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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7638e24 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52078 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52078) diff --git a/old/52078-8.txt b/old/52078-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 321afad..0000000 --- a/old/52078-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14458 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain of the Guard, by James Grant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Captain of the Guard - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: May 16, 2016 [EBook #52078] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD *** - - - - -Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - THE - - CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. - - - BY JAMES GRANT, - - AUTHOR OF - "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "HARRY OGILVIE," "OLIVER ELLIS," - ETC. ETC. - - - LONDON: - ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE, - FARRINGDON STREET, - NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. - 1862. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Many of the scenes and episodes which are delineated in the following -story are taken from the annals of Scotland. - -Those which belong to romance I leave the reader to discover. - -My wish has been to portray the state of the nation and its people -during the reign of the second James, without afflicting the reader -by obsolete words and obscure dialects, which few now care about, and -still fewer would comprehend, but following history as closely as the -network of my own narrative would permit. - -In some of the proceedings of the Douglas family, and minor details, it -has suited my purpose to adhere to other sources of information, rather -than the "Peerage," or the folio of Master David Hume, of Godscroft, -the quaint old historian of the House of Douglas. - - _March, 1862._ - - - - -THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE FOUR COFFINS. - - God save the king, and bless the land - In plenty, joy, and peace; - And grant henceforth that foul debate - 'Twixt noblemen may cease.--CHEVY CHASE. - - -On the evening of the 22nd November, 1440, the report of a brass -carthoun, or cannon-royale, as it pealed from the castle of Edinburgh, -made all who were in the thoroughfares below raise their eyes to the -grey ramparts, where the white smoke was seen floating away from the -summit of King David's Tower, and then people were seen hastening -towards the southern side of the city, where the quaint old streets and -narrow alleys opened into the fields, or the oakwoods of Bristo and -Drumsheugh. - -Crowds from all quarters pressed towards the Pleasance, the route -by which the great earl of Douglas (duke of Touraine and lord of -Longoville), who had been invited to visit the young king, was expected -to enter the city. Curiosity was excited, as it was anticipated that -his train would be a brilliant one. All in the secluded metropolis of -the north were on tiptoe to behold a sight such as they had not been -gratified with since the ambassadors of Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, -had come to ask the hand of the king's little sister, Annabella, for -his son, the valiant Louis Count de Maurienne, to whom, however, she -preferred a Scottish earl, with a Scottish home, on the bonnie banks of -the Clyde. - -The boom of the same cannon brought to the bartizan of the great tower -whereon it stood four armed men, who immediately turned their eyes -towards the south. - -Two of these were men well up in years. They wore furred caps of -maintenance, denoting their high rank or position, and had long crimson -robes, with capes of ermine that fell to their elbows. Beneath these -flowing garments there glittered at times their steel habergeons, and -the embroidered belts which sustained their swords. - -One was a man of a tall figure and noble presence, with a long, grave, -and pleasing face. - -The other was equally noble in bearing, but his face was less pleasing -in expression, for his temples were hollow, his eyes keen, his brows -knit, and there played about his thin, cruel lips a crafty but courtly -smile. - -"Summon Romanno, the constable; bid him display the king's -standard--call the garrison to their arms--shut gates and barriers," -were the orders given rapidly by both at the same moment. - -The first was Sir Alexander Livingstone, of Callendar, Regent of -Scotland, and governor of the young king, James II., then in his -eleventh year. - -The second was Sir William Crichton of that ilk, the Lord Chancellor, -appointed by the Parliament, after the murder of the late King James -I., in the Black Friary, at Perth. - -"Red-haired Achanna, with his Judas-coloured red beard, has played his -cards well for us and for the king," said the Chancellor, with a crafty -smile. - -"Achanna," replied the Regent, grimly; "yes, a wretch born with -the stamp of hell on his forehead--a hireling clerk, as well as -swashbuckler." - -"But a useful man withal, and said to be a go-between of Douglas and -Duke Robert of Albany." - -James Achanna, the person to whom they referred, was a red-haired -and red-bearded gentleman, of Galloway, outwardly a stanch adherent -of Douglas, but in the secret pay of his enemies, the Regent and -Chancellor. Thus he had conveyed the artful message by which the -hostile earl, and the chief members of his family, were _lured_ to -visit the court of the young king. - -"So he is in sight at last," said the Regent through his clenched -teeth; "do you see his train, my lord?" - -"Aye; on the road by Kirk-liberton. He is coming down the brae in his -bravery, with banner and spear, but that pride shall have a fall, for -he comes to his doom." - -"But, Chancellor, his countess and her sister," whispered the Regent; -"they--they----" - -"Well; what of them?" - -"Must they too perish?" - -"Let the whole brood perish at one fell swoop," was the fierce -response, in a husky whisper. "Had they but one neck, I tell thee, -Livingstone, it should be laid on the block that awaits the Douglas in -the hall below us." - -"Hush!" - -"And wherefore hush?" continued the elder statesman, fiercely. - -"Know ye not that Sir Patrick Gray loves the earl's cousin?" said the -Regent, glancing hastily at their two companions, who stood a little -way from them. - -"Murielle Douglas," replied Crichton, grinding his sharp teeth; "well, -be it so; but I shall give her a colder gudeman than the king's liege -subject, and the Captain of his Guard--will God I shall!" - -The Regent waved his gloved hand to impress the caution he wished -his colleague to observe, and, as if afraid to trust his discretion -further, withdrew to a corner of the rampart enclosing the summit of -the great tower, which then formed the donjon or keep of the castle -of Edinburgh; but ever and anon, as the gleam of arms flashed in the -sunlight, on the green pastoral slopes of Liberton, they exchanged a -deep and bitter smile. - -Two handsome young men, who had not yet spoken, but who attended -them and stood apart, were sheathed in complete armour, and wore the -beautiful bascinets of that reign; these had a tube for the plume, and -were encircled by a camaile like the old caps of the Templars. They -had gorgeous military girdles and long swords, globular corslets, and -wide hanging sleeves of scarlet cloth lined with yellow silk (the royal -colours), depending from their shoulders; this was a very anomalous -fashion with armour, but formed a portion of the military foppery of -that day. - -He with the short beard and black moustache, in the prime of strength -and manhood, is Sir Patrick Gray, a younger son of the lord of Foulis, -and _Captain of the King's Guard_; and he, the less in stature, the -junior in years, with fair hair and merry eyes, is Sir Thomas MacLellan -of Bombie, his cousin and friend, and lieutenant of the same guard, -which the Regent had embodied to protect the person of the young king -from the perils amid which his father had perished--perils which the -house of Douglas seemed about to revive. - -"Do you see, gentlemen, how the lances in his train glitter, as they -come rank on rank over yonder long green brae?" said the Regent, -turning round; "by my soul, Lord Chancellor, he has an escort that -might befit a king!" - -"A train of cut-throats, swashbucklers, and scrape-trenchers; -MacDouals, MacGhies, Achannas, and MacCombies----" - -"Chancellor, do not add MacLellans, I pray you," interrupted the -lieutenant of the guard. - -"The broken men of Galloway," continued the Chancellor, wrathfully; -"the bullyrooks of Thrave--outlaws, whose unchristian acts would put -to shame the pagans of Argier or Cathay--of the Soldan or Prester -John! and I say so, under favour, Sir Thomas," he added, turning with -a sudden smile to the lieutenant, who was chief of the MacLellans of -Bombie, a powerful family, whose lands were surrounded by those of the -Douglases and their adherents. - -"Do you include the Lord Abbot of Tongland among those rare fellows?" -asked Sir Thomas, who was piqued for the honour of his native province. - -"An abbot who acts as the earl's beadsman can be little better," was -the sour reply. - -The young man bit his moustache impatiently, but the more politic -Regent, to soothe the irritation which his colleague's words were -inspiring, said hastily to one who had hitherto been silent, "Sir -Patrick Gray, how many followers think you, by your soldier's eye, the -earl hath under his banner yonder?" - -"At least two thousand men, with horse and spear, if I may judge by the -breadth of the road, and the cloud of dust they raise," replied the -captain of the guard, with soldier-like brevity and confidence. - -"Two thousand!" muttered the Regent; "passing strong for a mere -subject." - -"Douglas never leaves his castle gates with less," said MacLellan; "and -wherefore marvel? They are not so many after all for such an earl as -Douglas, when the laird of Roslin's daughter never enters Edinburgh -with less than seventy mounted gentlemen in her train, each clad in a -velvet jupon, with a chain of gold at his neck." - -"Two thousand lances," muttered the Chancellor also, stroking his -shaven chin, for beards were only worn by soldiers at that time, and -not always by them. - -"And you have but three hundred men-at-arms in garrison here--billmen -and cannoneers?" whispered the Regent. - -"But they are all my own vassals, men bred under my roof-tree since -they were boys of the belt; these, with a hundred pikes of the king's -guard, are more than enough for our purpose, within a castle so strong -as this," replied the Chancellor, whose pale lips quivered with the -nervous fury he strove in vain to conceal from the two gentlemen who -stood at the other corner of the bartizan; for a plot had been laid to -destroy the mighty earl of Douglas, one of those dark, terrible, and -sudden plots, which, under the name of _raids_, so frequently convulsed -the kingdom of Scotland, and marked its martial annals with blood and -crime, the only shadows that tinge a great and glorious past. - -The soldiers, pages, and idlers of the castle who had been playing at -troy, chess, or shovel-board, for the bonnet pieces and silver pennies -of King James, relinquished their sport, and crowded to the ramparts to -observe the approach of the now obnoxious and turbulent Douglas. - -And now, for a time, these four persons described continued to observe -in silence the approaching train of the great feudal peer, the lances -of whose vassalage (among them were many knights, barons, and gentlemen -of his surname) glinted brightly in the evening sun, as they moved -down the northern slope of Liberton, past the old tower built by David -Liberton, sergeant of the overward of the constabulary of Edinburgh, -in the time of David II., and past the older church, the foundation -of which fond tradition unvaryingly ascribed to Macbeth, though, -mysteriously enough, on its demolition in 1815, there was found in -its base an iron medal of the 13th century, inscribed in Russian -characters, "_The Grand Prince St. Alexander Yaroslavitch Neffvskoy_." - -On the earl's train disappearing among the wooded hollows which lay -between the city and the furzy slope of Braid and Liberton, the captain -of the guard and his kinsman the lieutenant, with their esquires, -pages, and lacqueys passed forth from the castle, to swell the retinue -of the chief magistrate of the city, Sir Thomas Cranston of that ilk, -baron of Denholm and Stobs, warden of the marches, and one of the -conservators of peace upon the borders, for the steel-gloved provosts -of those stirring times were men of a different metal from the men -of words, who "twaddle" in the same place in this age of steam and -electricity. - -As they passed out, the king's master butcher entered the gateway of -the fortress, accompanied by a peddie or foot-boy, bearing a covered -bundle upon a trencher. - -This covered bundle contained a _black bull's head_. - -"See you _that_, Sir Alexander?" said the Chancellor, twitching the -furred sleeve of his compatriot. - -"The black bull's head!" said the other, with an irrepressible shudder. - -"Yes; for the banquet to-morrow." - -"Holy Dame!" - -"It is the fatal signal, to be placed on the table the moment the king -rises." - -"The king! Oh, Chancellor," said the Regent, in a voice that turned -almost to a groan, "after all I have urged, mean you that he, poor boy, -shall share the odium of our act--a deed at which one half of Scotland, -and perhaps all France, may cry aloud?" - -"Let them cry; the _end_ shall sanctify the means. With Douglas in his -grave, the great seal will be firmer in my hands, the sceptre lighter -in yours, and the crown shall shine the brighter on the head of him -whose father was wronged and slain by such as Douglas in the Black -Friary at Perth." - -"I pray God all may end as you predict," said the Regent, doubtfully; -"but yet I shudder when contemplating this lure--this snare; the mock -banquet, the mock tribunal, and the bloody lykewake of the morrow." - -That night, after dusk, four coffins were secretly conveyed up the -rock, and through the west postern of the castle, by James Achanna -and other "muffled" or masked men, and these were concealed in the -chancellor's private closet, the door of which opened off the great -hall of David's tower. - -These coffins were covered with crimson velvet and had nails, handles, -and plates of gold, or at least of richly gilt work. - -The first had the name of the most potent prince William, sixth earl -of Douglas, third duke of Touraine, lord of Longoville, Galloway, -Annandale, and Liddesdale, _qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440_, in his -seventeenth year. - -The second coffin bore the name of his younger brother, Lord David, -_qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440_. - -The third bore the name of his countess, Margaret Douglas, so famed for -her beauty as the Fair Maid of Galloway, _qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440_, in -her eighteenth year. - -The fourth bore the name of his sister, Lady Murielle Douglas, two -years younger, with the same fatal inscription, _qui obit 23rd Nov., -1440_. - -Beyond these four coffins, in the gloom of that vaulted closet, were a -grindstone, an axe, and a block. - -We have opened our story on the evening of the TWENTY-SECOND -November; thus we shall soon see with what intent these terrible -objects were provided. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -WILLIAM, DUKE OF TOURAINE. - - Vails not to tell each hardy clan, - From the fair middle marches come; - The Bloody Heart blazed in the van, - Announcing Douglas, dreaded name!--SCOTT. - - -At this time the house of Douglas, one which in past ages had ever led -the van of battle in the cause of Scottish honour and liberty, had -attained the most exorbitant, and in that warlike and feudal epoch, -dangerous power--a power that never ceased to menace the freedom of the -people on one hand, and the independence of the throne on the other. - -William, sixth earl of Douglas, and third duke of Touraine, had just -succeeded to the vast possessions of his family by the death of his -father, Archibald, who had been Lieutenant-General of Scotland, and -Marshal of France, and who died at Restalrig, in 1439. - -In his seventeenth year, William found himself master of all the -princely heritage his warlike sire had left him, the earldom of -Douglas, with the lordships of Bothwell, Annandale, and Liddesdale; -the county of Longoville, and the dukedom of Touraine, "the garden of -France." - -To these he had added the principality of Galloway, the county of -Wigton, and the lordship of Balvenie, by marriage with his cousin, -Margaret, the Fair Maid of Galloway, a high-born girl of great beauty -and spirit, who was one year his senior, and whose proud and fiery -temper made her prove his evil mentor in many an act of folly and -outrage; while Lady Murielle, the younger and gentler sister, whose -loveliness was long embalmed in many a sweet old Galloway song, strove -anxiously, but vainly, to avert them. - -Even in that age of pride, vain of his lofty ancestry, which he could -trace back through a long line of brave and loyal nobles to that Sholto -Dhu-glas, the grey and swarthy warrior, who, in the eighth century, -slew Donald of the Isles--rendered powerful by the vast number, the -unity and rank of his vassalage, by the strength of his fortresses -and extent of his territories, which included the richest and most -important districts of the kingdom; hourly told by high-born and artful -flatterers that he possessed wealth equal, and armed forces superior, -to the king, this rash young noble had of late begun to assume all the -state of a crowned head. - -On the death of his father, he sent into France two ambassadors to -Charles VII., to make his oath of fealty for the dukedom of Touraine. - -These unwise envoys, Sir Alan Lauder, of the Bass, a knight of Lothian, -and Sir Malcolm Fleming, lord of Biggar and Cumbernauld, were received -by the French monarch with a degree of state and ceremony on which the -Regent and Chancellor of Scotland, as guardians of its young king, -could not fail to look with jealous eyes; thus, stifling their secret -piques and heart-burnings, they resolved to coalesce for the public -weal, and to watch, win, or CRUSH this warlike feudatory, -whose power, ambition, and splendour overtopped the throne, and -threatened to extinguish themselves. - -On the other hand, flattered by the messages of Charles the Victorious, -despising the Regent and Chancellor as mere knights of Lothian, the -young earl became guilty of outrages, and evinced an arrogance, that -made all tremble for the issue. - -When he left any of his castles, he never rode with less than one or -two thousand knights and horsemen in his train, all brilliantly armed -and accoutred; and this haughty retinue frequently carried havoc, and -always terror, wherever they appeared. His household was magnificent; -he appointed his petty officers of state, and within his castle-halls -of Thrave, Bothwell, and Douglas, held courts which rivalled the -meetings of Parliament; while, to the many royal summonses sent him, -scornful and insolent answers, dictated by his friends, or rather by -those who were the friends of his father, the knights Fleming and -Lauder, were returned to the Regent and Chancellor. - -Under his banner and name, his followers, many of whom were nobles, -thus filled the land with outrage and tumult. The people were without -protection and without redress, while the court of the young king was -daily crowded by suppliants who cried for vengeance. - -"There were," saith Lyndessy, in his Chronicles, "so many widows, -bairns, and infants seeking redress for husbands, kindred, and friends, -who had been cruelly slain by wicked murderers; siclike, many for -hership, theft, and reif, that there was no man but would have had ruth -and pity to hear the same. Soon murder, theft, and slaughter were in -such common dalliance among the people, and the king's power had fallen -into such contempt, that no man _wist_ where to seek refuge unless he -swore himself a servant to some common murderer or tyrant, to maintain -himself against the invasion of others, or else gave largely of his -gear to save his life, and afford him peace and rest." - -Not content with having produced all this, the young duke, or earl, -urged by his ambitious counsellors, dared openly to impugn the king's -title to the crown, affecting to prefer the claims of his own uncle, -Malise, earl of Strathearn, who was descended from Euphemia Ross, the -second queen of Robert II.; and he intrigued with Robert Stuart, the -exiled son of the king's uncle, the late Murdoch, duke of Albany, to -subvert the Royal succession. - -Sir Alexander Livingstone, the Regent, and Sir William Crichton, the -Lord Chancellor, saw that a crisis had come in the affairs of the -realm; that the throne and their own position must sink together -beneath the overweening power of Douglas unless a dreadful blow were -struck; and thus, with all the dark ferocity and stern subtlety of the -age in which they lived, they prepared to _strike it_! - -James Hanna, or Achanna, one of those smooth-tongued political -villains, of whom Scotland has in all ages produced a plentiful -brood--a wretch who for gold contrived to be a secret adherent and -deluder of both parties, was despatched with a royal message to -Douglas's castle of Thrave, in the name of the Regent and Chancellor. - -In this mandate, which bore the privy seal of the realm, they -"professed the highest esteem for the young earl's character, and a -profound regret for the petty jealousies which had so long separated -them. They anxiously and earnestly solicited his august presence at -court that he might cultivate the friendship of his sovereign, now in -his eleventh year, and lend his great talents and influence to the -administration of affairs--while the presence of the countess and her -sister, Lady Murielle, could not fail to shed some rays of splendour on -the court, and be a source of joy to the young princesses, the sisters -of his majesty." - -This document, so fulsome when addressed to an almost untutored boy, -added, that on the vigil of St. Catherine, a banquet in celebration of -their friendship and the extinction of discord would be royally held in -the great hall of the castle at Edinburgh. - -The young earl smiled scornfully on hearing this missive read by the -wily Achanna on his knees; but he tossed from his wrist a hawk with -which he had been playing, and replied-- - -"My father never yielded to James I., nor will I to James II., and -his two cock lairds of Lothian, who pretend to govern Scotland. -Nevertheless, we shall mount and go, were it but to flaunt our bravery -at court." - -Sir Malcolm Fleming, of Cumbernauld, an old and faithful friend of his -father, urged him to mistrust Crichton and remain among his followers; -but the desire to dazzle his enemies by the splendour of his retinue, -and the _arguments_ of his kinsman, the earl of Abercorn, outweighed -all that the more faithful and wary could advance. - -And herein lay a secret which death might reveal to him; but in life he -would never discover. - -James the Gross, earl of Abercorn, had loved, but in vain, the -beautiful Maid of Galloway, who preferred her younger and more handsome -cousin, Earl William; but James was the next heir to the latter, if -he and Lord David died without children: thus avarice, ambition, and -revenge spurred him on, and caused him to urge the immediate acceptance -of the Chancellor's invitation, and _his_ energetic advice, with the -young earl's vain-glorious wish, bore down all the faithful Fleming -could urge. - -James Achanna was the villainous tool who worked for him in the dark; -and herein was another secret; for Achanna had been a page to the -father of the countess, and had loved her too. - -This love had expanded suddenly, like a flower that blooms in a night -under a tropical moon, and the coquette soon discovered it. - -"You love me?" said she imperiously, reining up her horse, as they one -day rode side by side near the loch of the Carlinwark. - -"Yes," said the page, tremulously, and covered with confusion by the -abruptness of the question. - -"How old are you, James Achanna?" - -"I am four-and-twenty, madam." - -"You are but a boy," said she, laughing. - -"I am six years _your_ senior," he replied, gathering courage. - -"And you think me beautiful?" - -"Oh, madam!" - -"At your age boys think all women beautiful. But, my presuming page, -you must cease with this folly and learn to know your place, or it may -be changed to one more exalted;" and she pointed with her riding-switch -to a stone corbel called the gallows-knob above the gate of Thrave. - -The cheek of Achanna grew deadly pale; he ceased the "folly;" but from -thenceforth thought only of revenge, and afterwards entered readily -into the scheme by which the Douglases were lured to Edinburgh. - -Thus, summoning Sir Alan Lauder, his Master of the Horse, the young -earl, with all the impetuosity of a pampered boy, ordered his train to -be assembled, and set forth for the capital. - -Achanna preceded him on the spur, and reached Edinburgh a day or two -before him. - -The reader will now begin to perceive why those _four_ coffins were -conveyed by him, under cloud of night, into the vaults of David's -Tower; and why a black bull's head, the ancient symbol of sudden death -and slaughter among the Celtic Scots, was concealed by the King's -master-butcher in the cabinet of the Chancellor. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE ENTRANCE. - - So many and so good - Of the Douglases have been; - Of one surname in Scotland - Never yet were seen.--OLD RHYME. - - -Mounted on fine horses, the bridles and saddles of which were covered -by elaborate steel and silver bosses, Sir Patrick Gray, Captain of the -King's Guard, with his cousin and Lieutenant, Sir Thomas MacLellan, of -Bombie, fully armed and equipped, rode down the steep path from the -castle, and, traversing the town, proceeded towards the street by which -the earl of Douglas and his train were expected to enter. - -For small bonnets of fine blue Flemish cloth, they had relinquished -their heavy bascinets, with their large plumes and velvet tippets, -which were borne behind them by pages. - -The Captain of the Guard was preceded by a mounted esquire, Andrew -Gray, of Balgarno, bearing his banner _gules_, a lion rampant, within a -border engrailed. - -Save the black or grey-robed Dominicans or Franciscans, and priests -of other religious orders, all the men of every rank who crowded the -thoroughfares that led towards St. Mary's Wynd and the straggling -street which ascended from thence to the convent of St. Mary de -Placentia (whence to this day it is still named the Pleasance), were -well armed with habergeons and caps of steel, swords, daggers, knives, -and Jedwood axes--for the paths of life, even for the greatest and -noblest in Scotland, were not strewn with roses in those days, but -rather with briars in the shape of blades and spears, woes, wars, -tumults, and turmoils, such as their descendants cannot realize in -these our days of peace and good order. - -Parting on all sides before the esquire, who bore the banner, the -people made way for the Captain of the Guard, who with his kinsman -joined the attendants of the chief magistrate, Sir Thomas Cranstoun, -who was sheathed in complete mail--all save the head--and wore at his -gorget a massive chain of fine gold, the links of which glittered among -the white hair of his flowing beard. - -He was bravely mounted on a great Clydesdale battle-horse; he wielded a -heavy steel mace and wore a glittering jupon, on which were embroidered -the arms of his family quartered with the triple castle of the city. - -He was accompanied by all "the honest men" of the city (_honest_ men -meant tradesmen--but this was in 1440), preceded by the four baillies, -the treasurer, the older corporations, such as the fleshers, the -furriers, the cordiners, the candlemakers, and others, under their -several devices and banners, and all armed to the teeth. These martial -craftsmen lined the narrow and crowded wynd, and from thence up the -broader High Street, by which the earl was expected to proceed direct -to the castle. - -And now, to swell the multitude, came several officers of state, -accompanied by the heads of all the religious houses and the heralds of -the king. Among them were William Lord Hay, the High Constable; Walter -Halyburton, the Lord High Treasurer, and William Turnbull, a canon -of Glasgow, who was Lord Privy Seal. Amid the buzz of the assembled -multitude, on the varied colours of whose costumes the bright evening -sunlight fell in flakes between the broken masses of the picturesque -old streets, there were occasionally heard half audible expressions of -anxiety for the issue of this noble's visit, as his family and vast -retinue of military retainers were so dreaded for their petulance and -turbulence, that all the booth-holders and craimers had closed their -places of business and buckled on their armour to be ready for any -emergency. In the same spirit the baillies wore shirts of mail under -their velvet gowns, and the alarm increased rather than diminished when -the Provost was heard to say to Sir Patrick Gray--"I am glad the King's -Guard are in readiness, for the wild men of Galloway and those scurvy -thieves and bullyrooks of Annandale who follow the banner of Douglas, -are certain to work mischief in the town." - -Such was the state of feeling in Edinburgh when the long, glittering, -and steel-clad train of the mighty Douglas was seen descending the -slope past the convent of St. Mary, of which no relic now survives save -a fine alabaster carving which represents our Saviour brought before -the Jewish High Priest; and the excitement reached its height when the -Provost put spurs to his horse and courteously rode forward to greet -the noble visitor and bid him welcome to the city with fair words of -peace, and to place himself upon his right--a condescension at which -the surlier burghers murmured under their beards; for the Provost of -Edinburgh, when within its boundary, takes precedence of all nobles, -and rides on the right hand of a crowned sovereign only. - -When the Provost rode forward, Sir Patrick Gray touched his horse -involuntarily with his spurs to follow him; but MacLellan, who was -chief of a Galloway clan at variance with the Douglases, arrested the -impulse by grasping his bridle and saying hurriedly,--"Stay, kinsman, -be wary." - -"Wherefore?" asked Gray, with an air of annoyance; "for many months I -have not seen Murielle." - -"Then the greater reason to stay and make no advance at present." - -"The greater reason!" reiterated the other, with increased surprise. - -"Bear with me--but women often change their minds." - -"Thou art a libeller; she will never change, at all events, and I shall -risk--" - -"The Regent's displeasure--the Chancellor's suspicions?" interrupted -MacLellan, with a smile. - -"You are right," replied Gray, checking his horse, while his nether lip -quivered with annoyance. - -"Listen, kinsman," resumed MacLellan, "this Provost may leave his -place, knight and baron though he be, to speak well and fairly this -great lord, whose train of lances fill his burgess-wives with fear lest -latches be lifted, booths broken, and goods and gear be harried in the -night; but _you_, who bear the king's colours on your surcoat, must not -make any such advance, especially at such a time as this, when Douglas, -like his father before him, hath acted the bullyboy to all Scotland." - -"The advice is good, MacLellan," said the captain with a sigh; "but -still, will not Murielle expect that I--I should--" - -"Approach her?" - -"Yes--it is the merest courtesy." - -"No; she must be aware that your place is beside the High Constable, -who, after our politic Provost here, represents the King." - -"Hush! here come the archers--some of your wild Scots of Galloway." - -"Wild though you term us," said MacLellan, laughing, "we rough -Galwegians lead the line of battle--our privilege long before the field -of Northallerton became the grave of ten thousand Scotsmen." - -The archers who headed the earl's train were now passing among the -crowd, and a band of most picturesque looking desperadoes they were. In -number about eighty, they had short bows in their hands, with swords -and axes in their broad leather girdles. They were bare-kneed and -bare-armed, with long bushy beards and thick matted hair (which had -never known a comb) falling in shaggy volumes from under little helmets -of steel. In some instances they wore caps of boiled leather, fashioned -to the shape of the head, and crossed with a wicker work of iron bands -for defence. They wore socks of untanned deerskin, and pourpoints of -coarse grey stuffs, with kilts and mantles; and here and there might -be seen one, who, by the eagle's wing in his cap, claimed to be of -gentle blood; for these hardy and rudely clad warriors were the lineal -descendants of those _wild_ Celts of Galloway, who, since Corbred -Galdus, king of Scotland, was slain by the Romans at Torhouse, had the -privilege of leading the van of the Scottish hosts in battle. - -After them came the earl's confessor, John Douglas, Abbot of Tongland -(accompanied by his crossbearer, his chaunter, and three priests), a -learned old churchman who had long favoured a very strange project for -the especial behoof of his Satanic majesty; but of this more anon. - -Next came James Douglas (by his habits surnamed _the Gross_), earl of -Abercorn and Avondale, a powerfully formed but bulky and obese man, -with eyes and mouth betokening cruelty, pride, and wickedness. He -was in full armour, with his barred visor up. He was surrounded by -esquires, pages, and lacqueys, and his horse was led, for in his hands -he bore aloft a vast cross-handled sword, with a broad wavy blade. - -This was the weapon whilome wielded in the wars of Bruce by the Black -Knight of Liddesdale, "The Flower of Chivalry;" and now it was borne as -a palladium, or sword of state, before his more aspiring descendant. - -Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond, similarly accoutred, but in black armour -engraved with gold, bore the banner of his chief, a wilderness of -heraldic blazonry--azure, argent, or, and gules; but above all, over -Galloway, Avondale, Longoville, and Touraine, shone the bloody heart -of glorious memory--the symbol of that god-like heart which beat in -victory at Bannockburn, and lay cold with the "Good Sir James," amid -the Moorish host of Teba. It was topped with an imperial crown and the -three stars; the paternal coat of Douglas, with the motto--"_Jamais -arrière_." - -By his side rode Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld, and Sir Alan -Lauder, of the Bass, who had borne the young earl's vain-glorious and -unwise embassy to France. - -Eight knights of the surname of Douglas, who had won their spurs -where _then_ spurs only could be won, in battle, to wit, the Lairds -of Glendoning, Strabrock, Pompherston, Pittendreich, Douglasburn, -Cairnglas, Braidwood, and Glenbervie, all horsed and armed alike, -the sole difference being the heraldic cadence of descent on their -splendidly embroidered jupons and horse-trappings, bore on the points -of their lances a canopy of blue silk tasselled and fringed with silver. - -Under this princely canopy, the earl and countess--so the people -preferred to call them, rather than the duke and duchess of -Touraine--rode side by side on white horses. - -They were very youthful, for the husband was only seventeen, and his -wife a year older; but they had a stature and a bearing far beyond -their ages. - -"The Fair Maid of Galloway," as she was still named, though a wedded -wife, was a dark-haired, black-eyed, and beautiful girl of a proud and -imperious aspect, nor could the grace of her lovely head and neck be -hidden by the grotesque horned head-gear which towered above her young -brow and waved upon her shoulders, glittering with gold and spangles. -She wore a long dark yellow riding robe, trimmed with black wolf's -fur, and having hanging tabard sleeves, under which could be seen the -sleeves of her inner dress, which was cloth of silver, for this was the -age of profusion. - -The boy-earl, her husband, wore a suit of light-tilting armour, which, -though polished as bright as new silver, was almost concealed by his -jupon, which was cloth of gold. His helmet was borne by the page who -led his horse; and his dark curls and swarthy visage glowing with -youth, pride, and satisfaction, his dark sparkling eyes and haughty -bearing evinced, how, like his cousin and wife, he inherited the blood -of the Black Lord of Liddesdale. - -When the people saw this handsome young noble and his lovely countess -riding thus side by side in all the flush of youth, the pride of rank, -and feudal splendour, under that gorgeous canopy upborne by those eight -gold-belted and gold-spurred knights of high degree, they forgot and -forgave all the wrongs and oppressions they had committed, and prayed -aloud "that God and St. Mary might sain them and bless them;" but when -young Lord David came, riding beside Lady Murielle, and holding the -bridle of her pretty bay palfrey, the hushed applause broke forth, -for, as a younger sister and unwedded maid she had no canopy over her -charming head, so the sunshine of heaven fell freely on her fair young -brow, which had no horned head-dress to conceal it, but only a little -blue silken hood and a golden caul to confine her beautiful hair. - -Gray and MacLellan bowed low and kissed their ungloved hands to the -sisters as they passed. - -Both ladies changed colour for a moment, but the youngest most deeply -and painfully, for she at first grew very pale. Those who were acute in -noting such indications of inward emotion might have discovered nothing -save vexation or annoyance in the eyes of the countess, and the flush -of tremulous pleasure in the returning blush of Murielle, on suddenly -meeting a lover whom she had not seen for many months. But the pallor -of one and the flush of the other were keys to greater secrets. "Thank -heaven, her companion is only that simpleton, little Lord David," said -Gray, as his eyes followed hers; "when I saw by her side a gallant so -bravely apparelled, I thought your croak about fickleness was about to -prove prophetic, MacLellan." - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE SISTERS. - - Her lips were a cloven honey cherrie, - So tempting to the sight; - Her locks owre alabaster brows - Fell like the morning light. - And, oh! the breeze it lifted her locks, - As through the dance she flew; - While love laugh'd in her bonny blue ee, - And dwell'd in her comely mou'. - - THE LORDS' MARIE. - - -A long train of nearly two thousand mounted spearmen, drawn from the -Douglas estates in Lanarkshire and Galloway made up this splendid -"following," as such a retinue was then termed; and as they wound up -the long vista of the crowded street, Gray contrived to place his horse -close to the bay palfrey of Murielle, and in a moment they exchanged -a deep glance and a pressure of the hand, which explained what--in -that age of little writing and no post offices--they had hitherto been -unable to tell, that both were steadfast and true to the troth they had -plighted at the three thorn trees of the Carlinwark on a moonlit St. -John's Eve, when the countess thought her little sister was asleep in -her lofty turret at Thrave. - -"Do you pass forward to the castle to-night?" he asked Lord David, -while fixing his glance on Murielle, for the question related to her. - -"No!" replied the little lord, with haughty reserve. - -"Whither then?" asked Gray, while a shade of annoyance crossed his -handsome face. - -"To the house of our kinsman, the abbot of Tongland; does that please -you?" - -"Good, my lord, I shall there pay my respects to the earl--and make all -speed." - -"Oh pray Sir Patrick, do not hurry yourself," was the jibing reply. - -"Till then, God be wi' you," said Sir Patrick, checking his horse. - -"Adieu," added Murielle, with another of her quiet glances; but the -lord, her cousin, turned bluntly away, as the king's soldier wheeled -his horse round, and with mingled love and anger in his heart remained -aloof till the brilliant train passed on. - -A group of handsome girls, nearly all of the surname of Douglas, Maud -of Pompherston, Mariota of Glendoning, and others, accompanied Margaret -and Murielle, as _dames d'honneur_, or ladies of the tabourette, to be -educated and accomplished for the positions they were destined to fill -in the world: "To be reared to gifts and graces, to silk embroidery, to -ritual observances," and the courtly art of winning high-born husbands, -in the household of the duchess of Touraine. - -These girls managed their horses with grace, they were all beautiful -and gay, but the two sisters of Thrave far exceeded them, though their -loveliness differed like the tints of spring and summer. - -Murielle's beauty was in some respects inferior to that of her proud -and imperious sister, but it was of a more winning and delicate -character. Though there were scarcely two years between them, Margaret -seemed quite a woman, while Murielle was still girl-like, and in her -merrier moods at times almost childish. - -The abbot of Tongland relates in his writings, that when Lady Murielle -was born at Thrave, she was so lovely a child that lest the fairies -might steal her away, and leave in her cradle a bunch of reeds in her -likeness, her mother secretly consecrated her to God; but convents were -already on the decline, and old Earl Archibald of Douglas and Touraine, -as her tutor, could not brook the idea with patience. - -"And what news had Sir Patrick Gray?" asked the countess, coldly, as -her horse came close to Murielle's during a stoppage caused by the -pressure of the crowd. - -"No news; nothing," replied Murielle, timidly, for her sister, from -infancy, had insidiously usurped an authority over her, which habit had -confirmed. - -"Did he not speak?" asked Margaret imperiously. - -"He merely made cousin David and me a reverence; little more, and -passed on." - -"After assuring himself, however, where he might be able to see _you_ -to-night," added cousin David. - -"Are you not happy, Margaret, to find these citizens of the king -receive us so well?" said Murielle, to change the subject. - -"Dare they receive us otherwise?" asked the countess, while the eight -bearded knights who bore her canopy exchanged approving smiles under -their uplifted visors. - -"Sister!" - -"Well, sister! These baillies and deacons in their holiday gaberdines -and worsted hosen--these websters and makers of bonnets and -daggers--these grimy fourbissers, lorimers, and dalmaskers of iron, -with their carlins in curchies and plaids, do well and wisely to cringe -and vail their bonnets to-day." - -"Wherefore?" - -"Have we not two thousand horse marshalled under our banner?" said the -young earl, who shared to the full the emotions of the haughty girl, -his wife. - -"True, my lord and cousin; but they might, like dour carles, bite their -thumbs, and scowl at us from under their bonnets, for all our bravery," -replied Murielle. - -"'Tis a beautiful horse that roan of Sir Patrick Gray," said the earl; -"and its housings are----" - -"Gules and or," interrupted Murielle, for then all well-bred people -knew the science of heraldry. - -"His own colours, of course, and _not_ the king's," said the countess, -with an artful smile; "you laugh lightly, Murielle, because you love -that man." - -"Is it a sign of love to be merry?" asked Murielle, softly, while her -fine eyes dilated with wonder. - -"Nay, sister, 'tis more often a sign of love to be sad, and sad enough -you were at times in Thrave. But please God and St. Bryde, dear -Murielle, even in these stormy times, no cloud shall cast a shadow on -any love of yours." - -"Even if he be the Captain of the King's Guard," said little Lord -David, with the spirit of a mischievous boy. His cousin coloured with -an air of annoyance, but said smilingly, while holding up a tiny -finger, "Oh fie, Davie, you had almost said----" - -"The captain of our enemy's band of hirelings," said the fiery young -earl, interrupting her; "and, under the royal favour, he would have -said right. I know, sweet cousin, what my brother _thinks_, however he -may speak, or not speak." - -This unpleasant turn to the conversation caused the timid Murielle -to shrink within herself, and the little lord was beginning to laugh -maliciously when a sudden brawl ensued in the crowd, and Sir Malcolm -Fleming, of Cumbernauld, on finding his horse incommoded by a group of -magistrates and deacons, daringly struck one of the former on the head -with the shaft of his lance, exclaiming, "Back, sirrah, back! By St. -Bryde, I will rend the auld carle's beard frae his jaws!" - -"A Douglas! a Douglas!" cried a horseman in a _closed_ helmet, pressing -briskly forward. - -This man was Abercorn's creature, James Achanna, who, with his poleaxe, -was ready to strike on _both_ sides to ferment a brawl, by which the -grand _coup_ in the castle on the morrow might be anticipated. - -"Armour--rescue!" cried a number of the armed craftsmen, pressing also -forward with swords drawn and partizans lowered menacingly, as they -were justly indignant at an affront offered to one of their magistrates. - -A tumult would undoubtedly have ensued, for Lord David had drawn his -little sword, and the young earl only laughed as if it were sport to -see his knights maltreat the burghers, but the rising fray was quelled -by his confessor, the politic old abbot of Tongland, who pushed his -horse between the belligerents, and while waving a benison to the -people with his right hand, by his left arrested the threatening lance -of the irate laird of Cumbernauld. So thus the matter happily ended, -and with this single untoward affair the earl and his train reached -the town mansion of the abbot, which stood within spacious gardens on -the southern slope of the Canongate, the way that led to the abbey of -Holyrood; for as yet, the latter was simply an abbey house and church, -and not until sixty-four years after was a royal residence added to -the sacred edifice which King David (in honour of the fabled miracle -by which his life was saved) founded of old, in the wild part of the -forest, which was then nameless, or simply described as "the hollow -between two hills." - -"You look weary, sister," said the countess, as the earl kindly and -gallantly lifted Murielle from her saddle in the court-yard of the -abbot's house. - -"The long journey of the day has tired me, but after a sound sleep I -shall be fresh for morning mass in St. Giles to-morrow; for is not -to-morrow the vigil of St. Catharine?" - -"And the day of our banquet with the King, the Regent, and Chancellor." - -"Alake that such trust should be!" muttered Sir Malcolm Fleming under -his long white moustache. - -"What, art croaking again, stout Cumbernauld?" said the earl, laughing; -"who can say but the young king may fall in love with our Murielle, and -make her queen of Scotland?" - -The Douglas knights loudly applauded the surmise. - -"How bright the sunset falls on yonder hill," said Murielle, colouring -with annoyance; "how is it named?" - -"Arthur Seat," replied Lord David. - -"See how the rays fade upward, from rock to rock and rift to rift, as -the sun sinks. It makes me think o our Galloway song," said Murielle, -always a creature of impulse, as she kissed her sister and sang:-- - - "A weary bodies blythe when the sun gaes down, - A weary bodies blythe when the sun gaes down; - To smile wi' his wife and to dawt wi' his weans: - Wha wouldna be blythe when the sun gaes down?" - -"Are you crazed, Murielle," said the Countess, with a smile of disdain, -"to lilt thus before grooms and lacqueys?" - -But the bearded knights of Galloway, who had now relinquished the silk -canopy to their pages, laughed gaily and praised Murielle, whose charms -and playfulness ever won the hearts of all. - -The earl's numerous retainers stowed themselves away in the city, -where they filled with noise and tumult all the hostelries which had -been established by the late King James I.; while the buffoons, in -parti-coloured caps and doublets, the plaided pipers, and bearded -harpers, who had followed them, made the streets, which, after vespers, -were usually quiet, a scene of continual mumming, with alternate music -and discord, as they danced by torchlight before groups of citizens, -who loitered at their forestairs, galleries, and arcades; and so the -night of the 22nd November closed in, while the Regent's followers kept -the gates of the castle securely guarded. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE ABBOT'S HOUSE. - - Now gleams the moon on Arthur's mighty crest, - That dweller in the air abrupt and lone; - Hush'd is Edina in her nightly rest, - But hark! there comes a sweet and solemn tone, - The lingering strains that welled in ages gone. - - -The mind of Sir Patrick Gray was oppressed by vague doubts and -apprehensions of--he knew not what. That the earl and countess were -colder to him than when last they met he was painfully conscious by -their absurdly haughty bearing, by the increased timidity of Murielle, -and the undisguised petulance of her kinsman, perhaps her lover, the -young Lord David. - -Gray's love for Murielle was now no secret to the earl's powerful -family, but being a poor younger son of the baron of Foulis, it was, as -he bitterly knew, a matter of jest among the Douglases; for his whole -inheritance were his sword and spurs, which he had won at the battle of -Piperden, where the English, under Henry, earl of Northumberland, were -defeated by the Scots under William Douglas, earl of Angus. - -Moreover, Sir Patrick, by education, habit, and thought, was a staunch -and loyal adherent of the young king, James II., as he had been of his -father, who was so barbarously murdered at Perth; and thus, inspired -by love and doubt, hope and fear, presuming upon the friendship of the -abbot of Tongland, with whom he could "count kindred," through the -MacLellans of Bombie, he presented himself at his mansion in the dusk, -and was immediately ushered into the hall, or chamber of dais, where, -as supper was over, a brilliant group, or rather several groups, were -assembled. - -The house of the abbot of Tongland (a wealthy monastery on the banks -of the Dee, founded during the reign of David I., by Fergus, lord of -Galloway, on his wedding the daughter of Henry, king of England,) was -a quaint edifice, one portion of which had crow-stepped gables, and -the other a battlement with singularly grotesque gurgoils, through the -gaping mouths of which the rain had been disgorged upon the passers-by -for centuries. An arch and great oak gate, furnished with a giant risp -or tirling-pin of iron, guarded by six loopholes of warlike aspect, -gave access to the house and its gardens, which sloped south towards -the craigs of Salisbury. - -The usual quiet and seclusion of the abbot's mansion were changed on -this night for bustle, noise, and light; a crowd of pages, grooms, -lacqueys, and armed men led saddled horses to and fro, or loitered -about the entrance, while flakes of ruddy light fell through the deep -windows of the chamber of dais upon the green shrubbery and the few -flowers which still lingered since the last days of autumn. - -This chamber was a veritable hall, such as might have graced a baron's -castle. It had many niches or ambres of carved stone, a vast gothic -fireplace, to the clustered pillars of which the fire-irons were -_chained_ in the old Scottish fashion, to prevent their being too -readily used in brawls, and on the lintel was inscribed, in antique -letters, the legend,-- - - Laus et honor Deo. - -On the hearth a fire of coal and oak-roots from the Figgate-muir was -blazing cheerily. - -In this chamber, the lordly abbot had feasted four years before the -papal legate, Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini, bishop of Trieste, afterwards -Pope Pius II., and it was on that occasion that the latter so wittily -remarked, with an irreverent wink to the abbot of Melrose, "that if -there was a great reason for prohibiting the marriage of priests, there -was a much greater for _permitting_ it." - -The doors were oak carved with legends and monograms; the floor -also was of oak, roughly dressed with the hatchet and secured with -broad-headed nails, all the bright heads of which were visible, as it -was not carpetted, but only strewn with fresh rushes from the Hunter's -Bog. The walls were comfortably wainscotted up to where the vaulted -roof rose in the form of an arch, and there the stone-work was covered -by distorted figures, representing old legends connected with the abbey -of Tongland. - -The sleek and portly abbot was seated near the fire in a lofty chair, -the back of which bore a carved mitre, and he was conversing easily and -pleasantly with all his guests in turn, for he was a benign and amiable -old prelate with a bald head, a rubicund and somewhat unmeaning visage, -and twinkling eyes half hidden by wrinkles and fat. - -Two chairs of state opposite were occupied by the earl and countess of -Douglas. On tabourettes near them were seated Murielle and a group of -ladies. Several gentlemen all richly dressed were loitering near them, -for they were conversing gaily and variously employed--at chess, or the -game of Troy; and on the silks, velvets, jewels, and cloth of gold and -silver, of which their costumes were composed, the glow of the fire -fell brightly, together with the light of twenty great candles, which -flared in sconces of brass hung round the walls on tenter-hooks. - -The stomacher of the countess-duchess was entirely covered with native -pearls, for those found in the Scottish streams were held to be of -great value. Among the costly jewels lost by Henry V., when his camp -was plundered at Agincourt, Rymer mentions _una perula Scotiæ_; and -only a few years before the date of our story, James I presented to -Æneas Sylvius, the Roman legate, _one_, which is now in the papal crown. - -Before her sweet face, pretty Murielle was manoeuvring her fan, quite -as skilfully as any of her countrywomen might do at the present day; -and through the sticks of it, her merry and soft violet eyes peeped -from time to time at a handsome and soldier-like man, who wore a -crimson velvet pourpoint, with a steel gorget, a gold belt, and hanging -sleeves of yellow silk. He was Sir Patrick Gray, the captain of the -guard. While talking gravely of "the growing heresies of John Huss and -Paul Crawer," he seemed to be entirely occupied with the countess of -Ormond, before whom he knelt on one knee, and for whom he was winding -and unwinding several balls of brightly coloured silk and golden -thread, which she was using while embroidering a missal cover, for -the ladies of those days were never idle; but in his abstraction, or -pre-occupation with Murielle, he made many a provoking knot, which the -little white fingers of the lovely countess required all their cunning -to unravel. - -His love for Murielle had brought him hither uninvited; and he felt -(like his kinsman, MacLellan) that he was among the enemies of the -king his master, and of the government; while the coldness with which -the boy-noble and the girl-countess treated him filled his heart with -sorrow and anger. - -The scraps of conversation he heard all savoured of hostility to James -and to his ministers, with dark hints of daring and ulterior political -projects, as yet undeveloped and apparently obscure. - -He was aware that Earl James of Abercorn, Earl Hugh of Ormond, Sir -Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and other kinsmen of the Douglases -viewed him with undisguised aversion; and while he continued to play -with the balls of thread, and utter pleasant commonplaces to the ladies -near, those four personages were standing aloof in a corner, leaning on -their swords, which were somewhere about five feet long, "nursing their -wrath to keep it warm," and wishing they had the captain of the king's -guard on a solitary hill-side, or even in the street without. - -"And this Livingstone--I beg pardon, _Sir_ Alexander Livingstone, Laird -of Callender--a mere baron," he heard the earl of Douglas say to the -abbot; "by what warrant or right is such a man as _he_ regent of the -realm?" - -"I have heard your noble father ask the same question often, with the -same tone--ay, and with the same sombre gloom in his eye, my lord," -replied the abbot evasively. - -"Well--know you by what right?" reiterated the young noble bitterly, -giving vent to the hatred his dead father had carefully and unceasingly -inspired and fostered. - -"Is it hereditary?" asked the abbot gently. - -"Assuredly not." - -"Then how came Livingstone to have the regency?" - -"'Twas given by parliament and the nation." - -"Hence his _right_," said the abbot, smiling at obtaining the very -reply he wished; but the petulant young earl rasped the rowels of his -gold spurs furiously on the hearth, for these quiet answers from the -"keeper of his conscience" galled and fretted him. - -"Well, the time is come for the nobles, the barons, and others to -reconsider that too-hastily given right," said the countess; "for what -is he, or what is this Lord Chancellor, that earls and chiefs are to -veil their bonnets in their presence?" - -The abbot, who dreaded the violence of the young countess more than -the temper of her husband (who was not exactly a lamb), was prudently -silent; but she was determined to force an answer from him, and said -bluntly, "Speak, abbot, you are silent!" - -"Pardon me, lady, I was thinking of Plutarch. Know you what he said?" - -"How should I know, Lord Abbot," said Margaret, while her black eyes -sparkled with annoyance; "was he a heretic like Paul Crawer, or a -magician like Michael Scott, with an urchin or prickly hedgehog for a -familiar?" - -"Why ask you all this?" "Because the name sounds cabalistic to a -Scottish ear," said Margaret, crossing and fanning herself. - -"He was a scholar--and yet an unfortunate pagan, for he knew not of St. -Nicholas, the patron of scholars." - -"But _what_ said he?" - -"That '_love and hatred corrupt the truth of everything_,' and he -thought profoundly, madam, for verily they do. Yet if our holy father -at Rome will but listen to my prayer, ere long hatred and evil shall -exist on earth no more; but all men shall live and die in peace and -goodwill one with another--even unto the end of time." - -The young earl smiled disdainfully, and relapsed into gloomy silence, -for he knew that his father confessor referred to a strange project -which he had long cherished, and concerning which he had seriously -pestered the late Roman Legate, Æneas Sylvius--that the Pope Eugene -IV., as head of the Church and "vicegerent of heaven upon earth," would -intercede for the fallen angel, to have him forgiven and received once -more into divine favour, to the sublime end that all evil in the world -would henceforth cease; for the good old clergyman, in his largeness of -heart, like his poetic countryman in after years, felt that he could -even forgive the devil, when he thought - - Auld Nickey Ben, - Maybe ye'll tak a thocht and mend. - -But poor Pope Eugene was too much bothered and embroiled by the -untractable council of Basle, to attend at that time to the mighty -crotchets of the abbot of Tongland. - -"Patience yet awhile, my son," said the benevolent abbot, crossing -to the young earl and caressing his curly black hair; "when I have -the Master of Evil forgiven, and restored to the place from whence he -fell, the lusts of the flesh will be effectually prevented from warring -against the spirit of grace. _Sit nomen Domini benedictum!_" - -But the earl remained obstinately silent, with his dark eyes fixed on -the fire, as if the gloomy future might be traced amid its glowing -embers. - -His kinsman, John of Abercorn, smiled coldly, for by _his_ secret -connivance many said this visit to the court had been planned; while -the grim and turbulent lairds of Biggar and the Bass grasped their -long swords with an air that seemed to say, the peaceful and holy -days of the abbot's hopes were yet a long way off, and that the devil -was likely, as he has ever done, to poke his nose for a long time in -Scottish affairs; but a sad and sombre frown was in their eyes, for -this journey of their chief to Edinburgh had been undertaken in direct -opposition to all their entreaties, advice, and forebodings. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -MURIELLE. - - Sweet love! sweet lines! sweet life! - Here is her hand, the agent of her heart; - Here is her oath for love, her honour's power: - Oh that our fathers would applaud our loves, - To seal our happiness with their consents. - - TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. - - -An hour passed without Gray finding an opportunity for addressing more -than the merest commonplaces to Murielle, yet his mind, even when -conversing with others, was so full of her image, that the very rustle -of her dress made his heart beat quicker; and he could see her form, -face, and expression as distinctly as he heard her voice in fancy -for ever, when she was absent; and the ribbon she had taken from her -breast, and given him to wear in his bonnet, was a gift more prized -than a royal crown. - -Their eyes were eloquent although their tongues were mute, for "their -natures had so gradually blended into each other that, like two tints -of the rainbow, the lines between them would soon become so extinct, -that a separation would be the destruction of both." - -But the Countess Margaret had a secret grudge at our captain of the -guard, and it arose from this circumstance. - -Prior to her marriage, and almost from her childhood, she had been a -practised coquette, who had won many a brave and noble heart with a -facility which her rank increased--but won only to cast them from her -when tired of them, as she had done her dolls and toys when a girl, or -her jewels, dresses, flowers, and baubles in riper years. They had -served to beguile a day, a week, a month, those human playthings, and -that was all she cared for. - -Sir Patrick Gray had proved rebelliously insensible to her beauty of -form, her gaiety, and brilliance of conversation, for he loved little -Murielle, and hence the more gorgeous Margaret had an additional -cause to treasure a pique at him; and having _other_ views regarding -her sister, she now, in revenge, permitted him to fan his love with -hope, ere it would be crushed for ever, by her marriage to one as yet -unnamed. Hence the malicious smile, which curled her beautiful lip, as -she looked at them from time to time, on the night we are describing. - -Gray and MacLellan confessed to each other that two sisters more -charming could scarcely be met. - -Murielle's face was pale, her features were delicate, and her eyes of -that deep hue, alternating between hazel and violet, which seemed black -at night. Her hands and arms were lovely in their form and delicacy. - -Then Margaret was so stately and queen-like, pure and cold as marble, -save when excited (which was not unfrequent), distant and proudly -reserved at one time--full of fire and passion at another. Tall and -beautifully formed, her hair and eyes were of the deepest jet, to -which the purity of her complexion formed a singular contrast; while -a softness was imparted at times to her otherwise haughty expression -by her long and thick eye-lashes, which she could drop with the most -skilful coquetry. - -The face and eyes of Murielle, though less striking, had a strange -charm, as they brightened, deepened, and seemed to _grow_ in beauty, -one knew not why or how; but it was the indescribable charm of -_expression_. - -The old abbot, finding his efforts to amuse his fiery and feudal -friends a somewhat arduous task (as they were all inspired by jealous, -ambitious, or angry thoughts), came in despair to Murielle, who was his -favourite, and who loved him as a daughter would have done. - -"Your harp is here; sing us something, my lady daughter," said he; "a -song of our wild Galloway hills--or a Lowland ballad, if you prefer -it; but do so, I pray you, for clouds are gathering in your kinsmen's -faces, and I know that your sweet voice can best dispel them." - -Murielle assented with a kind smile, and in a moment, Gray, -anticipating Lord David Douglas, handed the harp to her, and in doing -so, contrived, quick as lightning, to touch and press her hand, which -made her colour slightly, as she bent over the instrument, and ran her -rapid little fingers among the strings. - -It was a clairsach, or harp of the old Scottish form, being only thirty -inches or so in height, and furnished with thirty string holes. In -front of the upper arm was the crowned heart (the Douglas cognisance), -formed of precious stones, and surrounded by minute inlaying of -mother-of-pearl. - -"I thank you, child, for your readiness," said the abbot, patting her -pretty shoulder, "and in my turn, though I may not sing now at my -years, I shall tell you a legend of the olden time, which was told me -by an aged monk of Tongland, now asleep with his fathers in the abbey -kirkyard." - -"A bribe, my lord, to make me hasten with my song," said Murielle, -smiling in the old man's face. - -"And to make it as brief as possible," added the impatient Margaret. - -"Say not so, countess," said the abbot, "we will not tire readily of -Lady Murielle's voice." - -"A churchman turned a gallant in his old age!" - -"Your sister is fortunate, lady, in the best gifts of heaven," -continued the abbot, "and must have been born--" - -"Under a fortunate star, you would say?" - -"Yes, countess, if such things exist." - -"Nay," said Murielle, laughing, "I had a kind fairy for a godmother, -like the good princesses of the old romance." - -Then in the chaunting cadence adopted by the singers of those days, -she sang the four-and-thirty verses of the old ballad of "Sir Hugh le -Blonde," a knight of the Mearns--but with these we will not inflict the -reader. - -It told of how the subtile Rodinghame made love to a fair coquette, who -was queen of Scotland; and how, when she repelled him, in revenge he -put a leper man in her bower chamber. Then came the proud and jealous -king, who, on finding him in such a place, ordered the queen to be -burned at a stake, unless she could find a champion to do battle with -Rodinghame, her traducer, but such was the terror of his prowess that -none appeared; the day of doom came; the hapless queen was bound to a -stake, and the torch was about to be applied, when Sir Hugh le Blonde, -in his armour, sprang forward, and lifted the gage of Rodinghame. - -They fought long and desperately, but Sir Hugh slew the accuser, after -forcing him to confess his treachery. Thus the queen was restored once -more to favour and honour, to the joy of her husband and all his court. - -In gratitude to her preserver, - - Then said the queen unto the king, - "Arbuthnot's near the sea; - Oh yield it to the northern knight - Who fought this day for me!" - - "Yes," said our king, "and thou, Sir Knight, - Come, quaff this cann of wine; - Arbuthnot's but a baronie, - We'll to it Fordoun join." - -Thus the descendants of Sir Hugh became lords of Arbuthnot and Fordoun; -the sword with which he defended the queen was long preserved by the -viscounts of his family, and his helmet was hung in the church of -Garvoch, which, in 1282, he bestowed upon the monks of Arbroath for the -safety of his soul, and in memory of his victory. - -"How like you the song?" asked Abercorn of the countess. - -"Well," she replied, with a dark smile; "because it acts as bird-lime." - -"Bird-lime," said he, with a perplexed smile; "how?" - -"For the king's popinjay," replied the countess, waving her fan towards -Sir Patrick Gray; but the ballad was suited to the fashion and spirit -of the age, and as Murielle's voice was soft and low, it mingled -sweetly with the rippling notes of her little harp. - -In the olden time, by ballads and stories the nights were usually -passed before bed-time; and thus, after some well-bred compliments had -been uttered on her performance, Murielle relinquished her harp to Sir -Patrick (who achieved one more pressure of a pretty hand), and turned -to claim from her venerable friend the fulfilment of _his_ promise. - -"My story," said the abbot, smoothing his cassock over his ample -paunch, "relates to a time when the Spirit of Evil, he whom I hope to -turn one day to a spirit of goodness and purity (here the earl gave -a sigh of impatience), had more power in the land even than he hath -now. Yet he was conquered and put to flight by our blessed apostle St. -Andrew; and now I shall proceed to show you how the cross on which the -latter was martyred became the symbol of the Scottish nation, and why -it has been borne on our breasts and on our banners in many a righteous -battle." - -"'Tis well, Lord Abbot," said Earl James the Gross, bluntly; "I like -your ending better than your beginning, which savoured somewhat of a -sermon, and the night waxes apace." - -Then the abbot related the following miraculous story, which we give -more correctly than it will be found in the Bollandists, in the -"History of the Blessed Regulus," which was written at St. Andrew's -in 1140, in the "Golden Legend," or even in the old Gothic "Legenda -Sanctorum, post Longobardicam Historiam," because we had it from the -writings of the abbot himself. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE LEGEND OF ST. ANDREW'S CROSS. - - Some seek the Edens of the east, - Some Carrib isles explore; - The forests of the far-off west, - And Afric's savage shore. - _Still_ charms of native speech and spot, - And native springs for aye, - Will band like brothers Scot with Scot - Upon St. Andrew's day!--SCOTTISH SONG. - - -In the year 370, St. Regulus, or Rule, a holy Greek monk, who dwelt in -Petræa, a city of Achaia, and who had preserved in secret the reliques -of St. Andrew the apostle and martyr, was strangely warned by a vision, -which was repeated three nights in succession, to secure them from the -Emperor Constantius, who was coming to deprive him of his charge, and -Regulus was commanded to take them elsewhere. - -A deep and melodious voice, that seemed to come from afar, desired him -to go to the shrine wherein the reliques lay, to take therefrom an arm, -three fingers of the right hand, a tooth, and a kneebone; these he was -carefully to preserve, and to convey into a distant land in the west, -"_a region situated in the uttermost part of the world_." - -After the third vision St. Regulus obeyed. - -He placed the reliques in a box, and embarked in a small ship, taking -with him Damianus a priest, and Gelasius and Tubaculus, two deacons, -eight hermits, and three devoted virgins. - -After great toil and suffering, and after encountering many storms, -they passed Melita, where, as the Scripture tells us, St. Paul had been -of old, thence between the Pillars of Hercules, along the coasts of -Gaul and Celt-iberia; and, after traversing the sea of Almainie, were -cast on a bleak and rocky promontary of Caledonia, near where now the -spires of the fair and stately city of St. Andrew form a landmark to -the mariner. - -_Then_ the coast was wild and desolate, and was named by the painted -Picts, who dwelt there, Muick-rhos, or "peninsula of fierce boars." - -Wild woods, pathless and dense, covered it, and a stormy sea beat -drearily on its rocky shore. - -But these pilgrims having now reached, as they thought, "the -_uttermost_ part of the world," built their cells, and began to preach -and baptize, uniting their labours with those who had landed elsewhere -on Scottish ground, and so, in the fulness of time, that peninsula -became a bishopric. - -In the beginning of the ninth century, Adrian, a holy man, became first -bishop of this see of St. Andrews, where in days, then long passed -away, St. Regulus and his kuldees had founded a cell dedicated to the -Holy Virgin, about a bowshot westward from the shore, upon a sea-weedy -rock named unto this day, Our Lady's Craig. But no vestige of the -edifice remains, and the wild waves of the German Sea sweep over it -with every rising tide. - -There, in his own chapel, did St. Regulus serve God devoutly for -two-and-thirty years, and there also died Constantine III., King of -Scotland, after spending the last five years of his life as a kuldee of -Kirkrule, for so the place was also named. - -In those, the days of Adrian, Hungus, the Pictish king, granted to -God and St. Andrew that the place where the bones of the latter lay -"should be the mother church of all the churches in his kingdom," which -comprehended the entire Lowlands of Scotland, and much of what is now -called England. He laid, in proof of his gift, a _turf_ of the ceded -territory upon the high altar, and it was the _first_ instance of the -symbolical transfer of land by enfoffment in Scotland. - -Adrian, the bishop, was a man full of goodness and holiness; none -excelled him in devotion to St. Andrew, and when not preaching to the -people, he usually secluded himself on the little Isle of May, at the -mouth of the Forth, and there he always spent the forty days of Lent, -living on herbs, pure water, and fish, which he caught from the rocks -overhanging the sea. - -There he said so many prayers daily, that when he had attained his -fortieth year without having committed a single sin, the devil -spitefully resolved to work him some mischief, if such were possible; -but the entire isle whereon he dwelt had become as it were so holy, -that all the powers of hell could not prevail against him. - -Ere long the fallen angel had an opportunity, when fires were lighted -on the hills of Fife and Lothian, summoning the people to arms, when, -in the year 870, Athelstan, king of the western Saxons, a savage -warrior, who had cloven the head of his father by a single stroke of -his sword, and had committed many other inhuman atrocities, but to whom -Alfred the Great had ceded the territory of Northumberland, marched -northward with a mighty host of barbarians, intent on conquest. - -Athelstan had placed his dagger on the altar of St. John of Beverley, -as a pledge that if he conquered in the north he would enrich that -church, in testimony of his belief in the saint's patronage; and so, -after laying waste the southern portion of the Pictish territories, he -halted on the banks of the Tyne, near Haddington. - -After long vigils in the Ocean cave, where the humble and rude altar -of St. Regulus is still to be seen, the holy Adrian joined the host of -King Hungus, which numbered thirty thousand warriors, a thousand of -whom wore torques of beaten gold. He came to add the influence of his -presence, and by his prayers and ministry to propitiate heaven that -these yellow-haired invaders might be repelled. - -By a blow of the same sword with which he slew his father, Athelstan -cleft a rock near the castle of Dunbar, as a symbol that he would -conquer all the northern land; the mark, a yard in width, remains there -to this day, and was oddly enough referred to by Edward I. before Pope -Boniface, as his _best_ claim to the kingdom of Scotland! - -For aid, Hungus applied to Achaius, king of the Scots, who sent his son -Alpine with ten thousand warriors, to assist in repelling the dangerous -invaders who had now possessed themselves of all South Britain, and -founded the petty kingdoms of the Heptarchy; and thus, on the 29th -of November, the eve before St. Andrew's day, the three armies came -in sight of each other, on the banks of a little stream which flows -through a narrow, deep, and stony vale, near the pastoral hills of -Dirlton. - -There, on the eastern slope of these hills, Adrian, the bishop, set -up an altar, and said mass solemnly, with supplications for victory, -while the wild bands of King Hungus, and the wilder warriors who came -from the western mountains of the Dalriadic Scots, all clad in hauberks -and byrnes of ringed mail, were hushed in prayer, as they knelt with -bare knees on their bucklers or on the green sward, bowing all their -helmeted heads when Adrian stretched forth his hand and blessed them in -the name of his master who was in heaven. - -So night closed in, and, worn with toil, the bishop retired from the -tumultuary camp to a lonely house which was near, and there sought -repose. - -And _now_ the master of evil thought his time was come to attempt the -good man's downfall. - -Assuming the form of a beautiful woman, he appeared at the house of St. -Adrian, and sent in a messenger, saying, "there was one without who -desired to make confession." - -St. Adrian, who was at supper, sent one of the little boys who served -at his altar to say that "Killach, the Penitencer, would hear her, -having full power from himself to hear all confessions, to loose, or to -bind." - -But, although Killach was a man of great sanctity, who afterwards -succeeded Adrian in his see, she said loudly that she would reveal the -secrets of her soul to none but his master. - -St. Adrian therefore desired her to be admitted. - -On entering she, for so we must style the spirit for the time, fell -at his feet, and on being blessed by him trembled in her guilty soul; -but, on raising her veil, Adrian could not repress an exclamation of -surprise at her marvellous beauty. Her skin had the purity of snow, her -eyes were of the deepest blue, and shaded by long dark lashes, though -her hair was of a wondrously bright golden tint, and glittered like -a halo round her head. Her face and form were faultless, her stature -tall, and her motions full of grace. - -"Whence come you, daughter?" asked the saint, - -"From the land of the western Saxons," replied the spirit, in an accent -that was very alluring. - -"And _who_ are you?" - -"I am the daughter of Athelstan," she continued, weeping. - -"Of Athelstan the wicked king!" - -"Yes," and she bent her lovely face upon her hands. - -"He whose host we are to combat on the morrow?" continued the saint -with growing surprise. - -"The same." - -"How and why came you to me?" - -"He proposes to bestow me in marriage upon one of his chiefs, who is -a Pagan; but I have devoted myself to the service of Heaven, and, -escaping from his camp in secret, have cast myself upon you, as a man -of holiness and of God, to succour and to protect me against the evils -and perils of the world." - -She wept bitterly, and as she seemed faint and almost famished, the -kind bishop led her to a seat, and pressed her to join him in his -frugal supper, to take food and refreshment, and thereafter repose. - -Then the evil spirit, perceiving the advantages so rapidly won, cast -aside her head-gear, and appeared only in the long flowing weed of a -Saxon woman, with loose sleeves, which revealed the singular whiteness -of her arms and bosom; and, as supper proceeded, and the conversation -became animated, she clasped again and again to her beating heart and -her warm lips the wrinkled hand of St. Adrian with a fondness which, -with the growing splendour of her beauty, bewildered him; Adrian -became troubled, he knew not _why_, his soul seemed to tremble within -him in unison with the heart that beat in the snowy bosom beneath his -fingers, and he prayed inwardly to God and to St. Andrew, his patron, -against this new temptation, but apparently without avail. - -He had a silver cup, the gift of King Hungus, and each time, say the -legendaries, he signed the cross above it, red wine of Cyprus filled -it to the brim, but of this miraculous cup his fair guest declined to -drink, affirming that she "preferred pure water." - -Incited by her, the saint filled and emptied his cup more frequently -than was his wont; till, dazzled alike by her beauty, which seemed -strangely to increase in radiance, her wit and helplessness, he felt -as if madness were coming over him, for his inward prayers availed him -nothing, and ere long he seemed to lose the power of remembering them. - -Suddenly a loud knock rang on the door of the house, and Killach, the -Penitencer, came hastily to announce that an aged pilgrim, who had come -from afar, desired to speak with the bishop of St. Andrew's. - -"How far hath he come?" asked the lady, laughing. - -"From Bethsaida, a village by the sea of Galilee, where he and his -brother Peter were fishermen." - -On hearing the birth-place of the apostles named, the evil spirit -trembled; but the bewildered bishop said, while turning to his -beautiful guest--"Tell the palmer I shall see him at some other time; -after so long a journey he must need rest." - -But again the pilgrim knocked and became more importunate; then Adrian, -fired by the wine he had taken, and dazzled by the beauty at his side, -seemed to lose alike his charity and humility amid the snares of the -devil, for he commanded the insolent pilgrim to be cast forth upon the -highway. - -"Nay, nay," said the golden-haired damsel, running her white fingers -through his snowy beard, "let us amuse ourselves with him, for these -palmers are quaint fellows." - -"Is it your pleasure, fair lady," said Adrian, taking her hand in his, -"that I should permit him to interrupt us?" - -"No--but let us jest with him; for I know well that these palm-bearing -pilgrims are sad rogues at times. Ask him some puzzling questions, and -if he answers them, admit him." - -"Agreed," said the bishop, draining another goblet, and as her laughter -seemed very infectious, he joined her in a peal of such merriment, -that old Killach, the Penitencer, trembled in his cassock; "propose a -question, sweet lady, for you surpass all in wit as well as in beauty." - -"Inquire of him what is the greatest marvel in the smallest space made -by God." - -Killach went forth and propounded this strange question. - -"The faces of mankind and the leaves of the trees; for no two of either -are alike in the world," replied the poor pilgrim, who stood without -the door of the chamber, bending wearily on a knotted staff, and -shivering in the night air, though clad in a long blackweed, his cowl -hung over his eyes and his white beard flowed over his breast. - -"A fair response," replied the beautiful lady, gaily, caressing more -tenderly the bishop's hand with her velvet-like fingers, while her -bright eyes beamed into his, and the night currents blew her perfumed -hair across his face; "pray ask him next, what is higher than heaven." - -"He who made it," replied the pilgrim, bowing low. Then the evil spirit -trembled, but again asked merrily: - -"What is the distance from heaven to the base of the bottomless pit?" - -"Ask that question of _thyself_, who hast measured the distance to the -full, which _I_ never did--thou accursed spirit!" replied the pilgrim -furiously, beating thrice on the door with his staff, whereupon, with -a shrill shriek, the Devil vanished from the side of the terrified -bishop; but his conqueror remained for a time unmoved, and then quietly -disappeared, seeming to melt away before the eyes of those who saw him. - -Then Adrian fell upon his knees and returned thanks to heaven, and to -his patron, St. Andrew, for escaping this last and most subtle snare of -the evil one. - -But now he found that the morning was far advanced; that already the -combined armies of the Northern kings were meeting the hordes of -Athelstan in the shock of battle; and so the sainted bishop came forth -with a more than usually humble and contrite heart, and, attended by -his crossbearer and followers, ascended an eminence in view of the -field, and then he knelt down to pray for victory over the Saxons. - -There in the hollow, through which the Peffer flowed among groves of -oak towards the sea, the roar of battle rang--the tumultuous shouts -and yells of triumph or agony, as Scot and Pict, or the yellow-haired -Saxon, closed in mortal strife; the twanging of bows, the trampling of -horses, the clash of axes, swords, and maces swung on ringing bucklers; -or, as the ghisarma of the Saxon, the long tuagh of the Celt, clove -hauberk of rings, or helmet of steel; and amid the carnage, wherever -death and slaughter were deepest, rode the royal parricide, the -terrible Athelstan; "of earls the lord, of heroes the bracelet giver," -as the harpers who sang his praises styled him; but he was fated never -again to hear their adulous strains, or see his wooden halls of Jorvik, -or York as it is named now. - -Despite the valour of King Hungus and his auxiliaries, the Saxons, -among whom were many thousand southern Britons, forced to military -service and slavery, were gradually gaining the victory, and the Scots -and Picts were giving way, when lo! - -Across the eastern quarter of the blue firmament there suddenly came -a thunder cloud, the hues of which alternated between deep black and -brilliant purple, though its ragged borders gleamed with golden tints. -Lightning was seen to flash behind it, while hoarse thunder hurtled -athwart the noonday sky, and sank growling into the estuary of the -Forth, beyond the Isle of May. - -Then the cloud opened, and amid a blaze of such light as that which -dazzled Saul on his way to Damascus, there shone above the Scottish -host, with an effulgence that made their serried helmets outshine the -rays of the sun, the figure of St. Andrew the Apostle, on his cross, -the two trees tied like the letter X, to which he had been bound, when -scourged to death at Petræa, in Achaia. - -Then St. Adrian lifted up his eyes, and knew in him the pilgrim of the -blackweed; the same stranger who on the preceding night had saved him -from the snares of the evil one, and falling on his knees, he bowed his -silver hairs in the dust. - -When he looked again, cloud, figure, and cross had passed away; but -inspired by this miraculous omen of victory, the Scots and Picts rushed -with new vigour on the Saxons, who were soon defeated, and with -dreadful slaughter. - -Athelstan was unhorsed by King Hungus, who slew him on the north bank -of the Peffer, at a place named unto this day _Athelstansford_. The -Picts buried him on the field; but his head was borne upon a spear to -an islet of the Forth, where it was fixed for a time, and the place was -long named, from that circumstance, Ardchin-nichun, or "the head of the -highest."[1] - -From that day St. Andrew became the patron of the Scots and Picts, who -put his cross upon their banners, and the badges of the former, the -_thistle_, and of the latter, the _rue_, were interwoven in the collar -of the Knights of the most Ancient Order of the Thistle, instituted in -honour of this victory; and in memory of the apostles their number is -restricted to the reigning sovereign and twelve companions. - -Upon the cathedral of St. Andrew, Hungus bestowed "a case of gold for -preserving the reliques of the saint, many chalices and basons, the -image of Christ in gold, and those of the apostles in silver," and -the bishop Adrian toiled more than ever in the service of God and -his patron, until the year 882, when some Danish rovers attacked his -hermitage on the Isle of May, and barbarously slew him with all his -followers. - -His coffin, of stone, is still lying there, and the fishermen of the -Forth aver that at times a wondrous light shines from it. He passed -away in the odour of sanctity, and Killach the Penitencer succeeded him -as second bishop of the see. - -Such is the legend of the cross of St. Andrew, and how it became the -cognizance of the Scottish nation. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[Footnote 1: Now Inchgarvie. Athelstan's grave was opened in 1832. His -coffin was composed of five large pieces of freestone, and his bones -measured six feet in length. The coffin was thirty inches in breadth, -but only four in depth. The farm of Miracle, corrupted into _markle_, -indicates where the vision is said to have appeared; and, with the -adjacent lands, it was assigned to the culdees of St. Andrew's in -gratitude for the victory.] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -I LOVE YOU. - - I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire, - But qualify the fire's extreme rage, - Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason. - - SHAKESPEARE. - - -By the time when the garrulous old abbot had concluded his story the -night was far advanced. The lights in the sconces and the fire had -burned low, while the ladies looked pale and weary, and all who were -not in immediate attendance upon the earl and countess of Douglas, -prepared to seek their habitations in the city. - -As these were paying their several adieux, Sir Patrick Gray came close -to Murielle, and tenderly pressed her hand; but she gazed upon him with -a sad and foreboding expression. - -"Courage, Murielle, courage!" he whispered; "with strength and bravery -on my side, with equal love and goodness on yours, our mutual stedfast -faith and hope, we may yet overcome everything." - -"Even the prejudices of my sister?" - -"Ay, even the hatred, for such it is, of your sister,--the sombre pride -and wrath of that fierce boy her husband." - -"Oh, that it may be so!" she whispered, breathlessly; "but there are -times when I have strange fears." - -"Murielle, tide what may, remember that while life lasts I love you!" - -All they could desire to say was comprised in these three very little -words. Little they are, yet how much do they contain! The essence of -all the love speeches, love-letters, and sonnets that have been written -since the invention of letters,--since Cadmus brought his alphabet from -Phoenicia into Greece. When two lovers have said these words they can -only repeat them. - -"_I love you!