold shiver passed through her +frame, but still she clung to him, and said—</p> + +<p>"It matters not; my maiden love, my maiden troth is pledged to thee—in +life or in death I am thine alone. I will not leave thee," she said, +firmly and calmly. "Nigel, if it be indeed as thou sayest, that +affliction, and—and all thou hast spoken, must befall thee, the more +need is there for the sustaining and the soothing comfort of a woman's +love. Fear not for me, weak as I may have seemed, there is yet a spirit +in me worthy of thy love. I will not unman thee for all thou mayest +encounter. No, even if I follow thee to—to death, it shall be as a +Bruce's wife. Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee undiscovered, +when, if it must be, the foe is triumphant; it will take time, and we +have none to lose. Thou hast promised to forget all I have urged, all, +save my love for thee; then, oh, fear me not, doubt me not, thine Agnes +will not fail thee!"</p> + +<p>Nigel gazed at her almost with surprise; she was no longer the gentle +timid being who but a few minutes since had clung weeping to his bosom +as a child. She was indeed very pale, and on her features was the +stillness of marble; but she stood erect and unfaltering in her innocent +loveliness, sustained by that mighty spirit which dwelt within. An +emotion of deep reverence took possession of that warrior heart, and +unable to resist the impulse, he bent his knee before her.</p> + +<p>"Then let it be so," he said, solemnly, but oh, how fervently. "I will +not torture mine own heart and thine by conjuring thee to fly; and now, +here, at thy feet, Agnes, noble, generous being, let me swear solemnly, +sacredly swear, that should life be preserved to me longer than I now +dream of, should I indeed be spared to lavish on thee all a husband's +love and care, never, never shalt thou have cause to regret this day! to +mourn thy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> faithful love was shown as it hath been—to weep the hour +that, in the midst of danger, and darkness, and woe, hath joined our +earthly fates, and made us one. And now," he continued, rising and +folding her once more in his arms, "wilt thou meet me at the altar ere +the truce concludes? 'tis but a brief while, a very brief while, my +love; yet if it can be, I know thou wilt not shrink."</p> + +<p>"I will not," she answered. "The hour thou namest I will meet thee. Lady +Seaton," she added, slightly faltering, and the vivid blush rose to her +temples, "I would see her, speak with her; yet—"</p> + +<p>"She shall come to thee, mine own, prepared to love and hail thee +sister, as she hath long done. She will not blame thee dearest; she +loves, hath loved too faithfully herself. Fear not, I will leave naught +for thee to tell that can bid that cheek glow as it doth now. She, too, +will bless thee for thy love."</p> + +<p>He imprinted a fervent kiss on her cheek, and hastily left her. Agnes +remained standing as he had left her for several minutes, her hands +tightly clasped, her whole soul speaking in her beautiful features, and +then she sunk on her knees before a rudely-carved image of the Virgin +and child, and prayed long and fervently. She did not weep, her spirit +had been too painfully excited for such relief, but so wrapt was she in +devotion, she knew not that Lady Seaton, with a countenance beaming in +admiration and love, stood beside her, till she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Rouse thee, my gentle one," she said, tenderly, as she twined her arm +caressingly around her; "I may not let thee linger longer even here, for +time passes only too quickly, and I shall have but little time to attire +my beautiful bride for the altar. Nigel hath been telling such a tale of +woman's love, that my good lord hath vowed, despite his weakness and his +wounds, none else shall lead thee to the altar, and give thee to my +brother, save himself. I knew that not even Nigel's influence would bid +thee leave us, dearest," she continued, as Agnes hid her face in her +bosom, "but I dreamed not such a spirit dwelt within this childlike +heart, sweet one; thy lot must surely be for joy!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + + +<p>It was something past the hour of nine, when Agnes, leaning on the arm +of Sir Christopher Seaton, and followed by Lady Seaton and two young +girls, their attendants, entered the church, and walked, with an +unfaltering step and firm though modest mien, up to the altar, beside +which Nigel already stood. She was robed entirely in white, without the +smallest ornament save the emerald clasp which secured, and the +beautiful pearl embroidery which adorned her girdle. Her mantle was of +white silk, its little hood thrown back, disclosing a rich lining of the +white fox fur. Lady Seaton had simply arranged her hair in its own +beautiful curls, and not a flower or gem peeped through them; a silver +bodkin secured the veil, which was just sufficiently transparent to +permit her betrothed to look upon her features, and feel that, pale and +still as they were, they evinced no change in her generous purpose. He, +too, was pale, for he felt those rites yet more impressively holy than +he had deemed them, even when his dreams had pictured them peculiarly +and solemnly holy; for he looked not to a continuance of life and +happiness, he felt not that ceremony set its seal upon joy, and bound +it, as far as mortality might hope, forever on their hearts. He was +conscious only of the deep unutterable fulness of that gentle being's +love, of the bright, beautiful lustre with which it shone upon his path. +The emotion of his young and ardent breast was perhaps almost too holy, +too condensed, to be termed joy; but it was one so powerful, so blessed, +that all of earth and earthly care was lost before it. The fears and +doubts which he had so lately felt, for the time completely faded from +his memory. That there were foes without and yet darker foes within he +might have known perhaps, but at that moment they did not occupy a +fleeting thought. He had changed his dress for one of richness suited to +his rank, and though at the advice of his friends he still retained the +breastplate and some other parts of his armor, his doublet of azure +velvet, cut and slashed with white satin, and his long, flowing mantle +lined with sable, and so richly decorated with silver stars that its +color could scarcely be distinguished, removed all appearance of a +martial costume, and well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> became the graceful figure they adorned; two +of the oldest knights and four other officers, all gayly attired as the +hurry of the moment would permit, had at his own request attended him to +the altar.</p> + +<p>Much surprise this sudden intention had indeed caused, but it was an +excitement, a change from the dull routine of the siege, and +consequently welcomed with joy, many indeed believing Sir Nigel had +requested the truce for the purpose. Sir Christopher, too, though pale +and gaunt, and compelled to use the support of a cane in walking, was +observed to look upon his youthful charge with all his former hilarity +of mien, chastened by a kindly tenderness, which seemed indeed that of +the father whom he personated; and Lady Seaton had donned a richer garb +than was her wont, and stood encouragingly beside the bride. About +twenty men-at-arms, their armor and weapons hastily burnished, that no +unseemly soil should mar the peaceful nature of the ceremony by +recalling thoughts of war, were ranged on either side. The church was +lighted, dimly in the nave and aisles, but softly and somewhat with a +holy radiance where the youthful couple knelt, from the large waxen +tapers burning in their silver stands upon the altar.</p> + +<p>The Abbot of Scone was at his post, attended by the domestic chaplain of +Kildrummie; there was a strange mixture of admiration and anxiety on the +old man's face, but Agnes saw it not; she saw nothing save him at whose +side she knelt.</p> + +<p>Nigel, even in the agitation of mind in which he had quitted Agnes—an +agitation scarcely conquered in hastily informing his sister and her +husband of all that had passed between them, and imploring their +countenance and aid—yet made it his first care strictly to make the +round of the walls, to notice all that might be passing within the +courts, and see that the men-at-arms were at their posts. In consequence +of the truce, for the conclusion of which it still wanted some little +time, there were fewer men on the walls than usual, their commanders +having desired them to take advantage of this brief cessation of +hostilities and seek refreshment and rest. A trumpet was to sound at the +hour of ten, half an hour before the truce concluded, to summon them +again to their posts. The men most acute in penetration, most firm and +steady in purpose, Nigel selected as sentries along the walls; the post +of each being one of the round towers we have mentioned, the remaining +spaces were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> consequently clear. Night had already fallen, and anxiously +observing the movements on the walls; endeavoring to discover whether +the various little groups of men and women in the ballium meant any +thing more than usual, Sir Nigel did not notice various piles or stacks +of straw and wood which were raised against the wall in many parts where +the shadows lay darkest, and some also against the other granaries which +were contained in low, wooden buildings projecting from the wall. +Neither he nor his friends, nor even the men-at-arms, noticed them, or +if they did, imagined them in the darkness to be but the stones and +other weights generally collected there, and used to supply the engines +on the wails.</p> + +<p>With the exception of the sentries and the men employed by Nigel, all +the garrison had assembled in the hall of the keep for their evening +meal, the recollection of whose frugality they determined to banish by +the jest and song; there were in consequence none about the courts, and +therefore that dark forms were continually hovering about beneath the +deep shadows of the walls, increasing the size of the stacks, remained +wholly undiscovered.</p> + +<p>Agnes had entered the church by a covered passage, which united the keep +to its inner wall, and thence by a gallery through the wall itself, +dimly lighted by loopholes, to the edifice, whose southern side was +formed by this same wall. It was therefore, though in reality situated +within the ballium or outer court, nearer by many hundred yards to the +dwelling of the baron than to the castle walls, its granaries, towers, +etc. This outward ballium indeed was a very large space, giving the +appearance of a closely-built village or town, from the number of low +wooden and thatched-roofed dwellings, which on either side of the large +open space before the great gate were congregated together. This account +may, we fear at such a moment, seem somewhat out of place, but events in +the sequel compel us to be thus particular. A space about half a mile +square surrounded the church, and this position, when visited, by Sir +Nigel at nine o'clock, was quiet and deserted; indeed there was very +much less confusion and other evidences of disquiet within the dwellings +than was now usual, and this circumstance perhaps heightened the calm +which, as we have said, had settled on Sir Nigel's mind.</p> + +<p>There was silence within that little sacred edifice, the silence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> of +emotion; for not one could gaze upon that young fair girl, could think +of that devoted spirit, which at such a time preferred to unite her fate +with a beloved one than seek safety and freedom in flight, without being +conscious of a strange swelling of the heart and unwonted moisture in +the eye; and there was that in the expression of the beautiful features +of Nigel Bruce none could remark unmoved. He was so young, so gifted, so +strangely uniting the gift of the sage, the poet, with the glorious +achievements of the most perfect knight, that he had bound himself alike +to every heart, however varied their dispositions, however opposite +their tastes; and there was not one, from the holy Abbot of Scone to the +lowest and rudest of the men-at-arms, who would not willingly, aye, +joyfully have laid down life for his, have gladly accepted chains to +give him freedom.</p> + +<p>The deep, sonorous voice of the abbot audibly faltered as he commenced +the sacred service, and looked on the fair beings kneeling, in the +beauty and freshness of their youth, before him. Accustomed, however, to +control every human emotion, he speedily recovered himself, and +uninterruptedly the ceremony continued. Modestly, yet with a voice that +never faltered, Agnes made the required responses; and so deep was the +stillness that reigned around not a word was lost, but, sweetly and +clearly as a silver clarion, it sunk on every ear and thrilled to every +heart; to his who knelt beside her, as if each tone revealed yet more +the devoted love which led her there. Towards the conclusion of the +service, and just as every one within the church knelt in general +prayer, a faint, yet suffocating odor, borne on what appeared a light +mist, was distinguished, and occasioned some slight surprise; by the +group around the altar, however, it was unnoticed; and the men-at-arms, +on looking towards the narrow windows and perceiving nothing but the +intense darkness of the night, hushed the rising exclamation, and +continued in devotion. Two of the knights, too, were observed to glance +somewhat uneasily around, still nothing was perceivable but the light +wreaths of vapor penetrating through the northern aisle, and dissolving +ere long the arches of the roof. Almost unconsciously they listened, and +became aware of some sounds in the distance, but so faint and +indefinable as to permit them to rest in the belief that it must be the +men-at-arms hurrying from the keep to the walls, although they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +certain the trumpet had not yet sounded. Determined not to heed such +vague sounds, they looked again to the altar. The abbot had laid a +trembling hand on either low-bent head, and was emphatically pronouncing +his blessing on their vows, calling on heaven in its mercy to bless and +keep them, and spare them to each other for a long and happy life; or if +it must be that a union commenced in danger should end in sorrow, to +keep them still, and fit them for a union in eternity. His words were +few but earnest, and for the first time the lip of Agnes was observed to +quiver—they were <span class="smcap">one</span>. Agnes was clasped to the heart of her +husband; she heard him call her his own—his wife—that man should never +part them more. The voice of congratulation woke around her, but ere +either could gaze around to look their thanks, or clasp the eagerly +proffered hand, a cry of alarm, of horror, ran though the building. A +red, lurid light, impossible to be mistaken, illumined every window, as +from a fearful conflagration without; darkness had fled before it. On +all sides it was light—light the most horrible, the most awful, though +perchance the most fascinating the eye can behold; fearful shouts and +cries, and the rush of many feet, mingled with the now easily +distinguished roar of the devouring element, burst confusedly on the +ear. A minute sufficed to fling open the door of the church for knights +and men-at-arms to rush forth in one indiscriminate mass. Sir +Christopher would have followed them, utterly regardless of his +inability, had not his wife clung to him imploringly, and effectually +restrained him. The abbot, grasping the silver crosier by his side, with +a swift, yet still majestic stride, made his way through the church, and +vanished by the widely opened door. Agnes and Sir Nigel stood +comparatively alone; not a cry, not a word passed her lips; every +feature was wrapped in one absorbing look upon her husband. He had +clasped his hands convulsively together, his brow was knit, his lip +compressed, his eye fixed and rigid, though it gazed on vacancy.</p> + +<p>"It hath fallen, it hath fallen!" he muttered. "Fool, fool that I was +never to dream of this! Friends, followers, all I hold most dear, +swallowed up in this fell swoop! God of mercy, how may it be born! And +thou, thou," he added, in increased agony, roused from that stupor by +the wild shouts of "Sir Nigel, Sir Nigel! where is he? why does he tarry +in such an hour?" that rung shrilly on the air. "Agnes, mine own,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> it is +not too late even now to fly. Ha! son of Dermid, in good tune thou art +here; save her, in mercy save her! I know not when, or how, or where we +may meet again; I may not tarry here." He clasped her in his arms, +imprinted an impassioned kiss on her now death-like cheek, placed her at +once in the arms of the seer (who, robed as a minstrel, had stood +concealed behind a projecting pillar during the ceremony, and now +approached), and darted wildly from the church. What a scene met his +gaze! All the buildings within the ballium, with the sole exception of +the church, were in one vivid blaze of fire; the old dry wood and thatch +of which they were composed, kindling with a mere spark. The wind blew +the flames in the direction of the principal wall, which was already +ignited from the heaps of combustibles that had been raised within for +the purpose; although it was likely that, from its extreme thickness and +strength, the fire had there done but partial evil, had not the +conflagration within the court spread faster and nearer every moment, +and from the blazing rafters and large masses of thatch caught by the +wind and hurled on the very wall, done greater and more irreparable +mischief than the combustibles themselves. Up, up, seeming to the very +heavens, the lurid flames ascended, blazing and roaring, and lighting +the whole scene as with the glare of day. Fantastic wreaths of red fire +danced in the air against the pitchy blackness of the heavens, rising +and falling in such graceful, yet terrible shapes, that the very eye +felt riveted in admiration, while the heart quailed with horror. +Backwards and forwards gleamed the forms of men in the dusky glare; and +oaths and cries, and the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women, +terrified by the destruction they had not a little assisted to +ignite—the sudden rush of horses bursting from their stables, and +flying here and there, scared by the unusual sight and horrid +sounds—the hissing streams of water which, thrown from huge buckets on +the flames, seemed but to excite them to greater fury instead of +lessening their devouring way—the crackling of straw and wood, as of +the roar of a hundred furnaces—these were the varied sounds and sights +that burst upon the eye and ear of Nigel, as, richly attired as he was, +his drawn sword in his hand, his fair hair thrown back from his +uncovered brow and head, he stood in the very centre of the scene. One +glance sufficed to perceive that the rage of the men-at-arms was turned +on their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> treacherous countrymen; that the work of war raged even +then—the swords of Scotsmen were raised against each other. Even women +fell in that fierce slaughter, for the demon of revenge was at work, and +sought but blood. In vain the holy abbot, heedless that one sudden gust +and his flowing garments must inevitably catch fire, uplifted his +crosier, and called on them to forbear. In vain the officers rushed +amidst the infuriated men, bidding them keep their weapons and their +lives for the foe, who in such a moment would assuredly be upon them; in +vain they commanded, exhorted, implored; but on a sudden, the voice of +Sir Nigel Bruce was heard above the tumult, loud, stern, commanding. His +form was seen hurrying from group to group, turning back with his own +sword the weapons of his men, giving life even to those who had wrought +this woe; and there was a sudden hush, a sudden pause.</p> + +<p>"Peace, peace!" he cried. "Would ye all share the madness of these men? +They have hurled down destruction, let them reap it; let them live to +thrive and fatten in their chains; let them feel the yoke they pine for. +For us, my friends and fellow-soldiers, let us not meet our glorious +fate with the blood of Scotsmen on our swords. We have striven for our +country; we have striven gloriously, faithfully, and now we have but to +die for her. Ha! do I speak in vain? Again—back, coward! wouldst thou +slay a woman?" and, with a sudden bound, he stood beside one of the +soldiers, who was in the act of plunging his dagger in the breast of a +kneeling and struggling female. One moment sufficed to wrench the dagger +from his grasp, and release the woman from his hold.</p> + +<p>"It is ill done, your lordship; it is the fiend, the arch-fiend that has +planned it all," loudly exclaimed the man. "She has been heard to mutter +threats of vengeance, and blood and fire against thee, and all belonging +to thee. Let her not go free, my lord; thou mayest repent it still."</p> + +<p>"Repent giving a woman life?—bah! Thou art a fool, though a faithful +one," answered Sir Nigel; but even he started as he recognized the +features of Jean Roy. She gave him no time to restrain her, however; +for, sliding from his hold, she bounded several paces from him, singing, +as she did so, "Repent, ye shall repent! Where is thy buxom bride? Jean +Roy will see to her safety. A bonny courtship ye shall have!" Tossing up +her arms wildly, she vanished as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> spoke; seeming in that light in +very truth more like a fiend than woman. A chill sunk on the heart of +Nigel, but, "No, no," he said, internally, as again he sought the spot +where confusion and horror waxed thickest; "Dermid will care for Agnes, +and guard her. I will not think of that mad woman's words." Yet even as +he rushed onwards, giving directions, commands, lending his aid to every +effort made for extinguishing the fire, a prayer for his wife was +uttered in his heart.</p> + +<p>The fire continued its rapid progress, buttress after buttress, tower +after tower caught on the walls, causing the conflagration to continue, +even when, by the most strenuous efforts, it had been partially +extinguished amongst the dwellings of the court. The wind blowing from +the north fortunately preserved the keep, inner wall, and even the +church, uninjured, save that the scorched and blackened sides of the +latter gave evidence of the close vicinity of the flames, and how +narrowly it had escaped. With saddened hearts, the noble defenders of +Scotland's last remaining bulwark, beheld their impregnable wall, the +scene of such dauntless valor, such unconquered struggles, against which +the whole force of their mighty foes had been of no avail—that wall +crumbling into dust and ashes in their very sight, opening a broad +passage to the English foe. Yet still there was no evidence that to +yield were preferable than to die; still, though well-nigh exhausted +with their herculean efforts to quench the flames, there was no +cessation, no pause, although the very height of the wall prevented +success, for they had not the facilities afforded by the engines of the +present day. Sir Nigel, his knights, nay, the venerable abbot himself, +seconded every effort of the men. It seemed as if little more could add +to the horror of the scene, and yet the shouts of "The granaries, the +granaries—merciful heaven, all is consumed!" came with such appalling +consciousness on every ear, that for a brief while, the stoutest arm +hung powerless, the firmest spirit quailed. Famine stood suddenly before +them as a gaunt, terrific spectre, whose cold hand it seemed had grasped +their very hearts. Nobles and men, knights and soldiers, alike stood +paralyzed, gazing at each other with a blank, dim, unutterable despair. +The shrill blast of many trumpets, the roll of heavy drums, broke that +deep stillness. "The foe! the foe!" was echoed round, fiercely, yet +rejoicingly. "They are upon us—they brave the flames—well done! Now +firm and steady;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> to your arms—stand close. Sound trumpets—the +defiance, the Bruce and Scotland!" and sharply and clearly, as if but +just arrayed for battle, as if naught had chanced to bend those gallant +spirits to the earth, the Scottish clarions sent back their answering +blast, and the men gathered in compact array around their gallant +leader.</p> + +<p>"My horse—my horse!" shouted Nigel Bruce, as he sprung from rank to +rank of the little phalanx, urging, commanding, entreating them to make +one last stand, and fall as befitted Scottish patriots. The keep and +inner ballium was still their own as a place of retreat, however short a +period it might remain so. A brave defence, a glorious death would still +do much for Scotland.</p> + +<p>Shouts, cheers, blessings on his name awoke in answer, as unfalteringly, +as bravely as those of the advancing foes. Prancing, neighing, rearing, +the superb charger was at length brought to the dauntless leader.</p> + +<p>"Not thus, my lord; in heaven's name, do not mount thus, unarmed, +bareheaded as thou art!" exclaimed several voices, and two or three of +his esquires crowded round him. "Retire but for a brief space within the +church."</p> + +<p>"And turn my back upon my foes, Hubert; not for worlds! No, no; bring me +the greaves, gauntlets, and helmet here, if thou wilt, and an they give +me time, I will arm me in their very teeth. Haste ye, my friends, if ye +will have it so; for myself these garments would serve me well enough;" +but ere he ceased to speak they had flown to obey, and returned ere a +dozen more of the English had made their way across the crumbling wall. +Coolly, composedly, Nigel threw aside his mantle and doublet, and +permitted his esquires to assist in arming him, speaking at the same +time in a tone so utterly unconcerned, that ere their task was finished, +his coolness had extended unto them. He had allowed some few of the +English to make an unmolested way; his own men were drawn up in close +lines against the inner wall, so deep in shadow that they were at first +unobserved by the English. He could perceive by the still, clear light +of the flames, troop after troop of the besiegers were marching forward +in the direction both of the causeway and the river; several were +plunging in the moat, sword in hand, and attack threatened on every +side. He waited no longer; springing on his charger, with a movement so +sudden and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> unexpected, the helmet fell from his esquire's hand, and +waving his sword above his undefended head, he shouted aloud his +war-cry, and dashed on, followed by his men, to the spot where a large +body of his foes already stood.</p> + +<p>Desperately they struggled, most gallantly they fought; man after man of +the English fell before them. On, on they struggled; a path seemed +cleared before them; the English were bearing back, despite their +continued reinforcements from the troops, that so thronged the causeway +it appeared but one mass of men. But other shouts rent the air. The +besiegers now poured in on every side; wherever that gallant body turned +they were met by English. On, on they came, fresh from some hours of +repose, buoyed up by the certainty of conquest; unnumbered swords and +spears, and coats of mail, gleaming in that lurid light; on came the +fiery steeds, urged by the spur and rein, till through the very flames +they bore their masters; on through the waters of the moat, up the +scorching ruins, and with a sound as of thunder, clearing with a single +bound all obstacles into the very court. It was a fearful sight; that +little patriot band, hemmed in on every side, yet struggling to the +last, clearing a free passage through men and horse, and glancing swords +and closing multitudes, nearing the church, slowly, yet surely, forming +in yet closer order as they advanced; there, there they stood, as a +single bark amid the troubled waves, cleaving them asunder, but to close +again in fatal fury on her track.</p> + +<p>In vain, amid that furious strife, did the Earl of Lancaster seek out +the azure plume and golden helmet that marked the foe he still desired +to meet; there was indeed a face, beautiful and glorious even in that +moment, ever in the very thickest of the fight, alike the front, the +centre, the rear-guard of his men; there was indeed that stately form, +sitting his noble charger as if horse and man were one; and that +unhelmed brow, that beautifully formed head, with its long curls +streaming in the night wind, which towered unharmed, unbent, above his +foes; and where that was, the last hope of his country had gathered. The +open door of the church was gained, and there the Scottish patriots made +a stand, defended in their rear by the building. A brief and desperate +struggle partially cleared their foes, and ere those in the rear could +press forward, the besieged had disappeared, and the heavy doors were +closed. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> sudden pause of astonishment amidst the assailants was +speedily dispelled by the heavy blows of axes and hatchets, the sudden +shout "To the wall! to the wall!" while several ran to plant +scaling-ladders and mount the inner barrier, left unhappily unguarded +from the diminished numbers of the Scotch; there, however, their +progress was impeded, for the space which that wall inclosed being +scarce half the size of the ballium, and the barrier itself uninjured, +they were repulsed with loss from within. The church-doors meanwhile had +given way, and permitted ingress to the assailants, but the door leading +to the passage through the inner wall, and by which in reality the +Scotch had effected their retreat, was carefully closed and barred +within, and had so completely the same appearance as the wall of the +church in which it stood, that the English gazed round them fairly +puzzled and amazed.</p> + +<p>This movement, however, on the part of the besieged occasioned a brief +cessation of hostilities on both sides. The flames had subsided, except +here and there, where the passing wind fanned the red-hot embers anew +into life, and caused a flickering radiance to pass athwart the pitchy +darkness of the night, and over the bustling scene on either side the +ruins.</p> + +<p>There was no moon, and Hereford imagined the hours of darkness might be +better employed in active measures for resuming the attack by dawn than +continuing it then. Much, very much had been gained: a very brief +struggle more he knew must now decide it, and he hoped, though against +his better judgment, that the garrison, would surrender without further +loss of blood. Terms he could not propose, none at least that could +prevail on the brave commanders to give up with life, and so great was +the admiration Nigel's conduct had occasioned, that this true son of +chivalry ardently wished he would eventually fall in combat rather than +be consigned to the fearful fate which he knew would be inflicted on him +by the commands of Edward. Commands to the troops without were forwarded +by trusty esquires; the wounded conveyed to the camp, and their places +supplied by fresh forces, who, with the joyous sound of trumpet and +drum, marched over by torchlight into the ballium, so long the coveted +object of their attack.</p> + +<p>Sir Nigel meanwhile had desired his exhausted men to lie down in their +arms, ready to start up at the faintest appearance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> of renewed +hostility, and utterly worn out, they most willingly obeyed. But the +young knight himself neither shared nor sought for that repose; he stood +against a buttress on the walls, leaning on a tall spear, and gazing at +once upon his wearied followers, and keeping a strict watch on the +movements of his foes. A tall form, clothed in complete armor, suddenly +stood beside him; he started.</p> + +<p>"Seaton!" he said; "thou here, and in armor?"</p> + +<p>"Aye," answered the knight, his voice from very weakness sounding hollow +in his helmet. "Aye, to make one last stand, and, if it may be, die as I +have lived for Scotland. I have strength to strike one last blow, for +last it will be—all is lost!"</p> + +<p>A low groan broke from Nigel's lips, but he made no further answer than +the utterance of one word—"Agnes!"</p> + +<p>"Is safe, I trust," rejoined the knight. "The son of Dermid, in whose +arms I last saw her, knoweth many a secret path and hidden passage, and +can make his way wherever his will may lead."</p> + +<p>"How! thinkest thou he will preserve her, save her even now from the +foe?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, perchance conceal her till the castle be dismantled. But what do +they now? See, a herald and white flag," he added, abruptly, as by the +light of several torches a trumpeter, banner-bearer, herald, and five +men-at-arms were discerned approaching the walls.</p> + +<p>"What would ye? Halt, and answer," demanded Sir Nigel, recalled on the +instant to his sterner duties, and advancing, spear in hand, to the +utmost verge of the wall.</p> + +<p>"We demand speech of Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, +governors of this castle," was the brief reply.</p> + +<p>"Speak on, then, we are before ye, ready to list your say. What would +your lords?"</p> + +<p>"Give ye not admittance within the wall?" inquired the herald; "'tis +somewhat strange parleying without."</p> + +<p>"No!" answered Nigel, briefly and sternly; "speak on, and quickly. We +doubt not the honor of the noble Earl of Hereford—it hath been too +gloriously proved; but we are here to list your mission. What would ye?"</p> + +<p>"That ye surrender this fortress by to-morrow's dawn, and strive no +longer with the destiny against you. Ye have neither men nor stores, and +in all good and chivalric feeling, the noble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster call on ye to surrender without further loss of blood."</p> + +<p>"And if we do this?" demanded Nigel.</p> + +<p>"They promise all honorable treatment and lenient captivity to the +leaders of the rebels, until the pleasure of his grace the king be +known; protection to all females; liberty to those whose rank demands +not their detention; and for the common soldiers, on the delivery of +their arms and upper garments, and their taking a solemn oath that +within seven days they will leave Scotland never to return, liberty and +life shall be mercifully extended unto one and all."</p> + +<p>"And if we do <i>not</i> this?"</p> + +<p>"Your blood be upon your own rebellious heads! Sacking and pillage must +take their course."</p> + +<p>"Ye have heard," were the sole words that passed the lips of Nigel, +turning to his men, who, roused by the first sound of the trumpet, had +started from their slumbers, and falling in a semicircle round him and +Sir Christopher, listened with intense eagerness to the herald's words. +"Ye have heard. Speak, then—your answer; yours shall be ours."</p> + +<p>"Death! death! death!" was the universally reiterated shout. "We will +struggle to the death. Our king and country shall not say we deserted +them because we feared to die; or surrendered on terms of shame as +these! No; let the foe come on! we will die, if we may not live, still +patriots of Scotland! King Robert will avenge us! God save the Bruce!"</p> + +<p>Again, and yet again they bade God bless him; and startlingly and +thrillingly was the united voice of that desperate, devoted band borne +on the wings of night to the very furthest tents of their foes. Calmly +Sir Nigel turned again to the herald.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast Scotland's answer," he said; "'tis in such men as these her +glorious spirit lives! they will fall not unavenged. Commend us to your +masters; we await them with the dawn," and, turning on his heel, he +reassumed the posture of thought as if he had never been aroused.</p> + +<p>The dawn uprose, the attack was renewed with increased vigor, and +defended with the same calm, determined spirit which had been ever +shown; the patriots fell where they fought, leaving fearful traces of +their desperate courage in the numbers of English that surrounded each. +It was now before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> the principal entrance to the keep they made their +final stand, and horrible was the loss of life, fierce and deadly the +strife, ere that entrance was forced, and the shrieks of women and +children within proclaimed the triumph of the foe. Then came a shout, +loud ringing, joyous, echoed and re-echoed by the blast of the trumpets +both within and without, and the proud banner of Scotland was hurled +contemptuously to the earth, and the flag of England floated in its +place. Many a dying eye, unclosed by those sudden sounds, looked on that +emblem of defeat and moved not in life again; others sprung up to their +feet with wild shrieks of defiance, and fell back, powerless, in death.</p> + +<p>Sir Christopher Seaton, whose exhausted frame could barely sustain the +weight of his armor, had been taken in the first charge, fighting +bravely, but falling from exhaustion to the earth. And where was +Nigel?—hemmed in on all sides, yet seemingly unwounded, unconquered +still, his face indeed was deadly pale, and there were moments when his +strokes flagged as from an utter failing of strength; but if, on +observing this, his foes pressed closer, strength appeared to return, +and still, still he struggled on. He sought for death; he felt that he +dared his destiny, but death shunned him; he strove with his destiny in +vain. Not thus might he fall, the young, the generous, the gifted. On +foot, his armor hacked and stained with blood, not yet had the word +"yield" been shouted in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Back, back! leave me this glorious prize!" shouted Lancaster, spurring +on his charger through the crowd, and leaping from him the instant he +neared the spot where Nigel stood. "Take heed of my gallant horse, I +need him not—I shall not need him now. Ha! bareheaded too; well, so +shall it be with me—hand to hand, foot to foot. Turn, noble Nigel, we +are well-nigh equals now, and none shall come between us." He hastily +unclasped his helmet, threw it from his brow, and stood in the attitude +of defence.</p> + +<p>One moment Sir Nigel paused; his closing foes had fallen from him at the +words of their leader; he hesitated one brief instant as to whether +indeed he should struggle more, or deliver up his sword to the generous +earl, when the shout of triumph from the topmost turret, proclaiming the +raising of the banner, fell upon his ear, and nerved him to the onset.</p> + +<p>"Noble and generous!" he exclaimed, as their swords<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> crossed. "Might I +choose my fate, I would fall by thy knightly sword."</p> + +<p>As stupefied with wonder at the skill, the extraordinary velocity and +power of the combatants, the men-at-arms stood round, without making one +movement to leave the spot; and fearful indeed was that deadly strife; +equal they seemed in stature, in the use of their weapons, in every +mystery of the sword; the eye ached with the rapid flashing of the +blades, the ear tired of the sharp, unwavering clash, but still they +quailed not, moved not from the spot where the combat had commenced.</p> + +<p>How long this fearful struggle would have continued, or who would +finally be victor, was undecided still, when suddenly the wild mocking +laugh of madness sounded in the very ear of Nigel, and a voice shouted +aloud, "Fight on, my bonny lord; see, see, how I care for your winsome +bride," and the maniac form of Jean Roy rushed by through the thickest +ranks of the men, swift, swift as the lightning track. A veil of silver +tissue floated from her shoulder, and she seemed to be bearing something +in her arms, but what, the rapidity of her way precluded all discovery. +The fierce soldiers shrunk away from her, as if appalled by her gaunt, +spectral look, or too much scared by her sudden appearance to attempt +detaining her. The eye of Nigel involuntarily turned from his foe to +follow her; he recognized the veil, and fancy did the rest. He saw her +near a part of the wall which was tottering beneath the engines of the +English; there was a wild shriek in other tones than hers, the wall +fell, burying the maniac in its ruins. A mist came over the senses of +the young knight, strength suddenly fled his arm, he stepped back as to +recover himself, but slipped and fell, the violence of the fall dashing +his sword many yards in air. "I yield me true prisoner, rescue or no +rescue," he said, in a tone so startling in its agony that the rudest +heart beside him shrunk within itself appalled, and for a minute +Lancaster checked the words upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, yield not in such tone, my gallant foe!" he said, with eager +courtesy, and with his own hand aiding him to rise. "Would that I were +the majesty of England, I should deem myself debased did I hold such +gallantry in durance. Of a truth, thou hast robbed me of my conquest, +fair sir, for it was no skill of mine which brought thee to the ground. +I may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> thank that shrieking mad woman, perchance, for the preservation +of my laurels."</p> + +<p>"I give you thanks for your courtesy, my lord," replied Sir Nigel, +striving to recover himself; "but I pray you pardon me, if I beseech you +let that falling mass be cleared at once, and note if that unhappy woman +breathes. Methought," he added, in stronger agitation, "she carried +something in her arms."</p> + +<p>"She did," answered many voices; "some child or girl, who was +struggling, though the head was muffled up as if to prevent all sounds."</p> + +<p>"See to it, and bring us news of what you find," said Lancaster, +hastily, for the same ghastly expression passed over the countenance of +his prisoner as had startled him at first. "Thou art not well, my good +lord?" he continued kindly.</p> + +<p>"Nay, I am well, my lord; but I will go with you," replied the young +knight, slowly, as if collecting strength ere he could speak. "I am +wearied with the turmoil of the last twelve hours' fighting against fire +and sword at once; I would fain see the noble Hereford, and with his +permission rest me a brief while."</p> + +<p>Lancaster made no further comment, and the two knights, who but a few +minutes before had been engaged in deadly strife, now made their way +together through the heaps of the dying and the dead, through many a +group of rude soldiery, who scowled on Nigel with no friendly eye, for +they only recognized him as the destroyer of hundreds of their +countrymen, not the chivalric champion who had won the enthusiastic +admiration of their leaders, and soon found themselves in the +castle-hall, in the presence of the Earl of Hereford, who was surrounded +by his noblest officers, Sir Christopher and Lady Seaton, and some few +other Scottish prisoners, most of whom were badly wounded. He advanced +to meet Sir Nigel, courteously, though gravely.</p> + +<p>"It grieves me," he said, "to receive as a prisoner a knight of such +high renown and such chivalric bearing as Sir Nigel Bruce; I would he +had kept those rare qualities for the sovereign to whom they were +naturally due, and who would have known how to have appreciated and +honor them, rather than shed such lustre on so weak a cause."</p> + +<p>"Does your lordship regard the freedom of an oppressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> country so weak +a cause?" replied Nigel, the hot blood mounting to his cheek; "the +rising in defence of a rightful king, in lieu of slavishly adhering to +one, who, though so powerful, all good men, aye, even all good +Englishmen, must look on, in his claims to Scotland, as an ambitious +usurper. My lord, my lord, the spirit of Hereford spoke not in those +words; but I forgive them, for I have much for which to proffer thanks +unto the noble Hereford, much, that his knightly soul scorned treachery +and gave us a fair field. Durance is but a melancholy prospect, yet an +it must be I would not nobler captors."</p> + +<p>"Nor would I forfeit the esteem in which you hold me, gallant sir," +replied the earl, "and therefore do I pray you, command my services in +aught that can pleasure you, and an it interfere not with my duty to my +sovereign, I shall be proud to give them. Speak, I pray you."</p> + +<p>"Nay, I can ask naught which the Earl of Hereford hath not granted of +himself," said Sir Nigel. "I would beseech you to extend protection to +all the females of this unhappy castle; to part not my sister from her +lord, for, as you see, his wounds and weakness call for woman's care; to +grant the leech's aid to those who need it; and if there be some unhappy +men of my faithful troop remaining, I would beseech you show mercy unto +them, and let them go free—they can work no further ill to Edward; they +can fight no more for Scotland, for she lieth chained; they have no head +and therefore no means of resistance—I beseech you give them freedom +unshackled by conditions."</p> + +<p>"It shall be, it shall be," replied Hereford, hastily, and evidently +moved; "but for thyself, young sir, thyself, can we do naught for thee?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," answered the young man, calmly. "I need little more on earth, +for neither my youth, my birth, nor what it pleaseth thee to term my +gallantry, will save me from the sweeping axe of Edward. I would beseech +thee to let my death atone for all, and redeem my noble friends; but I +ask it not, for I know in this thou hast no power; and yet, though I ask +nothing now," he added, after a brief pause, and in a lower voice, as to +be heard only by Hereford, "ere we march to England I may have a boon to +crave—protection, liberty for a beloved one, whose fate as yet I know +not." He spoke almost inarticulately, for again it seemed the horrid +words and maniac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> laugh of Jean Roy resounded in his ears. There was +that in the look and manner of the English earl inviting confidence: a +moment the tortured young man longed to pour all into his ear, to +conjure him to find Agnes, and give her to his arms; the next he +refrained, for her words, "Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee +undiscovered by the foe," suddenly flashed on his memory, with the +conviction that if she were indeed still in life, and he acknowledged +her his wife, Hereford would feel himself compelled to keep her under +restraint, as he did Lady Seaton and the wives of other noble Scotsmen. +His lip trembled, but fortunately for the preservation of his composure, +Hereford's attention was called from him by the eager entrance of +several other officers, who all crowded round him, alike in +congratulation, and waiting his commands, and perceiving he was +agitated, the earl turned from him with a courteous bow. Eagerly he +seized that moment to spring to the side of his sister, to whisper the +impatient inquiry, "Agnes, where is Agnes?" To feel his heart a moment +throb high, and then sink again by her reply, that she had not seen her +since he had placed her in the arms of the seer; that in the fearful +confusion which followed, she had looked for her in vain, examined all +her accustomed haunts, but discovered no traces of her, save the silver +tissue veil. There was, however, some hope in that; Jean Roy, misled by +the glittering article, and seeing it perchance in the hands of another, +might have been deceived in her prey. Nay, he welcomed the uncertainty +of suspense; there was something so fearful, so horrible in the idea +that his own faithful Agnes was among those blackened and mangled +bodies, which Lancaster informed him had been discovered beneath the +ruins, something so sickening, so revolting, he could not take advantage +of the earl's offer to examine them himself, though, Lancaster added, it +would not be of much use, for he challenged their dearest friends to +recognize them. He could not believe such was her fate. Dermid had not +been seen since the fatal conclusion of their marriage; he knew his +fidelity, his interest in both Agnes and himself, and he could not, he +would not believe the maniac had decoyed her from his care. But where +was she?—where, in such a moment, could he have conveyed her?—what +would be her final fate?—how would she rejoin him? were questions ever +thronging on his heart and brain, struggling with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> doubts, with the +horrible suspicion still clinging to that shriek which had sounded as +the ruins fell. Darker and more forebodingly oppressive grew these +conflicting thoughts, as day after day passed, and still she came not, +nor were there any tidings of the seer.</p> + +<p>A very brief interval sufficed for the English earls to conclude their +arrangements at Kildrummie, and prepare to march southward, Berwick +being the frontier town to which the Scottish prisoners were usually +conveyed. Their loss had been greater than at any other similar siege; +more than a third of their large army had fallen, several others were +wounded, and not much above a third remained who were fitted to continue +in arms. It was a fearful proof of the desperate valor of the besieged, +but both earls felt it would so exasperate their sovereign against the +Scottish commanders, as to remove the slightest hope of mercy. The ruins +were with some labor cleared away, the remains of the outer wall +levelled with the earth, except the tower communicating with the +drawbridge and barbacan, which could be easily repaired. The inner wall +Hereford likewise commanded to be restored; the keep he turned into a +hospital for the wounded, leaving with them a sufficient garrison to +defend the castle, in case of renewed incursions of the Scottish +patriots, a case, in the present state of the country, not very +probable. True to his promise, these men-at-arms who survived, and whose +wounds permitted their removal, Hereford set at liberty, not above ten +in number; dispirited, heart-broken, he felt indeed there was no need to +impose conditions on them. Those of the traitors who remained, +endeavored by cringing humility, to gain the favor of the English; but +finding themselves shunned and despised, for the commonest English +soldier was of a nature too noble to bear with aught of treachery, they +dispersed over the country, finding little in its miserable condition to +impart enjoyment to the lives they had enacted so base a part to +preserve. It may be well to state, ere we entirely leave the subject, +that the execution of Evan Roy exciting every evil passion in their +already rebellious hearts, had determined them to conspire for a signal +revenge, the ravings of Jean Roy and the desperate counsels of her +mother-in-law urging them to the catastrophe we have related; the murder +of Nigel had been first planned, but dismissed as likely to be +discovered and thwarted, and bring vengeance on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> their own heads instead +of his. Before the execution of their comrade and head of the +conspiracy, they had only been desirous of shunning the horrors of a +prolonged siege; but afterwards, revenge became stronger than mere +personal safety, and therefore was it they refused to take advantage of +the safe conduct demanded by Nigel, and granted, as we have said.</p> + +<p>The Scottish prisoners were removed from the castle a few hours after +its capitulation, and placed in honorable restraint, in separate +pavilions. Lancaster, whose romantic admiration for his antagonist had +not been in the least diminished by Sir Nigel's bearing in captivity and +the lofty tone of the young knight's society and conversation, which he +frequently courted, absolutely made him shrink from heading the force +which was to conduct him a prisoner to England, for he well knew those +very qualities, calling forth every spark of chivalry in his own bosom, +would be only so many incitements to Edward for his instant execution. +He therefore demanded that the superintending the works of the garrison +and keeping a strict watch upon the movements of the adjoining country +should devolve on him, and Hereford, as the older and wiser, should +conduct his prisoners to the border, and report the events of the siege +to his sovereign. His colleague acceded, and the eighth day from the +triumph of the besiegers was fixed on to commence their march.</p> + +<p>It was on the evening of the seventh day that the Earl of Hereford, then +engaged in earnest council with Lancaster, on subjects relating to their +military charge, was informed that an old man and a boy so earnestly +entreated speech with him, that they had even moved the iron heart of +Hugo de l'Orme, the earl's esquire, who himself craved audience for +them.</p> + +<p>"They must bear some marvellous charm about them, an they have worked +upon thee, De l'Orme," said his master, smiling. "In good sooth, let +them enter."</p> + +<p>Yet there was nothing very striking in their appearance when they came. +The old man indeed was of a tall, almost majestic figure, and it was +only the snowy whiteness of his hair and flowing beard that betrayed his +age, for his eye was still bright, his form unbent. He was attired as a +minstrel, his viol slung across his breast, a garb which obtained for +its possessor free entrance alike into camp and castle, hall and bower, +to all parties, to all lands, friendly or hostile, as it might be. His +com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>panion was a slight boy, seemingly little more than thirteen or +fourteen, with small, exquisitely delicate features; his complexion +either dark or sunburnt; his eyes were bent down, and their long, very +dark lashes rested on his cheek, but when raised, their beautiful blue +seemed so little in accordance with the brunette skin, that the sun +might be deemed more at fault than Nature; his hair, of the darkest +brown, clustered closely round his throat in short thick curls; his garb +was that of a page, but more rude than the general habiliments of those +usually petted members of noble establishments, and favored both +Hereford and Lancaster's belief that he was either the son or grandson +of his companion.</p> + +<p>"Ye are welcome, fair sirs," was the elder earl's kindly salutation, +when his esquire had retired. "Who and what are ye, and what crave ye +with me?"</p> + +<p>"We are Scotsmen, an it so please you, noble lords," replied the old +man; "followers and retainers of the house of Bruce, more particularly +of him so lately fallen into your power."</p> + +<p>"Then, by mine honor, my good friends, ye had done wiser to benefit by +the liberty I promised and gave to those of his followers who escaped +this devastating siege. Wherefore are ye here?"</p> + +<p>"In the name of this poor child, to beseech a boon, my noble lord; for +me, my calling permitteth my going where I list, unquestioned, +unrestrained, and if I ask permission to abide with ye, Scotsman and +follower of the Bruce as I am, I know ye will not say me nay."</p> + +<p>"I would not, an ye besought such a boon, old man," answered the earl; +"yet I would advise thee to tempt not thy fate, for even thy minstrel +garb, an thou braggest of thy service to the Bruce, I cannot promise to +be thy safeguard in Edward's court, whither I give ye notice I wend my +way to-morrow's dawn. For this child, what wouldst thou—hath he no +voice, no power of his own to speak?"</p> + +<p>The aged minstrel looked at his charge, whose eyes were still bent on +the floor; the heaving of his doublet denoted some internal emotion, but +ere the old man could answer for him, he had made a few hasty steps +forward, and bent his knee before Hereford.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a simple boon I crave, my lord," he said, in a voice so peculiarly +sweet, that it seemed to impart new beauty to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> features; "a very +simple boon, yet my lips tremble to ask it, for thou mayest deem it more +weighty than it seemeth to me, and thou alone canst grant it."</p> + +<p>"Speak it, fair child, whate'er it be," replied the earl, reassuringly, +and laying his hand caressingly on the boy's head. "Thou art, methinks, +over young to crave a boon we may not grant; too young, although a +Scotsman, for Hereford to treat thee aught but kindly. What wouldst +thou?"</p> + +<p>"Permission to tend on my young lord, Sir Nigel Bruce," answered the +boy, more firmly, and for the first time fixing the full gaze of his +beautiful eyes on the earl's face. "Oh, my lord, what is there in that +simple boon to bid thee knit thy brow as if it must not be?" he added, +more agitated. "The noble Hereford cannot fear a child; or, if he +doubted me, he cannot doubt the honor of his prisoner, an honor pure, +unsullied as his own."</p> + +<p>"Thou speakest not as the child thou seemest," replied Hereford, +musingly; "and yet I know not, misery makes sager of us long ere the +rose of youth hath faded. For this, thy boon, I know not how it may be +granted; it is not usual to permit other than English attendants on our +Scottish prisoners. Since Sir Niel Campbell's escape through the agency +of his Scottish attendant, it hath been most strictly prohibited."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not, do not say me nay!" entreated the boy; "I ask but to share +his imprisonment, to be with him, serve him, tend him. I ask no more +liberty than is granted unto him; the rudest, coarsest fare, a little +straw, or the bare ground beside his couch. I can do naught to give him +freedom, and if I could, were there an open path before him—did I +beseech him on my knees to fly—if he hath surrendered, as I have heard, +to thee, rescue or no rescue, he would scorn my counsel, and abide thy +prisoner still. Oh, no, no! I swear to thee I will do naught that can +make thee regret thou hast granted an orphan's prayer."</p> + +<p>"And who art thou that pleadeth thus?" inquired the earl, moved alike by +the thrilling sweetness of his voice and the earnestness of his manner. +"Thou must have some wondrous interest in him to prefer imprisonment +with him to all the joys which liberty can give."</p> + +<p>"And I have interest," answered the boy, fervently; "the interest of +gratitude, and faithfulness, and love. An orphan,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> miserably an +orphan—alone upon the wide earth—he hath protected, cherished, aye, +and honored me with his confidence and love. He tended me in sorrow, and +I would pour back into his noble heart all the love, the devotion he +hath excited in mine. Little can I do, alas! naught but love and serve; +yet, yet, I know he would not reject even this—he would let me love him +still!"</p> + +<p>"Grant the poor boy his boon," whispered Lancaster, hurriedly; "of a +truth he moveth even me."</p> + +<p>"Thine heart is of right true mettle, my child," said his colleague, +even tenderly. "Yet bethink thee all thou must endure if I grant thy +boon; not while with me, for there would be a foul blot upon my +escutcheon did so noble a knight as Sir Nigel Bruce receive aught save +respect and honor at my hands. But in this business I am but a tool, an +agent; when once within the boundaries of Edward's court, Sir Nigel is +no longer my prisoner; I must resign him to my sovereign; and then, I +dare not give thee hope of gentle treatment either for thyself or him."</p> + +<p>"I will brave it," answered the boy, calmly; "danger, aye, death in his +service, were preferable to my personal liberty, with the torture of the +thought upon me, that I shrunk from his side when fidelity and love were +most needed."</p> + +<p>"But that very faithfulness, that very love, my child, will make thy +fate the harder; the scaffold and the axe, if not the cord," he added, +in a low, stifled tone, "I fear me, will be his doom, despite his youth, +his gallantry—all that would make <i>me</i> save him. Thou turnest pale at +the bare mention of such things, how couldst thou bear to witness them?"</p> + +<p>"Better than to think of them; to sit me down in idle safety and feel +that he hath gone forth to this horrible doom, and I have done naught to +soothe and tend him on his way," replied the boy, firmly, though his +very lip blanched at Hereford's words. "But must these things be? Is +Edward so inexorable?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, unto all who thwart him now," said the earl; "there is no hope for +any of the race of Bruce. Be advised, then, gentle boy, retain thy +freedom while thou mayest."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" he answered, passionately, "Oh, do not seek to fright me from +my purpose; do not think aught of me, save but to grant my boon, and oh, +I will bless thee, pray for thee to my dying hour! thou wilt, I know +thou wilt."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I were no father could I refuse thee, my poor child," he replied, with +earnest tenderness. "Alas! I fear me thou hast asked but increase of +misery, yet be it as thou list. And yet," he added, after a brief pause, +during which the boy had sprung from his knee, with an inarticulate cry +of joy, and flung himself into the minstrel's arms, "Sir Nigel hath +resolutely refused the attendance of any of his former followers, who +would willingly have attended him to England. Hast thou so much +influence, thinkest thou, to change his purpose in thy favor?"</p> + +<p>"I know not," answered the boy, timidly; "yet an it please your noble +lordship to permit my pleading mine own cause without witness, I may +prevail, as I have done before."</p> + +<p>"Be it so, then," replied the earl. "And now, ere we part, I would bid +thee remember I have trusted thee; I have granted that to thee, without +<i>condition</i>, with perfect liberty of action, which to others could only +have been granted on their surrendering themselves, rescue or no rescue, +even as thy master. I have done this, trusting to that noble +faithfulness, the candor and honesty of youth, which hath breathed forth +in all that thou hast said. Let me not repent it. And now, Hugo de +l'Orme," he called aloud, but Lancaster himself declared his intention +of conducting the boy to Sir Nigel's tent, and the esquire was +consequently dismissed; but ere they departed, the boy turned once more +to the aged minstrel.</p> + +<p>"And thou—whither goest thou?" he said, in low yet thrilling tones. "My +more than father, thou hast seen thy child's earnest wish fulfilled; +that for which thou didst conduct me hither is accomplished; yet ere I +say farewell, tell me—oh, tell me, whither goest thou?"</p> + +<p>"I know not," answered the old man, struggling with unexpressed emotion; +"yet think not of me, my child, I shall be free, be safe, untouched by +aught of personal ill, while young and lovely ones, for whom it would be +bliss to die, are crushed and bleeding in their spring; the mountains, +and rocks, and woods, yet unstained with blood, call on me to return, +and be at rest within their caves. The love I bear to thee and him thou +seekest hath yet a louder voice to bid me follow ye. I know not whither +I shall go, yet an my vision telleth that thou needst my aid, I shall +not be far from thee. Farewell, my child; and ye, true-hearted lords, +the blessing of an aged man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> repay ye for the kindly deed this day that +ye have done." He pressed the boy in his arms, reverentially saluted the +earls, and passed from the tent as he spoke.</p> + +<p>A few words passed between the warriors, and then Lancaster desired the +page to follow him. In silence they proceeded through the camp, avoiding +the more bustling parts, where the soldiery were evidently busied in +preparing for the morrow's march, and inclining towards the wooded bank +of the river. The eye of the Earl of Lancaster had scarcely moved from +the page during his interview with Hereford, though the boy, engrossed +in his own feelings, had failed to remark it. He now glanced rapidly and +searchingly round him, and perceiving the ground perfectly clear, not a +soldier visible, he suddenly paused in his hasty stride, and laying his +hand heavily on the boy's shoulder, said, in a deep, impressive voice, +"I know not who or what thou art, but I love thy master, and know that +he is ill at ease, not from captivity, but from uncertainty as to the +fate of one beloved. If it be, as I suspect, in thy power entirely to +remove this uneasiness, be cautioned, and whoever thou mayest be, let +not one in this camp, from the noble Earl of Hereford himself to the +lowest soldier, suspect thou art other than thou seemest—a faithful +page. The rage of Edward is deadly, and all who bear the name of Bruce, +be it male or female, will suffer from that wrath. Tell this to thy +lord. I ask not his confidence nor thine, nay, I would refuse it were it +offered—I would know no more than my own thoughts, but I honor him, +aye, and from my very heart I honor thee! Hush! not a word in answer; my +speech is rude, but my heart is true; and now a few steps more and we +are there," and without waiting for reply he turned suddenly, and the +page found himself in the very centre of the camp, near the entrance of +a small pavilion, before which two sentinels were stationed, fully +armed, and pacing up and down their stated posts; the pennon of Hereford +floated from the centre staff, above the drapery, marking the tent and +all its appurtenances peculiarly the earl's. The watchword was +exchanged, and the sentinels lowered their arms on recognizing one of +their leaders.</p> + +<p>"Let this boy have egress and ingress from and to this tent, +unquestioned and unmolested," he said; "he has the Earl of Hereford's +permission, nay, commands, to wait on Sir Nigel Bruce. His business +lieth principally with him; but if he hath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> need to quit his side, he is +to pass free. Report this to your comrades." The soldiers bowed in +respectful acquiescence. "For thee, young man, this toy will give thee +free passage where thou listeth, none shall molest thee; and now, +farewell—God speed thee." He unclasped a ruby brooch, curiously set in +antique gold, from his collar, and placed it in the boy's hand.</p> + +<p>"Dost thou not enter?" asked the page, in a voice that quivered, and the +light of the torches falling full on his face disclosed to Lancaster a +look of such voiceless gratitude, it haunted him for many a long day.</p> + +<p>"No," he said, half smiling, and in a lower voice; "hast thou forgotten +thy cause was to be pleaded without witness? I have not, if thou hast. I +will see thy noble master ere he depart, not now; thou wilt, I trust me, +take him better comfort than I could."</p> + +<p>He lifted the hangings as he spoke, and the boy passed in, his heart +beating well-nigh to suffocation as he did so. It was in a small +compartment leading to the principal chamber of the tent he found +himself at first, and Sir Nigel was not there. With a fleet, yet +noiseless movement, he drew aside the massive curtain, let it fall again +behind him, and stood unperceived in the presence of him he sought.</p> + +<p>The brow of Sir Nigel rested on his hand, his attitude was as one bowed +and drooping 'neath despondency; the light of the taper fell full upon +his head, bringing it out in beautiful profile. It was not his capture +alone which had made him thus, the boy felt and knew; the complicated +evils which attended his king and country in his imprisonment were yet +not sufficient to crush that spirit to the earth. It was some other +anxiety, some yet nearer woe; there had been many strange rumors afloat, +both of Sir Nigel's bridal and the supposed fate of that bride, and the +boy, though he knew them false, aye, and that the victim of Jean Roy was +a young attendant of Agnes, who had been collecting together the +trinkets of her mistress, to save them from the pillage which would +attend the conquest of the English, and had been thus mistaken by the +maniac—the boy, we say, though he knew this, had, instead of denying +it, encouraged the report, and therefore was at no loss to discover his +master's woe. He advanced, knelt down, and in a trembling, husky voice, +addressed him. "My lord—Sir Nigel."</p> + +<p>The young knight started, and looked at the intruder, evi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>dently without +recognizing him. "What wouldst thou?" he said, in a tone somewhat stern. +"Who art thou, thus boldly intruding on my privacy? Begone, I need thee +not!"</p> + +<p>"The Earl of Hereford hath permitted me to tend thee, follow thee," +answered the page in the same subdued voice. "My gracious lord, do not +thou refuse me."</p> + +<p>"Tend me—follow me! whither—to the scaffold? Seek some other master, +my good boy. I know thee not, and can serve thee little, and need no +earthly aid. An thou seekest noble service, go follow Hereford; he is a +generous and knightly lord."</p> + +<p>"But I am Scotch, my lord, and would rather follow thee to death than +Hereford to victory."</p> + +<p>"Poor child, poor child!" repeated Nigel, sadly. "I should know thee, +methinks, an thou wouldst follow me so faithfully, and yet I do not. +What claim have I upon thy love?"</p> + +<p>"Dost thou <i>not</i> know me, Nigel?" The boy spoke in his own peculiarly +sweet and most thrilling voice, and raising his head, fixed his full +glance upon the knight.</p> + +<p>A wild cry burst from Nigel's lips, he sprang up, gazed once again, and +in another moment the page and knight had sprung into each other's arms; +the arms of the former were twined round the warrior's neck, and Sir +Nigel had bent down his lordly head; burning tears and impassioned +kisses were mingled on the soft cheek that leaned against his breast.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + + +<p>The ancient town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, associated as it is with +Scottish and English history from the time these two kingdoms had a +name, presented a somewhat different aspect in the year 1307 to that of +the present day. The key to both countries, it was ever a scene of +struggle, unless the sister kingdoms chanced to be at peace, an event in +the middle ages of rare occurrence, and whoever was its fortunate +possessor was undeniably considered as the greater power. Since the +death of Alexander it had been captured no less than three times by +Edward in 1296, by Wallace the succeeding year, and recap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>tured by the +English the following spring. To Edward, consequently, it now belonged, +and many and fearful had been the sanguinary executions its walls had +beheld. Its streets had been deluged with noble Scottish blood; its +prisons filled with the nobles of Scotland; even high-minded women, who +by their countenance and faithfulness had given a yet higher tone to +patriotism and valor, were said to be there immured. It might have been +termed not alone the key, but the dungeon and grave of Scotland; and +many a noble spirit which had never quailed in the battle's front, +shrunk back appalled as it neared those dismal walls.</p> + +<p>In the time of Edward, the fortifications, though merely consisting of a +deep moat and wooden palisades, instead of the stone wall still +remaining, inclosed a much larger space than the modern town. A +magnificent castle, with its "mounts, rampiers, and flankers," its +towers, walls, and courts, crowned an easy ascent overhanging the Tweed, +and was at this period peopled by a powerful garrison, filled with +immense stores, both of arms, artillery, and provisions, and many +unhappy prisoners, who from their lonely turrets could look beyond the +silver Tweed on their own beautiful land, their hearts burning with the +vain desire to free her from her chains. Both square and round towers +guarded the palisades and moat surrounding the town, which presented a +goodly collection of churches, hospitals, dwelling-houses, stores, and +monastic buildings; from all of which crowds were continually passing +and repassing on their several ways, and forming altogether a motley +assemblage of knights, nobles, men-at-arms, archers, the various orders +of monks, the busy leech from the hospital, the peaceful burgher, the +bustling storekeeper, and artisan, noble dames and pretty maidens—all +in the picturesque costumes of the day, jostling one another, +unconscious of the curious effect they each assisted to produce, and +ever and anon came the trampling of fiery steeds. It was a rich, +thriving, bustling town, always presenting curious scenes of activity, +at present apparently under some excitement, which the gay knights and +their followers tended not a little to increase.</p> + +<p>The popular excitement had, strange to say, been confined for an +unusually long time to one subject. Orders had been received from King +Edward for the erection of an extraordinary cage or tower, curiously +worked in stone and iron, on the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> highest turret of the castle, +visible to every eye, of a circular form, with pyramidal points, +supporting gilded balls, giving it the appearance, when completed, of a +huge coronet or crown. It was barred and cross-barred with iron on all +sides, effectually preventing egress from within, but exposing its +inmate, whoever that might be, to every passer-by. The impatient king +had commanded several of the artisans employed in its erection to be +thrown into prison, because it was not completed fast enough to please +him; but, despite his wrath and impatience, the work of fashioning the +iron, wood, and stone, as he required, occasioned them to proceed but +slowly, and it was now, three months after the royal order had been +given, only just completed, and firmly fixed on the principal turret of +the castle. Day after day the people flocked to gaze and marvel for whom +it could be intended, and when it would be occupied; their thoughts only +turned from it by the intelligence that the Earl of Hereford, with some +Scottish prisoners of high rank, was within four-and-twenty hours' march +of the town, and was there to deliver up his captives to the seneschal +of the castle, the Earl of Berwick. At the same time rumors were afloat, +that the prisoner for whom that cage had been erected was, under a +strong guard, advancing from Carlisle, and likely to encounter Hereford +at the castle gates.</p> + +<p>The popular excitement increased threefold; the whole town seemed under +the influence of a restless fever, utterly preventing the continuance of +their usual avocations, or permitting them to rest quiet in their +houses. Crowds filled the streets, and pressed and fumed to obtain +places by the great gates and open squares of the castle, through which +both parties must pass. That wind, rain, and sunshine alternately ruled +the day, was a matter of small importance; nor did it signify that +English soldiers were returning victorious, with Scottish prisoners, +being a thing now of most common occurrence. Before the day was over, +however, they found anticipation for once had been less marvellous than +reality, and stranger things were seen and heard than they had dreamed +of.</p> + +<p>From sunrise till noon they waited and watched, and waxed impatient in +vain. About that time trumpets and drums were heard from the south, and +there was a general rush towards the bridge, and hearts beat high in +expectancy of they knew not what, as a gallant band of English archers +and men-at-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>arms, headed by some few knights, were discovered slowly and +solemnly advancing from the Carlisle road. Where, and who was the +prisoner? A person of some consequence, of dangerous influence it must +be, else why had the king made such extraordinary provision for +confinement? There were not wanting suggestions and guesses, and +wondrous fancies; for as yet there was such a close guard in the centre +of the cavalcade, that the very person of the prisoner could not be +distinguished. Nay, there were some who ventured to hint and believe it +might be the excommunicated Earl of Carrick himself. It was most likely, +for whom else could the cage, so exactly like a crown, be intended? and +there were many who vaunted the wise policy of Edward, at having hit on +such an expedient for lowering his rival's pride. Others, indeed, +declared the idea was all nonsense; it was not likely he would incur +such expense, king as he was, merely to mortify a traitor he had sworn +to put to death. The argument waxed loud and warm. Meanwhile the +cavalcade had crossed the bridge, been received through the south gate, +and in the same slow and solemn pomp proceeded through the town.</p> + +<p>"By all the saints, it is only a woman!" was the information shouted by +an eager spectator, who had clambered above the heads of his fellows to +obtain the first and most coveted view. His words were echoed in blank +amazement.</p> + +<p>"Aye, clothed in white like a penitent, with her black hair streaming +all over her shoulders, without any covering on her head at all, and +nothing but a thin, torn sandal on her bare feet; and the knights look +black as thunder, as if they like not the business they are engaged in."</p> + +<p>It was even so. There was an expression on the face of the officers +impossible to be misunderstood; frowningly, darkly, they obeyed their +sovereign's mandate, simply because they dared not disobey; but there +was not one among them who would not rather have sought the most deadly +front of battle than thus conduct a woman, aye, and a most noble one, +unto her prison. The very men, rude, stern, as they mostly were, shared +this feeling; they guarded her with lowered heads and knitted brows; and +if either officer or man-at-arms had to address her, it was with an +involuntary yet genuine movement and manner of respect that little +accorded with their present relative position. The crowds looked first +at the cavalcade<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> and marvelled, then at the prisoner, and they did not +marvel more.</p> + +<p>Clad as she was, in white, flowing garments, very similar to those worn +by penitents, her head wholly undefended from cold or rain even by a +veil; her long, luxuriant, jet-black hair, in which as yet, despite of +care and woe, no silver thread had mingled, falling round her from her +noble brow, which shone forth from its shade white as snow, and +displaying that most perfect face, which anguish had only chiselled into +paler, purer marble; it could not rob it of its beauty, that beauty +which is the holy emanation of the soul, <i>that</i> lingered still with +power to awe the rudest heart, to bow the proudest in voluntary respect.</p> + +<p>The sovereign of England had commanded this solemn procession and its +degrading accompaniments to humble, to crush to dust, the woman who had +dared defy his power, but it was himself alone he humbled. As she walked +there, surrounded by guards, by gazing hundreds, on foot, and but +protected from the flinty ground by a thin sandal, her step was as firm +and unfaltering, her attitude, her bearing as dignified, as calmly, +imposingly majestic as when, in the midst of Scotland's patriots, she +had placed the crown on the Bruce's head. Edward sought to debase her, +but she was not debased; to compel her to regret the part that she had +acted, but she gloried in it still; to acknowledge his power—but in all +he failed.</p> + +<p>Calmly and majestically the Countess of Buchan proceeded on her way, +neither looking to the right or left, nor evincing by the slightest +variation of countenance her consciousness of the many hundreds gazing +on, or that they annoyed or disturbed her; her spirit was wrapt in +itself. We should assert falsehood did we say she did not suffer; she +did, but it was a mother's agony heightened by a patriot's grief. She +believed her son, who had been in truth the idol of her mourning heart, +had indeed fallen. Her Agnes was not amongst the queen's train, of whose +captivity she had been made aware, though not allowed speech with them. +Where was <i>she</i>—what would be her fate? She only knew her as a lovely, +fragile flower, liable to be crushed under the first storm; and pictured +her, rudely severed from Nigel, perchance in the hands of some lawless +spoiler, and heart-broken, dying. Shuddering with anguish, she thought +not of her own fate—she thought but of her chil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>dren, of her country; +and if King Robert did enter these visions, it was simply as her +sovereign, as one whose patriotism would yet achieve the liberty of +Scotland; but there was a dimness even o'er that dream, for the figure +of her noble boy was gone, naught but a blank—dull, shapeless—occupied +that spot in the vision of the future, which once his light had filled.</p> + +<p>The castle-yard was at length gained, and a half and some change in the +line of march ensued; the officers and men formed in a compact crescent, +leaving the countess, a herald, trumpeters, and some of the highest +knights, in front. So intense was the interest of the crowd at this +moment, that they did not heed the rapid advance of a gallant body of +horse and foot from the north, except to rail at the pressure they +occasioned in forcing their way through. They gained the castle-yard at +length, and there halted, and fell back in utter astonishment at the +scene they witnessed.</p> + +<p>The herald had drawn a parchment from his belt, and made a step forward +as if to speak. The knights, in sullen silence, leant upon their +sheathed swords, without even glancing at their prisoner, who appeared +far the most composed and dignified of all present, and, after a brief +pause, words to this effect were distinguished by the crowd.</p> + +<p>"To our loyal and loving subjects of both North and South Britain, +Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Wales, France, and +Scotland, greeting. Whereas Isabella, born of Fife, and late of Buchan, +which latter she hath, by foul dishonor and utter disregard of marriage +vows, now forfeited, hath done traitorously and disloyally alike to her +sovereign lord the king, and to her gracious lord and husband, John, +Earl of Buchan, whom, for his fidelity, we hold in good favor. As she +hath not struck by the sword, so she shall not perish by the sword; but +for her lawless conspiracy, she shall be shut up in a stone and iron +chamber, circular as the crown she gave, in this proclaiming to both +countries her everlasting infamy. And this we do in mercy; for, whereas +she deserveth death, we do remit the same, and give her time to repent +her of her heinous crime.</p> + +<p>"Given at our palace of Carlisle, this twenty-third day of February, in +the year of our Lord and Saviour, one thousand three hundred and seven. +God save the King!"</p> + +<p>But the loyal ejaculation was not echoed, nay, the herald<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> himself had +read the proclamation, as if every word had been forced from him, and +the eyes of every knight and soldier had been fixed upon the ground, as +if shame rested on them rather than on their prisoner. A dead silence +for a few minutes followed, broken only by some faint cries of "God save +King Edward, and down with all traitors!" which seemed raised more to +drown the groans which involuntarily burst forth, than as the echo of +the heart. They dared not evince the faintest sign of disapproval, for +they stood on precarious ground; a groan even might be punished by their +irritable king as treachery; but there was one present who cared little +for this charge. Scarcely had the words passed the herald's lips, before +a young man, whose bare head and lack of all weapons would have +proclaimed him one of the Earl of Hereford's prisoners, had not the +attention of all been turned from him by the one engrossing object, now +snatching a sword from a soldier near him, sprung from his horse, and +violently attacking the herald, exclaimed, in a voice of thunder—</p> + +<p>"Liar and slave! thinkest thou there is none near to give the lie to thy +foul slanders—none to defend the fair fame, the stainless honor of this +much-abused lady? Dastard and coward, fit mouthpiece of a dishonored and +blasphemous tyrant! go tell him, his prisoner—aye, Nigel Bruce—thrusts +back his foul lies into his very teeth. Ha! coward and slave, wouldst +thou shun me?"</p> + +<p>A scene of indescribable confusion now ensued. The herald, a man not +much in love with war, stood cowering and trembling before his +adversary, seeking to cover himself with his weapon, but, from his +trembling hold, ineffectually. The stature of the youthful Scotsman +appeared towering, as he stood over him with his uplifted sword, +refusing to strike a defenceless man, but holding him with a gripe of +iron; his cheek flushed crimson, his nostrils distended, for his soul +was moved with a mightier, darker passion than had ever stirred its +depths before. The soldiers of both parties, joined, too, by some from +the castle—for a party headed by the Earl of Berwick himself had +attended to give countenance to the proclamation—rushed forward, but +involuntarily fell back, awed for the moment by the mighty spirit of one +man; the knights, roused from their sullen posture, looked much as if +they would, if they dared, have left the herald to his fate. Hereford +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> Berwick at the same instant spurred forward their steeds, the one +exclaiming, "Madman, let go your hold—you are tempting your own fate! +Nigel, for the love of heaven! for the sake of those that love you, be +not so rash!" the other thundering forth, "Cut down the traitor, an he +will not loose his hold. Forward, cowardly knaves! will ye hear your +king insulted, and not revenge it?—forward, I say! fear ye a single +man?"</p> + +<p>And numbers, spurred on by his words, dashed forward to obey him, but +fearlessly Sir Nigel Bruce retained his hold with his left hand, and +with his right grasped tighter his sword, and stood, with the fierce +undaunted port of a lion lashed into fury, gazing on his foes; but ere +he had crossed with the foremost weapons, a slight lad burst through the +gathering crowd, and with a piercing shriek threw himself at his +master's feet, and grasping his knees, seemed by his pleading looks, for +his words were inaudible, imploring him to desist from his rashness. At +the same moment another form pressed through the soldiers, her look, her +mien compelling them involuntarily to open their ranks and give her +passage. The sword of Nigel was in the act of falling on a second foe, +the first lay at his feet, when his arm was caught in its descent, and +Isabella of Buchan stood at his side.</p> + +<p>"Forbear!" she said, in those rich impressive tones that ever forced +obedience. "Nigel Bruce, brother of my sovereign, friend of my son, +forbear! strike not one blow for me. Mine honor needs no defence by +those that love me; my country will acquit me; the words of England's +monarch, angered at a woman's defiance of his power, affect me not! +Noble Nigel, excite not further wrath against thyself by this vain +struggle for my sake; put up thy sword, ere it is forced from thee. Let +go thy hold; this man is but an instrument, why wreak thy wrath on him? +Must I speak, implore in vain? Nay, then, I do command thee!"</p> + +<p>And those who gazed on her, as she drew that stately form to its full +height, as they heard those accents of imperative command, scarce +marvelled that Edward should dread her influence, woman as she was. +Despite the increasing wrath on the Earl of Berwick's brow, the men +waited to see the effect of these words. There was still an expression +of ill-controlled passion on Nigel's features. He waited one moment when +she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> ceased to speak, then slowly and deliberately shook the herald by +the collar, and hurled him from his hold; snapped his sword in twain, +and flinging it from him, folded his arms on his breast, and calmly +uttering, "Pardon me, noble lady, mine honor were impugned had I +suffered that dastardly villain to pass hence unpunished—let Edward act +as he lists, it matters little now," waited with impenetrable resolve +the rage he had provoked.</p> + +<p>"Nigel, Nigel, rash, impetuous boy, what hast thou done?" exclaimed the +countess, losing all mien and accent of command in the terror with which +she clung round him, as if to protect him from all ill, in the tone and +look of maternal tenderness with which she addressed him. "Why, why must +it be my ill fate to hurl down increase of misery and danger on all whom +I love?"</p> + +<p>"Speak not so, noble lady, in mercy do not!" he whispered in reply; +"keep that undaunted spirit shown but now, I can better bear it than +this voice of anguish. And thou," he added, laying his hand on the +shoulder of the boy, who still clung to his knees, as if fascinated +there by speechless terror, and gazed alternately on him and the +countess with eyes glazed almost in madness, "up, up; this is no place +for thee. What can they do with me but slay—let them come on—better, +far better than a scaffold!" but the boy moved not, Nigel spoke in vain.</p> + +<p>The fate he dared seemed indeed threatening. Wrought well-nigh to +phrensy at this daring insult to his sovereign, in whose acts of cruelty +and oppression he could far better sympathize than in his more knightly +qualities, the Earl of Berwick loudly and fiercely called on his +soldiers to advance and cut down the traitor, to bring the heaviest +fetters and bear him to the lowest dungeon. The men, roused from their +stupor of amaze, rushed on impetuously to obey him; their naked swords +already gleamed round Nigel; the Countess of Buchan was torn from his +side, her own especial guards closing darkly around her; but vainly did +they seek to unclasp the convulsive grasp of the boy from Nigel, he +neither shrieked nor spake, but he remained in that one posture, rigid +as stone.</p> + +<p>"Fiends! monsters! would ye, dare ye touch a boy, a child as this!" +shouted Nigel, struggling with herculean strength to free himself from +the rude grasp of the soldiers, as he be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>held the sharp steel pointed at +the breast of the boy, to compel him to unloose his hold. "Villains, +cowards! bear back and let me speak with him," and nerved to madness by +the violence of his emotions, he suddenly wrenched himself away, the +rapidity of the movement throwing one of the men to the earth, and bent +over the boy; again they rushed forward, they closed upon him, they tore +away the lad by force of numbers, and flung him senseless on the earth; +they sought to bear away their prisoner, but at that moment Hereford, +who had been parleying loudly and wrathfully with Berwick, spurred his +charger in the very midst of them, and compelled them to bear back.</p> + +<p>"Back, back!" he exclaimed, making a path for himself with his drawn +sword; "how dare ye thrust yourselves betwixt me and my lawful prisoner, +captive of my sword and power? what right have ye to dare detain him? +Let go your hold, none but the men whose prowess gained this gallant +prize shall guard him till my sovereign's will be known. Back, back, I +say!"</p> + +<p>"Traitor!" retorted Berwick, "he is no longer your prisoner. An insult +offered to King Edward, in the loyal citadel of Berwick, in my very +presence, his representative as I stand, shall meet with fit +retribution. He hath insulted his sovereign by act and word, and I +attach him of high treason and will enforce my charge. Forward, I say!"</p> + +<p>"And I say back!" shouted the Earl of Hereford; "I tell thee, proud +earl, he is my prisoner, and mine alone. Thou mayest vaunt thy loyalty, +thy representation of majesty, as thou listeth, mine hath been proved at +the good sword's point, and Edward will deem me no traitor because I +protect a captive, who hath surrendered himself a knight to a knight, +rescue or no rescue, from this unseemly violence. I bandy no more words +with such as thee; back! the first man that dares lay hold on him I +chastise with my sword."</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt repent this!" muttered Berwick, with a suppressed yet +terrible oath, but he dared proceed no further.</p> + +<p>A signal from their leader brought up all Hereford's men, who, in +compact order and perfect silence, surrounded their prisoner. Sternly +the earl called for a pair of handcuffs, and with his own hands fastened +them on his captive. "It grieves me," he said, "to see a brave man thus +manacled, but thine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> own mad act hath brought it on thyself. And now, my +Lord of Berwick, an it please thee to proceed, we demand admission to +thy citadel in King Edward's name. Bring up the other prisoners."</p> + +<p>Concealing his wrath with difficulty, the Earl of Berwick and his +attendants dashed forward over the drawbridge into the castle at full +speed, closing the gates and lowering the portcullis after them. After a +brief space, the portcullis was again raised, the gates flung wide +apart, and the men-at-arms were discerned lining either side, in all due +form and homage to the officers of their sovereign. During the wrathful +words passing between the two earls, the attention of the crowd had been +given alternately to them and to the Countess of Buchan, who had utterly +forgotten her own precarious situation in anxiety for Nigel, and in pity +for the unfortunate child, who had been hurled by the soldiers close to +the spot where she stood.</p> + +<p>"Do not leave him there, he will be trampled on," she said, imploringly, +to the officers beside her. "He can do no harm, poor child, Scotch +though he be. A little water, only bring me a little water, and he will +speedily recover."</p> + +<p>All she desired was done, the boy was tenderly raised and brought within +the circle of her guards, and laid on the ground at her feet. She knelt +down beside him, chafed his cold hands within her own, and moistened his +lips and brow with water. After a while his scattered senses returned, +he started up in a sitting posture, and gazed in wild inquiry around +him, uttering a few inarticulate words, and then saying aloud, "Sir +Nigel, my lord, my—my—master, where is he? oh! let me go to him; why +am I here?"</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt go to him, poor boy, as soon as thy strength returns; an +they have let thee follow him from Scotland, surely they will not part +ye now," said the countess soothingly, and her voice seemed to rouse the +lad into more consciousness. He gazed long in her face, with an +expression which at that time she could not define, but which startled +and affected her, and she put her arm round him and kissed his brow. A +convulsive almost agonized sob broke from the boy's breast, and caused +his slight frame to shake as with an ague, then suddenly he knelt before +her, and, in accents barely articulate, murmured—</p> + +<p>"Bless me, oh bless me!" while another word seemed strug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>gling for +utterance, but checked with an effort which caused it to die on his lips +in indistinct murmurs.</p> + +<p>"Bless thee, poor child! from my very heart I do, if the blessing of one +sorrowing and afflicted as myself can in aught avail thee. For thy +faithfulness to thy master, I bless thee, for it speaketh well for thee, +and that face would bid me love and bless thee for thyself, I know not +wherefore. Good angels keep and bless thee, gentle boy, thou hast +Isabella's prayers, and may they give thee peace."</p> + +<p>"Pray for me, aye, pray for me," repeated the boy, in the same murmured +tones. He clasped her hands in both his, he pressed them again and again +to his lips, repeated sobs burst from his laboring breast, and then he +sprung up, darted away, and stood at Sir Nigel's side, just as the Earl +of Hereford had commanded his men to wheel a little to the right, to +permit the Countess of Buchan, her guards and officers, free passage +over the drawbridge, and first entrance within the fortress.</p> + +<p>The brow of this noble son of chivalry darkened as, sitting motionless +on his tall steed, his gaze rested on the noble woman whom it had +originally been his painful charge to deliver over to his sovereign. He +had not dreamed of a vengeance such as this. He could not have believed +a change so dark as this had fallen on the character of a sovereign whom +he still loved, still sought to admire and revere, and his spirit sunk +'neath the sorrow this conviction caused. Almost involuntarily, as the +procession slowly proceeded, and the countess passed within three paces +of his horse's head, he bent his lordly brow in silent homage; she saw +it and returned it, more effected by the unfeigned commiseration on that +warrior's face, than at aught which had occurred to shame and humble her +that morning.</p> + +<p>A brief pause took place in the movements of the officers and their +prisoners, when they reached the great hall of the castle. For a brief +minute Lady Seaton and the Countess of Buchan had met, had clasped +hands, in sad, yet eager greeting. "My child, mine Agnes?" had been by +the latter hurriedly whispered, and the answer, "Safe, I trust, safe," +just permitted to reach her ear, when roughly and fiercely the Earl of +Berwick summoned the Lady of Buchan to proceed to the chamber appointed +for her use. Those simple words had, however, removed a load of anxiety +from her mind, for they appeared to confirm what she had sometimes +permitted herself to hope,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> that Agnes had shared King Robert's exile, +under the care of Lady Campbell; prevailed on to do so, perchance, by +the entreaties of Nigel, who in all probability had deemed that course, +though one of hardship, less perilous than remaining with him. She hoped +indeed against her better judgment, for though she knew not the depth, +the might of her daughter's feelings, she knew it must have been a +terrible trial so to part, and she absolutely shuddered when she thought +of the whelming blow it would be to that young heart when the fate of +her betrothed was ascertained.</p> + +<p>Lady Seaton had spoken as she believed. No communication had been +permitted between the prisoners on their way to England; indeed, from +Sir Christopher's wounded and exhausted state, he had travelled more +leisurely in a litter, always in the rear of the earl's detachment, and +occupied by her close attendance upon him, his wife had scarcely been +aware of the young page ever in attendance on her brother, or deemed +him, if she did observe him, a retainer of Hereford's own. There was so +much of fearful peril and misery hovering over her in her husband's +fate, that it was not much wonder her thoughts lingered there more than +on Agnes, and that she was contented to believe as she had spoken, that +she at least was safe.</p> + +<p>Night fell on the town of Berwick. Silence and darkness had come on her +brooding wings; the varied excitement of the day was now but a matter of +wondering commune round the many blazing hearths, where the busy crowds +of the morning had now gathered. Night came, with her closing pall, her +softened memories, her sleeping visions, and sad waking dreams. She had +come, alike to the mourned and mourner, the conqueror and his captive, +the happy and the wretched. She had found the Earl of Berwick pacing up +and down his stately chamber, his curtained couch unsought, devising +schemes to lower the haughty pride of the gallant warrior whom he yet +feared. She had looked softly within the room where that warrior lay, +and found him, too, sleepless, but not from the same dark dreams. He +grieved for his sovereign, for the fate of one noble spirit shrined in a +woman's form, and restless and fevered, turned again and again within +his mind how he might save from a yet darker doom the gallant youth his +arms had conquered. And not alone on them did night look down. She sent +her sweet, reviving influence, on the rays of a bright liquid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> star, +through the narrow casement which gave light to the rude unfurnished +chamber where Sir Nigel Bruce and his attendant lay. They had not torn +that poor faithful child from his side. Hereford's last commands had +been that they should not part them, and there they now lay; and sleep, +balmy sleep had for them descended on the wings of night, hovering over +that humble pallet of straw, when from the curtained couch of power, the +downy bed of luxury, she fled. There they lay; but it was the boy who +lay on the pallet of straw, his head pillowed by the arm of the knight, +who sat on a wooden settle at his side. He had watched for a brief space +those troubled slumbers, but as they grew calmer and calmer, he had +pressed one light kiss on the soft yielding cheek, and then leant his +head on his breast, and he too slept—even in sleep tending one beloved.</p> + +<p>And in the dark, close sleeping-chamber within the prison cage of the +noble Countess of Buchan, night too looked pityingly. Sleep indeed was +not there; it had come and gone, for in a troubled slumber a dream had +come of Agnes, and she had woke to think upon her child, and pray for +her; and as she prayed, she thought of her promise to the poor boy who +had so strangely moved her. She could not trace how one thought had +sprung from the other, nor why in the darkness his features so suddenly +flashed before her; but so it was. His face seemed to gleam upon her +with the same strange, indefinable expression which, even at the time, +had startled her; and then a sudden flash appeared to illumine that +darkness of bewilderment. She started up from her reclining posture; she +pressed both hands on her throbbing eyeballs; a wild, sickening yearning +took possession of her whole soul; and then she felt, in its full +bitterness, she was a chained and guarded prisoner and the deep anguish +of her spirit found vent in the convulsive cry—</p> + +<p>"Fool, fool that I was—my child! my child!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + + +<p>Leaving the goodly town of Berwick and its busy citizens, its castle and +its prisoners, for a brief space, we must now trans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>port our readers to +a pleasant chamber overlooking the Eden, in the castle of Carlisle, now +a royal residence; a fact which, from its numerous noble inmates, its +concourse of pages, esquires, guards, and various other retainers of a +royal establishment, the constant ingress and egress of richly-attired +courtiers, the somewhat bustling, yet deferential aspect of the scene, a +very cursory glance would have been all-sufficient to prove.</p> + +<p>It had been with a full determination to set all obstacles, even disease +itself, at defiance, King Edward, some months before, had quitted +Winchester, and directed his march towards the North, vowing vengeance +on the rebellious and disaffected Scots, and swearing death alone should +prevent the complete and terrible extermination of the traitors. He had +proceeded in this spirit to Carlisle, disregarding the threatening +violence of disease, so sustained by the spirit of disappointed ambition +within as scarcely to be conscious of an almost prostrating increase of +weakness and exhaustion. He had determined to make a halt of some weeks +at Carlisle, to wait the effect of the large armies he had sent forward +to overrun Scotland, and to receive intelligence of the measures they +had already taken. Here, then, disease, as if enraged that he should +have borne up so long, that his spirit had mastered even her, convened +the whole powers of suffering, and compelled him not alone to +acknowledge, but to writhe beneath her sway. His whole frame was shaken; +intolerable pains took possession of him, and though the virulence of +the complaint was at length so far abated as to permit him a short +continuance of life, he could never sit his horse again, or even hope to +carry on in his own person his plans for the total reduction of +Scotland. But as his frame weakened, as he became the victim of almost +continual pain, all the darker and fiercer passions of his nature gained +yet more fearful ascendency. The change had been some time gathering, +but within the last twelve months its effects were such, that his +noblest, most devoted knights, blind as their affection for his person +rendered them, could scarce recognize in the bloodthirsty, ambitious +tyrant they now beheld their gallant, generous, humane, and most +chivalric sovereign, who had won golden opinions from all sorts and +conditions of men; who had performed the duties of a son and husband so +as to fix the eyes of all Europe on him in admiration; who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> swayed +the sceptre of his mighty kingdom with such a powerful and fearless +hand, it had been long since England had acquired such weight in the +scale of kingdoms. Wise, moderate, merciful even in strict justice as he +had been, could it be that ambition had wrought such change; that +disease had banished every feeling from his breast, save this one dark, +fiend-like passion, for the furtherance of which, or in revenge of its +disappointment, noble blood flowed like water—the brave, the good, the +young, the old, the noble and his follower, alike fell before the axe or +the cord of the executioner? Could it indeed be that Edward, once such a +perfect, glorious scion of chivalry, had now shut up his heart against +its every whisper, lest it should interfere with his brooding visions of +revenge; forgot each feeling, lest he should involuntarily sympathize +with the noble and knightly spirit of the patriots of Scotland, whom he +had sworn to crush? Alas! it was even so; ruthless and tyrannical, the +nobles he had once favored, once loved, now became odious to him, for +their presence made him painfully conscious of the change within +himself; and he now associated but with spirits dark, fierce, cruel as +his own—men he would once have shunned, have banished from his court, +as utterly unworthy of his favor.</p> + +<p>It was, then, in a royally-furnished chamber, pleasantly overlooking the +river Eden and the adjoining country, that about a week after the events +narrated in the preceding chapter, King Edward reclined. His couch was +softly and luxuriously cushioned, and not a little art had been expended +in the endeavor to lighten his sufferings, and enable him to rest at +ease. The repeated contraction of his countenance, however, betrayed how +impotent was even luxury when brought in contact with disease. The +richly-furred and wadded crimson velvet robe could not conceal the +attenuation of his once peculiarly fine and noble form; his great length +of limb, which had gained him, and handed down to posterity, the +inelegant surname of Longshanks, rendered his appearance yet more gaunt +and meagre; while his features, which once, from the benignity and +nobleness of his character, had been eminently handsome, now pale, thin, +and pointed, seemed to express but the one passion of his soul—its +gratification of revenge. His expansive brow was now contracted and +stern, rendered more so perhaps by the lack of hair about the temples; +he wore a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> black velvet cap, circled coronet-wise with large diamonds +from which a white feather drooped to his shoulder. There was a slight, +scarcely visible, sneer resting on his features that morning, called +forth perhaps by his internal scorn of the noble with whom he had +deigned a secret conference; but the Earl of Buchan had done him good +service, had ably forwarded his revenge, and he would not therefore +listen to that still voice of scorn.</p> + +<p>"Soh! she is secure, and your desires on that head accomplished, sir +earl," he said, in continuance of some subject they had been discussing. +"Thou hast done us good service, and by mine honor, it would seem we +have done your lordship the same."</p> + +<p>"Aye," muttered the earl, whose dark features had not grown a whit more +amiable since we last beheld him; "aye, we are both avenged."</p> + +<p>"How, sir I darest thou place thyself on a par with me?" angrily +retorted Edward; "thinkest thou the sovereign of England can have aught +in common with such as thee? Isabella of Buchan, or of Fife, an thou +likest that better, is debased, imprisoned, because she hath dared +insult our person, defy our authority, to act treasonably and +mischievously, and sow dissension and rebellion amid our Scottish +subjects—for this she is chastised; an it gratify your matrimonial +revenge, I am glad on't; but Edward of England brooks no equality with +Comyn of Buchan, though it be but equality in revenge."</p> + +<p>Buchan bent his knee, and humbly apologized.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, let it be; thou hast served us too faithfully to be +quarrelled with, for perchance unintentional irreverence. The imposition +of her child's murder, when he lives and is well, is the coinage of +thine own brain, sir earl, and thou must reconcile it to thine own +conscience. We hold ourselves exempt from all such peculiar mercy, for +we scarce see its wisdom." There was a slight bitterness in Edward's +tone.</p> + +<p>"Wisdom, my sovereign liege, deemest thou there is no wisdom in +revenge?" and the brow of the earl grew dark with passion, as he spoke. +"Have I naught to punish, naught to avenge in this foul +traitress—naught, that her black treachery has extended to my son, my +heir, even to his tender years? I would not have her death; no, let her +live and feed on the belief that her example, her counsels have killed +her own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> child; that had it not been for her, he might have lived, been +prosperous, aye, and happy now. Is there no wisdom in such revenge? and +if there be none, save that which my own heart feels, I could give your +grace another and a better reason for this proceeding."</p> + +<p>"Speak it, in St. George's name," replied the king; "of a truth thou art +of most clear conception in all schemes of vengeance. I might have +thought long enough, ere I could have lighted on such as this. What +more?"</p> + +<p>"Simply, your grace, that by encouraging a little while the report of +his death, his friends in Scotland will forget that he ever existed, and +make no effort for his rescue; which belief, wild and unfounded as it +is, I imagine supports him in his strenuous determination to live and +die a traitor to your highness. I have no hatred to the boy; nay, an he +would let me, could love and be proud of him, now his mother cannot +cross my path, and would gladly see him devoted, as myself, to the +interests of your grace. Nor do I despair of this; he is very young, and +his character cannot be entirely formed. He will tire in time of dark +and solitary confinement, and gladly accept any conditions I may offer."</p> + +<p>"Gives he any proof as yet of this yielding mood?"</p> + +<p>"By mine honor, no, your highness; he is firm and steadfast as the ocean +rock."</p> + +<p>"Then wherefore thinkest thou he will change in time?"</p> + +<p>"Because as yet, my gracious liege, the foul, treacherous principles of +his mother have not ceased to work. An entire cessation of intercourse +between them will show him his mistake at last, and this could never be, +did she know he lived. Imprisoned, guarded as she is, she would yet find +some means of communication with him, and all my efforts would be of no +avail. Let a year roll by, and I will stake my right hand that Alan of +Buchan becomes as firm a supporter and follower of King Edward as ever +his father was. Is the boy more than mortal, and does your grace think +life, liberty, riches, honors, will not weigh against perpetual +imprisonment and daily thoughts of death?"</p> + +<p>So spoke the Earl of Buchan, judging, as most men, others by himself, +utterly unable to comprehend the high, glorious, self-devoted, patriotic +spirit of his noble son. He persevered in his course of fiend-like +cruelty, excusing it to his own con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>science, if he had any, by the +belief it would end but in his son's good—an end, indeed, he seldom +thought of attaining; but there was something in the idea of a son, an +heir, and one so prepossessing in appearance as Alan of Buchan, that +touched his pride, the only point on which his flinty heart was +vulnerable.</p> + +<p>"So thou thinkest, sir earl?" resumed the king, who perhaps in his own +secret soul did not entirely think with him. "Meanwhile the stripling +may laugh thy parental care to scorn, by escaping from iron chains and +stone walls, and seeking out the arch rebel Bruce, make up at the +sword's point for lost time. Beware, sir earl, an he be taken again thus +in arms against us, even thy loyal services will not save his head!"</p> + +<p>"I should not even ask your grace's clemency," replied the earl, his +features assuming a fearful expression as he spoke. "An he thus turned +traitor again to his father's house, spurning mine and your grace's +favor, to join the base murderer of his kinsman, he shall be no more to +me than others, whose treason hath cost their heads; but I have no fear +of this. He cannot escape, guarded as he is, by alike the most ruthless +and the most faithful of my followers; and while there, if all else +fail, I will publish that he lives, but so poison the ears of his rebel +Scottish friends against him, he will not, dare not join them, and in +his own despite, will be compelled to act as befitting his father's son. +Trust me, my liege. To thy royal clemency I owe his life; be it my duty, +then, to instil into him other principles than those which actuated him +before."</p> + +<p>"But your own character, my lord, meanwhile, care ye naught for the +stain supposed to rest upon it? Thy plans sound wise, and we thank thee +for thy loyalty; but we would not ye burdened your name with a deed not +its own, an ye cared for the world's applause."</p> + +<p>"Not a whit, not a whit, your highness; countenanced by your grace's +favor, absolved in your opinion from the barbarity others charge me +with, I care not for them, I have been too long mine own +conscience-keeper to heed the whispers of the world," he added, his dark +brows knitting closer as he spoke.</p> + +<p>Edward smiled grimly. "Be it so, then," he said; "my Lord of Buchan, we +understand each other. An that boy escapes and rejoins the traitors, and +is taken, his head answers for it. An ye succeed in making him loyal as +yourself, as eager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> a pursuer of the murderous traitor, Bruce, we will +give thee the palm for policy and wisdom in our court, ourself not +excepted. And now another question; it was reported Isabella of Buchan +joined the rebel's court with her <i>two</i> children. Who and where is the +second? we have heard but of one."</p> + +<p>"A puny, spiritless wench, as I have heard, my liege; one little likely +to affect your highness, and not worth the seeking."</p> + +<p>"Nay, an she hath her mother's influence, we differ from thee, sir earl, +and would rather see her within the walls of our court than in the +traitor's train. I remember not her name amid those taken with the +Bruce's wife. Hast inquired aught concerning her?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, your grace," carelessly replied the earl; "of a truth, I had +weightier thoughts than the detention or interest of a simple wench, +who, if her mother has taught to forget me as her father, is not worth +my remembering as a child."</p> + +<p>"I give you joy of your most fatherly indifference, sir earl," answered +the king, with an ill-suppressed sneer. "It would concern you little if +she takes unto herself a husband midst your foes; the rebel Robert hath +goodly brothers, and the feud between thy house and theirs may but +impart a double enjoyment to the union."</p> + +<p>The earl started, as if an adder had stung him. "She dare not do this +thing," he said, fiercely; "she will not—she dare not. A thousand +curses light upon her head even if she dreams it!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, waste not thy breath in curses, good my lord, but up an prevent +the very possibility of such a thing, an it move thee so deeply. I say +not it is, but some such floating rumor has reached my ears, I can +scarce trace how, save through the medium of our numerous prisoners."</p> + +<p>"But how obtain information—where seek her? I pray you pardon me, your +grace, but there are a thousand furies in the thought!" and scarcely +could the consciousness of the royal presence restrain the rage which +gathered on the swarthy features of the earl from finding vent in words.</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, my lord, let not your marvellous wisdom and sage indifference +be so speedily at fault. An she be not in Margaret Bruce's train, that +goodly dame may give thee some information. Seek her, and may be thou +wilt learn more of this wench than thou hast since her birth. In pity to +this sud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>den interest, we grant thee permission to visit these partners +of treason in their respective convents, and learn what thou canst; an +she be within thy reach, be advised, and find her a husband thyself, the +best find most speedy means of eradicating her mother's counsels."</p> + +<p>Buchan's reply was arrested on his lips by the entrance of the royal +chamberlain, announcing that the Earl of Berwick had arrived in all +haste from Berwick, and earnestly besought a few minutes' audience with +his sovereign.</p> + +<p>"Berwick!" repeated Edward, half raising himself in his surprise from +his reclining posture. "Berwick! what the foul fiend brings him from his +post at such a time? Bid him enter; haste, I charge thee."</p> + +<p>His impatient command was speedily obeyed, The Earl of Berwick was close +on the heels of the chamberlain, and now appeared, his lowly obeisance +not concealing from the quick eye of his master that wrath, black as a +thunder-cloud, was resting on his brow.</p> + +<p>"How now," said the king, "what means this unseemly gear, sir earl? thou +must have neither rested spur nor slackened rein, methinks, an thy garb +tell truth; and wherefore seekest thou our presence in such fiery haste? +Wouldst thou be private? My Lord of Buchan, thou hadst best follow our +counsel ere thy interest cools."</p> + +<p>"Nay, your grace, bid not yon noble earl depart to grant me hearing; I +would speak before him, aye, and the whole court, were it needed. 'Tis +but to lay the sword and mantle, with which your highness invested me as +governor of the citadel of Berwick, at your grace's feet, and beseech +you to accept my resignation of the same." With well-affected humility +the Earl of Berwick unclasped his jewelled mantle, and kneeling down, +laid it with his sheathed sword at King Edward's feet, remaining on his +knee.</p> + +<p>"Art craven, fool, or traitor?" demanded Edward, when his astonishment +permitted words. "What means this? Speak out, and instantly; we are not +wont to be thus trifled with. My Lord of Berwick, wherefore dost thou do +this?"</p> + +<p>"Not because I am a craven, good my liege," replied the nobleman, still +on his knee, "for had I been so, King Edward's penetration would have +discovered it ere he intrusted me with so great a charge—nor because I +am a witless fool, unconscious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> of the high honor I thus tamely +resign—and not because I am a traitor, gracious sovereign, for 'tis +from insult and interruption in the arrest of a blasphemous traitor I am +here."</p> + +<p>"Insult—interruption!" fiercely exclaimed the king, starting up. "Who +has dared—who loves his life so little as to do this? But speak on, +speak on, we listen."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, your highness, I came to tender my resignation, not an +accusation," resumed the wily earl, cautiously lashing his sovereign +into fury, aware that it was much easier to gain what he wished in such +moods than as he found him now. "I came but to beseech your highness to +resume that which your own royal hands had given me. My authority +trampled upon, my loyalty insulted, my zeal in your grace's service +derided, my very men compelled, perforce of arms, to disobey me, and +this by one high in your grace's estimation, nay, connected with your +royal self. Surely, my gracious liege, I do but right in resigning the +high honor your highness bestowed. I can have little merit to retain it, +and such things be."</p> + +<p>"But they shall not be, sir. As there is a God above us, they shall not +be!" exclaimed the king, in towering wrath, and striking his hand on a +small table of crystal near him with such violence as to shiver it to +pieces. "By heaven and hell! they shall repent this, be it mine own son +who hath been thus insolent. Speak out, I tell thee, as thou lovest thy +life, speak out; drive me not mad by this cautiously-worded tale. Who +hath dared trample on authority mine own hand and seal hath given—who +is the traitor? Speak out, I charge thee!" and strengthened by his own +passion, the king sate upright on his couch, clenching his hand till the +blood sprung, and fixing his dark, fiery eyes on the earl. It was the +mood he had tried for, and now artfully and speciously, with many +additions, he narrated all that had passed the preceding day in the +castle-yard of Berwick. Fiercer and fiercer waxed the wrath of the king.</p> + +<p>"Fling him in the lowest dungeon, load him with the heaviest fetters +hands can forge!" were the words first distinguished, when passion +permitted articulation. "The villain, the black-faced traitor! it is not +enough he hath dared raise arms against me, but he must beard me to the +very teeth, defy me in my very palace, throw scorn upon me, maltreat an +officer of mine own person! Is there no punishment but death for this +foul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> insolence! As there is a God in heaven, he shall feel my vengeance +ere he reach the scaffold—feel it, aye, till death be but too welcome!" +He sunk back, exhausted by his own violence; but not a minute passed ere +again he burst forth. "And Hereford, the traitor Hereford, he dared +defend him! dared assault thee in the pursuance of thy duty, the +audacious insolent! Doth he think, forsooth, his work in Scotland will +exempt him from the punishment of insolence, of treason? as an aider and +abettor of treachery he shares its guilt, and shall know whom he hath +insulted. Back to thy citadel, my Lord of Berwick, see to the strict +incarceration of this foul branch of treachery, aye, and look well about +ye, lest any seditious citizen or soldier hath, by look or word, given +aught of encouragement, or failed in due respect to our proclamation. An +Hereford abet the traitor, others may be but too willing to do the like. +By heaven, they shall share his fate! Bid Hereford hither on the +instant, say naught of having been beforehand with him; I would list the +insolent's own tale. Rest thee a brief while, my lord, and our great +seal shall insure thee prompt obedience. Bid Sir Edmund Stanley attend +us, my Lord of Buchan. I need scarce warn a Comyn to be secret on what +has passed; I would not have the foul insolence cast into our teeth as +yet proclaimed. Begone, both of ye; we would be a brief space alone."</p> + +<p>The deadly pallor which had usurped the flush of fury on the monarch's +cheek afforded such strong evidence of a sharp renewal of his internal +pains, that both noblemen hesitated to obey. The damp of agony stood +upon his forehead a moment in large drops, then absolutely poured down +his cheeks, while his gaunt frame shook with the effort to suppress the +groan which his throes wrung from him. Seizing a cordial near him, +Buchan presented it on his knee, but Edward only waved them both away, +angrily and impatiently pointing to the door. He loved not the weakness +of an appalling disease to be witnessed by his courtiers. When utterly +incapacitated from either the appearance or functions of the sovereign, +he chose to be alone, his pride scarcely brooking even the cares of his +young and beautiful wife, or the yet wiser and truer affection of his +daughters. The effects of this interview will be seen in a future +chapter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + + +<p>There was an expression of both sorrow and care on the fine and winning +features of the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, as she sat busied +in embroidery in an apartment of Carlisle Castle, often pausing to rest +her head upon her hand, and glance out of the broad casement near which +she sat, not in admiration of the placid scene which stretched beyond, +but in the mere forgetfulness of uneasy thought. Long the favorite +daughter of King Edward, perchance because her character more resembled +that of her mother, Queen Eleanor, than did either of her sisters, she +had till lately possessed unbounded influence over him. Not only his +affection but his pride was gratified in her, for he saw much of his own +wisdom, penetration, and high sense of honor reflected upon her, far +more forcibly than in his weak and yielding son. But lately, the change +which had so painfully darkened the character and actions of her father +had extended even to her. Her affection for a long time blinded her to +this painful truth, but by slow degrees it became too evident to be +mistaken, and she had wept many bitter tears, less perhaps for herself +than for her father, whom she had almost idolized. His knightly +qualities, his wisdom, the good he had done his country, all were +treasured up by her and rejoiced in with never-failing delight. His +reputation, his popularity, were dear to her, even as her noble +husband's. She had not only loved, she had reverenced him as some +superior being who had come but to do good, to leave behind him through +succeeding ages an untarnished name, enshrined in such love, England +would be long ere she spoke it without tears. And now, alas! she had +outlived such dreams; her reverence, lingering still, had been impaired +by deeds of blood her pride in him crushed; naught but a daughter's love +remaining, which did but more strongly impress upon her heart the fatal +change. And now the last blow was given; he shunned her, scarcely ever +summoned her to his presence, permitted the wife of a day to tend him in +his sufferings, rather than the daughter of his former love, one +hallowed by the memories of her mother, the beloved and faithful partner +of his youth.</p> + +<p>It was not, however, these thoughts which entirely engrossed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> her now +not undivided sorrows. Her sister Elizabeth, the Countess of Hereford, +had just left her, plunged in the deepest distress, from the +extraordinary fact that her husband, summoned seemingly in all amity by +the king, had been arrested by the Lord Marshal of England as an aider +and abettor of treason, and was now in strict confinement within the +castle; not permitted to embrace his wife and children, whom he had not +seen since his arrival from Scotland, where he had so gallantly assisted +the cause of Edward, and whence he had but just returned in triumph. No +other cause was assigned saving having given countenance to treason and +<i>lèze majesté</i>, but that the irritation of the king had prohibited all +hope of present pardon;—she, Lady Hereford, though his own daughter, +having been refused admission to his presence. Both the Earl and +Countess of Gloucester had anxiously striven to comfort the anxious +wife, conquering their own fears to assure her that hers were +groundless; that though from some mysterious cause at present irritated, +as they knew too well a trifle made him now, Hereford was too good and +loyal a subject for the king to proceed to extremities, whatever might +have been his fault. Rumors of the confusion at Berwick had indeed +reached Carlisle, and it was to have them confirmed or denied, or +connected with some appearance of veracity, the Earl of Gloucester had +quitted the royal sisters, determining to use his influence with his +sovereign, even to dare his wrath, for the release of Hereford, whose +good services in Scotland deserved a somewhat different recompense. Lady +Hereford, too anxious and dispirited to remain long in one place, soon +departed to seek the youthful Margaret of France, her father's beautiful +wife, and beseech her influence with him, either for the pardon of her +husband, or at least communication with him.</p> + +<p>It was these sad thoughts which engrossed the Princess Joan, and they +lingered too on Hereford's prisoner, the brave, and noble Nigel, for +both to her husband and herself he had been in his boyhood an object not +only of interest but of love. His beauty, his extraordinary talents, had +irresistibly attracted them; and yet scarcely could they now believe the +youthful knight, with whose extraordinary valor not only Scotland but +England rung, could be that same enthusiast boy. That he had been taken, +was now a prisoner in Berwick Castle, on whom sentence of death sooner +or later would be passed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> brought conviction but too sadly to their +hearts, and made them feel yet more bitterly their influence with Edward +was of no account.</p> + +<p>"Hast thou succeeded, Gilbert? Oh, say that poor Elizabeth may at least +be permitted access to her husband," was the countess's eager salutation +to her husband, as he silently approached her. He shook his head +sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Alas! not even this. Edward is inexorable, possessed by I know not what +spirit of opposition and wrath, furiously angered against Hereford, to +the utter forgetfulness of all his gallant deeds in Scotland."</p> + +<p>"But wherefore? What can have chanced in this brief period to occasion +this? but a few days since he spoke of Hereford as most loyal and +deserving."</p> + +<p>"Aye, that was on the news of Kildrummie's surrender; now forgotten, +from anger at a deed which but a few years back he would have been the +first to have admired. That rash madman, Nigel Bruce, hath not only +trebly sealed his own fate, but hurled down this mishap on his captor," +and briefly he narrated all he had learned.</p> + +<p>"It was, indeed, a rash action, Gilbert; yet was it altogether +unnatural? Alas, no! the boy had had no spark of chivalry or patriotism +about him, had he stood tamely by; and Gloucester," she added, with +bitter tears, "years back would my father have given cause for +this—would he thus have treated an unhappy woman, thus have added +insult to misery, for an act which, shown to other than his rival, he +would have honored, aye, not alone the deed, but the doer of it? If we, +his own children, feel shamed and indignant at this cruelty, oh, what +must be the feelings of her countrymen, her friends?"</p> + +<p>"Then thou believest not the foul slander attached to the Countess of +Buchan, my Joan?"</p> + +<p>"Believe it!" she answered, indignantly; "who that has looked on that +noble woman's face can give it the smallest credence? No, Gilbert, no. +'Tis published by those base spirits so utterly incapable of honor, +knighthood, and patriotism themselves, that they cannot conceive these +qualities in others, particularly in a female breast, and therefore +assign it to motives black as the hearts which thought them; and even if +it were true, is a kingly conqueror inflicting justice for treason +against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> himself, to assign other motives for that justice? Doth he not +lower himself—his own cause?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, yes!" replied her husband, sorrowfully; "he hath done his +character more injury by this last act than any which preceded. Though +men might wish less blood were shed, yet still, traitors taken in arms +against his person justice must condemn; but a woman, a sad and grieving +woman—but do not weep thus, my gentle wife," he added, tenderly.</p> + +<p>"Can a daughter of Edward do other than weep, my husband? Oh, if I loved +him not, if my very spirit did not cling round him so closely that the +fibres of both seem entwined, and his deeds of wrath, of exacting +justice, fall on me as if I had done them, and overwhelm me with their +shame, their remorse, then indeed I might not weep; but as it is, do not +chide me, Gilbert, for weep I must."</p> + +<p>"Thou art too noble-hearted, Joan," he said, kindly, as he circled her +waist with his arm, "only too noble-hearted for these fearful times. +'Tis but too sad a proof of the change in thy royal father, that he +shuns thy presence now even as he once loved it."</p> + +<p>A confusion in the passage and ante-room disturbed their converse, and +Gloucester turned towards the door to inquire the cause.</p> + +<p>"Tis but a troublesome boy, demanding access to her highness the +countess, my lord," was the reply. "I have asked his name and business, +questions he deigns not, forsooth, to answer, and looks so wild and +distracted, that I scarce think it accords with my duty to afford him +admittance. He is no fit recipient of my lady's bounty, good my lord; +trust me, he will but fright her."</p> + +<p>"I have no such fear, my good Baldwin," said the princess, as, on +hearing her name, she came forward to the centre of the chamber; "thou +knowest my presence is granted to all who seek it, an this poor child +seems so wild, he is the fitter object of my care. They are using +violence methinks; give him entrance instantly."</p> + +<p>The attendant departed, and returned in a very brief space, followed by +a lad, whose torn and muddy garments, haggard features, and dishevelled +hair indeed verified the description given. He glanced wildly round him +a moment, and then flinging himself at the feet of the princess, clasped +her robe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> and struggled to say something, of which the words "mercy, +protection," were alone audible.</p> + +<p>"Mercy, my poor child! what mercy dost thou crave? Protection I may give +thee, but how may I show thee mercy?"</p> + +<p>"Grant me but a few moments, lady, let me but speak with thee alone. I +bear a message which I may not deliver to other ears save thine," said +or rather gasped the boy, for he breathed with difficulty, either from +exhaustion or emotion.</p> + +<p>"Alone!" replied the countess, somewhat surprised. "Leave us, Baldwin," +she added, after a moment's pause. "I am privately engaged for the next +hour, denied to all, save his grace the king." He withdrew, with a +respectful bow. "And now, speak, poor child, what wouldst thou? Nay, I +hear nothing which my husband may not hear," she said, as the eyes of +her visitor gazed fearfully on the earl, who was looking at him with +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Thy husband, lady—the Earl of Gloucester? oh, it was to him too I +came; the brother-in-arms of my sovereign, one that showed kindness +to—to Sir Nigel in his youth, ye will not, ye will not forsake him +now?"</p> + +<p>Few and well-nigh inarticulate as were those broken words, they betrayed +much which at once excited interest in both the earl and countess, and +told the reason of the lad's earnest entreaty to see them alone.</p> + +<p>"Forsake him!" exclaimed the earl, after carefully examining that the +door was closed; "would to heaven I could serve him, free him! that +there was but one slender link to lay hold of, to prove him innocent and +give him life, I would do it, did it put my own head in jeopardy."</p> + +<p>"And is there none, none?" burst wildly from the boy's lips, as he +sprung from his knees, and grasped convulsively the earl's arm. "Oh, +what has he done that they should slay him? why do they call him guilty? +He was not Edward's subject, he owed him no homage, no service, he has +but fought to free his country, and is there guilt in this? oh, no, no, +save him, in mercy save him!"</p> + +<p>"Thou knowest not what thou askest, boy, how wholly, utterly impossible +it is to save him. He hath hurled down increase of anger on his own head +by his daring insult of King Edward's herald; had there been hope before +there is none now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>A piercing cry escaped the boy, and he would have fallen had he not been +supported by the countess; he looked at her pitying face, and again +threw himself at her feet.</p> + +<p>"Canst <i>thou</i> not, wilt <i>thou</i> not save him?" he cried; "art thou not +the daughter of Edward, his favorite, his dearly beloved, and will he +not list to thee—will he not hear thy pleadings? Oh, seek him, kneel to +him as I to thee, implore his mercy—life, life, only the gift of life; +sentence him to exile, perpetual exile, what he will, only let him live: +he is too young, too good, too beautiful to die. Oh! do not look as if +this could not be. He has told me how you both loved him, not that I +should seek ye. It is not at his request I come; no, no, no, he spurns +life, if it be granted on conditions. But they have torn me from him, +they have borne him to the lowest dungeon, they have loaded him with +fetters, put him to the torture. I would have clung to him still, but +they spurned me, trampled on me, cast me forth—to die, if I may not +save him! Wilt thou not have mercy, princess? daughter of Edward, oh, +save him, save him!"</p> + +<p>It is impossible in the above incoherent words to convey to the reader +even a faint idea of the agonized wildness with which they were spoken; +the impression of unutterable misery they gave to those who listened to +them, and marked their reflection in the face of the speaker.</p> + +<p>"Fetters—the lowest dungeon—torture," repeated Gloucester, pacing up +and down with disordered steps. "Can these things be? merciful heaven, +how low hath England fallen! Boy, boy, can it be thou speakest truth?"</p> + +<p>"As there is a God above, it is truth!" he answered, passionately. "Oh, +canst thou not save him from this? is there no justice, no mercy? +Rise—no, no; wherefore should I rise?" he continued, clinging +convulsively to the knees of the princess, as she soothingly sought to +raise him. "I will kneel here till thou hast promised to plead for him +with thy royal father, promised to use thine influence for his life. Oh, +canst thou once have loved him and yet hesitate for this?"</p> + +<p>"I do not, I would not hesitate, unhappy boy," replied the princess, +tenderly. "God in heaven knows, were there the slenderest chance of +saving him, I would kneel at my father's feet till pardon was obtained, +but angered as he is now it would irritate him yet more. Alas! alas! +poor child, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> told thee wrong who bade thee come to Joan for +influence with Edward; I have none now, less than any of his court," and +the large tears fell from the eyes of the princess on the boy's upturned +face.</p> + +<p>"Then let me plead for him; give me access to Edward. Oh, I will so +beseech, conjure him, he cannot, he will not say me nay. Oh, if his +heart be not of steel, he will have mercy on our wretchedness; he will +pardon, he will spare my husband!"</p> + +<p>The sob with which that last word was spoken shook that slight frame, +till it bowed to the very ground, and the supporting arm of the countess +alone preserved her from falling.</p> + +<p>"Thy husband!—Gracious heaven! who and what art thou?" exclaimed the +earl, springing towards her, at the same instant that his wife raised +her in her arras, and laid her on a couch beside them, watching with the +soothing tenderness of a sister, till voice and strength returned.</p> + +<p>"Alas! I feared there was more in this deep agony than we might see," +she said; "but I imagined not, dared not imagine aught like this. Poor +unhappy sufferer, the saints be praised thou hast come to me! thy +husband's life I may not save, but I can give protection, tenderness to +thee—aye weep, weep, there is life, reason in those tears."</p> + +<p>The gentle voice of sympathy, of kindness, had come upon that +overcharged heart, and broke the icy agony which had closed it to the +relief of tears. Mind and frame were utterly exhausted, and Agnes buried +her face in the hands of the princess, which she had clasped +convulsively within both hers, and wept, till the wildness of agony +indeed departed, but not the horrible consciousness of the anguish yet +to come. Gradually her whole tale was imparted: from the resolution to +follow her betrothed even to England, and cling to him to the last; the +fatal conclusion of that rite which had made them one; the anxiety and +suffering which had marked the days spent in effecting a complete +disguise, ere she could venture near him and obtain Hereford's consent +to her attending him as a page; the risks and hardships which had +attended their journey to Berwick, till even a prison seemed a relief +and rest; and then the sudden change, that a few days previous, the Earl +of Berwick had entered Sir Nigel's prison, at the head of five or ten +ruffians, had loaded him with fetters, conveyed him to the lowest and +filthiest dungeon, and there had administered the torture, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> knew not +wherefore. Her shriek of agony had betrayed that she had followed them, +and she was rudely and forcibly dragged from him, and thrust from the +fortress. Her brain had reeled, her senses a brief while forsaken her, +and when she recovered, her only distinct thought was to find her way to +Carlisle, and there obtain access to the Earl and Countess of +Gloucester, of whom her husband had spoken much during their journey to +England, not with any wish or hope of obtaining mercy through their +influence, but simply as the friends of former years; he had spoken of +them to while away the tedious hours of their journey, and besought her, +if she should be parted from him on their arrival at Berwick, to seek +them, and implore their protection till her strength was restored. Of +herself, however, in thus seeking them, she had thought not; the only +idea, the only thought clearly connected in her mind was to beseech +their influence with Edward in obtaining her husband's pardon. Misery +and anxiety, in a hundred unlooked-for shapes, had already shown the +fallacy of those dreams which in the hour of peril had strengthened her, +and caused her to fancy that when once his wife she not only might abide +by him, but that she might in some manner obtain his liberation. She did +not, indeed, lament her fate was joined to his—lament! she could not +picture herself other than she was, by her husband's side, but she felt, +how bitterly felt, she had no power to avert his fate. Despair was upon +her, cold, black, clinging despair, and she clung to the vain dream of +imploring Edward's mercy, feeling at the same moment it was but the +<i>ignis fatui</i> to her heart—urging lighting, impelling her on, but to +sink in pitchy darkness when approached.</p> + +<p>Gradually and painfully this narrative of anguish was drawn from her +lips, often unconnectedly, often incoherently, but the earl and countess +heard enough, to fill their hearts alike with pity and respect for the +deep, unselfish love unconsciously revealed. She had told, too, her +maiden name, had conjured them to conceal her from the power of her +father, at whose very name she shuddered; and both those noble hearts +shared her anxiety, sympathized in her anguish; and speedily she felt, +if there could be comfort in such deep wretchedness, she had told her +tale to those ready and willing, and able to bestow it.</p> + +<p>The following day the barons sat in judgment on Sir Nigel Bruce, and +Gloucester was obliged to join them. It was use<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>less, both he and the +princess felt, to implore the king's mercy till sentence was passed; +alas! it was useless at any time, but it must have been a colder and +harder heart than the Princess Joan's to look upon the face of Agnes, +and yet determine on not even making one effort in his favor. At first +the unhappy girl besought the earl to permit her accompanying him back +to Berwick, to attend her husband on his trial; but on his proving it +would but be uselessly harrowing the feelings of both, for it would not +enable her to go back with him to prison, that it would be better for +her to remain under the protection of the countess, endeavoring to +regain strength for whatever she might have to encounter, either to +accompany him to exile, if grace were indeed granted, or to return to +her friends in Scotland, she yielded mournfully, deriving some faint +degree of comfort in the earl's assurance that she should rejoin her +husband as soon as possible, and the countess's promise that if she +wished it, she should herself be witness of her interview with Edward. +It was indeed poor comfort, but her mind was well-nigh wearied out with +sorrow, as if incapable of bearing more, and she acquiesced from very +exhaustion.</p> + +<p>The desire that she herself should conjure the mercy of Edward had been +negatived even to her anxious heart by the assurance of both the earl +and the princess, that instead of doing good to her husband's cause she +would but sign her own doom, perchance be consigned to the power of her +father, and be compelled to relinquish the poor consolation of being +with her husband to the last. It was better she should retain the +disguise she had assumed, adopting merely in addition the dress of one +of the princess's own pages, a measure which would save her from all +observation in the palace, and give her admittance to Sir Nigel, +perchance, when as his own attendant it would be denied.</p> + +<p>The idea of rejoining her husband would have reconciled Agnes to any +thing that might have been proposed, and kneeling at the feet of her +protectress, she struggled to speak her willingness and blessing on her +goodness, but her tongue was parched, her lips were mute, and the +princess turned away, for her gentle spirit could not read unmoved the +silent thankfulness of that young and breaking heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + + +<p>It would be useless to linger on the trial of Nigel Bruce, in itself a +mockery of justice, as were all those which had proceeded, and all that +followed it. The native nobility of Scotland were no subjects of the +King of England; they owed him homage, perchance, for lands held in +England, but on flocking to the standard of the Bruce these had at once +been voluntarily forfeited, and they fought but as Scottish men +determined to throw off the yoke of a tyrant whose arms had overrun a +land to which he had no claim. They fought for the freedom of a country, +for their own liberty, and therefore were no traitors; but these facts +availed not with the ruthless sovereign, to whom opposition was treason. +The mockery of justice proceeded, it gave a deeper impression, a graver +solemnity to their execution, and therefore for not one of his prisoners +was the ceremony dispensed with. Sir Christopher Seaton had been +conveyed to the Tower, with his wife, under pretence of there waiting +till his wounds were cured, to abide his trial, and in that awful hour +Sir Nigel stood alone. Yet he was undaunted, for he feared not death +even at the hangman's hand; his spirit was at peace, for he was innocent +of sin; unbowed, for he was no traitor—he was a patriot warrior still. +Pale he was, indeed, ashy pale, but it told a tale of intense bodily +anguish. They had put him to the torture, to force from his lips the +place of his brother's retreat, that being the only pretence on which +the rage of Edward and the malice of Berwick could rest for the +infliction of their cruelty. They could drag naught from his lips; they +could not crush that exalted soul, or compel it to utter more than a +faint, scarcely articulate groan, as proof that he suffered, that the +beautiful frame was well-nigh shattered unto death. And now he stood +upright, unshrinking; and there were hearts amid those peers inwardly +grieving at their fell task, gazing on him with unfeigned admiration; +while others gloried that another obstacle to their sovereign's schemes +of ambition would be removed, finding, perchance, in his youth, beauty, +and noble bearing, from their contrast with themselves, but fresh +incentives to the doom of death, and determining, even as they sate and +scowled on him, to aggravate the bitter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>ness of that doom with all the +ignominy that cruelty could devise.</p> + +<p>He had listened in stern silence to the indictment, and evinced no sign +of emotion even when, in the virulence of some witnesses against him, +the most degrading epithets were lavished on himself, his family, and +friends. Only once had his eye flashed fire and his cheek burned, and +his right hand unconsciously sought where his weapon should have hung, +when his noble brother was termed a ribald assassin, an excommunicated +murderer; but quickly he checked that natural emotion, and remained +collected as before. He was silent till the usual question was asked, +"If he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be +pronounced upon him?" and then he made a step forward, looked boldly and +sternly around him, and spoke, in a rich, musical voice, the following +brief, though emphatic words:</p> + +<p>"Ye ask me if I could say aught why sentence of death should not be +pronounced. Nobles of England, in denying the charge of treason with +which ye have indicted me, I have said enough. Before ye, aye, before +your sovereign, I have done nothing to merit death, save that death +which a conqueror bestows on his captive, when he deems him too powerful +to live. The death of a traitor I protest against; for to the King of +England I am no subject, and in consequence no traitor! I have but done +that which every true and honorable man must justify, and in justifying +respect. I have sought with my whole heart the liberty of my country, +the interest of my lawful sovereign, and will die asserting the honor +and justice of my cause, even as I have lived. I plead not for mercy, +for were it offered, on condition of doing homage unto Edward, I would +refuse it, and choose death; protesting to the last that Robert Bruce, +and he alone, is rightful king of Scotland. My lords, in condemning me +to death as a captive taken in war, ye may be justified by the law of +battles, I dispute not the justice of your doom; but an ye sentence me +as traitor, I do deny the charge, and say my condemnation is unjust and +foul, and ye are perjured in its utterance. I have said. Now let your +work proceed."</p> + +<p>He folded his arms on his breast, and awaited in unbroken silence his +doom. A brief pause had followed his words. The Earl of Gloucester, who, +from his rank and near connection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> with the king, occupied one of the +seats of honor at the upper end of the large hall, and had, during the +trial, vainly sought to catch the prisoner's eye, now reclined back on +his seat, his brow resting on his hand, his features completely +concealed by the dark drapery of his cloak. In that position he +remained, not only during the pause, but while the fatal sentence was +pronounced.</p> + +<p>"By the laws of your country, and the sentence of your peers," so it +ran, "you, Nigel Bruce, by manifold acts of rebellion, disaffection, and +raising up arms against your lawful king, Edward, the sovereign of +England and Scotland, and all the realms, castles, and lordships thereto +pertaining, are proved guilty of high treason and <i>lèse majesté</i>, and +are thereby condemned to be divested of all symbols of nobility and +knighthood, which you have disgraced; to be dragged on a hurdle to the +common gibbet, and there hung by the neck till you are dead; your head +to be cut off; your body quartered and exposed at the principal towns as +a warning to the disaffected and the traitorous of all ranks in either +nation, and this is to be done at whatsoever time the good pleasure of +our sovereign lord the king may please to appoint. God save King Edward, +and so perish all his foes!"</p> + +<p>Not a muscle of the prisoner's face had moved during the utterance of +this awful sentence. He had glanced fearlessly around him to the last, +his eye resting on the figure of the Earl of Gloucester with an +expression of pitying commiseration for a moment, as if he felt for him, +for his deep regret in his country's shame, infinitely more than for +himself. Proudly erect he held himself, as they led him in solemn pomp +from the great hall of the castle, across the court to the dungeons of +the condemned, gazing calmly and unflinchingly on the axe, which carried +with its edge towards him proclaimed him condemned, though his doom was +more ignominious than the axe bestowed. There was a time when he had +shrunk from the anticipated agony of a degradation so complete as +this—but not now; his spirit was already lifted up above the honors and +humiliations of earth. But one dream of this world remained—one sad, +sweet dream clung to his heart, and bound it with silver chains below. +Where was that gentle being? He fondly hoped she had sought the friends +of his boyhood, as he had implored her, should they be parted; he strove +to realize comfort in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> thought they would protect and save her the +agony of a final parting; but he strove in vain. One wild yearning +possessed him, to gaze upon her face, to fold her to his heart once, but +once again: it was the last lingering remnant of mortality; he had not +another thought of life but this, and this grew stronger as its hope +seemed vain. But there was one near to give him comfort, when he +expected it not.</p> + +<p>Wrapped so closely in his dark, shrouding mantle that naught but the +drooping feather of his cap could be distinguished, the Earl of +Gloucester drew near the prisoner, and as he paused, ere the gates and +bars of the prison entrance could be drawn back, whispered hurriedly yet +emphatically—</p> + +<p>"A loved one is safe and shall be so. Would to God I could do more!"</p> + +<p>Suppressing with extreme difficulty a start of relief and surprise, the +young nobleman glanced once on Gloucester's face, pressed his hands +together, and answered, in the same tone—</p> + +<p>"God in heaven bless thee! I would see her once, only once more, if it +can be without danger to her; it is life's last link, I cannot snap +it—parted thus." They hurried him through the entrance with the last +word lingering on his lips, and before Gloucester could make even a sign +of reply.</p> + +<p>Early in the evening of the same day, King Edward was reclining on his +couch, in the chamber we have before described, and, surrounded by some +few of his favorite noblemen, appeared so animated by a new cause of +excitement as to be almost unconscious of the internal pains which even +at that moment were more than usually intense. His courtiers looked on +unconcernedly while, literally shaking with disease and weakness, he +coolly and deliberately traced those letters which gave a base and +ignominious death to one of the best, the noblest, loveliest spirits +that ever walked the earth, and signed the doom of misery and madness to +another; and yet no avenging hand stretched forth between him and his +victim, no pang was on his heart to bid him pause, be merciful, and +spare. Oh, what would this earth be were it all in all, and what were +life if ending in the grave? Faith, thou art the crystal key opening to +the spirit the glorious vision of immortality, bidding the trusting +heart, when sick and weary of the dark deeds and ruthless spoilers of +this lovely earth, rest on thy downy wings, and seek for peace and +comfort there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who waits?" demanded the king, as his pen ceased in its task.</p> + +<p>"Sir Stephen Fitzjohn, my liege, sent by the Earl of Berwick with the +warrant, for which he waits."</p> + +<p>"He need wait no longer then, for it is there. Two hours before noon the +traitor dies; we give him grace till then, that our good subjects of +Berwick may take warning by his fate, and our bird in the cage witness +the end of the gallant so devoted to her cause. Bid the knight begone, +my Lord of Arundel; he hath too long waited our pleasure. Ha! whom have +we here? who craves admittance thus loudly?" he added, observing, as the +earl lifted the hangings to depart, some bustle in the ante-room. "Who +is it so boldly demanding speech with us?"</p> + +<p>"Her Highness the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, please you, my +liege," replied the chamberlain; "she will not take denial."</p> + +<p>"Is it so hard a thing for a daughter to gain admittance to a father, +even though he be a sovereign?" interrupted the princess, who, attended +only by a single page bearing her train, advanced within the chamber, +her firm and graceful deportment causing the lords to fall back on +either side, and give her passage, though the expression of their +monarch's countenance denoted the visit was unwelcome.</p> + +<p>"Humbly and earnestly I do beseech your grace's pardon for this +over-bold intrusion," she said, bending one knee before him; "but indeed +my business could not be delayed. My liege and father, grant me but a +few brief minutes. Oh, for the sake of one that loved us both, the +sainted one now gone to heaven, for the memory of whom thou didst once +bless me with fonder love than thou gavest to my sisters, because my +features bore her stamp, my king, my father, pardon me and let me +speak!"</p> + +<p>"Speak on," muttered the king, passing his hand over his features, and +turning slightly from her, if there were emotion, to conceal it. "Thou +hast, in truth, been over-bold, yet as thou art here, speak on. What +wouldst thou?"</p> + +<p>"A boon, a mighty boon, most gracious father; one only thou canst grant, +one that in former years thou wouldst have loved me for the asking, and +blessed me by fulfilment," she said, as she continued to kneel; and by +her beseeching voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> and visible emotion effectually confining the +attention of the courtiers, now assembled in a knot at the farther end +of the apartment, and preventing their noticing the deportment of the +page who had accompanied her; he was leaning against a marble pillar +which supported the canopy raised over the king's couch, his head bent +on his breast, the short, thick curls which fell over his forehead +concealing his features; his hands, too, crossed on his breast, +convulsively clenched the sleeves of his doublet, as if to restrain the +trembling which, had any one been sufficiently near, or even imagined +him worthy of a distant glance, must have been observable pervading his +whole frame.</p> + +<p>"A boon," repeated the king, as the princess paused, almost breathless +with her own emotion; "a mighty boon! What can the Countess of +Gloucester have to ask of me, that it moves her thus? Are we grown so +terrible that even our own children tremble ere they speak? What is this +mighty boon? we grant not without hearing."</p> + +<p>"'Tis the boon of life, my liege, of life thou canst bestow. Oh, while +in this world thou rulest, viceregent of the King of kings on high, +combining like Him justice and mercy, in the government of his +creatures, oh! like, Him, let mercy predominate over justice; deprive +not of life, in the bloom, the loveliness of youth! Be merciful, my +father, oh, be merciful! forgive as thou wouldst be forgiven—grant me +the life I crave!"</p> + +<p>Urged on by emotion, the princess had scarcely heard the suppressed +interjection of the king which her first words had occasioned, and she +scarcely saw the withering sternness which gathered on his brow.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast in truth learnt oratory, most sapient daughter," he said, +bitterly; "thou pleadest well and flowingly, yet thou hast said not for +whom thou bearest this marvellous interest—it can scarce be for a +traitor? Methinks the enemies of Edward should be even such unto his +children."</p> + +<p>"Yet 'tis for one of these mistaken men I plead, most gracious +sovereign," resumed Joan, intimidated not by his sarcasm. "Oh, my +father, the conqueror's triumph consists not in the number of rebellious +heads that fall before him—not in the blood that overflows his way; +magnanimity, mercy, will conquer yet more than his victorious sword. +Traitor as he seem, have mercy on Nigel Bruce; oh, give—"</p> + +<p>"Mercy on a Bruce! May the thunder of heaven blast me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> when I show it!" +burst furiously from Edward's lips, as he started upon his couch and +gazed on his suppliant child with eyes that seemed absolutely to blaze +in wrath. "Mercy on a branch of that house which has dared defy me, +dared to insult my power, trample on my authority, upraised the standard +of rebellion, and cost me the lives of thousands of my faithful +subjects! Mercy on him, the daring traitor, who, even in his chains, has +flung redoubled insult and treason into our very teeth! Mercy—may the +God of heaven deny me all mercy when I show it unto him!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, my father! My father, in mercy speak not such terrible +words!" implored the princess, clinging to his robe. "Call not the wrath +of heaven on thy head; think of his youth, the temptations that have +beset him, the difficult task to remain faithful when all other of his +house turned astray. Mistaken as he hath been, as he is, have mercy. +Compel him to prove, to feel, to acknowledge thou art not the tyrant he +hath been taught to deem thee; exile, imprisonment, all—any thing, but +death. Oh, do not turn from me; be thyself, the good, the magnanimous +Edward of former days, have mercy on thy foe!"</p> + +<p>"I tell thee, never! by every saint in heaven, I tell thee, never!" +shouted the king. "I will hear no more; begone, lest I deem my own child +part and parcel of the treasons formed against me. Trouble me not with +these vain prayers. I will not pardon, I have sworn it; begone, and +learn thy station better than to plead for traitors. Thy husband braved +me once; beware, lest in these pleadings I hear <i>his</i> voice again. I +tell him and thee that ere to-morrow's noon be passed the soul of Nigel +Bruce shall stand in judgment; not another day, not another hour he +lives to blast me with the memory of his treason. The warrant hath been +signed, and is on its way to Berwick, to give his body to the hangman +and his soul to Satan—his death is sealed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, no!" shrieked a voice of sudden anguish, startling all who +heard, and even Edward, by its piteous tones, and the form of a page +suddenly fell prostrate before the monarch. "Mercy, mercy! for the love +of God, have mercy!" he struggled to articulate, but there was no sound +save a long and piercing shriek, and the boy lay senseless on the +ground.</p> + +<p>"Ha! by St. George, beardest thou me with traitors in my very palace, +before my very eyes?" exclaimed the angry mon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>arch, as his astonished +courtiers gathered round. "Put him in ward; away with him, I say!"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, your highness, but this is needless," interposed the +princess, with a calm majesty, that subdued even the irritation of her +father, and undauntedly waving back the courtiers, although perfectly +sensible of the imminent danger in which she was placed. "If there be +blame, let it be visited on me; this poor child has been ill and weakly +from many causes, terrified, almost maddened, by sounds, and sights of +blood. I deemed him perfectly recovered, or he had not attended me here. +I pray your grace permit his removal to my apartments."</p> + +<p>The king laid a heavy hand on his daughter's arm as she stood beside +him, and fixed a gaze on her face that would have terrified any less +noble spirit into a betrayal of the truth; but firm in her own +integrity, in her own generous purpose, she calmly and inquiringly +returned his gaze.</p> + +<p>"Go to, thou art a noble wench, though an over-bold and presuming one," +he said, in a much mollified tone, for there was that in the dauntless +behavior of his daughter which found an echo in his heart even now, +deadened as it was to aught of gentle feeling, and he was glad of this +interruption to entreaties which, resolved not to grant, had lashed him +into fury, while her presence made him feel strangely ashamed. "Do as +thou wilt with thine own attendants; but be advised, tempt not thine own +safety again; thou hast tried us sore with thy ill-advised entreaties, +but we forgive thee, on condition they are never again renewed. Speak +not, we charge thee. What ho! Sir Edmund Stanley," he called aloud, and +the chamberlain appeared at the summons. "Here, let this boy be +carefully raised and borne according to the pleasure of his mistress. +See, too, that the Countess of Gloucester be conducted with due respect +to her apartments. Begone!" he added, sternly, as the eyes of Joan still +seemed to beseech mercy; "I will hear no more—the traitor dies!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + + +<p>The shades of advancing night had already appeared to have enwrapped the +earth some hours, when Nigel Bruce was star<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>tled from an uneasy slumber +by the creaking sounds of bolts and bars announcing the entrance of some +one within the dungeon. The name of his beloved, his devoted Agnes, +trembled on his lips, but fearful of betraying her to unfriendly ears, +ho checked himself, and started up, exclaiming, "Who comes?" No answer +was vouchsafed, but the dim light of a lamp, placed by the intruder on +the floor, disclosed a figure wrapped from head to foot in the shrouding +mantle of the time, not tall, but appearing a stout muscular person, +banishing on the instant Nigel's scarcely-formed hope that it was the +only one he longed to see.</p> + +<p>"What wouldst thou?" he said, after a brief pause. "Doth Edward practise +midnight murder? Speak, who art thou?"</p> + +<p>"Midnight murder, thou boasting fool; I love thee not well enough to +cheat the hangman of his prey," replied a harsh and grating voice, +which, even without the removal of the cloak, would have revealed to +Nigel's astonished ears the Earl of Buchan. "Ha! I have startled +thee—thou didst not know the deadly enemy of thy accursed race!"</p> + +<p>"I know thee now, my Lord of Buchan," replied the young man, calmly; +"yet know I not wherefore thou art here, save to triumph over the fallen +fortunes of thy foe; if so, scorn on—I care not. A few brief hours, and +all of earth and earthly feeling is at rest."</p> + +<p>"To triumph—scorn! I had scarce travelled for petty satisfaction such +as that, when to-morrow sees thee in the hangman's hands, the scorn of +thousands! Hath Buchan no other work with thee, thinkest thou? dost thou +affirm thou knowest naught for which he hath good cause to seek thee?"</p> + +<p>"Earl of Buchan, I dare affirm it," answered Nigel, proudly; "I know of +naught to call for words or tones as these, save, perchance, that the +love and deep respect in which I hold thine injured countess, my +friendship for thy murdered son, hath widened yet more the breach +between thy house and mine—it may be so; yet deem not, cruel as thou +art, I will deny feelings in which I glory, at thy bidding. An thou +comest to reproach me with these things, rail on, they affect me as +little as thy scorn."</p> + +<p>"Hadst thou said love for her they call my daughter, thou hadst been +nearer the mark," retorted the earl, fury rapidly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> gaining possession of +heart and voice; "but thou art too wise, too politic for that."</p> + +<p>"Aye," retorted Nigel, after a fearful struggle with himself, "aye, thou +mayest well add love for Agnes of Buchan, as well as friendship for her +brother. Thinkest thou I would deny it—hide it? little dost thou know +its thrilling, its inspiring power; little canst thou know how I glory +in it, cherish, linger on it still. But wherefore speak thus to thee, +thou man of wickedness and blood. I love thy pure and spotless child, +rejoice that thou didst so desert, so utterly neglect her, that thou +couldst no more leave a shadow on her innocent heart than a cloud upon +her way. I love her, glory in that love, and what is it to thee?"</p> + +<p>"What is it to me? that a child of the house of Comyn dare hold commune +with a Bruce; that thou hast dared to love a daughter of my house, aye, +to retain her by thy side a willing mistress, when all others of her sex +forsook thee—what is it to me? Did not to-morrow give thee to a +traitor's doom, thy blood should answer thee; but as it is, villain and +slave, give her to me—where is her hiding-place? speak, or the torture +shall wring it from thee."</p> + +<p>"Thinkest thou such threats will in aught avail thee?" calmly replied +Nigel. "Thou knowest not the Bruce. Agnes is no longer a Comyn, no +longer a subject to thy guardianship. The voice of God, the rites at the +altar's foot, have broken every link, save that which binds her to her +husband. She is mine, before God and man is mine—mine own faithful and +lawful wife!"</p> + +<p>"Thou liest, false villain!" furiously retorted Buchan. "The church +shall undo these bonds, shall give her back to the father she has thus +insulted. She shall repent, repent with tears of blood, her desertion of +her race. Canst thou protect her in death, thou fool—canst thou still +cherish and save her, thinkest thou, when the hangman hath done his +work?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, even then she will be cherished, loved for Nigel's sake, and for +her own; there will be faithful friends around her to protect her from +thee still, tyrant! Thou canst not break the bonds that bind us; thou +hast done no father's part. Forsaken and forgotten, thy children owe +thee no duty, no obedience; thou canst bring forward no plea to +persecute thy child. In life and in death she is mine, mine alone; the +power and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> authority thou hast spurned so long can no longer be assumed; +the love, the obedience thou didst never heed, nay, trampled on, hath +been transferred to one who glories in them both. She is in +safety—slay, torture as thou wilt, I tell thee no more." Fettered, +unarmed, firm, undauntedly erect, stood Nigel Bruce, gazing with curling +lip and flashing eyes upon his foe. The foam had gathered on the earl's +lip, his hand, clenching his sword, had trembled with passion as Nigel +spoke, He sought to suppress that rage, to remember a public execution +would revenge him infinitely more than a blow of his sword, but he had +been too long unused to control; lashed into ungovernable fury by the +demeanor of Nigel, even more than by his words, the sword flashed from +its scabbard, was raised, and fell—but not upon his foe, for the Earl +of Gloucester suddenly stood between them.</p> + +<p>"Art thou mad, or tired of life, my Lord of Buchan?" he said. "Knowest +thou not thou art amenable to the law, an thou thus deprivest justice of +her victim? Shame, shame, my lord; I deemed thee not a midnight +murderer."</p> + +<p>"Darest thou so speak to me?" replied Buchan, fiercely; "by every fiend +in hell, thou shalt answer this! Begone, and meddle not with that which +concerneth thee nothing."</p> + +<p>"It doth concern me, proud earl," replied Gloucester, standing +immediately before Nigel, whose emotion at observing the page by whom he +was accompanied, though momentary, must otherwise have been observed. +"The person of the prisoner is sacred to the laws of his country, the +mandate of his sovereign; on thy life thou darest not injure him—thou +knowest that thou darest not. Do thou begone, ere I summon those who, at +the mere mention of assault on one condemned, will keep thee in ward +till thou canst wreak thy vengeance on naught but clay; begone, I say!"</p> + +<p>"I will not," sullenly answered the earl, unwillingly conscious of the +truth of his words; "I will not, till he hath answered me. Once more," +he added, turning to Nigel with a demoniac scowl, "where is she whom +thou hast dared to call thy wife? answer me, or as there is a hell +beneath us, the torture shall wring it from thee!"</p> + +<p>"In safety, where thine arm shall never reach her," haughtily answered +the young nobleman. "Torture! what wilt thou torture—the senseless +clay? Hence—I defy thee! Death will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> protect me from thy lawless power; +death will set his seal upon me ere we meet again."</p> + +<p>The earl muttered a deep and terrible oath, and then he strode away, +coming in such violent contact against the slight and almost paralyzed +form of Gloucester's page as he stood in the doorway, as nearly to throw +him to the ground. Nigel sprung forward, but was held back with a grasp +of iron by the Earl of Gloucester, nor did he relinquish his hold till +Buchan had passed through the doorway, till the heavy hinges had firmly +closed again, and the step of the departing earl had entirely faded in +distance.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, we are safe," he said; "thank heaven!" but his words were +scarcely heard, for the page had bounded within the extended arms of +Nigel, had clung so closely to his heart, he could feel nothing, see +nothing, save that slender form; could hear nothing but those deep, +agonized sobs, which are so terrible when unaccompanied by the relief of +tears. For a while Nigel could not speak—he could not utter aught of +comfort, for he felt it not; that moment was the bitterness of death.</p> + +<p>"Torture! did he not speak of torture? will he not come again?" were the +words that at length fell, shudderingly, from the lips of Agnes. "Nigel, +Nigel, if it must be, give me up; he cannot inflict aught more of misery +now."</p> + +<p>"Fear not, lady; he dare not," hastily rejoined Gloucester. "The torture +dare not be administered without consent of Edward, and that now cannot +be obtained; he will not have sufficient—" time, he was going to say, +but checked himself; for the agonized look of Agnes told him his meaning +was more than sufficiently understood. "Nigel," he added, laying his +hand on the young man's shoulder, "Nigel, my noble, gallant friend—for +so I will call thee, though I sat in judgment on thee, aye, and tacitly +acquiesced in thy sentence—shrink not, oh, shrink not now! I saw not a +quiver on thy lip, a pallor on thy cheek, nay, nor faltering in thy +step, when they read a doom at which I have marked the bravest blench; +oh, let not, that noble spirit fail thee now!"</p> + +<p>"Gloucester, it shall not!" he said, with suddenly regained firmness, as +supporting Agnes with his right arm he convulsively wrung the hand of +his friend with the other. "It was but the sight of this beloved one, +the thought—no matter, it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> over. Agnes, my beloved, my own, oh, look +on me; speak, tell me all that hath befallen thee since they tore thee +from me, and filled my soul with darker dread for thee than for myself. +To see thee with this noble earl is enough to know how heavy a burden of +gratitude I owe him, which thou, sweetest, must discharge. Yet speak to +me, beloved; tell me all, all."</p> + +<p>Emulating his calmness, remembering even at that moment her promise not +to unman him in the moment of trial by vain repinings, Agnes complied +with his request. Her tale was frequently interrupted by those terrible +sobs, which seemed to threaten annihilation; but Nigel could gather from +it so much of tenderness and care on the part of the princess, that the +deepest gratitude filled his heart, and spoke in his impassioned words.</p> + +<p>"Tell her, oh, tell her, if the prayers of the dying can in aught avail +her, the blessedness of heaven shall be hers even upon earth!" he +exclaimed, gazing up in the earl's face with eyes that spoke his soul. +"Oh, I knew her not, when in former years I did but return her kindness +with silence and reserve; I saw in her little more than the daughter of +Edward. Tell her, on my knees I beseech her pardon for that wrong; in my +last prayers I shall breathe her name."</p> + +<p>"And wherefore didst thou go with her?" he continued, on Agnes narrating +the scene between the princess and the king. "Alas! my gentle one, hadst +thou not endured enough, that thou wouldst harrow up thy soul by hearing +the confirmation of my doom from the tyrant's own ruthless lips—didst +dream of pardon? dearest, no, thou couldst not."</p> + +<p>"Nigel, Nigel, I did, even at that moment, though they told me thou wert +condemned, that nothing could save thee; though the princess besought me +almost on her knees to spare myself this useless trial, I would not +listen to her. I would not believe that all was hopeless; I dreamed +still, still of pardon, that Edward would listen to his noble child, +would forgive, and I thought, even if she failed, I would so plead he +must have mercy, he would listen to me and grant my prayer. I did dream +of pardon, but it was vain, vain! Nigel, Nigel, why did my voice fail, +my eye grow dim? I might have won thy pardon yet."</p> + +<p>"Beloved, thou couldst not," he answered, mournfully. "Mine own sweet +Agnes, take comfort, 'tis but a brief fare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>well; we shall meet where war +and blood and death can never enter more."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Oh, I know it," she sobbed; "but to part thus, to lose thee, +and by such a death, oh, it is horrible, most horrible!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, look not on it thus, beloved; there is no shame even in this +death, if there be no shame in him who dies."</p> + +<p>"Shame!" she repeated; "couldst think I could couple aught of shame with +thee, my own? even this dark fate is noble when borne by such as thee."</p> + +<p>Nigel held her closer to his heart, and for his sole answer pressed a +quivering kiss upon her cheek. Gloucester, who had been in earnest +commune with the sentinel without the door, now returned, and informed +him that the soldier, who was well known to him and who much disliked +his present watch, had willingly consented that the page (whom +Gloucester had represented as a former attendant of Sir Nigel's, though +now transferred to his service) should remain with his former master, on +condition that the earl would come for him before the priests and others +who were to attend him to the scaffold entered the dungeon, as this +departure from the regular prison discipline, shown as it was to one +against whom the king was unusually irritated, might cost him his head. +Gloucester had promised faithfully, and he offered them the melancholy +option of parting now, or a few sad hours hence.</p> + +<p>"Let me, do let me stay; Nigel, my husband, send me not from thee now!" +exclaimed Agnes, sinking at his feet and clasping his knees. "I will not +weep, nor moan, nor in aught afflict thee. Nigel, dearest Nigel, I will +not leave thee now."</p> + +<p>"But is it wise, is it well, my best beloved? think, if in the deep +anguish of to-morrow thy disguise be penetrated, thy sex discovered, and +thy cruel father claim thee, dragging thee even from the protection of +the princess—oh, the bitterness of death were doubled then! Thou +thinkest but of me, mine own, but thy safety, thy future peace is all +now left for me."</p> + +<p>"Safety, peace—oh, do not, do not mock me, Nigel—where are they for +poor Agnes, save in her husband's grave? What is life now, that thou +shouldst seek to guard it? no, no, I will abide by thee, thou shalt not +send me hence."</p> + +<p>"But to-morrow, lady, to-morrow," interposed Gloucester, with deep +commiseration. "I would not, from any selfish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> fear, shorten by one +minute the few sad hours ye may yet pass together, but bethink ye, I +dare not promise to shield thee from the horrors of to-morrow, for I +cannot. Fearful scenes and sounds may pass before thee; thou mayest come +in contact with men from whom thou wilt shrink in horror, and though +thine own safety be of little worth, remember the betrayal of thy sex +and rank may hurl down the royal vengeance on the head of thy +protectress, daughter of Edward though she be. Canst thou be firm—wilt +thou, canst thou await the morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Agnes, the wildness of her former accents subsiding into +almost solemnity; "the safety of thy noble countess shall not be +hazarded through me. Leave me with my husband, add but this last mercy +to the many thou hast showered on me, and the blessing of God will rest +on thee and thy noble wife forever."</p> + +<p>She raised his hand to her lips, and Gloucester, much affected, placed +hers in her husband's, and wrung them convulsively together. "We shall +meet again," was all he trusted his voice to utter, and departed.</p> + +<p>The hours waned, each one finding no change in the position of those +loving ones. The arm of Agnes twined around the neck of her beloved, her +brow leaned against his bosom, her left hand clasped his right, and his +left arm, though fettered, could yet fold that slender waist, could yet +draw her closer to him, with an almost unconscious pressure; his lips +repeatedly pressed that pale brow, which only moved from its position to +lift up her eyes at his entreaty in his face, and he would look on those +features, lovely still, despite their attenuation and deep sorrow, gaze +at them with an expression that, spite of his words of consoling love, +betrayed that the dream of earth yet lingered; he could not close his +eyes on her without a thrill of agony, sharper than the pang of death. +But the enthusiast and the patriot spoke not at that hour only of +himself, or that dearer self, the only being he had loved. He spoke of +his country, aye, and less deplored the chains which bound her then, +than with that prophetic spirit sometimes granted to the departing, +dilated on her future glory. He conjured Agnes, for his sake, to +struggle on and live; to seek his brother and tell him that, save +herself, Nigel's last thought, last prayer was his; that standing on the +brink of eternity, the mists of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> present had rolled away, he saw but +the future—Scotland free, and Robert her beloved and mighty king.</p> + +<p>"Bid him not mourn for Nigel," he said; "bid him not waver from his +glorious purpose, because so many of his loved and noble friends must +fall—their blood is their country's ransom; tell him, had I a hundred +lives, I would have laid them down for him and for my country as gladly, +as unhesitatingly as the one I now resign; and tell him, dearest, how I +loved him to the last, how the recollection of his last farewell, his +fervent blessing lingered with me to the end, giving me strength to +strive for him and die, as becomes his brother; tell him I glory in my +death—it has no shame, no terror, for it is for him and Scotland. Wilt +thou remember all this, sweet love? wilt thou speak to him these words?"</p> + +<p>"Trust me I will, all, all that thou hast said; they are written here," +placing her hand on her heart, "here, and they will not leave me, even +if all else fail."</p> + +<p>"And thou wilt say to him, mine own, that Nigel besought his love, his +tenderness for thee," he continued, losing the enthusiasm of the patriot +in the tenderness of the husband; "tell him I look to him in part to +discharge the debt of love, of gratitude I owe to thee; to guard thee, +cherish thee as his own child. Alas! alas! I speak as if thou must reach +him, and yet, beset with danger, misery, as thou art, how may this be?"</p> + +<p>"Fear not for me; it shall be, my husband. I will do thy bidding, I will +seek my king," she said, for when comfort failed for him, she sought to +give it. "Hast forgotten Dermid's words? He would be near me when I +needed him, and he will be, my beloved, I doubt him not."</p> + +<p>"Could I but think so, could I but know that he would be near to shield +thee, oh, life's last care would be at an end, said Nigel, earnestly; +and then for some time that silence, more eloquent, more fraught with +feeling in such an hour than the most impassioned words, fell on them +both. When again he spoke, it was on a yet more holy theme; the +thoughts, the dreams of heaven, which from boyhood had been his, now +found vent in words and tones, which thrilled to the inmost spirit of +his listener, and lingered there, when all other sense had fled. He had +lived in an era of darkness. Revelation in its doctrines belonged to the +priests alone; faith and obedience demanded by the voice of man alone, +were all permitted to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> laity, and spirits like Nigel's consequently +formed a natural religion, in which they lived and breathed, hallowing +the rites which they practised, giving scope and glory to their faith. +He pictured the world, on whose threshold he now stood, pictured it, not +with a bold unhallowed hand, but as the completion, the consummation of +all those dim whisperings of joy, and hope, and wisdom, which had +engrossed him below—the perfection of that beauty, that loveliness, in +the material and immaterial, he had yearned for in vain on earth.</p> + +<p>"And this world of incomparable unshadowed loveliness awaits me," he +said, the superstition of the age mingling for the moment with thoughts +which seemed to mark him a century beyond his compeers; "purchased by +that single moment of suffering called death. It is mine, my beloved, +and shall be thine; and oh, when we meet there, how trivial will seem +the dark woes and boding cares of earth! I have told thee the vision of +my vigil, Agnes, my beloved; again I have seen that blessed spirit, aye, +and there was no more sadness on his pale brow, naught, naught of +earth—spiritualized, etherealized. He hovered over my sleep, and with a +smile beckoned me to the glorious world he inhabits; he seemed to call +me, to await me, and then the shrouding clouds on which he lay closed +thicker and thicker round him, till naught but his celestial features +beamed on me. Agnes, dearest, best, think of me thus, as blessed +eternally, unchangeably, as awaiting thee to share that blessedness, not +as one lost to thee, beloved; and peace, aye, joy e'en yet shall smile +for thee."</p> + +<p>"Nigel, Nigel, are there such things for the desolate, the lone?" +murmured Agnes, raising her pale brow and looking despairingly in his +face. "Oh, I will think on thee, picture thee in thy thrice-glorified +home, but it will be with all of mortal clinging to me still, and the +wild yearnings to come to thee will banish all of peace. Speak not such +words to thy poor weak Agnes, my beloved. I will struggle on to bear thy +message to my sovereign; there lies my path when thou art gone, darkness +envelops it when that goal is gained—I have no future now, save that +which gives me back to thee."</p> + +<p>He could not answer, and then again there was silence, broken only by +the low voice of prayer. They knelt together on the cold stones, he +raised her cold hands with his in supplication; he prayed for mercy, +pardon for himself, for comfort,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> strength for her; he prayed for his +country and her king, her chained and sorrowing sons, and the soft, +liquid star of morning, gloaming forth through heavy masses of murky +clouds directly on them as they knelt, appeared an angel's answer. The +dawn broke; bluer and bluer became the small and heavily-barred +casement, clearer and clearer grew the damp walls of the dungeons, and +morning, in its sunshine and gladness, laughed along the earth. Closer +and closer did Agnes cling to that noble heart, but she spoke no word. +"He tarries long—merciful heaven, grant he be not detained too late!" +she heard her husband murmur, as to himself, as time waned and +Gloucester came not, and she guessed his thoughts.</p> + +<p>"I care not," she answered, in a voice so hollow he shuddered; "I will +go with thee, even to the scaffold."</p> + +<p>But Gloucester, true to his promise, came at length; he was evidently +anxious and disturbed, and a few hurried words told how the Earl of +Berwick had detained him in idle converse, as if determined to prevent +any private interview with the prisoner; even now the officers and +priests were advancing to the dungeons, their steps already reverberated +through the passages, and struck on the heart of Agnes as a bolt of ice. +"I had much, much I wished to say, but even had I time, what boots it +now? Nigel, worthy brother of him I so dearly loved, aye, even now would +die to serve, fear not for the treasure thou leavest to my care; as +there is a God above us, I will guard her as my sister! They +come—farewell, thou noble heart, thou wilt leave many a foe to mourn +thee!" The voice of the earl quivered with emotion. Nigel convulsively +pressed his extended hand, and then he folded Agnes in his arms; he +kissed her lips, her brow, her cheek, he parted those clustering curls +to look again and yet again upon her face—pale, rigid as sculptured +marble. She uttered no sound, she made no movement, but consciousness +had not departed; the words of Gloucester on the previous night rung in +her ears, demanding control, and mechanically she let her arms unloose +their convulsive grasp of Nigel, and permitted the earl gently to lead +her to the door, but ere it opened, she turned again to look on Nigel. +He stood, his hands clasped in that convulsive pressure of agony, his +every feature working with the mighty effort at control with the last +struggle of the mortal shell. With one faint yet thrilling cry she +bounded back, she threw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> herself upon his swelling bosom, her lips met +his in one last lingering kiss, and Gloucester tore her from his arms. +They passed the threshold, another minute and the officers, and guard, +and priest stood within the dungeon, and a harsh, rude voice bade the +confessor haste to shrive the prisoner, for the hour of execution was at +hand.</p> + +<p>Bearing the slight form of the supposed page in his arms, Gloucester +hastily threaded the passages leading from the dungeon to the postern by +which he had intended to depart. His plan had been to rejoin his +attendants and turn his back upon the city of Berwick ere the execution +could take place; a plan which, from his detention, he already found was +futile. The postern was closed and secured, and he was compelled to +retrace his steps to a gate he had wished most particularly to avoid, +knowing that it opened on a part of the court which, from its commanding +a view of the scaffold, he justly feared would be crowded. He had paused +but to speak one word of encouragement to Agnes, who, with a calmness +appalling from the rigidity of feature which accompanied it, now stood +at his side; he bade her only hold by his cloak, and he hoped speedily +to lead her to a place of safety. She heard him and made a sign of +obedience. They passed the gate unquestioned, traversed an inner court, +and made for the great entrance of the castle; there, unhappily, their +progress was impeded. The scaffold, by order of Edward, had been erected +on the summit of a small green ascent exactly opposite the prison of the +Countess of Buchan, and extending in a direct line about half a quarter +of a mile to the right of the castle gates, which had been flung wide +open, that all the inhabitants of Berwick might witness the death of a +traitor. Already the courts and every vacant space was crowded. A sea of +human heads was alone visible, nay, the very buttresses and some +pinnacles of the castle, which admitted any footing, although of the +most precarious kind, had been appropriated. The youth, the +extraordinary beauty, and daring conduct of the prisoner had excited an +unusual sensation in the town, and the desire to mark how such a spirit +would meet his fate became irresistibly intense. Already it seemed as if +there could be no space for more, yet numbers were still pouring in, not +only most completely frustrating the intentions of the Earl of +Gloucester, but forcing him, by the pressure of multitudes, with them +towards the scaffold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> In vain he struggled to free himself a passage; +in vain he haughtily declared his rank and bade the presumptuous serfs +give way. Some, indeed, fell back, but uselessly, for the crowds behind +pushed on those before, and there was no retreating, no possible means +of escaping from that sight of horror which Gloucester had designed so +completely to avoid. In the agony of disappointment, not a little mixed +with terror as to its effects, he looked on his companion. There was not +a particle of change upon her countenance; lips, cheek, brow, were +indeed bloodless as marble, and as coldly still; her eyes were +fascinated on the scaffold, and they moved not, quivered not. Even when +the figure of an aged minstrel, in the garb of Scotland, suddenly stood +between them and the dread object of their gaze, their expression +changed not; she placed her hand in his, she spoke his name to her +conductor, but it was as if a statue was suddenly endowed with voice and +motion, so cold was the touch of that hand, so sepulchral was that +voice; she motioned him aside with a gesture that compelled obedience, +and again she looked upon the scaffold. The earl welcomed the old man +gladly, for the tale of Agnes had already prepared him to receive him, +and to rely on his care to convey her back to Scotland. Engrossed with +his anxiety for her, and whenever that permitted him, speaking earnestly +to the old man, Gloucester remained wholly unconscious of the close +vicinity of one he was at that moment most desirous to avoid.</p> + +<p>The Earl of Buchan, in the moment of ungovernable rage, had indeed flung +himself on horseback and galloped from the castle the preceding night, +intending to seek the king, and petition that the execution might be +deferred till the torture had dragged the retreat of Agnes from Nigel's +lips. The cool air of night, however, had had the effect of so far +dissipating the fumes of passion, as to convince him that it would be +well-nigh impossible to reach Carlisle, obtain an interview with Edward +at such an unseasonable hour, and return to Berwick in sufficient time +for the execution of his diabolical scheme. He let the reins fall on his +horse's neck, to ponder, and finally made up his mind it was better to +let things take their course, and the sentence of the prisoner proceed +without interruption; a determination hastened by the thought that +should he die under the torture, all the ignominy and misery of a public +execution would be eluded. The night was very dark and misty, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> road +in some parts passing through, woods and morasses, and the earl, too +much engrossed with his own dark thoughts to attend to his path, lost +the track and wandered round and round, instead of going forward. This +heightened not the amiability of his previous mood; but until dawn his +efforts to retrace his steps or even discover where he was were useless. +The morning, however, enabled him to reach Berwick, which he did just as +the crowds were pouring into the castle-yard, and the heavy toll of the +bell announced the commencement of that fatal tragedy. He hastily +dismounted and mingled with the populace, they bore him onward through +another postern to that by which the other crowds had impelled +Gloucester. Finding the space before them already occupied, these two +human streams, of course, met and conjoined in the centre; and the two +earls stood side by side. Gloucester, as we have said, wholly +unconscious of Buchan's vicinity, and Buchan watching his anxious and +sorrowful looks with the satisfaction of a fiend, revelling in his being +thus hemmed in on all sides, and compelled to witness the execution of +his friend. He watched him closely as he spoke with the minstrel, but +tried in vain to distinguish what they said. He looked on the page too, +and with some degree of wonder, though he believed it only mortal terror +which made him look thus, natural in so young a child; but afterwards +that look was only too fatally recalled.</p> + +<p>Sleepless and sad had been that long night to another inmate of Berwick +Castle, as well as to Nigel and his Agnes. It was not till the dawn had +broken that the Countess of Buchan had sunk into a deep though troubled +slumber, for it was not till then the confused sounds of the workmen +employed in erecting the scaffold had ceased. She knew not for whom it +was upraised, what noble friend and gallant patriot would there be +sacrificed. She would not, could not believe it was for Nigel; for when +his name arose in her thoughts, it was shudderingly repelled, and with +him came the thought of her child—where, oh, where was she?—what would +be her fate? The tolling of the bell awoke her from the brief trance of +utter unconsciousness into which, from exhaustion, she had fallen. She +glanced once beneath her. The crowds, the executioner at his post, the +guard already round the scaffold, too truly told the hour was at hand, +and though her heart turned sick with apprehen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>sion, and she felt as if +to know the worst were preferable to the hour of suspense, she could not +look again, and she would have sought the inner chamber, and endeavor to +close both ears and eyes to all that was passing without, when the Earl +of Berwick suddenly entered, and harshly commanded her to stir not from +the cage.</p> + +<p>"It is your sovereign's will, madam, that you witness the fate of the +traitor so daring in your cause," he said, as with a stern grasp he +forced her to the grating and retained his hold upon her arm; "that you +may behold in his deserved fate the type of that which will at length +befall the yet blacker traitor of his name. It is fitting so loyal a +patriot as thyself should look on a patriot's fate, and profit thereby."</p> + +<p>"Aye, learn how a patriot can die—how, when his life may no more +benefit his country and his kin, he may serve them in his death," calmly +and proudly she answered. "It is well; perchance, when my turn cometh, I +may thank thy master for the lesson now rudely forced upon me. The hour +will come when the blood that he now so unjustly sheds shall shriek +aloud for vengeance. On me let him work his will—I fear him not."</p> + +<p>"Be silent, minion! I listen not to thy foul treason," said the earl, +hoarse with suppressed passion at the little effect his sovereign's +mandate produced, when he had hoped to have enforced it midst sobs and +tears; and she was silent, for her eye had caught one face amidst the +crowd that fascinated its gaze, and sent back the blood, which had +seemed to stagnate when the idea that it was indeed Nigel now about to +suffer had been thus rudely thrust upon her—sent it with such sudden +revulsion through its varied channels, that it was only with a desperate +struggle she retained her outward calmness, and then she stood, to the +eye of Berwick, proud, dignified, collected, seemingly so cold, that he +doubted whether aught of feeling could remain, or marvelled if the +mandate of Edward had indeed power to inflict aught of pain. But +within—oh, the veriest tyrant must have shuddered, could he have known +the torture there; she saw, she recognized her child; she read naught +but madness in that chiselled gaze; she saw at a glance there was no +escaping from beholding, to the dreadful end, the fate of her beloved; +before, behind, on every side, the crowds pressed round, yet from the +slightly elevated position of the scaffold, failing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> to conceal it from +her gaze. The Earl of Gloucester she perceived close at her side, as if +protecting her; but if indeed she was under his care, how came she on +such a spot, at such a time?—did he know her sex, or only looked on her +as a favored page of Nigel's, and as such protected? Yet would not the +anguish of that hour betray her not alone to him, but to that dark and +cruel man whom she also marked beside her, and who, did he once know +her, would demand the right of a father, to give her to his care? and +oh, how would that right be exercised! would the murderer of his son, +his heir, have pity on a daughter? But it would be a vain effort to +picture the deep anguish of that mother's heart, as in that dread moment +she looked upon her child, knowing, feeling <i>her</i> might of grief, as if +it had been her own; well-nigh suffocated with the wild yearning to fold +her to her maternal bosom, to bid her weep there, to seek to comfort, to +soothe, by mingling her tears with hers, to protect, to hide her misery +from all save her mother's eye—to feel this till every pulse throbbed +as to threaten her with death, and yet to breathe no word, to give no +sign that such things were, lest she should endanger that precious one +yet more. She dared not breathe one question of the many crowding on her +heart, she could but gaze and feel. She had thought, when, they told her +that her boy was dead, that she had caused his death, there was little +more of misery fate could weave, but at that moment even Alan was +forgotten. It was her own wretchedness she had had then to bear, for he +was at rest; but now it was the anguish of that dearer self, her sole +remaining child—and oh, a mother's heart can better bear its individual +woes than those that crash a daughter to the earth.</p> + +<p>A sudden rush amidst the crowd, where a movement could take place, the +heavy roll of muffled drums, and the yet deeper, more wailing toll of +the funeral bell, announced that the prisoner had left the dungeon, and +irresistibly the gaze of the countess turned from her child to seek him; +perchance it was well, for the preservation of her composure, that the +intervening crowd prevented her beholding him till he stood upon the +scaffold, for hardly could she have borne unmoved the sight of that +noble and gallant form—beloved alike as the friend of her son, the +betrothed of her daughter, the brother of her king—degraded of all +insignia of rank, chained to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> hurdle, and dragged as the commonest, +the vilest criminal, exposed to the mocking gaze of thousands, to the +place of execution. She saw him not thus, and therefore she knew not +wherefore the features of Agnes had become yet more rigid, bore yet more +the semblance of chiselled marble. He stood at length upon the scaffold, +as calmly majestic in his bearing as if he had borne no insult, suffered +no indignity. His beautiful hair had been arranged with care on either +side his face, and still fell in its long, rich curls, about his throat; +and so beautiful, so holy was the expression of his perfect features, +that the assembled crowds hushed their very breath in admiration and in +awe; it seemed as if the heaven, on whose threshold he stood, had +already fixed its impress on his brow. Every eye was upon him, and all +perceived that holy calmness was for one brief minute disturbed; but +none, save three of those who marked it, knew or even guessed the cause. +The countess had watched his glance, as at first composedly it had +wandered over the multitude beneath and around him, and she saw it rest +on that one face, which, in its sculptured misery, stood alone amidst +thousands, and she alone perceived the start of agony that sight +occasioned, but speedily even that emotion passed; he looked from that +loved face up to the heaven on which his hopes were fixed, in whose care +for her he trusted—and that look was prayer. She saw him as he knelt in +prayer, undisturbed by the clang of instruments still kept up around +him; she saw him rise, and then a deadly sickness crept over her every +limb, a thick mist obscured her sight, sense seemed on the point of +deserting her, when it was recalled by a sound of horror—a shriek so +wild, so long, so thrilling, the rudest spirit midst those multitudes +shrunk back appalled, and crossed themselves in terror. On one ear it +fell with a sense of agony almost equal to that from whence it came; the +mother recognized the voice, and feeling, sight, hearing, as by an +electric spell, returned. She looked forth again, and though her eye +caught the noble form of Nigel Bruce yet quivering in the air, she +shrunk not, she sickened not, for its gaze sought her child; she had +disappeared from the place she had occupied. She saw the Earl of +Gloucester making a rapid way through the dispersing crowds, a sudden +gust blew aside his wrapping-cloak, the face of her child was exposed to +her view, there was a look of death upon her brow; and if the Earl of +Berwick had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> lingered to note whether indeed this scene of horror would +pass unnoticed, unfelt by his prisoner, he was gratified at length, for +Isabella of Buchan lay senseless on her prison floor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + + +<p>"And she is in safety, Gilbert?" inquired the Princess Joan, the evening +of the day following the execution, lifting her eyes, swimming in tears, +to her husband's face. They were sitting alone in their private +apartments, secured from all intruders by a page stationed in the +ante-room; and the earl had been relating some important particulars of +the preceding day.</p> + +<p>"I trust in heaven she is, and some miles ere now on her road to +Scotland," was his answer. "I fear for nothing save for the beautiful +mind that fragile shell contains; alas! my Joan, I fear me that has gone +forever!"</p> + +<p>"Better, oh better, then, that fainting-fit had indeed been death," she +said, "that the thread of life had snapped than twisted thus in madness. +Yet thou sayest her purpose seemed firm, her intellect clear, in her +intense desire to reach Scotland. Would this be, thinkest thou, were +they disordered?"</p> + +<p>"I think yes; for hadst thou seen, as I, the expression of countenance, +the unearthly calmness with which this desire was enforced, the +constant, though unconscious, repetition of words as these, 'to the +king, to the king, my path lies there, he bade me seek him; perchance he +will be there to meet me,' thou too wouldst feel that, when that goal is +gained, her husband's message given, sense must fail or life itself +depart. But once for a few brief minutes I saw that calmness partly +fail, and I indulged in one faint hope she would be relieved by tears. +She saw old Dermid gaze on her and weep; she clung to his neck, her +features worked convulsively, and her voice was choked and broken, as +she said, We must not tarry, Dermid, we must not wait to weep and moan; +I must seek King Robert while I can. There is a fire on my brain and +heart, which will soon scorch up all memory but one; I must not wait +till it has reached <i>his</i> words, and burned them up too—oh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> let us on +at once;' but the old man's kindly words had not the effect I hoped, she +only shook her head, and then, as if the horrible recollection of the +past flashed back, a convulsive shuddering passed through her frame, and +when she raised her face from her hand its marble rigidity had +returned."</p> + +<p>"Alas! alas! poor sufferer," exclaimed the princess, in heartfelt +sorrow; "I fear indeed, if such things be, there is little hope of +reason. I would thou hadst conveyed her here, perchance the soothing and +sympathy of one of her own sex had averted this evil."</p> + +<p>"T doubt, my kind Joan," replied her husband; "thy words had such +beneficial power before, because hope had still possession of her +breast, she hoped to the very last, aye, even when she so madly went +with thee to Edward; now that is over; hope is crushed, when despair has +risen. Thou couldst not have soothed; it would have been but wringing +thy too kind heart, and exposing her to other and heightened evils." The +princess looked up inquiringly. "Knowest thou not Buchan hath discovered +that his daughter remained with Nigel Bruce, as his engaged bride, at +Kildrummie, and is even now seeking her retreat, vowing she shall repent +with tears of blood her connection with a Bruce?"</p> + +<p>"I did not indeed; how came this?"</p> + +<p>"How, I know not, save that it was reported Buchan had left the court, +on a mission to the convent where the Countess of Carrick and her +attendants are immured, and in all probability learnt this important +fact from them. I only know that at the instant I entered the prisoner's +dungeon, Buchan was demanding, at the sword's point, the place of her +retreat, incited to the deadliest fury at Nigel's daring avowal that +Agnes was his wife."</p> + +<p>"Merciful heaven! and Agnes, what did she?"</p> + +<p>"I know not, for I dared not, absolutely dared not look upon her face. +Her husband's self-control saved her, for he stood and answered as +calmly and collectedly as if indeed she were in the safety he declared; +her father brushed by, nay, well-nigh stumbled over her, as he furiously +quitted the dungeon, glared full at her, but knew her not. But I dared +not again bring her here, it was in too close vicinity with the king and +her cruel father, for her present state of mind must have betrayed every +disguise."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And thinkest thou he could have the heart to injure her, separated as +she is by death from the husband of her love?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, persecute her as he hath his wife and son. Joan, I would rather +lose my own right hand than that unhappy girl should fall into her +father's power. Confinement, indeed, though it would add but little real +misery to her present lot, yet I feel that with her present wild +yearnings to rejoin the Bruce, to fulfil to the very utmost her +husband's will, it would increase tenfold the darkness round her; the +very dread of her father would unhinge the last remaining link of +intellect."</p> + +<p>Joan shuddered. "God in mercy forefend such ill!" she said, fervently; +"I would I could have seen her once again, for she has strangely twined +herself about my heart; but thou hast judged wisely, my Gilbert, her +safety is too precious to be thus idly risked; and this old man, canst +thou so trust him—will he guide her tenderly and well?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, I would stake my life upon his truth; he is the seer and minstrel +of the house of Bruce, and that would be all-sufficient to guarantee his +unwavering fidelity and skill. He has wandered on foot from Scotland, to +look on his beloved master once again; to watch over, as a guardian +spirit, the fate of that master's devoted wife, and he will do this, I +doubt not, and discover Carrick's place of retreat, were it at the +utmost boundaries of the earth. I only dread pursuit."</p> + +<p>"Pursuit! and by whom?"</p> + +<p>"By her father. Men said he was close beside me during that horrible +hour, though I saw him not; if he observed her, traced to her lips that +maddening shriek, it would excite his curiosity quite sufficiently for +him to trace my steps, and discovery were then inevitable."</p> + +<p>"But did he do this—hast seen him since?"</p> + +<p>"No, he has avoided me; but still, for her sake, I fear him. I know not +how or when, but there are boding whispers within me that all will not +be well. Now I would have news from thee. Is Hereford released?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; coupled with the condition that he enters not my father's presence +until Easter. He is deeply and justly hurt; but more grieved at the +change in his sovereign than angered at the treatment of himself."</p> + +<p>"No marvel; for if ever there were a perfect son of chivalry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> one most +feelingly alive to its smallest point of honor, it is Humphrey Bohun."</p> + +<p>So spoke Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, unconscious that he +himself had equal right to a character so exalted; that both Scottish +and English historians would emulate each other in handing his name down +to posterity, surrounded by that lucid halo of real worth, on which the +eye turns again and again to rest for relief from the darker minds and +ruder hearts which formed the multitude of the age in which he lived. +The duties of friendship were performed in his preservation of the +person, and constant and bold defence of the character of the Bruce; the +duties of a subject, in dying on the battle-field in service for his +king.</p> + +<p>The boding prognostics of the Earl of Gloucester were verified ere that +day closed. While still in earnest converse with his countess, a +messenger came from the king, demanding their instant presence in his +closet. The summons was so unusual, that in itself it was alarming, nor +did the sight of the Earl of Buchan in close conference with the monarch +decrease their fears. As soon as a cessation of his pains permitted the +exertion, Buchan had been sent for by the king; the issue of his +inquiries after his daughter demanded, and all narrated; his interview +with Sir Nigel dwelt upon with all the rancor of hate. Edward had +listened without making any observation; a twinkle of his still bright +eye, an expression about the lips alone betraying that he not only heard +but was forming his own conclusions from the tale.</p> + +<p>"And you have no clue, no thought of her retreat?" he asked, at length, +abruptly, when the earl ceased.</p> + +<p>"Not the very faintest, your grace. Had not that interfering Gloucester +come between me and my foe, I had forced it from him at the sharp +sword's point."</p> + +<p>"Gloucester—humph!" muttered the king. "Yet an so bloody was thy +purpose, my good lord, his interference did thee no ill. How was the +earl accompanied—was he alone?"</p> + +<p>"If I remember rightly, alone, your grace. No, by my faith, there was a +page with him!"</p> + +<p>"A page—ha! and what manner of man was he?"</p> + +<p>"Man! your highness, say rather a puny stripling, with far more of the +woman about him than the man."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ha!" again uttered the king; "looked he so weakly—did thy fury permit +such keen remark?"</p> + +<p>"Not at that time, your highness; but he was, with Gloucester, compelled +to witness the execution of this black traitor, and he looked white, +statue-like, and uttered a shriek, forsooth, likely to scare back the +villain's soul even as it took flight. Gloucester cared for the dainty +brat, as if he had been a son of your highness, not a page in his +household, for he lifted him up in his arms, and bore him out of the +crowd."</p> + +<p>"Humph!" said Edward again, in a tone likely to have excited curiosity +in any mind less obtuse on such matters than that of the Scottish earl. +"And thou sayest," he added, after some few minutes pause, "this daring +traitor, so lately a man, would tell thee no more than that thy daughter +was his wife, and in safety—out of thy reach?"</p> + +<p>Buchan answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"And thou hast not the most distant idea where he hath concealed her?"</p> + +<p>"None, your highness."</p> + +<p>"Then I will tell thee, sir earl; and if thou dost not feel inclined to +dash out thine own brains with vexation at letting thy prey so slip out +of thy grasp, thou art not the man I took thee for," and Edward fixed +his eyes on his startled companion with a glance at once keen and +malicious.</p> + +<p>"The white and statue-looking page, with more of woman about him than +the man, was the <i>wife</i> of this rank villain, Sir Nigel Bruce, and thy +daughter, my Lord of Buchan. The Earl of Gloucester may, perchance, tell +thee more."</p> + +<p>The earl started from his seat with an oath, which the presence of +majesty itself could not restrain. The dulness of his brain was +dissolved as by a flash of lightning; the ghastly appearance, the +maddening shriek, the death-like faint, all of which he had witnessed in +Gloucester's supposed page, nay, the very disturbed and anxious look of +the earl himself, gave truth and life to Edward's words, and he struck +his clenched fist against his brow, and strode up and down the royal +closet, in a condition as frantically disturbed as the monarch could +possibly have desired; and then, hastily and almost incoherently, +besought the king's aid in sifting the matter to the very bottom, and +obtaining repossession of his daughter, entreating leave of absence to +seek out Gloucester and tax him with the fact.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> + +<p>Edward, whose fury against the house of Bruce—whether man, woman, or +child, noble or serf, belonging to them—had been somewhat soothed by +the ignominious execution of Nigel, had felt almost as much amused as +angered at the earl's tale, and enjoyed the idea of a man, whom in his +inmost heart he most thoroughly despised, having been so completely +outwitted, and for the time so foiled. The feud between the Comyn and +the Bruce was nothing to him, except where it forwarded his own +interests. He had incited Buchan to inquire about his daughter, simply +because the occupation would remove that earl out of his way for a short +time, and perhaps, if the rumor of her engagement with one of the +brothers of the Bruce were true, set another engine at work to discover +the place of their concealment. The moment Buchan informed him it was to +Nigel she had been engaged, with Nigel last seen, his acute penetration +recalled the page who had accompanied the princess when she supplicated +mercy, and had he heard no more, would have pointed there for the +solution of the mystery. Incensed he was and deeply, at the fraud +practised upon him at the Karl and Countess of Gloucester daring to +harbor, nay, protect and conceal the wife of a traitor; but his anger +was subdued in part by the belief that now it was almost impossible she +could escape the wardance of her father, and <i>his</i> vengeance would be +more than sufficient to satisfy him; nay, when he recalled the face and +the voice, it was so like madness and death, and he was, moreover, so +convinced that now her husband was dead she could do him no manner of +harm, that he inwardly and almost unconsciously hoped she might +eventually escape her father's power, although he composedly promised +the earl to exercise his authority, and give him the royal warrant for +the search and committal of her person wherever she might be. Anger, +that Gloucester and his wife should so have dared his sovereign power, +was now the prevailing feeling, and therefore was it he commanded their +presence, determined to question them himself, rather than through the +still enraged Buchan.</p> + +<p>Calmly and collectedly the noble pair received alike the displeasure of +their sovereign and the ill-concealed fury of Buchan. They neither +denied the charge against them nor equivocated in their motives for +their conduct; alarmed they were, indeed, for the unhappy Agnes; but as +denial and concealment were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> now alike impossible, and could avail her +nothing, they boldly, nay, proudly acknowledged that which they had +done, and openly rejoiced it had been theirs to give one gleam of +comfort to the dying Nigel, by extending protection to his wife.</p> + +<p>"And are ye not traitors—bold, presuming traitors—deserving the +chastisement of such, bearding me thus in my very palace?" wrathfully +exclaimed Edward. "Know ye not both are liable to the charge of treason, +aye, treason—and fear ye to brave us thus?"</p> + +<p>"My liege, we are no traitors, amenable to no such charge," calmly +answered Gloucester; "far, far more truly, faithfully, devotedly your +grace's subjects than many of those who had shrunk from an act as this. +That in so doing we were likely to incur your royal displeasure, we +acknowledge with deep regret and sorrow, and I take it no shame thus on +my knee to beseech your highness's indulgence for the fault; but if you +deem it worthy of chastisement, we are ready to submit to it, denying, +however, all graver charge, than that of failing in proper deference to +your grace."</p> + +<p>"All other charge! By St. Edward, is not that enough?" answered the +king, but in a mollified tone. "And thou, minion, thou whom we deemed +the very paragon of integrity and honor, hast thou aught to say? Did not +thy lips frame falsehood, and thy bold looks confirm it?"</p> + +<p>"My father, my noble father, pardon me that in this I erred," answered +Joan, kneeling by his side, and, despite his efforts to prevent it, +clasping his hand and covering it with kisses; "yet I spoke no +falsehood, uttered naught which was not truth. She <i>was</i> ill and weakly; +she was well-nigh maddened from scenes and sounds of blood. I had +besought her not to attend me, but a wife's agony could not be +restrained, and if we had refused her the protection she so wildly +craved, had discovered her person to your highness, would it have +availed thee aught? a being young, scarce past her childhood—miserable, +maddened well-nigh to death, her life wrapt up in her husband's, which +was forfeited to thee."</p> + +<p>"The wife of a traitor, the offspring of a traitress, connected on every +side with treason, and canst ask if her detention would have availed us +aught? Joan, Joan, thy defence is but a weak one," answered the king, +sternly, but he called her "Joan," and that simple word thrilled to her +heart as the voice of former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> years, and her father felt a sudden gush +of tears fall on the hand he had not withdrawn, and vainly he struggled +against the softening feelings those tears had brought. It was strange +that, angered as he really was, the better feelings of Edward should in +such a moment have so completely gained the ascendency. Perhaps he was +not proof against the contrast before him, presented in the persons of +Buchan and Gloucester; the base villainy of the one, the exalted +nobility of the other, alike shone forth the clearer from their +unusually close contact. In general, Edward was wont to deem these +softening emotions foolish weaknesses, which he would banish by shunning +the society of all those who could call them forth. Their candid +acknowledgment of having deserved his displeasure, and submission to his +will, however, so soothed his self-love, his fondness for absolute +power, that he permitted them to have vent with but little restraint. +Agnes might have been the wife of a traitor, but he was out of Edward's +way; the daughter of a traitress, but she was equally powerless; linked +with treason, but too much crashed by her own misery to be sensible of +aught else. Surely she was too insignificant for him to persevere in +wrath, and alienate by unmerited severity yet more the hearts which at +such moments he felt he valued, despite his every effort to the +contrary.</p> + +<p>So powerfully was he worked upon, that had it not been for the +ill-restrained fury of Buchan, it was possible the subject would have +been in the end peaceably dismissed; but on that earl's reminding him of +his royal word, the king commanded Gloucester to deliver up his charge +to her rightful guardian, and all the past should be forgiven. The earl +quietly and respectfully replied he could not, for he knew not where she +was. Wrath gathered on Edward's brow, and Buchan laid his hand on his +sword; but neither the royal commands nor Buchan's muttered threats and +oaths of vengeance could elicit from Gloucester more than that she had +set off to return to Scotland with an aged man, not three hours after +the execution had taken place. He had purposely avoided all inquiries as +to their intended route, and therefore not any cross-questioning on the +part of the king caused him to waver in the smallest point from his +original tale, or afforded any evidence that he knew more than he said.</p> + +<p>"Get thee to Sir Edward Cunningham, my Lord of Buchan,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> and bid him draw +up a warrant for the detention and committal of these two persons +wherever they may be," the king said, "and away with thee, and a trusty +troop, with all speed to Berwick. Make inquiries of all who at that +particular hour passed the gates, and be assured thou wilt find some +clue. Take men enough to scour the country in all directions; provide +them with an exact description of the prisoners they seek, and tarry +not, and thou wilt yet gain thy prize; living or dead, we resign all our +right over her person to thee, and give thee power, as her father, to do +with her what may please thee best. Away with thee, my lord, and heaven +speed thee!"</p> + +<p>"My liege and father, oh, why hast thou done this?" exclaimed the +princess, imploringly, as, with a low obeisance to the king and a +gesture of triumph at the Earl of Gloucester, Buchan departed. "Hath she +not borne misery enough!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, we do but our duty to our subjects in aiding fathers to repress +rebellious children," replied the king. "Of a truth, fair dame of +Gloucester, thy principles of filial duty seem somewhat as loose and +light as those which counselled abetting, protecting, and concealing the +partner of a traitor. Wouldst have us refuse Buchan's most fatherly +desire? Surely thou wouldst not part him from his child?"</p> + +<p>"Forever and forever!" exclaimed the princess, fervently. "Great God in +heaven, that such a being should call that monster father, and owe him +the duty of a child! But, oh, thou dost but jest, my father; in mercy +recall that warrant—expose her not to wretchedness as this!"</p> + +<p>"Peace," replied the king, sternly. "As thou valuest thine own and thy +husband's liberty and life, breathe not another syllable, speak not +another word for her, or double misery shall be her portion. We have +shown enough of mercy in demanding no further punishment for that which +ye have done, than that for ten days ye remain prisoners in your own +apartments. Answer not; we will have no more of this."</p> + +<p>The Earl of Buchan, meanwhile, had made no delay in gaining the +necessary aids to his plan. Ere two hours passed, he was on his road to +Berwick, backed with a stout body of his own retainers, and bearing a +commission to the Earl of Berwick to provide him with as many more as he +desired. He went first to the hostelry near the outskirts of the town, +where he remembered Gloucester had borne the supposed page. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> he +obtained much desirable information, an exact description of the dress, +features, and appearance of both the page and his companion; of the +former, indeed, he recollected all-sufficient, even had the description +been less exact. The old minstrel had attracted the attention of many +within the hostel, and consequently enabled Buchan to obtain information +from various sources, all of which agreed so well that he felt sure of +success.</p> + +<p>Backed by the warrant of Edward, he went to the civil authorities of the +town, obtained four or five technically drawn-up descriptions of the +prisoners, and intrusted them to the different officers, who, with bands +of fifty men, he commanded to search every nook and corner of the +country round Berwick, in various directions. He himself discovering +they had passed through the Scotch gate and appeared directing their +course in a westerly direction, took with him one hundred men, and +followed that track, buoyed up by the hope not only of gaining +possession of his daughter, but perhaps of falling in with the retreat +even of the detested Bruce, against whom he had solemnly recorded a vow +never to let the sword rest in the scabbard till he had revenged the +murder of his kinsman, the Red Comyn. Some words caught by a curious +listener, passing between the page and minstrel, and eagerly reported to +him, convinced him it was Robert Bruce they sought, and urged him to +continue the search with threefold vigor.</p> + +<p>Slowly and sadly meanwhile had the hours of their weary pilgrimage +passed for the poor wanderers, and little did they imagine, as they +threaded the most intricate paths of the borders of Scotland, that they +were objects of persecution and pursuit. Though the bodily strength of +Agnes had well-nigh waned, though the burning cheek and wandering, too +brightly flashing eye denoted how fearfully did fever rage internally, +she would not pause save when absolutely compelled. She could neither +sleep nor eat: her only cry was, "To the king—bring me but to King +Robert while I may yet speak!" her only consciousness, that she had a +mission to perform, that she was intrusted with a message from the dead; +all else was a void, dark, shapeless, in which thought framed no image; +mind, not a wish. Insensibility it was not, alas! no, that void was woe, +all woe, which folded up heart and brain as with a cloak of fire, +scorching up thought, memory, hope—all that could recall the past, +vivify the present, or vision forth the future. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> breathed indeed and +spoke, and clung to that aged man with all the clinging helplessness of +her sex, but scarce could she be said to live; all that was real of life +had twined round her husband's soul, and with it fled.</p> + +<p>The old man felt not his advanced age, the consciousness of the many +dangers hovering on their way; his whole thought was for her, to bring +her to the soothing care and protection of the king, and then he cared +not how soon his sand run out. When wandering in the districts of +Annandale and Carrick, before he had arrived at Berwick, he had learned +the secret but most important intelligence that King Robert had passed +the winter off the coast of Ireland, and was supposed to be only waiting +a favorable opportunity to return to Scotland, and once more upraise his +standard. This news had been most religiously and strictly preserved a +secret amid the few faithful adherents of the Bruce, who perhaps spoke +yet more as they hoped than as a fact well founded.</p> + +<p>For some days their way had been more fatiguing than dangerous, for +though the country was overrun with English, a minstrel and a page were +objects far too insignificant, in the present state of excitement, to +meet with either detention or notice. Not a week had passed, however, +before rumors of Buchan's parties reached the old man's ears, and filled +him with anxiety and dread. The feverish restlessness of Agnes to +advance yet quicker on their way, precluded all idea of halting, save in +woods and caverns, till the danger had passed. Without informing her of +all he had heard, and the danger he apprehended, he endeavored to avoid +all towns and villages; but the heavy rains which had set in rendered +their path through the country yet more precarious and uncertain, and +often compelled him most unwillingly to seek other and better shelter. +At Strathaven he became conscious that their dress and appearance were +strictly scrutinized, and some remarks that he distinguished convinced +him that Buchan had either passed through that town, or was lingering in +its neighborhood still. Turning sick with apprehension, the old man +hastily retraced his steps to the hostel, where he had left Agnes, and +found her, for the first time since their departure, sunk into a kind of +sleep or stupor from exhaustion, from which he could not bear to arouse +her. Watching her for some little time in silence, his attention was +attracted by whispering voices, only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> separated from him by a thin +partition. They recounted and compared one by one the dress and peculiar +characteristics of himself and his companion, seeming to compare it with +a written list. Then followed an argument as to whether it would not be +better to arrest their progress at once, or send on to the Earl of +Buchan, who was at a castle only five miles distant. How it was +determined Dermid knew not, for the voices faded in the distance; but he +had heard enough, and it seemed indeed as if detention and restraint +were at length at hand. What to do he knew not. Night had now some hours +advanced, and to attempt leaving the hostel at such an unseasonable hour +would be of itself sufficient to confirm suspicion. All seemed at rest +within the establishment; there was no sound to announce that a +messenger had been dispatched to the earl, and he determined to await as +calmly as might be the dawn.</p> + +<p>The first streak of light, however, was scarce visible in the east +before, openly and loudly, so as to elude all appearance of flight, he +declared his intention of pursuing his journey, as the weather had +already detained them too long. He called on the hostess to receive her +reckoning, commanded the mules to be saddled, all of which was done, to +his surprise, without comment or question, and they departed +unrestrained; the old man too much overjoyed at this unexpected escape +to note that they were followed by two Englishmen, the one on horseback, +the other on foot. Anxiety indeed had still possession of him, for he +could not reconcile the words he had overheard with their quiet +departure; but as the day passed, and they plunged thicker and thicker +in the woods of Carrick, and there was no sign of pursuit, or even of a +human form, he hailed with joy a solitary house, and believed the danger +passed.</p> + +<p>The inmates received them with the utmost hospitality; the order for +their detention had evidently not reached them, and Dermid determined on +waiting quietly there till the exhausted strength of his companion +should be recruited, and permit them to proceed. An hour and more passed +in cheerful converse with the aged couple who owned the house, and who, +with the exception of one or two servants, were its sole inhabitants. +The tales of the minstrel were called for and received with a glee which +seemed to make all his listeners feel young again. Agnes alone sate +apart; her delicate frame and evident exhaustion concealing deeper +sufferings from her hosts, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> vied with each other in seeking to +alleviate her fatigue and give bodily comfort, if they could offer no +other consolation. Leaning back in a large settle in the chimney corner, +she had seemed unconscious of the cheerful sociability around her, when +suddenly she arose, and advancing to Dermid, laid a trembling hand on +his arm. He looked up surprised.</p> + +<p>"Hist!" she murmured, throwing back the hair from her damp brow. "Hear +ye no sound?"</p> + +<p>All listened for a time in vain.</p> + +<p>"Again," she said; "'tis nearer, more distinct. Who comes with a troop +of soldiers here?"</p> + +<p>It was indeed the heavy trampling of many horse, at first so distant as +scarcely to be distinguished, save by ears anxious and startled as old +Dermid's; but nearer and nearer they came, till even the inmates of the +house all huddled, together in alarm. Agnes remained standing, her hand +on Dermid's arm, her head thrown back, her features bearing an +expression scarce to be defined. The horses' hoofs, mingled with the +clang of armor, rung sharp and clear on the stones of the courtyard. +They halted: the pommel of a sword was struck against the oaken door, +and a night's lodging courteously demanded. The terror of the owners of +the house subsided, for the voice they heard was Scotch.</p> + +<p>The door was thrown open, the request granted, with the same hospitality +as had been extended to the minstrel and the page. On the instant there +was a confused sound of warriors dismounting, of horses eager for +stabling and forage; and one tall and stately figure, clad from head to +foot in mail, entered the house, and removing his helmet, addressed some +words of courteous greeting and acknowledgment to its inmates. A loud +exclamation burst from the minstrel's lips; but Agnes uttered no sound, +she made one bound forward, and dropped senseless at the warrior's feet.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + + +<p>It was on a cool evening, near the end of September, 1311, that a troop, +consisting of about thirty horse, and as many on foot, were leisurely +traversing the mountain passes between the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> counties of Dumfries and +Lanark. Their arms were well burnished; their buff coats and half-armor +in good trim; their banner waved proudly from its staff, as bright and +gay as if it had not even neared a scene of strife; and there was an air +of hilarity and gallantry about them that argued well for success, if +about to commence an expedition, or if returning, told with equal +emphasis they had been successful. That the latter was the case was +speedily evident, from the gay converse passing between them; their +allusions to some late gallant achievement of their patriot sovereign; +their joyous comparisons between good King Robert and his weak opponent, +Edward II. of England, marvelling how so wavering and indolent a son +could have sprung from so brave and determined a sire; for, Scotsmen as +they were, they were now <span class="smcap">free</span>, and could thus afford to allow +the "hammer" of their country some knightly qualities, despite the stern +and cruel tyranny which to them had ever marked his conduct. They spoke +in laughing scorn of the second Edward's efforts to lay his father's +yoke anew upon their necks; they said a just heaven had interfered and +urged him to waste the decisive moment of action in indolence and folly, +in the flatteries of his favorite, to the utter exclusion of those wiser +lords, whose counsels, if followed on the instant, might have shaken +even the wise and patriot Bruce. Yet they were so devoted to their +sovereign, they idolized him alike as a warrior and a man too deeply, to +allow that to the weak and vacillating conduct of Edward they owed the +preservation of their country. It was easy to perceive by the springy +step, the flashing eye, the ringing, tone with which that magic name, +the Bruce, was spoken, how deeply it was written on the heart; the joy +it was to recall his deeds, and feel it was through him that they were +free! Their converse easily betrayed them to be one of those +well-ordered though straggling parties into which King Robert's invading +armies generally dispersed at his command, when returning to their own +fastnesses, after a successful expedition to the English border.</p> + +<p>The laugh and jest resounded, as we have said, amongst both officers and +men; but their leader, who was riding about a stone's throw ahead, gave +no evidence of sharing their mirth. He was clad from head to foot in +chain armor, of a hue so dark as to be mistaken for black, and from his +wearing a surcoat of the same color, unenlivened by any device, gave him +altogether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> a somewhat sombre appearance, although it could not detract +in the smallest degree from the peculiar gracefulness and easy dignity +of his form, which was remarkable both on horseback and on foot. He was +evidently very tall, and by his firm seat in the saddle, had been early +accustomed to equestrian exercises; but his limbs were slight almost to +delicacy, and though completely ensheathed in mail, there was an +appearance of extreme youth about him, that perhaps rendered the absence +of all gayety the more striking. Yet on the battle-field he gave no +evidence of inexperience as a warrior, no sign that he was merely a +scholar in the art of war; there only did men believe he must be older +than he seemed; there only his wonted depression gave place to an +energy, a fire, second to none amongst the Scottish patriots, not even +to the Bruce himself; then only was the naturally melancholy music of +his voice lost in accents of thrilling power, of imperative command, and +the oldest warriors followed him as if under the influence of some +spell. But of his appearance on the field we must elsewhere speak. He +now led his men through the mountain defiles mechanically, as if buried +in meditation, and that meditation not of the most pleasing nature. His +vizor was closed, but short clustering curls, of a raven blackness, +escaped beneath the helmet, and almost concealed the white linen and +finely embroidered collar which lay over his gorget, and was secured in +front by a ruby clasp; a thick plume of black feathers floated from his +helmet, rivalling in color the mane of his gallant charger, which pawed +the ground, and held his head aloft as if proud of the charge he bore. A +shield was slung round the warrior's neck, and its device and motto +seemed in melancholy accordance with the rest of his attire. On a field +argent lay the branch of a tree proper, blasted and jagged, with the +words "<i>Ni nom ni paren, je suis seul</i>," rudely engraved in Norman +French beneath; his helmet bore no crest, nor did his war-cry on the +field, "Amiot for the Bruce and freedom," offer any clue to the curious +as to his history, for that there was some history attached to him all +chose to believe, though the age was too full of excitement to allow +much of wonderment or curiosity to be expended upon him. His golden +spurs gave sufficient evidence that he was a knight; his prowess on the +field proclaimed whoever had given him that honor had not bestowed it on +the undeserving. His deeds of daring, unequalled even in that age, +obtained him fa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>vor in the eyes of every soldier; and if there were some +in the court and camp of Bruce who were not quite satisfied, and loved +not the mystery which surrounded him, it mattered not, Sir Amiot of the +Branch, or the Lonely Chevalier, as he was generally called, went on his +way unquestioned.</p> + +<p>"Said not Sir Edward Bruce he would meet us hereabouts at set of sun?" +were the first words spoken by the knight, as, on issuing from the +mountains, they found themselves on a broad plain to the east of Lanark, +bearing sad tokens of a devastating war, in the ruined and blackened +huts which were the only vestiges of human habitations near. The answer +was in the affirmative; and the knight, after glancing in the direction +of the sun, which wanted about an hour to its setting, commanded a halt, +and desired that, while waiting the arrival of their comrades, they +should take their evening meal.</p> + +<p>On the instant the joyous sounds of dismounting, leading horses to +picquet, unclasping helmets, throwing aside the more easily displaced +portions of their armor, shields, and spears, took the place of the +steady tramp and well-ordered march. Flinging themselves in various +attitudes on the greensward, provender was speedily laid before them, +and rare wines and other choice liquors, fruits of their late campaign, +passed gayly round. An esquire had, at the knight's sign, assisted him +to remove his helmet, shield, and gauntlets; but though this removal +displayed a beautifully formed head, thickly covered with dark hair, his +features were still concealed by a species of black mask, the mouth, +chin, and eyes being alone visible, and therefore his identity was +effectually hidden. The mouth and chin were both small and delicately +formed; the slight appearance of beard and moustache seeming to denote +his age as some one-and-twenty years. His eyes, glancing through the +opening in the mask, were large and very dark, often flashing brightly, +when his outward bearing was so calm and quiet as to afford little +evidence of emotion. Some there were, indeed, who believed the eye the +truer index of the man than aught else about him, and to fancy there was +far more in that sad and lonely knight than was revealed.</p> + +<p>It was evident, however, that to the men now with him his remaining so +closely masked was no subject of surprise, that they regarded it as an +ordinary thing, which in consequence had lost its strangeness. They were +eager and respectful in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> their manner towards him, offering to raise him +a seat of turf at some little distance from their noisy comrades; but +acknowledging their attention with kindness and courtesy, he refused it, +and rousing himself with some difficulty from his desponding thoughts, +threw himself on the sward beside his men, and joined in their mirth and +jest.</p> + +<p>"Hast thou naught to tell to while away this tedious hour, good +Murdoch?" he asked, after a while, addressing a gray-headed veteran.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, a tale, a tale; thou hast seen more of the Bruce than all of +us together," repeated many eager voices, "and knowest yet more of his +deeds than we do; a tale an thou wilt, but of no other hero than the +Bruce."</p> + +<p>"The Bruce!" echoed the veteran; "see ye not his deeds yourselves, need +ye more of them?" but there was a sly twinkle in his eye that betrayed +his love to speak was as great as his comrades to hear him. "Have ye not +heard, aye, and many of you seen his adventures and escapes in Carrick, +hunted even as he was by bloodhounds; his guarding that mountain pass, +one man against sixty, aye, absolutely alone against the Galwegian host +of men and bloodhounds; Glen Fruin, Loudun Hill, Aberdeen; the harrying +of Buchan; charging the treacherous foe, when they had to bear him from +his litter to his horse, aye, and support him there; springing up from +his couch of pain, and suffering, and depression, agonizing to witness, +to hurl vengeance on the fell traitors; aye, and he did it, and brought +back health to his own heart and frame; and Forfar, Lorn, +Dunstaffnage—know ye not all these things? Nay, have ye not seen, +shared in them all—what would ye more?"</p> + +<p>"The harrying of Buchan, tell us of that," loudly exclaimed many voices; +while some others shouted, "the landing of the Bruce—tell us of his +landing, and the spirit fire at Turnberry Head; the strange woman that +addressed him."</p> + +<p>"Now which am I to tell, good my masters?" laughingly answered the old +man, when the tumult in a degree subsided. "A part of one, and part of +the other, and leave ye to work out the rest yourselves; truly, a +pleasant occupation. Say, shall it be thus? yet stay, what says Sir +Amiot?"</p> + +<p>"As you will, my friends," answered the knight, cheerily; "but decide +quickly, or we shall hear neither. I am for the tale of Buchan," there +was a peculiarly thrilling emphasis in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> tone as he pronounced the +word, "for I was not in Scotland at the time, and have heard but +disjointed rumors of the expedition."</p> + +<p>The veteran looked round on his eager comrades with an air of +satisfaction, then clearing his voice, and drawing more to the centre of +the group; "Your worship knows," he began, addressing Sir Amiot, who, +stretched at full length on the sward, had fixed his eyes upon him, +though their eagle glance was partly shaded by his hand, "that our good +King Robert the Bruce, determined on the reduction of the north of his +kingdom, advanced thereto in the spring of 1308, accompanied by his +brother, Lord Edward, that right noble gentleman the Earl of Lennox, Sir +Gilbert Hay, Sir Robert Boyd, and others, with a goodly show of men and +arms, for his successes at Glen Fruin and Loudun Hill had brought him a +vast accession of loyal subjects. And they were needed, your worship, of +a truth, for the traitorous Comyns had almost entire possession of the +castles and forts of the north, and thence were wont to pour down their +ravaging hordes upon the true Scotsmen, and menace the king, till he +scarcely knew which side to turn to first. Your worship coming, I have +heard, from the low country, can scarcely know all the haunts and +lurking-places for treason the highlands of our country present; how +hordes of traitors may be trained and armed in these remote districts, +without the smallest suspicion being attached to them till it is +well-nigh too late, and the mischief is done. Well, to drive out these +black villains, to free his kingdom, not alone from the yoke of an +English Edward, but a Scottish Comyn, good King Robert was resolved—and +even as he resolved he did. Inverness, the citadel of treason and +disloyalty, fell before him; her defences, and walls, and turrets, and +towers, all dismantled and levelled, so as to prevent all further +harborage of treason; her garrison marched out, the ringleaders sent +into secure quarters, and all who hastened to offer homage and swear +fidelity, received with a courtesy and majesty which I dare to say did +more for the cause of our true king than a Comyn could ever do against +it. Other castles followed the fate of Inverness, till at length the +north, even as the south, acknowledged the Bruce, not alone as their +king, but as their deliverer and savior.</p> + +<p>"It was while rejoicing over these glorious successes, the lords and +knights about the person of their sovereign began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> note with great +alarm that his strength seemed waning, his brow often knit as with +inward pain, his eye would grow dim, and his limbs fail him, without a +moment's warning; and that extreme depression would steal over his manly +spirit even in the very moment of success. They watched in alarm, but +silently; and when they saw the renewed earnestness and activity with +which, on hearing of the approach of Comyn of Buchan, Sir John de +Mowbray, and that worst of traitors, his own nephew, Sir David of +Brechin, he rallied his forces, advanced to meet them, and compelled +them to retreat confusedly to Aberdeen, they hoped they had been +deceived, and all was well.</p> + +<p>"But the fell disease gained ground; at first he could not guide his +charger's reins, and then he could not mount at all; his voice failed, +his sight passed; they were compelled to lay him in a litter, and bear +him in the midst of them, and they felt as if the void left by their +sovereign's absence from their head was filled with the dim shadow of +death. Nobly and gallantly did Lord Edward endeavor to remedy this fatal +evil; Lennox, Hay, even the two Frasers, who had so lately joined the +king, seemed as if paralyzed by this new grief, and hung over the +Bruce's litter as if their strength waned with his. Sternly, nay, at +such a moment it seemed almost harshly, Lord Edward rebuked this +weakness, and, conducting them to Slenath, formed some strong +entrenchments, of which the Bruce's pavilion was the centre, intending +there to wait his brother's recovery. Ah, my masters, if ye were not +with good King Robert then, ye have escaped the bitterest trial. Ye know +not what it was to behold him—the savior of his country, the darling of +his people, the noblest knight and bravest warrior who ever girded on a +sword—lie there, so pale, so faint, with scarce a voice or passing sigh +to say he breathed. The hand which grasped the weal of Scotland, the arm +that held her shield, lay nerveless as the dead; the brain which thought +so well and wisely for his fettered land, lay powerless and still; the +thrilling voice was hushed, the flashing eye was closed. The foes were +close around him, and true friends in tears and woe beside his couch, +were all alike unknown. Ah! then was the time for warrior's tears, for +men of iron frame and rugged mood to soften into woman's woe, and weep. +Men term Lord Edward Bruce so harsh and stern, one whom naught of grief +for others or himself can move; they saw him not as I have. It was mine +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> watch my sovereign, when others sought their rest; and I have seen +that rugged chieftain stand beside his brother's couch alone, unmarked, +and struggle with his spirit till his brow hath knit, his lip become +convulsed, and then as if 'twere vain, all vain, sink on his knee, clasp +his sovereign's hand, and bow his head and weep. 'Tis passed and over +now, kind heaven be praised! yet I cannot recall that scene, unbind the +folds of memory, unmoved."</p> + +<p>The old man passed his rough hand across his eyes, and for a brief +moment paused; his comrades, themselves affected, sought not to disturb +him, and quickly he resumed.</p> + +<p>"Days passed, and still King Robert gave no sign of amendment, except, +indeed, there were intervals when his eyes wandered to the countenances +of his leaders, as if he knew them, and would fain have addressed them +as his wont. Then it was our men were annoyed by an incessant discharge +from Buchan's archers, which, though they could do perhaps no great +evil, yet wounded many of our men, and roused Lord Edward's spirit to +resent the insult. His determination to leave the entrenchments and +retreat to Strathbogie, appeared at first an act of such unparalleled +daring as to startle all his brother leaders, and they hesitated; but +there never was any long resisting Sir Edward's plans; he bears a spell +no spirit with a spark of gallantry about him can resist. The retreat +was in consequence determined on, to the great glee of our men, who were +tired of inaction, and imagined they should feel their sovereign's +sufferings less if engaged hand to hand with, the foe, in his service, +than watching him as they had lately done, and dreading yet greater +evils.</p> + +<p>"Ye have heard of this daring retreat, my friends; it was in the mouth +of every Scotsman, aye, and of Englishman too, for King Robert himself +never accomplished a deed of greater skill. The king's litter was placed +in the centre of a square, which presented on either side such an +impenetrable fence of spears and shields, that though Buchan and De +Mowbray mustered more than double our number, they never ventured an +attack, and a retreat, apparently threatening total destruction, from +its varied dangers, was accomplished without the loss of a single man. +At Strathbogie we halted but a short space, for finding no obstruction +in our path, we hastened southward, in the direction of Inverury; there +we pitched the tent for the king,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> and, taking advantage of a natural +fortification, dispersed our men around it, still in a compact square. +Soon after this had been accomplished, news was received that our foes +were concentrating their numerous forces at Old Meldrum, scarcely two +miles from us, and consequently we must hold ourselves in constant +readiness to receive their attack.</p> + +<p>"Well, the news that the enemy was so near us might not perhaps have +been particularly pleasing, had they not been more than balanced by the +conviction—far more precious than a large reinforcement, for in itself +it was a host—the king was recovering. Yes, scarcely as we dared hope, +much less believe it, the disease, which had fairly baffled all the +leech's art, which had hung over our idolized monarch so long, at length +showed symptoms of giving way, and there was as great rejoicing in the +camp as if neither danger nor misfortune could assail us more; a new +spirit sparkled in every eye, as if the awakening lustre in the Bruce's +glance, the still faint, yet thrilling accents of a voice we had feared +was hushed forever, had lighted on every heart, and kindled anew their +slumbering fire. One day, Lord Edward, the Earl of Lennox, and a gallant +party, were absent scouring the country about half a mile round our +entrenchments, and in consequence, one side of our square was more than +usually open, but we did not think it signified, for there wore no +tidings of the enemy; well, this day the king had called me to him, and +bade me relate the particulars of the retreat, which I was proud enough +to do, my masters, and which of you would not be, speaking as I did with +our gallant sovereign as friend with friend?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, and does he not make us all feel this?" burst simultaneously from +many voices; "does he not speak, and treat us all as if we were his +friends, and not his subjects only? Thine was a proud task, good +Murdoch, but which of us has good King Robert not addressed with kindly +words and proffered hand?"</p> + +<p>"Right! right!" joyously responded the old man; "still I say that hour +was one of the proudest in my life, and an eventful one too for Scotland +ere it closed. King Robert heard me with flashing eye and kindling +cheek, and his voice, as he burst forth in high praise and love for his +daring brother, sounded almost as strong and thrilling as was its wont +in health; just then a struggle was heard without the tent, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> scuffle, +as of a skirmish, confused voices, clashing of weapons, and war-cries. +Up started the king, with eagle glance and eager tone. 'My arms,' he +cried, 'bring me my arms! Ha hear ye that?' and sure enough, 'St. David +for De Brechin, and down with the Bruce!' resounded so close, that it +seemed as if but the curtain separated the traitor from his kinsman and +his king. Never saw I the Bruce so fearfully aroused, the rage of the +lion was upon him. 'Hear ye that?' he repeated, as, despite my +remonstrances, and these of the officers who rushed into the tent, he +sprang from the couch, and, with the rapidity of light, assumed his +long-neglected armor. 'The traitorous villain! would he beard me to my +teeth? By the heaven above us, he shall rue this insolence! Bring me my +charger. Beaten off, say ye? I doubt it not, my gallant friends; but it +is now the Bruce's turn, his kindred traitors are not far off, and we +would try their mettle now. Nay, restrain me not, these folk will work a +cure for me—there, I am a man again!' and as he stood upright, sheathed +in his glittering mail, his drawn sword in his gauntleted hand, a wild +shout of irrepressible joy burst from us all, and, caught up by the +soldiers without the tent, echoed and re-echoed through the camp. The +sudden appearance of the Bruce's charger, caparisoned for battle, +standing before his master's tent, the drums rolling for the muster, the +lightning speed with which Sir Edward Bruce, Lennox, and Hay, after +dispersing De Brechin's troop, as dust on the plain, galloped to the +royal pavilion, themselves equally at a loss to understand the bustle +there, all prepared the men-at-arms for what was to come. Eagerly did +the gallant knights remonstrate with their sovereign, conjure him to +follow the battle in his litter, rather than attempt to mount his +charger; they besought him to think what his life, his safety was to +them, and not so rashly risk it. Lord Edward did entreat him to reserve +his strength till there was more need; the field was then clear, the +foes had not appeared; but all in vain their eloquence, the king +combated it all. 'We will go seek them, brother,' cheerily answered the +king; 'we will go tell them insult to the Bruce passes not unanswered. +On, on, gallant knights, our men wax impatient.' Hastening from the +tent, he stood one moment in the sight of all his men: removing his +helmet, he smiled a gladsome greeting. Oh, what a shout rung forth from +those iron ranks! There was that noble face,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> pale, attenuated indeed, +but beaming on them in all its wonted animation, confidence, and love; +there was that majestic form towering again in its princely dignity, +seeming the nobler from being so long unseen. Again and again that shout +arose, till the wild birds rose screaming over our heads, in untuned, +yet exciting chorus. Nor did the fact that the king, strengthened as he +was by his own glorious soul, had in reality not bodily force enough to +mount his horse without support, take from the enthusiasm of his men, +nay, it was heightened and excited to the wildest pitch. 'For Scotland +and freedom!' shouted the king, as for one moment he rose in his +stirrups and waved his bright blade above his head. 'For Bruce and +Scotland!' swelled the answering shout. We formed, we gathered in +compact array around our leaders, loudly clashed our swords against our +shields; we marched a brief while slowly and majestically along the +plain; we neared the foe, who, with its multitude in terrible array, +awaited our coming; we saw, we hurled defiance in a shout which rent the +very air. Quicker and yet quicker we advanced; on, on—we scoured the +dusty plain, we pressed, we flew, we rushed upon the foe; the Bruce was +at our head, and with him victory. We burst through their ranks; we +compelled them, at the sword's point, to turn and fight even to the +death; we followed them foot to foot, and hand to hand, disputing every +inch of ground; they sought to retreat, to fly—but no! Five miles of +Scottish ground, five good broad miles, was that battle-field; the enemy +lay dead in heaps upon the field, the remainder fled."</p> + +<p>"And the king!" exclaimed the knight of the mask, half springing up in +the excitement the old man's tale had aroused. "How bore he this day's +wondrous deed—was not his strength exhausted anew?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, what of the king?" repeated many of the soldiers, who had held +their very breath while the veteran spoke, and clenched their swords, as +if they were joining in the strife he so energetically described.</p> + +<p>"The king, my masters," replied Murdoch, "why, if it could be, he looked +yet more the mighty warrior at the close than at the commencement of the +work. We had seen him the first in the charge, in the pursuit; we had +marked his white plume waving above all others, where the strife waxed +hottest; and when we gathered round him, when the fight was done, he +was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> seated on the ground in truth, and there was the dew of extreme +fatigue on his brow—he had flung aside his helmet—and his cheek was +hotly flushed, and his voice, as he thanked us for our gallant conduct, +and bade us return thanks to heaven for this great victory, was somewhat +quivering; but for all that, my masters, he looked still the warrior and +the king, and his voice grew firmer and louder as he bade us have no +fears for him. He dismissed us with our hearts as full of joy and love +for him as of triumph on our humbled foes."</p> + +<p>"No doubt," responded many voices; "but Buchan, Mowbray, De +Brechin—what came of them—were they left on the field?"</p> + +<p>"They fled, loving their lives better than their honor; they fled, like +cowards as they were. The two first slackened not their speed till they +stood on English ground. De Brechin, ye know, held out Angus as long as +he could, and was finally made captive."</p> + +<p>"Aye, and treated with far greater lenity than the villain deserved. He +will never be a Randolph."</p> + +<p>"A Randolph! Not a footboy in Randolph's train but is more Randolph than +he. But thou sayest Buchan slackened not rein till he reached English +ground; he lingered long enough for yet blacker treachery, if rumor +speaks aright. Was it not said the king's life was attempted by his +orders, and by one of the Comyn's own followers?"</p> + +<p>"Ha!" escaped Sir Amiot's lips. "Say they this?" but he evidently had +spoken involuntarily, for the momentary agitation which had accompanied +the words was instantly and forcibly suppressed.</p> + +<p>"Aye, your worship, and it is true," replied the veteran "It was two +nights after the battle. All the camp was at rest; I was occupied as +usual, by my honored watch in my sovereign's tent. The king was sleeping +soundly, and a strange drowsiness appeared creeping over me too, +confusing all my thoughts. At first I imagined the wind was agitating a +certain corner of the tent, and my eyes, half asleep and half wakeful, +became fascinated upon it; presently, what seemed a bale of carpets, +only doubled up in an extraordinary small space, appeared within the +drapery. It moved; my senses were instantly aroused. Slowly and +cautiously the bale grew taller, then the unfolding carpet fell, and a +short, well-knit, muscular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> form appeared. He was clothed in those +padded jerkins and hose, plaited with steel, which are usual to those of +his rank; the steel, however, this night was covered with thin, black +stuff, evidently to assist concealment. He looked cautiously around him. +I had creeped noiselessly, and on all fours, within the shadow of the +king's couch, where I could observe the villain's movements myself +unseen. I saw a gleam of triumph twinkle in his eye, so sure he seemed +of his intended victim. He advanced; his dagger flashed above the Bruce. +With one bound, one shout, I sprang on the murderous wretch, wrenched +the dagger from his grasp, and dashed him to the earth. He struggled, +but in vain; the king started from that deep slumber, one moment gazed +around him bewildered, the next was on his feet, and by my side. The +soldiers rushed into the tent, and confusion for the moment waxed loud +and warm; but the king quelled it with a word. The villain was raised, +pinioned, brought before the Bruce, who sternly demanded what was his +intent, and who was his employer. Awhile the miscreant paused, but then, +as if spell-bound by the flashing orb upon him, confessed the whole, +aye, and more; that his master, the Earl of Buchan, had sworn a deep and +deadly oath to relax not in his hot pursuit till the life-blood of the +Bruce had avenged the death of the Red Comyn, and that, though he had +escaped now, he must fall at length, for the whole race of Comyn had +joined hands upon their chieftain's oath. The brow of the king grew +dark, terrible wrath beamed from his eyes, and it seemed for the moment +as if he would deliver up the murderous villain into the hands that +yearned to tear him piecemeal. There was a struggle, brief yet terrible, +then he spoke, and calmly, yet with a bitter stinging scorn.</p> + +<p>"'And this is Buchan's oath,' he said. 'Ha! doth he not bravely, my +friends, to fly the battle-field, to shun us there, that hireling hands +may do a deed he dares not? For this poor fool, what shall we do with +him?'</p> + +<p>"'Death, death—torture and death! what else befits the sacrilegious +traitor?' burst from many voices, pressing forward to seize and bear him +from the tent; but the king signed them to forbear, and oh, what a smile +took the place of his previous scorn!</p> + +<p>"'And I say neither torture nor death, my friends,' he tried. 'What, are +we sunk so low, as to revenge this insult<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> on a mere tool, the +instrument of a villainous master? No, no! let him go free, and tell his +lord how little the Bruce heeds him; that guarded as he is by a free +people's love, were the race of Comyn as powerful and numerous as +England's self, their oath would avail them nothing. Let the poor fool +go free!'</p> + +<p>"A deep wild murmur ran through the now crowded tent, and so mingled +were the tones of applause and execration, we knew not which the most +prevailed.</p> + +<p>"'And shall there be no vengeance for this dastard deed?' at length the +deep, full voice of Lord Edward Bruce arose, distinct above the rest. +'Shall the Bruce sit tamely down to await the working of the villain +oath, and bid its tools go free, filling the whole land with +well-trained murderers? Shall Buchan pass scathless, to weave yet +darker, more atrocious schemes?'</p> + +<p>"'Brother, no,' frankly rejoined the king. 'We will make free to go and +visit our friends in Buchan, and there, an thou wilt, thou shalt pay +them in coin for their kindly intents and deeds towards us; but for this +poor fool, again I say, let him go free. Misery and death, God wot, we +are compelled to for our country's sake, let us spare where but our own +person is endangered.'</p> + +<p>"And they let him free, my masters, unwise as it seemed to us; none +could gainsay our sovereign's words. Sullen to the last, the only +symptom of gratitude he vouchsafed was to mutter forth, in, answer to +the Bruce's warning words to hie him to his comrades in Buchan, and bid +them, an they feared fire and devastation, to fly without delay, 'Aye, +only thus mayest thou hope to exterminate the traitors; pity none, spare +none. The whole district of Buchan is peopled by the Comyn, bound by +this oath of blood,' and thus he departed."</p> + +<p>"And spoke he truth?" demanded Sir Amiot, hoarsely, and with an +agitation that, had others more suspicious been with him, must have been +remarked, although forcibly and painfully suppressed; "spoke he truth? +Methought the district of Buchan had only within the last century +belonged to the Comyn, and that the descendants of the Countess +Margaret's vassals still kept apart, loving not the intermixture of +another clan. Said they not it was on this account the Countess of +Buchan had exercised such influence, and herself beaded a gal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>lant troop +at the first rising of the Bruce? an the villain spoke truth, whence +came this change?"</p> + +<p>"Why, for that matter, your worship, it is easy enough explained," +answered Murdoch, "and, trust me, King Robert set inquiries enough +afloat ere he commenced his scheme of retaliation. Had there been one of +the Lady Isabella's own followers there, one who, in her name, claimed +his protection, he would have given it; not a hair of their heads would +have been injured; but there were none of these, your worship. The few +of the original clan which had not joined him were scattered all over +the country, mingling with other loyal clans; their own master had +hunted them away, when he came down to his own districts, just before +the capture of his wife and son. He filled the Tower of Buchan with his +own creatures, scattered the Comyns all over the land, with express +commands to attack, hunt, or resist all of the name of Bruce to the last +ebb of their existence. He left amongst them officers and knights as +traitorous, and spirits well-nigh as evil as his own, and they obeyed +him to the letter, for amongst the most inveterate, the most +treacherous, and most dishonorable persecutors of the Bruce stood first +and foremost the Comyns of Buchan. Ah! the land was changed from the +time when the noble countess held sway there, and so they felt to their +cost.</p> + +<p>"It was a grand yet fearful sight, those low hanging woods and glens all +in one flame; the spring had been particularly dry and windy, and the +branches caught almost with a spark, and crackled and sparkled, and +blazed, and roared, till for miles round we could see and hear the work +of devastation. Aye, the coward earl little knew what was passing in his +territories, while he congratulated himself on his safe flight into +England. It was a just vengeance, a deserved though terrible +retaliation, and the king felt it as such, my masters. He had borne with +the villains as long as he could, and would have borne with them still, +had he not truly felt nothing would quench their enmity, and in +consequence secure Scotland's peace and safety, but their utter +extermination, and all the time he regretted it, I know, for there was a +terrible look of sternness and determination about him while the work +lasted; he never relaxed into a smile, he never uttered a jovial word, +and we followed him, our own wild spirits awed into unwonted silence. +There was not a vestige of natural or human life in the district—all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +was one mass of black, discolored ashes, utter ruin and appalling +devastation. Not a tower of Buchan remains."</p> + +<p>"All—sayest thou all?" said Sir Amiot, suddenly, yet slowly, and with +difficulty. "Left not the Bruce one to bear his standard, and thus mark +his power?"</p> + +<p>"Has not your worship remarked that such is never the Bruce's policy? +Three years ago, he had not force enough to fortify the castles he took +from the English, and leaving them standing did but offer safe harbors +for the foe, so it was ever his custom to dismantle, as utterly to +prevent their reestablishment; and if he did this with the castles of +his own friends, who all, as the Douglas saith, 'love better to hear the +lark sing than the mouse squeak,' it was not likely he would spare +Buchan's. But there was one castle, I remember, cost him a bitter +struggle to demolish. It was the central fortress of the district, +distinguished, I believe, by the name of 'the Tower of Buchan,' and had +been the residence of that right noble lady, the Countess Isabella and +her children. Nay, from what I overheard his grace say to Lord Edward, +it had formerly given him shelter and right noble hospitality, and a +dearer, more precious remembrance still to his noble heart—it had been +for many months the happy home of his brother, Sir Nigel, and we know +what magic power all associated with <i>him</i> has upon the king; and had it +not been for the expostulations of Lord Edward, his rough yet earnest +entreaty, methinks that fortress had been standing yet. That sternness, +terrible to behold, for it ever tells of some mighty inward passions +conquered, again gathered on our sovereign's brow, but he turned his +charger's head, and left to Lord Edward the destruction of the fortress, +and he made quick work of it; you will scarce find two stones together +of its walls."</p> + +<p>"He counselled right," echoed many voices, the eagerness with which they +had listened, and now spoke, effectually turning their attention from +their mysterious leader, who at old Murdoch's last words had with +difficulty prevented the utterance of a deep groan, and then, as if +startled at his own emotion, sprung up from his reclining posture, and +joined his voice to those of his men. "He counselled, and did rightly," +they repeated; "it would have been an ill deed to spare a traitor's den +for such softening thoughts. Could we but free the Countess Isabella, +she would not want a home in Buchan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>—nay, the further from her cruel +husband's territories the better and for her children—the one, poor +innocent, is cared for, and the other—"</p> + +<p>"Aye, my masters, and trust me, that other was in our sovereign's heart +as forcibly as the memories he spoke. That which we know now concerning +him was then undreamed of; it was only faintly rumored that Lord Douglas +had been deceived, and Alan of Buchan had not fallen by a father's hand, +or at least by his orders; that he was in life, in close confinement; my +old ears did catch something of this import from the king, as he spoke +with his brother."</p> + +<p>"What import?" asked Sir Amiot, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Only, your worship, that, for the sake of the young heir of Buchan, he +wished that such total devastation could have been spared; if he were +really in life, as rumor said, it was hard to act as if he were +forgotten by his friends."</p> + +<p>"And what was Sir Edward's reply?"</p> + +<p>"First, that he doubted the rumor altogether; secondly, that if he did +return to the king, his loss might be more than made up; and thirdly, +that it was more than probable that, young as he was, if he really did +live, the arts of his father would prevail, and he would purchase his +freedom by homage and fidelity to England."</p> + +<p>"Ha! said he so—and the king?"</p> + +<p>"Did not then think with him, nay, declared he would stake his right +hand that the boy, young as he was, had too much of his mother's noble +spirit for such a deed. It was well the stake was not accepted, for, by +St. Andrew, as the tale now goes, King Robert would have lost."</p> + +<p>"As the tale now goes, thou unbelieving skeptic," replied one of his +comrades, laughing; "has not the gallant been seen, recognized—is he +not known as one of King Edward's minions, and lords it bravely? But +hark! there are chargers pricking over the plain. Hurrah! Sir Edward and +Lord James," and on came a large body of troopers and infantry even as +he spoke.</p> + +<p>Up started Sir Amiot's men in eager readiness to greet and join; their +armor and weapons they had laid aside were resumed, and ere their +comrades reached them all were in readiness. Sir Amiot, attended by his +esquires and a page, galloped forward, and the two knights, perceiving +his advance,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> spurred on before their men, and hasty and cordial +greetings were exchanged. We should perhaps note that Sir Amiot's manner +slightly differed in his salutation of the two knights. To Lord Edward +Bruce he was eager, frank, cordial, as that knight himself; to the +other, whom one glance proclaimed as the renowned James Lord Douglas, +there was an appearance of pride or reserve, and it seemed an effort to +speak with him at all. Douglas perhaps did not perceive this, or was +accustomed to it, for it seemed to affect him little; and Lord Edward's +bluff address prevented all manifestation of difference between his +colleagues, even if there existed any.</p> + +<p>"Ready to mount and ride; why that's well," he cried. "We are beyond our +time, but it is little reck, we need but spur the faster, which our men +seem all inclined to do. What news? why, none since we parted, save that +his grace has resolved on the siege of Perth without further delay."</p> + +<p>"Nay, but that is news, so please you," replied Sir Amiot. "When I +parted from his grace, there was no talk of it."</p> + +<p>"There was talk of it, but no certainty; for our royal brother kept his +own counsel, and spoke not of this much-desired event till his way lay +clear before him. There have been some turbulent spirits in the +camp—your humble servant, this black lord, and Randolph amongst +them—who in truth conspired to let his grace know no peace by night or +day till this object was attained; but our prudent monarch gave us +little heed till his wiser brain arranged the matters we but burned to +execute."</p> + +<p>"And what, think you, fixed this resolve?"</p> + +<p>"Simply that for a time we are clear of English thieves and Norman +rogues, and can march northward, and sit down before Perth without fear +of being called southward again. Edward will have enow on his hands to +keep his own frontiers from invasion; 'twill be some time ere he see the +extent of our vengeance, and meanwhile our drift is gained."</p> + +<p>"Aye, it were a sin and crying shame to let Perth remain longer in +English hands," rejoined Douglas; "strongly garrisoned it may be; but +what matter?"</p> + +<p>"What matter! why, 'tis great matter," replied Sir Edward, joyously. +"What glory were it to sit down before a place and take it at first +charge? No, give me good fighting, tough assault, and brave defence. +Think you I would have so urged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> the king, did I not scent a glorious +struggle before the walls? Strongly garrisoned! I would not give one +link of this gold chain for it, were it not. But a truce to this idle +parley; we must make some miles ere nightfall. Sir Knight of the Branch, +do your men need further rest? if not, give the word, and let them fall +in with their comrades, and on."</p> + +<p>"Whither?" demanded Sir Amiot, as he gave the required orders. "Where +meet we the king?"</p> + +<p>"In the Glen of Auchterader, south of the Erne. Lady Campbell and +Isoline await us there, with the troops left as their guard at +Dumbarton. So you perceive our friend Lord Douglas here hath double +cause to use the spur; times like these afford little leisure for +wooing, and such love-stricken gallants as himself must e'en make the +most of them."</p> + +<p>"And trust me for doing so," laughingly rejoined Douglas. "Scoff' at me +as you will, Edward, your time will come."</p> + +<p>"Not it," answered the warrior; "glory is my mistress. I love better to +clasp my true steel than the softest and fairest hand in Christendom; to +caress my noble steed and twine my hand thus in his flowing mane, and +feel that he bears me gallantly and proudly wherever my spirit lists, +than to press sweet kisses on a rosy lip, imprisoned by a woman's +smile."</p> + +<p>"Nay, shame on thee!" replied Douglas, still jestingly. "Thou a true +knight, and speak thus; were there not other work to do, I would e'en +run a tilt with thee, to compel thee to forswear thy foul treason +against the fair."</p> + +<p>"Better spend thy leisure in wooing Isoline; trust me, she will not be +won ere wooed. How now, Sir Knight of the Branch, has the fiend +melancholy taken possession of thee again? give her a thrust with thy +lance, good friend, and unseat her. Come, soul of fire as thou art in +battle, why dost thou mope in ashes in peace? Thou speakest neither for +nor against these matters of love; wilt woo or scorn the little god?"</p> + +<p>"Perchance both, perchance neither," replied the knight, and his voice +sounded sadly, though he evidently sought to speak in jest. He had +fallen back from the side of Douglas during the previous conversation, +but the flashing eye denoted that it had passed not unremarked. He now +rode up to the side of Lord Edward, keeping a good spear's length from +Lord James, and their converse turning on martial subjects, became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> more +general. Their march being performed without any incident of note, we +will, instead of following them, take a brief retrospective glance on +those historical events which had so completely and gloriously turned +the fate of Scotland and her patriots, in those five years which the +thread of our narrative compels us to leave a blank.</p> + +<h4>END OF VOL. I.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>GRACE AGUILAR'S WORKS.</h3> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Grace Aguilar's works"> +<tr><td align='left'>HOME INFLUENCE.</td><td align='left'>MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VALE OF CEDARS.</td><td align='left'>WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>DAYS OF BRUCE.</td><td align='left'>WOMEN OF ISRAEL.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><i>1 vol., 12mo. Illustrated, price $1, with a Memoir of the Author,</i></p> + +<h3>HOME INFLUENCE,</h3> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">A TALE FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS.</span></p> + +<h4>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h4> + +<p>"Grace Aguilar wrote and spoke as one inspired; she condensed and +spiritualized, and all her thoughts and feelings were steeped in the +essence of celestial love and truth. To those who really knew Grace +Aguilar, all eulogium falls short of her deserts, and she has left a +blank in her particular walk of literature, which we never expect to see +filled up."—<i>Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. Hall.</i></p> + +<p>"A clever and interesting tale, corresponding well to its name, +illustrating the silent, constant influence of a wise and affectionate +parent over characters the most diverse."—<i>Christian Lady's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"This interesting volume unquestionably contains many valuable hints on +domestic education, much powerful writing, and a <i>moral</i> of vast +importance."—<i>Englishwoman's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"It is very pleasant, after reading a book, to speak of it in terms of +high commendation. The tale before us is an admirable one, and is +executed with taste and ability. The language is beautiful and +appropriate; the analysis of character is skilful and varied. The work +ought to be in the hands of all who are interested in the proper +training of the youthful mind."