_" They have nothing more to say. The countess, ever -watchful, had observed this brief conference, and though anger sparkled -in her deep, dark eyes, she veiled it under a bright smile, and, -closing her fan, gave her pretty hand to Gray, who bowed and kissed it, -though the petulant earl coldly turned from him, saying:-- - -"Sir Patrick, fare you well until to-morrow." - -"_Until to-morrow_," added the earl of Abercorn, with one of the -strange smiles which curled his thin white lips at times, as Gray and -MacLellan retired together, after gaining golden opinions in the ranks -of the enemy,--to wit, the ladies of the hostile faction. - -The young Captain of the Guard had the art of pleasing all--the ladies -especially; and at such a time, when family feuds, pride, and hatred, -were rampant passions, the art was one of no small value, though in -Scotland few cared to cultivate it, for chivalry was already on the -decline. - -In society such as that in which we introduce him to the reader, he -contrived to be, or appeared to be, friendly with those who were -most averse to each other in politics and ambition; yet he neither -condescended to flatter nor dissemble, but often was prudently silent, -where to differ would have brought swords from their scabbards; and he -assented with grace and pleasure wherever he could do so with honour. - -By this system, acquired amid the dark intrigues of a turbulent court, -rather than in the camp, Sir Patrick Gray was a general favourite, -especially of the young king, who was then, as before-mentioned, in his -eleventh year, and whose preceptor he became, in all military exercises -and the sports of the field. Gray had natural tact, a knowledge of -the then limited world, and the great art of occasionally conquering -himself. - -Murielle was the stake he played for, and he never lost sight of her. - -The moon had waned, and not a star was visible in the dark November -sky, as he and MacLellan proceeded through the gloomy city towards the -fortress. - -"A moonless night, but a fine one," said Gray, wrapping his velvet -cloak about him. - -"For shooting bats or owls," added MacLellan, as he stumbled over the -rough and unpaved street. "Ay, and a night to try men's mettle if there -be witches abroad." - -"Soho!" said Gray, gaily; "we have left the most perilous witches -behind us, with old Abbot John, of Tongland; but assuredly one is safer -in a gaberlunzie's canvas gaberdine than a velvet pourpoint to-night, -when so many Douglas troopers and Annandale thieves in Johnstone grey -are abroad; and the sky is so dark that the devil, were he here, could -not see his own tail behind him." - -Unmolested, however, they reached the castle, where the portcullis was -down and all the gates secured; and where the garrison, which was -almost entirely composed of the lord chancellor's vassals, kept watch -and ward as warily as if a foreign army, and not the Douglases, had -been in the sleeping city below. - -As they entered a man passed out: he was muffled in a cloak, with -an iron salade on his head--a species of helmet, which effectually -concealed the face, but had a horizontal slit for the eyes. - -Recognizing the voice of Gray, he rubbed his thin hands together, and -smiled maliciously; for this nocturnal rambler was James Achanna, who -had just been depositing the four coffins in the vault of David's -Tower, and who seemed still to see before him, as the unconscious lover -passed gaily into the fortress, a gilt plate inscribed: "_Murielle -Douglas, qui obit 23 Novembris, A.D. 1440_." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE TWENTY-THIRD OF NOVEMBER. - - Now like a maiden-queen she will behold - To her high turrets hourly suitors come; - The East with incense and the West with gold, - Shall stand like suppliants to receive her doom. - The silver _Forth_ her own majestic flood - Shall bear her vessels like a sweeping train; - And often wish, as of their mistress proud, - With longing eyes to see her face again. - - -In sunny beauty, the 23rd of November, 1440, dawned on the green hills, -the old grey city of the Stuarts, and on the distant sea; and, as the -morning advanced, a man, who by his pale and anxious face seemed to -have passed a sleepless night, walked slowly to and fro on the paved -bartizan of King David's Tower. - -He was Sir William Crichton of that ilk--the lord chancellor of -Scotland--no sinecure office, under James II. - -The first object on which his keen eyes rested, was the slated roof -of the abbot of Tongland's lofty mansion. There pretty Murielle was -doubtless still asleep, and dreaming perhaps of her lover. - -As the time drew slowly, but surely on--the time when Crichton's -terrible project, the destruction of the leading members of the house -of Douglas by a formal yet mock trial, after luring them from their -distant stronghold into a royal fortress--his soul, though it felt -neither remorse nor wavering, could not fail to be appalled, on a full -contemplation of what _might_ be the sequel to the banquet of blood, -which he and the regent would that day hold in the great hall of the -king's principal castle. To him it seemed as if the live long night, -the wild shriek of - - "The owle eke that dethe and bode bringeth," - -(as old Chaucer has it) had rung about the castle rocks, filling the -minds of those who heard it with unpleasant forebodings--and of this -emotion Crichton was especially sensible. - -A civil war might rage around the throne, and by weakening the nation -would lay it open to the aggressive spirit and ambitious designs of the -English, who were ever wakeful to take advantage of their neighbour's -troubles. Crichton's own power, his old baronial family and numerous -kinsmen, might perish in the contest; but still the king's authority -and the dignity of the crown, which the overweening power of the earl -of Douglas, and the evil advice of his friends, endangered, would be -secured, and a final blow might be struck at the terrible Red Heart for -ever. - -As the chancellor thought of these things, his hands trembled under his -furred robe, and crystal-like beads of perspiration gathered on his -pale and prematurely-furrowed brow; but the grim preparations had been -made, even to the most minute particulars. Douglas, with his formidable -train, was already in the capital, and all parties had gone too far in -the desperate game to recede now; so Crichton prayed in his heart that -the great _end_ he had in view might sanctify the awful measures he -was about to take; and, seating himself on a stone bench, he seemed to -sink into reverie--almost prayer--while, turning to the east, where the -sun, through alternate bars of saffron and dun yet shining clouds, was -ascending in all his morning glory from the sea. - -From time to time the pale chancellor glanced at a piece of green sward -called the Butts, where the archers and the king's guard were wont to -shoot, and which was inclosed by the cordon of towers and walls which -girt the summit of the castle rock. - -On that sward a tall lady, wearing a long robe, with tabard sleeves, -and a horned head-dress, which added to the effect of her great -stature, promenaded to and fro, with her missal and rosary, while -watching a little boy, who was clad in a bright-green velvet pourpoint, -laced with gold, and whose yellow hair glittered in the morning -sunshine, as he alternately tormented and played with a pretty goshawk, -which had silver bells at its head. - -Let us, for a time, suppose ourselves there. - -That tall lady is Isabelle Ogilvie, of Auchterhouse, wife of Patrick -Lord Glammis, master of the royal household, whose son, Alexander, has -married Crichton's youngest daughter, and her young charge is James -II., king of Scotland, who laughs with boyish glee as he tosses and -plumes his pet hawk, and, all unwitting of the dark thoughts which -agitate the soul of his faithful but scheming chancellor, trains it to -pounce upon and rend a lure--a toy like a stuffed bird--which, ever and -anon, he casts into the air with a shout of merriment. - -The morning draws on apace; bells ring in spire and tower, and the -little city below (for, though a capital, it was a _little_ city then) -awakens into general life and bustle; but the chancellor still sits -there. - -Let us look, with him, over the rampart of this great tower, where his -eyes survey a scene so different from what is there to-day; and yet -Arthur's rocky cone, the hills of Fife, the fertile shores, the sandy -bays and green islets of the Forth, are all unchanged as when the first -Celtic settlers so truly named the great ridge that overlooks them -all, _Scealla-bruach Craig_, or "the rock of the beautiful view," now -corrupted into Salisbury Craigs. - -The month is November. - -The last leaves have fallen from the oak woods of Bristo, of Coates, of -Inverleith, and Drumsheugh; but the voice of the antlered stag, "the -wild buck bell," is borne at times on the passing wind that whirls the -red leaves along the grassy hollows. - -In the glen below the castle rock lie the royal gardens, where -tournaments are held, and where, in after ages, the railway train -shall send up its shriek to the ear of the sentinel five hundred feet -above. There comes no sound from it now, save the note of the plover, -or amorous coo of the cushat dove. On the long ridge, where a new city -shall spring in the eighteenth century, the farmers are finishing their -ploughing; the lowing cattle are in their yards; the sheep in their -pens, and the pigeons are clustering on the dovecots. - -Allhallow mass has been said and sung in the great cruciform church of -St. Giles the Abbot, and of St. Cuthbert in the pastoral glen below the -castle wall; and in every thatched grange and farmtown, apples have -been duly bobbed for and nuts cracked about the blazing ingle; and now -it is the vigil of St. Catharine. - -Turn with me still eastward; there, the same as ever, is the backbone -of old Edina, the High Street, covering the long ridge which terminates -at the three square Gothic spires of Holyrood Church--a broad line of -fair stone mansions, as yet undisguised by the quaint Flemish fronts -and timber galleries which came into fashion about the time of Flodden -Field. Southward descends the narrow Bow, and its tall dwellings, with -their dovecot gables and clusters of smoky chimney-stacks, many of -them bearing the iron cross of the Temple and St. John, its doorways -incrusted with legends, dates, and coats armorial of races past and -gone; its iron door-risps, with here and there a cloth tied round them, -to show that there was illness, or a woman "in travail" within. - -That grated and fortified edifice which occupies the centre of the main -street is the Prætorium of Edinburgh--a rallying point for the citizens -in time of war and tumult; and on its vaults shall arise the grim -Tolbooth of future ages. - -The bare-headed and bare-legged children that nestle on the steps -of the cross are stringing necklaces and rosaries of the red rowan -berries (that whilom grew in St. Giles's churchyard), to save them -from fairies and elves; and now they all rise in reverence to yonder -cowled friar, who hastens down to see the train of Douglas pass from -the abbot's house. - -That green slope on the south of the great church is the burial-ground -of St. Giles's:-- - - "There lie - Those who in ancient days the kingdom ruled, - The councillors of favourites of kings; - High lords, and courtly dames, and valiant chiefs, - Mingling their dust with those of lowest rank - And basest deeds, and now unknown as they." - -There sleep the great, the good, the peaceful and the turbulent, the -faithful and the false, all bent together in their quaint old coffins -and flannel shrouds, with money in their dead hands, and crosses or -chalices on their breasts. Old citizens, who remembered the long-haired -King David, passing forth with barking hound and twanging horn, in that -Rood-day in harvest, which so nearly cost him his life; and how the -fair Queen Margaret daily fed the poor at the castle-gate, "with the -tenderness of a mother;" those who had seen Randolph's patriots scale -"the steep, the iron-belted rock,"--Count Guy of Namur's Flemish lances -routed on the Burgh-muir, and wight Wallace mustering his bearded -warriors at midnight by the Figgate-burn, ere he marched to storm -Dunbar. - -That white spot above the gate of the Portsburgh is the bleached -skull of Sir Robert Graham, who was the first to plunge his dagger in -the heart of James I. It has been there since 1436, when those awful -tortures took place before the Roman legate, and filled even him with -horror. - -The lofty old mansion on the south side of the long street down which -we look from the ramparts, is the residence of the princely abbot of -Cambus Kenneth; the gilt vanes in the distance are those of a similar -edifice where dwells John Fogo, abbot of Melrose, author of a work -against the heresy of Paul Crawer, who, in 1432, was sent hither from -Bohemia, by John Huss, to preach the gospel, undeterred by the flames -to which Fogo had consigned Resby, the Englishman, thirty-two years -before. - -In the centre of the street are wooden booths, where the country folks, -in their canvas gaberdines and hoods of hodden grey, or the burgesses -in their pourpoints of good Flemish cloth, may "cheapen" ale at -sixteenpence per gallon; otherwise, the brewster or tapster shall have -a hole punched in their measures at the market-cross, where now the -women of the adjacent villages and farms are arranging their baskets -of butter and poultry for sale; and see! there, at this moment, come -the town officers, with their halberts and helmets, and the common -headsman, in the provost's livery, with a cresset full of blazing -coals. Now a crowd gathers: the halberts flash as they are swayed to -and fro by the pressure of the people. Then a shriek rises! - -They are publicly branding on the cheek a poor woman, a leper, who -has rashly ventured within the burgh; though yesterday, by sound of -trumpet, at this same old market-cross, the people of the city, and the -villages called Leith and Broughton, were forbidden to attend the fairs -of Anster and St. Monance, under pain of pit and gallows, as the plague -called the _het-sickness_,--the same disease of which Archibald earl of -Douglas died at Restalrig,--rages in Fife. - -If the reader, in fancy, can realize all this, he will see the quaint -old Edinburgh of 1440 clustering on the steep ridge,-- - - "Piled deep and massy, close and high;" - -the same city over which the haggard eyes of Crichton wandered, and -through which, preceded by trumpet and banner, the haughty young lord -of Douglas and Touraine was passing to his--doom! - -Edinburgh, a village then in size and opulence, was, nevertheless, a -capital city. _Now_, when in aspect and magnitude it is one of the most -magnificent in Europe, by a strange anomaly it is, in reality, when -its narrowness of spirit, in religion, politics, and patriotism are -considered, the most provincial village in her Majesty's dominions, -perhaps in the world. - -By the time the trumpets were heard, the sun was at its zenith, and -Crichton, with a shirt of mail under his velvet pourpoint, came forth -to meet the regent in the court-yard. - -Livingstone had assumed a similar steel shirt under his shortcoat, -which was of red damask, laced with silver, and over which he wore a -long flowing gown with open sleeves, revealing those of his ringed -defence, which, being a man of more open character than his compatriot, -he cared not to conceal, especially in these perilous times. - -These two statesmen met, sternly and gravely, without a smile or bow. - -"Is all prepared?" asked Livingstone of the chancellor, in a low voice. - -"All," was the brief and emphatic reply. - -"Your men-at-arms?" - -"I have a hundred concealed in the tiring-room, which opens off the -great hall." - -"Only a hundred! Are you not most rash?" - -"But they are men whose forefathers for ages have eaten the bread of -mine." - -"You, then, deem them stedfast?" - -"Stedfast and true as Rippon steel; unyielding as flint. They are to -rush forth under Achanna, when the signal appears." - -"Achanna," said the regent with contempt; "always Achanna. I know not -how it is, but that man makes my blood to curdle." - -"He is a faithful----" - -"Villain," interrupted the regent, with irritation. - -"True--but such villains are useful," said the chancellor quietly. - -"And the signal is the black bull's head; but does not Achanna dine -with us?" - -"Dine!" reiterated the chancellor, with a flashing eye and a quivering -lip. "He will share the banquet at all events." - -"And the four bodies," said Livingstone, gnawing the ends of his grisly -moustache, and looking aside, "how mean you to dispose of them?" - -"Under that green turf, where even now the king is playing with his -goshawk, they will sleep as soundly as if below a ton of marble in -Melrose Abbey Kirk, among their lordly kin," replied the chancellor in -a low whisper, and with a ghastly smile; "but hark! I hear trumpets in -the streets; and here comes Gray, the Captain of the Guard." - -Accoutred as we saw him yesterday, in his plumed bassinet, with its -camaile and chaplet, and his rich mail with its hanging sleeves of -scarlet and yellow silk, Sir Patrick Gray, happily ignorant of the -dire preparations of the two statesmen, and the mine they were about -to spring, made a low bow to each, with some passing remark on the -auspicious beauty of the day--for the weather was as common a topic in -the time of James II. as in that of his descendant, Queen Victoria. - -"A cloud is coming anon, that may darken its close," said the regent, -thoughtfully. - -The Captain of the Guard looked upward, but the sky was cloudless, then -his eye swept the horizon in vain. - -"Yea, Sir Patrick," added the chancellor, who is reported to have used -the same figurative language, "have you never observed that there are -periods--times of our existence, when past, present, and future hopes -seem to culminate in one?" - -"Under favour, my lord, I do not comprehend," replied the puzzled -soldier, as he played with the buckle of his belt, and thought of -Murielle Douglas. - -"Yes--when we seem to hold them all--the past, the present, and more -especially _the future_, in our grasp, and yet may throw them all away. -Now dost comprehend?" - -"Do you mean in affairs of love, my lord?" - -"Love!" reiterated the chancellor, scornfully, "nay, I think but of -_death_," he added in a voice so stern and hollow that the soldier -started, "but ere long you may, nay you _shall_ know all I mean. Till -then, God be wi' you--adieu." - -And with his hands behind his back, and his eyes bent thoughtfully on -the ground, Crichton slowly followed the regent into David's Tower, -while the Captain of the Guard, bewildered by their strange remarks, -hurried to join his hundred pikemen, who were drawn up in two ranks at -the gateway which opened under the Constable's tower. - -Sir John Romanno of that ilk, who commanded the fortress, had now all -the king's garrison at their posts, with bills and crossbows, and the -cannoneers by their guns, with lintstocks lighted. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -FOREBODINGS. - - She was mounted on a milk-white steed, - And he on a dapple grey; - And a bugle-horn hung by his side, - When he lightly rode away. - Lord William looked over his right shoulder, - To see what he could see; - And lo her seven bauld brethren - Came riding owre the lee. - - THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDIE. - - -"How often is a straw, wafted by the wind, the turning point in our -destiny!" says an author; "a stone cast into the water causes a ripple -on the most distant shore; so the most trivial event of our lives, -after a thousand ramifications, leads on to some great climax." - -When the train of Douglas mounted in the court-yard of the abbot's -house, Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld came hastily from his -chamber, clad in complete mail, with his helmet open; thus it revealed -the pallor of his face, with the sombre gloom of his dark grey eyes, -whose restless and wandering expression bore evidence of a sleepless -night. - -"How now, Cumbernauld," said the earl of Abercorn, "is this thy -dinner-dress--art going to dine with all this old iron about thee?" - -"Yes--when I dine with enemies." - -"Soho, man--go to! we have no enemies," said the sneering noble; "we -are all friends now, and must drink to-night to the extinction of all -feuds." - -"Do the countess and Lady Murielle go to this banquet?" asked the old -knight, with a voice rendered husky by sorrow and surprise, as Margaret -and the ladies of her train came forth with all their gorgeous dresses -glittering in the sunshine. - -"Of a surety they do. James Achanna bore them each a special message -from the Lord Regent in the young King's name; but what in the name of -old Mahoun ails thee, Sir Malcolm Fleming--art ill?" - -"Ill indeed at heart, lord earl." - -"And wherefore?" asked Earl James, angrily. - -"Come this way apart," replied the other, drawing Abercorn aside from -the throng, while his voice and expression became more sad, his lips -more pale, and his manner more excited. "Listen. Last night I was -in my chamber disrobing for bed; my mind was full of the doubts and -misgivings that have oppressed me since we left the walls and shelter -of Thrave; and just as Silver Mary--that great bell which hangs in the -tower of St. Giles--tolled the last stroke of the hour of twelve, I -heard a deep sigh near me." - -"A sigh!" repeated the earl, becoming interested in spite of himself; -"was it not the wind in an arrow-hole?" - -"A sigh, loud almost as a sob! I turned--there was no one near me; -but the old and gloomy arras which covered the walls was violently -agitated and shaken, so that the brown moths flew out of it. The sigh -was repeated; and though I know myself to be brave as most men, I -felt--yet knew not why--the life-blood curdling in my heart, and, as -the Scripture hath it, the hair of my flesh stood up. Then an emotion -which I could not resist, like the strong power we obey in a dream, led -me on. I raised the old mouldy arras--and then--then--oh what a sight -saw I there!" - -"What?" asked the earl, in a low voice. - -The perspiration rolled in bead-like drops from the pale forehead of -the old baron upon his white beard and polished cuirass, as he replied -in a solemn and husky whisper, "As I live by bread which the blessed -God yields, and hope to die in the faith of our fathers, I beheld a -decapitated corpse, the head of which rolled past me, with winking -eyes, with chattering teeth, and with features livid and convulsed, as -when the headsman's axe has just severed the neck! I knew those ghastly -features--knew that curly hair--I knew that comely form----" - -"And," said Abercorn, growing very pale in spite of himself; "and this -head was----" - -"Your kinsman's--the earl of Douglas!" - -"Pho!" replied Abercorn, seeming suddenly to experience great relief; -"by St. Bryde, I thought you were about to say 'twas _mine_. Did this -grim vision speak to you!" - -"No--but straightway vanished--melted away, and I was left in the -chamber to solitude, to fears and prayers, but not to sleep." - -"'Tis well you did not see any _more_ heads roll past in this odd -fashion," said Abercorn, jibingly. - -"Lord James of Abercorn," said Fleming, solemnly, "I was long your -father's comrade and most trusted friend. For forty long but stirring -years there came no jar between us, though ever engaged in war and -tumult. Together we were wounded and taken prisoners at Homildon; -together we defended this castle of Edinburgh against Henry IV. of -England, and repulsed him; together we fought in France, and fell -wounded side by side at Verneuil--but he, alas! mortally, when -attempting to save _me_, and now he sleeps the sleep of death in -St. Gratians of Tournay--for there I closed his eyes, and laid his -well-notched sword beside him----" - -"All this, and much more, have I heard a hundred times, by the winter -fire, at Douglas, at Thrave, and in your own hospitable house of -Cumbernauld," said Abercorn haughtily and impatiently. - -"Then hear it once again, to fire your lagging zeal, mistaken man!" -said Sir Malcolm, with growing excitement in his tone and suspicion -in his heart; "hear it once again, to bear witness of my faith, when -I feel assured that this day no banquet, no wassail, no honour or -hospitality, but death and life are in the balance!" - -"What a-God's name seek you?" asked James of Abercorn, through his -clenched teeth; for this animated and protracted discussion had drawn -about them the abbot, their host; the earl of Douglas; little Lord -David, his brother; even the Countess, Murielle, and other ladies, who -threw up their veils, and listened with surprise. Sir Malcolm resumed:-- - -"Ay, ay, young lord; since first I learned to make the sign of the -cross at my auld mother's knee in the hall of Cumbernauld, among the -wilds of Dunbarton, true have I been, Abercorn, to Douglas and his -race; so listen to me, if you can, without that cold sneer in your eye, -on your lip, and in your heart! Trust not Crichton, and trust not -Livingstone, or dool and woe will come on thee and thine! Oh, if you -have one drop of warm blood in your heart, join with me in urging your -kinsman and chief to share my doubts of these men." - -"What in the name of Mahoun am I to say?" exclaimed Abercorn, whose -eyes glared with anger, while he tugged his black beard in his vexation. - -"Beware ye all!" resumed the earnest old laird of Cumbernauld! "I -know what a city and a court are, with their rakes and high-born -harlots; their carpet-knights and fawning cut-throats; their bullies -and swashbucklers--with servile bows and smiling faces--their black, -bitter, false, and cowardly hearts! So here, at the eleventh hour, -as it were, I, Sir Malcolm Fleming, of Biggar and Cumbernauld, the -soothfast friend of Douglas, say unto ye all, go not this day to the -castle of Edinburgh." - -Lord Abercorn listened to all this with rage in his eye, a sneer on his -lip, and perplexity on his brow; and these mingling emotions deepened -when the usually haughty countess requested the old knight to rehearse -the story of the midnight vision. It certainly had a serious impression -upon all, for the age was full of superstition, of omens, spectres, and -supernatural terrors, when the bravest men would occasionally tremble -at their own shadows. Thus for a few minutes even the young earl of -Douglas seemed silent and oppressed, while Murielle burst into tears, -and drew down her veil. - -"It is as great a pity to see a woman weep as a goose go barefoot," -said Abercorn, furiously and coarsely, using an old proverb: "by our -Lady of Whitekirk! I think you are all demented. Lord abbot, talk to -this old ghostseer, and assure him there can be no such thing in nature -as the spectre of a living man." - -"But there are wraiths," said Sir Alan Lauder; "and who can deny their -existence, when Scotland is filled with tales of them." - -"Lord abbot," resumed Abercorn, more irritated than ever, "speak and -say, I charge you, that no such things can be." - -"I can assure him of no such fallacy," replied the pedantic abbot, with -displeasure, as he adjusted his long-flapped calotte cap over his thin, -white, silvery hair. "History, ancient and modern, teems with tales -of terrible appearances. Does not Pliny the younger, in his letters, -affirm, as an incontrovertible fact, that Athenodorus the philosopher, -the disciple of Zeno and keeper of the royal library at Pergamus, once -saw a dreadful spectre?" - -"When--how?" asked the countess, impressed by the strange names which -the abbot used so glibly. - -"Pliny relates that Athenodorus purchased an old house in Athens, -which many had refused to occupy, because it was haunted by an unquiet -spirit. So Athenodorus waited courageously to see it." - -"What--the house?" asked Abercorn. - -"No--the spectre. Dragging a massy chain, it came at length in a -shapeless and dreadful form, and commanded him to follow it. The -philosopher, who, though trembling in his soul, affected to be busy at -that moment, said 'Wait a little;' but the spirit rattled its rusty -chain furiously, so Athenodorus arose and followed it to the marble -court near which his villa stood, and, on reaching a certain spot, -the apparition vanished. Athenodorus, saith Pliny, marked the place -that he might know it again. On the following day he assembled the -magistrates of Athens, and on digging up the soil the bones of a man -with a rusty chain were found. They were publicly interred elsewhere, -and from that hour his mansion was disturbed no more. Shall we question -that which such men as Plutarch and Pliny have asserted to have been? -Like the foul heretic Paul Crawar of Bohemia, dare you impugn that -which you cannot comprehend and which you know not? Can you deny or -doubt the existence of a spirit, when you cannot prove your _own_? -In all past times, in all lands, among every kind of people, however -highly civilized or however lowly savage, apparitions have been seen as -warnings for good or for evil; and such will be permitted until that -fell spirit whose hapless state I shall one day lay before our Holy -Father be forgiven, and fear and hate and war shall be no more." - -Enraged by this pedantic rebuke, the earl of Abercorn twisted his -moustache, and spurred and checked his horse till it almost sprang into -the air. - -"Then what do you advise, my lord abbot?" asked the countess, in -evident perplexity. - -"That my lord your husband should hearken unto the advice of his -counsellors, whom his father never slighted, but ever held with -reverence." - -"I thank you, lord abbot," said Fleming, pressing the abbot's hand. -"Let the earl at least leave behind him the two ladies of his house, -his brother Lord David, Earl James of Abercorn, and Hugh of Ormond." - -"To what end?" asked the earl of Ormond. - -"To gratify the prayer and anxious heart of an old friend, and that the -house of Douglas may not be in an evil hour laid open to the stroke -of fortune,--your father's last injunction when he lay dying at -Restalrig," added Fleming to the young earl. - -His marked energy and anxiety, together with the entreaties of Sir -Alan Lauder and those of the Douglases of Pompherston, Strabrock, and -Glendoning, made the chief pause and waver in his purpose. He said,-- - -"Shall I return now after having ridden to his very gates, as it were? -Impossible! And the young king--what will he, what will the people say? -and then the chancellor's letter flattered so suavely." - -"The greater reason to distrust him," muttered the bearded knights to -each other under their lifted helmets. - -"Wherefore, why?" said Abercorn, burning with a rage which he could -no longer dissemble, as a long-projected and carefully-developed plot -seemed on the point of dissolving into air. - -"Take counsel of your own brave heart, and good, my lord, run not your -chief and his brother too into the lion's den. Crichton flatters to -deceive!" replied Sir Malcolm Fleming. - -"It may be wise, when so many seem to think so, that you should -remember the last words of your father at Restalrig," said Murielle, -softly touching the hand of Douglas. - -"True, sweet cousin. My brother David----" - -"Will go wheresoever you go," replied the brave boy, with a hand on his -jewelled dagger; "neither imaginary nor real danger shall cow me." - -"And I too shall go," added the earl of Ormond; "but as policy seems -necessary here, let our kinsman, James of Abercorn, remain behind with -the countess and Lady Murielle. Then, come what may, we leave a man -able and willing to avenge us." - -"Ormond speaks well and wisely," said the abbot, while a close observer -might have seen the gleam of joy which passed over Abercorn's white, -malignant face, on hearing a proposal so exactly to his secret wishes. - -"So be it, then; I am weary of this loitering; let us begone, or the -chancellor's good cheer will be chilled by the November air," said -Douglas. - -"'Tis well to jest," began Abercorn---- - -"But if Crichton wrongs me, woe to him!" cried the fiery young earl, -shaking his clenched hand aloft; "he dare not--_he dare not!_ If he -doth, by my father's grave in Melrose kirk I shall level his castle of -Crichton to its ground-stone!" - -"William Douglas," said the countess, who had been conferring for a -moment with Abercorn, "you speak as your father would have spoken; yet -act warily, as he would have acted. We know not what may be the issue -of a day which has commenced so ominously, and, if swords are drawn, -women would but encumber you. Murielle, Lady Ormond, and I will tarry -here until the banquet is over. Make fitting excuses to the regent and -chancellor--say we are indisposed by our long journey, or what you -will; and now let it be known, gentlemen, kinsmen, and friends, that -in this matter I yield neither to the advice of my loving lord and -husband, who is ever rash; nor to the advice of Sir Malcolm Fleming, -who is so wary; nor to that of our lord abbot, who is ever good and -true; but to the wish of Earl James of Abercorn." - -Whether these words were spoken heedlessly as a sneer at the ready -manner in which that noble agreed to remain behind, or in mere -politeness, none could then divine; but there came a _time_ when they -were remembered by many to the disadvantage of the proud and wilful -young beauty. - -At that moment a man in armour with a closed helmet rode hurriedly -through the archway. He was James Achanna. - -"Lord earl," said he, "the chancellor awaits you without the castle -gate." - -"Enough, then--let us go; we should have been ringing glasses and -exchanging kissing-comfits with our _beloved_ friend the chancellor an -hour since," said Douglas, lifting his plumed bonnet as he courteously -kissed the hands of his wife and her sister. - -He then put spurs to his horse and rode off, accompanied by his brother -David, Sir Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, the abbot, and five -hundred men led by the earl of Ormond--all completely armed and horsed. - -As the clatter of their hoofs died away, a foreboding sigh came from -Margaret's breast; but there was a cold though courteous smile on the -lips of Lord Abercorn, as he gave her his ungloved hand and led her, -with Murielle, back into the almost deserted house of the abbot. - -Why was it that Margaret's heart upbraided her? She seemed still to -see before her the face of that proud and handsome, noble-hearted -and high-spirited cousin with whom she had shared her heart and the -revenues of her princely house!... - -Why was it that, as the day passed slowly on and the November sun sank -in masses of foggy cloud, the earl of Abercorn, pale, excited, and -abstracted, shunned his friends and paced to and fro in the abbot's -garden, casting his eyes ever and anon to the summit of the fortress, -which was visible above the adjacent streets? - -He started! a distant hum became a confused clamour of many voices; -then the galloping of horses and a rush of feet were heard. - -He looked again to David tower, and from its rampart the national cross -had disappeared. A _black_ banner was floating there, and only half -hoisted on the staff,--a double symbol of death! - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE VIGIL OF ST. CATHARINE. - - The nobles of our land were much delighted then, - To have at their command a crew of lusty men; - Who by their coats were known of tawny, red, or blue, - With crests their sleeves upon, when this old cap was new. - - THE ROXBURGH BALLADS. - - -At the outer gate of the fortress of Edinburgh (a barrier which then -crossed the narrow street of the Castle-hill) the lord chancellor was -on horseback, attended by a brilliant retinue of men-at-arms, with many -lacqueys and liverymen on foot, wearing cloth hoods of the same fashion -then worn in England, buttoned under the chin, and having deep capes, -with scolloped edges, falling over the shoulders. These hoods were -usually of scarlet cloth, and were worn with a cock's feather, placed -jauntily on the left side as indicative of some pretension to gentility. - -The gaberdines of these liverymen were of blue Flemish cloth, and all -had embroidered on their breasts, on escutcheon, _argent_, charged with -a lion rampant _azure_, the arms of Crichton, with his motto "God send -grace;" and all were accoutred with swords, daggers, and partisans. - -On foot beside the chancellor were his pages; one bore his sword, the -other held his horse's bridle, a third his cap of maintenance upon a -velvet cushion. - -A little way within the barrier were Sir Walter Halyburton, lord of -Dirltoun, who was then high treasurer; John Methven, the secretary -of state; Sir James Crichton of Frendraught, great chamberlain and -third officer of the crown; with Patrick Lord Glammis, master of the -household. All these, like their immediate followers, were well armed; -but that circumstance excited no notice, as it was always the custom -to be so in Scotland; and a gay group they formed, as the noonday sun -streamed through the old archway, whose front was blackened by smoke -and time, upon their tabard-like jupons and hanging sleeves, the -heraldic devices on their breasts, their glittering bassinets, waving -feathers, rich sword-hilts, jewelled daggers, and gold neck-chains. - -Beyond these were the hundred pikemen of the king's guard, under Sir -Patrick Gray and Sir Thomas MacLellan; and high over all this array -towered the castle rock, crowned by its old _enceinte_, or wall of -defence, and its bastel-houses, in the _three_ greatest of which, to -wit, the Royal Lodging, King David's Tower, and that of the constable, -originated the heraldic triple-towered fortress which, from time -immemorial, has formed the arms of the city. - -As Douglas and his train approached, bombarde, moyenne, and culverin -thundered from the ramparts; loud and shrilly twanged the trumpets and -horns, and the great crowd assembled in the narrow street made an -immediate and simultaneous movement towards the guarded archway. - -When the earl's train came near, the quick eyes of the chancellor, as -readily as those of our lover, detected the absence of the countess and -Murielle. Gray could scarcely repress his anxiety and natural surprise -at a circumstance so unexpected; but the chancellor bit his nether lip -with vexation, for Margaret, as heiress of Galloway, was the second -head of that mighty house which he had sworn to humble for ever. Then -a strange smile flitted over his usually impassible face when next he -missed the sardonic visage and stealthy eyes of James Douglas, earl of -Abercorn. - -"Traitor lordling," he muttered, "thou too, in time, shalt dree thy -destiny!" - -At the distance of thirty paces from the gate the earl of Douglas -alighted from his horse, and relinquishing the bridle to a page, -advanced bonnet in hand towards the chancellor, who also dismounted, -and approached in the same manner, while all present who were not -men-at-arms also quitted their saddles, or as the abbot of Tongland -says in his MSS. "_lichted down_." - -They greeted each other with a cold formality, over which Crichton, the -elder by many years, and the more politic, endeavoured to spread the -shallow veil of friendly warmth and courtly dissimulation. - -"Welcome, lord earl, most welcome; or shall I say, duke of Touraine?" - -"I am prouder of my father's name of Douglas than of any foreign duchy, -Sir William," replied the haughty boy as he presented his hand with -cold politeness. "Here I am but a Scottish earl." - -The chancellor bowed, and stifled his indignation, for in this -reply three things offended him; the earl's avowal of family pride, -addressing him plainly as Sir William instead of lord chancellor, and -then presenting his hand _gloved_--a token of mistrust. - -"And this young gentleman," began the chancellor,-- - -"Is my brother Lord David Douglas," said the earl. - -"Most welcome too; but the countess, once the Fair Maid of Galloway," -said Crichton, with a bland smile; "will she not grace our young king's -board to-day?" - -"The king's grace, and you, Sir William Crichton, must hold the -countess, her sister, and likewise the Lady Ormond, excused to-day; the -ways are rough and the journey long from Thrave to Edinburgh." - -"True; but the measure of--of my happiness (he had almost said -_vengeance_) will be incomplete without them." - -"There are Douglases enough here to supply their places," said the -earl, glancing at his mail-clad followers with a significant smile; and -Crichton said,-- - -"Enter, lord earl, the king's grace and the regent await you in the -great hall." - -After each declining to precede the other, the wily chancellor, while -making a sign previously agreed upon and understood by James Achanna -and Romanno of that ilk, constable of the garrison, gave a hand to each -of the brothers, and led them within the gate. - -There was an immediate rush among their rough and tumultuary followers -to press in after them, but the king's guard and the chancellor's -vassals, with levelled pikes, bore back alike the excited multitude of -citizens and the wild Scots of Galloway, bare-kneed and bare-armed, -with their habergeons of jangling iron rings, and the strong -barrier-gate was closed with haste and difficulty. Lord Ormond, Sir -Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and a few others, in virtue of their -rank, being alone permitted to enter. - -This _coup_ was the more easily effected, as at the moment of the -earl's entrance Douglas of Pompherston, his purse-bearer, cried -"largesse! largesse!" and to add to the incidental popularity of his -lord, scattered several handfuls of silver coin among the people, who -scrambled in pursuit of them, and rolled over each other in heaps, -while the reckless young earl and his brother laughed and threw more, -to increase the uproar and merriment. - -Then the portcullis, a massive iron grille, was lowered slowly down in -its stony grooves, and when its iron spikes reached the causeway, James -Achanna, the double tool of Abercorn and the chancellor, exchanged with -the latter one of those deep and rapid smiles by which courtly villains -can read each other's hearts and convey a volume of subtle thoughts. - -Unheeding, or unobservant of all these circumstances, the earl and -his brother accompanied the chancellor into the fortress, and as -they slowly proceeded up the steep steps and winding path, which led -in a north-westerly direction, to the summit of the rock, Crichton -expatiated on the joy this meeting occasioned him, as being the -precursor of domestic peace, of good will and unity, between his master -the king and the great house of Douglas; but while speaking he could -perceive the haughty young peer exchanging secret smiles with his -brother; so, nothing daunted, the chancellor continued to flatter, and -secretly smiled in his turn. - -"Great as the house of Douglas has been----" - -"_Is_, my lord," interrupted the earl, haughtily. - -"Pardon me," stammered Crichton, reddening with anger to find himself -thus addressed by a boy; "I was about to say, that in ages past, its -chief glory was ever in its obedience to the crown, from whence its -greatness and its honours sprung." - -"Well?" observed the boy-noble impatiently. - -"Enemies have accused you of treason----" - -"Yourself, for instance, Sir William." - -"True--as first officer of the crown," continued the chancellor, with -a severity that increased with the bitterness that grew in his heart, -"I have blamed you deeply and frequently; but this day will free you of -all those suspicions which that unwise embassy to France occasioned." - -"Sir William Crichton!" - -"I am a man four times your age, lord earl," interrupted the -chancellor, speaking very fast to avoid explicit or excited answers, -"so pray excuse my grey hairs if they permit me to assume a monitory -tone and venture to yield advice. I would but pray you to execute -justice on your vast estates of Galloway, Annandale, and Balvenie with -impartiality and gentleness; and not to protect from the just vengeance -of the king, our lord and master, those lawless barons who levy feudal -war and destroy each other's towers, villages, and territories, and -by so doing impoverish the realm and oppress the people. Disobedience -to the king has been the ruin of the most ancient and noble families; -thus, I would pray you, my lord, to content yourself with the splendour -attained by your house, and the glorious name it has borne for ages in -peace and in war, nor seek to raise it above that throne in defence of -which so many of the Douglas name have died in battle. _Ave Maria!_ -If you would surpass your king in anything, let it be in religion, -in bounty and charity to your countrymen; surpass him thus, and I, -whom you have long deemed your enemy, will pray with my latest breath -for the glory and prosperity of the lordly line of Douglas, and that -Scotland may long have cause to remember with joy the vigil of St. -Catherine." - -To all these remarks, which so well became the station and superior -years of the chancellor, the petulant young earl disdained to reply, -save by a cold and disdainful smile or so forth; and as Crichton -concluded, they found themselves in the banquet-hall of the castle, and -in presence of the king and the regent of Scotland. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE BLACK BULL'S HEAD. - - Edinburgh castle, town, and tower, - God grant ye sinke for sin; - And yat even for ye black dinour - Erle Douglas gat therein.--OLD RHYME. - - -The hall in which this banquet was given, was the upper chamber of -David's Tower. - -Our novel of "Jane Seaton" contains a description of this gigantic -edifice, which was the chief of the bastel-houses which crowned - - "The height - Where the huge castle holds its state;" - -but the MSS. of the abbot of Tongland throw some additional light upon -its history. - -This tower rose to the height of more than seventy feet above the -summit of the steep rock. It contained a great hall and many lesser -chambers, and was founded by David II., about 1360, upon the basement -of a still older tower, perhaps the same edifice which vulgar tradition -ascribes to the painted Picts, who are alleged to have conveyed from -hand to hand the stones from the sandy quarry of Craig-mohl-ard (or the -rock of the plain),[2] and at the gate of which the first David--the -Scottish Justinian--was wont to sit, as his biographer, St. Ælred, -tells us, dispensing justice, and hearing the complaints of the poor, -even as St. Louis of France sat under an oak in the wood of Vincennes. - -All the masons who built this tower died in the year it was completed; -as if, says the abbot of Tongland, fate ordained that the secrets of -its stairs and construction should die with them; and within it hung a -bell, which, when a king of Scotland died, tolled of its own accord, -like that great bell of Arragon, which always announced when "fate was -nigh" the line of Ramiro. - -In this old tower dwelt a brownie, who was believed to come at night -to sleep near the embers of the hall fire, after plaiting the frills, -pinners, and ruffs of the queen and her ladies. Some alleged that the -cannon of the siege in 1573 put this useful household spirit to flight; -others, that he was baptized by the priest of St. Cuthbert's Kirk, -who concealed himself in the dusk within the hall ingle, where, when -the brownie, in the form of a lean and withered little man, wearing a -short yellow cloak, and red hosen (the royal livery), came at midnight -to resume his nocturnal avocations, a handful of holy water was dashed -in his face by the priest, who cried with a loud voice,--"In nomine -Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti! Amen." - -On this, the brownie wept bitterly, and vanished, to return no more. - -The hall was hung with banners and trophies. The noonday light of the -November sun, varied by many a passing cloud, poured through its arched -windows upon the long table, which was spread with all the plenty and -massive magnificence of the olden time; upon the rows of high-backed -chairs for the guests; upon the throne for the young king, with its -steps and purple velvet canopy; on the rich liveries of the trumpeters -who were to announce the feast; and on the steel armour of the guards, -who stood near the royal seat in honour of the guests; on each and all -fell the slant rays of the sun lighting up many a glittering ornament, -for the walls of the hall were entirely covered by yellow Spanish -leather, stamped by alternate thistles and _fleurs-de-lis_ in gold, -while in the great fireplace there burned a fire of coals, mingled with -pleasantly _perfumed_ wood; a curious luxury not uncommon then. - -The royal cupbearer, and six soldiers of the guard armed with -partisans, were posted near a recess, or ambre, under the carved stone -canopy of which glittered the king's service of plate. Amid it was a -long slender flask of potters' ware, beautifully fashioned by the fair -hands of Jacqueline, countess of Hainault and Flanders, the boldest and -loveliest woman of her time, who, after abdicating in 1433, during her -seclusion in the castle of Teylingen, near Leyden, employed the weary -hours in making flasks of clay, and one of these she sent to the royal -minstrel, James I. of Scotland, in care of the Dyck Graf of Bommel. - -Now the brass trumpets sent their sharp ringing notes along the vaulted -roof; spurs of gold and steel jangled on the tiled floor, while, -preceded by all the combined pomp and mummery of ancient royalty, James -II., a fair-haired and handsome boy, clad in a glittering doublet, -fashioned like a herald's tabard, having the lion _gules_ within the -double tressure on the back, breast, and sleeves thereof, was led to -the throne by the tall and sombre regent, while the crafty Crichton -placed the young earl of Douglas on his right-hand. Again the trumpets -sounded, and the guests, in succession, were marshalled to their places -by Glammis, the master of the household, who executed this delicate -matter--for delicate it was in that age of fierce punctilio--with -scrupulous exactness, as to rank and precedence. - -The boy-earl, with his dark eyes, his swarthy face and black curly -hair, his bold bearing and defiant expression, formed so marked a -contrast to the boy-king, who was fair-skinned, with fair hair and -gentle eyes, that many present remarked the difference of their aspect -and character. - -On the young king's left cheek there was a small red spot, or -fleshmark, which caused the people to name him in after years, "James -with the Fiery Face." - -"Why tarries the countess?" asked Gray, in a hasty whisper, of Lord -David Douglas. - -"She is not to be here," said the lad, smiling. - -"Nor the Countess of Ormond?" - -"No; nor Murielle, either," added David, playing with the gold tassels -of his mantle. - -"Why?" - -"I am not in her secrets." - -"But Lady Murielle----" - -"Came not, because there were none here whom she _cared_ to meet," said -the spiteful little lord, with a grimace. - -The abbot of Tongland invoked a blessing; and after they had all -discussed platters of good Scottish broth, which they supped with -massive old spoons, that might have served at the spousal feast of -King Robert and Marjorie Bruce, and very probably did so, the clatter -of knives began, as the servers, pages, and pantrymen sliced down -the chines of beef, the roasted pigs and brawns, or unroofed the -huge pasties of pigeons and venison, and rushed here and there with -trenchers of stewed hares, roasted ducks, buttered crabs, salads and -salmon, manchets of flour, and confections of honey and sweetmeats, all -of which were eaten pellmell, without order or course. - -Meanwhile the wines of France and Spain flowed freely, and brown ale -frothed up in tankards and flagons, in which the long moustaches of -the guests floated, as they quaffed to each other's health, and a -long continuance of this sudden good fellowship, at which, in many -instances, by their eyes and whispers, they seemed to scoff in secret. - -Then a band of bearded minstrels and musicians, with harp and pipe, -tabor, flute, and trumpet, in the gallery, played "Pastance with Gude -Companie," and other old airs, which have been long since forgotten; -or, if extant, are now known under new names. - -Amid all this the pale chancellor, and the grave, but soldier-like -regent, were abstracted and nervous; and the emotion of the former -increased as the banquet proceeded, and the _fatal moment_ drew near: -yet, animated by a sentiment of duty to be performed to their king and -country, no thought of pity or remorse found admission in the bosoms of -either. - -The young king and his young noble spoke of dogs, of hawks, of horses; -and archery; of hunting and tilting; but the earl seemed to disdain -the puerile conversation of the yet-secluded sovereign, treating him -coldly, and with an air of lofty patronage, amusing enough in one of -his junior years, but sufficiently apparent to all. - -Sir Patrick Gray felt that on this day the kinsmen of Murielle Douglas -treated him more coldly than ever, as they deemed themselves in the -zenith of their power and fantastic pride, lording it alike over the -king and all his court. - -"You see there my Captain of the Guard?" he heard the king say, with a -kind smile, to the earl, who knit his brows, and contemptuously asked:-- - -"_Who_ is he?" - -"Sir Patrick Gray," replied the little monarch, whose eyes dilated with -surprise. - -"Of what--or where?" - -"Of Foulis." - -"Indeed!" - -"A brave and noble gentleman," said James II., with an enthusiasm that -made the poor soldier's heart expand with the purest joy; "lord earl, -do you not know him?" - -"Yes," said Douglas, frigidly; "but what of him?" - -"He gave me a goshawk as a gift last New Year's-day, and I have killed -with it every corbie in the woods of Bristo." - -"Indeed!" - -"And then at Lady-day he gave me two such noble hounds of St. Hubert's -breed!" - -"St. Bryde! how came such as _he_ by dogs so rare?" - -Sir Patrick bit his nether lip with suppressed passion at this -continued insolence of tone, while the young king replied:-- - -"We sent him with a message to Jacqueline of Hainault--at least the -Regent Livingstone did so, last year,--an errand of courtesy, for -the countess was my father's friend. In passing through the forest -of Ardennes, he tarried for a night at the Benedictine abbey of St. -Hubert, and bought from the monks these two black hounds, the lineal -descendants of those which accompanied the saint when he hunted with -St. Eustace. They have silver collars, and despite my lady Glammis, -sleep every night at the foot of my bed!" - -"Laus Deo!" said the earl, shrugging his shoulders; "doubtless they -must have somewhat of the odour of sanctity about them." - -At this remark Sir Thomas MacLellan laughed, and the petulant earl -turned almost fiercely to him, saying:-- - -"Sirrah, dare you laugh?" - -"Saints and devils, my lord," retorted the Lieutenant of the Guard, -"may not a man laugh?" - -"No!" - -"And why not, my lord earl?" - -"Because to laugh is at times to assume a superiority, or a bearing of -approval, which I would not permit even in our liege lord the king!" - -The eyes of the chancellor met those of the regent, whose pale forehead -flushed with anger at this insulting remark, though it illustrated how -dangerous was the spirit they were about to crush. - -"By St. Jude, Douglas, I laughed not at thee, but at thy saying," -exclaimed MacLellan, breaking the momentary silence which had ensued. - -"Then beware, lordling," said Douglas, who knew there was an old -jealousy between the MacLellans and his people. - -"I am no lord or earl either," replied MacLellan, flushing with anger -in turn. - -"What then?" - -"One whom you know well to be a gentleman of Galloway, my lord. The -king may gift coronets or titles, and _attaint_ them, too; but God -alone can make or unmake a loyal Scottish gentleman!" - -The little king seemed almost scared by this angry outburst; but the -regent and his adherents exchanged glances of approval, and they -started involuntarily, for at that instant the great bell of David -Tower announced the hour of three. - -The fatal time had come! - -Then the king's master-butcher entered, bearing aloft a vast covered -platter, which, by its size, attracted the attention and excited the -surprise of all; and passing deliberately round the great apartment, -while many jests were made as to what new fare it contained, he placed -it before the young earl of Douglas. - -"Remove the cover!" said the regent, whose voice was hollow, as if it -came from a coffin. - -The master-butcher did so, and there was grimly revealed the old Celtic -symbol of death, a black bull's head of great size, with its square -nostrils, its grey polished horns, and curly forehead. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[Footnote 2: Craigmillar.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE BLOCK. - - I must have - A more potential draught of guilt than this, - With more of wormwood in it.--FIRMILIAN. - - -A simultaneous cry burst from all on seeing this sure and terrible -forerunner of a sudden death; all sprang from the table, and -instinctively did so, sword in hand; for at the same moment the door -of the 'tiring room was thrown violently open, and a chosen party -of Crichton's vassals, led by Romanno of that ilk, constable of the -castle, Andrew Gray of Balgarno, and others, rushed forward, and with -levelled partisans, separated the earl of Douglas and his brother David -from their more immediate friends. - -"To your swords and defend yourselves, my brother and friends; we are -lured--tricked to death!" cried the young earl, with prompt bravery, -hewing right and left at the partisans; "A Douglas! a Douglas! cut me a -passage to the king--to the throne--it is at least a _sanctuary_!" - -"Hold, my lord!" exclaimed the chancellor, in a voice of thunder, as he -stood with one foot on the lower step of the king's chair, and firmly -interposed his drawn sword, "it is no sanctuary for thee or thine! and -dare you----" - -"Slay a chancellor? Yes, if I can, and this dog regent, too, like false -hounds and fell traitors as ye are!" replied the brave youth, with -a scornful but heartrending smile; while, by the press of partisans -levelled in a dense rank, he and his brother, with Sir Malcolm -Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and all others disposed to resistance, were -thrust close to the wall, yet they shouted resolutely, "a Douglas! a -Douglas!" The chairs and banquet-tables were overthrown, and all became -a scene of confusion, destruction, and dismay, from which many fled by -the doors, not knowing how the brawl would end. - -"Guards and gentlemen!" exclaimed the tall grim regent, as he towered -above the armed throng, and roughly but firmly grasped the left arm -of the bewildered king, who thought he was about to perish, like his -father, by the hands of regicides, yet, like a brave boy as he was, -had rushed forward to save Douglas; "guards and gentlemen, disarm this -traitorous peer and all who have drawn their swords by his side in the -royal presence. Put up your blade, I command you, William, earl of -Douglas--the king is here, and this is his royal castle!" - -"Dishonour blight it for this day's deed," exclaimed old Sir Malcolm -Fleming, "and may its roof-tree be the gallows of all thy race, -accursed Crichton! thou cogging villain, thou cheat and assassin! And -as for _thee_, Lord regent--hah! the sword that knighted thee was never -notched in battle!" - -"A very carpet squire!" said Lauder, scornfully. - -"Liars are both; the blade that knighted me was our Scottish sword of -state; a king's hand gave me the accolade--a king murdered by traitors -false as you! Now hearken to me, Douglas. Fate has this day placed the -destinies of your rebellious and overweening house in the hands of -a justly-offended king and his resolute ministers, so prepare for a -doom upon which a short but ample career of evil actions has hurried -you--that fatal doom which incensed justice is about to mete out to -you and the adherents of your father. Disarm them, guards I say; by -_my_ voice the king commands it!" - -Seeing the futility of resistance, the venerable laird of Cumbernauld -tossed his sword disdainfully to the Captain of the Guard, and Sir Alan -Lauder broke his blade across his knee, and flung the fragments down in -sullen silence; but the earl and his brother hacked and hewed at the -shafts of the partisans, inflicting many severe wounds on the hands -and arms of their assailants, before they were beaten down, disarmed, -when mad with fury, and secured by silken cords, torn from the curtains -of the hall windows. Achanna, while pretending to save the earl, -hung treacherously upon his sword arm till he was captured, and the -sorrowing and bewildered Captain of the Guard had to interpose his own -sword between the furious boy Lord David and Romanno, who had drawn his -dagger, having been exasperated by a slash across the face. Prior to -this the abbot of Tongland, the earl of Ormond, Douglas of Pompherston, -and others, had all been dragged from the hall and forcibly expelled -into the city, where they spread alarm and consternation through every -street and alley. - -The poor little king, who, with the six princesses his sisters, had -been given up completely to the care of Livingstone and Crichton, -since his mother Queen Jane had contracted her foolish marriage with -the handsome Sir James Stewart, usually known as the Black Knight of -Lorn, surveyed this terrible scene with the bewilderment of a startled -boy; but, on beholding the two brothers manacled with cords, bruised, -bleeding, and faint, after their brave but futile struggle, he burst -into tears, and clutching the robe of the lord chancellor, besought him -"to spare them." - -Then, according to Balfour, in his "Annals of Scotland," and other -writers, the chancellor replied sternly:--"You are but a child, and -know not what you demand, for to spare them would be the ruin of you -and your whole kingdom!" - -"Forgive them; oh, forgive them!" continued the princely boy, wringing -his hands, and appealing next to the regent; but he too replied -grimly:--"Your grace knows not what you ask." - -"I _do_ know what I ask, and what I command. Am I not a king?" was the -passionate response. - -"Well, rather than obey," replied Crichton, through his clenched teeth, -"I would walk barefoot over seven burning ploughshares, or over the -seven times heated furnace of hell," he added, with terrible energy; -"our time for vengeance has come!" - -But the little monarch continued to sob and say:--"Lord regent, lord -regent, I am a king." - -At last he appealed to Sir Patrick Gray, commanding him to draw his -dagger and cut the cords which bound the brothers and their two -faithful friends; but the unfortunate captain, confounded by the -suddenness of the catastrophe, impelled by his love for Murielle on one -hand, his duty to the two highest officers of the crown on the other; -his regard for the young king, and a remembrance of how insolently -these Douglases had ever treated himself, leaned on his sword, and -covered his face with his hand, to hide the emotion that warred in his -breast. - -Suddenly he approached Crichton, to unite his entreaties to those of -his young monarch; but was roughly repelled. - -"Oh, chancellor," he exclaimed, "is this my meed--this my reward for -faithful service as the king's liege man?" - -"If such you be, I command you, peace, Sir Patrick--guard the king, -and leave the punishment of his rebels to us." - -Now the voice of the regent was heard above the throng, as he shook his -clenched right hand aloft. - -"I arrest you, William, duke of Touraine, earl of Douglas, lord of -Annandale, Longueville, and Galloway, on charges of foul treason; -and you, Lord David Douglas; you, Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar and -Cumbernauld; and you, Sir Alan Lauder of the Bass, captain of the -castle of Thrave, on the same serious accusation." - -"Treason?" reiterated the young earl, as he proudly raised his head; -"in what have I been guilty of treason; and who dare accuse me?" - -"I--the chancellor of Scotland," replied Crichton. - -"Read the charges," said the regent, sternly. - -"They are here," replied Crichton, unfolding a document, while all -leaned on their unsheathed weapons, and listened breathlessly. -"Treason, in the daily oppression of the king's subjects, at the head -of two thousand horsemen, most of whom are outlawed moss-troopers and -thieves of Annandale, who sorn on the king's lieges, and commit every -outrage; and this ye do, though the parliament held at Perth, in 1424, -ordained that _no_ man should travel abroad with more followers than he -could maintain. Treason in dubbing men as knights who are but sorners, -limmers, and masterful rogues. Treason, in holding _cours plénières_ -after the fashion of parliament; and treason, in sending two gentlemen -to France as your ambassadors to Charles VII." - -"It is false, as all the rest!" exclaimed the earl. "I did but send -them as my father desired me, when he lay dying at Restalrig, to renew -his oath of fealty for the duchy of Touraine, the fief of Longueville, -and other lands we hold in France; and to fix the yearly rental of the -former at ten thousand crowns." - -"He speaks most truly," exclaimed Sir Malcolm Fleming and Sir Alan -Lauder in the same breath. - -"Well, all this, though too little for a king, was too great for a -subject," said the regent, haughtily. - -"The extent of your power and the misuse thereof," resumed the -chancellor, "with the lawless character of your followers, are pretexts -enough, without others, on which to arraign you. No religion, no -threats, no prayers or pretended reformation, no oaths or promises, can -alter the inborn character we inherit with our blood; and what have -_you_, Douglas, thus inherited? Pride, treason, contumacy, and the love -of open rebellion against the crown; and these evil qualities will -remain true to the fount from whence they spring; so, my lord regent, -to the block, I say, with this viperous brood. If the boy is thus -dangerous, what would the man be?" - -"We demand to be tried by our peers," said the earl, firmly; "arraign -us before the Estates." - -"You have got nearly all the trial and shrift we mean to give you," -said the regent, bluntly. "Romanno, away with them to the castle Butts." - -The trial, if it can be called so, proceeded rapidly, for the judges -had long ago resolved on the sentence, and, as one historian says, -"were determined to make no allowance for the youth and inexperience -of the parties--for the artifices by which they had been lured within -the danger of the law, and for their being totally deprived of -constitutional or legal defenders." - -So, without counsel, jury, or written documents of any kind, these grim -proceedings went on; but never once did the brave boys sue for pity, -for mercy, or even for one hour of life. - -From the hall, where the king, amid the _débris_ of the banquet and -combat, sank weeping on his canopied seat, the unfortunate earl and his -brother were hurried down the back stair of David's Tower, and dragged -to the greensward of the Butts, where the new barracks were built -in 1796, and there, in the presence of the regent, the chancellor, -Sir Walter Halyburton, the lord high treasurer, and other officers -of state, after being barely permitted to embrace each other, they -were thrown down on the block in succession, forcibly held there, and -beheaded! - -This terrible deed was scarcely done ere all the friends of the regent -and chancellor, save their garrison, hastily quitted the castle; even -as those who _now_ witness an execution disperse rapidly as if it were -a relief to get rid of emotions so deep as those which are excited by -beholding a violent death, however judicially done. - -For two days Sir Malcolm Fleming (ancestor of the earls of Wigton) was -respited only because he had wedded Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of the -old duke of Albany; but ultimately he too was beheaded on the same -block that was yet crimsoned with the blood of those he loved so well. - -Sir Alan Lauder, through the friendship of Romanno, effected his -escape; while Fleming was interred in the coffin which bore the name of -Murielle Douglas. - -In a wild spot on the north-western slope of the castle rock, where the -wall-flower and thistle flourished, and where at times the grass was -spotted by the _witch-gowans_, those yellow flowers which are filled by -pernicious sap, and are supposed to cause blindness, grew luxuriantly, -they were all interred in one deep grave. - -In 1753, when the foundations of an arsenal were being dug there, some -human remains were exhumed, with several coffin-handles, and three -inscription-plates of pure gold. With these relics were found the skull -and horns of a bull, thereby identifying them with those victims of -misrule who perished on the vigil of St. Catharine, in 1440. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF NOVEMBER. - - Playing at the tables, he - There was murder'd. At his shrine - Many a noble lady wept; - Many a knight of valiant line: - One mourn'd more than all the rest, - Daughter of the Genovine. - - POETRY OF SPAIN. - - -In the horror and bewilderment which were naturally excited by this -terrible and unexpected catastrophe--this double execution which had -taken place under his own eyes, and in which he felt himself thereby -almost implicated, the unfortunate Captain of the King's Guard knew not -what to do. - -How would the powerful and hostile Douglases, and how might Murielle -view him _now_? - -He shrunk from the contemplation, and felt such an abhorrence of the -regent and chancellor, that, although his bread and subsistence were -derived from his post at court as Captain of the King's Guard, he -was tempted to cast the office from him and leave the country. But -to pass into exile was to lose all hope of Murielle, to relinquish -her for ever; and he lived in an age when love was perhaps a more -_concentrated_ passion than it may be even in one of greater -civilization. - -To lure her with him into France,--in those old times the Scotsman's -_other_ home,--would be fraught with danger; for the Douglases would -have interest enough with Charles VII. to procure their separation, and -his commitment for life to some obscure bastille, where he would never -be heard of again,--if their emissaries did not cut him off in the -light of open day. - -Then, on the other hand, his patron and friend, the late King James I., -had made him promise to be a faithful subject and mentor to his son and -heir; and, with one hand on that dead monarch's body as he lay murdered -in the Black Friary at Perth, he had recorded the promise again in -presence of his mourning widow. - -That a terrible vengeance would be planned by the Douglases and their -adherents for that _black dinner_,--as it was named,--he felt assured; -for all who hated the regent or dreaded the chancellor had for years -found security in the numerous strongholds of the slaughtered earl, -and had there bid defiance alike to king, law, and parliament. All -the lawless moss-troopers; all broken, idle, and mischievous persons, -professed themselves vassals of this powerful house, which was rapidly -aiming at the erection of a separate and independent principality in -the southern and most fertile district of Scotland. - -By the stern chancellor's wisdom, and merciless decree, the headsman's -axe had struck a fatal blow at this most daring and ambitious scheme: -but what might the sequel be to public as well as private interests? - -And Murielle! - -She knew all the perils of the age in which she lived; the daily--yea, -hourly dangers to which her lover as Captain of the King's Guard was -exposed; she knew, too, how many interests were hostile to their -union, and that their love seemed the hopeless passion of a romance or -a harper's song; yet she had still continued to love, and trust, and -hope, though vaguely, for some turn of the wheel of Fortune, as loving -women always do in the hours of trouble and adversity; but of what -avail would all this trust and hope be _now_? - -All these thoughts rushed like a flood through the mind of Gray, as he -stood next morning beside the newly-heaped mound where the dead were -buried. - -How was he to excuse to Murielle that he was present at the butchery of -her nearest kinsmen? and, _why_ that he still adhered to those who so -basely slew them under truce and tryst? - -A shadow fell across the large earthen mound. He looked up, and his -eyes met those of the inflexible chancellor. - -"Good morrow, Sir Patrick!" said the latter, with a keen glance. "Art -moralizing on the mutability of human things, or the vanity of human -greatness?" - -"Nay; my mind was full of neither." - -"What then?" - -"I was but thinking that it was a foul deed, my lord; this slaughter of -two helpless youths, amid the festivity of a royal banquet." - -"Foul!" reiterated the Chancellor, with a louring brow and flashing -eyes. - -"As foul as if the heart of Judas planned it; a deed at which all -Scotland, if not all Europe, will cry aloud," replied Gray, stoutly. - -"Then let them cry, if it pleases them to do so. By our Lady! I believe -the howl you fear will not go far beyond Galloway and the Douglas -lands. Of yesterday's act, I take upon myself the entire odium and -responsibility, if such there be. Those who know me, and chiefly He who -reads the secrets of every soul, know the great end I had in view when, -in the persons of these misguided boys, I laid the heads of a viperous -brood in the dust. Sir Patrick Gray!" added the chancellor, turning and -stamping on the grave with his spurred heel, "better it is to have the -heart of Douglas lying cold below us, than exulting that his banner -could cast its shadow on the throne, and that he could rend Scotland in -twain, to become the easier prey of its ancient, bitter, and grasping -enemies. Nay, man, never scowl at me, but ponder well upon my words; -and remember the promise you made to the king when living, and to the -same king when dead, on that terrible night in the Black Friary, at -Perth." - -And with a significant glance, this stern statesman turned and left -him, as if disdaining further defence of himself. - -Gray supposed that the vast train of Douglas would assemble and depart -at once, on learning the tidings of the execution: thus, if he would -see Murielle, he must visit her without delay. But such a visit was -fraught with danger, so great was the excitement which reigned in the -city, where an assault of the castle was considered imminent. - -Carefully divesting himself of everything by which he might be -recognized, he put on a shirt of fine mail, which fitted him like a -kid-glove. Over this he buttoned a pourpoint of plain black cloth; a -steel gorget protected his neck; and a salade effectually did the same -office for his head, while at the same time it completely concealed his -face; and, armed with his sword and dagger, he sallied forth into the -streets, where the shops and booths were closed, and at the Cross, the -Butter Tron, the doors of St. Giles's Church, and other places, sullen -and excited groups of citizens were mingled with the wild and unruly -billmen, pikemen, and archers, who had come from the banks of the Nith -and the Annan; or with armed knights, who rode hurriedly to and fro, -briefly questioning each other, or gathering for angry conference. Many -yet averred that the story of the execution was false, and that the -earl and his brother with Sir Malcolm Fleming were merely imprisoned -in the vaults of that grim fortress towards which many an angry eye -was turned, and towards which many a gauntleted hand was clenched and -shaken. - -But James Achanna spread the truth industriously; and then a dreadful -shout, or many shouts commingling into one, rang along the streets from -mouth to mouth. - -"Horse and spear! A Douglas! a Douglas! Fye, fye! Vengeance on the king -and the pack of sworn traitors who surround him! Down with his lurdane -burgesses and silken lords! Death to the regent and chancellor!" - -Such were the cries heard on every hand. - -"Oh, had the legate of Rome but listened to me!" exclaimed the abbot of -Tongland; "oh, had his holiness but favoured me, than had Sathanas been -forgiven; evil had departed from us, and we had not seen this day of -woe!" - -On one hand the great common-bell of the city was rung by order of -Sir Thomas Cranstoun, the provost, to summon the people to arms, for -their own protection and that of the king; on the other, the bells of -the churches were tolling, to call them to prayer; so that as many as -possible, especially "wives and bairns," might be kept from danger. -The blare of trumpets, the twanging of horns were heard in wynd and -alley, with the clatter of iron hoofs and clinking of steel, as Ormond, -Abercorn, Pompherston, Glendoning, and other feudatories mustered -their "followings;" and amid all this hubbub and dismay, this rushing -to and fro of armed, pale-faced, and excited men in search of sure -intelligence, our anxious lover passed through the city, and reached, -unquestioned and unannounced, the outer gate of the abbot's mansion. - -Just as he was about to enter, a man passed out of the archway. - -This person was fully armed in a chain shirt, with a steel helmet, from -the rim of which a camaile, or tippet of fine steel rings, closely -interwoven, fell upon the shoulders to protect the neck. His gauntlets -were of brass; he carried a dagger at his girdle, and a ghisarma in his -hands. Through the open helmet, Sir Patrick Gray at once recognized -the malevolent eyes of James Achanna, the follower of the Douglases, -and the paid spy of Crichton, a thorough Scottish utilitarian of the -fifteenth century. - -"Grant me mercy, Sir Patrick," said he, with well-feigned concern, -"what make you here, at such a time as this? Do you bear a charmed -life?" - -"You _know_ me, then?" exclaimed the soldier, somewhat disconcerted. - -"When you wish to be unknown, you should leave this golden chain at -home," said Achanna, lifting the links of one worn by Gray above his -gorget. - -"How, sir,--what do you infer?" asked the latter, biting his lips -with undisguised annoyance, for the chain in question was a gift from -Murielle. - -"I have seen it on a fairer neck, but at such a time are you safe -beyond the castle gate?" - -"Oh, heed me not, my good man," replied the soldier, contemptuously; -"my hands could always keep my head--be sure that yours can do the same -for you." - -"That we shall prove," muttered the other with his malignant smile, as -he passed out, and they separated. - -In the adjacent wynd, or alley, he met James of Avondale and Abercorn, -riding down hastily with a troop of armed followers, all excited almost -to madness by the conflicting statements circulated in the city, while -at the gate of the fortress, where Abercorn had gone, being anxious to -learn the _truth_, the sole reply was the pointed crossbow or hand-gun, -levelled at all who approached. - -The subtle earl of Abercorn and Avondale knew well by the advices of -his creature, Achanna, that both his nephews were effectually and -for ever removed from his path, and that as next of kin, the vast -possessions of the house of Douglas--their titles, lands, manors, -and fortresses were his--_his beyond recall_! But as yet he found it -prudent to affect to doubt the terrible story; and thus he had been -swaggering over all the city in his armour, threatening with vengeance, -fire and sword, the king, the regent, the chancellor, and all their -adherents. - -"Achanna," he exclaimed, curbing his horse, "the common rumour says my -kinsmen _were slain_ yesterday,--foully murdered by the chancellor and -his minions under form of law." - -"Alake, my lord," whined Achanna (who had detailed to him all the -transaction most circumstantially, on the preceding evening), "I fear -the rumour is but too true; woe worth the day! woe worth the day!" - -On this the armed horsemen clenched their mailed hands, or shook their -spears aloft, and muttered deep oaths in the hollow of their helmets. - -"By St. Bryde of Douglas, I would give a year's rental of Touraine for -the head of Livingstone, of Crichton, or even of the wretch who acted -as their doomster!" exclaimed Abercorn, still acting as if inspired by -grief and indignation. - -"A year's rent of Touraine is a pretty sum," said Achanna, musingly. - -"Ay, ten thousand crowns," added the earl, grimly. - -"How freely he spends his new-won property," thought Achanna, adding -aloud, "the headsman was masked, 'tis said." - -"By whom?" - -"The common rumour." - -"Masked was he?" said the laird of Pompherston; "a wise precaution, as -there is not a Douglas in the land but will be ready to whet a dagger -on his breast bone!" - -"Well, sirs, this perilous carle is even now within arm's length of us." - -"Hah! _here_, say you, Achanna?" said Abercorn. - -"Even so,--Sir Patrick Gray." - -"The Captain of the Guard! Was it he?" - -"None else," was the villainous response. - -"And he--he," cried twenty voices. - -"Is now in the Abbot's House, at the feet of Lady Murielle, or, -perhaps, at the feet of the countess; I know not which he loves, for -there be some in Galloway who aver he affects them both." - -"In the house here--art thou sure, Achanna?" hissed the earl, through -his teeth, while a livid gleam lit his dark and sinister eyes, for he -bitterly hated Gray, and had _other_ views for Murielle than she had -yet foreseen. Moreover, a ready victim was required to appease the fury -which inspired the turbulent followers of his slaughtered nephews, and -none could be so fit for his purpose as the Captain of the Guard. "Art -thou sure," he added, "that Gray is here?" - -"Sure, as that the breath of Heaven is in my nostrils!" - -"By the God of my kin, our task of vengeance is beginning!" cried -Earl James, rising in his stirrups, and brandishing his sword; "a -rope, a rope! A Douglas! a Douglas! Ho, Pompherston, Glendoning, -Cairnglas,--let us hang this king's minion at the Market Cross! Gather -a band--beset the house, and watch every avenue. Achanna, is there a -secret stair?" - -"Yes." - -"Then beset it too," exclaimed the earl. - -"Be that my task," replied Achanna, who with six armed men repaired -to an angle of the abbot's garden, where, among a mass of ivy which -shrouded the wall, he knew there was concealed a little arched postern, -which formed the external avenue of one of those secret escapes with -which all houses were furnished in those times of war and tumult. - -Abercorn remained in his high-peaked, crimson velvet saddle, while -posting his followers round the mansion; but Pompherston, Glendoning, -and other armed gentlemen, with a tumultuous party of retainers, -Lanarkshire pikemen, crossbowmen, and wild, half-naked Galwegians, -who brandished axes, swords, and daggers, rushed up the stone stairs, -and spread through the wainscoted apartments, in eager search of the -object of their vengeance, for they were in such a mood for blood and -slaughter, they would have slain the household cat had it, unluckily, -fallen in their way. - -But we must return to our luckless lover, who, suspecting nothing of -all this, had long since passed into the house, where no one accosted -or introduced him, so great was the confusion which already reigned -there. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A SECRET STAIR. - - Bluidie was the braid saddle lap, - And bluidie was the crupper; - Sae bluidie as my true love's hands, - When we sat down to supper. - "There's water in the siller dish, - Gae wash thy hands so bluidie;" - But my love wash'd in the water clear, - And never made it ruddie. - - CROMEK. - - -Sir Patrick Gray reached the wainscoted hall, or chamber of dais, the -arched roof of which was covered, as already described, with frescoed -legends of the Abbey of Tongland. - -There yet stood the little Scottish harp of Murielle, and a sense -of her sweet presence seemed to linger about it, with the memory of -her song--"Sir Hugh le Blond." There stood the seat of her sister, -the dark and beautiful Margaret, with the velvet tabourettes of her -bower-maidens grouped around it. There was the chair of the young -earl, with one of his leather gloves, and beside it his little Bologna -spaniel asleep. - -The gay groups of the other night seemed to rise before the troubled -eye of Gray, as he surveyed the chamber. He sighed bitterly, and could -recall with painful distinctness the faces of the unfortunate earl and -the petulant boy, his brother. He forgave poor little David all his -petulance now. - -How difficult to realize the conviction, that within an hour he had -stood by their bloody tomb--poor victims of misguided ambition, of -feudal pride, and political misrule! Yet an age seemed to have elapsed -since last he had seen their faces. - -Suddenly he heard a light step and the rustling of a dress; a small -hand drew rapidly aside the arras which covered a door, and Murielle, -with bloodshot eyes and her sweet little face pale with tears and loss -of sleep, rushed towards him. - -"Oh, Patrick Gray, Patrick Gray!" she exclaimed, throwing herself in -all the abandonment of grief into his arms, and laying her cold cheek -upon his breast; "Oh my love, my heart--what new miseries, what new -crimes and dangers, are these that come to cast their gloom and horror -upon us?" - -He endeavoured to calm and soothe her; but suddenly quitting him, she -besought him to leave her, and return instantly to the castle. - -"Leave you, Murielle?" he reiterated, "think of the time that has -elapsed since I have seen you, conversed with you--since I have been -with you alone; and think of the time that may elapse ere we meet -again." - -"Yet go--go," she added, clasping her hands, "if you love me, go!" - -"_If_--ah! Murielle----" - -"Leave me--shun me! this love will end in your destruction," she -exclaimed with wild energy. - -"I am almost inclined to stay, Murielle, and risk everything, were it -but to prove how much I do love you." - -"By making me miserable for ever, by seeing you perish before me--oh, -even as my poor kinsmen perished!" she added in a piercing accent, -while wringing her pretty hands, and half withdrawing from him. - -"You are right, dear Murielle," replied the soldier gloomily: "I am -in the king's service. To brave a useless danger and inevitable fate, -would serve no end; yet, dearest Murielle, this interview may be our -last." - -"It may be--I know it in my aching heart; yet go--go, for the love of -God and St. Bryde, lest some fresh crime be committed, and here. Alas! -you know not Hugh of Ormond, or James of Abercorn, as I do. But why -were our beloved William and David slain?" - -"Blame not me, dear Murielle," said Gray, kissing her pale cheek with -affectionate sorrow. - -"Oh, Patrick, I do not blame you," replied Murielle, in a tone of -misery. - -"Indeed! Yet you see him before you, and clasp him to your heart like a -wanton, while he has on his hands the blood of my husband!" exclaimed -a clear and ringing voice. It was that of the scornful, the lovely and -revengeful, yet superb Margaret, as she burst upon them through the -parted arras, her pale cheek flushing and her dark eyes sparkling, -but with more of anger than grief. "Vile assassin! come you here, -stained with the blood of my Douglas--my brave, young, handsome lord -and kinsman--of his poor boy-brother, and that hoary-headed baron, -old Malcolm Fleming, whose sword was never idle when Scotland or her -king required its service! Did it require three such heads to glut -the hatred ye bear to the house of Douglas and Galloway? Speak!" she -added, stamping her pretty foot imperiously on the rush-covered floor; -"speak, thou king's minion and Falkland-bred loon!" - -"Peace, sister," moaned Murielle, "oh peace----" - -"Now, grant me patience, God!" exclaimed the furious countess, -stretching her white hands upward--and supremely lovely that dark-eyed -girl seemed, in her mingled grief and rage. "Go hence, I say, Murielle -Douglas; let not that man contaminate you by his touch." - -"Oh, sister Maggie, you know he loves me dearly, and I him." - -"I know that he has been tutored well in the conventional hypocrisy -of a court; and that you, Murielle, educated as you have been in our -secluded castle of Thrave, are no match in art for such as he." - -"Maggie," implored Murielle, beginning to writhe under her sister's -severity, "he is generous as gentle, and gentle as brave!" - -"But save him if you can," said Margaret, bitterly. - -"There is, then, danger, madam?" said Gray, loosening his poniard in -its sheath. - -"Do you hear that growing clamour in the street?" exclaimed Margaret. -"Sir Patrick Gray, away, I warn you. James of Abercorn, Pompherston, -and others, all our most faithful followers, are around the house; if -you tarry here a moment longer, they will hack you joint from joint." - -"But, madame--countess--Murielle," said Gray, whose heart was swollen -almost to bursting by the vituperative bitterness of Margaret, "I -cannot go without a word of explanation or defence." - -"We seek neither. It is enough for us to know that you stood by, in -yonder royal shambles on the rock, and saw Douglas foully murdered, -under tryst--_stood idly by_, with your sword in its sheath, and -neither by word or blow sought to save the life of him whose cousin you -profess to love. But doubtless, as captain of the king's hirelings, it -was your duty to stand aloof, or guard the treble murder!" - -"Sister," said Murielle imploringly, while her tears fell fast and -hotly, "have we not heard the Abbot of Tongland and the Prior of St. -Mary's Isle both preach, that man was born to evil, even as the sparks -fly upward; but that with fortitude, patience, and resignation, we -should bear our cross--the destiny assigned us; and what are we, to set -ourselves in opposition to what they, the men of God, teach, preach, -and practise?" - -"Such cowardly precepts may suit their droning monks, but not the -Douglases of Thrave," responded her fiery sister. "We have been foully -wronged, and I have sworn by our Lady of Whitekirk--by her son and St. -Bryde--to have a vengeance on this boy-king and his chancellor,--a -vengeance so sure and deep, that every king in Christendom shall feel -his heart tremble within him, if he dares to wrong a subject as they -have wronged me. Ha!--hear ye _that_?" she added, as a strangely -malignant gleam passed over her dark eyes. - -"_Death to Gray--bring him forth--a rope! a rope!_" - -"'Tis the voice of Achanna," said Sir Patrick, starting; while -Murielle, on hearing the roar of men's voices and the clatter of arms -without and within the house, uttered a low cry of terror, and clung to -his breast. - -By a hasty glance from the window, Gray saw that the court-yard was -full of armed men, who, with drawn swords and bent cross bows, were -crowding into the staircase. He saw James of Abercorn, who was on -horseback, and who shook his gauntleted hand towards him; he saw that -the garden, the gate, the wynd, and every avenue to escape were beset -by glittering pikes and partisans, and a cold perspiration burst over -his brow at the sudden prospect of helplessly suffering a cruel and -violent death. His heart was almost too full for words; but he kissed -Murielle tenderly. - -"Long, long, it may be," he said, with a foreboding sigh, "ere that -dear kiss can be repeated--it may be _never_; but oh, Murielle, tide -what may, let no other efface it from your beloved lips!" - -The voices and clatter of arms came nearer. - -"Save him, sister--save him, Maggie. You may and _can_ do it!" -exclaimed Murielle, rushing to the door of the large chamber, which she -closed, and drew across into the stone socket the massive oak bar by -which it was secured. She had barely achieved this ere the din of blows -from mailed hands, from sword-hilts, and the butts of crossbows and -partisans, rang upon it in a shower. - -Many fierce voices summoned those who were within to open; otherwise, -that fire would be applied to force an entrance. - -Drawing his sword and dagger, Gray was about to unclose it, and attempt -to hew a passage through them--an attempt which would inevitably have -ended where it began, as there were a legion of foes without, all -thirsting for vengeance, eager for outrage and homicide--all men inured -to daily turbulence, peril, and bloodshed. - -The clatter and uproar increased rapidly, as the numbers outside seemed -to multiply. The door, though of solid oak, was yielding fast, and -already the blades of several swords were repeatedly passed through -it, and withdrawn to give place to others. - -"Save him, Maggie dear--dear sister, save him, in mercy to me, if not -to himself," implored Murielle, clinging to the waist of Margaret, who -stood haughtily erect, like a tragedy-queen, with a sneer upon her -proud lip, while undisguised alarm was now expressed in her fine eyes, -at the prospect of seeing Gray butchered in her presence, though she -hated him in her heart; "save him, sister, save him!" - -"Am I an armed man?" she asked coldly. "In what fashion am I to save -your minion?" - -"Ha!--by the stair--the secret stair. Oh God, how that door shakes--in -another moment it will yield!--the secret stair--the abbot gave you the -key." - -"True," said Margaret, as she drew a key from her bosom, and tossed it -contemptuously on the floor. - -With a cry of joy Murielle picked it up, and, seizing Gray by the hand, -said, - -"You are saved--quick--come this way." - -At the side of one of the deeply-embayed windows she withdrew the -arras, and unlocked a little door which gave access to a narrow -passage, formed in the thickness of the ancient wall. - -"Descend here. There are twenty-one steps; the passage at the foot -leads to the garden, and the wall there is low. Push open the door at -the lower end among the ivy, and you are free. Heaven, in its goodness, -be your guide!" - -"Ah, that I had but twelve pikes of my guard to scatter this rabble -like winnowed chaff! Adieu, Murielle; I shall live and escape, if I -can! If not, look from your window, my love--my dear, dear love--and -you shall see how toughly a brave and loyal gentleman can _die_!" - -With these words, and full of desperate thoughts, Gray rushed down the -secret stair, while Murielle, with a sigh almost of rapture, locked the -door. Then, with a prayer of thankfulness, she thrust the key into her -bosom; but, fearing it might not be quite safe even there, she cast it -into the great fire of coals and oak roots which burned on the hearth. - -At that moment the door was burst open, and the tall grim laird of -Pompherston, with his helmet open and his sword drawn, rushed in, with -a confused mob of pikemen and archers at his back. - -On seeing only the countess and her sister, he and his flushed -followers seemed perplexed, and turned away to prosecute their search -elsewhere. But soon the clash of weapons and shouts of exultation and -ferocity in the garden drew all there to join the fray. - -Murielle sprang to the nearest window, and oh, what a sight she saw -there! - -Sir Patrick Gray issuing from the doorway of the secret passage, -covered with blood and wounds; his pourpoint rent and torn; his sword -and dagger bloody, after a combat maintained in the dark against -Achanna and six others, who, as already related, had beset the way -and attacked him, with terrible advantage, in the obscurity, which -concealed alike their number and their deadly purpose. - -Undismayed, with his sword in his right hand and a long Scottish dagger -in his left, Gray rushed upon his assailants, and they quickly parted -before him; but only to close in his rear, while fresh foes met him in -front. - -What a sight for Murielle to gaze upon, while, gasping and shrieking, -she clung to the iron bars of the hall window, and surveyed the -terrible scene below, where one poor human life was struggling so nobly -and so desperately for existence against so many! - -Brave heart! he will sell that life dearly, for it is doubly valuable -now. Youth and love--the love of Murielle--are his, and for both he has -to live and to conquer! - -No slogan or shout, entreaty or threat, are uttered by him, as, with -teeth clenched, brows knit, and every nerve and fibre strained, he -stabs and shreds and hews about him, trampling underfoot those who fall -beneath his hand. - -He casts one brief and despairing glance at the window, for he knows -that _she_ is there; and to the horror of being thus helplessly -butchered by the kinsmen of Murielle, is added the bitter consciousness -that she beholds it, alike unable to assist or save him. - -He is the aim of a hundred flashing weapons and infuriated men, who, in -their blind eagerness to destroy him, impede and inflict severe wounds -on each other. - -His pourpoint hangs from his shoulders in rags, and more than one long -arrow dangles by its barbed point from his shirt of mail. Now his -helmet is struck from his head; an exulting cheer rises from the rabble -that surge around him; but still he towers above them like a rock, and -hews another, another, and another down! - -Now, as he concentrates all his energies, the crowd parts before him; -he has reached the outer gate, and then a cry for "rescue" rises in the -street beyond. - -He reels, he staggers to his knee! - -Yet up he springs again. Heavens! there is a long and bloody streak -across his pallid face; and now his sword-blade breaks; but he wrests -another from an assailant, whom he hurls to the earth and treads under -foot, lest he should rise and fight again! - -On, on yet, and now he has fought his way through the gate, beyond -which, on horseback, sits grim Earl James of Abercorn, like a mailed -statue, surveying with fierce eyes this appalling scene; and now, faint -with wounds and loss of blood, Gray staggers like a dying man towards -him, and clutches his stirrup-leather. - -"James of Abercorn," he cries, "by your knighthood, by God's mercy and -the honour of your name, save me!" - -But, with the smile of a demon, James the Gross raises his ponderous -ghisarma, and strikes him twice on his bare head and upturned -despairing face, which in a moment are covered with blood. - -"Murielle! Murielle!" exclaims Gray, as he sinks, to all appearance, -lifeless in the street; and then the wild rabble sweep over him like a -human flood, to complete his destruction. - -On beholding this last barbarous act, a shriek burst even from the -countess, and she turned to her sister; but, alas! poor Murielle had -long since sunk insensible on the cushioned window-seat. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE CASTLE OF THRAVE. - - Sad airs like those she heard in infancy, - Fell on her soul and filled her eyes with tears; - And recollections came of happier years, - Thronging from all the cells of memory. - - BARRY CORNWALL. - - -More than a year had elapsed since the terrible scene with which the -preceding chapter has closed. - -It was the sweet season of summer. A soft wind was passing over the -pastoral uplands of Galloway, and rippling the black water of the Dee -where it swept round the green islet on which stands the great feudal -fortress of Thrave. It rippled, in some places, the growing cornfields, -in others, the greener wild grass, bearing with it the freshness of -the dew that loaded the leaves of the wayside flowers (for a shower -had just fallen), with the perfume of the honeycomb, of the mountain -bee that hummed over the yellow broom or purple heather-bells, on the -rugged braes of Balmaghie; or over the crimson cups of the wild roses -overhanging the brawling burn that rushed through bank and scaur to -Woodhall Loch. - -It was a summer noon; the sunny shower had passed away, and the -rose-linnet, the wild mavis, and the gold-spink sang merrily on every -bush and bank; and the bright sun cast the great shadow of the castle -of Thrave upon the Dee, which moats it round. - -There now dwelt Murielle, and others who have borne a part in our -story, though a change had come over their position in life. - -The Lord Chancellor Crichton had scarcely foreseen the immediate -consequences of that "black dinour" in the castle of Edinburgh--a -deed of detestable cruelty, though deemed politic in the spirit of -the time. It naturally excited the deep-rooted hatred and fierce -indignation of the numerous vassalage and powerful friends of the -house of Douglas; while the youth of the noble victims on one hand, -with the age and valour of Sir Malcolm Fleming on the other, together -with the cold-blooded treachery which lured them all to a doom so -disastrous--a mock trial and execution in the young king's presence, -despite his tears and entreaties--all conduced to excite a strong -sympathy among the people, who only remembered the worth and loyalty of -their ancestors, and forgot those excesses, or were ignorant of that -mad ambition, which had filled with jealousy the ministers of James the -Second. - -But while treasuring this deed of blood in their resentful hearts, and -scheming for the downfall of the regent and chancellor, the Douglases -were too wary now to trust themselves out of their own fastnesses, or -to take immediate revenge. - -The dukedom of Touraine and the county of Longueville had reverted -to the crown of France; but James the Gross, earl of Abercorn and -Avondale, through whose connivance the trial and execution of his -kinsmen took place, succeeded quietly to all their Scottish estates. -Then, to prevent the dismemberment of a territory so princely, and to -preserve to the house of Douglas the Countess Margaret's portion, which -comprehended Galloway, Wigton, Balvenie, Ormond, and Annandale, on the -promise of obtaining a papal dispensation, through the good offices of -the abbot of Tongland, she consented to espouse Earl James, that they -might the better plot their vengeance and unite their power against -the regent and chancellor, who, by this unexpected consolidation, saw -their views baffled, and the family of Douglas, within six months, -restored to its former strength and splendour. - -Thus, twice before her twentieth year, had the Fair Maid of Galloway -worn a wreath of roses and lucky four-leaved clover, which formed then -the bridal chaplet. The young lord of her great fortress by the Dee had -passed away; yet it seemed strange he had left no vacancy of heart or -hearth behind him: for his place had been rapidly filled by another; -and none knew Margaret's secret thoughts. - -In the vast but solitary castle of Thrave, Murielle had long wept for -her lover, and mourned him as one who was dead. Whether he had been -slain outright, or been simply but barbarously mutilated, she had no -means of ascertaining, as the countess and her armed train had taken -their departure from Edinburgh within an hour after the fatal conflict; -and since then she had resided in Thrave, the most remote and strong of -all her many fortresses. - -Since that fatal day, Murielle had felt as if her little heart had been -crushed by a hand of steel; while the society of the stern, malevolent, -and gloomy Earl James, who was now lord of all their heritage, and as -such assumed to be the master of _her_ hand and destiny--a mastery -in which he was joined by her proud, fiery, and, at times, cruel -sister--made her long for a refuge among the Benedictine nuns of -Lincluden; and she as often wished, in the sorrow and bitterness of -her soul, that she were at rest among the graves of her forefathers, -in Melrose or Dundrennan. She never saw the earl without experiencing -a shudder of horror and aversion, for the memory of that terrible day -in Edinburgh was ever before her; her lover's upturned face, with its -despairing eyes, imploring pity from the fierce noble who smote him -down with his bloody ghisarma, as he would have done a reptile. - -In that age there were no newspapers; no posts or telegraphs; no books -or printing, for it was twenty years before Caxton set his _first_ -types for Raoul le Fevre; thus the library of the great countess was -limited to her missal, and a little whity-brown volume in which she -engrossed recipes and so forth. Save a few games of hazard, there were -no in-door amusements, or food for the mind. How wearily and drearily -must the days have been passed by the dwellers in those old Scottish -castles, secluded in roadless and mountain districts, when there was -peace (which was seldom), and no fighting, burning, or hanging going on! - -No tidings came from the court or capital to Thrave, save the strange -and floating rumours brought by a passing harper on his way towards -Ireland or the south; or by a cunning pardoner, travelling with his -holy wares and relics to Tongland, Dundrennan, or St. Mary Isle; or by -an armed mosstrooper, in his steel cap and vambraces; or a bein-bonnet -laird, or gudeman (_i.e._ one who holds his land from a baron), on -his Galloway cob, passing to or from the next burgh town, who, after -bartering his beef, butter, and eggs, for a bilbo or suit of harness, -tarried at lordly Thrave, belated or storm-stayed. - -Men travelled little then by night in Scotland. Vast districts were -almost roadless; and deep rivers, the fabled abode of the mischievous -kelpie and dreadful water-horse, were bridgeless, and the fords were -few and precarious. Lawless moss-troopers, broken men, and wandering -gipsies rendered the paths insecure; nor were supernatural terrors -wanting, in the shapes of bogles, spunkies, wraiths, and fairies, to -render the ingle-lum of the nearest farm, the refectory of a monastery, -or the hall of a baron or landholder an acceptable refuge after dark. - -Of the old abbot of Tongland the inhabitants of Thrave had seen little. -He had secluded himself in his abbey, which lay in a deep and woody -hollow formed by the Dee, and adjoining the _clachan_ which slopes down -to the verge of the stream--for so they named their villages in Celtic -Galloway. There he spent day after day entrenched among illuminated -manuscripts and yellow parchments, searching, writing, quoting, -collating, and preparing anew his application to Pope Eugene, that the -Prince of Darkness might be forgiven, so that evil and discord in the -world might cease for ever. - -On the eccentric, but kind old abbot, Murielle rested all her hope for -succour, information, advice, and assistance; but he failed to obtain -authentic tidings of her lover's fate. Thus, in that great castle, -which was crowded by armed men, she pined and sorrowed in secret, -without a friend. - -Meanwhile quantities of armour, helmets, corslets, spurs, and bridles, -that came in hampers by ships from Holland, bundles of arrows and -spears brought on horseback from Dumfries to the arsenal in the -barbican, indicated the events that were on the tapis. Many couriers, -such as Pompherston, Glendoning, Achanna, and Sir Alan Lauder, were -dispatched in all directions under cloud of night, while others were -arriving with secret parchments, and slips of paper concealed in the -lining of their doublets, the sheaths of their daggers, and the tops of -their gambadoes; missives from the turbulent John, earl of Ross, lord -of the isles; from Sir Magnus Redmain, the English governor of Berwick; -from Robert, the exiled and intriguing duke of Albany; from John Garm -Stewart, of Athole; from Christian I., count of Oldenburg and king of -Norway: and all these signs filled Murielle with anxiety and alarm, as -they indicated the magnitude of the schemes and intrigues in which the -fierce and subtle Earl James and her bold and ambitious sister were -engaged, and the designs they were forming against the regent, the -chancellor, the unfortunate people, and the young and innocent king. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE BOWER CHAMBER. - - The summer brook flows in the bed - The winter torrent tore asunder; - The skylark's gentle wings are spread - Where walk'd the lightning and the thunder: - And thus you'll find the sternest soul, - The gayest tenderness concealing; - And minds that seem to mock control - Are order'd by some fairy feeling. - - POEMS BY THOMAS DAVIS. - - -It was, as related, a summer noon. - -Earl James of Douglas, whilom of Abercorn and Avondale, still in half -rebellion against a king and court from both of which he kept sullenly -aloof, was hawking on the bank of the Carlinwark Loch, with Sir Alan -Lauder, Achanna, and other friends, while the countess was in her -bower-chamber with Murielle and other ladies of her household. - -As a reward for his services, Achanna, that worthy Scottish liberal -and utilitarian of the year of grace 1441, had received a purse of -gold from the chancellor, and from Abercorn the office of seneschal of -Thrave. Like many of his countrymen in more modern times, master James -Achanna was a noisy professor of religion, and never missed a mass or -service of his church; he wore an enormous rosary, and crossed himself -at least a hundred times daily when any one was present. Scotland has -always been peculiarly unfortunate in producing such pretenders; and -doubtless, had James Achanna lived now, the same cunning and coldness -of heart, the same selfishness of purpose and anti-nationality which he -possessed, would have brought him fortune, place, or power, political, -and assuredly provincial fame; but, under James II., he was merely a -hireling swordsman, a smooth-tongued intriguer, and occasionally a -"rowdy" in a suit of armour. - -The windows of the bower chamber were open, and afforded an ample -view of the far-stretching pastoral landscape, through which the Dee, -between banks shrouded by groves of beech and willow, the fragrant -hawthorn, or those old oaks which, ages ago, had echoed to the horn of -the great crusader, Alan, lord of Galloway, wound to pour its waters -in the Solway Firth. Through the deep and arched embayments in the -old castle wall, the summer sunshine shed a flood of radiance upon -the arched necks, the white hands, and glossy tresses of the group -of handsome girls who drew their tabourettes around the chair of the -Countess Margaret, who had just entered; for, with few exceptions, -these damoiselles in silk and costly attire were the same who had -attended her on that unhappy visit to Edinburgh in the November of -1440. - -They were all the daughters of barons and knights--Maud Douglas of -Pompherston, a lovely girl with black hair, dark hazel eyes, and a -queenly bearing; Mariota Douglas of Glendoning, whose auburn hair won -her the name of the _Caillean Rua_ among the Galwegians; Lady Jean of -the Cairnglas, and the three daughters of Sir Alan of the Bass, all -lassies with "lint white locks," and others, to the number of twelve, -were plying their needles busily; but Murielle sat apart, and, with her -cheek resting on the palm of her hand, gazed listlessly upon the hazy -landscape that spread in the summer sunshine far away from below the -castle wall. - -The work on which those ladies were busy was one of those huge pieces -of tapestry in the manufacture of which the fair ones of those days -delighted, and, when completed, it was to be a donation to the abbot -of Tongland on New Year's Day, 1442, as it represented the life and -miracles of St. Bryde (or Bridget), the patron of the house of Douglas; -and this great web spread over all the knees and daintily-slippered -feet of the fair workers, as it fell in waves along the floor of -polished oak. - -Therein their needles had depicted the saint in her little cell under a -large oak at Kildara, in Munster, where the wild ducks that swam in the -Bog of Allen and the birds that flew over the Curragh, alike obeyed her -voice, and went and came at her command; and there, too, was shown how, -at her desire, the milk of the cows on the Wicklow hills became butter, -and how, when she prayed, it was multiplied threefold for the use of -the poor; and other miracles long since forgotten. - -This year had been memorable for prodigies. On the 17th of March, -says Sir James Balfour, there appeared "three suns in the firmament -at the noontyde of the day; and in Auguste a fearfull comett, having -a crowned sword hanging from it." Where one sun is seldom seen, -_three_ must have produced an unusual effect; so these and similar -matters formed the staple topics for discussion among the ladies of -the countess, who unanimously came to the conclusion that "something -terrible and startling would certainly ensue; but _what_ that might be -none could say--a murrain among the cattle, a famine in the Merse, a -royal raid into Galloway, an invasion by the English--perhaps the death -of the chancellor!" - -"The last is not likely," said Maud of Pompherston, throwing back her -heavy black braided hair behind the whitest and smallest of ears. - -"Why?" asked all. - -"I mean, if the tidings be true which my father heard yesterday at the -cross of Dumfries." - -"What did he hear?" asked the countess sharply, while the workers -paused, and all their eyes were bent on Maud. - -"That the heralds had proclaimed at the crosses of Edinburgh, Stirling, -and Scone, that--that the king--" - -The poor girl hesitated, for the bold flashing eye of the countess fell -darkly on her, and its expression at times was rather bewildering. - -"A boy of thirteen years," said Margaret bitterly. "Well, that the -king----" - -"Has been pleased----" - -"Deluded, you mean." - -"To create the chancellor Lord Crichton of Crichton in Lothian. -Rumour added that his youngest son, George, would soon be made earl -of Caithness, in place of the forfeited Earl Alan, who was killed ten -years ago at the battle of Inverlochie." - -"Anything more?" asked Margaret, beating the floor with her foot. - -"The regent is to be Lord Livingstone of Callendar." - -"Did the heralds not add that he granted them a coat of augmentation to -their arms?" said Margaret, with hate in her eye, and the smile of a -devil on her lovely lip;--"a headsman's axe and block, all bloody and -proper! Well, well; so be it. We'll powder these new-fangled coronets -with tears and the dust of death ere another yule be past--please -Heaven, we shall!" - -"'Tis said, too, that the king is about to be married to a fair lady of -Flanders." - -"This child!--who--who?" asked the ladies together. - -"I wot not," said Maud; and the girls laughed loudly. - -"Little Maggie Lauder of the Bass would suit him better, in years at -least," said the countess, as she caressed the lint white locks of Sir -Alan's youngest daughter, a girl of some nine years or so. "In sooth, -cousin, you have a rare stock of news." - -"Countess, I have more still." - -"More?" - -"The heritable sheriff of Perth, Sir William Ruthven of that ilk, -accompanied by a party of the king's guard, have marched into Athole, -and there captured John Gorm Stewart." - -"A friend and ally of my husband, who had a message from him not ten -days ago--he captured him, say you?" - -"Ay, and slew him." - -"John of Athole slain?" - -"Yes, on the north Inch of Perth, with thirty of his followers; but -Ruthven was also killed, and MacLellan and Gray, the commanders of the -King's Guard, were wounded." - -"The fools! to fight each other, when both were allies of ours; -for this sheriff of Perth has a daughter wedded to George Douglas, -of Leswalt, here in Galloway. So Gray was wounded--and the jesting -MacLellan, too?" - -On first hearing these names, the hitherto listless Murielle started, -and turned to Maud Douglas; but feared to ask the question that seemed -to burn her tongue. - -"Is aught wrong, sister, that you start thus?" asked Margaret, half -contemptuously. - -"No--why do you ask?" said Murielle timidly. - -"I thought a gnat had stung you." - -"Oh, it was Andrew Gray, of Balgarno, who was wounded," said Maud -good-naturedly, as she turned in haste to Murielle, whose anxiety she -wished to relieve. - -"Was your father sure of this?" asked the countess. - -"The Provost of Dumfries had the surest tidings." - -Margaret smiled bitterly at her pale sister. - -"Alas!" thought the latter, in her heart, "_he_ is not spoken of. Oh, -can he be dead, that others have led where he was wont to lead?" - -After a pause, - -"Murielle," said the countess, with some asperity, "if you will not -work with us, take your harp, and sing. Occupation will at times divert -the mind, even from its most bitter thoughts. Please to give us the -ballad of 'Sir Hugh le Blonde.'" - -The ladies urged her to do so, but she replied briefly and wearily,-- - -"Under favour, I cannot sing." - -"You cannot sing?" reiterated the countess, pausing in her work, and -gazing at Murielle with her full black eyes, above which hung the wavy -fringe of her absurdly lofty horned head-dress. - -"I cannot sing that ballad--at least, just now." - -"And wherefore?" - -"I have forgotten it," said she, turning to the window. - -"Do you remember when last you sang it?" asked Maud Douglas kindly, in -a low voice. - -"Oh yes, dear Maud," said Murielle, as her soft eyes filled with -tears at the recollection of that night in the house of the abbot at -Edinburgh, where--outwardly, at least--they all seemed so happy, and -where her lover hung over her, as she played and sang _for him_, and -him only. - -The impetuous young countess, a little despot in her own household, -grew weary of her sister's silence and reserve, for Murielle's -attachment was no secret to the family; she tossed aside the tapestry, -and desired Mariota, the _Caillean Rua_, to summon her pages and a -musician, that they might dance and practise the _pavan_, which was a -slow and stately measure then in fashion, and which took its name from -the peacock, because it was danced by knights in their mantles and -ladies in their trains; but Murielle said gently, but firmly, as she -withdrew to a corbelled stone balcony, upon which the windows of the -bower-chamber opened,-- - -"Excuse me, dear Maggie, I pray you; but I am not in the mood either to -dance or sing." - -Irritated still more by this, Margaret followed, and found her with her -face bowed upon the parapet, and weeping bitterly. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -THE BALCONY. - - The nymph must lose her female friend, - If more admired than she; - But where will fierce contention end, - If flowers can disagree?--COWPER. - - -"Is it so with you?" said the countess, roughly grasping her arm; -"is it so--still mourning for that scurvy captain of the king's -morris-pikes?" - -"Morris-pikes! Oh, sister, can you compare to mummers, the men who -formed the van at Piperden?" - -"Ay, where a Douglas routed Piercy--a service, like others, committed -to oblivion now," was the bitter response. - -Murielle wept in silence, while her haughty sister continued to regard -her with an expression in her eyes very much akin to disdain. - -The poor girl had frequently been fretted and galled by hearing -a much-loved name--alas! it might only be a much-revered -_memory_--reviled; yet she bore it meekly, hoping daily for a change. -But weeks became months, and months became seasons, yet no change came -in the bearing of her sister; which, always haughty, turned at times -violent and tempestuous. - -The proud Margaret felt that she had done a wrong action by her second -espousal, which had raised doubts in her mind that even the papal -dispensation might fail to dispel; and while she writhed under this -conviction, and longed for vengeance on the slayers of that handsome -lover and boy-husband--whom she secretly mourned, even when in the -arms of the subtle Earl James, she felt--she knew not why--irritated, -and at times exasperated, by the meek, quiet, and passive tenor of -Murielle's existence. - -"Tears still," she resumed, "always tears; but beware how the earl -finds you thus." - -"Oh, Margaret, I have studied to conceal my living sorrow from -him--from you--from all." - -"But in vain, for _all_ have seen it. There is not a trencher-boy in -the kitchen, or a groom in the stables, but knows of it as well as I -do." - -"Have you never considered, sister, what a terrible thing it is to have -to forget--to strive at crushing all memory of the past--all hope for -the future; to rend from the heart a love it has cherished for years?" - -"Years!" reiterated Margaret, with an angry laugh; "you are but -eighteen, Murielle." - -"And you not twenty." - -"Yet I have wept for a dead husband." - -"And been consoled," was the unwise reply. - -Margaret's cheek grew white with suppressed passion at the inference -which might be drawn from this casual remark; but she said, -emphatically,-- - -"Enough of this; my husband, to strengthen his house, has resolved that -you shall become the bride of one who is second to none in Scotland; -and he has sworn it on the cross of his sword, by God and St. Bryde, -that it shall be so, even should he chain you to the altar-steps, in -Tongland Abbey kirk." - -"Oh, Maggie," said Murielle, in a piercing voice, "do not talk to me -thus. I have given my heart into the keeping of Patrick Gray, and death -itself cannot restore it to me, or rend it from him. Trustingly I gave -it, dear sister, yonder--yonder, at the three auld thorns of the -Carlinwark; so be merciful to me, for no better, fonder, or purer love -than his, was ever offered up to woman." - -"A king's minion!" said the countess, spitefully; "but it is the will -of God you shall never be this." - -"Never! Say not so; it sounds like a prophecy. Never----" - -"But as the earl, my husband, has sworn----" - -"Oh, impiety!" - -"The bride of a nobler and better." - -"A better, say you?" exclaimed Murielle, with an angry laugh. - -"Dispute it if you can--Robert, duke of Albany." - -"An outlawed traitor," said Murielle, warming in her turn; "is this -your husband's scheme?" - -"Yes, a scheme formed for your honour." - -"It is a bold one." - -"Most of his schemes are so," replied Margaret, quietly. - -"Duke Robert is contracted to a daughter of Charles VII. of France," -said Murielle, taking courage. - -"The same power that permitted _my_ second marriage, can annul his -contract, and give him back his troth, from Mademoiselle Radegonde." - -"Well, rather than _break_ mine, and be his bride, sister, you shall -see me stretched in Tongland Abbey kirk, as cold as the marble tombs -that lie there!" - -"We shall see," replied Margaret, biting her cherry-like nether lip, -and stamping her foot in growing wrath; but Murielle threw her white -arms round her neck, and said plaintively,-- - -"You do not, you cannot mean all you say, Maggie. Ah, do not scold, -when you should guide and aid me." - -"Is it not my desire to see you happy?" - -"Yes," sobbed Murielle; "I know, I hope that it is." - -"And my husband's?" - -"My kinsman, the earl, is a fearsome man!" said Murielle, with an -ill-repressed shudder. - -"Have I not striven for years to be your guide, your friend, your -comforter, and now----" - -"You would undo all the past, by making me the wife of the exiled -Albany, that your husband's terrible aims and ends may be furthered, -his feudal power and splendour increased." - -"By raising you, perhaps, to"--the countess paused--"to a throne, -little fool!" - -"A throne?" reiterated Murielle, in absolute bewilderment. - -"Yes, a throne," said Margaret, in a low voice, as she bent her black -flashing eyes close to her startled sister's face; "where can all this -leaguing and combination with Henry of England, Christian of Oldenburg, -John of the Isles, and with so many discontented barons, end, but in -the destruction of Livingstone, of Crichton, and of that boy-king, in -whose name they slew the earl of Douglas?" - -"Saint Mary keep us, sister; but this is murder, treason, regicide!" -said Murielle, in terror and incredulity. - -"I am speaking in our castle of Thrave," said the countess, -significantly, as she patted the strong rampart with her white jewelled -hand; "but I am unwise in talking to you of schemes, the magnitude of -which you cannot comprehend, and the daring of which appals you." - -"Oh, Maggie, all this can end but in one way." - -"How?" - -"Destruction, forfeiture, and death!" - -"We shall see," replied the countess, calmly smoothing back her silky -hair; "but to resume about this Patrick Gray--_who_ is he, that he -should aspire to love my sister, the daughter of a line of powerful -earls?" - -"He is a gentleman of stainless reputation, the trusted subject of the -late king and of his son; a loyal soldier, whom, if I choose, I might -marry to-morrow, and defy you all!" said Murielle, angrily. - -Margaret now laughed in good earnest at her sister. - -"Defy us?" she exclaimed; "lassie, you have gone crazy! I speak not -of Ormond, of Pompherston, of Glendoning; but know you not that the -smallest laird who bears our name could muster lances enough to harry -his father's nest at Foulis, level his tower to the ground-stone, and -swing his whole generation on the nearest tree?" - -Murielle knew fully the truth of this, but she felt an increasing -emotion of anger at the injustice and control to which she was so -bluntly subjected, and now her haughty sister spoke again. - -"Bear this in mind, that thrice has Earl James sworn by his most sacred -oath, God, and his father's bones 'that our heather lintie, Murielle, -shall be the bride of Albany, and sib to the throne, if not one day -_upon_ it;' so cease to think more of this lover of yours, who, by the -bye, I believe, once loved _me_." - -"Loved you!" exclaimed Murielle, in a breathless voice; "_you_, -Margaret?" - -"Yes," continued the imperious beauty, with confidence. - -"He ever admired you, and as _my_ sister, felt a friendship for you; -but be assured that his dear heart never wandered from me," was the -equally confident reply. - -"You are a child!" retorted the countess. - -"Perhaps I am, to endure all this petty tyranny; but a day may -come--there are times when even a poor worm may turn." - -"But think no more of him, I command you, for he is better as he is, -dead, than living to be the rival of Robert, duke of Albany." - -"Do not tell me, sister, that he was slain," said Murielle, in an -imploring voice, while, her tears again fell fast; "he is not dead. I -know that he is _not_ dead!" - -"You _know_?" said Margaret, changing colour. - -"Yes." - -"Indeed--how?" - -"Because I am living still!" replied Murielle, with divine confidence -and hope. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -A FEUDAL LORD. - - And joy is mine - When the strong castles besieged shake, - And walls uprooted, totter and quake, - And I see the foemen join, - On the moated shore all compass'd round - With palisade and guarded mound. - - LAYS OF THE MINNESINGERS. - - -The result of this conversation, the wild and daring schemes of -ambition and revenge it unfolded,--schemes of which she was to be made -the tool and the victim, filled Murielle with alarm, and made her more -than ever resolve to seek refuge in a convent; but an escape from the -guarded castle of Thrave was not a matter to be easily accomplished, -as its garrison, formed of the earl's most faithful "retainers, was (as -we are told in the third of volume of 'Caledonia'), never less than -_one thousand armed men_." - -A recent writer says, "in Scotland, but a hundred years ago, the head -of a family was paramount, and household discipline was wielded without -mercy." If such was the case a hundred years ago, it was exercised with -greater rigour in the days of the second James. - -So poor little Murielle found Thrave with all its splendour, a -veritable prison, and the earl, her brother-in-law, a haughty and -exacting tyrant. - -Thrave, his greatest stronghold, was built upon an island of twenty -acres in extent, formed by the rough and rapid Dee, situated about ten -miles above its estuary, and thirty from its source, which is among the -wooded hills of Minnigaff. - -There on that islet the crusader Alan IV., lord of Galloway and -constable of Scotland, had a fortress, and thereon, in after times, the -Black Knight of Liddesdale, the comrade of Wallace and Bruce, reared -the present castle of Thrave, a vast pile, the donjon of which is yet -seventy feet in height, with walls eight feet in thickness, built of -common stone from the adjacent moors. - -The first story of this great pile consisted of the larder, the -arsenals, and the dungeon, where many a chained wretch has wept during -the hours that intervened between time and eternity. - -In the second story were the apartments of the men-at-arms, the -warders, grooms, and pages. - -The third contained the apartments of the baron, his family, their -guests, and the ladies' bower-chamber, with one apartment long -secluded, that in which Archibald, earl of Douglas and lord of -Galloway,--he whose second son won by his valour the titles of duke of -Spruce and prince of Dantzig, died on the 3rd of February, 1400. Small -Gothic windows gave light to these upper chambers, and narrow slits and -loopholes to the lower. - -A square barbican and four round flanking towers, with a deep fosse -and drawbridge, formed the external barrier. After passing these, the -only entrance to the keep was by a door placed so high in the wall that -it opened on the _second_ floor, and this strange mode of access was -farther secured by a small portcullis, grooved into the solid stone, -the work of "the Brawny MacKim," the hereditary smith of the family. - -To victual this stronghold each of the twenty-eight parishes which form -the stewardry of Kirkcudbright had to contribute a _Lardner-mart-cow_ -at Martinmas, for winter provisions; and the last attempt to levy these -twenty-eight cattle was made in 1747, by William Maxwell, of Nithsdale. - -In the front wall of the great tower, and immediately above the -gateway, which bore all the armorial achievements of the proud and -lordly owners, there still projects a large granite block, named the -_gallows knob_, or hanging-stone, which, in the olden time, was seldom -without its _tassel_, as the moss-troopers phrased it. - -"Lest this barbarous emblem of feudal power should be minus its -usual decoration," says a local historian, "when putrefaction became -offensive before the corpse was cut down, if a malefactor was not in -custody to be tucked up, it was replenished by some unoffending vassal. -The charnel into which these victims were thrown is to this day named -the 'gallows slot,' and notwithstanding the time that has elapsed since -the downfall of the house of Douglas in Galloway, human bones in -abundance were turned up when the present highway was made through it -there in the year 1800." - -Such was the grim feudal dwelling where now Murielle Douglas found -herself an inmate,--almost a prisoner,--foredoomed to be the tool, -perhaps the victim, of the dark plots and of the ambition and pride of -its lord and owner, whose general character the following anecdote will -amply illustrate. - -As Steward of Kirkcudbright and Lord Warden of the Western Marches, he -ordered James Achanna, with a strong and well-armed band, to apprehend -Sir Herbert Herries of Terregles, a gentleman of ancient family, who -had large possessions in the stewardry, and bring him prisoner to -Thrave, despite the tears of his daughter, Lady Maxwell, of Carlaveroc, -and the entreaties of his youngest son, who was rector of Kirkpatrick. - -He was oddly charged with "daring to recover a portion of his _own_ -property, which had been appropriated by Achanna and other lawless -followers of the house of Douglas, and further, of resisting them in -arms." - -Sir Herbert was a man of high courage and probity, who had given -himself as a hostage to England for the ransom of James I. He had been -a commissioner for the trial of Murdoch, duke of Albany, father of that -Duke Robert who was now the _bête noir_ of Murielle; and he had lately -been one of the ambassadors who had gone to France to arrange the -marriage of the gentle and unfortunate Margaret of Scotland with the -Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI, the French Nero, of terrible memory. - -When brought before Douglas, in the hall, he was surveyed with stern -and haughty malevolence. - -"Your little blockhouse of Terregles," said the earl, mockingly, as he -lounged in his canopied chair, "in common with other fortlets of the -petty barons of Galloway, is only occasionally decked with a dangling -villain, whereas our gallows knob of Thrave has not been without _a -tassel for fifty years_, and so it shall be while Dalbeattie wood grows -and the Urr water runs!" - -"True," replied Terregles; "and one who was my henchman, my -foster-brother, and my most faithful friend, taken by your ruthless -wretch Achanna, is hanging there at this moment." - -"And having hung the usual time, he shall now be removed to make way -for his master." - -"Earl Douglas, you dare not!" exclaimed Sir Herbert, starting forward. - -"Dare not! ha! ha! and why?" - -"I am the king's liege man, and a baron of parliament!" - -"Is that all you can urge?" asked Douglas, still mocking. - -"No----" - -"What more?" - -"Even now a royal herald is at the gate, with an express order for my -release." - -"Mahoun! its coming has sealed your doom. Achanna, tear off his ruff, -and replace it with a hempen cravat," was the stern order of Douglas; -so the unfortunate Sir Herbert was instantly hanged in his armour from -the gallows knob, while the king's herald was ignominiously expelled. - -Yet this fierce and unscrupulous lord paid large sums to the Church -for masses for the souls of his ancestors, and had periodical fits of -prayer and fasting, which were very troublesome, alike to his cooks -and hungry retainers. At times he trembled for bad news if he saw a -crow in his path, and crossed himself if he saw the new moon for the -first time through a window. He smeared himself, like Achanna, with -ashes on Ash Wednesday, and ate hot cross-buns with due reverence on -Good Friday; and to him the abbot of Tongland, as keeper of the avenue -to heaven, or the _other_ place, was alternately a demigod to worship -or a bugbear to avoid. Yet, withal, he had connived with Crichton -and the regent in the destruction of his kinsmen, and wedded the -wealthy widow of Earl William, but consoled himself with the solemn -dispensation of Pope Eugene IV., who, however, was then _deposed_ by -the Council of Basle. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE MISSION. - - Of this great voyage which you undertake, - Much by his skill and much by my advice - Hath he foreknown, and welcome for my sake - You both shall be, the man is kind and wise. - - FAIRFAX'S TASSO. - - -Though left by the Douglases as dead upon the street, Sir Patrick Gray -survived the horrors of the tumult at the Abbot's Gate; and though -covered with severe wounds, inflicted by swords, daggers, and pikes, -he grew well and hale again; but only after a year of suffering, -convalescence, and confinement to a sick chamber, during which his -fiery and energetic spirit writhed in inactivity--for there are some -men whom it is alike difficult to subdue or kill. - -Death long disputed with life and youth for the victim; but men did not -die easily in these old times of brawl and battle; yet he had upon his -person, as the abbot of Tongland records, "three and twentye woundis," -and recovered them all. - -"Men," says some one, "are unaware what toil, pain, or suffering they -are capable of until they have been put to the test." - -The wound inflicted by the ghisarma of Earl James was not his least -annoyance, as it had laid open both cheeks; thus a cicatrized slash -traversed his face, which so completely altered its expression, that -after a little difference in the trimming of his hair and beard, few -would have recognized him; but the lady of the chancellor, like all the -thrifty dames of those turbulent and homely days, was a famous leech, -and by the lotions and cosmetics she prepared for him, and applied -daily with her own hands, was not without hope that within "a year and -a day, or perhaps within a few months more," it would be obliterated; -and all the young ladies about the young king's court, even the -charming princesses his sisters, had an interest in this process, and -the progress of his recovery, for the Captain of the Guard was one of -the handsomest men of the time, and a favourite with them all. - -He had been conveyed to the chancellor's apartments in St. Margaret's -Tower, within the castle of Edinburgh, and there for many months he had -been tended with every care, till the period at which we now return to -him. - -The wily chancellor was not unjust. He felt that Sir Patrick Gray had -suffered much in the king's service; loss of health, almost of life, -and the loss perhaps of a beautiful mistress, were hard things to -encounter, for he knew that the bloody events of the 23rd and 24th of -November had opened up an impassable chasm between Gray and the family -of Douglas. - -Crichton loved all who loved the king, and this was the great tie -between him and Gray, whose friendship he strove sedulously to -cultivate and preserve, though the more open soldier detested the mode -by which the regent and chancellor had striven, so futilely, to crush -the mighty house of Douglas. - -Gray's weak state after his many wounds, combined with his grief, -at what he deemed the loss for ever of Murielle, affected him so -much, that during the severe winter of 1440 he nearly sank under his -sufferings. He rallied, however, by youth and inborn strength, though -good St. Giles, of Edinburgh, to whose altar, in the spirit of the -times, he devoted several pounds of wax and silver, got the whole -credit of the change. - -Lady Agnes of Crichton and the courtiers said he was "dying of love." -The chancellor could believe in a stout man-at-arms dying of a slash -from Earl James's battle-axe, but _not_ of love for Murielle, his -kinswoman, however beautiful and gentle she might be; so he only smiled -at their surmises, and when Gray was able to ride a little every day -on a quiet horse led by his page, Crichton resolved to find him some -active employment so soon as he was stronger. - -So Gray, as we have said, writhed in inactivity when his friends and -kinsmen, MacLellan and Andrew Gray, of Balgarno, had marched from -Stirling to Athole to capture the great freebooter, John Gorm Stewart. -He had heard from Andrew Gray of the conflict on the north Inch of -Perth, where the sheriff had been cloven down by the two-handed sword -of Stewart, who, in turn, had been slain by MacLellan, but not until -he had so severely wounded the latter, that he had been compelled to -return for a time to his castle of Raeberry, on the shore of the Solway -Firth. - -And during this long period of seclusion and inactivity Gray had longed -with all a lover's restless longing for some tidings of Murielle; but -those about the chancellor were either unwilling or unable to afford -him any. - -So the time rolled wearily on. - -One afternoon he was sitting dreamily in the recess of a window of St. -Margaret's Tower, which stood upon the western verge of the castle -rock, but was demolished during the long siege of 1573. - -It was a somewhat gloomy apartment (it was _then_ three hundred and -eighty years old), built in the Saxon style, with grotesquely-carved -heads and zig-zag mouldings round the arches, and hung with long -russet-coloured tapestry, which had been worked by the hands of -Annabella, the queen of Robert III., to hide the bare, rough walls. -This tapestry was old now; its tenter-hooks were rusty, and it swayed -in the currents of wind, which passed through the fireplace, on the -shelf of which, in memory of the good queen who once dwelt there, was -inscribed the pious request,-- - - Sancta Margarita, ora pro nobis. - -Beneath the windows was the verdant slope whereon three mounds, of -solemn aspect, were traceable. The coarse dog-grass, the white gowan, -and pink witch-thimbles (or foxglove), grew there in rank luxuriance -now, and as they swayed in the evening wind, were all that marked where -lay the three victims of that terrible vigil of St. Catharine. - -The autumnal sun was sinking. The vast and fertile plain of wood -and wold which stretches from the foot of the castle rock for fifty -miles to the westward, was steeped in warm light; and the sun's -diverging rays of ruddy gold, as he sank behind the rugged ridges of -Corstorphine, filled all the western sky with a shining glory, which -threw forward, in strong, black outline, the intervening woods and -rocks, hills and knolls. - -Gray's eyes were apparently fixed upon the dark mountains and the -beautiful plain, all brightness and fertility; but they dwelt on -vacancy, for he saw, instead, a graceful head, with a mass of wavy -hair, long-lashed, gentle eyes, of a violet blue, a soft face, with a -brilliant complexion, and a slightly rose-tinted cheek. - -There was a sound in his ear too. - -It was the voice of Murielle, conjured up with all a lover's memory -in an age of poetry, romance, and enthusiasm, when knightly faith and -purity, and even somewhat of fading chivalry, were lingering in the -northern land. - -A hand was laid on his shoulder; he started, and on turning met the -keen eyes, the thoughtful face, and tall thin figure of the chancellor, -who was clad in his fur-trimmed gown, which was girt at the waist by -an embroidered girdle, whereat hung, as usual, his tablets, pouch, and -dagger. - -"You did not hear the servitor announce me, Sir Patrick," said he; -"were you dreaming of Elf-land, or some far-off day of happiness?" - -"Your pardon!--though not much given to flights of fancy," replied Sir -Patrick, starting, "I _was_ in a dreamy mood." - -"Nay, do not rise, but rest--and say how fare you," - -"Ill enough, my lord," replied the captain, passing a thin wan hand -across his pale brow with a troubled air; "ill enough, and weary too." - -"In body?" - -"Yes--and in spirit." - -"That is a matter beyond the skill of such a leech even as my good wife -Agnes." - -"Her kindness and care are only equalled by my gratitude; and see," -added Sir Patrick, smiling, "she has hung at my neck her own miraculous -pomander-ball, lest the plague that rages now in Fife might here infect -me. But I am weary of resting and of idleness; yet alas! and alake! Sir -William, I fear me this arm will never curb a horse's head again; and -as for handling my sword, a child might twitch it from me at the third -pass! Here an arrow-head was wedged between the bones of the right -forearm; but I gave the archer a notch on the knuckles that will mar -his shooting for life." - -"Well, there is some comfort in that," replied the chancellor, "and -greater had there been, could you have notched the head of Abercorn, or -Douglas as he is entitled now." - -A hectic flush crossed the face of Sir Patrick, who replied, huskily: -"After what had taken place on the preceding day, I would not have -struck a blow at _her_ kinsman, even to save my life!" - -"After _what_ had taken place?" reiterated the chancellor, gloomily. - -"Ay, on the vigil of St. Catharine," continued Gray with firmness, and -something of reproach in his tone. - -"Enough of that," said the other, hastily, as he passed his -handkerchief over his brow, and replaced it in his embroidered pouch; -"I have other things to speak of than those which are past and beyond -all human remedy. But was it not a cruel act and merciless deed in -Earl James to smite down a poor gentleman, who clung to him, bleeding, -faint, and despairing----" - -"It matters not, Sir William--it matters not; I have made up my mind to -leave Scotland." - -"Indeed!" exclaimed Crichton, with astonishment. - -"For some--it may be for many, many years,--perchance I may return no -more." - -"How--what mean you?" - -"That Charles VII. of France wants soldiers to aid him in his wars -against the English and Burgundians, and I shall seek his camp for -knight-service; or it may be, that I shall go further off, to the -distant East, where the Greek empire, under the Emperor Constantine, is -now threatened by the accursed pagans of the Sultan Mahomet, and where -brave hearts and sharp swords are wanted to defend Christian women and -the altars of God from desecration; and so there are times, chancellor, -when I think I shall even find a stranger's grave on the banks of the -Bosphorus." - -The chancellor, who had no wish that the king should lose so faithful -and valiant a soldier as Sir Patrick Gray, whom he knew to be resolute, -and somewhat obstinate in purpose, listened to this bitter outburst -with some concern; but, patting him on the shoulder as he might have -done a restive horse, he replied, smiling, "Leave Greek and Turk to -fight their own battles; abide you by your king; and when the time -comes, as come it must, let your grave be dug, not in the land of the -sun-burned and God-abandoned pagans, but in the old kirk of Foulis, -where your Scottish forefathers lie. Moreover, can it be, that you have -forgotten your promise to King James--that you would be a faithful -friend and mentor to his son?" - -"True--true--I have," replied Gray, biting his nether lip till the -wound in his face made him wince; "but you know, chancellor, that I am -pledged to Murielle Douglas, and that I cannot bide in Scotland without -her." - -"I may find a way to let you leave it, and yet preserve your promise to -King James,--a way that shall suit your restless humour; but speak no -more to me of Murielle Douglas," said the chancellor, as his brows knit -and his eyes loured. "Listen: I have other views for you; it may be a -royal alliance itself." - -"Royal?" was the perplexed reiteration. - -"Yes." - -Here Sir Patrick Gray, who knew that he was really loved by this -unscrupulous statesman, gazed at him with a curiously-mingled -expression of surprise, amusement, and grim disdain; but being a poor -soldier and loyal gentleman, with no heritage but his sword and spurs, -he felt himself compelled to listen, though almost degraded by having -to do so. - -"You are aware, Sir Patrick, that the king has several fair sisters?" -began the chancellor. - -Sir Patrick bowed. - -"Each is lovely, though still in girlhood--and, under favour, lovelier, -it may be, than the little lady who dwells among the king's rebels in -Thrave--for rebels are they to the heart's-core, though not yet in -arms." - -Gray's pale face flushed, and for a moment the scar upon his face grew -nearly black; but he merely said, "Well;" and the chancellor, while -playing with his pouch and dagger, resumed, in an easy conversational -tone. - -"All the crown-lands, the king's rents, castles, baronies, mills, -mails, and fishings, cannot find dowers royal enough of these six -dames, his sisters, at present. Do you understand me?" - -"Not exactly. You must be more plain, my lord chancellor." - -"'Tis not the first time that a king's daughter has wedded a simple -knight." - -"In old ballads, Sir William; and I would be a _simple_ knight indeed -to cast my eyes so high." - -"The queen-mother is now the wife of the Black Knight of Lorn," said -Crichton, with the air of one who finds a convincing argument. - -"But he is a different man from the poor captain of the king's paid -pikemen! St. Mary! a sorry figure would I cut, riding up to my father's -tower-gate, with my princess behind me on a pillion, and settling there -to become a scrape-trencher, while she assisted my mother in brewhouse -and bakery! Take heed, chancellor; I need not be dazzled thus, to keep -me faithful to my king. So, enough of this! I am not ignorant that all -these princesses are promised, not to simple knights, but to foreign -princes." - -"Not _all_," said the chancellor, with an air of annoyance; "the -Princess Margaret is, I know, contracted to Louis, the dauphin of -France." - -"A troublesome brother-in-law he might prove to the younger son of the -laird of Foulis," replied Gray, laughing outright. - -"The Lady Elizabeth----" - -"Is contracted to the duke of Brittany; and in a month Eleonora will be -the bride of Sigismund le Debonnair, archduke of Austria, and duke of -all the dukes in Almaynie; while the Lady Mary will be wedded to the -lord of Campvere." - -"I knew not that you were so well versed in state secrets," said the -chancellor coldly, with an affected smile. - -"You forget, my dear Sir William, that your good lady has been my -nurse." - -"There is the Lady Annabelle." - -"A child," said Sir Patrick, laughing louder to conceal the annoyance -that rankled in his heart; "oh! oh! Sir William, I should have to wait -ten years at least till my wife grew up. Dost take me for a fool, -a very mooncalf, though I have listened to you? But to the point: -say what service you seek of me, as I have made up my mind to leave -Scotland in a month. Believe me, I need no bribe for faith and service -to my king; and, as to Murielle Douglas, the wealth of Prester John of -the Indies, if such a man there be, with the love of an empress, would -not win me from her, though it may be that, with this gash on my face, -she--she might shrink from me now." - -"Did I not say that I might suit your humour and also serve the king?" -asked the chancellor. - -"How?" - -"Hearken," said Crichton, placing a hand on the arm of Gray. - -"Say on," said the latter impatiently. - -"In two years from this, the king will take upon himself the government -of the nation, and I shall retire me to my old castle of Crichton, in -the Glen of Tync, beyond the Esk, and spend there my latter days in -peace." - -"The government--in 1444--this boy?" - -"The boy will then be fifteen, and he is a manly boy withal. The time -is coming when he must be contracted to a foreign princess, and, -through the lord of Campvere, Duke Arnold of Gueldreland has made -overtures on the part of his daughter Mary, now in her ninth year. To -these overtures the regent and myself, with the consent of the lords -of council, have thought it meet to respond, and you shall bear our -missives to the duke, who is now either in Gueldreland, in Brabant, or -Burgundy, I know not which; and in due time I, with a fitting train, -will set out for his capital. But promise me to be secret as you are -faithful in this matter, and remember it is in the service of _the -king_." - -"In this embassy I promise to do all that may become a loyal man--save -wed the Lady Mary of Gueldres herself; for, after all you have -proposed, by the mass! I knew not where your generosity might end." - -"Good!" replied Crichton. "To-night I ride for Stirling, to see the -regent and Queen Jane; when I return, you shall have your sealed -letters of credence, and Dirltoun the treasurer shall pave the way with -gold." - -The chancellor shook his hand with kindness, and retired, leaving -the frank and single-hearted soldier to consider the journey before -him; the yet greater separation by land, water, and time, it would -make between himself and Murielle, and also to surmise whether the -proposal merely veiled some deeper and more distant object; for, since -that fatal 24th of November, Gray had ever a doubt of the regent, the -chancellor, and their projects. - -"He overshot the butt--his cunning hath outdone itself," muttered Gray. -"Did he not think a ward of the crown would content the king's poor -soldier for a bride? but a princess--ha! ha!" And he uttered a merry -but scornful laugh. - -As the twilight deepened, and the shores of the Forth blended in -the distance with its darkening waters, he thought over all that -had passed; but was not left long to his own reflections, for a -grey-bearded pikeman of his guard drew back the moth-eaten arras, and -announced his kinsman, Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -GRAY'S DEPARTURE. - - Awake, awake! lover, I bring, I bring - Most gladsome news, that blissful are and sure - Of thy comfort; now laugh, and play, and sing. - Full soon thou shalt achieve thine adventure, - For in the heaven decretit is thy cure. - - REMAINS OF JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND. - - -"Welcome, my good and merry friend!" exclaimed Gray, starting forward -to greet him;--"lights, wine, and a jolly greybeard of usquebaugh," he -added to his servant;--"and you have returned." - -"'Tis but an hour since I alighted at an hostelry, with two hackneys, -a sumpter-nag, and my best suit of armour, packed on the saddle of my -black horse--you remember it--with the curtal tail." - -"Your wounds----" - -"Are well and whole, though, sooth to say, the two-handed whinger of -John Gorm was somewhat heavy for one's patience, and cut through my -chain-shirt and jack-wambeson, as if they had been pie-crust. But I -am recovered now. The pure breeze that comes over the broad Solway -and whistles round the turrets of old Raeberry has made me a hale man -again." - -"Would that I could say the same," sighed Gray. - -"That slash on the face----" - -"Won't please a woman's eye now, I fear me." - -"But to wed one who objected thereto would be to throw one's ace in the -game of matrimony," replied MacLellan, tossing upon a settle his sword, -jewelled dagger, and laced mantle; "yes--even were she a princess." - -"Soho, man! talk not of princesses--I have just had my choice of six." - -"Six!--daughters of the queen of Elphen?" - -"Nay, six of flesh and blood, and declined them all," said Gray, -laughing. - -"What riddle is this?--or has a fairy indeed been with you?" - -"You shall hear." - -Lights had now been brought, and the candles, in the brass sconces -which hung on the tapestried wall, cast lines of steady radiance across -the otherwise gloomy old chamber. The arras was drawn across the -windows, in the gratings of which, as well as through the battlement -of the tower overhead, the wind was whistling. Red and white wine, -in flasks of Venetian silver, glittered on the table; and to these -was added usquebaugh, in one of those stone jars which came from -Flanders, and had in front a bearded mask; whence the Scottish name of -"greybeard" for a whisky-jar to this day. - -The friends drew their seats close to the table. - -MacLellan carefully wiped the dew from his sword, a short weapon, -the steel of which was embrowned--a fancy of the time (whence, -perhaps, the "berry-brown blades" of old songs)--and in it were little -flutes, to permit the blood to run off when used in mortal strife; -for our Scottish sires studied all these little matters to a nicety. -MacLellan's handsome and athletic figure was displayed to advantage -in his steel cuirass and gorget, his hanging sleeves, and long black -riding-boots, the tops of which were strapped to his girdle. His face -was ruddy and sunburnt; his black curly hair was closely cropped, in -the fashion of the time; he had a moustache, though then military men -wore it seldom, and none but the old indulged in beards. - -With considerable animation, he related his adventures among the hills -and forests of Athole,--the capture of the great freebooter,--the -sudden resistance offered by him and his followers at Perth,--and the -conflict on the north Inch, without the city wall. To all this Gray -listened with some impatience, nor did he begin to evince any interest -until the lieutenant, at the conclusion of his narrative, detailed his -sojourn at his castle of Raeberry, in Galloway. - -"What news bring you from that part of the country?" he asked. - -"The burden of the old song--rief and stouthrief, oppression, -hamesücken, and outrage, on the part of the Douglases, who make all bow -to their rule; so that no man, of whatsoever rank he be, or however -strong his dwelling, can lie down to sleep with the certainty of being -a live man at the dawn of day." - -"And what of dame Margaret?" - -"Well," replied MacLellan, holding a glass of red wine between him and -the light, to watch the gossamer beeswing as it floated to and fro, -"you have heard, of course, how loosely the wedding-ring hung on her -fair finger?" - -"How--how?" asked Gray, impetuously. - -"Is it possible that you do not know?" asked MacLellan, with surprise. - -"What? I have heard nothing here." - -"That she is wedded to James, earl of Abercorn, who is also now of -Douglas." - -"Wedded!" reiterated Gray, with unfeigned astonishment in his eyes and -voice, as he now heard of this strange and formidable alliance for the -first time; "wedded to the widow of his nephew?" - -"Exactly--the poor boy who lies below the castle wall without; and a -strong alliance our regent and chancellor may find it prove." - -"But what says the church to this?" asked Gray, after a pause. - -"The Countess Margaret is heiress of Galloway, Wigton, Balvenie, -Ormond, and Annandale--a good slice of braid Scotland," replied -MacLellan, in a bantering tone, as he hated the Douglases; "James, -umquhile only of Abercorn and Avondale, is a mighty lord; so the -most reverend father in God, Alexander--by divine permission bishop -of _Candida Casa_ (so run the pastorals to his pretty flock, the -moss-troopers)--put a good round sum in gold nobles in his pouch, dozes -away in his episcopal chair, and troubles not his mitred head about the -matter; for is not Abbot John of Tongland, the keeper of the earl's -conscience, a Douglas? By St. Paul, it is hardly wise or pleasant to -call oneself by a different surname on the other side of the Nith, and -I have some thoughts of getting permission from the king-of-arms, to -call myself Archibald or Sholto Douglas--they are all one or other--as -a surer warrant for a whole skin." - -"Truly, we live in strange times!" pondered Gray; "and Murielle--Lady -Murielle--you have not spoken of her?" - -"Men say she is the same little moping, mooning nun, as ever." - -"Beloved Murielle!" thought Gray in his heart, "And say, kinsman, how -does she look?" - -"Lovelier than her wont. She improves as she grows older, like this -wine of Alicant; but there is a pensiveness about her----" - -"A pensiveness?" - -"That must be very flattering to you." - -"Jesting again," said Gray, with annoyance. - -"Under favour, not in the least." - -"Then you really saw her, MacLellan?" - -"How could I have judged of her beauty or pensiveness else?" - -"Often?" - -"Once only, my friend." - -"At Thrave?" - -"No, faith!" replied Sir Thomas, laughing and shrugging his shoulders; -"I have a wholesome dread of that ugly gallows knob above the castle -gate. But I did see her, however, and so closely, that her cramasie -skirts rustled against my leather gambadoes, as she passed me." - -"Where--where?" - -"In the Lady Chapel of Tongland. I would have helped her to holy water -from the font, but it was frozen hard and fast; for it was Candlemas -day, and the Dee below the abbey wall was a sheet of ice, from rock to -rock." - -"You saw her," said Gray musingly, with a soft smile, as if he conjured -up her face and form; "you saw, and yet did not speak with her?" - -"By St. Cuthbert, 'twere as much as my life is worth to have done -so, begirt as she was by Earl James's surly swashbucklers and rusty -helmetted moss-troopers; but, from all I can learn in Galloway, she -believes you dead." - -"Oh--impossible!" - -"Why so? Did she not see you stricken to the earth by the swords and -mauls of more than a hundred wild Galwegians, Douglases, and devils?" - -"True, she must have seen it--if, indeed, she could have looked upon -it." - -"Be assured that curiosity will conquer alarm--even love, at times," -responded the sceptical MacLellan. - -"A fatal mistake may result from all this." - -"What mean you by a fatal mistake--a marriage?" - -"Yes," said Gray, with a bitter sigh. - -"It is not unlikely," replied the lieutenant, carelessly, while -polishing his cuirass with a leather glove. - -"How--why do you say so?" - -"Nay; I did but echo your own thoughts." - -"I have none; I am full of sorrow and bewilderment." - -"Earl James and his countess are leaving nothing undone to strengthen -their hands for some great enterprise. All men in Galloway say so, from -the Brig of Dumfries to the Point of Kirkcolm; for the _black dinner_ -is yet fresh in their minds, and the marriage of Lady Murielle to a -powerful lord might--might----" - -"Say on." - -"Add a few thousand men to their strength, should the Douglases make a -Raid out of Galloway." - -"Oh, how many secret tears must all this have cost her! She believes me -dead: dear Murielle! I could joyously die for her--" - -"Joyously to _live_ for her, would be to act the wiser part," said the -other, with a loud laugh. - -"Ever mocking, MacLellan. It is enough to madden me, this doubt and -fear; these bold schemes on one hand, her gentleness and ignorance -of my fate on the other; while I am under pledge to leave Scotland -for Flanders on the king's service, and may not--nay, I cannot return -sooner than half a year hence, having a voyage to Sluys by sea, and -a journey to Gueldres on horseback before me. I would give this gold -chain for a trusty messenger to Galloway." - -"You should add for a _bold_ one; as some courage is required to convey -_billets-doux_ under the gallows knob of Thrave." - -"Jesting again, kinsman," said Gray, reproachfully. - -"Nay, I do not jest," said MacLellan, suddenly becoming serious. -"Within a month from this, I return to my house at Raeberry, which I -am strengthening by new walls and towers, as I know not what mischief -James the Gross may be hatching; and I give you my faith as an -honourable man, that I will see Murielle Douglas, and bear to her your -farewell messages. This I will do, if the act should cost me liberty -and life. I have often, ere this, perilled both for a less matter." - -Little did the brave Lieutenant of the King's Guard foresee that these -were no idle words, and that this rash promise to his friend would cost -the exact penalty he so heedlessly named, and would send down his -story among the many dark episodes of the Scottish annals; but of this, -more anon. - -Gray's heart was filled with gratitude by the offer, and after -MacLellan retired, he began to look forward with more confidence, and -even pleasure, to his projected mission into Flanders, as a scene -of new adventures, and an agreeable change after the sufferings and -monotony of the past year. - -Within a month after the conversation just detailed, Sir Patrick Gray -had embarked at the old Timber Holfe of Leith, and sailed from Scotland -on board the _St. Regulus_, a caravel belonging to the monks of St. -Mary, at Pittenweem, who were great traders and shipowners in those -days. - -At the same time MacLellan, faithful to his promise, contrived to -convey a letter from him to Murielle, who was so worn out by the -daily persecution she experienced, and being assured of her lover's -death (indeed, Achanna swore to have seen his tomb in the church of -St. Giles), that she was on the point of consenting in the desperate -longing for peace, to receive the addresses of the duke of Albany, who -was then in exile on the Continent. But now, suddenly hope revived in -her heart; the bloom came back to her cheek, and the light to her eye; -strength of purpose returned to her, and she resisted so strenuously, -that the subtle earl and his imperious countess found their schemes -completely marred for the time. - -As a proof that he still lived, she displayed Sir Patrick's treasured -letter, which had fallen at her feet attached to an arrow, shot, she -knew not by whom, as she walked one day by the margin of the isle on -which the castle stands; but her sister tore the missive from her -hands, stigmatized it as a vile forgery, and rent it to fragments, -which she trampled under foot in presence of her bower maidens. - -Then the sombre earl swore his deepest oath that, if the bearer could -be discovered, he would soon be dangling from the gallows knob above -the gate. - -So Murielle, in new happiness, prayed for the safety of her lover, -while his ship bore merrily across the summer sea towards the coast of -Flanders. - -Meantime the earl, to perfect his political intrigues with Albany, to -make his sure peace with Pope Eugene IV., who had privately disapproved -of his marriage while publicly dispensing him, resolved to visit Rome. -He was not without hope, by change of scene and distance from home, to -divert the mind of Murielle, and bend her to his purpose. - -He prepared a brilliant train of knights and followers, and took with -him the abbot of Tongland, who volunteered to smooth over all difficult -matters at the Vatican, and who hoped, moreover, as he displayed a -mighty parchment, that, "before he returned to the wilds of Galloway, -the master of lies and iniquity, the father of all evil and evil -devices, should once more have become a pure spirit, clad in a shining -raiment." - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE LOWLANDS OF HOLLAND. - - To Norroway, to Norroway, - Out owre the saut seas' foam; - The King o' Norroway's daughter, - 'Tis thou maun bring her home! - - OLD BALLAD. - - -Though the season was summer, the _St. Regulus_ of Pittenweem did not -cross the German Ocean without peril; for one night, and during the -following day, there blew a tempest from the south-east, which drove -her so far from her course, that the tacking to and fro of a whole week -were required ere she could regain the lost distance; for the reader -must bear in mind that the high-pooped, high-prowed, and low-waisted -craft of those days, were very different from the screw-propellers and -iron clippers of the present age; and heavily they lumbered along, with -Dutch lee-boards, basketed tops, their spritsail-yards, jack-staffs, -and other ponderous hamper. - -So, when the gale abated, the _St. Regulus_ was off the coast of -England, and the tall, surf-beaten cliff, with the old castle of -Scarborough, were seen in the distance, as the red rays of the morning -sun fell on them from the eastern sky. - -And now, as the _St. Regulus_ squared her yards to bear up for Sluys, a -new danger presented itself. - -A great ship of England, which had hitherto been concealed by a bank -of mist, was seen bearing down towards her, with St. George's ensign -flying, and a large white rod or pole lashed to her bowsprit. This -was the sign of _amity_ on the seas in those days, and it was by -this token that Sir Andrew Barton, in after years, was lured by Lord -Howard to destruction in the Downs; but, as all shipmen were generally -addicted to a little piracy, the captain of the _St. Regulus_, who was -a douce native of the East Neuk, and a lay brother of St. Mary, of -Pittenmeen, having a valuable cargo consigned to the famous merchant -John Vanderberg of Bruges (who two years before had discovered the -Azores), deemed discretion the better part of valour; so, hoisting all -the canvas he could spread aloft, he squared his yards and bore right -away before the wind. - -Immediately on this, the crew of the English ship blew their trumpets, -and fired several stone shot from their culverins; thus plainly -indicating that though both countries were at peace, they did not deem -that the treaty extended into blue water, and that they would make a -prize of the Scotsman if they could. - -Sir Patrick, who had donned his armour, and appeared on deck with his -two-handed sword, was not without fear that the ship might have been -dispatched to intercept _him_, and spoil his embassy by the influence -the earl of Douglas possessed in England--a country which in all ages -left nothing undone to break the political ties, which then existed -between Scotland and the continent. - -But the _St. Regulus_ sailed like an arrow before the wind; and thus, -long ere mid-day, her pursuer was far distanced and hull-down in the -ocean. - -With this single incident she had a prosperous voyage, and on -Lammas-day in August made the low flat coast of Flanders, and came -to anchor in the then fine harbour of Sluys, close to the strong old -castle, where the Duc de Bouillon was kept after his capture at Hesdin; -but since those days the sea, which has gradually been washing away -the isle of Cadsand, has almost filled up the basin of Sluys. - -Sir Patrick Gray landed with his horse, armour, and cloakbags, and -presented his credentials to Hervé de Meriadet, the burg graf, who -commanded a body of Walloons, in the castle, "where," says the abbot of -Tongland, "he was honourably entertained for three days, after which -he set out for the court of the duke of Gueldres," which lay about one -hundred and fifty miles distant, in the land beyond the Maese. - -Though Flanders had been the scene of many bloody battles, and -disastrous wars, the people were industrious and peaceful; and then -it was not necessary, as in turbulent and warlike Scotland, to travel -armed to the teeth; yet, to be provided for any emergency, Sir Patrick -Gray wore an open helmet, a gorget, a chain shirt, and gloves of fine -mail, with his sword and dagger. - -In his cloakbag was a round sum in the current coin of the day, such -as Henry nobles valued at twenty-two shillings; salutis, riders, and -dauphines, at eleven shillings; and Rhenish guilders at eight, issued -to him, in goodly canvas bags, by the treasurer depute, from the rents -of the king's lands in Ettrick forest and Gosford in Lothian, which -had then been due. Moreover, he had ample letters of credit upon John -Vanderberg of Bruges, and two Scottish merchants in Campvere. - -Though far from Murielle Douglas, he felt his heart grow light as he -surveyed the flat green fields where the sleek cattle browsed, the -sandy isles of the Scheldt, where the brown windmills tossed their arms -in the breeze; the dull sedgy streams, where great lubberly barges -were dragged to and fro by horses of equally lubberly aspect; the -taper church spires seen at a vast distance across the far stretching -heaths; or the old castles amid the thick primeval woods of Flanders. -Health and strength had returned to him amid the bracing air of the -German Sea. His purse was well lined; he had a good horse under him; a -sharp sword by his side; an honourable commission to execute; and so -he rode cheerfully on, with an almost boyish emotion of novelty and -longing for adventure, making his heart expand and its pulses quicken, -he knew not why. - -He was now in Flanders--"the lawlands o'Holland," so famed in many a -Scottish song--and whose name is so interwoven with the annals of our -exiles and soldiers of fortune. - -On the first day of his solitary journey he passed through Ardenburg, -which is a league from Sluys, and was _then_ the capital of maritime -Flanders; and from thence proceeding along the left bank of the Scheldt -he reached Hulst, a small but very ancient town in Dutch Brabant, where -he took up his quarters at a Benedictine monastery, whose superior -was brother of the burg graf of Sluys, by name Benoit de Meriadet of -Burgundy. - -When he set forth next morning he saw plainly in the distance the -magnificent spire of the great cathedral in the marquisate of Antwerp, -reddened by the dun morning sun, standing like a slender pillar of -flame, above the vast extent of level pastures which border the -Scheldt, and rising far above the dense white motionless mist which the -heat of the August morning was exhaling, from the fens and marshes, -through which the river flowed so turgidly and slowly towards Zealand -and the German Sea. - -After a twenty miles' ride through a green and fertile but most -monotonous country, he found himself in busy Antwerp, and under the -shadow of that colossal spire, which was then one of the wonders of the -world, and which was visible alike from the laceworks of Mechlin, the -ramparts of Ghent; the plains of Louvain; and the sandy shores of the -distant Zealand isles. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -OUR LADY OF ANTWERP. - - In her did beauty, youth, and bounty dwell, - A virgin port and features feminine; - Far better than my feeble tongue can tell, - Did meek-eyed wisdom in her features shine; - She seemed perfay, a thing almost divine. - - JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND. - - -Antwerp was then in the zenith of its commercial glory, and to a -traveller like Sir Patrick Gray, who had never seen a larger city -than the little Edinburgh of James II. clustering on its rocky ridge, -surrounded by forests of oak and pathless hills, the great Flemish -town, in the splendour of its mercantile prosperity, with a population -of more than two hundred thousand souls, presented a scene of varying -wonders, amid which he was almost disposed to forget his embassy, and -to linger for a time. - -Nor was this desire lessened, when Maître Baudoin, a garrulous little -Frenchman, who was keeper of the hostelry at which he lodged--the -"Grille of St. Laurence"--informed him that, "by recent rains, all the -roads between the Scheldt and Maese were impassable; that the sluices -of several of the barrier fortresses had given way; that the rivers had -overflowed their banks; and that the Peel Morass, which lies between -Brabant and Gueldreland, was, for the time, an actual sea. Moreover," -he added, "it is but a few days until the 15th of the month, when the -Feast of the Assumption will be held in the cathedral of our Lady of -Antwerp, with a splendour never before witnessed in the city; people -are arriving from all quarters, and Monseigneur l'Evêque de Mechlin -has found a young lady of great beauty and high rank, to appear as our -patroness in the procession." - -"Though this may be no inducement to a lover, it may be one to a -storm-stayed traveller," replied Gray; "but who is this lady, Maître -Baudoin?" - -"Ah--who indeed, messire!" replied the hosteller shrugging his -shoulders; "who indeed!" - -"What--is she the Princess Mary of Gueldres?" - -"Pardieu! no one can tell who the lady may be, save herself and -Monseigneur l'Evêque; it is always kept secret." - -"Why--how?" - -"You see, messire, secrecy and mystery enhance the charm of her -appearance. It is very droll." - -"And she is sure to be beautiful?" - -"Superbe, messire!" - -While the master of the hostel ran on thus, and then proceeded to -enumerate all the great personages, such as Monseigneur the prince of -Ravenstein, MM. the marquises of Berg and Anvers, the count of Nassau, -and others who were sure to be present with their ladies, esquires, -and men-at-arms, Gray mentally resolved to tarry for a day or two and -witness the spectacle, prior to which he could see all the marvels of -this great Flemish capital. - -A vast city it was, with its long and quaint streets of old and -steep-roofed houses, built of painted brick and carved wood, with a -stork's nest on every chimney; the pavement full of life and bustle, -and swarming with ruddy-cheeked young fraus, each having a dozen -petticoats; and bulbous-shaped Flemings wearing the old proverbial big -red or brown trunk-hose, bombasted with sawdust or tow, and bedecked -with rows of shiny buttons at the side; its booths, its shops and -stores, crammed with treasures and merchandise from all parts of -Christendom and the East--the mysterious realms of Prester John; while -boats and barges, all glittering with brown varnish paint and gilding, -plied to and fro under the bridges of the Scheldt or its canals, laden -with boxes, barrels, and bales, or with ruddy fruit, green vegetables, -or ponderous cattle, or with men, women, and children, long-robed -priests, and mail-clad soldiers, all gabbling and laughing in the -guttural _patois_ of the old Lotheringian kingdom. Then there were the -long and stately rows of linden trees and the ramparts of the citadel; -while, with scores of little shops nestling between its countless -buttresses, high over all towered the mighty cathedral, the glory of -Antwerp, with its sixty-six chapels, its roof that springs from one -hundred and twenty-five pillars--its altars, statues, and pictures, -with that gorgeous steeple which seems to pierce the sky, and the -carvings of which are so exquisite that Charles V. said, "it should be -put into a case and shown only on holidays." - -On its summit, four hundred and fifty feet above the busy streets, -there hung, in those days, four great copper pans, in which the -burghers were wont to kindle fires on the approach of an enemy; for -the Gueldrians, Lorainers, Burgundians, and even the Frieslanders -from beyond Utrecht and the waveless Zuider Zee, worked the wealthy -Antwerpers sore mischief in time of war and tumult. - -In this vast city Gray resided unnoticed and unknown, and spent several -days pleasantly enough; so the great festival came to pass before the -waters subsided on the frontiers. - -On the night of the 15th August, after vespers, when the brilliant -procession was to issue from the cathedral, Gray armed himself, and, -guided by Maître Baudoin, of the _Grille de Ste. Laurence_, obtained a -good place near the porch of the cathedral; within, without, and all -around which were assembled the thousands of Antwerp to witness the -procession, in which so much of a religious pageant with civic mummery -were to mingle. The excitement was increased by the wide-spread rumour -that a young foreign girl of high rank--a princess at least--had been -chosen on this occasion to represent our Lady of Antwerp; thus all the -city were on tiptoe in honour of the occasion, the patroness of their -cathedral, of the city, and of all Christian women. - -The armed vassals of the powerful and wealthy bishop of Mechlin formed -a lane, with their partisans parting the crowd before the cathedral -gate. Each soldier bore a torch, and the lurid glow of these fell -fitfully on their bearded visages, their steel caps and breastplates, -or tipped with seeming fire the points of their partisans. Beyond, the -wavering gleam lighted partially the sombre and dusky masses of the -people, who crowded all the thoroughfares like a human sea. - -The thirty-three bells of the cathedral were tolling, and from the -depths of its long-drawn aisles and echoing arches strains of the -sacred music within came forth and floated over the bowed heads of the -hushed and expectant multitude. - -At last the bells rang out a merrier peal; the gilded gates revolved, -and, when more torches were lighted, a glow of sudden splendour seemed -to fill the great portico of the church, and all the white marble -statues of saints, kings, and warriors seemed to start from their -canopied niches into life. - -There was a palpable vibration among the people--a heaving to and fro -of the human tide--as the glitter of the coming pageant appeared in the -arched depths of the church; but the heaving was steadily repressed -by the steel points of the levelled partisans, while here and there -a half-stifled shriek from a woman, or a gruff Flemish oath from a -man, announced that the pressure was greater than their patience could -endure. But now the procession was seen slowly descending the steps of -the portico, and exclamations of pleasure and astonishment burst from -time to time in front of the masses; and these, as usual, served but to -excite the curiosity and irritate the temper of the less fortunate who -were too far off in the rear, or were hopelessly crushed against the -adjacent houses. - -First came the twenty-eight corporations of the city, clad in gowns -of fine cloth, with their banners and insignia; the nine nobles, with -their swords and coronets borne by pages; the nine masters of the -streets, with their swords and keys; the two burgomasters, and a giant -eight feet high (on heels of cork), bearing the banner of Antwerp, -heraldically charged with two human hands. - -Maître Baudoin informed Gray, in a hasty whisper, that, in ancient -times, a giant named Antwerpen had lived there amid the swamps, and was -wont to cast into the Scheldt all who displeased him, having previously -cut off their hands; and this was the legend of the city's coat -armorial. - -"And see, messire," added the little Frenchman, "by St. Louis here -comes one of his teeth!" - -As he spoke, an _echevin_ passed, bearing on a silver platter this -palladium of Antwerp--a gigantic _human_ tooth, said to be "a -handbreadth long and sixteen ounces in weight." - -The shouts of wonder and laughter excited by the giant, with his shaggy -black hair and beard, his red, pimpled nose and mighty scimitar, were -hushed when, preceded by choristers and boys swinging silver censers of -incense, the dean of the cathedral, with his twenty-four canons and the -confraternity of the Holy Circumcision, in all the splendour of their -full canonicals, were seen descending into the street and passing on -amid the flare of a thousand uplifted torches, a mass of muslin, lace, -and embroidery. - -Next came the twelve apostles, with their respective badges, each -represented by a handsome young man, and all clad in flowing robes of -brilliant red, blue, or yellow serge: St. Peter, with his keys, and -St. Paul, with a sword; St. Andrew, with a cross-saltire; St. James -Minor, with a fuller's pole; St. John, with a cup, out of which an -ingeniously-contrived winged serpent strove to fly; St. Bartholomew, -with a knife; St. Philip, with a cross-staff; St. Thomas, with a goodly -Flemish partisan; St. Mathias, with a battle-axe; St. James Major, with -a pilgrim's staff and gourd; St. Simeon, with a saw; and St. Jude, with -a club. - -Then came an effigy of Judas, with a red beard, dragged by the headsman -of the city, and surrounded by a score of merry imps, with horns and -tails, all whooping and dancing, as if eager to convey his soul to -the shades below; and their tricks and gambols filled the crowd with -laughter. - -The princess of Ravenstein, robed in pure white, with a diadem -sparkling on her brow, a palm-branch in one hand and a flaming sword in -the other, was borne past as St. Catherine upon a car, the wheels of -which were concealed by flowing drapery. - -Preceded by his banner, next came the abbot of St. Michael, an edifice -founded by a son of the Palatine, Count Herbert of Picardie; and then, -under a canopy borne by the marquises of Antwerp and Berg, the counts -of Bommel and Nassau, came the bishop of Mechlin, with his crozier -and mitre, his vestments glittering with precious stones and massive -embroidery, and all the clergy of the diocese following, with their -hands crossed on their breasts, and their eyes lowered on the earth, in -token of Christian piety and humility. - -But now the excitement reached its height, while something of awe was -mingled with the hushed curiosity of the people, and every mailed -soldier held his streaming torch aloft, when twelve stout monks of -St. Michael's Abbey, all marching slowly in their black cassocks, -approached, with a species of throne upon their shoulders, and on that -throne sat a female, who represented our Lady of Antwerp. - -This chair seemed a veritable blaze of precious stones, as the ladies -of the city yearly contributed their jewels to decorate it. Little -children, dressed as seraphs, with snow-white wings, nestled at its -base, and over it there seemed to float a curiously-contrived silver -cloud, amid which shone thirteen stars, that sparkled in the light of -the torches. - -The lady who personated the Virgin in this strange procession was said -to be very beautiful, so Gray pressed vigorously forward to obtain a -glimpse of her; and his resolute aspect, his scarred face and athletic -form, his long sword and shirt of mail, repressed even the officious -petulance of the men-at-arms, who would have thrust him back as a -stranger, or one who was unknown to them; and little Maître Baudoin -profited by this influence to secure a good place, and rubbed his hands -with nervous ecstasy. - -On came the marching monks with the glittering throne, and Sir Patrick -Gray could see that they bore up a beautiful female figure, clad in -robes of the greatest value--for gold, silver, and precious stones -were lavished in their adornment, while a glory, composed of diamonds, -sparkled and blazed around her sweet young face, which expressed, -alternately, alarm, awe, and pleasure at the scene below, and the part -she felt so honoured by enacting before so vast a multitude. - -Maître Baudoin, who clung to the skirt of Gray's pourpoint, uttered -loud exclamations of rapture; but the Captain of the Guard was -voiceless as one whom Heaven had stricken dumb; for how great was his -bewilderment, how deep were his emotions, how profound his surprise, -on recognizing in the damsel who was borne past on that brilliant -throne, as our Lady of Antwerp, the features of Murielle Douglas--his -own Murielle--whom he fondly believed to be far away in the wilds of -Galloway! - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -MAÎTRE BAUDOIN. - - Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy; - This wide and universal theatre - Presents more woeful pageants than the scene - Wherein we play in.