—<i>Palladium.</i></p> + +<p>"In reviewing this work, we hardly know what words in the English +language are strong enough to express the admiration we have felt in its +perusal."—<i>Bucks Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"The object and end of the writings of Grace Aguilar were to improve the +heart, and to lead her readers to the consideration of higher motives +and objects than this world can ever afford."—<i>Bell's Weekly +Messenger.</i></p> + +<p>"'Home Influence' will not be forgotten by any who have perused +it."—<i>Critic.</i></p> + +<p>"A well-known and valuable tale."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"A work which, possesses an extraordinary amount of influence to elevate +the mind and educate the heart, by showing that rectitude and virtue +conduce no less to material prosperity, and worldly comfort and +happiness, than to the satisfaction of the conscience, the approval of +the good, and the hope and certainty of bliss hereafter."—<i>Herts County +Press.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h3>THE SEQUEL TO HOME INFLUENCE.</h3> + + +<h3>THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE.</h3> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">A SEQUEL TO</span></p> + +<p class='center'><i>"Home Influence, a Tale for Mothers and Daughters."</i></p> + +<h4>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h4> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">1 Vol., 12mo. CLOTH. $1. With Illustrations.</span></p> + + +<p>"Grace Aguilar belonged to the school of which Maria Edgeworth was the +foundress. The design of the book is carried out forcibly and +constantly, 'The Home Influence' exercised in earlier years being shown +in its active germination."—<i>Atlas.</i></p> + +<p>"The writings of Grace Aguilar have a charm inseparable from productions +in which feeling is combined with intellect; they go directly to the +heart. 'Home Influence,' the deservedly popular story to which this is a +sequel, admirably teaches the lesson implied in its name. In the present +tale we have the same freshness, earnestness, and zeal—the same spirit +of devotion, and love of virtue—the same enthusiasm and sincere +religion which characterized that earlier work. We behold the mother now +blessed in the love of good and affectionate offspring, who, parents +themselves, are, after her example, training <i>their</i> children in the way +of rectitude and piety."—<i>Morning Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"This beautiful story was completed when the authoress was little above +the age of nineteen, yet it has the sober sense of middle age. There is +no age nor sex that will not profit by its perusal, and it will afford +as much pleasure as profit to the reader."—<i>Critic.</i></p> + +<p>"The same kindly spirit, the same warm charity and fervor of devotion +which breathes in every line of that admirable book, 'Home Influence,' +will be found adorning and inspiring 'The Mother's Recompense.'"—<i>Morning +Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"The good which, she (Grace Aguilar) has effected is acknowledged on all +hands, and it cannot be doubted but that the appearance of this volume +will increase the usefulness of one who may yet be said to be still +speaking to the heart and to the affections of human nature."—<i>Bell's +Messenger.</i></p> + +<p>"It will be found an interesting supplement, not only to the book to +which it specially relates, but to all the writer's other +works."—<i>Gentleman's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"'The Mother's Recompense' forms a fitting close to its predecessor, +'Home Influence.' The results of maternal care are fully developed, its +rich rewards are set forth, and its lesson and its moral are powerfully +enforced."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> + +<p>"We heartily commend this volume; a better or more useful present to a +youthful friend or a young wife could not well be selected."—<i>Herts +County Press.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We look upon 'The Days of Bruce' as an elegantly-written and +interesting romance, and place it by the side of Miss Porter's 'Scottish +Chiefs.'"—<i>Gentleman's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"A very pleasing and successful attempt to combine ideal delineation of +character with the records of history. Very beautiful and very true are +the portraits of the female mind and heart which Grace Aguilar knew how +to draw. This is the chief charm of all her writings, and in 'The Days +of Bruce' the reader will have the pleasure of viewing this skillful +portraiture in the characters of Isoline and Agnes, and Isabella of +Buchan."—<i>Literary Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"What a fertile mind was that of Grace Aguilar! What an early +development of reflection, of feeling, of taste, of power of invention, +or true and earnest eloquence! 'The Days of Bruce' is a composition of +her early youth, but full of beauty. Grace Aguilar knew the female heart +better than any writer of our day, and in every fiction from her pen we +trace the same masterly analysis and development of the motives and +feelings of woman's nature. 'The Days of Bruce' possesses also the +attractions of an extremely interesting story, that absorbs the +attention, and never suffers it to flag till the last page is closed, +and then the reader will lay down the volume with regret."—<i>Critic.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES,</h3> + +<h4>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h4> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.</span></p> + +<p class='center'>One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Home Scenes and Heart Studies"> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Perez Family.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Helon.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Stone-Cutter's Boy of Possagno.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Lucy.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Amete and Yafeh.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Spirit's Entreaty.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Fugitive.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Idalie.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Edict; A Tale of 1492.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Lady Gresham's Fete.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Escape; A Tale of 1755.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Group of Sculpture.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Red Rose Villa.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Spirit of Night.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Gonzalvo's Daughter.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Recollections of a Rambler.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Authoress.</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Cast thy Bread upon the Waters.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Triumph of Love.</span></td><td align='left'> </td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> + +<h3>THE WOMEN OF ISRAEL;</h3> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Or, Characters and Sketches from the Holy Scriptures, illustrative +of the past History, present Duties, and future Destiny of Hebrew +Females, as based on the Word of God.</span></p> + +<h3>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h3> + + +<p class='center'><i>Two volumes, 12mo. Price $2.00.</i></p> + + +<h4>PRINCIPAL CONTENTS.</h4> + +<blockquote><p class='center'><span class="smcap">First Period—Wives of the Patriarchs.</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="First Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>Eve.—Sarah.—Rebekah.—Leah and Rachel.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Second Period—The Exodus and the Law.</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Second Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>Egyptian Captivity, and Jochebed.—The Exodus—Mothers of</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Israel.—Laws for Wives in Israel.—Laws for Widows and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Daughters In Israel.—Maid-servants in Israel, and other Laws.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap"> Third Period—Between This Delivery of the Law and the Monarchy. +</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Third Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>Miriam.—Tabernacle Workers—Caleb's</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Daughter.—Deborah.—Wife of</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Manoah.—Naomi.—Hannah.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Fourth Period—The Monarchy.</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Fourth Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>Michal.—Abigail.—Wise Women of Tekoah.—Woman of</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Abel.—Rispah.—Prophet's Widow.—The</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Shunamite.—Little Israelitish Maid.—Huldah.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Fifth Period—Babylonian Captivity.</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Fifth Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>The Captivity.—Review of Book of Ezra.—Suggestions as to</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>the identity of the Ahasuerus of Scripture.—Esther.—Review</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>of Events narrated in Ezra and Nehemiah.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Sixth Period—Continuance of the Second Temple.</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Sixth Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>Review of Jewish History, from the Return from Babylon to the Appeal</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>of Hycanus and Aristobulus to Pompey.—Jewish History from the</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Appeal to Pompey to the Death of Herod.—Jewish History from the</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Death of Herod to the War.—The Martyr</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mother.—Alexandra.—Mariamne.—Salome.—Helena.—Berenice.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Seventh Period—Women of Israel in the Present as Influenced by the +Past</span>.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Seventh Period"> +<tr><td align='left'>The War and Dispersion.—Thoughts on the Talmud.—Talmudic</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ordinances and Tales.—Effects of Dispersion and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Persecution.—General Remarks.</td></tr> +</table></div> +</blockquote> + + +<p class='center'>"A work that is sufficient of itself to create and crown a +reputation."—<i>Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. S. C. Hall.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP.</h3> + +<h4>A STORY OF DOMESTIC LIFE.</h4> + +<h3>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h3> + + +<p class='center'><i>With Illustrations. One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.</i></p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Wordsworth poem"> +<tr><td align='left'>"To show us how divine a thing</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.4em;">A woman may be made."—Wordsworth.</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>"This story illustrates, with feeling and power, that beneficial +influence which women exercise, in their own quiet way, over characters +and events in our every-day life."—<i>Britannia.</i></p> + +<p>"The book is one of more than ordinary interest in various ways, and +presents an admirable conception of the depths and sincerity of female +friendship, as exhibited in England by English women."—<i>Weekly +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"We began to read the volume late in the evening; and, although it +consists of about 400 pages, our eyes could not close in sleep until we +had read the whole. This excellent book should find a place on every +drawing-room table—nay, in every library in the kingdom."—<i>Bucks +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"We congratulate Miss Aguilar on the spirit, motive, and composition of +this story. Her aims are eminently moral, and her cause comes +recommended by the most beautiful associations. These, connected with +the skill here evinced in their development, insure the success of her +labors."—<i>Illustrated News.</i></p> + +<p>"As a writer of remarkable grace and delicacy, she devoted herself to +the inculcation of the virtues, more especially those which are the +peculiar charm of women."—<i>Critic.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a book for all classes of readers; and we have no hesitation in +saying, that it only requires to be generally known to become +exceedingly popular. In our estimation it has far more attractions than +Miss Burney's celebrated, but overestimated, novel of +'Cecilia.'"—<i>Herts County Press.</i></p> + +<p>"This very interesting and agreeable tale has remained longer without +notice on our part than we could have desired; but we would now endeavor +to make amends for the delay, by assuring our readers that it is a most +ably-written publication, full of the nicest points of information and +utility that could have been by any possibility constructed; and, as a +proof of its value, it may suffice to say, that it has been taken from +our table again and again by several individuals, from the +recommendation of those who had already perused it, and be prevented our +giving an earlier attention to its manifold claims for the favorable +criticism. It is peculiarly adapted for the young, and wherever it goes +will be received with gratification, and command very extensive +approbation."—<i>Bell's Weekly Messenger.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a handsome volume: just such a book as we would expect to find +among the volumes composing a lady's library. Its interior corresponds +with its exterior; it is a most fascinating tale, full of noble and just +sentiments."—<i>Palladium.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>THE VALE OF CEDARS</h3> + +<h4>or,</h4> + +<h3>THE MARTYR.</h3> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">A STORY OF SPAIN IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.</span></p> + +<h3>By GRACE AGUILAR.</h3> + +<p class='center'><i>With Illustrations. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, $1.00.</i></p> + + +<p>"The authoress of this most fascinating volume has selected for her +field one of the most remarkable eras in modern history—the reigns of +Ferdinand and Isabella. The tale turns on the extraordinary extent to +which concealed Judaism had gained footing at that period in Spain. It +is marked by much power of description, and by a woman's delicacy of +touch, and it will add to its writer's well-earned +reputation."—<i>Eclectic Review.</i></p> + +<p>"The scene of this interesting tale is laid during the reign of +Ferdinand and Isabella. The Vale of Cedars is the retreat of a Jewish +family, compelled by persecution to perform their religions rites with +the utmost secrecy. On the singular position of this fated race in the +most Catholic land of Europe, the interest of the tale mainly depends; +whilst a few glimpses of the horrors of the terrible Inquisition are +afforded the reader, and heighten the interest of the +narrative."—<i>Sharpe's Magazine.</i></p> + +<p>"Any thing which proceeds from the pen of the authoress of this volume +is sure to command attention and appreciation. There is so much of +delicacy and refinement about her style, and each a faithful delineation +of nature in all she attempts, that she has taken her place amongst the +highest class of modern writers of fiction. We consider this to be one +of Miss Aguilar's best efforts."—<i>Bell's Weekly Messenger.</i></p> + +<p>"We heartily commend the work to our readers as one exhibiting, not +merely talent, but genius, and a degree of earnestness, fidelity to +Nature, and artistic grace, rarely found."—<i>Herts County Press.</i></p> + +<p>"The 'Vale of Cedars' is indeed one of the most touching and interesting +stories that have ever issued from the press. There is a life-like +reality about it which is not often observed in works of this nature; +while we read it we felt as if we were witnesses of the various scenes +it depicts."—<i>Bucks Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a tale of deep and pure devotion, very touchingly +narrated."—<i>Atlas.</i></p> + +<p>"The authoress has already received our commendation; her present work +is calculated to sustain, her reputation."—<i>Illustrated News.</i></p> + +<p>"It is indeed a historical romance of a high class. Seeing how steady +and yet rapid was her improvement—how rich the promise of her +genius—it is impossible to close this notice of her last and best work, +without lamenting that the authoress was so untimely snatched from a +world she appeared destined, as certainly she was singularly qualified, +to adorn and to improve."—<i>Critic.</i></p> + + +<p class='center'>New York: D. APPLETON & CO.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Days of Bruce Vol 1, by Grace Aguilar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 18387-h.htm or 18387-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/8/18387/ + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Days of Bruce Vol 1 + A Story from Scottish History + +Author: Grace Aguilar + +Release Date: May 14, 2006 [EBook #18387] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + + + + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: p. 148.] + +The + +DAYS OF BRUCE + +BY + +GRACE AGUILAR + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. + +THE + +DAYS OF BRUCE; + +A Story + +FROM + + +SCOTTISH HISTORY. + +BY + +GRACE AGUILAR, + + AUTHOR OF "HOME INFLUENCE," "THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE," + "WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP," "THE VALE OF CEDARS" + ETC. ETC. + +IN TWO VOLUMES. + +VOL. I. + + + NEW YORK: + D. APPLETON & CO., 90, 92 & 94 GRAND ST. + 1871. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +As these pages have passed through the press, mingled feelings of pain +and pleasure have actuated my heart. Who shall speak the regret that +she, to whom its composition was a work of love, cannot participate in +the joy which its publication would have occasioned--who shall tell of +that anxious pleasure which I feel in witnessing the success of each and +all the efforts of her pen? + +THE DAYS OF BRUCE must be considered as an endeavor to place +before the reader an interesting narrative of a period of history, in +itself a romance, and one perhaps as delightful as could well have been +selected. In combination with the story of Scotland's brave deliverer, +it must be viewed as an illustration of female character, and +descriptive of much that its Author considered excellent in woman. In +the high minded Isabella of Buchan is traced the resignation of a heart +wounded in its best affections, yet trustful midst accumulated misery. +In Isoline may be seen the self-inflicted unhappiness of a too +confident and self reliant nature; while in Agnes is delineated the +overwhelming of a mind too much akin to heaven in purity and innocence +to battle with the stern and bitter sorrows with which her life is +strewn. + +How far the merits of this work may be perceived becomes not me to +judge; I only know and _feel_ that on me has devolved the endearing task +of publishing the writings of my lamented child--that I am fulfilling +the desire of her life. + +SARAH AGUILAR. + +_May_, 1852. + + + + +THE DAYS OF BRUCE. + +CHAPTER I. + + +The month of March, rough and stormy as it is in England, would perhaps +be deemed mild and beautiful as May by those accustomed to meet and +brave its fury in the eastern Highlands, nor would the evening on which +our tale commences bely its wild and fitful character. + +The wind howled round the ancient Tower of Buchan, in alternate gusts of +wailing and of fury, so mingled with the deep, heavy roll of the lashing +waves, that it was impossible to distinguish the roar of the one element +from the howl of the other. Neither tree, hill, nor wood intercepted the +rushing gale, to change the dull monotony of its gloomy tone. The Ythan, +indeed, darted by, swollen and turbid from continued storms, threatening +to overflow the barren plain it watered, but its voice was +undistinguishable amidst the louder wail of wind and ocean. Pine-trees, +dark, ragged, and stunted, and scattered so widely apart that each one +seemed monarch of some thirty acres, were the only traces of vegetation +for miles round. Nor were human habitations more abundant; indeed, few +dwellings, save those of such solid masonry as the Tower of Buchan, +could hope to stand scathless amidst the storms that in winter ever +swept along the moor. + +No architectural beauty distinguished the residence of the Earls of +Buchan; none of that tasteful decoration peculiar to the Saxon, nor of +the more sombre yet more imposing style introduced by the Norman, and +known as the Gothic architecture. + +Originally a hunting-lodge, it had been continually enlarged by +succeeding lords, without any regard either to symmetry or proportion, +elegance or convenience; and now, early in the year 1306, appeared +within its outer walls as a most heterogeneous mass of ill-shaped +turrets, courts, offices, and galleries, huddled together in ill-sorted +confusion, though presenting to the distant view a massive square +building, remarkable only for a strength and solidity capable of +resisting alike the war of elements and of man. + +Without all seemed a dreary wilderness, but within existed indisputable +signs of active life. The warlike inhabitants of the tower, though +comparatively few in number, were continually passing to and fro in the +courts and galleries, or congregating in little knots, in eager +converse. Some cleansing their armor or arranging banners; others, young +and active, practising the various manoeuvres of mimic war; each and +all bearing on their brow that indescribable expression of anticipation +and excitement which seems ever on the expectant of it knows not what. +The condition of Scotland was indeed such as to keep her sons constantly +on the alert, preparing for defence or attack, as the insurging efforts +of the English or the commands of their lords should determine. From the +richest noble to the veriest serf, the aged man to the little child, +however contrary their politics and feelings, one spirit actuated all, +and that spirit was war--war in all its deadliest evils, its unmitigated +horrors, for it was native blood which deluged the rich plains, the +smiling vales, and fertile hills of Scotland. + +Although the castle of Buchan resembled more a citadel intended for the +accommodation of armed vassals than the commodious dwelling of feudal +lords, one turret gave evidence, by its internal arrangement, of a +degree of refinement and a nearer approach to comfort than its fellows, +and seeming to proclaim that within its massive walls the lords of the +castle were accustomed to reside. The apartments were either hung with +heavy tapestry, which displayed, in gigantic proportions, the combats of +the Scots and Danes, or panelled with polished oak, rivalling ebony in +its glossy blackness, inlaid with solid silver. Heavy draperies of +damask fell from the ceiling to the floor at every window, a pleasant +guard, indeed, from the constant winds which found entrance through many +creaks and corners of the Gothic casements, but imparting a dingy aspect +to apartments lordly in their dimensions, and somewhat rich in +decoration. + +The deep embrasures of the casements were thus in a manner severed from +the main apartment, for even when the curtains were completely lowered +there was space enough to contain a chair or two and a table. The +furniture corresponded in solidity and proportion to the panelling or +tapestry of the walls; nor was there any approach even at those doubtful +comforts already introduced in the more luxurious Norman castles of +South Britain. + +The group, however, assembled in one of these ancient rooms needed not +the aid of adventitious ornament to betray the nobility of birth, and +those exalted and chivalric feelings inherent to their rank. The sun, +whose stormy radiance during the day had alternately deluged earth and +sky with fitful yet glorious brilliance, and then, burying itself in the +dark masses of overhanging clouds, robed every object in deepest gloom, +now seemed to concentrate his departing rays in one living flood of +splendor, and darting within the chamber, lingered in crimson glory +around the youthful form of a gentle girl, dyeing her long and +clustering curls with gold. Slightly bending over a large and cumbrous +frame which supported her embroidery, her attitude could no more conceal +the grace and lightness of her childlike form, than the glossy ringlets +the soft and radiant features which they shaded. There was archness +lurking in those dark blue eyes, to which tears seemed yet a stranger; +the clear and snowy forehead, the full red lip, and health-bespeaking +cheek had surely seen but smiles, and mirrored but the joyous light +which filled her gentle heart. Her figure seemed to speak a child, but +there was a something in that face, bright, glowing as it was, which yet +would tell of somewhat more than childhood--that seventeen summers had +done their work, and taught that guileless heart a sterner tale than +gladness. + +A young man, but three or four years her senior, occupied an embroidered +settle at her feet. In complexion, as in the color of his hair and eyes, +there was similarity between them, but the likeness went no further, nor +would the most casual observer have looked on them as kindred. Fair and +lovely as the maiden would even have been pronounced, it was perhaps +more the expression, the sweet innocence that characterized her features +which gave to them their charm; but in the young man there was +infinitely more than this, though effeminate as was his complexion, and +the bright sunny curls which floated over his throat, he was eminently +and indescribably beautiful, for it was the mind, the glorious mind, the +kindling spirit which threw their radiance over his perfect features; +the spirit and mind which that noble form enshrined stood apart, and +though he knew it not himself, found not their equal in that dark period +of warfare and of woe. The sword and lance were the only instruments of +the feudal aristocracy; ambition, power, warlike fame, the principal +occupants of their thoughts; the chase, the tourney, or the foray, the +relaxation of their spirits. But unless that face deceived, there was +more, much more, which charactered the elder youth within that chamber. + +A large and antique volume of Norse legends rested on his knee, which, +in a rich, manly voice, he was reading aloud to his companion, +diversifying his lecture with remarks and explanations, which, from the +happy smiles and earnest attention of the maiden, appeared to impart the +pleasure intended by the speaker. The other visible inhabitant of the +apartment was a noble-looking boy of about fifteen, far less steadily +employed than his companions, for at one time he was poising a heavy +lance, and throwing himself into the various attitudes of a finished +warrior; at others, brandished a two-handed sword, somewhat taller than +himself; then glancing over the shoulder of his sister--for so nearly +was he connected with the maiden, though the raven curls, the bright +flashing eye of jet, and darker skin, appeared to forswear such near +relationship--criticising her embroidery, and then transferring his +scrutiny to the strange figures on the gorgeously-illuminated +manuscript, and then for a longer period listening, as it were, +irresistibly to the wild legends which that deep voice was so +melodiously pouring forth. + +"It will never do, Agnes. You cannot embroider the coronation of Kenneth +MacAlpine and listen to these wild tales at one and the same time. Look +at your clever pupil, Sir Nigel; she is placing a heavy iron buckler on +the poor king's head instead of his golden crown." The boy laughed long +and merrily as he spoke, and even Sir Nigel smiled; while Agnes, +blushing and confused, replied, half jestingly and half earnestly, "And +why not tell me of it before, Alan? you must have seen it long ago." + +"And so I did, sweet sister mine; but I wished to see the effect of such +marvellous abstraction, and whether, in case of necessity, an iron +shield would serve our purpose as well as a jewelled diadem." + +"Never fear, my boy. Let but the king stand forth, and there will be +Scottish men enow and willing to convert an iron buckler into a goodly +crown;" and as Sir Nigel spoke his eyes flashed, and his whole +countenance irradiated with a spirit that might not have been suspected +when in the act of reading, but which evidently only slept till awakened +by an all-sufficient call. "Let the tyrant Edward exult in the +possession of our country's crown and sceptre--he may find we need not +them to make a king; aye, and a king to snatch the regal diadem from the +proud usurper's brow--the Scottish sceptre from his blood-stained +hands!" + +"Thou talkest wildly, Nigel," answered the lad, sorrowfully, his +features assuming an expression of judgment and feeling beyond his +years. "Who is there in Scotland will do this thing? who will dare again +the tyrant's rage? Is not this unhappy country divided within itself, +and how may it resist the foreign foe?" + +"Wallace! think of Wallace! Did he not well-nigh wrest our country from +the tyrant's hands? And is there not one to follow in the path he +trod--no noble heart to do what he hath done?" + +"Nigel, yes. Let but the rightful king stand forth, and were there none +other, I--even I, stripling as I am, with my good sword and single arm, +even with the dark blood of Comyn in my veins, Alan of Buchan, would +join him, aye, and die for him!" + +"There spoke the blood of Duff, and not of Comyn!" burst impetuously +from the lips of Nigel, as he grasped the stripling's ready hand; "and +doubt not, noble boy, there are other hearts in Scotland bold and true +as thine; and even as Wallace, one will yet arise to wake them from +their stagnant sleep, and give them freedom." + +"Wallace," said the maiden, fearfully; "ye talk of Wallace, of his bold +deeds and bolder heart, but bethink ye of his _fate_. Oh, were it not +better to be still than follow in his steps unto the scaffold?" + +"Dearest, no; better the scaffold and the axe, aye, even the iron +chains and hangman's cord, than the gilded fetters of a tyrant's yoke. +Shame on thee, sweet Agnes, to counsel thoughts as these, and thou a +Scottish maiden." Yet even as he spoke chidingly, the voice of Nigel +became soft and thrilling, even as it had before been bold and daring. + +"I fear me, Nigel, I have but little of my mother's blood within my +veins. I cannot bid them throb and bound as hers with patriotic love and +warrior fire. A lowly cot with him I loved were happiness for me." + +"But that cot must rest upon a soil unchained, sweet Agnes, or joy could +have no resting there. Wherefore did Scotland rise against her +tyrant--why struggle as she hath to fling aside her chains? Was it her +noble sons? Alas, alas! degenerate and base, they sought chivalric fame; +forgetful of their country, they asked for knighthood from proud +Edward's hand, regardless that that hand had crowded fetters on their +fatherland, and would enslave their sons. Not to them did Scotland owe +the transient gleam of glorious light which, though extinguished in the +patriot's blood, hath left its trace behind. With the bold, the hardy, +lowly Scot that gleam had birth; they would be free to them. What +mattered that their tyrant was a valiant knight, a worthy son of +chivalry: they saw but an usurper, an enslaver, and they rose and +spurned his smiles--aye, and they _will_ rise again. And wert thou one +of them, sweet girl; a cotter's wife, thou too wouldst pine for freedom. +Yes; Scotland will bethink her of her warrior's fate, and shout aloud +revenge for Wallace!" + +Either his argument was unanswerable, or the energy of his voice and +manner carried conviction with them, but a brighter glow mantled the +maiden's cheek, and with it stole the momentary shame--the wish, the +simple words that she had spoken could be recalled. + +"Give us but a king for whom to fight--a king to love, revere, obey--a +king from whose hand knighthood were an honor, precious as life itself, +and there are noble hearts enough to swear fealty to him, and bright +swords ready to defend his throne," said the young heir of Buchan, as he +brandished his own weapon above his head, and then rested his arms upon +its broad hilt, despondingly. "But where is that king? Men speak of my +most gentle kinsman Sir John Comyn, called the Red--bah! The sceptre +were the same jewelled bauble in his impotent hand as in his sapient +uncle's; a gem, a toy, forsooth, the loan of crafty Edward. No! the Red +Comyn is no king for Scotland; and who is there besides? The rightful +heir--a cold, dull-blooded neutral--a wild and wavering changeling. I +pray thee be not angered, Nigel; it cannot be gainsaid, e'en though he +is thy brother." + +"I know it Alan; know it but too well," answered Nigel, sadly, though +the dark glow rushed up to cheek and brow. "Yet Robert's blood is hot +enough. His deeds are plunged in mystery--his words not less so; yet I +cannot look on him as thou dost, as, alas! too many do. It may be that I +love him all too well; that dearer even than Edward, than all the rest, +has Robert ever been to me. He knows it not; for, sixteen years my +senior, he has ever held me as a child taking little heed of his wayward +course; and yet my heart has throbbed beneath his word, his look, as if +he were not what he seemed, but would--but must be something more." + +"I ever thought thee but a wild enthusiast, gentle Nigel, and this +confirms it. Mystery, aye, such mystery as ever springs from actions at +variance with reason, judgment, valor--with all that frames the patriot. +Would that thou wert the representative of thy royal line; wert thou in +Earl Robert's place, thus, thus would Alan kneel to thee and hail thee +king!" + +"Peace, peace, thou foolish boy, the crown and sceptre have no charm for +me; let me but see my country free, the tyrant humbled, my brother as my +trusting spirit whispers he _shall_ be, and Nigel asks no more." + +"Art thou indeed so modest, gentle Nigel--is thy happiness so distinct +from self? thine eyes tell other tales sometimes, and speak they false, +fair sir?" + +Timidly, yet irresistibly, the maiden glanced up from her embroidery, +but the gaze that met hers caused those bright eyes to fall more quickly +than they were raised, and vainly for a few seconds did she endeavor so +to steady her hand as to resume her task. Nigel was, however, spared +reply, for a sharp and sudden bugle-blast reverberated through the +tower, and with an exclamation of wondering inquiry Alan bounded from +the chamber. There was one other inmate of that apartment, whose +presence, although known and felt, had, as was evident, been no +restraint either to the employments or the sentiments of the two youths +and their companion. Their conversation had not passed unheeded, +although it had elicited no comment or rejoinder. The Countess of Buchan +stood within one of those deep embrasures we have noticed, at times +glancing towards the youthful group with an earnestness of sorrowing +affection that seemed to have no measure in its depth, no shrinking in +its might; at others, fixing a long, unmeaning, yet somewhat anxious +gaze on the wide plain and distant ocean, which the casement overlooked. + +It was impossible to look once on the countenance of Isabella of Buchan, +and yet forbear to look again, The calm dignity, the graceful majesty of +her figure seemed to mark her as one born to command, to hold in willing +homage the minds and inclinations of men; her pure, pale brow and marble +cheek--for the rich rose seemed a stranger there--the long silky lash of +jet, the large, full, black eye, in its repose so soft that few would +guess how it could flash fire, and light up those classic features with +power to stir the stagnant souls of thousands and guide them with a +word. She looked in feature as in form a queen; fitted to be beloved, +formed to be obeyed. Her heavy robe of dark brocade, wrought with thick +threads of gold, seemed well suited to her majestic form; its long, +loose folds detracting naught from the graceful ease of her carriage. +Her thick, glossy hair, vying in its rich blackness with the raven's +wing, was laid in smooth bands upon her stately brow, and gathered up +behind in a careless knot, confined with a bodkin of massive gold. The +hood or coif, formed of curiously twisted black and golden threads, +which she wore in compliance with the Scottish custom, that thus made +the distinction between the matron and the maiden, took not from the +peculiarly graceful form of the head, nor in any part concealed the +richness of the hair. Calm and pensive as was the general expression of +her countenance, few could look upon it without that peculiar sensation +of respect, approaching to awe, which restrained and conquered sorrow +ever calls for. Perchance the cause of such emotion was all too +delicate, too deeply veiled to be defined by those rude hearts who were +yet conscious of its existence; and for them it was enough to own her +power, bow before it, and fear her as a being set apart. + +Musingly she had stood looking forth on the wide waste; the distant +ocean, whose tumbling waves one moment gleamed in living light, at +others immersed in inky blackness, were barely distinguished from the +lowering sky. The moaning winds swept by, bearing the storm-cloud on +their wings; patches of blue gleamed strangely and brightly forth; and, +far in the west, crimson and amber, and pink and green, inlaid in +beautiful mosaic the departing luminary's place of rest. + +"Alas, my gentle one," she had internally responded to her daughter's +words, "if thy mother's patriot heart could find no shield for woe, nor +her warrior fire, as thou deemest it, guard her from woman's trials, +what will be thy fate? This is no time for happy love, for peaceful +joys, returned as it may be; for--may I doubt that truthful brow, that +knightly soul (her glance was fixed on Nigel)--yet not now may the +Scottish knight find rest and peace in woman's love. And better is it +thus--the land of the slave is no home for love." + +A faint yet a beautiful smile, dispersing as a momentary beam the +anxiety stamped on her features, awoke at the enthusiastic reply of +Nigel. Then she turned again to the casement, for her quick eye had +discerned a party of about ten horsemen approaching in the direction of +the tower, and on the summons of the bugle she advanced from her retreat +to the centre of the apartment. + +"Why, surely thou art but a degenerate descendant of the brave Macduff, +mine Agnes, that a bugle blast should thus send back every drop of blood +to thy little heart," she said, playfully. "For shame, for shame! how +art thou fitted to be a warrior's bride? They are but Scottish men, and +true, methinks, if I recognize their leader rightly. And it is even so." + +"Sir Robert Keith, right welcome," she added, as, marshalled by young +Alan, the knight appeared, bearing his plumed helmet in his hand, and +displaying haste and eagerness alike in his flushed features and soiled +armor. + +"Ye have ridden long and hastily. Bid them hasten our evening meal, my +son; or stay, perchance Sir Robert needs thine aid to rid him of this +garb of war. Thou canst not serve one nobler." + +"Nay, noble lady, knights must don, not doff their armor now. I bring ye +news, great, glorious news, which will not brook delay. A royal +messenger I come, charged by his grace my king--my country's king--with +missives to his friends, calling on all who spurn a tyrant's yoke--who +love their land, their homes, their freedom--on all who wish for +Wallace--to awake, arise, and join their patriot king!" + +"Of whom speakest thou, Sir Robert Keith? I charge thee, speak!" +exclaimed Nigel, starting from the posture of dignified reserve with +which he had welcomed the knight, and springing towards him. + +"The patriot and the king!--of whom canst thou speak?" said Alan, at the +same instant. "Thine are, in very truth, marvellous tidings, Sir Knight; +an' thou canst call up one to unite such names, and worthy of them, he +shall not call on me in vain." + +"Is he not worthy, Alan of Buchan, who thus flings down the gauntlet, +who thus dares the fury of a mighty sovereign, and with a handful of +brave men prepares to follow in the steps of Wallace, to the throne or +to the scaffold?" + +"Heed not my reckless boy, Sir Robert," said the countess, earnestly, as +the eyes of her son fell beneath the knight's glance of fiery reproach; +"no heart is truer to his country, no arm more eager to rise in her +defence." + +"The king! the king!" gasped Nigel, some strange over-mastering emotion +checking his utterance. "Who is it that has thus dared, thus--" + +"And canst thou too ask, young sir?" returned the knight, with a smile +of peculiar meaning. "Is thy sovereign's name unknown to thee? Is Robert +Bruce a name unknown, unheard, unloved, that thou, too, breathest it +not?" + +"My brother, my brave, my noble brother!--I saw it, I knew it! Thou wert +no changeling, no slavish neutral; but even as I felt, thou art, thou +wilt be! My brother, my brother, I may live and die for thee!" and the +young enthusiast raised his clasped hands above his head, as in +speechless thanksgiving for these strange, exciting news; his flushed +cheek, his quivering lip, his moistened eye betraying an emotion which +seemed for the space of a moment to sink on the hearts of all who +witnessed it, and hush each feeling into silence. A shout from the court +below broke that momentary pause. + +"God save King Robert! then, say I," vociferated Alan, eagerly grasping +the knight's hand. "Sit, sit, Sir Knight; and for the love of heaven, +speak more of this most wondrous tale. Erewhile, we hear of this goodly +Earl of Carrick at Edward's court, doing him homage, serving him as his +own English knight, and now in Scotland--aye, and Scotland's king. How +may we reconcile these contradictions?" + +"Rather how did he vanish from the tyrant's hundred eyes, and leave the +court of England?" inquired Nigel, at the same instant as the Countess +of Buchan demanded, somewhat anxiously-- + +"And Sir John Comyn, recognizes he our sovereign's claim? Is he amongst +the Bruce's slender train?" + +A dark cloud gathered on the noble brow of the knight, replacing the +chivalric courtesy with which he had hitherto responded to his +interrogators. He paused ere he answered, in a stern, deep voice-- + +"Sir John Comyn lived and died a traitor, lady. He hath received the +meed of his base treachery; his traitorous design for the renewed +slavery of his country--the imprisonment and death of the only one that +stood forth in her need." + +"And by whom did the traitor die?" fiercely demanded the young heir of +Buchan. "Mother, thy cheek is blanched; yet wherefore? Comyn as I am, +shall we claim kindred with a traitor, and turn away from the good +cause, because, forsooth, a traitorous Comyn dies? No; were the Bruce's +own right hand red with the recreant's blood--he only is the Comyn's +king." + +"Thou hast said it, youthful lord," said the knight, impressively. "Alan +of Buchan, bear that bold heart and patriot sword unto the Bruce's +throne, and Comyn's traitorous name shall be forgotten in the scion of +Macduff. Thy mother's loyal blood runs reddest in thy veins, young sir; +too pure for Comyn's base alloy. Know, then, the Bruce's hand is red +with the traitor's blood, and yet, fearless and firm in the holy justice +of his cause, he calls on his nobles and their vassals for their homage +and their aid--he calls on them to awake from their long sleep, and +shake off the iron yoke from their necks; to prove that Scotland--the +free, the dauntless, the unconquered soil, which once spurned the Roman +power, to which all other kingdoms bowed--is free, undaunted, and +unconquered still. He calls aloud, aye, even on ye, wife and son of +Comyn of Buchan, to snap the link that binds ye to a traitor's house, +and prove--though darkly, basely flows the blood of Macduff in one +descendant's veins, that the Earl of Fife refuses homage and allegiance +to his sovereign--in ye it rushes free, and bold, and loyal still." + +"And he shall find it so. Mother, why do ye not speak? You, from whose +lips my heart first learnt to beat for Scotland my lips to pray that one +might come to save her from the yoke of tyranny. You, who taught me to +forget all private feud, to merge all feeling, every claim, in the one +great hope of Scotland's freedom. Now that the time is come, wherefore +art thou thus? Mother, my own noble mother, let me go forth with thy +blessing on my path, and ill and woe can come not near me. Speak to thy +son!" The undaunted boy flung himself on his knee before the countess as +he spoke. There was a dark and fearfully troubled expression on her +noble features. She had clasped her hands together, as if to still or +hide their unwonted trembling; but when she looked on those bright and +glowing features, there came a dark, dread vision of blood, and the axe +and cord, and she folded her arms around his neck, and sobbed in all a +mother's irrepressible agony. + +"My own, my beautiful, to what have I doomed thee!" she cried. "To +death, to woe! aye, perchance, to that heaviest woe--a father's curse! +exposing thee to death, to the ills of all who dare to strike for +freedom. Alan, Alan, how can I bid thee forth to death? and yet it is I +have taught thee to love it better than the safety of a slave; longed, +prayed for this moment--deemed that for my country I could even give my +child--and now, now--oh God of mercy, give me strength!" + +She bent down her head on his, clasping him to her heart, as thus to +still the tempest which had whelmed it. There is something terrible in +that strong emotion which sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly overpowers +the calmest and most controlled natures. It speaks of an agony so +measureless, so beyond the relief of sympathy, that it falls like an +electric spell on the hearts of all witnesses, sweeping all minor +passions into dust before it. Little accustomed as was Sir Robert Keith +to sympathize in such emotions, he now turned hastily aside, and, as if +fearing to trust himself in silence, commenced a hurried detail to Nigel +Bruce of the Earl of Carrick's escape from London, and his present +position. The young nobleman endeavored to confine his attention to the +subject, but his eyes would wander in the direction of Agnes, who, +terrified at emotions which in her mother she had never witnessed +before, was kneeling in tears beside her brother. + +A strong convulsive shuddering passed over the bowed frame of Isabella +of Buchan; then she lifted up her head, and all traces of emotion had +passed from her features. Silently she pressed her lips on the fair +brows of her children alternately, and her voice faltered not as she +bade them rise and heed her not. + +"We will speak further of this anon, Sir Robert," she said, so calmly +that the knight started. "Hurried and important as I deem your mission, +the day is too far spent to permit of your departure until the morrow; +you will honor our evening meal, and this true Scottish tower for a +night's lodging, and then we can have leisure for discourse on the +weighty matters you have touched upon." + +She bowed courteously, as she turned with a slow, unfaltering step to +leave the room. Her resumed dignity recalled the bewildered senses of +her son, and, with graceful courtesy, he invited the knight to follow +him, and choose his lodging for the night. + +"Agnes, mine own Agnes, now, indeed, may I win thee," whispered Nigel, +as tenderly he folded his arm round her, and looked fondly in her face. +"Scotland shall be free! her tyrants banished by her patriot king; and +then, then may not Nigel Bruce look to this little hand as his reward? +Shall not, may not the thought of thy pure, gentle love be mine, in the +tented field and battle's roar, urging me on, even should all other +voice be hushed?" + +"Forgettest thou I am a Comyn, Nigel? That the dark stain of traitor, of +disloyalty is withering on our line, and wider and wider grows the +barrier between us and the Bruce?" The voice of the maiden was choked, +her bright eyes dim with tears. + +"All, all I do forget, save that thou art mine own sweet love; and +though thy name is Comyn, thy heart is all Macduff. Weep not, my Agnes; +thine eyes were never framed for tears. Bright times for us and Scotland +are yet in store!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +For the better comprehension of the events related in the preceding +chapter, it will be necessary to cast a summary glance on matters of +historical and domestic import no way irrelevant to our subject, save +and except their having taken place some few years previous to the +commencement of our tale. + +The early years of Isabella of Buchan had been passed in happiness. The +only daughter, indeed for seven years the only child, of Malcolm, Earl +of Fife, deprived of her mother on the birth of her brother, her youth +had been nursed in a tenderness and care uncommon in those rude ages; +and yet, from being constantly with her father, she imbibed those higher +qualities of mind which so ably fitted her for the part which in after +years it was her lot to play. The last words of his devoted wife, +imploring him to educate her child himself, and not to sever the tie +between them, by following the example of his compeers, and sending her +either to England, France, or Norway, had been zealously observed by the +earl; the prosperous calm, which was the happy portion of Scotland +during the latter years of Alexander III., whose favorite minister he +was, enabled him to adhere to her wishes far more successfully than +could have been the case had he been called forth to war. + +In her father's castle, then, were the first thirteen years of the Lady +Isabella spent, varied only by occasional visits to the court of +Alexander, where her beauty and vivacity rendered her a universal +favorite. Descended from one of the most ancient Scottish families, +whose race it was their boast had never been adulterated by the blood of +a foreigner, no Norman prejudice intermingled with the education of +Isabella, to tarnish in any degree those principles of loyalty and +patriotism which her father, the Earl of Fife, so zealously inculcated. +She was a more true, devoted Scottish woman at fourteen, than many of +her own rank whose years might double hers; ready even then to sacrifice +even life itself, were it called for in defence of her sovereign, or the +freedom of her country; and when, on the death of Alexander, clouds +began to darken the horizon of Scotland, her father scrupled not to +impart to her, child though she seemed, those fears and anxieties which +clouded his brow, and filled his spirit with foreboding gloom. It was +then that in her flashing eye and lofty soul, in the undaunted spirit, +which bore a while even his colder and more foreseeing mood along with +it, that he traced the fruit whose seed he had so carefully sown. + +"Why should you fear for Scotland, my father?" she would urge; "is it +because her queen is but a child and now far distant, that anarchy and +gloom shall enfold our land? Is it not shame in ye thus craven to deem +her sons, when in thy own breast so much devotion and loyalty have rest? +why not judge others by yourself, my father, and know the dark things of +which ye dream can never be?" + +"Thou speakest as the enthusiast thou art, my child. Yet it is not the +rule of our maiden queen my foreboding spirit dreads; 'tis that on such +a slender thread as her young life suspends the well-doing or the ruin +of her kingdom. If she be permitted to live and reign over us, all may +be well; 'tis on the event of her death for which I tremble." + +"Wait till the evil day cometh then, my father; bring it not nearer by +anticipation; and should indeed such be, thinkest thou not there are +bold hearts and loyal souls to guard our land from foreign foe, and give +the rightful heir his due?" + +"I know not, Isabella. There remain but few with the pure Scottish blood +within their veins, and it is but to them our land is so dear: they +would peril life and limb in her defence. It is not to the proud baron +descended from the intruding Norman, and thinking only of his knightly +sports and increase of wealth, by it matters not what war. Nor dare we +look with confidence to the wild chiefs of the north and the Lords of +the Isles; eager to enlarge their own dominions, to extend the terrors +of their name, they will gladly welcome the horrors and confusion that +may arise; and have we true Scottish blood enough to weigh against +these, my child? Alas! Isabella, our only hope is in the health and +well-doing of our queen, precarious as that is; but if she fail us, woe +to Scotland!" + +The young Isabella could not bring forward any solid arguments in answer +to this reasoning, and therefore she was silent; but she felt her +Scottish blood throb quicker in her veins, as he spoke of the few pure +Scottish men remaining, and inwardly vowed, woman as she was, to devote +both energy and life to her country and its sovereign. + +Unhappily for his children, though perhaps fortunately for himself, the +Earl of Fife was spared the witnessing in the miseries of his country +how true had been his forebodings. Two years after the death of his +king, he was found dead in his bed, not without strong suspicion of +poison. Public rumor pointed to his uncle, Macduff of Glamis, as the +instigator, if not the actual perpetrator of the deed; but as no decided +proof could be alleged against him, and the High Courts of Scotland not +seeming inclined to pursue the investigation, the rumor ceased, and +Macduff assumed, with great appearance of zeal, the guardianship of the +young Earl of Fife and his sister, an office bequeathed to him under the +hand and seal of the earl, his nephew. + +The character of the Lady Isabella was formed; that of her brother, a +child of eight, of course was not; and the deep, voiceless suffering her +father's loss occasioned her individually was painfully heightened by +the idea that to her young brother his death was an infinitely greater +misfortune than to herself. He indeed knew not, felt not the agony which +bound her; he knew not the void which was on her soul; how utterly, +unspeakably lonely that heart had become, accustomed as it had been to +repose its every thought, and hope, and wish, and feeling on a parent's +love; yet notwithstanding this, her clear mind felt and saw that while +for herself there was little fear that she should waver in those +principles so carefully instilled, for her brother there was much, very +much to dread. She did not and could not repose confidence in her +kinsman; for her parent's sake she struggled to prevent dislike, to +compel belief that the suavity, even kindness of his manner, the +sentiments which he expressed, had their foundation in sincerity; but +when her young brother became solely and entirely subject to his +influence, she could no longer resist the conviction that their guardian +was not the fittest person for the formation of a patriot. She could +not, she would not believe the rumor which had once, but once, reached +her ears, uniting the hitherto pure line of Macduff with midnight +murder; her own noble mind rejected the idea as a thing utterly and +wholly impossible, the more so perhaps, as she knew her father had been +latterly subject to an insidious disease, baffling all the leech's art, +and which he himself had often warned her would terminate suddenly; yet +still an inward shuddering would cross her heart at times, when in his +presence; she could not define the cause, or why she felt it sometimes +and not always, and so she sought to subdue it, but she sought in vain. + +Meanwhile an event approached materially connected with the Lady +Isabella, and whose consummation the late Thane of Fife had earnestly +prayed he might have been permitted to hallow with his blessing. +Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan and High Constable of Scotland, had been +from early youth the brother in arms and dearest friend of the Earl of +Fife, and in the romantic enthusiasm which ever characterized the +companionship of chivalry, they had exchanged a mutual vow that in after +years, should heaven grant them children, a yet nearer and dearer tie +should unite their houses. The birth of Isabella, two years after that +of an heir to Buchan, was hailed with increased delight by both fathers, +and from her earliest years she was accustomed to look to the Lord John +as her future husband. Perhaps had they been much thrown together, +Isabella's high and independent spirit would have rebelled against this +wish of her father, and preferred the choosing for herself; but from the +ages of eleven and nine they had been separated, the Earl of Buchan +sending his son, much against the advice of his friend, to England, +imagining that there, and under such a knight as Prince Edward, he would +better learn the noble art of war and all chivalric duties, than in the +more barbarous realm of Scotland. To Isabella, then, her destined +husband was a stranger; yet with a heart too young and unsophisticated +to combat her parent's wishes, by any idea of its affections becoming +otherwise engaged, and judging of the son by the father, to whom she was +ever a welcome guest, and who in himself was indeed a noble example of +chivalry and honor, Isabella neither felt nor expressed any repugnance +to her father's wish, that she should sign her name to a contract of +betrothal, drawn up by the venerable abbot of Buchan, and to which the +name of Lord John had been already appended; it was the lingering echoes +of that deep, yet gentle voice, blessing her compliance to his wishes, +which thrilled again and again to her heart, softening her grief, even +when that beloved voice was hushed forever, and she had no thought, no +wish to recall that promise, nay, even looked to its consummation with +joy, as a release from the companionship, nay, as at times she felt, the +wardance of her kinsman. + +But this calm and happy frame of mind was not permitted to be of long +continuance. In one of the brief intervals of Macduff's absence from the +castle, about eighteen months after her father's death, the young earl +prevailed on the aged retainer in whose charge he had been left, to +consent to his going forth to hunt the red deer, a sport of which, boy +as he was, he was passionately fond. In joyous spirits, and attended by +a gallant train, he set out, calling for and receiving the ready +sympathy of his sister, who rejoiced as himself in his emancipation from +restraint, which either was, or seemed to be, adverse to the usual +treatment of noble youths. + +Somewhat sooner than Isabella anticipated, they returned. Earl Duncan, +with a wilfulness which already characterized him, weary of the extreme +watchfulness of his attendants, who, in their anxiety to keep him from +danger, checked and interfered with his boyish wish to signalize himself +by some daring deed of agility and skill, at length separated himself, +except from one or two as wilful, and but little older than himself. The +young lord possessed all the daring of his race, but skill and foresight +he needed greatly, and dearly would he have paid for his rashness. A +young and fiery bull had chanced to cross his path, and disregarding the +entreaties of his followers, he taunted them with cowardice, and goaded +the furious animal to the encounter; too late he discovered that he had +neither skill nor strength for the combat he had provoked, and had it +not been for the strenuous exertions of a stranger youth, who diverted +aside the fury of the beast, he must have fallen a victim to his +thoughtless daring. Curiously, and almost enviously, he watched the +combat between the stranger and the bull, nor did any emotion of +gratitude rise in the boy's breast to soften the bitterness with which +he regarded the victory of the former, which the reproaches of his +retainers, who at that instant came up, and their condemnation of his +folly, did not tend to diminish; and almost sullenly he passed to the +rear, on their return, leaving Sir Malise Duff to make the +acknowledgments, which should have come from him, and courteously invite +the young stranger to accompany them home, an invitation which, somewhat +to the discomposure of Earl Duncan, was accepted. + +If the stranger had experienced any emotion of anger from the boy's +slight of his services, the gratitude of the Lady Isabella would have +banished it on the instant, and amply repaid them; with cheeks glowing, +eyes glistening, and a voice quivering with suppressed emotion, she had +spoken her brief yet eloquent thanks; and had he needed further proof, +the embrace she lavished on her young brother, as reluctantly, and after +a long interval, he entered the hall, said yet more than her broken +words. + +"Thou art but a fool, Isabella, craving thy pardon," was his ungracious +address, as he sullenly freed himself from her. "Had I brought thee the +bull's horns, there might have been some cause for this marvellously +warm welcome; but as it is--" + +"I joy thou wert not punished for thy rashness, Duncan. Yet 'twas not in +such mood I hoped to find thee; knowest thou that 'tis to yon brave +stranger thou owest thy life?" + +"Better it had been forfeited, than that he should stand between me and +mine honor. I thank him not for it, nor owe him aught like gratitude." + +"Peace, ungrateful boy, an thou knowest not thy station better," was his +sister's calm, yet dignified reply; and the stranger smiled, and by his +courteous manner, speedily dismissed her fears as to the impression of +her brother's words, regarding them as the mere petulance of a child. + +Days passed, and still the stranger lingered; eminently handsome, his +carriage peculiarly graceful, and even dignified, although it was +evident, from the slight, and as it were, unfinished roundness of his +figure, that he was but in the first stage of youth, yet his discourse +and manner were of a kind that would bespeak him noble, even had his +appearance been less convincing. According to the custom of the time, +which would have deemed the questioning a guest as to his name and +family a breach of all the rules of chivalry and hospitality, he +remained unknown. + +"Men call me Sir Robert, though I have still my spurs to win," he had +once said, laughingly, to Lady Isabella and her kinsman, Sir Malise +Duff, "but I would not proclaim my birth till I may bring it honor." + +A month passed ere their guest took his departure, leaving regard and +regret behind him, in all, perhaps, save in the childish breast of Earl +Duncan, whose sullen manner had never changed. There was a freshness and +light-heartedness, and a wild spirit of daring gallantry about the +stranger that fascinated, men scarce knew wherefore; a reckless +independence of sentiment which charmed, from the utter absence of all +affectation which it comprised. To all, save to the Lady Isabella, he +was a mere boy, younger even than his years; but in conversation with +her his superior mind shone forth, proving he could in truth appreciate +hers, and give back intellect for intellect, feeling for feeling; +perhaps her beauty and unusual endowments had left their impression upon +him. However it may be, one day, one little day after the departure of +Sir Robert, Isabella woke to the consciousness that the calm which had +so long rested on her spirit bad departed, and forever; and to what had +it given place? Had she dared to love, she, the betrothed, the promised +bride of another? No; she could not have sunk thus low, her heart had +been too long controlled to rebel now. She might not, she would not +listen to its voice, to its wild, impassioned throbs. Alas! she +miscalculated her own power; the fastnesses she had deemed secure were +forced; they closed upon their subtle foe, and held their conqueror +prisoner. + +But Isabella was not one to waver in a determination when once formed; +how might she break asunder links which the dead had hallowed? She +became the bride of Lord John; she sought with her whole soul to forget +the past, and love him according to her bridal vow, and as time passed +she ceased to think of that beautiful vision of her early youth, save as +a dream that had had no resting; and a mother's fond yearnings sent +their deep delicious sweetness as oil on the troubled waters of her +heart. She might have done this, but unhappily she too soon discovered +her husband was not one to aid her in her unsuspected task, to soothe +and guide, and by his affection demand her gratitude and reverence. +Enwrapped in selfishness or haughty indifference, his manner towards her +ever harsh, unbending, and suspicious, Isabella's pride would have +sustained her, had not her previous trial lowered her in self-esteem; +but as it was, meekly and silently she bore with the continued outbreak +of unrestrained passion, and never wavered from the path of duty her +clear mind had laid down. + +On the birth of a son, however, her mind regained its tone, and inwardly +yet solemnly she vowed that no mistaken sense of duty to her husband +should interfere with the education of her son. As widely opposed as +were their individual characters, so were the politics of the now Earl +and Countess of Buchan. Educated in England, on friendly terms with her +king, he had, as the Earl of Fife anticipated, lost all nationality, all +interest in Scotland, and as willingly and unconcernedly taken the vows +of homage to John Baliol, as the mere representative and lieutenant of +Edward, as he would have done to a free and unlimited king. He had been +among the very first to vote for calling in the King of England as +umpire; the most eager to second and carry out all Edward's views, and +consequently high in that monarch's favor, a reputation which his enmity +to the house of Bruce, one of the most troublesome competitors of the +crown, did not tend to diminish. Fortunately perhaps for Isabella, the +bustling politics of her husband constantly divided them. The births of +a daughter and son had no effect in softening his hard and selfish +temper; he looked on them more as incumbrances than pleasures, and +leaving the countess in the strong Tower of Buchan, he himself, with a +troop of armed and mounted Comyns, attached himself to the court and +interests of Edward, seeming to forget that such beings as a wife and +children had existence. Months, often years, would stretch between the +earl's visits to his mountain home, and then a week was the longest +period of his lingering; but no evidence of a gentler spirit or of less +indifference to his children was apparent, and years seemed to have +turned to positive evil, qualities which in youth had merely seemed +unamiable. + +Desolate as the situation of the countess might perhaps appear, she +found solace and delight in moulding the young minds of her children +according to the pure and elevated cast of her own. All the +long-suppressed tenderness of her nature was lavished upon them, and on +their innocent love she sought to rest the passionate yearnings of her +own. She taught them to be patriots, in the purest, most beautiful +appropriation of the term,--to spurn the yoke of the foreigner, and the +oppressor, however light and flowery the links of that yoke might seem. +She could not bid them love and revere their father as she longed to do, +but she taught them that where their duty to their country and their +free and unchained king interfered not, in all things they must obey and +serve their father, and seek to win his love. + +Once only had the Countess of Buchan beheld the vision which had crossed +her youth. He had come, it seemed unconscious of his track, and asked +hospitality for a night, evidently without knowing who was the owner of +the castle; perhaps his thoughts were preoccupied, for a deep gloom was +on his brow, and though he had started with evident pleasure when +recognizing his beautiful hostess, the gloom speedily resumed +ascendency. It was but a few weeks after the fatal battle of Falkirk, +and therefore Isabella felt there was cause enough for depression and +uneasiness. The graces of boyhood had given place to a finished +manliness of deportment, a calmer expression of feature, denoting that +years had changed and steadied the character, even as the form. He then +seemed as one laboring under painful and heavy thought, as one brooding +over some mighty change within, as if some question of weighty import +were struggling with recollections and visions of the past. He had +spoken little, evidently shrinking in pain from all reference to or +information on the late engagement. He tarried not long, departing with +dawn next day, and they did not meet again. + +And what had been the emotions of the countess? perhaps her heart had +throbbed, and her cheek paled and flushed, at this unexpected meeting +with one she had fervently prayed never to see again; but not one +feeling obtained ascendency in that heart which she would have dreaded +to unveil to the eye of her husband. She did indeed feel that had her +lot been cast otherwise, it must have been a happy one, but the thought +was transient. She was a wife, a mother, and in the happiness of her +children, her youth, and all its joys and pangs, and dreams and hopes, +were merged, to be recalled no more. + +The task of instilling patriotic sentiments in the breast of her son had +been insensibly aided by the countess's independent position amid the +retainers of Buchan. This earldom had only been possessed by the family +of Comyn since the latter years of the reign of William the Lion, +passing into their family by the marriage of Margaret Countess of Buchan +with Sir William Comyn, a knight of goodly favor and repute. This +interpolation and ascendency of strangers was a continual source of +jealousy and ire to the ancient retainers of the olden heritage, and +continually threatened to break out into open feud, had not the soothing +policy of the Countess Margaret and her descendants, by continually +employing them together in subjecting other petty clans, contrived to +keep them in good humor. As long as their lords were loyal to Scotland +and her king, and behaved so as to occasion no unpleasant comparison +between them and former superiors, all went on smoothly; but the haughty +and often outrageous conduct of the present earl, his utter neglect of +their interests, his treasonous politics, speedily roused the slumbering +fire into flame. A secret yet solemn oath went round the clan, by which +every fighting man bound himself to rebel against their master, rather +than betray their country by siding with a foreign tyrant; to desert +their homes, their all, and disperse singly midst the fastnesses and +rocks of Scotland, than lift up a sword against her freedom. The +sentiments of the countess were very soon discovered; and even yet +stronger than the contempt and loathing with which they looked upon the +earl was the love, the veneration they bore to her and to her children. +If his mother's lips had been silent, the youthful heir would have +learned loyalty and patriotism from his brave though unlettered +retainers, as it was to them he owed the skin and grace with which he +sate his fiery steed, and poised his heavy lance, and wielded his +stainless brand--to them he owed all the chivalric accomplishments of +the day; and though he had never quitted the territories of Buchan, he +would have found few to compete with him in his high and gallant spirit. + +Dark and troubled was the political aspect of unhappy Scotland, at the +eventful period at which our tale commences. The barbarous and most +unjust execution of Sir William Wallace had struck the whole country as +with a deadly panic, from which it seemed there was not one to rise to +cast aside the heavy chains, whose weight it seemed had crushed the +whole kingdom, and taken from it the last gleams of patriotism and of +hope. Every fortress of strength and consequence was in possession of +the English. English soldiers, English commissioners, English judges, +laws, and regulations now filled and governed Scotland. The abrogation +of all those ancient customs, which had descended from the Celts and +Picts, and Scots, fell upon the hearts of all true Scottish men as the +tearing asunder the last links of freedom, and branding them as slaves. +Her principal nobles, strangely and traitorously, preferred safety and +wealth, in the acknowledgment and servitude of Edward, to glory and +honor in the service of their country; and the spirits of the middle +ranks yet spurned the inglorious yoke, and throbbed but for one to lead +them on, if not to victory, at least to an honorable death. That one +seemed not to rise; it was as if the mighty soul of Scotland had +departed, when Wallace slept in death. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A bustling and joyous aspect did the ancient town of Scone present near +the end of March, 1306. Subdued indeed, and evidently under some +restraint and mystery, which might be accounted for by the near vicinity +of the English, who were quartered in large numbers over almost the +whole of Perthshire; some, however, appeared exempt from these most +unwelcome guests. The nobles, esquires, yeomen, and peasants--all, by +their national garb and eager yet suppressed voices, might be known at +once as Scotsmen right and true. + +It had been long, very long since the old quiet town had witnessed such +busy groups and such eager tongues as on all sides thronged it now; the +very burghers and men of handicraft wore on their countenances tokens of +something momentous. There were smiths' shops opening on every side, +armorers at work, anvils clanging, spears sharpening, shields +burnishing, bits and steel saddles and sharp spurs meeting the eye at +every turn. Ever and anon, came a burst of enlivening music, and well +mounted and gallantly attired, attended by some twenty or fifty +followers, as may be, would gallop down some knight or noble, his armor +flashing back a hundred fold the rays of the setting sun; his silken +pennon displayed, the device of which seldom failed to excite a hearty +cheer from the excited crowds; his stainless shield and heavy spear +borne by his attendant esquires; his vizor up, as if he courted and +dared recognition; his surcoat, curiously and tastefully embroidered; +his gold or silver-sheathed and hilted sword suspended by the silken +sash of many folds and brilliant coloring. On foot or on horseback, +these noble cavaliers were continually passing and repassing the ancient +streets, singly or in groups; then there were their followers, all +carefully and strictly armed, in the buff coat plaited with steel, the +well-quilted bonnet, the huge broadsword; Highlanders in their peculiar +and graceful costume; even the stout farmers, who might also be found +amongst this motley assemblage, wearing the iron hauberk and sharp sword +beneath their apparently peaceful garb. Friars in their gray frocks and +black cowls, and stately burghers and magistrates, in their velvet +cloaks and gold chains, continually mingled their peaceful forms with +their more warlike brethren, and lent a yet more varied character to the +stirring picture. + +Varied as were the features of this moving multitude, the expression on +every countenance, noble and follower, yeoman and peasant, burgher and +even monk, was invariably the same--a species of strong yet suppressed +excitement, sometimes shaded by anxiety, sometimes lighted by hope, +almost amounting to triumph; sometimes the dark frown of scorn and hate +would pass like a thunder-cloud over noble brows, and the mailed hand +unconsciously clutched the sword; and then the low thrilling laugh of +derisive contempt would disperse the shade, and the muttered oath of +vengeance drown the voice of execration. It would have been a strange +yet mighty study, the face of man in that old town; but men were all too +much excited to observe their fellows, to them it was enough--unspoken, +unimparted wisdom as it was--to know, to feel, one common feeling bound +that varied mass of men, one mighty interest made them brothers. + +The ancient Palace of Scone, so long unused, was now evidently the +head-quarters of the noblemen hovering about the town, for whatever +purpose they were there assembled. The heavy flag of Scotland, in all +its massive quarterings, as the symbol of a free unfettered kingdom, +waved from the centre tower; archers and spearmen lined the courts, +sentinels were at their posts, giving and receiving the watchword from +all who passed and repassed the heavy gates, which from dawn till +nightfall were flung wide open, as if the inmates of that regal dwelling +were ever ready to receive their friends, and feared not the approach of +foes. + +The sun, though sinking, was still bright, when the slow and dignified +approach of the venerable abbot of Scone occasioned some stir and bustle +amidst the joyous occupants of the palace yard; the wild joke was +hushed, the noisy brawl subsided, the games of quoit and hurling the bar +a while suspended, and the silence of unaffected reverence awaited the +good old man's approach and kindly-given benediction. Leaving his +attendants in one of the lower rooms, the abbot proceeded up the massive +stone staircase, and along a broad and lengthy passage, darkly panelled +with thick oak, then pushing aside some heavy arras, stood within one of +the state chambers, and gave his fervent benison on one within. This was +a man in the earliest and freshest prime of life, that period uniting +all the grace and beauty of youth with the mature thought, and steady +wisdom, and calmer views of manhood. That he was of noble birth and +blood and training one glance sufficed; peculiarly and gloriously +distinguished in the quiet majesty of his figure, in the mild attempered +gravity of his commanding features. Nature herself seemed to have marked +him out for the distinguished part it was his to play. Already there +were lines of thought upon the clear and open brow, and round the mouth; +and the blue eye shone with that calm, steady lustre, which seldom comes +till the changeful fire and wild visions of dreamy youth have departed. +His hair, of rich and glossy brown, fell in loose natural curls on +either side his face, somewhat lower than his throat, shading his +cheeks, which, rather pale than otherwise, added to the somewhat grave +aspect of his countenance; his armor of steel, richly and curiously +inlaid with burnished gold, sat lightly and easily upon his peculiarly +tall and manly figure; a sash, of azure silk and gold, suspended his +sword, whose sheath was in unison with the rest of his armor, though the +hilt was studded with gems. His collar was also of gold, as were his +gauntlets, which with his helmet rested on a table near him; a coronet +of plain gold surmounted his helmet, and on his surcoat, which lay on a +seat at the further end of the room, might be discerned the rampant lion +of Scotland, surmounted by a crown. + +The apartment in which he stood, though shorn of much of that splendor +which, ere the usurping invasion of Edward of England, had distinguished +it, still bore evidence of being a chamber of some state. The hangings +were of dark-green velvet embroidered, and with a very broad fringe of +gold; drapery of the same costly material adorned the broad casements, +which stood in heavy frames of oak, black as ebony. Large folding-doors, +with panels of the same beautiful material, richly carved, opened into +an ante-chamber, and thence to the grand staircase and more public parts +of the building. In this ante-chamber were now assembled pages, +esquires, and other officers bespeaking a royal household, though much +less numerous than is generally the case. + +"Sir Edward and the young Lord of Douglas have not returned, sayest +thou, good Athelbert? Knowest thou when and for what went they forth?" +were the words which were spoken by the noble we have described, as the +abbot entered, unperceived at first, from his having avoided the public +entrance to the state rooms; they were addressed to an esquire, who, +with cap in hand and head somewhat lowered, respectfully awaited the +commands of his master. + +"They said not the direction of their course, my liege; 'tis thought to +reconnoitre either the movements of the English, or to ascertain the +cause of the delay of the Lord of Fife. They departed at sunrise, with +but few followers." + +"On but a useless errand, good Athelbert, methinks, an they hope to +greet Earl Duncan, save with a host of English at his back. Bid Sir +Edward hither, should he return ere nightfall, and see to the instant +delivery of those papers; I fear me, the good lord bishop has waited for +them; and stay--Sir Robert Keith, hath he not yet returned?" + +"No, good my lord." + +"Ha! he tarrieth long," answered the noble, musingly. "Now heaven +forefend no evil hath befallen him; but to thy mission, Athelbert, I +must not detain thee with doubts and cavil. Ha! reverend father, right +welcome," he added, perceiving him as he turned again to the table, on +the esquire reverentially withdrawing from his presence, and bending his +head humbly in acknowledgment of the abbot's benediction. "Thou findest +me busied as usual. Seest thou," he pointed to a rough map of Scotland +lying before him, curiously intersected with mystic lines and crosses, +"Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, Lanark, Stirling, Dumbarton, in the power +of, nay peopled, by English. Argyle on the west, Elgin, Aberdeen, with +Banff eastward, teeming with proud, false Scots, hereditary foes to the +Bruce, false traitors to their land; the north--why, 'tis the same foul +tale; and yet I dare to raise my banner, dare to wear the crown, and +fling defiance in the teeth of all. What sayest thou, father--is't not a +madman's deed?" + +All appearance of gravity vanished from his features as he spoke. His +eye, seemingly so mild, flashed till its very color could not have been +distinguished, his cheek glowed, his lip curled, and his voice, ever +peculiarly rich and sonorous, deepened with the excitement of soul. + +"Were the fate of man in his own hands, were it his and his alone to +make or mar his destiny, I should e'en proclaim thee mad, my son, and +seek to turn thee from thy desperate purpose; but it is not so. Man is +but an instrument, and He who urged thee to this deed, who wills not +this poor land to rest enslaved, will give thee strength and wisdom for +its freedom. His ways are not as man's; and circled as thou seemest with +foes, His strength shall bring thee forth and gird thee with His glory. +Thou wouldst not turn aside, my son--thou fearest not thy foes?" + +"Fear! holy father: it is a word unknown to the children of the Bruce! I +do but smile at mine extensive kingdom--of some hundred acres square; +smile at the eagerness with which they greet me liege and king, as if +the words, so long unused, should now do double duty for long absence." + +"And better so, my son," answered the old man, cheerfully. "Devotion to +her destined savior argues well for bonny Scotland; better do homage +unto thee as liege and king, though usurpation hath abridged thy +kingdom, than to the hireling of England's Edward, all Scotland at his +feet. Men will not kneel to sceptred slaves, nor freemen fight for +tyrants' tools. Sovereign of Scotland thou art, thou shalt be, Robert +the Bruce! Too long hast thou kept back; but now, if arms can fight and +hearts can pray, thou shalt be king of Scotland." + +The abbot spoke with a fervor, a spirit which, though perhaps little +accordant with his clerical character, thrilled to the Bruce's heart. He +grasped the old man's hand. + +"Holy father," he said, "thou wouldst inspire hearts with ardor needing +inspiration more than mine; and to me thou givest hope, and confidence, +and strength. Too long have I slept and dreamed," his countenance +darkened, and his voice was sadder; "fickle in purpose, uncertain in +accomplishment; permitting my youth to moulder 'neath the blasting +atmosphere of tyranny. Yet will I now atone for the neglected past. +Atone! aye, banish it from the minds of men. My country hath a claim, a +double claim upon me; she calls upon me, trumpet-tongued, to arise, +avenge her, and redeem my misspent youth. Nor shall she call on me in +vain, so help me, gracious heaven!" + +"Amen," fervently responded the abbot; and the king continued more +hurriedly-- + +"And that stain, that blot, father? Is there mercy in heaven to wash its +darkness from my soul, or must it linger there forever preying on my +spirit, dashing e'en its highest hopes and noblest dreams with poison, +whispering its still voice of accusation, even when loudest rings the +praise and love of men? Is there no rest for this, no silence for that +whisper? Penitence, atonement, any thing thou wilt, let but my soul be +free!" Hastily, and with step and countenance disordered, he traversed +the chamber, his expressive countenance denoting the strife within. + +"It was, in truth, a rash and guilty deed, my son," answered the abbot, +gravely, yet mildly, "and one that heaven in its justice will scarce +pass unavenged. Man hath given thee the absolution accorded to the true +and faithful penitent, for such thou art; yet scarcely dare we hope +offended heaven is appeased. Justice will visit thee with trouble--sore, +oppressing, grievous trouble. Yet despair not: thou wilt come forth the +purer, nobler, brighter, from the fire; despair not, but as a child +receive a father's chastening; lean upon that love, which wills not +death, but penitence and life; that love, which yet will bring thee +forth and bless this land in thee. My son, be comforted; His mercy is +yet greater than thy sin." + +"And blest art thou, my father, for these _blessed_ words; a messenger +in truth thou art of peace and love; and oh, if prayers and penitence +avail, if sore temptation may be pleaded, I shall, I shall be pardoned. +Yet would I give my dearest hopes of life, of fame, of all--save +Scotland's freedom--that this evil had not chanced; that blood, his +blood--base traitor as he was--was not upon my hand." + +"And can it be thou art such craven, Robert, as to repent a Comyn's +death--a Comyn, and a traitor--e'en though his dastard blood be on thy +hand?--bah! An' such deeds weigh heavy on thy mind, a friar's cowl were +better suited to thy brow than Scotland's diadem." + +The speaker was a tall, powerful man, somewhat younger in appearance +than the king, but with an expression of fierceness and haughty pride, +contrasting powerfully with the benevolent and native dignity which so +characterized the Bruce. His voice was as harsh as his manner was +abrupt; yet that he was brave, nay, rash in his unthinking daring, a +very transient glance would suffice to discover. + +"I forgive thee thine undeserved taunt, Edward," answered the king, +calmly, though the hot blood rushed up to his cheek and brow. "I trust, +ere long, to prove thy words are as idle as the mood which prompted +them. I feel not that repentance cools the patriot fire which urges me +to strike for Scotland's weal--that sorrow for a hated crime unfits me +for a warrior. I would not Comyn lived, but that he had met a traitor's +fate by other hands than mine; been judged--condemned, as his black +treachery called for; even for our country's sake, it had been better +thus." + +"Thou art over-scrupulous, my liege and brother, and I too hasty," +replied Sir Edward Bruce, in the same bold, careless tone. "Yet beshrew +me, but I think that in these times a sudden blow and hasty fate the +only judgment for a traitor. The miscreant were too richly honored, that +by thy royal hand he fell." + +"My son, my son, I pray thee, peace," urged the abbot, in accents of +calm, yet grave authority. "As minister of heaven, I may not list such +words. Bend not thy brow in wrath, clad as thou art in mail, in youthful +might; yet in my Maker's cause this withered frame is stronger yet than +thou art. Enough of that which hath been. Thy sovereign spoke in lowly +penitence to me--to me, who frail and lowly unto thee, am yet the +minister of Him whom sin offends. To thee he stands a warrior and a +king, who rude irreverence may brook not, even from his brother. Be +peace between us, then, my son; an old man's blessing on thy fierce yet +knightly spirit rest." + +With a muttered oath Sir Edward had strode away at the abbot's first +words, but the cloud passed from his brow as he concluded, and slightly, +yet with something of reverence, he bowed his head. + +"And whither didst thou wend thy way, my fiery brother?" demanded +Robert. "Bringest thou aught of news, or didst thou and Douglas but set +foot in stirrup and hand on rein simply from weariness of quiet?" + +"In sober truth, 'twas even so; partly to mark the movements of the +English, an they make a movement, which, till Pembroke come, they are +all too much amazed to do; partly to see if in truth that poltroon +Duncan of Fife yet hangs back and still persists in forswearing the +loyalty of his ancestors, and leaving to better hands the proud task of +placing the crown of Scotland on thy head." + +"And thou art convinced at last that such and such only is his +intention?" The knight nodded assent, and Bruce continued, jestingly, +"And so thou mightst have been long ago, my sage brother, hadst thou +listened to me. I tell thee Earl Duncan hath a spite against me, not for +daring to raise the standard of freedom and proclaim myself a king, but +for very hatred of myself. Nay, hast thou not seen it thyself, when, +fellow-soldiers, fellow-seekers of the banquet, tournay, or ball, he +hath avoided, shunned me? and why should he seek me now?" + +"Why? does not Scotland call him, Scotland bid him gird his sword and +don his mail? Will not the dim spectres of his loyal line start from +their very tombs to call him to thy side, or brand him traitor and +poltroon, with naught of Duff about him but the name? Thou smilest." + +"At thy violence, good brother. Duncan of Fife loves better the silken +cords of peace and pleasure, e'en though those silken threads hide +chains, than the trumpet's voice and weight of mail. In England bred, +courted, flattered by her king, 'twere much too sore a trouble to excite +his anger and lose his favor; and for whom, for what?--to crown the man +he hateth from his soul?" + +"And knowest thou wherefore, good my son, in what thou hast offended?" + +"Offended, holy father? Nay, in naught unless perchance a service +rendered when a boy--a simple service, merely that of saving life--hath +rendered him the touchy fool he is. But hark! who comes?" + +The tramping of many horses, mingled with the eager voices of men, +resounded from the courtyard as he spoke, and Sir Edward strode hastily +to the casement. "Sir Robert Keith returned!" he exclaimed, joyfully; +"and seemingly right well attended. Litters too--bah! we want no more +women. 'Tis somewhat new for Keith to be a squire of dames. Why, what +banner is this? The black bear of Buchan--impossible! the earl is a foul +Comyn. I'll to the court, for this passes my poor wits." He turned +hastily to quit the chamber, as a youth entered, not without some +opposition, it appeared, from the attendants without, but eagerly he had +burst through them, and flung his plumed helmet from his beautiful brow, +and, after glancing hastily round the room, bounded to the side of +Robert, knelt at his feet, and clasped his knees without uttering a +syllable, voiceless from an emotion whose index was stamped upon his +glowing features. + +"Nigel, by all that's marvellous, and as moon-stricken as his wont! Why, +where the foul fiend hast thou sprung from? Art dumb, thou foolish boy? +By St. Andrew, these are times to act and speak, not think and feel! +Whence comest thou?" + +So spoke the impatient Edward, to whom the character of his youngest +brother had ever been a riddle, which it had been too much trouble to +expound, and that which it _seemed_ to his too careless thought he ever +looked upon with scorn and contempt. Not so, King Robert; he raised him +affectionately in his arms, and pressed him to his heart. + +"Thou'rt welcome, most, most welcome, Nigel; as welcome as unlooked for. +But why this quick return from scenes and studies more congenial to thy +gentle nature, my young brother? this fettered land is scarce a home for +thee; thy free, thy fond imaginings can scarce have resting here." He +spoke sadly, and his smile unwittingly was sorrowful. + +"And thinkest thou, Robert--nay, forgive me, good my liege--thinkest +thou, because I loved the poet's dream, because I turned, in sad and +lonely musing, from King Edward's court, I loved the cloister better +than the camp? Oh, do me not such wrong! thou knowest not the guidings +of my heart; nor needs it now, my sword shall better plead my cause than +can my tongue." He turned away deeply and evidently pained, and a half +laugh from Sir Edward prevented the king's reply. + +"Well crowed, my pretty fledgling," he said, half jesting, half in +scorn. "But knowest thou, to fight in very earnest is something +different than to read and chant it in a minstrel's lay? Better hie thee +back to Florence, boy; the mail suit and crested helm are not for such +as thee--better shun them now, than after they are donned." + +"How! darest thou, Edward? Edward, tempt me not too far," exclaimed +Nigel, his cheek flushing, and springing towards him, his hand upon his +half-drawn sword. "By heaven, wert thou not my mother's son, I would +compel thee to retract these words, injurious, unjust! How darest thou +judge me coward, till my cowardice is proved? Thy blood is not more red +than mine." + +"Peace, peace! what meaneth this unseemly broil?" said Robert, hastily +advancing between them, for the dark features of Edward were lowering in +wrath, and Nigel was excited to unwonted fierceness. "Edward, begone! +and as thou saidst, see to Sir Robert Keith--what news he brings. Nigel, +on thy love, thy allegiance so lately proffered, if I read thy greeting +right, I pray thee heed not his taunting words. I do not doubt thee; +'twas for thy happiness, not for thy gallantry, I trembled. Look not +thus dejected;" he held out his hand, which his brother knelt to salute. +"Nay, nay, thou foolish boy, forget my new dignity a while, and now that +rude brawler has departed, tell me in sober wisdom, how camest thou +here? How didst thou know I might have need of thee?" A quick blush +suffused the cheek of the young man; he hesitated, evidently confused. +"Why, what ails thee, boy? By St. Andrew, Nigel, I do believe thou hast +never quitted Scotland." + +"And if I have not, my lord, what wilt thou deem me?" + +"A very strangely wayward boy, not knowing his own mind," replied the +king, smiling. "Yet why should I say so? I never asked thy confidence, +never sought it, or in any way returned or appreciated thy boyish love, +and why should I deem thee wayward, never inquiring into thy +projects--passing thee by, perchance, as a wild visionary, much happier +than myself?" + +"And thou wilt think me yet more a visionary, I fear me, Robert; yet +thine interest is too dear to pass unanswered," rejoined Nigel, after +glancing round and perceiving they were alone, for the abbot had +departed with Sir Edward, seeking to tame his reckless spirit. + +"Know, then, to aid me in keeping aloof from the tyrant of my country, +whom instinctively I hated, I confined myself to books and such lore yet +more than my natural inclination prompted, though that was strong +enough--I had made a solemn vow, rather to take the monk's cowl and +frock, than receive knighthood from the hand of Edward of England, or +raise my sword at his bidding. My whole soul yearned towards the country +of my fathers, that country which was theirs by royal right; and when +the renown of Wallace reached my ears, when, in my waking and sleeping +dreams, I beheld the patriot struggling for freedom, peace, the only one +whose arm had struck for Scotland, whose tongue had dared to speak +resistance, I longed wildly, intensely, vainly, to burst the thraldom +which held my race, and seek for death beneath the patriot banner. I +longed, yet dared not. My own death were welcome; but mother, father, +brothers, sisters, all were perilled, had I done so. I stood, I deemed, +alone in my enthusiast dreams; those I loved best, acknowledged, bowed +before the man my very spirit loathed; and how dared I, a boy, a child, +stand forth arraigning and condemning? But wherefore art thou thus, +Robert? oh, what has thus moved thee?" + +Wrapped in his own earnest words and thoughts, Nigel had failed until +that moment to perceive the effect of his words upon his brother. +Robert's head had sunk upon his hand, and his whole frame shook beneath +some strong emotion; evidently striving to subdue it, some moments +elapsed ere he could reply, and then only in accents of bitter +self-reproach. "Why, why did not such thoughts come to me, instead of +thee?" he said. "My youth had not wasted then in idle folly--worse, oh, +worse--in slavish homage, coward indecision, flitting like the moth +around the destructive flame; and while I deemed thee buried in romantic +dreams, all a patriot's blood was rushing in thy veins, while mine was +dull and stagnant." + +"But to flow forth the brighter, my own brother," interrupted Nigel, +earnestly. "Oh, I have watched thee, studied thee, even as I loved thee, +long; and I have hoped, felt, _known_ that this day would dawn; that +thou _wouldst_ rise for Scotland, and she would rise for thee. Ah, now +thou smilest as thyself, and I will to my tale. The patriot died--let me +not utter how; no Scottish tongue should speak those words, save with +the upraised arm and trumpet shout of vengeance! I could not rest in +England then; I could not face the tyrant who dared proclaim and execute +as traitor the noblest hero, purest patriot, that ever walked this +earth. But men said I sought the lyric schools, the poet's haunts in +Provence, and I welcomed the delusion; but it was to Scotland that I +came, unknown, and silently, to mark if with her Wallace all life and +soul had fled. I saw enough to know that were there but a fitting head, +her hardy sons would struggle yet for freedom--but not yet; that chief +art thou, and at the close of the last year I took passage to Denmark, +intending to rest there till Scotland called me." + +"And 'tis thence thou comest, Nigel? Can it be, intelligence of my +movements hath reached so far north already?" inquired the king, +somewhat surprised at the abruptness of his brother's pause. + +"Not so, my liege. The vessel which bore me was wrecked off the breakers +of Buchan, and cast me back again to the arms of Scotland. I found +hospitality, shelter, kindness; nay more, were this a time and place to +speak of happy, trusting love--" he added, turning away from the Bruce's +penetrating eye, "and week after week passed, and found me still an +inmate of the Tower of Buchan." + +"Buchan!" interrupted the king, hastily; "the castle of a Comyn, and +thou speakest of love!" + +"Of as true, as firm-hearted a Scottish patriot, my liege, as ever lived +in the heart of woman--one that has naught of Comyn about her or her +fair children but the name, as speedily thou wilt have proof. But in +good time is my tale come to a close, for hither comes good Sir Robert, +and other noble knights, who, by their eager brows, methinks, have +matters of graver import for thy grace's ear." + +They entered as he spoke. The patriot nobles who, at the first call of +their rightful king, had gathered round his person, few in number, yet +firm in heart, ready to lay down fame, fortune, life, beside his +standard, rather than acknowledge the foreign foe, who, setting aside +all principles of knightly honor, knightly faith, sought to claim their +country as his own, their persons as his slaves. Eager was the greeting +of each and all to the youthful Nigel, mingled with some surprise. Their +conference with the king was but brief, and as it comprised matters more +of speculation than of decided import, we will pass on to a later period +of the same evening. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Buchan! the Countess of Buchan, sayest thou, Athelbert? nay, 'tis +scarce possible," said a fair and noble-looking woman, still in the +bloom of life, though early youth had passed, pausing on her way to the +queen's apartment, to answer some information given by the senior page. + +"Indeed, madam, 'tis even so; she arrived but now, escorted by Sir +Robert Keith and his followers, in addition to some fifty of the +retainers of Buchan." + +"And hath she lodging within the palace?" + +"Yes, madam; an it please you, I will conduct you to her, 'tis but a +step beyond the royal suite." + +She made him a sign of assent, and followed him slowly, as if musingly. + +"It is strange, it is very strange," she thought, "yet scarcely so; she +was ever in heart and soul a patriot, nor has she seen enough of her +husband to change such sentiments. Yet, for her own sake, perchance it +had been better had she not taken this rash step; 'tis a desperate game +we play, and the fewer lives and fortunes wrecked the better." + +Her cogitations were interrupted by hearing her name announced in a loud +voice by the page, and finding herself in presence of the object of her +thoughts. + +"Isabella, dearest Isabella, 'tis even thine own dear self. I deemed the +boy's tale well-nigh impossible," was her hasty exclamation, as with a +much quicker step she advanced towards the countess, who met her +half-way, and warmly returned her embrace, saying as she did so-- + +"This is kind, indeed, dearest Mary, to welcome me so soon; 'tis long, +long years since we have met; but they have left as faint a shadow on +thy affections as on mine." + +"Indeed, thou judgest me truly, Isabella. Sorrow, methinks, doth but +soften the heart and render the memory of young affections, youthful +pleasures, the more vivid, the more lasting: we think of what we have +been, or what we are, and the contrast heightens into perfect bliss that +which at the time, perchance, we deemed but perishable joy." + +"Hast thou too learnt such lesson, Mary? I hoped its lore was all +unknown to thee." + +"It was, indeed, deferred so long, so blessedly, I dared to picture +perfect happiness on earth; but since my husband's hateful captivity, +Isabella, there can be little for his wife but anxiety and dread. But +these--are these thine?" she added, gazing admiringly and tearfully on +Agnes and Alan, who had at their mother's sign advanced from the +embrasure, where they had held low yet earnest converse, and gracefully +acknowledged the stranger's notice. "Oh, wherefore bring them here, my +friend?" + +"Wherefore, lady?" readily and impetuously answered Alan; "art thou a +friend of Isabella of Buchan, and asketh wherefore? Where our sovereign +is, should not his subjects be?" + +"Thy mother's friend and sovereign's sister, noble boy, and yet I grieve +to see thee here. The Bruce is but in name a king, uncrowned as yet and +unanointed. His kingdom bounded by the confines of this one fair county, +struggling for every acre at the bright sword's point." + +"The greater glory for his subjects, lady," answered the youth. "The +very act of proclaiming himself king removes the chains of Scotland, and +flings down her gage. Fear not, he shall be king ere long in something +more than name." + +"And is it thus a Comyn speaks?" said the Lady Campbell. "Ah, were the +idle feuds of petty minds thus laid at rest, bold boy, thy dreams might +e'en be truth; but knowest thou, young man--knowest thou, Isabella, the +breach between the Comyn and the Bruce is widened, and, alas! by blood?" + +"Aye, lady; but what boots it? A traitor should have no name, no kin, or +those who bear that name should wash away their race's stain by nobler +deeds of loyalty and valor." + +"It would be well did others think with thee," replied Lady Campbell; +"yet I fear me in such sentiments the grandson of the loyal Fife will +stand alone. Isabella, dearest Isabella," she added, laying her hand on +the arm of the countess, and drawing her away from her children, "hast +thou done well in this decision? hast thou listened to the calmer voice +of prudence as was thy wont? hast thou thought on all the evils thou +mayest draw upon thy head, and upon these, so lovely and so dear?" + +"Mary, I have thought, weighed, pondered, and yet I am here," answered +the countess, firmly, yet in an accent that still bespoke some inward +struggle. "I know, I feel all, all that thou wouldst urge; that I am +exposing my brave boy to death, perchance, by a father's hand, bringing +him hither to swear fealty, to raise his sword for the Bruce, in direct +opposition to my husband's politics, still more to his will; yet, Mary, +there are mutual duties between a parent and a child. My poor boy has +ever from his birth been fatherless. No kindly word, no glowing smile +has ever met his infancy, his boyhood. He scarce can know his +father--the love, the reverence of a son it would have been such joy to +teach. Left to my sole care, could I instil sentiments other than those +a father's lips bestowed on me? Could I instruct him in aught save +love, devotion to his country, to her rights, her king? I have done this +so gradually, my friend, that for the burst of loyalty, of impetuous +gallantry, which answered Sir Robert Keith's appeal, I was well nigh +unprepared. My father, my noble father breathes in my boy; and oh, Mary, +better, better far lose him on the battle-field, struggling for +Scotland's freedom, glorying in his fate, rejoicing, blessing me for +lessons I have taught, than see him as my husband, as my brother--alas! +alas! that I should live to say it--cringing as slaves before the +footstool of a tyrant and oppressor. Had he sought it, had he +loved--treated me as a wife, Mary, I would have given my husband +all--all a woman's duty--all, save the dictates of my soul, but even +this he trampled on, despised, rejected; and shall I, dare I then +forget, oppose the precepts of that noble heart, that patriot spirit +which breathed into mine the faint reflection of itself?--offend the +dead, the hallowed dead, my father--the heart that loved me?" + +She paused, in strong, and for the moment overpowering, emotion. The +clear, rich tones had never faltered till she spoke of him beloved even +in death--faltered not, even when she spoke of death as the portion of +her child; it was but the quivering of lip and eye by which the anguish +of that thought could have been ascertained. Lady Campbell clasped her +hand. + +"Thou hast in very truth silenced me, my Isabella," she said; "there is +no combating with thoughts as these. Thine is still the same noble soul, +exalted mind that I knew in youth: sorrow and time have had no power on +these." + +"Save to chasten and to purify, I trust," rejoined the countess, in her +own calm tone. "Thrown back upon my own strength, it must have gathered +force, dear Mary, or have perished altogether. But thou speakest, +methinks, but too despondingly of our sovereign's prospects--are they +indeed so desperate?" + +"Desperate, indeed, Isabella. Even his own family, with the sole +exception of that rash madman, Edward, must look upon it thus. How +thinkest thou Edward of England will brook this daring act of defiance, +of what he will deem rank apostasy and traitorous rebellion? Aged, +infirm as he is now, he will not permit this bold attempt to pass +unpunished. The whole strength of England will be gathered together, +and pour its devastating fury on this devoted land. And what to this has +Robert to oppose? Were he undisputed sovereign of Scotland, we might, +without cowardice, be permitted to tremble, threatened as he is; but +confined, surrounded by English, with scarce a town or fort to call his +own, his enterprise is madness, Isabella, patriotic as it may be." + +"Oh, do not say so, Mary. Has he not some noble barons already by his +side? will not, nay, is not Scotland rising to support him? hath he not +the hearts, the prayers, the swords of all whose mountain homes and +freeborn rights are dearer than the yoke of Edward? and hath he not, if +rumor speaks aright, within himself a host--not mere valor alone, but +prudence, foresight, military skill--all, all that marks a general?" + +"As rumor speaks. Thou dost not know him then?" inquired Lady Campbell. + +"How could I, dearest? Hast thou forgotten thy anxiety that we should +meet, when we were last together, holding at naught, in thy merry mood, +my betrothment to Lord John--that I should turn him from his wandering +ways, and make him patriotic as myself? Thou seest, Mary, thy brother +needed not such influence." + +"Of a truth, no," answered her friend; "for his present partner is a +very contrast to thyself, and would rather, by her weak and trembling +fears, dissuade him from his purpose than inspire and encourage it. Well +do I remember that fancy of my happy childhood, and still I wish it had +been so, all idle as it seems--strange that ye never met." + +"Nay, save thyself, Mary, thy family resided more in England than in +Scotland, and for the last seventeen years the territory of Buchan has +been my only home, with little interruption to my solitude; yet I have +heard much of late of the Earl of Carrick, and from whom thinkest +thou?--thou canst not guess--even from thy noble brother Nigel." + +"Nigel!" repeated Lady Mary, much surprised. + +"Even so, sweet sister, learning dearer lore and lovelier tales than +even Provence could instil; 'tis not the land, it is the _heart_ where +poesie dwells," rejoined Nigel Bruce, gayly, advancing from the side of +Agnes, where he had been lingering the greater part of the dialogue +between his sister and the countess, and now joined them. "Aye, Mary," +he continued, tenderly, "my own land is dearer than the land of song." + +"And dear art thou to Scotland, Nigel; but I knew not thy fond dreams +and wild visions could find resting amid the desert crags and barren +plains of Buchan." + +"Yet have we not been idle. Dearest Agnes, wilt thou not speak for me? +the viol hath not been mute, nor the fond harp unstrung; and deeper, +dearer lessons have thy lips instilled, than could have flowed from +fairest lips and sweetest songs of Provence. Nay, blush not, dearest. +Mary, thou must love this gentle girl," he added, as he led her forward, +and laid the hand of Agnes in his sister's. + +"Is it so? then may we indeed be united, though not as I in my girlhood +dreamed, my Isabella," said Lady Campbell, kindly parting the clustering +curls, and looking fondly on the maiden's blushing face. She was about +to speak again, when steps were heard along the corridor, and +unannounced, unattended, save by the single page who drew aside the +hangings, King Robert entered. He had doffed the armor in which we saw +him first, for a plain yet rich suit of dark green velvet, cut and +slashed with cloth of gold, and a long mantle of the richest crimson, +secured at his throat by a massive golden clasp, from which gleamed the +glistening rays of a large emerald; a brooch of precious stones, +surrounded by diamonds, clasped the white ostrich feather in his cup, +and the shade of the drooping plume, heightened perhaps by the advance +of evening, somewhat obscured his features, but there was that in his +majestic mien, in the noble yet dignified bearing, which could not for +one moment be mistaken; and it needed not the word of Nigel to cause the +youthful Alan to spring from the couch where he had listlessly thrown +himself, and stand, suddenly silenced and abashed. + +"My liege and brother," exclaimed Lady Campbell, eagerly, as she hastily +led forward the Countess of Buchan, who sunk at once on her knee, +overpowered by the emotion of a patriot, thinking only of her country, +only of her sovereign, as one inspired by heaven to attempt her rescue, +and give her freedom. "How glad am I that it has fallen on me to present +to your grace, in the noble Countess of Buchan, the chosen friend of my +girlhood, the only descendant of the line of Macduff worthy to bear that +name. Allied as unhappily she is to the family of Comyn, yet still, +still most truly, gloriously, a patriot and loyal subject of your grace, +as her being here, with all she holds most dear, most precious upon +earth, will prove far better than her friend's poor words." + +"Were they most rich in eloquence, Mary, believe me, we yet should need +them not, in confirmation of this most noble lady's faithfulness and +worth," answered the king, with ready courtesy, and in accents that were +only too familiar to the ear of Isabella. She started, and gazed up for +the first time, seeing fully the countenance of the sovereign. "Rise, +lady, we do beseech you, rise; we are not yet so familiar with the forms +of royalty as to behold without some shame a noble lady at our feet. +Nay, thou art pale, very pale; thy coming hither hath been too rapid, +too hurried for thy strength, methinks; I do beseech you, sit." Gently +he raised her, and leading her gallantly to one of the cumbrous couches +near them, placed her upon it, and sat down beside her. "Ha! that is +well; thou art better now. Knowest thou, Mary, thine office would have +been more wisely performed, hadst thou presented _me_ to the Countess of +Buchan, not her to me." + +"Thou speakest darkly, good my liege, yet I joy to see thee thus +jestingly inclined." + +"Nay, 'tis no jest, fair sister; the Countess of Buchan and I have met +before, though she knew me but as a wild, heedless stripling first, and +a moody, discontented soldier afterwards. I owe thee much, gentle lady; +much for the night's lodging thy hospitality bestowed, though at the +time my mood was such it had no words of courtesy, no softening fancy, +even to thyself; much for the kindness thou didst bestow, not only then, +but when fate first threw us together; and therefore do I seek thee, +lady--therefore would I speak to thee, as the friend of former years, +not as the sovereign of Scotland, and as such received by thee." He +spoke gravely, with somewhat of sadness in his rich voice. Perhaps it +was well for the countess no other answer than a grateful bow was +needed, for the sudden faintness which had withdrawn the color from her +cheek yet lingered, sufficient to render the exertion of speaking +painful. + +"Yet pause one moment, my liege," said Nigel, playfully leading Alan +forward; "give me one moment, ere you fling aside your kingly state. +Here is a young soldier, longing to rush into the very thickest of a +fight that may win a golden spur and receive knighthood at your grace's +hand; a doughty spokesman, who was to say a marvellously long speech of +duty, homage, and such like, but whose tongue at sight of thee has +turned traitor to its cause. Have mercy on him, good my liege; I'll +answer that his arm is less a traitor than his tongue." + +"We do not doubt it, Nigel, and will accept thy words for his. Be +satisfied, young sir, the willing homage of all true men is precious to +King Robert. And thou, fair maiden, wilt thou, too, follow thy monarch's +fortunes, cloudy though they seem? we read thine answer in thy blushing +cheek, and thus we thank thee, maiden." + +He threw aside his plumed cap, and gallantly yet respectfully saluted +the fair, soft cheek; confused yet pleased, Agnes looked doubtingly +towards Nigel, who, smiling a happy, trusting, joyous smile, led her a +few minutes apart, whispered some fond words, raised her hand to his +lips, and summoning Alan, they left the room together. + +"Sir Robert Keith informs me, noble lady," said the king, again +addressing Isabella, "that it is your determination to represent, in +your own proper person, the ancient line of Duff at the approaching +ceremony, and demand from our hands, as such representative, the +privilege granted by King Malcolm to your noble ancestor and his +descendants, of placing on the sovereign's brow the coronet of Scotland. +Is it not so?" + +"I do indeed most earnestly demand this privilege, my gracious liege," +answered the countess, firmly; "demand it as a right, a glorious right, +made mine by the weak and fickle conduct of my brother. Alas! the only +male descendant of that line which until now hath never known a +traitor." + +"But hast thou well considered, lady? There is danger in this act, +danger even to thyself." + +"My liege, that there is danger threatening all the patriots of +Scotland, monarch or serf, male or female, I well know; yet in what does +it threaten me more in this act, than in the mere acknowledgment of the +Earl of Carrick as my sovereign?" + +"It will excite the rage of Edward of England against thyself +individually, lady; I know him well, only too well. All who join in +giving countenance and aid to my inauguration will be proclaimed, +hunted, placed under the ban of traitors, and, if unfortunately taken, +will in all probability share the fate of Wallace." His voice became +husky with strong emotion. "There is no exception in his sweeping +tyranny; youth and age, noble and serf, of either sex, of either land, +if they raise the sword for Bruce and freedom, will fall by the +hangman's cord or headsman's axe; and I, alas! must look on and bear, +for I have neither men nor power to avert such fate; and that hand which +places on my head the crown, death, death, a cruel death, will be the +doom of its patriot owner. Think, think on this, and oh, retract thy +noble resolution, ere it be too late." + +"Is she who gives the crown in greater danger, good my liege, than he +who wears it?" demanded the countess, with a calm and quiet smile. + +"Nay," he answered, smiling likewise for the moment, "but I were worse +than traitor, did I shrink from Scotland in her need, and refuse her +diadem, in fear, forsooth, of death at Edward's hands. No! I have held +back too long, and now will I not turn back till Scotland's freedom is +achieved, or Robert Bruce lies with the slain. Repentance for the past, +hope, ambition for the future; a firm heart and iron frame, a steady arm +and sober mood, to meet the present--I have these, sweet lady, to fit +and nerve me for the task, but not such hast thou. I doubt not thy +patriot soul; perchance 'twas thy lip that first awoke the slumbering +fire within my own breast, and though a while forgotten, recalled, when +again I looked on thee, after Falkirk's fatal battle, with the charge, +the solemn charge of Wallace yet ringing in mine ears. Yet, lady, noble +lady, tempt not the fearful fate which, shouldst thou fall into Edward's +hands, I know too well will be thine own. I dare not promise sure +defence from his o'erwhelming hosts: on every side they compass me. I +see sorrow and death for all I love, all who swear fealty to me. I shall +succeed in the end, for heaven, just heaven will favor the righteous +cause; but trouble and anguish must be my lot ere then, and I would save +those I can. Remain with us an thou wilt, gratefully I accept the homage +so nobly and unhesitatingly tendered; but still I beseech thee, lady, +expose not thy noble self to the blind wrath of Edward, as thou surely +wilt, if from thy hand I receive my country's crown." + +"My liege," answered the countess, in that same calm, quiet tone, "I +have heard thee with a deep grateful sense of the noble feeling, the +kindly care which dictates thy words; yet pardon me, if they fail to +shake my resolution--a resolution not lightly formed, not the mere +excitement of a patriotic moment, but one based on the principles of +years, on the firm, solemn conviction, that in taking this sacred office +on myself, the voice of the dead is obeyed, the memory of the dead, the +noble dead, preserved from stain, inviolate and pure. Would my father +have kept aloof in such an hour--refused to place on the brow of +Scotland's patriot king the diadem of his forefathers--held back in fear +of Edward? Oh! would that his iron hand and loyal heart were here +instead of mine; gladly would I lay me down in his cold home and place +him at thy side, might such things be: but as it is, my liege, I do +beseech thee, cease to urge me. I have but a woman's frame, a woman's +heart, and yet death hath no fear for me. Let Edward work his will, if +heaven ordain I fall into his ruthless hands; death comes but once, 'tis +but a momentary pang, and rest and bliss shall follow. My father's +spirit breathes within me, and as he would, so let his daughter do. 'Tis +not now a time to depart from ancient forms, my gracious sovereign, and +there are those in Scotland who scarce would deem thee crowned, did not +the blood of Fife perform that holy office." + +"And this, then, noble lady, is thy firm resolve--I may not hope to +change it?" + +"'Tis firm as the ocean rock, my liege. I do not sue thee to permit my +will; the blood of Macduff, which rushes in my veins, doth mark it as my +right, and as my right I do demand it." She stood in her majestic +beauty, proudly and firmly before him, and unconsciously the king +acknowledged and revered the dauntless spirit that lovely form +enshrined. + +"Lady," he said, raising her hand with reverence to his lips, "do as +thou wilt: a weaker spirit would have shrunk at once in terror from the +very thought of such open defiance to King Edward. I should have known +the mind that framed such daring purpose would never shrink from its +fulfilment, however danger threatened; enough, we know thy faithfulness +and worth, and where to seek for brave and noble counsel in the hour of +need. And now, may it be our privilege to present thee to our queen, +sweet lady? We shall rejoice to see thee ever near her person." + +"I pray your grace excuse me for this night," answered the countess; "we +have made some length of way to-day, and, if it please you, I would +seek rest. Agnes shall supply my place; Mary, thou wilt guard her, wilt +thou not?" + +"Nay, be mine the grateful task," said the king, gayly taking the +maiden's hand, and, after a few words of courtesy, he quitted the +chamber, followed by his sister. + +There were sounds of mirth and revelry that night in the ancient halls +of Scone, for King Robert, having taken upon himself the state and +consequence of sovereignty, determined on encouraging the high spirits +and excited joyousness of his gallant followers by all the amusements of +chivalry which his confined and precarious situation permitted, and +seldom was it that the dance and minstrelsy did not echo blithely in the +royal suite for many hours of the evening, even when the day had brought +with it anxiety and fatigue, and even intervals of despondency. There +were many noble dames and some few youthful maidens in King Robert's +court, animated by the same patriotic spirit which led their husbands +and brothers to risk fortune and life in the service of their country: +they preferred sharing and alleviating their dangers and anxieties, by +thronging round the Bruce's wife, to the precarious calm and safety of +their feudal castles; and light-heartedness and glee shed their bright +gleams on these social hours, never clouded by the gloomy shades that +darkened the political horizon of the Bruce's fortunes. Perchance this +night there was a yet brighter radiance cast over the royal halls, there +was a spirit of light and glory in every word and action of the youthful +enthusiast, Nigel Bruce, that acted as with magic power on all around; +known in the court of England but as a moody visionary boy, whose dreams +were all too ethereal to guide him in this nether world, whose hand, +however fitted to guide a pen, was all too weak to wield a sword; the +change, or we should rather say the apparent change, perceived in him +occasioned many an eye to gaze in silent wonderment, and, in the +superstition of the time, argue well for the fortunes of one brother +from the marvellous effect observable in the countenance and mood of the +other. + +The hopefulness of youth, its rosy visions, its smiling dreams, all +sparkled in his blight blue eye, in the glad, free, ringing joyance of +his deep rich voice, his cloudless smiles. And oh, who is there can +resist the witchery of life's young hopes, who does not feel the warm +blood run quicker through his veins, and bid his heart throb even as it +hath throbbed in former days, and the gray hues of life melt away before +the rosy glow of youth, even as the calm cold aspect of waning night is +lost in the warmth and loveliness of the infant morn? And what was the +magic acting on the enthusiast himself, that all traces of gloom and +pensive thought were banished from his brow, that the full tide of +poetry within his soul seemed thrilling on his lip, breathing in his +simplest word, entrancing his whole being in joy? Scarce could he +himself have defined its cause, such a multitude of strong emotions were +busy at his heart. He saw not the dangers overhanging the path of the +Bruce, he only saw and only felt him as his sovereign, as his brother, +his friend, destined to be all that he had hoped, prayed, and believed +he would be; willing to accept and return the affection he had so long +felt, and give him that friendship and confidence for which he had +yearned in vain so long. He saw his country free, independent, +unshackled, glorious as of old; and there was a light and lovely being +mingling in these stirring visions--when Scotland was free, what +happiness would not be his own! Agnes, who flitted before him in that +gay scene, the loveliest, dearest object there, clinging to him in her +timidity, shrinking from the gaze of the warriors around, respectful as +it was, feeling that all was strange, all save him to whom her young +heart was vowed--if such exclusiveness was dear to him, if it were bliss +to him to feel that, save her young brother, he alone had claim upon her +notice and her smile, oh! what would it be when she indeed was all, all +indivisibly his own? Was it marvel, then, his soul was full of the joy +that beamed forth from his eye, and lip, and brow--that his faintest +tone breathed gladness? + +There was music and mirth in the royal halls: the shadow of care had +passed before the full sunshine of hope; but within that palace wall, +not many roods removed from the royal suite, was one heart struggling +with its lone agony, striving for calm, for peace, for rest, to escape +from the deep waters threatening to overwhelm it. Hour after hour beheld +the Countess of Buchan in the same spot, well-nigh in the same attitude; +the agonized dream of her youth had come upon her yet once again, the +voice whose musical echoes had never faded from her ear, once more had +sounded in its own deep thrilling tones, his hand had pressed her own, +his eye had met hers, aye, and dwelt upon her with the unfeigned +reverence and admiration which had marked its expression years before; +and it was to him her soul had yearned in all the fervidness of loyalty, +not to a stranger, as she had deemed him. Loyalty, patriotism, reverence +her sovereign claimed, aye, and had received; but now how dare she +encourage such emotions towards one it had been, aye, it was her duty to +forget, to think of no more? Had her husband been fond, sought the noble +heart which felt so bitterly his neglect, the gulf which now divided +them might never have existed; and could she still the voice of that +patriotism, that loyalty towards a free just monarch, which the dying +words of a parent had so deeply inculcated, and which the sentiments of +her own heart had increased in steadiness and strength? On what had that +lone heart to rest, to subdue its tempest, to give it nerve and force, +to rise pure in thought as in deed, unstained, unshaded in its +nobleness, what but its own innate purity? Yet fearful was the storm +that passed over, terrible the struggle which shook that bent form, as +in lowliness and contrition, and agony of spirit, she knelt before the +silver crucifix, and called upon heaven in its mercy to give peace and +strength--fierce, fierce and terrible; but the agonized cry was heard, +the stormy waves were stilled. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Brightly and blithely dawned the 26th of March, 1306, for the loyal +inhabitants of Scone. Few who might gaze on the olden city, and marked +the flags and pennons waving gayly and proudly on every side; the rich +tapestry flung over balconies or hung from the massive windows, in every +street; the large branches of oak and laurel, festooned with gay +ribands, that stood beside the entrance of every house which boasted any +consequence; the busy citizens in goodly array, with their wives and +families, bedecked to the best of their ability, all, as inspired by one +spirit, hurrying in the direction of the abbey yard, joining the merry +clamor of eager voices to the continued peal of every bell of which the +old town could boast, sounding loud and joyously even above the roll of +the drum or the shrill trumpet call;--those who marked these things +might well believe Scotland was once again the same free land, which +had hailed in the same town the coronation of Alexander the Third, some +years before. Little would they deem that the foreign foeman still +thronged her feudal holds and cottage homes, that they waited but the +commands of their monarch, to pour down on all sides upon the daring +individual who thus boldly assumed the state and solemn honor of a king, +and, armed but by his own high heart and a handful of loyal followers, +prepared to resist, defend, and _free_, or _die_ for Scotland. + +There was silence--deep, solemn, yet most eloquent silence, reigning in +the abbey church of Scone. The sun shining in that full flood of glory +we sometimes find in the infant spring, illumined as with golden lustre +the long, narrow casements, falling thence in flickering brilliance on +the pavement floor, its rays sometimes arrested, to revolve in +heightened lustre from the glittering sword or the suit of half-mail of +one or other of the noble knights assembled there. The rich plate of the +abbey, all at least which had escaped the cupidity of Edward, was +arranged with care upon the various altars; in the centre of the church +was placed the abbot's oaken throne, which was to supply the place of +the ancient stone, the coronation seat of the Scottish kings--no longer +there, its absence felt by one and all within that church as the closing +seal to Edward's infamy--the damning proof that as his slave, not as his +sister kingdom, he sought to render Scotland. From the throne to the +high altar, where the king was to receive the eucharist, a carpet of +richly-brocaded Genoa velvet was laid down; a cushion of the same +elegantly-wrought material marked the place beside the spot where he was +to kneel. Priests, in their richest vestments, officiated at the high +altar; six beautiful boys, bearing alternately a large waxen candle, and +the golden censers filled with the richest incense, stood beside them, +while opposite the altar and behind the throne, in an elevated gallery, +were ranged the seventy choristers of the abbey, thirty of whom were +youthful novices; behind them a massive screen or curtain of tapestry +concealed the organ, and gave a yet more startling and thrilling effect +to its rich deep tones, thus bursting, as it were, from spheres unseen. + +The throne was already occupied by the patriot king, clothed in his +robes of state; his inner dress was a doublet and vest of white velvet, +slashed with cloth of silver; his stockings, fitting tight to the knee, +were of the finest woven white silk, confined where they met the doublet +with a broad band of silver; his shoes of white velvet, broidered with +silver, in unison with his dress; a scarf of cloth of silver passed over +his right shoulder, fastened there by a jewelled clasp, and, crossing +his breast, secured his trusty sword to his left side; his head, of +course, was bare, and his fair hair, parted carefully on his arched and +noble brow, descended gracefully on either side; his countenance was +perfectly calm, unexpressive of aught save of a deep sense of the solemn +service in which he was engaged. There was not the faintest trace of +either anxiety or exultation--naught that could shadow the brows of his +followers, or diminish by one particle the love and veneration which in +every heart were rapidly gaining absolute dominion. + +On the right of the king stood the Abbot of Scone, the Archbishop of St. +Andrew's, and Bishop of Glasgow, all of which venerable prelates had +instantaneously and unhesitatingly declared for the Bruce; ranged on +either side of the throne, according more to seniority than rank, were +seated the brothers of the Bruce and the loyal barons who had joined his +standard. Names there were already famous in the annals of +patriotism--Fraser, Lennox, Athol, Hay--whose stalwart arms had so nobly +struck for Wallace, whose steady minds had risen superior to the petty +emotions of jealousy and envy which had actuated so many of similar +rank. These were true patriots, and gladly and freely they once more +rose for Scotland. Sir Christopher Seaton, brother-in-law to the Bruce, +Somerville, Keith, St. Clair, the young Lord Douglas, and Thomas +Randolph, the king's nephew, were the most noted of those now around the +Bruce; yet on that eventful day not more than fourteen barons were +mustered round their sovereign, exclusive of his four gallant brothers, +who were in themselves a host. All these were attired with the care and +gallantry their precarious situation permitted; half armor, concealed by +flowing scarfs and graceful mantles, or suits of gayer seeming among the +younger knights, for those of the barons' followers of gentle blood and +chivalric training were also admitted within the church, forming a +goodly show of gallant men. Behind them, on raised seats, which were +divided from the body of the church by an open railing of ebony, sate +the ladies of the court, the seat of the queen distinguished from the +rest by its canopy and cushion of embroidered taffeta, and amongst +those gentle beings fairest and loveliest shone the maiden of Buchan, as +she sate in smiling happiness between the youthful daughter of the +Bruce, the Princess Margory, and his niece, the Lady Isoline, children +of ten and fourteen, who already claimed her as their companion and +friend. + +The color was bright on the soft cheek of Agnes, the smile laughed alike +in her lip and eye; for ever and anon, from amidst the courtly crowd +beneath, the deep blue orb of Nigel Bruce met hers, speaking in its +passioned yet respectful gaze, all that could whisper joy and peace unto +a heart, young, loving, and confiding, as that of Agnes. The evening +previous he had detached the blue riband which confined her flowing +curls, and it was with a feeling of pardonable pride she beheld it +suspended from his neck, even in that hour, when his rich habiliments +and the imposing ceremony of the day marked him the brother of a king. +Her brother, too, was at his side, gazing upon his sovereign with +feelings, whose index, marked as it was on his brow, gave him the +appearance of being older than he was. It was scarcely the excitement of +a mere boy, who rejoiced in the state and dignity around him; the +emotion of his mother had sunk upon his very soul, subduing the wild +buoyancy of his spirit, and bidding him feel deeply and sadly the +situation in which he stood. It seemed to him as if he had never thought +before, and now that reflection had come upon him, it was fraught with a +weight and gloom he could not remove and scarcely comprehend. He felt no +power on earth could prevent his taking the only path which was open to +the true patriot of Scotland, and in following that path he raised the +standard of revolt, and enlisted his own followers against his father. +Till the moment of action he had dreamed not of these things; but the +deep anxieties, the contending feelings of his mother, which, despite +her controlled demeanor, his heart perceived, could not but have their +effect; and premature manhood was stealing fast upon his heart. + +Upon the left of the king, and close beside his throne, stood the +Countess of Buchan, attired in robes of the darkest crimson velvet, with +a deep border of gold, which swept the ground, and long falling sleeves +with a broad fringe; a thick cord of gold and tassels confined the robe +around the waist, and thence fell reaching to her feet, and well-nigh +concealing the inner dress of white silk, which was worn to permit the +robes falling easily on either side, and thus forming a long train +behind. Neither gem nor gold adorned her beautiful hair; a veil was +twisted in its luxuriant tresses, and served the purpose of the matron's +coif. She was pale and calm, but such was the usual expression of her +countenance, and perhaps accorded better with the dignified majesty of +her commanding figure than a greater play of feature. It was not the +calmness of insensibility, of vacancy, it was the still reflection of a +controlled and chastened soul, of one whose depth and might was known +but to-herself. + +The pealing anthem for a while had ceased, and it was as if that church +was desolate, as if the very hearts that throbbed so quickly for their +country and their king were hushed a while and stilled, that every word +which passed between the sovereign and the primate should be heard. +Kneeling before him, his hands placed between those of the archbishop, +the king, in a clear and manly voice, received, as it were, the kingdom +from his hands, and swore to govern according to the laws of his +ancestors; to defend the liberties of his people alike from the foreign +and the civil foe; to dispense justice; to devote life itself to +restoring Scotland to her former station in the scale of kingdoms. +Solemnly, energetically, he took the required vows; his cheek flushed, +his eye glistened, and ere he rose he bent his brow upon his spread +hands, as if his spirit supplicated strength, and the primate, standing +over him, blessed him, in a loud voice, in the name of Him whose lowly +minister he was. + +A few minutes, and the king was again seated on his throne, and from the +hands of the Bishop of Glasgow, the Countess of Buchan received the +simple coronet of gold, which had been hastily made to supply the place +of that which Edward had removed. It was a moment of intense interest: +every eye was directed towards the king and the dauntless woman by his +side, who, rather than the descendant of Malcolm Cean Mohr should demand +in vain the service from the descendants of the brave Macduff, exposed +herself to all the wrath of a fierce and cruel king, the fury of an +incensed husband and brother, and in her own noble person represented +that ancient and most loyal line. Were any other circumstance needed to +enhance the excitement of the patriots of Scotland, they would have +found it in this. As it was, a sudden, irrepressible burst of applause +broke from many eager voices as the bishop placed the coronet in her +hands, but one glance from those dark, eloquent eyes sufficed to hush +it on the instant into stillness. + +Simultaneously all within the church stood up, and gracefully and +steadily, with a hand which trembled not, even to the observant and +anxious eyes of her son, Isabella of Buchan placed the sacred symbol of +royalty on the head of Scotland's king; and then arose, as with one +voice, the wild enthusiastic shout of loyalty, which, bursting from all +within the church, was echoed again and again from without, almost +drowning the triumphant anthem which at the same moment sent its rich, +hallowed tones through the building, and proclaimed Robert Bruce indeed +a king. + +Again and yet again the voice of triumph and of loyalty arose +hundred-tongued, and sent its echo even to the English camp; and when it +ceased, when slowly, and as it were reluctantly, it died away, it was a +grand and glorious sight to see those stern and noble barons one by one +approach their sovereign's throne and do him homage. + +It was not always customary for the monarchs of those days to receive +the feudal homage of their vassals the same hour of their coronation, it +was in general a distinct and almost equally gorgeous ceremony; but in +this case both the king and barons felt it better policy to unite them; +the excitement attendant on the one ceremonial they felt would prevent +the deficiency of numbers in the other being observed, and they acted +wisely. + +There was a dauntless firmness in each baron's look, in his manly +carriage and unwavering step, as one by one he traversed the space +between him and the throne, seeming to proclaim that in himself he held +indeed a host. To adhere to the usual custom of paying homage to the +suzerain bareheaded, barefooted, and unarmed, the embroidered slipper +had been adopted by all instead of the iron boot; and as he knelt before +the throne, the Earl of Lennox, for, first in rank, he first approached +his sovereign, unbuckling his trusty sword, laid it, together with his +dagger, at Robert's feet, and placing his clasped hands between those of +the king, repeated, in a deep sonorous voice, the solemn vow--to live +and die with him against all manner of men. Athol, Fraser, Seaton, +Douglas, Hay, gladly and willingly followed his example; and it was +curious to mark the character of each man, proclaimed in his mien and +hurried step. + +The calm, controlled, and somewhat thoughtful manner of those grown wise +in war, their bold spirits feeling to the inmost soul the whole extent +of the risk they run, scarcely daring to anticipate the freedom of their +country, the emancipation of their king from the heavy yoke that +threatened him, and yet so firm in the oath they pledged, that had +destruction yawned before them ere they reached the throne, they would +have dared it rather than turned back--and then again those hot and +eager youths, feeling, knowing but the excitement of the hour, believing +but as they hoped, seeing but a king, a free and independent king, +bounding from their seats to the monarch's feet, regardless of the +solemn ceremonial in which they took a part, desirous only, in the words +of their oath, to live and die for him--caused a brighter flush to +mantle on King Robert's cheek, and his eyes to shine with new and +radiant light. None knew better than himself the perils that encircled +him, yet there was a momentary glow of exultation in his heart as he +looked on the noble warriors, the faithful friends around him, and felt +that they, even they, representatives of the oldest, the noblest houses +in Scotland--men famed not alone for their gallant bearing in war, but +their fidelity and wisdom, and unstained honor and virtue in peace--even +they acknowledged him their king, and vowed him that allegiance which +was never known to fail. + +Alan of Buchan was the last of that small yet noble train who approached +his sovereign. There was a hot flush of impetuous feeling on the boy's +cheek, an indignant tear trembled in his dark flashing eye, and his +voice, sweet, thrilling as it was, quivered with the vain effort to +restrain his emotion. + +"Sovereign of Scotland," he exclaimed, "descendant of that glorious line +of kings to whom my ancestors have until this dark day vowed homage and +allegiance; sovereign of all good and faithful men, on whose inmost +souls the name of Scotland is so indelibly writ, that even in death it +may there be found, refuse not thou my homage. I have but my sword, not +e'en a name of which to boast, yet hear me swear," he raised his clasped +hands towards heaven, "swear that for thee, for my country, for thee +alone, will I draw it, alone shall my life be spent, my blood be shed. +Reject me not because my name is Comyn, because I alone am here of that +once loyal house. Oh! condemn me not; reject not untried a loyal heart +and trusty sword." + +"Reject thee," said King Robert, laying his hand kindly on the boy's +shoulder; "reject thee, young soldier," he said, cheeringly: "in Alan of +Buchan we see but the noble son of our right noble countrywoman, the +Lady Isabella; we see in him but a worthy descendant of Macduff, the +noble scion, though but by the mother's side, of the loyal house of +Fife. Young as thou art, we ask of thee but the heart and sword which +thou hast so earnestly proffered, nor can we, son of Isabella of Fife, +doubt their honesty and truth; thou shalt earn a loyal name for thyself, +and till then, as the brother in arms, the chosen friend of Nigel Bruce, +all shall respect and trust thee. We confer knighthood on twenty of our +youthful warriors seven days hence; prepare thyself to receive it with +our brother: enough for us to know thou hast learned the art of chivalry +at thy mother's hand." + +Dazzled, bewildered by the benign manner, and yet more gracious words of +his sovereign, the young heir of Buchan remained kneeling for a brief +space, as if rooted to the ground, but the deep earnest voice of his +mother, the kind greeting of Nigel Bruce, as he grasped his arm, and +hailed him companion in arms, roused him at once, and he sprung to his +feet; the despondency, shame, doubt, anxiety which like lead had weighed +down his heart before, dissolved before the glad, buoyant spirit, the +bright, free, glorious hopes, and dreams, and visions which are known to +youth alone. + +Stentorian and simultaneous was the eager shout that hailed the +appearance of the newly-anointed king, as he paused a moment on the +great stone staircase, leading from the principal doors of the abbey to +the abbey yard. For miles round, particularly from those counties which +were but thinly garrisoned by the English, the loyal Scots had poured at +the first rumor of the Bruce's rising, and now a rejoicing multitude +welcomed him with one voice, the execrations against their foes +forgotten in this outpouring of the heart towards their native prince. + +Inspired by this heartfelt greeting, the king advanced a few paces on +the stone terrace, and raised his right hand, as if about to speak; on +the instant every shout was hushed, and silence fell upon that eager +multitude, as deep and voiceless as if some mighty magic chained them +spell-bound where they stood, their very breathing hushed, fearful to +lose one word. + +Many an aged eye grew dim with tears, as it rested on the fair and +graceful form, the beautifully expressive face of him, who, with +eloquent fervor, referred to the ancient glory of their country; tears +of joy, for they felt they looked upon the good genius of their land, +that she was raised from her dejected stupor, to sleep a slave no more; +and the middle-aged and the young, with deafening shouts and eager +gestures, swore to give him the crown, the kingdom he demanded, free, +unshackled as his ancestors had borne them, or die around him to a man; +and blessings and prayers in woman's gentler voice mingled with the +swelling cry, and little children caught the Bruce's name and bade "God +bless him," and others, equally impetuous shouted "Bruce and freedom!" + +"Love, obey, follow me, for Scotland's sake; noble or gentle, let all +private feud be forgotten in this one great struggle for liberty or +death. Thus," he concluded, "united and faithful, the name of Wallace on +each lip, the weal of Scotland in each heart, her mountains our shield, +her freedom our sword, shall we, can we fail? No! no! Scotland shall be +free, or her green sod and mountain flowers shall bloom upon our graves. +I have no crown save that which Scotland gives, no kingdom save what +your swords shall conquer, and your hearts bestow; with you I live and +die." + +In the midst of the shouts and unrestrained clamor succeeding this +eloquent address, the fiery chargers of the king and his attendant +barons and esquires were led to the foot of the staircase. And a fair +and noble sight was the royal _cortege_ as slowly it passed through the +old town, with banners flying, lances gleaming, and the rich swell of +triumphant music echoing on the air. Nobles and dames mingled +indiscriminately together. Beautiful palfreys or well-trained glossy +mules, richly caparisoned, gracefully guided by the dames and maidens, +bore their part well amid the more fiery chargers of their companions. +The queen rode at King Robert's left hand, the primate of Scotland at +his right, Lennox, Seaton, and Hay thronged around the Countess of +Buchan, eager to pay her that courteous homage which she now no longer +refused, and willingly joined in their animated converse. The Lady Mary +Campbell and her sister Lady Seaton found an equally gallant and willing +escort, as did the other noble dames; but none ventured to dispute the +possession of the maiden of Buchan with the gallant Nigel, who, riding +close at her bridle rein, ever and anon whispered some magic words that +called a blush to her cheek and a smile on her lip, their attention +called off now and then by some wild jest or courteous word from the +young Lord Douglas, whose post seemed in every part of the royal train; +now galloping to the front, to caracole by the side of the queen, to +accustom her, he said, to the sight of good horsemanship, then lingering +beside the Countess of Buchan, to give some unexpected rejoinder to the +graver maxims of Lennox. The Princess Margory, her cousins, the Lady +Isoline Campbell and Alice and Christina Seaton, escorted by Alan of +Buchan, Walter Fitz-Alan, Alexander Fraser, and many other young +esquires, rejoicing in the task assigned them. + +It was a gay and gorgeous sight, and beautiful the ringing laugh and +silvery voice of youth. No dream of desponding dread shadowed their +hearts, though danger and suffering, and defeat and death, were darkly +gathering round them. Who, as he treads the elastic earth, fresh with +the breeze of day, as he gazes on the cloudless blue of the circling +sky, or the dazzling rays of the morning sun, as the hum of happy life +is round him--who is there thinks of the silence, and darkness, and +tempest that come in a few brief hours, on the shadowy pinions of night? + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Some ten or twelve days after the momentous event recorded in our last +chapter, King Edward's royal palace, at Winchester, was thronged at an +unusually early hour by many noble knights and barons, bearing on their +countenances symptoms of some new and unexpected excitement; and there +was a dark boding gloom on the now contracted brow and altered features +of England's king, as, weakened and well-nigh worn out by a lingering +disease, he reclined on a well-cushioned couch, to receive the +eagerly-offered homage of his loyal barons. He, who had been from +earliest youth a warrior, with whose might and dauntless prowess there +was not one, or prince, or noble, or English, or foreigner, could +compete, whose strength of frame and energy of mind had ever borne him +scathless and uninjured through scenes of fatigue, and danger, and +blood, and death; whose sword had restored a kingdom to his father--had +struggled for Palestine and her holy pilgrims--had given Wales to +England, and again and again prostrated the hopes and energies of +Scotland into the dust; even he, this mighty prince, lay prostrate now, +unable to conquer or to struggle with disease--disease that attacked the +slave, the lowest serf or yeoman of his land, and thus made manifest, +how in the sight of that King of kings, from whom both might and +weakness come, the prince and peasant are alike--the monarch and the +slave! + +The disease had been indeed in part subdued, but Edward could not close +his eyes to the fact that he should never again be what he had been; +that the strength which had enabled him to do and endure so much, the +energy which had ever led him on to victory, the fire which had so often +inspired his own heart, and urged on, as by magic power, his +followers--that all these were gone from him, and forever. Ambition, +indeed, yet burned within, strong, undying, mighty; aye, perhaps +mightier than ever, as the power of satisfying that ambition glided from +his grasp. He had rested, indeed, a brief while, secure in the +fulfilment of his darling wish, that every rood of land composing the +British Isles should be united under him as sole sovereign; he believed, +and rejoiced in the belief, that with Wallace all hope or desire of +resistance had departed. His disease had been at its height when Bruce +departed from his court, and disabled him a while from composedly +considering how that event would affect his interest in Scotland. As the +violence of the disease subsided, however, he had leisure to contemplate +and become anxious. Rumors, some extravagant, some probable, now floated +about; and the sovereign looked anxiously to the high festival of Easter +to bring all his barons around him, and by the absence or presence of +the suspected, discover at once how far his suspicions and the floating +rumors were correct. + +Although the indisposition of the sovereign prevented the feasting, +merry-making, and other customary marks of royal munificence, which ever +attended the solemnization of Easter, yet it did not in any way +interfere with the bounden duty of every earl and baron, knight and +liegeman, and high ecclesiastics of the realm to present themselves +before the monarch at such a time; Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, +being the seasons when every loyal subject of fit degree appeared +attendant on his sovereign, without any summons so to do. + +They had been seasons of peculiar interest since the dismemberment of +Scotland, for Edward's power was such, that seldom had the peers and +other great officers of that land refused the tacit acknowledgment of +England's supremacy by their non-appearance. Even in that which was +deemed the rebellion of Wallace, the highest families, even the +competitors for the crown, and all the knights and vassals in their +interest, had swelled the train of the conqueror; but this Easter ten or +twelve great barons and their followers were missing. The nobles had +eagerly and anxiously scanned the countenances of each, and whispered +suspicions and rumors, which one glance on their monarch's ruffled brow +confirmed. + +"So ho! my faithful lords and gallant knights," he exclaimed, after the +preliminaries of courtesy between each noble and his sovereign had been +more hastily than usual performed, speaking in a tone so unusually harsh +and sarcastic, that the terms "faithful and gallant" seemed used but in +mockery; "so ho! these are strange news we hear. Where be my lords of +Carrick, Athol, Lennox, Hay? Where be the knights of Seaton, Somerville, +Keith, and very many others we could name? Where be these proud lords, I +say? Are none of ye well informed on these things? I ask ye where be +they? Why are they not here?" + +There was a pause, for none dared risk reply. Edward's voice had waxed +louder and louder, his sallow cheek flushed with wrath, and he raised +himself from his couch, as if irritability of thought had imparted +strength to his frame. + +"I ask ye, where be these truant lords? There be some of ye who _can_ +reply; aye, and by good St. Edward, reply ye shall. Gloucester, my lord +of Gloucester, stand forth, I say," he continued, the thunderstorm +drawing to that climax which made many tremble, lest its bolt should +fall on the daring baron who rumor said was implicated in the flight of +the Bruce, and who now stood, his perfect self-possession and calmness +of mien and feature contrasting well with the fury of his sovereign. + +"And darest thou front me with that bold, shameless brow, false traitor +as thou art?" continued the king, as, with head erect and arms proudly +folded in his mantle, Gloucester obeyed the king's impatient summons. +"Traitor! I call thee traitor! aye, in the presence of thy country's +noblest peers, I charge thee with a traitor's deed; deny it, if thou +darest." + +"Tis my sovereign speaks the word, else had it not been spoken with +impunity," returned the noble, proudly and composedly, though his cheek +burned and his eye flashed. "Yes, monarch of England, I dare deny the +charge! Gloucester is no traitor!" + +"How! dost thou brave me, minion? Darest thou deny the fact, that from +thee, from thy traitorous hand, thy base connivance, Robert of Carrick, +warned that we knew his treachery, fled from our power--that 'tis to +thee, we owe the pleasant news we have but now received? Hast thou not +given that rebel Scotland a head, a chief, in this fell traitor, and art +thou not part and parcel of his guilt? Darest thou deny that from thee +he received intelligence and means of flight? Baron of Gloucester, thou +darest not add the stigma of falsity to thy already dishonored name!" + +"Sovereign of England, my gracious liege and honored king," answered +Gloucester, still apparently unmoved, and utterly regardless of the +danger in which he stood, "dishonor is not further removed from thy +royal name than it is from Gloucester's. I bear no stain of either +falsity or treachery; that which thou hast laid to my charge regarding +the Earl of Carrick, I shrink not, care not to acknowledge; yet, Edward +of England, I am no traitor!" + +"Ha! thou specious orator, reconcile the two an thou canst! Thou art a +scholar of deep research and eloquence profound we have heard. Speak on, +then, in heaven's name!" He flung himself back on his cushions as he +spoke, for, despite his wrath, his suspicions, there was that in the +calm, chivalric bearing of the earl that appealed not in vain to one who +had so long been the soul of chivalry himself. + +The tone in which his sovereign spoke was softened, though his words +were bitter, and Gloucester at once relaxed from his proud and cold +reserve; kneeling before him, he spoke with fervor and impassioned +truth-- + +"Condemn me not unheard, my gracious sovereign," he said. "I speak not +to a harsh and despotic king, who brings his faithful subjects to the +block at the first whisper of evil or misguided conduct cast to their +charge; were Edward such Gloucester would speak not, hope not for +justice at his hands; but to thee, my liege, to thee, to whom all true +knights may look up as to the minor of all that knight should be--the +life and soul of chivalry--to thee, the noblest warrior, the truest +knight that ever put lance in rest--to thee, I say, I am no traitor; and +appeal but to the spirit of chivalry actuating thine own heart to acquit +or condemn me, as it listeth. Hear me, my liege. Robert of Carrick and +myself were sworn brothers from the first hour of our entrance together +upon life, as pages, esquires, and finally, as knights, made such by +thine own royal hand; brothers in arms, in dangers, in victories, in +defeat; aye, and brothers--more than brothers--in mutual fidelity and +love; to receive life, to be rescued from captivity at each other's +hand, to become equal sharers of whatever honors might be granted to the +one and not the other. Need my sovereign be reminded that such +constitutes the ties of brothers in arms, and such brothers were Robert +of Carrick and Gilbert of Gloucester. There came a rumor that the +instigations of a base traitor had poisoned your grace's ear against one +of these sworn brothers, threatening his liberty, if not his life; that +which was revealed, its exact truth or falsehood, might Gloucester pause +to list or weigh? My liege, thou knowest it could not be. A piece of +money and a pair of spurs was all the hint, the warning, that he dared +to give, and it was given, and its warning taken; and the imperative +duty the laws of chivalry, of honor, friendship, all alike demanded +done. The brother by the brother saved! Was Gloucester, then, a traitor +to his sovereign, good my liege?" + +"Say first, my lord, how Gloucester now will reconcile these widely +adverse duties, how comport himself, if duty to his liege and sovereign +call on him to lift his sword against his brother?" demanded Edward, +raising himself on his elbow, and looking on the kneeling nobleman with +eyes which seemed to have recovered their flashing light to penetrate +his soul. Wrath itself appeared to have subsided before this calm yet +eloquent appeal, which in that age could scarcely have been resisted +without affecting the honor of the knight to whom it was addressed. + +An expression of suffering, amounting almost to anguish, took the place +of energy and fervor on the noble countenance of Gloucester, and his +voice, which had never once quivered or failed him in the height of +Edward's wrath, now absolutely shook with the effort to master his +emotion. Twice he essayed to speak ere words came; at length-- + +"With Robert of Carrick Gilbert of Gloucester was allied as brother, my +liege," he said. "With Robert the rebel, Robert the would-be king, the +daring opposer of my sovereign, Gloucester can have naught in common. My +liege, as a knight and gentleman, I have done my duty fearlessly, +openly; as fearlessly, as openly, as your grace's loyal liegeman, fief, +and subject, in the camp and in the court, in victory or defeat, against +all manner or ranks of men, be they friends or foes; to my secret heart +I am thine, and thine alone. In proof of which submission, my royal +liege, lest still in your grace's judgment Gloucester be not cleared +from treachery, behold I resign alike my sword and coronet to your royal +hands, never again to be resumed, save at my sovereign's bidding." + +His voice became again firm ere he concluded, and with the same +respectful deference yet manly pride which had marked his bearing +throughout, he laid his sheathed sword and golden coronet at his +sovereign's feet, and then rising steadily and unflinchingly, returned +Edward's searching glance, and calmly awaited his decision. + +"By St. Edward! Baron of Gloucester," he exclaimed, in his own tone of +kingly courtesy, mingled with a species of admiration he cared not to +conceal, "thou hast fairly challenged us to run a tilt with thee, not of +sword and lance, but of all knightly and generous courtesy. I were no +true knight to condemn, nor king to mistrust thee; yet, of a truth, the +fruit of thy rash act might chafe a cooler mood than ours. Knowest thou +Sir John Comyn is murdered--murdered by the arch traitor thou hast saved +from our wrath?" + +"I heard it, good my liege," calmly returned Gloucester. "Robert of +Carrick was no temper to pass by injuries, aggravated, traitorous +injuries, unavenged." + +"And this is all thou sayest!" exclaimed Edward, his wrath once again +gaining dominion. "Wouldst thou defend this base deed on plea, forsooth, +that Comyn was a traitor? Traitor--and to whom?" + +"To the man that trusted him, my liege; to him he falsely swore to +second and to aid. To every law of knighthood and of honor I say he was +a traitor, and deserved his fate." + +"And this to thy sovereign, madman? To us, whose dignity and person +have been insulted, lowered, trampled on! By all the saints, thou hast +tempted us too far! What ho, there, guards! Am I indeed so old and +witless," he muttered, sinking back again upon the couch from which he +had started in the moment of excitement, "as so soon to forget a +knightly nobleness, which in former days would have knitted my very soul +to his? Bah! 'tis this fell disease that spoke, not Edward. Away with +ye, sir guards, we want ye not," he added, imperatively, as they +approached at his summons. "And thou, sir earl, take up thy sword, and +hence from my sight a while;--answer not, but obey. I fear more for mine +own honor than thou dost for thy head. We neither disarm nor restrain +thee, for we trust thee still; but away with thee, for on our kingly +faith, thou hast tried us sorely." + +Gloucester flung himself on his knee beside his sovereign, his lips upon +the royal hand, which, though scarcely yielded to him, was not withheld, +and hastily resuming his sword and coronet, with a deep reverence, +silently withdrew. + +The king looked after him, admiration and fierce anger struggling for +dominion alike on his countenance as in his heart, and then sternly and +piercingly he scanned the noble crowd, who, hushed into a silence of +terror as well as of extreme interest during the scene they had beheld, +now seemed absolutely to shrink from the dark, flashing orbs of the +king, as they rested on each successively, as if the accusation of _lip_ +would follow that of eye, and the charge of treason fall +indiscriminately on all; but, exhausted from the passion to which he had +given vent, Edward once more stretched himself on his cushions, and +merely muttered-- + +"Deserved his fate--a traitor. Is Gloucester mad--or worse, disloyal? +No; that open brow and fearless eye are truth and faithfulness alone. I +will _not_ doubt him; 'tis but his lingering love for that foul traitor, +Bruce, which I were no true knight to hold in blame. But that murder, +that base murder--insult alike to our authority, our realm--by every +saint in heaven, it shall be fearfully avenged, and that madman rue the +day he dared fling down the gauntlet of rebellion!" and as he spoke, his +right hand instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, and half drew it +from its sheath. + +"Madman, in very truth, my liege," said Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, who, high in favor with his sovereign, alone ventured to +address him; "as your grace will believe, when I say not only hath he +dared defy thee by the murder of Comyn, but has had the presumptuous +folly to enact the farce of coronation, taking upon himself all the +insignia of a king." + +"How! what sayst thou, De Valence," returned Edward, again starting up, +"coronation--king? By St. Edward! this passeth all credence. Whence +hadst thou this witless news?" + +"From sure authority, my liege, marvellous as they seem. These papers, +if it please your grace to peruse, contain matters of import which +demand most serious attention." + +"Anon, anon, sir earl!" answered Edward, impatiently, as Pembroke, +kneeling, laid the papers on a small table of ivory which stood at the +monarch's side. "Tell me more of this strange farce; a king, ha! ha! +Does the rebel think 'tis but to put a crown upon his head and a sceptre +in his hand that makes the monarch--a king, forsooth. And who officiated +at this right solemn mockery? 'Twas, doubtless, a goodly sight!" + +"On my knightly faith, my liege, strangely, yet truly, 'twas a ceremony +regally performed, and, save for numbers, regally attended." + +"Thou darest not tell me so!" exclaimed the king, striking his clenched +hand fiercely on the table. "I tell thee thou darest not; 'tis a false +tale, a lie thrust upon thee to rouse thy spirit but to laugh at. De +Valence, I tell thee 'tis a thing that cannot be! Scotland is laid too +low, her energies are crushed; her best and bravest lying in no +bloodless graves. Who is there to attend this puppet king, save the few +we miss? who dared provoke our wrath by the countenance of such a deed? +Who would dare tempt our fury by placing a crown on the rebel's head? +I tell thee they have played thee false--it cannot be!" + +"Thy valor hath done much, my gracious liege," returned Pembroke, "far +more than ever king hath done before; but pardon me, your grace, the +_people_ of Scotland are not yet crushed, they lie apparently in peace, +till a chief capable of guiding, lordly in rank and knightly in war, +ariseth, and then they too stand forth. Yet what are they? they do but +nominally swell the rebel's court: they do but _seem_ a multitude, which +needs but thy presence to disperse. He cannot, if he dare, resist thee." + +"And wherefore should these tidings so disturb you grace?" interposed +the Earl of Hereford, a brave, blunt soldier, like his own charger, +snuffing the scent of war far off. "We have but to bridle on our +harness, and we shall hear no more of solemn farces like to this. Give +but the word, my sovereign, and these ignoble rebels shall be cut off to +a man, by an army as numerous and well appointed as any that have yet +followed your grace to victory; 'tis a pity they have but to encounter +traitors and rebels, instead of knightly foes," continued the High +Constable of England. + +"Perchance Robert of Carrick deems the assumption of king will provoke +your grace to combat even more than his traitorous rebellion, imagining, +in his madness, the title of king may make ye equals," laughingly +observed the Earl of Arundel; and remarks and opinions of similar import +passed round, but Edward, who had snatched the papers as he ceased to +speak, and was now deeply engrossed in their contents, neither replied +to nor heeded them. Darker and darker grew the frown upon his brow; his +tightly compressed lip, his heaving chest betraying the fearful passion +that agitated him; but when he spoke, there was evidently a struggle for +that dignified calmness which in general distinguished him, though ever +and anon burst forth the undisguised voice of wrath. + +"'Tis well, 'tis very well," he said. "These wild Scots would tempt us to +the utmost, and they shall be satisfied. Ah! my lords of Buchan and +Fife, give ye good morrow. What think ye of these doings amidst your +countrymen, bethink ye they have done well?" + +"Well, as relates to their own ruin, aye, very well, my liege; they act +but as would every follower of the murderer Bruce," replied Buchan, +harshly and sullenly. + +"They are mad, stark mad, your highness; the loss of a little blood may +bring them to their senses," rejoined the more volatile Fife. + +"And is it thus ye think, base, villainous traitors as ye are, leagued +with the rebel band in his coronation? My Lord of Chester, attach them +of high treason." + +"What means your grace?" exclaimed both noblemen at once, but in very +different accents, "Of what are we charged, and who dare make this lying +accusation?" + +"Are ye indeed so ignorant?" replied the king, jibingly. "Know ye not +that Isabella, Countess of Buchan, and representative, in the absence +of her brother, of the earldom of Fife, hath so dared our displeasure as +to place the crown on the rebel's head, and vow him homage?" + +"Hath she indeed dared so to do? By heaven, she shall rue this!" burst +wrathfully from Buchan, his swarthy countenance assuming a yet swarthier +aspect. "My liege, I swear to thee, by the Holy Cross, I knew no more of +this than did your grace. Thinkest thou I would aid and abet the cause +of one not merely a rebel and a traitor, but the foul murderer of a +Comyn--one at whose hands, by the sword's point, have I sworn to demand +my kinsman, and avenge him?" + +"And wherefore did Isabella of Buchan take upon herself this deed, my +liege, but because the only male descendant of her house refused to give +his countenance or aid to this false earl? Because Duncan of Fife was +neither a rebel himself nor gave his aid to rebels, On the honor of a +knight, my liege, I know naught of this foul deed." + +"It may be, it may be," answered Edward, impatiently. "We will see to +it, and condemn ye not unheard; but in times like these, when traitors +and rebels walk abroad and insult us to our very teeth, by St. Edward, +our honor, our safety demands the committal of the suspected till they +be cleared. Resign your swords to my Lord of Chester, and confine +yourselves to your apartments. If ye be innocent, we will find means to +repay you for the injustice we have done; if not, the axe and the block +shall make short work. Begone!" + +Black as a thunderbolt was the scowl that lowered over the brow of +Buchan, as he sullenly unclasped his sword and gave it into the Lord +Constable's hand; while with an action of careless recklessness the Earl +of Fife followed his example, and they retired together, the one +scowling defiance on all who crossed his path, the other jesting and +laughing with each and all. + +"I would not give my best falcon as pledge for the Countess of Buchan's +well-doing, an she hath done this without her lord's connivance," +whispered the Prince of Wales to one of his favorites, with many of whom +he had been conversing, in a low voice, as if his father's wrathful +accents were not particularly grateful to his ear. + +"Nor would I pledge a hawk for her safety, if she fall into his grace's +hands, whether with her lord's consent or no," replied the young +nobleman, laughing. "Your royal father is fearfully incensed." + +"Better destroy them root and branch at once," said the prince, who, +like all weak minds, loved any extremity better than a protracted +struggle. "Exterminate with fire and sword; ravage the land till there +be neither food for man nor beast; let neither noble nor serf remain, +and then, perchance, we shall hear no more of Scotland. On my faith, I +am sick of the word." + +"Not so the king, my royal lord," returned his companion. "See how +eagerly he talks to my lords of Pembroke and Hereford. We shall have our +sovereign yet again at our head." + +And it was even as he said. The king, with that strong self-command +which disease alone could in any way cause to fail, now conquering alike +his bitter disappointment and the fury it engendered, turned his whole +thought and energy towards obtaining the downfall of his insolent +opponents at one stroke; and for that purpose, summoning around him the +brave companions of former campaigns, and other officers of state, he +retired with them to his private closet to deliberate more at length on +the extraordinary news they had received, and the best means of nipping +the rebellion in the bud. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The evening of this eventful day found the Scottish earls seated +together in a small apartment of one of the buildings adjoining the +royal palace, which in the solemn seasons we have enumerated was always +crowded with guests, who were there feasted and maintained at the king's +expense during the whole of their stay. Inconveniences in their private +quarters were little heeded by the nobles, who seldom found themselves +there, save for the purpose of a few hours sleep, and served but to +enhance by contrast the lavish richness and luxury which surrounded them +in the palace and presence of their king; but to the Earls of Buchan and +Fife the inconveniences of their quarters very materially increased the +irritability and annoyance of their present situation. Fife had +stretched himself on two chairs, and leaning his elbows on the broad +shelf formed by the small casement, cast many wistful glances on the +street below, through which richly-attired gallants, both on foot and +horseback, were continually passing. He was one of those frivolous +little minds with whom the present is all in all, caring little for the +past, and still less for the future. It was no marvel, therefore, that +he preferred the utter abandonment of his distracted country for the +luxury and ease attending the court and camp of Edward, to the great +dangers and little recompense attending the toils and struggles of a +patriot. The only emotion of any weight with him was the remembrance of +and desire of avenging petty injuries, fancying and aggravating them +when, in fact, none was intended. + +Very different was the character of the Earl of Buchan; morose, fierce, +his natural hardness of disposition unsoftened by one whisper of +chivalry, although educated in the best school of knighthood, and +continually the follower of King Edward, he adhered to him first, simply +because his estates in England were far more to his taste than those in +Scotland, towards which he felt no filial tie; and soon after his +marriage, repugnance to his high-minded and richly-gifted countess, +which ever seemed a reproach and slur upon himself, kept him still more +aloof, satisfied that the close retirement in which she lived, the +desert and rugged situation of his castle, would effectually debar her +from using that influence he knew she possessed, and keep her wholly and +solely his own; a strange kind of feeling, when, in reality, the wide +contrast between them made her an object of dislike, only to be +accounted for by the fact that a dark, suspicious, jealous temper was +ever at work within him. + +"Now, do but look at that fellow's doublet, Comyn. Look, how gay they +pass below, and here am I, with my new, richly-broidered suit, with +which I thought to brave it with the best of them--here am I, I say, +pent up in stone walls like a caged goldfinch, 'stead of the +entertainment I had pictured; 'tis enough to chafe the spirit of a +saint." + +"And canst thou think of such things now, thou sorry fool?" demanded +Buchan, sternly, pausing in his hurried stride up and down the narrow +precincts of the chamber; "hast thou no worthier subject for +contemplation?" + +"None, save thy dutiful wife's most dutiful conduct, Comyn, which, +being the less agreeable of the two, I dismiss the first I owe her small +thanks for playing the representative of my house; methinks, her +imprisonment would better serve King Edward's cause and ours too." + +"Aye, imprisonment--imprisonment for life," muttered the earl, slowly. +"Let but King Edward restore me my good sword, and he may wreak his +vengeance on her as he listeth. Not all the castles of Scotland, the +arms of Scottish men, dare guard a wife against her husband; bitterly +shall she rue this deed." + +"And thy son, my gentle kinsman, what wilt thou do with him, bethink +thee? Thou wilt find him as great a rebel as his mother; I have ever +told thee thou wert a fool to leave him so long with his brainstruck +mother." + +"She hath not, she dared not bring him with her to the murderer of his +kinsman--Duncan of Fife, I tell thee she dare not; but if she hath, why +he is but a child, a mere boy, incapable of forming judgment one way or +the other." + +"Not so much a child as thou thinkest, my good lord; some sixteen years +or so have made a stalwart warrior ere this. Be warned; send off a +trusty messenger to the Tower of Buchan, and, without any time for +warning, bring that boy as the hostage of thy good faith and loyalty to +Edward; thou wilt thus cure him of his patriotic fancies, and render +thine interest secure, and as thou desirest to reward thy dutiful +partner, thou wilt do it effectually; for, trust me, that boy is the +very apple of her eye, in her affections her very doting-place." + +"Jest not, Duncan, or by all the saints, thou wilt drive me mad!" +wrathfully exclaimed Buchan. "It shall be as thou sayest; and more, I +will gain the royal warrant for the deed--permission to this effect may +shorten this cursed confinement for us both. I have forgotten the boy's +age; his mother's high-sounding patriotism may have tinctured him +already. Thou smilest." + +"At thy marvellous good faith in thy wife's _patriotism_, good +kinsman--oh, well perchance, like charity, it covereth a multitude of +sins." + +"What meanest thou, my Lord of Fife?" demanded Buchan, shortly and +abruptly, pausing in his walk to face his companion, his suspicious +temper instantly aroused by Fife's peculiar tone. "What wouldst thou +insinuate? Tamper not with me; thou knowest I am no subject for a +jest." + +"I have but to look on thee to know that, my most solemn-visaged +brother. I neither insinuate nor tamper with your lordship. Simply and +heartily I do but give thee joy for thy faith in female patriotism," +answered Fife, carelessly, but with an expression of countenance that +did not accord with his tone. + +"What, in the fiend's name, then, has urged her to this mad act, if it +be not what she and others as mad as she call patriotism?" + +"May not a lurking affection for the Bruce have given incentive to love +of country? Buchan, of a truth, thou art dull as a sword-blade when +plunged in muddy water." + +"Affection for the Bruce? Thou art mad as she is, Duncan. What the foul +fiend, knows she of the Bruce? No, no! 'tis too wild a tale--when have +they ever met?" + +"More often than thou listeth, gentle kinsman," returned Fife, with just +sufficient show of mystery to lash his companion into fury. "I could +tell thee of a time when Robert of Carrick was domesticated with my +immaculate sister, hunting with her, hawking with her, reading with her, +making favorable impressions on every heart in Fife Castle save mine +own." + +"And she loved him!--she was loved," muttered Buchan; "and she vowed her +troth to me, the foul-mouthed traitress! She loved him, saidst thou?" + +"On my faith, I know not, Comyn. Rumors, I know, went abroad that it +would have been better for the Lady Isabella's peace and honor if this +gallant, fair-spoken knight had kept aloof." + +"And then, her brother, carest not to speak these things, and in that +reckless tone? By St. Swithin, ye are well matched," returned Buchan, +with a short and bitter laugh of scorn. + +"Faith, Comyn, I love mine own life and comfort too well to stand up the +champion of woman's honor; besides, I vouch not for the truth of +floating rumors. I tell thee but what comes across my brain; for its +worth thou art the best judge." + +"I were a fool to mine own interest to doubt thee now, little worth as +are thy words in common," again muttered the incensed earl, resuming his +hasty strides. "Patriotism! loyalty! ha, ha! high-sounding words, +forsooth. And have they not met since then until now?" he demanded, +stopping suddenly before his companion. + +"Even so, fair kinsman. Whilst thou wert doing such loyal duty to +Edward, after the battle of Falkirk, forgetting thou hadst a wife and +castle to look after, Robert Earl of Carrick found a comfortable +domicile within thy stone walls, and in the fair, sweet company of thine +Isabella, my lord. No doubt, in all honorable and seemly intercourse; +gallant devotion on the one side, and dignified courtesy on the +other--nothing more, depend on't; still it seems but natural that the +memory of a comely face and knightly form should prove incentives to +loyalty and patriotism." + +"The foul fiend take thy jesting!" exclaimed Buchan. "Natural, forsooth; +aye, the same nature that bade me loathe the presence, aye, the very +name of that deceiving traitress. And so that smooth-faced villain +Carrick found welcome in the castle of a Comyn the months we missed him +from the court. Ha, ha! thou hast done me good service, Lord of Fife. I +had not enough of injuries before to demand at the hand of Robert Bruce. +And for Dame Isabella, may the fury of every fiend follow me, if I place +her not in the hands of Edward, alive or dead! his wrath will save me +the trouble of seeking further vengeance." + +"Nay, thou art a very fool to be so chafed," coolly observed Fife. "Thou +hast taken no care of thy wife, and therefore hast no right to demand +strict account of her amusements in thy absence; and how do we know she +is not as virtuous as the rest of them? I do but tell thee of these +things to pass away the time. Ha! there goes the prince's Gascon +favorite, by mine honor. Gaveston sports it bravely; look at his crimson +mantle wadded with sables. He hath changed his garb since morning. +Faith, he is a lucky dog! the prince's love may be valued at some +thousand marks a year--worth possessing, by St. Michael!" + +A muttered oath was all the reply which his companion vouchsafed, nor +did the thunder-cloud upon his brow disperse that evening. + +The careless recklessness of Fife had no power to lessen in the earl's +mind the weight of the shameful charge he had brought against the +countess. Buchan's dark, suspicious mind not alone received it, but +cherished it, revelled in it, as giving him that which he had long +desired, a good foundation for dislike and jealousy, a well-founded +pretence for every species of annoyance and revenge. The Earl of Fife, +who had, in fact, merely spoken, as he had said, to while away the +time, and for the pleasure of seeing his brother-in-law enraged, thought +as little of his words _after_ as he had _before_ they were uttered. A +licentious follower of pleasure in every form himself, he imagined, as +such thoughtless characters generally do, that everybody must be like +him. From his weak and volatile mind, then, all remembrance of that +evening's conversation faded as soon as it was spoken; but with the Earl +of Buchan it remained brooding on itself, and filling his dark spirit +with yet blacker fancies. + +The confinement of the Scottish noblemen was not of long duration. +Edward, whose temper, save when his ambition was concerned, was +generally just and equitable, discovering, after an impartial +examination, that they were in no ways connected with the affairs in the +north, and feeling also it was his interest to conciliate the regard of +all the Scottish nobles disaffected to Bruce, very soon restored them +alike to their personal liberty and to his favor; his courteous apology +for unjust suspicion, frankly acknowledging that the news from Scotland, +combined with his irritating disease, had rendered him blind and +suspicious, at once disarmed Fife of wrath. Buchan, perhaps, had not +been so easily appeased had his mind been less darkly engrossed. His +petition, that his son might be sent for, to be placed as a hostage in +the hands of Edward, and thus saved from the authority of his mother, +whom he represented as an artful, designing woman, possessed of +dangerous influence, was acceded to on the instant, and the king's full +confidence restored. It was easy to act upon Edward's mind, already +incensed against Isabella of Buchan for her daring defiance of his +power; and Buchan did work, till he felt perfectly satisfied that the +wife he hated would be fully cared for without the very smallest trouble +or interference on his part, save the obtaining possession of her +person; that the vengeance he had vowed would be fully perfected, +without any reproach or stigma cast upon his name. + +Meantime the exertions of the King of England for the suppression of the +rebels continued with unabated ardor. Orders were issued and proclaimed +in every part of England for the gathering together one of the noblest +and mightiest armies that had ever yet followed him to war. To render it +still more splendidly impressive, and give fresh incentive to his +subjects, whose warlike spirit he perhaps feared might be somewhat +depressed by this constant call upon them for the reduction of a +country ever rising in revolt, Edward caused proclamation to be +severally made in every important town or county, "that all who were +under the obligation to become knights, and possessed the necessary +means, should appear at Westminster on the coming solemn season of +Whitsuntide, where they should be furnished with every requisite, save +and except the trappings for their horses, from the king's wardrobe, and +be treated with all solemn honor and distinction as best befitted their +rank, and the holy vows they took upon themselves." + +A proclamation such as this, in the very heart of the chivalric era, was +all-sufficient to engage every Englishman heart and soul in the service +of his king; and ere the few weeks intervening between Easter and +Whitsuntide were passed, Westminster and its environs presented a scene +of martial magnificence and knightly splendor, which had never before +been equalled. Three hundred noble youths, sons of earls, barons, and +knights, speedily assembled at the place appointed, all attended +according to their rank and pretensions; all hot and fiery spirits, +eager to prove by their prompt attendance their desire to accept their +sovereign's invitation. The splendor of their attire seemed to demand +little increase from the bounty of the king, but nevertheless, fine +linen garments, rich purple robes, and superb mantles woven with gold, +were bestowed on each youthful candidate, thus strengthening the links +which bound him to his chivalric sovereign, by the gratification of his +vanity in addition to the envied honors of knighthood. As our tale +relates more to Scottish than to English history, we may not linger +longer on the affairs of South Britain than is absolutely necessary for +the clear comprehension of the situation of her far less flourishing +sister. Exciting therefore as was the scene enacted in Westminster, +descriptive as it was of the spirit of the age, we are compelled to give +it but a hasty glance, and pass on to events of greater moment. + +Glorious, indeed, to an eyewitness, must have been the ceremony of +admitting these noble and valiant youths into the solemn mysteries and +chivalric honors of knighthood. On that day the Prince of Wales was +first dubbed a knight, and made Duke of Aquitaine; and so great was the +pressure of the crowd, in their eagerness to witness the ceremonial in +the abbey, where the prince hastened to confer his newly-received +dignity on his companions, that three knights were killed, and several +fainted from heat and exhaustion. Strong war-horses were compelled to +drive back and divide the pressing crowds, ere the ceremony was allowed +to proceed. A solemn banquet succeeded; and then it was that Edward, +whose energy of mind appeared completely to have annihilated disease and +weakness of frame, made that extraordinary vow, which it has puzzled +both historian and antiquary satisfactorily to explain. The matter of +the vow merely betrayed the indomitable spirit of the man, but the +manner seemed strange even in that age. Two swans, decorated with golden +nets and gilded reeds, were placed in solemn pomp before the king, and +he, with imposing fervor, made a solemn vow to the Almighty and the +swans, that he would go to Scotland, and, living or dead, avenge the +murder of Comyn, and the broken faith of the traitorous Scots. Then, +with that earnestness of voice and majesty of mien for which he was +remarkable, he adjured his subjects, one and all, by the solemn fealty +they had sworn to him, that if he should die on the journey, they would +carry his body into Scotland, and never give it burial till the prince's +dominion was established in that country. Eagerly and willingly the +nobles gave the required pledge; and so much earnestness of purpose, so +much martial spirit pervaded that gorgeous assembly, that once more did +hope prevail in the monarch's breast, once more did he believe his +ambitious yearnings would all be fulfilled, and Scotland, rebellious, +haughty Scotland, lie crushed and broken at his feet. Once more his dark +eye flashed, his proud lip curled with its wonted smiles; his warrior +form, erect and firm as in former days, now spurned the couch of +disease, and rode his war-horse with all the grace and ease of former +years. A gallant army, under the command of Aymer de Valence, Earl of +Pembroke, had already been dispatched towards Scotland, bearing with it +the messengers of the Earl of Buchan, armed both with their lord's +commands and Edward's warrant for the detention of the young heir of +Buchan, and to bring him with all honor to the head-quarters of the +king. The name of Isabella of Buchan was subjoined to that of the Bruce, +and together with all those concerned in his rising proclaimed as +traitors and a price set upon their heads. This done, the king had been +enabled to wait with greater tranquillity the assembling of his larger +army, and after the ceremonials of Westminster, orders were issued for +every earl and baron to proceed with their followers to Carlisle, which +was named the head-quarters of the army, there to join their sovereign +with his own immediate troops. The Scottish nobles Edward's usual policy +retained in honorable posts about his person, not choosing to trust +their fidelity beyond the reach of his own eye. + +Obedient to these commands, all England speedily appeared in motion, the +troops of every county moving as by one impulse to Carlisle. Yet there +were some of England's noblest barons in whose breasts a species of +admiration, even affection, was at work towards the very man they were +now marching to destroy, and this was frequently the case in the ages of +chivalry. Fickle as the character of Robert Bruce had appeared to be, +there was that in it which had ever attracted, riveted the regard of +many of the noble spirits in King Edward's court. The rash daring of his +enterprise, the dangers which encircled him, were such as dazzled and +fascinated the imagination of those knights in whom the true spirit of +chivalry found rest. Pre-eminent amongst these was the noble Earl of +Gloucester. His duty to his sovereign urged him to take the field; his +attachment for the Bruce would have held him neuter, for the ties that +bound brothers in arms were of no common or wavering nature. Brothers in +blood had frequently found themselves opposed horse to horse, and lance +to lance, on the same field, and no scruples of conscience, no pleadings +of affection, had power to avert the unnatural strife; but not such was +it with brothers in arms--a link strong as adamant, pure as their own +sword-steel, bound their hearts as one; and rather, much rather would +Gloucester have laid down his own life, than expose himself to the +fearful risk of staining his sword with the blood of his friend. The +deepest dejection took possession of his soul, which not all the +confidence of his sovereign, the gentle, affectionate pleadings of his +wife, could in any way assuage. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +It was the month of June, and the beautiful county of Perth smiled in +all the richness and loveliness of early summer. Not yet had the signal +of war floated on the pure springy breeze, not yet had the stains of +blood desecrated the gladsome earth, although the army of De Valence was +now within very few miles of Scone, which was still the head-quarters of +the Scottish king. Aware of the very great disparity of numbers between +his gallant followers and those of Pembroke, King Robert preferred +entrenching himself in his present guarded situation, to meeting De +Valence in the open field, although, more than once tempted to do so, +and finding extreme difficulty in so curbing the dauntless spirit of his +followers as to incline them more towards the defensive than the attack. +Already had the fierce thunders of the Church been launched against him +for the sin of murder committed in consecrated ground. Excommunication +in all its horrors exposed him to death from any hand, that on any +pretence of private hate or public weal might choose to strike; but +already had there arisen spirits bold enough to dispute the awful +mandates of the Pope, and the patriotic prelates who had before +acknowledged and done homage to their sovereign, now neither wavered in +their allegiance nor in any way sought to promulgate the sentence +thundered against him. A calm smile had passed over the Bruce's noble +features as the intelligence of the wrath of Rome was communicated to +him. + +"The judge and the avenger is in heaven, holy father," he said; "to His +hands I commit my cause, conscious of deserving, as humbly awaiting, +chastisement for that sin which none can reprobate and abhor more +strongly than myself; if blood must flow for blood, His will be done. I +ask but to free my country, to leave her in powerful yet righteous +hands, and willingly I will depart, confident of mercy for my soul." + +Fearful, however, that this sentence might dispirit his subjects, King +Robert watched his opportunity of assembling and addressing them. In a +brief, yet eloquent speech, he narrated the base, cold-blooded system of +treachery of Comyn; how, when travelling to Scotland, firmly trusting +in, and depending on, the good faith the traitor had so solemnly +pledged, a brawl had arisen between his (Bruce's) followers and some men +in the garb of Borderers, who were discovered to be emissaries of the +Red Comyn, and how papers had been found on them, in which all that +could expose the Bruce to the deadly wrath of Edward was revealed, and +his very death advised as the only effectual means of quelling his +efforts for the freedom of Scotland, and crushing the last hopes of her +still remaining patriots. He told them how, on the natural indignation +excited by this black treachery subsiding, he had met Sir John Comyn at +Dumfries--how, knowing the fierce irascibility of his natural temper, he +had willingly agreed that the interview Comyn demanded should take place +in the church of the Minorite Friars, trusting that the sanctity of the +place would be sufficient to restrain him. + +"But who may answer for himself, my friends?" he continued, mournfully; +"it needs not to dilate on that dark and stormy interview, suffice it +that the traitor sought still to deceive, still to win me by his +specious sophistry to reveal my plans, again to be betrayed, and that +when I taunted him with his base, cowardly treachery, his black +dishonor, words of wrath and hate, and blind deluded passion arose +between us, and the spirit of evil at work within me urged my rash sword +to strike. Subjects and friends, I plead no temptation as excuse, I make +no defence; I deplore, I contemn the deed. If ye deem me worthy of +death, if ye believe the sentence of our holy father in God, his +holiness the Pope, be just, that it is wholly free from the machinations +of England, who, deeming force of arms not sufficient, would hurl the +wrath of heaven's viceregent on my devoted head, go, leave me to the +fate it brings; your oath of allegiance is dissolved. I have yet +faithful followers, to make one bold stand against the tyrant, and die +for Scotland; but if ye absolve me, if ye will yet give me your hearts +and swords, oh, fear me not, my countrymen, we may yet be free!" + +Cries, tears, and blessings followed this wisely-spoken appeal, one +universal shout reiterated their vows of allegiance; those who had felt +terrified at the mandate of their spiritual father, now traced it not to +his impartial judgment, but to the schemes of Edward, and instantly felt +its weight and magnitude had faded into air. The unwavering loyalty of +the Primate of Scotland, the Bishop of Glasgow, and the Abbot of Scone +strengthened them alike in their belief and allegiance, and a band of +young citizens were instantly provided with arms at the expense of the +town, and the king entreated by a deputation of the principal +magistrates to accept their services as a guard extraordinary, lest his +life should be yet more endangered from private individuals, by the +sentence under which he labored; and gratified by their devotedness, +though his bold spirit spurned all Fear of secret assassination, their +request was graciously accepted. + +The ceremony of knighthood which the king had promised to confer on +several of his young followers had been deferred until the present time, +to admit of their preparing for their inauguration with all the solemn +services of religion which the rites enjoined. + +The 15th day of June was the time appointed, and Nigel Bruce and Alan of +Buchan were to pass the night previous, in solemn prayer and vigil, in +the abbey church of Scone. That the rules of chivalry should not be +transgressed by his desire to confer some honor on the son of the +Countess of Buchan, which would demonstrate the high esteem in which she +was held by her sovereign, Alan had served the king, first as page and +then as esquire, in the interval that had elapsed since his coronation, +and now he beheld with ardor the near completion of the honor for which +he pined. His spirit had been wrung well-nigh to agony, when amidst the +list of the proscribed as traitors he beheld his mother's name; not so +much at the dangers that would encircle her--for from those he might +defend her--but that his father was still a follower of the unmanly +tyrant, who would even war against a woman--his father should still +calmly assist and serve the man who set a price upon his mother's head. +Alas! poor boy, he little knew that father's heart. + +It was evening, a still, oppressive evening, for though the sun yet +shone brightly as he sunk in the west, a succession of black +thunder-clouds, gradually rising higher and higher athwart the intense +blue of the firmament, seemed to threaten that the wings of the tempest +were already brooding on the dark bosom of night. The very flowers +appeared to droop beneath the weight of the atmosphere; the trees moved +not, the birds were silent, save when now and then a solitary note was +heard, and then hushed, as if the little warbler shrunk back in his +leafy nest, frightened at his own voice. Perchance it was the stillness +of nature which had likewise affected the inmates of a retired chamber +in the palace, for though they sate side by side, and their looks +betrayed that the full communion of soul was not denied, few words were +spoken. The maiden of Buchan bent over the frame which contained the +blue satin scarf she was embroidering with the device of Bruce, in gold +and gems, and it was Nigel Bruce who sate beside her, his deep, +expressive eyes fixed upon her in such fervid, such eloquent love, that +seldom was it she ventured to raise her glance to his. A slight shadow +was on those sweet and gentle features, perceptible, perchance, to the +eye of love alone; and it was this that, after enjoying that silent +communion of the spirit, so dear to those who love, which bade Nigel +fling his arm around that slender form, and ask-- + +"What is it, sweet one? why art thou sad?" + +"Do not ask me, Nigel, for indeed I know not," she answered, simply, +looking up a moment in his face, in that sweet touching confidence, +which made him draw her closer to his protecting heart; "save that, +perchance, the oppression of nature has extended to me, and filled my +soul with unfounded fancies of evil. I ought to be very happy, Nigel, +loved thus by _thee_," she hid her eyes upon his bosom; "received as thy +promised bride, not alone by thy kind sisters, thy noble brothers, +but--simple-hearted maiden as I am--deemed worthy of thee by good King +Robert's self. Nigel, dearest Nigel, why, in an hour of joy like this, +should dreams of evil come?" + +"To whisper, my beloved, that not on earth may we look for the +perfection of joy, the fulness of bliss; that while the mortal shell is +round us joy is chained to pain, and granted us but to lift up the +spirit to that heaven where pain is banished, bliss made perfect; +dearest, 'tis but for this!" answered the young enthusiast, and the rich +yet somewhat mournful tones of his voice thrilled to his listener's +heart. + +"Thou speakest as if thou, too, hadst experienced forebodings like to +these, my Nigel," said Agnes, thoughtfully. "I deemed them but the +foolishness of my weaker mind." + +"Deem them not foolishness, beloved. There are minds, indeed, that know +them not, but they are of that rude, coarse material which owns no +thought, hath no hopes but those of earth and earthly things, insensible +to that profundity of joy which makes us _feel_ its _chain_: 'tis not to +the lightly feeling such forebodings come." + +"But thou--hast thou felt them, Nigel, dearest? hast thou listened to, +_believed_ their voice? + +"I have felt, I feel when I gaze on thee, sweet one, a joy so deep, so +full, that I scarce dare trace it to an earthly cause," he said, +slightly evading a direct answer. "I cannot look forward and, as it +were, extend that deep joy to the future; but the fetter binding it to +pain reminds me I am mortal, that not an earth may I demand find seek +and hope to find its fulfilment." + +She looked up in his face, with an expression both of bewilderment and +fear, and her hand unconsciously closed on his arm, as thus to detain +him to her side. + +"Yes, my beloved," he added, with more animation, "it is not because I +put not my trust in earth for unfading joy that we shall find not its +sweet flowers below; that our paths on earth may be darkened, because +the fulness of bliss is alone to be found in heaven. Mine own sweet +Agnes, while darkness and strife, and blood and death, are thus at work +around us, is it marvel we should sometimes dream of sorrow? Yet, oh +yet, have we not both the same hope, the same God, the same home in +heaven; and if our doom be to part on earth, shall we not, oh, shall we +not meet in bliss? I say not such things will be, my best beloved; but +better look thus upon the dim shadow sometimes resting on the rosy wings +of joy, than ever dismiss it as the vain folly of a weakened mind." + +He pressed his lips, which quivered, on the fair, beautiful brow then +resting in irresistible sorrow on his bosom; but he did not attempt by +words to check that maiden's sudden burst of tears. After a while, when +he found his own emotion sufficiently restrained, soothingly and fondly +he cheered her to composure, and drew from her the thoughts which had +disturbed her when he first spoke. + +"'Twas of my mother, Nigel, of my beloved, my noble mother that I +thought; proscribed, hunted, set a price upon as a traitor. Can her +children think on such indignity without emotion--and when I remember +the great power of King Edward, who has done this--without fear for her +fate?" + +"Sweetest, fear not for her; her noble deed, her dauntless heroism has +circled her with such a guard of gallant knights and warriors, that, in +the hands of Edward, trust me, dearest, she shall never fall; and even +if such should be, still, I say, fear not. Unpitying and cruel as Edward +is, where his ambition is concerned, he is too true a knight, too noble +in spirit to take a woman's blood; he is now fearfully enraged, and +therefore has he done this. And as to indignity, 'tis shame to the +proscriber not to the proscribed, my love!" + +"There is one I fear yet more than Edward," continued the maiden, +fearfully; "one that I should love more. Oh, Nigel, my very spirit +shrinks from the image of my father. I have sought to love him, to +dismiss the dark haunting visions which his name has ever brought before +me. I saw him once, but once, and his stern terrible features and harsh +voice so terrified my childish fancies, that I hid myself till he had +departed, and I have never seen him since, and yet, oh yet, I fear him!" + +"What is it that thou fearest, love?" + +"I know not," she answered; "but if evil approach my mother, it will +come from him, and so silently, so unsuspectedly, that none may avoid +it. Nigel, he cannot love my mother! he is a foe to Bruce, a friend of +the slaughtered Comyn, and will he not demand a stern account of the +deed that she hath done? will he not seek vengeance? and oh, will he +not, may he not in wrath part thee and me, and thus thy bodings be +fulfilled?" + +"Agnes, never! The mandate of man shall never part us; the power of man, +unless my limbs be chained, shall never sever thee and me. He that hath +never acted a father's part, can have no power on his child. Thou art +mine, my beloved!--mine with thy mother's blessing; and mine thou shalt +be--no earthly power shall part us. Death, death alone can break the +links that bind us, and must be of God, though man may seem the cause. +Be comforted, sweet love. Hark! they are chiming vespers; I must be gone +for the solemn vigil of to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt arm thine own +true knight, mine Agnes, and deck me with that blue scarf, more precious +even than the jewelled sword my sovereign brother gives. Farewell, for a +brief, brief while; I go to watch and pray. Oh, let thy orisons attend +me, and surely then my vigil shall be blest." + +"Pray thou for me, my Nigel," whispered the trembling girl, as he +clasped her in his arms, "that true as I may be, strength befitting thy +promised bride may be mine own. Nigel, my beloved, indeed I need such +prayer." + +He whispered hope and comfort, and departed by the stone stairs which +led from the gothic casement where they had been sitting, into the +garden; he lingered to gather some delicate blue-bells which had just +blown, and turned back to place them in the lap of Agnes. She eagerly +raised them and pressed them to her lips, but either their fragile +blossoms could not bear even her soft touch, or the heavy air had +inwardly withered their bloom, for the blossoms fell from their stalks, +and scattered their beautiful petals at her feet. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The hour of vespers had come and passed; the organ and choir had hushed +their solemn sounds. The abbot and his attendant monks, the king who, +with his train, had that evening joined the solemn service, all had +departed, and but two inmates were left within the abbey church of +Scone. Darkness and silence had assumed their undisturbed dominion, for +the waxen tapers left burning on the altar lighted but a few yards +round, leaving the nave and cloisters in impenetrable gloom. Some twenty +or thirty yards east of the altar, elevated some paces from the ground, +in its light and graceful shrine, stood an elegantly sculptured figure +of the Virgin and Child. A silver lamp, whose pure flame was fed with +aromatic incense, burned within the shrine and shed its soft light on a +suit of glittering armor which was hanging on the shaft of a pillar +close beside it. Directly behind the altar was a large oriel window of +stained glass, representing subjects from Scripture. The window, with +its various mullions and lights, formed one high pointed arch, marked by +solid stone pillars on each side, the capitals of which traced the +commencement of the arch. Another window, similar in character, though +somewhat smaller in dimensions, lighted the west end of the church; and +near it stood another shrine containing a figure of St. Stephen, lighted +as was that of the Virgin and Child, and, like that, gleaming on a suit +of armor, and on the figure of the youthful candidate for knighthood, +whose task was to pass that night in prayer and vigil beside his armor, +unarmed, saved by that panoply of proof which is the Christian's +portion--faith, lowliness, and prayer. + +No word passed between these pledged brothers in arms. Their watch was +in opposite ends of the church, and save the dim, solemn light of the +altar, darkness and immeasurable space appeared to stretch between them. +Faintly and fitfully the moon had shone through one of the long, narrow +windows of the aisles, shedding its cold spectral light for a brief +space, then passing into darkness. Heavy masses of clouds sailed slowly +in the heavens, dimly discernible through the unpainted panes; the +oppression of the atmosphere increasing as the night approached her +zenith, and ever and anon a low, long peal of distant thunder, each +succeeding one becoming longer and louder than the last, and heralded by +the blue flash of vivid lightning, announced the fury of the coming +tempest. + +The imaginations even as the feelings of the young men were already +strongly excited, although their thoughts, perchance, were less akin +than might have been expected. The form of his mother passed not from +the mental vision of the young heir of Buchan: the tone of her voice, +the unwonted tear which had fallen on his cheek when he had knelt before +her that evening, ere he had departed to his post, craving her blessing +on his vigil, her prayers for him--that tone, that tear, lingered on his +memory, hallowing every dream of glory, every warrior hope that entered +in his soul. Internally he vowed he would raise the banner of his race, +and prove the loyalty, the patriotism, the glowing love of liberty which +her counsels, her example had planted in his breast; and if the +recollection of his mother's precarious situation as a proscribed +traitor to Edward, and of his father's desertion of his country and her +patriot king in his adherence to a tyrant--if these reflections came to +damp the bright glowing views of others, they did but call the indignant +blood to his cheek, and add greater firmness to his impatient step, for +yet more powerfully did they awake his indignation against Edward. Till +now he had looked upon him exclusively in the light of Scotland's +foe--one against whom he with all true Scottish men must raise their +swords, or live forever 'neath the brand of slaves and cowards; but now +a personal cause of anger added fuel to the fire already burning in his +breast. His mother was proscribed--a price set upon her head; and as if +to fill the measure of his cup of bitterness to overflowing, his own +father, he who should have been her protector, aided and abetted the +cruel, pitiless Edward. Traitress! Isabella of Buchan a traitress! the +noblest, purest, bravest amid Scotland's children. She who to him had +ever seemed all that was pure and good, and noblest in woman; and most +noble and patriot-hearted now, in the fulfilment of an office inherent +in the House of Fife. Agitated beyond expression, quicker and quicker he +strode up and down the precincts marked for his watch, the increasing +tempest without seeming to assimilate strangely with the storm within. +Silence would have irritated, would have chafed those restless smartings +into very agony, but the wild war of the elements, while they roused +his young spirit into yet stronger energy, removed its pain. + +"It matters not," his train of thought continued, "while this brain can +think, this heart can feel, this arm retain its strength, Isabella of +Buchan needs no other guardian but her son. It is as if years had left +their impress on my heart, as if I had grown in very truth to man, +thinking with man's wisdom, fighting with man's strength. He that hath +never given a father's love, hath never done a father's duty, hath no +claim upon his child; but she, whose untiring devotion, whose faithful +love hath watched over me, guarded, blessed from the first hour of my +life, instilled within me the principles of life on earth and +immortality in heaven--mother! mother! will not thy gentle virtues cling +around thy boy, and save him even from a father's curse? Can I do else +than devote the life thou gavest, to thee, and render back with my +stronger arm, but not less firm soul, the care, protection, love thou +hast bestowed on me? Mother, Virgin saint," he continued aloud, flinging +himself before the shrine to which we have alluded, "hear, oh hear my +prayer! Intercede for me above, that strength, prudence, wisdom may be +granted me in the accomplishment of my knightly vows; that my mother, my +own mother may be the first and dearest object of my heart: life, fame, +and honor I dedicate to her. Spare me, bless me but for her; if danger, +imprisonment be unavailingly her doom, let not my spirit waver, nor my +strength flag, nor courage nor foresight fail, till she is rescued to +liberty and life." + +Wrapt in the deep earnest might of prayer, the boy remained kneeling, +with clasped hands, and eyes fixed on the Virgin's sculptured face, his +spirit inwardly communing, long, long after his impassioned vows had +sunk in silence; the thunder yet rolled fearfully, and the blue +lightning flashed and played around him with scarce a minute's +intermission, but no emotion save that of a son and warrior took +possession of his soul. He knew a terrific storm was raging round him, +but it drew him not from earthly thoughts and earthly feelings, even +while it raised his soul in prayer. Very different was the effect of +this lonely vigil and awful night on the imaginative spirit of his +companion. + +It was not alone the spirit of chivalry which now burned in the noble +heart of Nigel Bruce. He was a poet, and the glowing hues of poesie +invested every emotion of his mind. He loved deeply, devotedly; and +love, pure, faithful, hopeful love, appeared to have increased every +feeling, whether of grief of joy, in intensity and depth. He felt too +deeply to be free from that peculiar whispering within, known by the +world as presentiment, and as such so often scorned and contemned as the +mere offspring of weak, superstitious minds, when it is in reality one +of those distinguishing marks of the higher, more ethereal temperament +of genius. + +Perchance it is the lively imagination of such minds, which in the very +midst of joy can so vividly portray and realize pain, or it may be, +indeed, the mysterious voice which links gifted man with a higher class +of beings to whom futurity is revealed. Be this as it may, even while +the youthful patriot beheld with, a visioned eye the liberty of his +country, and rejoiced in thus beholding, there ever came a dim and +silent shadowing, a whispering voice, that he should indeed behold it, +but not from earth. When the devoted brother and loyal subject pictured +his sovereign in very truth a free and honored King, his throne +surrounded by nobles and knights of his own free land, and many others, +the enthusiast saw not himself amongst them, and yet he rejoiced in the +faith such things would be. When the young and ardent lover sate by the +side of his betrothed, gazing on her sweet face, and drinking in deeply +the gushing tide of joy; when his spirit pictured yet dearer, lovelier, +more assured bliss, when Agnes would be in very truth his own, still did +that strange thrilling whisper come, and promise he should indeed +experience such bliss, but not on earth; and yet he loved, aye, and +rejoiced, and there came not one shadow on his bright, beautiful face, +not one sad echo in the rich, deep tones of his melodious voice to +betray such dim forebodings had found resting in his soul. + +Already excited by his conversation with Agnes, the service in which he +found himself engaged was not such as to tranquillize his spirit, or +still his full heart's quivering throb. His imaginative soul had already +flung its halo over the solemn rites which attended his inauguration as +a knight. Even to less enthusiastic spirits there was a glow, a glory in +this ceremony which seldom failed to awake the soul, and inspire it with +high and noble sentiments. It was not therefore strange that these +emotions should in the heart of Nigel Bruce obtain that ascendency, +which to sensitive minds must become pain. Had it been a night of calm +and holy stillness, he would in all probability have felt its soothing +effect; but as it was, every pulse throbbed and every nerve was strained +'neath his strong sense of the sublime. He could not be said to think, +although he had struggled long and fiercely to compose his mind for +those devotional exercises he deemed most fitted for the hour. Feeling +alone possessed him, overwhelming, indefinable; he deemed it admiration, +awe, adoration of Him at whose nod the mighty thunders rolled and the +destructive lightnings flashed, but he could not define it such. He did +not dream of earth, not even the form of Agnes flashed, as was its wont, +before him; no, it was of scenes and sounds undreamed of in earth's +philosophy he thought; and as he gazed on the impenetrable darkness, and +then beheld it dispersed by the repeated lightning, his excited fancy +almost believed that he should see it peopled by the spirits of the +mighty dead which slept within those walls, and no particle of terror +attended this belief. In the weak superstition of his age, Nigel Bruce +had never shared, but firmly and steadfastly he believed, even in his +calm and unexcited moments, that there was a link between the living and +the dead; that the freed spirits of the one were permitted to hold +commune with the other, not in visible shape, but in those thrilling +whispers which the spirit knows, while yet it would deny them even to +itself. It was the very age of superstition; religion itself was clothed +in a veil of solemn mystery, which to minds constituted as Nigel's gave +it a deeper, more impressive tone. Its ceremonies, its shrines, its +fictions, all gave fresh zest to the imagination, and filled the heart +of its votary with a species of devotion and excitement, which would now +be considered as mere visionary madness, little in accordance with the +true spirit of piety or acceptable to the Most High, but which was then +regarded as meritorious; and even as we look back upon the saints and +heroes of the past, even now should not be condemned; for, according to +the light bestowed, so is devotion demanded and accepted by the God of +all. + +Nigel Bruce had paused in his hasty walk, and leaning against the pillar +round which his armor hung, fixed his eyes for a space on the large +oriel window we have named, whose outline was but faintly discernible, +save on the left side, which was dimly illumined by the silver lamp +burning in the shrine of St. Stephen, close beside which the youthful +warrior stood. The storm had suddenly sunk into an awful and almost +portentous silence; and in that brief interval of stillness and gloom, +Nigel felt his blood flow more calmly in his veins, his pulses stilled +their starting throbs, and the young soldier crossed his arms on his +breast, and bent his uncovered head upon them in silent yet earnest +prayer. + +The deep, solemn chime of the abbey-bell, echoing like a spirit-voice +through the arched and silent church, roused him, and he looked up. At +the same moment a strong and awfully brilliant flash of lightning darted +through the window on which his eyes were fixed, followed by a mighty +peal of thunder, longer and louder than any that had come before. For +above a minute that blue flash lingered playing, it seemed, on steel, +and a cold shuddering thrill crept through the frame of Nigel Bruce, +sending the life-blood from his cheek back to his very heart, for either +fancy had again assumed her sway, and more vividly than before, or his +wild thoughts had found a shape and semblance. Within the arch formed by +the high window stood or seemed to stand a tall and knightly form, clad +from the gorget to the heel in polished steel; his head was bare, and +long, dark hair shaded a face pale and shadowy indeed, but strikingly +and eminently noble; there was a scarf across his breast, and on it +Nigel recognized the cognizance of his own line, the crest and motto of +the Bruce. It could not have been more than a minute that the blue +lightning lingered there, yet to his excited spirit it was long enough +to impress indelibly and startlingly every trace of that strange vision +upon his heart. The face was turned to his, with a solemn yet sorrowful +earnestness of expression, and the mailed hand raised on high, seemed +pointing unto heaven. The flash passed and all was darkness, the more +dense and impenetrable, from the vivid light which had preceded it; but +Nigel stirred not, moved not, his every sense absorbed, not in the +weakness of mortal terror, but in one overwhelming sensation of awe, +which, while it oppressed the spirit well-nigh to pain, caused it to +long with an almost sickening intensity for a longer and clearer view of +that which had come and passed with the lightning flash. Again the vivid +blaze dispersed the gloom, but no shadow met his fixed impassioned gaze. +Vision or reality, the form was gone; there was no trace, no sign of +that which had been. For several successive flashes Nigel remained +gazing on the spot where the mailed form had stood, as if he felt it +would, it must again appear; but as time sped, and he saw but space, the +soul relaxed from its high-wrought mood, the blood, which had seemed +stagnant in his veins, rushed back tumultuously through its varied +channels, and Nigel Bruce prostrated himself before the altar, to +wrestle with his perturbed spirit till it found calm in prayer. + +A right noble and glorious scene did the great hall of the palace +present the morning which followed this eventful night. The king, +surrounded by his highest prelates and nobles, mingling indiscriminately +with the high-born dames and maidens of his court, all splendidly +attired, occupied the upper part of the hall, the rest of which was +crowded both by his military followers and many of the good citizens of +Scone, who flocked in great numbers to behold the august ceremony of the +day. Two immense oaken doors at the south side of the hall were flung +open, and through them was discerned the large space forming the palace +yard, prepared as a tilting-ground, where the new-made knights were to +prove their skill. The storm had given place to a soft breezy morning, +the cool freshness of which appearing peculiarly grateful from the +oppressiveness of the night; light downy clouds sailed over the blue +expanse of heaven, tempering without clouding the brilliant rays of the +sun. Every face was clothed with smiles, and the loud shouts which +hailed the youthful candidates for knighthood, as they severally +entered, told well the feeling with which the patriots of Scotland were +regarded. + +Some twenty youths received the envied honor at the hand of their +sovereign this day, but our limits forbid a minute scrutiny of the +bearing of any, however well deserving, save of the two whose vigils +have already detained us so long. A yet longer and louder shout +proclaimed the appearance of the youngest scion of the house of Bruce, +and his companion. The daring patriotism of Isabella of Buchan had +enshrined her in every heart, and so disposed all men towards her +children, that the name of their traitorous father was forgotten. + +Led by their godfathers, Nigel by his brother-in-law, Sir Christopher +Seaton, and Alan by the Earl of Lennox, their swords, which had been +blessed by the abbot at the altar, slung round their necks, they +advanced up the hall. There was a glow on the cheek of the young Alan, +in which pride and modesty were mingled; his step at first was +unsteady, and his lip was seen to quiver from very bashfulness, as he +first glanced round the hall and felt that every eye was turned towards +him; but when that glance met his mother's fixed on him, and breathing +that might of love which filled her heart, all boyish tremors fled, the +calm, staid resolve of manhood took the place of the varying glow upon +his cheek, the quivering lip became compressed and firm, and his step +faltered not again. + +The cheek of Nigel Bruce was pale, but there was firmness in the glance +of his bright eye, and a smile unclouded in its joyance on his lip. The +frivolous lightness of the courtier, the mad bravado of knight-errantry, +which was not uncommon to the times, indeed, were not there. It was the +quiet courage of the resolved warrior, the calm of a spirit at peace +with itself, shedding its own high feeling and poetic glory over all +around him. + +On reaching the foot of King Robert's throne, both youths knelt and laid +their sheathed swords at his feet. Their armor-bearers then approached, +and the ceremony of clothing the candidates in steel commenced; the +golden spur was fastened on the left foot of each by his respective +godfather, while Athol, Hay, and other nobles advanced to do honor to +the youths, by aiding in the ceremony. Nor was it warriors alone. + +"Is this permitted, lady?" demanded the king, smiling, as the Countess +of Buchan approached the martial group, and, aided by Lennox, fastened +the polished cuirass on the form of her son. "Is it permitted for a +matron to arm a youthful knight? Is there no maiden to do such inspiring +office?" + +"Yes, when the knight be one as this, my liege," she answered, in the +same tone; "let a matron arm him, good my liege," she added, sadly--"let +a mother's hand enwrap his boyish limbs in steel, a mother's blessing +mark him thine and Scotland's, that those who watch his bearing in the +battle-field may know who sent him there, may thrill his heart with +memories of her who stands alone of her ancestral line, that though he +bears the name of Comyn, the blood of Fife flows reddest in his veins." + +"Arm him and welcome, noble lady," answered the king, and a buzz of +approbation ran through the hall; "and may thy noble spirit and +dauntless loyalty inspire him; we shall not need a trusty follower while +such as he are round us. Yet, in very deed, my youthful knight must +have a lady fair for whom he tilts to-day. Come hither, Isoline; thou +lookest verily inclined to envy thy sweet friend her office, and nothing +loth to have a loyal knight thyself. Come, come, my pretty one, no +blushing now. Lennox, guide those tiny hands aright." + +Laughing and blushing, Isoline, the daughter of Lady Campbell, a sister +of the Bruce, a graceful child of some thirteen summers, advanced, +nothing loth, to obey her royal uncle's summons, and an arch smile of +real enjoyment irresistibly stole over the countenance of Alan, +dispersing the emotion his mother's words produced. + +"Nay, tremble not, sweet one," the king continued, in a lower and yet +kinder tone, as he turned from the one youth to the other, and observed +that Agnes, overpowered by emotion, had scarcely power to perform her +part, despite the whispered words of encouraging affection Nigel +murmured in her ear. Imaginative to a degree, which, by her quiet, +subdued manners, was never suspected, the simple act of those early +flowers withering in her grasp, fresh as they were from the hand of her +betrothed, had weighed down her spirits as with an indefinable sense of +pain, which she could not combat. The war of the elements, attending as +it did the vigil of her lover, had not decreased these feelings, and the +morning found her dispirited and shrinking in sensitiveness from the +very scene she had anticipated with joy. + +"It must not be with a trembling hand the betrothed of a Bruce arms her +chosen knight, fair Agnes," continued the king, cheeringly. "She must +inspire him with valor and confidence. Smile, then, gentlest and +loveliest; we would have all smiles to-day." + +And she did smile, but it was a smile of tears, gleaming on her +beautiful face as a sunny beam through a glistening spray. One by one +the cuirass and shoulder-pieces, the greaves and gauntlets, the gorget +and brassards, the joints of which were so beautifully burnished that +they shone as mirrors, and so flexible every limb had its free use, +enveloped those manly forms. Their swords once again girt to their +sides, and once more keeling, the king descended from his throne, and +alternately dubbed them knight in the name of God, St. Michael, and St. +George. + +"Be faithful, brave, and hardy, youthful cavaliers," he said; "true to +the country which claims ye, to the monarch ye have sworn to serve, to +the knight from whose sword ye have received the honor ye have craved. +Remember, 'tis not the tournay nor the tilted field in which ye will +gain renown. For your country let your swords be drawn; against her foes +reap laurels. Sir Nigel, 'tis thine to retain unsullied the name thou +bearest, to let the Bruce be glorified in thee. And thou, Sir Alan, 'tis +thine to _earn_ a name--in very truth, to win thy golden spurs; to prove +we do no unwise deed, forgetting thy early years, to do honor to thy +mother's son." + +Lightly and eagerly the new-made knights sprung to their feet, the very +clang of their glittering armor ringing gratefully and rejoicingly in +their ears. Their gallant steeds, barded and richly caparisoned, held by +their esquires, stood neighing and pawing at the foot of the steps +leading from the oaken doors. + +Without touching the stirrup, both sprung at the same instant in their +saddles; the helmet, with its long graceful plume, was quickly donned; +the lance and shield received; the pennon adorning the iron head of each +lowered a moment in honor to their sovereign, then waved gayly in air, +and then each lance was laid in rest; a trumpet sounded, and onward +darted the fiery youths thrice round the lists, displaying a skill and +courage in horsemanship which was hailed with repeated shouts of +applause. But on the tournay and the banquet which succeeded the +ceremony we have described we may not linger, but pass rapidly on to a +later period of the same evening. + +Sir Nigel and his beautiful betrothed had withdrawn a while from the +glittering scene around them; they had done their part in the graceful +dance, and now they sought the comparative solitude and stillness of the +flower-gemmed terrace, on which the ball-room opened, to speak +unreservedly the thoughts which had filled each heart; perchance there +were some yet veiled, for the vision of the preceding night, the +strange, incongruous fancies it had engendered in the youthful warrior, +a solemn vow had buried deep in his own soul, and not even to Agnes, to +whom his heart was wont to be revealed, might such thoughts find words; +and she shrunk in timidity from avowing the inquietude of her own simple +heart, and thus it was that each, for the sake of the other, spoke +hopefully and cheeringly, and gayly, until at length they were but +conscious of mutual and devoted love--the darkening mists of the future +lost in the radiance of the present sun. + +A sudden pause in the inspiring music, the quick advance of all the +different groups towards one particular spot, had failed perchance to +interrupt the happy converse of the lovers, had not Sir Alan hastily +approached them, exclaiming, as he did so-- + +"For the love of heaven! Nigel, forget Agnes for one moment, and come +along with me. A messenger from Pembroke has just arrived, bearing a +challenge, or something very like it, to his grace the king; and it may +be we shall win our spurs sooner than we looked for this morning. The +sight of Sir Henry Seymour makes the war trumpet sound in mine ears. +Come, for truly there is something astir." + +With Agnes still leaning on his arm, Nigel obeyed the summons of his +impatient friend, and joined the group around the king. There was a +quiet dignity in the attitude and aspect of Robert Bruce, or it might be +the daring patriotism of his enterprise was appreciated by the gallant +English knight; certain it was that, though Sir Henry's bearing had been +somewhat haughty, his brow knit, and his head still covered, as he +passed up the hall, by an irresistible impulse he doffed his helmet as +he met the eagle glance of the Bruce, and bowed his head respectfully +before him, an example instantly followed by his attendants. + +"Sir Henry Seymour is welcome to our court," said the king, courteously; +"welcome, whatever message he may bear. How fares it with the chivalric +knight and worthy gentleman, Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke? Ye +bring us a message from him, 'tis said. Needs it a private hearing, sir +knight? if so, we are at your service; yet little is it Aymer de Valence +can say to Scotland's king which Scotland may not hear." + +"Pembroke is well, an please you, and sendeth greeting," replied the +knight. "His message, sent as it is to the Bruce, is well fitted for the +ears of his followers, therefore may it be spoken here. He sendeth all +loving and knightly greeting unto him known until now as Robert Earl of +Carrick, and bids him, an he would proclaim and prove the rights he hath +assumed, come forth from the narrow precincts of a palace and town, +which ill befit a warrior of such high renown, and give him battle in +the Park of Methven, near at hand. He challenges him to meet him there, +with nobles, knights, and yeomen, who proclaiming Robert Bruce their +sovereign, cast down the gauntlet of defiance and rebellion against +their rightful king and mine, his grace of England; he challenges thee, +sir knight, or earl, or king, whichever name thou bearest, and dares +thee to the field." + +"And what if we accept not his daring challenge?" demanded King Robert, +sternly, without permitting the expression of his countenance to satisfy +in any way the many anxious glances fixed upon it. + +"He will proclaim thee coward knight and traitor slave," boldly answered +Sir Henry. "In camp or in hall, in lady's bower or tented field, he will +proclaim thee recreant; one that took upon himself the state and pomp of +royalty without the spirit to defend and prove it." + +"Had he done so by our predecessor, Baliol, he had done well," returned +the king, calmly. "Nobles, and knights, and gentlemen," he added, the +lion spirit of his race kindling in his eye and cheek, "what say ye in +accepting the bold challenge of this courtly earl? Do we not read your +hearts as well as our own? Ye have chafed and fretted that we have +retained ye so long inactive: in very truth your monarch's spirit chafed +and fretted too. We will do battle with this knightly foe, and give him, +in all chivalric and honorable courtesy, the meeting he desires." + +One startling and energetic shout burst simultaneously from the warriors +around, forming a wild and thrilling response to their sovereign's +words. In vain they sought to restrain that outbreak of rejoicing, in +respect to the royal presence; they had pined, they had yearned for +action, and Sir Henry was too good a knight himself not to understand to +the full the patriotic fervor and chivalrous spirit from which that +shout had sprung. Proudly and joyfully the Bruce looked on his devoted +adherents, and then addressed the English knight. + +"Thou hast our answer, good Sir Henry," he said; "more thou couldst +scarcely need. Commend us to your master, and take heed thou sayest all +that thou hast heard and seen in answer to his challenge. In the Park of +Methven, three days hence, he may expect the King of Scotland and his +patriot troops with him, to do battle unto death. Edward, good brother, +thou, Seaton, and the Lord of Douglas, conduct this worthy knight in all +honor from the hall. Thou hast our answer." + +The knight bowed low, but ere he retreated he spoke again. "I am charged +with yet another matter, an it so please you," he said, evidently +studying to avoid all royal titles, although the bearing of the king +rendered his task rather more difficult than he could have imagined; "a +matter of small import, truly, yet must it be spoken. 'Tis rumored that +you have amid your household a child, a boy, whose father was a favored +servant of my gracious liege and yours, King Edward. The Earl of +Pembroke, in the name of his sovereign and of the child's father, bids +me demand him of thee, as having, from his tender years and +inexperience, no will nor voice in this matter, he having been brought +here by his mother, who, saving your presence, had done better to have +remembered her duty to her husband than encourage rebellion against her +king." + +"Keep to the import of thy message, nor give thy tongue such license, +sir," interrupted the Bruce, sternly; and many an eye flashed, and many +a hand sought his sword. "Sir Alan of Buchan, stand forth and give thine +own answer to this imperative demand; 'tis to thee, methinks, its import +would refer. Thou hast wisdom and experience, if not years enough, to +answer for thyself. + +"Tell Aymer de Valence, would he seek me, he will find me by the side of +my sovereign King Robert, in Methven Park, three days hence," boldly and +quickly answered the young soldier, stepping forward from his post in +the circle, and fronting the knight. "Tell him I am here of my own free +will, to acknowledge Robert the Bruce as mine and Scotland's king; to +defy the tyrant Edward, even to the death; tell him 'tis no child he +seeks, but a knight and soldier, who will meet him on the field." + +"It would seem we are under some mistake, young sir," replied Sir Henry, +gazing with unfeigned admiration on the well-knit frame and glowing +features of the youthful knight. "I speak of and demand the surrender of +the son and heir of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, who was represented to +me as a child of some ten or thirteen summers; 'tis with him, not with +thee, my business treats." + +"And 'tis the son--I know not how long _heir_--of John Comyn, Earl of +Buchan, who speaks with thee, sir knight. It may well be, my very age, +my very existence hath been forgotten by my father," he added, with a +fierceness and bitterness little in accordance with his years, "aye, +and would have been remembered no more, had not the late events recalled +them; yet 'tis even so--and that thy memory prove not treacherous, there +lies my gage. Foully and falsely hast thou spoken of Isabella of Buchan, +and her honor is dear to her son as is his own. In Methven Park we _two_ +shall meet, sir knight, and the child, the puny stripling, who hath of +his own nor voice nor will, will not fail thee, be thou sure." + +Proudly, almost sternly, the boy fixed his flashing orbs on the English +knight, and without removing his glance, strode to the side of his +mother and drew her arm within his own. There was something in the +accent, in the saddened yet resolute expression of his countenance, +which forbade all rejoinder, not from Sir Henry alone, but even from his +own friends. Seymour raised the gage, and with a meaning smile secured +it in his helmet; then respectfully saluting the group around him, +withdrew, attended as desired by the Bruce. + +"Heed it not, my boy, my own noble boy!" said the Countess of Buchan, in +those low, earnest, musical tones peculiarly her own; for she saw that +there was a quivering in the lip, a sudden paleness in the cheek of her +son, as he gazed up in her lace, when he thought they stood alone, which +denoted internal emotion yet stronger than that which had inspired his +previous words. "Their scorn, their contumely, I heed as little as the +mountain rock the hailstones which fall upon its sides, in vain seeking +to penetrate or wound. Nay, I could smile at them in very truth, were it +not that compelled as I am to act alone, to throw aside as worthless and +rejected those natural ties I had so joyed to wear, my heart seems +closed to smiles; but for words as those, or yet harsher scorn, grieve +not, my noble boy, they have no power to fret or hurt me." + +"Yet to hear them speak in such tone of thee--thee, whose high soul and +noble courage would shame a score of some who write themselves +men!--thee, who with all a woman's loving heart, and guileless, +unselfish, honorable mind, hath all a warrior's stern resolve, a +patriot's noble purpose! Mother, mother, how may thy son brook scorn and +falsity, and foul calumny cast upon thee?" and there was a choking +suffocation in his throat, filling his eyes perforce with tears; and had +it not been that manhood struggled for dominion, he would have flung +himself upon his mother's breast and wept. + +"As a soldier and a man, my son," she drew him closer to her as she +spoke; "as one who, knowing and feeling the worth of the contemned one, +is conscious that the foul tongues of evil men can do no ill, but fling +back the shame upon themselves. Arouse thee, my beloved son. Alas! when +I look on thee, on thy bright face, on those graceful limbs, so supple +now in health and life, and feel to what my deed may have devoted thee, +my child, my child, I need not slanderous tongues to grieve me!" + +"And doth the Countess of Buchan repent that deed?" asked the rich +sonorous voice of the Bruce, who, unobserved, had heard their converse. +"Would she recall that which she hath done?" + +"Sire, not so," she answered; "precious as is my child to this lone +heart--inexpressibly dear and precious--yet if the liberty of his +country demand me to resign him, the call shall be obeyed." + +"Speak not thus, noble lady," returned the king, cheerily. "He is but +_lent_, Scotland asks no more; and when heaven smiles on this poor +country, smiles in liberty and peace, trust me, such devotedness will +not have been in vain. Our youthful knight will lay many a wreath of +laurel at his mother's feet, nor will there then be need to guard her +name from scorn. See what new zest and spirit have irradiated the brows +of our warlike guests; we had scarce deemed more needed than was there +before, yet the visit of Sir Henry Seymour, bearing as it did a +challenge to strife and blood, hath given fresh lightness to every step, +new joyousness to every tone. Is not this as it should be?" + +"Aye, as it _must_ be, sire, while loyal hearts and patriot spirits form +thy court. Nobly and gallantly was the answer given to Pembroke's +challenge. Yet pardon me, sire, was it wise--was it well?" + +"Its wisdom, lady, rests with its success in the hands of a higher +power," answered the king, gravely, yet kindly. "Other than we did we +could not do; rashly and presumptuously we would not have left our +quarters. Not for the mere chase of, mad wish for glory would we have +risked the precious lives of our few devoted friends, but challenged as +we were, the soul of Bruce could not have spoken other than he did; nor +do we repent, nay, we rejoice that the stern duty of inaction is over. +Thine eye tells me thou canst understand this, lady, therefore we say no +more, save to beseech thee to inspire our consort with the necessity of +this deed; she trembles for the issue of our daring. See how grave and +sad she looks, so lately as she was all smiles." + +The countess did not reply, but hastened to the side of the amiable, but +yet too womanly Queen Margaret, and gently, but invisibly sought to +soothe her fears; and she partially succeeded, for the queen ever seemed +to feel herself a bolder and firmer character when in the presence and +under the influence of Isabella of Buchan. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +It was a gallant, though, alas! but too small a force which, richly and +bravely accoutred, with banners proudly flying, music sounding, superb +chargers caparisoned for war, lances in rest, and spear and bill, sword +and battle-axe, marched through the olden gates of Scone in a +south-westward direction, early on the morning of the 25th of June, +1306. Many were the admiring eyes and yearning hearts which followed +them, and if doubt and dread did mingle in the fervid aspirations raised +for their welfare and success, they were not permitted to gain +ascendency so long as the cheering tones and happy smiles of every one +of that patriot band lingered on the ear and sight. As yet there were +but few of the nobles and knights with their men. The troops had been +commanded to march leisurely forward, under charge of the esquires and +gentlemen, who were mostly lieutenants or cornets to their leaders' +respective bands of followers; and, if not overtaken before, to halt in +a large meadow to the north of Perth, which lay in their way. + +The knots of citizens, however, who had accompanied the army to the +farthest environs of the town, had not dispersed to their several homes +ere the quick, noisy clattering of a gallant troop of horse echoed along +the street, and the king, surrounded by his highest nobles and bravest +knights, galloped by, courteously returning the shouts and acclamations +of delight which hailed him on every side. His vizor was purposely left +up, and his noble countenance, beaming with animation and hope, seemed +to inspire fresh hope and confidence in all that gazed. A white ostrich +plume, secured to his helmet by a rich clasp of pearls and diamonds, +fell over his left shoulder till it well-nigh mingled with the flowing +mane of his charger, whose coal-black glossy hide was almost concealed +beneath the armor which enveloped him, and the saddle-cloth of crimson +velvet, whose golden fringe nearly swept the ground. King Robert was +clothed in the same superb suit of polished steel armor, inlaid and +curiously wrought with ingrained silver, in which we saw him at first; a +crimson scarf secured his trusty sword to his side, and a short mantle +of azure velvet, embroidered with the golden thistle of Scotland, and +lined with the richest sable, was secured at his throat by a splendid +collaret of gems. The costly materials of his dress, and, yet more, the +easy and graceful seat upon his charger, his chivalric bearing, and the +frank, noble expression of his countenance, made him, indeed, "look +every inch a king," and might well of themselves have inspired and +retained the devoted loyalty of his subjects, even had there been less +of chivalry in his daring rising. + +Edward Bruce was close beside his brother. With a figure and appearance +equally martial and equally prepossessing, he wanted the quiet dignity, +the self-possession of voice and feature which characterized the king. +He had not the mind of Robert, and consequently the uppermost passion of +the spirit was ever the one marked on his brow. On this morning he was +all animated smiles, for war was alike his vocation and his pastime. + +Thomas and Alexander Bruce were also there, both gallant men and +well-tried warriors, and eager as Edward for close encounter with the +foe. The Earls of Lennox and Athol, although perhaps in their secret +souls they felt that the enterprise was rash, gave no evidence of +reluctance in their noble bearing; indeed, had they been certain of +marching to their death, they would not have turned from the side of +Bruce. The broad banner of Scotland, whose ample folds waved in the +morning breeze, had been intrusted to the young heir of Buchan, who, +with the other young and new-made knights, eager and zealous to win +their spurs, had formed a body guard around the banner, swearing to +defend it to the last moment of their lives. Nigel Bruce was one of +these; he rode close beside his brother in arms, and midst that animated +group, those eager spirits throbbing for action, no heart beat quicker +than his own. All was animated life, anticipated victory; the very +heavens smiled as if they would shed no shadow on this patriot band. + +It was scarcely two hours after noon when King Robert and his troops +arrived at the post assigned--the park or wood of Methven; and believing +that it was not till the succeeding day to which the challenge of +Pembroke referred, he commanded his men to make every preparation for a +night encampment. The English troops lay at about a quarter of a mile +distant, on the side of a hill, which, as well as tree and furze would +permit, commanded a view of the Bruce's movements. There were tents +erected, horses picketed, and every appearance of quiet, confirming the +Scotch in their idea of no engagement taking place till the morrow. + +Aware of the great disparity of numbers, King Robert eagerly and +anxiously examined his ground as to the best spot for awaiting the +attack of the English. He fixed on a level green about half a mile +square, guarded on two sides by a thick wood of trees, on the third and +left by a deep running rivulet, and open on the fourth, encumbered only +by short, thick bushes and little knots of thorn, which the king +welcomed, as impeding the progress and obstructing the evolutions of +Pembroke's horse. The bushes which were scattered about on the ground he +had chosen, he desired his men to clear away, and ere the sun neared his +setting, all he wished was accomplished, and his plan of battle +arranged. He well remembered the impenetrable phalanx of the unfortunate +Wallace at the battle of Falkirk, and determined on exposing a steady +front of spears in the same manner. Not having above thirty horse on +whom he could depend, and well aware they would be but a handful against +Pembroke's two hundred, he placed them in the rear as a reserve, in the +centre of which waved the banner of Scotland. The remainder of his +troops he determined on arranging in a compact crescent, the bow exposed +to the English, the line stretching out against the wood. This was his +intended line of battle, but, either from mistake or purposed treachery +on the part of Pembroke, his plan was frustrated, and in addition to the +great disparity of numbers he had to struggle with surprise. + +The day had been extremely sultry, and trusting in full confidence to +the honor of his opponent, and willing to give his men all needful rest, +the king dismissed them from their ranks to refreshment and repose, +leaving but very few to guard, himself retiring with his older officers +to a tent prepared for his reception. + +Arm in arm, and deep in converse, Nigel Bruce and Alan of Buchan +wandered a little apart from their companions, preferring a hasty meal +and the calm beauty of a lovely summer evening, accompanied by a +refreshing breeze, to remaining beside the rude but welcome meal, and +sharing the festivity which enlivened it. + +"Thinkest thou not, Nigel, his grace trusts but too fully to the honor +of these Englishmen?" asked Alan, somewhat abruptly, turning the +conversation from the dearer topics of Agnes and her mother, which had +before engrossed them. + +"On my faith, if he judge of them by his own true, noble spirit, he +judges them too well." + +"Nay, thou art over-suspicious, friend Alan," answered Nigel, smiling. +"What fearest thou?" + +"I like not the absence of all guards, not so much for the safety of our +own camp, but to keep sharp watch on the movements of our friends +yonder. Nigel, there is some movement; they look not as they did an hour +ago." + +"Impossible, quite impossible, Alan; the English knights are too +chivalric, too honorable, to advance on us to-night. If they have made a +movement, 'tis but to repose." + +"Nigel, if Pembroke feel inclined to take advantage of our unguarded +situation, he will swear, as many have done before him, that a new day +began with the twelve-chime bell of this morning, and be upon us ere we +are aware; and I say again, there is movement, and warlike movement, +too, in yonder army. Are tents deserted, and horses and men collected, +for the simple purpose of retiring to rest? Come with me to yon mound, +and see if I be not correct in my surmise." + +Startled by Alan's earnest manner, despite his firm reliance on +Pembroke's honor, Nigel made no further objection, but hastened with him +to the eminence he named. It was only too true. Silently and guardedly +the whole English army, extending much further towards Perth than was +visible to the Scotch, had been formed in battle array, line after line +stretching forth its glittering files, in too compact and animated array +to admit of a doubt as to their intentions. The sun had completely sunk, +and dim mists were spreading up higher and higher from the horizon, +greatly aiding the treacherous movements of the English. + +"By heavens, 'tis but too true!" burst impetuously from Nigel's lips, +indignation expressed in every feature. "Base, treacherous cowards! Hie +thee to the king--fly for thy life--give him warning, while I endeavor +to form the lines. In vain, utterly in vain!" he muttered, as Alan with +the speed of lightning darted down the slope. "They are formed--fresh, +both man and horse--double, aye, more than treble our numbers; they will +be upon us ere the order of battle can be formed, and defeat _now_--" + +He would not give utterance to the dispiriting truth which closed that +thought, but springing forward, dashed through fern and brake, and +halted not till he stood in the centre of his companions, who, scattered +in various attitudes on the grass, were giving vent, in snatches of song +and joyous laughter, to the glee which filled their souls. + +"Up! up!--the foe!" shouted Nigel, in tones so unlike the silvery +accents which in general characterized him, that his companions +started to their feet and grasped their swords, as roused by the +sound of trumpet, "Pembroke is false: to arms--to your posts! +Fitz-Alan--Douglas--sound an alarm, and, in heaven's name, aid me in +getting the men under arms! Be calm, be steady; display no alarm, no +confusion, and all may yet be well." + +He was obeyed. The quick roll of the drum, the sharp, quick blast of the +trumpet echoed and re-echoed at different sides of the encampment; the +call to arms, in various stentorian tones, rung through the woodland +glades, quickly banishing all other sounds. Every man sprung at once +from his posture of repose, and gathered round their respective leaders; +startled, confused, yet still in order, still animated, still confident, +and yet more exasperated against their foe. + +The appearance of their sovereign, unchanged in his composed and warlike +mien, evincing perhaps yet more animation in his darkly flushing cheek, +compressed lip, and sparkling eye; his voice still calm, though his +commands were more than usually hurried; his appearance on every side, +forming, arranging, encouraging, almost at the same instant--at one +moment exciting their indignation against the treachery of the foe, at +others appealing to their love for their country, their homes, their +wives, to their sworn loyalty to himself--inspired courage and +confidence at the same instant as he allayed confusion; but despite +every effort both of leader and men, it needed time to form in the +compact order which the king had planned, and ere it was accomplished, +nearer and nearer came the English, increasing their pace to a run as +they approached, and finally charging in full and overwhelming career +against the unprepared but gallant Scots. Still there was no wavering +amid the Scottish troops; still they stood their ground, and forming, +almost as they fought, in closer and firmer order, exposing the might +and unflinching steadiness of desperate men, determined on liberty or +death, to the greater number and better discipline of their foe. It +mattered not that the fading light of day had given place to the darker +shades of night, but dimly illumined by the rising moon--they struggled +on, knowing as if by instinct friend from foe. And fearful was it to +watch the mighty struggles from figures gleaming as gigantic shadows in +the darkness; now and then came a deep smothered cry or bursting groan, +wrung from the throes of death, or the wild, piercing scream from a +slaughtered horse, but the tongues of life were silent; the clang of +armor, the clash of steel, the heavy fall of man and horse, indeed came +fitfully and fearfully on the night breeze, and even as the blue +spectral flash of summer lightning did the bright swords rise and fall +in the thick gloom. + +"Back, back, dishonored knight! back, recreant traitor!" shouted James +of Douglas; and his voice was heard above the roar of battle, and those +near him saw him at the same instant spring from his charger, thrust +back Pembroke and other knights who were thronging round him, and with +unrivalled skill and swiftness aid a tall and well-known form to rise +and spring on the horse he held for him. "Thinkest thou the sacred +person of the King of Scotland is for such as thee? back, I say!" And he +did force him, armed and on horseback as he was, many paces back, and +Robert Bruce again galloped over the field, bareheaded indeed, for his +helmet had fallen off in the strife, urging, inciting, leading on yet +again to the charge. And it was in truth as if a superhuman strength and +presence had been granted the patriot king that night, for there were +veteran warriors there, alike English and Scotch, who paused even in the +work of strife to gaze and tremble. + +Again was he unhorsed, crushed by numbers--one moment more and he had +fallen into the hands of his foes, and Scotland had lain a slave forever +at the feet of England; but again was relief at hand, and the young Earl +of Mar, dashing his horse between the prostrate monarch and his +thronging enemies, laid the foremost, who was his own countryman, dead +on the field, and remained fighting alone; his single arm dealing deadly +blows on every side at the same moment until Robert had regained his +feet, and, though wounded and well-nigh exhausted, turned in fury to the +rescue of his preserver. It was too late; in an agony of spirit no pen +can describe, he beheld his faithful and gallant nephew overpowered by +numbers and led off a captive, and he stood by, fighting indeed like a +lion, dealing death wherever his sword fell, but utterly unable to +rescue or defend him. Again his men thronged round him, their rallying +point, their inspiring hope, their guardian spirit; again he was on +horseback, and still, still that fearful strife continued. Aided by the +darkness, the Bruce in his secret soul yet encouraged one gleam of hope, +yet dreamed of partial success, at least of avoiding that almost worse +than death, a total and irremediable defeat. Alas, had the daylight +suddenly illumined that scene, he would have felt, have seen that hope +was void. + +Gallantly, meanwhile, gallantly even as a warrior of a hundred fields, +had the young heir of Buchan redeemed his pledge to his sovereign, and +devoted sword and exposed life in his cause. The standard of Scotland +had never touched the ground. Planting it firmly in the earth, he had +for a while defended it nobly where he stood, curbing alike the high +spirit of his prancing horse and his own intense longing to dash forward +in the thickest of the fight. He saw his companions fall one by one, +till he was well-nigh left alone. He heard confused cries, as of +triumph; he beheld above twenty Englishmen dashing towards him, and he +felt a few brief minutes and his precious charge might be waved in scorn +as a trophy by the victors; the tide of battle had left him for an +instant comparatively alone, and in that instant his plan was formed. + +"Strike hard, and fear not!" he cried to an old retainer, who stirred +not from his side; "divide this heavy staff, and I will yet protect my +charge, and thou and I, Donald, will to King Robert's side; he needs all +true men about him now." + +Even as he spoke his command was understood and obeyed. One sweep of the +stout Highlander's battle-axe severed full four feet of the heavy lance +to which the standard was attached and enabled Alan without any +inconvenience to grasp in his left hand the remainder, from which the +folds still waved: grasping his sword firmly in his right, and giving +his horse the rein, shouting, "Comyn, to the rescue!" he darted towards +the side where the strife waxed hottest. + +It was a cry which alike startled friends and foes, for that name was +known to one party as so connected with devotee adherence to Edward, to +the other so synonymous with treachery, that united as it was with "to +the rescue," some there were who paused to see whence and from whom it +came. The banner of Scotland quickly banished doubt as to which part; +that youthful warrior belonged; knights and yeomen alike threw +themselves in his path to obtain possession of so dear a prize. Followed +by about ten stalwart men of his clan, the young knight gallantly cut +his way through the greater number of his opponents, but a sudden gleam +on the helmet of one of them caused him to halt suddenly. + +"Ha! Sir Henry Seymour, we have met at length!" he shouted. "Thou +bearest yet my gage--'tis well. I am here to redeem it." + +"Give up that banner to a follower, then," returned Sir Henry, +courteously, checking his horse in its full career, "for otherwise we +meet at odds. Thou canst not redeem thy gage, and defend thy charge at +the same moment." + +"Give up my charge! Never, so help me heaven! Friend or foe shall claim +it but with my life," returned Alan, proudly. "Come on, sir knight; I am +here to defend the honor thou hast injured--the honor of one dearer than +my own." + +"Have then thy will, proud boy: thy blood be on thine own head," replied +Seymour; but ere he spurred on to the charge, he called aloud, "let none +come between us, none dare to interfere--'tis a quarrel touching none +save ourselves," and Alan bowed his head, in courteous recognition of +the strict observance of the rules of chivalry in his adversary, at the +very moment that he closed with him in deadly strife; and such was war +in the age of chivalry, and so strict were its rules, that even with the +standard of Scotland in his hand, the person of the heir of Buchan was +sacred to all save to his particular opponent. + +It was a brief yet determined struggle. Their swords crossed and +recrossed with such force and rapidity, that sparks of fire flashed from +the blades; the aim of both appeared rather to unhorse and disarm than +slay: Seymour, perhaps, from admiration of the boy's extraordinary +bravery and daring, and Alan from a feeling of respect for the true +chivalry of the English knight. The rush of battle for a minute +unavoidably separated them. About four feet of the banner-staff yet +remained uninjured, both in its stout wood and sharp iron head; with +unparalleled swiftness, Alan partly furled the banner round the pike, +and transferred it to his right hand, then grasping it firmly, and +aiming full at Sir Henry's helm, backed his horse several paces to allow +of a wider field, gave his steed the spur, and dashed forward quick as +the wind. The manoeuvre succeeded. Completely unprepared for this +change alike in weapon and attack, still dazzled and slightly confused +by the rush which had divided them, Sir Henry scarcely saw the youthful +knight, till he felt his helmet transfixed by the lance, and the blow +guided so well and true, that irresistibly it bore him from his horse, +and he lay stunned and helpless, but not otherwise hurt, at the mercy of +his foe. Recovering his weapon, Alan, aware that the great disparity of +numbers rendered the securing English prisoners but a mere waste of +time, contented himself by waving the standard high in air, and again +shouting his war-cry, galloped impetuously on. Wounded he was, but he +knew it not; the excitement, the inspiration of the moment was all he +felt. + +"To the king--to the king!" shouted Nigel Bruce, urging his horse to the +side of Alan, and ably aiding him to strike down their rapidly +increasing foes. "Hemmed in on all sides, he will fall beneath their +thirsting swords. To the king--to the king! Yield he never will; and +better he should not. On, on, for the love of life, of liberty, of +Scotland!--on to the king!" + +His impassioned words reached even hearts fainting 'neath exhaustion, +failing in hope, for they knew they strove in vain; yet did that tone, +those words rouse even them, and their flagging limbs grew strong for +Robert's sake, and some yet reached the spot to fight and die around +him; others--alas! the greater number--fell ere the envied goal was +gained. + +The sight of the royal standard drew, as Alan had hoped, the attention +of some from the king, and gave him a few moments to rally. Again there +was a moment of diversion in favor of the Scotch. The brothers of the +Bruce and some others of his bravest knights were yet around him, +seemingly uninjured, and each and all appeared endowed with the strength +of two. The gigantic form of Edward Bruce, the whelming sweep of his +enormous battle-axe, had cleared a partial space around the king, but +still the foes hemmed in, reinforced even as they fell. About this time +the moon, riding high in the heavens, had banished the mists which had +enveloped her rising, and flung down a clear, silvery radiance over the +whole field, disclosing for the first time to King Robert the exact +situation in which he stood. Any further struggle, and defeat, +imprisonment, death, all stared him in the face, and Scotland's liberty +was lost, and forever. The agony of this conviction was known to none +save to the sovereign's own heart, and to that Searcher of all, by whom +its every throb was felt. + +The wood behind him was still plunged in deep shadows, and he knew the +Grampian Hills, with all their inaccessible paths and mountain +fastnesses--known only to the true children of Scotland--could easily be +reached, were the pursuit of the English eluded, which he believed could +be easily accomplished, were they once enabled to retreat into the wood. + +The consummate skill and prudence of the Bruce characterizing him as a +general, even as his extraordinary daring and exhaustless courage marked +the warrior, enabled him to effect this precarious and delicate +movement, in the very sight of and almost surrounded by foes. Covering +his troops, or rather the scattered remnant of troops, by exposing his +own person to the enemy, the king was still the first object of attack, +the desire of securing his person, or, at least, obtaining possession of +his head, becoming more and more intense. But it seemed as though a +protecting angel hovered round him: for he had been seen in every part +of the field; wherever the struggle had been fiercest, he had been the +centre; twice he had been unhorsed, and bareheaded almost from the +commencement of the strife, yet there he was still, seemingly as firm in +his saddle, as strong in frame, as unscathed in limb, as determined in +purpose, as when he sent back his acceptance of Pembroke's challenge. +Douglas, Fitz-Alan, Alexander and Nigel Bruce, and Alan of Buchan, still +bearing the standard, were close around the king, and it was in this +time of precaution, of less inspiriting service, that the young Alan +became conscious that he was either severely wounded, or that the +strength he had taxed far beyond its natural powers was beginning to +fail. Still mechanically he grasped the precious banner, and still he +crossed his sword with every foe that came; but the quick eye of Nigel +discerned there was a flagging of strength, and he kept close beside him +to aid and defend. The desired goal was just attained, the foes were +decreasing in numbers, for they were scattered some distance from each +other, determined on scouring the woods in search of fugitives, the +horses of the king and his immediate followers were urged to quicken +their pace, when an iron-headed quarrel, discharged from an arbalist, +struck the royal charger, which, with a shrill cry of death, dropped +instantly, and again was the king unhorsed. The delay occasioned in +extricating him from the fallen animal was dangerous in the extreme; the +greater part of his men were at some distance, for the king had ordered +them, as soon as the unfrequented hollows of the wood were reached, to +disperse, the better to elude their pursuers. Douglas, Alexander Bruce, +and Fitz-Alan had galloped on, unconscious of the accident, and Nigel +and Alan were alone near him. A minute sufficed for the latter to spring +from his horse and aid the king to mount, and both entreated, conjured +him to follow their companions, and leave them to cover his retreat. A +while he refused, declaring he would abide with them: he would not so +cowardly desert them. + +"Leave you to death!" he cried; "my friends, my children; no, no! Urge +me no more. If I may not save my country, I may _die_ for her." + +"Thou shalt not, so help me heaven!" answered Nigel, impetuously. "King, +friend, brother, there is yet time. Hence, I do beseech thee, hence. +Nay, an thou wilt not, I will e'en forget thou art my king, and force +thee from this spot." + +He snatched the reins of his brother's horse, and urging it with his own +to their fullest speed, took the most unfrequented path, and dashing +over every obstacle, through brake and briar, and over hedge and ditch, +placed him in comparative safety. + +And was Alan deserted? Did his brother in arms, in his anxiety to save +the precious person of his royal brother, forget the tie that bound +them, and leave him to die alone? A sickening sense of inability, of +utter exhaustion, crept over the boy's sinking frame, inability even to +drag his limbs towards the wood and conceal himself from his foes. +Mechanically he at first stood grasping the now-tattered colors, as if +his hand were nailed unto the staff, his foot rooted to the ground. +There were many mingled cries, sending their shrill echoes on the night +breeze; there were chargers scouring the plain; bodies of men passing +and repassing within twenty yards of the spot where he stood, yet half +hidden by the deep shadow of a large tree, for some minutes he was +unobserved. An armed knight, with about twenty followers, were rushing +by; they stopped, they recognized the banner; they saw the bowed and +drooping figure who supported it, they dashed towards him. With a strong +effort Alan roused himself from that lethargy of faintness. Nearer and +nearer they came. + +"Yield, or you die!" were the words borne to his ear, shrill, loud, +fraught with death, and his spirit sprang up with the sound. He waved +his sword above his head, and threw himself into a posture of defence; +but ere they reached him, there was a sudden and rapid tramp of horse, +and the voice of Nigel Bruce shouted-- + +"Mount, mount! God in heaven be thanked, I am here in time!" + +Alan sprung into the saddle; he thought not to inquire how that charger +had been found, nor knew he till some weeks after that Nigel had exposed +his own person to imminent danger, to secure one of the many steeds +flying masterless over the plain. On, on they went, and frequently the +head of Alan drooped from very faintness to his saddle-bow, and Nigel +feared to see him fall exhausted to the earth, but still they pursued +their headlong way. Death was behind them, and the lives of all true and +loyal Scotsmen were too precious to admit a pause. + +The sun had risen when King Robert gazed round him on the remnant of his +troops. It was a wild brake, amid surrounding rocks and mountains where +they stood; a torrent threw itself headlong from a craggy steep, and +made its way to the glen, tumbling and roaring and dashing over the +black stones that opposed its way. The dark pine, the stunted fir, the +weeping birch, and many another mountain tree, marked the natural +fertility of the soil, although its aspect seemed wild and rude. It was +to this spot the king had desired the fugitives to direct their several +ways, and now he gazed upon all, all that were spared to him and +Scotland from that disastrous night. In scattered groups they stood or +sate; their swords fallen from their hands, their heads drooping on +their breasts, with the mien of men whose last hope had been cast on a +single die, and wrecked forever. And when King Robert thought of the +faithful men who, when the sun had set the previous evening, had +gathered round him in such devoted patriotism, such faithful love, and +now beheld the few there were to meet his glance, to give him the +sympathy, the hope he needed, scarcely could he summon energy sufficient +to speak against hope, to rally the failing spirits of his remaining +followers. Mar, Athol, Hay, Fraser, he knew were prisoners, and he knew, +too, that in their cases that word was but synonymous with death. +Lennox, his chosen friend, individually the dearest of all his +followers, he too was not there, though none remembered his being taken; +Randolph, his nephew, and about half of those gallant youths who not ten +days previous had received and welcomed the honor of knighthood, in all +the high hopes and buoyancy of youth and healthful life; more, many more +than half the number of the stout yeomen, who had risen at his call to +rescue their land from chains--where now were these? Was it wonder that +the king had sunk upon a stone, and bent his head upon his hands? But +speedily he rallied; he addressed each man by name; he spoke comfort, +hope, not lessening the magnitude of his defeat, but still promising +them liberty--still promising that yet would their homes be redeemed, +their country free; aye, even were he compelled to wander months, nay, +years in those mountain paths, with naught about him but the title of a +king; still, while he had life, would he struggle on for Scotland; still +did he feel, despite of blighted hope, of bitter disappointment, that to +him was intrusted the sacred task of her deliverance. Would he, might he +sink and relax in his efforts and resign his purpose, because his first +engagement was attended by defeat? had he done so, it was easy to have +found death on the field. Had he listened to the voice of despair, he +confessed, he would not have left that field alive. + +"But I lived for my country, for ye, her children," he continued, his +voice becoming impassioned in its fervor; "lived to redeem this night, +to suffer on a while, to be your savior still. Will ye then desert me? +will ye despond, because of one defeat--yield to despair, when Scotland +yet calls aloud? No, no, it cannot be!" and roused by his earnest, his +eloquent appeal, that devoted band sprung from their drooping posture, +and kneeling at his feet, renewed their oaths of allegiance to him; the +oath that bound them to seek liberty for Scotland. It was then, as one +by one advanced, the king for the first time missed his brother Nigel +and the heir of Buchan; amidst the overwhelming bitterness of thought +which had engrossed him, he had for a brief while forgotten the +precarious situation of Alan, and the determination of Nigel to seek and +save, or die with him; but now the recollection of both rushed upon him, +and the flush which his eloquence had summoned faded at once, and the +sudden expression of anguish passing over his features roused the +attention of all who stood near him. + +"They must have fallen," he murmured, and for the first time, in a +changed and hollow voice. "My brother, my brother, dearest, best! can it +be that, in thy young beauty, thou, too, art taken from me?--and Alan, +how can I tell his mother--how face her sorrow for her son?" + +Time passed, and there was no sound; the visible anxiety of the king +hushed into yet deeper stillness the voices hushed before. His meaning +was speedily gathered from his broken words, and many mounted the craggy +heights to mark if there might not yet be some signs of the missing +ones. Time seemed to linger on his flight. The intervening rocks and +bushes confined all sounds within a very narrow space; but at length a +faint unintelligible noise broke on the stillness, it came nearer, +nearer still, a moment more and the tread of horses' hoofs echoed +amongst the rocks--a shout, a joyful shout proclaimed them friends. The +king sprung to his feet. Another minute Nigel and Alan pressed around +him; with the banner still in his hand, Alan knelt and laid it at his +sovereign's feet. + +"From thy hand I received it, to thee I restore it," he said, but his +voice was scarcely articulate; he bowed his head to press Robert's +extended hand to his lips, and sunk senseless at his feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Rumors of the fatal issue of the engagement at Methven speedily reached +Scone, laden, of course, with, yet more disastrous tidings than had +foundation in reality. King Robert, it was said, and all his nobles and +knights--nay, his whole army--were cut off to a man; the king, if not +taken prisoner, was left dead on the field, and all Scotland lay again +crushed and enslaved at the feet of Edward. For four-and-twenty hours +did the fair inhabitants of the palace labor under this belief, +well-nigh stunned beneath the accumulation of misfortune. It was curious +to remark the different forms in which affliction appeared in different +characters, The queen, in loud sobs and repeated wailing, at one time +deplored her own misery; at others, accused her husband of rashness and +madness. Why had he not taken her advice and remained quiet? Why could +he not have been contented with the favor of Edward and a proud, fair +heritage? What good did he hope to get for himself by assuming the crown +of so rude and barren a land as Scotland? Had she not told him he was +but a summer king, that the winter would soon blight his prospects and +nip his budding hopes; and had she not proved herself wiser even than he +was himself? and then she would suddenly break off in these reproaches +to declare that, if he were a prisoner, she would go to him; she would +remain with him to the last; she would prove how much she idolized +him--her own, her brave, her noble Robert. And vain was every effort on +the part of her sisters-in-law and the Countess of Buchan, and other of +her friends, to mitigate these successive bursts of sorrow. The Lady +Seaton, of a stronger mind, yet struggled with despondency, yet strove +to hope, to believe all was not as overwhelming as had been described; +although, if rumor were indeed true, she had lost a husband and a son, +the gallant young Earl of Mar, whom she had trained to all noble deeds +and honorable thoughts, for he had been fatherless from infancy. Lady +Mary could forget her own deep anxieties, her own fearful forebodings, +silently and unobservedly to watch, to follow, to tend the Countess of +Buchan, whose marble cheek and lip, and somewhat sterner expression of +countenance than usual, alone betrayed the anxiety passing within, for +words it found not. She could share with her the task of soothing, of +cheering Agnes, whose young spirit lay crushed beneath this heavy blow. +She did not complain, she did not murmur, but evidently struggled to +emulate her mother's calmness, for she would bend over her frame and +endeavor to continue her embroidery. But those who watched her, marked +her frequent shudder, the convulsive sob, the tiny hands pressed closely +together, and then upon her eyes, as if to still their smarting throbs; +and Isoline, who sat in silence on a cushion at her feet, could catch +such low whispered words as these-- + +"Nigel, Nigel, could I but know thy fate! Dead, dead!--could I not die +with thee? Imprisoned, have I not a right to follow thee; to tend, to +soothe thee? Any thing, oh, any thing, but this horrible suspense! Alan, +my brother, thou too, so young, to die." + +The morning of the second day brought other and less distressing rumors; +all had not fallen, all were not taken. There were tales of courage, of +daring gallantry, of mighty struggles almost past belief; but what were +they, even in that era of chivalry, to the heart sinking under +apprehensions, the hopes just springing up amidst the wild chaos of +thoughts to smile a moment, to be crushed 'neath suspense, uncertainty, +the next? Still the eager tones of conjecture, the faintest-spoken +whispers of renewed hope, were better than the dead stillness, the heavy +hush of despair. + +And the queen's apartments, in which at sunset all her friends had +assembled, presented less decided sounds of mourning and of wail, than +the previous day. Margaret was indeed still one minute plunged in tears +and sobs, and the next hoping more, believing more than any one around +her. Agnes had tacitly accompanied her mother and Lady Mary to the royal +boudoir, but she had turned in very sickness of heart from all her +companions, and remained standing in a deep recess formed by the high +and narrow casement, alone, save Isoline, who still clung to her side, +pale, motionless as the marble statue near her, whose unconscious repose +she envied. + +"Speak, Isabella, why will you not speak to me?" said the queen, +fretfully. "My husband bade me look to thee for strength, for support +under care and affliction like to this, yet thou keepest aloof from me; +thou hast words of comfort, of cheering for all save me." + +"Not so, royal lady, not so," she answered, as with a faint, scarcely +perceptible smile, she advanced to the side of her royal mistress, and +took her hand in hers. "I have spoken, I have urged, entreated, conjured +thee to droop not; for thy husband's sake, to hope on, despite the +terrible rumors abroad. I have besought thee to seek firmness for his +sake; but thou didst but tell me, Isabella, Isabella, thou canst not +feel as I do, he is naught to thee but thy king; to me, what is he not? +king, hero, husband--all, my only all; and I have desisted, lady, for I +deemed my words offended, my counsel unadvised, and looked on but as +cold and foolish." + +"Nay, did I say all this to thee? Isabella, forgive me, for indeed, +indeed, I knew it not," replied Margaret, her previous fretfulness +subsiding into a softened and less painful burst of weeping. "He is in +truth, my all, my heart's dearest, best, and without him, oh! what am I? +even a cipher, a reed, useless to myself, to my child, as to all others. +I am not like thee, Isabella--would, would I were; I should be more +worthy of my Robert's love, and consequently dearer to his heart. I can +be but a burden to him now." + +"Hush, hush! would he not chide thee for such words, my Margaret?" +returned the countess, soothingly, and in a much lower voice, speaking +as she would to a younger sister. "Had he not deemed thee worthy, would +he have made thee his? oh, no, believe it not; he is too true, too +honorable for such thought." + +"He loved me, because he saw I loved," whispered the queen, perceiving +that her companions had left her well-nigh alone with the countess, and +following, as was her custom, every impulse of her fond but +ill-regulated heart. "I had not even strength to conceal that--that +truth which any other would have died rather than reveal. He saw it and +his noble spirit was touched; and he has been all, all, aye, more than I +could have dreamed, to me--so loving and so true." + +"Then why fancy thyself a burden, not a joy to him, sweet friend?" +demanded Isabella of Buchan, the rich accents of her voice even softer +and sweeter than usual, for there was something in the clinging +confidence of the queen it was impossible not to love. + +"I did not, I could not, for he cherished me so fondly till this sudden +rising--this time, when his desperate enterprise demands energy and +firmness, even from the humblest female, how much more from the Bruce's +wife! and his manner is not changed towards me, nor his love. I know he +loves me, cherishes me, as he ever did; but he must pity my weakness, my +want of nerve; when he compares me to himself, he must look on me with +almost contempt. For now it is, now that clearer than ever his character +stands forth in such glorious majesty, such moderation, such a daring +yet self-governed spirit, that I feel how utterly unworthy I am of him, +how little capable to give that spirit, that mind the reflection it must +demand; and when my weak fears prevail, my weak fancies speak only of +danger and defeat, how can he bear with me? Must I not become, if I am +not now, a burden?" + +"No, dearest Margaret," replied the countess, instantly. "The mind that +can so well _appreciate_ the virtues of her husband will never permit +herself, through weakness and want of nerve, to become a burden to him. +Thou hast but to struggle with these imaginary terrors, to endeavor to +encourage, instead of to dispirit, and he will love and cherish thee +even more than hadst thou never been unnerved." + +"Let him but be restored to me, and I will do all this. I will make +myself more worthy of his love; but, oh, Isabella, while I speak this, +perhaps he is lost to me forever; I may never see his face, never hear +that tone of love again!" and a fresh flood of weeping concluded her +words. + +"Nay, but thou wilt--I know thou wilt," answered the countess, +cheeringly. "Trust me, sweet friend, though defeat may attend him a +while, though he may pass through trial and suffering ere the goal be +gained, Robert Bruce will eventually deliver his country--will be her +king, her savior--will raise her in the scale of nations, to a level +even with the highest, noblest, most deserving. He is not lost to thee; +trial will but prove his worth unto his countrymen even more than would +success." + +"And how knowest thou these things, my Isabella?" demanded Margaret, +looking up in her face, with a half-playful, half-sorrowful smile. "Hast +thou the gift of prophecy?" + +"Prophecy!" repeated the countess, sadly. "Alas! 