--AS YOU LIKE IT. - - -Sir Patrick Gray so entirely lost his self-possession, that he was -rapidly swept away, jostled, tossed and pushed here and there, by a -rush of the crowd, who were making off to another part of the city -where the procession would again be seen as it passed; so, after -futilely struggling, and even fighting in some instances, he found -himself in a dark street near one of the many bridges of the Scheldt, -which flows through Antwerp by no less than eight channels, and there -he paused, alone and breathless, with one hand pressed on his brow and -the other on his sword. - -Was it a dream, or a phantom raised by his nerves or organs of vision -being disturbed by the terrible wounds he had received, and by the long -and feverish hours of illness and agony he had endured in the castle of -Edinburgh? - -Again and again he asked this question of himself, without being able -to resolve the matter satisfactorily. - -He heard the bells of the cathedral still tolling; he saw the -variegated lamps that glittered on its glorious spire; he heard even -the hum of the distant multitude; but he dared not return and trust -himself to look again, lest he might become mad, for already his brain -felt weak and giddy, and he cast a haggard glance at the dark, still -water that flowed with mud and slime under the quaint old bridge of the -Scheldt, as strange wild thoughts occurred to him, but he thrust them -aside with shame. - -He looked back to the cathedral, and again he seemed to see that fair -young face with its diamond tiara, and the almost ethereal form, with -the finest and snowiest of Mechlin lace floating like a cloud of -frostwork, cold and pure, about it. In a foreign city, amid more than -two hundred thousand inhabitants, his chances of discovering _who_ this -lady was, and how she bore a resemblance so marvellous, became very -slender, if she were known alone to the bishop, who made it part of his -sacred drama or mystery to preserve her incognito from all--even from -his clergy. - -Had he been less a lover--had he waited, he might have seen _other_ -faces nearly as familiar as that of Murielle, though less startling and -bewildering; but, swept away as he had been by the crowd, and having -neither power nor presence of mind to regain his place, he saw no more -of the procession; and, after long wandering, he thought of returning -home. - -The night was now considerably advanced; the cathedral bells had ceased -to toll; the lights had disappeared amid the delicate traceries of its -spire; there were neither moon nor stars, and there came not a breath -of wind to disperse the frowsy vapour that overhung the city, and which -rose from the many branches of the Scheldt. Sir Patrick had lost his -way; his ignorance of the language and of the vast old city forced him -to wander to and fro, vainly searching for his hostelry, "the Grille -of St. Laurence;" but day dawned before he discovered it and presented -himself, to the joy of Maître Baudoin, who feared that he had become -embroiled with some of the bishop's men-at-arms, or the Marquises -Brabanciones, in the citadel--a surmise which naturally led the maître -to ponder upon the value of Sir Patrick's horse and its housings, and -also of his cloakbag, which might thereby fall into _his_ possession. - -"How came you to leave me, messire, in such a hurry and at such a -time?" asked the little Frenchman. - -Gray frankly told him that he thought--indeed that he was almost -certain--he had recognized a dear friend in the damsel who appeared as -our Lady of Antwerp. - -"_Ah, Mère de Dieu!_ do you say so?" exclaimed Maître Baudoin, with -sudden interest, "then _who_ is she?" - -"That is exactly what I wish to know; and shall know, too, ere noon be -past." - -"_Ay, ay, pardieu!_ but no one can tell you." - -"None!" - -"Save Monseigneur l'Evêque himself." - -"The bishop of Mechlin?" - -"Yes, messire." - -"I will fly to him!" - -"But he left the city after the show was over. I saw him myself, as -with all his knights and men-at-arms, and with several ladies----" - -"Ladies, say you?" - -"Yes, in horse-litters; he passed out by the gate of St. James." - -"For where?" asked Gray, starting up. - -"I know not." - -"Do none in Antwerp know?" asked Gray, impatiently. - -"Some say for Mechlin--others for Breda." - -"Get me a fleet horse, Maître Baudoin--I can pay you well--I must see -this bishop--" - -"Horses?--do you mean to ride to _both_ places at once?" - -"No--to the nearest first." - -"Vain, vain, messire," said the hosteller, shrugging his shoulders, "be -assured that he will not tell you." - -"Not if I implore him to do so?" - -"Not if you dashed out your brains--_morbleu_!" - -"Where did the lady go after the procession dispersed?" - -"Back to the cathedral--it is the custom." - -"Oh! she may be there yet." - -"_Ouf_, messire! would you have a pretty girl to sleep all night among -these cold marble knights and dead bishops? She has left it, of course; -but amid the thousands who have left or are leaving the city, and the -great trains of the prince of Ravenstein, the counts of Nassau, Bommel, -and others, now departing by all our gates and bridges, the task of -tracing and discovering her would be no sinecure." - -Sir Patrick stamped his right foot with vexation. - -"If I had your devil of a bishop on Scottish ground, I would soon -wrench the secret out of him." - -"Perhaps so, messire; but he has at Mechlin an ugly wheel whereon folks -are sometimes broken alive; and that is not pleasant. Is messire _sure_ -that he recognized the lady?" - -"Sure, Maître Baudoin, as that I now speak to you. Oh! I would know -that sweet face among ten thousand." - -"Sweet--hum;" the little Frenchman began to get quite interested; "is -she a countrywoman of messire?" - -"Yes." - -"A sister?" persisted the hosteller, who burned with curiosity. - -"No--no." - -"Perhaps she is the mother of messire?" - -"Prater, how thou talkest! she is my best beloved--my betrothed wife!" -said Gray, with enthusiasm. - -"_Diable! Bon Dieu!_" exclaimed Baudoin, making a pirouette. "Messire -must not despair." - -"I do not despair, Maître Baudoin; but I am sorely bewildered," said -poor Gray, passing a hand across his scarred forehead. - -"Messire, with your permission, I shall tell you a little story." - -"Say on, my friend." - -"Have you perceived near the church of Jesus--just about thirty paces -from it--a well, covered with curious ironwork?" - -"Yes; what about it?" - -"The branches from which the pulley hangs are rich with foliaged -work of iron, and are deemed a miracle of skill. They were the _chef -d'oeuvre_ of a famous young smith of Antwerp who dearly loved the -daughter of a great painter, and desired greatly to win his esteem; so -he lavished all the energies of his soul, and all the cunning of his -hands, all his skill and experience, upon that piece of ironwork; but -when it was finished, monsieur the painter viewed it coldly, and said, -crustily, - -"'I cannot agree to have you for a son-in-law.'" - -"'I am rich, young, and skilful,' urged the unfortunate lover. 'I am a -smith.' - -"'For _that_ very reason you shall not have my daughter; for she shall -wed a painter, and a painter only!' - -"Our smith did not lose heart, but he threw his beloved hammer into the -well, where it lies to this day; he assumed the pencil and palette, and -after working assiduously, he rapidly became a master in the art; he -excelled even the surly old painter who had disdained him; he won for -himself a high position in our city, and with it his beautiful young -mistress; and all this you may see graven on the brass plate of their -tomb, near the gate of the cathedral. But does messire hear me?" - -"Yes; but, prythee, Maître Baudoin, what the devil has all this story -about painters and smiths, palettes and draw-wells, to do with me?" - -"Everything." - -"How? I am not in a humour for jesting." - -"It is a homily," said the Frenchman, with a low bow. - -"Leave homilies to monks and friars; but for what is yours meant?" - -"To teach you to hope much and to persevere long; even as that poor -lover persevered and hoped." - -Three days longer Gray lingered in Antwerp, searching and inquiring -everywhere in vain, till at last, in despair of unravelling the -mystery, on the subsidence of the waters of the Maese, he ordered his -horse, bade adieu to the gossiping Maître Baudoin, and set out for the -court of the duke of Gueldres; having at last all but convinced himself -that the face which he had recognized in our Lady of Antwerp was the -creation of his own imagination, or at most some very remarkable -resemblance. - -Yet it was _no_ vision he had seen during the night of that -festival--but Murielle Douglas herself--the veritable object of all his -hope and love. - -We have already stated that the earl of Douglas had left Scotland -ostensibly to visit Pope Eugene IV., taking with him the countess, -Murielle, and a brilliant train. - -The latter, says Tytler (in his "History of Scotland"), consisted -of six knights, with their own suites and attendants, and fourteen -gentlemen of the best families in the realm, with a retinue of eighty -men-at-arms on horseback. Among these were Sir John Forrester, of -Corstorphine; Sir Alan Lauder, of the Bass; William Campbell, thane -of Cawdor and constable of the castle of Nairne--"all knights," adds -Lindesay, of Pitscottie, "whose convoy maid the earle so proud and -insolent, that he represented a kingis magnificence wherever he went. -Out of Flanderis he passed to France, and out of France to Italie, and -so forwardis to Rome, where the Romanes having knowledge of his cuming, -mett him with an honourable companie, and veri princelie receaved him -within the toun." - -In this quotation, however, we are somewhat anticipating the course of -events, for Gray and Murielle were yet to meet before the earl and his -retinue left Flanders to visit the court of Charles VII. of France. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -SNICK AND SNEE. - - Murder, madam! 'Tis self-defence. Besides, in these skirmishes - there are never more than two or three killed; for, supposing they - bring the whole body of militia upon us, down with a brace of them - and away fly the rest of the covey!--THE LYING VALET. - - -Gray had been repeatedly warned by the friendly hosteller, Maître -Baudoin, to beware of travelling in the dusk after passing the boundary -of the marquisate of Antwerp, as hordes of disbanded Brabanters and -Walloons, the refuse of the wars between Charles of France and the -duke of Burgundy, were lurking among the thick woods that lay about -Endhoven, and in the then great swampy wilderness, known as the Peel -Morass; and these outlaws were led by a kind of leader whom they all -tacitly acknowledged, Count Ludwig of Endhoven, who had been expelled -from the Burgundian army for his barbarous and outrageous conduct, -after having his spurs hacked from his heels, and his coat of arms -publicly riven and defaced, by order of Philip the Good. - -Gray thanked Maître Baudoin for his friendly warning, and rode on his -way, like a soldier and a careless fellow as he was, thinking no more -about it. - -Refreshed by the halt at Antwerp, his horse carried him with great -speed next day. He passed Nonne Kloster, and towards evening, found -himself approaching Endhoven, in Brabant, after a fifty-miles' ride. - -At the verge of the flat horizon, the sun was setting, but through the -evening haze, its light shed a golden lustre upon everything,--the -quaint farmhouses, the summer woods, the sluggish canals and browsing -cattle,--casting far across the fields the shadow of every village -spire and poplar tree; but now here and there rose little hills or -swelling eminences to relieve the tedium of the scenery, for tedious it -was to a Scottish eye, though the fruitful soil was cultivated like a -garden, for he was in the land of cheese, milk, and butter. - -Two miles from the town of Endhoven, stood a wayside hostelry, of -quaint aspect, overshadowed by a gigantic oak-tree, on one of the lower -branches of which swung its signboard, and under which were placed a -rough table and benches for the accommodation of those who choose to -loiter there, and refresh them in the open air. - -Weary and athirst, Gray alighted from his horse, and knocking with -his dagger hilt on the table, brought forth the tapster, who had been -observing his approach, from the ivy-covered porch of the hostelry, -which seemed to be literally a mass of green leaves, with quaint -gablets, and chimneys sticking up in all directions, and curious little -windows, peeping out, without order, regularity, or architectural -design. - -In a jargon, half Flemish and partly French, "eked" out with a word or -two of Scottish, Gray ordered a flask of wine for himself, and a feed -of corn for his horse, which was led into the stables. - -While drinking his wine, and pondering whether he should halt there -for the night, or push on to Endhoven, the evening bells of which were -ringing in the distance, the sound of voices at an open window made him -aware that several fellows of a very rough aspect were observing him -from a room, where they seemed to be drinking and playing with dice, -and, doubtless, they would have been smoking too, had that useful mode -of spending time and money been discovered. - -On turning from them, his attention was next arrested by perceiving a -knife, formed somewhat like a dagger, dangling at the end of a string, -from the lower branch of the tree under which he sat, and there it -swung to and fro in the wind. - -Each time he raised his eyes to this knife, he heard loud laughter, and -a clapping of hands among those who were evidently observing him; and -though resolving, if possible, to avoid all brawls, his brow flushed, -and his heart beat quicker, on finding himself, as he conceived, -insulted by a rabble of Flemish boors. - -But in his ignorance of the customs of the country, he knew not that -the knife was hung thus as a challenge to snick and snee, as it was -named, a combat then common among the lower classes in Flanders, as it -was in Holland, in later years. - -The bravest or most rash bully of a village or district, usually -hung up his knife thus, in some conspicuous place, as the knights of -chivalric days were wont, in a warlike fit, to obstruct the high roads, -by hanging their shields on a bridge, or by the wayside, to invite all -comers, and whoever touched or took the weapon down was compelled to -fight the proprietor, or be branded as a coward. - -Before engaging, the combatants sometimes tested their strength of arm, -by driving their knives into a deal board, and then they were only -permitted to use so much of the blade as had penetrated; others broke -off the points. On closing, each used his cap or hat as a shield, to -protect his face; but such encounters seldom ended until one, sometimes -both duellists, had their cheeks, noses, and foreheads slashed and -disfigured. - -The knife in question, a long, sharp, and assassin-like weapon, -continued to swing to and fro within arm's-length of Gray, who, on -perceiving something engraved on the buckhorn haft of it, took it in -his hand for examination; on this a shout of exultation, too boisterous -to pass unnoticed, came from the topers in the hostelry. - -Sir Patrick had only time to perceive that a coronet and the letter E -were engraven on the handle, when he tore it down, and dashed it right -through the latticed window where it fell among those whose mirth -seemed so easily excited. - -After the silence of a moment, a storm of oaths and threats, mingled -with shouts and drunken laughter, greeted this act of hostility, and -from the door of the tavern there issued six men, all tattered in -dress, bloated by drinking, ruffianly in aspect, and all variously -armed with swords, daggers, and mauls. Three of them had rusty helmets -and breastplates, which had evidently seen much service. - -On the approach of this unexpected rabble, Gray quietly drained the -last of his wine, threw down the price thereof, and then starting up, -laid his hand on his sword, as one who seemed to be the leader, came -boldly and brusquely up to him. - -Tall, strongly made, and athletic in form, this personage presented a -curious combination of character in his features, which were naturally -noble and handsome, but disguised by the masses of his uncombed hair, -distorted by ferocity, and bloated by drunkenness. He wore a pair of -enormous moustaches, which were twisted up almost to his ears; his -attire, which had once been richly laced, was full of rents and holes. -He wore a cuirass and back-plate, on each of which a coat of arms was -engraved; his neck being destitute of gorget, revealed by its bareness -that he was not proprietor of a shirt; a battered helmet, from which -the barred vizor had been struck in some battle or brawl, covered his -head; his gauntlets and boots were of different fashions; he carried -a short battle-axe in his right hand, and in his left the knife which -Gray had just tossed through the window. - -"Sangdieu!" he exclaimed, in French; "do you know the penalty incurred -by what you have done, messire?" - -"I neither know nor care," replied Gray, coolly; and then turning to -the hosteller--a fat old Flemish boor, who had also come forth, and -was trembling at the prospect of a fray upon his premises--he added, -"Maître, please you to bring my horse--and do so instantly, as I have -no desire to cross my sword with this fellow and his _coquinaille_." - -At this epithet, which signifies "a pack of rascals," they uttered a -simultaneous shout, and raised their weapons, but Gray confronted them -resolutely with his drawn sword. - -"My horse, I tell you, fellow, lest I cut you in two!" he reiterated to -the loitering hosteller. On this, his roan, the same horse ridden by -him when Earl William entered Edinburgh, was brought at once towards -the tree, but the armed rabble placed themselves between it and the -proprietor. - -"Does messire mean to fight me, whom he has insulted and challenged by -touching _this_ knife," demanded the leader; "or der Teufel, does he -mean to----" - -"What!" said Gray, "be wary of your words, sir." - -"To fly like a coward?" said the other, with a German oath. - -"I do not fight with every ignoble ruffian I may meet; there are some -whom I would disdain to chastise, and thou, fellow, art one! Yet, if -the hosteller would but bring me a good heavy whip, I would make you -dance to a tune of your own." - -"Sangdieu! do you know to whom you are speaking?" cried the other, -whose rage completely sobered him. - -"Some robbers or outlaws, I suppose." - -"A robber--yes, for misfortune has made me so; an outlaw--yes, for -tyrants made me so; but I am _your_ equal, and perhaps superior, for -all that!" - -"Indeed! Then who the devil are you, that thus molest peaceful people -on the open highway?" - -"I am Ludwig, count of Endhoven!" - -Gray started on hearing the name of the very personage against whom -Maître Baudoin had so solemnly warned him; but, inspired with an -emotion of pity for nobility fallen so low, he took his purse from his -girdle, and said, "Rumour says you have been a soldier: I am one, and -will share what I have with you; but first you must stand aside from -between me and my horse, as I can brook no intimidation." - -The other laughed scornfully, and said, "In the first place, messire, -it was from being a soldier that Philip of Burgundy made me a thief, -and changed my cote d'armes into a beggar's gabardine. In the second, -I do not ask for that which I can take by force; in the third, I obey -no man's orders--yours least of all, when horse and purse, and all you -possess, are my lawful spoil." - -As he spoke, he made a sudden rush forward, with the intention of -tearing away the purse from Sir Patrick, who, quick as thought, sprang -back, and received him right upon the point of his sword, with a force -which made the iron corslet ring, and stretched its wearer on the earth. - -With a shout of rage, he sprang to his feet, swinging his axe in both -hands, and, with his five companions, surrounded Gray. Sharp was the -conflict that ensued, and most likely it would have terminated fatally -for him; for although he dealt many a severe wound, it was long since -he had thus used his sword; and since that fatal day, after "the Black -Dinner," his wrists had been weak and stiff: but now the distant tramp -of horses was heard, and the hosteller, to scare the combatants from -his premises, exclaimed, "Gott in Himmel! Herr Count, here comes the -burg graf of Gueldres, with his banner and escort!" - -On hearing this, Count Ludwig, whose face was streaming with blood from -a slash Gray had given him, accompanied by his five companions, sprang -over a hedge close by, and, taking to flight, sought refuge where -horsemen dared not follow them, among the recesses of a swampy forest. - -They had scarcely been gone three minutes, and Sir Patrick had just -recovered his breath and equanimity, when a grey-bearded cavalier, all -armed save the head (for his helmet hung at his saddle-bow), rode up, -attended by three knights, who each wore the jewel and mantle of the -Golden Fleece of Burgundy, and by twenty men-at-arms on horseback, one -of whom, an esquire, carried a long lance with a square banner, charged -with the lion of Gueldres. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -THE ROYAL LETTER. - - O mony a mile Sir Patrick rode - Throughout the border land; - To gie that letter braw and braid, - Into the earlis hand.--OLD BALLAD. - - -Reining in his horse, while all his party did the same, the elder -gentleman, who was without the helmet, but wore a plumed cap, and -who appeared to be the leader, hastily addressed Gray in German, but -finding that he did not reply, repeated his question in French. - -"There has been fighting here, messire?" - -"As you may plainly see," replied Gray quietly, while carefully wiping -his sword-blade, for the lofty bearing of the speaker displeased him. - -"About what did you quarrel?" - -"Faith, I can scarcely tell you." - -"Speak, messire!" said the other, authoritatively. - -"A knife that hung from the branch of a tree, it would seem. You have -strange fashions among you here in Gueldres," said Gray, with returning -anger. - -"You are not yet in old Gueldreland, but in Brabant," replied the -other; "you appear to be a stranger?" - -"Yes, messire, I am a stranger," replied Sir Patrick, who had now -mounted, gathered up his reins, and had his horse fully in hand, ready -for any emergency, and resolved to admit of no molestation. - -"May I ask what object takes you towards Gueldreland?" - -"You may, messire, but what if I decline to reply?" - -"I can prove that I have the right to ask such questions, and to -enforce answers." - -"I am come from the court of Scotland to visit old Duke Arnold--is he -in Gueldres?" - -"No; in Brabant." - -"That is unfortunate." - -"Not so much so as you suppose. But with whom were you fighting?" - -"Those who fought with me: some outlaws, to all appearance, but they -got more than they gave." - -"Outlaws!" reiterated the armed horseman with displeasure. - -"A rabble led by one who called himself Count Ludwig of Endhoven." - -"Ha!" exclaimed the other, while all his followers uttered exclamations -expressive of surprise and interest. - -"Is it thus," said Gray, "your lords of Gueldres amuse themselves upon -the highway?" - -"I tell you, messire, that you are in Brabant. So these were Ludwig and -his Brabanciones? I would give a thousand guilders for his head! But -there was blood upon your sword?" - -"I laid Count Ludwig's cheek open from eye to chin." - -"Then beware you, messire: he is cruel as a pagan, and revengeful as an -Italian; and he will track you and seek you day and night while you are -among us, to work you mischief, unless, in the interim, he is broken -alive upon the wheel by some burg graf or burgomaster. You are going, -you say, to the court of the duke of Gueldres?" - -"Where I am not likely to arrive soon if I remain chattering here," -replied Gray coldly, as he disliked the inquisitorial manner of his -questioner, who laughed and said,-- - -"Are you seeking knight-service? If so, you had better turn your -horse's head towards Burgundy, where Duke Philip III. is putting his -sword to the grindstone." - -"Nay, messire," replied Gray, with increasing displeasure; "I have come -on a mission from the court of Scotland, where I have the honour to be -Captain of the King's Guard." - -"Your name?" - -"Sir Patrick Gray, younger of that ilk." - -"And this mission?" said the other hastily. - -"Concerns not you, messire, but the marriage of the Princess Mary -d'Egmont," replied Gray, moving his horse away. - -"To your young king?--good. You have, then, a letter for--for the -duke?" said the other, following him. - -"Yes." - -"Permit me to see it. Excuse me, messire, but I have both reason and -authority for my request." - -Gray, who thought he had been rather unwise in stating the object of -his mission to a total stranger, reluctantly opened a pocket in his -saddlelap, and drew forth a large square letter, which was covered with -a silken wrapper, tied with white ribbon crosswise, and sealed with -yellow wax, the colour used by the kings of Scotland and France. - -"Messire, you will perceive that it is correctly addressed," said Sir -Patrick; "and it is my best credential for being reserved." - -"Exactly; I thank you," replied the other, taking the letter in his -gauntletted hand, and deliberately tearing it open. - -"Messire!" exclaimed Gray, furiously, as he drew his sword; "are you -mad, or weary of life, that you dare to open a letter----" - -"For Arnold d'Egmont, count of Zutphen, and duke of Gueldres, you would -say?" - -"Yes, surrender it, messire, or by every saint in heaven, I shall kill -you where you stand!" - -"Beware--beware!" exclaimed some of the attendants, lowering their -lances. - -"And why beware?" demanded the sturdy Scot. - -"Because I am Arnold himself," replied the old duke, with a hearty -laugh, in which the three knights of the Golden Fleece joined. - -"You, monseigneur?" said Gray, sinking the point of his sword, and -reining back his horse. - -"Behold my banner and escort, with Ravenstein, Berg, and Nassau, my -three most faithful friends." - -"Pardon me," said Gray, sheathing his sword, and reining back his horse. - -"I have nothing to pardon, Sir Patrick Gray," replied the duke; "we -shall all ride forward together, but this letter, which you have -travelled so far to lay before me, is written in the young king's name, -and announces, that so soon as affairs are peaceful in his kingdom, his -lord chancellor, accompanied by John, bishop of Dunkeld, and Messire -Nicholas Otterbourne, official of Lothian, with a suitable train, will -visit our court at Gueldres, to receive the Princess Mary, and conduct -her to her new home. Poor child! she is very young and tender, to be -trusted among your unruly mountaineers. The letter shall be laid before -the duchess and council. Meantime, messire, I thank you for the care -with which you have brought hither the missive of your king, and the -valour with which you were ready to defend it, at all hazards, even -against four-and-twenty mounted men." - -Sir Patrick bowed low, and kissed the hand which the duke extended -towards him. - -"You will ride on with us, Sir Patrick," he resumed. "I have a -hunting-lodge near Vlierden, on this side of Peel Morass, seventeen -miles distant. There we shall halt for to-night, and to-morrow depart -for the capital." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE CASTLE OF ENDHOVEN. - - I behold the pageants splendid - That adorned those days of old; - Stately dames like queens attended, - Knights who wore the Fleece of Gold. - - LONGFELLOW. - - -The three knights who wore the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, proved to be -the prince of Ravenstein, the marquis of Berg, and Englebert, count of -Nassau, who was hereditary burg graf, or governor of Antwerp, and who, -when a mere boy, in 1404, had espoused the heiress of Loeke and Breda. -The prince of Ravenstein's territory lay between Gueldres and Brabant; -it is now merged in the duchy of Cleves, but his castle still stands -near the Maese. - -Gueldres was an ancient and then very powerful dukedom, though it -shrank to a petty state after the declaration of independence by the -maritime provinces of the Netherlands in 1579, when it lost Nimeguen, -the county of Zutphen, and Arnheim, and afterwards Ruremond, which was -made over to Prussia; and since then, these portions have frequently -changed their masters and form of government. - -In the days of Arnold d'Egmont the duchy contained sixteen cities, two -hundred and thirty villages, five great fortresses, and a vast number -of castles. - -The old duke treated Gray with great condescension, and conversed -freely with him as they rode on together. - -He inquired in what battle Gray received the severe wound the mark of -which yet remained upon his face; and for the first time since he had -left Scotland, our hero felt his heart glow with petty anger, in having -to acknowledge that he had gained it in a mere street brawl with the -enemies of the king,--the adherents of the turbulent and unruly house -of Douglas. - -"Tête Dieu!" said the duke; "that is the family which gives the king, -your master, so much trouble. By Saint Louis, _I_ would make quick work -in disposing of them." - -"They can bring twenty thousand men into the field," urged Sir Patrick. - -"The great lord of Douglas is now in Flanders." - -"Here--here in Flanders!" exclaimed Gray. - -"Not in my territories; but on the other side of Brabant, and when last -heard of he was travelling with a brilliant train of knights towards -Breda, for the purpose of visiting that city, after which he passes -forward to France. He was at the Feast of the Assumption in Antwerp, -but proudly and haughtily kept aloof from all." - -This unexpected intelligence filled Gray with emotions of a varied -character, and solved a great mystery, the recollection of which had -greatly troubled him. - -It was, then, really Murielle Douglas whom he had seen, and no -visionary or fancied resemblance; and he felt a glow of pleasure at the -conviction that he had looked upon her face so recently, that he had -breathed the same air with her; and that even now she was separated -from him, not by the stormy German Ocean, and many a league of hill and -glen; but only by a few miles of level land, and he mentally resolved, -at every hazard and danger, that on leaving the duke of Gueldres, he -would follow the Douglases to Breda, and that if they had departed, he -would track them elsewhere; so powerful a noble, with so brilliant a -retinue, would be easily traced in Flanders. - -Pleasure, anticipation, and excitement, made him alternately gay and -abstracted; thus he could barely attend with becoming reverence to the -kind old prince who, being anxious to make a favourable impression on -one who seemed the trusted subject of his intended son-in-law, drew his -attention to the various castles, spires, and other features of the -country, beguiling the way by many a story and legend, as they rode -towards his hunting-lodge, at which they were to pass the night. - -It stood upon the Gueldrian side of the Peel Morass. The latter -included great tracts of land now dry and fertile, which were then -deep swamps; and strange old stories lingered there, of broken dykes -and bursting sluices--of overflowings from the Waal and Maese, with -inundations from the Zuider Zee, by which whole farms were swept away, -strong castles overthrown, and villages submerged; and of mermaids and -mermen being swept by the retiring waters to flounder in the slough -until they were captured; and the duke averred that in the days of -his ancestor, Reinold II., duke of Gueldres, two had been instructed -in Christianity and taught to make reverence to a crucifix,--a story -corroborated in later times. - -The "History of the Seven United Provinces," published at London in -1705, tells us, that "one day, when the sea had broken the banks and -overflowed one part of the country, some young damsels of Ednam, going -in a boat to milk their cows, found a nymph, or sea-woman, who lay -half-covered in the mud, after the waters had been drained off. They -drew her out and carried her to Ednam, where they taught her to spin -and dress herself like other women; but they could not teach her to -speak, nor lose the inclination which she had to return to her former -element. There is an author who pretends that they imprinted in her -some knowledge of a God, and that she made her reverence as she passed -a crucifix. But it was not in Holland only," adds the historian, "that -they found mermen in those days. There were some taken on the coast of -Norway, which had on them the cross, the mitre, and all the pontifical -habits of a bishop; but they only sighed after they were taken, and -died very quickly." - -Night had closed when the party reached the hunting-lodge, which was an -old castle of some extent and considerable antiquity. - -"This," said the duke, "is the hereditary mansion of the counts of -Endhoven; and under its roof Count Ludwig, the last of that line, was -born." - -"Where he is not likely to die," added the count of Nassau. - -"Since his attainder it has been mine." - -"There is a strange story connected with it--or rather with the parents -of Ludwig," said the count of Nassau, a noble with a long grave and -pleasing countenance. - -"His father was a cruel passionate and vindictive man, who used his -countess so barbarously that she was wont to carry a dagger in her -boddice, for her protection. Six months after Ludwig was born, she -died of a broken heart, and the dagger, as she requested with her last -breath, was buried with her. For a few weeks the count drank deeply, -gamed and hunted, it seemed to all, as if to drown thought; but after -a time he recovered, and to lighten the old castle, which seemed so -grim and gloomy now, he carried off a beautiful peasant girl from the -neighbourhood of Endhoven. Long and bitterly did the girl weep, on -finding herself in his power, and earnestly she prayed to be permitted -to return to her parents and to her lover, with whom she had been on -the point of marriage; but the wild count only laughed, and forced her -to drink cup after cup of Rhenish wine, and to sing and play on her -ghittern. - -"One day, when he was caressing and endeavouring to console her in his -own rough way, he swore a terrible oath that he would love her till -death, and no one else! - -"Believe him not!" exclaimed a hollow voice behind--a voice like that -of the dead countess. At the same moment a lean and wasted arm and -hand, grasping a dagger, came out of the stone wall, and the count fell -dead, stabbed to the heart! - -"In his breast was found the countess's dagger--the same weapon that -had been buried with her!" - -As the count of Nassau concluded this strange story, they rode through -the dark archway into the barbican of the castle, which seemed old and -gloomy, even to Gray, who had come from a land of grim and guarded -fortresses. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -THE COURT OF GUELDRES. - - Here he saw the king approaching, - And he ended gallantly; - Left the crowd of knights about him, - Bending to the king his knee. - - POETRY OF SPAIN. - - -As we have much to narrate, we must hasten over the mere diplomacy in -which the captain of the guard was concerned. - -Next day the duke's party traversed the marshes of Peeland, and reached -the city of Gueldres. A fleet horseman having been sent on before, Gray -was received with considerable state at the ducal castle, in honour of -the king, his master. - -The capital city of Gueldres was then surrounded by marshes which added -materially to its security, by making all approaches to it difficult -and dangerous to invaders or strangers. It was girt by ramparts and -deep trenches, through which flowed the river Niers, and thus it was -deemed the strongest place in Flanders. - -It was a curious little town of narrow streets, overshadowed by -galleried houses of quaint aspect, with projecting eaves and steep -roofs; old churches, grim and mysterious in architecture; and convents -with high and sombre walls. The mass of the population seemed to -be industrious Flemish artisans, mingled with the usual number of -peasants, who brought their wares to market; cowled monks, dozing at -the gates in the sunshine; and helmeted men-at-arms dicing and drinking -in the hostelries. - -Twenty great bombards were fired from the ramparts of the ducal -castle, as a salute in honour of Sir Patrick's arrival, and the great -banner of the duchy, _azure_ a lion _or_ crowned, for Gueldres; with a -lion _gules_ for Zutphen, was displayed on the keep, while a body of -knights, archers, and well-mounted men-at-arms stood in military array -within the gates. Gueldres was then famous for its cavalry, and for -the spirit of its people, who were deemed so warlike, that to lessen -their military genius and secure the possession of that province in -his family, Charles V., in after times, excluded its natives from his -armies. - -The great ducal fortress, a portion of which was built in 878 by -Wichardus a Ponte, the first lord of Gueldres, on his marriage with a -daughter of the count of Zutphen, was deemed the strongest castle in -the Netherlands, till its demolition by the Prussians in 1764. - -There, in that old castle, situated amid the thick woods and rushlands, -through which the Niers flows towards the Maese, Gray was presented to -the duchess, Katherine of Cleves; to her daughter, the future queen of -Scotland; the little princess Mary, then in her ninth year; and to her -brother, prince Adolphus, by whose wickedness in after years the house -of Gueldres was ruined, and its possessions merged into the line of -Burgundy. - -For when Adolphus rebelled against his father, old Arnold d'Egmont, -and shut him up in a close prison, he was disinherited, and his title -and patrimony sold in 1473 to Charles the Terrible, Duke of Burgundy, -for a yearly pension of fourscore and ten thousand golden crowns of -the Rhine; but no thought or anticipation had they then of those dark -days that were coming, when civil war and misrule would rend the land -asunder; and so old Duke Arnold feasted royally the knight who had -come from the Scottish court, in presence of all his peers, the knights -of the duchy, the governors of the country districts, and the deputies -of Nimeguen, Arnheim, Ruremond, and Zutphen, his four great counties or -provinces. - -He presented him with a cassock, embroidered with gold and precious -stones, worth a thousand ducats. The Duchess Katherine in the name of -the princess, her daughter, entrusted him with a valuable ring for the -young king, her future son-in-law, to whose ministers letters were -prepared, expressive of the pleasure with which the coming ambassadors -would be received. - -Four days Sir Patrick remained at the castle of Gueldres, and then, -leaving with impatience to overtake the Douglases about Breda, he bade -adieu to the ducal court, and was convoyed, as the abbot of Tongland -relates, twelve miles on his way, as far as Wees, by Prince Adolphus, -the counts of Bommel and Nassau, with forty gentlemen on horseback "in -cassocks of brocade, each with a gold chain at his neck." - -Sir Patrick rejoiced when all this ceremony and state were over; when -he was once more alone, and at liberty to pursue his own way towards -Breda, which, however, he was fated never to reach. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -A STRANGE RENCONTRE. - - "I wake to sad reality, the days of youth have fled-- - The flower, the shrub, the velvet turf have long ere now been dead; - The brook that ran so merrily has ceased to bubble by, - The pebble bed whereon it flowed is broken up and dry." - - -As Sir Patrick Gray had no desire to traverse again the swampy wastes -of the Peel Morass, with the chance of perhaps encountering, when -alone, Ludwig of Endhoven, and his ruffianly Brabanciones, he took the -way which led towards the principality of Ravenstein, intending to -cross the Maese and travel to Breda through Dutch Brabant. - -Eagerness to see, to meet, to rejoin Murielle, or to make his presence -there known to her, made him travel without delay; but in his ignorance -of the route, through a flat country, destitute of those strong natural -features, to which his eyes were accustomed at home, caused him -frequently to make mistakes and detours; thus the evening of the first -day found him only at the town of Grave, which had a fortress, situated -by the margin of the Maese, and of such strength that it was deemed -the Key of Gueldreland, and had thus been the object of many a bloody -contest between the dukes of Brabant and the earls of Holland. - -As the town was small, he soon found an hostelry, and delivered his -horse to the groom and his sword to the tapster, according to what was -then, and for long after, the custom in all places of entertainment; -but retained his chain shirt and dagger while he sat at supper in the -large public room, or chamber-of-dais, in which were two gentlemen, -apparently travellers like himself, and similarly employed, in deciding -upon the merits of broiled fowls and a stoup of Burgundy. - -Full of his own thoughts and of Murielle, reckoning the miles of flat -and monotonous Flemish scenery that lay between them, the hours that -must intervene ere he could see her; the mode in which he should -discover himself, the promises he would exact, and the vows he would -repeat, Gray took no notice of the strangers, who conversed freely, and -somewhat noisily, over their wine, their brusquerie of manner appearing -to increase as the twilight deepened with their potations; so that when -Gray was at last roused from his reveries and looked towards them, the -dusk was so great that he could scarcely discern their features. - -They were talking of the proceedings of the great ecclesiastical -council, which was then sitting in the Swiss archbishopric of Basle, -and of the laws it was framing for the extirpation of heresy--topics -upon which all men were beginning to question, or rather to _sound_ -each other, as such questions, in those days of the stake and faggot, -were fraught with danger. They conversed in French; but finding that -Gray sat resolutely silent, one turned and said to him abruptly, "Pray, -sir, what think you of Procopius?" - -"Of--who?" said Gray, with hesitation. - -"Procopius, the Shaved." - -"The leader of the Hussites?" - -"Yes--the protesting heretics." - -"I think him a bold Bohemian captain," was the cautious reply. - -"What think you of his disputation at the holy council of Basle?" -continued the other. - -"I am not capable of judging." - -"Peste! Did he not bear hard on the monks?" persisted the querist. - -"I am not aware," replied Gray, with increasing reserve, "as I have not -heard; but what said he?" - -"At the head of two hundred gentlemen of his party, the valiant -Procopius came before the council, and stoutly maintained that monkery -was an invention of the devil. - -"'Can you prove this?' asked Cardinal St. Julien, while his face -flushed red as his stockings. - -"'Yes!' replied the Bohemian, stoutly. - -"'How?' thundered the cardinal, knitting his brows. - -"'Thus; will you deny that the Saviour did _not_ institute it?' - -"'We do not.' - -"'Then,' quoth Procopius, ''tis plainly an invention of the devil,' -whereat Ænies Sylvius Piccolomini----" - -"He who was in Scotland?" - -"Yes; burst into a fit of laughter, which however did not prevent him -from committing several poor devils to the flames in the course of the -evening, where they spluttered and burned bravely for the amusement of -all good Catholics." - -"We have had some such work at home, where John Resby and Paul Crawar -have perished at the stake, for preaching doctrines which some term -false and others simply new." - -"How do _you_ term them?" asked the second traveller. - -"Sir," replied Gray, "I am a soldier, and, being neither priest nor -clerk may not know the difference." - -"So you are of Scotland?" said the first stranger, suddenly -relinquishing his French for the old dialect then spoken by the upper -classes of the northern kingdom; "we bid you welcome, as countrymen. -Pray join us--and harkee, tapster, let us have lights and more wine--we -too, sir, are of Scotland." - -More Burgundy was promptly brought, and on four torch-like candles of -yellow wax being lighted in four great brass sconces, Gray was enabled -to observe the aspect and bearing of his fellow travellers, or rather -sojourners at the hostelry. - -Both had their hair cut closely round above their ears, in the -unbecoming fashion of twenty years before. They were moustached, but -had their beards and whiskers shaved off in what was then the Scottish -mode; they wore armour, with skirts composed of horizontal steel bands, -called taces, with circular epaulets, to protect the armpits from sword -thrusts, with spikes on the oriellets of their helmets. - -The tallest and most handsome forcibly recalled to Gray's memory -the late King James I.; he seemed to have something of that unhappy -monarch's voice too, but his air and manner, though soldierly and -stately, were reckless and blasé, and at times even abrupt and rough, -yet not altogether unpleasing. - -The other had pale grey cunning eyes, which were either bloodshot -by dissipation, or reddened by the fire of innate cruelty, and they -twinkled so far apart from his nose that it appeared almost impossible -for him to see an object with _both_ at once, for each seemed to be -looking at the ear which adjoined it, and his hair and beard were a -fiery red. But what were the emotions of Gray, and how firmly did he -grasp his dagger, while a gust of fury filled his heart--a fury which -he had great difficulty in repressing--when, in this person we have -just described, he recognized that venal wretch, James Achanna! - -By the light of the sconces the latter and his companion had a full -view of Gray, but they seemed not to recognize him, for, as already -stated, the ghisarma of Earl James had laid both cheeks open, thus a -hideous wound traversed his whole face like a livid bar sinister. It -was slowly passing away, however, for the old duchess of Gueldres had -given him a rare balsam, which she said would effectually efface the -scars; but as yet they, and a new curl which Gray had fancifully given -his moustache, had so effectually altered his appearance, as to conceal -his identity from this ruffianly swashbuckler of the earl of Douglas. - -"So you are of Scotland, sir?" resumed the other traveller. - -"I am come from thence but lately," replied Gray; "and may I ask your -names?" - -"Certainly," replied our old acquaintance, with perfect confidence; "I -am James Achanna, a gentleman of the Lord Douglas, a name at which men -prick their ears in Nithsdale, whatever they may do in foggy Flanders." - -"And I," said the other, "am the Lord Rosse." - -"Rosse!" reiterated Gray; "pardon me, sir, but, under favour, we have -no such lord in Scotland." - -"Not when I am _out_ of it," said he, laughing. - -"I know not the title," added Gray, coldly. - -"Indeed! one seems to be soon forgotten then. Shall I state to you more -fully that I am Robert Stewart, duke of Albany and earl of Rosse." - -"The son of Duke Murdoch!" exclaimed Gray, starting from his seat with -mingled surprise and respect. - -"Yes; son of that Duke Murdoch, who, with his second son, and Duncan, -earl of Lennox, was foully butchered at the Lady's Rock, before the -castle gates of Stirling. Vengeance has a long and bitter memory! and -by that extrajudicial murder, for such I will maintain it to be in the -face of Europe, I have been since boyhood an exile, a wanderer, and -now, when little more than thirty years of age, my hair is greyer than -my poor old father's was, when his venerable head rolled in the sand -beneath the doomster's axe." - -Gray bowed low, for respect to the royal blood was strongly graven then -in the hearts of the Scots, in none more than his, and Albany, though -exiled and outlawed, in consequence of the malpractices of his father -(who had been regent during the detention of James I. in England), was -the cousin of King James II. - -"And _you_, sir?" asked Albany, loftily. - -"I am your grace's most humble servant," replied Gray pausing, as he -dreaded to tell his name before Achanna, lest it might reveal to the -Douglases his royal mission, and blight his hope of meeting Murielle. - -"But your name, sir," said the duke, with growing displeasure; "your -name?" - -"Yes," added Achanna, imitating him, "we must have your name." - -"I am the laird of Luaig," replied Gray, with ready wit, taking the -name of a little obscure loch, which lies in a narrow glen near his -father's castle of Foulis. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -BOLD SCHEMES. - - Many have ruined their fortunes; many have escaped ruin by - want of fortune. To obtain it the great have become little, and - the little great.--ZIMMERMAN. - - -"Luaig, laird of Luaig," said Albany, ponderingly; "I do not recognize -the name." - -"Lairds are plenty as heather hills in the far north country," said -Achanna, sneeringly. - -"And I have been long enough in France and elsewhere to forget even my -mother tongue, as well as my dear mother's face; yet she was Isabel of -Lennox," said Albany, sadly; "but lairds in the north are plenty, I -know." - -"And poor as plenty," added Achanna. - -"True, sir," said Gray, "and hence my mission here in Flanders." - -"How; I was just about to inquire," observed the duke; "seek you -knight's service?" - -"Yes; fortune has made me a free lance." - -"And ready to follow any banner?" - -"Yes; provided it find me in food, horse, and armour." - -"Then follow _me_," said Albany, "and ere long, my friend, I may find -work for your sword at home." - -"At _home_; do you mean in Scotland?" - -"Aye, in Scotland; how now, Achanna, why the devil dost twitch my -sleeve?" - -"As a warning that your grace should be wary." - -"Here thought and speech are free. True, we have not eaten a peck of -salt with our new friend, the laird of Luaig, but at this distance -from that bloody rock which lies before Stirling gate, we may trust -him nevertheless," said the reckless Albany, draining his wine cup at -a draught; "wilt follow me, Luaig--is it a bargain?" he added, holding -out his hand. - -"But whither goes your grace?" - -"To tread the same path my hapless father trod," replied the duke, with -something of dignity and pathos in his manner. - -"It may lead, alas!----" - -"To the same bloody doom, you would say?" - -"Yes; I would pray your grace to be wary." - -"I care not; I shall live and die, Robert Stewart, duke of Albany and -earl of Rosse, if I die not something better." - -A cunning smile twinkled in the hawk-like eyes of the unfathomable -Achanna. - -"Sit with us, Luaig," said Albany; "my heart ever warms to my -countrymen, though cold as ice to my little cousin their king; and -there are times when I hope to close my eyes peacefully in the same -place where they first saw the light, the old castle of Rothesay by the -sea--the waves that flow through the bonnie kyles of Bute, and past the -hills of Cowal; but of all that more anon. Sit with us, sir, the more -the merrier." - -"With this poor stoup of wine?" said the prosaic Achanna, peering into -the tankard with one of his cunning eyes. - -"True, the old saw did not add that," said Albany, rattling the purse -at his girdle; "but gibe me not about it. What can be worse than having -too much liquor?" - -"Having none at all," returned the thirsty parasite. - -"_Laus Deo!_ you are right, Achanna. Hallo, tapster! more wine, and -quickly too. Think of Robert of Albany having for a server that -slipshod varlet, who is all breeches and horn buttons! But you seem to -have been severely wounded, laird of Luaig?" - -"Almost to death," said Gray, and while Achanna, as if inspired by -some undefinable suspicion, surveyed him keenly, he writhed at having -to falsify so much, and trembled for the next question; but, on the -wine being placed on the table, the careless Albany filled their cups -to the brim, saying, "Drink, my friend, drink of this, it comes from -the land of old Duke Philip the Good, and you will find it better than -arquebusade," he added, referring to a medicinal lotion then famous for -gun-shot wounds. - -"May I ask in what direction your grace is travelling?" inquired Gray, -who had some anxiety in the matter. - -"The direction that suits our fancy," replied Achanna. - -"I spoke to the duke of Albany," said Gray, with a flash in his eye, -and a gush of fury through his heart. - -"True, and Albany can answer for himself," said the duke; "we are -travelling with all speed to overtake the earl of Douglas and his -friends." - -"Who are now at Breda?" said Gray, eagerly. - -"No; they are at--how name you the place, Achanna?" - -"Where?" asked Gray, as the latter hesitated. - -"At Bommel." - -"Is it distant?" - -"Nay, 'tis thirty miles nearer than Breda, and we shall reach it -to-morrow." - -"And to-morrow, perhaps, I may see _her_," thought the lover in his -heart. - -"To the great Earl James of Douglas, Abercorn, and Avondale, and to our -happy meeting," exclaimed Albany, draining another large cup of wine. - -Rendered reckless by years of disappointment, by dissipation, and -the mortifications incident to exile and dependence, the unfortunate -young duke, the victim of circumstances and the treasons of his -father, drank, as seemed to be his wont, deeply; and, as he did so, -unfolded unwittingly no doubt to Gray (and to the great discomposure -of Achanna), the extent and daring of the designs entertained by the -Douglases; and he continued to do so, regardless of their more wary and -more subtle follower, who, with one eye glistening apparently on each, -listened impatiently, and seemed to scrutinize Gray as if he would have -read his soul. - -That Albany should be plotting with Douglas to subvert the king's -power, or to usurp his crown, did not excite Gray's wonder; but his -heart almost died within him, when the duke, in a half-serious and -half-bantering way, mentioned incidentally, the proposed firmer and -more lasting alliance between the great earl and himself, by marriage -with Murielle Douglas; and had it not happened that the worthy master -James Achanna's dagger fell from its sheath upon the floor, and that -he had to stoop beneath the table to pick it up, keen and sharp as he -was, he could not have failed to remark the pallor which overspread -the lover's face, and the wild light that flashed in his eyes, at -this crushing information. However, rallying all his energies to seem -collected and cool, after a pause, Gray said, - -"But, under favour, is not your grace contracted to a daughter of -Charles VII. of France." - -"Yes; I believe my father, poor duke Murdoch, made some such -arrangement ere his head was cut off--when I was a child, and his -captive nephew, James I., was twangling on his ghittern to Jane -Beaufort in the gardens of Windsor." - -"Believe! are you not certain?" said Gray earnestly. - -"Since I have been among Hussites, Parisians, Bohemians, and -Germans, I have been certain of nothing my friend--not even of my -own existence--for this is a land of fog and philosophy; but I would -have been much more certain of that spousal contract, had Monseigneur -Charles the Victorious been a little more liberal with his French -crowns, and a little less so with his French compliments, as I could -live on the first, but not on the second. Moreover, I think my little -princess Radegonde is not quite pleased with me, since my affair with -Madame d'Armagnac." - -"Who is she?" - -"A woman more beautiful than Agnes Sorel--the lady of beauty. I have -seen them both together. And then, as the devil would have it, I got -embroiled with Madame la Marchale de Loheac, while her patriotic -husband was fighting those insolent English last year in Bretagne and -Anjou." - -"But--but, your grace," stammered Gray, who felt as if he was on the -eve of losing his Murielle for ever, "you are solemnly betrothed to -Mademoiselle of France." - -"I am--and what then?" - -"Such a contract cannot be broken." - -"Save by the pope, so the earl of Douglas is now on his way to Rome -with Dame Murielle; I mean to accompany them, and so may you, if you -care for attaching yourself to my fortunes, or misfortunes rather. That -contract, moreover, was made when my father was regent of Scotland, and -the king was a prisoner of war in England--and Mademoiselle of France -considers me but as an outlaw now." Then after humming a lively French -air, Albany said, "'tis said Murielle Douglas sings like a throstle, -when winging its way aloft on a beltane morning. The throstle!" he -added, letting his chin drop on his breast with an air of tipsy -sadness, "Ah! that makes me think of poor old Scotland, which, despite -these desperate plots, I may never see again, and my heart is wrung -within me, when I think of the bonnie birken woods that shed their -autumn leaves upon my mother's grave." - -After a pause Albany suddenly raised his head, and Gray was moved to -perceive that his fine dark eyes were full of tears; but he again -filled and drained his cup of wine, and it had the effect of completely -intoxicating him. - -"It has been arranged that your grace was to meet the earl on his -travel?" asked Gray. - -"Yes; and he sent our good friend Achanna, with a message inviting me -to join him and my intended little duchess at Bommel," replied Albany, -laughing; "and so I have been travelling so fast, that my horses must -have discovered an impatient lover was in the saddle; but what the -devil dost think was master Achanna's first information for me?" - -"I cannot guess," said Gray, not much interested in the matter. - -"That she has a lover already." - -"A lover!" exclaimed Gray, in a very different tone. - -"Aye, a lover here in Flanders," hiccuped Albany, while Gray sat -breathless, and toyed with his dagger in the shade. - -"His name?" said he. - -"Sir Patrick Gray, captain of my dear cousin's royal guard. _Laus Deo!_ -if I discover him, he is extremely likely to rot in Flemish earth, -while his papers may be of service to us." - -"How so?" - -"Because he is on a mission from the earl's three enemies--my cousin, -his regent Livingstone, and the chancellor Crichton--aid me to -discover--to kill him, and in Lennox, I will more than double your -lands of Luaig." - -"And object of this mission--" - -"Ah! that is just what we want to know, though many say, 'tis but to -Arnold d'Egmont of Gueldres, anent a royal marriage. But I'll brook no -lovers, no rivals, near my throne--_Laus Deo_, no! and I would give all -I have--not much certainly--to be as near this Sir Patrick Gray as I am -to _you_ at this moment. But a friend of mine is on his track already, -I believe--one whom he cannot hope to escape." - -"A friend?" said Gray. - -"An unfortunate and valiant Count of Flanders." - -"Who?" - -"Ludwig of Endhoven, a captain of Brabanciones; by St. Christopher -our lover is not likely to escape _him_--eh, Achanna! but now let us -to bed--to bed; for we must be in our saddles by cockcrow to-morrow. -Achanna, your arm," said the poor young duke, staggering up; -"Lua-Luaig--fare, sir--fare you well." - -"Good night to your grace, and God be wi' you!" said Gray, opening and -closing the door as they separated. - -After the duke and Achanna were gone, he sat long and late, full of -anxious and bitter thoughts that came thick and fast upon him. He felt -agony at the idea of Murielle being about to be sacrificed to the wild, -ambitious, and revengeful schemes of the earl of Douglas and the duke -of Albany; and he actually trembled lest her heart might have changed -or her fancy have been dazzled, for he now remembered with pain the -banter of his comrade and kinsman, MacLellan. He pitied and despised -the outlawed duke, yet he trembled for the trouble, which he, with the -earl, when combined, might give the young king James, their master. He -was filled with wrath at the resolution, so fully expressed, to destroy -himself, and starting to his feet, he was about to get his sword from -the tapster, and summon Achanna forth into the moonlight, which shone -brightly, to upbraid him with his villany, and then kill him on the -spot; and in doing so, he would not have committed a crime, but have -acted simply in the spirit of the age. However, cooler reflection -showed that he might serve Murielle, the king, and himself better, by -preserving his incognito. So master Achanna, that utilitarian Scot, -who would have sold his own father and his mother to boot, without -compunction, slept that night without a yard of cold iron in his body. - -Yet, as it was impossible for Gray to travel with Duke Robert and this -scurvy companion to Bommel, he resolved to set forward alone. Thus, -after a restless night, he was up and mounted an hour before sunrise, -and while the frowsy haze hung thick and yellow over the pale-green -willow-copse of the Maese, veiling all Grave and the quaint old castle -of Otho, lord of Cuick and Haverale, he was far on his journey to -Bommel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -BOMMEL. - - What mad jest is this, my masters? - I know not where the damsel lives, not I; - But see to it, that ye molest her not!--OLD PLAY. - - -After passing Alphen, Sir Patrick crossed an old stone bridge, and -found himself in the Bommelerwaard, a fertile island, formed by the -Waal and the Maese; and about noon, he reached the object of his -destination, the quaint and ancient town of Zalt-Bommel, which stands -upon the left bank of the former river. - -The ducal banner of Arnold d'Egmont was waving on the castle built by -Otho III. of Nassau, count of Gueldres, who walled the city in 1299, -and therein dwelt Jacques de Lalain, the governor, then named the -Dyck Graf, who kept the town in awe with his cannon, but more by his -sluices, by opening which, he could lay the whole district under water, -and drown every citizen in five minutes. - -While riding forward, Gray had revolved in his mind, a hundred plans -for making himself known to Murielle, but none seemed practicable; and -then, with no other conviction, than the double necessity for being -wary, and procuring a disguise, with a heart that beat lightly though -anxiously, he passed through the wide and busy streets of Bommel, -along the quays of its now choked-up harbour, and found quarters at an -hostelry, that stood near the gardens of the ancient college of Canons, -which was founded in 1303, by Reinold the warlike count of Gueldres. - -Here he sent for the keeper of a frippery, as a clothing establishment -was then named, and obtained the dress of a Muscovite merchant, a long -gown of brown cloth trimmed with red braid and sables, a cap of black -wolf's skin, and a short crooked sword, which he slung in front by a -brass chain, in the oriental fashion. He laid aside all his military -trappings, save his chain shirt, which the disguise he had adopted -completely concealed, and after dinner he sallied forth into the city -in quest of adventure and of Murielle. - -It was fortunate that he had obtained so complete a disguise and so -readily, for at the corner of a street he was overtaken by three -reckless horsemen, who passed at a hard gallop, and so closely, that he -was nearly ridden down. - -They were the very persons he wished to avoid--the duke of Albany, -count Ludwig of Endhoven, and James Achanna. He endeavoured to follow, -and see whither they went; but they rode rapidly, and were soon out of -sight. - -The masses of the population, their bustle, and the business they -seemed to transact, with the wealth and luxury he saw on every hand, -excited the astonishment of Gray, who had come from a land that was -simply warlike and pastoral; for in that age Flanders was the central -point of European commerce--the market of all the products of the -south, the north, and the Levant. - -"As in the course of human affairs," says Schiller, "here a licentious -luxury followed prosperity. The seductive example of Philip the Good -could not but accelerate its approach. The court of the Burgundian -dukes was the most voluptuous and magnificent in Europe, Italy itself -not accepted. The costly dress of the higher classes, which afterwards -served as patterns to the Spaniards, and eventually with the Burgundian -customs, passed over to the court of Austria, soon descended to the -lower orders, and the humblest citizen nursed his person in velvet -and silk. The pomp and vanity of dress were carried by both sexes to -extravagance. The luxury of the table had never reached so great a -height among any other people. The immoral assemblage of both sexes at -bathing-places, and others of reunion for pleasure and enjoyment, had -banished all shame." - -This state of society was new and bewildering to the plain soldier, who -had come from the hardy and frugal land of the "rough-footed Scots," as -he strolled along the thoroughfares of Bommel, disguised as a merchant -from Muscovy, without a word of the Muscovite language, and as ignorant -of whether he should pretend to import tallow, tar, hogsbristles, iron -and flax, or the preserved fruits and luscious wines of the sunny -Levant. Thus fearing that his disguise might lead him into a scrape -or predicament, he avoided the harbour and mercantile portions of the -city, and sought those in which he was most likely to meet some of the -earl's train, or discover his locality. - -After two days of hopeless inquiry, as the most prudent people are -at times the most rash, he conceived the idea of relinquishing his -disguise, of resuming his former attire, and applying to the Dyck Graf, -who was a Gueldrian noble, and by birth a Burgundian of high rank, when -luckily chance threw in his way the most fortunate person he could have -met. - -He had visited all the churches in time of mass and vespers, hoping to -see the earl, or some of his numerous retinue, and on the third day, -just as he was leaving, with a heavy heart, the gorgeously-carved porch -of St. Genevieve, he heard a familiar voice say-- - -"Yes, yes, it is all very bad and wicked of the Burgundians no doubt; -but are not all the world so? When, through my humble efforts and the -agency of our Holy Father, the great master of evil is purified and -restored to the place he fell from, such things shall be no more. -_Veritas mea et misericordia mea cum ipso; et in nomine meo exaltabitur -cornuejus!_" - -"Oh, by good St. Genevieve, this can be no other than my worthy friend -and kinsman, the abbot of Tongland!" said Gray, joyously, as he pressed -through a crowd of bubous-shaped Flemings, towards where the old abbot, -who wore a travelling cassock and calotte cap, with long flaps, stood -near a pillar conversing with one whom he knew to be the chaunter of -the abbey, an official who conducted the choir and had charge of the -library, to increase the MS. stores of which, he had accompanied the -earl to the Continent. - -"Oh that I were now at Rome, instead of loitering here in Flanders," -resumed the abbot; "how many souls might yet be saved!" - -"The devil hath been long at his work, father abbot, since that -tempting day in the Garden of Eden," said Gray, laughing, as he took -the abbot's hand in his. - -"Good morrow, sir," said the churchman, coldly, as he scrutinized the -strange costume and scarred face of the speaker. - -"You do not know me?" exclaimed Sir Patrick. - -"Nay, sir, not I." - -"'Tis well," said Gray, with a bitter smile, as he remembered his -wound, "I seem a Muscovite, but the cowl does not make the monk. I -crave a word apart, lord abbot--I have that to say, which you must hear -alone." - -When they withdrew a pace or two back, Sir Patrick lifted his fur cap, -and displayed his features more fully. - -"Heaven grant us its peace," exclaimed the abbot, with astonishment; -"'tis my kinsman, Gray of Foulis!" - -"Hush," said Gray, placing a hand upon his mouth. - -"Rash boy, and bold as rash, what seek you here in Flanders?" asked the -abbot, with gloom, alarm, and almost anger expressed in his face. - -"I came on the king's service; but now I seek Murielle Douglas--and -Murielle I shall see, father!" - -"Beware, lest you find death instead." - -"I know the penalty, if discovered," said Gray carelessly; "but in this -disguise, and with a face so altered, I may escape, as I have already -eluded, the penetrating eyes of the villain Achanna." - -"But the earl--he whose projects are so high--so deep--so terrible!" -urged the priest in a whispered voice of agony. - -"He will not dare to touch me here in a fortified town--" - -"What! You expect Earl James to be a saint in Gueldreland, though he is -a devil in Galloway? What saith Horace--that those who cross the seas -change their climate but _not_ their mind." - -"I know with what intention _he_ has crossed the seas, and for what -object he will return." - -"You do!" said the abbot, in a husky whisper. - -"Aye, as well as you, father abbot, who are the keeper of that pretty -burden, his conscience. I have seen, yea, and supped with, Robert, duke -of Albany." - -"Hush!" said the abbot, glancing at his chaunter. - -"Ah--'tis your turn to say _hush_ now." - -"You have seen him--this poor outlawed prince?" - -"Yes, and spent an evening with him--an interesting, if not a jovial -one, certainly; and in his cups, he unfolded some very pretty schemes, -concerning which, I shall be silent, until I tread again the streets of -Edinburgh." - -"Oh, be wary, kinsman--be wary!" said the abbot, in a voice that -betrayed increasing alarm. - -"The duke modestly asked me to aid in a little plot against my _own_ -life, and made me several fair offers to lure me to his service against -the king." - -"Offers, of what?" - -"Lands and titles." - -"He is liberal, as that Fell Spirit, who took our Lord unto the -mountain top, and offered Him cities and empires, when he had not an -inch of land to give--not even the mud that adhered to his cloven hoof. -Oh, that I were now at Rome!" - -"But Murielle is to be made the tool--the victim of these desperate -plotters--and you know it, father, you know it!" - -"Ah," said the abbot, with a groan, "there you sting my inmost heart." - -"Then how must _mine_ be stung? but you will enable me to meet--to -console her?" - -"I--impossible!" - -"There is nothing impossible in it," continued Gray, with earnestness; -"you must--you shall! Ah, I do not threaten you--I implore. Think -of all we have suffered for each other; think of what we may yet be -condemned to suffer, by those, whom Evil Fortune seems to have made the -arbiters of our destiny." - -"'Tis very sad, and very true," replied the abbot, slowly, "but I -_dare_ not." - -"You are a priest, and may dare anything," exclaimed - -Gray, passionately, "and here I swear, that if you do not take me to -Murielle, or bring her to me--in short, if you do not enable us to -meet, by all that we revere in heaven and on earth, and by the bones of -St. Genevieve, I will cast myself in the earl's path, and brave him and -his followers to the last; and you know what is sure to ensue _then_." - -"Your instant destruction." - -"Promise me--promise," urged Gray, in whose eyes the tears were -starting as he pressed the hands of the old abbot. - -The latter was kind and gentle hearted, and loved his young kinsman too -well to withstand his entreaties long; he felt his resolution waver, -and strangely enough became a little irritated. - -"By St. Bryde, of Douglas, I would we had never met," he exclaimed; -"although Sir Patrick, the sequel might have been the worse for you." - -"Where does she reside?" - -"With the earl and countess," replied the abbot, briefly. - -"Of course," said Gray, impatiently, "but, where are they?" - -"In a house belonging to the Dyck Graf, and adjoining the great church -and the college of canons. I am to-night to bring her--" - -"Where, father--where?" - -"To this church of St. Genevieve." - -"Oh, how happy was the chance that brought me hither! You will allow me -to go with you?" - -"Impossible--never; by my habit, my order--" - -"Why--why?" - -"Your relations with her, and my office--" - -"Your office will protect us; it is ordained that you should succour -those in distress, and Murielle and I are both in need of succour. -Father Abbot--dear kind friend, you agree." - -"Be then silent and wary, and meet me at the porch here, at the hour of -seven this evening," replied the abbot, suddenly giving way. - -"God will reward you--I never can--adieu, adieu!" said Gray, in the -fulness of his heart, and in a voice which became husky with emotion, -as he hastened into the street, with a giddy head and a light heart, -muttering: "I shall see her--to-night I shall see her! but ah, by the -dial, it lacks five hours of the time!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE CHURCH OF ST. GENEVIEVE. - - When stars are in the quiet skies, - Then most I pine for thee; - Bend on me then thy tender eyes, - As stars look on the sea! - For thoughts, like waves that glide by night, - Are stillest when they shine; - Mine earthly love lies hush'd in light, - Beneath the heaven of thine.--BULWER. - - -To Gray it appeared as if the day would never pass, and he spent the -hours of it in thinking over all he would say to Murielle, and all she -might probably reply. He glanced at his mirror--would the scar on his -face shock her? Doubtless, but she would love him the more for it, -and then it would wear away in time. Then he consulted the gnomons of -the sun-dials at the street corners, and the clocks of the numerous -churches, and to the eyes of an impatient lover, the shadows of the -former, and the hands of the latter, seemed alike to stand still. - -Yet inevitable Time, which may neither be anticipated or withheld, -passed slowly, and surely on. The shadows of the quaint streets, of the -carved and traceried steeples, and of the battlemented castle, with its -grey old walls and muddy sluices, fell far to the eastward, along the -grassy meadows of the Bommelerwaard; the storks were already in their -nests on the steep old gables, and long before the appointed hour, Gray -was at the porch of St. Genevieve, where, with anxious eyes, he scanned -the passengers, and the thoroughfares in every direction. - -At last _seven_ tolled from the spire, and every stroke reverberated -in his heart. They had not yet come, and just as a sigh of impatience -escaped him, a hand was laid upon his shoulder; he turned, and beheld -the abbot of Tongland, and standing behind him, on the upper step of -the porch, a pace or two within the church, was a lady, wearing a -Flemish hood and veil. Gray's heart rose to his lips, as he sprang -towards her, and pressed in his the hands of Murielle. - -"Beware, Sir Patrick," said the abbot, "we cannot permit such -transports here, and in view of the passers, too! Retire into the north -aisle, while I betake me to the south, for I have still some leaves of -my daily office to read; and when that is over, I shall rejoin you. Be -secret--be wary!" - -With this advice, the politic old Churchman left Gray and Murielle to -themselves, being perfectly well aware that his presence, could in no -way enhance the joy of this sudden interview. - -The quiet tenderness of Murielle moderated the ardor of Gray; both -trembled with the depth of their emotions, and the girl's eyes were -full of tears of affection and fear, for she felt as if Gray had been -restored to her from the tomb, and sometime passed before she could -speak with coherence. - -"Ah, that I should miss your presence here for a moment," said Gray, -"but I was watching the passers in the streets." - -"While I watched _you_ from the church!" - -"And how did you enter it--I have been an hour at the porch." - -"We came by the postern, which adjoins the great garden of the Dyck -Graf's mansion." - -"Where you reside?" - -"Yes." - -"And the earl, too?" - -"Yes--but he is hunting with the Dyck Graf. Oh, these wounds on your -face," said Murielle, stroking his cheek with her pretty hands, and -kissing it; "oh, mother of God, what must you have suffered?" - -"More than tongue can say, Murielle, and more in mind than in body; but -these scars are the relict of that dreadful day, when Earl James so -mercilessly struck me down, as I besought mercy or quarter--not for my -own sake, but for _yours_." - -"And when I thought to have died--great is my wonder that I did not, -for strenuously the earl, the countess, and all in Thrave strove to -convince me of your death." - -"But you received my letter, by Sir Thomas--my good and brave -MacLellan?" - -"Yes--and it restored me to hope, to life as it were, by the assurance -that you lived--you, whom all about me wished should die." - -Gray drew her close to his heart, and a soft sweet smile overspread -the childlike face, while he pressed to his again and again the little -rosebud mouth. At that moment he heard something like a cough or snort; -Gray looked round, but saw only the shadows of the pillars that lay in -long lines across the tessalated floor of the church. - -"I thought, Murielle, I should have gone mad with perplexity when I saw -you at Antwerp," said Gray. - -"At Antwerp--you saw me there?" replied Murielle, a little beam of -gratified vanity lighting up her eyes. - -"In the procession of the assumption; but the strange part you -bore--how came that about?" - -"Through the desire of the earl and the bishop of Mechlin (or as some -name him, Malines), whom he knew in Scotland as secretary to the Legate -Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini; but, believe me, I had no desire to appear -as I did." - -"And how long do you remain in Bommel?" - -"A week." - -"Thank heaven! then we shall meet often. Have--have you yet seen the -outlawed duke of Albany?" asked Gray; hesitating with the question, -while burning with impatience for the answer. - -"No," said Murielle, blushing in spite of herself; "I have declined." - -Gray pressed her to his breast. - -"You know then, dearest, of what the earl is capable," said he; "of -forcing you to become the bride of another, who will further his -designs and strengthen his power at home and abroad." - -"Yes--yes," replied Murielle, weeping; "I knew it--already has he -broadly hinted as much." - -"Already!" - -"And commanded me to obey; ah, pardon me for making this admission!" -said she imploringly. - -"Pardon you?" reiterated Gray. - -"Yes; but the earl rarely condescends to hint." - -"Oh my beloved heart!" - -"I meant not to add to your griefs, dearest, by naming a rival whose -rank renders him so formidable,--but--but--" tears choked her utterance. - -"And this rival is the duke of Albany--a French minion--an outlaw; the -son of a traitor who plotted for the lawless detention of James I., in -England; a roué and swashbuckler, who consorts with the robber, Ludwig -of Endhoven!" - -"'Tis indeed he, to whom they would sacrifice me," said Murielle, -clasping her poor little tremulous hands, and weeping bitterly. Gray -remained silent for some moments, while love, pity, and alarm wrung his -heart by turns. - -"I know it--I know it," said he gloomily, "for Albany's own lips -informed me." - -"You see, dear Gray, to what lengths Douglas and my sister will go in -their thirst for vengeance. The young king dethroned or slain; his -banished cousin crowned by English aid as Robert IV., the house of -Douglas would become more powerful than ever, and thus attain in the -land a strength which none could crush, and before which Livingstone -and Crichton assuredly must fall." - -The vista these projects opened up, when thus plainly stated, startled -even the gallant heart of Gray! - -"But Albany dare not," said he huskily, while grasping his dagger; -"_this_ should end his treason long ere it reached the mature length -his father's did." - -"Douglas and Albany will dare anything," sobbed Murielle; "alas, poor -me! I am, my sister says, but a child, and a very weak one in their -iron hands." - -"Then be a woman--let us escape and seek safety by flight together. We -are but thirty miles from the sea, where we can soon find a ship for -Scotland, and ere the earl's return we may be ready to defy him." - -"Oh to what would you tempt me?" - -"To save yourself and me. Once wedded, once again in Scotland, under -the protection of the king, a boy though he be, we might defy your -kinsman and all his followers." - -"Oh no--no!" said Murielle, shaking her head mournfully. - -"To Gueldres then. Duke Arnold will succour and protect us," urged Gray -vehemently. - -"Worse still!" - -"Oh Murielle, in pity to yourself and me----" - -"Nay, nay, this must not be," said the abbot of Tongland angrily, as -he came suddenly forward; "Sir Patrick Gray, this is a breach of faith -with me. In friendship to her, and you my kinsman--for I dearly love -you both--I permitted this meeting; but have no intention that it shall -take a turn so startling--so dangerous for the honour of Lady Murielle, -and for the lives of us all perhaps! Come--come with me lady, we must -return at once." - -"But we shall meet again,--good Father Abbot, say we shall meet again?" -urged Gray. - -"Once, I promise you, once ere we leave Bommel, on the _third_ evening -from this, at the _same_ hour," said the abbot, hurrying Murielle away, -for at that moment several Flemish ecclesiastics entered the church. - -As Gray wished to avoid every one, he withdrew; but resolved that, come -what might of it, in his next interview with Murielle, to save her from -the perils that were impending. She still loved him truly, and there -was every consolation in the knowledge that she did so; yet her love -would not save her from Albany when Douglas chose to play the tyrant. - -But the abbot's _protégé_, the serpent, was abroad, and there were many -mischiefs to be plotted and many to be worked ere Murielle could be -saved from her persecutors. - -As she and the abbot passed through the postern door which opened from -one of the aisles into the garden of the Dyck Graf--a door over which -there may be seen to this day, a strange sculpture of a mitred cat -preaching to twelve little mice--a man who had evidently been listening -shrunk back into the shade. This person was the somewhat ubiquitous -James Achanna, who, inspired alike by impatience and malevolence, -repaired immediately to his lord and chief the earl. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -HOUSE OF THE DYCK GRAF. - - With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate - amount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible - individual to do indescribable mischief.--WASHINGTON IRVING. - - -While the lonely Sir Patrick Gray, full of sombre and exciting -thoughts, retired to his hostelry to consider and to plan the -deliverance of Murielle from her own family, the house of Messire -Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf or hereditary governor of Bommel, -which had been assigned as a temporary residence to the powerful -Scottish noble and his retinue, became brilliantly lighted up. - -In the principal chamber were grouped together many of the personages -whom we last saw together, at the abbot's house in Edinburgh, on that -eventful evening of November, 1440. It was noble in aspect, loftily -ceiled, and floridly decorated in the Flemish fashion of that age -of profusion, the walls and roof being covered with quaint devices -and heraldic blazons, by Jan Van Eyck, a native of Maeseyk, who, in -1410, attained great perfection in the mixing of oil colours. Within -a fireplace, lined with Dutch tiles, blazed a pile of logs across the -massive bar of the and-irons. On an oaken buffet stood a gigantic lion, -formed entirely of Delft ware, the crest of Gueldres, as it sprang from -a ducal crown. From the ceiling hung a gilded chandelier, a veritable -pyramid of candles, which shed a flood of light upon the guests below. - -And striking groups they formed, the ladies having long veils of the -richest white lace, falling from the summits of their lofty horned -head-dresses; while their other garments, cote-hardies and skirts, were -of the finest silk, taffeta, and gauze, covered with pearls, jewels, -and embroidery; the hues and fashion of the attire of all these noble -demoiselles making them resemble the queens of clubs and spades, just -as we may see them on a pack of cards. - -The apparel of the gentlemen was much of the same material--gay in -colour, and gorgeous as embroidery and jewels could make it, with -here and there a richly engraved cuirass of Milan plate, a gorget of -burnished steel, or a diamond studded dagger-hilt, to impart a military -character to the wearer. - -An old cavalier, with a high bald forehead, a beard so long that -Ferdinand of Toledo might have envied it, and who wore the mantle and -jewel of the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, was conversing in French with -the earl of Douglas. He was Jacques de Lalain, a noble Burgundian -knight, hereditary Burg Graf of the town and castle of Bommel. While -seeming to converse with the earl, who was speaking of King Charles -VII. and Duke Philip the Good, and what might result from a war between -France and Burgundy, with the adverse parts which Scotland and England -were certain to take therein, he was gazing with pleasure on a group of -Scottish girls, who by the fine carriage of their heads, their general -bearing, and more than all by the whiteness of their hands, evinced -that they inherited the best blood and highest breeding in the land. - -They were, in fact, the Countess Margaret and Murielle, her sister; the -countess of Ormond; dark-eyed Maud Douglas, of Pompherston; Mariota, of -Glendoning; the golden-haired Caillean Rua; Lady Jean, of Cairnglas; -and the three daughters of Sir Alan Lauder. The gentlemen who conversed -with them, and played at chess with some, at tables (an old name for -backgammon) with others, were the knights and esquires of the earl's -retinue. - -Amid these were two persons already introduced to the reader--Robert, -duke of Albany, and Ludwig, count of Endhoven, whom as a simple -Burgundian knight, he had, with his usual recklessness, dared to -introduce to this high circle. - -It was not without secret emotions of pleasure and satisfaction, -that the _blasé_ royal outlaw beheld the girlish beauty of Murielle. -Though in no mood for marrying, and long since used to consider women -only as tools or playthings, to be cast aside when no longer needed, -he conceived that he might find such a wife, for a time, the reverse -of a tedium or an encumbrance; and, that on the simple condition of -wedding her, he could enter with ardour into those daring schemes which -promised vengeance to Douglas and a throne to himself. - -Gay, handsome, and richly dressed, he leaned upon the high back of her -chair, and insisted on conversing with her, flattering himself that -he was making considerable progress, though the memory of Gray's sad -loving eyes, and of his lover's kiss, yet lingered in her mind; but she -was too well bred to treat the duke as he deserved; too gentle and too -timid to repel him; and, moreover, too proud to acknowledge the footing -upon which he affected to place himself with her--a position on which -she was daily rallied by the countess and her ladies of the tabourette, -until her little heart waxed wroth. - -There were times also, when Albany, piqued by a coldness and reserve -that were new to him, actually nursed himself into the conviction that -he was desperately in love with this little beauty--if love in a heart -so _roué_ were a possibility. - -Near them sat Count Ludwig, affecting to be entirely occupied with a -bloodhound, which the Dyck Graf had presented to the countess. It was a -spotless dog, of "Black St. Hubert's breed," but _white_ as snow, and -was named Souyllard, after that famous hound of the prince of Lorraine, -which is thus extolled in the "Noble Art of Venerie:" - - "My name first came from holy Hubert's race; - Souyllard my sire, a hound of singular grace." - -The reckless Ludwig, as he gazed on the beauty of Murielle, began to -conceive some very daring schemes on his own account, as his armed -Brabanciones, to the number of some hundreds, lurked in the Peel morass -and woods on the other side of the Waal. He allowed his imagination -to run riot, and while affecting to caress the powerful hound on the -one hand, and converse with the abbot of Tongland on the other, he saw -before him only the sweet girl's gentle eyes, which drooped, and her -little coral mouth, which paled, whenever his bold glance fell on her. - -The abbot and she exchanged smiles from time to time. He was full -of commiseration and alarm for Sir Patrick Gray, whose preceptor he -had been, and he was thinking of that peaceful and pleasant time in -Tongland Abbey, when he was wont to take him once daily to read the -works of St. Augustine, or a page of the Gospels in old monkish Latin. -Each of these stood under an iron grating in the church, where a leaf -of them was turned daily for the behoof of the learned or the pious; -but Gray and MacLellan, like wayward boys, to get rid of the task which -bored them, stole the key of the grille, and threw it into the Dee. - -The poor old abbot had very little idea of the real character of the -personage with whom he was conversing; and the reader may imagine the -astonishment with which the robber count listened to him, and the -undisguised merriment with which he treated his great project regarding -the restoration of the Man of Sin. In short, Count Ludwig deemed our -worthy abbot neither a well-deserving divine nor eccentric pedant, but -a veritable madman, and so often muttering several times, "Der Teufel -hole dich!" or "Sangdieu!" and so forth, he ceased to listen, and -continued to gaze covertly at Murielle. - -The recent interview with her lover gave a brilliance to her beauty, -and a radiance to her expression; her slight but finely rounded form, -being clad in cloth of silver under a robe of white gauze, seemed to -stand forth in brilliant relief from the dark tapestry of the room. A -silver caul confined her hair; her ornaments were all Scottish pearls, -and everything about her appeared pure, girlish, and angelic--and so -thought both the _roué_ duke and the ruffian count. - -Her eyes wandered frequently to the latter, though he terrified her, -and she knew not why; but she pitied him for having such a terrible -scar on his face, and it made her think of Patrick Gray. Little -dreaming that _his_ sword had inflicted it, she timidly inquired of the -duke where that wound was received. - -"In a battle with the Burgundians," replied the others readily, "a -desperate one, when he slew all their men-at-arms." - -"But is not he of Burgundy?" said Murielle with surprise. - -"Ah, true; I meant to say with the French--but they fight so many," -added the unabashed duke. - -After this Murielle relapsed into silence, for she listened to Albany -rather than conversed with him. Hitherto she had steadily refused to -meet him; but she was too little in stature and too gentle in spirit -to be a _heroine_ either in romance or history; and perceived now the -futility of resisting further to receive him, as it had been arranged -that the duke was to accompany the earl to Rome, to the end that during -the journey he might ingratiate himself with her, and that _there_ the -marriage would be performed, after his betrothal to Mademoiselle of -France had been cancelled by the Vatican--a measure which the French -king, since Albany's change of fortune and position, most earnestly -desired. - -And now James Achanna entered, with a smile spreading over his cat-like -visage, when he saw how this goodly company were grouped. - -He wished to gain the ear of the earl, but that formidable personage -was conversing with the Dyck Graf. - -When approaching he passed close to Murielle, who, while seeming to -listen to Albany, was lost in reverie, and was unconsciously drawing -from her pretty finger a pearl ring which Gray in happier times had -given her. At that moment it suddenly slipped from her hand, and rolled -among the rushes of the floor. - -Quick as his wicked thought, Achanna let his handkerchief drop in the -same place, and adroitly picked them up together. - -"Good," he muttered, "this may prove useful." - -We shall soon see what use he made of this ring. - -Cautious in action, stealthy in step and eye, sharp in question -but vague in answer--his eyes and ears ever open, and his tongue -always prepared to speak in an age when men were slower in word than -deed,--James Achanna was indeed a fitting tool for an unscrupulous -feudal lord. Taking the opportunity of the Dyck Graf addressing a few -words to the countesses of Douglas and Ormond, he said to the earl in -a whisper,--"Would it please you, my lord, to play a game with me at -tables?" - -Then perceiving that the earl glanced at him with some disdain in his -eye and hauteur in his manner, the politic Achanna added in a low -voice,--"I have that to say which must be said instantly, and which -none must overhear." - -"Oh, we are to play a double game!" replied the earl with a sudden -glance of intelligence; "bring hither the tables, the men, and the -dice." - -Achanna and he withdrew into the recess of a window. The tables were -speedily opened, the men were marshalled, and the game began; but -Achanna waited until his lord should make the first move. - -"Proceed," said the latter impatiently. - -"I am, then, to make the first move?" - -"If it please you--begin." - -They bent their heads near, as if interested in the game, and proceeded -to push their men about vaguely, but vigorously. - -"I told you, my lord, that I had met a certain Laird of Luaig," -commenced Achanna. - -"Yes, yes, at Grave." - -"Well, I had my suspicions that the pretended laird of Luaig was no -other than he we all wot of." - -"Whom mean you--Gray?" - -"Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis, captain of the king's guard; and now my -suspicions are confirmed." - -The earl started, and his eyes flashed with dusky fire, but controlling -his emotion he simply asked,--"How?" - -"I discovered him by watching the Lady Murielle. Cogsbones! I knew that -the cock bird would soon find the hen." - -"Sirrah," said the earl frowning, "you speak of a sister of the -countess of Douglas--quick to the point, lest I hang you from that -window by one of the curtain ropes!" - -"Your pardon, Lord Earl; my speech is ruder than my thoughts," cringed -the other. - -"Quick!" continued the earl, almost grinding his teeth. - -In a few words Achanna rapidly related the interview, which, _by -chance_, he had overheard, in the church of St. Genevieve, and the -earl was filled by such a tempest of anger that he became all but -speechless; yet by a great effort of self-control, an effort the more -painful that such exertion was quite unusual--he contented himself -by glaring from under his black bushy eyebrows at poor unconscious -Murielle with an expression as if he would have annihilated her. - -"Think you the abbot took her there to meet him?" he asked in a hoarse -whisper. - -"Where?" - -"Thou ass! to the church of St. Genevieve?" - -"Heaven forfend! no; 'twas he who saved her from Gray," whined the -sycophant vassal. - -"It is well," said the earl in a quiet voice, but with fury still -kindling in his eye and quivering on his lip; "were it otherwise, by -St. Bryde, I'd unfrock and scourge him through these streets of Bommel -with a horse halter, a mitred abbot and my confessor though he be!" - -"Who, think you, my lord, brought to Lady Murielle at Thrave, the -tidings that Gray still lived?" - -"I would give this golden chain to know." - -"I overheard----" - -"His name--his name?" - -"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie." - -"Gray's kinsman, the lieutenant of the guard?" - -"Yes, my lord," said Achanna, sweeping into his girdle pouch the gold -chain which the earl quietly passed to him; "and long ago I had further -proof that it was he." - -"But for the assurance she received, by letter, of Gray's existence, -she would now, I doubt not, have been duchess of Albany, and might have -spared us this journey to Rome." - -"You remember, my lord, that the letter was tied to an arrow, which -struck the turf at her feet as she walked by the side of the Dee?" - -"Yes, I remember to have heard so." - -"I found that arrow, and a week after, Malise MacKim, the smith, -found a quiver full lying among the rushes. The two chevrons _sable_ -of MacLellan were painted on it, and the letter which bore the arrow -was one of the same sheaf, the same shaft, notch, and feather; for, -but a week before, Sir Thomas had bought them in the Friars Wynd, at -Dumfries, as he passed south from Edinburgh." - -"So, so!" said the earl, grinding his teeth; "if God and St. Bryde of -Douglas permit me once again to cross the bridge of Dumfries I shall -have a vengeance on MacLellan, so sure and deadly, that all Scotland -shall ring with it from sea to sea." - -And terribly the earl kept his vow. - -"But where," he added, "is our lover at present?" - -"That I have yet to discover." - -"The Dyck Graf," began the earl, starting up; but Achanna caught his -sleeve, saying, "Nay, nay, my lord, he will be certain to protect him. -We cannot make a raid in Flanders as we might in Nithsdale." - -"True, we must be secret. Oh, that I had them both, this Gray and -MacLellan within ten Scottish miles of our gallows knob at Thrave, I -would soon mar the interference of the one and the wooing of the other. -I would summon all the Corbies in Deeside to his spousals." - -"Leave the sequel to me, lord earl," said Achanna, in a low impressive -whisper, "and Sir Patrick shall be punished even to _your_ heart's -content." - -"Assure me but of that, Achanna, and thou shalt pocket a thousand -silver crowns," said Douglas, pressing the hand of his trusty vagabond. - -With his natural ferocity of disposition, and being usually in the -habit of giving full vent to every gust of fury, the earl found great -difficulty in preserving an aspect of external composure during the -remainder of the evening; but immediately on the Dyck Graf's departure -for the castle of Bommel, the company broke up, and Douglas prepared to -retire, with a scowl on his brow, and bitterness in his heart. - -"God--den to you, father abbot; art still labouring hard to ruin the -empire of the prince of darkness? Oh, if ever thou shouldst fall into -_his_ hand!" said he with a mocking laugh, as he passed the worthy -churchman, who started at the sound, for Douglas seldom laughed, and -_never_ in merriment. - -Achanna and Count Ludwig, who had been extremely ill at ease in the -vicinity of the Dyck Graf, now withdrew together to plot mischief and -to discover Gray. - -"James Achanna," said Albany, as they were bowing themselves out, -"remember that I am to see you to-morrow." - -"At Carl Langfanger's auberge, _The Forester_." - -"Yes, at noon." - -"I am at the disposal of your _highness_," said Achanna, using the -title by which kings were then addressed in Scotland and England. - -Albany started, and the colour mounted to his usually pale temples as -he said, "Sir, I desire that you will not address me thus." - -"Why!" asked the earl with surprise as he paused in the doorway. - -"Because I consider it premature, and as such unlucky." - -"Your grace, perhaps, is right," replied the earl, gloomily, and -somewhat contemptuously; "however, time will show." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -NOON--THE PLOT. - - 'Twas thus these cozening villains laid their scheme - Against his life, his youth, and comeliness: - Woe worth the end!--OLD PLAY. - - -Three miles from the southern gate of Bommel, on the road which led to -Ameldroyen, there stood a solitary auberge, or wayside tavern. It was -named _The Forester_, from the circumstance that on a signboard it had -a hideous representation of a hunter sounding a horn, and this passed -for a likeness of Liderick du Bucq, the first forester of Flanders. - -The signboard, moreover, informed the passers, in tolerably-spelt -Flemish, that there was entertainment for man and horse, with good -German beer within; while a green _bush_, which hung over the door in -the more ancient fashion, announced that there also could be had the -good wines of Alicant and Burgundy, with perhaps the strong waters of -Anjou and Languedoc, _i.e._, brandy. - -The country in its vicinity was lonely, and thinly populated. Save -a wind-mill or two, and a gibbet on an eminence, with a man hanging -thereon between the spectator and the sky, there was little to be seen -but the dense forest, which then spread for miles along the banks of -the river Waal, and away towards Bois-le-duc and Ravenstein. - -This auberge, a rickety old house, the roof and walls of which some -masses of ivy and woodbine alone seemed to hold together, was kept by -Carl Langfanger, an old Brabancione, or disbanded soldier; and it was, -in fact, one of the many secret rendezvous of Count Ludwig's military -outlaws. - -On the day after the night just described, three horsemen arrived at -the auberge about noon, and within ten minutes of each other. They -placed their horses in a shed behind the edifice, where a Brabancione, -named Gustaf Vlierbeke, a very "ragged robin" indeed, acted as groom. -They then met in an upper room, on the bare and dirty table of which -wine, unasked for and unordered, was placed; and, we may mention, that -their swords and daggers were _not_ required by the slipshod tapster, -though such was the custom in those days in all well-ordered taverns -throughout Christendom. - -These three personages were the exiled duke of Albany, the outlawed -count of Endhoven, and that "Scottish worthy," Master James Achanna. - -Their greetings were more brief than courteous, and after imbibing each -a long horn of wine, they drew their chairs close to the table, as if -to confer confidentially. - -"More wine now, that we may not be interrupted hereafter," said Albany, -as a preliminary. - -"Have we not had enough?" asked Achanna, warily. - -"Bah! I am not a hermit, and have no need of endeavouring to resemble -old Anthony of Padua." - -"Der teufel! our fair ones would not esteem you the more for seeking to -do so," said Ludwig. - -The duke smiled complacently, caressed his well-pointed moustache, and -played with the tassels of his velvet cloak. - -"Duke," said Ludwig, "you have sworn to love this lady?" - -"Love her?" reiterated Albany, ponderingly. - -"Yes; whether she will or not." - -"Whom do you mean?" - -"Teufel! who but Murielle Douglas!" said Ludwig, with surprise. - -"Oh, of course, I swore it," said Albany, suddenly seeming to remember. - -"Ah, there are moments in life when a man swears anything to a woman so -pretty," replied Ludwig, burying his red nose in his wine-pot. - -To elude discovery, as he knew well that the soldiers of the Dyck -Graf and the halberdiers of the burgomaster were somewhat solicitous -about his movements, Count Ludwig had adopted a new disguise. He was -dressed like an Italian fantasin, in a jacket and pantaloons formed of -long stripes of cloth of the Douglas colours, and wore on his breast -a scutcheon, charged with those three stars which formed the paternal -coat of the earl, for one of whose followers he wished _pro temp_. -to pass. For this purpose he had smoothed over his usual ruffianly -exterior, cut off his long bravo _lock_ of hair, and, to enhance the -respectability of his appearance, wore a large rosary. - -"We have met, duke," said he; "so to the point. What have you to -propose?" - -"Simply, that we must get rid of our troublesome lover," replied Duke -Robert, mixing two kinds of wine, Burgundy and Alicant, and draining -them at a draught. - -"But first, we must discover his residence," suggested Achanna. - -"Carl Langfanger, our worthy tavernier, will soon do that for us," said -Ludwig. - -"I am not unskilful in the use of my sword," said the misguided duke of -Albany; "I have already been victor in four duels, three in Paris and -one in Flanders, and might be victorious in a fifth. Why should I not -challenge and fight him? Count Ludwig, wouldst bear my glove to this -man?" - -"What, your highness--grace, I mean!" stammered Achanna, with one of -his hateful smiles, "would you commit _all_ that is at issue to the -chance of an unlucky sword-thrust? Nay, nay, I'll to the earl--this -must not be." - -"So say I, sangdieu! Der teufel hole dich!" growled Count Ludwig, whose -oaths were alternately French and Flemish; "I have a bone to pick with -our traveller, and, by Gott in himmel! I will have satisfaction for the -slash he gave me on the face." - -"Please yourselves," said Albany, with a bored air, applying again to -the wine, as if he was in haste to intoxicate himself; "only rid the -earl, Lady Murielle, and me of him." - -"We will arrange a most lover-like rendezvous, and as sure as the devil -hath horns, we shall catch our amorous traveller," said Ludwig; "what -say you, Messire Achanna, and you, Monseigneur, Mein Herr, or how der -teufel am I to address you?" - -"A rendezvous," repeated Achanna, "where?" - -"Here." - -"At this solitary auberge?" - -"Der teufels braden! what would the man have? The more solitary the -better, and where can a fitter place be found? My trusty Brabanciones -all within call, and close by the wood with its wolves, ha! ha!" and -Ludwig burst into a loud laugh, which expressed cruelty and ferocity, -but _not_ merriment. - -"As for the snare, it is easy when we have this to bait our trap with," -said Achanna, displaying the pearl ring, for the loss of which poor -Murielle was then breaking her little heart. He then related how he -became possessed of it, and with what intention. - -"Good, good! ter teufel! it is admirable," shouted Ludwig, striking the -rickety table with his clenched hand. "But after luring him here with -this, what do you propose to do?" - -Achanna glanced at the duke of Albany, who was already dozing off to -sleep, with his flushed forehead resting on his hands, and said, "What -do _you_ propose--a combat at snick and snee?" - -Ludwig ground his teeth with rage, at the recollection of that affair -at Endhoven, and said, with a strange smile, "Listen: my Brabanciones -are all very good fellows, but are very irritable and very excitable; -and so, in a moment of their excitement and irritability, they may -burn out our prisoner's eyes with _this iron_, when red hot," said the -bantering ruffian, suddenly displaying a curious steel instrument, -fashioned apparently for the express purpose of blinding, as it had the -form of a spur, or the letter U with a handle, the points for entering -the eyes being about two inches apart. - -"He will die, and in torment!" exclaimed Albany, with an expression of -disgust on his handsome, but tipsy face; "and if I engage in aught so -rascally, may the Devil twist my neck!" - -"I fear that is a task reserved for one of less rank," muttered the -rash count of Endhoven, in a low voice. - -"Say you, sir!" thundered Albany, starting to the full height of his -tall figure, and turning the buckle of his belt _behind_ him. As this -was a challenge in those days, Ludwig changed colour. - -"I pray your grace," urged Achanna, starting forward. - -"Dost think I will permit this Flemish flouting-jack to make a jest of -me?" said the duke furiously. - -"Nay, mein Herr--Gott in himmel! I made no jest of you," said Ludwig, -unwilling by a brawl to frustrate his own private objects, and future -profit. - -"Very well--very well--carbonado him if you please, but trouble me not -on the subject," replied Albany, with an air of _ennui_, as he drained -his cup again. - -"This process of yours will certainly kill our man," said Achanna, in a -low voice, as Albany sank his head on the table, already overcome with -wine. - -"Not immediately," replied the count, with a diabolical grimace. "My -Brabanciones will tie him naked on an old bare-backed horse--place a -blazing brand under its tail, and then set it loose, mad with pain and -fear in the forest among wolves. Der Teufel! a rare thought! but not -a word of all this to your soft-hearted duke of Albany," whispered -Ludwig; "I do not think he would admire my rough mode for disposing of -a rival. He would be for measuring swords with him quietly, and getting -run through the body. But I--der Teufels braden! I have this slash on -the face to avenge, and with the assistance of my friends, the wolves -of the Waal, I shall do it amply! When Ludwig of Endhoven shows his -teeth the wolves laugh!" - -The singular cruelty of this proposal almost exceeded the malevolence -of Achanna, who had no other idea than having Gray cut off by violent -means; but as the victim stood in the path of his lord the earl, and a -thousand crowns were the price of his removal, Achanna considered it a -somewhat secondary matter _how_ it was effected. - -Carl Langfanger was despatched into the city of Bommel, with an -accurate description of Gray, and of his Muscovite disguise, and with -instructions to inquire at all the hostelries, to discover his present -quarters. He was also entrusted with the ring of Murielle, which he -was to deliver as his credential, and armed therewith, to request Sir -Patrick to meet her near the auberge, named _The Forester of Flanders_, -on the Ameldroyen road; and old Carl, a practised plotter, and most -careful rascal, departed with confidence to discover their victim, and -arrange the rendezvous. - -"Are we safe in trusting this man, Carl?" asked Achanna. - -"He is sure as he is secret," replied Ludwig; "I would have gone on -this mission myself, but I must beware of that old devil the Dyck Graf; -for Duke Arnold of Gueldres has sworn to punish me in the same fashion -that Count Peter of Orscamp was punished by Baldwin With-the-Hatchet." - -"How was that?" - -"The poor count was frequently put to his shifts, as I am, and having -fancied two bullocks, which belonged to a widow at Vandal, Baldwin -ordered him to be cast in his armour into a cauldron of boiling oil, -in the market-place of Bruges, where he perished miserably, before a -mighty multitude." - -"And Duke Arnold has set a price upon you?" - -"A thousand guilders. So you see, my friend, I am of some value to the -state." - -So Achanna thought, and he began to conceive, that these guilders, -if he could earn them, would form a very seasonable addition to the -thousand crowns from the earl. - -Meanwhile, he had no suspicion that the subtle outlaw with whom he -plotted had conceived the idea of luring Murielle to a rendezvous there -or elsewhere, by means of the same ring, after her lover had been -disposed of; and thus, if the snare proved successful, he resolved -to delude alike the duke and the earl, and bear her off for his own -purposes to one of those wild forests with which that part of Flanders -then abounded; and with all the secret paths, strengths, ruined -castles, and lurking-places of which, his predatory life had long -rendered him familiar. - -Drowsily and tipsily the unfortunate duke of Albany slept, half -reclined upon the table. While he was in this position, and during the -absence of Achanna for more wine, Ludwig took care of his purse, and -some other little matters of value, which he might otherwise have lost; -and so night closed in upon the solitary auberge, while Langfanger, its -proprietor, was pursuing his inquiries amid the busy streets of Bommel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -NIGHT--THE SNARE. - - 'Tis not so. Slowly, slowly dies the night, - And with it sinks my soul down from the point - Where late it stood a-tiptoe.--ALL THE YEAR ROUND. - - -Longing for the next evening--the _third_ appointed by the abbot, as -the time when he was to meet Murielle again, Sir Patrick Gray sat at -the latticed window of his room, gazing listlessly down one of the long -and picturesque streets of Bommel, then darkening in the twilight and -haze, amid which the lamps were beginning to twinkle in the shops and -booths. Seven was tolled from the college bell of the Canonry close by. -He started at the sound, and with a glow of pleasure, reflected, that -at the same hour to-morrow, he should see and be with her he loved. - -While this idea occupied him, the tapster announced a visitor, and -Carl Langfanger was introduced. On perceiving a stranger, Sir Patrick -experienced some uneasiness, as he believed that his presence in Bommel -was unknown to all, save Murielle Douglas and the abbot of Tongland. - -In addition to the profits of his wine and beer house, and the little -pickings which his secret relations with Count Ludwig enabled him to -have, our worthy Carl Langfanger, was ostensibly a farrier and horse -doctor, who, by painting and patching up old nags, made them--though -the veriest Rosinantes--pass for chargers of spirit and mettle; thus he -was so well known at all the hostelries in Bommel, that a short time -enabled him to discover the temporary residence of Sir Patrick Gray. - -This cunning boor had attired himself in a dark suit of respectable -broad-cloth, with a clean white ruff round his neck, and a wooden -rosary of portentous size at his right wrist; thus he had all the air -of a worthy citizen, though his scrubby black hair was brushed straight -down to his small stealthy eyes, and cut off squarely above his long -and pendant ears. - -"You wish to speak with me?" said Gray, in French. - -Langfanger, who had served in several countries, replied readily in the -same language: "I have a message to monsieur!" - -"From whom?" - -"A fair demoiselle," replied Carl, in his most insinuating voice, and a -glitter in his cunning eyes. - -"Indeed--then carry your message elsewhere--you have come to the wrong -quarter, my friend," replied Gray, curtly, as he detected something of -the bravo in the air of his visitor. - -"But the demoiselle is in distress," urged Carl, with some alarm lest -his errand might fail. - -"I am not the burgomaster, and knights errant are out of fashion, my -friend; but _who_ is she?" - -"I know not her name, messire," stammered Carl, who had omitted to -inform himself of this rather important particular. - -"By whom--and in what manner is she wronged?" - -"Mademoiselle said that this ring, which I have the honour to present, -would inform monsieur of everything," said Carl, stepping forward. - -"This ring," reiterated Gray, becoming suddenly interested and -perplexed, on recognizing the trinket he had given to Murielle in other -days, at the Three Thorns of the Carlinwark, near Thrave; and he kissed -and placed it on his finger, for it was a signal with which he could -neither delay nor trifle. - -What might this summons portend? - -Carl Langfanger, who was smoothing down his obstinate forelock, while -estimating the value of the victim's habiliments, replied, that by the -safety of his sinful soul, he knew not. - -Was she in immediate danger? - -He did not know that either; but she seemed in great tribulation. - -"You have seen her, then?" - -"Within an hour, messire." - -"Where--and where does she now await me?" - -"Near an auberge--_The Forester of Flanders_--three miles from Bommel; -an auberge of the best character, messire." - -"In what direction, my good friend?" - -"Ah--I am messire's good friend now!--the way to Ameldroyen." - -"Among the forests?" said Gray, with increasing alarm. - -"Exactly, messire." - -It seemed most unaccountable that Murielle should anticipate the -evening fixed by the abbot, and appoint a wayside auberge as a place of -meeting; but the presence of her betrothal ring could not be doubted; -and she was in danger, or tribulation, as this apparently suave and -honest fellow admitted. What lover could linger or doubt? - -"You will come, messire?" entreated Carl. - -"Come--instantly! my sword and cloak----" - -"Nay, messire, I have the honour to mention," said the sleek Carl, -"that mademoiselle does not expect you until the cathedral bells have -rung the hour of nine, and when the lamps are hung in the spire." - -To Gray this information was more perplexing than ever. - -"Near the auberge," continued Carl, "is a stone cross, one hundred -paces to the right of the road, where a votive lamp burns--there she -will meet you." - -"Grace guide me!" exclaimed Gray, "what mystery is this? Is not that -district a perilous one after nightfall?" - -"There are certainly some clerks of St. Nicholas in the woods at -times," said Carl, with pretended hesitation. - -"What manner of clerks are they?" - -"Disbanded Brabanters, who are their own paymasters." - -"Robbers, in fact," said Gray, sharply. - -"Ay, robbers, and all kinds of wild fellows." - -"Come! this is pleasant for one who will be alone." - -"Messire shall not be alone," said Carl, "for I shall be there as a -guide." - -"Thanks and largesse to you, most worthy varlet," said Gray, -gratefully, though feeling more and more bewildered. He then put some -money into the hands of Carl, who, glad that his mission was over, -hurriedly withdrew, and within an hour duly reported his progress to -the count of Endhoven, who still remained at the auberge, though Albany -and Achanna had returned to the house of the Dyck Graf, to wait the -event of the night. - -Gray sat in a turmoil of thought after Carl had retired. The idea of -a snare never occurred to him. The presence of Murielle's ring lulled -every suspicion, if he had one; and he kissed it again and again, for -it had been on her finger since that night when first she admitted that -he might love her, when the summer moon was wading the fleecy clouds -above the Galloway hills that slept in her silver sunshine, which cast -the towers of Thrave in sombre shadow on the black waters of the Dee. - -As it did not suit the purpose of master Carl Langfanger to have any -outrage committed _in_ his auberge--a place on which the officials of -the Dyck Graf had more than once cast eyes of suspicion--it had been -arranged that Gray should be waylaid at the solitary cross, and there -disarmed, mutilated in the horrible manner suggested by the barbarous -count of Endhoven, who is recorded to have treated more than one of his -prisoners thus, especially, a poor pilgrim from Antwerp and a merchant -of Bruges. - -This votive wayside cross had been erected by the eldest son of -Reinald, the warlike duke of Gueldres, as a propitiation for his -unnatural conduct, in making a captive of his father, who died in 1325. - -It stood in a wild and solitary place, among heath and gorse, midway -between the highroad which led to the auberge, and the forest that -spread along the banks of the Waal. After the gates of Bommel were shut -for the night, the vicinity of this cross was a place avoided by all -belated people, in consequence of the lawless nature of the district, -and of those terrible wolves, whose lair was also the forest. - -As the night drew on, Count Ludwig, Carl Langfanger, Gustaf Vlierbeke, -and some ten or twelve other outlaws all Brabanciones, and well, but -variously armed, issued from the auberge, and repaired to the vicinity -of Duke Reinald's Cross, where they concealed themselves in a hollow, -close to the path, among some thick willows and alder trees. - -"Der Teufel!" grumbled the count, "I hope our lover won't keep us long -waiting, for the night breeze that comes from the Waal is cold enough -already; so what will it be an hour hence!" - -"For that reason I have brought with me, herr count, a jar of Languedoc -brandy," said Carl Langfanger. - -"Thou art a priceless fellow!" exclaimed the count, with unfeigned -ardour, as he took a long draught from the stone bottle, and then -passed it round; "and now, Carl, light the brazier--hast got any -charcoal?" - -"A little sack full; and we have plenty of dead branches hereabout." - -"Right! Place it under the bank, where the glow will be hidden by the -willows. Set it a-light, I say; 'twill serve to keep us warm, and to -heat our branding iron at the same time. Who watches on the roadway?" - -"Gustaf Vlierbeke," replied two or three at once. - -"Bon! he has the eyes of a mole." - -The charcoal, with the addition of some dried branches, was soon -glowing in the iron brazier, and it shed an uncertain glow on the -patched and parti-coloured garments, the rusty weapons, the pieces of -battered armour, the squalid and dirty visages of the ruffians who -crouched together, waiting for the coming prey, with watchful ears -and stealthy eyes, that had became bloodshot, haggard, and wild in -expression, with years of cruelty, lust, debauchery, and rapine; and -which brightened only as Carl's long jar of French brandy came round to -each in turn. - -"Herr Count, there are the lights now, in the cathedral spire," -exclaimed Carl, who descended from the top of the grassy bank, whither -he had crawled to listen. - -"Then the gates of Bommel are being closed; der Teufels braden! where -tarries our lover? he should be here by this time!" muttered Ludwig, -thrusting the fatal iron deeper in the charcoal, and playing nervously -with the haft of his dagger; "is the old mare from the tan-yard ready?" - -"All ready for her rider," replied Carl, with a cruel grin; "Gustaf -Vlierbeke," he added in a husky whisper, "hear you aught on the -roadway?" - -"Nothing, but the wind and the tossing leaves." - -Mutterings of impatience followed this reply. - -"Gustaf has only one eye," said a Brabancione. - -"The other was knocked out by the boll of a crossbow at Briel." - -"Then, why the devil make him scout?" said a third lurker, in a -growling tone. - -"Because he has the eye and the quickness of a bloodhound," said the -count; "ay, of Souyllard himself. It begins to seem that we shall -have a great deal of trouble with this teufel of a Schottlander! Carl -could easily have disposed of him at the hostelry, as I did yesterday -with the rich pilgrim who was on his way to Strasbourg, and who died, -unfortunately, just after sharing with me the contents of his bottle -and wallet." - -"Died! how?" - -"By the severing of the thyroid cartilage." - -"What the henckers is that, herr count?" - -"The hump in the wind-pipe, where the apple stuck." - -"In plain words----" - -"Exactly," said the count, passing a finger round his throat, a piece -of pantomime which excited the ferocious laughter of his followers; yet -they waited with great impatience, and the time seemed to pass the more -slowly, that they were without watches or other means of marking it. -Gustaf Vlierbeke was withdrawn from the post of scout, and replaced by -Carl Langfanger when the lights in the cathedral spire were reduced to -two. - -"Two lights, der teufel!" exclaimed the count; "they indicate the hour -of ten: He must have been warned of our snare, and--hark! what is that?" - -"The bay of a wolf, herr count." - -"Yes, the moon is rising now, and our charcoal is smouldering fast." - -Time passed on slowly; the slower that they waited with fierce -impatience, and the night became colder as the stars increased in -number and brilliance overhead. Some of the Brabanciones sat idly -gnawing their shaggy moustachios; others whiled away the lagging -minutes by putting an edge on their swords and daggers, with some of -the stones which lay near. It seemed weary work for them at best, for -the stone jar was empty now. - -At last only _one_ light remained in the great spire of Bommel, and it -twinkled like a planet in the distance. - -"Eleven!" exclaimed the count, starting to his feet, and, amid muttered -oaths of rage and disappointment, they were rising to disperse, when -Carl Langfanger crawled back, with tidings that a horseman was coming -rapidly along the highway. Again the charcoal was blown up by Gustaf -Vlierbeke, who made a bellows of his lungs; again the spur-shaped iron -was inserted deeper, teeth were set, fierce eyes sparkled, and weapons -were grasped and drawn. - -On came the solitary rider--on and on. His horse's hoofs rang louder -with every bound as he drew nearer, and all held their breath when he -suddenly reined up abreast of the cross, in a little niche of which an -oil lamp was flickering in the gusty wind. - -"Der teufel--'tis he at last!" said the count, as the rider turned his -horse to the right and cautiously approached the cross. Then springing -from their ambush, with loud yells of exultation and ferocity, the -Brabanciones rushed upon him! His horse's bridle and his stirrups were -grasped on both sides; and before a cry could escape his lips, the -victim was dragged from his saddle, struck to the earth under a shower -of blows, and manacled by a strong cord. - -"Light a torch, and drag him into the hollow," cried Count Ludwig, -whose order was roughly and promptly obeyed. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -DUKE REINALD'S CROSS. - - He wrapp'd his cloak upon his arm, he smote away their swords, - Striking hard and sturdy buffets on the mouths of those proud lords; - Snapping blades and tearing mouths, like a lion at his meal, - Laughing at the stab of dagger, and the flashing of their steel. - - ALL THE YEAR ROUND. - - -Great was the impatience of the earl and of his satellite, James -Achanna, to learn the result of the snare they had laid for Sir Patrick -Gray. If successful in its cruelty, the first felt assured that a -formidable obstruction to his plans would be removed for ever; and the -latter flattered himself that he would be a richer man by a thousand -silver crowns of the Rhine. Then he had his plans to mature for turning -Count Ludwig into as much ready money as the Dyck Graf would pay for -him. Our utilitarian felt that he was on the eve of making his fortune! - -That the ill-fated Sir Patrick Gray had left his hostelry punctually, -Achanna had already ascertained, and duly reported to the earl. - -"It is easier," says Goldsmith, "to conceive than to describe the -complicated sensations which are felt from the pain of a recent -injury and the pleasure of approaching vengeance," but in the present -instance, it was the mere delight of cruel and wicked hearts in a -lawless revenge (without the sense of real injury) that fired the -hearts of the earl and Achanna. - -They had not an atom of compunction! - -Albany was aware, by the recent interview at the auberge, that his -more favoured rival was to be removed; how, he scarcely knew (he -had been so tipsy), and _how_, he little cared; but he pitied--for -this exiled and outlawed prince was not quite destitute of -generosity--Murielle, as the poor girl, in joyous anticipation of -the morrow's meeting with her lover, had assumed her cithern, and -all unconscious of the horrors impending, sang one or two sweet old -Galloway songs; but they failed to soothe either the savage earl, or -his more unscrupulous follower, who, from the recess of a window, -surveyed her with gloomy malignity in his cat-like eyes, which, as -already described, were situated singularly far apart in his head, from -the conical top of which his red hair hung in tufts. - -When the hour of ten was tolled from the spire of the cathedral (where -time was regulated then by great hour-glasses), the curiosity of -Douglas and Achanna could no longer be repressed. - -"You have an order from the Dyck Graf to pass the gates," whispered the -earl. - -"Yes; at any hour." - -"Then set forth; seek that fellow whom you name: what is it they call -him?" - -"Count Ludwig of Endhoven." - -"A rare noble, by the Mass! Seek him and bring me sure tidings of what -has transpired." - -Within twenty minutes after this, Achanna had mounted and left Bommel, -after duly presenting to the captain of the watch his pass, signed by -Jacques de Lalain. Taking the road to Ameldroyan, he rode slowly--very -slowly at first, listening to every sound; but all seemed still by the -wayside, and coldly and palely the waning moon shone on the waters -of the Waal, and of the sluices and marshes which there intersected -the level country. The windmills--unusual features to a Scotsman's -eye--stood motionless and silent, like giants with outstretched arms. - -Now a sound came upon the wind at times, and he reined up his horse to -listen. Anon he rode forward again, for that sound made him shudder. It -was the wild weird cry of a wolf in the forest, baying to the moon. - -Feeling alternately for his sword and his crucifix (just as a Spaniard -of the present day would do), he neared the appointed spot, and his -keen eyes detected a lurking figure which withdrew at his approach. -This was Carl Langfanger the scout. - -A cruel joy filled Achanna's heart with a strange glow, and his large -coarse ears quivered like those of a sleuth-bratch in his eagerness to -catch a passing sound. - -Was it all over--were the thousand crowns his? Had Gray been blinded -by the burning iron, manacled, stripped and bound to the goaded horse -which was to bear him to the wild forest, and to the wolves' jaws? Did -the baying he had heard in the distance announce that the chase was -over, and their repast begun--that horse and rider had been torn limb -from limb? - -He asked these questions of himself as he rode on. Soon he saw the -votive lamp that flickered before Duke Reinald's cross. Then he -detected a red gleam that wavered under some willow trees. It came -from the brazier in which Ludwig had heated the blinding iron. He -spurred impatiently forward. There was a shout, and amid cries of, "Der -Schottlander, donner and blitzen, der Schottlander!" he was struck from -his horse and pinioned in a moment, before he could utter a cry for -mercy or for explanation. - -The wretch had fallen into his own trap. - -His clothes were roughly rent from his body, and if he opened his -mouth the point of a sword menaced his throat. Covered with blood and -bruises, and screaming like a terrified woman for mercy, he was dragged -into the hollow where Count Ludwig was seated before the brazier, with -the brandy-jar by his side. - -Amid shouts of ferocious laughter and imprecations his head was grasped -by several of the ruffians, while Carl Langfanger drew forth the -gleaming iron from the brazier. Achanna uttered a last scream of terror -and agony on beholding it, and then his voice seemed to leave him. The -cold bead-drops burst upon his throbbing temples; his eyes started from -their sockets as if to anticipate their doom, and the pulses of his -heart seemed to stand still--he could only sigh and gasp. - -He felt the hot glow upon his cheek--already it seemed to burn into -his brain, and he gave himself over for lost, when there was a sudden -shout and a rush of horses' hoofs; he saw the flashing of swords above -his head, and heard the rasp of steel on steel as the blades emitted -red sparks. There was a sudden shock, and a conflict seemed to close -over him as he fell to the earth on his face fainting, and some time -elapsed before he became sufficiently conscious to understand that he -was free, and rescued by the valour of a single horseman, who was clad -in a helmet and chain shirt, and whose sword was dripping with the red -evidence of how skilfully he had used it in the recent fray. - -But what were the emotions of James Achanna when by a sudden gleam from -the expiring contents of the brazier, as the night wind swept through -the hollow, he recognized in his preserver, Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis! - -Astonishment with craven fear prevailed; but not the slightest emotion -of gratitude. He felt rather a glow of rage and bitterness that Gray, -by a mistake, or by loitering so long, had been too late for his own -destruction! - -Sir Patrick, as Achanna learned, had left his hostelry in sufficient -time to be at the false rendezvous; but being without an order from the -Dyck Graf to pass the gates, (a document with which he had not provided -himself, lest a knowledge of the application for it might lead to his -discovery by the Douglases) he had been refused egress by the guards; -and after spending an hour in attempting every gate of Bommel--an hour -of impatience and fury--during which he strove in vain to corrupt by -gold the trusty Walloons who watched them, he swam his horse at last -through the Waal, and having thus to make a great detour, arrived -at a most critical time for the fate of Achanna, who gazed at him, -speechlessly and helplessly, afraid to utter a word lest Gray might -recognise his voice, and pass through his body the sword which had just -saved him. - -Sir Patrick, however, _did_ recognise him as he cut his cords, but not -immediately; though there was no mistaking his hideous visage and green -cat-like eyes, or the red hair and beard that mingled together. - -"So it is thee, James Achanna," said he; "dog and son of a dog, had I -met you mounted and armed as I now am I would have slain you without -remorse or mercy. As it is, go, and remember that you receive your -miserable life at the hand of one who spares it rather from profound -disdain, than that you may have time for repentance--a time that may -never come to you!" - -With these words Gray smote him on the cheek, sheathed his sword, -remounted his horse, and, bewildered by the whole affair, rode rapidly -off, leaving Achanna to find his way back to Bommel as he best could. - -Sir Patrick was filled with rage, but he knew not against whom to -direct it. He half suspected that a snare had been laid for him, and -then dismissed the idea, believing that the circumstance of his being -in Bommel, or even in Flanders, was unknown to all save the abbot and -Murielle, the mission on which Crichton had sent him being almost a -secret one: for these reasons he did not make himself known to Achanna -_by name_. - -It was not until dawn, when the gates were open to admit the boors -and peasantry to the markets, that the rescuer and the rescued made -their way, but by different routes, into Bommel; and a scurvy figure -the latter made when he presented himself at the residence of the -Douglases, minus horse, arms, and clothing, with an ill-devised tale -of his having been assaulted by Brabanciones, while the fierce jibes -of the earl, and the narrow escape from a dreadful death, inspired -him with more hatred than ever against Gray and Murielle, for he had -learned to combine them in one idea. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE THIRD EVENING. - - Good fortune and the favour of the king - Smile upon this contract; whose ceremony - Shall seem expedient on the new-born brief, - And be performed to-night. - - ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. - - -After what had occurred at Duke Reinald's cross, and being -bewildered by the whole affair of the ring--an affair which seemed -so inexplicable, Gray armed himself with more than usual care, and -covering his fine, flexible chain shirt, gorget and sleeves of tempered -Milan plate, by the ample brown and red-braided Muscovite gown, he -repaired punctually at seven o'clock to the church of St. Genevieve. He -entered with an anxious heart, and kept a hand on his sword, as he knew -not by whom, or in what fashion he might be greeted; but, to his joy -found Murielle and the abbot awaiting him in the appointed place. - -Murielle was smiling and happy; but the abbot was sombre, gloomy, and -abstracted. - -A recent conversation which had passed between him and the earl of -Douglas had revealed more of the latter's terrible political, or rather -insurrectionary projects, than the abbot conceived to be possible. -The poor old man was dismayed; his very soul shrank within him at -the contemplation of his lawful and anointed king dethroned, and his -native country plunged in civil strife, to gratify the proud ambition -and guilty vengeance of a turbulent and predatory noble. A wholesome -fear of that ugly architectural feature, the gallows knob of Thrave, -might have prevented him from daring to think of circumventing the -plans of the earl had he been in Galloway; for Douglas, though slavish -in superstition and in ritual observances, was sternly severe to all -who marred his purposes, or crossed the path of his ambition, or even -of his most simple wish: thus he who hanged the good lord of Teregles -in his armour, might not hesitate to hang an abbot in his cassock. -But here in Flanders, far from local feudal influences, the superior -of Tongland felt himself more free to act, and he had been all day -revolving in his mind the means of putting the lord chancellor and -other ministers of James II. in possession of facts which would enable -them to guard the interests of the throne and of the people from -confusion, from invasion, and an anarchy like that which followed the -demise of the good king Alexander III., and in the person of Gray he -had the means of immediate communication. - -Anxious to solve a mystery, Gray said hurriedly, "You have lost a ring -Murielle?" - -"My ring--ah, yes, and an omen of evil I deemed that loss to be; for it -was the betrothal ring you gave me at the Thorns of the Carlinwark. It -was lost two nights ago--or abstracted from me----" - -"The latter most likely--but permit me to restore it," said he, -tenderly kissing her pretty hand; "it nearly lured me to my death, for -now I verily believe that a deadly snare was set for me." - -"Oh, what is this you tell me?" she asked with alarm. - -"Sad, sad truth, my own love." - -"A snare? Oh, it is impossible, since none know that you are here, but -our lord the abbot and I." - -"But others, Murielle, _do_ know," replied Gray, and he briefly related -the affair of the preceding evening; the visit of Carl Langfanger with -the ring and the message as from herself; the delays which had happily -occurred, and how he had reached the Wayside Cross too late for the -purpose of his secret enemies, but strangely enough in time to save -Achanna from a mutilation and death, which were no doubt intended for -another. Murielle was stupefied. - -"Achanna--say you this man was James Achanna?" sobbed Murielle, -becoming very pale and trembling. - -"Certainly 'twas he; oh, there is no mistaking that hateful visage of -his." - -"Then you are indeed lost!" said she, clasping her hands; but the abbot -who had hitherto remained silent and gloomy, patted her head kindly, -and said--"My own good daughter, hearken to me; trust in Heaven and -hope--hope, the friend of happiness." - -"But hope, Father Abbot, will desert us, unless----" said Gray, -hesitating, as he turned imploringly to Murielle. - -"Unless what?" said the abbot. - -"Murielle becomes my bride--my wife!" - -"Sir Patrick Gray----" - -"Her ring is here; a betrothal ring it is, and a wedding-ring it shall -be," continued Gray with increasing vehemence, as his voice with his -emotion became deeper. "Good father abbot, my kinsman and my friend, -you who knew and loved my father and mother well, you who were the -guide and mentor of both, even as you are of me, will not hear me now -in vain! The dangerous schemes of this ambitious earl----" - -"Enough, enough," interrupted the abbot gloomily, as he waved his hand; -"to my sorrow and fear I know them all, and own they terrify me." - -"Then, to save our young king from many deadly perils, and our -country from civil war--to save this miserable Duke Robert from the -block on which his father perished--to save the house of Douglas from -destruction, and, more than all, to save herself from misery, Murielle -must wed me!" - -Murielle opened her tremulous lips to speak, but Gray added -impetuously,--"To-day--to-night--now, instantly!" - -"Now?" reiterated the abbot. - -"Now, or it may be never!" - -"Oh, what is this you say?" said Murielle, shrinking closer to the -abbot. - -"The solemn, the sad, the earnest, but the loving truth, dear -Murielle," urged Gray, his eyes and heart filling as he spoke with -passion and tenderness. - -Much more followed, but they spoke rapidly and briefly, for time was -precious. - -"You will end all this by wedding me, my beloved," said Gray in her -ear, as he pressed her to his breast, and stifled her reply by kisses. -"Then at midnight we shall leave Bommel together for the sea-coast, -from thence to Scotland and the king! Say that you will become my -wife--here are the altar, the church, the priest, and his missal--here -even the ring. Oh, say that you will, for with life I cannot separate -from you again!" - -"My love for you," sobbed Murielle, "is stronger than my destiny----" - -"Nay, 'tis destiny that makes you love me." - -Her tears fell fast, but her silence gave consent. - -The abbot felt all the force of his kinsman's arguments, and the more -so that they were added to his own previous fears and convictions. He -wisely conceived that the marriage of Murielle to Gray would prove the -most irremovable barrier to the proposed matrimonial alliance between -Douglas and the duke of Albany. He was aware that by the performance of -such a ceremony, he would open an impassable gulf between himself and -his lord and chief; but he felt that he owed a duty to the king, James -II., in saving him from a coalition so formidable as a union between -the adherents of the outlawed prince and rebellious peer; a duty to -Murielle, in saving her from becoming the hapless tool of a conspiracy, -the victim of a _roué_ husband and a ruinous plot; and a duty to his -kinsman and friend, whom he had every desire to protect and serve. - -Thus he suddenly consented, and summoning his chanter, and a curé of -the church, whom in his writings he names "Father Gustaf Dennecker, of -the order of St. Benedict," he drew a missal from the embroidered pouch -which hung at his girdle, and before our poor bewildered Murielle knew -distinctly what was about to ensue she found herself a bride--on her -knees before the altar, and the marriage service being read over her. - -It proceeded rapidly. Murielle felt as one in a dream. She saw the open -missal, from the parchment leaves of which some little golden crosses -dangled; she saw the abbot in his purple stole, and heard his distinct -but subdued Latinity, as he addressed them over the silver altar rail. -She was aware of the presence of Gray, and her little heart beat -tumultuously with awe and love and terror, while reassured from time -to time by the gentle pressure of his hand--that strong and manly hand -which had grown hard by the use of his sword-hilt. She heard the ring -blessed, and felt it placed upon her marriage finger! - -She heard the muttered responses of Father Gustaf and of the old -chanter of Tongland Abbey, who, in his terror of the earl, was almost -scared out of his senses; and then came the sonorous voice of the -abbot, as he waved his hand above her, and concluded with these -words:--"Deus Israel conjugat vos; et ipse sit vobiscum, qui misertus -duobus unicis: et nunc Domine, fac eos plenius benedicere te." - -She arose lady of Foulis, and the wedded wife of Sir Patrick Gray, from -whom death only could separate her; but she reclined her head upon his -breast, and sobbed with excitement, with joy, and alarm. - -After a pause the abbot closed his missal, and as he descended from the -altar his eye caught a pale grim face behind the shadow of a column. It -vanished, but as the blood rushed back upon the heart of the startled -abbot, he thought the features of that face were those of James -Achanna, and _he was right!_ - -"You must now separate; the future depends upon your secrecy and -discretion, as a discovery will ruin all, and we have not a moment to -lose," said the abbot, who felt more dismay in his heart than at that -moment he cared to communicate. - -"What a time to separate!" exclaimed Gray almost with anger. - -"You separate but to meet again," said the abbot imperatively, but in -a low voice, lest there might be other eavesdroppers; "away to your -hostelry, Sir Patrick, get horses, and make every arrangement for -immediate flight. If you leave Bommel at midnight, by riding fast you -may both reach the coast of Altena long before day-break, and there -find a ship for Scotland." - -"Let us escape now; why delay a single hour?" - -"That may not be; your flight would be discovered, and the followers -of the earl would be aided in a pursuit by those of De Lalain the Dyck -Graf. The time to choose is when all are abed and asleep, or ought to -be, and I will provide the order to pass you through the gates of the -city. The doors of our residence are secured every night by Sir Alan -Lauder, who keeps the keys with care, as if he were still in Thrave, -and feared the thieves of Annandale. You know the window of Murielle's -sleeping apartment?" - -"It overlooks the garden above an arbour." - -"Be within the arbour when this church bell strikes twelve; keep your -horses in the street, and I myself, as far as an old man may, will aid -your flight together. You will pass through the church by the postern, -and then God speed ye to the sea! Till then, farewell, and my blessing -on ye! Ah, well-a-day! all this toil, all this trouble, all this peril -had been saved us, if--if----" - -"What, my Lord?" - -"The master of evil and of mischief had been but forgiven and restored -to his place--but the time shall come," said the abbot, remembering -his pet crotchet, as they hastily separated; "that blessed time shall -come!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -A WEDDING NIGHT. - - "Their swords smote blunt upon our steel, - And keen upon our buff; - The coldest blooded man of us - Had battering enough; - 'Twas butt to butt, and point to point, - And eager pike to pike; - 'Twas foin and parry, give and take, - As long as we could strike." - - -Gray seemed to tread on air--he felt as one in a dream--but a dream -to be realized--as he hurried through the streets of Bommel to his -hostelry, to pack his mail (a portmanteau), to order his horse to be in -readiness, and to procure one for Murielle; while his emotions of love -for her, and gratitude to the abbot, left no room in his honest heart -for exultation that he was about to outwit his enemies, and by bearing -her away avenge the wrongs they had done him. - -While he is busy with the hosteller, his grooms, horses, and -arrangements, let us return to one who was quite as busily taking -measures to circumvent them--the inevitable Achanna. - -In less than half an hour after his disappearance from the church, he -was closeted with the earl, who had just risen from his knees, having -been on a _prie-dieu_ at prayer before a crucifix and case containing -some crumbs of the bones of St. Bryde--the chief palladium of the house -of Douglas. - -"What tidings now," said he, "for thou art always abroad in the night, -like an owl or a rascally kirkyard bat? _Miserere mei Deus!_" he -added, concluding his orisons. - -The earl was in a good humour; the formula of his prayers and his -adoration of the relics had partially soothed his ferocious spirit; -but on hearing what had occurred his fury was on the verge of taking a -very dangerous turn, for, snatching a dagger from his girdle, he seized -Achanna by the throat, and tearing open his collar and pourpoint, -threatened to stab him for not having prevented this secret and--so far -as some of his plans were concerned--most fatal marriage from taking -place by killing Gray on the spot. - -"At the steps of the altar?" gasped Achanna, struggling to free himself. - -"Anywhere; what mattered it, wretch, where you slew my enemy?" -thundered Douglas, hurling him in a heap against the wainscot. - -"But--but, my lord--bethink you--'twere a sacrilege, and the Dyck Graf -would have broken me alive on the wheel, even were I, like yourself, a -belted earl." - -"True; we are not now within a day's ride of Thrave," said the earl -almost with a groan, as he sank into a chair, and, overwhelmed by what -seemed a sudden and irremediable catastrophe, gave way to undignified -fury and abuse. He dared not trust himself in the presence of Murielle, -lest he should commit some fatal violence, or in that of Albany, lest -he might betray the source of that unbecoming discomposure, which -filled his proud heart with shame at himself; and a rage at Gray, which -words cannot describe. Thus a long time elapsed before he could arrange -his thoughts after hearing Achanna repeat at least twice all he had -seen and overheard in the church of St. Genevieve. - -Desiring his pages to admit none (even the countess), he turned to -Achanna with his usually swarthy visage turned white and livid by the -fierce emotions that filled his heart. - -"We must dissemble, Achanna," said he in a husky voice; "we must -conceal this from Albany--from all; but we must nevertheless destroy -Sir Patrick Gray--yea, this night, within a few brief hours, shall -Murielle Douglas be maid, wife, and widow! and as for my lord the -abbot, may the curse of the souls of my kindred and of St. Bryde be on -him, for a meddling mock friar! If I had him as near the Nith as we -are near the Waal, I would set him a-swimming with a millstone at his -neck for his handiwork to-night! Yet, _laus Deo!_ I dare hardly address -him, for, as it is, he withholds absolution from me for many, many -sins already committed. Torture! men call me a tyrant, yet I am the -slave of a tyrant--of a priest;--and Lady Murielle, she means to escape -to-night?" - -"By the window which overlooks the arbour in the garden; oh, I heard -all planned very distinctly." - -"I shall be there with my sword; then woe to our new-made husband," -said Douglas, with a cruel smile. - -"Nay, my lord, I can propose a better plan than having recourse to -steel," said Achanna, with one of his wicked leers, as his plotting -brain was again at work; "Gray's bones seem made of malleable iron, but -fire will conquer even that." - -"Your last scheme," said the earl, with a withering glance, "did not -prove very successful; but what is your new one?" - -"Bethink you, Douglas, of the old story of the castle of Kirkclauch." - -"At Girthavon, in Galloway, or Girthon, as folk name it now?" - -"Yes, Douglas," replied Achanna, who, in the old Scottish fashion, -called his leader by his name as frequently as by his title. - -"What of it? Speak quickly, for time is precious." - -"It belonged to a desperate mosstrooper, named Græme," said Achanna, -in his most insinuating voice (while adjusting his habiliments which -the earl had torn in his wrath), and speaking in his native Gaëlic, -which was the language of Galloway till after the reign of Mary, and, -while he spoke, he seemed to purr like a pleased cat, and pleased he -certainly was, when any wickedness was to be done. "This Græme had -plundered, in open raid, the lands of the laird of Muirfad, who, in -revenge, drew him into an ambush and slew all his men. Full of rage -and shame at his defeat, Græme fled to his old tower at Kirkclauch -and vowed to have a terrible vengeance; but lo, ye! Gordon of Muirfad -appeared suddenly before the closed gates with his exulting followers, -and summoned the almost lonely man to surrender. They had a long -parley, in which Græme, while piling oiled faggots, straw, and other -combustibles against the wooden barrier, offered Gordon a sum in gold -as black mail. The offer was accepted, and the money was to be handed -through an eyelet-hole in the top of the gate, where the warder was -wont to sit watching the roadway with his arblast. Standing upon his -horse's saddle to reach this shot-hole, Gordon passed through his -right hand, over which Græme, with a laugh of derision, threw an iron -chain, and thus noosed him hard and fast to the stone arch above. He -then fired the pile below, and retired, saying, 'You're welcome to -your black mail, Muirfad, but by my soul you will find it rather hot!' -The flames rose fast, and the fettered man shrieked in vain, for even -his own kinsmen failed to rescue him, while Græme escaped by a secret -postern, leaving the tower of Kirkclauch and all who were in it a prey -to destruction. Muirfad was roasted in his armour like a buttered crab, -and sorely would the Gordons have revenged this, had they dared; but -Græme fled to Girthavon, 'the sanctuary by the river,' and became a -monk." - -"Thou chattering dunce, what have I to do with all this?" asked the -earl, who had listened to the story with an impatient and sombre -countenance. - -"Does it not give you an idea, my lord?" - -"No; but what is yours?" - -"That we burn Sir Patrick Gray in his boots, and in the same fashion." - -"At Kirkclauch?" - -"No; here in Bommel, and this very night too." - -"How? Speak quickly, for I am not in a mood for trifling," said -Douglas, examining the point and edge of a beautiful Parmese poniard -which dangled at his girdle, as if it were the readier means of ridding -him of his enemy. - -"Be pleased to listen to me with a little patience, lord earl," whined -Achanna, "and I shall yet win those thousand crowns of the Rhine. My -plan is very simple. Lady Murielle proposes to escape at midnight from -the window above the arbour in the garden, which lies between this -house and the church of St. Genevieve. Instead of the bride, I shall be -at the window----" - -"To stab this new and most precious brother-in-law of mine?" - -"No; to secure him, as Græme secured Gordon, by an iron chain, and -then fire the faggots with which the arbour below shall be previously -filled. By St. Bryde! he will roast in his armour like a nut in its -shell." - -"A rare vengeance!" said the earl, rubbing his hands, and almost -laughing at the prospect of a punishment so signal and so terrible. "He -will be deemed a Brabancione or housebreaker; at all events, we shall -leave Bommel by day-break on our way towards Paris. Tell our master -of the horse and the duke of Albany to prepare. Send hither Sir Alan -Lauder, and to you, Achanna, I commit the care of this matter. You -failed me once----" - -"If I fail again, trust me no more," replied Achanna, as he retired to -put his plans in operation, and felt with regret that by this suddenly -projected departure from Bommel, he would lose the thousand guilders he -had hoped to obtain by the capture of Count Ludwig. - -The earl concealed his recently acquired information from all, even -from the countess, as he mistrusted her discretion. He contrived to -meet even his father confessor with a bland smile at supper, though he -trembled with suppressed passion on perceiving the timid, constrained, -preoccupied manner of Murielle; and then he laughed inwardly as he -thought of the grim tragedy about to ensue. - -After supper, he suddenly and emphatically desired the countess to -remove Murielle from her present sleeping chamber, to one in a more -distant part of the mansion, and there to lock her in for the night. - -His will, immutable as the laws of Draco, was immediately obeyed, and -thus, at the time when Murielle expected to join her lover, she found -herself terrified, bewildered, and weeping in a solitary room, the -grated windows of which faced the high black wall of the old Canonry. - -Achanna meanwhile had filled the arbour with wooden faggots, dry -branches, straw, and other fuel, on which he poured more than one jar -of oil. He procured a strong chain bridle, and stationed himself at -the window of the apartment, which Murielle had hitherto occupied, and -there awaited his prey. - -"What do these changes mean?" asked the countess. - -"To-morrow you shall know all," replied the earl, with one of his -crafty smiles, as he turned and left her. - -Slowly passed the hours, and they were hours of agony to Murielle. -She knew not how much, or how little, was known to her family of late -events, but that they suspected something her sudden seclusion fully -evinced. What would be the sequel? - -The hours were tolled in succession from the spire of the church of St. -Genevieve--ten, eleven, and at last twelve--_midnight_. So certainly as -these hours struck, Gray would come and find himself deluded. He would -_now_ be in the garden--now at the arbour--with his eyes anxiously -fixed on her window, and she--a sudden emotion of rage filled her -heart--rage that they should arrogate such power over her, and dare -to treat her like a child; but this gust did not last long, and was -followed by a shower of tears. - -She rushed to the iron gratings of her windows, and strove to shake -them with her tender little hands. There was no escape, no hope, no -succour, and as the last stroke of twelve reverberated in her heart and -died away, life seemed to die with it. - -Then came a sound upon the night wind. It was the clamour of voices, -mingled with the clash of weapons; and next there spread upon the -darkness a red and lurid light, that wavered on the gloomy walls of the -Canonry, that lit up the buttresses of the Church of St. Genevieve, -and the wainscoting of her room. What did all this portend? Where was -Patrick Gray, her world, her all, now more than ever her Alpha and -Omega? Was he beset by the Douglases? Oh, if so, she would soon learn -to abhor her own name. - -She muffled her face and ears in her skirt, to shut out sight and -sound, for both seemed to portend but death and woe. - -When she looked up again the light had disappeared, all was dark, and -all was still, save the beating of her heart, and the throbbing of her -temples. - - * * * * * - -Let us return to Sir Patrick Gray. - -He made all his arrangements with the prudence and rapidity of a -soldier. He had his horse (his favourite roan) prepared, and carefully -saddled; he had procured a stout nag, with a lady's pad, for Murielle, -and he acquainted himself thoroughly with the route to be pursued by -Op Andel and Alm Kerque to Altena. Then he waited with impatience for -midnight, the time that would give him freely and for ever his bride, -his wife, his long-loved Murielle, despite the wiles, the overweening -power, and the unrelenting treachery of Douglas and his adherents. - -Brightly shone the moon in the clear blue sky; the church spires, snowy -white, with all their carvings and tracery, their painted windows, and -glittering crosses, stood sharply up from the sea of pointed roofs -which covered the city of Bommel, but Gray wished for darkness and -obscurity. A small cloud came from the flat horizon, and anxiously he -watched its progress; but it was of fleecy whiteness, and passed over -the moon's yellow disc like a gauze veil. He prayed that she would go -down before the appointed time, and being on the wane, she luckily did -so--at least, ere half-past eleven, fair Luna was hidden by the thick -woods that grew near Ameldroyen, and by the yellow haze exhaled from -the sedgy banks of the Waal. - -The time was near! He could count the minutes now; before he had -reckoned by hours. - -His heart beat quicker; he felt athirst, and drank a last cup of wine, -as he bade adieu to his hostelry for ever, and mounting his roan, took -the palfrey by the bridle, and forgetting all about the closed gates of -Bommel, and that he was without an order from Jacques de Lalain (unless -the abbot had procured it), turned his steps towards the church of St. -Genevieve. - -The padlocked chains which closed the ends of the streets were a -serious obstruction in the dark, but he made his horses clear them by -a bound, and each time they did so, he dreaded that the patrols of the -Burgher Guard, or night watch, might hurry after him, to discover what -horseman was abroad so late, and on what errand. But unseen he reached -the church, and securing the horses in a dark recess, between two deep -buttresses, by fastening their bridles to the carving of a niche, he -hastened through the north aisle, and issued by the postern into the -garden of the Dyck Graf's house. Then he saw the trellised arbour, and -above it the window of Murielle's apartments. - -A light was burning there; a shadow crossed it--it was she, and his -heart leaped! All around was still and dark and sombre as he could have -wished. - -As he approached the window, a female figure in a hood and veil -appeared. Gray hurriedly clambered to the roof of the arbour, the -trellis-work of which formed a most efficient scaling-ladder, and -reached the window, which was about twelve feet from the ground. - -"Murielle--your hand--we have not a moment to lose!" he whispered, and -held up his arms to receive and assist her. - -At that moment he felt his right hand strongly grasped and seemingly -fettered, as a chain was thrown round his wrist. He attempted to -withdraw, but was firmly held. - -"Murielle!" he exclaimed, in astonishment. There was a mocking laugh, -and as the hood fell off, his eyes met those of James Achanna, -glittering far apart like those of a huge bird. - -"Pray to St. Simon that he may lend you his saw, or to St. Jude for -his club, to break this fetter," said Achanna, as he secured the chain -to an iron staple in the window-sill; "but the flames will be here, -hot and red, before either of them," he added, suddenly brandishing -a lighted torch, in the bright glare of which his flushed face and -protruding green eyes now resembled those of a devil. Astonishment and -rage trebled the great natural strength of Gray. He grasped Achanna by -the throat with his left hand, and though the would-be assassin strove -to free himself, by savagely thrusting the blazing torch in the face -of his victim, the latter dragged him over the window: down they came, -battling together--the chain and staple parted, and the two enemies -fell crash through the frail arbour, upon the heap of combustibles -below. These, by their previous preparation, the torch ignited in a -moment. A fiery blaze at once lit all the garden, while Sir Patrick -Gray and Achanna rolled over each over, struggling to get at their -daggers, each to despatch his antagonist. - -Achanna was below and Gray above, and as the dagger was worn far back -on the right side in those days, the first could by no means get at -his weapon, as it was completely under him. Gray's strong left hand -clutched his throat with deadly tenacity, and his chest was also -crushed; but Gray searched in vain for his dagger. It had dropped from -his belt in their fall, and his sword was broken in three places by the -same circumstance, but with the heavy hilt and a fragment of the blade -which adhered to it, he rained a torrent of blows upon the head and -face of his adversary, whom he resolved to despatch as he would have -done a snake, or a viper, for it was now a combat to the death between -them. - -All this terrible episode occurred in a few moments, and Gray in his -fury, would inevitably have destroyed Achanna, had there not rushed -from the house, the earl of Douglas, the lairds of Pompherston, -Glendoning, and Cairnglas, with Sir Alan Lauder, and several other -persons, some of whom were in their breeches and shirts, others in -helmets and cuirasses; but all with torches or candles, and drawn -swords. - -Fortunately for Gray, twelve soldiers of the burgher guard, whom the -uproar had alarmed, came up at the same moment, with their ponderous -Flemish partizans, or our story and his life had ended there together, -for the Douglases would infallibly have cut him to pieces. - -Intent now on escaping, and preserving both his life and his -_incognito_, Gray fought with the vigour of despair. Wrenching a -partizan from a Waloon soldier, he struck right and left to hew a -passage through his assailants. He knocked down Douglas of Pompherston, -and severely wounded two of the night watch, by piercing their -cuirasses of boiled bull-hide; but being pressed furiously by their -comrades, he was soon beaten to the ground, disarmed, dragged away -through the streets, and carried to the castle of Bommel, where he was -thrust into a common dungeon and left to his own reflections, which -were neither very lucid nor lively. - -His horses, his leathern mail or portmanteau, and papers became the -spoil of the Douglases; his rich cassock coat, the gift of Duke Arnold, -and the ring which he was commissioned by Katharine, the duchess of -Gueldres, to convey to the young king, her future son-in-law, became -the prey of James Achanna, who openly appropriated and wore both, and -whom the earl sent to Messire Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf, to -request that Gray, "as a notorious outlaw and consorter with Ludwig of -Endhoven, should be broken alive upon the wheel, by noon next day." - -All his papers were gone; thus he could afford no written or -satisfactory account of himself, and obstinately refused to say what -object brought him into conflict with Achanna, as he was determined -that the name of Murielle--his wife--should not be compromised, even in -a foreign country. - -It was soon known and proved by the evidence of the officious and now -terrified keeper of the hostelry, at which he lately lodged, that he -had assumed at times, if not constantly, the dress and character of a -Muscovite merchant. - -"For what reason?" asked De Lalain; but Gray declined to answer. - -Was he a spy of Philip of Burgundy, or of Charles of France? was the -next surmise. But the latter at that time had no thought of war or -politics, and was forgetting everything in the arms of Agnes Soreau -(commonly called Sorel), a beautiful demoiselle of Touraine. The fact -of disguise looked very suspicious, but none knew exactly of what. - -Again Douglas urged that he should be executed without delay; but grief -and despair threw Gray into a burning fever, "ane het sicknesse," -the abbot, his kinsman terms it; so the Dyck Graf declined to be -precipitate, but kept him a close prisoner, and on the day after this -affair, the earl of Douglas, with all his retinue, accompanied by the -duke of Albany, left Bommel, and took the road by Ameldroyen, towards -the frontier of France. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -A GLANCE AT HISTORY. - - Visions of the days departed, - Shadowy phantoms fill my brain; - They who live in history only, - Seem to walk the earth again. - - LONGFELLOW. - - -The spring of 1443 was ripening into summer around the Scottish -capital. The green corn was sprouting in the fields; the April gowans -and the budding whins made gay the upland slopes and braes. - -Many months had elapsed since Sir Patrick Gray should have returned -to court with an account of his mission. The Regent Livingstone and -the chancellor became impatient, and despatched Patrick Lord Glammis, -Master of the Household, to the court of Gueldres, from whence he soon -returned, with a duplicate of the letters entrusted to Gray, of whom no -trace had been discovered, since Prince Adolphus and his retinue had -separated from him at Wees, when on his way to the coast, and at the -distance of twenty miles from the castle of Gueldres. - -This was somewhat perplexing; the old chancellor, who had a strong -friendship for Gray, now really mourned for him as one who was no -more, believing that he had been slain in some mysterious manner, and -the young king wept before the Lords of the Secret Council, to whom -Glammis made his report. Crichton knew that the earl of Douglas had -been in Flanders, with all his chosen followers, and their unscrupulous -character made the friends of Sir Patrick fear the worst. - -In those days, posts there were none, letters were few, travellers -fewer, and one half of Europe knew nothing of the other; but, -nevertheless, distant rumours informed the regent and chancellor of -Scotland that Douglas and his train, with the forfeited duke of Albany, -after a brief sojourn at the court of Charles the Seventh, had passed -on towards Rome. - -In his rage at the abbot John, the earl vowed "to raze Tongland -Abbey to its ground-stone," and to do many other absurd and -impossible things; but one threatening wave of the abbot's hand, and -a denunciation from his otherwise good-natured lips, brought the -superstitious noble on his knees, grovelling, and in prayer, which was -invariably replaced by fury and maledictions as soon as his mentor -retired. He promised to forgive Gray, and within the hour despatched -Achanna with one of his many letters to the Dyck Graf of Bommel, urging -his secret execution. He then ordered the abbot to return to Scotland, -and in the same breath begged he would accompany him to Rome; and the -abbot, being most anxious for a personal interview with the sovereign -pontiff, silently consented to do so, though despising in his heart the -titled penitent he followed. - -John Douglas, abbot of the Premonstratensian monks of Tongland, held -for the haughty earl, the keys of heaven and of hell, and made him -writhe in his superstitious soul at the terrible conviction. - -In 1444, as Crichton had arranged, the king took into his own hands the -government of the nation, in a convention of the Three Estates, which -met within the castle of Stirling, and at the same time, the papal -legate came from beyond the sea, in great pomp and bravery, to exact a -solemn oath of fealty to Rome from all the Scottish Bishops. Such oaths -were beginning to be requisite now, for already had the smoke of those -funeral fires, to which they had consigned Resby the Englishman, and -Crawar the Bohemian, "infected all on whom it was blown." - -The poor chancellor had his hands full of troublesome business, for the -Scottish lords were again at their old hereditary occupations, rapine -and slaughter. - -Patrick Galbraith, a follower of the earl of Douglas, quarrelled with -Robert Semple, of Fulwood, about who should command in the royal -fortress of Dunbarton, where one was governor of the upper, and the -other of the lower castle. The sword was speedily resorted to; Semple -was slain, and a strong garrison of Douglas-men occupied the place. The -Lindesays and Ogilvies fought the disastrous feudal battle of Arbroath -to decide whose chief should be bailie of that regality; and there fell -on that bloody field, Alexander, earl of Crawford, six knights, and -six hundred men-at-arms. - -Then Robert Boyd, of Doughal, ran his sword through Sir James Stewart, -of Auchminto, at a lonely place near Kirkpatrick, where the summer -woods grew thick and green, and carried off his wife to the castle of -Dunbarton, where she brought forth a child prematurely, and died of -grief and terror in two days after. Archibald Dunbar stormed the great -castle of the earl of Hailes, slew the inmates, and gave it up to the -Douglases, while the moss-troopers of Annandale, lest their weapons -should rust, kept all the western marches in hot water by their raids -and devastations, which were seldom confined to their own border. - -The sisters of the king were actually considered in danger, so daring -or so enterprising were the younger knights of the Douglas faction; -thus the princesses Jane and Eleonora departed to visit their sister, -the unhappy dauphiness of France, but arrived too late to see her. -She had died of a broken heart, having sunk under the cruelty of -her husband (afterwards Louis XI., of infamous memory) and shame at -the false charges of Jamet de Tilloy. Eleonora became the wife of -Sigismund, archduke of Austria; but the princess Jane returned to her -first love, who was the Scottish earl of Angus. - -"All the mischiefs at home," says Buchanan, "were imputed to the earl -of Douglas, who did all he could to conceal the misdemeanour of his -followers, while he studied to afflict the men of different parties; -in consequence of the vastness of his power, it was almost a capital -offence to call aught he did in question. His influence compelled Sir -James Stuart, of Lorn, the king's uncle, to fly the realm, because -he spoke freely of the desperate state of the people; and his ship -was taken at sea by Flemish pirates, among whom he ended his life in -misery." - -Such was the hard fate of the Black Knight of Lorn, the husband of the -Queen Dowager of Scotland--Jane Beaufort, the fair flower of Windsor. - -The English, as usual, took advantage of these turmoils to enter -Scotland and burn the tower of Dumfries; so in return for this piece -of attention, the Scots, under Lord Balvenie, burned Alnwick, and laid -waste to Northumberland, reducing it almost to a desert; and soon after -fifteen thousand English, under the Lord Piercy, were cut to pieces on -the frontier, as they were about to cross a second time. - -The Cheviots, said by a modern writer, to be "a clasp riveting Scotland -and England together," were then deemed, like the Tweed and Solway -elsewhere, but a natural barrier placed by the hand of God between two -rival kingdoms. War brought famine and disease in her ghastly train, -and so closed the year 1448. - -Previous to this, the chancellor taking advantage of the lull caused by -the defeat of the English and the capture of their leaders, the earls -of Northumberland and Huntingdon, assembled a suitable train and sailed -for Flanders, to bring home the young king's betrothed bride, for whose -reception, great preparations were made at court. - -Crichton was long absent, as he went by the way of Tours, to renew -the ancient league with France, which was again ratified by him and -other Scottish ambassadors for James II.; and by Thibaud, bishop of -Maillerais, the Sieur de Pretigni and Messire Guillaume Cousinat, on -the part of Charles VII. - -After this the lord chancellor rode towards Gueldres. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -THE PRISONER. - - It might be months, or years, or days, - I kept no count--I took no note; - I had no hope my eyes to raise, - And clear them of their dreary mote.--BYRON. - - -Meanwhile, during the occurrence of all these stirring events where was -Sir Patrick Gray? - -A prisoner of state in the castle of Bommel, detained there, to all -appearance, hopelessly, by order of Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf. - -This official knew not whether to believe the information and -reiterated statements of Sir Patrick, or those of the vindictive earl -of Douglas. The secret manner in which Gray had resided in Bommel, and -the disguise he had assumed, were denounced by the burgomaster, as -unworthy the character of an envoy and the captain of a royal guard; -they were declared suspicious, though no one could exactly say of -what bad errand or object. Then, in that unexplained midnight brawl, -concerning the origin of which Sir Patrick maintained an obstinate -silence, he had wounded almost to death two citizens of good repute; -and he was totally without papers or property to verify the account he -gave of himself, as all he possessed had fallen into the hands of the -Douglases, who had destroyed the former and appropriated the latter. - -The hatred displayed by a noble so powerful as the earl and by his -brilliant train of followers towards him, and their urgent demands for -his execution, with or without a trial, convinced Jacques de Lalain -that some great mystery was involved; that his prisoner was a man of -considerable importance; and that it would be alike impolitic to hang -or to release him. Hence he ordered, that he should be well attended, -and comfortably lodged in the fortress of Bommel, but closely guarded -and confined to the tower of Otho III. - -Arnold d'Egmont, duke of Gueldres, had already begun to be embroiled by -his unnatural son, Prince Adolphus, and was absent at the ducal court -of Burgundy; thus to numerous letters on the subject of his unfortunate -prisoner, the Dyck Graf received no explicit answer, so time rolled -wearily and drearily on. - -And what of Murielle? was the constant thought of Gray. - -She was now his, irrevocably his, and while aware of his existence -could not, either by force or fraud, become the wife of another. -Amid all the misery of a protracted captivity, there was comfort in -his conviction, till after-thoughts suggested how heartless was the -existence to which their precipitate marriage had perhaps condemned her! - -But might not their enemies, by forgeries and false statements, delude -her into an idea of _his_ death, as they had attempted to do before? -Douglas dared not trifle with the power and terror of the Church; so -Gray drew consolation from his memory of the earl's superstition, if -not of his religion. - -Yet there were times when his mental agony became great; for no news -from Scotland or of the external world ever reached his prison. - -Was Murielle still living? Had the wild schemes of Douglas and Albany -prospered? Was the latter on the throne as Robert IV., with the -terrible earl for his lieutenant-general, his ally in council and his -right arm in war--crowned like Baliol of old, by domestic treason and -foreign treachery? Was the young king dead, a prisoner, or an exile in -France or England? Was Albany's betrothal to Mademoiselle Radegonde, -the eldest daughter of Charles VII., annulled? What changes were taking -place in his secluded mountain home? Who were dead--who living, and who -wedded? Was he quite forgotten there? - -Such were the questions ever in his heart and on his tongue. - -Slowly passed the weary days till they became months, and then season -succeeded to season. Five times had Gray, from his barred window -in that old tower of Otho count of Gueldres, seen the golden grain -gathered on the flat and distant fields; five times had he seen the -land ploughed, and sown, and reaped; and five times covered with the -white mantle of winter, when frost locked the waters of the Waal, and -moored, harder than ever hempen cable and iron anchor did, the great -brown-varnished barges in the sedge-bordered canals, when the storks -forsook their nests on the snow-covered gables, when the holy water -froze in the stone fonts of the churches, and when the bulbous-shaped -Flemings put on at least six pairs of additional breeches. At such -a season as this, the poor prisoner pictured in fancy the crackling -yule-log that blazed in his father's hall at home--the old kirk of -Foulis all bedecked with green bays and greener holly--his mother -mourning by the winter hearth for the loss of her absent son; and then -his heart grew sick as he thought of his blighted love, his wasted -life, and all the thousand memories of his native land. - -He thought, too, of what he had seen in more than one Flemish -market-place, in Antwerp, at Gueldres, Endhoven, Bommel, and -elsewhere; the cruel and periodical exhibition of a long-secluded -prisoner, in whose heart hope, and even the memory of the outer world, -were long since dead; "for there on particular days," says a certain -writer, "these victims are presented to the public eye, upon a stage -erected in the open market, apparently to prevent their guilt and -punishment from being forgotten. It is scarcely possible to witness a -sight more degrading to humanity than this exhibition:--with matted -hair, wild looks, and haggard features, with eyes dazzled by the -unwonted glare of the sun, and ears deafened and astounded by the -sudden exchange of the silence of a dungeon for the busy hum of men, -the wretches sit like rude images fashioned to a fantastic imitation of -humanity rather than like living and reflecting beings. In the course -of time we are assured they generally become either madmen or idiots, -as mind or matter happens to predominate, when the mysterious balance -between them is destroyed." - -Gray remembered to have seen these miserable captives thus exhibited, -and his heart died within him with terror, lest such might be the fate -reserved for himself. - -So the year 1448 was in its spring when he reckoned that Murielle -was no longer a girl--that in fact she would be about her -four-and-twentieth year. He strove to picture what the girl would be -now, when expanded into a woman! Would he ever see her more, or be free -to tread his native soil again? Alas! there were times when he feared -his brain would turn. - -Count Ludwig had long since been taken in the adjacent forest, after a -hard conflict between the soldiers of De Lalain and his Brabanciones, -many of whom, including Gustaf Vlierbeke, and the industrious Carl -Langfanger, were slain, and gibbeted on the trees. The wretched count -was broken alive on the wheel, before the Church of St. Genevieve. He -survived the torture for three days, before the public executioner gave -him the final _coup_ with an iron bar, and his head on a spike now -rendered the market-place of Bommel horrible to its frequenters. - -Gray heard of this barbarous execution in his prison, and he almost -envied the reckless robber, for death seemed a triumphant release from -tyranny, misery, and mental suffering. - -In February, 1448, on a dull morning, when the yellow winter fog hung -like a pall over the level scenery of the Bommelerwaard, Gray was -roused from sleep by the roar of twenty great bombards, the concussion -of which shook the old castle of Count Otho to its foundations as they -exploded in a salvo. - -Had an enemy, the French or Burgundians, attacked it suddenly? His -heart leaped with joy at the desperate hope. He rushed to the grated -window of his room, and saw in the court-yard beneath, the Dyck Graf, -with his sword and mantle, his knightly girdle and collar, mustering -and arraying his garrison in their armour, pikemen, crossbowmen, -arquebusiers, all steady Walloons and German lanzknechts. Then came -the clangour of the church bells, and cheers of a multitude without, -who seemed to be rushing through the streets towards the gate of the -fortress, while still the great brazen bombards continued to belch -forth flame and thunder from the battlements. - -"What has happened?" asked Gray, as he rushed half dressed from his -room to the court-yard. "Oh, Messire," he added to the Dyck Graf, "in -pity tell me?" - -"Only a salute, messire," replied the governor curtly, in French; but -as Gray observed, with more politeness than usually was accorded to him. - -"To whom?" - -"A demoiselle of the highest-rank." - -"But her name, Messire?" urged Gray. - -"The young queen of Scotland, who comes this way with her train," -replied the Dyck Graf. - -Gray almost gasped with joy. - -"The daughter of duke Arnold?" he inquired. - -"Yes; of Monseigneur the duke of Gueldres; she has been married to your -king at Brussels, and is now on her way to Scotland." - -"I am saved--saved at last!" exclaimed Gray, in a burst of happiness, -so genuine that even the grim De Lalain was impressed by it. "Oh, my -God, I thank thee! (oh, my Murielle!)