'tis but the character +of Robert which hath inspired my brighter vision. Had I the gift of +prophecy, my fond heart would not start and quiver thus, when it vainly +strives to know the fate of my only son. I, too, have anxiety, lady, +though it find not words." + +"Thou hast, thou hast, indeed; and yet I, weak, selfish as I am, think +only of myself. Stay by me, Isabella; oh, do not leave me, I am stronger +by thy side." + +It was growing darker and darker, and the hopes that, ere night fell, +new and more trustworthy intelligence of the movements of the fugitives +would be received were becoming fainter and fainter on every heart. +Voices were hushed to silence, or spoke only in whispers. Half an hour +passed thus, when the listless suffering on the lovely face of Agnes was +observed by Isoline to change to an expression of intense attention. + +"Hearest thou no step?" she said, in a low, piercing whisper, and laying +a cold and trembling hand on Isoline's arm. "It is, it is his--it is +Nigel's; he has not fallen--he is spared!" and she started up, a bright +flush on her cheek, her hands pressed convulsively on her heart. + +"Nay, Agnes, there is no sound, 'tis but a fancy," but even while she +spoke, a rapid step was heard along the corridor, and a shadow darkened +the doorway--but was that Nigel? There was no plume, no proud crest on +his helmet; its vizor was still closely barred, and a surcoat of coarse +black stuff was thrown over his armor, without any decoration to display +or betray the rank of the wearer. A faint cry of alarm broke from the +queen and many of her friends, but with one bound Agnes sprang to the +intruder, whose arms were open to receive her, and wildly uttering +"Nigel!" fainted on his bosom. + +"And didst thou know me even thus, beloved?" he murmured, rapidly +unclasping his helmet and dashing it from him, to imprint repeated +kisses on her cheek. "Wake, Agnes, best beloved, my own sweet love; what +hadst thou heard that thou art thus? Oh, wake, smile, speak to me: 'tis +thine own Nigel calls." + +And vainly, till that face smiled again on him in consciousness, would +the anxious inmates of that room have sought and received intelligence, +had he not been followed by Lord Douglas, Fitz-Alan, and others, their +armor and rank concealed as was Nigel's, who gave the required +information as eagerly as it was desired. + +"Robert--my king, my husband--where is he--why is he not here?" +reiterated Margaret, vainly seeking to distinguish his figure amid the +others, obscured as they were by the rapidly-increasing darkness. "Why +is he not with ye--why is he not here?" + +"And he is here, Meg; here to chide thy love as less penetrating, less +able to read disguise or concealment than our gentle Agnes there. Nay, +weep not, dearest; my hopes are as strong, my purpose as unchanged, my +trust in heaven as fervent as it was when I went forth to battle. Trial +and suffering must be mine a while, I have called it on my own head; but +still, oh, still thy Robert shall deliver Scotland--shall cast aside her +chains." + +The deep, manly voice of the king acted like magic on the depressed +spirits of those around him; and though there was grief, bitter, bitter +grief to tell, though many a heart's last lingering hopes were crushed +'neath that fell certainty, which they thought to have pictured during +the hours of suspense, and deemed themselves strengthened to endure, yet +still 'twas a grief that found vent in tears--grief that admitted of +soothing, of sympathy--grief time might heal, not the harrowing agony of +grief half told--hopes rising to be crushed. + +Still did the Countess of Buchan cling to the massive arm of the chair +which Margaret had left, utterly powerless, wholly incapacitated from +asking the question on which her very life seemed to depend. Not even +the insensibility of her Agnes had had the power to rouse her from the +stupor of anxiety which had spread over her, sharpening every faculty +and feeling indeed, but rooting her to the spot. Her boy, her Alan, he +was not amongst those warriors; she heard not the beloved accents of his +voice; she saw not his boyish form--darkness could not deceive her. +Disguise would not prevent him, were he amongst his companions, from +seeking her embrace. One word would end that anguish, would speak the +worst, end it--had he fallen! + +The king looked round the group anxiously and inquiringly. + +"The Countess of Buchan?" he said; "where is our noble friend? she +surely hath a voice to welcome her king, even though he return to her +defeated." + +"Sire, I am here," she said, but with difficulty; and Robert, as if he +understood it, could read all she was enduring, hastened towards her, +and took both her cold hands in his. + +"I give thee joy," he said, in accents that reassured her on the +instant. "Nobly, gallantly, hath thy patriot boy proved himself thy son; +well and faithfully hath he won his spurs, and raised the honor of his +mother's olden line. He bade me greet thee with all loving duty, and say +he did but regret his wounds that they prevented his attending me, and +throwing himself at his mother's feet." + +"He is wounded, then, my liege?" Robert felt her hands tremble in his +hold. + +"It were cruel to deceive thee, lady--desperately but not dangerously +wounded. On the honor of a true knight, there is naught to alarm, though +something, perchance, to regret; for he pines and grieves that it may be +yet a while ere he recover sufficient strength to don his armor. It is +not loss of blood, but far more exhaustion, from the superhuman +exertions that he made. Edward and Alexander are with him; the one a +faithful guard, in himself a host, the other no unskilful leech: trust +me, noble lady, there is naught to fear." + +He spoke, evidently to give her time to recover the sudden revulsion of +feeling which his penetrating eye discovered had nearly overpowered her, +and he succeeded; ere he ceased, that quivering of frame and lip had +passed, and Isabella of Buchan again stood calm and firm, enabled to +inquire all particulars of her child, and then join in the council held +as to the best plan to be adopted with regard to the safety of the queen +and her companions. + +In Scone, it was evident, they could not remain, for already the towns +and villages around, which had all declared for the Bruce, were hurrying +in the greatest terror to humble themselves before Pembroke, and entreat +his interference in their favor with his sovereign. There was little +hope, even if Scone remained faithful to his interests, that she would +be enabled to defend herself from the attacks of the English; and it +would be equally certain, that if the wife of Bruce, and the wives and +daughters of so many of his loyal followers remained within her walls, +to obtain possession of their persons would become Pembroke's first +object. It remained to decide whether they would accompany their +sovereign to his mountain fastnesses and expose themselves to all the +privations and hardships which would inevitably attend a wandering +life, or that they should depart under a safe escort to Norway, whose +monarch was friendly to the interests of Scotland. This latter scheme +the king very strongly advised, representing in vivid colors the misery +they might have to endure if they adhered to him; the continual danger +of their falling into the hands of Edward, and even could they elude +this, how was it possible their delicate frames, accustomed as they were +to luxury and repose, could sustain the rude fare, the roofless homes, +the continued wandering amid the crags and floods and deserts of the +mountains. He spoke eloquently and feelingly, and there was a brief +silence when he concluded. Margaret had thrown her arms round her +husband, and buried her face on his bosom; her child clung to her +father's knee, and laid her soft cheek caressingly by his. Isabella of +Buchan, standing a little aloof, remained silent indeed, but no one who +gazed on her could doubt her determination or believe she wavered. Agnes +was standing in the same recess she had formerly occupied, but how +different was the expression of her features. The arm of Nigel was +twined round her, his head bent down to hers in deep and earnest +commune; he was pleading against his own will and feelings it seemed, +and though he strove to answer every argument, to persuade her it was +far better she should seek safety in a foreign land, her determination +more firmly expressed than could have been supposed from her yielding +disposition, to abide with him, in weal or in woe, to share his +wanderings, his home, be it roofless on the mountain, or within palace +walls; that she was a Highland girl, accustomed to mountain paths and +woody glens, nerved to hardship and toil--this determination, we say, +contrary as it was to his eloquent pleadings, certainly afforded Nigel +no pain, and might his beaming features be taken as reply, it was +fraught with unmingled pleasure. In a much shorter time than we have +taken to describe this, however, the queen had raised her head, and +looking up in her husband's face with an expression of devotedness, +which gave her countenance a charm it had never had before, fervently +exclaimed-- + +"Robert, come woe or weal, I will abide with thee; her husband's side is +the best protection for a wife; and if wandering and suffering be his +portion, who will soothe and cheer as the wife of his love? My spirit is +but cowardly, my will but weak; but by thee I may gain the strength +which in foreign lands could never be my own. Imaginary terrors, fancied +horrors would be worse, oh, how much worse than reality! and when we met +again I should be still less worthy of thy love. No, Robert, no! urge me +not, plead to me no more. My friends may do as they will, but Margaret +abides with thee." + +"And who is there will pause, will hesitate, when their queen hath +spoken thus?" continued the Countess of Buchan in a tone that to +Margaret's ear whispered approval and encouragement. "Surely, there is +none here whose love for their country is so weak, their loyalty to +their sovereign of such little worth, that at the first defeat, the +first disappointment, they would fly over seas for safety, and +contentedly leave the graves of their fathers, the hearths of their +ancestors, the homes of their childhood to be desecrated by the chains +of a foreign tyrant, by the footsteps of his hirelings? Oh, do not let +us waver! Let us prove that though the arm of woman is weaker than that +of man, her spirit is as firm, her heart as true; and that privation, +and suffering, and hardship encountered amid the mountains of our land, +the natural fastnesses of Scotland, in company with our rightful king, +our husbands, our children--all, all, aye, death itself, were preferable +to exile and separation. 'Tis woman's part to gild, to bless, and make a +home, and still, still we may do this, though our ancestral homes be in +the hands of Edward. Scotland has still her sheltering breast for all +her children; and shall we desert her now?" + +"No, no, no!" echoed from every side, enthusiasm kindling with her +words. "Better privation and danger in Scotland, than safety and comfort +elsewhere." + +Nor was this the mere decision of the moment, founded on its enthusiasm. +The next morning found them equally firm, equally determined; even the +weak and timid Margaret rose in that hour of trial superior to herself, +and preparations were rapidly made for their departure. Nor were the +prelates of Scotland, who had remained at Scone during the king's +engagement, backward in encouraging and blessing their decision. His +duties prevented the Abbot of Scone accompanying them; but it was with +deep regret he remained behind, not from any fear of the English, for a +warrior spirit lurked beneath those episcopal robes, but from his deep +reverence for the enterprise, and love for the person of King Robert. He +acceded to the necessity of remaining in his abbey with the better +grace, as he fondly hoped to preserve the citizens in the good faith and +loyalty they had so nobly demonstrated. The Archbishop of St. Andrew's +and the Bishop of Glasgow determined on following their sovereign to the +death; and the spirit of Robert, wounded as it had been, felt healed and +soothed, and inspired afresh, as the consciousness of his power over +some true and faithful hearts, of every grade and rank of either sex, +became yet more strongly proved in this hour of depression. He ceased to +speak of seeking refuge for his fair companions in another land, their +determination to abide with him, and their husbands and sons, was too +heartfelt, too unwavering, to allow of a hope to change it; and he well +knew that their presence, instead of increasing the cares and anxieties +of his followers, would rather lessen, them, by shedding a spirit of +chivalry even over the weary wanderings he knew must be their portion +for a while, by gilding with the light of happier days the hours of +darkness that might surround them. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +The queen and her companions were conveyed in detachments from the +palace and town of Scone, the Bruce believing, with justice, they would +thus attract less notice, and be better able to reach the mountains in +safety. The Countess of Buchan, her friend Lady Mary, Agnes, and +Isoline, attended by Sir Nigel, were the first to depart, for though she +spoke it not, deep anxiety was on the mother's heart for the fate of her +boy. They mostly left Scone at different hours of the night; and the +second day from the king's arrival, the palace was untenanted, all signs +of the gallant court, which for a brief space had shed such lustre, such +rays of hope on the old town, were gone, and sorrowfully and +dispiritedly the burghers and citizens went about their several +occupations, for their hearts yet throbbed in loyalty and patriotism, +though hope they deemed was wholly at an end. Still they burned with +indignation at every intelligence of new desertions to Edward, and +though the power of Pembroke compelled them to bend unwillingly to the +yoke, it was as a bow too tightly strung, which would snap rather than +use its strength in the cause of Edward. + +A few weeks' good nursing from his mother and sister, attended as it was +by the kindness and warm friendship of the sovereign he adored, and the +constant care of Nigel, speedily restored the heir of Buchan, if not +entirely to his usual strength, at least with sufficient to enable him +to accompany the royal wanderers wherever they pitched their tent, and +by degrees join in the adventurous excursions of his young companions to +supply them with provender, for on success in hunting entirely depended +their subsistence. + +It was in itself a strange romance, the life they led. Frequently the +blue sky was their only covering, the purple heath their only bed; nor +would the king fare better than his followers. Eagerly, indeed, the +young men ever exerted themselves to form tents or booths of brushwood, +branches of trees, curiously and tastefully interwoven with the wild +flowers that so luxuriantly adorned the rocks, for the accommodation of +the faithful companions who preferred this precarious existence with +them, to comfort, safety, and luxury in a foreign land. Nature, indeed, +lavishly supplied them with beautiful materials, and where the will was +good, exertion proved but a new enjoyment. Couches and cushions of the +softest moss formed alike seats and places of repose; by degrees almost +a village of these primitive dwellings would start into being, in the +centre of some wild rocks, which formed natural barriers around them, +watered, perhaps, by some pleasant brook rippling and gushing by in +wild, yet soothing music, gemmed by its varied flowers. + +Here would be the rendezvous for some few weeks; here would Margaret and +her companions rest a while from their fatiguing wanderings; and could +they have thought but of the present, they would have been completely +happy. Here would their faithful knights return laden with the spoils of +the chase, or with some gay tale of danger dared, encountered, and +conquered; here would the song send its full tone amid the responding +echoes. The harp and muse of Nigel gave a refinement and delicacy to +these meetings, marking them, indeed, the days of chivalry and poetry. +Even Edward Bruce, the stern, harsh, dark, passioned warrior, even he +felt the magic of the hour, and now that the courage of Nigel had been +proved, gave willing ear, and would be among the first to bid him wake +his harp, and soothe the troubled visions of the hour; and Robert, who +saw so much of his own soul reflected in his young brother, mingled as +it was with yet more impassioned fervor, more beautiful, more endearing +qualities, for Nigel had needed not trial to purify his soul, and mark +him out a patriot. Robert, in very truth, loved him, and often would +share with him his midnight couch, his nightly watchings, that he might +confide to that young heart the despondency, the hopelessness, that to +none other might be spoken, none other might suspect--the secret fear +that his crime would be visited on his unhappy country, and he forbidden +to secure her freedom even by the sacrifice of his life. + +"If it be so, it must be so; then be thou her savior, her deliverer, my +Nigel," he would often urge; "droop not because I may have departed; +struggle on, do as thy soul prompts, and success will, nay, must attend +thee; for thou art pure and spotless, and well deserving of all the +glory, the blessedness, that will attend the sovereign of our country +freed from chains; thou art, in truth, deserving of all this, but I--" + +"Peace, peace, my brother!" would be Nigel's answer; "thou, only thou +shalt deliver our country, shall be her free, her patriot king! Have we +not often marked the glorious sun struggling with the black masses of +clouds which surround and obscure his rising, struggling, and in vain, +to penetrate their murky folds, and deluge the world with light, shining +a brief moment, and then immersed in darkness, until, as he nears the +western horizon, the heaviest clouds flee before him, the spotless azure +spreadeth its beautiful expanse, the brilliant rays dart on every side, +warming and cheering the whole earth with reviving beams, and finally +sinking to his rest in a flood of splendor, more dazzling, more imposing +than ever attends his departure when his dawn hath been one of joy. Such +is thy career, my brother; such will be thy glorious fate. Oh, droop not +even to me--to thyself! Hope on, strive on, and thou shalt succeed!" + +"Would I had thy hopeful spirit, my Nigel, an it pictured and believed +things as these!" mournfully would the Bruce reply, and clasp the young +warrior to his heart; but it was only Nigel's ear that heard these +whispers of despondency, only Nigel's eye which could penetrate the +inmost folds of that royal heart. Not even to his wife--his Margaret, +whose faithfulness in these hours of adversity had drawn her yet closer +to her husband--did he breathe aught save encouragement and hope; and to +his followers he was the same as he had been from the first, resolute, +unwavering; triumphing over every obstacle; cheering the faint-hearted; +encouraging the desponding; smiling with his young followers, ever on +the alert to provide amusement for them, to approve, guide, instruct; +gallantly and kindly to smooth the path for his female companions, +joining in every accommodation for them, even giving his manual labor +with the lowest of his followers, if his aid would lessen fatigue, or +more quickly enhance comfort. And often and often in the little +encampment we have described, when night fell, and warrior and dame +would assemble, in various picturesque groups, on the grassy mound, the +king, seated in the midst of them, would read aloud, and divert even the +most wearied frame and careworn mind by the stirring scenes and +chivalric feelings his MSS. recorded. The talent of deciphering +manuscripts, indeed of reading any thing, was one seldom attained or +even sought for in the age of which we treat; the sword and spear were +alike the recreation and the business of the nobles. Reading and writing +were in general confined to monks, and the other clergy; but Robert, +even as his brother Nigel, possessed both these accomplishments, +although to the former their value never seemed so fully known as in his +wanderings. His readings were diversified by rude narratives or tales, +which he demanded in return from his companions, and many a hearty laugh +would resound from the woodland glades, at the characteristic humor with +which these demands were complied with: the dance, too, would diversify +these meetings. A night of repose might perhaps succeed, to be disturbed +at its close by a cause for alarm, and those pleasant resting-places +must be abandoned, the happy party be divided, and scattered far and +wide, to encounter fatigue, danger, perchance even death, ere they met +again. + +Yet still they drooped not, murmured not. No voice was ever heard to +wish the king's advice had been taken, and they had sought refuge in +Norway. Not even Margaret breathed one sigh, dropped one tear, in her +husband's presence, although many were the times that she would have +sunk from exhaustion, had not Isabella of Buchan been near as her +guardian angel to revive, encourage, infuse a portion of her own spirit +in the weaker heart, which so confidingly clung to her. The youngest +and most timid maiden, the oldest and most ailing man, still maintained +the same patriotic spirit and resolute devotion which had upheld them at +first. "The Bruce and Scotland" were the words imprinted on their souls, +endowed with a power to awake the sinking heart, and rouse the fainting +frame. + +To Agnes and Nigel, it was shrewdly suspected, these wanderings in the +centre of magnificent nature, their hearts open to each other, revelling +in the scenes around them, were seasons of unalloyed enjoyment, +happiness more perfect than the state and restraint of a court. +Precarious, indeed, it was, but even in moments of danger they were not +parted; for Nigel was ever the escort of the Countess of Buchan, and +danger by his side lost half its terror to Agnes. He left her side but +to return to it covered with laurels, unharmed, uninjured, even in the +midst of foes; and so frequently did this occur, that the fond, +confiding spirit of the young Agnes folded itself around the belief that +he bore a charmed life; that evil and death could not injure one so +faultless and beloved. Their love grew stronger with each passing week; +for nature, beautiful nature, is surely the field of that interchange of +thought, for that silent commune of soul so dear to those that love. The +simplest flower, the gushing brooks, the frowning hills, the varied hues +attending the rising and the setting of the sun, all were turned to +poetry when the lips of Nigel spoke to the ears of love. The mind of +Agnes expanded before these rich communings. She was so young, so +guileless, her character moulded itself on his. She learned yet more to +comprehend, to appreciate the nobility of his soul, to cling yet closer +to him, as the consciousness of the rich treasure she possessed in his +love became more and more unfolded to her view. The natural fearfulness +of her disposition gave way, and the firmness, the enthusiasm of +purpose, took possession of her heart, secretly and silently, indeed; +for to all, save to herself, she was the same gentle, timid, clinging +girl that she had ever been. + +So passed the summer months; but as winter approached, and the prospects +of the king remained as apparently hopeless and gloomy as they were on +his first taking refuge in the mountains, it was soon pretty evident +that some other plan must be resorted to; for strong as the resolution +might be, the delicate frames of his female companions, already +suffering from the privations to which they had been exposed, could not +sustain the intense cold and heavy snows peculiar to the mountain +region. Gallantly as the king had borne himself in every encounter with +the English and Anglo-Scots, sustaining with unexampled heroism repeated +defeats and blighted hopes, driven from one mountainous district by the +fierce opposition of its inhabitants, from another by a cessation of +supplies, till famine absolutely threatened, closely followed by its +grim attendant, disease, all his efforts to collect and inspire his +countrymen with his own spirit, his own hope, were utterly and entirely +fruitless, for his enemies appeared to increase around him, the autumn +found him as far, if not further, from the successful termination of his +desires than he had been at first. + +All Scotland lay at the feet of his foe. John of Lorn, maternally +related to the slain Red Comyn, had collected his forces to the number +of a thousand, and effectually blockaded his progress through the +district of Breadalbane, to which he had retreated from a superior body +of English, driving him to a narrow pass in the mountains, where the +Bruce's cavalry had no power to be of service; and had it not been for +the king's extraordinary exertions in guarding the rear, and there +checking the desperate fury of the assailants, and interrupting their +headlong pursuit of the fugitives, by a strength, activity, and +prudence, that in these days would seem incredible, the patriots must +have been cut off to a man. Here it was that the family of Lorn obtained +possession of that brooch of Bruce, which even to this day is preserved +as a relic, and lauded as a triumph, proving how nearly their redoubted +enemy had fallen into their hands. Similar struggles had marked his +progress through the mountains ever since the defeat of Methven; but +vain was every effort of his foes to obtain possession of his person, +destroy his energy, and thus frustrate his purpose. Perth, Inverness, +Argyle, and Aberdeen had alternately been the scene of his wanderings. +The middle of autumn found him with about a hundred followers, amongst +whom were the Countess of Buchan and her son, amid the mountains which +divide Kincardine from the southwest boundary of Aberdeen. The remainder +of his officers and men, divided into small bands, each with some of +their female companions under their especial charge, were scattered over +the different districts, as better adapted to concealment and rest. + +It was that part of the year when day gives place to night so suddenly, +that the sober calm of twilight even appears denied to us. The streams +rushed by, turbid and swollen from the heavy autumnal rains. A rude wind +had robbed most of the trees of their foliage; the sere and withered +leaves, indeed, yet remained on the boughs, beautiful even in, their +decay, but the slightest breath would carry them away from their +resting-places, and the mountain passes were incumbered, and often +slippery from the fallen leaves. The mountains looked frowning and bare, +the pine and fir bent and rocked in their craggy cradles, and the wind +moaned through their dark branches sadly and painfully. The sun had, +indeed, shone fitfully through the day, but still the scene was one of +melancholy desolation, and the heart of the Countess of Buchan, bold and +firm in general, could not successfully resist the influence of Nature's +sadness. She sat comparatively alone; a covering had, indeed, been +thrown over some thick poles, which interwove with brushwood, and with a +seat and couch of heather, which was still in flower, formed a rude +tent, and was destined for her repose; but until night's dark mantle was +fully unfurled, she had preferred the natural seat of a jutting crag, +sheltered from the wind by an overhanging rock and some spreading firs. +Her companions were scattered in different directions in search of food, +as was their wont. Some ten or fifteen men had been left with her, and +they were dispersed about the mountain collecting firewood, and a supply +of heath and moss for the night encampment; within hail, indeed, but +scarcely within sight, for the space where the countess sate commanded +little more than protruding crags and stunted trees, and mountains +lifting their dark, bare brows to the starless sky. + +It was not fear which had usurped dominion in the Lady Isabella's heart, +it was that heavy, sluggish, indefinable weight which sometimes clogs +the spirit we know not wherefore, until some event following quick upon +it forces us, even against our will, to believe it the overhanging +shadow of the future which had darkened the present. She was sad, very +sad, yet she could not, as was ever her custom, bring that sadness to +judgment, and impartially examining and determining its cause, remove it +if possible, or banish it resolutely from her thoughts. + +An impulse indefinable, yet impossible to be resisted, had caused her to +intrust her Agnes to the care of Lady Mary and Nigel, and compelled her +to follow her son, who had been the chosen companion of the king. +Rigidly, sternly, she had questioned her own heart as to the motives of +this decision. It was nothing new her accompanying her son, for she had +invariably done so; but it was something unusual her being separated +from the queen, and though her heart told her that her motives were so +upright, so pure, they could have borne the sternest scrutiny, there was +naught which the most rigid mentor could condemn, yet a feeling that +evil would come of this was amongst the many others which weighed on her +heart. She could not tell wherefore, yet she wished it had been +otherwise, wished the honor of being selected as the king's companion +had fallen on other than her son, for separate herself from him she +could not. One cause of this despondency might have been traced to the +natural sinking of the spirit when it finds itself alone, with time for +its own fancies, after a long period of exertion, and that mental +excitement which, unseen to all outward observers, preys upon itself. +Memory had awakened dreams and visions she had long looked upon as dead; +it did but picture brightly, beautifully, joyously what might have been, +and disturbed the tranquil sadness which was usual to her now; disturb +it as with phantasmagoria dancing on the brain, yet it was a struggle +hard and fierce to banish them again. As one sweet fancy sunk another +rose, even as gleams of moonlight on the waves which rise and fall with +every breeze. Fancy and reason strove for dominion, but the latter +conquered. What could be now the past, save as a vision of the night; +the present, a stern reality with all its duties--duties not alone to +others, but to herself. These were the things on which her thoughts must +dwell; these must banish all which might have been and they did; and +Isabella of Buchan came through that fiery ordeal unscathed, uninjured +in her self-esteem, conscious that not in one thought did she wrong her +husband, in not one dream did she wrong the gentle heart of the queen +which so clung to her; in not the wildest flight of fancy did she look +on Robert as aught save as the deliverer of his country, the king of all +true Scottish men. + +She rose up from that weakness of suffering, strengthened in her resolve +to use every energy in the queen's service in supporting, encouraging, +endeavoring so to work on her appreciation of her husband's character, +as to render her yet more worthy of his love. She had ever sought to +remain beside the queen, ever contrived they should be of the same +party; that her mind was ever on the stretch, on the excitement, could +not be denied, but she knew not how great its extent till the call for +exertion was comparatively over, and she found herself, she scarcely +understood how, the only female companion of her sovereign, the +situation she had most dreaded, most determined to avoid. While engaged +in the performance of her arduous task, the schooling her own heart and +devoting herself to Robert's wife, virtue seemed to have had its own +reward, for a new spirit had entwined her whole being--excitement, +internal as it was, had given a glow to thought and action; but in her +present solitude the reaction of spirit fell upon her as a dull, +sluggish weight of lead. She had suffered, too, from both privation and +fatigue, and she was aware her strength was failing, and this perhaps +was another cause of her depression; but be that as it may, darkness +closed round her unobserved, and when startled by some sudden sound, she +raised her head from her hands, she could scarcely discern one object +from another in the density of gloom. "Surely night has come suddenly +upon us," she said, half aloud; "it is strange they have not yet +returned," and rising, she was about seeking the tent prepared for her, +when a rude grasp was laid on her arm, and a harsh, unknown voice +uttered, in suppressed accents-- + +"Not so fast, fair mistress, not so fast! My way does not lie in that +direction, and, with your leave, my way is yours." + +"How, man! fellow, detain me at your peril!" answered the countess, +sternly, permitting no trace of terror to falter in her voice, although +a drawn sword gleamed by her side, and a gigantic form fully armed had +grasped her arm. "Unhand me, or I will summon those that will force +thee. I am not alone, and bethink thee, insult to me will pass not with +impunity." + +The man laughed scornfully. "Boldly answered, fair one," he said; "of a +truth thou art a brave one. I grieve such an office should descend upon +me as the detention of so stout a heart; yet even so. In King Edward's +name, you are my prisoner." + +"Your prisoner, and wherefore?" demanded the countess believing that +calmness would be a better protection than any symptoms of fear. "You +are mistaken, good friend, I knew not Edward warred with women." + +"Prove my mistake, fair mistress, and I will crave your pardon," replied +the man, "We have certain intelligence that a party of Scottish rebels, +their quondam king perhaps among them, are hidden in these mountains. +Give us trusty news of their movements, show us their track, and Edward +will hold you in high favor, and grant liberty and rich presents in +excuse of his servant's too great vigilance. Hearest thou, what is the +track of these rebels--what their movements?" + +"Thou art a sorry fool, Murdock," retorted another voice, ere the +countess could reply, and hastily glancing around, she beheld herself +surrounded by armed men; "a sorry fool, an thou wastest the precious +darkness thus. Is not one rank rebel sufficient, think you, to satisfy +our lord? he will get intelligence enough out of her, be sure. Isabella +of Buchan is not fool enough to hold parley with such as we, rely on't." + +A suppressed exclamation of exultation answered the utterance of that +name, and without further parley the arms of the countess were strongly +pinioned, and with the quickness of thought the man who had first spoken +raised her in his arms, and bore her through the thickest brushwood and +wildest crags in quite the contrary direction to the encampment; their +movements accelerated by the fact that, ere her arms were confined, the +countess, with admirable presence of mind, had raised to her lips a +silver whistle attached to her girdle, and blown a shrill, distinct +blast. A moment sufficed to rudely tear it from her hand, and hurry her +off as we have said; and when that call was answered, which it was as +soon as the men scattered on the mountain sufficiently recognized the +sound, they flung down their tools and sprung to the side whence it +came, but there was no sign, no trace of her they sought; they scoured +with lighted torches every mossy path or craggy slope, but in vain; +places of concealment were too numerous, the darkness too intense, save +just the space illumined by the torch, to permit success. The trampling +of horses announced the return of the king and his companions, ere their +search was concluded; his bugle summoned the stragglers, and speedily +the loss of the countess was ascertained, their fruitless search +narrated, and anxiety and alarm spread over the minds of all. The agony +of the youthful Alan surpassed description, even the efforts of his +sovereign failed to calm him. Nor was the Bruce himself much less +agitated. + +"She did wrong, she did wrong," he said, "to leave herself so long +unguarded; yet who was there to commit this outrage? There is some +treachery here, which we must sift; we must not leave our noble +countrywoman in the hands of these marauders. Trust me, Alan, we shall +recover her yet." + +But the night promised ill for the fulfilment of this trust. Many hours +passed in an utterly fruitless search, and about one hour before +midnight a thick fog increased the dense gloom, and even prevented all +assistance from the torches, for not ten yards before them was +distinguishable. Dispirited and disappointed, the king and his +companions threw themselves around the watchfires, in gloomy meditation, +starting at the smallest sound, and determined to renew their search +with the first gleam of dawn; the hurried pace of Alan, as he strode up +and down, for he could not rest, alone disturbing the stillness all +around. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +It was already two hours after midnight when a hurried tread, distinct +from Alan's restless pacing, disturbed the watchers, and occasioned many +to raise themselves on their elbows and listen. + +It came nearer and nearer, and very soon a young lad, recognized as Sir +Alan's page, was discerned, springing from crag to crag in breathless +haste, and finally threw himself at his sovereign's feet. + +"It is not too late--up, up, and save her!" were the only words he had +power to gasp, panting painfully for the breath of which speed had +deprived him. His hair and dress were heavy with the damp occasioned by +the fog, and his whole appearance denoting no common agitation. + +"Where?" "How?" "What knowest thou?" "Speak out." "What ailest thee, +boy?" were the eager words uttered at once by all, and the king and +others sprung to their feet, while Alan laid a heavy hand on the boy's +shoulder, and glared on him in silence; the lad's glance fell beneath +his, and he sobbed forth-- + +"Mercy, mercy! my thoughtlessness has done this, yet I guessed not, +dreamed not this ill would follow. But oh, do not wait for my tale now; +up, up, and save her ere it be too late!" + +"And how may we trust thee now, an this is the effect of former +treachery?" demanded Robert, with a sternness that seemed to awe the +terrified boy into composure. + +"I am not treacherous, sire. No, no! I would have exposed my throat to +your grace's sword rather than do a traitor's deed: trust me, oh, trust +me, and follow without delay!" + +"Speak first, and clearly," answered Alan, fiercely; "even for my +mother's sake the sacred person of the King of Scotland shall not be +risked by a craven's word. Speak, an thou wouldst bid me trust +thee--speak, I charge thee." + +"He is right--he is right; let him explain this mystery ere we follow," +echoed round; and thus urged, the boy's tale was hurriedly told. + +It was simply this. Some days previous, when wandering alone about the +rocks, he had met a woodman, whom he recognized as one of the retainers +of Buchan, and, as such, believed him as loyal and faithful to King +Robert's interest as himself and others in the countess's train. The man +had artfully evaded all young Malcolm's expression of astonishment and +inquiries as to why Donald MacAlpine, whom he well knew to be one of the +stoutest and most sturdy men-at-arms which the clan possessed, should +have taken to so peaceful an employment as cutting wood, and skilfully +drew from the boy much information concerning the movements of the party +to whom he belonged. Malcolm freely spoke of Sir Alan and the Countess +of Buchan, dilating with no little pleasure on his young master having +received knighthood at the hand of his king, and all the honors and +delights which accompanied it. Aware, however, of the dangers which +environed the Bruce, he spoke of him more cautiously, and the more +Donald sought to discover if the king were near at hand, the more +carefully did Malcolm conceal that he was, telling the woodman if he +wished to know all particulars, he had better turn his sickle into a +spear, his cap into a helmet, and strike a good blow for Scotland and +King Robert. This the man refused to do, alleging he loved his own +sturdy person and independent freedom too well to run his neck into such +a noose; that King Robert might do very well for a while, but eventually +he must fall into King Edward's hands. Malcolm angrily denied this, and +they parted, not the best friends imaginable. On reviewing all that had +passed, the boy reproached himself incessantly for having said too much, +and was continually tormented by an indefinable fear that some evil +would follow. This fear kept him by the side of the countess, instead +of, as was his wont, following Sir Alan to the chase. The increasing +darkness had concealed her from him, but he was the first to distinguish +her whistle. He had reached the spot time enough to recognize the +supposed woodman in the second speaker, and to feel with painful +acuteness his boyish thoughtlessness had brought this evil on a +mistress, to serve whom he would willingly have laid down his life. +Resistance he knew, on his part, was utterly useless, and therefore he +determined to follow their track, and thus bring accurate intelligence +to the king. The minds of the men preoccupied by the thought of their +distinguished prisoner, and the thickening gloom, aided his resolution. +Happening to have a quantity of thick flax in his pocket, the boy, with +admirable foresight, fastened it to different shrubs and stones as he +passed, and thus secured his safe return; a precaution very necessary, +as from the windings and declivities, and in parts well-nigh impregnable +hollows, into which he followed the men, his return in time would have +been utterly frustrated. + +The gathering mist had occasioned a halt, and a consultation as to +whether they could reach the encampment to which they belonged, or +whether it would not be better to halt till dawn. They had decided in +favor of the latter, fearing, did they continue marching, they might +lose their track, and perhaps fall in with the foe. He had waited, he +said, till he saw them making such evident preparations for a halt of +some hours, that he felt certain they would not remove till daylight. It +was a difficult and precarious path, he said, yet he was quite sure he +could lead fifteen or twenty men easily to the spot, and, taken by +surprise, nothing would prevent the recovery of the countess: less than +two hours would take them there. + +This tale was told in less time than we have taken to transcribe it, and +not twenty minutes after Malcolm's first appearance, the king and Sir +Alan, with fifteen tried followers, departed on their expedition. There +had been some attempt to dissuade the king from venturing his own person +where further treachery might yet lurk, but the attempt was vain. + +"She has perilled her life for me," was his sole answer, "and were there +any real peril, mine would be hazarded for her; but there is none--'tis +but a child's work we are about to do, not even glory enough to call for +envy." + +The fog had sufficiently cleared to permit of their distinguishing the +route marked out by Malcolm, but not enough to betray their advance, +even had there been scouts set to watch the pass. Not a word passed +between them. Rapidly, stealthily they advanced, and about three in the +morning stood within sight of their foes, though still unseen +themselves. There was little appearance of caution: two large fires had +been kindled, round one of which ten or twelve men were stretched their +full length, still armed indeed, and their hands clasping their +unsheathed swords, but their senses fast locked in slumber. Near the +other, her arms and feet pinioned, Alan, with a heart beating almost +audibly with indignation, recognized his mother. Two men, armed with +clubs, walked up and down beside her, and seven others were grouped in +various attitudes at her feet, most of them fast asleep. It was evident +that they had no idea of surprise, and that their only fear was +associated with the escape of their prisoner. + +"They are little more than man to man," said the Bruce; "therefore is +there no need for further surprise than will attend the blast of your +bugle, Sir Alan. Sound the reveille, and on to the rescue." + +He was obeyed, and the slumberers, with suppressed oaths, started to +their feet, glancing around them a brief minute in inquiring +astonishment as to whence the sound came. It was speedily explained: man +after man sprang through the thicket, and rushed upon the foes, several +of whom, gathering themselves around their prisoner, seemed determined +that her liberty should not be attained with her life, more than once +causing the swords of the Bruce's followers to turn aside in their rapid +descent, less they should injure her they sought to save. Like a young +lion Alan fought, ably seconded by the king, whose gigantic efforts +clearing his path, at length enabled himself and Alan to stand uninjured +beside the countess, and thus obtain possession of her person, and guard +her from the injury to which her captors voluntarily exposed her. There +was at first no attempt at flight, although the Bruce's men carried all +before them; the men fell where they stood, till only five remained, +and these, after a moment's hesitation, turned and fled. A shrill cry +from Malcolm had turned the king's and Alan's attention in another +direction, and it was well they did so. Determined on foiling the +efforts of his foes, Donald MacAlpine, who was supposed to be among the +fallen, had stealthily approached the spot where the countess, overcome +with excessive faintness, still reclined, then noiselessly rising, his +sword was descending on her unguarded head, when Alan, aroused by +Malcolm's voice, turned upon him and dashed his weapon from his grasp, +at the same minute that the Bruce's sword pierced the traitor's heart: +he sprung in the air with a loud yell of agony, and fell, nearly +crushing the countess with his weight. + +It was the voice of Alan which aroused that fainting heart. It was in +the bosom of her son those tearful eyes were hid, after one startled and +bewildered gaze on the countenance of her sovereign, who had been +leaning over her in unfeigned anxiety. A thicket of thorn, mingled with +crags, divided her from the unseemly signs of the late affray; but +though there was naught to renew alarm, it was with a cold shudder she +had clung to her son, as if even her firm, bold spirit had given way. +Gently, cheeringly the king addressed her, and she evidently struggled +to regain composure; but her powers of body were evidently so +prostrated, that her friends felt rest of some kind she must have, ere +she could regain sufficient strength to accompany them on their +wanderings. She had received three or four wounds in the melee, which +though slight, the loss of blood that had followed materially increased +her weakness, and the king anxiously summoned his friends around him to +deliberate on the best measures to pursue. + +Amongst them were two of Sir Alan's retainers, old and faithful Scottish +men, coeval with his grandfather, the late Earl of Buchan. Devoted alike +to the countess, the king, and their country, they eagerly listened to +all that was passing, declaring that rather than leave the Lady Isabella +in a situation of such danger as the present, they would take it by +turns to carry her in their arms to the encampment. The king listened +with a benevolent smile. + +"Is there no hut or house, or hunting-lodge to which we could convey +your lady," he asked, "where she might find quieter shelter and greater +rest than hitherto? An ye knew of such, it would be the wiser plan to +seek it at break of day." + +A hunting-lodge, belonging to the Earls of Buchan, there was, or ought +to be, the old men said, near the head of the Tay, just at the entrance +of Athol Forest. It had not been used since their old master's days; he +had been very partial to it when a boy, and was continually there; it +had most likely fallen into decay from disuse, as they believed the +present earl did not even know of its existence, but that was all the +better, as it would be a still more safe and secure retreat for the +countess, and they were sure, when once out of the hollows and +intricacies of their present halting-place, they could easily discover +the path to it. + +And how long did they think it would be, the king inquired, before their +lady could be taken to it? the sooner, they must perceive as well as +himself, the better for her comfort. He was relieved when they declared +that two days, or at the very utmost three, would bring them there, if, +as the old men earnestly entreated he would, they retraced their steps +to the encampment as soon as daylight was sufficiently strong for them +clearly to distinguish their path. This was unanimously resolved on, and +the few intervening hours were spent by the countess in calm repose. + +Conscious that filial affection watched over her, the sleep of the +countess tranquillized her sufficiently to commence the return to the +encampment with less painful evidences of exhaustion. A rude litter +waited for her, in which she could recline when the pass allowed its +safe passage, and which could be easily borne by the bearers when the +intricacies of the path prevented all egress save by pedestrianism. It +had been hurriedly made by her devoted adherents, and soothed and +gratified, her usual energy seemed for the moment to return. By nine +o'clock forenoon all traces of the Bruce and his party had departed from +the glen, the last gleam of their armor was lost in the winding path, +and then it was that a man, who had lain concealed in a thicket from the +moment of the affray, hearing all that had passed, unseen himself, now +slowly, cautiously raised himself on his knees, gazed carefully round +him, then with a quicker but as silent motion sprung to his feet, and +raised his hands in an action of triumph. + +"_He is_ amongst them, then," he muttered, "the traitor Bruce himself. +This is well. The countess, her son, find the would-be king--ha! ha! My +fortune's made!" and he bounded away in quite a contrary direction to +that taken by the Bruce. + +The old retainers of Buchan were correct in their surmises. The evening +of the second day succeeding the event we have narrated brought them to +the hunting-lodge. It was indeed very old, and parts had fallen almost +to ruins, but there were still three or four rooms remaining, whose +compact walls and well-closed roofs rendered them a warm and welcome +refuge for the Countess of Buchan, whose strenuous exertions the two +preceding days had ended, as was expected, by exhaustion more painful +and overpowering than before. + +The exertions of her friends--for the Bruce and his followers with one +consent had permitted their wanderings to be guided by the old +men--speedily rendered the apartments habitable. Large fires were soon +blazing on the spacious hearths, and ere night fell, all appearance of +damp and discomfort had vanished. The frugal supper was that night a +jovial meal; the very look of a cheerful blaze beneath a walled roof was +reviving to the wanderers; the jest passed round, the wine-cup sparkled +to the health of the countess, and many a fervent aspiration echoed +round for the speedy restoration of her strength; for truly she was the +beloved, the venerated of all, alike from her sovereign to his lowest +follower. + +"Trust my experience, my young knight," had been the Bruce's address to +Alan ere they parted for the night. "A few days' complete repose will +quite restore your valued parent and my most honored friend. This +hunting-lodge shall be our place of rendezvous for a time, till she is +sufficiently restored to accompany us southward. You are satisfied, are +you not, with the diligence of our scouts?" + +"Perfectly, your highness," was Alan's reply; for well-tried and +intelligent men had been sent in every direction to discover, if +possible, to what party of the enemy the captors of the Lady Isabella +belonged, and to note well the movements and appearance, not only of any +martial force, but of the country people themselves. They had executed +their mission as well as the intricate passes and concealed hollows of +the mountains permitted, and brought back the welcome intelligence, that +for miles round the country was perfectly clear, and to all appearance +peaceful. The hunting-lodge, too, was so completely hidden by dark woods +of pine and overhanging crags, that even had there been foes prowling +about the mountains, they might pass within twenty yards of its vicinity +and yet fail to discover it. The very path leading to the bottom of the +hollow in which it stood was concealed at the entrance by thick shrubs +and an arch of rock, which had either fallen naturally into that shape, +or been formed by the architects of the lodge. It seemed barely possible +that the retreat could be discovered, except by the basest treachery, +and therefore the king and Sir Alan felt perfectly at rest regarding the +safety of the countess, even though they could only leave with her a +guard of some twenty or thirty men. + +So much was she refreshed the following morning, that the hopes of her +son brightened, and with that filial devotion so peculiarly his +characteristic, he easily obtained leave of absence from his sovereign, +to remain by the couch of his mother for at least that day, instead of +accompanying him, as was his wont, in the expeditions of the day. The +countess combated this decision, but in vain. Alan was resolved. He was +convinced, he said, her former capture, and all its ill consequences, +would not have taken place had he been by her side; and even were she +not now exposed to such indignity, she would be lonely and sad without +him, and stay, in consequence, he would. The king and his officers +approved of the youth's resolution, and reluctantly Isabella yielded. + +About two hours before noon the Bruce and his companions departed, +desiring Sir Alan not to expect their return till near midnight, as they +intended penetrating a part of the country which had not yet been +explored; they might be a few hours sooner, but they scarcely expected +it. It was afterwards remembered that a peculiar expression of sadness +overclouded the countenance of the countess, as for a moment she fixed +her speaking eyes on the king's face when he cheerfully bade her +farewell, and said, in a low emphatic voice-- + +"Farewell, sire! It may be the hour of meeting is longer deferred than +we either of us now believe. Fain would I beseech your grace to grant me +one boon, make me but one promise ere you depart." + +"Any boon, any promise that our faithful friend and subject can demand, +is granted ere 'tis asked," answered the king, without a moment's pause, +though startled alike at the expression of her features and the sadness +of her voice. "Gladly would we give any pledge that could in any way +bespeak our warm sense of thy true merit, lady, therefore speak, and +fear not." + +"'Tis simply this, sire," she said, and her voice was still mournful, +despite her every effort to prevent its being so. "Should unforeseen +evil befall me, captivity, danger of death, or aught undreamed of now, +give me your royal word as a knight and king, that you will not peril +your sacred person, and with it the weal and liberty of our unhappy +country, for my sake, but leave me to my fate; 'tis a strange and +fanciful boon, yet, gracious sovereign, refuse it not. I mean not +treachery such as we have encountered, where your grace's noble +gallantry rescued me with little peril to yourself. No; I mean other and +greater danger; where I well know that rather than leave me exposed to +the wrath of my husband and Edward of England, you would risk your own +precious life, and with it the liberty of Scotland. Grant me this boon, +my liege, and perchance this heavy weight upon my spirit will pass and +leave me free." + +"Nay, 'tis such a strange and unknightly promise, lady, how may I pledge +my word to its fulfilment?" answered Robert, gravely and sadly. "You bid +me pledge mine honor to a deed that will stain my name with an +everlasting infamy, that even the liberty of Scotland will not wash +away. How may I do this thing? You press me sorely, lady. Even for thee, +good and faithful as thou art, how may I hurt my knightly fame?" + +"Sire, thou wilt not," she returned, still more entreatingly; "thy +brilliant fame, thy noble name, will never--can never, receive a stain. +I do but ask a promise whose fulfilment may never be demanded. I do but +bid thee remember thou art not only a knight, a noble, a king, but one +by whom the preservation, the independence of our country can alone be +achieved--one on whose safety and freedom depends the welfare of a +nation, the unchained glory of her sons. Were death thy portion, +Scotland lies a slave forever at the feet of England, and therefore is +it I do beseech thee, King of Scotland, make me this pledge. I know thy +noble spirit well, and I know thy too chivalric honor would blind thee +to a sense of danger, to a sense of country, duty, glory, of all save +the rescue of one who, though she be faithful to thee and to her +country, is but as a drop of water in the ocean, compared to other +claims. My liege, thy word is already in part pledged," she continued, +more proudly. "Any pledge or promise I might demand is granted ere it is +asked, your highness deigned to say; thou canst not retract it now." + +"And wherefore shouldst thou, royal brother?" cheeringly interrupted +Alexander Bruce. "The Lady Isahella asks not unreasonably; she does but +suggest _what may be_, although that may be is, as we all know, next to +impossible, particularly now when nature has fortified this pleasant +lodge even as would a garrison of some hundred men. Come, be not so +churlish in thy favors, good my liege; give her the pledge she demands, +and be sure its fulfilment will never be required." + +"Could I but think so," he replied, still gravely. "Lady, I do entreat +thee, tell me wherefore thou demandest this strange boon; fearest thou +evil--dreamest thou aught of danger hovering near? If so, as there is a +God in heaven, I will not go forth to-day!" + +"Pardon me, gracious sovereign," answered Isabella, evasively; "I ask +it, because since the late adventure there has been a weight upon my +spirit as if I, impotent, of little consequence as I am, yet even I +might be the means of hurling down evil on thy head, and through thee on +Scotland; and, therefore, until thy promise to the effect I have +specified is given, I cannot, I will not rest--even though, as Lord +Alexander justly believes, its fulfilment will never be required. Evil +here, my liege, trust me, cannot be; therefore go forth in confidence. I +fear not to await your return, e'en should I linger here alone. Grant +but my boon." + +"Nay, an it must be, lady, I promise all thou demandest," answered +Bruce, more cheerfully, for her words reassured him; "but, by mine +honor, thou hast asked neither well nor kindly. Remember, my pledge is +passed but for real danger, and that only for Scotland's sake, not for +mine own; and now farewell, lady. I trust, ere we meet again, these +depressing fancies will have left thee." + +"They have well-nigh departed now, my liege; 'twas simply for thee and +Scotland these heavy bodings oppressed me. My son," she added, after a +brief pause, "I would your highness could prevail on him to accompany +you to-day. Wherefore should he stay with me?" + +"Wherefore not rather, lady?" replied the king, smiling. "I may not +leave thee to thine own thoughts to weave fresh boons like to the last. +No, no! our young knight must guard thee till we meet again," and with +these words he departed. They did not, however, deter the countess from +resuming her persuasions to Alan to accompany his sovereign, but without +success. Isabella of Buchan had, however, in this instance departed from +her usual strict adherence to the truth, she did not feel so secure that +no evil would befall her in the absence of the Bruce, as she had +endeavored to make him believe. + +Some words she had caught during her brief captivity caused her, she +scarcely knew why, to believe that the Earl of Buchan himself was in the +neighborhood; nay, that the very party which had captured her were +members of the army under his command. She had gathered, too, that it +was a very much larger force than the king's, and therefore it was that +she had made no objection to Robert's wish that she should rest some few +days in the hunting-lodge. She knew that, however her failing strength +might detain and harass their movements, Bruce and his followers would +never consent to leave her, unless, as in the present case, under a +comparatively comfortable roof and well-concealed shelter; and she knew, +too, that however she might struggle to accompany them in their +wanderings, the struggle in her present exhausted state would be utterly +in vain, and lingering for her might expose her sovereign to a renewal +of the ills with which he had already striven so nobly, and perchance to +yet more irreparable misfortune. The information of the scouts had +partially reassured her, at least to the fact that no immediate danger +was to be apprehended, and for a while she indulged the hope that safety +might be found in this hidden spot until the peril passed. She had full +confidence in the fidelity of the old retainers who had guided them to +the spot, and sought to feel satisfied that its vicinity was unknown to +the earl, her husband; but, whether from the restlessness of a slight +degree of fever, or from that nervous state of mind attendant on +worn-out strength, ere the Bruce departed the same foreboding came on +her again, and all her desire was the absence of her sovereign and his +followers, to have some hold upon his almost too exalted sense of +chivalry, which would prevent any rash act of daring on his part; and +this, as we have seen, she obtained. + +Could she but have prevailed on her son to accompany them, she would +calmly and resignedly have awaited her fate, whatever it might be; but +the horror of beholding him a prisoner in the hands of his father--that +father perhaps so enraged at the boy's daring opposition to his will and +political opinions, that he would give him up at once to the wrath of +Edward--was a picture of anguish from which her mind revolted in such +intense suffering, she could not rest. She strove with the fancy; she +sought to rouse every energy, to feel secure in her present +resting-place. But who can resist the influence of feelings such as +these? What mother's heart cannot enter into the emotions of Isabella of +Buchan, as she gazed on her noble boy, improved as he was in manliness +and beauty, and with the dread anticipation of evil, believing only +absence could protect him; that perchance the very love which kept him +by her side would expose him to danger, imprisonment, and death? She did +not speak her fears, but Alan vainly sought to soothe that unwonted +restlessness. She had endeavored to secure the Bruce's safety by the aid +of Malcolm, the young page, by whose instrumentality she had been both +captured and released. Taking advantage of Sir Alan's absence, she had +called the boy to her side, and made him promise that, at the first +manifest sign of danger, he would make his escape, which, by his extreme +agility and address, would easily be achieved, seek the king, and give +him exact information of the numbers, strength, and situation of the +foes, reminding him, at the same time, of his solemn pledge. She made +him promise the profoundest secrecy, and adjured him at all hazards to +save the king. + +The boy, affected by the solemnity of her manner, promised faithfully to +observe her minutest sign, and on the re-entrance of Sir Alan departed, +to marvel wherefore his lady should so have spoken, and examine the +localities around, as to the best means of concealment and escape. + +The hours waned, and night fell, as is usual in October, some five hours +after noon, the gloom perhaps greatly increased by the deep shades in +which their place of concealment lay. Sir Alan roused the fire to a +cheerful blaze, and lighting a torch of pine-wood, placed it in an iron +bracket projecting from the wall, and amused himself by polishing his +arms, and talking in that joyous tone his mother so loved, on every +subject that his affection fancied might interest and amuse her. He was +wholly unarmed, except his sword, which, secured to his waist by a +crimson sash, he never laid aside; and fair and graceful to his mother's +eye did he look in his simple doublet of Lincoln-green, cut and slashed +with ruby velvet, his dark curls clustering round his bare throat, and +his bright face beaming in all the animation of youth and health, +spiritualized by the deeper feelings of his soul; and she, too, was +still beautiful, though her frame was slighter, her features more +attenuated than when we first beheld her. He had insisted on her +reclining on the couch, and drawn from her otherwise painful thoughts by +his animated sallies, smiles circled her pale lip, and her sorrows were +a while forgotten. + +An hour, perhaps rather more, elapsed, and found the mother and son +still as we have described, There had been no sound without, but about +that period many heavy footsteps might have been distinguished, +cautiously, it seemed, advancing. Alan started up and listened; the +impatient neigh of a charger was heard, and then voices suppressed, yet, +as he fancied, familiar. + +"King Robert returned already!" he exclaimed; "they must have had an +unusually successful chase. I must e'en seek them and inquire." + +"Alan! my child!" He started at the voice, it was so unlike his +mother's. She had risen and flung her arm around him with a pressure so +convulsive, he looked at her with terror. There was no time to answer; a +sudden noise usurped the place of the previous stillness--a struggle--a +heavy fall; the door was flung rudely open, and an armed man stood upon +the threshold, his vizor up, but even had it not been, the heart of the +countess too truly told her she gazed upon her husband! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A brief pause followed the entrance of this unexpected visitor. Standing +upon the threshold, his dark brow knit, his eyes fixed on his prisoners, +the Earl of Buchan stood a few minutes immovable. Alan saw but a +mail-clad warrior, more fierce and brutal in appearance than the +generality of their foes, and felt, with all that heart-sinking +despondency natural to youth, that they were betrayed, that resistance +was in vain, for heavier and louder grew the tramp of horse and man, and +the narrow passage, discernible through the open door, was filled with +steel-clad forms, their drawn swords glancing in the torchlight, their +dark brows gleaming in ill-concealed triumph. Alan was still a boy in +years, despite his experience as a warrior, and in the first agony of +this discovery, the first dream of chains and captivity, when his young +spirit revelled in the thought of freedom, and joyed as a bird in the +fresh air of mount and stream, weaving bright hopes, not exile or +wandering could remove, his impulse had been to dash his useless sword +in anguish to the earth, and weep; but the sight of his mother checked +that internal weakness. He felt her convulsive clasp; he beheld the +expression on her features,--how unlike their wont--terror, suffering, +whose _entire_ cause he vainly endeavored to define, and he roused +himself for her. And she, did she see more than her son? She _knew_ that +face, and as she gazed, she felt hope had departed; she beheld naught +but a long, endless vista of anguish; yet she felt not for herself, she +thought but of her child. And the earl, can we define his exulting +mood?--it was the malice, the triumph of a fiend. + +"Who and what art thou?" demanded Alan, fiercely, laying his right hand +on his sword, and with the left firmly clasping his mother's waist. +"What bold knight and honorable chevalier art thou, thus seeking by +stealth the retreat of a wanderer, and overpowering by numbers and +treachery men, who on the field thou and such as thou had never dared to +meet?" + +The earl laughed; that bitter, biting laugh of contempt and triumph so +difficult to bear. + +"Thou hast a worthy tongue, my pretty springald," said he; "canst thou +use thy sword as bravely? Who and what am I? ask of the lady thou hast +so caressingly encircled with thine arm, perchance she can give thee +information." + +Alan started, a cold thrill passed through his frame, as the real cause +of his mother's terror flashed on his mind; her lips, parched and +quivering, parted as to speak, but there was no sound. + +"Mother," he said, "mother, speak to thy son. Why, why art thou thus? +it is not the dread of imprisonment, of death. No, no; they have no +terrors for such as thee. Who is this man?" + +Engrossed in his own agitation, Alan had not heard the muttered +exclamation which burst from Buchan's lips with his first words, for +great was the earl's surprise as he looked on his son; the impression he +was still a child had remained on his mind despite all reports to the +contrary, but no softer feeling obtained dominion. + +"Who and what am I?" he continued, after a brief pause. "Wouldst thou +know, Alan of Buchan? Even a faithful knight, soldier, and subject of +his Royal Highness Edward, king of England and Scotland, and +consequently thy foe; the insulted and dishonored husband of the woman +thou callest mother, and consequently thy father, young man. Ha! have I +spoken home? Thy sword, thy sword; acknowledge thy disloyalty to thy +father and king, and for thee all may yet be well." + +"Never!" answered Alan, proudly, the earl's concluding words rousing the +spirit which the knowledge of beholding his father and the emotion of +his mother seemed to have crushed. "Never, Lord of Buchan! for father I +cannot call thee. Thou mayest force me to resign my sword, thou mayest +bring me to the block, but acknowledge allegiance to a foreign tyrant, +who hath no claims on Scotland or her sons, save those of hate and +detestation, that thou canst never do, even if thy sword be pointed at +my heart." + +"Boy!" burst from the earl's lips, in accents of irrepressible rage, but +he checked himself; "thou hast learned a goodly lesson of disobedience +and daring, of a truth, and I should tender grateful thanks to thy most +worthy, most efficient and virtuous teacher," he added, in his own +bitterly sarcastic tone. "The Lady Isabella deems, perchance, she has +done her duty to her husband in placing a crown on the head of his +hereditary and hated foe, and leading his son in the same path of +rebellion and disloyalty, and giving his service to the murderer of his +kinsman." + +"Earl of Buchan, I have done my duty alike to my country and my son," +replied the countess, her high spirit roused by the taunts of her +husband. "According to the dictates of my conscience, mine honor as a +Scottish woman, the mother of a Scottish warrior, I have done my duty, +and neither imprisonment, nor torture, nor death will bid me retract +those principles, or waver in my acknowledgment of Scotland and her +king. Pardon me, my lord; but there is no rebellion in resisting the +infringement of a tyrant, no disloyalty in raising the standard against +Edward, for there is no treason when there is no lawful authority; and +by what right is Edward of England king of Scotland? Lord of Buchan, I +have done my duty. As my father taught _me_ I have taught my child!" + +"Regarding, of course, madam, all which that child's father would have +taught him, particularly that most Christian virtue returning good for +evil, as in the fact of revenging the death of a kinsman with the gift +of a crown. Oh! thou hast done well, most intrinsically well." + +"I own no relationship with a traitor," burst impetuously from Alan. +"Sir John Comyn was honored in his death, for the sword of the Bruce was +too worthy a weapon for the black heart of a traitor. Lord of Buchan, we +are in thy power, it is enough. Hadst thou wished thy son to imbibe thy +peculiar principles, to forget his country and her lights, it had been +better perchance hadst thou remembered thou hadst a child--a son. Had +the duty of a father been performed, perchance I had not now forgotten +mine as a son! As it is, we stand as strangers and as foes. Against thee +in truth I will not raise my sword; but further, we are severed and +forever!" He crossed his arms proudly on his bosom, and returned the +dark, scowling glance of his father with a flashing eye, and a mien as +firm and nobler than his own. + +"It is well, young man; I thank you for my freedom," returned the earl, +between his teeth. "As my son, I might stand between thee and Edward's +wrath; as a stranger and my foe, why, whatever his sentence be--the axe +and block without doubt--let it work, it will move me little." + +"Heed not his rash words, in mercy, heed them not!" exclaimed the +countess, her voice of agony contrasting strangely with its former proud +reserve. "Neglected, forgotten him as thou hast, yet, Lord of Buchan, he +is still thy son. Oh, in mercy, expose him not to the deadly wrath of +Edward! thou canst save him, thou canst give him freedom. It is I--I who +am the attainted traitor, not my child. Give me up to Edward, and he +will heed not, ask not for thy son. It is I who have offended him and +thee, not my child. Art thou not a Scottish noble, descendant of a +house as purely loyal and devoted to their country as mine own--art thou +not indeed this man, and yet hath Edward, the deadly foe of thy race, +thy land, thy countrymen, more exalted claims than thine own blood? No, +no, it cannot be! thou wilt relent, thou wilt have mercy; let him be but +free, and do with me even what thou wilt!" + +"Free! go free!" repeated the earl, with a hoarse laugh, ere Alan could +interfere. "Let him go free, forsooth, when he tells me he is my foe, +and will go hence and join my bitterest enemies the moment he is free. +Go free! and who art thou who askest this boon? Hast thou such claims +upon me, that for thy pleasure I should give freedom to thy son?" + +"My lord, my lord, 'tis for thine own sake, for his, thy child as well +as mine, I do beseech, implore thy mercy? draw not the curse of heaven +on thy heart by exposing him to death. Thou wilt know and feel him as +indeed thy child when he lies bleeding before thee, when thine own hand +hath forged the death-bolt, and then, then it will be too late; thou +wilt yearn for his voice in vain. Oh! is it not sufficient triumph to +have in thy power the wife who hath dared thy authority, who hath joined +the patriot band, and so drawn down on her the vengeance of Edward? The +price of a traitor is set upon her head. My lord, my lord, is not one +victim enough--will not my capture insure thee reward and honor in the +court of Edward? Then do with me what thou wilt--chains, torture, death; +but my child, my brave boy--oh, if thou hast one spark of mercy in thy +heart, let him go!" + +"Mother," hoarsely murmured Alan, as he strove to raise her from her +suppliant posture, "mother, this shall not be! look upon that face and +know thou pleadest in vain. I will not accept my freedom at such a +price; thy knee, thy supplications unto a heart of stone, for me! No, +no; mother, dear mother, we will die together!" + +"Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, my beloved, my beautiful! thy death +will be on my head, though it come from a father's hand. I will plead, I +will be heard! My lord, my lord," she continued, wrought to a pitch of +agonized feeling, no heart save that to which she pleaded could have +heard unmoved, "I ask but his freedom, the freedom of a boy, a +child--and of whom do I ask it?--of his father, his own father! Speak to +me, answer me; thou canst not be so lost to the voice, the feelings of +nature. For the sake of the mother who loved, the father who blessed +_thee_, whose blessing hallowed our union and smiled on our infant boy, +have mercy on me, on thyself--let him, oh, let him be free!" + +"Mercy on thee, thou false and perjured woman!" the earl burst forth, +the cold sarcastic expression with which he had at first listened to her +impassioned entreaties giving way to the fearful index of ungoverned +rage; "on thee, thou false traitress, not alone to thy husband's +principles but to his honor! Do I not know thee, minion--do I not know +the motives of thy conduct in leaving thy husband's castle for the court +of Bruce? Patriotism, forsooth--patriotism, ha! the patriotism that had +vent in giving and receiving love from him; it was so easy to do homage +to him in public as thy king. Oh, most rare and immaculate specimen of +female loyalty and virtue, I know thee well!" + +"Man!" answered the countess, springing from her knee, and standing +before him with a mien and countenance of such majestic dignity, that +for a brief moment it awed even him, and her bewildered son gazed at her +with emotions of awe, struggling with surprise. + +"Ha! faithless minion, thou bravest it well," continued Buchan, +determined on evincing no faltering in his purpose, "but thou bravest it +in vain; dishonored thou art, and hast been, aye, from the time thy +minion Robert visited thee in Buchan Tower, and lingered with thee the +months he had disappeared from Edward's court. Would Isabella of Buchan +have rendered homage to any other bold usurper, save her minion Robert? +Would the murder of a Comyn have passed unavenged by her had the +murderer been other than her gallant Bruce? Would Isabella of Buchan be +here, the only female in the Bruce's train--for I know that he is with +thee--were loyalty and patriotism her only motive? Woman, I know thee! I +know that thou didst love him, ere that false hand and falser heart were +given to me; thy lips spoke perfidy when they vowed allegiance at the +altar; and shall I have mercy on thy son, for such as thee? Mercy! ha, +have I silenced thy eloquence now?" + +"Silenced, false, blasphemous villain!" vociferated Alan, every other +feeling lost in the whirlwind of passion, and springing on the earl, +with his drawn sword. "'Tis thou who art the false and faithless--thou +who art lost to every feeling of honor and of truth. Thy words are false +as hell, from whence they spring!" + +"Alan, by the love thou bearest me, I charge thee put up thy sword--it +is thy father!" exclaimed, the countess, commandingly, and speaking the +last word in a tone that thrilled to the boy's heart. He checked himself +in his full career; he snapped his drawn sword in twain, he cast it +passionately from him, and uttering, convulsively, "Oh God, oh God, my +father!" flung himself in agony on the ground. With arms folded and the +smile of a demon on his lip the earl had awaited his attack, but there +was disappointment within, for his foul charge had failed in its +intended effect. Prouder, colder, more commandingly erect had become the +mein of the countess as he spoke, till she even appeared to increase in +stature; her flashing eyes had never moved from his face, till his fell +beneath them; her lip had curled, his cheek had flushed: powerful indeed +became the contrast between the accused and the accuser. + +"Arise, my son," she said, "arise and look upon thy mother; her brow +even as her heart is unstained with shame; she fears not to meet the +glance of her child. Look up, my boy; I speak these words to _thee_, not +to that bold, bad man, who hath dared unite the name of a daughter of +Fife with shame. He hath no word either of exculpation, denial, or +assent from me. But to thee, my child, my young, my innocent child, +thee, whose ear, when removed from me, they may strive to poison with +false tales, woven with such skill that hadst thou not thy mother's +word, should win thee to belief--to thee I say, look on me, Alan--is +this a brow of guilt?" + +"No, no, no, I will not look on thee, my mother! I need not to gaze on +thee to know the horrid falsity of the charge," answered Alan, flinging +his arms passionately around his mother. "Did I never see thee more, +never list that voice again, and did all the fiends of hell come around +me with their lies, I would not hear, much less believe such charge. No, +no! oh God, 'tis my father, speaks it! Father--and my hand is powerless +to avenge." + +"I need not vengeance, my beloved; grieve not, weep not that thy hand is +chained, and may not defend thy mother's stainless name; I need it not. +My heart is known unto my God, my innocence to thee; his blessing rest +with thee, my beautiful, and give thee strength for all thou mayest +endure." + +She bent down to kiss his brow, which was damp with the dew of intense +anguish. He started up, he gave one long look on her calm and noble +face, and then he flung himself in her arms, and sobbed like a child on +her bosom. It was a fearful moment for that woman heart; had she been +alone with her child, both nerve and spirit must have given way, but +fortunately, perhaps, for the preservation of her fortitude, the Earl of +Buchan was still the witness of that scene, triumphing in the sufferings +he had caused. The countess did indeed fold her boy convulsively to her +breast, but she did not bend her head on his, as Nature prompted; it was +still erect; her mien majestic still, and but a slight quivering in her +beautiful lip betrayed emotion. + +"Be firm; be thy noble self," she said. "Forget not thou art a knight +and soldier amid the patriots of Scotland. And now a while, farewell." + +She extricated herself with some difficulty from his embrace; she paused +not to gaze again upon the posture of overwhelming despondency in which +he had sunk, but with a step quick and firm advanced to the door. + +"Whither goest thou, madam?" demanded the earl fiercely. "Bold as thou +art, it is well to know thou art a prisoner, accused of high treason +against King Edward." + +"I need not your lordship's voice to give me such information," she +answered, proudly. "Methinks these armed followers are all-sufficient +evidence. Guard me, aye, confine me with fetters an thou wilt, but in +thy presence thou canst not force me to abide." + +"Bid a last farewell to thy son, then, proud minion," he replied, with +fiendish malignity; "for an ye part now, it is forever. Ye see him not +again." + +"Then be it so," she rejoined; "we shall meet where falsehood and +malignant hate can never harm us more," and with a gesture of dignity, +more irritating to the earl than the fiercest demonstration of passion, +she passed the threshold. A sign from Buchan surrounded her with guards, +and by them she was conducted to a smaller apartment, which was first +carefully examined as to any concealed means of escape, and then she was +left alone, a strong guard stationed at the door. + +The first few minutes after the disappearance of the countess were +passed by her husband in rapidly striding up and down the room, by her +son, in the same posture of mute and motionless anguish in which she had +left him. There is no need to define that suffering, his peculiar +situation is all-sufficient to explain it. Hurriedly securing the door +from all intruders, the earl at length approached his son. + +"Wouldst thou be free?" he said, abruptly. "Methinks thou art young +enough still to love liberty better than chains, and perchance death. +Speak, I tell thee; wouldst thou be free?" + +"Free!" answered Alan, raising his head, with flashing eye and burning +cheek; "would I be free? Ask of the chained lion, the caged bird, and +they will tell thee the greenwood and forest glade are better, dearer, +even though the chain were gemmed, the prison gilded. Would I be free? +Thou knowest that I would." + +"Swear, then, that thou wilt quit Scotland, and vow fealty to Edward; +that never more will thy sword be raised save against the contemned and +hated Bruce. Be faithful but to me and to King Edward, and thou shalt be +free." + +"Never!" answered Alan, proudly. "Earl of Buchan, I accept no conditions +with my freedom; I will not be free, if only on this base condition. +Turn recreant and traitor to my country and my king! resign the precious +privilege of _dying_, if I may not _live_, for Scotland--I tell thee, +never! Urge me no more." + +"Nay, thou art but a boy, a foolish boy," continued the earl, struggling +to speak persuadingly, "incapable of judging that which is right and +best. I tell thee, I will give thee not freedom alone, but honor, +station, wealth; I will acknowledge thee as my well-beloved son and +heir; I will forget all that is past; nay, not e'en thy will or actions +will I restrain; I will bind thee by no vow; thou shalt take no part +with Edward; I will interfere not with thy peculiar politics; e'en what +thou wilt thou shalt do, aye, and have--and all this but on one +condition, so slight and simple that thou art worse than fool an thou +refusest." + +"Speak on," muttered Alan, without raising his head. "I hear." + +"Give me but information of the movements of him thou callest king," +replied Buchan, in a low yet emphatically distinct voice; "give me but a +hint as to where we may meet him in combat--in all honorable and +knightly combat, thou knowest that I mean--give me but information such +as this, and thou art free, unshackled, in condition as in limb." + +"In other words, _betray him,_" replied Alan, starting up. "Purchase my +freedom with the price of his! mine, of nothing worth, aye, less than +nothing, redeemed by his! Oh, shame, shame on thee, my lord! Well mayest +thou offer me freedom of action as in will on such condition. Of little +heed to Edward were the resistance of all Scotland, were Robert in his +power. Honor, station, wealth!--oh, knowest thou the human heart so +little as to believe these can exist with black treachery and fell +remorse? Once and forever, I tell thee thine offers are in vain. Were +death in one scale, and free, unshackled liberty in the other, and thou +badest me choose between, I would not so stain my soul. Death, death +itself were welcome, aye, worse than death--confinement, chains. I would +hug them to my heart as precious boons, rather than live and walk the +earth a traitor." + +"Beware!" muttered the earl; "tempt me not too far, rash boy. I would +not do thee ill; I would have pity on thy erring youth, remembering the +evil counsels, the base heart which hath guided thee." + +"Do thou beware!" retorted Alan, fiercely. "Speak not such foul words to +me. Father, as I know thou art in blood, there are ties far stronger +which bind me to my mother--ties, neglect, forgetfulness, indifference +as thine can never know. Pity, aye, mercy's self, I scorn them, for I +need them not." + +"Ha! sayest thou so; then I swear thou shalt not have them!" exclaimed +the earl, rage again obtaining the ascendant. "I would have saved thee; +I would have given thee freedom, though I needed not the condition that +I offered. Thinkest thou I do not know that the traitor Bruce and his +followers will return hither, and fall into the net prepared? thinkest +thou I know not he is with thee, aye, that he would not have left his +patriot countess thus slightly guarded, an he hoped not to return +himself? He cannot escape me--the murder of Sir John Comyn will be +avenged." + +"He shall, he will escape thee, proud earl," undauntedly returned Alan. +"The savior of his wretched country will not be forced to bow before +such as thee; he will be saved out of the net prepared--harassed, +chased, encompassed as he is. I tell thee, Earl of Buchan, he will +escape thee yet." + +"Then, by heaven, thy head shall fall for his!" fiercely replied the +earl. "If he return not, he has been forewarned, prepared, and I, fool +as I was, have thought not of this danger. Look to it, proud boy, if the +Bruce return not forty-eight hours hence, and thou art still silent, +thou diest." + +He held up his clenched hand in a threatening attitude, but Alan neither +moved nor spoke, firmly returning the earl's infuriated gaze till the +door closed on his father's retreating form. He heard the bolts drawn, +the heavy tramp of the guard, and then he threw himself on the couch, +and buried his face in his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +While these fearful scenes were passing in the hunting-lodge, Malcolm, +the young page already mentioned, had contrived to elude the vigilance +of the earl's numerous followers, and reach the brow of the hollow in +perfect safety. Endowed with a sense and spirit above his years, and +inspired by his devoted attachment to the countess and Sir Alan, the boy +did not merely think of his own personal security, and of the simple act +of warning the king against the treachery which awaited his return, but, +with an eye and mind well practised in intelligent observation, he +scanned the numbers, character, and peculiar situation of the foes which +had so unexpectedly come upon them. Being peculiarly small and light in +figure, and completely clothed in a dark green tunic and hose, which was +scarcely discernible from the trees and shrubs around, he stole, in and +out every brake and hollow, clambering lightly and noiselessly over +crags, hanging like a broken branch from stunted trees, leaping with the +elasticity of a youthful fawn over stream and shrub, and thus obtained a +true and exact idea of the matter he desired. The boy's heart did indeed +sink as he felt rescue would be utterly impossible; that in one +direction the English force extended nearly a mile, guarding every +avenue, every hollow in the forest, till it seemed next to impossible +King Robert could escape, even if forewarned. Wherever he turned his +steps the enemy appeared to lurk, but he wavered not in his purpose. +Aware of the direction which the king would take in returning, Malcolm +slackened not his speed until some three hours after he had quitted the +hollow, and he stood before his sovereign well-nigh too exhausted for +the utterance of his tale. + +The first impulse of the king and his true-hearted followers was to dare +all danger, and rescue the countess and her brave son at the expense of +their lives; but Malcolm, flinging himself at the feet of Robert, +adjured him, in the name of the countess, to remember and act upon the +vow he had so solemnly pledged at parting. He earnestly and emphatically +repeated the last injunctions of his lady, her deep anguish that the +king, the savior of Scotland, should hazard all for her and her +child--better they should die than Robert; but these entreaties were but +anguish to the noble spirit who heard, aye, and felt their truth, though +abide by them he could not. Again and again he questioned and +cross-questioned as to their numbers and their strength, but Malcolm +never wavered from his first account; clearly and concisely he gave +every required information, and with bleeding hearts that little band of +patriots felt they dared not hope to rescue and to conquer. Yet tacitly +to assent to necessity, to retreat without one blow, to leave their +faithful companions to death, without one stroke for vengeance at least, +if not for relief, this should not be. + +"We will see with our own eyes, hear with our own ears, at least, my +friends," King Robert said. "Is there one among ye would retreat, from, +the narrative of a child, true as it may be? Remember the pass in +Argyle; if necessary, your sovereign can protect your retreat now as +then, and we shall at least feel we have struggled to rescue, striven +for the mastery, even if it be in vain. Were my death, aye, the death of +Scotland the forfeit, I could not so stain my knightly fame by such +retreat. Let but the morning dawn, and we will ourselves mark the +strength of our foes." + +There was not one dissenting voice, rash as his determination might +appear. The extraordinary skill and courage of their sovereign, +displayed in so many instances during their perilous wanderings, were +too fresh in their memories to permit of one doubt, one fear, even had +he led them on to certain death. To throw themselves from their tired +chargers, to give them food, to lie down themselves for a brief repose +on the turf, that they might be strengthened and cheered for the work of +the morning, all this did not occupy much time; and if their slumbers +were brief and troubled, it did not prevent their rising with, alacrity +at the first peep of day to polish their arms, look to the sharpening of +their swords and spears, share the rude huntsman's meal, and mount and +ride with the first signal of their king. + +But bold and brave as were these true-hearted men, successful as, +comparatively speaking, they were in the numberless skirmishes which +took place that day, darkness overtook them, with increase of glory +indeed, but no nearer the accomplishment of their object than they had +been in the morning. + +With bitter sorrow King Robert had perceived the full confirmation of +the page's words. The early close of the night attendant on the autumn +season was also unfavorable to his views; the events of the day had +fully convinced him that many an ambush was set in his path, that his +personal safety was wholly incompatible with a night attack, and +therefore he was compelled to remain on the defensive in one spot, which +was fortunately barricaded and concealed by Nature, during the many long +and weary hours forming an October night. Yet still the following day +beheld him struggling on, in the face alike of disappointment, defeat, +and danger the most imminent; still seeking the same object, still +hoping against hope, and retreating only because the welfare of his +country, of her unfortunate children, depended upon him; bands more and +more numerous pressed upon him, coming from every side, that scarcely +was one skilfully eluded ere he had to struggle against another. Nothing +but the most consummate skill, the most patient courage, and coolest +address could have extricated him from the fearful dangers which +encompassed him. Again did his followers believe he bore a charmed life, +for not only did he deal destruction, unhurt himself, but after three +days almost incessant fighting and fatigue, he had brought them to a +place of safety, with but the loss of five-and-twenty men. + +But though painfully conscious that further efforts for the rescue of +his friends were completely useless, King Robert could not rest +satisfied without some more accurate knowledge of their fate, and after +some hurried yet anxious consultation. Sir James Douglas, with that +daring which so marked his simplest action, declared that at all risks +he would seek some tidings that would end their anxiety. In the disguise +of a peasant he would be secure from all discovery, he said; and he had +not the slightest fear as to the success of the adventure. Five others +started up as he spoke entreating permission to take the same disguise +and accompany him. It was granted; King Robert advising them, however, +to adopt a diversity of costume, and keep each one apart as they +approached inhabited districts, as their numbers might excite suspicion, +even though the actual disguise was complete. With arms concealed +beneath their various disguises, they departed that same evening, +engaging to meet the king at the base of Ben-Cruchan, some miles more +south than their present trysting. It was an anxious parting, and yet +more when they were actually gone; for the high spirit and vein of humor +which characterized the young Lord Douglas had power to cheer his +friends even in the most painful moments. King Robert, indeed, exerted +himself, but this last stroke had been a heavy one; knowing so well the +character of Edward, he trembled both for the countess and her noble +son, perhaps less for the latter than the former, for he hoped and +believed the Earl of Buchan, if indeed he were their captor, would at +least have some mercy on his son, but for the countess he knew that +there was no hope. The character, the sentiments of the earl had been +noticed by the Bruce when both were at the court of Edward, and he felt +and knew that any excuse to rid him of a wife whose virtues were +obnoxious to him would be acted on with joy. And here, perhaps, it may +be well to say a few words as to the real nature of King Robert's +sentiments towards Isabella of Buchan, as from the anxiety her detention +occasioned they may be so easily misunderstood. + +We have performed our task but ill if our readers have imagined aught +but the most purely noble, most chivalric sentiments actuated the heart +of the king. Whatever might have been the nature of those sentiments in +earlier days, since his marriage with the daughter of the Earl of Mar +they had never entered his soul. + +He had always believed the Lady Isabella's union with Lord John Comyn +was one of choice, not of necessity, nor did his visit to her after the +battle of Falkirk recall any former feeling. His mind had been under the +heavy pressure of that self-reproach which the impressive words of +Wallace had first awakened; the wretched state of his country, the +tyranny of Edward, occupied the mind of the man in which the emotions of +the boy had merged. He was, too, a husband and a father; and he was, as +his fond wife so trustingly believed, too nobly honorable to entertain +one thought to her dishonor. He looked on Isabella of Buchan as one +indeed demanding his utmost esteem and gratitude, his most faithful +friendship, and he secretly vowed that she should have it; but these +emotions took not their coloring from the past, they were excited simply +by her high-minded devotion to the cause of her country, her unshrinking +patriotism, her noble qualities, alike as a mother, subject, friend. He +felt but as one noble spirit ever feels for a kindred essence, +heightened perhaps by the dissimilarity of sex, but aught of love, even +in its faintest shadow, aught of dishonorable feelings towards her or +his own wife never entered his wildest dream. It was the recollection of +her unwavering loyalty, of the supporting kindness she had ever shown +his queen, which occasioned his bitter sorrow at her detention by the +foe; it was the dread that the cruel wrath of Edward would indeed +condemn her to death for the active part she had taken in his +coronation; the conviction, so agonizing to a mind like his, that he had +no power to rescue and avenge; the fearful foreboding that thus would +all his faithful friends fall from him--this, only this, would be the +reward of all who served and loved him; and even while still, with +undaunted firmness, cheering the spirits of his adherents, speaking hope +to them, his own inward soul was tortured with doubts as to the wisdom +of his resistance, lingering regrets for the fate of those of his +friends already lost to him, and painful fears for the final doom of +those who yet remained. + +It was in such moments of despondency that remorse, too, ever gained +dominion, and heightened his inward struggles. Robert's hand was not +framed for blood; his whole soul revolted from the bitter remembrance of +that fatal act of passion which had stained his first rising. He would +have given worlds, if he had had them, to have recalled that deed. Busy +fancy represented a hundred ways of punishing treachery other than that +which his fury had adopted; and this remembrance ever increased the +anguish with which he regarded the fate of his friends. His lot was +indeed as yet one of unexampled suffering, borne by heroism as great as +unequalled but the lustre of the latter too frequently dazzles the mind, +and prevents the full meed of glory being obtained. His heroism is known +to all, his sufferings to but a few; but perhaps it was the latter yet +more than the former which gave to Scotland the glory and honor she +acquired in his reign. Heroism is scarce separable from ambition, but to +mere ambition, the voice of suffering is seldom heard. Heroism dazzles +the crowd, suffering purifies the man. If Robert the Bruce were +ambitious, the passion in him assumed a nobler and better form; yet we +can scarcely call that ambition which sought but the delivery of +Scotland from chains, but the regaining an ancient heritage, and sought +no more. It was patriotism hallowed by suffering, purified by adversity; +patriotism the noblest, purest which ever entered the heart of man. + +King Robert and his handful of followers not only reached their +trysting-place themselves, but were joined by the queen, and many of her +female companions and their attendant warriors, ere Lord James of +Douglas returned; three of his companions had straggled in, one by one, +with various accounts, but none so satisfactory as the king desired, and +he believed with justice, that Douglas lingered to bring, if not +satisfactory (for that, alas! could not be) yet accurate intelligence. +If aught could have comforted Agnes in these moments of agonized +suspense, it would have been not alone the redoubled affection of her +Nigel, but the soothing kindness, the love and sympathy of a father, +which was lavished on her by King Robert; nay, each of those rude +warriors softened in address and tone, as they looked on and spoke to +that fair, fragile being, whom they feared now stood alone. She did not +weep when other eyes than those of Nigel, or the Lady Campbell, or the +gentle Isoline were on her, but that deadly pallor, that quivering lip, +and heavy eye spoke all that she endured. + +A large cavern, divided by Nature into many compartments, was now the +temporary shelter of the king and his friends. It was situated at the +base of Ben-Cruchan, which, though at the entrance of the territories of +Lorn, was now comparatively secure, the foe imagining the Bruce still +amidst the mountains of Aberdeenshire. + +The evening meal was spread; a huge fire blazing in the stony cavity +removed all appearance of damp or discomfort, and shed a warm, ruddy +light on the groups within. It was a rude home for the King of Scotland +and his court, yet neither murmuring nor despondency was marked on the +bold brows of the warriors, or the gentler and paler features of their +faithful companions; their frames, indeed, showed the effect of +wandering and anxiety; many an eye which had been bright was sunken, +many a blooming cheek was paled; but the lip yet smiled, the voice had +yet its gleesome tones to soothe and cheer their warrior friends; the +eager wish to prepare the couch and dress the simple meal, to perform +those many little offices of love and kindness so peculiarly a woman's, +and engaged in with a zest, a skill which was intuitive, for there had +been a time, and one not far distant, when those high-born females +little dreamed such household deeds would be their occupation. + +Brightly and beautifully shone forth conjugal and filial love in those +wandering hours; the wife, the child, the sister bound themselves yet +closer to the warrior husband, father, brother, which claimed them his. +Yet sweet, most sweet as were those acts of love, there were anxious and +loving hearts which felt that soon, too soon, they must part from them, +they must persuade those gentle ones to accede to a temporary +separation--they could not, they would not expose them to the snows and +killing frosts of a Scottish winter. + +Anxiety, deep anxiety was on the heart of King Robert, becoming more +painful with each glance he fixed on Agnes, who was sitting apart with +Nigel, her aching head resting on his shoulder, but he strove to return +the caresses of his daughter, to repay with fond smiles the exertions of +his wife. Sir Niel Campbell (who, after many painful trials, had +rejoined the king) and others strove to disperse the silently gathering +gloom by jest and song, till the cavern walls re-echoed with their +soldier mirth. Harshly and mournfully it fell on the ear and heart of +the maiden of Buchan, but she would not have it stilled. + +"No, no; do thou speak to me, Nigel, and I shall only list to thee. Why +should the noble efforts of these brave men--for I know even to them +mirth is now an effort--be chilled and checked, because my sick heart +beats not in unison? Oh, when will Lord James return?" + +Nigel sought to soothe, to speak hope, but though his words fell like +balm on the bleeding heart he held to his, it was the rich melody of +their voice, not the matter of their meaning. + +The hour of rest was fast approaching, when the well-known signal was +heard without, and the young Lord Douglas, with his two companions, were +hastily and eagerly admitted within the cave. Their looks denoted great +fatigue, and the eager eyes which scanned their countenances read little +to hope, yet much, much, alas! to fear. + +"Thou hast so far succeeded as to obtain the intelligence we need," was +the king's instant greeting, as he released his favorite young follower +from his embrace; "that I can read, but further, I fear me, thou hast +little to communicate which we shall love to hear." + +"My tidings are ill indeed, your highness; aggravated and most +undreamed-of ill. But, perchance," and the young man hesitated, for his +eye caught the pallid face of Agnes, who had irresistibly drawn closer +to the circle about the king, and fixed her eyes on him with an +expression almost wild in its agony, "perchance they had better first +meet your grace's private ear." + +"No, no!" reiterated Agnes, springing forward, and clinging convulsively +to his arm. "It is only me thou fearest, I know; I know thou wouldst +spare me, but do not, do not. I can bear all, every thing, save this +horrible suspense; speak out, let me but know all, and then I can teach +my soul to bear it. Oh, do not hesitate, do not pause; in mercy, tell +me--oh, tell me all!" + +Thus adjured, but feeling most painfully the suffering his tale would +produce, Douglas struggled with his own emotion, and repeated all the +information he had obtained. Guardedly as he spoke, evidently as he +endeavored to prepare the mind of Agnes, and thus soften its woe, his +tale was yet such as to harrow up the hearts of all his hearers, how +much more the frail and gentle being to whom it more immediately +related; yet she stood calm, pale, indeed, and quivering, but with a +desperate effort conquering the weakness of her nature, and bearing that +deep woe as the daughter of her mother, the betrothed of Nigel Bruce. + +The young lord's information was simply this. On nearing the +hunting-lodge, which was his first object, he found it very nearly +deserted, but a few stragglers, amounting perhaps to fifty in number of +the followers of Buchan, remaining behind, with orders to follow their +master to Dunkeld without delay. Mingling with these as a countryman of +the more northern counties, eager to obtain every species of +intelligence respecting the movements of the English and the hunted +Bruce, whom he pretended to condemn and vilify after the fashion of the +Anglo-Scots, and feeling perfectly secure not only in the disguise he +had assumed, but in the peculiar accent and intonation of the +north-country peasant, which he could assume at pleasure, he made +himself a welcome guest, and with scarcely any trouble received much of +the information he desired. He was told of the first capture and rescue +of the Countess of Buchan; that it was through one of the men left for +dead on the scene of the skirmish the earl had received such exact +information concerning the movements and intended destination of the +Bruce; that immediately on receiving this intelligence he had gathered +all his force, amounting to five hundred men, and dividing them into +different bands, sent skilful guides with each, and was thus enabled to +surround the lodge, and command five different avenues of the forest, +without interruption or discovery. He learned, too, that a stormy +interview had taken place between the earl, his wife, and son, the +particulars of which, however, had not transpired; that the earl's rage +had been terrific when he found the night passed, and the Bruce had not +fallen into the snare laid for him; and he had sworn a fearful oath, +that if the countess would not betray him into his power, her son should +die; that both mother and son had stood this awful trial without +shrinking; that no word either to betray their king or implore life and +mercy had been wrung from them. Incensed beyond all measure, Buchan had +sent on the countess with a numerous guard, his men believed, either to +Dunkeld or Perth, in both of which towns there was a strong garrison of +English, and lingered yet another day and night in the hope of dragging +some intelligence from the lips of Alan, or persuading him into acting +the spy upon the actions and movements of the Bruce. He succeeded in +neither; and the men continued to state, with shuddering horror, which +even their rude natures could not suppress, that they believed the son +had actually fallen a victim to his father's rage--that he had actually +been murdered. Numerous reports to that effect had been circulated on +all sides, and though they had watched narrowly, they had seen nothing +to contradict it. The body of the unfortunate boy had been cast into a +deep well, heaps of rubbish flung over it, and the well built up. This +they knew as a positive certainty, for they had seen it. + +Douglas heard this tale with an intensity of horror, of loathing, which +at first deprived him almost of every other feeling; but when he could +withdraw himself from the horrible idea, a species of disbelief took +possession of him. It was impossible such utter depravity, such fearful +insensibility to the claims of nature could exist in the breast of any +man; it was a tale forged to inflict fresh agony on the mother's heart, +and he determined on discovering, if possible, the truth. He pretended +entirely to disbelieve it; declared it was not possible; that the earl +had practised on their credulity, and would laugh at them afterwards; +and contrived so well, that three or four declared he should be +convinced with his own eyes, and set about pulling down the slight +brickwork which covered the well. This was what Douglas wanted, and he +eagerly lent them a helping hand. + +A body there was indeed, in form and in clothing so exactly that of the +unhappy Alan, that, even though the face was so marred it could not be +recognized, the young earl could doubt no longer; the young, the brave, +the beautiful, and true, had fallen a victim to his own patriot loyalty, +and by a father's hand. The deep suffering this certainly occasioned was +regarded by his companions as sulkiness for having been proved wrong in +his judgment; they jeered and laughed at him accordingly, and harshly as +these sounds reverberated in his heart, they were welcome, as enabling +him still more easily to continue his disguise. + +He accompanied them to Dunkeld, and found the earl had proceeded with +his wife as prisoner to the castle of Stirling, there to deliver her +over to the Earl of Hereford, through whom to be sent on to Edward. +Determined on seeing her, if possible, Douglas resolved on daring the +danger, and venturing even to the very stronghold of his foes. The +horror which this unnatural act of the earl had excited in the minds of +his men, he found had extended even over those in Dunkeld, and through +them he learned that, directly on reaching the town, the earl had sought +the countess, brutally communicated the death of her son, and placed in +her hands the raven curls as all which remained of him, some of which +were dabbled in blood; that she had remained apparently unmoved while in +his presence, but the moment he left her had sunk into a succession of +the most fearful fainting fits, in one of which she had been removed to +Stirling. + +Withdrawing himself from his companions, under pretence of returning to +his home in the north, having, he said, loitered too long, Douglas +concealed himself for some days in the abbey of Scone, the holy inmates +of which still retained their loyalty and patriotism, notwithstanding +their revered abbot, unable to remain longer inactive, had donned the +warrior's dress, and departed to join and fight with his king. Assuming +the cowl and robes of one of the lay brothers, and removing the red wig +and beard he had adopted with his former costume, the young lord took +the staff in his hand, and with difficulty bringing his hasty pace to a +level with the sober step and grave demeanor of a reverend monk, reached +Stirling just as the cavalcade, with the litter intended for the captive +countess, had assembled before the castle gate. Agitated almost beyond +the power of control, Douglas made his way through the gathering crowds, +and stood unquestioned close beside the litter. He did not wait long. +Respectfully supported by the Earl of Hereford himself, the Countess of +Buchan, with a firm, unfaltering step, approached the litter. The hood +was thrown back, and Douglas could read the effects of withering agony +on the marble stillness of those beautiful features, though to all else +they spoke but firm and calm resolve; there was not a vestige of color +on cheek or lip or brow; and though her figure was as commanding, as +majestic as heretofore, there was a fearful attenuation about it, +speaking volumes to Lord James's heart. Hereford placed her in the +litter, and with a respectful salutation turned away to give some +necessary orders to his men. Bold in his disguise, Douglas bent over the +countess, and spoke in a low, feigned voice those words of comfort and +of peace suited to his assumed character; but feigned as it was, the +countess recognized him on that instant; a convulsive shudder passed +through her every limb, contracting her features with very agony. + +"My child--my Alan!" she whispered, harrowing his very soul beneath that +voice's thrilling woe. "Douglas, hast thou heard?--yes, yes; I can read +it in thine awe-struck face. This, this is all I have left of him," and +she partly drew from her bosom the clustering ringlets he recognized at +once; "yet, wherefore should I mourn him: he is happy. Bid his memory be +honored among ye; and oh, tell the sovereign for whom he fell, better a +death like this than treachery and shame." + +She had paused as fearing observation, but perceiving the attention of +all more fixed on the glittering cavalcade than on herself, she placed +one of those glossy curls in the young earl's hand, and continued-- + +"Give this to my poor Agnes, with her mother's blessing, and bid her +take comfort, bid her not weep and mourn for me. A prison, even death is +preferable now to life, for she is cared for. I trust her to Sir Nigel's +love; I know that he will tend her as a brother till a happier hour +makes her all his own. Commend me to my sovereign, and tell him, might I +choose my path again, despite its anguish, 'twould be that which I have +trod. And now farewell, young lord, I bless thee for this meeting." + +"Dominus vobiscum mea filia, et vale," responded the supposed monk, in a +loud voice, for he had only time to assure the countess by a look of +deep sympathy of his willingness to execute her simplest wish, and hide +the ringlet in his bosom, ere Hereford turned towards him, with a gaze +of stern inquiry. Ably concealing alike his emotion and the expression +of his countenance, Douglas evaded discovery, and even obtained +permission to follow the litter to the environs of the town. He did so, +but the countess addressed him not again; and it was with a +heart-sinking despondency he had turned to the mountains, when the +cavalcade disappeared from his view. He retained his monkish garb till +he entered the mountain district, where he fell in with his two +companions, and they proceeded, as we have seen, to the quarters of +their king. + +A pause of horror followed his narrative, told more forcibly and briefly +by the lips of Douglas than through the cooler medium of the historian's +pen. Stunned, overwhelmed, as if incapable of movement or speech, though +sense remained, Agnes stood insensible, even to the voice of Nigel, +whose soothing accents strove to whisper peace; but when Douglas placed +in her cold hand the raven curls she knew so well, when tenderly yet +earnestly he repeated her mother's words, the poor girl repeatedly +pressed the hair to her parched lips, and laid it in her bosom; and then +perceiving the sad and anxious face of her beloved, she passed her hand +hurriedly over her brow, and burying her head on his breast, sense was +preserved by an agony of tears. + +It was long, long ere this aggravated wretchedness was calmed, though +the love of many, the devotion of one were ever round her to strengthen +and console. Sympathy, the most heartfelt, reigned in every bosom. Of +the many misfortunes which had befallen this patriot band, this seemed, +if not really the severest, more fraught with horror than any which had +come before; the youth, the gallant bearing, the endearing qualities of +the heir of Buchan stood forth with vivid clearness in the memories of +all, and there were times when they felt it could not be, it was too +fearful; and then again, the too certain evidence of the fact, witnessed +as it had been by one of such tried truth as James of Douglas, brought +conviction too clearly home, and the sternest warrior, who would have +faced his own captivity and death unmoved, felt no shame in the dimness +which gathered in his eye for the fearful fate of the murdered boy. + +In King Robert's breast these emotions obtained yet more powerful +dominion; again did remorse distract him, and there were moments of +darkness, when his spirit questioned the justice of the Creator. Why was +not his crime visited on his own head? Why did the guiltless and +unstained fall thus around him, and he remain unharmed? and it needed +all the eloquence of Nigel, the pious reasonings of the Abbot of Scone, +to convince him that, dark and inscrutable as the decrees of Omnipotence +sometimes seemed, in his case they were as clear as the wisdom from +which they sprung. By chastisement he was purified; he was not yet fit +to receive the reward of the righteous waiting on death. Destined to be +the savior of his unhappy country, the remorse which bowed down his +naturally haughty spirit was more acceptable in the sight of his God, +more beneficial to his own soul, than the one act of devotedness +included in a brave man's death. Robert struggled with his despondency, +with his soul's deep grief, known as it was but to himself, his +confessor, and his young brother; he felt its encouragement would +unnerve him for his destined task. Other imperative matters now pressed +round him, and by presenting fresh and increased danger, roused his +energies once more to their wonted action. + +The winter had set in with unexampled severity, overwhelming snow-storms +filled up the rude paths of the mountains, till egress and ingress +appeared impossible. The Earl of Athol himself, who had been the +inseparable companion of the Bruce in all his wanderings, now spoke of +retiring, and passing the winter within stone walls, urging his +sovereign with earnest eloquence to take refuge in Ireland till the +spring, when they would reassemble under arms, and perhaps take the +tyrant Edward once more by surprise. + +Bruce knew the veteran nobleman too well to attribute this advice to any +motive save deep interest in his safety. He saw, too, that it was +utterly impossible for them to remain as they then were, without serious +evils alike to his female and male companions; the common soldiers, +steady and firm as they still continued in loyalty, yet were continually +dispersing, promising to reassemble in the spring, but declaring that it +was useless to think of struggling against the English, when the very +elements were at war against them. With a sad foreboding, Robert saw, +and communicated to his devoted wife the necessity of their separation. +He felt that it was right and best, and therefore he resisted all her +tearful entreaties still to linger by his side; her child was suffering, +for her tender years could not bear up against the cold and the want of +proper nourishment, and yet even that claim seemed less to the mother's +heart than the vision of her husband enduring increase of hardship +alone. Her acquiescence was indeed at length obtained, but dimmed by +many very bitter tears. + +A hasty consultation with his few remaining friends speedily decided the +Bruce's plans. The castle of Kildrummie, a strong fortress situated at +the head of the Don, in Aberdeenshire, yet remained to him, and thither, +under the escort of his brother Nigel and three hundred men, the king +determined to send his wife and child, and the other ladies of his +court. Himself, his three brothers, Edward, Alexander, and Thomas, +Douglas, Sir Niel Campbell, and his remaining two hundred followers, +resolved on cautiously making their way southward across Loch Lomond, +and proceed thence to the coast of Ireland, there to await the spring. +In pursuance of this plan, Sir Niel Campbell was dispatched without +delay to conciliate Angus, Lord of the Isles, to whom Cantire then +belonged. Knowing he was unfriendly to his near neighbors, the Lords of +Lorn, the king trusted he should find in him a powerful ally. To appeal +yet more strongly to the chivalric hospitality which characterized the +chieftain, Sir Niel consented that his wife and daughter Isoline should +accompany him. Lady Campbell had too lately undergone the grief and +anxiety attendant on the supposed loss of her husband to consent to +another parting. Even the king, her brother, sought not to dissuade her; +but all persuasions to induce Agnes to accompany them were vain; bitter +as the pang of separation was to her already aching heart--for Lady +Campbell and Isoline were both most dear to her--she steadily resolved +to remain with the queen and her attendants, and thus share the fate of +her betrothed. + +"Did not my mother commend me to thy care? Did she not bid thee tend me +as a brother until happier hours, and shall I seek other guardianship +than thine, my Nigel?" were her whispered words, and Nigel could not +answer them. So pure, so unselfish was her love, that though he felt his +happiness would have departed with her presence, could he have commanded +words he would have implored her to seek the hospitality of the Lord of +the Isles as a securer home than Kildrummie. Those forebodings already +alluded to had returned with darker weight from the hour his separation +from his brother was resolved on. He evinced no sign of his inward +thoughts, he uttered no word of dissent, for the trust reposed in him by +his sovereign was indeed as precious as it was honorable; but there was +a mournful expression on his beautiful countenance--when unobserved, it +would rest upon his brother--that Agnes could not define, although it +filled her spirit with incomprehensible alarm, and urged her yet more to +abide by his side. + +The dreaded day arrived at length, and agonized was indeed that parting. +Cheerfully the king looked, and hopefully he spoke, but it had no power +to calm the whelming tide of sorrow in which his wife clung to his +embrace. Again and again she returned to that faithful heart which bore +so fondly, so forbearingly, with all her faults and weaknesses; and +Margory, although she could not comprehend the extent of sorrow +experienced by her mother, wept bitterly at her side. Nor were they the +only sufferers. Some indeed were fortunate enough to have relatives amid +the band which accompanied them to Kildrummie, but by far the greater +number clung to the necks of brothers, fathers, husbands, whose faithful +and loving companions they had been so long--clung to them and wept, as +if a long dim vista of sorrow and separation stretched before them. +Danger, indeed, was around them, and the very fact of their being thus +compelled to divide, appeared to heighten the perils, and tacitly +acknowledge them as too great to be endured. + +With pain and difficulty the iron-souled warriors at length tore +themselves from the embrace of those they held most dear. The knights +and their followers had closed round the litters, and commenced their +march. No clarion sent its shrill blast on the mountain echoes, no +inspiring drum reverberated through the glens--all was mournfully still; +as the rudest soldier revered the grief he beheld, and shrunk from +disturbing it by a sound. + +King Robert stood alone, on the spot where Sir Christopher Seaton had +borne from him his wife and child. His eyes still watched their litter; +his thoughts still lingered with them alone; full of affection, anxiety, +sadness, they were engrossed, but not defined. He was aroused by the +sudden appearance of his younger brother, who, bareheaded, threw himself +at his feet, and, in a voice strangely husky, murmured-- + +"My sovereign, my brother, bless me, oh, bless me, ere we part!" + +"My blessing--the blessing of one they deem accursed; and to thee, good, +noble, stainless as thou art! Nigel, Nigel, do not mock me thus," +answered the king, bitterness struggling with the deepest melancholy, as +he laid his hand, which strangely trembled, on the young man's lowered +head. "Alas! bring I not evil and misery and death on all who love me? +What, what may my blessing bring to thee?" + +"Joy, bright joy in the hour of mirth and comfort; oh, untold-of comfort +in the time of sorrow, imprisonment, death! My brother, my brother, oh, +refuse it not; thou knowest not, thou canst not know how Nigel loves +thee!" + +Robert gazed at him till every thought, every feeling was lost in the +sudden sensation of dread lest ill should come to him; it had overtaken +one as fair in promise, as beloved, and yet younger; and oh, if death +selected the best, the loveliest, the dearest, would it next fall on +him? The thought was such absolute agony, that the previous suffering +of that hour was lost before it. + +"Bless thee--oh, may God in heaven bless thee, my brave, my noble +Nigel!" he exclaimed, with a burst of emotion, perfectly appalling in +one generally so controlled, and raising him, he strained him +convulsively to his heart. "Yet why should we part?" he added, after a +long pause; "why did I fix on thee for this office--are there not +others? Nigel, Nigel, say but the word, and thou shalt rest with me: +danger, privation, exile we have borne, and may still share together. +Why should I send thee from me, dearest, most beloved of all who call me +brother?" + +"Why?" answered Nigel, raising his glistening eyes from his brother's +shoulder, "why, dear Robert? because thine eye could read my heart and +trust it; because thou knewest I would watch over those who bear thy +name, who are dear to thee, even as thy noble self. Oh, do not repent +thee of thy choice; 'tis hard to bear alone danger, so long encountered +hand in hand, yet as thou hast decided let it be. Thy words have soothed +my yearning heart, which craved to list thy voice once more; and now +then, my noble liege and brother, farewell. Think on thy Nigel's words; +even when misery is round thee thou shalt, thou shalt be blessed. Think +on them, my Robert, and then when joy and liberty and conquest crown +thee, oh, forget not Nigel." + +He threw his arms around him, imprinted a fervent kiss on his cheek, and +was out of sight ere the king by sign or word could arrest his progress. +One hasty bound forward Robert indeed made, but a dimness stole over his +sight, and for one brief minute he sunk down on the grass, and when he +lifted his head again, there were burning tears upon his cheek. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The hardships and dangers attendant on King Robert's progress southward, +mingled as they were with the very spirit of romance, are so well known +to every reader of Scottish history that they must be excluded from our +pages, although a tale of chivalry would seem the very place for their +insertion. + +The life of no hero, no sovereign, no general, presents us with a +parallel to the lone and dreary passage of Loch Lomond. We hear of an +ancient and a modern Hannibal crossing the snowy Alps, but it was at the +head of triumphant armies; it was carrying war and victory into an +enemy's land, and there was glory in the danger--the glory and pride of +successful ambition. But there was greater and truer heroism in the +spirit which struggled on when the broad, deep waters of Loch Lomond lay +between them and comparative safety; when 'mid falling snow and howling +winds he cheered his drooping and exhausted followers by reading aloud a +spirit-stirring romance, to which they listened enwrapt and charmed, +little imagining their own situation was one of far greater peril, of +more exciting romance than any which the volume so vividly described. A +leaky boat, which scarcely allowed three men to cross in safety, was +their only means of conveyance, and a day and night passed ere the two +hundred followers of the Bruce assembled on the opposite side. The +cheerful blast of his bugle, which sounded to form them in bands before +him on the beach, was answered by one whose unexpected appearance +occasioned such joy to the heart of the king, that the exertions both of +body and mind of the last few hours were forgotten. It was the Earl of +Lennox, who since the fatal battle of Methven had been numbered amongst +the dead, and lamented by his royal master with grief as deep as the joy +was exceeding which greeted him again. Mutual was the tale of suffering +each had to relate, few and faint the hopes and prospects to +communicate, but so many were the friends the patriots had lost, that +the reappearance of the venerable nobleman infused a new and brighter +spirit amid the almost despairing men. + +That the Earl of Lennox had found a kind and hospitable home in the +dominions of the Lord of the Isles, and received welcome and favor from +the chieftain himself, was justly a subject of rejoicing to the fugitive +king. Guided by him, the intricacies of their path were smoothed, and +they reached their destination in a much shorter time than would +otherwise have been the case. Sir Niel Campbell had performed his +mission well, and kindness and truth so long unknown, now eagerly +opened their hearths and hearts to the patriot king. Scorning alike the +Scottish and English authority, Angus, Lord of the Isles, had formed an +independent sovereignty, and now felt pride in receiving in his +territories the only sovereign he had felt inclination to revere. The +daring heroism, the unshaken spirit of the Bruce, were akin to his own +wild, and reckless courage, and had there been no actual claim and right +in Robert's pretensions to the crown, Angus would still have declared +that he, and he alone, was the sovereign worthy to assume it. All, then, +of state and dignity which he could assemble round him were proffered to +the king, and had there been less generosity, less chivalric honor in +his character King Robert might have passed the winter months in +comparative security and comfort. + +Angus indeed spoke daringly and slightly of the English force, and had +his inmost soul been read, would have joyed had they ventured to attack +him, that he might show his skill and bravery in resisting and defending +against their united force the sovereign who had confided in his +gallantry and honor; but Robert knew better than the rude chieftain the +devastating warfare which characterized Edward's efforts at subjection, +and his whole soul shrunk from exposing Angus and his true-hearted +followers to the utter ruin which, if he were once known to be amongst +them, would inevitably ensue. At once to secure his personal +concealment, and yet to withdraw from Cantire without in any way +offending the high spirit of the island chieftain, Bruce resolved on +making the little island of Rathlin the winter refuge of himself and his +two hundred followers. + +Inhabited by the MacDonalds, who were of course subject to their general +chief, though divided from him by the channel, Bruce was still under the +generous protection of his friend, and therefore Angus could bring +forward no objection to the proposal, save the miserable poverty, the +many discomforts of the barren islet, and entreat with all his natural +eloquence that King Robert would still remain in the peninsula. The +arguments of the king, however, prevailed. A small fleet, better manned +than built, was instantly made ready for his service, and Angus himself +conveyed the king in his own galley to his destined residence. The +aspect of the island, the savage appearance and manner of its +inhabitants were indeed such as to strike despondingly and painfully on +the hearts of any less inured to suffering than King Robert and his +devoted adherents. To them it was welcome, for they justly felt the eye +of Edward could scarcely reach them there. It was a painful alternative +to warrior spirits such as theirs that the safety of their country +depended on their inaction and concealment; yet as their king, their +patriot king, was still amongst them, there was much, much to hope and +cherish still. That their gentler friends and relatives were, they hoped +and believed, in a place of safety, was a matter of rejoicing, though +neither entreaty nor command could persuade the Lady Campbell and her +daughter Isoline to accept the proffered hospitality of the island +chieftain. It was nothing to them that they were the only females 'mid +that warrior train, that many hardships were around them still. Neither +Sir Kiel nor the king could resist their pleadings, and ere the sun of +spring had shed its influence on the heart of man as well as the +hardened earth, there were many who mourned that a separation had taken +place, who wished that fatigue and anxiety had still been met together. + +Many weeks before King Robert retreated to the island of Rathlin, Sir +Nigel Bruce had conducted his precious charge in safety to the castle of +Kildrummie, whose feeble garrison gladly flung open their gates to +receive them. + +It was a strong fortress situated on a circular mount, overhanging the +river Don, which at that point ever rushed darkly and stormily along; +the mount, though not steep, was full two miles in circumference, from +base to brow occupied by the castle, which was erected in that massive +yet irregular form peculiar to the architecture of the middle ages. A +deep, broad moat or fosse, constantly supplied by the river, defended +the castle wall, which ran round the mound, irregularly indeed, for +there were indentations and sharp angles, occasioned by the uneven +ground, each of which was guarded by a strong turret or tower, rising +from the wall. The wall itself was some four-and-twenty feet in height, +and nine in thickness, consequently the spaces between the turrets on +the top of the wall formed broad level platforms, which in case of a +siege were generally kept strongly guarded. Facing the east, and +commanding a view of the river and adjacent country, stood the barbacan +gate and drawbridge, which latter was further defended by strong oaken +doors and an iron portcullis, forming the great gate of the castle +wall, and the principal entrance into the fortress. Two towers of +immense strength, united by a narrow, dimly-lighted passage, guarded +this gate, and on these depended the grate or portcullis, which was +lowered or raised by internal machinery. Within the castle wall was the +outer ballium or court, containing some small, low-roofed dwellings, the +residence of many feudal retainers of the baron. A rude church or chapel +was also within this court, holding a communication with the keep or +principal part of the castle by means of a passage in the third wall, +which divided the ballium from the inner court. In very large castles +there were in general a second fosse, wall, gate, and towers guarding +the keep, and thus making a complete division between it and the +ballium; but the original owners of Kildrummie, less rich and powerful +suzerains than their equals in South Britain, were probably contented +with merely a stout wall to divide their own sovereign residence from +their more plebeian followers. The keep itself, constructed like all +other similar buildings of the age, was a massive tower, covering but a +small square, and four or five stories high. There were attempts at +luxury in the chambers within, but to modern taste the Norman luxury was +little better than rudeness; and certainly though the cushions were soft +and richly embroidered, the arras in some of the apartments splendid +specimens of needlework, and the beautifully carved and often inlaid +oaken walls of others, gave evidence of both taste and talent, yet the +dim light seemed to shed a gloom and heaviness over the whole range of +rooms and passages, which no skill of workmanship or richness of +material could remove. The windows were invariably small, and very long +and narrow, and set in walls of such huge thickness, that the sun had +barely power even in his summer splendor, to penetrate the dusky panes. +In this keep was the great hall of audience, and for the banquet, at the +upper end of which the dais was invariably found, and dark and loathsome +dungeons formed its basement. + +The roof of Kildrummie keep was flatter than the generality of Norman +castles, its four angles being surmounted more by the appearance than +the reality of turrets; but one rose from the centre, round, and pierced +by loopholes, turreted at the top, and commanding an extensive view of +the adjoining country: from this tower the banner of the baron always +waved, and its non-appearance excited some indignation in the breast of +Nigel Bruce, for his warrior spirit had no sympathy with that timorous +excuse, that did it wave at such a time it might excite the attention of +the English, whereas did it elevate no symbol of defiance its garrison +might pass unquestioned. + +"Up with the banner of Scotland and the Bruce!" were the first commands +of Sir Nigel, as he stood within the ballium, surrounded by his charge +and followers. "Shall we, pledged as we are to our country and king, +even seem to stand neutral and conceal our colors, as ashamed of them? +Shall this be?" + +He was answered by a simultaneous rush towards the keep, and at his word +the folds of the broad banner waved exultingly from the tower, its +appearance hailed by a loud shout from those beneath, and by a bright +and momentary gleam of sunshine flashing through the heavy clouds. + +"Ha! see ye, my friends, even heaven smiles on us," exclaimed the young +knight triumphantly, and smiling cheerily on his fair friends, as with +gay words and graceful action he marshalled them into the keep. It was +while doing so, that Agnes marked the figure of an old yet +majestic-looking man, whose eyes, still bright and flashing, though his +white hair denoted extreme old age, were fixed immovably on the face and +form of Nigel. It was a peculiar glance, strained, eager, and yet +mournful, holding her attention so fascinated that she paused in her +onward way, and pointed him out to Nigel. + +"I know him not, love," he said, in, answer to her inquiry. "I should +deem him minstrel by his garb, or seer, or both perchance, as is +sometimes the case, conjoined. I will speak with him when my present +grateful task is done." + +But it was the next morning ere he had the opportunity of doing so, for +much devolved on the young seneschal. He had to visit the outworks, the +stores, the offices, to give multitudinous orders, and receive various +intelligences, to review the present garrison and his own followers, and +assign to each his post; and though ably aided by Sir Christopher Seaton +and other of his officers, all this occupied much time. The outworks he +found in excellent condition; the barbacan, of massive stone, seemed +well enabled to resist attack, should it be made; the machinery of the +drawbridge was in good order, and enabled to be drawn up or let down at +a moment's warning. The stores and granaries, which were contained in +the towers on the castle wall, were very amply provided, though Nigel, +taking advantage of the present peaceful temper of the country, +dispatched trusty messengers without delay for further supplies. That +this fortress, almost the only one remaining to his brother, would +remain unmolested, Nigel did not for one moment believe, but he did hope +that, in case of a siege, if amply provided with stores, it might hold +out till the intense cold of the season and climate would turn the +besiegers from their purpose; at all events, the advancing winter would +be more favorable to the besieged than the besiegers, and though the +garrison was comparatively small, the place itself was of such great +strength as to guarantee the indulgence of his hopes. That the original +garrison were too timorous and wavering for him to place much dependence +on them he readily perceived, but he trusted much to the beneficial +influence which his own steady, true-hearted followers might be enabled +to infuse. + +Nigel was young, brave, and animated by every feeling which inspires +courage and hope in the buoyant heart of youth. The gloom which had +oppressed him in parting with his brother, and indeed had partially +clouded his spirit during their rapid journey, vanished before the +duties and responsibilities which thronged round him, now that he felt +himself the guard and seneschal of the castle intrusted to his charge; +now that new duties devolved on him, duties particularly dear to a young +and gallant spirit like his own; duties, too, that bound him closer and +closer with the gentle being in whose welfare and happiness his own were +shrined. It was with a bright smile, then, and animated brow he joined +his Agnes early the following morning, in a stroll through a small woody +inclosure dignified by the name of garden, which occupied part of the +inner court. The old minstrel who had so attracted the attention of +Agnes was there before them. He stood against a projecting buttress, his +arms folded, his eyes fixed, it seemed on vacancy, and evidently not +aware he was approached till Nigel spoke. + +"Good morrow, father. I thought we had been the earliest to greet this +fresh and frosty air, save those on guard, yet you are before us. Nay, +wherefore doff thy cap, good father? The air is somewhat too frosty for +thy silvered head." + +"I cannot doff it to a nobler, gentle youth," answered the old man, +courteously, "save to my sovereign's self; and as his representative, I +pay willing homage to his brother." + +"Ha! dost thou know me, father? And was it because I am King Robert's +brother thine eyes so rested on me yester morn, mournfully, methought, +as if the joy with which I hailed the gleam of sunshine smiling on our +banner had little echo in thy breast?" + +"Not that, not that," answered the old man, tremulous; "I scarce +remarked it, for my thoughts were in that future which is sometimes +given me to read. I saw thee, noble youth, but 'twas not here. Dim +visions come across my waking hours; it is not well to note them," and +he turned away as if he might not meet those eager eyes. + +"Not here! yet I was at his side, good father," and Agnes laid her fair +hand on the old man's arm. + +"Thou wert, thou wert, my child. Beautiful, beautiful!" he half +whispered, as he laid his hand dreamily on those golden curls, and +looked on her face; "yet hath sorrow touched thee, maiden. Thy morn of +life hath been o'erclouded; its shadow lingers yet." + +"Too truly speakest thou, father," replied Nigel, drawing Agnes closer +to his heart, for tears were starting in her eyes; "yet will not love +soon chase that sorrow? Thou who canst penetrate the future, seer of the +Bruce's line, tell me, shall she not be mine?" + +The old man looked on them both, and then his eyes became fixed on +vacancy; long and painfully once or twice he passed his hand across his +high, pale brow. + +"Vain, vain," he said, sadly; "but one vision comes to mine aching +sight, and there she seems thine own. She is thine own--but I know not +how that will be. Ask me no more; the dream is passing. 