--and--and, messire, is the king -here? - -"Tonnere de ciel! how inquisitive you have become." - -"Messire, after all I have endured you may excuse me, for many a sun -has risen and set--many a tide has ebbed and flowed since I became a -prisoner here, spending years, whose agony is known to Heaven and to -myself only!" - -"Well--the king is not here; the princess was married to him by -proxy--the chancellor of Scotland being his representative, before the -altar of St. Gudule." - -"Sir William Crichton?" - -"I think that is his name, messire; and by St. Genevieve!" he added -as the clanking iron gates were rolled back by the warders, "she -hath a brave retinue of lords and knights, and, as many of them are -your countrymen, we shall _now_ be able to verify the truth of your -statements." - -Within an hour after this, Sir Patrick Gray found himself a free man, -and surrounded by his countrymen and friends, all loyal gentlemen of -the court, who knew him well. He was cordially embraced by the old -chancellor, who presented him to the young Queen Mary, and placed him -by her side, as the captain of her husband's Royal Guard. - -Messire Jacques de Lalain, on perceiving the turn matters took with his -prisoner, began to fear that in the zealous execution of his office he -had made a mistake. He offered innumerable apologies to Gray, and as -he was not ungenerous, he presented him with a rich suit of Flemish -armour, a fine Toledo, a Spanish gennet, and a catella or chain, having -fifty links of fine gold, as an _amende_ for all he had endured. - -Of all who accompanied the chancellor, he inquired about the Douglases; -but could only learn that they were at Rome, and probably would not -return until after the great jubilee, which took place then every -fiftieth year, in honour of the foundation of Christianity. - -The young queen's train embarked at Sluys, in Scottish ships, and -crossed the German sea in safety. - -On the 1st of April, 1448, she landed at Leith, and as an illustration -of "how dull and common-place fiction is when compared with truth," the -Dyck Graf of Bommel, and Sir Patrick Gray, who had been so long and so -hopelessly his prisoner, rode side by side, as she proceeded towards -Edinburgh, and they bore over her head a canopy of cloth of gold upon -the points of their lances. - -Gray's noble horse and gorgeous armour were now as conspicuous as his -soldierly bearing and manly beauty; for both had now returned, and in -his five years of captivity the scars inflicted by the ghisarma of -Douglas had disappeared, or nearly so. - -Patrick Cockburn, of Newbigging, now provost of Edinburgh and governor -of the castle, received the queen at the head of the magistrates and -all the men of the city, in armour--"boden in effeir of weir," as it -was then termed. - -Mary was accompanied by the lord chancellor Crichton, John Raulston, -bishop of Dunkeld, who was lord privy seal, and Nicholas Otterburn, a -canon of Glasgow. The prince of Ravenstein, the marquis of Berg, and -Englebert, count of Nassau, hereditary Burg Graf of Antwerp, who were -each followed by a brilliant train of attendants, wore the collars and -mantles of the Golden Fleece. The prince bore the banner of the bride's -uncle, Philip III., surnamed the Good, duke of Burgundy. - -Then came the bishops of Liege and Cambrai, riding upon white mules, -with long footcloths. - -The king's two brothers-in-law came next, Francis, duke of Brittany -(a prince who slew his brother Giles), and the Archduke Sigismund of -Austria, each attended by knights, banners, squires, and pages, in -glittering costumes. With them came Louis II., duke of Savoy, prince of -Piedmont, and husband of the princess royal of Cyprus, with his banner -borne by the duke of Montferrat, who wore a scarlet tabard, with the -silver cross of Savoy. - -The lord of Campvere, a handsome and black-bearded man, the husband of -Mary of Scotland (fifth sister of James), came next in a suit of armour -glittering with gold carvings and precious stones. He bore a great -banner--_azure_, with the lion _or_, crowned for Gueldreland, and -_azure_ a lion _gules_ for Zutphen, impaled, with the lion of Scotland, -within its double tressure of _fleur-de-lis_. - -Herré de Meriadet, hereditary Burg Graf of the castle of Sluys, bore -the banner of the count of Nassau, _azure_ sprinkled with crosses -_argent_. Meriadet, a tall and stately man, was then famous as one -of the best knights in Europe, and the people received him with -acclamation. He wore a silver helmet of great beauty and remarkable -form, which he had struck in battle from the head of an emir of -Granada, when he served the king of Castile in his wars against the -Moors, and its snow-white plumes drooped upon his shoulders, and were -reflected on the dazzling surface of his armour, which literally blazed -in the noonday sunshine. - -Bombards were fired, and bells were loudly rung in many a sacred -edifice now numbered with the things that were; and so "with a grate -traine of knights and ladeys" (as Balfour has it), the queen was -conducted to the church of Holyrood, and there solemnly married to -the young king, then in about the nineteenth year of his age, and in -the bloom of youthful strength and comeliness; and Mary his bride -charmed the people by her girlish loveliness. They were never tired of -extolling her fair hair, which fell in golden masses on her snowy neck -and shoulders; her violet-coloured eyes, and her full yet curved lip, -which expressed the softness of love, with that firmness of character -so needed in a queen of the turbulent Scots. - -This was the second time that the houses of Scotland and the then -powerful and independent dukedom of Gueldres had been connected by -marriage. - -Alexander, son of Alexander III., espoused Margaret, daughter of Guy -de Dampierre, earl of Flanders; and had he lived, and she been queen -of Scotland, the disastrous wars of the Edwards and the victories of -Wallace and Bruce had never been heard of; but he died at Roxburgh, in -1283, when in his twentieth year. Margaret interred him at Lindores, -in the old abbey church of St. Mary, and soon after became the wife of -Reinald, the warlike duke and count of Gueldres. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -CRICHTON. - - The towers in different ages rose, - Their various architecture shows - The builders' various hands; - A mighty mass, that could oppose - When deadliest hatred fired its foes, - The vengeful Douglas bands.--MARMION. - - -Amid all the rejoicings on the occasion of this royal marriage the -heart of Gray was sad. - -Time had not lessened his love for Murielle Douglas, and he grew -sick at heart when contemplating the apparent hopelessness of his -separation from her: yet she was his wife, whom no man could take from -him, while life remained; but so broken did he become in spirit, that -notwithstanding all the barbarity and wrong he had endured from the -Douglases and their chief, there were times when he resolved to seek -the presence of the latter, and, divested of sword, dagger, and armour, -make the desperate attempt of offering his ungloved hand, "which," as -the chancellor told him with a grimace, "he might as safely thrust into -the mouth of a hungry tiger." - -The young monarch, who loved Gray and pitied him for his story, heaped -favours upon him, such as fine horses, rich armour, purses, and swords, -enabling him to appear to the best advantage among the brilliant -foreign chivalry by whom the Scottish court was then crowded--knights -who were the flower of France, Bretagne, Gueldres, and Burgundy--men -whose sons were to win the great battles of Charles the Bold, and to -die by his side on the field of Campo Basso. - -To all whom he trusted the manner of James II. was most winning; it was -the old hereditary charm of his family, who seemed never to forget the -maxim,--the higher the head the humbler the heart. - -For his diplomatic services in this marriage and other matters, -Crichton, as already mentioned, had been created a peer of the realm; -and when the beauty of the young queen and the dowry she brought are -considered, he had some reason to congratulate himself on a result so -successful. - -Philip of Burgundy bound himself to pay his niece, the bride, sixty -thousand pounds in gold, as a portion merely of her dower, while James -settled upon her ten thousand crowns, secured on land in Atholl, -Methven, Stratharn, and Linlithgow; and he relinquished all claim to -the duchy of Gueldres, after which a league offensive and defensive was -concluded between that province, the kingdoms of Scotland, France, and -the dukedom of Burgundy. - -A series of brilliant tournaments were held in honour of these events; -and the Dyck Graf of Bommel, with his brother, Messire Simon de Lalain, -with Messire Herré de Meriadet, Burg Graf of Sluys, three Burgundian -lords of high descent and esteemed valour, challenged "an equal number -of Scottish chivalry to joust with lance and sword, battle-axe and -dagger." - -This defiance was promptly responded to by a knight named Sir James -Douglas, James Douglas, Lord of Lochlevin, and Sir John Ross of -Halkhead, constable of Renfrew. The latter was attended by Sir Patrick -Gray, while Sir Thomas MacLellan and Romanno of that Ilk attended the -other two, ready to take part in the _mêlée_ if the strife became a -bloody one. A space near the castle rock of Stirling was selected for -the lists, and gaily-decorated galleries were erected for the king, the -queen, and court, the lords and barons of parliament. - -On the appointed day, the six champions, after hearing mass, presented -themselves, clad in velvet and cloth of gold, before the king, and -after each had made a low reverence, they retired to six painted -pavilions to arm; after which, lanced, horsed, and in full and splendid -armour, with closed helmets, they entered the lists at opposite -extremities; and when twelve brass trumpets made the summer sky and -castle rock re-echo to their united blast, the knights rushed on each -other, three against three. - -"For Scotland!" shouted Ross and the Douglases. - -"Vivat Burgundie!" replied Meriadet and the De Lalains. - -Such were the war-cries on each side. - -Their tough ash spears were splintered in an instant, the fragments -springing high in air from the ringing coats of tempered steel. -Panting and quivering, with flashing eyes and snorting nostrils, the -gaily-trapped horses recoiled upon their straining haunches, till -wheeled round, and urged forward again, by spur and knee, by voice and -bridle, and fiercely the combat was renewed, as the six knights closed -up, hand to hand, with flashing swords and swaying battle-axes. - -Sir James Douglas and Sir John Ross, and the Dyck Graf and Simon de -Lalain, were so equally matched that not one of them could obtain the -least advantage over the other, though they fought till all their -armour was defaced, and, save Douglas's dagger, all their weapons were -broken; but Herré de Meriadet, by one blow of his battle-axe, unhorsed -the lord of Lochlevin, as he had formerly done the emir of Granada, and -hurled him to the ground. - -On seeing this, and fearing the conflict might have a disastrous -termination, the king, at Crichton's request, threw down his truncheon, -and the jousts were ended, just as Gray, MacLellan, and Romanno were -about to join in the _mêlée_ with the three Burgundian squires. - -So passed this year, and then came the next, in which rumour reached -the Scottish court of how the turbulent earl of Douglas and his -warlike followers comported themselves in the Eternal City, during -the festivities which opened with the year of the Jubilee, 1450; for -there the Scottish knights, who wore the red heart on their helmets -and surcoats, became involved in a brawl with the Roman populace on -the crowded bridge of St. Angelo, and betook them to their lances, -swords, and mauls as freely as if they had been in the High Street -of Edinburgh, or the Broad Wynd of Stirling, and played the devil in -the capital of his holiness, spearing and trampling the people under -foot; and they it was who caused that tremendous pressure by which, as -history records, ninety-seven persons were killed at the end of the -bridge, by being simply crushed to death. - -Pope Nicholas V., who had lately succeeded the unfortunate Eugene, was -so inspired by indignation, that all hope of a fuller dispensation for -the earl and his countess was at an end. There too were dissipated -all the poor abbot of Tongland's expectations of having the prince of -darkness restored to favour, for, as he records in his papers, the -very name of "Douglace gart ye paip to scunner;" so, in despair, he -committed to the flames the memorial he had prepared on behalf of his -ubiquitous protégé, and abandoned his pet project for the time. - -Then, to the infinite satisfaction of Murielle, the earl, separated -from the duke of Albany, and hearing how high his rival Crichton stood -in favour at the Scottish court, and that, under Romanno, troops had -been sent into Galloway to ravage the Douglas lands, and punish their -disorderly occupants, he returned secretly and with all speed homeward, -for the express purpose of cutting off the chancellor by the strong -hand, and more than ever determined on carrying out his old schemes of -vengeance. - -Passing through England in the spring of the year, after some -treasonable correspondence with Henry VI., he arrived in Scotland, -and, unknown to Crichton, secretly ensconced himself at Dalkeith, the -castle of his kinsman, James, third lord of Dalkeith, while Achanna -and another follower, bribed by the proffer of a gauntlet filled with -silver crowns, watched the movements of the chancellor, who was then -suffering from ill health, his advanced years, and the cares of the -state, and who resided in the castle of Edinburgh. An opportunity for -mischief soon presented itself. - -It chanced that on Lady Day, in March, the chancellor left his -residence to visit his own house of Crichton, which stands about -twelve miles south from the city. He was accompanied by Sir Patrick -Gray, Sir Thomas MacLellan, Romanno, constable of Edinburgh Castle and -master of the king's ordnance, Patrick Lord Glammis, and about twenty -gentlemen, all well mounted and armed. - -The day was fine and clear, the sharp March winds blustered through -the hollows and swept the last year's leaves before it over the -uplands, where the fresh soil glittered in the sunshine, and where the -hoodie-crow searched in the furrows for worms; the birds were singing -in the hedgerows, where the buds were springing into greenness; the air -was mild and cool, the fields were assuming a verdant hue, though the -brown spoil of the departed year lay damp and rotting in the mountain -runnels, and along the sedgy banks of loch and stream. The rich aroma -of the land came on the passing breeze, that shook the old woods of -Drumshelch and Dalrigh. - -Over miles of land now covered by the "modern Athens," for ages into -times unknown and far beyond the knowledge or record of man, the -oaks of these old woods shook down their autumn leaves upon the lair -of the elk, the snow-white mountain bull, and of those ferocious -Scottish bears, which in after-days, as Martial tells us, were used -by the pagan Romans to increase the torture of those Christians who -perished on the cross. Drumshelch was one of those old primeval -forests, from which the first dwellers in the land named themselves -Coille-dhoinean--CALEDONIANS, or the men of the woods. - -Though the month was March, the season having been moist, the peasantry -were consigning the whins to the flames, though such was contrary to -the law of James I., and the white smoke of the muir-burn, as it was -named, rolled along the hills of Braid and the more distant slopes of -the Pentlands like a mimic conflagration. - -It was spring, and one of the most delightful days of the season, when -men's hearts grow buoyant, they scarcely know why. Even Gray felt its -influence, for it gave him new emotions of pleasure and of hope. It was -little more than the commencement of a new year; but it was one the -end of which none could foresee. He had heard that the Douglases were -returning. How little could he imagine that Murielle was then only six -miles distant from him, where the strong old castle of Dalkeith, from -its wooded slope, overlooked the lovely Esks. - -He conversed gaily with the knights and gentlemen of the chancellor's -train, as they rode down the steep winding street, named the Bow, and -passed to the eastward along a narrow way between hedgerows, which -bordered the city on the south in the long deep hollow, on the opposite -bank of which then stood only one edifice--the solitary church of St. -Mary-in-the-Field, surrounded by its burying-ground. It was a lonely -bridle-road this path through the hollow--a place where the birds -carolled by day, the glow-worms glittered by night, and the brown -rabbits started from side to side at all times. - -Three crow-stepped and gable-ended edifices, then standing far apart, -were there. One belonged to Richard Lundy, then a monk, and afterwards -abbot of Melrose; another was a little chapel of Holyrood which stood -at the foot of St. Giles's churchyard; the third was an old farmhouse. - -This narrow and solitary hedgerow was then the southgate and the future -Cowgate of Edinburgh. - -As the chancellor and his train issued from it into the more open -country, they took no heed of two armed horsemen--for all men in -Scotland went armed--who left the city before them, and who, after -frequently looking back, as if reckoning their number and watching -their route, disappeared at full speed to the southward. - -At a rapid pace our friends crossed the ridge of Kirk-Liberton, -passing between the fortlet of the Winrams and the holy well of St. -Catherine. They crossed both the wooded Esks, and ascended the long -line of cultivated hill, then an open waste, known as the Roman camp -of Agricola, where the mounds and trenches which his warriors dug -in the year 80 may still be distinctly traced; and then southward -in the distance, the chancellor's retinue could see his castle of -Crichton on the western slope of a green eminence, where its walls and -towers, a glorious relic of Scotland's stormy days, all built of red -coloured freestone, glowed ruddily in the light of the evening sun. -And this feudal fortress appeared to rise higher on its steep as the -proprietor's train descended into the deep and marshy valley which it -overhangs. - -Crichton is a vast quadrangular fortress, exhibiting in its stone -staircases and arcaded court, wonderful architectural beauty and great -strength, as it adjoined that part of the wild and lawless border-land -which lay nearest to the Scottish capital. Toned down by time, its -corroded carvings, so rich and so florid in their details, impress with -astonishment the wanderer who comes suddenly in view of its mouldering -remains, as they stand in a lonely glen, remote and secluded alike -from road and railway, from tourist and traveller. A fallen tower has -now choked up the terrible _massy-more_ or secret dungeon, and the -chambers where Mary Stuart and Bothwell held high revelry--where the -lady of Hailes wept for the slaughter of her lord and all his kindred -at Flodden, and where the wily old chancellor wove his plans for the -downfall of the Douglases, are now roofless and windowless--the abode -of the fox and the fuimart--the ravenous gled and the hoodie-crow. - -As the chancellor's train, all of whom being men of rank were in bright -armour, rode by the narrow bridle-path, between the green pastoral -hills, and entered Crichtondean, through which flows a sluggish -streamlet, known as the Scottish Tyne, but which becomes a rushing -river when it reaches the ocean at Dunbar, they were soon visible to -the inmates of the castle, several of whom waved their handkerchiefs -from the keep, where the great bell was rung and a banner displayed, -while the Milan plate and steel of the visitors were seen to glitter in -the sunlight, between the masses of alder tree which _then_ clothed the -now bare and desolate sides of the narrow valley. - -Those white handkerchiefs were waved by the chancellor's lady, who -had so kindly nursed Sir Patrick Gray, his daughters, Agnes, wife of -Alexander, master of Glammis, and Elizabeth, afterwards Countess of -Huntly, two of the most beautiful women of the time, who were on the -bartizan with several of their friends and attendants. But as their -father, with his retinue, banner, and horsemen, disappeared where the -alder-woods grew thickest, they heard a tumultuous shout, the sound of -a trumpet, and the clamour of many voices, ascending to their ears on -the breeze of the valley. - -Conversing merrily with Sir Patrick Gray, the old chancellor rode -his ambling nag at an easy pace, with a favourite hawk, the gift -of his neighbour, the Knight of Locharwart, perched on his bridle -hand. Trusting in the strength and character of his retinue, in his -diplomatic rank, to his many ripe years, and the supposed absence -of his enemies, he was without armour, and wore a long black velvet -cassock-coat, which was sufficiently open to show an undershirt -of white satin slashed with red, and secured at the waist by an -embroidered baldrick, at which hung a heavy sword and Parmese dagger, -the hilt of which was composed of a single crystal. His long white hair -escaped from under his Scottish bonnet of black velvet, and floated on -the tippet of miniver which covered his shoulders and was clasped at -the throat by a jewel. - -He pointed to the great column of smoke which ascended from the chimney -of the kitchen-tower, and laughed while reminding his friends of the -good cheer which awaited after their ride over the hills on a clear -March day; but something less easy of digestion in the shape of cold -iron awaited them; for at the narrow part of the road, where it took an -abrupt turn, and where, as already stated, the alderwood grew thickest, -there arose a sudden shout, in front and on both flanks, while a band -of men-at-arms, lanced, horsed, and with closed helmets, rushed upon -them from an ambush. - -"Jamais arrière! a Douglas! a Douglas! Revenge for the Black Dinner!" - -These shouts made all acquainted with whom they had to deal. Gray, -MacLellan, Romanno, and others, shut down their helmets, and betook -them to sword, axe, and "morning star," as those ponderous maces borne -by knights at their saddle-bows were named. - -Two of their unexpected assailants had coronets of jewels upon their -helmets, and all had their coats-of-arms, but chiefly the terrible _Red -Heart and three stars_, painted on their breastplates. All knew their -foes in an instant, as heraldry was a science in which every gentleman -was then well versed. - -"To your swords, gentlemen; forward, and break through this pack of -knaves!" exclaimed the old chancellor, tossing his hawk into the air, -as he knew it would wing its way straight home. Then drawing his sword, -he added, "Help yourselves, sirs, and Heaven will help you!" - -There was a tremendous shock in the rough and narrow pathway, a -clashing of swords, and the dull, dinting crash of iron maces and mauls -on steel casques and shoulder-plates; several men fell to rise no more, -and many were severely wounded. The chancellor was the aim of all the -Douglases. Gray and MacLellan stood nobly by his side, yet he received -many severe wounds, till he became almost maddened by pain and the -prospect of a cruel death at the hands of his bitterest enemies. - -"Then," says Buchanan, "the Lord Crichton, though an aged peer, slew -the first man who assaulted him, passed his sword through a second, and -leading a charge of his retinue, broke right through the Douglases;" -but just as he was sinking with fatigue and loss of blood, Sir Patrick -Gray, by his battle-axe, broke the arm of one assailant, clove the -helmet of another, and drew the chancellor across the saddle of his -own charger, a powerful Clydesdale war-horse, presented to him by the -king, and calling to MacLellan, Lord Glammis, and Romanno, to "cover -his retreat, and keep the foe in check," he galloped up the steep and -winding path which led to the castle, and deposited his now senseless -friend in the arms of his terrified daughters. Pell-mell up the grassy -slope, fighting every foot of the way, but in full flight, their -friends were now driven by the victorious Douglases, who were more -than a hundred strong, till they reached the chancellor's fortress, -when its gates received them, and then a shot or two skilfully -discharged from a culverin by Gray and Romanno drove them off, -brandishing their weapons and shaking their mailed hands in token of -future vengeance. Ere they went one opened his helmet and displaying -the dark and swarthy face of the great earl, exclaimed hoarsely, "Hark -ye, my lord chancellor: I have drawn once more my father's sword, and -by St. Mary, and St. Bryde of Douglas, I will not leave James Stuart -one foot of Scottish ground--nay, not even the moat-hill of Scone. By -our blessed Lord, before whom this relic of St. Bryde is holy, I swear -it! so judge what shall become of _thee!_" - -And with these terrible words, after kissing an amulet which hung at -his neck, he galloped away, and with his followers disappeared down -Crichtondean. - -In this rough mode did Gray, for the first time, learn that the -Douglases were again in Scotland, and that Murielle must now have -returned. - -He had now ample scope for thought, reflection, and for daring schemes, -which he knew not how to put in operation. - -After this rash escapade, the Earl of Douglas retired to Thrave, in -Galloway, and for some time the chancellor remained in his stronghold, -until his wounds were healed and he could return to court. - -By this epoch the reader must have begun to perceive what a pleasant -time a Scottish statesman must have had of it in those old feudal days. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -KING JAMES II. - - Oh, men of Scotland, though you cannot raise - Your long past monarchs from the silent bier; - Their deeds are worthy of your highest praise, - And simple gratitude demands a tear. - Let no base slander on their memory fall, - Nor malice of their little faults complain; - They were such men as, take them all and all, - We ne'er shall look upon their like again! - - WRITTEN IN 1771. - - -James II. was one of that old race of kings whom the now forgotten -bard, above quoted, called upon posterity to remember. At this period -of our story he had reached his twenty-first year, but experience -had already made him older. The sole blemish to his very handsome -countenance was that small red spot which won him the sobriquet of -James with the fiery face. He was considerably above the middle height, -and was firmly knit in form; his eyebrows were strongly marked, and a -dark glossy moustache, curling round his finely cut mouth, mingled with -a short peaked beard. His rich brown hair hung, in the profusion of the -time, over his ears, in thick masses called "side locks." He was rapid -in thought, bold in speech, and prompt in action, fiery and impetuous -in temper; resolute and even desperate in avenging a wrong; and of his -wild impulsive nature, his most unruly subject, the Earl of Douglas, -was, ere long, to have a terrible proof; but yet, like the Moorish -knight of Granada, James was said to be, - - Like steel amid the din of arms, - Like wax when with the fair. - -Some weeks after the outrage which closes the last chapter, on a day -when the sun of June, by its golden light and genial heat, was ripening -the young corn in many a fertile haugh, and on many a swelling eminence -where now the modern city spreads its streets and squares, James was -seated in one of the upper chambers of David's Tower, in the Castle of -Edinburgh. It was the same in which King David died on the 7th May, -eighty years before, and in memory of him there still hung above the -fireplace the mail shirt and barrel-shaped helmet which he had worn at -the battle of Durham. - -The vaulted apartment was gloomy, and through the basket-shaped -gratings of the windows which faced the east the rays of the summer sun -came slanting in, filling one portion with strong light, and leaving -the other involved in dusky shadow. - -Clad in a long scarlet dressing-gown, trimmed with miniver, the king -was reclining in an armed chair, with his feet on a velvet tabourette. -In his hand, bound in painted vellum, and elaborately clasped with -silver, was one of those old French metrical romances which had been -translated into Scottish for him by Sir Gilbert the Haye, who was -chamberlain to Charles VII. of France; but his thoughts ran not upon -its lines, nor the fighting giants, cunning dwarfs, wandering knights, -and castles of burnished steel which filled its pages; neither was -he attending to the mass of yellow parchments and papers which the -high treasurer, and Lord Glammis, the master of the household, were -arranging for his inspection; nor was he heeding the occasional remarks -of his favourite, the Captain of the Guard, who, clad in half armour, -lounged in the recess of a window; but the king's face confessed, by -the sadness of its expression, that his thoughts were at Stirling, -where his beautiful young queen--his golden-haired Mary d'Egmont, of -Gueldres--was confined to her chamber, sick and ill and weary, after -the premature birth of her first baby, which died two hours after it -came into the world, to the great disappointment of the king and nation. - -The great battle of Sark had been recently fought on the borders, -and there fifty thousand English, led by "the stoute Earl of -Northumberland," had been routed by less than thirty thousand Scots, -with the loss of Sir John Pennington and Sir Magnus Red Main, two of -the most celebrated soldiers of Henry VI.; and now, from the window at -which Gray stood in David's Tower, he could see far down below, where -several thousand labourers were daily and nightly at work, enclosing -the capital by its _first_ walls, with embattled gates upon the south, -east, and west; and, for defence on the north, others were converting -the old royal gardens in the valley into a sheet of water--the -Nor'loch of future times; these protections for the city being among -the earliest measures of the young and politic monarch, "in dread of -the evil and skaith of oure ennemies of England," as he states in his -charter to the citizens, who loved him for his valiant conduct and -fatherly care of them. - -"I am well nigh sick of hearing so many petty items," said the -king, wearily, interrupting Andrew, abbot of Melrose, the lord high -treasurer, a tall, pale-visaged, and sharp-eyed man (on whose white -head time had long since marked a permanent _tonsure_), who had been -reading over several papers for his information; "yet I suppose I must -hear them: say, lord abbot, how stands our privy purse?" - -"I have disbursed to-day to foreign heralds one hundred and fifty -pounds," replied the treasurer. - -"Heralds! On what errand?" - -"They came on the part of Henry of England, to ransom Lord -Northumberland's son, who was wounded and taken prisoner at Sark by -Sir Thomas MacLellan; who had already ransomed him for the value of -his horse and armour," replied the abbot. "Shall I read on?" The king -nodded, and the abbot proceeded in this manner, jumbling all kinds of -items strangely together. "'Item: for your highness's new suit of Milan -harness 20_lb._' 'For eight score and eighteen runlets of wine from a -Fleming of the Dam, to wit, Master Baudoin of Antwerp, 500_lb._' For -silken stuffs, furs, minivers, spices, and sweetmeats, for the queen's -household, paid to John Vanderberg of Bruges at the fair of Dundee, -800_lb._'" - -"Good, my lord--and the total?" said the king. - -"Maketh 1480_lb._," replied the treasurer after a pause. - -"By St. Andrew! we shall have but little left to keep those Douglases -in check on the one hand, and those pestilent English on the other, if -our household accounts go thus," said James, with a dubious smile. - -"'To your highness's chamberlain in Mar, for driving all your brood -mares from Strathavon to Strathdon, 5_sh._'" resumed the treasurer, -reading very fast to avoid interruption; and then followed innumerable -other items, all written in obsolete Scottish (which, like our -dialogues, we translate), such as twenty-nine weeks' pay to the king's -falconer; to the master gunner of Lochmaben, for stone and iron cannon -balls, and for repairs; to Sir John Romanno for a thousand bowstaves; -to Henry, the smith, for dies for the new coinage; to the keepers of -the balefires along the borders; for garrisons there, and for the -hanging of those who supplied the English with horses or cattle; to the -driver of the oxen when the ten bombardes of the wine of Gascony came -from Perth for the court's summer drink---- - -"And were intercepted by the earl of Douglas, or some of his reivers, -and drunk in Thrave," commented the king. - -"To the hunter of wolves in Stirling Park, for three wolves' heads laid -at the outer gate, 18 pennies, according to the act of parliament. This -closes the record; but the monks of Holyrood have sent your majesty a -thousand silver crowns." - -"That is well," said the king, who had long since relinquished his -romance in despair; "but the lord abbot hath twenty-seven parish -churches, and might, at this emergency, have lent me a trifle more." - -"Perhaps; but even with all the altar-offerings, lesser tithes, pasque -presents, and dues for baptism, marriage, and funerals, there is but -little left to give after the yearly expenses of so great a monastery -are paid." - -"There spoke a brother abbot, and _not_ a treasurer," said the king -laughing, while the churchman coloured as he tied up his rolls with a -ribbon. "Laus Deo! I am thankful we have come to an end; but we shall -need all the money we can collect, my lord." - -"True; for evil tidings are on the wind," said Lord Glammis, -approaching a single pace and pausing. - -"Of what--or whom?" asked James, with a louring eye. - -"The Douglases again." - -Sir Patrick Gray started from his reverie to listen. - -"What of them now?" asked the king impatiently. - -"Sir Alan Lauder and a man named James Achanna, both followers of the -earl, have slain a king's vassal within the Holy Gyrth of Lesmahago." - -"Treason! But that is a mere nothing now," said James bitterly. - -"And worse than treason, for it is sacrilege!" added the abbot of -Melrose, with gathering wrath. "When your highness's sainted ancestor, -King David I., in the pious times of old, granted that cell unto the -monks of Kelso, he wrote, that 'whoso escaping peril of life and limb -flies to the said cell, or cometh within the four crosses around it, in -reverence to God and St. Machute, _I grant him my firm peace_.'" - -"And so they violated this holy sanctuary?" said James. - -"Yes; and hewed the poor man to pieces with their Jethart axes." - -"His offence?" - -"Was wearing the royal livery,--being the gudeman of your majesty's -mills at Carluke." - -The king started up, and was about to utter some hasty speech, when a -smart little page, clad in a violet-coloured doublet, with long hose of -white silk, drew back the tapestry which overhung the arched door, and -announced that the lord chancellor craved an audience in haste. - -"Admit him," said James, advancing a step, as the old statesman, pale -and thin from the effect of his recent wounds and by the advance of -years, entered, propped upon a long silver-headed staff. "You look -grave, my lord," added the king; "but I pray you to be seated." - -"I have evil tidings," began the chancellor, hobbling forward and -coughing violently. - -"The very words of my Lord Glammis," said the king; "can aught else -come to the ear of him who wears a Scottish crown?" he added, biting -his nether lip. - -"Say not so, after our late glorious victory at Sark!" exclaimed the -chancellor; "but, nevertheless, I _have_ evil news," he added, taking -from the velvet pouch which hung at his embroidered girdle several -letters, folded square, and tied with ribbons, in the fashion of the -time. "I have two grave matters to lay before your majesty. We are more -than ever humbled and insulted by this overweening earl of Douglas, -and, through you, the entire nation! The king of Scotland," continued -the chancellor, warming and striking the floor with his cane, "is the -fountain of Scottish honour, and thus I maintain, that if the king -is insulted so are _we_; for if a stream be polluted at its source, -every rill that flows from it becomes so too; but we must end these -matters by the sword--we must wipe out our wrongs in blood, and regild -our tarnished blazons in the reddest that flows in the veins of our -enemies, the men of Douglas-dale and Galloway!" - -"These wild men are yet untamed," said the tall thin treasurer, shaking -his bald head. - -"But _not_ untameable," responded the fiery old chancellor, with a -spark of rage in his hollow eyes. - -"To the point, my lords, under favour of the king," said Sir Patrick -Gray, gnawing his moustache in his impatience. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -A LADLEFUL OF GOLD. - - Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loon, - Nor shalt thou yield to me; - But yield thee to the braken bush - That grows on yon lilye lee.--OLD BALLAD. - - -"What more have I to hear of this false noble and his followers?" said -the king, after briefly, and to Gray's great annoyance, rehearsing the -whole story of the murder of his vassal, the miller of Carluke, in the -sanctuary of Lesmahago. - -"The earl has lawlessly seized, and ignominiously imprisoned, in his -hold of Thrave, a good and loyal servant of your majesty." - -"That is nothing new; but what is his name?" asked James, grasping the -arms of the chair, and thrusting aside the tabourette with his foot, -while his hazel eyes flashed fire with anger, and his dark brows were -knit. - -"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie," replied the chancellor, with grave -energy. - -"My friend--the Lieutenant of my Guard!" - -"My brave kinsman!" - -Such were the exclamations of the king and of Sir Patrick Gray, who had -come from the sunny recess of the window, and in deep anxiety stood -near the chancellor's chair to listen. In his anger, James snatched -from the table his amber rosary and dagger of mercy, as if about to -utter some vague threat or malediction, and then cast them from him, -though the latter was the gift of his brother-in-law, Sigismund of -Austria, and was hilted by a single agate. - -"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie," resumed the chancellor, gravely and -earnestly, "your majesty's steward of Kirkcudbright, is now a prisoner -in the castle of Thrave manacled with the heaviest chains MacKim, the -earl's smith, can forge, and hourly is menaced with death." - -"And wherefore has this been done?" - -"The whole of this new outrage is detailed to me in a letter from the -abbot of Tongland, who has at _last_--the pedantic fool! the very -dunce!--(excuse me, my lord abbot of Melrose)--abandoned the earl, his -chief, and has secluded himself in his abbey, despairing, I presume, of -the reformation of Douglas, as of that of the devil himself, concerning -whom he so lately visited Rome." - -From the letters of the abbot, the lord chancellor then proceeded to -relate that there were three reasons for this capture and imprisonment -of the Steward of Kirkcudbright. The _first_ was, that Sir Thomas, who -was chief of a powerful Celtic tribe, possessing all the peninsula -between the Dee and the Solway, had taken part with the late Sir -Herbert Herries, of Terregles, his kinsman, against the Douglases, and -had thereby excited the ready wrath of the earl. The _second_ cause of -hatred was, that he had borne a letter from the Captain of the King's -Guard to the Lady Murielle Douglas, and had shot it to her feet by an -arrow, as she was walking near the castle wall of Thrave. The _third_, -that he had refused to join a league, and sign a bond for levying war -against the king. For these three causes the earl, taking advantage of -MacLellan being at his own castle of Raeberry, whither he had retired -in consequence of a sword-wound received from Lord Piercy at the battle -of Sark, despatched three hundred men-at-arms under James Achanna to -bring him dead or alive to Thrave, after sacking and demolishing his -residence. - -Achanna marched on this lawless mission; but true to his infamous -nature, he preferred fraud to force. Raeberry, of which there now -remains but a deep fosse, overhung a dreadful precipice, on the bluffs -of which the united waves of the Solway Frith and the Atlantic pour -their fury. It was deemed impregnable, and was protected on the north -by a strong rampart, a drawbridge, and a deep trench. Achanna, aware -of these difficulties on one side, and perils on all the rest, seduced -one of the warders--a man in whom MacLellan trusted most--by promising, -that if he would leave the secret postern open, "for a single hour, -upon a certain night, he should have a ladleful of gold." - -The wretch agreed. The wicket was left unbarred, Achanna and his band -rushed in, overpowered the inmates of Raeberry, and dragged Sir Thomas -from bed, severely wounding his nephew, William MacLellan, a brave boy, -who fought to save him. On finding that he had been betrayed by his -most trusted servant, and to the Douglases, Sir Thomas exclaimed in the -bitterness of his heart,-- - -"Wretch--oh, wretch! mayest thou live to feel the despair that wrung -the heart of Judas when he flung to the accursed Jews their thirty -pieces of silver." - -At these words, the abashed warder shrunk back, but the hireling -Achanna laughed loudly, and ordering his prisoner to be bound with -cords, conveyed him on horseback to Thrave, where the imperious -Douglas, after loading him with fetters, insults, and opprobrium, -thrust him into the dungeon. - -"All these outrages, to a steward of our stewardry--a loyal knight and -baron--the Lieutenant of our Guard!" exclaimed the king, in mingled -tones of regret and rage; "verily the time has come for me to exchange -my crown either for a helmet, or for the tonsure of a shaven friar. -And this dog of a warder----" - -"Met with the stipulated reward of his treachery, and in a manner -little to his liking, on presenting himself next evening at Thrave to -receive the promised bribe." - -"'Thou shalt have it, false limmer,--every farthing,--yea, godspenny -and principal,' said Douglas, sternly; 'though in a way, I trow, but -little to your advantage.'" - -"'How, my lord?'" asked the trembling wretch. - -"'Molten hot, and poured down your dog's-throat, to warn my warders of -Thrave what they may expect if they so betrayed _me_, and not to sleep -with their doors unlatched. Away with him to the kitchen, and let this -be his doom!'" - -"In vain did the wretch shriek for mercy on his bended knees; he was -dragged to the kitchen of the castle, and there the commands of the -earl were literally and awfully obeyed. The skimming-ladle of the great -pot was filled with new gold _lions_ (each of which had the image of -St. Andrew on one side, and a lion rampant on the other); after being -molten to a seething mass, they were poured down the throat of the -warder, and in ten minutes after, his mutilated corpse was flung into -the gallows slot."[3] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[Footnote 3: The metal was molten by the command of Douglas, and poured -down his throat; and thus he received both his reward and punishment at -the same time.--"History of Galloway," 1841, vol. i.] - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -THE BOND. - - Let never man be bold enough to say-- - Thus, and no further, shall my passion stray; - The first crime past compels us into more, - And guilt grows _fate_, that was but _choice_ before. - - AARON HILL. - - -The silence of a minute was, perhaps, the most severe comment which -followed this story of more than Oriental barbarity. Indignation made -the fiery young king almost speechless. He snatched from the table -one of those Beauvais goblets, which were then greatly esteemed and -were mounted with silver-gilt. It was full of water, and he drank it -thirstily. - -"My brave kinsman--so young, so faithful, and so merry!" exclaimed Sir -Patrick Gray, with more of grief than anger in his tone; "I would give -my life to save his; for it must be in imminent peril." - -"No such sacrifice will be necessary," said the king; "we shall -write to this daring lord, commanding him at once, on peril of -his allegiance, to yield up Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie to our -messenger, and set him forth of Thrave." - -"But who," asked the chancellor, "will be daring enough to bear such a -message into the wilds of Galloway, beyond the land of the Annandale -thieves?" - -"That will I, and blithely, too: MacLellan would do as much for me," -replied Sir Patrick, with energy. - -"Reflect, my friend; a royal herald were safer," said the king. "You -are the enemy of Douglas in more ways than one." - -"How, your highness? I am not wont to reflect much in time of peril." - -"True, Sir Patrick; but this mission becomes doubly one of life and -death, and of many perils to you; for loyalty to me is, perhaps, your -smallest crime in the eyes of Douglas," said the king. - -"Then I have reflected. Douglas shall release my father's sister's son, -or I shall cleave him to the beard in his own hall!" exclaimed Gray, -with a sudden burst of passion. - -"That would not mend the matter much; and I should only be in thee but -one faithful subject the less, and faithful subjects are rather scarce -at present. Alas! my valiant friend, this strong traitor is likely to -hang thee like a faulty hound--even as he hanged the gentle and noble -Herries of Terregles." - -"I have given my word to ride on this perilous errand, and, with your -majesty's permission, go I shall," said Gray, resolutely. - -"Good," said the chancellor, striking his long cane on the oak floor; -"a soldier's word is his bond for weal or woe." - -"In the cause of our king and kindred, I will do all that MacLellan -would, were he free. Oh! your highness, write at once; furnish me -with due credentials; time in this is precious, and the waste of it -perilous!" - -"When shall you depart on this mission?" - -"So soon as I can get my horse and armour; within an hour, I shall have -left these new walls of Edinburgh many a mile behind me." - -"'Tis well--good service is ever promptly done." - -"I am the subject and soldier of your majesty," replied Gray, bowing -with modest confidence. - -"And a faithful one!" added the king, giving his hand to his favourite, -who was now in his thirty-fifth year, with a fine martial face, a -clear bright eye, and a heart that was brave as it was tender and -true. "But know you the language of these wild men among whom you are -venturing--the _fremit_ Scots of Galloway?" - -"I know but little more than our Lowland tongue, with a smattering of -Flemish and French, picked up when I had more leisure than desire to -learn them--the castle of Bommel; yet I can make a shift to use others, -too, that are more universally known." - -"How?" - -"I can make love to the women and show my purse to the men," said Gray, -with a gaiety that was half assumed; "I'll warrant they will both -understand me." - -"I fear me, Sir Patrick, you may have to show your sword more -frequently, on a king's errand though you be; but within an hour a -letter shall be prepared." - -"And within that time, with the permission of your highness, I shall be -armed and mounted," said Gray, bowing low again and retiring in haste. - -There was a momentary silence after this, for the mission on which -Gray was departing was one of great peril to himself. Indeed, as Lord -Glammis observed, "he was the last man in Scotland who should have -undertaken it." - -"Chancellor," said the king suddenly, "you spoke of a bond, or league, -as a _third_ cause for the hatred of Douglas against Sir Thomas -MacLellan. What is this document?" - -"A matter so formidable, so seriously affecting the welfare of the -realm, and the honour of your crown, that I know not in what language -to approach it; but the abbot of Tongland has sent me a copy of the -actual deed." - -The manner of Crichton became so grave and earnest that the king -changed colour, and the master of the household and the abbot of -Melrose, who remained silent and somewhat apart, exchanged glances -expressive of interest and alarm. - -"Say on," said James briefly, and striking the floor with his heel. - -"The earl of Douglas, for the aggrandisement of his power and family, -has formed a league offensive and defensive with the earls of Crawford -and Rosse--a league by which he hopes to bid complete defiance to -your royal authority, and to bring _forty thousand men at a day's -notice_ into the field against it; and to this compact they have bound -themselves by rebellious and sacrilegious but solemn and terrible -oaths, that each shall aid and assist the others and their friends -against the _whole world_." - -The chancellor then handed to James a duplicate of this remarkable -bond, which was signed and sealed by Douglas; by Alexander (with the -long beard), earl of Crawford, who was surnamed the Tiger, and was -sheriff of Aberdeen, and bailiff of Scone; Donald, earl of Rosse and -lord of the Isles; Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond; James Dunbar, earl of -Murray; Douglas, Lord Balvenie; James Hamilton, lord of Cadzow, and -many others of the highest rank. - -On beholding this terrible bond, James felt for a moment as if the -crown which had come to him from a long line of monarchs was about to -be torn from his head. He grew very pale, then perceiving that the -keen and deeply-set eyes of his stern, faithful, and uncompromising -chancellor were fixed upon him, he rallied his spirits and said, "This -must be crushed in the bud, lest in its bloom it crush us." - -"And to crush it we must first dissemble, and take these rebels in -detail--break the rods separately which while in a bundle might defy -our efforts." - -"I must have a _personal_ interview with this daring earl of Douglas," -said the king, "even if I condescend to ride to Thrave for it. But -meanwhile Gray shall bear to him three documents----" - -"Three?" reiterated Crichton, looking up. - -"He shall be written to intreating, rather than demanding, the release -of Sir Thomas MacLellan, who refused to join this infamous league. -I shall entrust Gray with a second missive containing a summons to -a conference, and assuring Douglas of a restoration to favour, and -forgiveness for the past, provided he break this bond, and as a -guarantee----" - -"Yes--yes," interrupted the old chancellor, grinding his almost -toothless gums; "he will require something of that kind, while the -memory of that 23rd of November, 1440, is fresh in Galloway." - -"Then as a security the earl shall have a letter of safe conduct, to -and from the castle of Stirling, signed by our own hand. Let this be -seen to at once," and the king, as if weary of the morning, but in -reality crushed and overwhelmed by its terrible revelations, retired to -another room, muttering as he did so, "Oh, my poor father, who perished -by the swords of regicides! how happier would I be if seated with you -at the feet of God, than on this throne of Scotland?" - -So thought James II. in 1450; how many of his descendants had better -reason to utter the same bitter prayer, ere throne, and crown, and -sceptre passed away from them. - -Exactly one hour after the king retired, Sir Patrick Gray, carefully -armed and splendidly mounted, departed on perilous, and--considering -the state of the country, the lack of fords, roads, bridges, and -hostelries--distant journey of ninety old Scottish miles. Over his suit -of mail he wore a surcoat, on which the royal arms were embroidered -to show that he rode on the special service of the king, and that to -molest him involved the penalties of treason. - -His departure was viewed with deep interest by the court and his -soldiers. All expressed doubt and pity, for the unscrupulous character -of Douglas inspired all men with terror, and as he rode off, the old -warder at the castle gate shook his silvery head while saying, "By my -faith, Foulis, ye'll come back faster than ye gang, gif ye e'er come -back ava--but God speed ye the gate, man!" - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -SIR PATRICK GRAY'S JOURNEY. - - Oh, name the mighty ransom; task my power; - Let there be danger, difficulty, death, - To enhance the price.--TAMERLANE. - - -It may easily be supposed that, with all his anxiety for the fate of -his kinsman, Sir Patrick's desire to see, or be near Murielle, was also -near his heart; and inspired by this double object, he rode rapidly, -and tasking the speed of his horse, passed through districts the -features of which have long since been changed by time and cultivation: -for rivers that were then broad and deep have shrunk to mere rills, and -rills have disappeared; stone bridges have superseded dangerous and -subtle fords, where the luring kelpie lurked for the drowning wayfarer; -lochs and morasses have become fertile fields; dense forests, where -the wild bull bellowed, and the savage boar whetted his tusks on the -gnarled oak, have been cleared away; populous towns have sprung into -existence, where whilom the thatched hamlet stood; churches, wherein -generations had worshipped God in fervour and holiness, and where -Scotland's best and bravest men were laid under tombs of marble and -brass, have been ruined and desecrated, as if by the hands of sikhs or -sepoys; but hills whereon the mosstrooper drove herd and hirsel, and -where the wild furze and whin grew in luxuriance, have been rendered -arable to their steepest summits, and fertile, even, as the most -fertile parts of Lothian. - -By many an old Roman road formed by the warriors of the adventurous -Agricola, and those of the discomfited emperor Severus--old ways, where -the rank grass grew among the causeway stones, he travelled, and soon -reached the wild heathy uplands of Stobo that look down on the green -vale of the Tweed, and then the steeps of Hells Cleuch, which are -furrowed by a mountain torrent that rushes red and foaming to join the -broader waters of the Forth. On by the wild morasses of Tweedsmuir, -where an ancient Celtic cross that stood amid the rough obelisks of -a Druid Temple of the Sun, was the only landmark for that savage and -solitary pass, which was overlooked by the barred and battlemented -tower of many a rude mosstrooping laird. - -On--on yet past Moffat, secluded in its lovely vale amid its almost -inaccessible hills, above the dim summits of which the pale blue mist -was floating, and the black eagles were soaring, past its naked or -heathy mountain gorges, through which the yellow rays of the setting -sun were falling on the moss-covered shealing, and the browsing herd -and hirsel; and on the old square castles of red sandstone, built with -seashell mortar, the abode of many a turbulent baron. - -He was now amid the tremendous scenery of the Southern Highlands; and -there, after a ride of fifty miles from Edinburgh, he tarried for -the night with the priest of the village church, as he wanted rest, -seclusion, and secrecy. There, as at one or two other places, he -arranged for a relay of horses, as he knew not what might be the issue -of his expedition; and ere it was over, he had reason to thank Heaven -for his foresight. - -Refreshed and newly horsed, he departed next day with the rising sun, -and soon saw the moors of Kirkmichael and the mossy monolith of the -six corpses, where Wallace slew Sir Hugh of Moreland and five other -Englishmen; and ere long Dumfries, so red and sombre, with its spires -of St. Michael and of many a convent and friary, rose before him, and -with its long bridge of the thirteenth century--then considered the -rival of that of London--spanning by thirteen carved Gothic arches -the broad blue waters of the lovely Nith, where, between green and -undulating shores, they rolled, glittering in the sunshine, towards the -Solway Firth. - -The ruined castle of the false Comyns yet overlooked the river; and the -jangle of the convent-bell at Nunholm came and went on the noonday wind. - -He advanced along the bridge, the passage of which was barred by an -iron gate and portal of old red sandstone. It was quaint and time-worn, -having been built by the Lady Devorgilla, of Galloway, the mother of -the mock-king, John Baliol. Above it were the arms of the burgh--a -chevron with three _fleurs-de-lys_; St. Michael winged and trampling -on a serpent, with the motto, "a' at the Lower Burn," the slogan and -the muster-place of the inhabitants. At this gate a toll on corn, -merchandise, and passengers was collected for the benefit of the -Franciscan monastery, which the pious Lady Devorgilla had founded -for the salvation of her soul, and of the souls of her ancestors and -posterity, in the full-flowing Christian charity of an age which is -branded as the dark and superstitious simply because we know little -or nothing about it. After this gate was passed, and its iron grille -had clanked behind him, the heart of Gray beat faster, for he was now -completely in Galloway--the land of his love and of his enemies. - -The warder or loiterer, who looked across the Nith from the old castle -of Dumfries, saw the flashing of armour in the noonday sunshine, as -our solitary horseman rode furiously on, and, from his speed, supposed -that some warden-raid or invasion was at hand; and the old Franciscan -who dosed on a seat by the friary wall woke up from his dreams, and, in -dread of either, muttered an _Ave Maria gratia plena_, &c., and dosed -off to sleep again. - -The peasant on the rigs of Teregles saw him passing like a whirlwind, -and thought, with an angry sigh, that he might soon have to exchange -his blue bonnet and grey maud for a breastplate and bourgoinette; for -such speed never betokened an errand of peace, but of tumult and war. - -Evening saw the messenger traversing the uplands of Tracquair, where -the heaths are dark, the rocks are bleak, and where the black cattle -browse in the grassy haughs; and past "the Bush" so famed in song; it -was then a thicket of birchen-trees, through which a mounted trooper -could ride unseen, even with his Scottish lance, six ells long, -uplifted at arm's length. - -Here, by the side of a lonely bridle-path which crossed a waste -moorland, he found a man lying dead. His breast was exposed and -exhibited a deep spear-wound, in which a sprig of thorn was inserted, -and around which the last drops of blood had grown black and -coagulated. A grey-robed priest was near the body on his knees, engaged -in prayer. Gray reined in his horse, and, waiting until the churchman -had ended, said, - -"What does this slaughter mean, father?" - -"It is the thorn-twig," said the monk, with a bewildered air. - -"Explain?" said Gray, impatiently; "I have no time to read riddles." - -"It is the cognisance of the Laird of Pompherston." - -"And what does it mean, now?" - -"Art so dull, or come from such a distance, as not to know?" asked the -monk, throwing back his cowl and looking up with surprise in his grim -and bearded visage. - -"I confess that I am." - -"Well, it signifies that this unfortunate, Donacha MacKim, the gudeman -of Bourick, has been slain by the Douglases, for having been in arms -against them at Raeberry; so Pompherston took a twig from his helmet -and placed it where you see--in that bloody lance-wound. And now, sir, -for our Blessed Lady's sake, aid me to convey him to Tracquair, that he -may have the rites of a Christian burial." - -"Under favour, good father, that I cannot do, as I ride for life and -death on the king's service," replied Gray, in a tone of regret. - -"A perilous errand here, while the Douglases are all abroad," replied -the monk, shaking his shaven head. - -"In arms?" said Gray, starting. - -"No--hunting, and they have ridden over all the countryside, from the -Bush aboon Tracquair to the Carlinwark at Thrave." - -The setting of the sun found Gray beyond the waters of Urr, which he -crossed near that mysterious mound known as the Moat of Urr, and on his -left saw the Dub o' Hass, where many a foreign galliot and Scottish -caravel were at anchor, and the banks of which were then and for long -after, according to local tradition, the haunt of the Mermaid of -Galloway, whose wondrous beauty was such that no man could behold her -without a love that became madness, and whose hair was like shining -gold, through the links of which her white shoulders and bosom shone, -as she floated on the crystal water, inspiring men with passion that -ended in death. - - Her comb was o' the whitely pearl, - Her hand like new-won milk; - Her breasts were like the snowy curd - In a net o' seagreen silk. - -But, thinking more of armed men than of alluring mermaids, Gray rode -to where stood a little hostelry, kept apparently by a vassal of the -kirk, as the signboard bore the papal crown and cross-keys; so he -tarried there to refresh himself and horse again. He was received -with profound respect, but with a curiosity the suppression of which -seemed difficult, as the royal blazon which he wore upon his surcoat -was seldom seen on _that_ side of the Nith, though the hostelry was -established as a halting-place for the wealthy abbots of Tongland, -Newabbey, and the priors of St. Mary and Lincluden, when passing that -way with their retinues. - -The edifice was simply a large thatched cottage, divided in two by a -partition named the _hallan_; beyond it was the principal fireplace, -the lintel of which projected far over the hearth, and was wide enough -to show the row of hams hung there to be smoked, and the iron bar -whereon the kail-pot swung. Within this apartment--for the fireplace -was really one--lay a whinstone seat, called the _cat-hud_, and a stone -bench, the place of honour for strangers, and thereon Sir Patrick -seated himself, by the gudeman's request. - -Above the mantelpiece hung the black iron morion and two-handed -whinger of the latter--with kirn-cuts of corn gaily ornamented with -ribbons--the trophies of the last year's harvest home. The floor was -of sanded clay; the ceiling showed the open cabers of the roof; while -a long dresser laden with shining utensils, a few wooden creepies or -stools and meal-arks, formed the furniture of this Scottish hotel of -the fifteenth century. - -The adjacent Moat of Urr was alleged to be full of fairies who danced -in the moonlight round its strange concentric circles; and they were -further said to be great bibbers of the good wine kept for the use of -the before-mentioned abbots and priors; thus "mine host" of the papal -tiara and keys had always a fair red cross painted on the ends of his -runlets when they were landed at the Dub o' Hass; but the green imps -nevertheless found a key to his cellars, and used gimlets of mortal -mould to draw off the Canary and Alicant. - -The gudewife of the house had just increased the number of King -James's subjects and Earl Douglas's vassals by a male child, when Gray -arrived; and near him, in the ingle, the nurse was administering to -it the _ash-sap_, with due solemnity, by putting an ash-stick in the -fire of peats and bog-pine that blazed on the hearth, and receiving in -a horn spoon the juice which oozed from the other end. This was the -_first_ food of the newly-born children of the Gael, and when older -they received their first flesh on the point of their father's sword or -dagger. - -With half his armour off, listless and weary, Sir Patrick Gray sat by -the rustic fire on the ingle-seat, and some time elapsed before he -became aware that the eyes of a stranger, who reclined on an oak settee -in a shaded corner, were fixed with calm but firm scrutiny upon him. - -This personage wore a scarlet cloth hood, which was buttoned from his -chin to his breast, having a cape that covered his back and shoulders. -His massive frame, which was of herculean proportions, was cased in a -doublet of black bull's hide, having the hair smoothly dressed, and -it was tied with a succession of thongs and little iron skewers. A -kilt of coarse tartan, with hose of untanned deerskin, revealed his -sturdy knees, which seemed strong as oak knots, and hairy as those of a -gorilla. Secured by a square steel buckle, a broad buff belt encircled -his waist, at which hung a double-handed sword and poniard of mercy. -His great brawny hands were crossed upon the shaft of a ponderous iron -mace, having a chain and "morning star," and as he rested his chin -thereon, his vast black beard hung over them, while he surveyed the -Captain of the Guard with his wild, keen, and fierce dark eyes, the -natural expression of which, under their black and shaggy brows, seemed -a scowl. - -Everything about this man seemed expressive of colossal proportions and -brutal strength. As if danger might not be distant, with an air that -in another would have seemed bravado, but in him was quite natural, he -drew his mighty sword, examined the point, tested the spring of the -blade, and smiled with a grim satisfied air, as he sheathed it again. - -In most of the incidents of our story we have been compelled to follow -and to portray the course of events with the care of an historian -rather than of a romancer; and thus must we detail, or rather -_translate_, the conversation which ensued between Sir Patrick Gray -and this burly Celtic giant, as it was maintained in a strange mixture -of old Doric Scottish and the Celtic language then spoken by the -inhabitants of Galloway. - -"What may the last news be among you here?" asked Sir Patrick. - -"What could they be but of sorrow?" growled the other. - -"I doubt it not where Earl James abides." - -"You are a bold man to say so," replied the Galwegian. - -"I am in the king's service, my friend, and a good cause gives courage; -but, beside the storming of Raeberry, and the lawless capture of Sir -Thomas MacLellan, what is there new in Galloway?" - -"The foul slaughter of the laird of Sandwick, whom the Douglas troopers -fell upon in Kirkandrews, and killed when at his prayers,--and this was -yesternight." - -"Another act of sacrilege?" - -"Air mhuire! so my lord the abbot of Tongland terms it; but they were -dainty gentlemen who followed the laird of Glendoning," said the -other, with bitter irony; "they cared not to stain the floor or altar -of God's consecrated church with blood; so they dragged old Sandwick -forth, though he clung to the iron altar-rail, and drew him to the -louping-on-stane at the grave-yard gate, and there hacked him to -pieces." - -"It was like these men of Thrave," said Sir Patrick; "but a day of -vengeance for these continued atrocities must come, and speedily too." - -As he said this the host, who was making a posset of Alicant on the -hearth, looked up with terror; but the strong man with the mace laughed -bitterly, and added, as he struck the floor with his mace, - -"Dioul! the sooner the better for me." - -"And who are you?" asked Sir Patrick. - -"Would you be a wiser man for knowing?" was the cautious and not -over-courteous response; "yet I care not if I tell: I am Malise -MacKim,--" - -"What--Malise, the hereditary smith of Thrave--MacKim the Brawny?" -exclaimed Gray, with something of alarm in his tone. - -"Yes," said the other through his clenched teeth. - -Gray, by a twitch of his belt, brought his dagger conveniently to his -hand; MacKim saw the movement, and smiled disdainfully. - -"Has the earl wronged you?" asked Sir Patrick. - -"To the heart's core," was the emphatic reply. "Oh, mhuire as truidh! -mhuire as truidh! that I should ever have it to say--I, whose fathers -have eaten the bread of his race for generations--ay, since the -_first_ handful of earth was laid there to form the Moat of Urr--yea, -yea, since first the Urr waters ran, and leaves grew in the wood of -Dalbeattie!" - -"What has happened?" - -"His people have this day slain my brother Donacha MacKim, near the -Bush aboon Tracquair, and have carried off his daughter, who was the -love of my youngest son; but I have seven--SEVEN sons, each taller -and stronger than myself, and I will have sure vengeance on Douglas, -if he grants it not to me; and this I have sworn by the cross of St. -Cuthbert, and by the soul of her I love best on earth, my wife Meg." - -The black eyes of the gigantic smith glared with genuine Celtic fury -and hate as he said this; he beat the floor with his roughly-shod feet, -and his strong fingers played nervously with the shaft of his mace, the -chain and morning-star of which (a ball a pound in weight, furnished -with four sharp iron spikes) lay on the floor. Gray, as he surveyed -him, reflected that it was extremely fortunate that the smith's fealty -to Douglas had been broken, otherwise he might have proved a very -unpleasant companion for the night in that small and solitary hostelry, -situated, as it was, in a hostile and lawless district. This meeting, -however, taught Gray to be wary, and thus, though knowing the country -well, he affected to be a stranger. - -"Is the abbot of Tongland at Thrave?" he asked. - -"No; the earl, in sport, poured a ladleful of gold down the throat of -the Raeberry warder; so his father confessor pronounced a malediction -upon him, and retired to the abbey at Tongland, in disgust and despair -at his cruelty." - -"How far is it from hence to the clachan?" - -"About ten miles." - -"And to the abbey?" - -"It is beside the clachan."----"Good." - -During that night Gray slept with his door and window well secured, -with his sword drawn under his head, and his armour on a chair by -his bedside, to be ready for any emergency. The lassitude incident -to his long journey on horseback by such rough roads--for then they -went straight over hill and down valley, through forest, swamp, and -river--made him sleep long and late on his bed of freshly-pulled -heather; thus the noon of the next was far advanced before he set out -once more. - -Malise MacKim, his sullen acquaintance of the preceding evening, -conducted him for some distance beyond the Urr, and told him, what Gray -already knew well, that if he wished to reach the clachan of Tongland, -he must pass the Loch of Carlinwark on his right, and pursue the road -that lay through the wood on the left bank of the Dee. - -"And whither go you, my friend?" he asked, as the gigantic smith was -about to leave him. - -"To join my seven sons, and scheme our vengeance; yet what can mortal -vengeance avail against the earl of Douglas?"----"How?" said Gray; "in -what manner?" - -"Know you not that he wears a warlock jacket, against which the -sharpest swords are pointless?" - -"What do you mean?" asked the soldier, keeping his horse in check. - -"I mean a doublet made for him by a warlock in Glenkens, woven of -the skins of water-snakes caught in a south-running burn where three -lairds' lands met, and woven for him under the beams of a March moon, -on the haunted Moat of Urr." - -Gray laughed and said, "I should like to test this dagger, my poor -MacLellan's gift, upon that same doublet." - -"Moreover," said the smith, lowering his voice, while a deeper scowl -impressed his grisly visage, "it is said in Galloway here, that when -Earl James, a child, was held by his godmother at the font in Tongland -Abbey Kirk, the blessed water, as it fell from the hand of Abbot John, -hissed upon his little face as upon iron in a white heat." - -"Peace, carle! can a stout fellow like thee be moonling enough to give -such stories credence?" - -"'Tis folly, perhaps, to think of them, betouch us, too! so near the -Moat of Urr," said the smith, with a perceptible shudder, as he glanced -covertly over his shoulder. - -"And why here more than elsewhere?" - -"Know ye not?" asked the smith, in a whisper. - -"You forget that I am a stranger." - -"True. Then it was on _this_ spot that James Achanna, the earl's sooth -fast-friend and henchman, sold himself to Satan, after conjuring him up -by performing some nameless rites of hell." - -"Adieu, and God be wi' you," said Gray, laughing, yet nevertheless -making the sign of the cross, for the place was savage and solitary, -and he was not without a due share of the superstition incident to his -age and country. Turning his horse, he rode rapidly off. - -As he did so, a cunning smile passed over the swarthy face of Malise -MacKim, who swung his mace round his head as if he were about to brain -an enemy. - -The day was far advanced, when, at Kelton, Gray crossed the Dee by -a flat-bottomed boat, near a place where a group of peasants were -assembled under a gallows-tree. Thereon hung a man, and there, -by paying a fee to the doomster of Thrave, persons afflicted by -wens, or similar excrescences, came to obtain the benefit of the -_deid-strake_--a touch of the dead hand being deemed a certain cure. - -When Gray saw the poor corse swinging in the wind, he remembered the -fate of Sir Herbert Maxwell, and reflected how easily Douglas might -release Murielle from her marriage-ties by putting him to death, as he -had done that powerful baron; yet his heart never trembled, nor did he -swerve from his resolution of attempting to save MacLellan, in spite of -every danger. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -AN UNEXPECTED GUIDE. - - And a good evening to my friend Don Carlos. - Some lucky star has led my steps this way: - I was in search of you.--THE SPANISH STUDENT. - - -Before Gray crossed the Dee at Kelton, there came over the scenery a -dense white mist, which rolled like smoke along the hills, and hung in -dewdrops on his horse's mane and bridle, dimming the brightness of his -armour and the embroidery of his surcoat. In this obscurity he lost -his way amid the waste muirlands which the road, a mere bridle-path -destitute of wall or fence, traversed. Then a sharp shower of hail -fell, the stones rattling on his steel trappings as on a latticed -window; and through the openings in the haze, the far-stretching dells -and pastoral hills of Galloway seemed wet and grey and dreary. - -The country was singularly desolate; he met no person to direct him; -thus, amid the obscurity of the mist and the approaching evening, he -knew not where he was, but continued to ride slowly and vaguely on. - -Anon a breeze came, and the grey clouds began to disperse; the hail -ceased, and the haze rolled away like finely-carded wool along the -sides of the hills. The setting sun of August beamed forth in his -farewell splendour, the mavis and merle chorused merrily in the sauch -and hawthorn trees; for a time the hill-tops became green, and the -high corn that waved on the upland slopes seemed to brighten with the -partial heat and moisture. After a time, Sir Patrick found that he -had penetrated to the border of Glenkens, then the wildest and most -savage part of Galloway. Wheeling round his horse, he rode fast in the -direction from whence he had come, and just as the sun's broad disc -began to dip behind the grassy hills, and to shed its warm light upon -the windings of the Dee, from an eminence he could see afar off the -vast square keep of Thrave looming black and sombre, with the dusky -smoke ascending from its great chimney-stalks into the calm sky in -steady columns, unbroken by the breeze. - -Soft was the evening light, and softer now the air, and no sound but -the occasional lowing of the black cattle, or those nameless country -noises which seem to come from afar, broke the stillness of the vast -pastoral landscape. - -The Dee has all the characteristics of a Scottish stream: now gliding -stealthily and sullenly through deep pools and dark rocky chasms, where -the wiry pine, the crisp-leaved oak, and the feathery silver birch cast -their shadows on the darting trout or the lurking salmon; now chafing -and brawling in white foam over a precipitous ledge of red sandstone, -then gurgling down a bed of "unnumbered pebbles;" and now sweeping -broad and stilly past a thatched clachan, a baron's moated tower, a -ruined chapel, where bells were rung and masses said when Alan was lord -of Galloway and constable of Scotland; then round some statelier fane -like Tongland, or a vast feudal strength like Thrave of the Douglases. - -After seeing the latter, Gray rode slowly and thoughtfully, for it -brought the face, the form, the voice, the smile, and all the image of -Murielle more vividly before him. The scenery, the place, the very air, -seemed full of the presence of her, his loved and lost one. - -And now the moon arose, but not brilliantly; it shot fitful gleams -between weird masses of flying cloud, with a pale and ghastly effect -which made the gnarled trunks of the old trees seem like spectres -or fantastic figures. Erelong, Gray entered a long and narrow glen, -clothed on each side by a thick fir forest, where the density of the -wiry foliage was such that the darkness became quite opaque. - -Here he suddenly found himself joined by a horseman, who came either -from the wayside thicket or out of the ground--it might have been -either, so unexpected was his appearance. A gleam of the moon, as it -came down a ravine, showed that this man and his horse were of great -strength and stature. He wore a hunting suit, with a sword, bugle, and -small steel cap which glittered in the moonlight. - -"Under favour, I presume, we may travel together?" said he, bluntly. - -"Provided the road be broad enough," replied Gray in the same manner, -for there was something in this man's voice which strangely affected -him, causing his hair to bristle up, his pulses to quicken, and the -almost obliterated wounds on his face to smart. - -Whence was this emotion? Where had he heard that voice before? Where -seen that grim and sturdy figure? Each looked from time to time at the -other, and seemed anxious to make out _who_ or what he was. - -"Go you far this way?" asked the stranger. - -"No," replied Gray, curtly. - -"May I ask how far?"----"I am bound for Thrave." - -"Indeed," said the other, looking fixedly at Gray, as they walked -their horses side by side; "have you made a long journey?"----"From -Edinburgh," replied Gray, briefly. - -"You are a bold man to pass through the Johnstones of Annandale and the -Borderland at this time." - -"How bolder at this time than at any other?" - -"That you may soon learn," replied the stranger, laughing at Gray's -tone of displeasure. - -"I am Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis, captain of the king's guard, and am -bound to ride wherever he may order, and woe to those who dare obstruct -me," said Gray, peering forward to discern the speaker, who started -visibly at this reply, and after the silence of a moment said, "I too -am bound for Thrave. For two days past I have been abroad hunting, but -have missed or outridden my friends. Well, what may the news be from -the good town of Edinburgh? and how fare the king, his carpet knights, -and cock-sparrow courtiers, eh?" - -"Were I not riding on the king's errand, which makes my life more -precious than if I were riding on my own, I would find you a more -fitting reply than words," said Gray, who could scarcely repress his -rising wrath, for the tone of the other chafed him. - -"You have chosen a perilous time, assuredly, to enter Galloway on the -king's service," observed the stranger, loftily; "and if my words -displease, I can give full reparation when your errand is sped." - -"'Tis enough, sir," said Gray, hoarsely; "on the morrow I _shall_ have -sure vengeance. No man shall slight the king in my presence, and live." - -"By my sooth, his last messenger--the Rothsay herald, who came hither -anent the laird of Teregles--left Galloway faster than he entered it. -We are about to teach this James Stuart, that the realm of Scotland was -not made for _his_ especial use. What? after fighting for centuries, -and defeating Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans--in short, all the -invaders of England--we are now to tremble before this boy-king and his -little Gueldrian wife? Has he forgotten how his father died?" - -"How--what mean you?" asked Gray, making a vigorous effort to control -his passion. - -"In the Black Friary at Perth," said the other, grinding his teeth, -"with the swords of Grahame and Athole clashing in his heart." - -"Be assured our king has _not_ forgotten it--but hush--be wary." - -"And wherefore hush?" was the fierce response. - -"Because they who did that deed, the most foul murder of God's anointed -king, perished miserably on the scaffold more than twenty years ago. -Their ashes have long since mingled with the earth, for fire consumed -and the wind of heaven scattered them; but their names exist in the -execration of all good men and true." - -"Hard words," said the other, scoffingly; "hard words, sir, for us, who -are on the eve, perhaps, of a most just rebellion against his son, if -he and his Flemish princess, with that old fox, Crichton, push us too -severely; and then I think his dainty Falkland knights, and well-fed -Lothian infantry, may find it perilous work to march through Nithsdale -and penetrate among the wild hills of Galloway." - -Gray did not answer; they had now emerged from the wood, and the Loch -of Carlinwark was shining like a mirror in the full splendour of the -moonlight. At some distance he could discern the three old thorn-trees, -where, on a similarly calm and lovely moonlit night, he had first -plighted love, life, and hope, to Murielle; and now, as then, he could -see Thrave, her home and her prison, casting its long black shadows on -the Dee. - -"Here is Thrave," said the stranger, reining up his powerful horse -beside the barbican-gate. - -"And you, sir?----" - -"I am James, earl of Douglas," replied the other, sternly and loftily; -"you are on the king's errand, Sir Patrick Gray--'tis well; I bid you -welcome; but remember, save for that tabard which you wear, by the -bones of St. Bryde, I would hang you by the neck from that stone knob -above the gate!" - -Gray bowed and smiled bitterly, as they rode into the court-yard, and -he found himself inclosed by the gates and surrounded by the followers -of his mortal enemy. - -He had shuddered on passing under the barbican-gate, for a man was -hanging at the gallows-knob above it. Gray knew the dread custom -there--that each culprit or victim was replaced by another, and he knew -not _who_ the next "tassel" might be. - -The night-wind lifted the dead man's hair at times as the body swung -mournfully to and fro. Beneath this ghastly object, in the blaze of -the torches which were upheld by a crowd of liveried serving-men -and savage-looking kilted Galwegians, there shone a great shield of -carved and painted stone. It bore the arms of the ancient lords of -Galloway--azure a lion rampant, _argent_ crowned with an imperial -diadem, impaled with the countless quarterings of the Douglases. - -The moon was waning now; but the number of torches, as they flared on -the walls and grated windows of the vast keep, made the court-yard seem -light as if the night was noon. - -As Gray dismounted, a familiar voice reached his ear, saying, "Thanks, -brave friend and kinsman--you have perilled much to save me!" - -"Thou art right, MacLellan--I come by the king's orders, so take -courage!" replied Gray, looking about him; but from _which_ of the -black gratings of that lofty edifice the voice came his eye failed to -discover. - -A cruel smile passed over the grim face of the earl, as he said, "Sir -Patrick Gray, it is ill speaking between a full man and a fasting; -so get you to bed for to-night; after breakfast to-morrow, we will -consider your errand from the king; and you have my knightly word for -your safety while within the walls of Thrave." - -"And how, when I leave them, my lord?" - -"That is as may be," said the other, turning on his heel. - -With these dubious, or rather ominous words, the earl retired, and -within an hour, Gray, after partaking of some refreshment alone, found -himself lying on a couch with his armour on and his drawn sword by his -side, endeavouring to court sleep, with his mind full of the terrible -novelty of his situation; and not without a sense of charm, for he knew -that Murielle was near him, and that the same roof covered them both. - -On a tabourette by the bedside were placed a night-lamp, a cup of sack -posset, and the earl of Douglas's dagger as a symbol of peace and -protection--that he had armed his unwelcome guest against even his -_own_ household; for such was the custom of the age and country. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -HUSBAND AND WIFE. - - First rose a star out owre the hill, - And next the lovelier moon; - While the bonnie bride o' Galloway - Looked for her blythe bridegroom; - Lythlie she sang as the new moon rose, - Blythe as a young bride may, - When the new moon lights her lamp o' love, - And blinks the bride away.--CROMEK. - - -Sir Patrick Gray sprang from a couch, where dreams, rather than sleep, -had pressed thick and fast upon him. He rose while yet the summer sun -was below the green Galloway hills, and while the dark waters of the -Dee were veiled by the white mists of the early morning. - -His mind was full of Murielle, and he was not without hope, that while -all the numerous household and powerful feudal garrison were yet abed, -he might find some means to communicate with her--to see, to speak -to one so beloved--one from whom he had been so long, so wickedly -separated--his seven years' wedded wife! - -It seemed to Gray, while thinking of this, that some one had been -softly and timidly tapping at his door. - -Gently drawing back the numerous bars of wood and iron, with -which the doors of all bed-chambers in old Scottish mansions were -furnished in those days and for long after, he stepped into an arched -corridor; then, on looking along its dusky vista, he saw a female -figure approach, and what were his emotions on beholding the sudden -realization of his dearest wish--Murielle, who had left the room thus -early on the same errand and with the same desperate yet tenderly -loving hope, had been watching the door of _his_ chamber. - -She seemed pale and wan, as one who had been sleepless; but though more -womanly and more full in figure, she was otherwise unchanged as when -he had seen her last, on that happy and yet unfortunate night, in the -church of St. Genevieve, in Flanders. - -"At last, my Murielle!" - -"At _last_ we meet--but oh! for a moment only." - -They clasped each other in a tender embrace--heart to heart, and lip to -lip. His face was bent on hers, and her tears of joy and fear fell fast. - -"You love me still, Murielle?" - -"_Still!_" she reiterated reproachfully--"oh, with all my life and -strength." - -"But to what a hopeless love and aimless life have my passion and its -selfish ties consigned you!" said he; "we are the slaves of others and -of destiny." - -"Such have we ever been, since that fatal day on which my cousins, -William and David, were slain. That was in 1440, _ten_ long, long years -ago; but--" - -"A crisis in our fate is coming now, dear Murielle." - -"But say why--oh, why are you here--here in Thrave, here, where your -life is in peril so deadly?" - -"I am come, in our good king's name, to demand MacLellan's release, and -to invite the earl, under cartel, to meet the council at Stirling, that -all these evils may be peacefully ended." - -"I pray to the kind Father of all, and to his Blessed Mother, who is -in heaven, that it may be so," sighed poor Murielle. "But oh, I am so -weary, weary--so sad and weary here! They keep me quite a prisoner, -though not so cruelly as they keep Sir Thomas MacLellan; for I am told -by Marion Douglas that he is confined in the pit." - -"Mahoun! say you so, dearest--in that horrid vault?" - -"Yes; but hush--we may be overheard." - -"Ah! my brave and noble kinsman--such a doom! Was it not in that -dungeon that Earl Archibald, the first duke of Touraine, kept -MacLellan, the laird of Borgue, chained, like a wild beast, till he -became a jabbering idiot, and when found by the prior of St. Mary's -Isle, he was laughing as he strove to catch the single sunbeam that -fell through the grated slit into his prison--yea, striving fatuously -to catch it with his thin, wan, fettered hand--the same hand that -carried the king's banner at the battle of Homildon!" - -"Do not frown thus, my dearest heart," said Murielle, weeping; "I have -little need to add to the hatred that grows apace in every breast -against the name of Douglas." - -"Do not say in _every_ breast, sweet Murielle--sweet wife," he added, -pressing her close and closer still in his embrace; "for my heart is -wrung with anguish and with love for you, and of this love God alone -knoweth the depth and the strength!" - -Murielle continued to weep in silence. - -"My love for you," resumed Gray, "and my duty to the king, whom my -father, old Sir Andrew Gray, taught me to love, respect, and almost -worship, are impulses that rend my heart between them. At the risk -of my life I have ridden here on the king's service, alone, with no -protection but my sword, my hand, and, it may be, this royal tabard--a -badge but little respected on this side of the Nith or Annan." - -"And you came----" - -"To see you, and to save MacLellan from the fate of Sir Herbert -Herries. God wot, though, I would give the last drop of my blood to -serve my kinsman. A king's herald might have borne the mandate as well -as I; but the hope of seeing you--of hearing your dear voice, of -concerting some plan for your escape and future freedom from a tyranny -that is maddening,--chiefly, if not alone, brought me into the wilds of -Galloway--the very land and stronghold of the enemies of the throne." - -"Say not the enemies," said Murielle mournfully. "I hope that men -misjudge us sorely." - -"I hope they do; yet there are strange whispers abroad of a rebel -league with the earls of Ross and Crawford, with Henry of England, and -the lord of the Isles--a league to dethrone the king and plunge the -land in ruin. But let us speak at present of escape--of flight----" - -"My disappearance would be your destruction; all Galloway, with hound -and horn, would be upon your track." - -"True--Douglas gave me his word for safety only while _within_ the -walls of Thrave," said Gray, bitterly. - -"The most sunny summer-day may have its clouds, dear Patrick; but here, -in this dull residence, with me it is ever cloud, and never sunshine--I -mean the sunshine of the heart. My time is passed, as it were, in -perpetual winter. I have no solace--no friend--no amusement, but my -cithern and the songs you loved so well----" - -"And love _still_, Murielle, for the sake of you!" - -"So cheerlessly I live on without hope or aim, a wedded nun, amid -councils of fierce and stern men, whose meetings, debates, and thoughts -are all for opposition, and revenge for the terrible deed of 1440." - -"In other words, Murielle, men who are ripe for treason and rebellion." - -"Why _will_ you speak or think so harshly of us?" she asked so -imploringly that Gray kissed her tenderly as his only or best reply. - -"And that spiteful beauty your sister--what says she of me -now?"