'Tis a sad and +fearful gift. Others may triumph in the power, but for me 'tis sad, 'tis +very sad." + +"Sad! nay, is it not joy, the anticipating joy," answered Nigel, with +animation, "to look on a beloved one, and mark, amid the clouds of +distance, glory, and honor, and love entwining on, his path? to look +through shades of present sorrow, and discern the sunbeam afar off--is +there not joy in this?" + +"Aye, gentle youth; but now, oh, now is there aught in Scotland to +whisper these bright things? There was rejoicing, find glory, and +triumph around the patriot Wallace. Scotland sprung from her sluggish +sleep, and gave back her echo to his inspiring call. I looked upon the +hero's beaming brow, I met the sparkle of his brilliant eye, I bowed +before the native majesty of his god-like form, but there was no joy +for me. Dark masses of clouds closed round the present sunshine; the +present fled like a mist before them, and they oped, and then--there was +still Wallace; but oh! how did I see him? the scaffold, the cord, the +mocking crowds, the steel-clad guards--all, all, even as he fell. My +children! my children! was there joy in this?" + +There was a thrilling pathos in the old man's voice that touched the +very heart of his listeners. Agnes clung closer to the arm of her +betrothed, and looked up tearfully in his face; his cheek was very pale, +and his lip slightly quivered. There was evidently a desire to speak, to +utter some inquiry, but he looked on that sweet face upturned to his, +and the unspoken words died in an inarticulate murmur on his lips. + +"My brother," he said, at length, and with some difficulty, though it +was evident from the expression of his countenance this was not the +question he had meant to ask, "my noble brother, will thy glorious +struggles, thy persevering valor, end in this? No, no, it cannot be. +Prophet and seer, hast thou e'er gazed on him--him, the hope, the joy, +the glory of the line of Bruce? Hast thou gazed on him, and was there no +joy there?" + +"Yes!" answered the old man, starting from his posture of despondency, +and raising his hands with animated fervor, while his cheek flushed, and +his eyes, fixed on distance, sparkled with all the fire of youth. "Yes! +I have gazed upon that face, and in present and in future it is glorious +still. Thick mists have risen round him, well-nigh concealing him within +their murky folds, but still, still as a star penetrating through cloud, +and mist, and space, till it sees its own bright semblance in the ocean +depths, so has that brow, circled by its diadem of freedom, gleamed back +upon mine aching sight, and I have seen and known there is joy for Bruce +and Scotland yet!" + +"Then is there joy for all true Scottish men, good father, and so will +we chase all sadness from our brows and hearts," replied Nigel, lightly. +"Come, tell us of the past, and not the future, while we stroll; thou +hast traditions, hast thou not, to while away an hour?" + +"Nay, my young lord," replied the seer, "hast thou not enough in the +present, embodied as it is in this fair maiden's dreaming eye and loving +heart? The minstrel's harp and ancient lore are for the evening hour, +not for a time and companion such as this," and with an audible blessing +he turned away, leaving them to their stroll together. + +It was not, however, without an effort Nigel could take advantage of his +absence, and make good use of moments so blissful to hearts that love. +There was something in the old man's mournful tone and glance when it +rested upon him, that answered strangely and sadly to the spirit-voice +breathing in his own bold breast. It seemed to touch that chord +indefinably, yet felt by the vibration of every nerve which followed. He +roused himself, however, and ere they joined the morning meal, there was +a brighter smile on the lip and heart of Agnes than had rested there for +many a long day. + +For a few weeks there was peace both within and without the castle of +Kildrummie. The relief, the shelter which its walls afforded to the +wearied and exhausted wanderers was at first felt and enjoyed alone. +Many of the frailer sex were far too exhausted and disabled by a variety +of sufferings, to be sensible of any thing but that greater comforts +than had been theirs for many painful months were now possessed; but +when their strength became partially restored, when these comforts +became sufficiently familiar to admit of other thoughts, the queen's +fortitude began to waver. It was not the mere impulse of the moment +which caused her to urge her accompanying her husband, on the plea of +becoming more and more unworthy of his love if separated from him. +Margaret of Mar was not born for a heroine; more especially to act on +such a stormy stage as Scotland. Full of kindly feeling, of affection, +confidence, gentleness, one that would have drooped and died had her +doom been to pass through life unloved, her yielding mind took its tone +and coloring from those with whom she most intimately associated; not +indeed from the rude and evil, for from those she intuitively shrunk. +Beneath her husband's influence, cradled in his love, her spirit +received and cherished the _reflection_ of his strength; of itself, she +too truly felt it had none; and consequently when that beloved one was +far away, the reflection passed from her mind even as the gleam of his +armor from the mirror on which it glanced, and Margaret was weak and +timorous again. She had thought, and hoped, and prayed, her unfeigned +admiration of Isabella of Buchan, her meek and beautiful appreciation of +those qualities and candid acknowledgment that such was the character +most adapted to her warrior husband, would bring more steadiness and +courage to her own woman breast. Alas! the fearful fate which had +overtaken the heroic countess came with such a shock to the weaker soul +of Margaret, that if she had obtained any increase of courage, it was at +once annihilated, and the desponding fancy entered her mind that if evil +reached one so noble, so steadfast in thought and in action, how might +she hope to escape; and now, when weakened and depressed alike by bodily +and mental suffering, such fancies obtained so much possession of her +that she became more and more restless. The exertions of Sir Nigel and +his companions, even of her own friends, failed in rousing or infusing +strength. Sometimes it was vague conjectures as to the fate of her +husband, the dread that he had fallen into the hands of his foes--a +catastrophe which not only herself but many stronger minds imagined +could scarcely be avoided. She would dwell on these fancies till +suspense became intolerable; and then, if these were partially calmed, +came personal fears: the belief that if attacked the castle could not +muster force enough for defence; suspicions of treachery in the +garrison, and other symptoms of the wavering nature of her mind, till +Sir Nigel felt too truly that if danger did come she would not stay to +meet it. Her wishes ever turned to the sanctuary of St. Duthac in the +domains of the Earl of Ross, believing the sanctity of the place would +be more effectual protection than the strongest castle and bravest +force. In vain Sir Nigel remonstrated, nay, assured her that the +fidelity of the Lord of Ross was impugned; that he doubted his +flattering overtures; that he was known to be in correspondence with +England. But he spoke in vain--the queen persisted in trusting him; that +he had ever been a friend of her father and brother the Earls of Mar, +and he would be faithful to her interests now. Her opinion weighed with +many of the ladies of her court, even amongst those who were not +affected with her fears. At such times Agnes never spoke, but there was +a calm, quiet determination in her expression that convinced the Lady +Seaton, who alone had leisure to observe her, that her resolution was +already taken and unalterable. + +All that could be done to calm, the queen's perturbed spirits by way of +amusement Sir Nigel did; but his task was not an easy one, and the rumor +which about this time reached him that the Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster, with a very large force, were rapidly advancing towards +Aberdeenshire, did not lessen its difficulties. He sought to keep the +information as long as possible from all his female charge, although the +appearance of many terrified villagers flying from their homes to the +protection of the castle hardly enabled him to do so, and confirmed +without doubt the truth of what he had heard. Nigel felt the moment of +peril was approaching, and he nerved both mind and frame to meet it. The +weak terrors of the queen and some of her train increased with every +rumor, and, despite every persuasion of Sir Nigel, Seaton, and other +brave and well-tried warriors, she rested not till a negotiation was +entered into with the Earl of Ross to grant them a safe conduct through +his lands, and permission to enter the sanctuary of St. Duthac. + +Perplexed with many sad thoughts, Nigel Bruce was one day slowly +traversing a long gallery leading to some uninhabited chambers in the +west wing of the building; it was of different architecture, and ruder, +heavier aspect than the remainder of the castle. Tradition said that +those rooms had been the original building inhabited by an ancestor of +the line of Bruce, and the remainder had been gradually added to them; +that some dark deed of blood had been there committed, and consequently +they were generally kept locked, none of the vassals in the castle +choosing to run the risk of meeting the spirits which they declared +abode there. We have before said that Nigel was not superstitious, +though his mind being of a cast which, adopting and embodying the ideal, +he was likely to be supposed such. The particulars of the tradition he +had never heard, and consequently it was always with a smile of +disbelief he listened to the oft-repeated injunction not to walk at dusk +in the western turret. This warning came across him now, but his mind +was far otherwise engrossed, too much so indeed for him even to give +more than a casual glance to the rude portraits which hung on either +side the gallery. + +He mistrusted the Earl of Ross, and there came a fear upon his noble +spirit that, in permitting the departure of the queen and her +attendants, he might be liable to the censure of his sovereign, that he +was failing in his trust; yet how was he to act, how put a restraint +upon his charge? Had he indeed believed that the defence of the castle +would be successful, that he should be enabled to force the besiegers +to raise the siege, he might perhaps have felt justified in restraining +the queen--but he did not feel this. He had observed there were many +discontented and seditious spirits in the castle, not indeed in the +three hundred of his immediate followers; but what were they compared to +the immense force now pouring over the country, and whose goal he knew +was Kildrummie? The increase of inmates also, from the number of small +villages which had emptied their inhabitants into his walls till he was +compelled to prevent further ingress, must inevitably diminish his +stores, and when once blockaded, to replenish them would be impossible. +No personal fears, no weakness of purpose entered the high soul of Nigel +Bruce amid these painful cogitations. He well knew no shade of dishonor +_could_ fall on him; he thought not one moment of his own fate, although +if the castle were taken he knew death awaited him, either by the +besieger's sword or the hangman's cord, for he would make no condition; +he thought only that this was well-nigh the last castle in his brother's +keeping, which, if lost, would in the present depressed state of his +affairs be indeed a fatal blow, and a still greater triumph to England. + +These thoughts naturally engrossed his mind to the exclusion of all +imaginative whisperings, and therefore was it that he drew back the bolt +of a door which closed the passage, without any of those peculiar +feelings that at a less anxious time might have possessed him; for souls +less gifted than that of Nigel Bruce can seldom enter a spot hallowed by +tradition without the electric thrill which so strangely unites the +present with the past. + +It was a chamber of moderate dimensions to which the oaken door admitted +him, hung with coarse and faded tapestry, which, disturbed by the wind, +disclosed an opening into another passage, through which he pursued his +way. In the apartment on which the dark and narrow passage ended, +however, his steps were irresistibly arrested. It was panelled with +black-oak, of which the floor also was composed, giving the whole an +aspect calculated to infect the most thoughtless spirit with gloom. Two +high and very narrow windows, the small panes of which were quite +incrusted with dust, were the only conductors of light, with the +exception of a loophole--for it could scarcely be dignified by the name +of casement--on the western side. Through this loophole the red light +of a declining winter sun sent its rays, which were caught and stayed on +what seemed at the distance an antique picture-frame. Wondering to +perceive a picture out of its place in the gallery, Nigel hastily +advanced towards it, pausing, however, on his way to examine, with some +surprise, one of the planks in the floor, which, instead of the +beautiful black polish which age had rather heightened than marred in +the rest, was rough and white, with all the appearance of having been +hewn and scraped by some sharp instrument. + +It is curious to mark how trifling a thing will sometimes connect, +arrange, and render clear as day to the mind all that has before been +vague, imperfect, and indistinct. It is like the touch of lightning on +an electric chain, link after link starts up till we see the illumined +whole. We have said Nigel had never heard the particulars of the +tradition; but he looked on that misshapen plank, and in an instant a +tale of blood and terror weaved itself in his mind; in that room the +deed, whatever it was, had been done, and from that plank the sanguine +evidence of murder had been with difficulty erased. A cold shuddering +passed over him, and he turned instinctively away, and strode hastily to +examine the frame which had attracted him. It did contain a picture--we +should rather say a portrait--for it comprised but one figure, the +half-length of a youthful warrior, clad in steel, save the +beautifully-formed head, which was covered only by his own luxuriant +raven curls. In a better light it could not have been placed, +particularly in the evening; the rays, condensed and softened, seemed to +gather up their power into one focus, and throw such an almost +supernatural glow on the half face, give such an extraordinary +appearance of life to the whole figure, that a casual visitant to that +chamber might well fancy it was no picture but reality on which he +gazed. But no such emotion was at work in the bosom of Nigel Bruce, +though his first glance upon that face occasioned an almost convulsive +start, and then a gaze of such intense, such almost fearful interest, +that he stood as if fascinated by some overpowering spell. His features, +worked with internal emotions, flushed and paled alternately. It was no +weak-minded terror which bound him there, no mood in which a step or +sound could chill and startle, for so wrapt was he in his own strange +dreams that he heard not a slow and measured step approach him; he did +not even start when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the melodious +voice of the seer caused him to turn slowly around. + +"The warnings thou hast heard have no power on thee, young lord," he +said, slightly smiling, "or I should not see thee here at this hour +alone. Yet thou wert strangely wrapt." + +"Knowest thou aught of _him_, good father?" answered Nigel, in a voice +that to his own ears sounded hoarse and unnatural, and turning his +glance once again to the portrait. "My thoughts are busy with that face +and yon tale-telling plank; there are wild, feverish, incongruous dreams +within me, and I would have them solved. Thou of all others art best +fitted to the task, for amid the records of the past, where thou hast +loved to linger, thou hast surely found the tradition of this tower. I +shame not to confess there is in my heart a deep yearning to learn the +truth. Wherefore, when thy harp and song have so pleasantly whiled the +evening hours, did not this tale find voice, good father?" + +"Alas! my son, 'tis too fraught with horror, too sad for gentle ears. A +few stern, rugged words will best repeat it. I love not to linger on the +theme; listen then now, and it shall be told thee." + +"In the reign of Malcolm the Second, the districts now called Aberdeen +and Forfar were possessed, and had been so, so tradition saith, since +Kenneth MacAlpine, by the Lords of Brus or Bris, a family originally +from the North. They were largely and nobly connected, particularly with +Norway and Gaul. It is generally supposed the first possessions in +Scotland held in fief by the line of Bruce can be traced back only to +the time of David I., in the person of Robert de Bruce, an Anglo-Norman +baron, whose father came over to England with the Conqueror. The cause +of this supposition my tale will presently explain. + +"Haco Brus or Bris was the Lord of Aberdeen in the reign of Malcolm the +Second. He spent many years abroad; indeed, was supposed to have married +and settled there, when, to the surprise of his vassals, he suddenly +returned unmarried, and soon after uniting himself with a beautiful and +accomplished girl, nearly related to the blood-royal of Scotland, +settled quietly in this tower, which was the stronghold of his +possessions. Years passed; the only child of the baron, a son, born in +the first year of his marriage, grew up in strength and beauty, the idol +not only of his mother, but of his father, a man stern and cold in +seeming, even morose, but with passions fearful alike in their influence +and extent. Your eye glances to that pictured face, he was not the +baron's son of whom I speak. The affections, nay, the very passions of +the baron were centered in this boy. It is supposed pride and ambition +were their origin, for he looked, through his near connection with the +sovereign, for further aggrandizement for himself. There were some who +declared ambition was not the master-passion, that a deeper, sterner, +fiercer emotion dwelt within. Whether they spoke thus from the sequel, I +know not, but that sequel proved their truth. + +"There was a gathering of all the knightly and noble in King Malcolm's +court, not perchance for trials at arms resembling the tournays of the +present day, but very similar in their motive and bearing, though ruder +and more dangerous. Tho wreath of glory and victory was ever given by +the gentle hand of beauty. Bright eyes and lovely forms presided at the +sports even as now, and the king and his highest nobles joined in the +revels. + +"The wife of the Baron of Brus and his son, now a fine boy of thirteen, +were of course amongst the royal guests. Though matron grace and +dignified demeanor had taken the place of the blushing charms of early +girlhood, the Lady Helen Brus was still very beautiful, and as the niece +of the king and wife of such a distinguished baron, commanded and +received universal homage. Among the combatants was a youthful knight, +of an exterior and bearing so much more polished and graceful than the +sons of the soil or their more northern visitors, that he was instantly +recognized as coming from Gaul, then as now the most polished kingdom of +the south. Delighted with his bravery, his modesty, and most chivalric +bearing, the king treated him with most distinguished honor, invited him +to his palace, spoke with him as friend with friend on the kingdoms of +Normandy and France, to the former of which he was subject. There was a +mystery, too, about the young knight, which heightened the interest he +excited; he bore no device on his shield, no cognizance whatever to mark +his name and birth and his countenance, beautiful as it was, often when +in repose expressed sadness and care unusual to his years, for he was +still very young, though in reply to the king's solicitations that he +would choose one of Scotland's fairest maidens (her dower should be +princely), and make the Scottish court his home, he had smilingly avowed +that he was already a husband and father. + +"The notice of the king, of course, inspired the nobles with similar +feelings of hospitality. Attention and kindness were lavished on the +stranger from all, and nothing was talked of but the nameless knight. +The Lord of Brus, who had been absent on a mission to a distant court +during the continuance of the martial games, was on his return presented +by the king himself to the young warrior. It is said that both were so +much moved by this meeting, that all present were mystified still more. +The baron, with that deep subtlety for which he was remarkable, +recovered himself the first, and accounted for his emotion to the +satisfaction of his hearers, though not apparently to that of the +stranger, who, though his cheek was blanched, still kept his bright +searching eyes upon him, till the baron's quailed 'neath his gaze. The +hundred tongues of rumor chose to speak of relationship, that there was +a likeness between them, yet I know not how that could be. There is no +impress of the fiendish passion at work in the baron's soul on those +bright, beautiful features." + +"Ha! Is it of him you speak?" involuntarily escaped from Nigel, as the +old man for a moment paused; "of him? Methought yon portrait was of an +ancestor of Bruce, or wherefore is it here?" + +"Be patient, good my son. My narrative wanders, for my lips shrink from +its tale. That the baron and the knight met, not in warlike joust but in +peaceful converse, and at the request of the latter, is known, but on +what passed in that interview even tradition is silent, it can only be +imagined by the sequel; they appeared, however, less reserved than at +first. The baron treated him with the same distinction as his +fellow-nobles, and the stranger's manner towards him was even more +respectful than the mere difference of age appeared to demand. Important +business with the Lord of Brus was alleged as the cause of his accepting +that nobleman's invitation to the tower of Kildrummie, in preference to +others earlier given and more eagerly enforced. They departed together, +the knight accompanied but by two of his followers, and the baron +leaving the greater number of his in attendance on his wife and child, +who, for some frivolous reason, he left with the court. It was a strange +thing for him to do, men said, as he had never before been known to lose +sight of his boy even for a day. For some days all seemed peace and +hospitality within the tower. The stranger was too noble himself, and +too kindly disposed towards all his fellow-creatures, to suspect aught +of treachery, or he might have remarked the retainers of the baron were +changed; that ruder forms and darker visages than at first were +gathering around him. How the baron might have intended to make use of +them--almost all robbers and murderers by trade--cannot be known, though +it may be suspected. In this room the last interview between them took +place, and here, on this silent witness of the deed, the hand of the +father was bathed in the blood of the son!" + +"God in heaven!" burst from Nigel's parched lips, as he sprang up. "The +son--how could that be? how known?" + +"Fearfully, most fearfully!" shudderingly answered the old man; "through +the dying ravings of the maniac Lord of Brus himself. Had not heaven, in +its all-seeing justice, thus revealed it, the crime would ever have +remained concealed. His bandit hirelings were at hand to remove and +bury, many fathoms deep in moat and earth, all traces of the deed. One +of the unfortunate knight's followers was supposed to have shared the +fate of his master, and to the other, who escaped almost miraculously, +you owe the preservation of your royal line. + +"But there was one witness of the deed neither time nor the most cunning +art could efface. The blood lay in a pool on the oaken floor, and the +voice of tradition whispers that day after day it was supernaturally +renewed; that vain were the efforts to absorb it, it ever seemed moist +and red; and that to remove the plank and re-floor the apartment was +attempted again and again in vain. However this may be, it is evident +that _erasing it_ was attended with extreme difficulty; that the blood +had penetrated well-nigh through the immense thickness of the wood." + +Nigel stooped down over the crumbling fragment; years, aye, centuries +had rolled away, yet there it still stood, arrested it seemed even in +its decay, not permitted to crumble into dust, but to remain an +everlasting monument of crime and its retribution. After a brief pause +Nigel resumed his seat, and pushing the hair from his brow, which was +damp with some untold emotion, signed to the old man to proceed. + +"That the stranger warrior returned not to Malcolm's court, and had +failed in his promises to various friends, was a matter of +disappointment, and for a time, of conjecture to the king and his court. +That his followers, in obedience, it was said, to their master's signet, +set off instantly to join him either in England or Normandy, for both of +which places they had received directions, satisfied the greater number. +If others suspected foul play, it was speedily hushed up; for the baron +was too powerful, too closely related to the throne, and justice then +too weak in Scotland to permit accusation or hope for conviction. Time +passed, and the only change observable in the baron was, that he became +more gloomy, more abstracted, wrapt up, as it were, in one dark +remembrance, one all-engrossing thought. Towards his wife he was +changed--harsh, cold, bitterly sarcastic; as if her caresses had turned +to gall. Her gentle spirit sunk beneath the withering blight, and he was +heard to laugh, the mocking laugh of a fiend, as he followed her to the +grave; her child, indeed, he still idolized, but it was a fearful +affection, and a just heaven permitted not its continuance. The child, +to whom many had looked as likely to ascend the Scottish throne, from +the failure of all direct heirs, the beautiful and innocent child of a +most guilty father, faded like a lovely flower before him, so softly, so +gradually, that there came no suspicion of death till the cold hand was +on his heart, and he lay lifeless before him who had plunged his soul in +deadliest crime through that child to aggrandize himself. Then was it +that remorse, torturing before, took the form of partial madness, and +there was not one who had power to restrain, or guide, or soothe. + +"Then it was the fearful tale was told, freezing the blood, not so much +with the wild madness of the tone, but that the words were too +collected, too stamped with truth, to admit of aught like doubt. The +couch of the baron was, at his own command, placed here, where we now +stand, covering the spot where his first-born fell, and that portrait, +obtained from Normandy, hung where it now is, ever in his sight. The +dark tale which those wild ravings revealed was simply this: + +"He had married, as was suspected, during his wanderings, but soon tired +of the yoke, more particularly as his wife possessed a spirit proud and +haughty as his own, and all efforts to mould her to his will were +useless, he plunged anew into his reckless career. He had never loved +his wife, marrying her simply because it suited his convenience, and +brought him increase of wealth and station; and her ill-disguised +abhorrence of many of his actions, her beautiful adherence to virtue, +however tempted, occasioned all former feelings to concentrate in hatred +the most deadly. More than one attempt to rid himself of her by poison +she had discovered and frustrated, and at last removed herself and her +child, under a feigned name, to Normandy, and ably eluded all pursuit +and inquiry. + +"The baron's search continued some time, in the hope of silencing her +forever, as he feared she might prove a dangerous enemy, but failing in +his wishes, he travelled some time over different countries, returned at +length to Scotland, and acted as we have seen. The young knight had been +informed of his birthright by his mother, at her death, which took place +two years before he made his appearance in Scotland; that she had +concealed from him the fearful character of his father, being unable so +completely to divest herself of all feeling towards the father of her +child, as to make him an object of aversion to his son. She had long +told him his real name, and urged him to demand from his father an +acknowledgment of his being heir to the proud barony of the Bruce. His +likeness to herself was so strong, that she knew it must carry +conviction to his father; but to make his identity still more certain, +she furnished him with certain jewels and papers, none but herself could +produce. She had done this in the presence of two faithful witnesses, +the father and brother of her son's betrothed bride, high lords of +Normandy, the former of which made it a condition annexed to his consent +to the marriage, that as soon as possible afterwards he should urge and +claim his rights. Sir Walter, of course, willingly complied; they were +married by the name of Brus, and their child so baptized. A war, which +retained Sir Walter in arms with his sovereign, prevented his seeking +Scotland till his boy was a year old, and then for his sake, far more +than for his own, the young father determined on asserting his +birthright, his child should not be nameless, as he had been; but to +spare his unknown parent all public mortification, he joined the martial +games without any cognizance or bearing on his shield. + +"Terrible were the ravings in which the baron alluded to the interview +he had had with his murdered child; the angelic mildness and generosity +of the youthful warrior; that, amid all his firmness never to depart +from his claim--as it was not alone himself but his child he would +irreparably injure--he never wavered in his respectful deference to his +parent. He quitted the court in the belief that the baron sought +Kildrummie to collect the necessary papers for substantiating his claim; +but ere he died, it appeared his eyes were opened. The fierce passions +of the baron had been too long restrained in the last interview; they +burst even his politic control, and he had flung the papers received +from, the hand of his too-confiding son on the blazing hearth, and with +dreadful oaths swore that if he would not instantly retract his claim, +and bind himself by the most sacred promise never to breathe the foul +tale again, death should be its silent keeper. He would not bring his +own head low, and avow that he had dishonored a scion of the +blood-royal. + +"Appalled far more at the dark, fiendish passions he beheld than the +threat held out to himself, Sir Walter stood silent a while, and then +mildly demanded to be heard; that if so much public mortification to his +parent would attend the pursuance of his claims at the present time, he +would consent to forego them, on condition of his father's solemnly +promising on his deathbed to reveal the truth, and do him tardy justice +then, but forego them altogether he would not, were his life the +forfeit. The calm firmness of his tone, it is supposed, lashed his +father into greater madness, and thus the dark deed was done. + +"That the baron several times endeavored to possess himself of the +infant child of Sir Walter, also came to light in his dying moments; +that he had determined to exterminate root and branch, fearful he should +still possess some clue to his birth; he had frantically avowed, but in +his last hour, he would have given all his amassed treasure, his +greatness, his power, but for one little moment of assurance that his +grandson lived. He left him all his possessions, his lordship, his name, +but as there were none came forth to claim, they of necessity passed to +the crown." + +"But the child, the son of Sir Walter--if from him our line descends, he +must have lived to manhood--why did not he demand his rights?" + +"He lived, aye, and had a goodly progeny; but the fearful tale of his +father's fate related to him again and again by the faithful Edric, who +had fled from his master's murdered corse to watch over the safety of +that master's child, and warn all who had the charge of him of the fiend +in human shape who would probably seek the boy's life as he had his +father's, caused him to shun the idea of his Scottish possessions with a +loathing horror which he could not conquer; they were associated with +the loss of both his parents, for his father's murder killed his devoted +mother. He was contented to feel himself Norman in possessions as well +as in name. He received lands and honors from the Dukes of Normandy, and +at the advanced age of seventy and five, accompanied Duke William to +England. The third generation from him obtained anew Scottish +possessions, and gradually Kildrummie and its feudal tenures returned to +its original lords; but the tower had been altered and enlarged, and +except the tradition of these chambers, the fearful fate of the second +of the line has faded from the minds of his descendants, unless casually +or supernaturally recalled." + +"Ha! supernaturally, sayest thou?" interrupted Nigel, in a tone so +peculiar it almost startled his companion. "Are there those who assert +they have seen his semblance--good, gifted, beautiful as thou hast +described him? why not at once deem him the guardian spirit of our +house?" + +"And there are those who deem him so, young lord," answered the seer. +"It is said that until the Lords of Bruce again obtained possession of +these lands, in the visions of the night the form of the murdered +warrior, clad as in yon portrait, save with the addition of a scarf +across his breast bearing the crest and cognizance of the Bruce, +appeared once in his lifetime to each lineal descendant. Such +visitations are said to have ceased, and he is now only seen by those +destined like himself to an early and bloody death, cut off in the prime +of manhood, nobleness, and joy." + +"And where--sleeping or waking?" demanded the young nobleman, in a low, +deep tone, laying his hand on the minstrel's arm, and looking fixedly on +his now strangely agitated face. + +"Sleeping or waking? it hath been both," he answered, and his voice +faltered. "If it be in the front of the war, amid the press, the crush, +the glory of the battle, he hath come, circled with bright forms and +brighter dreams, to the sleeping warrior on the eve of his last fight; +if"--and his voice grew lower and huskier yet--"if by the red hand of +the foe, by the captive's chain and headsman's axe, as the noble +Wallace, there have been those who say--I vouch not for its truth--he +hath been seen in the vigils of the night on the eve of knighthood, when +the young, aspiring warrior hath watched and prayed beside his arms. +Boy! boy! why dost thou look upon me thus?" + +"Because thine eye hath read my doom," he said, in a firm, sweet tone; +"and if there be aught of truth in thy tale, thou knowest, feelest I +have seen him. God of mercy, the captive's chain, the headsman's axe! +Yet 'tis Thy will, and for my country--let it come." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"Thou art idle, maiden; wherefore not gather thy robes and other gear +together, as thy companions? Knowest thou not in twenty-four hours we +shall be, heaven willing, safely sheltered under the holy wing of St. +Duthac?" was Queen Margaret's address to Agnes, about a week after the +conversation we have recorded. There were many signs of confusion and +tokens of removal in her scanty train, but the maiden of Buchan stood +apart, offering assistance when needed, but making no arrangements for +herself. + +"I seek not such holy keeping, may it please you, madam," she replied. +"I do not quit this castle." + +"How!" exclaimed Margaret. "Art thou mad?" + +"In what, royal madam?" + +"Or hath love blinded thee, girl? Knowest thou not Hereford and +Lancaster are advancing as rapidly as their iron-clad force permits, and +in less than seven days the castle must be besieged in form?" + +"I know it, madam." + +"And thou wilt brave it, maiden?--dare a danger that may be avoided? Is +thy life of so little worth, or if not thy life, thy liberty?" + +"When a life is wrapt up in one--when there is none on earth save that +one to whom that life is of any worth, wherefore should I seek safety +save by his side? Royal madam, I am not mad nor blind; but desolate as +I am,--nay, were I not 'twould be the same--I covet to share Sir Nigel's +fate; the blow that strikes him shall lay me at his side, be it in +prison or in death. My safety is with him; and were the danger ten times +as great as that which threatens now, I'd share it with him still." + +"Nay, thou art but a loving fool, Agnes. Be advised, seek safety in the +sanctuary; peril cannot reach us there." + +"Save by the treachery of the dark-browed earl who grants that shelter. +Nay, pardon me, madam; thou lovest not to list that theme, believing him +as honorable and faithful as thyself. God grant he prove so! If," she +added, with a faint smile, "if it be such mad folly to cling to a +beloved one in danger as in joy, in adversity as in triumph, forgive me, +royal lady, but thy maidens have learned that tale of thee." + +"And would to God I could teach them thus again!" exclaimed the queen, +tears coursing down her cheeks. "Oh, Agnes, Agnes, were Robert here, not +death itself should part us. For my child's sake, for his, I go hence +for safety. Could my resting, nay, my death benefit him, Agnes, I would +meet it, weak as thou deemest me." + +"Nay, nay, I doubt it not, my queen," answered Agnes, soothingly, "It is +best thou shouldst find some place of repose till this struggle be past. +If it end in victory, it will be joy to hail thee once again within its +walls; if otherwise, better thy safety should be cared for." + +"But for thee, my child, is it not unmaidenly for thee to linger here?" + +"It would be, royal madam," and a bright vivid flush glowed on her pale +cheeks, "but for the protection of the Lady Seaton, who will not leave +her husband." + +"I may not blame her, after mine own words," said the queen, +sorrowfully; "yet she is one I could have wished beside me. Ha! that +trumpet. Merciful heaven! is it the foe?" and trembling with alarm, she +dispatched attendant after attendant to know the cause. + +The English force was known to be so near that many a warrior-heart beat +quicker at any unusual blast, and it was not marvel the queen's terrors +should very often affect her attendants. Agnes alone, amid the maiden +train, ever retained a calm self-possession; strange in one who, till +the last eventful year, had seemed such a very child. Her mother +trembled lest the turmoils and confusion of her country should ever +approach her or those she loved; how might she, timid, nay; often +fearful, weak, and yielding, as the flower on the heath, how might she +encounter storm, and grief, and care? Had her mother's eye been on her +now, and could have followed her in yet deeper trials, that mother +scarce had known her child. + +She it was whose coolness enabled her easily to recognize and explain +the trumpet's blast. It was an officer with an escort from the Lord of +Ross, informing the queen that, from late intelligence respecting the +movements of the English, he deemed it better they should not defer +their departure from the castle another night. + +On the receipt of this message all was increased hurry and confusion in +the apartments of the queen. The advice was to be followed on the +instant, and ere sunset the litters and mules, and other accommodation +for the travellers, waited their pleasure in the outer court. + +It was with a mien of princely dignity, a countenance grave and +thoughtful, with which the youthful seneschal attended the travellers to +the great gate of the castle. In after years the expression of his +features flashed again and again upon those who looked upon him them. +Calmly he bade his sister-in-law farewell, and bade her, should she be +the first to see his brother, tell him that it was at her own free will +and pleasure she thus departed; that neither advice nor persuasion on +his part had been used; she had of her own will released him from his +sacred charge; and if ill came of it, to free his memory from blame. + +"Trust me, Nigel; oh, surely you may trust me! You will not part from me +in anger at my wilfulness?" entreated Margaret, as clinging to his arm, +she retained him a few minutes ere he placed her in the litter. + +"In anger, my sweet sister, nay, thou wrongest me!" he said, a bright +smile dispersing a moment the pensive cast of his features. "In sorrow, +perchance, for I love not him to whose care thou hast committed thyself; +yet if ill await this castle, and thou wert with me, 'twould enhance its +bitterness. No, tis better thou shouldst go; though I would it were not +to the Lord of Ross." + +"And wherefore?" demanded the deep stern voice of the officer beside +him. + +"Because I doubt him, Archibald Macfarlane," sternly replied the young +nobleman, fixing his flashing eyes upon him; "and thou mayst so inform +him an thou wilt. An I do him wrong, let him deliver the Queen of +Scotland and her attendants in safety to King Robert, in the forthcoming +spring, and Nigel Bruce will crave forgiveness for the wrong that he +hath done him; nay, let his conduct give my doubts the lie, and I will +even thank him, sir." + +Turning on his heel, he conducted the queen to her litter, and bade a +graceful farewell to all her fair companions, bidding good angels speed +them on their way. The heavy gates were thrown back, the portcullis +raised and the drawbridge lowered, and amid a parting cheer from the +men-at-arms drawn up in the court in military homage to their queen, the +cavalcade departed, attended only by the men of Ross, for the number of +the garrison was too limited to admit of their attendance anywhere, save +within and on the walls. + +With folded arms and an anxious brow, Sir Nigel stood beside the gate, +marking the progress of the train; a gentle voice aroused him. It +playfully said, "Come to the highest turret, Nigel, there thou wilt +trace their path as long as light remains." He started, for Agnes was at +his side. He drew her arm within his own, briefly gave the command to +close the gate and make all secure, and turned with her in the direction +of the keep. + +"Have I done right," he said, as, when they had reached a more retired +path, he folded his arm caressingly around her, and drew her closer to +him, "to list thy pleadings, dearest, to grant thy boon? oh, if _they_ +go to safety, why did I listen to thee and permit thee to remain?" + +"Nay, there is equal safety within these walls, Nigel. Be assured, thine +Agnes hath neither regret nor doubt when thou art by her side," she +answered, still playfully. "I love not the sanctuaries they go to seek; +the stout hearts and trusty blades of warriors like thee and thine, my +Nigel, are better and truer safeguards." + +"Alas! Agnes, I fear me not in cases such as these. I am not wont to be +desponding, but from the small number of true men which garrison this +castle, I care not to acknowledge I had loved better to meet my foe on +open ground. Here I can scarce know friend from foe; traitors may be +around me, nay, in my very confidence, and I know it not." + +"Art thou not infected with Queen Margaret's suspicions, Nigel? Why +ponder on such uneasy dreams?" + +"Because, my best love, I am a better adept in the perusal of men's +countenances and manners than many, and there are signs of lowering +discontent and gloomy cowardice, arguing ill for unity of measures, on +which our safety greatly rests. Yet my fancies may be wrong, and at all +hazards my duty shall be done. The issue is in the hands of a higher +power; we cannot do wrong in committing ourselves to Him, for thou +knowest He giveth not the battle to the strong, and right and justice we +have on Scotland's side." + +Agnes looked on his face, and she saw, though he spoke cheerfully, his +thoughts echoed not his words. She would not express her own anxiety, +but led him gently to explain to her his plan of defence, and prepare +her for all she might have to encounter. + +Five days passed, and all within and without the walls remained the +same; the sixth was the Sabbath, and the greater part of the officers +and garrison were assembled in the chapel, where divine service was +regularly read by the Abbot of Scone, whom we should perhaps before have +mentioned as having, at the king's especial request, accompanied the +queen and her attendants to Kildrummie. It was a solemn yet stirring +sight, that little edifice, filled as it was with steel-clad warriors +and rude and dusky forms, now bending in one prayer before their God. +The proud, the lowly, the faithless, and the true, the honorable and the +base, the warrior, whose whole soul burned and throbbed but for his +country and his king, the coward, whose only thought was how he could +obtain life for himself and save the dread of war by the surrender of +the castle--one and all knelt there, the workings of those diverse +hearts known but to Him before whom they bent. Strangely and mournfully +did that little group of delicate females gleam forth amidst the darker +and harsher forms around, as a knot of fragile flowers blooming alone, +and unsheltered amidst some rude old forest trees, safe in their own +lowliness from the approaching tempest, but liable to be overwhelmed in +the fall of their companions, whom yet they would not leave. As calmly +as in his own abbey the venerable abbot read the holy service, and +administered the rites of religion to all who sought. It was in the deep +silence of individual prayer which preceded the chanting of the +conclusion of the service that a shrill, peculiar blast of a trumpet was +heard. On the instant it was recognized as the bugle of the warder +stationed on the centre turret of the keep, as the blast which told the +foe was at length in sight. Once, twice, thrice it sounded, at irregular +intervals, even as Nigel had commanded; the notes were caught up by the +warders on the walls, and repeated again and again. A sudden cry of "The +foe!" broke from the soldiers scattered round, and again all was +silence. There had been a movement, almost a confusion in some parts of +the church, but the officers and those who had followed them from the +mountains neither looted up nor stirred. The imperative gesture of the +abbot commanded and retained order and silence, the service proceeded; +there might have been some faltering in the tones of the choir, but the +swelling notes of the organ concealed the deficiency. + +The eye of Agnes voluntarily sought her betrothed. His head was still +bent down in earnest prayer, but she had not looked long before she saw +him raise it, and lift up his clasped hands in the evident passionate +fervor of his prayer. So beautiful, so gloriously beautiful was that +countenance thus breathing prayer, so little seemed that soul of earth, +that tears started to the eyes of Agnes, and the paleness of strong +emotion over-spread the cheek, aye, and the quivering lip, which the war +and death-speaking trumpet had had no power to disturb. + +"Let me abide by him, merciful Father, in weal or in woe; oh, part us +not!" she prayed again and yet again, and the bright smile which now +encircled his lips--for he had caught her glance--seemed an answer to +her prayer. + +It was a beautiful, though perhaps to many of the inmates of Kildrummie +a terrible sight, which from the roof of the turret now presented itself +to their view. The English force lay before them, presenting many a +solid phalanx of steel, many a glancing wood of spears. Nor were these +all; the various engines used in sieges at this time, battering-rams, +and others, whose technical names are unfortunately lost to us, but used +to fling stones of immense weight to an almost incredible distance; +arbalists, and the incomparable archer, who carried as many lives as +arrows in his belt; wagons, heavily laden, with all things necessary +for a close and numerous encampment--all these could be plainly +distinguished in rapid advance towards the castle, marking their path +through the country by the smoke of the hamlets they had burned. Many +and eager voices resounded in various parts of the castle; numbers had +thronged to the tower, with their own eyes to mark the approach of the +enemy, and to report all they had seen to their companions below, +triumphantly or despondingly, according to the temper of their minds. +Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, with others of the superior +officers, stood a little apart, conversing eagerly and animatedly, and +finally separating, with an eager grasp of the hand, to perform the +duties intrusted to each. + +"Ha! Christine, and thou, fair maiden," exclaimed Sir Christopher, +gayly, as on turning he encountered his wife and Agnes arm-in-arm. "By +mine honor, this is bravely done; ye will not wait in your tiring-bower +till your knights seek ye, but come for information yourselves. Well, +'tis a goodly company, is't not? as gallant a show as ever mustered, by +my troth. Those English warriors tacitly do us honor, and proclaim our +worth by the numbers of gallant men they bring against us. We shall +return the compliment some day, and pay them similar homage." + +His wife smiled at his jest, and even felt reassured, for it was not the +jest of a mind ill at ease, it was the same bluff, soldier spirit she +had always loved. + +"And, Nigel, what thinkest thou?" + +"Think, dearest?" he said, answering far more the appealing look of +Agnes than her words; "think? that we shall do well, aye, nobly well; +they muster not half the force they led me to expect. The very sight of +them has braced me with new spirit, and put to ignominious flight the +doubts and dreams I told thee had tormented me." + +Movement and bustle now pervaded every part of the castle, but all was +conducted with an order and military skill that spoke well for the +officers to whom it was intrusted. The walls were manned; pickaxes and +levers, for the purposes of hurling down stones on the besiegers, +collected and arranged on the walls; arms polished, and so arranged that +the hand might grasp them at a minute's warning, were brought from the +armory to every court and tower; the granaries and storehouses were +visited, and placed under trustworthy guards. A band of picked men, +under an experienced officer, threw themselves into the barbacan, +determined to defend it to the last. Sir Nigel and Sir Christopher +visited every part of the outworks, displaying the most unceasing care, +encouraged the doubting, roused the timid, and cheered and inspired the +boldest with new confidence, new hope; but one feeling appeared to +predominate--liberty and Scotland seemed the watchword of one and all. + +Onward, like a mighty river, rolled the English force; nearer and +nearer, till the middle of the second day saw them encamped within a +quarter of a mile from the palisades and outworks raised on either side +of the barbacan. Obtaining easy possession of the river--for Sir Nigel, +aware of the great disparity of numbers, had not even attempted its +defence--they formed three distinct bodies round the walls, the +strongest and noblest setting down before the barbacan, as the principal +point of attack. Numerous as they had appeared in the distance, well +provided with all that could forward their success, it was not till +closer seen all their strength could be discovered; but there was no +change in the hopes and gallant feelings of the Scottish officers and +their men-at-arms, though, could hearts have been read, the timidity, +the doubts, the anxious wishes to make favorable peace with the English +had in some of the original garrison alarmingly increased. + +Before, however, any recourse was made to arms, an English herald, +properly supported, demanded and obtained admission within the gates, on +a mission from the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster, to Sir Christopher +Seaton, Sir Nigel Bruce, and others of command. They were summoned to +deliver up the castle and themselves to their liege lord and sovereign, +King Edward; to submit to his mercy, and grace should be shown to them, +and safe conduct granted to all those who, taking refuge within the +walls and adopting a position of defence, proclaimed themselves rebels +and abettors of rebellion; that they should have freedom to return to +their homes uninjured, not only in their persons but in their +belongings; and this should be on the instant the gates were thrown +open, and the banner of England had taken the place of that of Scotland +now floating from their keep. + +"Tell thy master, thou smooth-tongued knave," burst angrily from the +lips of Sir Christopher Seaton, as he half rose from his seat and +clenched his mailed hand at the speaker, and then hastily checking +himself, added, in a lower tone, "Answer him, Nigel; thou hast eloquence +at thy command, I have none, save at my sword's point, and my temper is +somewhat too hot to list such words, courteous though they may be." + +"Tell your master, sir herald," continued Nigel, rising as his colleague +flung himself back on his seat, and though his voice was sternly calm, +his manner was still courteous, "tell them they may spare themselves the +trouble, and their followers the danger, of all further negotiation. We +are Scottish men and Scottish subjects, and consequently to all the +offers of England we are as if we heard not. Neither rebels nor abettors +of rebels, we neither acknowledge the necessity of submitting ourselves +to a tyrant's mercy, nor desire the advantage of his offered grace. +Return, sir herald; we scorn the conditions proposed. We are here for +Scotland and for Scotland's king, and for them we know both how to live +and how to die." + +His words were echoed by all around him, and there was a sharp clang of +steel, as if each man half drew his eager sword, which spoke yet truer +than mere words. Dark brows and features stern were bent upon the herald +as he left their presence, and animated council followed his departure. + +No new movement followed the return of the herald. For some days no +decisive operation was observable in the English force; and when they +did attack the outworks, it was as if more to pass the time than with +any serious intent. It was a period of fearful suspense to the besieged. +Their storehouses were scarcely sufficiently provided to hold out for +any great length of time, and they almost imagined that to reduce them +to extremities by famine was the intention of the besiegers. The +greatest danger, if encountered hand to hand in the _melee_, was +welcome, but the very idea of a slow, lingering fate, with the enemy +before them, mocking their misery, was terrible to the bravest. A daring +sally into the very thickest of the enemy's camp, headed by Nigel and +his own immediate followers, carrying all before them, and when by +numbers compelled to retreat, bearing both booty and prisoners with +them, roused the English from their confident supposition that the +besieged would soon be obliged to capitulate, and urged them into +action. The ire of the haughty English blazed up at what seemed such +daring insolence in their petty foe. Decisive measures were resorted to +on the instant, and increased bustle appeared to pervade both besiegers +and besieged. + +"Pity thou art already a knight, Nigel!" bluffly exclaimed Seaton, +springing into his saddle by torchlight the following morning, as with a +gallant band he was about dashing over the drawbridge, to second the +defenders of the barbacan and palisades. "How shall we reward thee, my +boy? Thou hast brought the foe to bay. Hark! they are there before me," +and he spurred on to the very centre of the _melee_. + +Sir Nigel was not long after him. The enemy was driven back with fearful +loss. Scaling-ladders were thrown down; the archers on the walls, better +accustomed to their ground, marking their foes by the torches they +carried, but concealed themselves by the darkness, dealt destruction +with as unerring hand as their more famous English brethren. Shouts and +cries rose on either side; the English bore back before the sweeping +stroke of Nigel Bruce as before the scythe of death. For the brief space +of an hour the strife lasted, and still victory was on the side of the +Scots--glorious victory, purchased with scarce the loss of ten men. The +English fled back to their camp, leaving many wounded and dead on the +field, and some prisoners in the hands of the Scots. Ineffectual efforts +were made to harass the Scots, as with a daring coolness seldom +equalled, they repaired the outworks, and planted fresh palisades to +supply those which had fallen in the strife, in the very face of the +English, many of them coolly detaching the arrows which, shot at too +great distance, could not penetrate the thick lining of their buff +coats, and scornfully flinging them back. Several sharp skirmishes took +place that day, both under the walls and at a little distance from them; +but in all the Scots were victorious, and when night fell all was joy +and triumph in the castle; shame, confusion, and fury in the English +camp. + +For several days this continued. If at any time the English, by +superiority of numbers, were victorious, they were sure to be taken by +surprise by an impetuous sally from the besieged, and beaten back with +loss, and so sudden and concealed were the movements of Nigel and +Seaton, that though the besiegers lay closer and closer round the +castle, the moment of their setting forth on their daring expeditions +could never be discovered. + +"Said I not we should do well, right well, sweet Agnes," exclaimed +Nigel, one night, on his return from an unusually successful sally, "and +are not my words true? Hast thou looked forth on the field to-day, and +seen how gloriously it went? Oh, to resign this castle to my brother's +hands unscathed, even as he intrusted it; to hold it for him, threatened +as it is!" + +He smiled gayly as he spoke, for the consciousness of power was upon +him--power to _will_ and _do_, to win and to retain--that most blessed +consciousness, whether it bless a hero's breast or poet's soul, a +maiden's heart or scholar's dream, this checkered world can know. + +"I did look forth, my Nigel, for I could not rest; yet ask me not to +tell thee how the battle went," she added, with a faint flush, as she +looked up in his noble face, beaming as it was with every feeling dear +to the heart that loved, "for I traced but the course of one charger, +saw but the waving of one plume." + +"And thou didst not fear the besiegers' arrows, my beloved? Didst stand +in the shelter I contrived? Thou must not risk danger, dearest; better +not list the urgings of thy noble spirit than be aught exposed." + +"There was no danger, Nigel, at least there seemed none," she said. "I +felt no fear, for I looked on thee." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Had the gallant defenders of Kildrummie Castle been conscious that the +at first dilatory and then uncertain measures of their foes originated +in the fact that the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster were not themselves +yet on the field, and that they had with them a vast addition to their +forces, they would not perhaps have rested so securely on the hopes +which their unexpected success very naturally engendered. Attack on one +side they knew they could resist; their only dread had been that, from +the numbers of the English, the angle towers, each of which covered a +postern, might be attacked at once, and thus discover the real weakness +of their forces. The obstinate struggle for the barbacan, the strongest +point of the castle, had been welcomed with joy by the Scotch, for there +they could overlook every movement of the besiegers. Some wonder it did +cause that such renowned knights as the earls were known to be, should +not endeavor to throw them off their guard by a division of attack; but +this wonder could not take from the triumph of success. + +It was from no want of observation the absence of the two earls remained +undiscovered by the besieged. Engaged on a secret expedition, whose +object will be seen in the sequel, they had commanded the message +demanding surrender to be given in their names, their pavilions to be +pitched in sight of the castle as if they were already there, their +banners to wave above them, esquires and pages to be in attendance, and +their war-cries to be shouted, as was the custom when they led on in +person. The numerous knights, clothed in bright armor from head to heel +ever traversing the field, assisted the illusion, and the Scotch never +once suspected the truth. + +Imagining a very brief struggle would deliver the castle into their +hands, even if its garrison were mad enough to refuse compliance with +King Edward's terms, the earls had not hurried themselves on their +expedition, and a fortnight after the siege had begun, were reposing +themselves very cavalierly in the stronghold of an Anglo-Scottish baron, +some thirty miles southward of the scene of action. + +It was the hour of supper, a rude repast of venison, interspersed with +horn and silver flagons filled with the strong liquors of the day, and +served up in a rude hall, of which the low round arches in the roof, the +massive walls without buttresses, and windows running small outside, but +spreading as to become much larger within, all denoted the Saxon +architecture unsoftened by any of the Norman improvements. + +The earls and their host, with some attendant knights, sat as usual +round the dais or raised part of the hall, their table distinguished it +may be by some gold as well as silver vessels, and a greater variety of +liquor, particularly hypocras and claret of the day, the one formed of +wine and honey, the other of wine and spices; by the sinnel and wastel +cakes, but certainly not by the superior refinement of the more solid +food. The huge silver saltcellar alone divided the table of the baron +from that of his dependants, yet the distinction of sitting above and +below the salt was as great as the division between the master and +servant of the present day; the jest, the loud laugh seasoned the +viands placed before them, and the hearty draught from the welcome +flagon. Nor was the baron's own table much quieter; remarks on the state +of the country, speculations as to the hiding-place of King Robert, and +when they should receive tidings of the surrender of Kildrummie, formed +topics of conversation alternately with discussions on the excellence of +the wines, the flavor of the venison, the difference between English and +Scottish cookery, and such like matters, important in the days of our +ancestors as in our own. + +"You have ridden long enough to-day, good my lords, to make a hearty +charge on your suppers; a long journey and a tough battle, commend me to +them for helps to the appetite," said the Scottish baron, joyously +inviting them by his own example to eat on and spare not. + +"Commend me to the latter, an ye will," answered Hereford, on whose brow +a cloud of something like distaste had spread; "but by mine honor, I +love not the business of the last week. I have brought it to a close, +however, and praise the saints for it." + +"Bah! thou art over-squeamish, Hereford. Edward would give us the second +best jewel in his chaplet for the rich prize we have sent him," resumed +Lancaster. + +"Reserving the first, of course, for the traitor Bruce himself," +interposed their host. "Ah! such a captive were in truth worth an +earldom." + +"Then, by my troth, the traitor's wife is worth a barony," returned +Lancaster, laughing; "and her fair bevy of attendants, amongst whom are +the wives, daughters, and sisters of many a rebel, thinkest thou not we +shall be high in Edward's favor for them, too? I tell thee we might have +fought many a good fight, and not have done him such good service." + +"It may be, it may be," answered Hereford, impatiently, "had it been at +the sword's point, had they been prisoners by force of arms, I would +have joyed too, and felt it was good service; but such rank treachery, +decoyed, entrapped by that foul prince of lies, the Lord of Ross--faugh! +I could have rammed his treachery back into his throat." + +"And done the king, perchance, good service too," rejoined Lancaster, +still excessively amused, "for I have no faith in a traitor, however he +may serve us a while; yet thou art not over-wise, good friend, to let +such trifles chafe thee thus. Trust me, Edward will think more of the +captives than the capture." + +"There was a time he would not," answered the earl, mournfully; "a time, +when Edward would have held it foul scorn to war with women, and worse +than scorn to obtain their persons by treachery, as now." + +"Aye, but he has changed, and we must change too, would we please him," +said the baron; "such notions might have done in former days, but they +are too high-flown for the present time, my good lord. I marvel they +should have lingered so long with thee." + +A frown gathered on Hereford's broad and noble brow, but remembering the +forbearance due to his host, he checked an angry reply. "The king _has_ +changed," he said, "darkly and painfully changed; ambition has warped +the noblest, knightliest heart which ever beat for chivalry." + +"Hush, ere thou speakest treason, Sir Earl; give me not the pain of +draining another flagon of this sparkling hypocras to gain strength for +thine arrest, good friend," exclaimed Lancaster, laying the flat of his +sword on the earl's shoulder. + +Hereford half smiled. "Thou art too happy in thy light-hearted mirth for +me to say aught that would so disturb it," he said; "yet I say, and will +say again, would to heaven, I had been before the gates of Kildrummie, +and left to thee all the honor and glory, an thou wilt, of this +capture." + +"Honor and glory, thou bitter piece of satire!" rejoined Lancaster, +holding up a large golden flagon, to hide his face from the earl. +"Unhappy me, were this all the glory I could win. I will wipe away the +stain, if stain there be, at Kildrummie, an it be not surrendered ere we +reach it." + +"The stain is with the base traitor Ross, not with thee or me," answered +Hereford; "'tis that I abhor the nature of such expeditions, that I +loathe, aye, loathe communication with such as he, and that--if it can +be--that worse traitor Buchan, that makes me rejoice I have naught +before me now but as fair a field as a siege may be. Would to God, this +devastating and most cruel war were over, I do say! on a fair field it +may be borne, but not to war with women and children, as has been my +fate." + +"Aye, by the way, this is not the first fair prize thou hast sent to +Edward; the Countess of Buchan was a rare jewel for our coveting +monarch--somewhat more than possession, there was room for vengeance +there. Bore she her captivity more queenly than the sobbing and weeping +Margaret?" + +The question was reiterated by most of the knights around the dais, but +Hereford evidently shrunk from the inquiry. + +"Speak not of it, I charge ye," he said. "There is no room for jesting +on grief as hers; majestic and glorious she was, but if the reported +tale be true, her every thought, her every feeling was, as I even then +imagined, swallowed up in one tearless and stern but all-engrossing +anguish." + +"The reported tale! meanest thou the fate of her son?" asked one of the +knights. + +"If it be true!" resumed another; "believest thou, my lord, there is +aught of hope to prove it false?" + +"More likely to be true than false," added Lancaster; "I can believe any +thing of that dark scowling villain Buchan--even the murder of his +child." + +"I believe it _not_," answered Hereford; "bad as that man is, hard in +heart as in temper, he has too much policy to act thus, even if he had +no feelings of nature rising to prevent it. No, no; I would wager the +ruby brooch in my helmet that boy lives, and his father will make use of +him to forward his own interests yet." + +"But why then forge this tale?" demanded their host; "how may that serve +his purpose?" + +"Easily enough, with regard to the vengeance we all know he vowed to +wreak on his unhappy wife. What deeper misery could he inflict upon her +than the belief her boy was murdered? and as for its effect on Edward, +trust a Comyn to make his own way clear." + +"But what do with the boy meanwhile?" + +"Keep him under lock and key; chained up, may be, as a dog in a kennel, +till he has broken his high spirit, and moulds him to the tool he +wills," answered Hereford, "or at least till his mother is out of his +path." + +"Ha! thinkest thou the king will demand such sweeping vengeance? He +surely will not sentence a woman to death." + +"Had I thought so, had I only dreamed so," replied Hereford, with almost +startling sternness, "as there is a God above us, I would have risked +the charge of treason and refused to give her up! But no, my lords, no; +changed as Edward is, he would not, he dared not use his power thus. I +meant but imprisonment, when I said out of the boy's path--more he will +not do; but even such I love not. Bold as it was to crown the rebel +Bruce, the deed sprung from a noble heart, and noble deeds should meet +with noble judgment." + +A bugle sounded twice or thrice sharply without, and occasioning some +bustle at the lower part of the ball, interrupted for a brief space the +converse of the lords. A few minutes after, the seneschal, attended by +two or three higher servants, returned, marshalling in due form two +young men in the garb of esquires, followed by some fifteen or twenty +men-at-arms. + +"Ha! Fitz-Ernest and Hugo; well met, and ye bring us good tidings from +Kildrummie," exclaimed both the English earls at once, as cap in hand +the esquires slowly walked up the hall, and did obeisance to their +masters. + +"Yet your steps are somewhat laggard, as they bring us news of victory. +By my troth, were it not utterly impossible, I could deem ye had been +worsted in the strife," continued the impatient Lancaster, while the +cooler and more sagacious Hereford scanned the countenances of the +esquires in silence. "Yet and ye come not to tell of victory, why have +ye come at all?" + +"To beseech your lordship's speedy return, to the camp," replied +Fitz-Ernest, after a moment's hesitation, his cheek still flushed from +his master's words. "There is division of purpose and action in the +camp, and an ye not return and head the attack your noble selves, I fear +me there is little hope of victory." + +"Peace, fool! is there such skill and wisdom needed? Division in purpose +and action! Quarrelling, methinks, had better be turned against the +enemy than against yourselves. Hugo, do thou speak; in plain terms, +wherefore come ye?" + +"In plain terms, then, good my lord, as yet we have had the worst of +it," answered the esquire, bluntly. "The Scotch fight like very devils, +attacking us instead of waiting for our attack, penetrating into the +very centre of our camp, one knows not how or whence, bearing off +prisoners and booty in our very teeth." + +"Prisoners--booty--worsted! Thou durst not tell me so!" exclaimed +Lancaster, furiously, as he started up and half drew his sword. + +"Peace, peace, I pray thee, good friend, peace," continued Hereford, +laying his hand on Lancaster's shoulder, with a force which compelled +him to resume his seat. "Let us at least hear and understand their +mission. Speak out, Hugo, and briefly--what has befallen?" + +In a few straightforward words his esquire gave all the information +which was needed, interrupted only now and then by a brief interrogation +from Hereford, and some impatient starts and muttering from his +colleague. The success of the Scots, described in a former page, had +continued, despite the action of the mangonels and other engines which +the massive walls appeared to hold in defiance. So watchful and skilful +were the besieged, that the greatest havoc had been made amongst the men +employed in working the engines, and not yet had even the palisades and +barbacan been successfully stormed. + +"Have they tried any weaker point?" Hereford asked, and the answer was, +that it was on this very matter division had spread amongst the knights, +some insisting on carrying the barbacan as the most important point, and +others advising and declaring their only hope of success lay in a +divided attack on two of the weaker sides at once. + +"The fools, the sorry fools!" burst again from Lancaster. "They deserve +to be worsted for their inordinate pride and folly; all wanted to lead, +and none would follow. Give you good e'en, my lord," he added, turning +hastily to his host; "I'll to the courtyard and muster forth my men. +Fitz-Ernest, thou shalt speak on as we go," and drawing his furred +mantle around him, he strode rapidly yet haughtily from the hall. +Hereford only waited to learn all from Hugo, to hold a brief +consultation with some of his attendant knights, and he too, despite the +entreaties of his host to tarry with him at least till morning, left the +banquet to don his armor. + +"Silence and speed carry all before them, my good lord," he said, +courteously. "In such a case, though I fear no eventual evil, they must +not be neglected. I would change the mode of attack on these Scotch, ere +they are even aware their foes are reinforced." + +"Eventual evil, of a truth, there need not be, my lord," interposed his +esquire, "even should no force of arms prevail. I have heard there are +some within the walls who need but a golden bribe to do the work for +us." + +"Peace!" said the nobleman, sternly. "I loathe the very word +betray--spoken or intended. Shame, shame on thee to speak it, and yet +more shame to imagine it needed! Art thou of Norman birth, and deemest a +handful of Scotch like these will bid us raise the siege and tamely +depart?--yet better so than gained by treachery." + +Hugo and the Scottish baron alike shrunk back from the reproving look of +Hereford, and both silently followed him to the courtyard. Already it +was a scene of bustling animation: trumpets were sounding and drums +rolling; torches flashing through the darkness on the mailed coats of +the knights and on gleaming weapons; and the heavy tramp of near two +hundred horse, hastily accoutred and led from the stable, mingled with +the hoarse winds of winter, howling tempestuously around. The reserve +which Hereford had retained to guard the prisoners so treacherously +delivered over to him, was composed of the noblest amidst his army, +almost all mounted chevaliers; and, therefore, though he might not add +much actual force to the besiegers, the military skill and experience +which that little troop included argued ill for the besieged. Some of +the heaviest engines he had kept back also, particularly a tower some +four or five stories high, so constructed that it could be rolled to the +walls, and its inmates ascend unscathed by the weapons of their +defenders. Not imagining it would be needed, he had not sent it on with +the main body, but now he commanded twelve of the strongest horses to be +yoked to it, and on went the unwieldy engine, rumbling and staggering on +its ill-formed wheels. Lancaster, whose impatience no advice could ever +control, dashed on with the first troop, leaving his cooler comrade to +look to the yoking of the engines and the marshalling the men, and with +his own immediate attendants bringing up the rear, a task for which +Hereford's self-command as well fitted him as his daring gallantry to +head the foremost charge. + +"Ye will have a rough journey, my good lord; yet an ye deem it best, +farewell and heaven speed ye," was the parting greeting of the baron, as +he stood beside the impatient charger of the earl. + +"The rougher the better," was that nobleman's reply; "the noise of the +wind will conceal our movements better than a calmer night. Farewell, +and thanks--a soldier's thanks, my lord, poor yet honest--for thy right +noble welcome." + +He bent his head courteously, set spurs to his steed, and dashed over +the drawbridge as the last of his men disappeared through the outer +gate. The Scottish nobleman looked after him with many mingled feelings. + +"As noble a warrior as ever breathed," he muttered; "it were honor to +serve under him, yet an he wants me not I will not join him. I love not +the Bruce, yet uncalled, unneeded, I will not raise sword against my +countrymen," and with slow, and equal steps he returned to the hall. + +Hereford was correct in his surmises. The pitchy darkness of a winter +night would scarcely have sufficed to hide the movements attendant on +the sudden arrival of a large body of men in the English camp, had not +the hoarse artillery of the wind, moaning, sweeping, and then rushing +o'er the hills with a crashing sound like thunder, completely smothered +every other sound, and if at intervals of quiet unusual sounds did +attract the ears of those eager watchers on the Scottish walls, the +utter impossibility of kindling torches or fires in either camp +frustrated every effort of discovery. Hoarser and wilder grew the +whirlwind with the waning hours, till even the steel-clad men-at-arms +stationed on the walls moved before it, and were compelled to crouch +down till its violence had passed. Favored by the elements, Hereford +proceeded to execute his measures, heedless alike of the joyful surprise +his sudden appearance occasioned, and of the tale of division and +discord which Hugo and Fitz-Ernest had reported as destroying the unity +of the camp. Briefly and sternly refusing audience to each who pressed +forward, eager to exculpate himself at the expense of his companions, he +desired his esquire to proclaim a general amnesty to all who allowed +themselves to have been in error, and would henceforth implicitly obey +his commands; he returned to his pavilion, with the Earl of Lancaster, +summoning around him the veterans of the army, and a brief consultation +was held. They informed him the greatest mischief had been occasioned by +the injuries done to the engines, which had been brought to play against +the walls. Stones of immense weight had been hurled upon them, +materially injuring their works, and attended with such fatal slaughter +to the men who worked them, that even the bravest shrunk back appalled; +that the advice of the senior officers had been to hold back until these +engines were repaired, merely keeping strict guard against unexpected +sallies on the part of the Scotch, as this would not only give them time +to recruit their strength, but in all probability throw the besieged off +their guard. Not above half of the army, however, agreed with this +counsel; the younger and less wary spurned it as cowardice and folly, +and rushing on to the attack, ill-formed and ill-conducted, had ever +been beaten back with immense loss; defeat, however, instead of teaching +prudence, lashed them into greater fury, which sometimes turned upon +each other. + +Hereford listened calmly, yet with deep attention, now and then indeed +turning his expressive eyes towards his colleague, as if entreating him +to observe that the mischief which had befallen them proceeded greatly +from impetuosity and imprudence, and beseeching his forbearance. Nor was +Lancaster regardless of this silent appeal; conscious of his equality +with Hereford in bravery and nobleness, he disdained not to acknowledge +his inferiority to him in that greater coolness, which in a siege is so +much needed, and grasping his hand with generous fervor, bade him speak, +advise, command, and he would find no one in the camp more ready to be +counselled and to obey than Lancaster. To tear down those rebel colors +and raise those of England in their stead, was all he asked. + +"And fear not that task shall be other than thine own, my gallant +friend," was Hereford's instant reply, his features kindling at +Lancaster's words more than they had done yet; and then again quickly +resuming his calm unimpassioned exterior, he inquired if the mangonels +and other engines were again fit for use. There were several that could +instantly be put in action was the reply. Had the numbers of fighting +men within the castle been ascertained? They had, a veteran answered, +from a prisoner, who had appeared so willing to give information, that +his captors imagined there were very many malcontents within the walls. +Of stalwart fighting men there were scarcely more than three hundred; +others there were, of whose number was the prisoner, who fought because +their companions' swords would else have been at their throats, but that +they would be glad enough to be made prisoners, to escape the horrors of +the siege. + +"I am sorry for it," was the earl's sole rejoinder, "there will be less +glory in the conquest." + +"And this Sir Nigel Bruce, whoe'er he be, hath to combat against +fearful odds," remarked Lancaster; "and these Scotch-men, by my troth, +seem touched by the hoof of the arch-deceiver--treachery from the earl +to the peasant. Hast noticed how this scion of the Bruce bears +himself?--right gallantly, 'tis said." + +"As a very devil, my lord," impetuously answered a knight; "in the walls +or out of them, there's no standing before him. He sweeps down his foes, +line after line, as cards blown before the wind; he is at the head of +every charge, the last of each retreat. But yesternight there were those +who marked him covering the retreat of his men absolutely alone; his +sword struck down two at every sweep, till his passage was cleared; he +darted on--the drawbridge trembled in its grooves--for he had given the +command to raise it, despite his own danger--his charger, mad as +himself, sprang forward, and like a lightning flash, both disappeared +within the portcullis as the bridge uprose." + +"Gallantly done!" exclaimed Lancaster, who had listened to this recital +almost breathlessly. "By St. George, a foe worthy to meet and struggle +with! But who is he--what is he?" + +"Knowest thou not?" said Hereford, surprised; "the brother, youngest +brother I have heard, of this same daring Earl of Carrick who has so +troubled our sovereign." + +"Nigel, the brother of Robert! What, the scribe, the poet, the dreamer +of Edward's court? a poor youth, with naught but his beauty to recommend +him. By all good angels, this metamorphosis soundeth strangely! art sure +'tis the same, the very same?" + +"I have heard so," was Hereford's quiet reply, and continuing his more +important queries with the veterans around, while Lancaster, his gayer +spirit roused by this account of Nigel, demanded every minute particular +concerning him, that he might seek him hand to hand. + +"Steel armor inlaid with silver--blue scarf across his breast, +embroidered with his cognizance in gold--blue plume, which no English +sword hath ever soiled--humph! that's reserved for me--charger white as +the snow on the ground--sits his steed as man and horse were one. Well, +gloriously well, there will be no lack of glory here!" he said, +joyously, as one by one he slowly enumerated the symbols by which he +might recognize his foe. So expeditiously had Hereford conducted his +well-arranged plans, that when his council was over, it still wanted two +hours to dawn, and these Hereford commanded the men who had accompanied +him to pass in repose. + +But he himself partook not of this repose, passing the remainder of the +darkness in carefully reviewing the forces which were still fresh and +prepared for the onset, in examining the nature of the engines, and +finally, still aided by the noise of the howling winds, marshalled them +in formidable array in very front of the barbacan, the heavy mist thrown +onward by the blasts effectually concealing their near approach. To +Lancaster the command of this party was intrusted; Hereford reserving to +himself the desirable yet delicate task of surveying the ground, +confident that the attack on the barbacan would demand the whole +strength and attention of the besieged, and thus effectually cover his +movements. + +His plan succeeded. A fearful shout, seconded by a tremendous discharge +of huge stones, some of which rattled against the massive walls in vain, +others flying across the moat and crushing some of the men on the inner +wall, were the first terrific sounds which unexpectedly greeted the +aroused attention of the Scotch. The armor of their foes flashing +through the mist, the furious charge of the knights up to the very gates +of the barbacan, seemingly in sterner and more compact array than of +late had been their wont, the immense body which followed them, +appearing in that dim light more numerous than reality, struck a +momentary chill on the Scottish garrison; but the unwonted emotion was +speedily dissipated by the instant and unhesitating sally of Sir +Christopher Seaton and his brave companions. The impetuosity of their +charge, the suddenness of their appearance, despite their great +disparity of numbers, caused the English a moment to bear back, and kept +them in full play until Nigel and his men-at-arms, rushing over the +lowered drawbridge, joined in the strife. A brief, very brief interval +of fighting convinced both the Scottish leaders that a master-spirit now +headed their foes; that they were struggling at infinitely greater odds +than before; that unity of purpose, greater sagacity, and military skill +were now at work against them, they scarce knew wherefore, for they +recognized the same war-cry, the same banners; there were the same +gallant show of knights, for in the desperate _melee_ it was scarcely +possible to distinguish the noble form of Lancaster from his fellows, +although marking the azure plume, which even then waved high above all +others, though round it the work of death ever waxed hottest; the +efforts of the English earl were all bent to meet its gallant wearer +hand to hand, but the press of war still held them apart, though both +seemed in every part of the field. It was a desperate struggle man to +man; the clash of swords became one strange continuous mass of sound, +instead of the fearful distinctness which had marked their work before. +Shouts and cries mingled fearfully with the sharper clang, the heavy +fall of man and horse, the creaking of the engines, the wild shrieks of +the victims within the walls mangled by the stones, or from the +survivors who witnessed their fall--all formed a din as terrific to +hear, as dreadful to behold. With even more than their wonted bravery +the Scotch fought, but with less success. The charge of the English was +no longer the impetuous fury of a few hot-headed young men, more eager +to _despite_ their cooler advisers, than gain any permanent good for +themselves. Now, as one man fell another stepped forward in his place, +and though the slaughter might have been equal, nay, greater on the side +of the besiegers than the besieged, by one it was scarcely felt, by the +other the death of each man was even as the loss of a host. Still, still +they struggled on, the English obtaining possession of the palisades, +though the immense strength of the barbacan itself, defended as it was +by the strenuous efforts of the Scotch, still resisted all attack: +bravely, nobly, the besieged retreated within their walls, pellmell +their foes dashed after them, and terrific was the combat on the +drawbridge, which groaned and creaked beneath the heavy tramp of man and +horse. Many, wrestling in the fierceness of mortal strife, fell together +in the moat, and encumbered with heavy armor, sunk in each other's arms, +in the grim clasp of death. + +Then it was Lancaster met hand to hand the gallant foe he sought, +covering the retreat of his men, who were bearing Sir Christopher +Seaton, desperately wounded, to the castle. Sir Nigel stood well-nigh +alone on the bridge; his bright armor, his foaming charger bore evident +marks of the fray, but still he rode his steed firmly and unbent, his +plume yet waved untouched by the foeman's sword. Nearer and nearer +pressed forward the English earl, signing to his men to secure without +wounding his gallant foe; round him they closely gathered, but Nigel +evinced no sign either of trepidation or anger, fearlessly, gallantly, +he returned the earl's impetuous charge, backing his steed slowly as he +did so, and keeping his full front to his foe. On, on pressed Lancaster, +even to the postern; a bound, a shout, and scarcely was he aware that +his sword had ceased to cross with Nigel's, before he was startled by +the heavy fall of the portcullis, effectually dividing them, and utterly +frustrating further pursuit. A cry of rage, of disappointment broke from +the English, as they were compelled to turn and rejoin their friends. + +The strife still continued within and without the barbacan, and ended +without much advantage on either side. The palisades and outward +barriers had indeed fallen into the hands of the English, which was the +first serious loss yet sustained by the besieged; from the barbacan they +had gallantly and successfully driven their foe, but that trifling +success was so counterbalanced by the serious loss of life amid the +garrison which it included, that both Nigel and Sir Christopher felt the +next attack must deliver it into the hands of the besiegers. Their loss +of men was in reality scarcely a third of the number which had fallen +among the English, yet to them that loss was of infinitely more +consequence than to the foe. Bitter and painful emotions filled the +noble spirit of Nigel, as he gazed on the diminished number of his men, +and met the ill-suppressed groans and lamentations of those who had, at +the first alarm of the English, sought shelter and protection in the +castle; their ill-suppressed entreaties that he would struggle no longer +against such odds grated harshly and ominously on his ear; but sternly +he turned from them to the men-at-arms, and in their steadfast bravery +and joyous acclamations found some degree of hope. + +Yet ere the day closed the besieged felt too truly their dreams of +triumph, of final success, little short of a miracle would realize. +Their fancy that some new and mightier spirit of generalship was at work +within the English camp was confirmed. Two distinct bodies were observed +at work on the eastern and southern sides of the mount, the one +evidently employed in turning aside the bed of the river, which on that +side flowed instead of the moat beneath the wall, the other in +endeavoring to fill up the moat by a causeway, so as to admit of an +easy access to the outer wall. The progress they had made in their work +the first day, while the attention of the Scotch had been confined to +the attack on the barbacan, was all-sufficient evidence of their intent; +and with bitter sorrow Sir Nigel and his brother-in-law felt that their +only means of any efficient defence lay in resigning the long-contested +barbacan to the besiegers. An important point it certainly was, but +still to retain it the walls overlooking the more silent efforts of the +English must be left comparatively unguarded, and they might obtain an +almost uninterrupted and scarce-contested passage within the walls, +while the whole strength and attention of the besieged were employed, as +had already been the case, on a point that they had scarce a hope +eventually to retain. With deep and bitter sorrow the alternative was +proposed and carried in a hurried council of war, and so well acted +upon, that, despite the extreme watchfulness of the English, men, +treasure, arms, and artillery, all that the strong towers contained, +were conveyed at dead of night over the drawbridge into the castle, and +the following morning, Lancaster, in utter astonishment, took possession +of the deserted fort. + +Perhaps to both parties this resolution was alike a disappointment and +restraint. The English felt there was no glory in their prize, they had +not obtained possession through their own prowess and skill; and now +that the siege had become so much closer, and this point of +communication was entirely stopped, the hand-to-hand combat, the +glorious _melee_, the press of war, which to both parties had been an +excitement, and little more than warlike recreation, had of course +entirely ceased, but Hereford heeded not the disappointment of his men; +his plans were progressing as he had desired, even though his workmen +were greatly harassed by the continued discharge of arrows and immense +stones from the walls. + +The desertion of the barbacan was an all-convincing proof of the very +small number of the garrison; and though the immense thickness and +solidity of the walls bespoke time, patience, and control, the English +earl never wavered from his purpose, and by his firmness, his personal +gallantry, his readily-bestowed approbation on all who demanded it, he +contrived to keep his more impatient followers steadily to their task; +while Nigel, to prevent the spirits of his men from sinking, would +frequently lead them forth at night, and by a sudden attack annoy and +often cut off many of the men stationed within the barbacan. The +drawbridge was the precarious ground of many a midnight strife, till the +daring gallantry of Nigel Bruce became the theme of every tongue; a +gallantry equalled only by the consummate skill which he displayed, in +retreating within his entrenchments frequently without the loss of a +single man either as killed or wounded. Often would Sir Christopher +Seaton, whose wounds still bound him a most unwilling prisoner to his +couch, entreat him to avoid such rash exposures of his life, but Nigel +only answered him with a smile and an assurance he bore a charmed life, +which the sword of the foe could not touch. + +The siege had now lasted six weeks, and the position of both parties +continued much as we have seen, save that the bed of the river had now +begun to appear, promising a free passage to the English on the eastern +side, and on the south a broad causeway had stretched itself over the +moat, on which the towers for defending the ascent of the walls, +mangonels and other engines, were already safely bestowed, and all +promised fair to the besiegers, whose numerous forces scarcely appeared +to have suffered any diminution, although in reality some hundreds had +fallen; while on the side of the besieged, although the walls were still +most gallantly manned, and the first efforts of the English to scale the +walls had been rendered ineffectual by huge stones hurled down upon +them, still a look of greater care was observable on the brows of both +officers and men; and provisions had now begun to be doled out by weight +and measure, for though the granaries still possessed stores sufficient +for some weeks longer, the apparent determination of the English to +permit no relaxation in their close attack, demanded increase of caution +on the part of the besieged. + +About this time an event occurred, which, though comparatively trifling +in itself, when the lives of so many were concerned, was fraught in +effect with fatal consequences to all the inmates of Kildrummie. The +conversation of the next chapter, however, will better explain it, and +to it we refer our readers. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +In a circular apartment of the lower floor in Kildrummie keep, its stone +floor but ill covered with rushes, and the walls hung with the darkest +and rudest arras, Sir Christopher Seaton reclined on a rough couch, in +earnest converse with his brother-in-law, Nigel. Lady Seaton was also +within the chamber, at some little distance from the knights, engaged in +preparing lint and healing ointments, with the aid of an attendant, for +the wounded, and ready at the first call to rise and attend them, as she +had done unremittingly during the continuance of the siege. The +countenances of both warriors were slightly changed from the last time +we beheld them. The severity of his wounds had shed a cast almost of age +on the noble features of Seaton, but care and deep regret had mingled +with that pallor; and perhaps on the face of Nigel, which three short +weeks before had beamed forth such radiant hope, the change was more +painful. He had escaped with but slight flesh wounds, but disappointment +and anxiety were now vividly impressed on his features; the smooth brow +would unconsciously wrinkle in deep and unexpressed thought; the lip, to +which love, joy, and hope alone had once seemed natural, now often +compressed, and his eye flashed, till his whole countenance seemed +stern, not with the sternness of a tyrannical, changed and chafing +mood--no, 'twas the sternness most fearful to behold in youth, of +thought, deep, bitter, whelming thought; and sterner even than it had +been yet was the expression on his features as he spoke this day with +Seaton. + +"He must die," were the words which broke a long and anxious pause, and +fell in deep yet emphatic tones from the lips of Seaton; "yes, die! +Perchance the example may best arrest the spreading contagion of +treachery around us." + +"I know not, I fear not; yet as thou sayest he must die," replied Nigel, +speaking as in deep thought; "would that the noble enemy, who thus +scorned to benefit by the offered treason, had done on him the work of +death himself. I love not the necessity nor the deed." + +"Yet it must be, Nigel. Is there aught else save death, the death of a +traitor, which can sufficiently chastise a crime like this? Well was it +the knave craved speech of Hereford himself. I marvel whether the +majesty of England had resisted a like temptation." + +"Seaton, he would not," answered the young man. "I knew him, aye, +studied him in his own court, and though I doubt not there was a time +when chivalry was strongest in the breast of Edward, it was before +ambition's fatal poison had corroded his heart. Now he would deem all +things honorable in the art of war, aye, even the delivery of a castle +through the treachery of a knave." + +"And he hath more in yon host to think with him than with the noble +Hereford," resumed Sir Christopher; "yet this is but idle parley, and +concerneth but little our present task. In what temper do our men +receive the tidings of this foul treason?" + +"Our own brave fellows call aloud for vengeance on the traitor; nay, had +I not rescued him from their hands, they would have torn him limb from +limb in their rage. But there are others, Seaton--alas! the more +numerous body now--and they speak not, but with moody brows and gloomy +mutterings prowl up and down the courts." + +"Aye, the coward hearts," answered Seaton, "their good wishes went with +him, and but low-breathed curses follow our efforts for their freedom. +Yes, it must be, if it be but as a warning unto others. See to it, +Nigel; an hour before the set of sun he dies." + +A brief pause followed his words, whose low sternness of tone betrayed +far more than the syllables themselves. Both warriors remained a while +plunged in moody thought, which Seaton was the first to break. + +"And how went the last attack and defence?" he asked; "they told me, +bravely." + +"Aye, so bravely, that could we but reinforce our fighting men, aided as +we are by impenetrable walls, we might dream still of conquest; they +have gained little as yet, despite their nearer approach. Hand to hand +we have indeed struggled on the walls, and hurled back our foremost foes +in their own intrenchments. Our huge fragments of rocks have dealt +destruction on one of their towers, crushing all who manned it beneath +the ruins." + +"And I lie here when such brave work is going on beside me, even as a +bedridden monk or coward layman, when my whole soul is in the fight," +said the knight, bitterly, and half springing from his couch. "When will +these open wounds--to the foul fiend with them and those who gave +them!--when will they let me mount and ride again as best befits a +warrior? Better slain at once than lie here a burden, not a help--taking +from those whose gallant efforts need it more the food we may not have +for long. I will not thus be chained; I'll to the action, be my life the +forfeit!" + +He sprung up, and for a moment stood upon his feet, but with a low groan +of pain instantly fell back, the dew of weakness gathering on his brow. +Lady Seaton was at his side on the instant to bathe his temples and his +hands, yet without one reproachful word, for she knew the anguish it was +to his brave heart to lie thus disabled, when every loyal hand was +needed for his country. + +"Nigel, I would that I might join thee. Remember, 'tis no mean game we +play; we hold not out as marauding chieftains against a lawful king; we +struggle not in defence of petty rights, of doubtful privileges. 'Tis +for Scotland, for King Robert still we strive. Did this castle hold out, +aye, compel the foe to raise the siege, much, much would be done for +Scotland. Others would do as we have done; many, whose strongholds rest +in English hands, would rise and expel the foe. Had we but +reinforcements of men and stores, all might still be well." + +"Aye," answered Nigel, bitterly, "but with all Scotland crushed 'neath +English chains, her king and his bold patriots fugitives and exiles, +ourselves the only Scottish force in arms, the only Scottish castle +which resists the tyrant, how may this be, whence may come increase of +force, of store? Seaton Seaton, thine are bright dreams--would that they +were real." + +"Wouldst thou then give up at once, and strive no more? It cannot be." + +"Never!" answered his companion, passionately. "Ere English feet shall +cross these courts and English colors wave above these towers, the blood +of the defenders must flow beneath their steps. They gain not a yard of +earth save at the bright sword's point; not a rood of grass unstained by +Scottish blood. Give up! not till my arm can wield no sword, my voice no +more shout 'Forward for the Bruce!'" + +"Then we will hope on, dream on, Nigel, and despair not," replied +Seaton, in the same earnest tone. "We know not yet what may be, and, +improbable as it seems now, succors may yet arrive. How long doth last +the truce?" + +"For eighteen hours, two of which have passed." + +"Didst thou demand it?" + +"No," replied Nigel. "It was proffered by the earl, as needed for a +strict examination of the traitor Evan Roy, and accepted in the spirit +with which it was offered." + +"Thou didst well; and the foul traitor--where hast thou lodged him?" + +"In the western turret, strongly guarded. I would not seek thy counsel +until I had examined and knew the truth." + +"And thine own judgment?" + +"Was as thine. It is an ill necessity, yet it must be." + +"Didst pronounce his sentence?" + +Nigel answered in the affirmative. + +"And how was it received?" + +"In the same sullen silence on the part of the criminal as he had borne +during his examination. Methought a low murmur of discontent escaped +from some within the hall, but it was drowned in the shout of +approbation from the men-at-arms, and the execrations they lavished on +the traitor as they bore him away, so I heeded it not." + +"But thou wilt heed it," said a sweet voice beside him, and Agnes, who +had just entered the chamber, laid her hand on his arm and looked +beseechingly in his face. "Dearest Nigel, I come a pleader." + +"And for whom, my beloved?" he asked, his countenance changing into its +own soft beautiful expression as he gazed on her, "What can mine Agnes +ask that Nigel may not grant?" + +"Nay, I am no pleader for myself," she said; "I come on the part of a +wretched wife and aged mother, beseeching the gift of life." + +"And for a traitor, Agnes?" + +"I think of him but as a husband and son, dearest Nigel," she said, more +timidly, for his voice was stern. "They tell me he is condemned to +death, and his wretched wife and mother besought my influence with thee; +and indeed it needed little entreaty, for when death is so busy around +us, when in this fearful war we see the best and bravest of our friends +fall victims every day, oh, I would beseech you to spare life when it +may be. Dearest, dearest Nigel, have mercy on this wretched man; traitor +as he is, oh, do not take his life--do not let thy lips sentence him to +death. Wilt thou not be merciful?" + +"If the death of one man will preserve the lives of many, how may that +one be spared?" said Sir Nigel, folding the sweet pleader closer to him, +though his features spoke no relaxation of his purpose. "Sweet Agnes, do +not ask this, give me not the bitter pain of refusing aught to thee. +Thou knowest not all the mischief and misery which pardon to a traitor +such as this will do; thou listenest only to thy kind heart and the sad +pleadings of those who love this man. Now listen to me, beloved, and +judge thyself. Did I believe a pardon would bring back the traitor to a +sense of duty, to a consciousness of his great crime--did I believe +giving life to him would deter others from the same guilt, I should +scarce wait even for thy sweet pleading to give him both liberty and +life; but I know him better than thou, mine Agnes. He is one of those +dark, discontented, rebellious spirits, that never rest in stirring up +others to be like them; who would employ even the life I gave him to my +own destruction, and that of the brave and faithful soldiers with me." + +"But send him hence, dearest Nigel," still entreated Agnes. "Give him +life, but send him from the castle; will not this remove the danger of +his influence with others?" + +"And give him field and scope to betray us yet again, sweet one. It were +indeed scorning the honorable counsel of Hereford to act thus; for trust +me, Agnes, there are not many amid our foes would resist temptation as +he hath done." + +"Yet would not keeping him close prisoner serve thee as well as death, +Nigel? Bethink thee, would it not spare the ill of taking life?" + +"Dearest, no," he answered. "There are many, alas! too many within these +walls who need an example of terror to keep them to their duty. They +will see that treachery avails not with the noble Hereford, and that, +discovered by me, it hath no escape from death. If this man be, as I +imagine, in league with other contentious spirits--for he could scarce +hope to betray the castle into the hands of the English without some aid +within--his fate may strike such terror into other traitor hearts that +their designs will be abandoned. Trust me, dearest, I do not do this +deed of justice without deep regret; I grieve for the necessity even as +the deed, and yet it must be; and bitter as it is to refuse thee aught, +indeed I cannot grant thy boon." + +"Yet hear me once more, Nigel. Simple and ignorant as I am, I cannot +answer such arguments as thine; yet may it not be that this deed of +justice, even while it strikes terror, may also excite the desire for +revenge, and situated as we are were it not better to avoid all such +bitterness, such heart-burnings amongst the people?" + +"We must brave it, dearest," answered Nigel, firmly, "The direct line of +justice and of duty may not be turned aside for such fears as these." + +"Nor do I think they have foundation," continued Sir Christopher Seaton. +"Thou hast pleaded well and kindly, gentle maiden, yet gladly as we +would do aught to pleasure thee, this that thou hast asked, alas! must +not be. The crime itself demands punishment, and even could we pardon +that, duty to our country, our king, ourselves, calls loudly for his +death, lest his foul treachery should spread." + +The eyes of the maiden filled with tears. + +"Then my last hope is over," she said, sadly. "I looked to thy +influence, Sir Christopher, to plead for me, even if mine own +supplications should fail; and thou judgest even as Nigel, not as my +heart could wish." + +"We judge as men and soldiers, gentle maiden; as men who, charged with a +most solemn responsibility, dare listen to naught save the voice of +justice, however loudly mercy pleads." + +"And didst thou think, mine Agnes, if thy pleading was of no avail, the +entreaty of others could move me?" whispered Nigel, in a voice which, +though tender, was reproachful. "Dearest and best, oh, thou knowest not +the pang it is to refuse thee even this, and to feel my words have +filled those eyes with tears. Say thou wilt not deem me cruel, abiding +by justice when there is room for mercy?" + +"I know thee better than to judge thee thus," answered Agnes, tearfully; +"the voice of duty must have spoken loudly to urge thee to this +decision, and I may not dispute it; yet would that death could be +averted. There was madness in that woman's eyes," and she shuddered as +she spoke. + +"Of whom speakest thou, love?" Nigel asked, and Seaton looked the +question. + +"Of his wife," she replied. "She came to me distracted, and used such +dreadful words, menaces and threats they seemed; but his mother, more +composed, assured me they meant nothing, they were but the ravings of +distress, and yet I fear to look on her again without his pardon." + +"And thou shalt not, my beloved; these are not scenes and words for such +as thee. Rest here with Christine and good Sir Christopher; to tend and +cheer a wounded knight is a fitter task for thee, sweet one, than thus +to plead a traitor's cause." + +Pressing his lips upon her brow as he spoke, he placed her gently on a +settle by Sir Christopher; then crossing the apartment, he paused a +moment to whisper to Lady Seaton. + +"Look to her, my dear sister; she has been terrified, though she would +conceal it. Let her not leave thee till this fatal duty is +accomplished." + +Lady Seaton assured him of her compliance, and he left the apartment. + +He had scarcely quitted the postern before he himself encountered Jean +Roy, a woman who, even in her mildest moments, evinced very little +appearance of sanity, and who now, from her furious and distracting +gestures, seemed wrought up to no ordinary pitch of madness. She kept +hovering round him, uttering menaces and entreaties in one and the same +breath, declaring one moment that her husband was no traitor, and had +only done what every true-hearted Scotsman ought to do, if he would save +himself and those he loved from destruction; the next, piteously +acknowledging his crime, and wildly beseeching mercy. For a while Nigel +endeavored, calmly and soothingly, to reason with her, but it was of no +avail: louder and fiercer became her curses and imprecations; beseeching +heaven to hurl down all its maledictions upon him and the woman he +loved, and refuse him mercy when he most needed it. Perceiving her +violence becoming more and more outrageous, Nigel placed her in charge +of two of his men-at-arms, desiring them to treat her kindly, but not to +lose sight of her, and keep her as far as possible from the scene about +to be enacted. She was dragged away, struggling furiously, and Nigel +felt his heart sink heavier within him. It was not that he wavered in +his opinion, that he believed, situated as he was, it was better to +spare the traitor's life than excite to a flame the already aroused and +angered populace. He thought indeed terror might do much; but whether it +was the entreating words of Agnes, or the state of the unhappy Jean, +there had come upon him a dim sense of impending ill; an impression that +the act of justice about to be performed would bring matters to a +crisis, and the ruin of the garrison be consummated, ere he was aware it +had begun. The shadow of the future appeared to have enfolded him, but +still he wavered not. The hours sped: his preparations were completed, +and at the time appointed by Seaton, with as much of awful solemnity as +circumstances would admit, the soul of the traitor was launched into +eternity. Men, women, and children had gathered round the temporary +scaffold; every one within the castle, save the maimed and wounded, +thronged to that centre court, and cheers and shouts, and groans and +curses, mingled strangely on the air. + +Clad in complete steel, but bareheaded, Sir Nigel Bruce had witnessed +the act of justice his voice had pronounced, and, after a brief pause, +he stood forward on the scaffold, and in a deep, rich voice addressed +the multitude ere they separated. Eloquently, forcibly, he spoke of the +guilt, the foul guilt of treachery, now when Scotland demanded all men +to join together hand and heart as one--now when the foe was at their +gates; when, if united, they might yet bid defiance to the tyrant, who, +if they were defeated, would hold them slaves. He addressed them as +Scottish men and freemen, as soldiers, husbands, and fathers, as +children of the brave, who welcomed death with joy, rather than life in +slavery and degradation; and when his words elicited a shout of +exultation and applause from the greater number, he turned his eye on +the group of malcontents, and sternly and terribly bade them beware of a +fate similar to that which they had just witnessed; for the gallant Earl +of Hereford, he said, would deal with all Scottish traitors as with Evan +Roy, and once known as traitors within the castle walls, he need not +speak their doom, for they had witnessed it; and then changing his tone, +frankly and beseechingly he conjured them to awake from the dull, +sluggish sleep of indifference and fear, to put forth their energies as +men, as warriors; their country, their king, their families, called on +them, and would they not hear? He bade them arise, awake to their duty, +and all that had been should never be recalled. He spoke with a brief +yet mighty eloquence that seemed to carry conviction with it. Many a +stern face and darkened brow relaxed, and there was hope in many a +patriot breast as that group dispersed, and all was once more martial +bustle on the walls. + +"Well and wisely hast thou spoken, my son," said the aged Abbot of +Scone, who had attended the criminal's last moments, and now, with +Nigel, sought the keep. "Thy words have moved those rebellious spirits, +have calmed the rising tempest even as oil flung on the troubled waves; +thine eloquence was even as an angel voice 'mid muttering fiends. Yet +thou art still sad, still anxious. My son, this should not be." + +"It _must_ be, father," answered the young man. "I have looked beyond +that oily surface and see naught save darker storms and fiercer +tempests; those spirits need somewhat more than a mere voice. Father, +reproach me not as mistrusting the gracious heaven in whose keeping lie +our earthly fates. I know the battle is not to the strong, 'tis with the +united, the faithful, and those men are neither. My words have stirred +them for the moment, as a pebble flung 'mid the troubled waters--a few +brief instants and all trace is passed, we see naught but the blackened +wave. But speak not of these things; my trust is higher than earth, and +let man work his will." + +Another week passed, and the fierce struggle continued, alternating +success, one day with the besiegers, the next with the besieged. The +scene of action was now principally on the walls--a fearful field, for +there was no retreat--and often the combatants, entwined in a deadly +struggle, fell together into the moat. Still there were no signs of +wavering on either side, still did the massive walls give no sign of +yielding to the tremendous and continued discharge of heavy stones, that +against battlements less strongly constructed must long ere this have +dealt destruction and inevitable mischief to the besieged. One tower, +commanding the causeway across the moat and its adjoining platform on +the wall, had indeed been taken by the English, and was to them a +decided advantage, but still their further progress even to the next +tower was lingering and dubious, and it appeared evident to both parties +that, from the utter impossibility of the Scotch obtaining supplies of +provision and men, success must finally attend the English; they would +succeed more by the effects of famine than by their swords. + +It was, as we have said, seven days after the execution of the traitor +Roy. A truce for twelve hours had been concluded with the English, at +the request of Sir Nigel Bruce, and safe conduct granted by the Earl of +Hereford to those men, women, and children of the adjoining villages who +chose even at this hour to leave the castle, but few, a very few took +advantage of this permission, and these were mostly the widows and +children of those who had fallen in the siege; a fact which caused some +surprise, as the officers and men-at-arms imagined it would have been +eagerly seized upon by all those contentious spirits who had appeared so +desirous of a league with England. A quiet smile slightly curled the +lips of Nigel as this information was reported to him--a smile as of a +mind prepared for and not surprised at what he heard; but when left +alone, the smile was gone, he folded his arms on his breast, his head +was slightly bent forward, but had there been any present to have +remarked him, they would have seen his features move and work with the +intensity of internal emotion. Some mighty struggle he was enduring; +something there was passing at his very heart, for when recalled from +that trance by the heavy bell of the adjoining church chiming the hour +of five, and he looked up, there were large drops of moisture on his +brow, and his beautiful eye seemed for the moment strained and +blood-shot. He paced the chamber slowly and pensively till there was no +outward mark of agitation, and then he sought for Agnes. + +She was alone in an upper chamber of the keep, looking out from the +narrow casement on a scene of hill and vale, and water, which, though +still wintry from the total absence of leaf and flower, was yet calm and +beautiful in the declining sun, and undisturbed by the fearful scenes +and sounds which met the glance and ear on every other side, seemed even +as a paradise of peace. It had been one of those mild, soft days of +February, still more rare in Scotland than in England, and on the heart +and sinking frame of Agnes its influence had fallen, till, almost +unconsciously, she wept. The step of Nigel caused her hastily to dash +these tears aside, and as he stood by her and silently folded his arm +around her, she looked up in his face with a smile. He sought to return +it, but the sight of such emotion, trifling as it was, caused his heart +to sink with indescribable fear; his lip quivered, as utterly to prevent +the words he sought to speak, and as he clasped her to his bosom and +bent his head on hers, a low yet instantly suppressed moan burst from +him. + +"Nigel, dearest Nigel, what has chanced? Oh, speak to me!" she +exclaimed, clasping his hand in both hers, and gazing wildly in his +face. "Thou art wounded or ill, or wearied unto death. Oh, let me undo +this heavy armor, dearest; seek but a brief interval of rest. Speak to +me, I know thou art not well." + +"It is but folly, my beloved, a momentary pang that weakness caused. +Indeed, thy fears are causeless; I am well, quite well," he answered, +struggling with himself, and subduing with an effort his emotion. "Mine +own Agnes, thou wilt not doubt me; look not upon me so tearfully, 'tis +passed, 'tis over now." + +"And thou wilt not tell me that which caused it, Nigel? Hast thou aught +of suffering which thou fearest to tell thine Agnes? Oh! do not fear it; +weak, childlike as I am, my soul will find strength for it." + +"And thou shalt know all, all in a brief while," he said, her sweet +pleading voice rendering the task of calmness more difficult. "Yet tell +me first thy thoughts, my love. Methought thy gaze was on yon peaceful +landscape as I entered, and yet thine eyes were dimmed with tears." + +"And yet I know not wherefore," she replied, "save the yearnings for +peace were stronger, deeper than they should be, and I pictured a cot +where love might dwell in yon calm valley, and wished that this fierce +strife was o'er." + +"'Tis in truth no scene for thee, mine own. I know, I feel thou pinest +for freedom, for the fresh, pure, stainless air of the mountain, the +valley's holy calm; thine ear is sick with the fell sounds that burst +upon it; thine eye must turn in loathing from this fierce strife. Agnes, +mine own Agnes, is it not so? would it not be happiness, aye, heaven's +own bliss, to seek some peaceful home far, far away from this?" + +He spoke hurriedly and more passionately than was his wont, but Agnes +only answered-- + +"With thee, Nigel, it were bliss indeed." + +"With me," he said; "and couldst thou not be happy were I not at thy +side? Listen to me, beloved," and his voice became as solemnly earnest +as it had previously been hurried. "I sought thee, armed I thought with +fortitude sufficient for the task; sought thee, to beseech, implore thee +to seek safety and peace for a brief while apart from me, till these +fearful scenes are passed. Start not, and oh, do not look upon me thus. +I know all that strength of nerve, of soul, which bids thee care not for +the dangers round thee. I know that where I am thy loving spirit feels +no fear; but oh, Agnes, for my sake, if not for thine own, consent to +fly ere it be too late; consent to seek safety far from this fatal +tower. Let me not feel that on thee, on thee, far dearer than my life, +destruction, and misery, and suffering in a thousand fearful shapes may +fall. Let me but feel thee safe, far from this terrible scene, and then, +come what will, it can have no pang." + +"And thee," murmured the startled girl, on whose ear the words of Nigel +had fallen as with scarce half their meaning, "thee, wouldst thou bid me +leave thee, to strive on, suffer on, and oh, merciful heaven! perchance +fall _alone_? Nigel, Nigel, how may this be? are we not one, only one, +and how may I dwell in safety without thee--how mayest thou suffer +without me?" + +"Dearest and best!" he answered, passionately, "oh, that we were indeed +one; that the voice of heaven had bound us one, long, long ere this! and +yet--no, no, 'tis better thus," and again he struggled with emotion, and +spoke calmly. "Agnes, beloved, precious as thou art in these hours of +anxiety, dear, dearer than ever, in thy clinging, changeless love, yet +tempt me not selfishly to retain thee by my side, when liberty, and +life, and joy await thee beyond these fated walls. Thy path is secured; +all that can assist, can accelerate thy flight waits but thy approval. +The dress of a minstrel boy is procured, and will completely conceal and +guard thee through the English camp. Our faithful friend, the minstrel +seer, will be thy guide, and lead thee to a home of peace and safety, +until my brother's happier fortune dawns; he will guard and love thee +for thine own and for my sake. Speak to me, beloved; thou knowest this +good old man, and I so trust him that I have no fear for thee. Oh, do +not pause, and ere this truce be over let me, let me feel that thou art +safe and free, and may in time be happy." + +"In time," she repeated slowly, as if to herself, and then, rousing +herself from that stupor of emotion, looked up with a countenance on +which a sudden glow had spread. "And why hast thou so suddenly resolved +on this?" she asked, calmly; "why shouldst thou fear for me more now +than hitherto, dearest Nigel? Hath not the danger always been the same, +and yet thou ne'er hast breathed of parting? are not thy hopes the +same--what hath chanced unknown to me, that thou speakest and lookest +thus? tell me, ere thou urgest more." + +"I will tell thee what I fear, my love," he answered, reassured by her +firmness; "much that is seen not, guessed not by my comrades. They were +satisfied that my appeal had had its effect, and the execution of Evan +Roy was attended with no disturbance, no ill will amongst those supposed +to be of his party--nay, that terror did its work, and all ideas of +treachery which might have been before encouraged were dismissed. I, +too, believed this, Agnes, for a while; but a few brief hours were +sufficient to prove the utter fallacy of the dream. Some secret +conspiracy is, I am convinced, carrying on within these very walls. I +know and feel this, and yet so cautious, so secret are their movements, +whatever they may be, that I cannot guard against them. There are, as +thou knowest, fewer true fighting men amongst us than any other class, +and these are needed to man the walls and guard against the foe without; +they may not be spared to watch as spies their comrades--nay, I dare not +even breathe such thoughts, lest their bold hearts should faint and +fail, and they too demand surrender ere evil come upon us from within. +What will be that evil I know not, and therefore cannot guard against +it. I dare not employ these men upon the walls, I dare not bring them +out against the foe, for so bitterly do I mistrust them, I should fear +even then they would betray us. I only know that evil awaits us, and +therefore, my beloved, I do beseech thee, tarry not till it be upon us; +depart while thy path is free." + +"Yet if they sought safety and peace, if they tire of this warfare," she +replied, disregarding his last words, "wherefore not depart to-day, when +egress was permitted; bethink thee, dearest Nigel, is not this proof thy +fears are ill founded, and that no further ill hangs over us than that +which threatens from without?" + +"Alas! no," he said, "it but confirms my suspicions; I obtained this +safe conduct expressly to nullify or confirm them. Had they departed as +I wished, all would have been well; but they linger, and I can feel +their plans are maturing, and therefore they will not depart. Oh, +Agnes," he continued, bitterly, "my very soul is crushed beneath this +weight of unexpressed anxiety and care. Had I but to contend with our +English foe, but to fight a good and honorable fight, to struggle on, +conscious that to the last gasp the brave inmates of this fortress would +follow me, and Edward would find naught on which to wreak his vengeance +but the dead bodies of his foes, my task were easy as 'twere glorious; +but to be conscious of secret brooding evil each morn that rises, each +night that falls, to dread what yet I know not, to see, perchance, my +brave fellows whelmed, chained, through a base treachery impossible to +guard against--oh! Agnes, 'tis this I fear." + +"Yet have they not seemed more willing, more active in their assigned +tasks since the execution of their comrade," continued Agnes, with all a +woman's gentle artifice, still seeking to impart hope, even when she +felt that none remained; "may it not be that, in reality, they repent +them of former traitorous designs, and remain behind to aid thee to the +last? Thou sayest that palpable proof of this brooding evil thou canst +not find, then do not heed its voice. Let no fear of me, of my safety, +add its pang; mine own Nigel, indeed I fear them not." + +"I know that all I urge will naught avail with thee, beloved," he +answered, somewhat less agitated. "I know thy gentle love is all too +deep, too pure, too strong, to share my fears for thee, and oh, I bless +thee, bless thee for the sweet solace of that faithful love! yet, yet, I +may not listen to thy wishes. All that thou sayest is but confirmation +of the brooding evil; they are active, willing, but to hide their dark +designs. Yet even were there not this evil to dread, no dream of +treachery, still, still, I would send thee hence, sweet one. Famine and +blood, and chains, and death--oh, no, no! thou must not stay for these." + +"And whither wouldst thou send me, Nigel, and for what?" she asked, +still calmly, though her quivering lip denoted that self-possession was +fast failing. "Why?" + +"Whither? to safety, freedom, peace, my best beloved!" he answered, +fervently; "for what? that happier, brighter days may beam for thee, +that thou mayest live to bless and be a blessing; dearest, best, cling +not to a withered stem, thou mayest be happy yet." + +"And wilt thou join me, if I seek this home of safety, Nigel?" she laid +her hand on his arm, and fixed her eyes unflinchingly upon his face. He +could not meet that glance, a cold shudder passed over his frame ere he +could reply. + +"Mine own Agnes," and even then he paused, for his quivering lip could +not give utterance to his thoughts, and a minute rolled in that deep +stillness, and still those anxious eyes moved not from his face. At +length voice returned, and it was sad yet deeply solemn, "Our lives rest +not in our own hands," he said; "and who when they part may look to meet +again? Beloved, if life be spared, canst doubt that I will join thee? +yet, situated as I am, governor of a castle about to fall, a patriot, +and a Bruce, brother to the noble spirit who wears our country's crown, +and has dared to fling down defiance to a tyrant, Agnes, mine own Agnes, +how may I dream of life? I would send thee hence ere that fatal moment +come; I would spare thee this deep woe. I would bid thee live, beloved, +live till years had shed sweet peace upon thy heart, and thou wert happy +once again." + +There was a moment's pause; the features of Agnes had become convulsed +with agony as Nigel spoke, and her hands had closed with fearful +pressure on his arm, but his last words, spoken in his own rich, +thrilling voice, called back the stagnant blood. + +"No, no; I will not leave thee!" she sobbed forth, as from the sudden +failing of strength in every limb she sunk kneeling at his feet. "Nigel, +Nigel, I will not leave thee; in life or in death I will abide by thee. +Force me not from thee; seek not to tempt me by the tale of safety, +freedom, peace; thou knowest not the depth, the might of woman's love, +if thou thinkest things like these can weigh aught with her, even if +chains and death stood frowningly beside. I will not leave thee; whom +have I beside thee, for whom else wouldst thou call on me to live? +Alone, alone, utterly alone, save _thee_! Wilt thou bid me hence, and +leave thee to meet thy fate alone--thee, to whom my mother gave +me--thee, without whom my very life is naught? Nigel, oh, despise me not +for these wild words, unmaidenly as they sound; oh, let me speak them, +or my heart will break!" + +"Despise thee for these blessed words!" Nigel answered, passionately, as +he raised her from the ground, and clasped her to his heart. "Oh, thou +knowest not the bliss they give; yet, yet would I speak of parting, +implore thee still to leave me, aye, though in that parting my very +heart-strings snap. Agnes, how may I bear to see thee in the power of +the foe, perchance insulted, persecuted, tortured with the ribald +admiration of the rude crowd, and feel I have no power to save thee, no +claim to bind thee to my side. What are the mere chains of love in such +an hour, abiding by me, as thou mightst, till our last hope is over, and +English colors wave above this fortress--then, dearest, oh, must we not, +shall we not be rudely parted?" + +"No, no! Who shall dare to part us?" she said, as she clung sobbing to +his breast. "Who shall dare to do this thing, and say I may not tend +thee, follow thee, even until death?" + +"Who? our captors, dearest. Thinkest thou they will heed thy tender +love, thine anguish? will they have hearts for aught save for thy +loveliness, sweet one? Think, think of terrors like to this, and oh, +still wilt thou refuse to fly?" + +"But thy sister, the Lady Seaton, Nigel, doth she not stay, doth she not +brave these perils?" asked Agnes, shuddering at her lover's words, yet +clinging to him still. "If she escapes such evil, why, oh, why may not +I?" + +"She is Seaton's wife, sweet one, bound to him by the voice of heaven, +by the holiest of ties; the noble knights who head our foes will protect +her in all honorable keeping; but for thee, Agnes, even if the ills I +dread be as naught, there is yet one I have dared not name, lest it +should pain thee, yet one that is most probable as 'tis most fearful; +thou canst not hide thy name, and as a daughter of Buchan, oh, will they +not give thee to a father's keeping?" + +"The murderer of my brother--my mother's jailer! Oh, Nigel, Nigel, to +look on him were more than death!" she wildly exclaimed. "Yet, yet once +known as Agnes of Buchan, this will, this must be; but leave thee now, +leave thee to a tyrant's doom, if indeed, indeed thou fallest in his +hands--leave thee, when faithful love and woman's tenderness are more +than ever needed--leave thee for a fear like this, no, no, I will not. +Nigel, I will rest with thee. Speak not, answer not; give us one short +moment, and then--oh, all the ills may be averted by one brief word--and +I, oh, can I speak it?" She paused in fearful agitation, and every limb +shook as if she must have fallen; the blood rushed up to cheek, and +brow, and neck, as, fixing her beautiful eyes on Nigel's face, she said, +in a low yet thrilling voice, "Let the voice of heaven hallow the vows +we have so often spoken, Nigel. Give me a right, a sacred right to bear +thy name, to be thine own, at the altar's foot, by the holy abbot's +blessing. Let us pledge our troth, and then let what will come, no man +can part us. I am thine, only thine!" + +Without waiting for a reply, she buried her face in his bosom, and Nigel +could feel her heart throb as if 'twould burst its bounds, her frame +quiver as if the torrent of blood, checked and stayed to give strength +for the effort, now rushed back with such overwhelming force through its +varied channels as to threaten life itself. + +"Agnes, my own noble, self-devoted love! oh, how may I answer thee?" he +cried, tears of strong emotion coursing down his cheek--tears, and the +warrior felt no shame. "How have I been deserving of love like this--how +may I repay it? how bless thee for such words? Mine own, mine own! this +would indeed guard thee from the most dreaded ills; yet how may I link +that self-devoted heart to one whose thread of life is well-nigh spun? +how may I make thee mine, when a few brief weeks of misery and horror +must part us, and on earth, forever?" + +"No, no; thou knowest not all a wife may do, my Nigel," she said, as she +raised her head from his bosom, and faintly smiled, though her frame +still shook; "how she may plead even with a tyrant, and find mercy; or +if this fail, how she may open iron gates and break through bonds, till +freedom may be found. Oh, no, we shall not wed to part, beloved; but +live and yet be happy, doubt it not; and then, oh, then forget the words +that joined us, made us one, had birth from other lips than thine;--thou +wilt forget, forgive this, Nigel?" + +"Forget--forgive! that to thy pure, unselfish soul I owe the bliss which +e'en at this hour I feel," he answered, passionately kissing the +beautiful brow upturned to his; "forget words that have proved--had I +needed proof--how purely, nobly, faithfully I am beloved; how utterly, +how wholly thou hast forgotten all of self for me! No, no! were thy +words proved true, might I indeed live blessed with thee the life +allotted man, each year, each month I would recall this hour, and bless +thee for its love. But oh, it may not be!" and his voice so suddenly +lost its impassioned fervor, that the breast of Agnes filled with new +alarm. "Dearest, best! thou must not dream of life, of happiness with +me. I may not mock thee with such blessed, but, alas! delusive hopes; my +doom hath gone forth, revealed when I knew it not, confirmed by that +visioned seer but few short weeks ago. Agnes, my noble Agnes, wherefore +shouldst thou wed with death? I know that I must die!" + +The solemn earnestness of his words chased the still lingering glow from +the lips and cheek of the maiden, and a cold shiver passed through her +frame, but still she clung to him, and said-- + +"It matters not; my maiden love, my maiden troth is pledged to thee--in +life or in death I am thine alone. I will not leave thee," she said, +firmly and calmly. "Nigel, if it be indeed as thou sayest, that +affliction, and--and all thou hast spoken, must befall thee, the more +need is there for the sustaining and the soothing comfort of a woman's +love. Fear not for me, weak as I may have seemed, there is yet a spirit +in me worthy of thy love. I will not unman thee for all thou mayest +encounter. No, even if I follow thee to--to death, it shall be as a +Bruce's wife. Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee undiscovered, +when, if it must be, the foe is triumphant; it will take time, and we +have none to lose. Thou hast promised to forget all I have urged, all, +save my love for thee; then, oh, fear me not, doubt me not, thine Agnes +will not fail thee!" + +Nigel gazed at her almost with surprise; she was no longer the gentle +timid being who but a few minutes since had clung weeping to his bosom +as a child. She was indeed very pale, and on her features was the +stillness of marble; but she stood erect and unfaltering in her innocent +loveliness, sustained by that mighty spirit which dwelt within. An +emotion of deep reverence took possession of that warrior heart, and +unable to resist the impulse, he bent his knee before her. + +"Then let it be so," he said, solemnly, but oh, how fervently. "I will +not torture mine own heart and thine by conjuring thee to fly; and now, +here, at thy feet, Agnes, noble, generous being, let me swear solemnly, +sacredly swear, that should life be preserved to me longer than I now +dream of, should I indeed be spared to lavish on thee all a husband's +love and care, never, never shalt thou have cause to regret this day! to +mourn thy faithful love was shown as it hath been--to weep the hour +that, in the midst of danger, and darkness, and woe, hath joined our +earthly fates, and made us one. And now," he continued, rising and +folding her once more in his arms, "wilt thou meet me at the altar ere +the truce concludes? 'tis but a brief while, a very brief while, my +love; yet if it can be, I know thou wilt not shrink." + +"I will not," she answered. "The hour thou namest I will meet thee. Lady +Seaton," she added, slightly faltering, and the vivid blush rose to her +temples, "I would see her, speak with her; yet--" + +"She shall come to thee, mine own, prepared to love and hail thee +sister, as she hath long done. She will not blame thee dearest; she +loves, hath loved too faithfully herself. Fear not, I will leave naught +for thee to tell that can bid that cheek glow as it doth now. She, too, +will bless thee for thy love." + +He imprinted a fervent kiss on her cheek, and hastily left her. Agnes +remained standing as he had left her for several minutes, her hands +tightly clasped, her whole soul speaking in her beautiful features, and +then she sunk on her knees before a rudely-carved image of the Virgin +and child, and prayed long and fervently. She did not weep, her spirit +had been too painfully excited for such relief, but so wrapt was she in +devotion, she knew not that Lady Seaton, with a countenance beaming in +admiration and love, stood beside her, till she spoke. + +"Rouse thee, my gentle one," she said, tenderly, as she twined her arm +caressingly around her; "I may not let thee linger longer even here, for +time passes only too quickly, and I shall have but little time to attire +my beautiful bride for the altar. Nigel hath been telling such a tale of +woman's love, that my good lord hath vowed, despite his weakness and his +wounds, none else shall lead thee to the altar, and give thee to my +brother, save himself. I knew that not even Nigel's influence would bid +thee leave us, dearest," she continued, as Agnes hid her face in her +bosom, "but I dreamed not such a spirit dwelt within this childlike +heart, sweet one; thy lot must surely be for joy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was something past the hour of nine, when Agnes, leaning on the arm +of Sir Christopher Seaton, and followed by Lady Seaton and two young +girls, their attendants, entered the church, and walked, with an +unfaltering step and firm though modest mien, up to the altar, beside +which Nigel already stood. She was robed entirely in white, without the +smallest ornament save the emerald clasp which secured, and the +beautiful pearl embroidery which adorned her girdle. Her mantle was of +white silk, its little hood thrown back, disclosing a rich lining of the +white fox fur. Lady Seaton had simply arranged her hair in its own +beautiful curls, and not a flower or gem peeped through them; a silver +bodkin secured the veil, which was just sufficiently transparent to +permit her betrothed to look upon her features, and feel that, pale and +still as they were, they evinced no change in her generous purpose. He, +too, was pale, for he felt those rites yet more impressively holy than +he had deemed them, even when his dreams had pictured them peculiarly +and solemnly holy; for he looked not to a continuance of life and +happiness, he felt not that ceremony set its seal upon joy, and bound +it, as far as mortality might hope, forever on their hearts. He was +conscious only of the deep unutterable fulness of that gentle being's +love, of the bright, beautiful lustre with which it shone upon his path. +The emotion of his young and ardent breast was perhaps almost too holy, +too condensed, to be termed joy; but it was one so powerful, so blessed, +that all of earth and earthly care was lost before it. The fears and +doubts which he had so lately felt, for the time completely faded from +his memory. That there were foes without and yet darker foes within he +might have known perhaps, but at that moment they did not occupy a +fleeting thought. He had changed his dress for one of richness suited to +his rank, and though at the advice of his friends he still retained the +breastplate and some other parts of his armor, his doublet of azure +velvet, cut and slashed with white satin, and his long, flowing mantle +lined with sable, and so richly decorated with silver stars that its +color could scarcely be distinguished, removed all appearance of a +martial costume, and well became the graceful figure they adorned; two +of the oldest knights and four other officers, all gayly attired as the +hurry of the moment would permit, had at his own request attended him to +the altar. + +Much surprise this sudden intention had indeed caused, but it was an +excitement, a change from the dull routine of the siege, and +consequently welcomed with joy, many indeed believing Sir Nigel had +requested the truce for the purpose. Sir Christopher, too, though pale +and gaunt, and compelled to use the support of a cane in walking, was +observed to look upon his youthful charge with all his former hilarity +of mien, chastened by a kindly tenderness, which seemed indeed that of +the father whom he personated; and Lady Seaton had donned a richer garb +than was her wont, and stood encouragingly beside the bride. About +twenty men-at-arms, their armor and weapons hastily burnished, that no +unseemly soil should mar the peaceful nature of the ceremony by +recalling thoughts of war, were ranged on either side. The church was +lighted, dimly in the nave and aisles, but softly and somewhat with a +holy radiance where the youthful couple knelt, from the large waxen +tapers burning in their silver stands upon the altar. + +The Abbot of Scone was at his post, attended by the domestic chaplain of +Kildrummie; there was a strange mixture of admiration and anxiety on the +old man's face, but Agnes saw it not; she saw nothing save him at whose +side she knelt. + +Nigel, even in the agitation of mind in which he had quitted Agnes--an +agitation scarcely conquered in hastily informing his sister and her +husband of all that had passed between them, and imploring their +countenance and aid--yet made it his first care strictly to make the +round of the walls, to notice all that might be passing within the +courts, and see that the men-at-arms were at their posts. In consequence +of the truce, for the conclusion of which it still wanted some little +time, there were fewer men on the walls than usual, their commanders +having desired them to take advantage of this brief cessation of +hostilities and seek refreshment and rest. A trumpet was to sound at the +hour of ten, half an hour before the truce concluded, to summon them +again to their posts. The men most acute in penetration, most firm and +steady in purpose, Nigel selected as sentries along the walls; the post +of each being one of the round towers we have mentioned, the remaining +spaces were consequently clear. Night had already fallen, and anxiously +observing the movements on the walls; endeavoring to discover whether +the various little groups of men and women in the ballium meant any +thing more than usual, Sir Nigel did not notice various piles or stacks +of straw and wood which were raised against the wall in many parts where +the shadows lay darkest, and some also against the other granaries which +were contained in low, wooden buildings projecting from the wall. +Neither he nor his friends, nor even the men-at-arms, noticed them, or +if they did, imagined them in the darkness to be but the stones and +other weights generally collected there, and used to supply the engines +on the wails. + +With the exception of the sentries and the men employed by Nigel, all +the garrison had assembled in the hall of the keep for their evening +meal, the recollection of whose frugality they determined to banish by +the jest and song; there were in consequence none about the courts, and +therefore that dark forms were continually hovering about beneath the +deep shadows of the walls, increasing the size of the stacks, remained +wholly undiscovered. + +Agnes had entered the church by a covered passage, which united the keep +to its inner wall, and thence by a gallery through the wall itself, +dimly lighted by loopholes, to the edifice, whose southern side was +formed by this same wall. It was therefore, though in reality situated +within the ballium or outer court, nearer by many hundred yards to the +dwelling of the baron than to the castle walls, its granaries, towers, +etc. This outward ballium indeed was a very large space, giving the +appearance of a closely-built village or town, from the number of low +wooden and thatched-roofed dwellings, which on either side of the large +open space before the great gate were congregated together. This account +may, we fear at such a moment, seem somewhat out of place, but events in +the sequel compel us to be thus particular. A space about half a mile +square surrounded the church, and this position, when visited, by Sir +Nigel at nine o'clock, was quiet and deserted; indeed there was very +much less confusion and other evidences of disquiet within the dwellings +than was now usual, and this circumstance perhaps heightened the calm +which, as we have said, had settled on Sir Nigel's mind. + +There was silence within that little sacred edifice, the silence of +emotion; for not one could gaze upon that young fair girl, could think +of that devoted spirit, which at such a time preferred to unite her fate +with a beloved one than seek safety and freedom in flight, without being +conscious of a strange swelling of the heart and unwonted moisture in +the eye; and there was that in the expression of the beautiful features +of Nigel Bruce none could remark unmoved. He was so young, so gifted, so +strangely uniting the gift of the sage, the poet, with the glorious +achievements of the most perfect knight, that he had bound himself alike +to every heart, however varied their dispositions, however opposite +their tastes; and there was not one, from the holy Abbot of Scone to the +lowest and rudest of the men-at-arms, who would not willingly, aye, +joyfully have laid down life for his, have gladly accepted chains to +give him freedom. + +The deep, sonorous voice of the abbot audibly faltered as he commenced +the sacred service, and looked on the fair beings kneeling, in the +beauty and freshness of their youth, before him. Accustomed, however, to +control every human emotion, he speedily recovered himself, and +uninterruptedly the ceremony continued. Modestly, yet with a voice that +never faltered, Agnes made the required responses; and so deep was the +stillness that reigned around not a word was lost, but, sweetly and +clearly as a silver clarion, it sunk on every ear and thrilled to every +heart; to his who knelt beside her, as if each tone revealed yet more +the devoted love which led her there. Towards the conclusion of the +service, and just as every one within the church knelt in general +prayer, a faint, yet suffocating odor, borne on what appeared a light +mist, was distinguished, and occasioned some slight surprise; by the +group around the altar, however, it was unnoticed; and the men-at-arms, +on looking towards the narrow windows and perceiving nothing but the +intense darkness of the night, hushed the rising exclamation, and +continued in devotion. Two of the knights, too, were observed to glance +somewhat uneasily around, still nothing was perceivable but the light +wreaths of vapor penetrating through the northern aisle, and dissolving +ere long the arches of the roof. Almost unconsciously they listened, and +became aware of some sounds in the distance, but so faint and +indefinable as to permit them to rest in the belief that it must be the +men-at-arms hurrying from the keep to the walls, although they were +certain the trumpet had not yet sounded. Determined not to heed such +vague sounds, they looked again to the altar. The abbot had laid a +trembling hand on either low-bent head, and was emphatically pronouncing +his blessing on their vows, calling on heaven in its mercy to bless and +keep them, and spare them to each other for a long and happy life; or if +it must be that a union commenced in danger should end in sorrow, to +keep them still, and fit them for a union in eternity. His words were +few but earnest, and for the first time the lip of Agnes was observed to +quiver--they were ONE. Agnes was clasped to the heart of her +husband; she heard him call her his own--his wife--that man should never +part them more. The voice of congratulation woke around her, but ere +either could gaze around to look their thanks, or clasp the eagerly +proffered hand, a cry of alarm, of horror, ran though the building. A +red, lurid light, impossible to be mistaken, illumined every window, as +from a fearful conflagration without; darkness had fled before it. On +all sides it was light--light the most horrible, the most awful, though +perchance the most fascinating the eye can behold; fearful shouts and +cries, and the rush of many feet, mingled with the now easily +distinguished roar of the devouring element, burst confusedly on the +ear. A minute sufficed to fling open the door of the church for knights +and men-at-arms to rush forth in one indiscriminate mass. Sir +Christopher would have followed them, utterly regardless of his +inability, had not his wife clung to him imploringly, and effectually +restrained him. The abbot, grasping the silver crosier by his side, with +a swift, yet still majestic stride, made his way through the church, and +vanished by the widely opened door. Agnes and Sir Nigel stood +comparatively alone; not a cry, not a word passed her lips; every +feature was wrapped in one absorbing look upon her husband. He had +clasped his hands convulsively together, his brow was knit, his lip +compressed, his eye fixed and rigid, though it gazed on vacancy. + +"It hath fallen, it hath fallen!" he muttered. "Fool, fool that I was +never to dream of this! Friends, followers, all I hold most dear, +swallowed up in this fell swoop! God of mercy, how may it be born! And +thou, thou," he added, in increased agony, roused from that stupor by +the wild shouts of "Sir Nigel, Sir Nigel! where is he? why does he tarry +in such an hour?" that rung shrilly on the air. "Agnes, mine own, it is +not too late even now to fly. Ha! son of Dermid, in good tune thou art +here; save her, in mercy save her! I know not when, or how, or where we +may meet again; I may not tarry here." He clasped her in his arms, +imprinted an impassioned kiss on her now death-like cheek, placed her at +once in the arms of the seer (who, robed as a minstrel, had stood +concealed behind a projecting pillar during the ceremony, and now +approached), and darted wildly from the church. What a scene met his +gaze! All the buildings within the ballium, with the sole exception of +the church, were in one vivid blaze of fire; the old dry wood and thatch +of which they were composed, kindling with a mere spark. The wind blew +the flames in the direction of the principal wall, which was already +ignited from the heaps of combustibles that had been raised within for +the purpose; although it was likely that, from its extreme thickness and +strength, the fire had there done but partial evil, had not the +conflagration within the court spread faster and nearer every moment, +and from the blazing rafters and large masses of thatch caught by the +wind and hurled on the very wall, done greater and more irreparable +mischief than the combustibles themselves. Up, up, seeming to the very +heavens, the lurid flames ascended, blazing and roaring, and lighting +the whole scene as with the glare of day. Fantastic wreaths of red fire +danced in the air against the pitchy blackness of the heavens, rising +and falling in such graceful, yet terrible shapes, that the very eye +felt riveted in admiration, while the heart quailed with horror. +Backwards and forwards gleamed the forms of men in the dusky glare; and +oaths and cries, and the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women, +terrified by the destruction they had not a little assisted to +ignite--the sudden rush of horses bursting from their stables, and +flying here and there, scared by the unusual sight and horrid +sounds--the hissing streams of water which, thrown from huge buckets on +the flames, seemed but to excite them to greater fury instead of +lessening their devouring way--the crackling of straw and wood, as of +the roar of a hundred furnaces--these were the varied sounds and sights +that burst upon the eye and ear of Nigel, as, richly attired as he was, +his drawn sword in his hand, his fair hair thrown back from his +uncovered brow and head, he stood in the very centre of the scene. One +glance sufficed to perceive that the rage of the men-at-arms was turned +on their treacherous countrymen; that the work of war raged even +then--the swords of Scotsmen were raised against each other. Even women +fell in that fierce slaughter, for the demon of revenge was at work, and +sought but blood. In vain the holy abbot, heedless that one sudden gust +and his flowing garments must inevitably catch fire, uplifted his +crosier, and called on them to forbear. In vain the officers rushed +amidst the infuriated men, bidding them keep their weapons and their +lives for the foe, who in such a moment would assuredly be upon them; in +vain they commanded, exhorted, implored; but on a sudden, the voice of +Sir Nigel Bruce was heard above the tumult, loud, stern, commanding. His +form was seen hurrying from group to group, turning back with his own +sword the weapons of his men, giving life even to those who had wrought +this woe; and there was a sudden hush, a sudden pause. + +"Peace, peace!" he cried. "Would ye all share the madness of these men? +They have hurled down destruction, let them reap it; let them live to +thrive and fatten in their chains; let them feel the yoke they pine for. +For us, my friends and fellow-soldiers, let us not meet our glorious +fate with the blood of Scotsmen on our swords. We have striven for our +country; we have striven gloriously, faithfully, and now we have but to +die for her. Ha! do I speak in vain? Again--back, coward! wouldst thou +slay a woman?" and, with a sudden bound, he stood beside one of the +soldiers, who was in the act of plunging his dagger in the breast of a +kneeling and struggling female. One moment sufficed to wrench the dagger +from his grasp, and release the woman from his hold. + +"It is ill done, your lordship; it is the fiend, the arch-fiend that has +planned it all," loudly exclaimed the man. "She has been heard to mutter +threats of vengeance, and blood and fire against thee, and all belonging +to thee. Let her not go free, my lord; thou mayest repent it still." + +"Repent giving a woman life?--bah! Thou art a fool, though a faithful +one," answered Sir Nigel; but even he started as he recognized the +features of Jean Roy. She gave him no time to restrain her, however; +for, sliding from his hold, she bounded several paces from him, singing, +as she did so, "Repent, ye shall repent! Where is thy buxom bride? Jean +Roy will see to her safety. A bonny courtship ye shall have!" Tossing up +her arms wildly, she vanished as she spoke; seeming in that light in +very truth more like a fiend than woman. A chill sunk on the heart of +Nigel, but, "No, no," he said, internally, as again he sought the spot +where confusion and horror waxed thickest; "Dermid will care for Agnes, +and guard her. I will not think of that mad woman's words." Yet even as +he rushed onwards, giving directions, commands, lending his aid to every +effort made for extinguishing the fire, a prayer for his wife was +uttered in his heart. + +The fire continued its rapid progress, buttress after buttress, tower +after tower caught on the walls, causing the conflagration to continue, +even when, by the most strenuous efforts, it had been partially +extinguished amongst the dwellings of the court. The wind blowing from +the north fortunately preserved the keep, inner wall, and even the +church, uninjured, save that the scorched and blackened sides of the +latter gave evidence of the close vicinity of the flames, and how +narrowly it had escaped. With saddened hearts, the noble defenders of +Scotland's last remaining bulwark, beheld their impregnable wall, the +scene of such dauntless valor, such unconquered struggles, against which +the whole force of their mighty foes had been of no avail--that wall +crumbling into dust and ashes in their very sight, opening a broad +passage to the English foe. Yet still there was no evidence that to +yield were preferable than to die; still, though well-nigh exhausted +with their herculean efforts to quench the flames, there was no +cessation, no pause, although the very height of the wall prevented +success, for they had not the facilities afforded by the engines of the +present day. Sir Nigel, his knights, nay, the venerable abbot himself, +seconded every effort of the men. It seemed as if little more could add +to the horror of the scene, and yet the shouts of "The granaries, the +granaries--merciful heaven, all is consumed!" came with such appalling +consciousness on every ear, that for a brief while, the stoutest arm +hung powerless, the firmest spirit quailed. Famine stood suddenly before +them as a gaunt, terrific spectre, whose cold hand it seemed had grasped +their very hearts. Nobles and men, knights and soldiers, alike stood +paralyzed, gazing at each other with a blank, dim, unutterable despair. +The shrill blast of many trumpets, the roll of heavy drums, broke that +deep stillness. "The foe! the foe!" was echoed round, fiercely, yet +rejoicingly. "They are upon us--they brave the flames--well done! Now +firm and steady; to your arms--stand close. Sound trumpets--the +defiance, the Bruce and Scotland!" and sharply and clearly, as if but +just arrayed for battle, as if naught had chanced to bend those gallant +spirits to the earth, the Scottish clarions sent back their answering +blast, and the men gathered in compact array around their gallant +leader. + +"My horse--my horse!" shouted Nigel Bruce, as he sprung from rank to +rank of the little phalanx, urging, commanding, entreating them to make +one last stand, and fall as befitted Scottish patriots. The keep and +inner ballium was still their own as a place of retreat, however short a +period it might remain so. A brave defence, a glorious death would still +do much for Scotland. + +Shouts, cheers, blessings on his name awoke in answer, as unfalteringly, +as bravely as those of the advancing foes. Prancing, neighing, rearing, +the superb charger was at length brought to the dauntless leader. + +"Not thus, my lord; in heaven's name, do not mount thus, unarmed, +bareheaded as thou art!" exclaimed several voices, and two or three of +his esquires crowded round him. "Retire but for a brief space within the +church." + +"And turn my back upon my foes, Hubert; not for worlds! No, no; bring me +the greaves, gauntlets, and helmet here, if thou wilt, and an they give +me time, I will arm me in their very teeth. Haste ye, my friends, if ye +will have it so; for myself these garments would serve me well enough;" +but ere he ceased to speak they had flown to obey, and returned ere a +dozen more of the English had made their way across the crumbling wall. +Coolly, composedly, Nigel threw aside his mantle and doublet, and +permitted his esquires to assist in arming him, speaking at the same +time in a tone so utterly unconcerned, that ere their task was finished, +his coolness had extended unto them. He had allowed some few of the +English to make an unmolested way; his own men were drawn up in close +lines against the inner wall, so deep in shadow that they were at first +unobserved by the English. He could perceive by the still, clear light +of the flames, troop after troop of the besiegers were marching forward +in the direction both of the causeway and the river; several were +plunging in the moat, sword in hand, and attack threatened on every +side. He waited no longer; springing on his charger, with a movement so +sudden and unexpected, the helmet fell from his esquire's hand, and +waving his sword above his undefended head, he shouted aloud his +war-cry, and dashed on, followed by his men, to the spot where a large +body of his foes already stood. + +Desperately they struggled, most gallantly they fought; man after man of +the English fell before them. On, on they struggled; a path seemed +cleared before them; the English were bearing back, despite their +continued reinforcements from the troops, that so thronged the causeway +it appeared but one mass of men. But other shouts rent the air. The +besiegers now poured in on every side; wherever that gallant body turned +they were met by English. On, on they came, fresh from some hours of +repose, buoyed up by the certainty of conquest; unnumbered swords and +spears, and coats of mail, gleaming in that lurid light; on came the +fiery steeds, urged by the spur and rein, till through the very flames +they bore their masters; on through the waters of the moat, up the +scorching ruins, and with a sound as of thunder, clearing with a single +bound all obstacles into the very court. It was a fearful sight; that +little patriot band, hemmed in on every side, yet struggling to the +last, clearing a free passage through men and horse, and glancing swords +and closing multitudes, nearing the church, slowly, yet surely, forming +in yet closer order as they advanced; there, there they stood, as a +single bark amid the troubled waves, cleaving them asunder, but to close +again in fatal fury on her track. + +In vain, amid that furious strife, did the Earl of Lancaster seek out +the azure plume and golden helmet that marked the foe he still desired +to meet; there was indeed a face, beautiful and glorious even in that +moment, ever in the very thickest of the fight, alike the front, the +centre, the rear-guard of his men; there was indeed that stately form, +sitting his noble charger as if horse and man were one; and that +unhelmed brow, that beautifully formed head, with its long curls +streaming in the night wind, which towered unharmed, unbent, above his +foes; and where that was, the last hope of his country had gathered. The +open door of the church was gained, and there the Scottish patriots made +a stand, defended in their rear by the building. A brief and desperate +struggle partially cleared their foes, and ere those in the rear could +press forward, the besieged had disappeared, and the heavy doors were +closed. The sudden pause of astonishment amidst the assailants was +speedily dispelled by the heavy blows of axes and hatchets, the sudden +shout "To the wall! to the wall!" while several ran to plant +scaling-ladders and mount the inner barrier, left unhappily unguarded +from the diminished numbers of the Scotch; there, however, their +progress was impeded, for the space which that wall inclosed being +scarce half the size of the ballium, and the barrier itself uninjured, +they were repulsed with loss from within. The church-doors meanwhile had +given way, and permitted ingress to the assailants, but the door leading +to the passage through the inner wall, and by which in reality the +Scotch had effected their retreat, was carefully closed and barred +within, and had so completely the same appearance as the wall of the +church in which it stood, that the English gazed round them fairly +puzzled and amazed. + +This movement, however, on the part of the besieged occasioned a brief +cessation of hostilities on both sides. The flames had subsided, except +here and there, where the passing wind fanned the red-hot embers anew +into life, and caused a flickering radiance to pass athwart the pitchy +darkness of the night, and over the bustling scene on either side the +ruins. + +There was no moon, and Hereford imagined the hours of darkness might be +better employed in active measures for resuming the attack by dawn than +continuing it then. Much, very much had been gained: a very brief +struggle more he knew must now decide it, and he hoped, though against +his better judgment, that the garrison, would surrender without further +loss of blood. Terms he could not propose, none at least that could +prevail on the brave commanders to give up with life, and so great was +the admiration Nigel's conduct had occasioned, that this true son of +chivalry ardently wished he would eventually fall in combat rather than +be consigned to the fearful fate which he knew would be inflicted on him +by the commands of Edward. Commands to the troops without were forwarded +by trusty esquires; the wounded conveyed to the camp, and their places +supplied by fresh forces, who, with the joyous sound of trumpet and +drum, marched over by torchlight into the ballium, so long the coveted +object of their attack. + +Sir Nigel meanwhile had desired his exhausted men to lie down in their +arms, ready to start up at the faintest appearance of renewed +hostility, and utterly worn out, they most willingly obeyed. But the +young knight himself neither shared nor sought for that repose; he stood +against a buttress on the walls, leaning on a tall spear, and gazing at +once upon his wearied followers, and keeping a strict watch on the +movements of his foes. A tall form, clothed in complete armor, suddenly +stood beside him; he started. + +"Seaton!" he said; "thou here, and in armor?" + +"Aye," answered the knight, his voice from very weakness sounding hollow +in his helmet. "Aye, to make one last stand, and, if it may be, die as I +have lived for Scotland. I have strength to strike one last blow, for +last it will be--all is lost!" + +A low groan broke from Nigel's lips, but he made no further answer than +the utterance of one word--"Agnes!" + +"Is safe, I trust," rejoined the knight. "The son of Dermid, in whose +arms I last saw her, knoweth many a secret path and hidden passage, and +can make his way wherever his will may lead." + +"How! thinkest thou he will preserve her, save her even now from the +foe?" + +"Aye, perchance conceal her till the castle be dismantled. But what do +they now? See, a herald and white flag," he added, abruptly, as by the +light of several torches a trumpeter, banner-bearer, herald, and five +men-at-arms were discerned approaching the walls. + +"What would ye? Halt, and answer," demanded Sir Nigel, recalled on the +instant to his sterner duties, and advancing, spear in hand, to the +utmost verge of the wall. + +"We demand speech of Sir Nigel Bruce and Sir Christopher Seaton, +governors of this castle," was the brief reply. + +"Speak on, then, we are before ye, ready to list your say. What would +your lords?" + +"Give ye not admittance within the wall?" inquired the herald; "'tis +somewhat strange parleying without." + +"No!" answered Nigel, briefly and sternly; "speak on, and quickly. We +doubt not the honor of the noble Earl of Hereford--it hath been too +gloriously proved; but we are here to list your mission. What would ye?" + +"That ye surrender this fortress by to-morrow's dawn, and strive no +longer with the destiny against you. Ye have neither men nor stores, and +in all good and chivalric feeling, the noble Earls of Hereford and +Lancaster call on ye to surrender without further loss of blood." + +"And if we do this?" demanded Nigel. + +"They promise all honorable treatment and lenient captivity to the +leaders of the rebels, until the pleasure of his grace the king be +known; protection to all females; liberty to those whose rank demands +not their detention; and for the common soldiers, on the delivery of +their arms and upper garments, and their taking a solemn oath that +within seven days they will leave Scotland never to return, liberty and +life shall be mercifully extended unto one and all." + +"And if we do _not_ this?" + +"Your blood be upon your own rebellious heads! Sacking and pillage must +take their course." + +"Ye have heard," were the sole words that passed the lips of Nigel, +turning to his men, who, roused by the first sound of the trumpet, had +started from their slumbers, and falling in a semicircle round him and +Sir Christopher, listened with intense eagerness to the herald's words. +"Ye have heard. Speak, then--your answer; yours shall be ours." + +"Death! death! death!" was the universally reiterated shout. "We will +struggle to the death. Our king and country shall not say we deserted +them because we feared to die; or surrendered on terms of shame as +these! No; let the foe come on! we will die, if we may not live, still +patriots of Scotland! King Robert will avenge us! God save the Bruce!" + +Again, and yet again they bade God bless him; and startlingly and +thrillingly was the united voice of that desperate, devoted band borne +on the wings of night to the very furthest tents of their foes. Calmly +Sir Nigel turned again to the herald. + +"Thou hast Scotland's answer," he said; "'tis in such men as these her +glorious spirit lives! they will fall not unavenged. Commend us to your +masters; we await them with the dawn," and, turning on his heel, he +reassumed the posture of thought as if he had never been aroused. + +The dawn uprose, the attack was renewed with increased vigor, and +defended with the same calm, determined spirit which had been ever +shown; the patriots fell where they fought, leaving fearful traces of +their desperate courage in the numbers of English that surrounded each. +It was now before the principal entrance to the keep they made their +final stand, and horrible was the loss of life, fierce and deadly the +strife, ere that entrance was forced, and the shrieks of women and +children within proclaimed the triumph of the foe. Then came a shout, +loud ringing, joyous, echoed and re-echoed by the blast of the trumpets +both within and without, and the proud banner of Scotland was hurled +contemptuously to the earth, and the flag of England floated in its +place. Many a dying eye, unclosed by those sudden sounds, looked on that +emblem of defeat and moved not in life again; others sprung up to their +feet with wild shrieks of defiance, and fell back, powerless, in death. + +Sir Christopher Seaton, whose exhausted frame could barely sustain the +weight of his armor, had been taken in the first charge, fighting +bravely, but falling from exhaustion to the earth. And where was +Nigel?--hemmed in on all sides, yet seemingly unwounded, unconquered +still, his face indeed was deadly pale, and there were moments when his +strokes flagged as from an utter failing of strength; but if, on +observing this, his foes pressed closer, strength appeared to return, +and still, still he struggled on. He sought for death; he felt that he +dared his destiny, but death shunned him; he strove with his destiny in +vain. Not thus might he fall, the young, the generous, the gifted. On +foot, his armor hacked and stained with blood, not yet had the word +"yield" been shouted in his ear. + +"Back, back! leave me this glorious prize!" shouted Lancaster, spurring +on his charger through the crowd, and leaping from him the instant he +neared the spot where Nigel stood. "Take heed of my gallant horse, I +need him not--I shall not need him now. Ha! bareheaded too; well, so +shall it be with me--hand to hand, foot to foot. Turn, noble Nigel, we +are well-nigh equals now, and none shall come between us." He hastily +unclasped his helmet, threw it from his brow, and stood in the attitude +of defence. + +One moment Sir Nigel paused; his closing foes had fallen from him at the +words of their leader; he hesitated one brief instant as to whether +indeed he should struggle more, or deliver up his sword to the generous +earl, when the shout of triumph from the topmost turret, proclaiming the +raising of the banner, fell upon his ear, and nerved him to the onset. + +"Noble and generous!" he exclaimed, as their swords crossed. "Might I +choose my fate, I would fall by thy knightly sword." + +As stupefied with wonder at the skill, the extraordinary velocity and +power of the combatants, the men-at-arms stood round, without making one +movement to leave the spot; and fearful indeed was that deadly strife; +equal they seemed in stature, in the use of their weapons, in every +mystery of the sword; the eye ached with the rapid flashing of the +blades, the ear tired of the sharp, unwavering clash, but still they +quailed not, moved not from the spot where the combat had commenced. + +How long this fearful struggle would have continued, or who would +finally be victor, was undecided still, when suddenly the wild mocking +laugh of madness sounded in the very ear of Nigel, and a voice shouted +aloud, "Fight on, my bonny lord; see, see, how I care for your winsome +bride," and the maniac form of Jean Roy rushed by through the thickest +ranks of the men, swift, swift as the lightning track. A veil of silver +tissue floated from her shoulder, and she seemed to be bearing something +in her arms, but what, the rapidity of her way precluded all discovery. +The fierce soldiers shrunk away from her, as if appalled by her gaunt, +spectral look, or too much scared by her sudden appearance to attempt +detaining her. The eye of Nigel involuntarily turned from his foe to +follow her; he recognized the veil, and fancy did the rest. He saw her +near a part of the wall which was tottering beneath the engines of the +English; there was a wild shriek in other tones than hers, the wall +fell, burying the maniac in its ruins. A mist came over the senses of +the young knight, strength suddenly fled his arm, he stepped back as to +recover himself, but slipped and fell, the violence of the fall dashing +his sword many yards in air. "I yield me true prisoner, rescue or no +rescue," he said, in a tone so startling in its agony that the rudest +heart beside him shrunk within itself appalled, and for a minute +Lancaster checked the words upon his lips. + +"Nay, nay, yield not in such tone, my gallant foe!" he said, with eager +courtesy, and with his own hand aiding him to rise. "Would that I were +the majesty of England, I should deem myself debased did I hold such +gallantry in durance. Of a truth, thou hast robbed me of my conquest, +fair sir, for it was no skill of mine which brought thee to the ground. +I may thank that shrieking mad woman, perchance, for the preservation +of my laurels." + +"I give you thanks for your courtesy, my lord," replied Sir Nigel, +striving to recover himself; "but I pray you pardon me, if I beseech you +let that falling mass be cleared at once, and note if that unhappy woman +breathes. Methought," he added, in stronger agitation, "she carried +something in her arms." + +"She did," answered many voices; "some child or girl, who was +struggling, though the head was muffled up as if to prevent all sounds." + +"See to it, and bring us news of what you find," said Lancaster, +hastily, for the same ghastly expression passed over the countenance of +his prisoner as had startled him at first. "Thou art not well, my good +lord?" he continued kindly. + +"Nay, I am well, my lord; but I will go with you," replied the young +knight, slowly, as if collecting strength ere he could speak. "I am +wearied with the turmoil of the last twelve hours' fighting against fire +and sword at once; I would fain see the noble Hereford, and with his +permission rest me a brief while." + +Lancaster made no further comment, and the two knights, who but a few +minutes before had been engaged in deadly strife, now made their way +together through the heaps of the dying and the dead, through many a +group of rude soldiery, who scowled on Nigel with no friendly eye, for +they only recognized him as the destroyer of hundreds of their +countrymen, not the chivalric champion who had won the enthusiastic +admiration of their leaders, and soon found themselves in the +castle-hall, in the presence of the Earl of Hereford, who was surrounded +by his noblest officers, Sir Christopher and Lady Seaton, and some few +other Scottish prisoners, most of whom were badly wounded. He advanced +to meet Sir Nigel, courteously, though gravely. + +"It grieves me," he said, "to receive as a prisoner a knight of such +high renown and such chivalric bearing as Sir Nigel Bruce; I would he +had kept those rare qualities for the sovereign to whom they were +naturally due, and who would have known how to have appreciated and +honor them, rather than shed such lustre on so weak a cause." + +"Does your lordship regard the freedom of an oppressed country so weak +a cause?" replied Nigel, the hot blood mounting to his cheek; "the +rising in defence of a rightful king, in lieu of slavishly adhering to +one, who, though so powerful, all good men, aye, even all good +Englishmen, must look on, in his claims to Scotland, as an ambitious +usurper. My lord, my lord, the spirit of Hereford spoke not in those +words; but I forgive them, for I have much for which to proffer thanks +unto the noble Hereford, much, that his knightly soul scorned treachery +and gave us a fair field. Durance is but a melancholy prospect, yet an +it must be I would not nobler captors." + +"Nor would I forfeit the esteem in which you hold me, gallant sir," +replied the earl, "and therefore do I pray you, command my services in +aught that can pleasure you, and an it interfere not with my duty to my +sovereign, I shall be proud to give them. Speak, I pray you." + +"Nay, I can ask naught which the Earl of Hereford hath not granted of +himself," said Sir Nigel. "I would beseech you to extend protection to +all the females of this unhappy castle; to part not my sister from her +lord, for, as you see, his wounds and weakness call for woman's care; to +grant the leech's aid to those who need it; and if there be some unhappy +men of my faithful troop remaining, I would beseech you show mercy unto +them, and let them go free--they can work no further ill to Edward; they +can fight no more for Scotland, for she lieth chained; they have no head +and therefore no means of resistance--I beseech you give them freedom +unshackled by conditions." + +"It shall be, it shall be," replied Hereford, hastily, and evidently +moved; "but for thyself, young sir, thyself, can we do naught for thee?" + +"Nothing," answered the young man, calmly. "I need little more on earth, +for neither my youth, my birth, nor what it pleaseth thee to term my +gallantry, will save me from the sweeping axe of Edward. I would beseech +thee to let my death atone for all, and redeem my noble friends; but I +ask it not, for I know in this thou hast no power; and yet, though I ask +nothing now," he added, after a brief pause, and in a lower voice, as to +be heard only by Hereford, "ere we march to England I may have a boon to +crave--protection, liberty for a beloved one, whose fate as yet I know +not." He spoke almost inarticulately, for again it seemed the horrid +words and maniac laugh of Jean Roy resounded in his ears. There was +that in the look and manner of the English earl inviting confidence: a +moment the tortured young man longed to pour all into his ear, to +conjure him to find Agnes, and give her to his arms; the next he +refrained, for her words, "Ask not how I will contrive to abide by thee +undiscovered by the foe," suddenly flashed on his memory, with the +conviction that if she were indeed still in life, and he acknowledged +her his wife, Hereford would feel himself compelled to keep her under +restraint, as he did Lady Seaton and the wives of other noble Scotsmen. +His lip trembled, but fortunately for the preservation of his composure, +Hereford's attention was called from him by the eager entrance of +several other officers, who all crowded round him, alike in +congratulation, and waiting his commands, and perceiving he was +agitated, the earl turned from him with a courteous bow. Eagerly he +seized that moment to spring to the side of his sister, to whisper the +impatient inquiry, "Agnes, where is Agnes?" To feel his heart a moment +throb high, and then sink again by her reply, that she had not seen her +since he had placed her in the arms of the seer; that in the fearful +confusion which followed, she had looked for her in vain, examined all +her accustomed haunts, but discovered no traces of her, save the silver +tissue veil. There was, however, some hope in that; Jean Roy, misled by +the glittering article, and seeing it perchance in the hands of another, +might have been deceived in her prey. Nay, he welcomed the uncertainty +of suspense; there was something so fearful, so horrible in the idea +that his own faithful Agnes was among those blackened and mangled +bodies, which Lancaster informed him had been discovered beneath the +ruins, something so sickening, so revolting, he could not take advantage +of the earl's offer to examine them himself, though, Lancaster added, it +would not be of much use, for he challenged their dearest friends to +recognize them. He could not believe such was her fate. Dermid had not +been seen since the fatal conclusion of their marriage; he knew his +fidelity, his interest in both Agnes and himself, and he could not, he +would not believe the maniac had decoyed her from his care. But where +was she?--where, in such a moment, could he have conveyed her?--what +would be her final fate?--how would she rejoin him? were questions ever +thronging on his heart and brain, struggling with doubts, with the +horrible suspicion still clinging to that shriek which had sounded as +the ruins fell. Darker and more forebodingly oppressive grew these +conflicting thoughts, as day after day passed, and still she came not, +nor were there any tidings of the seer. + +A very brief interval sufficed for the English earls to conclude their +arrangements at Kildrummie, and prepare to march southward, Berwick +being the frontier town to which the Scottish prisoners were usually +conveyed. Their loss had been greater than at any other similar siege; +more than a third of their large army had fallen, several others were +wounded, and not much above a third remained who were fitted to continue +in arms. It was a fearful proof of the desperate valor of the besieged, +but both earls felt it would so exasperate their sovereign against the +Scottish commanders, as to remove the slightest hope of mercy. The ruins +were with some labor cleared away, the remains of the outer wall +levelled with the earth, except the tower communicating with the +drawbridge and barbacan, which could be easily repaired. The inner wall +Hereford likewise commanded to be restored; the keep he turned into a +hospital for the wounded, leaving with them a sufficient garrison to +defend the castle, in case of renewed incursions of the Scottish +patriots, a case, in the present state of the country, not very +probable. True to his promise, these men-at-arms who survived, and whose +wounds permitted their removal, Hereford set at liberty, not above ten +in number; dispirited, heart-broken, he felt indeed there was no need to +impose conditions on them. Those of the traitors who remained, +endeavored by cringing humility, to gain the favor of the English; but +finding themselves shunned and despised, for the commonest English +soldier was of a nature too noble to bear with aught of treachery, they +dispersed over the country, finding little in its miserable condition to +impart enjoyment to the lives they had enacted so base a part to +preserve. It may be well to state, ere we entirely leave the subject, +that the execution of Evan Roy exciting every evil passion in their +already rebellious hearts, had determined them to conspire for a signal +revenge, the ravings of Jean Roy and the desperate counsels of her +mother-in-law urging them to the catastrophe we have related; the murder +of Nigel had been first planned, but dismissed as likely to be +discovered and thwarted, and bring vengeance on their own heads instead +of his. Before the execution of their comrade and head of the +conspiracy, they had only been desirous of shunning the horrors of a +prolonged siege; but afterwards, revenge became stronger than mere +personal safety, and therefore was it they refused to take advantage of +the safe conduct demanded by Nigel, and granted, as we have said. + +The Scottish prisoners were removed from the castle a few hours after +its capitulation, and placed in honorable restraint, in separate +pavilions. Lancaster, whose romantic admiration for his antagonist had +not been in the least diminished by Sir Nigel's bearing in captivity and +the lofty tone of the young knight's society and conversation, which he +frequently courted, absolutely made him shrink from heading the force +which was to conduct him a prisoner to England, for he well knew those +very qualities, calling forth every spark of chivalry in his own bosom, +would be only so many incitements to Edward for his instant execution. +He therefore demanded that the superintending the works of the garrison +and keeping a strict watch upon the movements of the adjoining country +should devolve on him, and Hereford, as the older and wiser, should +conduct his prisoners to the border, and report the events of the siege +to his sovereign. His colleague acceded, and the eighth day from the +triumph of the besiegers was fixed on to commence their march. + +It was on the evening of the seventh day that the Earl of Hereford, then +engaged in earnest council with Lancaster, on subjects relating to their +military charge, was informed that an old man and a boy so earnestly +entreated speech with him, that they had even moved the iron heart of +Hugo de l'Orme, the earl's esquire, who himself craved audience for +them. + +"They must bear some marvellous charm about them, an they have worked +upon thee, De l'Orme," said his master, smiling. "In good sooth, let +them enter." + +Yet there was nothing very striking in their appearance when they came. +The old man indeed was of a tall, almost majestic figure, and it was +only the snowy whiteness of his hair and flowing beard that betrayed his +age, for his eye was still bright, his form unbent. He was attired as a +minstrel, his viol slung across his breast, a garb which obtained for +its possessor free entrance alike into camp and castle, hall and bower, +to all parties, to all lands, friendly or hostile, as it might be. His +companion was a slight boy, seemingly little more than thirteen or +fourteen, with small, exquisitely delicate features; his complexion +either dark or sunburnt; his eyes were bent down, and their long, very +dark lashes rested on his cheek, but when raised, their beautiful blue +seemed so little in accordance with the brunette skin, that the sun +might be deemed more at fault than Nature; his hair, of the darkest +brown, clustered closely round his throat in short thick curls; his garb +was that of a page, but more rude than the general habiliments of those +usually petted members of noble establishments, and favored both +Hereford and Lancaster's belief that he was either the son or grandson +of his companion. + +"Ye are welcome, fair sirs," was the elder earl's kindly salutation, +when his esquire had retired. "Who and what are ye, and what crave ye +with me?" + +"We are Scotsmen, an it so please you, noble lords," replied the old +man; "followers and retainers of the house of Bruce, more particularly +of him so lately fallen into your power." + +"Then, by mine honor, my good friends, ye had done wiser to benefit by +the liberty I promised and gave to those of his followers who escaped +this devastating siege. Wherefore are ye here?" + +"In the name of this poor child, to beseech a boon, my noble lord; for +me, my calling permitteth my going where I list, unquestioned, +unrestrained, and if I ask permission to abide with ye, Scotsman and +follower of the Bruce as I am, I know ye will not say me nay." + +"I would not, an ye besought such a boon, old man," answered the earl; +"yet I would advise thee to tempt not thy fate, for even thy minstrel +garb, an thou braggest of thy service to the Bruce, I cannot promise to +be thy safeguard in Edward's court, whither I give ye notice I wend my +way to-morrow's dawn. For this child, what wouldst thou--hath he no +voice, no power of his own to speak?" + +The aged minstrel looked at his charge, whose eyes were still bent on +the floor; the heaving of his doublet denoted some internal emotion, but +ere the old man could answer for him, he had made a few hasty steps +forward, and bent his knee before Hereford. + +"'Tis a simple boon I crave, my lord," he said, in a voice so peculiarly +sweet, that it seemed to impart new beauty to his features; "a very +simple boon, yet my lips tremble to ask it, for thou mayest deem it more +weighty than it seemeth to me, and thou alone canst grant it." + +"Speak it, fair child, whate'er it be," replied the earl, reassuringly, +and laying his hand caressingly on the boy's head. "Thou art, methinks, +over young to crave a boon we may not grant; too young, although a +Scotsman, for Hereford to treat thee aught but kindly. What wouldst +thou?" + +"Permission to tend on my young lord, Sir Nigel Bruce," answered the +boy, more firmly, and for the first time fixing the full gaze of his +beautiful eyes on the earl's face. "Oh, my lord, what is there in that +simple boon to bid thee knit thy brow as if it must not be?" he added, +more agitated. "The noble Hereford cannot fear a child; or, if he +doubted me, he cannot doubt the honor of his prisoner, an honor pure, +unsullied as his own." + +"Thou speakest not as the child thou seemest," replied Hereford, +musingly; "and yet I know not, misery makes sager of us long ere the +rose of youth hath faded. For this, thy boon, I know not how it may be +granted; it is not usual to permit other than English attendants on our +Scottish prisoners. Since Sir Niel Campbell's escape through the agency +of his Scottish attendant, it hath been most strictly prohibited." + +"Oh, do not, do not say me nay!" entreated the boy; "I ask but to share +his imprisonment, to be with him, serve him, tend him. I ask no more +liberty than is granted unto him; the rudest, coarsest fare, a little +straw, or the bare ground beside his couch. I can do naught to give him +freedom, and if I could, were there an open path before him--did I +beseech him on my knees to fly--if he hath surrendered, as I have heard, +to thee, rescue or no rescue, he would scorn my counsel, and abide thy +prisoner still. Oh, no, no! I swear to thee I will do naught that can +make thee regret thou hast granted an orphan's prayer." + +"And who art thou that pleadeth thus?" inquired the earl, moved alike by +the thrilling sweetness of his voice and the earnestness of his manner. +"Thou must have some wondrous interest in him to prefer imprisonment +with him to all the joys which liberty can give." + +"And I have interest," answered the boy, fervently; "the interest of +gratitude, and faithfulness, and love. An orphan, miserably an +orphan--alone upon the wide earth--he hath protected, cherished, aye, +and honored me with his confidence and love. He tended me in sorrow, and +I would pour back into his noble heart all the love, the devotion he +hath excited in mine. Little can I do, alas! naught but love and serve; +yet, yet, I know he would not reject even this--he would let me love him +still!" + +"Grant the poor boy his boon," whispered Lancaster, hurriedly; "of a +truth he moveth even me." + +"Thine heart is of right true mettle, my child," said his colleague, +even tenderly. "Yet bethink thee all thou must endure if I grant thy +boon; not while with me, for there would be a foul blot upon my +escutcheon did so noble a knight as Sir Nigel Bruce receive aught save +respect and honor at my hands. But in this business I am but a tool, an +agent; when once within the boundaries of Edward's court, Sir Nigel is +no longer my prisoner; I must resign him to my sovereign; and then, I +dare not give thee hope of gentle treatment either for thyself or him." + +"I will brave it," answered the boy, calmly; "danger, aye, death in his +service, were preferable to my personal liberty, with the torture of the +thought upon me, that I shrunk from his side when fidelity and love were +most needed." + +"But that very faithfulness, that very love, my child, will make thy +fate the harder; the scaffold and the axe, if not the cord," he added, +in a low, stifled tone, "I fear me, will be his doom, despite his youth, +his gallantry--all that would make _me_ save him. Thou turnest pale at +the bare mention of such things, how couldst thou bear to witness them?" + +"Better than to think of them; to sit me down in idle safety and feel +that he hath gone forth to this horrible doom, and I have done naught to +soothe and tend him on his way," replied the boy, firmly, though his +very lip blanched at Hereford's words. "But must these things be? Is +Edward so inexorable?" + +"Aye, unto all who thwart him now," said the earl; "there is no hope for +any of the race of Bruce. Be advised, then, gentle boy, retain thy +freedom while thou mayest." + +"No, no!" he answered, passionately, "Oh, do not seek to fright me from +my purpose; do not think aught of me, save but to grant my boon, and oh, +I will bless thee, pray for thee to my dying hour! thou wilt, I know +thou wilt." + +"I were no father could I refuse thee, my poor child," he replied, with +earnest tenderness. "Alas! I fear me thou hast asked but increase of +misery, yet be it as thou list. And yet," he added, after a brief pause, +during which the boy had sprung from his knee, with an inarticulate cry +of joy, and flung himself into the minstrel's arms, "Sir Nigel hath +resolutely refused the attendance of any of his former followers, who +would willingly have attended him to England. Hast thou so much +influence, thinkest thou, to change his purpose in thy favor?" + +"I know not," answered the boy, timidly; "yet an it please your noble +lordship to permit my pleading mine own cause without witness, I may +prevail, as I have done before." + +"Be it so, then," replied the earl. "And now, ere we part, I would bid +thee remember I have trusted thee; I have granted that to thee, without +_condition_, with perfect liberty of action, which to others could only +have been granted on their surrendering themselves, rescue or no rescue, +even as thy master. I have done this, trusting to that noble +faithfulness, the candor and honesty of youth, which hath breathed forth +in all that thou hast said. Let me not repent it. And now, Hugo de +l'Orme," he called aloud, but Lancaster himself declared his intention +of conducting the boy to Sir Nigel's tent, and the esquire was +consequently dismissed; but ere they departed, the boy turned once more +to the aged minstrel. + +"And thou--whither goest thou?" he said, in low yet thrilling tones. "My +more than father, thou hast seen thy child's earnest wish fulfilled; +that for which thou didst conduct me hither is accomplished; yet ere I +say farewell, tell me--oh, tell me, whither goest thou?" + +"I know not," answered the old man, struggling with unexpressed emotion; +"yet think not of me, my child, I shall be free, be safe, untouched by +aught of personal ill, while young and lovely ones, for whom it would be +bliss to die, are crushed and bleeding in their spring; the mountains, +and rocks, and woods, yet unstained with blood, call on me to return, +and be at rest within their caves. The love I bear to thee and him thou +seekest hath yet a louder voice to bid me follow ye. I know not whither +I shall go, yet an my vision telleth that thou needst my aid, I shall +not be far from thee. Farewell, my child; and ye, true-hearted lords, +the blessing of an aged man repay ye for the kindly deed this day that +ye have done." He pressed the boy in his arms, reverentially saluted the +earls, and passed from the tent as he spoke. + +A few words passed between the warriors, and then Lancaster desired the +page to follow him. In silence they proceeded through the camp, avoiding +the more bustling parts, where the soldiery were evidently busied in +preparing for the morrow's march, and inclining towards the wooded bank +of the river. The eye of the Earl of Lancaster had scarcely moved from +the page during his interview with Hereford, though the boy, engrossed +in his own feelings, had failed to remark it. He now glanced rapidly and +searchingly round him, and perceiving the ground perfectly clear, not a +soldier visible, he suddenly paused in his hasty stride, and laying his +hand heavily on the boy's shoulder, said, in a deep, impressive voice, +"I know not who or what thou art, but I love thy master, and know that +he is ill at ease, not from captivity, but from uncertainty as to the +fate of one beloved. If it be, as I suspect, in thy power entirely to +remove this uneasiness, be cautioned, and whoever thou mayest be, let +not one in this camp, from the noble Earl of Hereford himself to the +lowest soldier, suspect thou art other than thou seemest--a faithful +page. The rage of Edward is deadly, and all who bear the name of Bruce, +be it male or female, will suffer from that wrath. Tell this to thy +lord. I ask not his confidence nor thine, nay, I would refuse it were it +offered--I would know no more than my own thoughts, but I honor him, +aye, and from my very heart I honor thee! Hush! not a word in answer; my +speech is rude, but my heart is true; and now a few steps more and we +are there," and without waiting for reply he turned suddenly, and the +page found himself in the very centre of the camp, near the entrance of +a small pavilion, before which two sentinels were stationed, fully +armed, and pacing up and down their stated posts; the pennon of Hereford +floated from the centre staff, above the drapery, marking the tent and +all its appurtenances peculiarly the earl's. The watchword was +exchanged, and the sentinels lowered their arms on recognizing one of +their leaders. + +"Let this boy have egress and ingress from and to this tent, +unquestioned and unmolested," he said; "he has the Earl of Hereford's +permission, nay, commands, to wait on Sir Nigel Bruce. His business +lieth principally with him; but if he hath need to quit his side, he is +to pass free. Report this to your comrades." The soldiers bowed in +respectful acquiescence. "For thee, young man, this toy will give thee +free passage where thou listeth, none shall molest thee; and now, +farewell--God speed thee." He unclasped a ruby brooch, curiously set in +antique gold, from his collar, and placed it in the boy's hand. + +"Dost thou not enter?" asked the page, in a voice that quivered, and the +light of the torches falling full on his face disclosed to Lancaster a +look of such voiceless gratitude, it haunted him for many a long day. + +"No," he said, half smiling, and in a lower voice; "hast thou forgotten +thy cause was to be pleaded without witness? I have not, if thou hast. I +will see thy noble master ere he depart, not now; thou wilt, I trust me, +take him better comfort than I could." + +He lifted the hangings as he spoke, and the boy passed in, his heart +beating well-nigh to suffocation as he did so. It was in a small +compartment leading to the principal chamber of the tent he found +himself at first, and Sir Nigel was not there. With a fleet, yet +noiseless movement, he drew aside the massive curtain, let it fall again +behind him, and stood unperceived in the presence of him he sought. + +The brow of Sir Nigel rested on his hand, his attitude was as one bowed +and drooping 'neath despondency; the light of the taper fell full upon +his head, bringing it out in beautiful profile. It was not his capture +alone which had made him thus, the boy felt and knew; the complicated +evils which attended his king and country in his imprisonment were yet +not sufficient to crush that spirit to the earth. It was some other +anxiety, some yet nearer woe; there had been many strange rumors afloat, +both of Sir Nigel's bridal and the supposed fate of that bride, and the +boy, though he knew them false, aye, and that the victim of Jean Roy was +a young attendant of Agnes, who had been collecting together the +trinkets of her mistress, to save them from the pillage which would +attend the conquest of the English, and had been thus mistaken by the +maniac--the boy, we say, though he knew this, had, instead of denying +it, encouraged the report, and therefore was at no loss to discover his +master's woe. He advanced, knelt down, and in a trembling, husky voice, +addressed him. "My lord--Sir Nigel." + +The young knight started, and looked at the intruder, evidently without +recognizing him. "What wouldst thou?" he said, in a tone somewhat stern. +"Who art thou, thus boldly intruding on my privacy? Begone, I need thee +not!" + +"The Earl of Hereford hath permitted me to tend thee, follow thee," +answered the page in the same subdued voice. "My gracious lord, do not +thou refuse me." + +"Tend me--follow me! whither--to the scaffold? Seek some other master, +my good boy. I know thee not, and can serve thee little, and need no +earthly aid. An thou seekest noble service, go follow Hereford; he is a +generous and knightly lord." + +"But I am Scotch, my lord, and would rather follow thee to death than +Hereford to victory." + +"Poor child, poor child!" repeated Nigel, sadly. "I should know thee, +methinks, an thou wouldst follow me so faithfully, and yet I do not. +What claim have I upon thy love?" + +"Dost thou _not_ know me, Nigel?" The boy spoke in his own peculiarly +sweet and most thrilling voice, and raising his head, fixed his full +glance upon the knight. + +A wild cry burst from Nigel's lips, he sprang up, gazed once again, and +in another moment the page and knight had sprung into each other's arms; +the arms of the former were twined round the warrior's neck, and Sir +Nigel had bent down his lordly head; burning tears and impassioned +kisses were mingled on the soft cheek that leaned against his breast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The ancient town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, associated as it is with +Scottish and English history from the time these two kingdoms had a +name, presented a somewhat different aspect in the year 1307 to that of +the present day. The key to both countries, it was ever a scene of +struggle, unless the sister kingdoms chanced to be at peace, an event in +the middle ages of rare occurrence, and whoever was its fortunate +possessor was undeniably considered as the greater power. Since the +death of Alexander it had been captured no less than three times by +Edward in 1296, by Wallace the succeeding year, and recaptured by the +English the following spring. To Edward, consequently, it now belonged, +and many and fearful had been the sanguinary executions its walls had +beheld. Its streets had been deluged with noble Scottish blood; its +prisons filled with the nobles of Scotland; even high-minded women, who +by their countenance and faithfulness had given a yet higher tone to +patriotism and valor, were said to be there immured. It might have been +termed not alone the key, but the dungeon and grave of Scotland; and +many a noble spirit which had never quailed in the battle's front, +shrunk back appalled as it neared those dismal walls. + +In the time of Edward, the fortifications, though merely consisting of a +deep moat and wooden palisades, instead of the stone wall still +remaining, inclosed a much larger space than the modern town. A +magnificent castle, with its "mounts, rampiers, and flankers," its +towers, walls, and courts, crowned an easy ascent overhanging the Tweed, +and was at this period peopled by a powerful garrison, filled with +immense stores, both of arms, artillery, and provisions, and many +unhappy prisoners, who from their lonely turrets could look beyond the +silver Tweed on their own beautiful land, their hearts burning with the +vain desire to free her from her chains. Both square and round towers +guarded the palisades and moat surrounding the town, which presented a +goodly collection of churches, hospitals, dwelling-houses, stores, and +monastic buildings; from all of which crowds were continually passing +and repassing on their several ways, and forming altogether a motley +assemblage of knights, nobles, men-at-arms, archers, the various orders +of monks, the busy leech from the hospital, the peaceful burgher, the +bustling storekeeper, and artisan, noble dames and pretty maidens--all +in the picturesque costumes of the day, jostling one another, +unconscious of the curious effect they each assisted to produce, and +ever and anon came the trampling of fiery steeds. It was a rich, +thriving, bustling town, always presenting curious scenes of activity, +at present apparently under some excitement, which the gay knights and +their followers tended not a little to increase. + +The popular excitement had, strange to say, been confined for an +unusually long time to one subject. Orders had been received from King +Edward for the erection of an extraordinary cage or tower, curiously +worked in stone and iron, on the very highest turret of the castle, +visible to every eye, of a circular form, with pyramidal points, +supporting gilded balls, giving it the appearance, when completed, of a +huge coronet or crown. It was barred and cross-barred with iron on all +sides, effectually preventing egress from within, but exposing its +inmate, whoever that might be, to every passer-by. The impatient king +had commanded several of the artisans employed in its erection to be +thrown into prison, because it was not completed fast enough to please +him; but, despite his wrath and impatience, the work of fashioning the +iron, wood, and stone, as he required, occasioned them to proceed but +slowly, and it was now, three months after the royal order had been +given, only just completed, and firmly fixed on the principal turret of +the castle. Day after day the people flocked to gaze and marvel for whom +it could be intended, and when it would be occupied; their thoughts only +turned from it by the intelligence that the Earl of Hereford, with some +Scottish prisoners of high rank, was within four-and-twenty hours' march +of the town, and was there to deliver up his captives to the seneschal +of the castle, the Earl of Berwick. At the same time rumors were afloat, +that the prisoner for whom that cage had been erected was, under a +strong guard, advancing from Carlisle, and likely to encounter Hereford +at the castle gates. + +The popular excitement increased threefold; the whole town seemed under +the influence of a restless fever, utterly preventing the continuance of +their usual avocations, or permitting them to rest quiet in their +houses. Crowds filled the streets, and pressed and fumed to obtain +places by the great gates and open squares of the castle, through which +both parties must pass. That wind, rain, and sunshine alternately ruled +the day, was a matter of small importance; nor did it signify that +English soldiers were returning victorious, with Scottish prisoners, +being a thing now of most common occurrence. Before the day was over, +however, they found anticipation for once had been less marvellous than +reality, and stranger things were seen and heard than they had dreamed +of. + +From sunrise till noon they waited and watched, and waxed impatient in +vain. About that time trumpets and drums were heard from the south, and +there was a general rush towards the bridge, and hearts beat high in +expectancy of they knew not what, as a gallant band of English archers +and men-at-arms, headed by some few knights, were discovered slowly and +solemnly advancing from the Carlisle road. Where, and who was the +prisoner? A person of some consequence, of dangerous influence it must +be, else why had the king made such extraordinary provision for +confinement? There were not wanting suggestions and guesses, and +wondrous fancies; for as yet there was such a close guard in the centre +of the cavalcade, that the very person of the prisoner could not be +distinguished. Nay, there were some who ventured to hint and believe it +might be the excommunicated Earl of Carrick himself. It was most likely, +for whom else could the cage, so exactly like a crown, be intended? and +there were many who vaunted the wise policy of Edward, at having hit on +such an expedient for lowering his rival's pride. Others, indeed, +declared the idea was all nonsense; it was not likely he would incur +such expense, king as he was, merely to mortify a traitor he had sworn +to put to death. The argument waxed loud and warm. Meanwhile the +cavalcade had crossed the bridge, been received through the south gate, +and in the same slow and solemn pomp proceeded through the town. + +"By all the saints, it is only a woman!" was the information shouted by +an eager spectator, who had clambered above the heads of his fellows to +obtain the first and most coveted view. His words were echoed in blank +amazement. + +"Aye, clothed in white like a penitent, with her black hair streaming +all over her shoulders, without any covering on her head at all, and +nothing but a thin, torn sandal on her bare feet; and the knights look +black as thunder, as if they like not the business they are engaged in." + +It was even so. There was an expression on the face of the officers +impossible to be misunderstood; frowningly, darkly, they obeyed their +sovereign's mandate, simply because they dared not disobey; but there +was not one among them who would not rather have sought the most deadly +front of battle than thus conduct a woman, aye, and a most noble one, +unto her prison. The very men, rude, stern, as they mostly were, shared +this feeling; they guarded her with lowered heads and knitted brows; and +if either officer or man-at-arms had to address her, it was with an +involuntary yet genuine movement and manner of respect that little +accorded with their present relative position. The crowds looked first +at the cavalcade and marvelled, then at the prisoner, and they did not +marvel more. + +Clad as she was, in white, flowing garments, very similar to those worn +by penitents, her head wholly undefended from cold or rain even by a +veil; her long, luxuriant, jet-black hair, in which as yet, despite of +care and woe, no silver thread had mingled, falling round her from her +noble brow, which shone forth from its shade white as snow, and +displaying that most perfect face, which anguish had only chiselled into +paler, purer marble; it could not rob it of its beauty, that beauty +which is the holy emanation of the soul, _that_ lingered still with +power to awe the rudest heart, to bow the proudest in voluntary respect. + +The sovereign of England had commanded this solemn procession and its +degrading accompaniments to humble, to crush to dust, the woman who had +dared defy his power, but it was himself alone he humbled. As she walked +there, surrounded by guards, by gazing hundreds, on foot, and but +protected from the flinty ground by a thin sandal, her step was as firm +and unfaltering, her attitude, her bearing as dignified, as calmly, +imposingly majestic as when, in the midst of Scotland's patriots, she +had placed the crown on the Bruce's head. Edward sought to debase her, +but she was not debased; to compel her to regret the part that she had +acted, but she gloried in it still; to acknowledge his power--but in all +he failed. + +Calmly and majestically the Countess of Buchan proceeded on her way, +neither looking to the right or left, nor evincing by the slightest +variation of countenance her consciousness of the many hundreds gazing +on, or that they annoyed or disturbed her; her spirit was wrapt in +itself. We should assert falsehood did we say she did not suffer; she +did, but it was a mother's agony heightened by a patriot's grief. She +believed her son, who had been in truth the idol of her mourning heart, +had indeed fallen. Her Agnes was not amongst the queen's train, of whose +captivity she had been made aware, though not allowed speech with them. +Where was _she_--what would be her fate? She only knew her as a lovely, +fragile flower, liable to be crushed under the first storm; and pictured +her, rudely severed from Nigel, perchance in the hands of some lawless +spoiler, and heart-broken, dying. Shuddering with anguish, she thought +not of her own fate--she thought but of her children, of her country; +and if King Robert did enter these visions, it was simply as her +sovereign, as one whose patriotism would yet achieve the liberty of +Scotland; but there was a dimness even o'er that dream, for the figure +of her noble boy was gone, naught but a blank--dull, shapeless--occupied +that spot in the vision of the future, which once his light had filled. + +The castle-yard was at length gained, and a half and some change in the +line of march ensued; the officers and men formed in a compact crescent, +leaving the countess, a herald, trumpeters, and some of the highest +knights, in front. So intense was the interest of the crowd at this +moment, that they did not heed the rapid advance of a gallant body of +horse and foot from the north, except to rail at the pressure they +occasioned in forcing their way through. They gained the castle-yard at +length, and there halted, and fell back in utter astonishment at the +scene they witnessed. + +The herald had drawn a parchment from his belt, and made a step forward +as if to speak. The knights, in sullen silence, leant upon their +sheathed swords, without even glancing at their prisoner, who appeared +far the most composed and dignified of all present, and, after a brief +pause, words to this effect were distinguished by the crowd. + +"To our loyal and loving subjects of both North and South Britain, +Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Wales, France, and +Scotland, greeting. Whereas Isabella, born of Fife, and late of Buchan, +which latter she hath, by foul dishonor and utter disregard of marriage +vows, now forfeited, hath done traitorously and disloyally alike to her +sovereign lord the king, and to her gracious lord and husband, John, +Earl of Buchan, whom, for his fidelity, we hold in good favor. As she +hath not struck by the sword, so she shall not perish by the sword; but +for her lawless conspiracy, she shall be shut up in a stone and iron +chamber, circular as the crown she gave, in this proclaiming to both +countries her everlasting infamy. And this we do in mercy; for, whereas +she deserveth death, we do remit the same, and give her time to repent +her of her heinous crime. + +"Given at our palace of Carlisle, this twenty-third day of February, in +the year of our Lord and Saviour, one thousand three hundred and seven. +God save the King!" + +But the loyal ejaculation was not echoed, nay, the herald himself had +read the proclamation, as if every word had been forced from him, and +the eyes of every knight and soldier had been fixed upon the ground, as +if shame rested on them rather than on their prisoner. A dead silence +for a few minutes followed, broken only by some faint cries of "God save +King Edward, and down with all traitors!" which seemed raised more to +drown the groans which involuntarily burst forth, than as the echo of +the heart. They dared not evince the faintest sign of disapproval, for +they stood on precarious ground; a groan even might be punished by their +irritable king as treachery; but there was one present who cared little +for this charge. Scarcely had the words passed the herald's lips, before +a young man, whose bare head and lack of all weapons would have +proclaimed him one of the Earl of Hereford's prisoners, had not the +attention of all been turned from him by the one engrossing object, now +snatching a sword from a soldier near him, sprung from his horse, and +violently attacking the herald, exclaimed, in a voice of thunder-- + +"Liar and slave! thinkest thou there is none near to give the lie to thy +foul slanders--none to defend the fair fame, the stainless honor of this +much-abused lady? Dastard and coward, fit mouthpiece of a dishonored and +blasphemous tyrant! go tell him, his prisoner--aye, Nigel Bruce--thrusts +back his foul lies into his very teeth. Ha! coward and slave, wouldst +thou shun me?" + +A scene of indescribable confusion now ensued. The herald, a man not +much in love with war, stood cowering and trembling before his +adversary, seeking to cover himself with his weapon, but, from his +trembling hold, ineffectually. The stature of the youthful Scotsman +appeared towering, as he stood over him with his uplifted sword, +refusing to strike a defenceless man, but holding him with a gripe of +iron; his cheek flushed crimson, his nostrils distended, for his soul +was moved with a mightier, darker passion than had ever stirred its +depths before. The soldiers of both parties, joined, too, by some from +the castle--for a party headed by the Earl of Berwick himself had +attended to give countenance to the proclamation--rushed forward, but +involuntarily fell back, awed for the moment by the mighty spirit of one +man; the knights, roused from their sullen posture, looked much as if +they would, if they dared, have left the herald to his fate. Hereford +and Berwick at the same instant spurred forward their steeds, the one +exclaiming, "Madman, let go your hold--you are tempting your own fate! +Nigel, for the love of heaven! for the sake of those that love you, be +not so rash!" the other thundering forth, "Cut down the traitor, an he +will not loose his hold. Forward, cowardly knaves! will ye hear your +king insulted, and not revenge it?--forward, I say! fear ye a single +man?" + +And numbers, spurred on by his words, dashed forward to obey him, but +fearlessly Sir Nigel Bruce retained his hold with his left hand, and +with his right grasped tighter his sword, and stood, with the fierce +undaunted port of a lion lashed into fury, gazing on his foes; but ere +he had crossed with the foremost weapons, a slight lad burst through the +gathering crowd, and with a piercing shriek threw himself at his +master's feet, and grasping his knees, seemed by his pleading looks, for +his words were inaudible, imploring him to desist from his rashness. At +the same moment another form pressed through the soldiers, her look, her +mien compelling them involuntarily to open their ranks and give her +passage. The sword of Nigel was in the act of falling on a second foe, +the first lay at his feet, when his arm was caught in its descent, and +Isabella of Buchan stood at his side. + +"Forbear!" she said, in those rich impressive tones that ever forced +obedience. "Nigel Bruce, brother of my sovereign, friend of my son, +forbear! strike not one blow for me. Mine honor needs no defence by +those that love me; my country will acquit me; the words of England's +monarch, angered at a woman's defiance of his power, affect me not! +Noble Nigel, excite not further wrath against thyself by this vain +struggle for my sake; put up thy sword, ere it is forced from thee. Let +go thy hold; this man is but an instrument, why wreak thy wrath on him? +Must I speak, implore in vain? Nay, then, I do command thee!" + +And those who gazed on her, as she drew that stately form to its full +height, as they heard those accents of imperative command, scarce +marvelled that Edward should dread her influence, woman as she was. +Despite the increasing wrath on the Earl of Berwick's brow, the men +waited to see the effect of these words. There was still an expression +of ill-controlled passion on Nigel's features. He waited one moment when +she ceased to speak, then slowly and deliberately shook the herald by +the collar, and hurled him from his hold; snapped his sword in twain, +and flinging it from him, folded his arms on his breast, and calmly +uttering, "Pardon me, noble lady, mine honor were impugned had I +suffered that dastardly villain to pass hence unpunished--let Edward act +as he lists, it matters little now," waited with impenetrable resolve +the rage he had provoked. + +"Nigel, Nigel, rash, impetuous boy, what hast thou done?" exclaimed the +countess, losing all mien and accent of command in the terror with which +she clung round him, as if to protect him from all ill, in the tone and +look of maternal tenderness with which she addressed him. "Why, why must +it be my ill fate to hurl down increase of misery and danger on all whom +I love?" + +"Speak not so, noble lady, in mercy do not!" he whispered in reply; +"keep that undaunted spirit shown but now, I can better bear it than +this voice of anguish. And thou," he added, laying his hand on the +shoulder of the boy, who still clung to his knees, as if fascinated +there by speechless terror, and gazed alternately on him and the +countess with eyes glazed almost in madness, "up, up; this is no place +for thee. What can they do with me but slay--let them come on--better, +far better than a scaffold!" but the boy moved not, Nigel spoke in vain. + +The fate he dared seemed indeed threatening. Wrought well-nigh to +phrensy at this daring insult to his sovereign, in whose acts of cruelty +and oppression he could far better sympathize than in his more knightly +qualities, the Earl of Berwick loudly and fiercely called on his +soldiers to advance and cut down the traitor, to bring the heaviest +fetters and bear him to the lowest dungeon. The men, roused from their +stupor of amaze, rushed on impetuously to obey him; their naked swords +already gleamed round Nigel; the Countess of Buchan was torn from his +side, her own especial guards closing darkly around her; but vainly did +they seek to unclasp the convulsive grasp of the boy from Nigel, he +neither shrieked nor spake, but he remained in that one posture, rigid +as stone. + +"Fiends! monsters! would ye, dare ye touch a boy, a child as this!" +shouted Nigel, struggling with herculean strength to free himself from +the rude grasp of the soldiers, as he beheld the sharp steel pointed at +the breast of the boy, to compel him to unloose his hold. "Villains, +cowards! bear back and let me speak with him," and nerved to madness by +the violence of his emotions, he suddenly wrenched himself away, the +rapidity of the movement throwing one of the men to the earth, and bent +over the boy; again they rushed forward, they closed upon him, they tore +away the lad by force of numbers, and flung him senseless on the earth; +they sought to bear away their prisoner, but at that moment Hereford, +who had been parleying loudly and wrathfully with Berwick, spurred his +charger in the very midst of them, and compelled them to bear back. + +"Back, back!" he exclaimed, making a path for himself with his drawn +sword; "how dare ye thrust yourselves betwixt me and my lawful prisoner, +captive of my sword and power? what right have ye to dare detain him? +Let go your hold, none but the men whose prowess gained this gallant +prize shall guard him till my sovereign's will be known. Back, back, I +say!" + +"Traitor!" retorted Berwick, "he is no longer your prisoner. An insult +offered to King Edward, in the loyal citadel of Berwick, in my very +presence, his representative as I stand, shall meet with fit +retribution. He hath insulted his sovereign by act and word, and I +attach him of high treason and will enforce my charge. Forward, I say!" + +"And I say back!" shouted the Earl of Hereford; "I tell thee, proud +earl, he is my prisoner, and mine alone. Thou mayest vaunt thy loyalty, +thy representation of majesty, as thou listeth, mine hath been proved at +the good sword's point, and Edward will deem me no traitor because I +protect a captive, who hath surrendered himself a knight to a knight, +rescue or no rescue, from this unseemly violence. I bandy no more words +with such as thee; back! the first man that dares lay hold on him I +chastise with my sword." + +"Thou shalt repent this!" muttered Berwick, with a suppressed yet +terrible oath, but he dared proceed no further. + +A signal from their leader brought up all Hereford's men, who, in +compact order and perfect silence, surrounded their prisoner. Sternly +the earl called for a pair of handcuffs, and with his own hands fastened +them on his captive. "It grieves me," he said, "to see a brave man thus +manacled, but thine own mad act hath brought it on thyself. And now, my +Lord of Berwick, an it please thee to proceed, we demand admission to +thy citadel in King Edward's name. Bring up the other prisoners." + +Concealing his wrath with difficulty, the Earl of Berwick and his +attendants dashed forward over the drawbridge into the castle at full +speed, closing the gates and lowering the portcullis after them. After a +brief space, the portcullis was again raised, the gates flung wide +apart, and the men-at-arms were discerned lining either side, in all due +form and homage to the officers of their sovereign. During the wrathful +words passing between the two earls, the attention of the crowd had been +given alternately to them and to the Countess of Buchan, who had utterly +forgotten her own precarious situation in anxiety for Nigel, and in pity +for the unfortunate child, who had been hurled by the soldiers close to +the spot where she stood. + +"Do not leave him there, he will be trampled on," she said, imploringly, +to the officers beside her. "He can do no harm, poor child, Scotch +though he be. A little water, only bring me a little water, and he will +speedily recover." + +All she desired was done, the boy was tenderly raised and brought within +the circle of her guards, and laid on the ground at her feet. She knelt +down beside him, chafed his cold hands within her own, and moistened his +lips and brow with water. After a while his scattered senses returned, +he started up in a sitting posture, and gazed in wild inquiry around +him, uttering a few inarticulate words, and then saying aloud, "Sir +Nigel, my lord, my--my--master, where is he? oh! let me go to him; why +am I here?" + +"Thou shalt go to him, poor boy, as soon as thy strength returns; an +they have let thee follow him from Scotland, surely they will not part +ye now," said the countess soothingly, and her voice seemed to rouse the +lad into more consciousness. He gazed long in her face, with an +expression which at that time she could not define, but which startled +and affected her, and she put her arm round him and kissed his brow. A +convulsive almost agonized sob broke from the boy's breast, and caused +his slight frame to shake as with an ague, then suddenly he knelt before +her, and, in accents barely articulate, murmured-- + +"Bless me, oh bless me!" while another word seemed struggling for +utterance, but checked with an effort which caused it to die on his lips +in indistinct murmurs. + +"Bless thee, poor child! from my very heart I do, if the blessing of one +sorrowing and afflicted as myself can in aught avail thee. For thy +faithfulness to thy master, I bless thee, for it speaketh well for thee, +and that face would bid me love and bless thee for thyself, I know not +wherefore. Good angels keep and bless thee, gentle boy, thou hast +Isabella's prayers, and may they give thee peace." + +"Pray for me, aye, pray for me," repeated the boy, in the same murmured +tones. He clasped her hands in both his, he pressed them again and again +to his lips, repeated sobs burst from his laboring breast, and then he +sprung up, darted away, and stood at Sir Nigel's side, just as the Earl +of Hereford had commanded his men to wheel a little to the right, to +permit the Countess of Buchan, her guards and officers, free passage +over the drawbridge, and first entrance within the fortress. + +The brow of this noble son of chivalry darkened as, sitting motionless +on his tall steed, his gaze rested on the noble woman whom it had +originally been his painful charge to deliver over to his sovereign. He +had not dreamed of a vengeance such as this. He could not have believed +a change so dark as this had fallen on the character of a sovereign whom +he still loved, still sought to admire and revere, and his spirit sunk +'neath the sorrow this conviction caused. Almost involuntarily, as the +procession slowly proceeded, and the countess passed within three paces +of his horse's head, he bent his lordly brow in silent homage; she saw +it and returned it, more effected by the unfeigned commiseration on that +warrior's face, than at aught which had occurred to shame and humble her +that morning. + +A brief pause took place in the movements of the officers and their +prisoners, when they reached the great hall of the castle. For a brief +minute Lady Seaton and the Countess of Buchan had met, had clasped +hands, in sad, yet eager greeting. "My child, mine Agnes?" had been by +the latter hurriedly whispered, and the answer, "Safe, I trust, safe," +just permitted to reach her ear, when roughly and fiercely the Earl of +Berwick summoned the Lady of Buchan to proceed to the chamber appointed +for her use. Those simple words had, however, removed a load of anxiety +from her mind, for they appeared to confirm what she had sometimes +permitted herself to hope, that Agnes had shared King Robert's exile, +under the care of Lady Campbell; prevailed on to do so, perchance, by +the entreaties of Nigel, who in all probability had deemed that course, +though one of hardship, less perilous than remaining with him. She hoped +indeed against her better judgment, for though she knew not the depth, +the might of her daughter's feelings, she knew it must have been a +terrible trial so to part, and she absolutely shuddered when she thought +of the whelming blow it would be to that young heart when the fate of +her betrothed was ascertained. + +Lady Seaton had spoken as she believed. No communication had been +permitted between the prisoners on their way to England; indeed, from +Sir Christopher's wounded and exhausted state, he had travelled more +leisurely in a litter, always in the rear of the earl's detachment, and +occupied by her close attendance upon him, his wife had scarcely been +aware of the young page ever in attendance on her brother, or deemed +him, if she did observe him, a retainer of Hereford's own. There was so +much of fearful peril and misery hovering over her in her husband's +fate, that it was not much wonder her thoughts lingered there more than +on Agnes, and that she was contented to believe as she had spoken, that +she at least was safe. + +Night fell on the town of Berwick. Silence and darkness had come on her +brooding wings; the varied excitement of the day was now but a matter of +wondering commune round the many blazing hearths, where the busy crowds +of the morning had now gathered. Night came, with her closing pall, her +softened memories, her sleeping visions, and sad waking dreams. She had +come, alike to the mourned and mourner, the conqueror and his captive, +the happy and the wretched. She had found the Earl of Berwick pacing up +and down his stately chamber, his curtained couch unsought, devising +schemes to lower the haughty pride of the gallant warrior whom he yet +feared. She had looked softly within the room where that warrior lay, +and found him, too, sleepless, but not from the same dark dreams. He +grieved for his sovereign, for the fate of one noble spirit shrined in a +woman's form, and restless and fevered, turned again and again within +his mind how he might save from a yet darker doom the gallant youth his +arms had conquered. And not alone on them did night look down. She sent +her sweet, reviving influence, on the rays of a bright liquid star, +through the narrow casement which gave light to the rude unfurnished +chamber where Sir Nigel Bruce and his attendant lay. They had not torn +that poor faithful child from his side. Hereford's last commands had +been that they should not part them, and there they now lay; and sleep, +balmy sleep had for them descended on the wings of night, hovering over +that humble pallet of straw, when from the curtained couch of power, the +downy bed of luxury, she fled. There they lay; but it was the boy who +lay on the pallet of straw, his head pillowed by the arm of the knight, +who sat on a wooden settle at his side. He had watched for a brief space +those troubled slumbers, but as they grew calmer and calmer, he had +pressed one light kiss on the soft yielding cheek, and then leant his +head on his breast, and he too slept--even in sleep tending one beloved. + +And in the dark, close sleeping-chamber within the prison cage of the +noble Countess of Buchan, night too looked pityingly. Sleep indeed was +not there; it had come and gone, for in a troubled slumber a dream had +come of Agnes, and she had woke to think upon her child, and pray for +her; and as she prayed, she thought of her promise to the poor boy who +had so strangely moved her. She could not trace how one thought had +sprung from the other, nor why in the darkness his features so suddenly +flashed before her; but so it was. His face seemed to gleam upon her +with the same strange, indefinable expression which, even at the time, +had startled her; and then a sudden flash appeared to illumine that +darkness of bewilderment. She started up from her reclining posture; she +pressed both hands on her throbbing eyeballs; a wild, sickening yearning +took possession of her whole soul; and then she felt, in its full +bitterness, she was a chained and guarded prisoner and the deep anguish +of her spirit found vent in the convulsive cry-- + +"Fool, fool that I was--my child! my child!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Leaving the goodly town of Berwick and its busy citizens, its castle and +its prisoners, for a brief space, we must now transport our readers to +a pleasant chamber overlooking the Eden, in the castle of Carlisle, now +a royal residence; a fact which, from its numerous noble inmates, its +concourse of pages, esquires, guards, and various other retainers of a +royal establishment, the constant ingress and egress of richly-attired +courtiers, the somewhat bustling, yet deferential aspect of the scene, a +very cursory glance would have been all-sufficient to prove. + +It had been with a full determination to set all obstacles, even disease +itself, at defiance, King Edward, some months before, had quitted +Winchester, and directed his march towards the North, vowing vengeance +on the rebellious and disaffected Scots, and swearing death alone should +prevent the complete and terrible extermination of the traitors. He had +proceeded in this spirit to Carlisle, disregarding the threatening +violence of disease, so sustained by the spirit of disappointed ambition +within as scarcely to be conscious of an almost prostrating increase of +weakness and exhaustion. He had determined to make a halt of some weeks +at Carlisle, to wait the effect of the large armies he had sent forward +to overrun Scotland, and to receive intelligence of the measures they +had already taken. Here, then, disease, as if enraged that he should +have borne up so long, that his spirit had mastered even her, convened +the whole powers of suffering, and compelled him not alone to +acknowledge, but to writhe beneath her sway. His whole frame was shaken; +intolerable pains took possession of him, and though the virulence of +the complaint was at length so far abated as to permit him a short +continuance of life, he could never sit his horse again, or even hope to +carry on in his own person his plans for the total reduction of +Scotland. But as his frame weakened, as he became the victim of almost +continual pain, all the darker and fiercer passions of his nature gained +yet more fearful ascendency. The change had been some time gathering, +but within the last twelve months its effects were such, that his +noblest, most devoted knights, blind as their affection for his person +rendered them, could scarce recognize in the bloodthirsty, ambitious +tyrant they now beheld their gallant, generous, humane, and most +chivalric sovereign, who had won golden opinions from all sorts and +conditions of men; who had performed the duties of a son and husband so +as to fix the eyes of all Europe on him in admiration; who had swayed +the sceptre of his mighty kingdom with such a powerful and fearless +hand, it had been long since England had acquired such weight in the +scale of kingdoms. Wise, moderate, merciful even in strict justice as he +had been, could it be that ambition had wrought such change; that +disease had banished every feeling from his breast, save this one dark, +fiend-like passion, for the furtherance of which, or in revenge of its +disappointment, noble blood flowed like water--the brave, the good, the +young, the old, the noble and his follower, alike fell before the axe or +the cord of the executioner? Could it indeed be that Edward, once such a +perfect, glorious scion of chivalry, had now shut up his heart against +its every whisper, lest it should interfere with his brooding visions of +revenge; forgot each feeling, lest he should involuntarily sympathize +with the noble and knightly spirit of the patriots of Scotland, whom he +had sworn to crush? Alas! it was even so; ruthless and tyrannical, the +nobles he had once favored, once loved, now became odious to him, for +their presence made him painfully conscious of the change within +himself; and he now associated but with spirits dark, fierce, cruel as +his own--men he would once have shunned, have banished from his court, +as utterly unworthy of his favor. + +It was, then, in a royally-furnished chamber, pleasantly overlooking the +river Eden and the adjoining country, that about a week after the events +narrated in the preceding chapter, King Edward reclined. His couch was +softly and luxuriously cushioned, and not a little art had been expended +in the endeavor to lighten his sufferings, and enable him to rest at +ease. The repeated contraction of his countenance, however, betrayed how +impotent was even luxury when brought in contact with disease. The +richly-furred and wadded crimson velvet robe could not conceal the +attenuation of his once peculiarly fine and noble form; his great length +of limb, which had gained him, and handed down to posterity, the +inelegant surname of Longshanks, rendered his appearance yet more gaunt +and meagre; while his features, which once, from the benignity and +nobleness of his character, had been eminently handsome, now pale, thin, +and pointed, seemed to express but the one passion of his soul--its +gratification of revenge. His expansive brow was now contracted and +stern, rendered more so perhaps by the lack of hair about the temples; +he wore a black velvet cap, circled coronet-wise with large diamonds +from which a white feather drooped to his shoulder. There was a slight, +scarcely visible, sneer resting on his features that morning, called +forth perhaps by his internal scorn of the noble with whom he had +deigned a secret conference; but the Earl of Buchan had done him good +service, had ably forwarded his revenge, and he would not therefore +listen to that still voice of scorn. + +"Soh! she is secure, and your desires on that head accomplished, sir +earl," he said, in continuance of some subject they had been discussing. +"Thou hast done us good service, and by mine honor, it would seem we +have done your lordship the same." + +"Aye," muttered the earl, whose dark features had not grown a whit more +amiable since we last beheld him; "aye, we are both avenged." + +"How, sir I darest thou place thyself on a par with me?" angrily +retorted Edward; "thinkest thou the sovereign of England can have aught +in common with such as thee? Isabella of Buchan, or of Fife, an thou +likest that better, is debased, imprisoned, because she hath dared +insult our person, defy our authority, to act treasonably and +mischievously, and sow dissension and rebellion amid our Scottish +subjects--for this she is chastised; an it gratify your matrimonial +revenge, I am glad on't; but Edward of England brooks no equality with +Comyn of Buchan, though it be but equality in revenge." + +Buchan bent his knee, and humbly apologized. + +"Well, well, let it be; thou hast served us too faithfully to be +quarrelled with, for perchance unintentional irreverence. The imposition +of her child's murder, when he lives and is well, is the coinage of +thine own brain, sir earl, and thou must reconcile it to thine own +conscience. We hold ourselves exempt from all such peculiar mercy, for +we scarce see its wisdom." There was a slight bitterness in Edward's +tone. + +"Wisdom, my sovereign liege, deemest thou there is no wisdom in +revenge?" and the brow of the earl grew dark with passion, as he spoke. +"Have I naught to punish, naught to avenge in this foul +traitress--naught, that her black treachery has extended to my son, my +heir, even to his tender years? I would not have her death; no, let her +live and feed on the belief that her example, her counsels have killed +her own child; that had it not been for her, he might have lived, been +prosperous, aye, and happy now. Is there no wisdom in such revenge? and +if there be none, save that which my own heart feels, I could give your +grace another and a better reason for this proceeding." + +"Speak it, in St. George's name," replied the king; "of a truth thou art +of most clear conception in all schemes of vengeance. I might have +thought long enough, ere I could have lighted on such as this. What +more?" + +"Simply, your grace, that by encouraging a little while the report of +his death, his friends in Scotland will forget that he ever existed, and +make no effort for his rescue; which belief, wild and unfounded as it +is, I imagine supports him in his strenuous determination to live and +die a traitor to your highness. I have no hatred to the boy; nay, an he +would let me, could love and be proud of him, now his mother cannot +cross my path, and would gladly see him devoted, as myself, to the +interests of your grace. Nor do I despair of this; he is very young, and +his character cannot be entirely formed. He will tire in time of dark +and solitary confinement, and gladly accept any conditions I may offer." + +"Gives he any proof as yet of this yielding mood?" + +"By mine honor, no, your highness; he is firm and steadfast as the ocean +rock." + +"Then wherefore thinkest thou he will change in time?" + +"Because as yet, my gracious liege, the foul, treacherous principles of +his mother have not ceased to work. An entire cessation of intercourse +between them will show him his mistake at last, and this could never be, +did she know he lived. Imprisoned, guarded as she is, she would yet find +some means of communication with him, and all my efforts would be of no +avail. Let a year roll by, and I will stake my right hand that Alan of +Buchan becomes as firm a supporter and follower of King Edward as ever +his father was. Is the boy more than mortal, and does your grace think +life, liberty, riches, honors, will not weigh against perpetual +imprisonment and daily thoughts of death?" + +So spoke the Earl of Buchan, judging, as most men, others by himself, +utterly unable to comprehend the high, glorious, self-devoted, patriotic +spirit of his noble son. He persevered in his course of fiend-like +cruelty, excusing it to his own conscience, if he had any, by the +belief it would end but in his son's good--an end, indeed, he seldom +thought of attaining; but there was something in the idea of a son, an +heir, and one so prepossessing in appearance as Alan of Buchan, that +touched his pride, the only point on which his flinty heart was +vulnerable. + +"So thou thinkest, sir earl?" resumed the king, who perhaps in his own +secret soul did not entirely think with him. "Meanwhile the stripling +may laugh thy parental care to scorn, by escaping from iron chains and +stone walls, and seeking out the arch rebel Bruce, make up at the +sword's point for lost time. Beware, sir earl, an he be taken again thus +in arms against us, even thy loyal services will not save his head!" + +"I should not even ask your grace's clemency," replied the earl, his +features assuming a fearful expression as he spoke. "An he thus turned +traitor again to his father's house, spurning mine and your grace's +favor, to join the base murderer of his kinsman, he shall be no more to +me than others, whose treason hath cost their heads; but I have no fear +of this. He cannot escape, guarded as he is, by alike the most ruthless +and the most faithful of my followers; and while there, if all else +fail, I will publish that he lives, but so poison the ears of his rebel +Scottish friends against him, he will not, dare not join them, and in +his own despite, will be compelled to act as befitting his father's son. +Trust me, my liege. To thy royal clemency I owe his life; be it my duty, +then, to instil into him other principles than those which actuated him +before." + +"But your own character, my lord, meanwhile, care ye naught for the +stain supposed to rest upon it? Thy plans sound wise, and we thank thee +for thy loyalty; but we would not ye burdened your name with a deed not +its own, an ye cared for the world's applause." + +"Not a whit, not a whit, your highness; countenanced by your grace's +favor, absolved in your opinion from the barbarity others charge me +with, I care not for them, I have been too long mine own +conscience-keeper to heed the whispers of the world," he added, his dark +brows knitting closer as he spoke. + +Edward smiled grimly. "Be it so, then," he said; "my Lord of Buchan, we +understand each other. An that boy escapes and rejoins the traitors, and +is taken, his head answers for it. An ye succeed in making him loyal as +yourself, as eager a pursuer of the murderous traitor, Bruce, we will +give thee the palm for policy and wisdom in our court, ourself not +excepted. And now another question; it was reported Isabella of Buchan +joined the rebel's court with her _two_ children. Who and where is the +second? we have heard but of one." + +"A puny, spiritless wench, as I have heard, my liege; one little likely +to affect your highness, and not worth the seeking." + +"Nay, an she hath her mother's influence, we differ from thee, sir earl, +and would rather see her within the walls of our court than in the +traitor's train. I remember not her name amid those taken with the +Bruce's wife. Hast inquired aught concerning her?" + +"Not I, your grace," carelessly replied the earl; "of a truth, I had +weightier thoughts than the detention or interest of a simple wench, +who, if her mother has taught to forget me as her father, is not worth +my remembering as a child." + +"I give you joy of your most fatherly indifference, sir earl," answered +the king, with an ill-suppressed sneer. "It would concern you little if +she takes unto herself a husband midst your foes; the rebel Robert hath +goodly brothers, and the feud between thy house and theirs may but +impart a double enjoyment to the union." + +The earl started, as if an adder had stung him. "She dare not do this +thing," he said, fiercely; "she will not--she dare not. A thousand +curses light upon her head even if she dreams it!" + +"Nay, waste not thy breath in curses, good my lord, but up an prevent +the very possibility of such a thing, an it move thee so deeply. I say +not it is, but some such floating rumor has reached my ears, I can +scarce trace how, save through the medium of our numerous prisoners." + +"But how obtain information--where seek her? I pray you pardon me, your +grace, but there are a thousand furies in the thought!" and scarcely +could the consciousness of the royal presence restrain the rage which +gathered on the swarthy features of the earl from finding vent in words. + +"Nay, nay, my lord, let not your marvellous wisdom and sage indifference +be so speedily at fault. An she be not in Margaret Bruce's train, that +goodly dame may give thee some information. Seek her, and may be thou +wilt learn more of this wench than thou hast since her birth. In pity to +this sudden interest, we grant thee permission to visit these partners +of treason in their respective convents, and learn what thou canst; an +she be within thy reach, be advised, and find her a husband thyself, the +best find most speedy means of eradicating her mother's counsels." + +Buchan's reply was arrested on his lips by the entrance of the royal +chamberlain, announcing that the Earl of Berwick had arrived in all +haste from Berwick, and earnestly besought a few minutes' audience with +his sovereign. + +"Berwick!" repeated Edward, half raising himself in his surprise from +his reclining posture. "Berwick! what the foul fiend brings him from his +post at such a time? Bid him enter; haste, I charge thee." + +His impatient command was speedily obeyed, The Earl of Berwick was close +on the heels of the chamberlain, and now appeared, his lowly obeisance +not concealing from the quick eye of his master that wrath, black as a +thunder-cloud, was resting on his brow. + +"How now," said the king, "what means this unseemly gear, sir earl? thou +must have neither rested spur nor slackened rein, methinks, an thy garb +tell truth; and wherefore seekest thou our presence in such fiery haste? +Wouldst thou be private? My Lord of Buchan, thou hadst best follow our +counsel ere thy interest cools." + +"Nay, your grace, bid not yon noble earl depart to grant me hearing; I +would speak before him, aye, and the whole court, were it needed. 'Tis +but to lay the sword and mantle, with which your highness invested me as +governor of the citadel of Berwick, at your grace's feet, and beseech +you to accept my resignation of the same." With well-affected humility +the Earl of Berwick unclasped his jewelled mantle, and kneeling down, +laid it with his sheathed sword at King Edward's feet, remaining on his +knee. + +"Art craven, fool, or traitor?" demanded Edward, when his astonishment +permitted words. "What means this? Speak out, and instantly; we are not +wont to be thus trifled with. My Lord of Berwick, wherefore dost thou do +this?" + +"Not because I am a craven, good my liege," replied the nobleman, still +on his knee, "for had I been so, King Edward's penetration would have +discovered it ere he intrusted me with so great a charge--nor because I +am a witless fool, unconscious of the high honor I thus tamely +resign--and not because I am a traitor, gracious sovereign, for 'tis +from insult and interruption in the arrest of a blasphemous traitor I am +here." + +"Insult--interruption!" fiercely exclaimed the king, starting up. "Who +has dared--who loves his life so little as to do this? But speak on, +speak on, we listen." + +"Pardon me, your highness, I came to tender my resignation, not an +accusation," resumed the wily earl, cautiously lashing his sovereign +into fury, aware that it was much easier to gain what he wished in such +moods than as he found him now. "I came but to beseech your highness to +resume that which your own royal hands had given me. My authority +trampled upon, my loyalty insulted, my zeal in your grace's service +derided, my very men compelled, perforce of arms, to disobey me, and +this by one high in your grace's estimation, nay, connected with your +royal self. Surely, my gracious liege, I do but right in resigning the +high honor your highness bestowed. I can have little merit to retain it, +and such things be." + +"But they shall not be, sir. As there is a God above us, they shall not +be!" exclaimed the king, in towering wrath, and striking his hand on a +small table of crystal near him with such violence as to shiver it to +pieces. "By heaven and hell! they shall repent this, be it mine own son +who hath been thus insolent. Speak out, I tell thee, as thou lovest thy +life, speak out; drive me not mad by this cautiously-worded tale. Who +hath dared trample on authority mine own hand and seal hath given--who +is the traitor? Speak out, I charge thee!" and strengthened by his own +passion, the king sate upright on his couch, clenching his hand till the +blood sprung, and fixing his dark, fiery eyes on the earl. It was the +mood he had tried for, and now artfully and speciously, with many +additions, he narrated all that had passed the preceding day in the +castle-yard of Berwick. Fiercer and fiercer waxed the wrath of the king. + +"Fling him in the lowest dungeon, load him with the heaviest fetters +hands can forge!" were the words first distinguished, when passion +permitted articulation. "The villain, the black-faced traitor! it is not +enough he hath dared raise arms against me, but he must beard me to the +very teeth, defy me in my very palace, throw scorn upon me, maltreat an +officer of mine own person! Is there no punishment but death for this +foul insolence! As there is a God in heaven, he shall feel my vengeance +ere he reach the scaffold--feel it, aye, till death be but too welcome!" +He sunk back, exhausted by his own violence; but not a minute passed ere +again he burst forth. "And Hereford, the traitor Hereford, he dared +defend him! dared assault thee in the pursuance of thy duty, the +audacious insolent! Doth he think, forsooth, his work in Scotland will +exempt him from the punishment of insolence, of treason? as an aider and +abettor of treachery he shares its guilt, and shall know whom he hath +insulted. Back to thy citadel, my Lord of Berwick, see to the strict +incarceration of this foul branch of treachery, aye, and look well about +ye, lest any seditious citizen or soldier hath, by look or word, given +aught of encouragement, or failed in due respect to our proclamation. An +Hereford abet the traitor, others may be but too willing to do the like. +By heaven, they shall share his fate! Bid Hereford hither on the +instant, say naught of having been beforehand with him; I would list the +insolent's own tale. Rest thee a brief while, my lord, and our great +seal shall insure thee prompt obedience. Bid Sir Edmund Stanley attend +us, my Lord of Buchan. I need scarce warn a Comyn to be secret on what +has passed; I would not have the foul insolence cast into our teeth as +yet proclaimed. Begone, both of ye; we would be a brief space alone." + +The deadly pallor which had usurped the flush of fury on the monarch's +cheek afforded such strong evidence of a sharp renewal of his internal +pains, that both noblemen hesitated to obey. The damp of agony stood +upon his forehead a moment in large drops, then absolutely poured down +his cheeks, while his gaunt frame shook with the effort to suppress the +groan which his throes wrung from him. Seizing a cordial near him, +Buchan presented it on his knee, but Edward only waved them both away, +angrily and impatiently pointing to the door. He loved not the weakness +of an appalling disease to be witnessed by his courtiers. When utterly +incapacitated from either the appearance or functions of the sovereign, +he chose to be alone, his pride scarcely brooking even the cares of his +young and beautiful wife, or the yet wiser and truer affection of his +daughters. The effects of this interview will be seen in a future +chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +There was an expression of both sorrow and care on the fine and winning +features of the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, as she sat busied +in embroidery in an apartment of Carlisle Castle, often pausing to rest +her head upon her hand, and glance out of the broad casement near which +she sat, not in admiration of the placid scene which stretched beyond, +but in the mere forgetfulness of uneasy thought. Long the favorite +daughter of King Edward, perchance because her character more resembled +that of her mother, Queen Eleanor, than did either of her sisters, she +had till lately possessed unbounded influence over him. Not only his +affection but his pride was gratified in her, for he saw much of his own +wisdom, penetration, and high sense of honor reflected upon her, far +more forcibly than in his weak and yielding son. But lately, the change +which had so painfully darkened the character and actions of her father +had extended even to her. Her affection for a long time blinded her to +this painful truth, but by slow degrees it became too evident to be +mistaken, and she had wept many bitter tears, less perhaps for herself +than for her father, whom she had almost idolized. His knightly +qualities, his wisdom, the good he had done his country, all were +treasured up by her and rejoiced in with never-failing delight. His +reputation, his popularity, were dear to her, even as her noble +husband's. She had not only loved, she had reverenced him as some +superior being who had come but to do good, to leave behind him through +succeeding ages an untarnished name, enshrined in such love, England +would be long ere she spoke it without tears. And now, alas! she had +outlived such dreams; her reverence, lingering still, had been impaired +by deeds of blood her pride in him crushed; naught but a daughter's love +remaining, which did but more strongly impress upon her heart the fatal +change. And now the last blow was given; he shunned her, scarcely ever +summoned her to his presence, permitted the wife of a day to tend him in +his sufferings, rather than the daughter of his former love, one +hallowed by the memories of her mother, the beloved and faithful partner +of his youth. + +It was not, however, these thoughts which entirely engrossed her now +not undivided sorrows. Her sister Elizabeth, the Countess of Hereford, +had just left her, plunged in the deepest distress, from the +extraordinary fact that her husband, summoned seemingly in all amity by +the king, had been arrested by the Lord Marshal of England as an aider +and abettor of treason, and was now in strict confinement within the +castle; not permitted to embrace his wife and children, whom he had not +seen since his arrival from Scotland, where he had so gallantly assisted +the cause of Edward, and whence he had but just returned in triumph. No +other cause was assigned saving having given countenance to treason and +_leze majeste_, but that the irritation of the king had prohibited all +hope of present pardon;--she, Lady Hereford, though his own daughter, +having been refused admission to his presence. Both the Earl and +Countess of Gloucester had anxiously striven to comfort the anxious +wife, conquering their own fears to assure her that hers were +groundless; that though from some mysterious cause at present irritated, +as they knew too well a trifle made him now, Hereford was too good and +loyal a subject for the king to proceed to extremities, whatever might +have been his fault. Rumors of the confusion at Berwick had indeed +reached Carlisle, and it was to have them confirmed or denied, or +connected with some appearance of veracity, the Earl of Gloucester had +quitted the royal sisters, determining to use his influence with his +sovereign, even to dare his wrath, for the release of Hereford, whose +good services in Scotland deserved a somewhat different recompense. Lady +Hereford, too anxious and dispirited to remain long in one place, soon +departed to seek the youthful Margaret of France, her father's beautiful +wife, and beseech her influence with him, either for the pardon of her +husband, or at least communication with him. + +It was these sad thoughts which engrossed the Princess Joan, and they +lingered too on Hereford's prisoner, the brave, and noble Nigel, for +both to her husband and herself he had been in his boyhood an object not +only of interest but of love. His beauty, his extraordinary talents, had +irresistibly attracted them; and yet scarcely could they now believe the +youthful knight, with whose extraordinary valor not only Scotland but +England rung, could be that same enthusiast boy. That he had been taken, +was now a prisoner in Berwick Castle, on whom sentence of death sooner +or later would be passed, brought conviction but too sadly to their +hearts, and made them feel yet more bitterly their influence with Edward +was of no account. + +"Hast thou succeeded, Gilbert? Oh, say that poor Elizabeth may at least +be permitted access to her husband," was the countess's eager salutation +to her husband, as he silently approached her. He shook his head +sorrowfully. + +"Alas! not even this. Edward is inexorable, possessed by I know not what +spirit of opposition and wrath, furiously angered against Hereford, to +the utter forgetfulness of all his gallant deeds in Scotland." + +"But wherefore? What can have chanced in this brief period to occasion +this? but a few days since he spoke of Hereford as most loyal and +deserving." + +"Aye, that was on the news of Kildrummie's surrender; now forgotten, +from anger at a deed which but a few years back he would have been the +first to have admired. That rash madman, Nigel Bruce, hath not only +trebly sealed his own fate, but hurled down this mishap on his captor," +and briefly he narrated all he had learned. + +"It was, indeed, a rash action, Gilbert; yet was it altogether +unnatural? Alas, no! the boy had had no spark of chivalry or patriotism +about him, had he stood tamely by; and Gloucester," she added, with +bitter tears, "years back would my father have given cause for +this--would he thus have treated an unhappy woman, thus have added +insult to misery, for an act which, shown to other than his rival, he +would have honored, aye, not alone the deed, but the doer of it? If we, +his own children, feel shamed and indignant at this cruelty, oh, what +must be the feelings of her countrymen, her friends?" + +"Then thou believest not the foul slander attached to the Countess of +Buchan, my Joan?" + +"Believe it!" she answered, indignantly; "who that has looked on that +noble woman's face can give it the smallest credence? No, Gilbert, no. +'Tis published by those base spirits so utterly incapable of honor, +knighthood, and patriotism themselves, that they cannot conceive these +qualities in others, particularly in a female breast, and therefore +assign it to motives black as the hearts which thought them; and even if +it were true, is a kingly conqueror inflicting justice for treason +against himself, to assign other motives for that justice? Doth he not +lower himself--his own cause?" + +"Alas, yes!" replied her husband, sorrowfully; "he hath done his +character more injury by this last act than any which preceded. Though +men might wish less blood were shed, yet still, traitors taken in arms +against his person justice must condemn; but a woman, a sad and grieving +woman--but do not weep thus, my gentle wife," he added, tenderly. + +"Can a daughter of Edward do other than weep, my husband? Oh, if I loved +him not, if my very spirit did not cling round him so closely that the +fibres of both seem entwined, and his deeds of wrath, of exacting +justice, fall on me as if I had done them, and overwhelm me with their +shame, their remorse, then indeed I might not weep; but as it is, do not +chide me, Gilbert, for weep I must." + +"Thou art too noble-hearted, Joan," he said, kindly, as he circled her +waist with his arm, "only too noble-hearted for these fearful times. +'Tis but too sad a proof of the change in thy royal father, that he +shuns thy presence now even as he once loved it." + +A confusion in the passage and ante-room disturbed their converse, and +Gloucester turned towards the door to inquire the cause. + +"Tis but a troublesome boy, demanding access to her highness the +countess, my lord," was the reply. "I have asked his name and business, +questions he deigns not, forsooth, to answer, and looks so wild and +distracted, that I scarce think it accords with my duty to afford him +admittance. He is no fit recipient of my lady's bounty, good my lord; +trust me, he will but fright her." + +"I have no such fear, my good Baldwin," said the princess, as, on +hearing her name, she came forward to the centre of the chamber; "thou +knowest my presence is granted to all who seek it, an this poor child +seems so wild, he is the fitter object of my care. They are using +violence methinks; give him entrance instantly." + +The attendant departed, and returned in a very brief space, followed by +a lad, whose torn and muddy garments, haggard features, and dishevelled +hair indeed verified the description given. He glanced wildly round him +a moment, and then flinging himself at the feet of the princess, clasped +her robe and struggled to say something, of which the words "mercy, +protection," were alone audible. + +"Mercy, my poor child! what mercy dost thou crave? Protection I may give +thee, but how may I show thee mercy?" + +"Grant me but a few moments, lady, let me but speak with thee alone. I +bear a message which I may not deliver to other ears save thine," said +or rather gasped the boy, for he breathed with difficulty, either from +exhaustion or emotion. + +"Alone!" replied the countess, somewhat surprised. "Leave us, Baldwin," +she added, after a moment's pause. "I am privately engaged for the next +hour, denied to all, save his grace the king." He withdrew, with a +respectful bow. "And now, speak, poor child, what wouldst thou? Nay, I +hear nothing which my husband may not hear," she said, as the eyes of +her visitor gazed fearfully on the earl, who was looking at him with +surprise. + +"Thy husband, lady--the Earl of Gloucester? oh, it was to him too I +came; the brother-in-arms of my sovereign, one that showed kindness +to--to Sir Nigel in his youth, ye will not, ye will not forsake him +now?" + +Few and well-nigh inarticulate as were those broken words, they betrayed +much which at once excited interest in both the earl and countess, and +told the reason of the lad's earnest entreaty to see them alone. + +"Forsake him!" exclaimed the earl, after carefully examining that the +door was closed; "would to heaven I could serve him, free him! that +there was but one slender link to lay hold of, to prove him innocent and +give him life, I would do it, did it put my own head in jeopardy." + +"And is there none, none?" burst wildly from the boy's lips, as he +sprung from his knees, and grasped convulsively the earl's arm. "Oh, +what has he done that they should slay him? why do they call him guilty? +He was not Edward's subject, he owed him no homage, no service, he has +but fought to free his country, and is there guilt in this? oh, no, no, +save him, in mercy save him!" + +"Thou knowest not what thou askest, boy, how wholly, utterly impossible +it is to save him. He hath hurled down increase of anger on his own head +by his daring insult of King Edward's herald; had there been hope before +there is none now." + +A piercing cry escaped the boy, and he would have fallen had he not been +supported by the countess; he looked at her pitying face, and again +threw himself at her feet. + +"Canst _thou_ not, wilt _thou_ not save him?" he cried; "art thou not +the daughter of Edward, his favorite, his dearly beloved, and will he +not list to thee--will he not hear thy pleadings? Oh, seek him, kneel to +him as I to thee, implore his mercy--life, life, only the gift of life; +sentence him to exile, perpetual exile, what he will, only let him live: +he is too young, too good, too beautiful to die. Oh! do not look as if +this could not be. He has told me how you both loved him, not that I +should seek ye. It is not at his request I come; no, no, no, he spurns +life, if it be granted on conditions. But they have torn me from him, +they have borne him to the lowest dungeon, they have loaded him with +fetters, put him to the torture. I would have clung to him still, but +they spurned me, trampled on me, cast me forth--to die, if I may not +save him! Wilt thou not have mercy, princess? daughter of Edward, oh, +save him, save him!" + +It is impossible in the above incoherent words to convey to the reader +even a faint idea of the agonized wildness with which they were spoken; +the impression of unutterable misery they gave to those who listened to +them, and marked their reflection in the face of the speaker. + +"Fetters--the lowest dungeon--torture," repeated Gloucester, pacing up +and down with disordered steps. "Can these things be? merciful heaven, +how low hath England fallen! Boy, boy, can it be thou speakest truth?" + +"As there is a God above, it is truth!" he answered, passionately. "Oh, +canst thou not save him from this? is there no justice, no mercy? +Rise--no, no; wherefore should I rise?" he continued, clinging +convulsively to the knees of the princess, as she soothingly sought to +raise him. "I will kneel here till thou hast promised to plead for him +with thy royal father, promised to use thine influence for his life. Oh, +canst thou once have loved him and yet hesitate for this?" + +"I do not, I would not hesitate, unhappy boy," replied the princess, +tenderly. "God in heaven knows, were there the slenderest chance of +saving him, I would kneel at my father's feet till pardon was obtained, +but angered as he is now it would irritate him yet more. Alas! alas! +poor child, they told thee wrong who bade thee come to Joan for +influence with Edward; I have none now, less than any of his court," and +the large tears fell from the eyes of the princess on the boy's upturned +face. + +"Then let me plead for him; give me access to Edward. Oh, I will so +beseech, conjure him, he cannot, he will not say me nay. Oh, if his +heart be not of steel, he will have mercy on our wretchedness; he will +pardon, he will spare my husband!" + +The sob with which that last word was spoken shook that slight frame, +till it bowed to the very ground, and the supporting arm of the countess +alone preserved her from falling. + +"Thy husband!