----"That you are the king's liege man," was the cautious answer. - -"She is right, my beloved one--I am his till death----" - -"And our enemy!" said a sharp voice close by them, like the hiss of a -snake. - -They turned and saw Margaret, the countess of Douglas, standing at the -entrance of her bower-chamber, the tapestry covering the door of which -she held back with one hand. She was clad entirely in black, with a -long veil of fine lace depending from the apex of her lofty head-dress, -enveloping her haughty head and handsome white shoulders. She was -somewhat changed since Gray had seen her last, for angry passions were -lining her young face prematurely; her marvellous beauty remained in -all its striking power; but it was the beauty of a devil--_diavolessa_, -an Italian would term it. Ten years of feud and anxious hostility to -the crown and its adherents had imparted a sternness to her fine brow, -a keen boldness to her black eyes, and a sneering scorn to her lovely -lip that made her seem a tragedy queen. - -"And so another errand than the king's message, anent his minion's life -or death, has brought you hither, scurvy patch!" said she scornfully; -"but by St. Bryde I shall rid our house and my sister of such intrusive -visitors!" - -"Madame," Gray began, with anger. - -"Varlet--would you dare to threaten me?" she exclaimed, holding up a -clenched hand, which was white, small, and singularly beautiful; "but, -my gay moth, you will flutter about that poor candle until your wings -are burnt. I have but to say one word to Douglas of this clandestine -meeting and he will hang you in your boots and tabard above our gate, -where Herbert of Teregles and many a better man has hung." - -"Oh, sister Margaret," urged Murielle, trembling like an aspen-leaf. - -"Ha--to speak that word would remove the only barrier to your being -duchess of Albany--and why should I _not_ speak it?" she continued -fiercely and with flashing eyes; "Why should I not speak it?" - -"Because, dear Maggie, you have still some gentle mercy left, and -Heaven forbids you," said Murielle, clinging to her pitiless sister. - -"Begone, madam," said the latter imperiously; "your instant obedience -alone purchases my silence. But here comes Sir Alan Lauder." - -So ended abruptly, as at the abbot's house in Edinburgh, this -unexpected meeting. Terror for her lover-husband's life made Murielle -withdraw instantly with her sister, just as Sir Alan Lauder of the -Bass, who was still captain and governor of Thrave, approached with -an undisguised sneer on his lips to say that the earl would receive -Sir Patrick Gray at brekfaast, in his own chamber, and there give his -answer to the king's message. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - -DOUGLAS AND GRAY. - - And darest thou, then, - To beard the lion in his den, - The Douglas in his hall?--SCOTT. - - -Clad in a robe of fine scarlet cloth, which was lined with white fur, -and fastened by a brooch or jewel at the neck, and which was open just -enough to show an undershirt and long hose of buff-coloured silk, the -earl of Douglas was seated in a high-backed easy-chair, which was -covered with crimson taffety. His feet were placed on a tabourette, and -close by, with his long sharp nose resting on his outstretched paws, -crouched Souyllard, the snow-white bloodhound, uttering deep growls -from time to time. - -Breakfast, which consisted of cold beef, partridge-pie, flour cakes, -wheaten bread, honey, ale, and wine, was spread upon the table, which, -like the rest of the carved oak furniture, and like the castle itself, -seemed strong enough to last twenty generations of Douglases. The -equipage was entirely composed of the beautiful pottery of Avignon, -which was all of a dark-brown metallic tint, like tortoise-shell, but -perforated and in relief. - -At the earl's hand, in the old Scottish fashion, stood a flat-shaped -pilgrim-bottle of usquebaugh. It was from Beauvais, and bore a Scots -lion, with the three _fleurs-de-lys_, and the name of _Charle Roy -VII._, for it was a personal gift from the then reigning monarch of -France to Douglas, when last at his hunting-castle in the wood of -Vincennes. - -A painted casement, one half of which stood open, admitted the warm -rays of the summer sun through the deep embrasure of the enormously -thick castle-wall, and afforded a glimpse without of the far-stretching -landscape and the windings of the Dee, and, nearer still, the green -islet it formed around Thrave, on the grassy sward of which some noisy -urchins and pages belonging to the feudal garrison were gambolling, -playing at leapfrog, and launching stones and mimic spears at an old -battered quintain, or carved figure of an armed man, which stood there -for the use of those who practised tilting. - -As Gray entered in his armour, with his surcoat on and his helmet open, -readier for departure than a repast, the earl, without rising or -offering his hand, bowed with cold courtesy, with a sardonic smile on -his white lip and hatred in his deep-set eyes. He made a signal to a -page who was in attendance to withdraw, and they were immediately left -together. "I said last night that it was ill speaking between a full -man and a fasting," said he; "we are both fasting this morning, so, Sir -Patrick, let us eat, drink, and then to business." - -As they were both anxious to come to the point at issue, after a few -morsels of food and a draught of spiced ale, the grim earl spoke -again:-- - -"I have read the king's letters--that anent the laird of Bombie, and -that which invites me to a conference at Stirling, with a safe conduct -to me and all my followers. By my faith, Sir Patrick, I think their -number, in horse, foot, and archers, will be their best safe conduct. -The first letter demands----" - -"The release, the instant release of my kinsman, Sir Thomas MacLellan, -of Bombie, and of that ilk, steward of Kirkcudbright, whom you -unlawfully and most unworthily detain here a prisoner," said Gray, whom -the cool and insolent bearing of Douglas exasperated beyond the point -of prudence. "What if I refuse," asked the latter with an icy smile. - -"That the king and council will consider." - -"What if he be dead?" - -"He is _not_ dead," exclaimed Gray with growing excitement; "last night -I heard his voice, for he addressed me as we entered the barbican." - -"Ha!" said Douglas sharply, with a furious glance. - -"But dead or alive, lord earl, in the king's name I demand his body!" - -"That shall I grant you readily," replied Douglas grimly, as he blew on -a silver whistle which lay on the table. The arras of the doorway was -raised, and there reappeared the page, to whom the earl gave a ring, -which he drew from his finger, and said, "Tell James Achanna to lead -forth the laird of Bombie from the vault, and to obey my orders." - -The page bowed and retired; and he observed, if Gray did not, the -terribly sinister expression which at that moment filled the earl's -eyes. - -"You said _lead forth_, my lord; hence my kinsman lives, and I thank -you," said Gray with more composure. - -"Some men die between the night and morning, others between the morning -and the night;--but now about this conference at Stirling: what boon -does the king hold out as an inducement for a Douglas to risk so much -as an acceptance of royal hospitality?" - -"Boon, my lord?" - -"By St. Bryde, I spoke plainly enough!" - -"'Twas said the restoration to you of the office of Warden of the -Marches towards England, the seat at the Privy Council, and the -commission of Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom." - -"In short, all of which I was unjustly deprived, by Crichton's -influence, during my absence in France and Italy," said the earl, -removing the breast from a partridge. - -Gray did not reply, for at that moment the castle bell was tolled -slowly, and a strange foreboding seized him. "With the recollection -of the Black Dinner of 1440 before me, by the Devil's mass! I would -require some great boon to tempt me, assuredly," said the earl, with a -laugh which had something diabolical in its sound. - -"My lord, there will be the king's safe conduct." - -"King's memories are precarious. Since the day of the bloody banquet at -which my kinsman perished, I have been, as it were, a man of granite in -a shirt of steel--immoveable, implacable--and feeling no sentiment but -the longing for revenge!" - -The earl, with a sparkling eye and a flushing cheek, spoke as feelingly -as if he had _not_ had a secret hand in the execution of his nephews, -nor won anything by it. - -"King James," he added, "has yet to learn what a ten years' hatred is!" - -"Ten years?" reiterated Gray, as he thought of Murielle. - -"Ten years--we are in the year 1450, and for the ten which have -preceded it, my armour has scarcely ever been off," said the earl; "and -even in my own hall the sword and dagger have never been from my side." - -"For the same reason, my lord, you have kept other men's armour on, and -others' weapons on the grindstone," replied Gray; "but endeavour to be -as good and loyal as your fathers were, earl of Douglas--renounce your -evil leagues, and bonds for rebellion, else you may find the king alike -more wise and powerful than you imagine." - -"I seek not advice from you, laird of Foulis," said Douglas, with proud -disdain. "Within sound of the bells of Holyrood, or those of St. Giles, -your king may be both powerful and wise; but on this side the Moat of -Urr, I have my doubts of his power or wisdom." - -"How, my lord?" - -"He would scarcely be wise to venture into the wilds of Galloway, -even with all the forces he and that fangless wolf, his chancellor, -may collect; and never powerful enough to do so, with the hope of -success."----"Daring words, when said of one who is king of all -Scotland." - -"But I am lord of all Galloway, and I shall uphold its ancient rights -and laws in battle, as stoutly as Earl Archibald did in Parliament." - -"An old story, my lord," said Gray, rising. - -"True; in the days of Robert II.," added Douglas, rising also. - -"In 1385," observed Gray, with a scarcely perceptible smile. - -"I forget."----"Though you forget many things, my lord," said Gray, -rashly and impetuously, "do not imagine that you or they are forgotten." - -"Does this imply a threat, my cock-laird of the north country?" asked -Douglas, with profound disdain. - -"As you please--I am a plain soldier." - -A ferocious expression darkened the earl's face; but Gray drew back a -pace, and laid a hand significantly on his tabard. - -"Sir Patrick Gray, I advise you to get your horse and begone!" -thundered Douglas, starting to his feet. "Without there! Order Sir -Patrick's horse to the barbican-gate!" - -"But your answer to the king?" said Gray, tightening his waistbelt, and -preparing for a sudden start. - -"That I shall convey in person to Stirling." - -"And my kinsman----" - -"Dead or alive?" said Douglas, with a sullen glare in his eye. Alarmed -by the expression of the earl's face, Gray said earnestly:-- - -"Lest you might not obey the king's commands, proud lord, or might -scoff at my humble request, I bring you a mother's prayer for her son." - -"A mother's?" said Douglas, pausing as they descended the staircase -together. - -"The prayer of my father's sister, Marion Gray, for her son's -release."----"It comes too late," muttered the earl under his black -moustache, as they issued into the sunny court-yard of Thrave. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX. - -THE FATE OF MACLELLAN. - - Lift not the shroud! a speaking stain - Of blood upon its sable seen, - Tells how the spirit fled from plain, - For there the headsman's axe hath been. - - BALLAD. - - -"The king's demand shall be granted, but rather for _your_ sake--come -hither," said the earl. - -There was a cruel banter in his manner, a bitter smile on his face, -and Gray grew pale, and felt the blood rush back upon his heart with a -terrible foreboding as they crossed the court-yard. - -Then his eye at once detected something like a human form stretched at -full length upon the ground, and covered by a sheet. About it there -could be no doubt--it was so cold, white, angular, and fearfully rigid. -Upon the breast was placed a platter filled with salt--a Scottish -superstition as old as the days of Turpin--and close by lay an axe and -bloodstained billet, about which the brown sparrows were hopping and -twittering in the warm morning sunshine. With a choking sensation in -his throat, Gray stepped resolutely forward. - -"Remove this cloth," said the earl to some of his people who were near; -and on their doing so, there was seen the body of a headless man--a -body which Gray knew too well to be that of his friend and kinsman, for -on the breast of the soiled and faded pourpoint was embroidered a gold -scutcheon, with the three black chevrons of MacLellan. - -"Sir Patrick, you have come a little too late," said the sneering -earl; "here lies your father's sister's son; but, unfortunately, he -wants the head, and a head is an awkward loss. The body, however, is -completely at your service." - -Grief and indignation almost choked Gray's utterance. He knelt down and -kissed the cold right hand, which yet bore the mark of an iron fetter, -and then turning to the earl, said, "My lord, you may now dispose of -the body as you please; but the head----" - -"Behold it on the battlement above you!"[4] - -Gray mounted his horse, which was at that moment led to the outer gate -by the earl's grooms; and mistrusting them, though feeling as one in -a terrible dream, before putting his foot in the stirrup he carefully -examined his bridle, girths, and crupper. Then, says Sir Walter Scott -in his history, "his resentment broke forth in spite of the dangerous -situation in which he was placed":-- - -"My lord," said he, shaking his gauntleted hand close to the earl's -beard, "if I live you shall bitterly pay for this day's work; and -I--Patrick Gray of Foulis--tell thee, that thou art a bloodthirsty -coward--a disgrace to knighthood and nobility!" - -He then wheeled round his horse, pressed the sharp Rippon spurs into -its flanks, and galloped off. - -"To horse and chase him!" cried the earl, furiously. "I will ride to -Stirling, false minion, with _your_ head at my saddle-bow! To horse and -follow him--this venturesome knight must sleep beside his kinsman!" - -"But he came on the king's service," urged Sir Alan Lauder, as he -put his foot in the stirrup of his horse, when some twenty or thirty -mounted moss-troopers came hurriedly from the stable court. - -"Bah! love-lured and destiny dragged him hither. Let slip Souyllard the -sleuth-bratch. Horse and spear, I say, Lauder and Achanna--a hundred -crowns for the head of yonder minion! I swear by St. Bryde of Douglas -and Kildara, by the Blessed Virgin and her son, never to eat at a -table, sleep in a bed, to rest under a Christian roof, or to lay aside -sword and armour, till I have passed my dagger through the heart of -Patrick Gray, dead or alive!"----"If you break this terrible vow," said -Sir Alan, aghast at the earl's fury, and the form it took in words. - -"Then I pray Heaven, at the judgment day, to show such mercy to me as I -shall show my enemies," was the fierce response. - -It was fortunate for the earl that he soon found a friar to release him -from a vow, the fulfilment of which must have entailed a vast deal of -trouble, fuss, and discomfort upon him and his followers. - -"A hundred crowns and St. Bryde for Douglas!" was the shout of the -moss-troopers, as they dashed through the outer gate, and with their -light active horses, their steel caps, jacks, and spears, they -clattered over the drawbridge; but Gray, after escaping six or eight -crossbow bolts, was already three miles before them, and spurring in -hot haste along the road towards Dumfries. - -It was a fortunate circumstance for him that he was well mounted on -a fleet, strong, and active horse; for he was a muscular man, and -heavily mailed, while his pursuers, being Border Prickers, wore but -little armour, and their wiry nags were used to scamper on forays in -all weathers and seasons by day and night, over moor, and moss, and -mountain sides. - -Gray knew well that if taken his death was certain; for Douglas, -reckless, ruthless, and bloodthirsty, by nature, was certain now to -give full scope to his long-treasured hatred. - -He no longer heard the whooping of his pursuers; he had either -distanced them, or they were husbanding their energies for a long -chase; but there came after him at times, upon the hollow wind, the -grunting bark of the sleuth-bratch, by which he was surely and savagely -tracked, Souyllard, the earl's favourite white bloodhound, and the -heart of the fugitive swelled anew, with grief and rage, and hatred of -his unrelenting tormentor. - -He was far from shelter or succour, for until he reached the Lothians, -all the land belonged to his enemies, or to those who dared not protect -him. For miles and miles before him stretched flattened hills and open -plains covered with waving heather, the purple tints of which were -glowing in the noonday sun, and these tints deepened into blue or black -on the shaded sides of the glens. The whirr of the blackcock was heard -at times, as it rose from the pale green or withered yellow leaves of -the ferns that grew among the rushes, where the trouting burn brawled, -or by the lonely ravine, the red-scaured bank, or stony gulley, which -Gray made his foam-covered horse clear by a flying leap. - -Louder and nearer came the savage bay of the sleuth-bratch, and Gray, -as he looked back, could see it tracking him closely and surely; while -about three miles distant the border spears of his pursuers glittered -on the summit of a hill. - -He had swam his horse through the Urr and spurred on for miles, and now -before him lay Lochrutton, with its old peel-house, named, from its -loneliness, the castle-of-the-hills; then, as he was about to cross a -foaming tributary of the loch--a stream that tore, all red and muddy, -through a stony ravine--the bounding sleuth-bratch came upon him, and -sprang at his horse's flanks, just as the terrified animal rose into -the air to cross by a flying leap. - -Clenching his gauntleted hand, Gray struck the fierce brute on the -head, and it fell into the rushing torrent; but gained the other side -as soon as he, and sent its deep, hoarse bay into the air, as if to -summon the pursuers. Now, the terrible sleuth-bratch was running -parallel with his horse's flanks, and vainly he strove to strike at it -with his sword. His temples throbbed as if with fever, and now, for -air, for coolness, and relief, he drew off his barred helmet; then he -tossed it into a bush, for the double purpose of staying the hound and -concealing it as a trace of his flight. Spurring on--he redoubled his -efforts to escape; he called to his horse--he cheered and caressed it, -while the perspiration of toil oozed through the joints of his armour, -from his gorget to his spurs. - -The terrible white hound was preparing for a final, and, doubtless, a -fatal spring, when a man, whose head and shoulders were enveloped in a -scarlet hood, suddenly rose from the whin bushes amid which Gray was -galloping, and, by a single blow from his ponderous mace, dashed out -the brains of the dog, killing it on the spot. - -Gray had just time to perceive that his preserver was Malise MacKim, -the smith of Thrave, when he passed on like a whirlwind; and now he saw -before him, in the distance, the lovely and far-stretching valley of -the Nith, the long bridge, the red-walled town, the spires, and the old -castle of Dumfries. He dashed through the portal of the bridge, and -pushed on by the way for Edinburgh; but, owing to the rough and devious -nature of the roads, night overtook him among the wilds of Tweedmuir. -If he drew bridle for a moment, he still heard the tramp of hoofs in -his rear, for now fresh horsemen had joined in the pursuit; and, but -for the relays he had so wisely provided, and of which he only once -availed himself, he had assuredly been taken and slain. - -At Moffat, he obtained his own favourite horse from the priest of the -village church. - -"Will you not, for safety, have your charger's shoes reversed?" said -the churchman, as Gray mounted. - -"Like King Robert of old; but there is no snow to reveal the track." - -"But there is mud, and the ways are deep and soft." - -"True; but who is here to do it for me?" - -"The smith at the forge." - -"Nay, nay, good father," said Gray, shortening his reins; "hear you -that!" a whoop and a bugle blast, came together on the night breeze; -"I must even trust me to my good Brechin blade and Clydesdale nag; for -both are our good king's gift," and he set forth with renewed speed. - -He had good reason for declining to loiter, for just as he rode off, -the mountain pass, which opens into the valley, rang with shouts and -the rush of many iron hoofs, as the laird of Hawkshaw and the Hunters -of Palmood, with Sir Alan Lauder and a band of Douglas moss-troopers, -came galloping down. - -On, on, rushed the fleet horse, with its small head outstretched, and -cutting the night air, as the prow of a ship cleaves the water. The -taper ears lay flat on its neck, the mane streamed behind like smoke -from a funnel, and the quivering nostrils shot forth white puffs of -steamy breath at every bound; while foam and blood mingled together on -its flanks, as the sharp Rippon spurs of the daring rider urged it fast -and furiously on. - -This flight of Sir Patrick Gray from Thrave suggested to Scott the -escape of Marmion from the future chief of the Douglases--the earl of -Angus, at Tantallan. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[Footnote 4: One account states that the body of MacLellan was interred -in the church of Kirkconnel, and some old inscription is quoted in -proof; another, that he was conveyed to the abbey church of Dundrennan, -where a monument was erected to his memory; but it is much more -probable that he would be interred in the church of Kirkcudbright.] - - - - -CHAPTER L. - -WILL HE ESCAPE? - - Black is my steed as a cloud of rain, - There's a star of white on his brow; - The free gales play with his feathery mane, - And lightnings gleam round his feet of snow. - - POLISH POETRY. - - -Dark foliaged glens and heathy hills, furrowed fields and wayside -cottages, with the pale smoke curling through their roofs of yellow -thatch and emerald moss; rock-perched towers, with corbelled -battlements and grated windows; deep fordless rivers, pathless woods, -and uncultivated wolds, seemed to fly past, and still the steed with -its bare-headed rider rushed on at a frightful pace, as if it was -enchanted, or bestrode by an evil spirit, like that of Lenore in the -ballad of Burger. - -The moon was shining brightly now. - -Near Stobo the pursuers came so close upon Gray that he began to fear -escape was impossible--the more so, as fresh blood-hounds were baying -on his track. On reaching the Tweed, instead of crossing it by a -ford--the river was deeper everywhere then than now--he waded or swam -his horse up the current for about a hundred yards, and _backed_ it -into a low-browed fissure or cavern which he discovered amid the rocks. - -Dismounting, he drew his sword and dagger, threw the bridle over his -left arm, and stood at the cavern mouth to confront all or any who -might come near, and resolved if they discovered his lurking place -to sell his life dearly; but he felt how much the long ride in heavy -armour over rough ground had impaired his natural strength. His sinews -were stiffened, his overtasked muscles were swollen with pain, and his -mind was as weary as his body. - -On the silver current of the Tweed, as it brawled over its broad bed of -pebbles, the moon shone bright and clearly; close by, a tributary from -the hills rushed over a brow of rock, and formed a feathery cascade, -which plunged into a deep pool. There the peasantry affirmed that a -kind fairy was wont to appear at times, and to bend over the cascade, -mingling her white arms and floating drapery with the foam, as she -sought to save those wayfarers whom the evil kelpie in the darksome -linn below sought to drown and devour. - -Nor hideous kelpie, nor lovely fairy were visible to-night; but now -came the hoarse grunting bark of four large sleuth-bratches, as they -leaped with heavy plunges to the margin of the stream: there the scent -was lost, and they were once more, as at every running water, at fault, -so they ran snorting and sniffing to and fro among the leaves, reeds, -and water-docks, with the breath curling up from their fierce red -nostrils like white steam in the clear moonlight. - -Then came furious surmises and angry oaths as a dozen or more -moss-troopers galloped down to the bank of the stream, and rode in an -excited manner hither and thither, seeking to put the dogs upon a track -or trail. Through the leafy screen of his hiding-place, Gray could see -their fierce and sun-burned faces, their rusty helmets and battered -trappings, their long reed-like lances that glittered in the moonshine; -for those moss-troopers, in their well-worn and half-barbaric -accoutrements, were the very Cossacks of the Scottish borders. - -James Achanna now came up and spurred his horse across to examine the -ford, and uttered a shout of exultation on discovering the trace of -horses' hoofs recently impressed in the soft mud. - -Gray drew a long breath, and felt the edge of his sword, for he -thought the critical moment was at hand! But now a trooper, with an -oath expressive of disappointment, drew the attention of all to the -circumstance that the marks were those of a horse which had gone -_towards_ the ford and must have crossed it for the south, and that, if -they were made by the hoofs of the fugitive's nag, he must have doubled -like a hare. On hearing this, Gray blessed his own foresight in having -backed his horse upward from the stream. - -The moment this hint was given to the rest, who had no particular views -of their own on the subject, they put spur to their horses and galloped -away, almost in the direction from whence they had come. As soon as -they were gone, Gray came forth from his lurking-place, mounted, and -rode off towards the north leisurely and at an easy pace. - -He was soon on the border of the fertile Lothians; the far-stretching -range of the Pentlands rose upon his left, with their heathy summits -tipped by the rising sun; the long ridge where the trenches of -Agricola's camp overlooked the woods of Dalhousie, the Dalkeith of the -Douglases, and the vale of the two Esks, was soon surmounted, and afar -off, "piled deep and massy, close and high," he could see old grey -Edinburgh rising in the distance. - -Haggard, wan, and wild in aspect, weary and torn,--minus a helmet -and with his dark hair streaming behind him; his armour rusted with -perspiration, and by frequent immersion in the rivers he had forded or -swam; his spurs dripping with blood, and his sinking horse covered with -foam and quivering in every fibre; his embroidered surcoat frittered by -brambles and thorns--the Captain of the King's Guard passed through the -streets of Edinburgh, and reached the castle, thus actually returning, -as the old gate-ward had shrewdly predicted, "faster than he gaed awa." - -The Master of Crichton (the chancellor's eldest son), the favourite -page of James, conducted him at once to the latter, who was in the -same apartment of David's Tower, and occupied with the same translated -romance of Sir Gilbert the Haye. - -"What of MacLellan?" said he, starting up. - -"MacLellan is dead, sire," replied Gray in a scarcely audible voice, -and in a burst of grief and excitement "My kinsman--my friend--he has -gone to heaven; but he was foully murdered, and in cold blood, by the -base Lord Douglas, and I shall avenge him--yea, fearfully, I swear it -by Him at whose throne he is now perhaps kneeling!" - -"And I will aid your vengeance, Gray," added the king, pressing his -hand. - -Then, when Sir Patrick had related his story, James vowed deeply in his -heart, if he could not conciliate Douglas, to CRUSH him and break his -terrible bond, or let himself be crushed in the contest. - - - - -CHAPTER LI. - -STIRLING. - - Ye towers within whose circuit dread, - A Douglas by his sovereign bled; - And thou, oh sad and fatal mound, - That oft has heard the death-axe sound.--SCOTT. - - -To Gray it seemed as if Heaven or fate had conspired with Douglas to -keep him and Murielle separate for the period of their natural lives; -though King James assured him that his day of retribution, if not of -happiness, must soon come now. - -The king of Scotland was most anxious to avoid the horrors of a civil -war with those obnoxious peers, who openly boasted, that on a day's -notice, by the Fiery Cross, they could array forty thousand men against -his throne and authority. He was really, and naturally so, alarmed by -the bond or league of the Douglases and their confederates; but the -summer passed, and the spring of the next year drew on, before the -haughty earl would agree to meet his sovereign in solemn conference at -Stirling. Then James promised Gray that all disputes would be ended, -and that the wish which lay nearest his heart--the surrender of his -wife to him--would be granted. - -How vain were the hopes of the good young king; and how little could -he or any one foresee the terrible sequel to that long-wished-for -interview! - -An ample letter of safe conduct was sent to the earl of Douglas, in -custody of Sir William Lauder of Hatton, a knight of Lothian, one of -his chief friends and followers; and thus armed and, as he deemed, -protected, he entered the quaint and beautiful old town of Stirling, -where James was then residing; for then, and for five generations -after, Stirling was the Aranjuez, or Versailles of the Scottish kings, -and on its decorations they were unsparing of treasure and of care. - -It was on the morning of Shrove Tuesday, the 20th of February, 1451, -that the earl arrived, accompanied by Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond; -Dunbar, earl of Murray; James, Lord Hamilton of Cadzow; Sir Alan -Lauder; the lairds of Pompherston, Glendoning, Cairnglas, and, of -course, James Achanna,--in all they were many hundred horsemen. They -made no parade or show, save of war; for all these nobles, knights, and -their followers, were mounted, mailed, and armed to perfection, so as -to be in readiness for any emergency; and they were all men of approved -and even reckless valour. - -The early winter was past; the vast valley or plain, through which -the wondrous links of Forth wind like a silver snake towards the -German Sea, was assuming that brilliance of green which is the first -indication of reviving nature. - -The notes of the woodlark and throstle-cock were heard in the woods of -Craigforth; the moles were busy on the fallow uplands, and the gnats -swarmed in the sunshine about the budding hedgerows; in the park below -the castle walls of Stirling, the bare-legged urchins of the town were -busy "throwing at cocks" tied to stakes--a barbarous custom by which -Shrovetide was always celebrated in Scotland, as well as in south -Britain; others were playing at foot-ball, or shooting at the butts -with little arblasts; and the shouts of their merriment rang upward -in the clear and almost frosty air, to where Mary of Gueldres and her -ladies were seated at the windows of the royal dwelling, many hundred -feet above the grassy glen. But all left their sports, and hastened to -the gate which opened towards the old Druid oaks of the Torwood, when -the brass bombardes of the fortress rolled their thunder on the still -atmosphere, and made the Ochil mountains echo in salute to the doughty -earl of Douglas, while the clarions and trumpets of his train rang -before the barrier-porte of the ancient burgh. - -His family banner, twelve trumpets, with a royal herald and pursuivant, -preceded him; and as he passed up the quaint streets, where the -burghers at their windows, galleries, turrets, and forestairs, hung out -pennons, tapestry, and garlands, and received him with acclamations, -he deemed it all a tribute to his rank, and to his mighty feudal and -mightier political power; although this display was merely the joyous -outpouring of their hearts at the prospect of an amicable end being -put to the jealousy and hate which had separated the chief of the -Douglases--that line of glorious old historic memory--from a brave and -high-spirited monarch whom they loved. It was all in the spirit of the -old ballad-- - - God save the king, and bless the land - In plenty, joy, and peace; - And grant henceforth that foul debate - 'Twixt noblemen may cease. - -The earl's cuirass was of Milan steel, magnificently damascened, -studded with gilt nails, and furnished at the armpits with little -espalettes of gold. From under his open helmet, which was surrounded by -a coronet, he looked around him with a smile of surly satisfaction; but -his most powerful friend, Sir James, the lord Hamilton of Cadzow, said, -solemnly and sternly, - -"Let not all this delude you, Douglas, to forget on this day the wrongs -of your race." - -"Forget?" reiterated the other, grimly; "forget, said ye, Cadzow? If I -forget my father and my kinsmen, so may God, his blessed Mother, and -St. Bryde of Douglas, forget me! No, Hamilton, never shall I forget the -good and doughty Douglases who have gone before me, for their lives -were lives of danger, and their mail-clad breasts were Scotland's best -bulwarks in the stormy days of old." - -"I know all that; but our bond--and the king"--said Hamilton, -hesitatingly. - -"Well, he is neither priest, philosopher, nor exorcist, like that old -knave of Tongland, who has left me to my own sins and devices; so what -can he make of the matter?" - -"When we are within yonder castle on the rock, he may perhaps term it -treason." - -"He dare not!" was the bold reply. - -"I beseech you to beware, my lord earl," said Lord Hamilton; "I have -a strange foreboding in my heart, and I warn you now--even as the -good Sir Malcolm Fleming warned Earl William--to remember that before -the gate of Stirling lies a mound, on which have rolled the heads of -Murdoch of Albany, of his two sons, of Duncan, earl of Lennox, and many -others." - -"What of that?" asked the earl impatiently, as if he disliked the -subject. - -"In one minute more, you will be at the mercy of the king," said -Hamilton, who was alike bold and wary. - -But the earl laughed scornfully and rode on, while the majority of his -vast retinue separated to seek quarters in the town, as the castle -could not have held them. - -"There is yet time to pause--even to return," resumed Hamilton, as he -all but seized the earl's rein. - -"I know not what you mean, Cadzow; but I care not, and _he dare not_," -said Douglas, as he reined up his horse and dismounted at the gate of -the castle. - -Before it was a strong palisade, within which the soldiers of the -king's guard were under arms, with their helmets, corslets, plate -sleeves, and partisans glittering in the sun. At their head were Sir -Patrick Gray, and his kinsman, Gray of Balgarno, clad, not in state -dresses, but complete armour, as if for battle. - -Sir Patrick and the earl exchanged angry and hostile glances as they -passed each other. There was a considerable pressure about the gate, -as the chief followers of Douglas crushed after him through the narrow -outer wicket; and there a strange fracas took place between Cadzow and -the grim old Sir Alexander Livingstone of Callender, who, after he -had relinquished the regency, had been appointed justice-general of -Scotland, with a peerage in perspective. - -Sir Alexander snatched a partisan from the hands of his son, Sir James -Livingstone, who was captain of the castle of Stirling, and when -Hamilton (his own kinsman and friend) attempted to enter, he placed the -shaft across the wicket, and roughly thrust him back. - -Inspired by a sudden fury, Hamilton shut down the visor of his helmet, -and, sword in hand, was rushing upon Livingstone; but the strong and -determined old knight resolutely held him back till the gates were -shut, and thus he, with many more of the earl's train who might have -proved troublesome from their number and disposition, were excluded. - -"Sir James Hamilton," says history, "was very angry at this usage at -the time; but afterwards learned that Livingstone acted a friendly -part in excluding him from the probable danger into which Douglas was -throwing himself." It was a conference the end of which none could -foresee. - -It is somewhat remarkable that, after a brawl which seemed so -significant of perils yet to come, Douglas (unless he was ignorant of -its occurrence) should have passed through the embattled porch of the -fortress; but now all the barriers were closed, and no course was open -but to _dree his weird_--to follow his destiny! - - - - -CHAPTER LII. - -HOW THE KING BROKE THE BOND. - - Little honour it won thee - For smooth was thy greeting; - Thou wast bid to the feast, - In the hall was your meeting. - In the hall was your meeting, - But thou stained it with slaughter; - When there's blood on the hearth, - Who can wash it with water? - - FROM THE GAELIC. - - -Veiling his just indignation under a bland exterior, King James II. -received the turbulent earl kindly and with condescension; and after -some amicable expostulations on the subject of the men he had so -lawlessly put to death in Thrave and elsewhere--the ravages he had -committed upon the lands of his enemies--the towns he had burned and -the castles he had stormed, all seemed to become cordiality between him -and his much-too-powerful subject. - -Of these startling acts they conversed as quietly and easily as modern -men may do of an election, a bill before parliament, or any ordinary -and everyday affair; yet they were dangerous topics to comment upon -at such a time, for by the king's side were still the Lord Chancellor -Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingstone of Callender, the Lord Glammis, -Sir Patrick Gray, and others; while near Douglas were the Earls of -Crawford, Murray, and Ormond, with Pompherston, Glendoning, and others, -all, more or less, involved personally; but now, on looking round, the -earl missed the powerful chief of the house of Hamilton. - -"Is not Cadzow here?" he asked, changing colour. - -"He remains in the town," said Sir Alexander Livingstone with a smile -which there was no analyzing; "but if it please you, lord earl, I shall -send him a message." - -"Do so, Laird of Callender," replied the earl, "and for the first time -in my life I shall thank you." - -"We shall see," replied Livingstone as he withdrew to an antechamber, -where he disengaged the gold spur from his right heel, and giving it to -James's page, the Master of Crichton bade him "see the Lord Hamilton, -of Cadzow, and give him this spur, with a kinsman's best wishes for its -speedy use." - -The spur was duly delivered--the hint was accepted, and the brawl at -the gate seemed explained; for within an hour, Hamilton and _his_ -followers were far on the road to Clydesdale and the castle of Cadzow. - -At the hour of seven, the king, Douglas, and their retinue sat down -to a banquet, or rere-supper, in the castle-hall. It was sumptuous, -and what it lacked in genuine hilarity was made up in rude and antique -splendour. At that banquet friends and foes seemed united for the -time--though like Scotsmen in general, the moment it was over, and -while the hall yet echoed with the flourish of trumpets as the king -rose, they drew into cliques and coteries, who talked and scowled at -each other. The king, Crichton, and Livingstone earnestly desired a -compromise and coalition with Douglas. - -On one hand the latter wished to scare them by a display of his power, -and on the other to fathom their ulterior plans without revealing his -own; thus during the banquet he carefully avoided the perilous subject -of his rebellious _bond_. - -Gray, as he leaned on his partizan, at the back of the king's chair, -kept the visor of his helmet half closed, to conceal the emotions of -his heart, which his face might have betrayed. Not even the image of -Murielle, pale, gentle, and sad-eyed, could soften at that time the -bitterness that burned within him. His long separation from her; his -wounds inflicted by the hands of the earl and his followers; his many -wrongs; the snares of Achanna; the long captivity in the Flemish castle -of Bommel; his kinsman's murder, and the terrors of that desperate -flight from Thrave, all swelled up like a flood of fiery thoughts -within him, and he actually conceived the idea of smiting Douglas on -the face with his iron glove in the king's presence, and challenging -him to mortal combat in the hall. - -Night had set in--a dark and gusty night of February, when the wind -howled loudly and drearily round the towers of Stirling, and when -the moon cast its fitful gleams with the shadows of the fast-flying -clouds, on the wide vale of Forth, and the mighty masses of the Ochil -Mountains. The pages were lighting the sconces and chandeliers in the -great hall, while the yeomen of the cellars were supplying the guests -with more wine, when James, impatient to broach the subject of the -bond, privately invited the earl to accompany him into a closet, which -is still shown in the north-western corner of the castle--the same -quarter of the royal residence in which he first saw the light. In -golden letters, on its cornice, may yet be seen his name: - - Jacobus II. Rex Scottorum. - -Its walls were then covered with gilded Spanish leather; a fire of -perfumed wood burned cheerfully on the hearth; but the poker and tongs, -though each surmounted by an imperial crown, were chained to the jambs, -as if in the house of a simple citizen. - -After trimming the lights, the pages, on a sign from the king, withdrew -backwards, bowing at every step, and he was left with the earl, who -found himself alone, or unattended, and in the closet were the Lords -Crichton, Glammis, Sir Patrick Gray, a gentleman of the bedchamber, -named Sir Simon Glendinning, and one or two others, who were the chosen -friends of James. - -Aware that their sovereign was about to take the earl calmly but -severely to task, they all drew somewhat apart, and Gray, with -soldier-like instinct, leaned in silence on his partizan near the door. -On perceiving these little movements, a smile of disdain crossed the -earl's swarthy face, and he played significantly with his jewelled -dagger. - -James resumed the subject of his general conduct, and if Master David -Hume of Godscroft, the historian of the house of Douglas, can be -credited, the earl answered submissively enough, and craved the royal -pardon, often alleging that the slaughter of Sir Herbert Herries of -Teregles, Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie, and others, were _not_ acts -against the crown, but lawful raids against his own personal enemies. - -"But how came you to slay the Gudeman of my mills at Carluke?" asked -the king."----Carluke--ha! ha!" - -"The death of a good man is no laughing matter," said James, with a -frown on his handsome face. - -"He was accused of having weeds on his land." - -"Weeds!" was the perplexed rejoinder. - -"Yes, your highness--weeds. It was statute and ordained by Alexander -II., that he who poisoneth the king's lands with weeds, especially the -corn marigold, was a traitor." - -"By my faith! that should make clean garden-work in the realm of -Scotland," said the old chancellor, bitterly; "but the law says, that -he who hath a plant of this kind found on his lands may be fined a -sheep, or the value thereof, at the goul-court of the baron; whereas -the miller died, or was found murdered--hewn to pieces by Jethart axes, -within the Holy Gyrth of Lesmahago--a crime against the Church as well -as State." - -"I came not here to talk of peasant carles and their modes of dying," -said Douglas, with a terrible frown at Crichton, his hatred for whom -he cared not to conceal; "and since when, my lord chancellor, has a -slaughter, committed in the form of _Raid_, been termed a _murder_ in -Scotland?" - -"Enough about the poor miller," resumed the king, with growing -severity; "my lord, I have another complaint; you have lawlessly -separated a faithful subject, the captain of our guard, from his wedded -wife, and thus have torn asunder, for many long years, those whom your -own father-confessor united before the altar with every due solemnity." - -"I hope to separate them yet more surely," replied the earl, with a -glance of unutterable hate at Gray. - -"This, in my presence?" exclaimed the king; "thou heart of iron!" - -"In any man's presence, and to any man who mars or meddles with my -domestic affairs; but I beseech your majesty to change the ungracious -subject." - -"Be it so," replied the king, with a gentleness he was very far from -feeling, as his temper was fiery in the extreme. "All these are matters -for after consideration; but what say you to that most treasonable -confederation, into which you have entered with the earls of Crawford, -Ormond, Ross, the lords Hamilton, Balvenie, and many others? By that -bond you seek to array one half my kingdom against me--a kingdom over -which my dynasty has ruled in strength for so many generations." - -"So much the worse," sneered the insolent peer; "for all dynasties -begin in strength and end in weakness." - -"I pledge my royal word," continued the king, trembling with suppressed -passion, "that when I first heard of your league, and of its terrible -tenor, I could scarcely give it credence."----"Possibly, your -grace--but what then?" - -"Simply, that bond must be broken." - -"Must!" reiterated the earl, incredulously. - -"Yes must, and _shall_, by the soul of St. Andrew! No such leagues can -be tolerated in a realm, without the express sanction of its sovereign; -and by abandoning this confederacy, Douglas, you will remove every -suspicion from my mind."----"Suspicion!--of what?" - -"Secret motives, whose aim we cannot see." - -"Sire!" began Douglas, loftily, but paused. - -"Notwithstanding all that has passed, I am unwilling to believe the -evil which men impute to you," said James, with a most conciliating -manner; "but you must expect neither favour nor mercy from me if you -continue to show such examples to my people, and teach them to live as -if there were neither law nor justice in the kingdom." - -Douglas heard this bold remonstrance (in which we follow the words of -history) with surprise; but recovering himself, replied plausibly; and -in the pauses of this conference the sounds of laughter, hilarity, and -the clinking of cups and goblets came from the adjoining hall, with the -notes of the harps in the gallery. - -"Your Majesty's favour I shall certainly endeavour to preserve," said -the earl. "You are aware that I have the honour to command many who -obey me faithfully and fearlessly, and I trust you are also aware -that I know well how to render dutiful obedience to you. None of your -subjects in Scotland possess higher rank or greater power than I, the -Earl of Douglas, do; nor is there one who will more freely peril life -and fortune in defence of your majesty's throne and honour. But," -he added, suddenly relinquishing his adopted suavity, and glancing -malignantly at Crichton, Gray, and others; "_those_ who lay snares for -my life--even as they snared my kinsmen in 1440--are now your majesty's -constant attendants, friends, and advisers, so that I dare not trust -myself in your royal presence, without a letter of safe conduct, as if -I were an Englishman, or any other subject of a foreign king." - -"And without an army of followers," added the chancellor, who, -remembering the ambush in which he had so nearly perished before his -own gate, was confounded by the stolid effrontery of his enemy. - -"But the bond," said the king; "the bond, my lord!" - -"As for that league of mutual friendship, formed by certain nobles and -myself, I can assure your majesty, that, for any purpose which pleased -us, we should adhere together quite well _without_ its existence." - -"Did friendship alone produce the bond?" asked James with an eagle -glance in his keen hazel eyes. - -"No--we were driven to seal and sign it,--not with intent to attack our -enemies, but to defend ourselves against them." - -"Lord Earl," said the king, gravely, "deeds, not words, evince the -affection and submission of a subject; and there can be no greater -security for him, than the justly administered laws of the realm. -Such men as you, my lord of Douglas, have ever raised those factions -which have subverted the authority of your kings and the laws of your -country; and now I am resolved to tolerate no subjects of any rank or -condition who dare to form leagues, offensive and defensive, against -all persons." - -"My ancestors----" began the earl furiously. - -"Oh, my lord," said James; "what is all your mad pride of ancestry, -when compared----" - -"With yours, your majesty would say!" - -"No," replied the king, with a bitter smile, while growing pale with -rage. - -"What then?"----"With _personal worth_." - -The daring Douglas gave his young monarch a glance of profound disdain; -and during this species of altercation, it was with difficulty that -Crichton, Gray, Glammis, and Sir Simon Glendinning restrained the -desire for falling on the earl sword in hand. "Proceed," said the -latter with a sigh of mock resignation. - -"The objects of your bond are to disclaim all rule, to do what you -please, to commit treason, and by your own swords to justify your -ultimate views, until you rush upon the throne itself. So I, as a king, -whose power comes direct from God and the people, demand that this most -dangerous league, with Ross, with Crawford, Ormond, and Balvenie, be -instantly broken!" - -"The bond was formed with the mutual consent of many; and unless they -meet for consultation, which they may do on _a day's notice_, it cannot -be renounced without dishonour by any one of us." - -James, who knew their boast, that "on a day's notice" they could array -forty thousand men in their helmets against him, gave the crafty peer -a withering glance as he replied, "My lord, the first example of -renunciation shall be set by _you_. No man--not even though earl of -Douglas and lord of Galloway--dare disclaim my authority, and you shall -not stir a single pace from this chamber until, in presence of these -loyal lords and gentlemen, you retract your adherence to this treason." - -"Your grace must remember that I came hither upon the public assurance -and letters of safe conduct." - -"No public letter can protect a man from the punishment due to private -treason!" - -Then, says history, "as this last reply of James implied a threat -of personal violence, the native pride of Douglas betrayed him -into the most imprudent passion. He broke into a torrent of -reproaches, upbraiding the king for depriving him of the office of -lieutenant-general of the kingdom, declared that he cared little for -the name of treason, with which his conduct had been branded; that, as -to his confederacy with the earls of Ross and Crawford, he had it not -in his own power to dissolve it, and that if he had, he would be sorry -to offend his best friends to gratify _the boyish caprices_ of a king. -James, naturally fiery and impetuous, became furious with rage at this -rude defiance, uttered in his own palace by one whom he regarded as -his enemy." He drew his dagger, and, animated by a gust of temper far -beyond his control, exclaimed, "False traitor! if thou wilt not break -the bond, THIS SHALL!" - -With these words he drove the weapon into the earl's breast--the keen -and glittering blade passing between his cuirass and the gold espalette -at his left armpit. Choking in blood, the fierce and fearless earl -fell back for an instant. Then, maddened by pain, and perhaps by the -prospect of immediate death, he unsheathed his own poniard, and was -rushing upon James, when--as we are told by Buchanan--Gray interposed -and struck him down by a blow on the head with his partisan. "This for -MacLellan!" he exclaimed, in a hoarse voice. - -"Villain!" sighed the earl, as he sank on the rush-covered floor, and -struggled vainly to rise again. - -"I struck but to save my king, lord earl," said Gray, bending over him, -"and for no private wrong of my own, nathless my words, so Heaven be my -judge! but say, shall Murielle, my wife, be surrendered to me?" - -The earl gave Gray a ghastly smile as the blood flowed darkly over his -bright armour, and a livid pallor overspread his swarthy face. - -"Speak, I conjure you," urged Gray; "speak, ere it be too -late--Murielle--" - -"Shall never be thine," muttered the dying earl, with quivering -lips and uncertain accents; "for when this news reaches Thrave, -Achanna--James Achanna--has--has my orders--orders to--to----" - -"What?" implored Gray, bending low his ear; "what?"----"_To strangle -her!_" - -These terrible words were scarcely uttered, when many who were the -earl's enemies rushed in with their swords and daggers, and, holding -back the king, Gray, Crichton, and Glendinning, who--now that their -first gust of fury was over, would have saved him--speedily ended his -life by the infliction of six-and-twenty wounds. - -They then opened the window, and flung the yet warm and sorely mangled -corpse of that mighty earl, who was the rival of his king, into the -nether baillerie of the castle; and from the terrible deed of that -night of Shrove Tuesday, the 20th of February, the apartment in which -it took place is still named the "Douglas Room." - - * * * * * - -As a sequel to it, the Edinburgh newspapers of the 14th of October, -1797, have the following paragraph:-- - -"On Thursday se'nnight, as some masons were digging a foundation in -Stirling Castle, in a garden adjacent to the magazine, they found -a human skeleton, about eight yards from the window over which the -earl of Douglas was thrown, after he was stabbed by King James II. -There is no doubt that they were his remains, as it is certain that he -was buried in that garden, and but a little distance from the closet -window." - - - - -CHAPTER LIII. - -THE SIEGE OF THRAVE. - - Well, then, to work; our cannon shall be bent - Against the brows of this resisting town; - Call for our chiefest men of discipline - To cull the plots of best advantages: - We'll lay before this town our royal bones, - Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood, - But we will make it subject to this boy.--KING JOHN. - - -The unfortunate Sir Patrick Gray knew the atrocities of which the -castle of Thrave had been the scene during the late earl's lifetime; -and he also knew the cruelty of which Achanna, his tool and minion, was -capable; thus the dying words of Douglas made his soul tremble with -terror for the safety of Murielle, in such butcherly and unscrupulous -hands. But how was she to be saved? - -All the vassals of the crown were not numerous enough to penetrate into -Galloway and storm Thrave, amid a land of pastoral wilds and pathless -forests, swarming with freebooting lairds, fierce moss-troopers, and -half-savage Celts. Of venturing there _alone_, like a knight-errant, -his recent expedition had fully illustrated the danger, and after the -last terrible deed in Stirling the peril would be greater than ever. - -That stern deed of the young king filled the Douglases with rage; but -it was not without a salutary effect upon their adherents, as it -evinced that he would no longer brook their insulting and rebellious -conduct. - -Posterity can have little sympathy for the fate of Douglas, "whose -career from first to last," says Mr. Tytler, "had been that of a -selfish, ambitious, and cruel tyrant, who, at the moment when he was -cut off, was all but a convicted traitor, and whose death, if we except -the mode in which it was brought about, was to be regarded as a public -benefit." - -His friends and his adherents, however, were not disposed to take this -calm view of the matter. His younger brother succeeded to his titles -and estates, and was styled "Earl of Douglas and Duke of Touraine;" and -he, with the earls of Murray, Ormond, Lord Balvenie, and others, all -Douglases, proposed to storm the castle of Stirling, and put all within -it to the sword, not even excepting James and his young queen, Mary of -Gueldres; but a little reflection convinced them of the peril of such -an enterprise, and, moreover, that they were without cannon or other -resources to attempt it. - -However, six hundred nobles, barons, and gentlemen, of the house -of Douglas, mustered in full array, with all their vassals, within -the town of Stirling, on the 25th day of March--the feast of St. -Benedict--and dragged through mud and mire the king's safe conduct, -which they nailed on a wooden truncheon, and tied to the tail of a -sorry old jaded cart-horse. They then burned it publicly at the Market -Cross, where after four hundred horns and twenty brass trumpets had -proclaimed defiance, they stigmatized "the king, the lord Crichton, Sir -Alexander Livingstone, Sir Patrick Gray, and all who adhered to them, -as false and perjured traitors!" - -They bade formal defiance to the royal garrison. Then, after completely -pillaging the town, they set it on fire in every quarter, and, leaving -it in flames and ashes, retired through the adjacent country, which -they filled with tumult and outrage. Having thus expended their fury on -all that came in their way, they retired each to his own fortress, to -prepare for what might follow. - -Not long after this, the new earl, with his brothers, friends, and -kinsmen, daringly fixed on the doors of the parish churches a document, -in which they solemnly renounced their allegiance to the king "as a -perjured traitor, a violator of the laws of hospitality, and an ungodly -thirster after innocent blood." - -The parliament now resolved to aid their justly-incensed monarch in -punishing these contumacious nobles, and in a short time he found -himself at the head of thirty thousand carefully-selected men, who -assembled on Pentland Muir, and with them he resolved to advance -against the Douglases. Sir Patrick Gray and the royal guard, of course, -accompanied him on this expedition. - -The king had with him, William, the lord high constable, whom he -had just created earl of Errol, and leader of feudal cavalry; Lord -Crichton's son, whom he had created earl of Caithness and lord high -admiral of the kingdom; the lords Hailes, Fleming, Boyd, and many other -loyal nobles, with all their followers. - -He had a fine train of artillery (as artillery was viewed in those -days), under Romanno of that ilk, the principal cannon being _the -Lion_, a great gun cast in Flanders and shipped at Bruges, for -Scotland, by order of his father, James I., in 1430. It was of polished -brass, covered by beautiful carvings and ornaments, and bore the -following inscription:-- - - "Illustri Iacobo Scottorum, principe digno, - Regi magnifico, dum fulmine castra reduco, - Factus sum sub eo, nuncuper ergo Leo." - -The white or gaudily-striped and bannered tents of the royal army -covered all the great tract of land known as Pentland Muir, and -clustered by the margin of lonely Logan Burn, which flows through a -green sequestered vale, the solitude of which was now broken by the hum -of the camp, the hourly din of horn and trumpet, the clanging of the -hammers and anvils of the farriers and armourers; thus, the shepherd on -the Pentland slopes could see the red glow of many a forge and watch -fire reddening the sides of the hills by night, and in his shealing -he could hear the unwonted sounds, that scared his herds and hirsels -from their pasture, the eagle from its eyrie in Torduff, and broke the -silence of the pastoral waste:-- - - Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents - The armourers accomplishing the knights, - With busy hammers closing rivets up, - Give note of dreadful preparation. - -The wiry music of the harp might also be heard at times amid the camp, -for many minstrels accompanied the king's army. The _last_ time its -notes were heard in a Scottish host was when Argyll marched to the -battle of Benrinnes, in 1594. - -After hearing solemn mass said in the old rectory kirk of Pentland, -where whilom was a settlement of the _Gillian Chriosd_ (followers of -the Lord)--whence comes the name of Gilchrist--the order was issued -by James to strike the tents, and then the whole army marched against -the Douglases. The king wore at his helmet the glove of his beautiful -Mary d'Egmont, and a knot of her neck-ribbons decorated his lance. The -task his troops had undertaken was somewhat arduous, as they had to -penetrate into wild districts destitute of roads, where every laird and -peasant, every yeoman and hind, felt it his duty to defend his chief -against all mankind, even the king, if he came in a hostile guise. - -With the ghastly smile of the dead earl yet before him, and the -terrible words he had uttered yet lingering in his ear, Sir Patrick -Gray longed to be at Thrave; and his heart sickened with impatience -during the tardy passage of the king's army through Ettrick Forest -and Annandale, the home of powerful and predatory Border clans, into -Galloway; for malcontents and marauders were to be punished on every -hand; the growing cornfields were swept by fire; towers were stormed -and castles dismantled, by having their gates unhinged and their -battlements thrown down. - -Many of the Douglas adherents, on seeing the determination of James and -the number of his host, implored forgiveness; and he, being by nature -too fiery and impetuous to be vindictive, pardoned them; but the young -earl had fled, no one knew whither save his own friends. - -At last the king approached the banks of the Dee, and saw before him -the famous stronghold of Thrave. The vanguard of his army, the vassals -of Lord Glammis, gave a shout when they first came in sight of it, -and that shout found an echo in the heart of Gray, as it did in the -hearts of the Douglas garrison; for in Thrave, at least a thousand men, -under Sir Alan Lauder, prepared to defend themselves to the last, and -literally to fight with ropes around their necks. - -When the vanguard halted, and the army began to encamp, the king, -accompanied by Sir Patrick Gray, Lord Crichton, and others, rode -forward to examine this strong and spacious castle, on which the -Douglas banner was waving, and all the ramparts of which, from the -outer barbican wall to the summit of the keep, seemed full of armed -men, glittering, moving, and instinct with animation, all save one who -hung from the gallows knob, and he was still enough. - -The mighty fabric, with its moat and bridge, its grated windows -and battlements bristling with steel pikes, brass sakers, and long -arquebuses, was as grim, as gloomy, as dark and stern as ever, and its -shadow was cast by the evening sun far along the surface of the Dee. -A white puff of smoke floated suddenly from the keep in the sunshine, -and with the sharp report of a culverin, souse came an iron ball, which -struck the earth beneath the forefeet of Sir Patrick's horse, causing -it to rear wildly. - -"A narrow chance of death," said he, with a dark smile. - -"There are some chances that do not happen _twice_ in a man's -lifetime," said the king laughing; "so we had better change our ground." - -As they rode towards the three thorn trees at the Carlinwark (one of -which still survives, though gnarled, knotted, and old, with the lapse -of, perhaps, ten centuries), a shout rose from the half-formed camp, -and the soldiers began to rush to their standards, for now a large -body of troops were seen debouching from the woods in their rear, and -a rumour instantly spread that they were English forces under the -young earl of Douglas, advancing to raise the siege. But the momentary -alarm was soon quelled on the return of Lord Glammis and the Master -of Crichton, who, by the king's order, had advanced to meet them and -reconnoitre. - -"They are fresh troops from Ayr, who are come to join your highness," -said Glammis, "the men of the three Baileries of Kyle, Carrick, and -Cunningham." - -"Under whom?" - -"The Lord Montgomerie of that Ilk and Sir Robert of Kilmaurs, who -request permission to kiss your hand." - -"Good--'tis well." - -"And better still, there have come in with them, the three Wards of -Etterick, Yarrow, and Tweed." - -"The archers of our old Royal Forest of Selkirk! Thank Heaven, despite -this Douglas war, there are loyal and true hearts in Scotland yet!" -exclaimed the king. "And now to summon this devil of a fortress. Who -will ride forward with the sign of truce?" - -"That will I, readily," said Gray. - -Others who were of higher rank might have claimed the perilous service; -but all knew how Sir Patrick was situated, or connected with the family -then in rebellion against the throne, so none came forward to dispute -the errand with him. - -"I thank you my faithful friend," said James. "You know the terms I -offer; instant surrender, and that if the garrison resist, every man -found within the walls shall suffer by the edge of the sword." - - - - -CHAPTER LIV. - -THE DEFIANCE. - - Thou a young king art, Alfonso, - New thy sceptre in the land; - Establish well at home thy power, - Ere thou drawest forth the brand.--THE CID. - - -Sir Patrick Gray laid aside his helmet and gauntlets, and with a -freshly peeled willow rod, the old Scottish symbol of peace and truce -in his right hand, rode boldly forward, and while scanning every window -with eager eyes for one beloved face and form, he found himself before -the formidable gate of Thrave. No faces but those of armed and helmeted -men were visible. - -At his approach the drawbridge was lowered and the gates were unclosed; -but the portcullis, which was composed of iron bars welded together -in harrow-fashion by the ponderous hammer of Malise MacKim, remained -closed, and within, or beyond it, he saw the Lairds of Pompherston, -Cairnglas, and Glendoning, with James Achanna, and Sir Alan Lauder, who -was governor of Thrave, and as a symbol of that office wore a silver -key suspended at his neck by a chain of the same metal. All were in -complete armour, but wore their helmets open. Anxiety and anger, but -also resolution, were expressed in all their faces. - -"In the name of his majesty the king!" exclaimed Gray, reining in his -horse. - -"Well--what ware bring you here, sir, in the name of his majesty the -king?" asked Lauder, sternly but mockingly. - -"I, Patrick Gray, of Foulis, knight, commander of the royal guard, -summon you, knights, gentlemen, and others, adherents of the umquhile -and forfeited Earls of Douglas, Murray, Ormond, and of the Lords -Hamilton and Balvenie, to yield up this strength unto the king, or -otherwise to abide our cannon, and the fate in store for all who are -guilty of treason and rebellion!" - -"Sir Patrick Gray," replied Lauder, a grim old man with a long silver -beard and a severely knitted brow, "you have come to the wrong quarter -to offer such hard terms. My name is Alan Lauder, of the Auld Craig -o'Bass; my shield bears a double treasure, to show that I and mine -have been faithful to our trust, and my motto, as the monks have it, -is _Turris prudentia custos_, and by it shall I abide. The garrison of -Thrave believe in their patron, St. Bryde of Douglas, and, perchance, -rather more in their arblasts and arquebuses; and this house shall we -defend to the last, so help us God!" he added, - -"Reconsider your words, rash man! The wise may change their minds on -reflection, but fools never." - -"Begone, lest a ball from an arquebus end this parley," replied Lauder, -whose grey eyes sparkled with anger. - -"Be it so," said Gray, gathering up his reins and turning his horse; -"but the king desires me to add, that the Countess of Douglas, the Lady -Murielle, their ladies, and all women and children now here in Thrave, -may depart in peace to Tongland Abbey, or the College of Lincluden. -If not, that they should repair to the quarter of her bower-chamber, -whereon, if a white pennon be displayed, our cannon shall respect it." - -"Good--for that small boon; as I have a fair daughter, I, in the name -of my brother outlaws, thank this most clement king," said Douglas of -Pompherston, bitterly. - -"Is the Lady Murielle with the Countess?" asked Gray, with too visible -anxiety. - -They all exchanged cold smiles, but no one answered. Then a page, a -pretty boy, to whom Murielle had frequently been kind, was about to -speak, when Achanna suddenly put a drawn sword across his mouth, saying -sternly: "One word, ye false gowk, and it is your last!" - -Gray was about to address Sir Alan again, when a voice exclaimed: -"Place for the Countess of Douglas!" - -Then, through the rusty _grille_ of the portcullis, Gray saw the -countess approach, attended by the fair-haired daughters of Sir -Alan Lauder. His emotion increased on seeing this twice-widowed -dame--widowed so young and so prematurely; she who was whilome the Fair -Maid of Galloway, the sister of Murielle, and _his_ most bitter enemy; -yet, withal, he instinctively bowed low at her approach. - -Full in stature, and magnificently formed, she was a woman whose -natural grace and the tragic character of whose beauty were greatly -increased by her dress, which, though all of the deepest black, was -richly jewelled with diamonds, and the same stones sparkled on the hilt -of a tiny dagger that dangled at her girdle. Her dignity was enhanced -by the amplitude of her skirts, the satin waves of which filled up the -eye; but her pale and lovely face, her short upper lip and quivering -nostrils, expressed only scorn and aversion for poor Gray, while with -one white hand, after throwing back a heavy braid of her jet hair, -which she knew well to be one of her greatest beauties, she swept up -her flowing train, and with the other pointed towards the camp of the -king, as a hint for his envoy to begone, and as she did so, her bright -black eyes flashed with latent fire. - -"Countess of Douglas----" - -"_Dowager_ Countess," she interrupted Gray, with a derisive bow, and -with a voice that almost hissed through her close white teeth. - -"Madam, King James has now assumed the sword--" - -"Of _justice_?" she asked bitterly, interrupting him again; "you should -say the dagger of the assassin, Sir Patrick Gray, as it better becomes -his hand; but we hope to test the temper of both his weapons. Twice has -he widowed me--" - -"He, madam?" - -"Yea, even he; this James Stuart, who comes hither to waste our lands, -to dishonour our name, to raze our castles, and to quench our household -fires," she continued, in a voice which though piercing was singularly -sweet, and reminded Gray of the gentler accent of Murielle. "Not -content with slaying my husband cruelly and mercilessly under tryst, he -has sworn by his royal crown and the Black Rood of Scotland, that the -plough-share shall pass under the ground-stone of Thrave, and that the -place where it stands shall be salted with salt." - -"I came not hither to threaten you, madam, neither was I desired to -confer with you, but with Sir Alan Lauder and those misguided men who -are now in arms here; and my answer----" - -"Shall be this--from _me_, Margaret, countess dowager of Douglas, -umquhile duchess dowager of Touraine, and lady of Longueville, -Annandale, and Galloway, that James Stuart and the Gueldrian his wife -may reign where they please, but I shall be queen on this side of the -Nith, and woe to the man, be he lord or loon, who says me nay!" - -Her glance of flame, her lovely little lip that curled with hate and -scorn; her proud face, with its unearthly wrath and beauty--so fair in -its proportions, yet so fearful in its aspect of passion--haunted the -Captain of the Guard long after they had parted. - -"Enough of this," said old Sir Alan Lauder, coming brusquely forward -and taking her hand; "away, Sir Patrick--back to him, or them who sent -you, and say, that though our lord the earl was foully slain under -tryst in Stirling, his spirit is with us here in Thrave, and shall -inspire us in resisting to the last of our breath and the last of our -blood, a king who has falsely wronged us!" - -"And in every particular _shall the earl's last orders be obeyed_," -added Achanna, with an malignant glance at Gray, whose head grew giddy -with rage, while his blood ran cold at the terrible inference he drew -from these words; and the bars of the portcullis alone prevented him -from cleaving the wretch to the chin. So ended the conference. - -In this exasperated mood he rejoined the king, who, with many of the -nobles, awaited him at the three thorns of the Carlinwark. - -The siege now began with great vigour. - -On the 8th July, James wrote to Charles VII. of France, announcing that -all the fortresses of the Douglas family had surrendered to him except -Thrave, which his troops were then besieging; but August came, and -still the defiant banner with the bloody heart waved from the vast keep -that still overshadows the Dee. - -The season was a lovely one. - -The oak, the ash, and the beech were still in full foliage of the -richest green; the white blossoms of the hawthorn were past, but the -bright scarlet berries of the rowan hung in thick bunches over the -trouting pools of the Dee in many a copsewooded glen. The grain, where -not burned by the king's troops, was ripening on the sunny upland -and lowland, contrasting in its golden tints with the dark-green of -the thickets, the purple of the cornflower, and the gaudy scarlet -of the poppies. The gueldre-rose and the sweet-briar filled the air -with perfume; the wild pansies and wallflowers, the pink foxglove and -bluebell, grew by the old fauld-dykes on many a Galloway muir and -lea; and the gorgeous cups of the long yellow broom waved on the wild -hill-side, and by the wimpling burn that gurgled through the rushy -hollows, and under many an "auld brig-stane," in farmtown and clachan; -but still the brass culverins of King James, from the three great -thorns of the Carlinwark, thundered against Thrave, while old Sir Alan -Lauder and his garrison replied with carthoun, arquebuse à croc, and -crossbow bolt; and now the black gled and the ravenous hoodiecraw kept -high aloft on the blue welkin, watching for the inhuman feast that -usually followed such unhallowed sounds. - -The troops of James had invested the castle on every side; tents -covered all the vicinity; trenches and mounds, where spears and armour -glittered, crossed all the roads and approaches. Supplies, succour, and -hope, seemed all cut off together. More than a month had elapsed since -the siege began, and still the vigour of the besieged was undiminished; -and in the royal ranks the loss of life by their missiles was very -great. - -The balls of the king's artillery--even those of the boasted Lion -of Flanders--were rained in vain upon the solid face of that vast -donjon-keep, for they were too light. The great art of projectiles -seemed yet in its infancy, and Sir John Romanno of that ilk, the -general of the ordnance, rent his beard in despair. - - - - -CHAPTER LV. - -MOWAN'S MEG. - - Seven orbs within a spacious round they close, - One stirs the fire, and one the bellows blows; - The hissing steel is in the smithy drown'd, - The grot with beaten anvils groans around. - By turns their arms advance in equal time; - By turns their hands descend, and hammers chime. - They turn the glowing mass with crooked tongs, - The fiery work proceeds with rustic songs. - - VIRGIL, _Æneid_ viii. - - -For many days salvoes (_i.e._, discharges of heavy ordnance fired in -concert by sound of trumpet) were sent against Thrave without success, -and yells of triumph and derision, when the balls of iron and whinstone -rebounded from the massive walls--the _triple yells_ of the Galwegians, -the same terrible war-cry which their forefathers raised amid the heart -of the Saxon host at the Battle of the Standard, were borne upward on -the wind to the king's battery at the Carlinwark. - -"This devil of a tower is invulnerable!" said Romanno, casting down his -truncheon in anger; "it is a veritable maiden castle--strong in virtue -and unassailable." - -"Virtue, said ye?" growled the old chancellor, under his barred -aventayle; "ah, but our court-rakes aver that even the most virtuous -woman has always one weak point, if we can only find it out." - -"Out upon thy white beard, chancellor!" said the young king, laughing; -"what mean you to say?" - -"That, like a fair court lady, this castle of Thrave may have a weak -point too." - -"But, unless we attempt an escalade, the capture of the place is -impossible by battering," said the general of the ordnance. - -"Impossible!" reiterated the young king, his face and eyes glowing -together, while the red spot on his cheek assumed a deeper hue. - -"Pardon me, your highness," said Sir John Romanno; "but I humbly think -so." - -"Think; but you _said_ impossible." - -"Under favour, yes." - -"There is no such word in a soldier's vocabulary," replied the spirited -monarch; "and while our hearts beat under our breastplates there is -hope." - -"But the idea of an escalade," said Gray, "with the Dee to cross, and -a wall to mount, exposed to a fire of cannon and arqubuses à croc, -with long bows and arblasts to boot, and thereafter mauls, lances, and -two-handed swords in the _mêlée_, is not to be thought of--at least -until, by dint of cannon, we effect a breach." - -"A breach!" exclaimed Sir John Romanno; "by my forefathers' bones ye -are little likely to see that, sirs, when the shot of our heaviest -culverins, even those of the Lion, our chief bombarde, rebound like -silken balls from the stone rampart, and our cannoniers seem no better -than court-ladies at palm play." - -A loud and somewhat hoarse but hearty laugh close by made all turn -towards the offender. They perceived a man of vast and herculean -proportions, with a shock head of black hair, which the absence of his -scarlet hood (as it hung down his back) displayed in all its shaggy -amplitude, a swarthy visage, with lurid black eyes, and a long beard. -He wore a doublet of black bull's hide, a rough kilt dyed with heather, -and he leaned upon the shaft of a ponderous iron mace, which, with a -long buck-horn-hilted dagger and fur pouch or sporran, formed his only -appurtenance. - -"Art thou the knave who laughed?" asked Romanno, furiously, with his -hand on his sword. - -"And in this presence!" added the chancellor, whose wrath was also -kindled. - -"Dioual! I did laugh," replied the man, in a strong and guttural -Galloway accent; "is it a crime to laugh at the folly or bewilderment -of others?" - -"Thou base varlet!" began Romanno, in a towering passion, clenching -his gauntleted hand, when Sir Patrick Gray interposed, saying, "By my -faith, it is my friend, the strong smith of Thrave, who saved me from -the white sleuth-bratch. Come hither, carle, and remember that you -stand in the presence of the king." - -Malise MacKim was too much of a primitive Celt to be abashed even -before a king, though he had frequently quailed under the eye of -Douglas, and the tongue of his own wife, Meg, who was proverbial in -Galloway as a fierce virago; so he came boldly forward and stood erect, -with an inquiring expression of eye, as if waiting to be addressed. - -"Whence is it that your king's perplexity excites your laughter?" asked -James, gravely. - -"Speak quickly, carle," added the chancellor, pointing ominously to a -branch of one of the thorn trees under which they stood. - -"Threats will not force me to speak; but I answer the king, _not_ you, -my lord," replied the unabashed Galwegian. - -"We are not used to be laughed at, sirrah," said James; "therefore, if -you do not give us a fair reason for your untimely merriment, by the -holy rood! I shall begin to threaten too." - -"I am Malise MacKim, surnamed the Brawny, and I am the father of seven -sons, each a head taller than myself----" - -"Thou art a lucky dog, would I were the same," said the king; "but is -this a reason for laughter?" - -"What the devil is all this to us, fellow?" asked Romanno. - -"This much; they are all smiths, and can each wield a fore hammer forty -pounds in weight, as if it were a kettle-drum stick. Ochoin! Mhuire as -truadh! Ochoin! There was a time when we never thought to swing our -hammers in the service of mortal man, save Douglas. But vengeance is -sweeter than bread in famine; so, if your grace will give us but iron -enough, I will be content to forfeit my head, or to hang by the neck -from that thorn tree, if, within the space of seven summer days, my -seven brave bairns and I fail to fashion you a bombarde which, at the -first discharge, will pierce yonder wall like a gossamer web, so aid us -Heaven and St. Cudbrecht?" - -"This is a brave offer," said the general of the ordnance, mockingly; -"and what weight may the balls of this proposed cannon be?" - -"Each one shall be the weight of a Carsphairn cow," replied the smith -slowly, as if reflecting while answering; "and if each fails to shake -Thrave to its ground-stane, the king's grace may hang me, as I have -said, on that thorn branch, as a false and boasting limmer." - -"You speak us fairly, good fellow," said the king, who seemed pleased -and amused by the burly smith's bluntness and perfect confidence. "We -are not in a position to reject such loyal offers. Fashion this great -gun for me, and if it does the service you promise, by my father's -soul! you shall have a fair slice of yonder fertile land between the -Urr and Dee." - -As he spoke, James drew off his gauntlet, and presented his hand to -the gigantic smith, who knelt and kissed it respectfully, but with the -clownish air of one alike unused to kneeling and to courtesy. - -On MacKim requiring material, each of the principal burghers of -Kirkcudbright contributed a _gaud_ or bar of iron, in their anxiety -to serve the king, and to have the death of Sir Thomas MacLellan more -fully avenged. As a reward for this contribution, King James made the -town a royal burgh, and in memory of it, his gallant grandson, on the -26th of February, 1509, granted the old castle of the MacLellans as a -free gift to the corporation. - -At a place named the Buchancroft, a rude but extensive forge was soon -erected, and there, stripped to their leathern girdles, the brawny -MacKim and his seven sturdy sons, like Vulcan and the Cyclops, plied -and swung their ponderous hammers on great resounding anvils, while -welding the vast hoops and forming the long bars that were to compose -the great cannon which was to demolish the famous stronghold of Thrave. - -Seven days and seven nights these muscular smiths worked almost without -cessation, and the lurid glow of their great forge was nightly seen -from the doomed fortress to redden the sky above, the waters of the -Dee below, and the tented camp of the besieging army; and only a few -years ago, when the new road was made past Carlinwark, a vast mound -of cinders and ashes, which formed the _débris_ of their work, was -discovered and cleared away. - -Meanwhile, a band of artificers, with hammer and chisel, were -fashioning the balls, which were quarried on the summit of the Binnan -hill; these when finished were permitted to roll thundering to its -base; and it is remarkable that the great stone-shot for this gun, -which yet remain in the castle of Edinburgh, are of Galloway granite -from the same eminence. - -At last the vast bombarde or cannon was complete in all its bars, -hoops, and rivets; it weighed six tons and a half, exclusive of the -carriage, and measured two feet diameter in the bore. - -During its formation, Sir Patrick Gray endured an mount of mental -torture and anxiety which temporary inaction rendered greater. - -Would Achanna dare to put in execution the terrible order of the -ferocious earl? Would her sister, unrelenting as she was, permit it? -He feared that the deed might be done when the castle surrendered, and -his feverish and active imagination pictured the gentle, timid, and -delicate Murielle writhing in the grasp of an assassin. - -But if some dark deed had not been _already_ done, why did Achanna -place his drawn sword across the mouth of the page, who was about to -speak of Murielle, during the parley at the portcullis. - -Had knighthood and common humanity fallen so low among those outlaws, -that her life would be no longer safe in her sister's household; or -were the last words of the dying earl a falsehood, merely meant to -sting and embitter the soul of one whom he hated with a tiger's hatred? - -Gray afflicted himself with thoughts and surmises such as these, and -while the siege was pressed by the king and his troops, his days and -nights were passed in misery. - -On viewing the great piece of ordnance, James II. promised again that -if it proved more successful than the Lion and his other culverins, -he would nobly reward the artificer, who, with his seven sons and the -royal cannoniers, dragged Meg--for so MacKim named the gun, after his -own wife, whose voice, he affirmed, "her roar would resemble"--to -the summit of an eminence which, unto this day, is named from that -circumstance Knockcannon. Royal heralds with their glittering tabards, -and pursuivants with their silver collars of SS, marched in front, -while trumpets were blown and kettle-drums beaten; pipers blew, -and minstrels played upon their harps; the king's jester swung his -bladder and cracked his jokes; and thus, amid music, merriment, and -acclamations, the mighty cannon was dragged up the slope and brought -into position. - -It was then loaded with an old Scottish peck of powder and one of its -granite balls, and thereafter was levelled at the fortress of the -rebellious Douglases. - -"Now--now," exclaimed Malise MacKim, in grim triumph, as he wiped the -beads of perspiration from his swarthy brow; "unless my lady of Douglas -can fly through the air like an eagle, or swim down the Dee like a -grilse, she and the false brood who slew my kinsman and stole his -daughter shall exchange their steel gloves for steel fetters!" - -All in the king's host were eager to observe the effect produced by -this mighty engine of destruction, the first discharge of which, when -Sir John Romanno applied the match, seemed to split the welkin, and the -recoil of the wheels tore deep ruts in the turf, while many averred -that they could trace the course of the ball like a great globe of -stone in the air, through which it hummed and whistled. - -Be that as it might, when the smoke was blown aside, a great breach or -opening (now called the cannon-hole) was visible in the face of the -keep, where the side of one of the windows was partly torn away. The -masonry was seen to fall in a crumbling mass into the barbican, and the -shout of consternation which arose from the garrison was borne on the -morning wind to the king's camp, and far beyond it. - -The cannoniers now cast aside their helmets, cuirasses, and cuisses, -that they might work with greater facility at the laborious task of -reloading this great gun, which was discharged several times with equal -success; and Sir Patrick Gray watched with agony the result of every -shot; for the deep, hoarse boom of each explosion that seemed to rend -the hills and sky found an echo in his heart. They seemed like the -knell of her he loved. - -The warlike James II. was in ecstasy with the success of this new -piece of ordnance, and summoning the fabricator to his tent, he then, -in presence of the chancellor, the constable, and the principal -nobles, granted to him and his heirs for ever, the forfeited estate of -Mollance, which lies between the rivers Urr and Dee. - -Mollance was locally pronounced Mowans, hence the name of the -great gun which he fashioned, and which is now in the castle of -Edinburgh--_Mowan's Meg_; though unsupported assertion has assigned her -origin to the town of Mons, in Flanders--an origin of which there is -not a vestige of documentary proof. - -Hastening from the king's tent, Sir Patrick Gray arrived at Knockcannon -in time to see another mass of masonry beaten down; and this time the -feeble shout from Thrave was drowned in the tumultuous cheer that rang -along the slopes, which were covered by the camp of the royal army. - -"_Cor Jesu, in agonia factum, miserere morientum!