--Gracious heaven! who and what art thou?" exclaimed the +earl, springing towards her, at the same instant that his wife raised +her in her arras, and laid her on a couch beside them, watching with the +soothing tenderness of a sister, till voice and strength returned. + +"Alas! I feared there was more in this deep agony than we might see," +she said; "but I imagined not, dared not imagine aught like this. Poor +unhappy sufferer, the saints be praised thou hast come to me! thy +husband's life I may not save, but I can give protection, tenderness to +thee--aye weep, weep, there is life, reason in those tears." + +The gentle voice of sympathy, of kindness, had come upon that +overcharged heart, and broke the icy agony which had closed it to the +relief of tears. Mind and frame were utterly exhausted, and Agnes buried +her face in the hands of the princess, which she had clasped +convulsively within both hers, and wept, till the wildness of agony +indeed departed, but not the horrible consciousness of the anguish yet +to come. Gradually her whole tale was imparted: from the resolution to +follow her betrothed even to England, and cling to him to the last; the +fatal conclusion of that rite which had made them one; the anxiety and +suffering which had marked the days spent in effecting a complete +disguise, ere she could venture near him and obtain Hereford's consent +to her attending him as a page; the risks and hardships which had +attended their journey to Berwick, till even a prison seemed a relief +and rest; and then the sudden change, that a few days previous, the Earl +of Berwick had entered Sir Nigel's prison, at the head of five or ten +ruffians, had loaded him with fetters, conveyed him to the lowest and +filthiest dungeon, and there had administered the torture, she knew not +wherefore. Her shriek of agony had betrayed that she had followed them, +and she was rudely and forcibly dragged from him, and thrust from the +fortress. Her brain had reeled, her senses a brief while forsaken her, +and when she recovered, her only distinct thought was to find her way to +Carlisle, and there obtain access to the Earl and Countess of +Gloucester, of whom her husband had spoken much during their journey to +England, not with any wish or hope of obtaining mercy through their +influence, but simply as the friends of former years; he had spoken of +them to while away the tedious hours of their journey, and besought her, +if she should be parted from him on their arrival at Berwick, to seek +them, and implore their protection till her strength was restored. Of +herself, however, in thus seeking them, she had thought not; the only +idea, the only thought clearly connected in her mind was to beseech +their influence with Edward in obtaining her husband's pardon. Misery +and anxiety, in a hundred unlooked-for shapes, had already shown the +fallacy of those dreams which in the hour of peril had strengthened her, +and caused her to fancy that when once his wife she not only might abide +by him, but that she might in some manner obtain his liberation. She did +not, indeed, lament her fate was joined to his--lament! she could not +picture herself other than she was, by her husband's side, but she felt, +how bitterly felt, she had no power to avert his fate. Despair was upon +her, cold, black, clinging despair, and she clung to the vain dream of +imploring Edward's mercy, feeling at the same moment it was but the +_ignis fatui_ to her heart--urging lighting, impelling her on, but to +sink in pitchy darkness when approached. + +Gradually and painfully this narrative of anguish was drawn from her +lips, often unconnectedly, often incoherently, but the earl and countess +heard enough, to fill their hearts alike with pity and respect for the +deep, unselfish love unconsciously revealed. She had told, too, her +maiden name, had conjured them to conceal her from the power of her +father, at whose very name she shuddered; and both those noble hearts +shared her anxiety, sympathized in her anguish; and speedily she felt, +if there could be comfort in such deep wretchedness, she had told her +tale to those ready and willing, and able to bestow it. + +The following day the barons sat in judgment on Sir Nigel Bruce, and +Gloucester was obliged to join them. It was useless, both he and the +princess felt, to implore the king's mercy till sentence was passed; +alas! it was useless at any time, but it must have been a colder and +harder heart than the Princess Joan's to look upon the face of Agnes, +and yet determine on not even making one effort in his favor. At first +the unhappy girl besought the earl to permit her accompanying him back +to Berwick, to attend her husband on his trial; but on his proving it +would but be uselessly harrowing the feelings of both, for it would not +enable her to go back with him to prison, that it would be better for +her to remain under the protection of the countess, endeavoring to +regain strength for whatever she might have to encounter, either to +accompany him to exile, if grace were indeed granted, or to return to +her friends in Scotland, she yielded mournfully, deriving some faint +degree of comfort in the earl's assurance that she should rejoin her +husband as soon as possible, and the countess's promise that if she +wished it, she should herself be witness of her interview with Edward. +It was indeed poor comfort, but her mind was well-nigh wearied out with +sorrow, as if incapable of bearing more, and she acquiesced from very +exhaustion. + +The desire that she herself should conjure the mercy of Edward had been +negatived even to her anxious heart by the assurance of both the earl +and the princess, that instead of doing good to her husband's cause she +would but sign her own doom, perchance be consigned to the power of her +father, and be compelled to relinquish the poor consolation of being +with her husband to the last. It was better she should retain the +disguise she had assumed, adopting merely in addition the dress of one +of the princess's own pages, a measure which would save her from all +observation in the palace, and give her admittance to Sir Nigel, +perchance, when as his own attendant it would be denied. + +The idea of rejoining her husband would have reconciled Agnes to any +thing that might have been proposed, and kneeling at the feet of her +protectress, she struggled to speak her willingness and blessing on her +goodness, but her tongue was parched, her lips were mute, and the +princess turned away, for her gentle spirit could not read unmoved the +silent thankfulness of that young and breaking heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +It would be useless to linger on the trial of Nigel Bruce, in itself a +mockery of justice, as were all those which had proceeded, and all that +followed it. The native nobility of Scotland were no subjects of the +King of England; they owed him homage, perchance, for lands held in +England, but on flocking to the standard of the Bruce these had at once +been voluntarily forfeited, and they fought but as Scottish men +determined to throw off the yoke of a tyrant whose arms had overrun a +land to which he had no claim. They fought for the freedom of a country, +for their own liberty, and therefore were no traitors; but these facts +availed not with the ruthless sovereign, to whom opposition was treason. +The mockery of justice proceeded, it gave a deeper impression, a graver +solemnity to their execution, and therefore for not one of his prisoners +was the ceremony dispensed with. Sir Christopher Seaton had been +conveyed to the Tower, with his wife, under pretence of there waiting +till his wounds were cured, to abide his trial, and in that awful hour +Sir Nigel stood alone. Yet he was undaunted, for he feared not death +even at the hangman's hand; his spirit was at peace, for he was innocent +of sin; unbowed, for he was no traitor--he was a patriot warrior still. +Pale he was, indeed, ashy pale, but it told a tale of intense bodily +anguish. They had put him to the torture, to force from his lips the +place of his brother's retreat, that being the only pretence on which +the rage of Edward and the malice of Berwick could rest for the +infliction of their cruelty. They could drag naught from his lips; they +could not crush that exalted soul, or compel it to utter more than a +faint, scarcely articulate groan, as proof that he suffered, that the +beautiful frame was well-nigh shattered unto death. And now he stood +upright, unshrinking; and there were hearts amid those peers inwardly +grieving at their fell task, gazing on him with unfeigned admiration; +while others gloried that another obstacle to their sovereign's schemes +of ambition would be removed, finding, perchance, in his youth, beauty, +and noble bearing, from their contrast with themselves, but fresh +incentives to the doom of death, and determining, even as they sate and +scowled on him, to aggravate the bitterness of that doom with all the +ignominy that cruelty could devise. + +He had listened in stern silence to the indictment, and evinced no sign +of emotion even when, in the virulence of some witnesses against him, +the most degrading epithets were lavished on himself, his family, and +friends. Only once had his eye flashed fire and his cheek burned, and +his right hand unconsciously sought where his weapon should have hung, +when his noble brother was termed a ribald assassin, an excommunicated +murderer; but quickly he checked that natural emotion, and remained +collected as before. He was silent till the usual question was asked, +"If he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be +pronounced upon him?" and then he made a step forward, looked boldly and +sternly around him, and spoke, in a rich, musical voice, the following +brief, though emphatic words: + +"Ye ask me if I could say aught why sentence of death should not be +pronounced. Nobles of England, in denying the charge of treason with +which ye have indicted me, I have said enough. Before ye, aye, before +your sovereign, I have done nothing to merit death, save that death +which a conqueror bestows on his captive, when he deems him too powerful +to live. The death of a traitor I protest against; for to the King of +England I am no subject, and in consequence no traitor! I have but done +that which every true and honorable man must justify, and in justifying +respect. I have sought with my whole heart the liberty of my country, +the interest of my lawful sovereign, and will die asserting the honor +and justice of my cause, even as I have lived. I plead not for mercy, +for were it offered, on condition of doing homage unto Edward, I would +refuse it, and choose death; protesting to the last that Robert Bruce, +and he alone, is rightful king of Scotland. My lords, in condemning me +to death as a captive taken in war, ye may be justified by the law of +battles, I dispute not the justice of your doom; but an ye sentence me +as traitor, I do deny the charge, and say my condemnation is unjust and +foul, and ye are perjured in its utterance. I have said. Now let your +work proceed." + +He folded his arms on his breast, and awaited in unbroken silence his +doom. A brief pause had followed his words. The Earl of Gloucester, who, +from his rank and near connection with the king, occupied one of the +seats of honor at the upper end of the large hall, and had, during the +trial, vainly sought to catch the prisoner's eye, now reclined back on +his seat, his brow resting on his hand, his features completely +concealed by the dark drapery of his cloak. In that position he +remained, not only during the pause, but while the fatal sentence was +pronounced. + +"By the laws of your country, and the sentence of your peers," so it +ran, "you, Nigel Bruce, by manifold acts of rebellion, disaffection, and +raising up arms against your lawful king, Edward, the sovereign of +England and Scotland, and all the realms, castles, and lordships thereto +pertaining, are proved guilty of high treason and _lese majeste_, and +are thereby condemned to be divested of all symbols of nobility and +knighthood, which you have disgraced; to be dragged on a hurdle to the +common gibbet, and there hung by the neck till you are dead; your head +to be cut off; your body quartered and exposed at the principal towns as +a warning to the disaffected and the traitorous of all ranks in either +nation, and this is to be done at whatsoever time the good pleasure of +our sovereign lord the king may please to appoint. God save King Edward, +and so perish all his foes!" + +Not a muscle of the prisoner's face had moved during the utterance of +this awful sentence. He had glanced fearlessly around him to the last, +his eye resting on the figure of the Earl of Gloucester with an +expression of pitying commiseration for a moment, as if he felt for him, +for his deep regret in his country's shame, infinitely more than for +himself. Proudly erect he held himself, as they led him in solemn pomp +from the great hall of the castle, across the court to the dungeons of +the condemned, gazing calmly and unflinchingly on the axe, which carried +with its edge towards him proclaimed him condemned, though his doom was +more ignominious than the axe bestowed. There was a time when he had +shrunk from the anticipated agony of a degradation so complete as +this--but not now; his spirit was already lifted up above the honors and +humiliations of earth. But one dream of this world remained--one sad, +sweet dream clung to his heart, and bound it with silver chains below. +Where was that gentle being? He fondly hoped she had sought the friends +of his boyhood, as he had implored her, should they be parted; he strove +to realize comfort in the thought they would protect and save her the +agony of a final parting; but he strove in vain. One wild yearning +possessed him, to gaze upon her face, to fold her to his heart once, but +once again: it was the last lingering remnant of mortality; he had not +another thought of life but this, and this grew stronger as its hope +seemed vain. But there was one near to give him comfort, when he +expected it not. + +Wrapped so closely in his dark, shrouding mantle that naught but the +drooping feather of his cap could be distinguished, the Earl of +Gloucester drew near the prisoner, and as he paused, ere the gates and +bars of the prison entrance could be drawn back, whispered hurriedly yet +emphatically-- + +"A loved one is safe and shall be so. Would to God I could do more!" + +Suppressing with extreme difficulty a start of relief and surprise, the +young nobleman glanced once on Gloucester's face, pressed his hands +together, and answered, in the same tone-- + +"God in heaven bless thee! I would see her once, only once more, if it +can be without danger to her; it is life's last link, I cannot snap +it--parted thus." They hurried him through the entrance with the last +word lingering on his lips, and before Gloucester could make even a sign +of reply. + +Early in the evening of the same day, King Edward was reclining on his +couch, in the chamber we have before described, and, surrounded by some +few of his favorite noblemen, appeared so animated by a new cause of +excitement as to be almost unconscious of the internal pains which even +at that moment were more than usually intense. His courtiers looked on +unconcernedly while, literally shaking with disease and weakness, he +coolly and deliberately traced those letters which gave a base and +ignominious death to one of the best, the noblest, loveliest spirits +that ever walked the earth, and signed the doom of misery and madness to +another; and yet no avenging hand stretched forth between him and his +victim, no pang was on his heart to bid him pause, be merciful, and +spare. Oh, what would this earth be were it all in all, and what were +life if ending in the grave? Faith, thou art the crystal key opening to +the spirit the glorious vision of immortality, bidding the trusting +heart, when sick and weary of the dark deeds and ruthless spoilers of +this lovely earth, rest on thy downy wings, and seek for peace and +comfort there. + +"Who waits?" demanded the king, as his pen ceased in its task. + +"Sir Stephen Fitzjohn, my liege, sent by the Earl of Berwick with the +warrant, for which he waits." + +"He need wait no longer then, for it is there. Two hours before noon the +traitor dies; we give him grace till then, that our good subjects of +Berwick may take warning by his fate, and our bird in the cage witness +the end of the gallant so devoted to her cause. Bid the knight begone, +my Lord of Arundel; he hath too long waited our pleasure. Ha! whom have +we here? who craves admittance thus loudly?" he added, observing, as the +earl lifted the hangings to depart, some bustle in the ante-room. "Who +is it so boldly demanding speech with us?" + +"Her Highness the Princess Joan, Countess of Gloucester, please you, my +liege," replied the chamberlain; "she will not take denial." + +"Is it so hard a thing for a daughter to gain admittance to a father, +even though he be a sovereign?" interrupted the princess, who, attended +only by a single page bearing her train, advanced within the chamber, +her firm and graceful deportment causing the lords to fall back on +either side, and give her passage, though the expression of their +monarch's countenance denoted the visit was unwelcome. + +"Humbly and earnestly I do beseech your grace's pardon for this +over-bold intrusion," she said, bending one knee before him; "but indeed +my business could not be delayed. My liege and father, grant me but a +few brief minutes. Oh, for the sake of one that loved us both, the +sainted one now gone to heaven, for the memory of whom thou didst once +bless me with fonder love than thou gavest to my sisters, because my +features bore her stamp, my king, my father, pardon me and let me +speak!" + +"Speak on," muttered the king, passing his hand over his features, and +turning slightly from her, if there were emotion, to conceal it. "Thou +hast, in truth, been over-bold, yet as thou art here, speak on. What +wouldst thou?" + +"A boon, a mighty boon, most gracious father; one only thou canst grant, +one that in former years thou wouldst have loved me for the asking, and +blessed me by fulfilment," she said, as she continued to kneel; and by +her beseeching voice and visible emotion effectually confining the +attention of the courtiers, now assembled in a knot at the farther end +of the apartment, and preventing their noticing the deportment of the +page who had accompanied her; he was leaning against a marble pillar +which supported the canopy raised over the king's couch, his head bent +on his breast, the short, thick curls which fell over his forehead +concealing his features; his hands, too, crossed on his breast, +convulsively clenched the sleeves of his doublet, as if to restrain the +trembling which, had any one been sufficiently near, or even imagined +him worthy of a distant glance, must have been observable pervading his +whole frame. + +"A boon," repeated the king, as the princess paused, almost breathless +with her own emotion; "a mighty boon! What can the Countess of +Gloucester have to ask of me, that it moves her thus? Are we grown so +terrible that even our own children tremble ere they speak? What is this +mighty boon? we grant not without hearing." + +"'Tis the boon of life, my liege, of life thou canst bestow. Oh, while +in this world thou rulest, viceregent of the King of kings on high, +combining like Him justice and mercy, in the government of his +creatures, oh! like, Him, let mercy predominate over justice; deprive +not of life, in the bloom, the loveliness of youth! Be merciful, my +father, oh, be merciful! forgive as thou wouldst be forgiven--grant me +the life I crave!" + +Urged on by emotion, the princess had scarcely heard the suppressed +interjection of the king which her first words had occasioned, and she +scarcely saw the withering sternness which gathered on his brow. + +"Thou hast in truth learnt oratory, most sapient daughter," he said, +bitterly; "thou pleadest well and flowingly, yet thou hast said not for +whom thou bearest this marvellous interest--it can scarce be for a +traitor? Methinks the enemies of Edward should be even such unto his +children." + +"Yet 'tis for one of these mistaken men I plead, most gracious +sovereign," resumed Joan, intimidated not by his sarcasm. "Oh, my +father, the conqueror's triumph consists not in the number of rebellious +heads that fall before him--not in the blood that overflows his way; +magnanimity, mercy, will conquer yet more than his victorious sword. +Traitor as he seem, have mercy on Nigel Bruce; oh, give--" + +"Mercy on a Bruce! May the thunder of heaven blast me when I show it!" +burst furiously from Edward's lips, as he started upon his couch and +gazed on his suppliant child with eyes that seemed absolutely to blaze +in wrath. "Mercy on a branch of that house which has dared defy me, +dared to insult my power, trample on my authority, upraised the standard +of rebellion, and cost me the lives of thousands of my faithful +subjects! Mercy on him, the daring traitor, who, even in his chains, has +flung redoubled insult and treason into our very teeth! Mercy--may the +God of heaven deny me all mercy when I show it unto him!" + +"Oh, no, no, my father! My father, in mercy speak not such terrible +words!" implored the princess, clinging to his robe. "Call not the wrath +of heaven on thy head; think of his youth, the temptations that have +beset him, the difficult task to remain faithful when all other of his +house turned astray. Mistaken as he hath been, as he is, have mercy. +Compel him to prove, to feel, to acknowledge thou art not the tyrant he +hath been taught to deem thee; exile, imprisonment, all--any thing, but +death. Oh, do not turn from me; be thyself, the good, the magnanimous +Edward of former days, have mercy on thy foe!" + +"I tell thee, never! by every saint in heaven, I tell thee, never!" +shouted the king. "I will hear no more; begone, lest I deem my own child +part and parcel of the treasons formed against me. Trouble me not with +these vain prayers. I will not pardon, I have sworn it; begone, and +learn thy station better than to plead for traitors. Thy husband braved +me once; beware, lest in these pleadings I hear _his_ voice again. I +tell him and thee that ere to-morrow's noon be passed the soul of Nigel +Bruce shall stand in judgment; not another day, not another hour he +lives to blast me with the memory of his treason. The warrant hath been +signed, and is on its way to Berwick, to give his body to the hangman +and his soul to Satan--his death is sealed." + +"Oh, no, no, no!" shrieked a voice of sudden anguish, startling all who +heard, and even Edward, by its piteous tones, and the form of a page +suddenly fell prostrate before the monarch. "Mercy, mercy! for the love +of God, have mercy!" he struggled to articulate, but there was no sound +save a long and piercing shriek, and the boy lay senseless on the +ground. + +"Ha! by St. George, beardest thou me with traitors in my very palace, +before my very eyes?" exclaimed the angry monarch, as his astonished +courtiers gathered round. "Put him in ward; away with him, I say!" + +"Pardon me, your highness, but this is needless," interposed the +princess, with a calm majesty, that subdued even the irritation of her +father, and undauntedly waving back the courtiers, although perfectly +sensible of the imminent danger in which she was placed. "If there be +blame, let it be visited on me; this poor child has been ill and weakly +from many causes, terrified, almost maddened, by sounds, and sights of +blood. I deemed him perfectly recovered, or he had not attended me here. +I pray your grace permit his removal to my apartments." + +The king laid a heavy hand on his daughter's arm as she stood beside +him, and fixed a gaze on her face that would have terrified any less +noble spirit into a betrayal of the truth; but firm in her own +integrity, in her own generous purpose, she calmly and inquiringly +returned his gaze. + +"Go to, thou art a noble wench, though an over-bold and presuming one," +he said, in a much mollified tone, for there was that in the dauntless +behavior of his daughter which found an echo in his heart even now, +deadened as it was to aught of gentle feeling, and he was glad of this +interruption to entreaties which, resolved not to grant, had lashed him +into fury, while her presence made him feel strangely ashamed. "Do as +thou wilt with thine own attendants; but be advised, tempt not thine own +safety again; thou hast tried us sore with thy ill-advised entreaties, +but we forgive thee, on condition they are never again renewed. Speak +not, we charge thee. What ho! Sir Edmund Stanley," he called aloud, and +the chamberlain appeared at the summons. "Here, let this boy be +carefully raised and borne according to the pleasure of his mistress. +See, too, that the Countess of Gloucester be conducted with due respect +to her apartments. Begone!" he added, sternly, as the eyes of Joan still +seemed to beseech mercy; "I will hear no more--the traitor dies!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +The shades of advancing night had already appeared to have enwrapped the +earth some hours, when Nigel Bruce was startled from an uneasy slumber +by the creaking sounds of bolts and bars announcing the entrance of some +one within the dungeon. The name of his beloved, his devoted Agnes, +trembled on his lips, but fearful of betraying her to unfriendly ears, +ho checked himself, and started up, exclaiming, "Who comes?" No answer +was vouchsafed, but the dim light of a lamp, placed by the intruder on +the floor, disclosed a figure wrapped from head to foot in the shrouding +mantle of the time, not tall, but appearing a stout muscular person, +banishing on the instant Nigel's scarcely-formed hope that it was the +only one he longed to see. + +"What wouldst thou?" he said, after a brief pause. "Doth Edward practise +midnight murder? Speak, who art thou?" + +"Midnight murder, thou boasting fool; I love thee not well enough to +cheat the hangman of his prey," replied a harsh and grating voice, +which, even without the removal of the cloak, would have revealed to +Nigel's astonished ears the Earl of Buchan. "Ha! I have startled +thee--thou didst not know the deadly enemy of thy accursed race!" + +"I know thee now, my Lord of Buchan," replied the young man, calmly; +"yet know I not wherefore thou art here, save to triumph over the fallen +fortunes of thy foe; if so, scorn on--I care not. A few brief hours, and +all of earth and earthly feeling is at rest." + +"To triumph--scorn! I had scarce travelled for petty satisfaction such +as that, when to-morrow sees thee in the hangman's hands, the scorn of +thousands! Hath Buchan no other work with thee, thinkest thou? dost thou +affirm thou knowest naught for which he hath good cause to seek thee?" + +"Earl of Buchan, I dare affirm it," answered Nigel, proudly; "I know of +naught to call for words or tones as these, save, perchance, that the +love and deep respect in which I hold thine injured countess, my +friendship for thy murdered son, hath widened yet more the breach +between thy house and mine--it may be so; yet deem not, cruel as thou +art, I will deny feelings in which I glory, at thy bidding. An thou +comest to reproach me with these things, rail on, they affect me as +little as thy scorn." + +"Hadst thou said love for her they call my daughter, thou hadst been +nearer the mark," retorted the earl, fury rapidly gaining possession of +heart and voice; "but thou art too wise, too politic for that." + +"Aye," retorted Nigel, after a fearful struggle with himself, "aye, thou +mayest well add love for Agnes of Buchan, as well as friendship for her +brother. Thinkest thou I would deny it--hide it? little dost thou know +its thrilling, its inspiring power; little canst thou know how I glory +in it, cherish, linger on it still. But wherefore speak thus to thee, +thou man of wickedness and blood. I love thy pure and spotless child, +rejoice that thou didst so desert, so utterly neglect her, that thou +couldst no more leave a shadow on her innocent heart than a cloud upon +her way. I love her, glory in that love, and what is it to thee?" + +"What is it to me? that a child of the house of Comyn dare hold commune +with a Bruce; that thou hast dared to love a daughter of my house, aye, +to retain her by thy side a willing mistress, when all others of her sex +forsook thee--what is it to me? Did not to-morrow give thee to a +traitor's doom, thy blood should answer thee; but as it is, villain and +slave, give her to me--where is her hiding-place? speak, or the torture +shall wring it from thee." + +"Thinkest thou such threats will in aught avail thee?" calmly replied +Nigel. "Thou knowest not the Bruce. Agnes is no longer a Comyn, no +longer a subject to thy guardianship. The voice of God, the rites at the +altar's foot, have broken every link, save that which binds her to her +husband. She is mine, before God and man is mine--mine own faithful and +lawful wife!" + +"Thou liest, false villain!" furiously retorted Buchan. "The church +shall undo these bonds, shall give her back to the father she has thus +insulted. She shall repent, repent with tears of blood, her desertion of +her race. Canst thou protect her in death, thou fool--canst thou still +cherish and save her, thinkest thou, when the hangman hath done his +work?" + +"Aye, even then she will be cherished, loved for Nigel's sake, and for +her own; there will be faithful friends around her to protect her from +thee still, tyrant! Thou canst not break the bonds that bind us; thou +hast done no father's part. Forsaken and forgotten, thy children owe +thee no duty, no obedience; thou canst bring forward no plea to +persecute thy child. In life and in death she is mine, mine alone; the +power and authority thou hast spurned so long can no longer be assumed; +the love, the obedience thou didst never heed, nay, trampled on, hath +been transferred to one who glories in them both. She is in +safety--slay, torture as thou wilt, I tell thee no more." Fettered, +unarmed, firm, undauntedly erect, stood Nigel Bruce, gazing with curling +lip and flashing eyes upon his foe. The foam had gathered on the earl's +lip, his hand, clenching his sword, had trembled with passion as Nigel +spoke, He sought to suppress that rage, to remember a public execution +would revenge him infinitely more than a blow of his sword, but he had +been too long unused to control; lashed into ungovernable fury by the +demeanor of Nigel, even more than by his words, the sword flashed from +its scabbard, was raised, and fell--but not upon his foe, for the Earl +of Gloucester suddenly stood between them. + +"Art thou mad, or tired of life, my Lord of Buchan?" he said. "Knowest +thou not thou art amenable to the law, an thou thus deprivest justice of +her victim? Shame, shame, my lord; I deemed thee not a midnight +murderer." + +"Darest thou so speak to me?" replied Buchan, fiercely; "by every fiend +in hell, thou shalt answer this! Begone, and meddle not with that which +concerneth thee nothing." + +"It doth concern me, proud earl," replied Gloucester, standing +immediately before Nigel, whose emotion at observing the page by whom he +was accompanied, though momentary, must otherwise have been observed. +"The person of the prisoner is sacred to the laws of his country, the +mandate of his sovereign; on thy life thou darest not injure him--thou +knowest that thou darest not. Do thou begone, ere I summon those who, at +the mere mention of assault on one condemned, will keep thee in ward +till thou canst wreak thy vengeance on naught but clay; begone, I say!" + +"I will not," sullenly answered the earl, unwillingly conscious of the +truth of his words; "I will not, till he hath answered me. Once more," +he added, turning to Nigel with a demoniac scowl, "where is she whom +thou hast dared to call thy wife? answer me, or as there is a hell +beneath us, the torture shall wring it from thee!" + +"In safety, where thine arm shall never reach her," haughtily answered +the young nobleman. "Torture! what wilt thou torture--the senseless +clay? Hence--I defy thee! Death will protect me from thy lawless power; +death will set his seal upon me ere we meet again." + +The earl muttered a deep and terrible oath, and then he strode away, +coming in such violent contact against the slight and almost paralyzed +form of Gloucester's page as he stood in the doorway, as nearly to throw +him to the ground. Nigel sprung forward, but was held back with a grasp +of iron by the Earl of Gloucester, nor did he relinquish his hold till +Buchan had passed through the doorway, till the heavy hinges had firmly +closed again, and the step of the departing earl had entirely faded in +distance. + +"Now, then, we are safe," he said; "thank heaven!" but his words were +scarcely heard, for the page had bounded within the extended arms of +Nigel, had clung so closely to his heart, he could feel nothing, see +nothing, save that slender form; could hear nothing but those deep, +agonized sobs, which are so terrible when unaccompanied by the relief of +tears. For a while Nigel could not speak--he could not utter aught of +comfort, for he felt it not; that moment was the bitterness of death. + +"Torture! did he not speak of torture? will he not come again?" were the +words that at length fell, shudderingly, from the lips of Agnes. "Nigel, +Nigel, if it must be, give me up; he cannot inflict aught more of misery +now." + +"Fear not, lady; he dare not," hastily rejoined Gloucester. "The torture +dare not be administered without consent of Edward, and that now cannot +be obtained; he will not have sufficient--" time, he was going to say, +but checked himself; for the agonized look of Agnes told him his meaning +was more than sufficiently understood. "Nigel," he added, laying his +hand on the young man's shoulder, "Nigel, my noble, gallant friend--for +so I will call thee, though I sat in judgment on thee, aye, and tacitly +acquiesced in thy sentence--shrink not, oh, shrink not now! I saw not a +quiver on thy lip, a pallor on thy cheek, nay, nor faltering in thy +step, when they read a doom at which I have marked the bravest blench; +oh, let not, that noble spirit fail thee now!" + +"Gloucester, it shall not!" he said, with suddenly regained firmness, as +supporting Agnes with his right arm he convulsively wrung the hand of +his friend with the other. "It was but the sight of this beloved one, +the thought--no matter, it is over. Agnes, my beloved, my own, oh, look +on me; speak, tell me all that hath befallen thee since they tore thee +from me, and filled my soul with darker dread for thee than for myself. +To see thee with this noble earl is enough to know how heavy a burden of +gratitude I owe him, which thou, sweetest, must discharge. Yet speak to +me, beloved; tell me all, all." + +Emulating his calmness, remembering even at that moment her promise not +to unman him in the moment of trial by vain repinings, Agnes complied +with his request. Her tale was frequently interrupted by those terrible +sobs, which seemed to threaten annihilation; but Nigel could gather from +it so much of tenderness and care on the part of the princess, that the +deepest gratitude filled his heart, and spoke in his impassioned words. + +"Tell her, oh, tell her, if the prayers of the dying can in aught avail +her, the blessedness of heaven shall be hers even upon earth!" he +exclaimed, gazing up in the earl's face with eyes that spoke his soul. +"Oh, I knew her not, when in former years I did but return her kindness +with silence and reserve; I saw in her little more than the daughter of +Edward. Tell her, on my knees I beseech her pardon for that wrong; in my +last prayers I shall breathe her name." + +"And wherefore didst thou go with her?" he continued, on Agnes narrating +the scene between the princess and the king. "Alas! my gentle one, hadst +thou not endured enough, that thou wouldst harrow up thy soul by hearing +the confirmation of my doom from the tyrant's own ruthless lips--didst +dream of pardon? dearest, no, thou couldst not." + +"Nigel, Nigel, I did, even at that moment, though they told me thou wert +condemned, that nothing could save thee; though the princess besought me +almost on her knees to spare myself this useless trial, I would not +listen to her. I would not believe that all was hopeless; I dreamed +still, still of pardon, that Edward would listen to his noble child, +would forgive, and I thought, even if she failed, I would so plead he +must have mercy, he would listen to me and grant my prayer. I did dream +of pardon, but it was vain, vain! Nigel, Nigel, why did my voice fail, +my eye grow dim? I might have won thy pardon yet." + +"Beloved, thou couldst not," he answered, mournfully. "Mine own sweet +Agnes, take comfort, 'tis but a brief farewell; we shall meet where war +and blood and death can never enter more." + +"I know it, Oh, I know it," she sobbed; "but to part thus, to lose thee, +and by such a death, oh, it is horrible, most horrible!" + +"Nay, look not on it thus, beloved; there is no shame even in this +death, if there be no shame in him who dies." + +"Shame!" she repeated; "couldst think I could couple aught of shame with +thee, my own? even this dark fate is noble when borne by such as thee." + +Nigel held her closer to his heart, and for his sole answer pressed a +quivering kiss upon her cheek. Gloucester, who had been in earnest +commune with the sentinel without the door, now returned, and informed +him that the soldier, who was well known to him and who much disliked +his present watch, had willingly consented that the page (whom +Gloucester had represented as a former attendant of Sir Nigel's, though +now transferred to his service) should remain with his former master, on +condition that the earl would come for him before the priests and others +who were to attend him to the scaffold entered the dungeon, as this +departure from the regular prison discipline, shown as it was to one +against whom the king was unusually irritated, might cost him his head. +Gloucester had promised faithfully, and he offered them the melancholy +option of parting now, or a few sad hours hence. + +"Let me, do let me stay; Nigel, my husband, send me not from thee now!" +exclaimed Agnes, sinking at his feet and clasping his knees. "I will not +weep, nor moan, nor in aught afflict thee. Nigel, dearest Nigel, I will +not leave thee now." + +"But is it wise, is it well, my best beloved? think, if in the deep +anguish of to-morrow thy disguise be penetrated, thy sex discovered, and +thy cruel father claim thee, dragging thee even from the protection of +the princess--oh, the bitterness of death were doubled then! Thou +thinkest but of me, mine own, but thy safety, thy future peace is all +now left for me." + +"Safety, peace--oh, do not, do not mock me, Nigel--where are they for +poor Agnes, save in her husband's grave? What is life now, that thou +shouldst seek to guard it? no, no, I will abide by thee, thou shalt not +send me hence." + +"But to-morrow, lady, to-morrow," interposed Gloucester, with deep +commiseration. "I would not, from any selfish fear, shorten by one +minute the few sad hours ye may yet pass together, but bethink ye, I +dare not promise to shield thee from the horrors of to-morrow, for I +cannot. Fearful scenes and sounds may pass before thee; thou mayest come +in contact with men from whom thou wilt shrink in horror, and though +thine own safety be of little worth, remember the betrayal of thy sex +and rank may hurl down the royal vengeance on the head of thy +protectress, daughter of Edward though she be. Canst thou be firm--wilt +thou, canst thou await the morrow?" + +"Yes," answered Agnes, the wildness of her former accents subsiding into +almost solemnity; "the safety of thy noble countess shall not be +hazarded through me. Leave me with my husband, add but this last mercy +to the many thou hast showered on me, and the blessing of God will rest +on thee and thy noble wife forever." + +She raised his hand to her lips, and Gloucester, much affected, placed +hers in her husband's, and wrung them convulsively together. "We shall +meet again," was all he trusted his voice to utter, and departed. + +The hours waned, each one finding no change in the position of those +loving ones. The arm of Agnes twined around the neck of her beloved, her +brow leaned against his bosom, her left hand clasped his right, and his +left arm, though fettered, could yet fold that slender waist, could yet +draw her closer to him, with an almost unconscious pressure; his lips +repeatedly pressed that pale brow, which only moved from its position to +lift up her eyes at his entreaty in his face, and he would look on those +features, lovely still, despite their attenuation and deep sorrow, gaze +at them with an expression that, spite of his words of consoling love, +betrayed that the dream of earth yet lingered; he could not close his +eyes on her without a thrill of agony, sharper than the pang of death. +But the enthusiast and the patriot spoke not at that hour only of +himself, or that dearer self, the only being he had loved. He spoke of +his country, aye, and less deplored the chains which bound her then, +than with that prophetic spirit sometimes granted to the departing, +dilated on her future glory. He conjured Agnes, for his sake, to +struggle on and live; to seek his brother and tell him that, save +herself, Nigel's last thought, last prayer was his; that standing on the +brink of eternity, the mists of the present had rolled away, he saw but +the future--Scotland free, and Robert her beloved and mighty king. + +"Bid him not mourn for Nigel," he said; "bid him not waver from his +glorious purpose, because so many of his loved and noble friends must +fall--their blood is their country's ransom; tell him, had I a hundred +lives, I would have laid them down for him and for my country as gladly, +as unhesitatingly as the one I now resign; and tell him, dearest, how I +loved him to the last, how the recollection of his last farewell, his +fervent blessing lingered with me to the end, giving me strength to +strive for him and die, as becomes his brother; tell him I glory in my +death--it has no shame, no terror, for it is for him and Scotland. Wilt +thou remember all this, sweet love? wilt thou speak to him these words?" + +"Trust me I will, all, all that thou hast said; they are written here," +placing her hand on her heart, "here, and they will not leave me, even +if all else fail." + +"And thou wilt say to him, mine own, that Nigel besought his love, his +tenderness for thee," he continued, losing the enthusiasm of the patriot +in the tenderness of the husband; "tell him I look to him in part to +discharge the debt of love, of gratitude I owe to thee; to guard thee, +cherish thee as his own child. Alas! alas! I speak as if thou must reach +him, and yet, beset with danger, misery, as thou art, how may this be?" + +"Fear not for me; it shall be, my husband. I will do thy bidding, I will +seek my king," she said, for when comfort failed for him, she sought to +give it. "Hast forgotten Dermid's words? He would be near me when I +needed him, and he will be, my beloved, I doubt him not." + +"Could I but think so, could I but know that he would be near to shield +thee, oh, life's last care would be at an end, said Nigel, earnestly; +and then for some time that silence, more eloquent, more fraught with +feeling in such an hour than the most impassioned words, fell on them +both. When again he spoke, it was on a yet more holy theme; the +thoughts, the dreams of heaven, which from boyhood had been his, now +found vent in words and tones, which thrilled to the inmost spirit of +his listener, and lingered there, when all other sense had fled. He had +lived in an era of darkness. Revelation in its doctrines belonged to the +priests alone; faith and obedience demanded by the voice of man alone, +were all permitted to the laity, and spirits like Nigel's consequently +formed a natural religion, in which they lived and breathed, hallowing +the rites which they practised, giving scope and glory to their faith. +He pictured the world, on whose threshold he now stood, pictured it, not +with a bold unhallowed hand, but as the completion, the consummation of +all those dim whisperings of joy, and hope, and wisdom, which had +engrossed him below--the perfection of that beauty, that loveliness, in +the material and immaterial, he had yearned for in vain on earth. + +"And this world of incomparable unshadowed loveliness awaits me," he +said, the superstition of the age mingling for the moment with thoughts +which seemed to mark him a century beyond his compeers; "purchased by +that single moment of suffering called death. It is mine, my beloved, +and shall be thine; and oh, when we meet there, how trivial will seem +the dark woes and boding cares of earth! I have told thee the vision of +my vigil, Agnes, my beloved; again I have seen that blessed spirit, aye, +and there was no more sadness on his pale brow, naught, naught of +earth--spiritualized, etherealized. He hovered over my sleep, and with a +smile beckoned me to the glorious world he inhabits; he seemed to call +me, to await me, and then the shrouding clouds on which he lay closed +thicker and thicker round him, till naught but his celestial features +beamed on me. Agnes, dearest, best, think of me thus, as blessed +eternally, unchangeably, as awaiting thee to share that blessedness, not +as one lost to thee, beloved; and peace, aye, joy e'en yet shall smile +for thee." + +"Nigel, Nigel, are there such things for the desolate, the lone?" +murmured Agnes, raising her pale brow and looking despairingly in his +face. "Oh, I will think on thee, picture thee in thy thrice-glorified +home, but it will be with all of mortal clinging to me still, and the +wild yearnings to come to thee will banish all of peace. Speak not such +words to thy poor weak Agnes, my beloved. I will struggle on to bear thy +message to my sovereign; there lies my path when thou art gone, darkness +envelops it when that goal is gained--I have no future now, save that +which gives me back to thee." + +He could not answer, and then again there was silence, broken only by +the low voice of prayer. They knelt together on the cold stones, he +raised her cold hands with his in supplication; he prayed for mercy, +pardon for himself, for comfort, strength for her; he prayed for his +country and her king, her chained and sorrowing sons, and the soft, +liquid star of morning, gloaming forth through heavy masses of murky +clouds directly on them as they knelt, appeared an angel's answer. The +dawn broke; bluer and bluer became the small and heavily-barred +casement, clearer and clearer grew the damp walls of the dungeons, and +morning, in its sunshine and gladness, laughed along the earth. Closer +and closer did Agnes cling to that noble heart, but she spoke no word. +"He tarries long--merciful heaven, grant he be not detained too late!" +she heard her husband murmur, as to himself, as time waned and +Gloucester came not, and she guessed his thoughts. + +"I care not," she answered, in a voice so hollow he shuddered; "I will +go with thee, even to the scaffold." + +But Gloucester, true to his promise, came at length; he was evidently +anxious and disturbed, and a few hurried words told how the Earl of +Berwick had detained him in idle converse, as if determined to prevent +any private interview with the prisoner; even now the officers and +priests were advancing to the dungeons, their steps already reverberated +through the passages, and struck on the heart of Agnes as a bolt of ice. +"I had much, much I wished to say, but even had I time, what boots it +now? Nigel, worthy brother of him I so dearly loved, aye, even now would +die to serve, fear not for the treasure thou leavest to my care; as +there is a God above us, I will guard her as my sister! They +come--farewell, thou noble heart, thou wilt leave many a foe to mourn +thee!" The voice of the earl quivered with emotion. Nigel convulsively +pressed his extended hand, and then he folded Agnes in his arms; he +kissed her lips, her brow, her cheek, he parted those clustering curls +to look again and yet again upon her face--pale, rigid as sculptured +marble. She uttered no sound, she made no movement, but consciousness +had not departed; the words of Gloucester on the previous night rung in +her ears, demanding control, and mechanically she let her arms unloose +their convulsive grasp of Nigel, and permitted the earl gently to lead +her to the door, but ere it opened, she turned again to look on Nigel. +He stood, his hands clasped in that convulsive pressure of agony, his +every feature working with the mighty effort at control with the last +struggle of the mortal shell. With one faint yet thrilling cry she +bounded back, she threw herself upon his swelling bosom, her lips met +his in one last lingering kiss, and Gloucester tore her from his arms. +They passed the threshold, another minute and the officers, and guard, +and priest stood within the dungeon, and a harsh, rude voice bade the +confessor haste to shrive the prisoner, for the hour of execution was at +hand. + +Bearing the slight form of the supposed page in his arms, Gloucester +hastily threaded the passages leading from the dungeon to the postern by +which he had intended to depart. His plan had been to rejoin his +attendants and turn his back upon the city of Berwick ere the execution +could take place; a plan which, from his detention, he already found was +futile. The postern was closed and secured, and he was compelled to +retrace his steps to a gate he had wished most particularly to avoid, +knowing that it opened on a part of the court which, from its commanding +a view of the scaffold, he justly feared would be crowded. He had paused +but to speak one word of encouragement to Agnes, who, with a calmness +appalling from the rigidity of feature which accompanied it, now stood +at his side; he bade her only hold by his cloak, and he hoped speedily +to lead her to a place of safety. She heard him and made a sign of +obedience. They passed the gate unquestioned, traversed an inner court, +and made for the great entrance of the castle; there, unhappily, their +progress was impeded. The scaffold, by order of Edward, had been erected +on the summit of a small green ascent exactly opposite the prison of the +Countess of Buchan, and extending in a direct line about half a quarter +of a mile to the right of the castle gates, which had been flung wide +open, that all the inhabitants of Berwick might witness the death of a +traitor. Already the courts and every vacant space was crowded. A sea of +human heads was alone visible, nay, the very buttresses and some +pinnacles of the castle, which admitted any footing, although of the +most precarious kind, had been appropriated. The youth, the +extraordinary beauty, and daring conduct of the prisoner had excited an +unusual sensation in the town, and the desire to mark how such a spirit +would meet his fate became irresistibly intense. Already it seemed as if +there could be no space for more, yet numbers were still pouring in, not +only most completely frustrating the intentions of the Earl of +Gloucester, but forcing him, by the pressure of multitudes, with them +towards the scaffold. In vain he struggled to free himself a passage; +in vain he haughtily declared his rank and bade the presumptuous serfs +give way. Some, indeed, fell back, but uselessly, for the crowds behind +pushed on those before, and there was no retreating, no possible means +of escaping from that sight of horror which Gloucester had designed so +completely to avoid. In the agony of disappointment, not a little mixed +with terror as to its effects, he looked on his companion. There was not +a particle of change upon her countenance; lips, cheek, brow, were +indeed bloodless as marble, and as coldly still; her eyes were +fascinated on the scaffold, and they moved not, quivered not. Even when +the figure of an aged minstrel, in the garb of Scotland, suddenly stood +between them and the dread object of their gaze, their expression +changed not; she placed her hand in his, she spoke his name to her +conductor, but it was as if a statue was suddenly endowed with voice and +motion, so cold was the touch of that hand, so sepulchral was that +voice; she motioned him aside with a gesture that compelled obedience, +and again she looked upon the scaffold. The earl welcomed the old man +gladly, for the tale of Agnes had already prepared him to receive him, +and to rely on his care to convey her back to Scotland. Engrossed with +his anxiety for her, and whenever that permitted him, speaking earnestly +to the old man, Gloucester remained wholly unconscious of the close +vicinity of one he was at that moment most desirous to avoid. + +The Earl of Buchan, in the moment of ungovernable rage, had indeed flung +himself on horseback and galloped from the castle the preceding night, +intending to seek the king, and petition that the execution might be +deferred till the torture had dragged the retreat of Agnes from Nigel's +lips. The cool air of night, however, had had the effect of so far +dissipating the fumes of passion, as to convince him that it would be +well-nigh impossible to reach Carlisle, obtain an interview with Edward +at such an unseasonable hour, and return to Berwick in sufficient time +for the execution of his diabolical scheme. He let the reins fall on his +horse's neck, to ponder, and finally made up his mind it was better to +let things take their course, and the sentence of the prisoner proceed +without interruption; a determination hastened by the thought that +should he die under the torture, all the ignominy and misery of a public +execution would be eluded. The night was very dark and misty, the road +in some parts passing through, woods and morasses, and the earl, too +much engrossed with his own dark thoughts to attend to his path, lost +the track and wandered round and round, instead of going forward. This +heightened not the amiability of his previous mood; but until dawn his +efforts to retrace his steps or even discover where he was were useless. +The morning, however, enabled him to reach Berwick, which he did just as +the crowds were pouring into the castle-yard, and the heavy toll of the +bell announced the commencement of that fatal tragedy. He hastily +dismounted and mingled with the populace, they bore him onward through +another postern to that by which the other crowds had impelled +Gloucester. Finding the space before them already occupied, these two +human streams, of course, met and conjoined in the centre; and the two +earls stood side by side. Gloucester, as we have said, wholly +unconscious of Buchan's vicinity, and Buchan watching his anxious and +sorrowful looks with the satisfaction of a fiend, revelling in his being +thus hemmed in on all sides, and compelled to witness the execution of +his friend. He watched him closely as he spoke with the minstrel, but +tried in vain to distinguish what they said. He looked on the page too, +and with some degree of wonder, though he believed it only mortal terror +which made him look thus, natural in so young a child; but afterwards +that look was only too fatally recalled. + +Sleepless and sad had been that long night to another inmate of Berwick +Castle, as well as to Nigel and his Agnes. It was not till the dawn had +broken that the Countess of Buchan had sunk into a deep though troubled +slumber, for it was not till then the confused sounds of the workmen +employed in erecting the scaffold had ceased. She knew not for whom it +was upraised, what noble friend and gallant patriot would there be +sacrificed. She would not, could not believe it was for Nigel; for when +his name arose in her thoughts, it was shudderingly repelled, and with +him came the thought of her child--where, oh, where was she?--what would +be her fate? The tolling of the bell awoke her from the brief trance of +utter unconsciousness into which, from exhaustion, she had fallen. She +glanced once beneath her. The crowds, the executioner at his post, the +guard already round the scaffold, too truly told the hour was at hand, +and though her heart turned sick with apprehension, and she felt as if +to know the worst were preferable to the hour of suspense, she could not +look again, and she would have sought the inner chamber, and endeavor to +close both ears and eyes to all that was passing without, when the Earl +of Berwick suddenly entered, and harshly commanded her to stir not from +the cage. + +"It is your sovereign's will, madam, that you witness the fate of the +traitor so daring in your cause," he said, as with a stern grasp he +forced her to the grating and retained his hold upon her arm; "that you +may behold in his deserved fate the type of that which will at length +befall the yet blacker traitor of his name. It is fitting so loyal a +patriot as thyself should look on a patriot's fate, and profit thereby." + +"Aye, learn how a patriot can die--how, when his life may no more +benefit his country and his kin, he may serve them in his death," calmly +and proudly she answered. "It is well; perchance, when my turn cometh, I +may thank thy master for the lesson now rudely forced upon me. The hour +will come when the blood that he now so unjustly sheds shall shriek +aloud for vengeance. On me let him work his will--I fear him not." + +"Be silent, minion! I listen not to thy foul treason," said the earl, +hoarse with suppressed passion at the little effect his sovereign's +mandate produced, when he had hoped to have enforced it midst sobs and +tears; and she was silent, for her eye had caught one face amidst the +crowd that fascinated its gaze, and sent back the blood, which had +seemed to stagnate when the idea that it was indeed Nigel now about to +suffer had been thus rudely thrust upon her--sent it with such sudden +revulsion through its varied channels, that it was only with a desperate +struggle she retained her outward calmness, and then she stood, to the +eye of Berwick, proud, dignified, collected, seemingly so cold, that he +doubted whether aught of feeling could remain, or marvelled if the +mandate of Edward had indeed power to inflict aught of pain. But +within--oh, the veriest tyrant must have shuddered, could he have known +the torture there; she saw, she recognized her child; she read naught +but madness in that chiselled gaze; she saw at a glance there was no +escaping from beholding, to the dreadful end, the fate of her beloved; +before, behind, on every side, the crowds pressed round, yet from the +slightly elevated position of the scaffold, failing to conceal it from +her gaze. The Earl of Gloucester she perceived close at her side, as if +protecting her; but if indeed she was under his care, how came she on +such a spot, at such a time?--did he know her sex, or only looked on her +as a favored page of Nigel's, and as such protected? Yet would not the +anguish of that hour betray her not alone to him, but to that dark and +cruel man whom she also marked beside her, and who, did he once know +her, would demand the right of a father, to give her to his care? and +oh, how would that right be exercised! would the murderer of his son, +his heir, have pity on a daughter? But it would be a vain effort to +picture the deep anguish of that mother's heart, as in that dread moment +she looked upon her child, knowing, feeling _her_ might of grief, as if +it had been her own; well-nigh suffocated with the wild yearning to fold +her to her maternal bosom, to bid her weep there, to seek to comfort, to +soothe, by mingling her tears with hers, to protect, to hide her misery +from all save her mother's eye--to feel this till every pulse throbbed +as to threaten her with death, and yet to breathe no word, to give no +sign that such things were, lest she should endanger that precious one +yet more. She dared not breathe one question of the many crowding on her +heart, she could but gaze and feel. She had thought, when, they told her +that her boy was dead, that she had caused his death, there was little +more of misery fate could weave, but at that moment even Alan was +forgotten. It was her own wretchedness she had had then to bear, for he +was at rest; but now it was the anguish of that dearer self, her sole +remaining child--and oh, a mother's heart can better bear its individual +woes than those that crash a daughter to the earth. + +A sudden rush amidst the crowd, where a movement could take place, the +heavy roll of muffled drums, and the yet deeper, more wailing toll of +the funeral bell, announced that the prisoner had left the dungeon, and +irresistibly the gaze of the countess turned from her child to seek him; +perchance it was well, for the preservation of her composure, that the +intervening crowd prevented her beholding him till he stood upon the +scaffold, for hardly could she have borne unmoved the sight of that +noble and gallant form--beloved alike as the friend of her son, the +betrothed of her daughter, the brother of her king--degraded of all +insignia of rank, chained to the hurdle, and dragged as the commonest, +the vilest criminal, exposed to the mocking gaze of thousands, to the +place of execution. She saw him not thus, and therefore she knew not +wherefore the features of Agnes had become yet more rigid, bore yet more +the semblance of chiselled marble. He stood at length upon the scaffold, +as calmly majestic in his bearing as if he had borne no insult, suffered +no indignity. His beautiful hair had been arranged with care on either +side his face, and still fell in its long, rich curls, about his throat; +and so beautiful, so holy was the expression of his perfect features, +that the assembled crowds hushed their very breath in admiration and in +awe; it seemed as if the heaven, on whose threshold he stood, had +already fixed its impress on his brow. Every eye was upon him, and all +perceived that holy calmness was for one brief minute disturbed; but +none, save three of those who marked it, knew or even guessed the cause. +The countess had watched his glance, as at first composedly it had +wandered over the multitude beneath and around him, and she saw it rest +on that one face, which, in its sculptured misery, stood alone amidst +thousands, and she alone perceived the start of agony that sight +occasioned, but speedily even that emotion passed; he looked from that +loved face up to the heaven on which his hopes were fixed, in whose care +for her he trusted--and that look was prayer. She saw him as he knelt in +prayer, undisturbed by the clang of instruments still kept up around +him; she saw him rise, and then a deadly sickness crept over her every +limb, a thick mist obscured her sight, sense seemed on the point of +deserting her, when it was recalled by a sound of horror--a shriek so +wild, so long, so thrilling, the rudest spirit midst those multitudes +shrunk back appalled, and crossed themselves in terror. On one ear it +fell with a sense of agony almost equal to that from whence it came; the +mother recognized the voice, and feeling, sight, hearing, as by an +electric spell, returned. She looked forth again, and though her eye +caught the noble form of Nigel Bruce yet quivering in the air, she +shrunk not, she sickened not, for its gaze sought her child; she had +disappeared from the place she had occupied. She saw the Earl of +Gloucester making a rapid way through the dispersing crowds, a sudden +gust blew aside his wrapping-cloak, the face of her child was exposed to +her view, there was a look of death upon her brow; and if the Earl of +Berwick had lingered to note whether indeed this scene of horror would +pass unnoticed, unfelt by his prisoner, he was gratified at length, for +Isabella of Buchan lay senseless on her prison floor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +"And she is in safety, Gilbert?" inquired the Princess Joan, the evening +of the day following the execution, lifting her eyes, swimming in tears, +to her husband's face. They were sitting alone in their private +apartments, secured from all intruders by a page stationed in the +ante-room; and the earl had been relating some important particulars of +the preceding day. + +"I trust in heaven she is, and some miles ere now on her road to +Scotland," was his answer. "I fear for nothing save for the beautiful +mind that fragile shell contains; alas! my Joan, I fear me that has gone +forever!" + +"Better, oh better, then, that fainting-fit had indeed been death," she +said, "that the thread of life had snapped than twisted thus in madness. +Yet thou sayest her purpose seemed firm, her intellect clear, in her +intense desire to reach Scotland. Would this be, thinkest thou, were +they disordered?" + +"I think yes; for hadst thou seen, as I, the expression of countenance, +the unearthly calmness with which this desire was enforced, the +constant, though unconscious, repetition of words as these, 'to the +king, to the king, my path lies there, he bade me seek him; perchance he +will be there to meet me,' thou too wouldst feel that, when that goal is +gained, her husband's message given, sense must fail or life itself +depart. But once for a few brief minutes I saw that calmness partly +fail, and I indulged in one faint hope she would be relieved by tears. +She saw old Dermid gaze on her and weep; she clung to his neck, her +features worked convulsively, and her voice was choked and broken, as +she said, We must not tarry, Dermid, we must not wait to weep and moan; +I must seek King Robert while I can. There is a fire on my brain and +heart, which will soon scorch up all memory but one; I must not wait +till it has reached _his_ words, and burned them up too--oh, let us on +at once;' but the old man's kindly words had not the effect I hoped, she +only shook her head, and then, as if the horrible recollection of the +past flashed back, a convulsive shuddering passed through her frame, and +when she raised her face from her hand its marble rigidity had +returned." + +"Alas! alas! poor sufferer," exclaimed the princess, in heartfelt +sorrow; "I fear indeed, if such things be, there is little hope of +reason. I would thou hadst conveyed her here, perchance the soothing and +sympathy of one of her own sex had averted this evil." + +"T doubt, my kind Joan," replied her husband; "thy words had such +beneficial power before, because hope had still possession of her +breast, she hoped to the very last, aye, even when she so madly went +with thee to Edward; now that is over; hope is crushed, when despair has +risen. Thou couldst not have soothed; it would have been but wringing +thy too kind heart, and exposing her to other and heightened evils." The +princess looked up inquiringly. "Knowest thou not Buchan hath discovered +that his daughter remained with Nigel Bruce, as his engaged bride, at +Kildrummie, and is even now seeking her retreat, vowing she shall repent +with tears of blood her connection with a Bruce?" + +"I did not indeed; how came this?" + +"How, I know not, save that it was reported Buchan had left the court, +on a mission to the convent where the Countess of Carrick and her +attendants are immured, and in all probability learnt this important +fact from them. I only know that at the instant I entered the prisoner's +dungeon, Buchan was demanding, at the sword's point, the place of her +retreat, incited to the deadliest fury at Nigel's daring avowal that +Agnes was his wife." + +"Merciful heaven! and Agnes, what did she?" + +"I know not, for I dared not, absolutely dared not look upon her face. +Her husband's self-control saved her, for he stood and answered as +calmly and collectedly as if indeed she were in the safety he declared; +her father brushed by, nay, well-nigh stumbled over her, as he furiously +quitted the dungeon, glared full at her, but knew her not. But I dared +not again bring her here, it was in too close vicinity with the king and +her cruel father, for her present state of mind must have betrayed every +disguise." + +"And thinkest thou he could have the heart to injure her, separated as +she is by death from the husband of her love?" + +"Aye, persecute her as he hath his wife and son. Joan, I would rather +lose my own right hand than that unhappy girl should fall into her +father's power. Confinement, indeed, though it would add but little real +misery to her present lot, yet I feel that with her present wild +yearnings to rejoin the Bruce, to fulfil to the very utmost her +husband's will, it would increase tenfold the darkness round her; the +very dread of her father would unhinge the last remaining link of +intellect." + +Joan shuddered. "God in mercy forefend such ill!" she said, fervently; +"I would I could have seen her once again, for she has strangely twined +herself about my heart; but thou hast judged wisely, my Gilbert, her +safety is too precious to be thus idly risked; and this old man, canst +thou so trust him--will he guide her tenderly and well?" + +"Aye, I would stake my life upon his truth; he is the seer and minstrel +of the house of Bruce, and that would be all-sufficient to guarantee his +unwavering fidelity and skill. He has wandered on foot from Scotland, to +look on his beloved master once again; to watch over, as a guardian +spirit, the fate of that master's devoted wife, and he will do this, I +doubt not, and discover Carrick's place of retreat, were it at the +utmost boundaries of the earth. I only dread pursuit." + +"Pursuit! and by whom?" + +"By her father. Men said he was close beside me during that horrible +hour, though I saw him not; if he observed her, traced to her lips that +maddening shriek, it would excite his curiosity quite sufficiently for +him to trace my steps, and discovery were then inevitable." + +"But did he do this--hast seen him since?" + +"No, he has avoided me; but still, for her sake, I fear him. I know not +how or when, but there are boding whispers within me that all will not +be well. Now I would have news from thee. Is Hereford released?" + +"Yes; coupled with the condition that he enters not my father's presence +until Easter. He is deeply and justly hurt; but more grieved at the +change in his sovereign than angered at the treatment of himself." + +"No marvel; for if ever there were a perfect son of chivalry, one most +feelingly alive to its smallest point of honor, it is Humphrey Bohun." + +So spoke Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, unconscious that he +himself had equal right to a character so exalted; that both Scottish +and English historians would emulate each other in handing his name down +to posterity, surrounded by that lucid halo of real worth, on which the +eye turns again and again to rest for relief from the darker minds and +ruder hearts which formed the multitude of the age in which he lived. +The duties of friendship were performed in his preservation of the +person, and constant and bold defence of the character of the Bruce; the +duties of a subject, in dying on the battle-field in service for his +king. + +The boding prognostics of the Earl of Gloucester were verified ere that +day closed. While still in earnest converse with his countess, a +messenger came from the king, demanding their instant presence in his +closet. The summons was so unusual, that in itself it was alarming, nor +did the sight of the Earl of Buchan in close conference with the monarch +decrease their fears. As soon as a cessation of his pains permitted the +exertion, Buchan had been sent for by the king; the issue of his +inquiries after his daughter demanded, and all narrated; his interview +with Sir Nigel dwelt upon with all the rancor of hate. Edward had +listened without making any observation; a twinkle of his still bright +eye, an expression about the lips alone betraying that he not only heard +but was forming his own conclusions from the tale. + +"And you have no clue, no thought of her retreat?" he asked, at length, +abruptly, when the earl ceased. + +"Not the very faintest, your grace. Had not that interfering Gloucester +come between me and my foe, I had forced it from him at the sharp +sword's point." + +"Gloucester--humph!" muttered the king. "Yet an so bloody was thy +purpose, my good lord, his interference did thee no ill. How was the +earl accompanied--was he alone?" + +"If I remember rightly, alone, your grace. No, by my faith, there was a +page with him!" + +"A page--ha! and what manner of man was he?" + +"Man! your highness, say rather a puny stripling, with far more of the +woman about him than the man." + +"Ha!" again uttered the king; "looked he so weakly--did thy fury permit +such keen remark?" + +"Not at that time, your highness; but he was, with Gloucester, compelled +to witness the execution of this black traitor, and he looked white, +statue-like, and uttered a shriek, forsooth, likely to scare back the +villain's soul even as it took flight. Gloucester cared for the dainty +brat, as if he had been a son of your highness, not a page in his +household, for he lifted him up in his arms, and bore him out of the +crowd." + +"Humph!" said Edward again, in a tone likely to have excited curiosity +in any mind less obtuse on such matters than that of the Scottish earl. +"And thou sayest," he added, after some few minutes pause, "this daring +traitor, so lately a man, would tell thee no more than that thy daughter +was his wife, and in safety--out of thy reach?" + +Buchan answered in the affirmative. + +"And thou hast not the most distant idea where he hath concealed her?" + +"None, your highness." + +"Then I will tell thee, sir earl; and if thou dost not feel inclined to +dash out thine own brains with vexation at letting thy prey so slip out +of thy grasp, thou art not the man I took thee for," and Edward fixed +his eyes on his startled companion with a glance at once keen and +malicious. + +"The white and statue-looking page, with more of woman about him than +the man, was the _wife_ of this rank villain, Sir Nigel Bruce, and thy +daughter, my Lord of Buchan. The Earl of Gloucester may, perchance, tell +thee more." + +The earl started from his seat with an oath, which the presence of +majesty itself could not restrain. The dulness of his brain was +dissolved as by a flash of lightning; the ghastly appearance, the +maddening shriek, the death-like faint, all of which he had witnessed in +Gloucester's supposed page, nay, the very disturbed and anxious look of +the earl himself, gave truth and life to Edward's words, and he struck +his clenched fist against his brow, and strode up and down the royal +closet, in a condition as frantically disturbed as the monarch could +possibly have desired; and then, hastily and almost incoherently, +besought the king's aid in sifting the matter to the very bottom, and +obtaining repossession of his daughter, entreating leave of absence to +seek out Gloucester and tax him with the fact. + +Edward, whose fury against the house of Bruce--whether man, woman, or +child, noble or serf, belonging to them--had been somewhat soothed by +the ignominious execution of Nigel, had felt almost as much amused as +angered at the earl's tale, and enjoyed the idea of a man, whom in his +inmost heart he most thoroughly despised, having been so completely +outwitted, and for the time so foiled. The feud between the Comyn and +the Bruce was nothing to him, except where it forwarded his own +interests. He had incited Buchan to inquire about his daughter, simply +because the occupation would remove that earl out of his way for a short +time, and perhaps, if the rumor of her engagement with one of the +brothers of the Bruce were true, set another engine at work to discover +the place of their concealment. The moment Buchan informed him it was to +Nigel she had been engaged, with Nigel last seen, his acute penetration +recalled the page who had accompanied the princess when she supplicated +mercy, and had he heard no more, would have pointed there for the +solution of the mystery. Incensed he was and deeply, at the fraud +practised upon him at the Karl and Countess of Gloucester daring to +harbor, nay, protect and conceal the wife of a traitor; but his anger +was subdued in part by the belief that now it was almost impossible she +could escape the wardance of her father, and _his_ vengeance would be +more than sufficient to satisfy him; nay, when he recalled the face and +the voice, it was so like madness and death, and he was, moreover, so +convinced that now her husband was dead she could do him no manner of +harm, that he inwardly and almost unconsciously hoped she might +eventually escape her father's power, although he composedly promised +the earl to exercise his authority, and give him the royal warrant for +the search and committal of her person wherever she might be. Anger, +that Gloucester and his wife should so have dared his sovereign power, +was now the prevailing feeling, and therefore was it he commanded their +presence, determined to question them himself, rather than through the +still enraged Buchan. + +Calmly and collectedly the noble pair received alike the displeasure of +their sovereign and the ill-concealed fury of Buchan. They neither +denied the charge against them nor equivocated in their motives for +their conduct; alarmed they were, indeed, for the unhappy Agnes; but as +denial and concealment were now alike impossible, and could avail her +nothing, they boldly, nay, proudly acknowledged that which they had +done, and openly rejoiced it had been theirs to give one gleam of +comfort to the dying Nigel, by extending protection to his wife. + +"And are ye not traitors--bold, presuming traitors--deserving the +chastisement of such, bearding me thus in my very palace?" wrathfully +exclaimed Edward. "Know ye not both are liable to the charge of treason, +aye, treason--and fear ye to brave us thus?" + +"My liege, we are no traitors, amenable to no such charge," calmly +answered Gloucester; "far, far more truly, faithfully, devotedly your +grace's subjects than many of those who had shrunk from an act as this. +That in so doing we were likely to incur your royal displeasure, we +acknowledge with deep regret and sorrow, and I take it no shame thus on +my knee to beseech your highness's indulgence for the fault; but if you +deem it worthy of chastisement, we are ready to submit to it, denying, +however, all graver charge, than that of failing in proper deference to +your grace." + +"All other charge! By St. Edward, is not that enough?" answered the +king, but in a mollified tone. "And thou, minion, thou whom we deemed +the very paragon of integrity and honor, hast thou aught to say? Did not +thy lips frame falsehood, and thy bold looks confirm it?" + +"My father, my noble father, pardon me that in this I erred," answered +Joan, kneeling by his side, and, despite his efforts to prevent it, +clasping his hand and covering it with kisses; "yet I spoke no +falsehood, uttered naught which was not truth. She _was_ ill and weakly; +she was well-nigh maddened from scenes and sounds of blood. I had +besought her not to attend me, but a wife's agony could not be +restrained, and if we had refused her the protection she so wildly +craved, had discovered her person to your highness, would it have +availed thee aught? a being young, scarce past her childhood--miserable, +maddened well-nigh to death, her life wrapt up in her husband's, which +was forfeited to thee." + +"The wife of a traitor, the offspring of a traitress, connected on every +side with treason, and canst ask if her detention would have availed us +aught? Joan, Joan, thy defence is but a weak one," answered the king, +sternly, but he called her "Joan," and that simple word thrilled to her +heart as the voice of former years, and her father felt a sudden gush +of tears fall on the hand he had not withdrawn, and vainly he struggled +against the softening feelings those tears had brought. It was strange +that, angered as he really was, the better feelings of Edward should in +such a moment have so completely gained the ascendency. Perhaps he was +not proof against the contrast before him, presented in the persons of +Buchan and Gloucester; the base villainy of the one, the exalted +nobility of the other, alike shone forth the clearer from their +unusually close contact. In general, Edward was wont to deem these +softening emotions foolish weaknesses, which he would banish by shunning +the society of all those who could call them forth. Their candid +acknowledgment of having deserved his displeasure, and submission to his +will, however, so soothed his self-love, his fondness for absolute +power, that he permitted them to have vent with but little restraint. +Agnes might have been the wife of a traitor, but he was out of Edward's +way; the daughter of a traitress, but she was equally powerless; linked +with treason, but too much crashed by her own misery to be sensible of +aught else. Surely she was too insignificant for him to persevere in +wrath, and alienate by unmerited severity yet more the hearts which at +such moments he felt he valued, despite his every effort to the +contrary. + +So powerfully was he worked upon, that had it not been for the +ill-restrained fury of Buchan, it was possible the subject would have +been in the end peaceably dismissed; but on that earl's reminding him of +his royal word, the king commanded Gloucester to deliver up his charge +to her rightful guardian, and all the past should be forgiven. The earl +quietly and respectfully replied he could not, for he knew not where she +was. Wrath gathered on Edward's brow, and Buchan laid his hand on his +sword; but neither the royal commands nor Buchan's muttered threats and +oaths of vengeance could elicit from Gloucester more than that she had +set off to return to Scotland with an aged man, not three hours after +the execution had taken place. He had purposely avoided all inquiries as +to their intended route, and therefore not any cross-questioning on the +part of the king caused him to waver in the smallest point from his +original tale, or afforded any evidence that he knew more than he said. + +"Get thee to Sir Edward Cunningham, my Lord of Buchan, and bid him draw +up a warrant for the detention and committal of these two persons +wherever they may be," the king said, "and away with thee, and a trusty +troop, with all speed to Berwick. Make inquiries of all who at that +particular hour passed the gates, and be assured thou wilt find some +clue. Take men enough to scour the country in all directions; provide +them with an exact description of the prisoners they seek, and tarry +not, and thou wilt yet gain thy prize; living or dead, we resign all our +right over her person to thee, and give thee power, as her father, to do +with her what may please thee best. Away with thee, my lord, and heaven +speed thee!" + +"My liege and father, oh, why hast thou done this?" exclaimed the +princess, imploringly, as, with a low obeisance to the king and a +gesture of triumph at the Earl of Gloucester, Buchan departed. "Hath she +not borne misery enough!" + +"Nay, we do but our duty to our subjects in aiding fathers to repress +rebellious children," replied the king. "Of a truth, fair dame of +Gloucester, thy principles of filial duty seem somewhat as loose and +light as those which counselled abetting, protecting, and concealing the +partner of a traitor. Wouldst have us refuse Buchan's most fatherly +desire? Surely thou wouldst not part him from his child?" + +"Forever and forever!" exclaimed the princess, fervently. "Great God in +heaven, that such a being should call that monster father, and owe him +the duty of a child! But, oh, thou dost but jest, my father; in mercy +recall that warrant--expose her not to wretchedness as this!" + +"Peace," replied the king, sternly. "As thou valuest thine own and thy +husband's liberty and life, breathe not another syllable, speak not +another word for her, or double misery shall be her portion. We have +shown enough of mercy in demanding no further punishment for that which +ye have done, than that for ten days ye remain prisoners in your own +apartments. Answer not; we will have no more of this." + +The Earl of Buchan, meanwhile, had made no delay in gaining the +necessary aids to his plan. Ere two hours passed, he was on his road to +Berwick, backed with a stout body of his own retainers, and bearing a +commission to the Earl of Berwick to provide him with as many more as he +desired. He went first to the hostelry near the outskirts of the town, +where he remembered Gloucester had borne the supposed page. There he +obtained much desirable information, an exact description of the dress, +features, and appearance of both the page and his companion; of the +former, indeed, he recollected all-sufficient, even had the description +been less exact. The old minstrel had attracted the attention of many +within the hostel, and consequently enabled Buchan to obtain information +from various sources, all of which agreed so well that he felt sure of +success. + +Backed by the warrant of Edward, he went to the civil authorities of the +town, obtained four or five technically drawn-up descriptions of the +prisoners, and intrusted them to the different officers, who, with bands +of fifty men, he commanded to search every nook and corner of the +country round Berwick, in various directions. He himself discovering +they had passed through the Scotch gate and appeared directing their +course in a westerly direction, took with him one hundred men, and +followed that track, buoyed up by the hope not only of gaining +possession of his daughter, but perhaps of falling in with the retreat +even of the detested Bruce, against whom he had solemnly recorded a vow +never to let the sword rest in the scabbard till he had revenged the +murder of his kinsman, the Red Comyn. Some words caught by a curious +listener, passing between the page and minstrel, and eagerly reported to +him, convinced him it was Robert Bruce they sought, and urged him to +continue the search with threefold vigor. + +Slowly and sadly meanwhile had the hours of their weary pilgrimage +passed for the poor wanderers, and little did they imagine, as they +threaded the most intricate paths of the borders of Scotland, that they +were objects of persecution and pursuit. Though the bodily strength of +Agnes had well-nigh waned, though the burning cheek and wandering, too +brightly flashing eye denoted how fearfully did fever rage internally, +she would not pause save when absolutely compelled. She could neither +sleep nor eat: her only cry was, "To the king--bring me but to King +Robert while I may yet speak!" her only consciousness, that she had a +mission to perform, that she was intrusted with a message from the dead; +all else was a void, dark, shapeless, in which thought framed no image; +mind, not a wish. Insensibility it was not, alas! no, that void was woe, +all woe, which folded up heart and brain as with a cloak of fire, +scorching up thought, memory, hope--all that could recall the past, +vivify the present, or vision forth the future. She breathed indeed and +spoke, and clung to that aged man with all the clinging helplessness of +her sex, but scarce could she be said to live; all that was real of life +had twined round her husband's soul, and with it fled. + +The old man felt not his advanced age, the consciousness of the many +dangers hovering on their way; his whole thought was for her, to bring +her to the soothing care and protection of the king, and then he cared +not how soon his sand run out. When wandering in the districts of +Annandale and Carrick, before he had arrived at Berwick, he had learned +the secret but most important intelligence that King Robert had passed +the winter off the coast of Ireland, and was supposed to be only waiting +a favorable opportunity to return to Scotland, and once more upraise his +standard. This news had been most religiously and strictly preserved a +secret amid the few faithful adherents of the Bruce, who perhaps spoke +yet more as they hoped than as a fact well founded. + +For some days their way had been more fatiguing than dangerous, for +though the country was overrun with English, a minstrel and a page were +objects far too insignificant, in the present state of excitement, to +meet with either detention or notice. Not a week had passed, however, +before rumors of Buchan's parties reached the old man's ears, and filled +him with anxiety and dread. The feverish restlessness of Agnes to +advance yet quicker on their way, precluded all idea of halting, save in +woods and caverns, till the danger had passed. Without informing her of +all he had heard, and the danger he apprehended, he endeavored to avoid +all towns and villages; but the heavy rains which had set in rendered +their path through the country yet more precarious and uncertain, and +often compelled him most unwillingly to seek other and better shelter. +At Strathaven he became conscious that their dress and appearance were +strictly scrutinized, and some remarks that he distinguished convinced +him that Buchan had either passed through that town, or was lingering in +its neighborhood still. Turning sick with apprehension, the old man +hastily retraced his steps to the hostel, where he had left Agnes, and +found her, for the first time since their departure, sunk into a kind of +sleep or stupor from exhaustion, from which he could not bear to arouse +her. Watching her for some little time in silence, his attention was +attracted by whispering voices, only separated from him by a thin +partition. They recounted and compared one by one the dress and peculiar +characteristics of himself and his companion, seeming to compare it with +a written list. Then followed an argument as to whether it would not be +better to arrest their progress at once, or send on to the Earl of +Buchan, who was at a castle only five miles distant. How it was +determined Dermid knew not, for the voices faded in the distance; but he +had heard enough, and it seemed indeed as if detention and restraint +were at length at hand. What to do he knew not. Night had now some hours +advanced, and to attempt leaving the hostel at such an unseasonable hour +would be of itself sufficient to confirm suspicion. All seemed at rest +within the establishment; there was no sound to announce that a +messenger had been dispatched to the earl, and he determined to await as +calmly as might be the dawn. + +The first streak of light, however, was scarce visible in the east +before, openly and loudly, so as to elude all appearance of flight, he +declared his intention of pursuing his journey, as the weather had +already detained them too long. He called on the hostess to receive her +reckoning, commanded the mules to be saddled, all of which was done, to +his surprise, without comment or question, and they departed +unrestrained; the old man too much overjoyed at this unexpected escape +to note that they were followed by two Englishmen, the one on horseback, +the other on foot. Anxiety indeed had still possession of him, for he +could not reconcile the words he had overheard with their quiet +departure; but as the day passed, and they plunged thicker and thicker +in the woods of Carrick, and there was no sign of pursuit, or even of a +human form, he hailed with joy a solitary house, and believed the danger +passed. + +The inmates received them with the utmost hospitality; the order for +their detention had evidently not reached them, and Dermid determined on +waiting quietly there till the exhausted strength of his companion +should be recruited, and permit them to proceed. An hour and more passed +in cheerful converse with the aged couple who owned the house, and who, +with the exception of one or two servants, were its sole inhabitants. +The tales of the minstrel were called for and received with a glee which +seemed to make all his listeners feel young again. Agnes alone sate +apart; her delicate frame and evident exhaustion concealing deeper +sufferings from her hosts, who vied with each other in seeking to +alleviate her fatigue and give bodily comfort, if they could offer no +other consolation. Leaning back in a large settle in the chimney corner, +she had seemed unconscious of the cheerful sociability around her, when +suddenly she arose, and advancing to Dermid, laid a trembling hand on +his arm. He looked up surprised. + +"Hist!" she murmured, throwing back the hair from her damp brow. "Hear +ye no sound?" + +All listened for a time in vain. + +"Again," she said; "'tis nearer, more distinct. Who comes with a troop +of soldiers here?" + +It was indeed the heavy trampling of many horse, at first so distant as +scarcely to be distinguished, save by ears anxious and startled as old +Dermid's; but nearer and nearer they came, till even the inmates of the +house all huddled, together in alarm. Agnes remained standing, her hand +on Dermid's arm, her head thrown back, her features bearing an +expression scarce to be defined. The horses' hoofs, mingled with the +clang of armor, rung sharp and clear on the stones of the courtyard. +They halted: the pommel of a sword was struck against the oaken door, +and a night's lodging courteously demanded. The terror of the owners of +the house subsided, for the voice they heard was Scotch. + +The door was thrown open, the request granted, with the same hospitality +as had been extended to the minstrel and the page. On the instant there +was a confused sound of warriors dismounting, of horses eager for +stabling and forage; and one tall and stately figure, clad from head to +foot in mail, entered the house, and removing his helmet, addressed some +words of courteous greeting and acknowledgment to its inmates. A loud +exclamation burst from the minstrel's lips; but Agnes uttered no sound, +she made one bound forward, and dropped senseless at the warrior's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +It was on a cool evening, near the end of September, 1311, that a troop, +consisting of about thirty horse, and as many on foot, were leisurely +traversing the mountain passes between the counties of Dumfries and +Lanark. Their arms were well burnished; their buff coats and half-armor +in good trim; their banner waved proudly from its staff, as bright and +gay as if it had not even neared a scene of strife; and there was an air +of hilarity and gallantry about them that argued well for success, if +about to commence an expedition, or if returning, told with equal +emphasis they had been successful. That the latter was the case was +speedily evident, from the gay converse passing between them; their +allusions to some late gallant achievement of their patriot sovereign; +their joyous comparisons between good King Robert and his weak opponent, +Edward II. of England, marvelling how so wavering and indolent a son +could have sprung from so brave and determined a sire; for, Scotsmen as +they were, they were now FREE, and could thus afford to allow +the "hammer" of their country some knightly qualities, despite the stern +and cruel tyranny which to them had ever marked his conduct. They spoke +in laughing scorn of the second Edward's efforts to lay his father's +yoke anew upon their necks; they said a just heaven had interfered and +urged him to waste the decisive moment of action in indolence and folly, +in the flatteries of his favorite, to the utter exclusion of those wiser +lords, whose counsels, if followed on the instant, might have shaken +even the wise and patriot Bruce. Yet they were so devoted to their +sovereign, they idolized him alike as a warrior and a man too deeply, to +allow that to the weak and vacillating conduct of Edward they owed the +preservation of their country. It was easy to perceive by the springy +step, the flashing eye, the ringing, tone with which that magic name, +the Bruce, was spoken, how deeply it was written on the heart; the joy +it was to recall his deeds, and feel it was through him that they were +free! Their converse easily betrayed them to be one of those +well-ordered though straggling parties into which King Robert's invading +armies generally dispersed at his command, when returning to their own +fastnesses, after a successful expedition to the English border. + +The laugh and jest resounded, as we have said, amongst both officers and +men; but their leader, who was riding about a stone's throw ahead, gave +no evidence of sharing their mirth. He was clad from head to foot in +chain armor, of a hue so dark as to be mistaken for black, and from his +wearing a surcoat of the same color, unenlivened by any device, gave him +altogether a somewhat sombre appearance, although it could not detract +in the smallest degree from the peculiar gracefulness and easy dignity +of his form, which was remarkable both on horseback and on foot. He was +evidently very tall, and by his firm seat in the saddle, had been early +accustomed to equestrian exercises; but his limbs were slight almost to +delicacy, and though completely ensheathed in mail, there was an +appearance of extreme youth about him, that perhaps rendered the absence +of all gayety the more striking. Yet on the battle-field he gave no +evidence of inexperience as a warrior, no sign that he was merely a +scholar in the art of war; there only did men believe he must be older +than he seemed; there only his wonted depression gave place to an +energy, a fire, second to none amongst the Scottish patriots, not even +to the Bruce himself; then only was the naturally melancholy music of +his voice lost in accents of thrilling power, of imperative command, and +the oldest warriors followed him as if under the influence of some +spell. But of his appearance on the field we must elsewhere speak. He +now led his men through the mountain defiles mechanically, as if buried +in meditation, and that meditation not of the most pleasing nature. His +vizor was closed, but short clustering curls, of a raven blackness, +escaped beneath the helmet, and almost concealed the white linen and +finely embroidered collar which lay over his gorget, and was secured in +front by a ruby clasp; a thick plume of black feathers floated from his +helmet, rivalling in color the mane of his gallant charger, which pawed +the ground, and held his head aloft as if proud of the charge he bore. A +shield was slung round the warrior's neck, and its device and motto +seemed in melancholy accordance with the rest of his attire. On a field +argent lay the branch of a tree proper, blasted and jagged, with the +words "_Ni nom ni paren, je suis seul_," rudely engraved in Norman +French beneath; his helmet bore no crest, nor did his war-cry on the +field, "Amiot for the Bruce and freedom," offer any clue to the curious +as to his history, for that there was some history attached to him all +chose to believe, though the age was too full of excitement to allow +much of wonderment or curiosity to be expended upon him. His golden +spurs gave sufficient evidence that he was a knight; his prowess on the +field proclaimed whoever had given him that honor had not bestowed it on +the undeserving. His deeds of daring, unequalled even in that age, +obtained him favor in the eyes of every soldier; and if there were some +in the court and camp of Bruce who were not quite satisfied, and loved +not the mystery which surrounded him, it mattered not, Sir Amiot of the +Branch, or the Lonely Chevalier, as he was generally called, went on his +way unquestioned. + +"Said not Sir Edward Bruce he would meet us hereabouts at set of sun?" +were the first words spoken by the knight, as, on issuing from the +mountains, they found themselves on a broad plain to the east of Lanark, +bearing sad tokens of a devastating war, in the ruined and blackened +huts which were the only vestiges of human habitations near. The answer +was in the affirmative; and the knight, after glancing in the direction +of the sun, which wanted about an hour to its setting, commanded a halt, +and desired that, while waiting the arrival of their comrades, they +should take their evening meal. + +On the instant the joyous sounds of dismounting, leading horses to +picquet, unclasping helmets, throwing aside the more easily displaced +portions of their armor, shields, and spears, took the place of the +steady tramp and well-ordered march. Flinging themselves in various +attitudes on the greensward, provender was speedily laid before them, +and rare wines and other choice liquors, fruits of their late campaign, +passed gayly round. An esquire had, at the knight's sign, assisted him +to remove his helmet, shield, and gauntlets; but though this removal +displayed a beautifully formed head, thickly covered with dark hair, his +features were still concealed by a species of black mask, the mouth, +chin, and eyes being alone visible, and therefore his identity was +effectually hidden. The mouth and chin were both small and delicately +formed; the slight appearance of beard and moustache seeming to denote +his age as some one-and-twenty years. His eyes, glancing through the +opening in the mask, were large and very dark, often flashing brightly, +when his outward bearing was so calm and quiet as to afford little +evidence of emotion. Some there were, indeed, who believed the eye the +truer index of the man than aught else about him, and to fancy there was +far more in that sad and lonely knight than was revealed. + +It was evident, however, that to the men now with him his remaining so +closely masked was no subject of surprise, that they regarded it as an +ordinary thing, which in consequence had lost its strangeness. They were +eager and respectful in their manner towards him, offering to raise him +a seat of turf at some little distance from their noisy comrades; but +acknowledging their attention with kindness and courtesy, he refused it, +and rousing himself with some difficulty from his desponding thoughts, +threw himself on the sward beside his men, and joined in their mirth and +jest. + +"Hast thou naught to tell to while away this tedious hour, good +Murdoch?" he asked, after a while, addressing a gray-headed veteran. + +"Aye, aye, a tale, a tale; thou hast seen more of the Bruce than all of +us together," repeated many eager voices, "and knowest yet more of his +deeds than we do; a tale an thou wilt, but of no other hero than the +Bruce." + +"The Bruce!" echoed the veteran; "see ye not his deeds yourselves, need +ye more of them?" but there was a sly twinkle in his eye that betrayed +his love to speak was as great as his comrades to hear him. "Have ye not +heard, aye, and many of you seen his adventures and escapes in Carrick, +hunted even as he was by bloodhounds; his guarding that mountain pass, +one man against sixty, aye, absolutely alone against the Galwegian host +of men and bloodhounds; Glen Fruin, Loudun Hill, Aberdeen; the harrying +of Buchan; charging the treacherous foe, when they had to bear him from +his litter to his horse, aye, and support him there; springing up from +his couch of pain, and suffering, and depression, agonizing to witness, +to hurl vengeance on the fell traitors; aye, and he did it, and brought +back health to his own heart and frame; and Forfar, Lorn, +Dunstaffnage--know ye not all these things? Nay, have ye not seen, +shared in them all--what would ye more?" + +"The harrying of Buchan, tell us of that," loudly exclaimed many voices; +while some others shouted, "the landing of the Bruce--tell us of his +landing, and the spirit fire at Turnberry Head; the strange woman that +addressed him." + +"Now which am I to tell, good my masters?" laughingly answered the old +man, when the tumult in a degree subsided. "A part of one, and part of +the other, and leave ye to work out the rest yourselves; truly, a +pleasant occupation. Say, shall it be thus? yet stay, what says Sir +Amiot?" + +"As you will, my friends," answered the knight, cheerily; "but decide +quickly, or we shall hear neither. I am for the tale of Buchan," there +was a peculiarly thrilling emphasis in his tone as he pronounced the +word, "for I was not in Scotland at the time, and have heard but +disjointed rumors of the expedition." + +The veteran looked round on his eager comrades with an air of +satisfaction, then clearing his voice, and drawing more to the centre of +the group; "Your worship knows," he began, addressing Sir Amiot, who, +stretched at full length on the sward, had fixed his eyes upon him, +though their eagle glance was partly shaded by his hand, "that our good +King Robert the Bruce, determined on the reduction of the north of his +kingdom, advanced thereto in the spring of 1308, accompanied by his +brother, Lord Edward, that right noble gentleman the Earl of Lennox, Sir +Gilbert Hay, Sir Robert Boyd, and others, with a goodly show of men and +arms, for his successes at Glen Fruin and Loudun Hill had brought him a +vast accession of loyal subjects. And they were needed, your worship, of +a truth, for the traitorous Comyns had almost entire possession of the +castles and forts of the north, and thence were wont to pour down their +ravaging hordes upon the true Scotsmen, and menace the king, till he +scarcely knew which side to turn to first. Your worship coming, I have +heard, from the low country, can scarcely know all the haunts and +lurking-places for treason the highlands of our country present; how +hordes of traitors may be trained and armed in these remote districts, +without the smallest suspicion being attached to them till it is +well-nigh too late, and the mischief is done. Well, to drive out these +black villains, to free his kingdom, not alone from the yoke of an +English Edward, but a Scottish Comyn, good King Robert was resolved--and +even as he resolved he did. Inverness, the citadel of treason and +disloyalty, fell before him; her defences, and walls, and turrets, and +towers, all dismantled and levelled, so as to prevent all further +harborage of treason; her garrison marched out, the ringleaders sent +into secure quarters, and all who hastened to offer homage and swear +fidelity, received with a courtesy and majesty which I dare to say did +more for the cause of our true king than a Comyn could ever do against +it. Other castles followed the fate of Inverness, till at length the +north, even as the south, acknowledged the Bruce, not alone as their +king, but as their deliverer and savior. + +"It was while rejoicing over these glorious successes, the lords and +knights about the person of their sovereign began to note with great +alarm that his strength seemed waning, his brow often knit as with +inward pain, his eye would grow dim, and his limbs fail him, without a +moment's warning; and that extreme depression would steal over his manly +spirit even in the very moment of success. They watched in alarm, but +silently; and when they saw the renewed earnestness and activity with +which, on hearing of the approach of Comyn of Buchan, Sir John de +Mowbray, and that worst of traitors, his own nephew, Sir David of +Brechin, he rallied his forces, advanced to meet them, and compelled +them to retreat confusedly to Aberdeen, they hoped they had been +deceived, and all was well. + +"But the fell disease gained ground; at first he could not guide his +charger's reins, and then he could not mount at all; his voice failed, +his sight passed; they were compelled to lay him in a litter, and bear +him in the midst of them, and they felt as if the void left by their +sovereign's absence from their head was filled with the dim shadow of +death. Nobly and gallantly did Lord Edward endeavor to remedy this fatal +evil; Lennox, Hay, even the two Frasers, who had so lately joined the +king, seemed as if paralyzed by this new grief, and hung over the +Bruce's litter as if their strength waned with his. Sternly, nay, at +such a moment it seemed almost harshly, Lord Edward rebuked this +weakness, and, conducting them to Slenath, formed some strong +entrenchments, of which the Bruce's pavilion was the centre, intending +there to wait his brother's recovery. Ah, my masters, if ye were not +with good King Robert then, ye have escaped the bitterest trial. Ye know +not what it was to behold him--the savior of his country, the darling of +his people, the noblest knight and bravest warrior who ever girded on a +sword--lie there, so pale, so faint, with scarce a voice or passing sigh +to say he breathed. The hand which grasped the weal of Scotland, the arm +that held her shield, lay nerveless as the dead; the brain which thought +so well and wisely for his fettered land, lay powerless and still; the +thrilling voice was hushed, the flashing eye was closed. The foes were +close around him, and true friends in tears and woe beside his couch, +were all alike unknown. Ah! then was the time for warrior's tears, for +men of iron frame and rugged mood to soften into woman's woe, and weep. +Men term Lord Edward Bruce so harsh and stern, one whom naught of grief +for others or himself can move; they saw him not as I have. It was mine +to watch my sovereign, when others sought their rest; and I have seen +that rugged chieftain stand beside his brother's couch alone, unmarked, +and struggle with his spirit till his brow hath knit, his lip become +convulsed, and then as if 'twere vain, all vain, sink on his knee, clasp +his sovereign's hand, and bow his head and weep. 'Tis passed and over +now, kind heaven be praised! yet I cannot recall that scene, unbind the +folds of memory, unmoved." + +The old man passed his rough hand across his eyes, and for a brief +moment paused; his comrades, themselves affected, sought not to disturb +him, and quickly he resumed. + +"Days passed, and still King Robert gave no sign of amendment, except, +indeed, there were intervals when his eyes wandered to the countenances +of his leaders, as if he knew them, and would fain have addressed them +as his wont. Then it was our men were annoyed by an incessant discharge +from Buchan's archers, which, though they could do perhaps no great +evil, yet wounded many of our men, and roused Lord Edward's spirit to +resent the insult. His determination to leave the entrenchments and +retreat to Strathbogie, appeared at first an act of such unparalleled +daring as to startle all his brother leaders, and they hesitated; but +there never was any long resisting Sir Edward's plans; he bears a spell +no spirit with a spark of gallantry about him can resist. The retreat +was in consequence determined on, to the great glee of our men, who were +tired of inaction, and imagined they should feel their sovereign's +sufferings less if engaged hand to hand with, the foe, in his service, +than watching him as they had lately done, and dreading yet greater +evils. + +"Ye have heard of this daring retreat, my friends; it was in the mouth +of every Scotsman, aye, and of Englishman too, for King Robert himself +never accomplished a deed of greater skill. The king's litter was placed +in the centre of a square, which presented on either side such an +impenetrable fence of spears and shields, that though Buchan and De +Mowbray mustered more than double our number, they never ventured an +attack, and a retreat, apparently threatening total destruction, from +its varied dangers, was accomplished without the loss of a single man. +At Strathbogie we halted but a short space, for finding no obstruction +in our path, we hastened southward, in the direction of Inverury; there +we pitched the tent for the king, and, taking advantage of a natural +fortification, dispersed our men around it, still in a compact square. +Soon after this had been accomplished, news was received that our foes +were concentrating their numerous forces at Old Meldrum, scarcely two +miles from us, and consequently we must hold ourselves in constant +readiness to receive their attack. + +"Well, the news that the enemy was so near us might not perhaps have +been particularly pleasing, had they not been more than balanced by the +conviction--far more precious than a large reinforcement, for in itself +it was a host--the king was recovering. Yes, scarcely as we dared hope, +much less believe it, the disease, which had fairly baffled all the +leech's art, which had hung over our idolized monarch so long, at length +showed symptoms of giving way, and there was as great rejoicing in the +camp as if neither danger nor misfortune could assail us more; a new +spirit sparkled in every eye, as if the awakening lustre in the Bruce's +glance, the still faint, yet thrilling accents of a voice we had feared +was hushed forever, had lighted on every heart, and kindled anew their +slumbering fire. One day, Lord Edward, the Earl of Lennox, and a gallant +party, were absent scouring the country about half a mile round our +entrenchments, and in consequence, one side of our square was more than +usually open, but we did not think it signified, for there wore no +tidings of the enemy; well, this day the king had called me to him, and +bade me relate the particulars of the retreat, which I was proud enough +to do, my masters, and which of you would not be, speaking as I did with +our gallant sovereign as friend with friend?" + +"Aye, and does he not make us all feel this?" burst simultaneously from +many voices; "does he not speak, and treat us all as if we were his +friends, and not his subjects only? Thine was a proud task, good +Murdoch, but which of us has good King Robert not addressed with kindly +words and proffered hand?" + +"Right! right!" joyously responded the old man; "still I say that hour +was one of the proudest in my life, and an eventful one too for Scotland +ere it closed. King Robert heard me with flashing eye and kindling +cheek, and his voice, as he burst forth in high praise and love for his +daring brother, sounded almost as strong and thrilling as was its wont +in health; just then a struggle was heard without the tent, a scuffle, +as of a skirmish, confused voices, clashing of weapons, and war-cries. +Up started the king, with eagle glance and eager tone. 'My arms,' he +cried, 'bring me my arms! Ha hear ye that?' and sure enough, 'St. David +for De Brechin, and down with the Bruce!' resounded so close, that it +seemed as if but the curtain separated the traitor from his kinsman and +his king. Never saw I the Bruce so fearfully aroused, the rage of the +lion was upon him. 'Hear ye that?' he repeated, as, despite my +remonstrances, and these of the officers who rushed into the tent, he +sprang from the couch, and, with the rapidity of light, assumed his +long-neglected armor. 'The traitorous villain! would he beard me to my +teeth? By the heaven above us, he shall rue this insolence! Bring me my +charger. Beaten off, say ye? I doubt it not, my gallant friends; but it +is now the Bruce's turn, his kindred traitors are not far off, and we +would try their mettle now. Nay, restrain me not, these folk will work a +cure for me--there, I am a man again!' and as he stood upright, sheathed +in his glittering mail, his drawn sword in his gauntleted hand, a wild +shout of irrepressible joy burst from us all, and, caught up by the +soldiers without the tent, echoed and re-echoed through the camp. The +sudden appearance of the Bruce's charger, caparisoned for battle, +standing before his master's tent, the drums rolling for the muster, the +lightning speed with which Sir Edward Bruce, Lennox, and Hay, after +dispersing De Brechin's troop, as dust on the plain, galloped to the +royal pavilion, themselves equally at a loss to understand the bustle +there, all prepared the men-at-arms for what was to come. Eagerly did +the gallant knights remonstrate with their sovereign, conjure him to +follow the battle in his litter, rather than attempt to mount his +charger; they besought him to think what his life, his safety was to +them, and not so rashly risk it. Lord Edward did entreat him to reserve +his strength till there was more need; the field was then clear, the +foes had not appeared; but all in vain their eloquence, the king +combated it all. 'We will go seek them, brother,' cheerily answered the +king; 'we will go tell them insult to the Bruce passes not unanswered. +On, on, gallant knights, our men wax impatient.' Hastening from the +tent, he stood one moment in the sight of all his men: removing his +helmet, he smiled a gladsome greeting. Oh, what a shout rung forth from +those iron ranks! There was that noble face, pale, attenuated indeed, +but beaming on them in all its wonted animation, confidence, and love; +there was that majestic form towering again in its princely dignity, +seeming the nobler from being so long unseen. Again and again that shout +arose, till the wild birds rose screaming over our heads, in untuned, +yet exciting chorus. Nor did the fact that the king, strengthened as he +was by his own glorious soul, had in reality not bodily force enough to +mount his horse without support, take from the enthusiasm of his men, +nay, it was heightened and excited to the wildest pitch. 'For Scotland +and freedom!' shouted the king, as for one moment he rose in his +stirrups and waved his bright blade above his head. 'For Bruce and +Scotland!' swelled the answering shout. We formed, we gathered in +compact array around our leaders, loudly clashed our swords against our +shields; we marched a brief while slowly and majestically along the +plain; we neared the foe, who, with its multitude in terrible array, +awaited our coming; we saw, we hurled defiance in a shout which rent the +very air. Quicker and yet quicker we advanced; on, on--we scoured the +dusty plain, we pressed, we flew, we rushed upon the foe; the Bruce was +at our head, and with him victory. We burst through their ranks; we +compelled them, at the sword's point, to turn and fight even to the +death; we followed them foot to foot, and hand to hand, disputing every +inch of ground; they sought to retreat, to fly--but no! Five miles of +Scottish ground, five good broad miles, was that battle-field; the enemy +lay dead in heaps upon the field, the remainder fled." + +"And the king!" exclaimed the knight of the mask, half springing up in +the excitement the old man's tale had aroused. "How bore he this day's +wondrous deed--was not his strength exhausted anew?" + +"Aye, what of the king?" repeated many of the soldiers, who had held +their very breath while the veteran spoke, and clenched their swords, as +if they were joining in the strife he so energetically described. + +"The king, my masters," replied Murdoch, "why, if it could be, he looked +yet more the mighty warrior at the close than at the commencement of the +work. We had seen him the first in the charge, in the pursuit; we had +marked his white plume waving above all others, where the strife waxed +hottest; and when we gathered round him, when the fight was done, he +was seated on the ground in truth, and there was the dew of extreme +fatigue on his brow--he had flung aside his helmet--and his cheek was +hotly flushed, and his voice, as he thanked us for our gallant conduct, +and bade us return thanks to heaven for this great victory, was somewhat +quivering; but for all that, my masters, he looked still the warrior and +the king, and his voice grew firmer and louder as he bade us have no +fears for him. He dismissed us with our hearts as full of joy and love +for him as of triumph on our humbled foes." + +"No doubt," responded many voices; "but Buchan, Mowbray, De +Brechin--what came of them--were they left on the field?" + +"They fled, loving their lives better than their honor; they fled, like +cowards as they were. The two first slackened not their speed till they +stood on English ground. De Brechin, ye know, held out Angus as long as +he could, and was finally made captive." + +"Aye, and treated with far greater lenity than the villain deserved. He +will never be a Randolph." + +"A Randolph! Not a footboy in Randolph's train but is more Randolph than +he. But thou sayest Buchan slackened not rein till he reached English +ground; he lingered long enough for yet blacker treachery, if rumor +speaks aright. Was it not said the king's life was attempted by his +orders, and by one of the Comyn's own followers?" + +"Ha!" escaped Sir Amiot's lips. "Say they this?" but he evidently had +spoken involuntarily, for the momentary agitation which had accompanied +the words was instantly and forcibly suppressed. + +"Aye, your worship, and it is true," replied the veteran "It was two +nights after the battle. All the camp was at rest; I was occupied as +usual, by my honored watch in my sovereign's tent. The king was sleeping +soundly, and a strange drowsiness appeared creeping over me too, +confusing all my thoughts. At first I imagined the wind was agitating a +certain corner of the tent, and my eyes, half asleep and half wakeful, +became fascinated upon it; presently, what seemed a bale of carpets, +only doubled up in an extraordinary small space, appeared within the +drapery. It moved; my senses were instantly aroused. Slowly and +cautiously the bale grew taller, then the unfolding carpet fell, and a +short, well-knit, muscular form appeared. He was clothed in those +padded jerkins and hose, plaited with steel, which are usual to those of +his rank; the steel, however, this night was covered with thin, black +stuff, evidently to assist concealment. He looked cautiously around him. +I had creeped noiselessly, and on all fours, within the shadow of the +king's couch, where I could observe the villain's movements myself +unseen. I saw a gleam of triumph twinkle in his eye, so sure he seemed +of his intended victim. He advanced; his dagger flashed above the Bruce. +With one bound, one shout, I sprang on the murderous wretch, wrenched +the dagger from his grasp, and dashed him to the earth. He struggled, +but in vain; the king started from that deep slumber, one moment gazed +around him bewildered, the next was on his feet, and by my side. The +soldiers rushed into the tent, and confusion for the moment waxed loud +and warm; but the king quelled it with a word. The villain was raised, +pinioned, brought before the Bruce, who sternly demanded what was his +intent, and who was his employer. Awhile the miscreant paused, but then, +as if spell-bound by the flashing orb upon him, confessed the whole, +aye, and more; that his master, the Earl of Buchan, had sworn a deep and +deadly oath to relax not in his hot pursuit till the life-blood of the +Bruce had avenged the death of the Red Comyn, and that, though he had +escaped now, he must fall at length, for the whole race of Comyn had +joined hands upon their chieftain's oath. The brow of the king grew +dark, terrible wrath beamed from his eyes, and it seemed for the moment +as if he would deliver up the murderous villain into the hands that +yearned to tear him piecemeal. There was a struggle, brief yet terrible, +then he spoke, and calmly, yet with a bitter stinging scorn. + +"'And this is Buchan's oath,' he said. 'Ha! doth he not bravely, my +friends, to fly the battle-field, to shun us there, that hireling hands +may do a deed he dares not? For this poor fool, what shall we do with +him?' + +"'Death, death--torture and death! what else befits the sacrilegious +traitor?' burst from many voices, pressing forward to seize and bear him +from the tent; but the king signed them to forbear, and oh, what a smile +took the place of his previous scorn! + +"'And I say neither torture nor death, my friends,' he tried. 'What, are +we sunk so low, as to revenge this insult on a mere tool, the +instrument of a villainous master? No, no! let him go free, and tell his +lord how little the Bruce heeds him; that guarded as he is by a free +people's love, were the race of Comyn as powerful and numerous as +England's self, their oath would avail them nothing. Let the poor fool +go free!' + +"A deep wild murmur ran through the now crowded tent, and so mingled +were the tones of applause and execration, we knew not which the most +prevailed. + +"'And shall there be no vengeance for this dastard deed?' at length the +deep, full voice of Lord Edward Bruce arose, distinct above the rest. +'Shall the Bruce sit tamely down to await the working of the villain +oath, and bid its tools go free, filling the whole land with +well-trained murderers? Shall Buchan pass scathless, to weave yet +darker, more atrocious schemes?' + +"'Brother, no,' frankly rejoined the king. 'We will make free to go and +visit our friends in Buchan, and there, an thou wilt, thou shalt pay +them in coin for their kindly intents and deeds towards us; but for this +poor fool, again I say, let him go free. Misery and death, God wot, we +are compelled to for our country's sake, let us spare where but our own +person is endangered.' + +"And they let him free, my masters, unwise as it seemed to us; none +could gainsay our sovereign's words. Sullen to the last, the only +symptom of gratitude he vouchsafed was to mutter forth, in, answer to +the Bruce's warning words to hie him to his comrades in Buchan, and bid +them, an they feared fire and devastation, to fly without delay, 'Aye, +only thus mayest thou hope to exterminate the traitors; pity none, spare +none. The whole district of Buchan is peopled by the Comyn, bound by +this oath of blood,' and thus he departed." + +"And spoke he truth?" demanded Sir Amiot, hoarsely, and with an +agitation that, had others more suspicious been with him, must have been +remarked, although forcibly and painfully suppressed; "spoke he truth? +Methought the district of Buchan had only within the last century +belonged to the Comyn, and that the descendants of the Countess +Margaret's vassals still kept apart, loving not the intermixture of +another clan. Said they not it was on this account the Countess of +Buchan had exercised such influence, and herself beaded a gallant troop +at the first rising of the Bruce? an the villain spoke truth, whence +came this change?" + +"Why, for that matter, your worship, it is easy enough explained," +answered Murdoch, "and, trust me, King Robert set inquiries enough +afloat ere he commenced his scheme of retaliation. Had there been one of +the Lady Isabella's own followers there, one who, in her name, claimed +his protection, he would have given it; not a hair of their heads would +have been injured; but there were none of these, your worship. The few +of the original clan which had not joined him were scattered all over +the country, mingling with other loyal clans; their own master had +hunted them away, when he came down to his own districts, just before +the capture of his wife and son. He filled the Tower of Buchan with his +own creatures, scattered the Comyns all over the land, with express +commands to attack, hunt, or resist all of the name of Bruce to the last +ebb of their existence. He left amongst them officers and knights as +traitorous, and spirits well-nigh as evil as his own, and they obeyed +him to the letter, for amongst the most inveterate, the most +treacherous, and most dishonorable persecutors of the Bruce stood first +and foremost the Comyns of Buchan. Ah! the land was changed from the +time when the noble countess held sway there, and so they felt to their +cost. + +"It was a grand yet fearful sight, those low hanging woods and glens all +in one flame; the spring had been particularly dry and windy, and the +branches caught almost with a spark, and crackled and sparkled, and +blazed, and roared, till for miles round we could see and hear the work +of devastation. Aye, the coward earl little knew what was passing in his +territories, while he congratulated himself on his safe flight into +England. It was a just vengeance, a deserved though terrible +retaliation, and the king felt it as such, my masters. He had borne with +the villains as long as he could, and would have borne with them still, +had he not truly felt nothing would quench their enmity, and in +consequence secure Scotland's peace and safety, but their utter +extermination, and all the time he regretted it, I know, for there was a +terrible look of sternness and determination about him while the work +lasted; he never relaxed into a smile, he never uttered a jovial word, +and we followed him, our own wild spirits awed into unwonted silence. +There was not a vestige of natural or human life in the district--all +was one mass of black, discolored ashes, utter ruin and appalling +devastation. Not a tower of Buchan remains." + +"All--sayest thou all?" said Sir Amiot, suddenly, yet slowly, and with +difficulty. "Left not the Bruce one to bear his standard, and thus mark +his power?" + +"Has not your worship remarked that such is never the Bruce's policy? +Three years ago, he had not force enough to fortify the castles he took +from the English, and leaving them standing did but offer safe harbors +for the foe, so it was ever his custom to dismantle, as utterly to +prevent their reestablishment; and if he did this with the castles of +his own friends, who all, as the Douglas saith, 'love better to hear the +lark sing than the mouse squeak,' it was not likely he would spare +Buchan's. But there was one castle, I remember, cost him a bitter +struggle to demolish. It was the central fortress of the district, +distinguished, I believe, by the name of 'the Tower of Buchan,' and had +been the residence of that right noble lady, the Countess Isabella and +her children. Nay, from what I overheard his grace say to Lord Edward, +it had formerly given him shelter and right noble hospitality, and a +dearer, more precious remembrance still to his noble heart--it had been +for many months the happy home of his brother, Sir Nigel, and we know +what magic power all associated with _him_ has upon the king; and had it +not been for the expostulations of Lord Edward, his rough yet earnest +entreaty, methinks that fortress had been standing yet. That sternness, +terrible to behold, for it ever tells of some mighty inward passions +conquered, again gathered on our sovereign's brow, but he turned his +charger's head, and left to Lord Edward the destruction of the fortress, +and he made quick work of it; you will scarce find two stones together +of its walls." + +"He counselled right," echoed many voices, the eagerness with which they +had listened, and now spoke, effectually turning their attention from +their mysterious leader, who at old Murdoch's last words had with +difficulty prevented the utterance of a deep groan, and then, as if +startled at his own emotion, sprung up from his reclining posture, and +joined his voice to those of his men. "He counselled, and did rightly," +they repeated; "it would have been an ill deed to spare a traitor's den +for such softening thoughts. Could we but free the Countess Isabella, +she would not want a home in Buchan--nay, the further from her cruel +husband's territories the better and for her children--the one, poor +innocent, is cared for, and the other--" + +"Aye, my masters, and trust me, that other was in our sovereign's heart +as forcibly as the memories he spoke. That which we know now concerning +him was then undreamed of; it was only faintly rumored that Lord Douglas +had been deceived, and Alan of Buchan had not fallen by a father's hand, +or at least by his orders; that he was in life, in close confinement; my +old ears did catch something of this import from the king, as he spoke +with his brother." + +"What import?" asked Sir Amiot, hoarsely. + +"Only, your worship, that, for the sake of the young heir of Buchan, he +wished that such total devastation could have been spared; if he were +really in life, as rumor said, it was hard to act as if he were +forgotten by his friends." + +"And what was Sir Edward's reply?" + +"First, that he doubted the rumor altogether; secondly, that if he did +return to the king, his loss might be more than made up; and thirdly, +that it was more than probable that, young as he was, if he really did +live, the arts of his father would prevail, and he would purchase his +freedom by homage and fidelity to England." + +"Ha! said he so--and the king?" + +"Did not then think with him, nay, declared he would stake his right +hand that the boy, young as he was, had too much of his mother's noble +spirit for such a deed. It was well the stake was not accepted, for, by +St. Andrew, as the tale now goes, King Robert would have lost." + +"As the tale now goes, thou unbelieving skeptic," replied one of his +comrades, laughing; "has not the gallant been seen, recognized--is he +not known as one of King Edward's minions, and lords it bravely? But +hark! there are chargers pricking over the plain. Hurrah! Sir Edward and +Lord James," and on came a large body of troopers and infantry even as +he spoke. + +Up started Sir Amiot's men in eager readiness to greet and join; their +armor and weapons they had laid aside were resumed, and ere their +comrades reached them all were in readiness. Sir Amiot, attended by his +esquires and a page, galloped forward, and the two knights, perceiving +his advance, spurred on before their men, and hasty and cordial +greetings were exchanged. We should perhaps note that Sir Amiot's manner +slightly differed in his salutation of the two knights. To Lord Edward +Bruce he was eager, frank, cordial, as that knight himself; to the +other, whom one glance proclaimed as the renowned James Lord Douglas, +there was an appearance of pride or reserve, and it seemed an effort to +speak with him at all. Douglas perhaps did not perceive this, or was +accustomed to it, for it seemed to affect him little; and Lord Edward's +bluff address prevented all manifestation of difference between his +colleagues, even if there existed any. + +"Ready to mount and ride; why that's well," he cried. "We are beyond our +time, but it is little reck, we need but spur the faster, which our men +seem all inclined to do. What news? why, none since we parted, save that +his grace has resolved on the siege of Perth without further delay." + +"Nay, but that is news, so please you," replied Sir Amiot. "When I +parted from his grace, there was no talk of it." + +"There was talk of it, but no certainty; for our royal brother kept his +own counsel, and spoke not of this much-desired event till his way lay +clear before him. There have been some turbulent spirits in the +camp--your humble servant, this black lord, and Randolph amongst +them--who in truth conspired to let his grace know no peace by night or +day till this object was attained; but our prudent monarch gave us +little heed till his wiser brain arranged the matters we but burned to +execute." + +"And what, think you, fixed this resolve?" + +"Simply that for a time we are clear of English thieves and Norman +rogues, and can march northward, and sit down before Perth without fear +of being called southward again. Edward will have enow on his hands to +keep his own frontiers from invasion; 'twill be some time ere he see the +extent of our vengeance, and meanwhile our drift is gained." + +"Aye, it were a sin and crying shame to let Perth remain longer in +English hands," rejoined Douglas; "strongly garrisoned it may be; but +what matter?" + +"What matter! why, 'tis great matter," replied Sir Edward, joyously. +"What glory were it to sit down before a place and take it at first +charge? No, give me good fighting, tough assault, and brave defence. +Think you I would have so urged the king, did I not scent a glorious +struggle before the walls? Strongly garrisoned! I would not give one +link of this gold chain for it, were it not. But a truce to this idle +parley; we must make some miles ere nightfall. Sir Knight of the Branch, +do your men need further rest? if not, give the word, and let them fall +in with their comrades, and on." + +"Whither?" demanded Sir Amiot, as he gave the required orders. "Where +meet we the king?" + +"In the Glen of Auchterader, south of the Erne. Lady Campbell and +Isoline await us there, with the troops left as their guard at +Dumbarton. So you perceive our friend Lord Douglas here hath double +cause to use the spur; times like these afford little leisure for +wooing, and such love-stricken gallants as himself must e'en make the +most of them." + +"And trust me for doing so," laughingly rejoined Douglas. "Scoff' at me +as you will, Edward, your time will come." + +"Not it," answered the warrior; "glory is my mistress. I love better to +clasp my true steel than the softest and fairest hand in Christendom; to +caress my noble steed and twine my hand thus in his flowing mane, and +feel that he bears me gallantly and proudly wherever my spirit lists, +than to press sweet kisses on a rosy lip, imprisoned by a woman's +smile." + +"Nay, shame on thee!" replied Douglas, still jestingly. "Thou a true +knight, and speak thus; were there not other work to do, I would e'en +run a tilt with thee, to compel thee to forswear thy foul treason +against the fair." + +"Better spend thy leisure in wooing Isoline; trust me, she will not be +won ere wooed. How now, Sir Knight of the Branch, has the fiend +melancholy taken possession of thee again? give her a thrust with thy +lance, good friend, and unseat her. Come, soul of fire as thou art in +battle, why dost thou mope in ashes in peace? Thou speakest neither for +nor against these matters of love; wilt woo or scorn the little god?" + +"Perchance both, perchance neither," replied the knight, and his voice +sounded sadly, though he evidently sought to speak in jest. He had +fallen back from the side of Douglas during the previous conversation, +but the flashing eye denoted that it had passed not unremarked. He now +rode up to the side of Lord Edward, keeping a good spear's length from +Lord James, and their converse turning on martial subjects, became more +general. Their march being performed without any incident of note, we +will, instead of following them, take a brief retrospective glance on +those historical events which had so completely and gloriously turned +the fate of Scotland and her patriots, in those five years which the +thread of our narrative compels us to leave a blank. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + * * * * * + + + + +GRACE AGUILAR'S WORKS. + + +HOME INFLUENCE. +MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE. +VALE OF CEDARS. +WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP. +DAYS OF BRUCE. +WOMEN OF ISRAEL. +HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES. + +_1 vol., 12mo, Illustrated, price $1, with a Memoir of the Author,_ + +HOME INFLUENCE, + +A TALE FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +"Grace Aguilar wrote and spoke as one inspired; she condensed and +spiritualized, and all her thoughts and feelings were steeped in the +essence of celestial love and truth. To those who really knew Grace +Aguilar, all eulogium falls short of her deserts, and she has left a +blank in her particular walk of literature, which we never expect to see +filled up."--_Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. Hall._ + +"A clever and interesting tale, corresponding well to its name, +illustrating the silent, constant influence of a wise and affectionate +parent over characters the most diverse."--_Christian Lady's Magazine._ + +"This interesting volume unquestionably contains many valuable hints on +domestic education, much powerful writing, and a _moral_ of vast +importance."--_Englishwoman's Magazine._ + +"It is very pleasant, after reading a book, to speak of it in terms of +high commendation. The tale before us is an admirable one, and is +executed with taste and ability. The language is beautiful and +appropriate; the analysis of character is skilful and varied. The work +ought to be in the hands of all who are interested in the proper +training of the youthful mind."--_Palladium._ + +"In reviewing this work, we hardly know what words in the English +language are strong enough to express the admiration we have felt in its +perusal."--_Bucks Chronicle._ + +"The object and end of the writings of Grace Aguilar were to improve the +heart, and to lead her readers to the consideration of higher motives +and objects than this world can ever afford."--_Bell's Weekly +Messenger._ + +"'Home Influence' will not be forgotten by any who have perused +it."--_Critic._ + +"A well-known and valuable tale."--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"A work which, possesses an extraordinary amount of influence to elevate +the mind and educate the heart, by showing that rectitude and virtue +conduce no less to material prosperity, and worldly comfort and +happiness, than to the satisfaction of the conscience, the approval of +the good, and the hope and certainty of bliss hereafter."--_Herts County +Press._ + + + * * * * * + + +THE SEQUEL TO HOME INFLUENCE. + + +THE MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE. + +A SEQUEL TO + +_"Home Influence, a Tale for Mothers and Daughters."_ + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +1 VOL., 12MO. CLOTH. $1. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +"Grace Aguilar belonged to the school of which Maria Edgeworth was the +foundress. The design of the book is carried out forcibly and +constantly, 'The Home Influence' exercised in earlier years being shown +in its active germination."--_Atlas._ + +"The writings of Grace Aguilar have a charm inseparable from productions +in which feeling is combined with intellect; they go directly to the +heart. 'Home Influence,' the deservedly popular story to which this is a +sequel, admirably teaches the lesson implied in its name. In the present +tale we have the same freshness, earnestness, and zeal--the same spirit +of devotion, and love of virtue--the same enthusiasm and sincere +religion which characterized that earlier work. We behold the mother now +blessed in the love of good and affectionate offspring, who, parents +themselves, are, after her example, training _their_ children in the way +of rectitude and piety."--_Morning Chronicle._ + +"This beautiful story was completed when the authoress was little above +the age of nineteen, yet it has the sober sense of middle age. There is +no age nor sex that will not profit by its perusal, and it will afford +as much pleasure as profit to the reader."--_Critic._ + +"The same kindly spirit, the same warm charity and fervor of devotion +which breathes in every line of that admirable book, 'Home Influence,' +will be found adorning and inspiring 'The Mother's Recompense.'"--_Morning +Advertiser._ + +"The good which, she (Grace Aguilar) has effected is acknowledged on all +hands, and it cannot be doubted but that the appearance of this volume +will increase the usefulness of one who may yet be said to be still +speaking to the heart and to the affections of human nature."--_Bell's +Messenger._ + +"It will be found an interesting supplement, not only to the book to +which it specially relates, but to all the writer's other +works."--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"'The Mother's Recompense' forms a fitting close to its predecessor, +'Home Influence.' The results of maternal care are fully developed, its +rich rewards are set forth, and its lesson and its moral are powerfully +enforced."--_Morning Post._ + +"We heartily commend this volume; a better or more useful present to a +youthful friend or a young wife could not well be selected."--_Herts +County Press._ + +"We look upon 'The Days of Bruce' as an elegantly-written and +interesting romance, and place it by the side of Miss Porter's 'Scottish +Chiefs.'"--_Gentleman's Magazine._ + +"A very pleasing and successful attempt to combine ideal delineation of +character with the records of history. Very beautiful and very true are +the portraits of the female mind and heart which Grace Aguilar knew how +to draw. This is the chief charm of all her writings, and in 'The Days +of Bruce' the reader will have the pleasure of viewing this skillful +portraiture in the characters of Isoline and Agnes, and Isabella of +Buchan."--_Literary Gazette._ + +"What a fertile mind was that of Grace Aguilar! What an early +development of reflection, of feeling, of taste, of power of invention, +or true and earnest eloquence! 'The Days of Bruce' is a composition of +her early youth, but full of beauty. Grace Aguilar knew the female heart +better than any writer of our day, and in every fiction from her pen we +trace the same masterly analysis and development of the motives and +feelings of woman's nature. 'The Days of Bruce' possesses also the +attractions of an extremely interesting story, that absorbs the +attention, and never suffers it to flag till the last page is closed, +and then the reader will lay down the volume with regret."--_Critic._ + + + * * * * * + + +HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES, + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. + +One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. + +The Perez Family. The Stone-Cutter's Boy of Possagno. Amete and +Yafeh. The Fugitive. The Edict; A Tale of 1492. The Escape; A Tale of +1755. Red Rose Villa. Gonzalvo's Daughter. The Authoress. + +Helon. +Lucy. +The Spirit's Entreaty. +Idalie. +Lady Gresham's Fete. +The Group of Sculpture. +The Spirit of Night. +Recollections of a Rambler. +Cast thy Bread upon the Waters. +The Triumph of Love. + + + * * * * * + + +THE WOMEN OF ISRAEL; + +Or, Characters and Sketches from the Holy Scriptures, illustrative +of the past History, present Duties, and future Destiny of Hebrew +Females, as based on the Word of God. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +Two volumes, 12mo. Price $2.00. + + +PRINCIPAL CONTENTS. + +FIRST PERIOD--WIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS. +Eve.--Sarah.--Rebekah.--Leah and Rachel. + +SECOND PERIOD--THE EXODUS AND THE LAW. +Egyptian Captivity, and Jochebed.--The Exodus--Mothers of Israel.--Laws +for Wives in Israel.--Laws for Widows and Daughters In +Israel.--Maid-servants in Israel, and other Laws. + +THIRD PERIOD--BETWEEN THIS DELIVERY OF THE LAW AND THE MONARCHY. +Miriam.--Tabernacle Workers--Caleb's Daughter.--Deborah.--Wife of +Manoah.--Naomi.--Hannah. + +FOURTH PERIOD--THE MONARCHY. +Michal.--Abigail.--Wise Women of Tekoah.--Woman of +Abel.--Rispah.--Prophet's Widow.--The Shunamite.--Little Israelitish +Maid.--Huldah. + +FIFTH PERIOD--BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. +The Captivity.--Review of Book of Ezra.--Suggestions as to the identity +of the Ahasuerus of Scripture.--Esther.--Review of Events narrated in Ezra +and Nehemiah. + +SIXTH PERIOD--CONTINUANCE OF THE SECOND TEMPLE. +Review of Jewish History, from the Return from Babylon to the Appeal of +Hycanus and Aristobulus to Pompey.--Jewish History from the Appeal to +Pompey to the Death of Herod.--Jewish History from the Death of Herod to +the War.--The Martyr Mother.--Alexandra.--Mariamne.--Salome.--Helena. +--Berenice. + + +SEVENTH PERIOD--WOMEN OF ISRAEL IN THE PRESENT AS INFLUENCED BY THE PAST. +The War and Dispersion.--Thoughts on the Talmud.--Talmudic Ordinances +and Tales.--Effects of Dispersion and Persecution.--General Remarks. + + +"A work that is sufficient of itself to create and crown a +reputation."--_Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. S. C. Hall._ + + + * * * * * + + +WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP. + +A STORY OF DOMESTIC LIFE. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +_With Illustrations. One volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00._ + + "To show us how divine a thing + A woman may be made."--Wordsworth. + +"This story illustrates, with feeling and power, that beneficial +influence which women exercise, in their own quiet way, over characters +and events in our every-day life."--_Britannia._ + +"The book is one of more than ordinary interest in various ways, and +presents an admirable conception of the depths and sincerity of female +friendship, as exhibited in England by English women."--_Weekly +Chronicle._ + +"We began to read the volume late in the evening; and, although it +consists of about 400 pages, our eyes could not close in sleep until we +had read the whole. This excellent book should find a place on every +drawing-room table--nay, in every library in the kingdom."--_Bucks +Chronicle._ + +"We congratulate Miss Aguilar on the spirit, motive, and composition of +this story. Her aims are eminently moral, and her cause comes +recommended by the most beautiful associations. These, connected with +the skill here evinced in their development, insure the success of her +labors."--_Illustrated News._ + +"As a writer of remarkable grace and delicacy, she devoted herself to +the inculcation of the virtues, more especially those which are the +peculiar charm of women."--_Critic._ + +"It is a book for all classes of readers; and we have no hesitation in +saying, that it only requires to be generally known to become +exceedingly popular. In our estimation it has far more attractions +than Miss Burney's celebrated, but overestimated, novel of +'Cecilia.'"--_Herts County Press._ + +"This very interesting and agreeable tale has remained longer without +notice on our part than we could have desired; but we would now endeavor +to make amends for the delay, by assuring our readers that it is a most +ably-written publication, full of the nicest points of information and +utility that could have been by any possibility constructed; and, as a +proof of its value, it may suffice to say, that it has been taken from +our table again and again by several individuals, from the +recommendation of those who had already perused it, and be prevented our +giving an earlier attention to its manifold claims for the favorable +criticism. It is peculiarly adapted for the young, and wherever it goes +will be received with gratification, and command very extensive +approbation."--_Bell's Weekly Messenger._ + +"This is a handsome volume: just such a book as we would expect to find +among the volumes composing a lady's library. Its interior corresponds +with its exterior; it is a most fascinating tale, full of noble and just +sentiments."--_Palladium._ + + + * * * * * + + +THE VALE OF CEDARS + +or, + +THE MARTYR. + +A STORY OF SPAIN IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + +By GRACE AGUILAR. + +_With Illustrations. 1 vol., 12mo. Cloth, $1.00._ + +"The authoress of this most fascinating volume has selected for her field +one of the most remarkable eras in modern history--the reigns of Ferdinand +and Isabella. The tale turns on the extraordinary extent to which concealed +Judaism had gained footing at that period in Spain. It is marked by much +power of description, and by a woman's delicacy of touch, and it will add +to its writer's well-earned reputation."--_Eclectic Review._ + +"The scene of this interesting tale is laid during the reign of +Ferdinand and Isabella. The Vale of Cedars is the retreat of a Jewish +family, compelled by persecution to perform their religions rites with +the utmost secrecy. On the singular position of this fated race in the +most Catholic land of Europe, the interest of the tale mainly +depends; whilst a few glimpses of the horrors of the terrible +Inquisition are afforded the reader, and heighten the interest +of the narrative."--_Sharpe's Magazine._ + +"Any thing which proceeds from the pen of the authoress of this volume +is sure to command attention and appreciation. There is so much of +delicacy and refinement about her style, and each a faithful delineation +of nature in all she attempts, that she has taken her place amongst the +highest class of modern writers of fiction. We consider this to be one +of Miss Aguilar's best efforts."--_Bell's Weekly Messenger._ + +"We heartily commend the work to our readers as one exhibiting, not +merely talent, but genius, and a degree of earnestness, fidelity to +Nature, and artistic grace, rarely found."--_Herts County Press._ + +"The 'Vale of Cedars' is indeed one of the most touching and interesting +stories that have ever issued from the press. There is a life-like +reality about it which is not often observed in works of this nature; +while we read it we felt as if we were witnesses of the various scenes +it depicts."--_Bucks Chronicle._ + +"It is a tale of deep and pure devotion, very touchingly +narrated."--_Atlas._ + +"The authoress has already received our commendation; her present work +is calculated to sustain, her reputation."--_Illustrated News._ + +"It is indeed a historical romance of a high class. Seeing how steady +and yet rapid was her improvement--how rich the promise of her +genius--it is impossible to close this notice of her last and best work, +without lamenting that the authoress was so untimely snatched from a +world she appeared destined, as certainly she was singularly qualified, +to adorn and to improve."--_Critic._ + + +New York: D. APPLETON & CO. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Days of Bruce Vol 1, by Grace Aguilar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAYS OF BRUCE VOL 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 18387.txt or 18387.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/8/18387/ + +Produced by University of Michigan Digital Library, +Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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