_" prayed the voice of -one beside him. - -He turned, and saw his old friend the abbot, who had just left his -secluded abbey of Tongland and arrived in the camp. - -"Ha, father abbot," said Sir John Romanno, while six of the sturdiest -cannoniers, bare armed and all begrimed by perspiration, smoke, and -gunpowder, swung another granite ball into Meg's capacious muzzle; "how -are you? By the mass! if he you wot of were in Thrave, this would make -him shake his horns and cry _peccavi_." - -"He--who?" asked the abbot, in a tone of displeasure. - -"Thy old friend--Mahoun--the fiend himself." - -"Shame on thee, Sir John." - -"I am but a plain soldier, good abbot," replied Romanno, who was in -excellent humour with himself and every one else; "each man to his -trade: thou to thy massbook and missal--I to my lintstock and quoin." - -"A truce--a truce!" cried a hundred voices, as a white flag was -displayed at the summit of Thrave, where a man waved it to and fro, -though the Douglas banner was not yet drawn down. Then came the faint -and distant sound of trumpets craving a parley. - -The abbot immediately offered himself as a mediator; and, on obtaining -the permission of the king, who was now weary of this protracted and -destructive siege, and was anxious to return to his beautiful Fleming -at Stirling, he left the camp for Thrave, accompanied by Sir Patrick -Gray, whose anxiety for the safety of Murielle was now irrepressible. - - - - -CHAPTER LVI. - -THE PARLEY. - - Peace, lady; pause, or be more temperate: - It ill beseems this presence to cry aim - To these ill-timed repetitions. - Some trumpet summon hither to the walls - These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak, - Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's. - - SHAKESPEARE. - - -Of this interview, during which there occurred one or two painful -episodes, the old abbot has left a minute account in the MS. records of -Tongland Abbey. - -As he and Sir Patrick approached the castle-gate, they could perceive -a great circular breach yawning in the face of the keep, where -Meg's shot had beaten in the masonry. In many places the corbelled -battlements were demolished or mutilated. The barbican wall had -suffered considerably, and many dead bodies, with their armour buried -or crushed by the cannon shot, were making the place horrible by their -ghastly aspect, while great purple pools and gouts of blood indicated -where others who had been removed had fallen, or where the wounded had -crawled away. - -For the first time the terrible gallows-knob was without a victim, the -cord which had sustained the last having parted during the concussion -of the ordnance. - -Through the open gate of the fortress the abbot and captain of the -guard were able to see all these details. The grating of the portcullis -was raised, and in the archway beneath it stood Sir Alan Lauder, the -lairds of Pompherston, Cairnglas, Glendoning, James Achanna, and -others, all as usual in their armour, which was dimmed and dinted now -by daily and nightly wear. The soldiers of the garrison, who crowded -about them with their pikes, axes, crossbows, and arquebuses, seemed -hollow-eyed, wan, and pale. Hunger appeared to have become familiar -to them as danger and death; thus it was evident to the captain and -abbot that the famous larder of Thrave, with its twenty-eight cattle, -contributed by the twenty-eight parishes of the surrounding stewardry, -was becoming exhausted; for the garrison and other inmates had far -exceeded a thousand persons at the commencement of this protracted and -destructive siege. - -"We have come in the name of mercy and humanity," said the abbot, -pausing at the gate. - -"It is well," replied Douglas of Pompherston, in the hollow of his -helmet; "we feared you had come simply in the name of the king, and we -consider him a poor representative of either." - -"In whosesoever name you have come," said Sir Alan Lauder, "I can treat -but with my lord abbot alone." - -"And why not with me who am captain of the king's guard?" demanded Gray -haughtily, while throwing up his barred visor. - -"Because the blood of Douglas is on your hands, as on those of your -master." - -"To save whom that blood was shed, else your earl of Douglas had died a -regicide, as well as an outlawed traitor. But, whatever terms are given -or accepted, I, Patrick Gray, of Foulis, here, in my own name, demand, -that the ruffian named James Achanna be excepted therefrom, for I have -resolved to slay him without mercy, and, I hope, without remorse, at -kirk, at court, at market, or wherever I come within sword's point of -him, so help me the holy Evangels, and Him who ever defends the right!" - -Achanna grew pale at these threatening words, and on seeing the fierce -and resolute aspect with which Gray spoke them; but recovering, he -resumed his malignant smile, and uttered a scornful laugh. - -"Thrave has not yet surrendered," said Sir Alan Lauder; "and while that -white flag waves on its wall, even Achanna's life must be respected. -He has been loudly recommending a surrender for some days past, if -the young earl, our new chief, came not to our succour," added the -white-bearded knight with an angry glance. "Perhaps he may be less -eager now, when he learns that the avenging sword of Sir Patrick Gray -awaits him." - -"Sir Patrick Gray's hostility is nothing new to me, neither are his -injustice and falsity," replied Achanna through his clenched teeth, -while darting one of his covert glances full of hate at Lauder; "so be -assured that I value his wrath as little as you may do, Sir Alan----" - -"Then, as old Earl Archibald of Douglas said of Crichton and the -Regent, 'twere fair sport to see a couple of such fencers yoked -together," interrupted the old knight bluntly, "so please you to step -forth six paces from this gate, and meet him hand to hand, on foot or -horseback, and I shall be your umpire." - -"Thanks from my soul, Sir Alan!" exclaimed Gray with stern joy; "for -these words I pledge my honour that your life, fortune, and family -shall be saved and protected, tide what may with Thrave." - -Achanna bit his nether lip, and without advancing a pace towards Gray, -who had reined back his horse and drawn his sword as if inviting him, -replied doggedly: - -"I have not forgotten the last orders of the earl, ere he rode to -Stirling; among _others_ we were to defend this stronghold to the last, -should it ever be attacked, and to be wary how we risked our lives; but -I can now see that if yonder devil of a great gun continues to pound -and punch us thus we shall be forced to surrender, lest the roof of -stone descend upon us." - -"Well, and what then?" asked Lauder bitterly. - -"To surrender is to hang." - -"Well?" - -"By my soul thou takest it very coolly, Sir Alan Lauder," said Achanna, -glad to change the subject, and elude Gray's unanswered challenge. - -"I do so, Master Achanna, because I foresaw that when King James -entered Galloway, with the royal banner displayed, it would end in -hanging for some, and beheading for others--hanging especially for -thee." - -"And beheading for _thee_, so I care not whether we surrender to-night -or a week hence." - -"You play but ill the jovial desperado," said the Castellan with -contempt, as he turned from him. - -"Yet he fights for his own hand and commoditie, as Hal o' the Wynd -fought," said the abbot of Tongland. - -"I am weary of this," exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray; "coward, will you not -advance to meet me?" - -"And fight with a flag of truce flying; I am not so ignorant of the -rules of war," replied Achanna, who felt that the crowd of brave and -reckless men about the castle-gate viewed him with derision; "My -courage has never failed me, sirs, though I knew the fate in store for -me, as--as----" - -"As what, fellow?" demanded Lauder. - -"A follower of the conquered Douglas and his outlawed adherents." - -"Conquered--outlawed!" muttered those who heard him. - -"Well, sir, doth not that breach in the castle wall look as if we shall -soon be the first, as surely as we are the second." - -"Jibing villain," exclaimed Lauder, "beware lest I spare the doomster -all trouble, by passing my sword through thee!" - -The Scots of those days had but vague ideas on the subject of homicide, -so Achanna became alarmed, and said: - -"Sir Alan Lauder, remember my years of faithful service." - -"And what have those years done for you?" - -"Converted me from a boy to a man." - -"From a rascal of one age to a rascal of one more mature; but thou -shalt hang, if Sir Patrick wills it," said the castellan, with growing -wrath; for in fact Achanna, perceiving that matters were going against -his friends, had found Thrave less comfortable for some time past, and -was anxious to escape or make his peace with the king. - -"Enough of this, sir," said Sir Patrick, sheathing his sword; "let us -resume the subject of a capitulation." - -"The countess--here comes the countess!" exclaimed several voices, as -the crowd of armed men divided and drew back; and Margaret, leaning -on the arm of Maud Douglas of Pompherston, approached. Eagerly and -anxiously Gray looked beyond them, but in vain. - -"Oh," thought he in his heart, "where is Murielle?" - -The hateful Achanna seemed to divine the thought; for a cold smile -curled his thin white lips, and a colder still as he surveyed the -countess, and remembered the proud derision with which she had long ago -repelled his boyish affection. The lovely face of Margaret was deadly -pale--white as the ruff or tippet of swansdown, which guarded her -delicate throat and bosom. She was muffled in a long black dule-weed, -or mourning habit, the folds of which fell to her feet, and on the left -shoulder of which was sewn a white velvet cross. In many places this -sombre garment was spotted by blood! - -Her beautiful black eyes were bloodshot, and an unnatural glare shone -in them. She seemed scarcely able to stand; thus old Sir Alan Lauder -hurried to her side, and tenderly placed a mailed arm around her for -support. - -"Well, Monk, thou who forsook, in his sore extremity, thy chief and -master," she sternly said to the abbot, "what seek you here?" - -"Douglas was my chief, but _not_ my master. He is in Heaven," replied -the abbot calmly, pointing upward. - -"Well, shaven juggler, who hast added his precious prayers to the cause -of the strongest," continued the imperious beauty, "say what you would, -and quickly. What errand brings you here?" - -"Peace and good will. Oh, madam--madam," exclaimed the meek old abbot, -stretching his withered and tremulous hands towards her, "in the name -of Heaven and of mercy end these horrors--an aged man, a priest of God -implores it of you! James and his soldiers have sworn to take the keys -of Thrave at the point of the sword; but our young king is a knight, -alike gentle and generous, and from your hands I am assured he will -take those keys in peace, if peacefully bestowed." - -"From _my_ hands," she reiterated, in an unearthly voice; "alas----" - -"What _can_ she mean?" thought Gray, as a dreadful idea flashed upon -his mind; "is this sad, this wild and stern bearing the result of -remorse? can she have attempted----" - -He thrust aside the thought, and listened attentively. - -"From my right hand--never!" added Margaret, with bitter emphasis. - -"From the hands of whom, then?" - -"My youngest bower-maiden; she deserves the honour, for her father, Sir -Alan, has made a valiant and vigorous defence." - -"The king would prefer them from the hands of the Lady Murielle," said -Gray, with more anxiety than caution. - -"Speak not to me of Murielle!" exclaimed the countess, with a shriek, -as her head drooped; and she fainted in the arms of Lauder. - -"What has happened--speak for mercy, sirs! what horror do you conceal -from us?" exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray and the abbot together. - -"Look here," said the old knight, in whose keen grey eyes there mingled -a curious expression of commiseration and ferocity. He drew aside the -countess's dule-weed, and then the Captain of the Guard and the abbot -perceived that her white neck was stained with blood, her shoulder -covered with hideous ligatures, and that her right hand and arm were -gone--_gone_ from the elbow! - -"Who--what has done this?" asked Gray, as his sun-burned cheek grew -pale. - -"See you, sirs, what the first shot from yonder hellish engine hath -achieved?" replied Lauder, reproachfully. - -"The first," reiterated Gray. - -"And I would give the last blood in my heart to have the seven makers -of it hanging in a bunch from yonder gallows knob!" - -Local history records that this terrible mutilation occurred when the -countess was seated at table in the hall, through one of the windows -of which the great bullet passed; and some years before the battle -of Waterloo, when Thrave, like several other Scottish castles, was -undergoing repair, as a barrack for French prisoners, a favourite gold -ring which the countess wore upon the forefinger of her right hand, -inscribed _Margaret de Douglas_, was found among the ruins, with one of -Meg's granite balls beside it; and the old peasantry in Galloway yet -aver, that in this terrible mutilation "the vengeance of Heaven was -evidently manifested, in destroying the hand which had been given in -wedlock unto _two near kinsmen_."[5] - -By a strange coincidence, or an irresistible fatality, at the same -moment that the countess was borne away, it came to pass that the -man-at-arms who held the white flag let it drop from the summit of the -keep into the barbican below. Then Sir John Romanno and his impatient -cannoniers, perceiving that the flag was gone, and that some commotion -had ensued about the gate of Thrave, supposed (in those days there -were no telescopes), that the parley was broken, and that violence -was offered to the envoys, so a shot was fired from the great brass -bombarde named the Lion of Flanders. - -With a mighty sound, between a whiz and a boom, it passed betwixt Sir -Patrick Gray and the abbot, entered the archway, and, by a singular -combination of retributive justice and fatality, struck James Achanna -just at the girdle, and doubling him up like a crape scarf, literally -plastered his body, armour and all, a quivering mass of blood, bones, -steel plates and splints, upon the wall of the keep, into which it was -imbedded. - -The white pennon was again hoisted; but this terrible episode and -appalling spectacle hastened the conclusion of the truce and the siege. - -"Bid King James ride to the gate of Thrave, and a woman's hand shall -give him the keys--withered be mine in its socket ere it shall do so!" -said the sturdy old laird of the Bass, as he broke his sword across his -right knee, and cast the glittering fragments into the moat, just as he -had done after the seizure of Earl William, in the castle of Edinburgh. - -"What terms seek you?" asked the abbot. - -"The lives, the liberties, and fortunes of all." - -"The king is merciful, and in his name we promise these shall be given -to you," replied the two envoys, as they returned with all haste -to Knockcannon, where the king was still on horseback, attended by -Crichton, Glammis, and the principal lords of his council and army. - -"You have promised over much, my good friends," said he, on hearing -the terms and the relation of what had passed at the castle gate; "yet -it would ill become me to bruise the bruised. I cannot restore this -gallant dame's dainty right arm; but by the Black Rood of Scotland, I -can wed her to a more loyal husband, with the hand she still possesses!" - -And King James kept his word. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[Footnote 5: This ball is still preserved by a gentleman in the -neighbourhood, and corresponds exactly in size and quality with those -shown in the castle of Edinburgh, as appertaining to the celebrated -Meg, which are of Galloway granite (from Binnan Hill), the component -parts of which, as geologists are aware, differ in several particulars.] - - - - -CHAPTER LVII. - -THE FALL OF THRAVE. - - Song sinks into silence, - The story is told; - The windows are darken'd, - The hearthstone is cold. - Darker and darker - The black shadows fall; - Sleep and oblivion reign over all. - - LONGFELLOW. - - -"When your majesty's ancestor, Malcolm III., of valiant memory, -received the keys of the castle of Alnwick, remember what occurred," -said the wary and suspicious old chancellor. - -"Malcolm was slain," replied the king. - -"By foul treachery. The Saxon garrison yielded, and the keys were to be -presented on the point of a knight's lance; but at the moment of doing -so, the knight, like a mansworn traitor, pierced King Malcolm's eye and -brain with his weapon and slew him on the spot. He escaped, but from -the deed assumed a name--hence comes the Pierce-eye of Northumberland." - -"But what of all this? I do not think I have much cause to fear our -poor countess now." - -"She has one hand left, and it can hold a dagger, I doubt not." - -"Oh, good my lord, I shall not be unprepared for any emergency," said -James laughing, as, accompanied by Sir Patrick Gray and fifty selected -men-at-arms of his guard, he rode forward to Thrave, the earl of Errol -following closely with at least a thousand knights and gentlemen, -mounted and armed in full panoply. - -The armour of the young king was beautifully engrained with gold. He -wore a casquetel, which in lieu of visor had two oriellets, or oval -plates, to protect the ears. It was encircled by a gold coronet, and -had a crenel, or spike, in which a plume of scarlet and yellow feathers -waved, and to which the queen's glove was tied. The hanging sleeves -of his surcoat were richly embroidered by Mary's hands; and his whole -arms, costume, and horse-trappings glittered with singular brilliance -in the sunshine of the evening, as he caracoled over the green sward -towards the embattled gate of Thrave. - -On his breast sparkled the collar and jewel of the Golden Fleece of -Burgundy, which Duke Philip the Good had just sent to him, in charge -of Messire Jacques de Lalain, Dyck Graf of Bommel, who with his train -had reached the camp only on the preceding evening. This order had been -instituted by Philip himself in 1429. - -When the king was within twenty paces of the gate of Thrave, it -was unclosed, and a lady, attended by a group of the countess's -bower-maidens, the tall and dark-eyed Maud of Pompherston, the Caillean -Rua, and the fair-haired daughters of Sir Alan Lauder, the castellan, -all clad in dule-weeds of black cloth with white crosses on their -breasts in memory of the late earl, and all wearing hoods and veils, -came slowly and timidly forward, like a procession of nuns. - -On seeing them, James at once sprung from his horse, the reins of -which he gave to the Master of Crichton, his page. Gray, and other -attendants, immediately dismounted, and leading their horses by the -bridle, kept near the king, before whom the principal lady, after -advancing a pace or two in front of her companions, knelt, saying in a -low and broken voice, "In the name of mercy and St. Bryde of Douglas, -receive these keys." - -She bowed her graceful head, at the same time upholding, with hands of -charming form and whiteness, the three great iron keys of the castle of -Thrave. - -"And in the name of good St. Bryde, and of gentle mercy, sweet lady, -we accept of them," said the king, handing them to his master of the -ordnance; "and once again we pledge our royal word for the promised -terms--life, liberty, and fortune--to all who have withstood our cannon -here in Thrave. But rise, madam," added the king, "it ill becomes a -gentleman to receive a lady thus." - -With one hand he raised her, and with the other lifted up her long -black veil,--for James II. was not devoid of that admiration of beauty, -which was one of the chief characteristics of his chivalrous family. - -"MURIELLE!" exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray, starting forward on beholding -her face. - -"Your long-lost wife?" said James, with surprise. - -"My wedded wife--Oh, Murielle----" - -"Then to your wardship, Sir Patrick, I must consign this rebel Douglas, -but on one condition----" - -"Oh name it, your majesty!" said Gray, who was almost speechless with -emotion. - -"That you keep her for life, either at court or in your tower of -Foulis," replied the king, laughing, as he placed Murielle's hand in -that of Gray, amid murmurs of applause and satisfaction, in which all -the knights, nobles, and even the grim old chancellor joined. - -Murielle Douglas was beautiful as ever; but the pure breeze of early -autumn that came down the vale of the Dee, the exciting scene, and -the great presence in which she stood, alike failed to impart a red -tinge to her pale cheek, and even her rosebud lip had lost its usual -carnation hue. - -In short, poor Murielle had evidently suffered much in mind and body; -for the years of blight and anxiety she had spent in gloomy Thrave had -not been without a natural influence upon a spirit so timid and gentle; -and now, as she wept upon her husband's breast, she neither heard nor -heeded the acclamations which rose from the king's camp, with the roar -of culverins from Knockcannon and the Carlinwark, as they greeted the -appearance of the royal standard which Sir John Romanno hoisted on the -great keep of Thrave, the now humbled stronghold of her forefathers, -the mighty lords of Galloway. - - - - -EPILOGUE. - - -Not long after these events the new earl of Douglas was reconciled -to James II., and though both parties were insincere--their mutual -injuries being too deep and too recent--there was peace in the kingdom -for a time. - -Inspired by a sentiment of revenge for the death of their chief in -Thrave, the MacLellans long refused to lay aside their swords, and for -years continued to commit such dreadful outrages upon the Douglases and -their adherents that James outlawed the new laird of Bombie and all his -followers; but during his reign they re-won their possessions in the -following remarkable manner. - -A band of outlaws or wild rovers, said by some authorities to have -been Saracens or Moors, but who were more probably Irishmen, as their -leader was named Black Murrough, landed in Galloway and committed -such devastations that the king, by a royal proclamation, offered -the forfeited lands of Bombie to any knight or man, however humble, -who could kill or capture this terrible stranger, of whose stature, -strength, and ferocity the most startling stories were told, for the -marvellous was a great element in those days. - -In a wild place, near where the old castle of Bombie stood, there -is a spring which flows now, as perhaps it flowed a thousand years -before the epoch of our story. The bare-kneed and bare-armed Celts of -Galwegia, and the helmeted and kilted warriors of Rome, have drunk of -it. With its limpid waters, St. Cuthbert, whose church was built close -by, baptized the first Christians of the district in the name of Him -who died on Calvary; and in later and less-peaceful times, the fierce -Lag and Claverhouse have drunk of it, with their gauntleted hands, when -in pursuit of the persecuted Covenanters, by hill and loch and the -shores of the Solway. - -It chanced that Sir William, the outlawed nephew of Sir Thomas -MacLellan, was wandering near this well, on a day when the banks of -the Dee were changing in tint and aspect under the genial sunshine and -warm showers of spring, when the trees were putting forth their young -and fragrant blossoms, and when the blackbird and the rose-linnet sang -among the thickets that overhung the river. - -Full of those sad and bitter thoughts which were naturally induced by -the outlawry and proscription of his family, the young heir of Bombie -approached the spring to drink, and lo! near it there lay, fast asleep, -a rough and gigantic man, whose form exhibited wondrous strength and -muscle, and by his side lay an Irish war-club, the knotty head of which -was studded with sharp iron spikes. He was the leader of the strange -devastators,--he, for whose life King James had offered the castle and -heritage of Bombie. - -MacLellan drew near, and by a single stroke of his double-handed sword, -shred off the great head of the terrible sleeper, and grasping it by -its thick black locks of matted hair, he conveyed it without delay to -the king, who, in terms of his proclamation, immediately restored to -him the forfeited lands of Bombie, and from that day the MacLellans -assumed as a crest, the head of a savage on the point of a sword, with -the motto--"Think on." The scene of this episode bears to this day the -double name of Bombie's Well, and the Wood of Black Murrough. - -Broken in spirit, the proud Countess Margaret, whilom the Fair Maid of -Galloway, condescended at last to seek the forgiveness and protection -of King James II., after which, as she was still the loveliest woman of -her time, he bestowed her in marriage upon his half brother, John, earl -of Athole, son of the late Queen Jane and of the Black Knight of Lorn, -who perished so miserably in Flanders. - -Robert, duke of Albany, died in exile, and no man in Scotland ever -knew where he found a grave; but Sir Patrick Gray and Murielle lived -long and happily. We know not which survived the other. He was created -a peer of the realm by the title of Lord Balronald, and received the -captaincy of the royal castle of Lochmaben, which he defended valiantly -against the English in the year 1460, during that war in which James -II. perished by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh, when -standing by the side of Sir John Romanno, near the old Thorn Tree, at -Fleurs. - -William Lord Crichton, the wily and somewhat unscrupulous old -chancellor, died in peace in 1455, at his own stately castle in -Lothian, and lies interred in the old church near it. - -His aged compatriot, Sir Alexander Livingstone, died about the same -time, after securing a peerage for his son, the captain of Stirling, -who was created Lord Livingstone of Callendar, and Great Chamberlain of -Scotland. - -We need scarcely inform the reader that the worthy abbot of Tongland -never succeeded in his great project concerning the Master of Evil, -whom he wished to destroy as an enemy by making him a friend; though in -after-years a poor Capuchin of Venice revived the idea, by petitioning -the states of that republic, and also the pope, on the same subject, -and had the reward of being viewed by both as a--madman. - -The beautiful young queen, Mary d'Egmont of Gueldres, only survived her -husband three years. - -It was our strange fortune to behold her remains, previous to their -re-interment at Holyrood, in May, 1848, when nothing remained of those -charms which she inherited from the houses of Cleves, Burgundy, and -Gueldres, save her teeth, which, after having been three hundred and -eighty-five years in the grave, were singularly white and regular. - - -THE END. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain of the Guard, by James Grant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD *** - -***** This file should be named 52078-8.txt or 52078-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/7/52078/ - -Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Captain of the Guard - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: May 16, 2016 [EBook #52078] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD *** - - - - -Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - -<h1><small>THE</small><br /> - -CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD.<br /> - - -<small>BY JAMES GRANT.</small></h1> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 2em;"> -AUTHOR OF<br /> -"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "HARRY OGILVIE," "OLIVER ELLIS,"<br /> -ETC. ETC.</p> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 5em;"> -LONDON:<br /> -ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE,<br /> -<small>FARRINGDON STREET,<br /> -NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET.<br /> -1862.</small><br /> -</p> - - - -<h2 style ="margin-top: 5em;">PREFACE.</h2> - - -<p>Many of the scenes and episodes which are delineated in the following -story are taken from the annals of Scotland.</p> - -<p>Those which belong to romance I leave the reader to discover.</p> - -<p>My wish has been to portray the state of the nation and its people -during the reign of the second James, without afflicting the reader -by obsolete words and obscure dialects, which few now care about, and -still fewer would comprehend, but following history as closely as the -network of my own narrative would permit.</p> - -<p>In some of the proceedings of the Douglas family, and minor details, it -has suited my purpose to adhere to other sources of information, rather -than the "Peerage," or the folio of Master David Hume, of Godscroft, -the quaint old historian of the House of Douglas.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><i>March, 1862.</i></p></div> - - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> - -<small>THE FOUR COFFINS</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">God save the king, and bless the land</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">In plenty, joy, and peace;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">And grant henceforth that foul debate</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">'Twixt noblemen may cease.—<span class="smcap">Chevy Chase.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>On the evening of the 22nd November, 1440, the report of a brass -carthoun, or cannon-royale, as it pealed from the castle of Edinburgh, -made all who were in the thoroughfares below raise their eyes to the -grey ramparts, where the white smoke was seen floating away from the -summit of King David's Tower, and then people were seen hastening -towards the southern side of the city, where the quaint old streets and -narrow alleys opened into the fields, or the oakwoods of Bristo and -Drumsheugh.</p> - -<p>Crowds from all quarters pressed towards the Pleasance, the route -by which the great earl of Douglas (duke of Touraine and lord of -Longoville), who had been invited to visit the young king, was expected -to enter the city. Curiosity was excited, as it was anticipated that -his train would be a brilliant one. All in the secluded metropolis of -the north were on tiptoe to behold a sight such as they had not been -gratified with since the ambassadors of Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, -had come to ask the hand of the king's little sister, Annabella, for -his son, the valiant Louis Count de Maurienne, to whom, however, she -preferred a Scottish earl, with a Scottish home, on the bonnie banks of -the Clyde.</p> - -<p>The boom of the same cannon brought to the bartizan of the great tower -whereon it stood four armed men, who immediately turned their eyes -towards the south.</p> - -<p>Two of these were men well up in years. They wore furred caps of -maintenance, denoting their high rank or position, and had long crimson -robes, with capes of ermine that fell to their elbows. Beneath these -flowing garments there glittered at times their steel habergeons, and -the embroidered belts which sustained their swords.</p> - -<p>One was a man of a tall figure and noble presence, with a long, grave, -and pleasing face.</p> - -<p>The other was equally noble in bearing, but his face was less pleasing -in expression, for his temples were hollow, his eyes keen, his brows -knit, and there played about his thin, cruel lips a crafty but courtly -smile.</p> - -<p>"Summon Romanno, the constable; bid him display the king's -standard—call the garrison to their arms—shut gates and barriers," -were the orders given rapidly by both at the same moment.</p> - -<p>The first was Sir Alexander Livingstone, of Callendar, Regent of -Scotland, and governor of the young king, James II., then in his -eleventh year.</p> - -<p>The second was Sir William Crichton of that ilk, the Lord Chancellor, -appointed by the Parliament, after the murder of the late King James -I., in the Black Friary, at Perth.</p> - -<p>"Red-haired Achanna, with his Judas-coloured red beard, has played his -cards well for us and for the king," said the Chancellor, with a crafty -smile.</p> - -<p>"Achanna," replied the Regent, grimly; "yes, a wretch born with -the stamp of hell on his forehead—a hireling clerk, as well as -swashbuckler."</p> - -<p>"But a useful man withal, and said to be a go-between of Douglas and -Duke Robert of Albany."</p> - -<p>James Achanna, the person to whom they referred, was a red-haired -and red-bearded gentleman, of Galloway, outwardly a stanch adherent -of Douglas, but in the secret pay of his enemies, the Regent and -Chancellor. Thus he had conveyed the artful message by which the -hostile earl, and the chief members of his family, were <i>lured</i> to -visit the court of the young king.</p> - -<p>"So he is in sight at last," said the Regent through his clenched -teeth; "do you see his train, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"Aye; on the road by Kirk-liberton. He is coming down the brae in his -bravery, with banner and spear, but that pride shall have a fall, for -he comes to his doom."</p> - -<p>"But, Chancellor, his countess and her sister," whispered the Regent; -"they—they——"</p> - -<p>"Well; what of them?"</p> - -<p>"Must they too perish?"</p> - -<p>"Let the whole brood perish at one fell swoop," was the fierce -response, in a husky whisper. "Had they but one neck, I tell thee, -Livingstone, it should be laid on the block that awaits the Douglas in -the hall below us."</p> - -<p>"Hush!"</p> - -<p>"And wherefore hush?" continued the elder statesman, fiercely.</p> - -<p>"Know ye not that Sir Patrick Gray loves the earl's cousin?" said the -Regent, glancing hastily at their two companions, who stood a little -way from them.</p> - -<p>"Murielle Douglas," replied Crichton, grinding his sharp teeth; "well, -be it so; but I shall give her a colder gudeman than the king's liege -subject, and the Captain of his Guard—will God I shall!"</p> - -<p>The Regent waved his gloved hand to impress the caution he wished -his colleague to observe, and, as if afraid to trust his discretion -further, withdrew to a corner of the rampart enclosing the summit of -the great tower, which then formed the donjon or keep of the castle -of Edinburgh; but ever and anon, as the gleam of arms flashed in the -sunlight, on the green pastoral slopes of Liberton, they exchanged a -deep and bitter smile.</p> - -<p>Two handsome young men, who had not yet spoken, but who attended -them and stood apart, were sheathed in complete armour, and wore the -beautiful bascinets of that reign; these had a tube for the plume, and -were encircled by a camaile like the old caps of the Templars. They -had gorgeous military girdles and long swords, globular corslets, and -wide hanging sleeves of scarlet cloth lined with yellow silk (the royal -colours), depending from their shoulders; this was a very anomalous -fashion with armour, but formed a portion of the military foppery of -that day.</p> - -<p>He with the short beard and black moustache, in the prime of strength -and manhood, is Sir Patrick Gray, a younger son of the lord of Foulis, -and <i>Captain of the King's Guard</i>; and he, the less in stature, the -junior in years, with fair hair and merry eyes, is Sir Thomas MacLellan -of Bombie, his cousin and friend, and lieutenant of the same guard, -which the Regent had embodied to protect the person of the young king -from the perils amid which his father had perished—perils which the -house of Douglas seemed about to revive.</p> - -<p>"Do you see, gentlemen, how the lances in his train glitter, as they -come rank on rank over yonder long green brae?" said the Regent, -turning round; "by my soul, Lord Chancellor, he has an escort that -might befit a king!"</p> - -<p>"A train of cut-throats, swashbucklers, and scrape-trenchers; -MacDouals, MacGhies, Achannas, and MacCombies——"</p> - -<p>"Chancellor, do not add MacLellans, I pray you," interrupted the -lieutenant of the guard.</p> - -<p>"The broken men of Galloway," continued the Chancellor, wrathfully; -"the bullyrooks of Thrave—outlaws, whose unchristian acts would put -to shame the pagans of Argier or Cathay—of the Soldan or Prester -John! and I say so, under favour, Sir Thomas," he added, turning with -a sudden smile to the lieutenant, who was chief of the MacLellans of -Bombie, a powerful family, whose lands were surrounded by those of the -Douglases and their adherents.</p> - -<p>"Do you include the Lord Abbot of Tongland among those rare fellows?" -asked Sir Thomas, who was piqued for the honour of his native province.</p> - -<p>"An abbot who acts as the earl's beadsman can be little better," was -the sour reply.</p> - -<p>The young man bit his moustache impatiently, but the more politic -Regent, to soothe the irritation which his colleague's words were -inspiring, said hastily to one who had hitherto been silent, "Sir -Patrick Gray, how many followers think you, by your soldier's eye, the -earl hath under his banner yonder?"</p> - -<p>"At least two thousand men, with horse and spear, if I may judge by the -breadth of the road, and the cloud of dust they raise," replied the -captain of the guard, with soldier-like brevity and confidence.</p> - -<p>"Two thousand!" muttered the Regent; "passing strong for a mere -subject."</p> - -<p>"Douglas never leaves his castle gates with less," said MacLellan; "and -wherefore marvel? They are not so many after all for such an earl as -Douglas, when the laird of Roslin's daughter never enters Edinburgh -with less than seventy mounted gentlemen in her train, each clad in a -velvet jupon, with a chain of gold at his neck."</p> - -<p>"Two thousand lances," muttered the Chancellor also, stroking his -shaven chin, for beards were only worn by soldiers at that time, and -not always by them.</p> - -<p>"And you have but three hundred men-at-arms in garrison here—billmen -and cannoneers?" whispered the Regent.</p> - -<p>"But they are all my own vassals, men bred under my roof-tree since -they were boys of the belt; these, with a hundred pikes of the king's -guard, are more than enough for our purpose, within a castle so strong -as this," replied the Chancellor, whose pale lips quivered with the -nervous fury he strove in vain to conceal from the two gentlemen who -stood at the other corner of the bartizan; for a plot had been laid to -destroy the mighty earl of Douglas, one of those dark, terrible, and -sudden plots, which, under the name of <i>raids</i>, so frequently convulsed -the kingdom of Scotland, and marked its martial annals with blood and -crime, the only shadows that tinge a great and glorious past.</p> - -<p>The soldiers, pages, and idlers of the castle who had been playing at -troy, chess, or shovel-board, for the bonnet pieces and silver pennies -of King James, relinquished their sport, and crowded to the ramparts to -observe the approach of the now obnoxious and turbulent Douglas.</p> - -<p>And now, for a time, these four persons described continued to observe -in silence the approaching train of the great feudal peer, the lances -of whose vassalage (among them were many knights, barons, and gentlemen -of his surname) glinted brightly in the evening sun, as they moved -down the northern slope of Liberton, past the old tower built by David -Liberton, sergeant of the overward of the constabulary of Edinburgh, -in the time of David II., and past the older church, the foundation -of which fond tradition unvaryingly ascribed to Macbeth, though, -mysteriously enough, on its demolition in 1815, there was found in -its base an iron medal of the 13th century, inscribed in Russian -characters, "<i>The Grand Prince St. Alexander Yaroslavitch Neffvskoy</i>."</p> - -<p>On the earl's train disappearing among the wooded hollows which lay -between the city and the furzy slope of Braid and Liberton, the captain -of the guard and his kinsman the lieutenant, with their esquires, -pages, and lacqueys passed forth from the castle, to swell the retinue -of the chief magistrate of the city, Sir Thomas Cranston of that ilk, -baron of Denholm and Stobs, warden of the marches, and one of the -conservators of peace upon the borders, for the steel-gloved provosts -of those stirring times were men of a different metal from the men -of words, who "twaddle" in the same place in this age of steam and -electricity.</p> - -<p>As they passed out, the king's master butcher entered the gateway of -the fortress, accompanied by a peddie or foot-boy, bearing a covered -bundle upon a trencher.</p> - -<p>This covered bundle contained a <i>black bull's head</i>.</p> - -<p>"See you <i>that</i>, Sir Alexander?" said the Chancellor, twitching the -furred sleeve of his compatriot.</p> - -<p>"The black bull's head!" said the other, with an irrepressible shudder.</p> - -<p>"Yes; for the banquet to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"Holy Dame!"</p> - -<p>"It is the fatal signal, to be placed on the table the moment the king -rises."</p> - -<p>"The king! Oh, Chancellor," said the Regent, in a voice that turned -almost to a groan, "after all I have urged, mean you that he, poor boy, -shall share the odium of our act—a deed at which one half of Scotland, -and perhaps all France, may cry aloud?"</p> - -<p>"Let them cry; the <i>end</i> shall sanctify the means. With Douglas in his -grave, the great seal will be firmer in my hands, the sceptre lighter -in yours, and the crown shall shine the brighter on the head of him -whose father was wronged and slain by such as Douglas in the Black -Friary at Perth."</p> - -<p>"I pray God all may end as you predict," said the Regent, doubtfully; -"but yet I shudder when contemplating this lure—this snare; the mock -banquet, the mock tribunal, and the bloody lykewake of the morrow."</p> - -<p>That night, after dusk, four coffins were secretly conveyed up the -rock, and through the west postern of the castle, by James Achanna -and other "muffled" or masked men, and these were concealed in the -chancellor's private closet, the door of which opened off the great -hall of David's tower.</p> - -<p>These coffins were covered with crimson velvet and had nails, handles, -and plates of gold, or at least of richly gilt work.</p> - -<p>The first had the name of the most potent prince William, sixth earl -of Douglas, third duke of Touraine, lord of Longoville, Galloway, -Annandale, and Liddesdale, <i>qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440</i>, in his -seventeenth year.</p> - -<p>The second coffin bore the name of his younger brother, Lord David, -<i>qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440</i>.</p> - -<p>The third bore the name of his countess, Margaret Douglas, so famed for -her beauty as the Fair Maid of Galloway, <i>qui obit 23rd Nov., 1440</i>, in -her eighteenth year.</p> - -<p>The fourth bore the name of his sister, Lady Murielle Douglas, two -years younger, with the same fatal inscription, <i>qui obit 23rd Nov., -1440</i>.</p> - -<p>Beyond these four coffins, in the gloom of that vaulted closet, were a -grindstone, an axe, and a block.</p> - -<p>We have opened our story on the evening of the <span class="smcap">TWENTY-SECOND</span> -November; thus we shall soon see with what intent these terrible -objects were provided.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> - -<small>WILLIAM, DUKE OF TOURAINE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">Vails not to tell each hardy clan,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">From the fair middle marches come;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">The Bloody Heart blazed in the van,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">Announcing Douglas, dreaded name!—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>At this time the house of Douglas, one which in past ages had ever led -the van of battle in the cause of Scottish honour and liberty, had -attained the most exorbitant, and in that warlike and feudal epoch, -dangerous power—a power that never ceased to menace the freedom of the -people on one hand, and the independence of the throne on the other.</p> - -<p>William, sixth earl of Douglas, and third duke of Touraine, had just -succeeded to the vast possessions of his family by the death of his -father, Archibald, who had been Lieutenant-General of Scotland, and -Marshal of France, and who died at Restalrig, in 1439.</p> - -<p>In his seventeenth year, William found himself master of all the -princely heritage his warlike sire had left him, the earldom of -Douglas, with the lordships of Bothwell, Annandale, and Liddesdale; -the county of Longoville, and the dukedom of Touraine, "the garden of -France."</p> - -<p>To these he had added the principality of Galloway, the county of -Wigton, and the lordship of Balvenie, by marriage with his cousin, -Margaret, the Fair Maid of Galloway, a high-born girl of great beauty -and spirit, who was one year his senior, and whose proud and fiery -temper made her prove his evil mentor in many an act of folly and -outrage; while Lady Murielle, the younger and gentler sister, whose -loveliness was long embalmed in many a sweet old Galloway song, strove -anxiously, but vainly, to avert them.</p> - -<p>Even in that age of pride, vain of his lofty ancestry, which he could -trace back through a long line of brave and loyal nobles to that Sholto -Dhu-glas, the grey and swarthy warrior, who, in the eighth century, -slew Donald of the Isles—rendered powerful by the vast number, the -unity and rank of his vassalage, by the strength of his fortresses -and extent of his territories, which included the richest and most -important districts of the kingdom; hourly told by high-born and artful -flatterers that he possessed wealth equal, and armed forces superior, -to the king, this rash young noble had of late begun to assume all the -state of a crowned head.</p> - -<p>On the death of his father, he sent into France two ambassadors to -Charles VII., to make his oath of fealty for the dukedom of Touraine.</p> - -<p>These unwise envoys, Sir Alan Lauder, of the Bass, a knight of Lothian, -and Sir Malcolm Fleming, lord of Biggar and Cumbernauld, were received -by the French monarch with a degree of state and ceremony on which the -Regent and Chancellor of Scotland, as guardians of its young king, -could not fail to look with jealous eyes; thus, stifling their secret -piques and heart-burnings, they resolved to coalesce for the public -weal, and to watch, win, or <span class="smcap">CRUSH</span> this warlike feudatory, -whose power, ambition, and splendour overtopped the throne, and -threatened to extinguish themselves.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, flattered by the messages of Charles the Victorious, -despising the Regent and Chancellor as mere knights of Lothian, the -young earl became guilty of outrages, and evinced an arrogance, that -made all tremble for the issue.</p> - -<p>When he left any of his castles, he never rode with less than one or -two thousand knights and horsemen in his train, all brilliantly armed -and accoutred; and this haughty retinue frequently carried havoc, and -always terror, wherever they appeared. His household was magnificent; -he appointed his petty officers of state, and within his castle-halls -of Thrave, Bothwell, and Douglas, held courts which rivalled the -meetings of Parliament; while, to the many royal summonses sent him, -scornful and insolent answers, dictated by his friends, or rather by -those who were the friends of his father, the knights Fleming and -Lauder, were returned to the Regent and Chancellor.</p> - -<p>Under his banner and name, his followers, many of whom were nobles, -thus filled the land with outrage and tumult. The people were without -protection and without redress, while the court of the young king was -daily crowded by suppliants who cried for vengeance.</p> - -<p>"There were," saith Lyndessy, in his Chronicles, "so many widows, -bairns, and infants seeking redress for husbands, kindred, and friends, -who had been cruelly slain by wicked murderers; siclike, many for -hership, theft, and reif, that there was no man but would have had ruth -and pity to hear the same. Soon murder, theft, and slaughter were in -such common dalliance among the people, and the king's power had fallen -into such contempt, that no man <i>wist</i> where to seek refuge unless he -swore himself a servant to some common murderer or tyrant, to maintain -himself against the invasion of others, or else gave largely of his -gear to save his life, and afford him peace and rest."</p> - -<p>Not content with having produced all this, the young duke, or earl, -urged by his ambitious counsellors, dared openly to impugn the king's -title to the crown, affecting to prefer the claims of his own uncle, -Malise, earl of Strathearn, who was descended from Euphemia Ross, the -second queen of Robert II.; and he intrigued with Robert Stuart, the -exiled son of the king's uncle, the late Murdoch, duke of Albany, to -subvert the Royal succession.</p> - -<p>Sir Alexander Livingstone, the Regent, and Sir William Crichton, the -Lord Chancellor, saw that a crisis had come in the affairs of the -realm; that the throne and their own position must sink together -beneath the overweening power of Douglas unless a dreadful blow were -struck; and thus, with all the dark ferocity and stern subtlety of the -age in which they lived, they prepared to <i>strike it</i>!</p> - -<p>James Hanna, or Achanna, one of those smooth-tongued political -villains, of whom Scotland has in all ages produced a plentiful -brood—a wretch who for gold contrived to be a secret adherent and -deluder of both parties, was despatched with a royal message to -Douglas's castle of Thrave, in the name of the Regent and Chancellor.</p> - -<p>In this mandate, which bore the privy seal of the realm, they -"professed the highest esteem for the young earl's character, and a -profound regret for the petty jealousies which had so long separated -them. They anxiously and earnestly solicited his august presence at -court that he might cultivate the friendship of his sovereign, now in -his eleventh year, and lend his great talents and influence to the -administration of affairs—while the presence of the countess and her -sister, Lady Murielle, could not fail to shed some rays of splendour on -the court, and be a source of joy to the young princesses, the sisters -of his majesty."</p> - -<p>This document, so fulsome when addressed to an almost untutored boy, -added, that on the vigil of St. Catherine, a banquet in celebration of -their friendship and the extinction of discord would be royally held in -the great hall of the castle at Edinburgh.</p> - -<p>The young earl smiled scornfully on hearing this missive read by the -wily Achanna on his knees; but he tossed from his wrist a hawk with -which he had been playing, and replied—</p> - -<p>"My father never yielded to James I., nor will I to James II., and -his two cock lairds of Lothian, who pretend to govern Scotland. -Nevertheless, we shall mount and go, were it but to flaunt our bravery -at court."</p> - -<p>Sir Malcolm Fleming, of Cumbernauld, an old and faithful friend of his -father, urged him to mistrust Crichton and remain among his followers; -but the desire to dazzle his enemies by the splendour of his retinue, -and the <i>arguments</i> of his kinsman, the earl of Abercorn, outweighed -all that the more faithful and wary could advance.</p> - -<p>And herein lay a secret which death might reveal to him; but in life he -would never discover.</p> - -<p>James the Gross, earl of Abercorn, had loved, but in vain, the -beautiful Maid of Galloway, who preferred her younger and more handsome -cousin, Earl William; but James was the next heir to the latter, if -he and Lord David died without children: thus avarice, ambition, and -revenge spurred him on, and caused him to urge the immediate acceptance -of the Chancellor's invitation, and <i>his</i> energetic advice, with the -young earl's vain-glorious wish, bore down all the faithful Fleming -could urge.</p> - -<p>James Achanna was the villainous tool who worked for him in the dark; -and herein was another secret; for Achanna had been a page to the -father of the countess, and had loved her too.</p> - -<p>This love had expanded suddenly, like a flower that blooms in a night -under a tropical moon, and the coquette soon discovered it.</p> - -<p>"You love me?" said she imperiously, reining up her horse, as they one -day rode side by side near the loch of the Carlinwark.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the page, tremulously, and covered with confusion by the -abruptness of the question.</p> - -<p>"How old are you, James Achanna?"</p> - -<p>"I am four-and-twenty, madam."</p> - -<p>"You are but a boy," said she, laughing.</p> - -<p>"I am six years <i>your</i> senior," he replied, gathering courage.</p> - -<p>"And you think me beautiful?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, madam!"</p> - -<p>"At your age boys think all women beautiful. But, my presuming page, -you must cease with this folly and learn to know your place, or it may -be changed to one more exalted;" and she pointed with her riding-switch -to a stone corbel called the gallows-knob above the gate of Thrave.</p> - -<p>The cheek of Achanna grew deadly pale; he ceased the "folly;" but from -thenceforth thought only of revenge, and afterwards entered readily -into the scheme by which the Douglases were lured to Edinburgh.</p> - -<p>Thus, summoning Sir Alan Lauder, his Master of the Horse, the young -earl, with all the impetuosity of a pampered boy, ordered his train to -be assembled, and set forth for the capital.</p> - -<p>Achanna preceded him on the spur, and reached Edinburgh a day or two -before him.</p> - -<p>The reader will now begin to perceive why those <i>four</i> coffins were -conveyed by him, under cloud of night, into the vaults of David's -Tower; and why a black bull's head, the ancient symbol of sudden death -and slaughter among the Celtic Scots, was concealed by the King's -master-butcher in the cabinet of the Chancellor.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> - -<small>THE ENTRANCE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">So many and so good</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">Of the Douglases have been;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">Of one surname in Scotland</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">Never yet were seen.—<span class="smcap">Old Rhyme.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Mounted on fine horses, the bridles and saddles of which were covered -by elaborate steel and silver bosses, Sir Patrick Gray, Captain of the -King's Guard, with his cousin and Lieutenant, Sir Thomas MacLellan, of -Bombie, fully armed and equipped, rode down the steep path from the -castle, and, traversing the town, proceeded towards the street by which -the earl of Douglas and his train were expected to enter.</p> - -<p>For small bonnets of fine blue Flemish cloth, they had relinquished -their heavy bascinets, with their large plumes and velvet tippets, -which were borne behind them by pages.</p> - -<p>The Captain of the Guard was preceded by a mounted esquire, Andrew -Gray, of Balgarno, bearing his banner <i>gules</i>, a lion rampant, within a -border engrailed.</p> - -<p>Save the black or grey-robed Dominicans or Franciscans, and priests -of other religious orders, all the men of every rank who crowded the -thoroughfares that led towards St. Mary's Wynd and the straggling -street which ascended from thence to the convent of St. Mary de -Placentia (whence to this day it is still named the Pleasance), were -well armed with habergeons and caps of steel, swords, daggers, knives, -and Jedwood axes—for the paths of life, even for the greatest and -noblest in Scotland, were not strewn with roses in those days, but -rather with briars in the shape of blades and spears, woes, wars, -tumults, and turmoils, such as their descendants cannot realize in -these our days of peace and good order.</p> - -<p>Parting on all sides before the esquire, who bore the banner, the -people made way for the Captain of the Guard, who with his kinsman -joined the attendants of the chief magistrate, Sir Thomas Cranstoun, -who was sheathed in complete mail—all save the head—and wore at his -gorget a massive chain of fine gold, the links of which glittered among -the white hair of his flowing beard.</p> - -<p>He was bravely mounted on a great Clydesdale battle-horse; he wielded a -heavy steel mace and wore a glittering jupon, on which were embroidered -the arms of his family quartered with the triple castle of the city.</p> - -<p>He was accompanied by all "the honest men" of the city (<i>honest</i> men -meant tradesmen—but this was in 1440), preceded by the four baillies, -the treasurer, the older corporations, such as the fleshers, the -furriers, the cordiners, the candlemakers, and others, under their -several devices and banners, and all armed to the teeth. These martial -craftsmen lined the narrow and crowded wynd, and from thence up the -broader High Street, by which the earl was expected to proceed direct -to the castle.</p> - -<p>And now, to swell the multitude, came several officers of state, -accompanied by the heads of all the religious houses and the heralds of -the king. Among them were William Lord Hay, the High Constable; Walter -Halyburton, the Lord High Treasurer, and William Turnbull, a canon -of Glasgow, who was Lord Privy Seal. Amid the buzz of the assembled -multitude, on the varied colours of whose costumes the bright evening -sunlight fell in flakes between the broken masses of the picturesque -old streets, there were occasionally heard half audible expressions of -anxiety for the issue of this noble's visit, as his family and vast -retinue of military retainers were so dreaded for their petulance and -turbulence, that all the booth-holders and craimers had closed their -places of business and buckled on their armour to be ready for any -emergency. In the same spirit the baillies wore shirts of mail under -their velvet gowns, and the alarm increased rather than diminished when -the Provost was heard to say to Sir Patrick Gray—"I am glad the King's -Guard are in readiness, for the wild men of Galloway and those scurvy -thieves and bullyrooks of Annandale who follow the banner of Douglas, -are certain to work mischief in the town."</p> - -<p>Such was the state of feeling in Edinburgh when the long, glittering, -and steel-clad train of the mighty Douglas was seen descending the -slope past the convent of St. Mary, of which no relic now survives save -a fine alabaster carving which represents our Saviour brought before -the Jewish High Priest; and the excitement reached its height when the -Provost put spurs to his horse and courteously rode forward to greet -the noble visitor and bid him welcome to the city with fair words of -peace, and to place himself upon his right—a condescension at which -the surlier burghers murmured under their beards; for the Provost of -Edinburgh, when within its boundary, takes precedence of all nobles, -and rides on the right hand of a crowned sovereign only.</p> - -<p>When the Provost rode forward, Sir Patrick Gray touched his horse -involuntarily with his spurs to follow him; but MacLellan, who was -chief of a Galloway clan at variance with the Douglases, arrested the -impulse by grasping his bridle and saying hurriedly,—"Stay, kinsman, -be wary."</p> - -<p>"Wherefore?" asked Gray, with an air of annoyance; "for many months I -have not seen Murielle."</p> - -<p>"Then the greater reason to stay and make no advance at present."</p> - -<p>"The greater reason!" reiterated the other, with increased surprise.</p> - -<p>"Bear with me—but women often change their minds."</p> - -<p>"Thou art a libeller; she will never change, at all events, and I shall -risk—"</p> - -<p>"The Regent's displeasure—the Chancellor's suspicions?" interrupted -MacLellan, with a smile.</p> - -<p>"You are right," replied Gray, checking his horse, while his nether lip -quivered with annoyance.</p> - -<p>"Listen, kinsman," resumed MacLellan, "this Provost may leave his -place, knight and baron though he be, to speak well and fairly this -great lord, whose train of lances fill his burgess-wives with fear lest -latches be lifted, booths broken, and goods and gear be harried in the -night; but <i>you</i>, who bear the king's colours on your surcoat, must not -make any such advance, especially at such a time as this, when Douglas, -like his father before him, hath acted the bullyboy to all Scotland."</p> - -<p>"The advice is good, MacLellan," said the captain with a sigh; "but -still, will not Murielle expect that I—I should—"</p> - -<p>"Approach her?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—it is the merest courtesy."</p> - -<p>"No; she must be aware that your place is beside the High Constable, -who, after our politic Provost here, represents the King."</p> - -<p>"Hush! here come the archers—some of your wild Scots of Galloway."</p> - -<p>"Wild though you term us," said MacLellan, laughing, "we rough -Galwegians lead the line of battle—our privilege long before the field -of Northallerton became the grave of ten thousand Scotsmen."</p> - -<p>The archers who headed the earl's train were now passing among the -crowd, and a band of most picturesque looking desperadoes they were. In -number about eighty, they had short bows in their hands, with swords -and axes in their broad leather girdles. They were bare-kneed and -bare-armed, with long bushy beards and thick matted hair (which had -never known a comb) falling in shaggy volumes from under little helmets -of steel. In some instances they wore caps of boiled leather, fashioned -to the shape of the head, and crossed with a wicker work of iron bands -for defence. They wore socks of untanned deerskin, and pourpoints of -coarse grey stuffs, with kilts and mantles; and here and there might -be seen one, who, by the eagle's wing in his cap, claimed to be of -gentle blood; for these hardy and rudely clad warriors were the lineal -descendants of those <i>wild</i> Celts of Galloway, who, since Corbred -Galdus, king of Scotland, was slain by the Romans at Torhouse, had the -privilege of leading the van of the Scottish hosts in battle.</p> - -<p>After them came the earl's confessor, John Douglas, Abbot of Tongland -(accompanied by his crossbearer, his chaunter, and three priests), a -learned old churchman who had long favoured a very strange project for -the especial behoof of his Satanic majesty; but of this more anon.</p> - -<p>Next came James Douglas (by his habits surnamed <i>the Gross</i>), earl of -Abercorn and Avondale, a powerfully formed but bulky and obese man, -with eyes and mouth betokening cruelty, pride, and wickedness. He -was in full armour, with his barred visor up. He was surrounded by -esquires, pages, and lacqueys, and his horse was led, for in his hands -he bore aloft a vast cross-handled sword, with a broad wavy blade.</p> - -<p>This was the weapon whilome wielded in the wars of Bruce by the Black -Knight of Liddesdale, "The Flower of Chivalry;" and now it was borne as -a palladium, or sword of state, before his more aspiring descendant.</p> - -<p>Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond, similarly accoutred, but in black armour -engraved with gold, bore the banner of his chief, a wilderness of -heraldic blazonry—azure, argent, or, and gules; but above all, over -Galloway, Avondale, Longoville, and Touraine, shone the bloody heart -of glorious memory—the symbol of that god-like heart which beat in -victory at Bannockburn, and lay cold with the "Good Sir James," amid -the Moorish host of Teba. It was topped with an imperial crown and the -three stars; the paternal coat of Douglas, with the motto—"<i>Jamais -arrière</i>."</p> - -<p>By his side rode Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld, and Sir Alan -Lauder, of the Bass, who had borne the young earl's vain-glorious and -unwise embassy to France.</p> - -<p>Eight knights of the surname of Douglas, who had won their spurs -where <i>then</i> spurs only could be won, in battle, to wit, the Lairds -of Glendoning, Strabrock, Pompherston, Pittendreich, Douglasburn, -Cairnglas, Braidwood, and Glenbervie, all horsed and armed alike, -the sole difference being the heraldic cadence of descent on their -splendidly embroidered jupons and horse-trappings, bore on the points -of their lances a canopy of blue silk tasselled and fringed with silver.</p> - -<p>Under this princely canopy, the earl and countess—so the people -preferred to call them, rather than the duke and duchess of -Touraine—rode side by side on white horses.</p> - -<p>They were very youthful, for the husband was only seventeen, and his -wife a year older; but they had a stature and a bearing far beyond -their ages.</p> - -<p>"The Fair Maid of Galloway," as she was still named, though a wedded -wife, was a dark-haired, black-eyed, and beautiful girl of a proud and -imperious aspect, nor could the grace of her lovely head and neck be -hidden by the grotesque horned head-gear which towered above her young -brow and waved upon her shoulders, glittering with gold and spangles. -She wore a long dark yellow riding robe, trimmed with black wolf's -fur, and having hanging tabard sleeves, under which could be seen the -sleeves of her inner dress, which was cloth of silver, for this was the -age of profusion.</p> - -<p>The boy-earl, her husband, wore a suit of light-tilting armour, which, -though polished as bright as new silver, was almost concealed by his -jupon, which was cloth of gold. His helmet was borne by the page who -led his horse; and his dark curls and swarthy visage glowing with -youth, pride, and satisfaction, his dark sparkling eyes and haughty -bearing evinced, how, like his cousin and wife, he inherited the blood -of the Black Lord of Liddesdale.</p> - -<p>When the people saw this handsome young noble and his lovely countess -riding thus side by side in all the flush of youth, the pride of rank, -and feudal splendour, under that gorgeous canopy upborne by those eight -gold-belted and gold-spurred knights of high degree, they forgot and -forgave all the wrongs and oppressions they had committed, and prayed -aloud "that God and St. Mary might sain them and bless them;" but when -young Lord David came, riding beside Lady Murielle, and holding the -bridle of her pretty bay palfrey, the hushed applause broke forth, -for, as a younger sister and unwedded maid she had no canopy over her -charming head, so the sunshine of heaven fell freely on her fair young -brow, which had no horned head-dress to conceal it, but only a little -blue silken hood and a golden caul to confine her beautiful hair.</p> - -<p>Gray and MacLellan bowed low and kissed their ungloved hands to the -sisters as they passed.</p> - -<p>Both ladies changed colour for a moment, but the youngest most deeply -and painfully, for she at first grew very pale. Those who were acute in -noting such indications of inward emotion might have discovered nothing -save vexation or annoyance in the eyes of the countess, and the flush -of tremulous pleasure in the returning blush of Murielle, on suddenly -meeting a lover whom she had not seen for many months. But the pallor -of one and the flush of the other were keys to greater secrets. "Thank -heaven, her companion is only that simpleton, little Lord David," said -Gray, as his eyes followed hers; "when I saw by her side a gallant so -bravely apparelled, I thought your croak about fickleness was about to -prove prophetic, MacLellan."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> - -<small>THE SISTERS</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">Her lips were a cloven honey cherrie,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">So tempting to the sight;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">Her locks owre alabaster brows</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">Fell like the morning light.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">And, oh! the breeze it lifted her locks,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">As through the dance she flew;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">While love laugh'd in her bonny blue ee,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">And dwell'd in her comely mou'.</span><br /> - -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">The Lords' Marie.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>A long train of nearly two thousand mounted spearmen, drawn from the -Douglas estates in Lanarkshire and Galloway made up this splendid -"following," as such a retinue was then termed; and as they wound up -the long vista of the crowded street, Gray contrived to place his horse -close to the bay palfrey of Murielle, and in a moment they exchanged -a deep glance and a pressure of the hand, which explained what—in -that age of little writing and no post offices—they had hitherto been -unable to tell, that both were steadfast and true to the troth they had -plighted at the three thorn trees of the Carlinwark on a moonlit St. -John's Eve, when the countess thought her little sister was asleep in -her lofty turret at Thrave.</p> - -<p>"Do you pass forward to the castle to-night?" he asked Lord David, -while fixing his glance on Murielle, for the question related to her.</p> - -<p>"No!" replied the little lord, with haughty reserve.</p> - -<p>"Whither then?" asked Gray, while a shade of annoyance crossed his -handsome face.</p> - -<p>"To the house of our kinsman, the abbot of Tongland; does that please -you?"</p> - -<p>"Good, my lord, I shall there pay my respects to the earl—and make all -speed."</p> - -<p>"Oh pray Sir Patrick, do not hurry yourself," was the jibing reply.</p> - -<p>"Till then, God be wi' you," said Sir Patrick, checking his horse.</p> - -<p>"Adieu," added Murielle, with another of her quiet glances; but the -lord, her cousin, turned bluntly away, as the king's soldier wheeled -his horse round, and with mingled love and anger in his heart remained -aloof till the brilliant train passed on.</p> - -<p>A group of handsome girls, nearly all of the surname of Douglas, Maud -of Pompherston, Mariota of Glendoning, and others, accompanied Margaret -and Murielle, as <i>dames d'honneur</i>, or ladies of the tabourette, to be -educated and accomplished for the positions they were destined to fill -in the world: "To be reared to gifts and graces, to silk embroidery, to -ritual observances," and the courtly art of winning high-born husbands, -in the household of the duchess of Touraine.</p> - -<p>These girls managed their horses with grace, they were all beautiful -and gay, but the two sisters of Thrave far exceeded them, though their -loveliness differed like the tints of spring and summer.</p> - -<p>Murielle's beauty was in some respects inferior to that of her proud -and imperious sister, but it was of a more winning and delicate -character. Though there were scarcely two years between them, Margaret -seemed quite a woman, while Murielle was still girl-like, and in her -merrier moods at times almost childish.</p> - -<p>The abbot of Tongland relates in his writings, that when Lady Murielle -was born at Thrave, she was so lovely a child that lest the fairies -might steal her away, and leave in her cradle a bunch of reeds in her -likeness, her mother secretly consecrated her to God; but convents were -already on the decline, and old Earl Archibald of Douglas and Touraine, -as her tutor, could not brook the idea with patience.</p> - -<p>"And what news had Sir Patrick Gray?" asked the countess, coldly, as -her horse came close to Murielle's during a stoppage caused by the -pressure of the crowd.</p> - -<p>"No news; nothing," replied Murielle, timidly, for her sister, from -infancy, had insidiously usurped an authority over her, which habit had -confirmed.</p> - -<p>"Did he not speak?" asked Margaret imperiously.</p> - -<p>"He merely made cousin David and me a reverence; little more, and -passed on."</p> - -<p>"After assuring himself, however, where he might be able to see <i>you</i> -to-night," added cousin David.</p> - -<p>"Are you not happy, Margaret, to find these citizens of the king -receive us so well?" said Murielle, to change the subject.</p> - -<p>"Dare they receive us otherwise?" asked the countess, while the eight -bearded knights who bore her canopy exchanged approving smiles under -their uplifted visors.</p> - -<p>"Sister!"</p> - -<p>"Well, sister! These baillies and deacons in their holiday gaberdines -and worsted hosen—these websters and makers of bonnets and -daggers—these grimy fourbissers, lorimers, and dalmaskers of iron, -with their carlins in curchies and plaids, do well and wisely to cringe -and vail their bonnets to-day."</p> - -<p>"Wherefore?"</p> - -<p>"Have we not two thousand horse marshalled under our banner?" said the -young earl, who shared to the full the emotions of the haughty girl, -his wife.</p> - -<p>"True, my lord and cousin; but they might, like dour carles, bite their -thumbs, and scowl at us from under their bonnets, for all our bravery," -replied Murielle.</p> - -<p>"'Tis a beautiful horse that roan of Sir Patrick Gray," said the earl; -"and its housings are——"</p> - -<p>"Gules and or," interrupted Murielle, for then all well-bred people -knew the science of heraldry.</p> - -<p>"His own colours, of course, and <i>not</i> the king's," said the countess, -with an artful smile; "you laugh lightly, Murielle, because you love -that man."</p> - -<p>"Is it a sign of love to be merry?" asked Murielle, softly, while her -fine eyes dilated with wonder.</p> - -<p>"Nay, sister, 'tis more often a sign of love to be sad, and sad enough -you were at times in Thrave. But please God and St. Bryde, dear -Murielle, even in these stormy times, no cloud shall cast a shadow on -any love of yours."</p> - -<p>"Even if he be the Captain of the King's Guard," said little Lord -David, with the spirit of a mischievous boy. His cousin coloured with -an air of annoyance, but said smilingly, while holding up a tiny -finger, "Oh fie, Davie, you had almost said——"</p> - -<p>"The captain of our enemy's band of hirelings," said the fiery young -earl, interrupting her; "and, under the royal favour, he would have -said right. I know, sweet cousin, what my brother <i>thinks</i>, however he -may speak, or not speak."</p> - -<p>This unpleasant turn to the conversation caused the timid Murielle -to shrink within herself, and the little lord was beginning to laugh -maliciously when a sudden brawl ensued in the crowd, and Sir Malcolm -Fleming, of Cumbernauld, on finding his horse incommoded by a group of -magistrates and deacons, daringly struck one of the former on the head -with the shaft of his lance, exclaiming, "Back, sirrah, back! By St. -Bryde, I will rend the auld carle's beard frae his jaws!"</p> - -<p>"A Douglas! a Douglas!" cried a horseman in a <i>closed</i> helmet, pressing -briskly forward.</p> - -<p>This man was Abercorn's creature, James Achanna, who, with his poleaxe, -was ready to strike on <i>both</i> sides to ferment a brawl, by which the -grand <i>coup</i> in the castle on the morrow might be anticipated.</p> - -<p>"Armour—rescue!" cried a number of the armed craftsmen, pressing also -forward with swords drawn and partizans lowered menacingly, as they -were justly indignant at an affront offered to one of their magistrates.</p> - -<p>A tumult would undoubtedly have ensued, for Lord David had drawn his -little sword, and the young earl only laughed as if it were sport to -see his knights maltreat the burghers, but the rising fray was quelled -by his confessor, the politic old abbot of Tongland, who pushed his -horse between the belligerents, and while waving a benison to the -people with his right hand, by his left arrested the threatening lance -of the irate laird of Cumbernauld. So thus the matter happily ended, -and with this single untoward affair the earl and his train reached -the town mansion of the abbot, which stood within spacious gardens on -the southern slope of the Canongate, the way that led to the abbey of -Holyrood; for as yet, the latter was simply an abbey house and church, -and not until sixty-four years after was a royal residence added to -the sacred edifice which King David (in honour of the fabled miracle -by which his life was saved) founded of old, in the wild part of the -forest, which was then nameless, or simply described as "the hollow -between two hills."</p> - -<p>"You look weary, sister," said the countess, as the earl kindly and -gallantly lifted Murielle from her saddle in the court-yard of the -abbot's house.</p> - -<p>"The long journey of the day has tired me, but after a sound sleep I -shall be fresh for morning mass in St. Giles to-morrow; for is not -to-morrow the vigil of St. Catharine?"</p> - -<p>"And the day of our banquet with the King, the Regent, and Chancellor."</p> - -<p>"Alake that such trust should be!" muttered Sir Malcolm Fleming under -his long white moustache.</p> - -<p>"What, art croaking again, stout Cumbernauld?" said the earl, laughing; -"who can say but the young king may fall in love with our Murielle, and -make her queen of Scotland?"</p> - -<p>The Douglas knights loudly applauded the surmise.</p> - -<p>"How bright the sunset falls on yonder hill," said Murielle, colouring -with annoyance; "how is it named?"</p> - -<p>"Arthur Seat," replied Lord David.</p> - -<p>"See how the rays fade upward, from rock to rock and rift to rift, as -the sun sinks. It makes me think o our Galloway song," said Murielle, -always a creature of impulse, as she kissed her sister and sang:—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 27%;">"A weary bodies blythe when the sun gaes down,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 28%;">A weary bodies blythe when the sun gaes down;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">To smile wi' his wife and to dawt wi' his weans:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 28%;">Wha wouldna be blythe when the sun gaes down?"</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Are you crazed, Murielle," said the Countess, with a smile of disdain, -"to lilt thus before grooms and lacqueys?"</p> - -<p>But the bearded knights of Galloway, who had now relinquished the silk -canopy to their pages, laughed gaily and praised Murielle, whose charms -and playfulness ever won the hearts of all.</p> - -<p>The earl's numerous retainers stowed themselves away in the city, -where they filled with noise and tumult all the hostelries which had -been established by the late King James I.; while the buffoons, in -parti-coloured caps and doublets, the plaided pipers, and bearded -harpers, who had followed them, made the streets, which, after vespers, -were usually quiet, a scene of continual mumming, with alternate music -and discord, as they danced by torchlight before groups of citizens, -who loitered at their forestairs, galleries, and arcades; and so the -night of the 22nd November closed in, while the Regent's followers kept -the gates of the castle securely guarded.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> - -<small>THE ABBOT'S HOUSE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Now gleams the moon on Arthur's mighty crest,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">That dweller in the air abrupt and lone;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Hush'd is Edina in her nightly rest,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">But hark! there comes a sweet and solemn tone,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">The lingering strains that welled in ages gone.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The mind of Sir Patrick Gray was oppressed by vague doubts and -apprehensions of—he knew not what. That the earl and countess were -colder to him than when last they met he was painfully conscious by -their absurdly haughty bearing, by the increased timidity of Murielle, -and the undisguised petulance of her kinsman, perhaps her lover, the -young Lord David.</p> - -<p>Gray's love for Murielle was now no secret to the earl's powerful -family, but being a poor younger son of the baron of Foulis, it was, as -he bitterly knew, a matter of jest among the Douglases; for his whole -inheritance were his sword and spurs, which he had won at the battle of -Piperden, where the English, under Henry, earl of Northumberland, were -defeated by the Scots under William Douglas, earl of Angus.</p> - -<p>Moreover, Sir Patrick, by education, habit, and thought, was a staunch -and loyal adherent of the young king, James II., as he had been of his -father, who was so barbarously murdered at Perth; and thus, inspired -by love and doubt, hope and fear, presuming upon the friendship of the -abbot of Tongland, with whom he could "count kindred," through the -MacLellans of Bombie, he presented himself at his mansion in the dusk, -and was immediately ushered into the hall, or chamber of dais, where, -as supper was over, a brilliant group, or rather several groups, were -assembled.</p> - -<p>The house of the abbot of Tongland (a wealthy monastery on the banks -of the Dee, founded during the reign of David I., by Fergus, lord of -Galloway, on his wedding the daughter of Henry, king of England,) was -a quaint edifice, one portion of which had crow-stepped gables, and -the other a battlement with singularly grotesque gurgoils, through the -gaping mouths of which the rain had been disgorged upon the passers-by -for centuries. An arch and great oak gate, furnished with a giant risp -or tirling-pin of iron, guarded by six loopholes of warlike aspect, -gave access to the house and its gardens, which sloped south towards -the craigs of Salisbury.</p> - -<p>The usual quiet and seclusion of the abbot's mansion were changed on -this night for bustle, noise, and light; a crowd of pages, grooms, -lacqueys, and armed men led saddled horses to and fro, or loitered -about the entrance, while flakes of ruddy light fell through the deep -windows of the chamber of dais upon the green shrubbery and the few -flowers which still lingered since the last days of autumn.</p> - -<p>This chamber was a veritable hall, such as might have graced a baron's -castle. It had many niches or ambres of carved stone, a vast gothic -fireplace, to the clustered pillars of which the fire-irons were -<i>chained</i> in the old Scottish fashion, to prevent their being too -readily used in brawls, and on the lintel was inscribed, in antique -letters, the legend,—</p> -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/036.jpg" alt="laus et honor deo" /> -</p> -<p class="center"><small>(Laus et honor Deo.)</small><br /> -</p> - -<p>On the hearth a fire of coal and oak-roots from the Figgate-muir was -blazing cheerily.</p> - -<p>In this chamber, the lordly abbot had feasted four years before the -papal legate, Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini, bishop of Trieste, afterwards -Pope Pius II., and it was on that occasion that the latter so wittily -remarked, with an irreverent wink to the abbot of Melrose, "that if -there was a great reason for prohibiting the marriage of priests, there -was a much greater for <i>permitting</i> it."</p> - -<p>The doors were oak carved with legends and monograms; the floor -also was of oak, roughly dressed with the hatchet and secured with -broad-headed nails, all the bright heads of which were visible, as it -was not carpetted, but only strewn with fresh rushes from the Hunter's -Bog. The walls were comfortably wainscotted up to where the vaulted -roof rose in the form of an arch, and there the stone-work was covered -by distorted figures, representing old legends connected with the abbey -of Tongland.</p> - -<p>The sleek and portly abbot was seated near the fire in a lofty chair, -the back of which bore a carved mitre, and he was conversing easily and -pleasantly with all his guests in turn, for he was a benign and amiable -old prelate with a bald head, a rubicund and somewhat unmeaning visage, -and twinkling eyes half hidden by wrinkles and fat.</p> - -<p>Two chairs of state opposite were occupied by the earl and countess of -Douglas. On tabourettes near them were seated Murielle and a group of -ladies. Several gentlemen all richly dressed were loitering near them, -for they were conversing gaily and variously employed—at chess, or the -game of Troy; and on the silks, velvets, jewels, and cloth of gold and -silver, of which their costumes were composed, the glow of the fire -fell brightly, together with the light of twenty great candles, which -flared in sconces of brass hung round the walls on tenter-hooks.</p> - -<p>The stomacher of the countess-duchess was entirely covered with native -pearls, for those found in the Scottish streams were held to be of -great value. Among the costly jewels lost by Henry V., when his camp -was plundered at Agincourt, Rymer mentions <i>una perula Scotiæ</i>; and -only a few years before the date of our story, James I presented to -Æneas Sylvius, the Roman legate, <i>one</i>, which is now in the papal crown.</p> - -<p>Before her sweet face, pretty Murielle was manœuvring her fan, quite -as skilfully as any of her countrywomen might do at the present day; -and through the sticks of it, her merry and soft violet eyes peeped -from time to time at a handsome and soldier-like man, who wore a -crimson velvet pourpoint, with a steel gorget, a gold belt, and hanging -sleeves of yellow silk. He was Sir Patrick Gray, the captain of the -guard. While talking gravely of "the growing heresies of John Huss and -Paul Crawer," he seemed to be entirely occupied with the countess of -Ormond, before whom he knelt on one knee, and for whom he was winding -and unwinding several balls of brightly coloured silk and golden -thread, which she was using while embroidering a missal cover, for -the ladies of those days were never idle; but in his abstraction, or -pre-occupation with Murielle, he made many a provoking knot, which the -little white fingers of the lovely countess required all their cunning -to unravel.</p> - -<p>His love for Murielle had brought him hither uninvited; and he felt -(like his kinsman, MacLellan) that he was among the enemies of the -king his master, and of the government; while the coldness with which -the boy-noble and the girl-countess treated him filled his heart with -sorrow and anger.</p> - -<p>The scraps of conversation he heard all savoured of hostility to James -and to his ministers, with dark hints of daring and ulterior political -projects, as yet undeveloped and apparently obscure.</p> - -<p>He was aware that Earl James of Abercorn, Earl Hugh of Ormond, Sir -Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and other kinsmen of the Douglases -viewed him with undisguised aversion; and while he continued to play -with the balls of thread, and utter pleasant commonplaces to the ladies -near, those four personages were standing aloof in a corner, leaning on -their swords, which were somewhere about five feet long, "nursing their -wrath to keep it warm," and wishing they had the captain of the king's -guard on a solitary hill-side, or even in the street without.</p> - -<p>"And this Livingstone—I beg pardon, <i>Sir</i> Alexander Livingstone, Laird -of Callender—a mere baron," he heard the earl of Douglas say to the -abbot; "by what warrant or right is such a man as <i>he</i> regent of the -realm?"</p> - -<p>"I have heard your noble father ask the same question often, with the -same tone—ay, and with the same sombre gloom in his eye, my lord," -replied the abbot evasively.</p> - -<p>"Well—know you by what right?" reiterated the young noble bitterly, -giving vent to the hatred his dead father had carefully and unceasingly -inspired and fostered.</p> - -<p>"Is it hereditary?" asked the abbot gently.</p> - -<p>"Assuredly not."</p> - -<p>"Then how came Livingstone to have the regency?"</p> - -<p>"'Twas given by parliament and the nation."</p> - -<p>"Hence his <i>right</i>," said the abbot, smiling at obtaining the very -reply he wished; but the petulant young earl rasped the rowels of his -gold spurs furiously on the hearth, for these quiet answers from the -"keeper of his conscience" galled and fretted him.</p> - -<p>"Well, the time is come for the nobles, the barons, and others to -reconsider that too-hastily given right," said the countess; "for what -is he, or what is this Lord Chancellor, that earls and chiefs are to -veil their bonnets in their presence?"</p> - -<p>The abbot, who dreaded the violence of the young countess more than -the temper of her husband (who was not exactly a lamb), was prudently -silent; but she was determined to force an answer from him, and said -bluntly, "Speak, abbot, you are silent!"</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, lady, I was thinking of Plutarch. Know you what he said?"</p> - -<p>"How should I know, Lord Abbot," said Margaret, while her black eyes -sparkled with annoyance; "was he a heretic like Paul Crawer, or a -magician like Michael Scott, with an urchin or prickly hedgehog for a -familiar?"</p> - -<p>"Why ask you all this?" "Because the name sounds cabalistic to a -Scottish ear," said Margaret, crossing and fanning herself.</p> - -<p>"He was a scholar—and yet an unfortunate pagan, for he knew not of St. -Nicholas, the patron of scholars."</p> - -<p>"But <i>what</i> said he?"</p> - -<p>"That '<i>love and hatred corrupt the truth of everything</i>,' and he -thought profoundly, madam, for verily they do. Yet if our holy father -at Rome will but listen to my prayer, ere long hatred and evil shall -exist on earth no more; but all men shall live and die in peace and -goodwill one with another—even unto the end of time."</p> - -<p>The young earl smiled disdainfully, and relapsed into gloomy silence, -for he knew that his father confessor referred to a strange project -which he had long cherished, and concerning which he had seriously -pestered the late Roman Legate, Æneas Sylvius—that the Pope Eugene -IV., as head of the Church and "vicegerent of heaven upon earth," would -intercede for the fallen angel, to have him forgiven and received once -more into divine favour, to the sublime end that all evil in the world -would henceforth cease; for the good old clergyman, in his largeness of -heart, like his poetic countryman in after years, felt that he could -even forgive the devil, when he thought</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 40%;">Auld Nickey Ben,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 28%;">Maybe ye'll tak a thocht and mend.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>But poor Pope Eugene was too much bothered and embroiled by the -untractable council of Basle, to attend at that time to the mighty -crotchets of the abbot of Tongland.</p> - -<p>"Patience yet awhile, my son," said the benevolent abbot, crossing -to the young earl and caressing his curly black hair; "when I have -the Master of Evil forgiven, and restored to the place from whence he -fell, the lusts of the flesh will be effectually prevented from warring -against the spirit of grace. <i>Sit nomen Domini benedictum!</i>"</p> - -<p>But the earl remained obstinately silent, with his dark eyes fixed on -the fire, as if the gloomy future might be traced amid its glowing -embers.</p> - -<p>His kinsman, John of Abercorn, smiled coldly, for by <i>his</i> secret -connivance many said this visit to the court had been planned; while -the grim and turbulent lairds of Biggar and the Bass grasped their -long swords with an air that seemed to say, the peaceful and holy -days of the abbot's hopes were yet a long way off, and that the devil -was likely, as he has ever done, to poke his nose for a long time in -Scottish affairs; but a sad and sombre frown was in their eyes, for -this journey of their chief to Edinburgh had been undertaken in direct -opposition to all their entreaties, advice, and forebodings.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> - -<small>MURIELLE.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Sweet love! sweet lines! sweet life!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Here is her hand, the agent of her heart;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Here is her oath for love, her honour's power:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Oh that our fathers would applaud our loves,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">To seal our happiness with their consents.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><span class="smcap">Two Gentlemen of Verona.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>An hour passed without Gray finding an opportunity for addressing more -than the merest commonplaces to Murielle, yet his mind, even when -conversing with others, was so full of her image, that the very rustle -of her dress made his heart beat quicker; and he could see her form, -face, and expression as distinctly as he heard her voice in fancy -for ever, when she was absent; and the ribbon she had taken from her -breast, and given him to wear in his bonnet, was a gift more prized -than a royal crown.</p> - -<p>Their eyes were eloquent although their tongues were mute, for "their -natures had so gradually blended into each other that, like two tints -of the rainbow, the lines between them would soon become so extinct, -that a separation would be the destruction of both."</p> - -<p>But the Countess Margaret had a secret grudge at our captain of the -guard, and it arose from this circumstance.</p> - -<p>Prior to her marriage, and almost from her childhood, she had been a -practised coquette, who had won many a brave and noble heart with a -facility which her rank increased—but won only to cast them from her -when tired of them, as she had done her dolls and toys when a girl, or -her jewels, dresses, flowers, and baubles in riper years. They had -served to beguile a day, a week, a month, those human playthings, and -that was all she cared for.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray had proved rebelliously insensible to her beauty of -form, her gaiety, and brilliance of conversation, for he loved little -Murielle, and hence the more gorgeous Margaret had an additional -cause to treasure a pique at him; and having <i>other</i> views regarding -her sister, she now, in revenge, permitted him to fan his love with -hope, ere it would be crushed for ever, by her marriage to one as yet -unnamed. Hence the malicious smile, which curled her beautiful lip, as -she looked at them from time to time, on the night we are describing.</p> - -<p>Gray and MacLellan confessed to each other that two sisters more -charming could scarcely be met.</p> - -<p>Murielle's face was pale, her features were delicate, and her eyes of -that deep hue, alternating between hazel and violet, which seemed black -at night. Her hands and arms were lovely in their form and delicacy.</p> - -<p>Then Margaret was so stately and queen-like, pure and cold as marble, -save when excited (which was not unfrequent), distant and proudly -reserved at one time—full of fire and passion at another. Tall and -beautifully formed, her hair and eyes were of the deepest jet, to -which the purity of her complexion formed a singular contrast; while -a softness was imparted at times to her otherwise haughty expression -by her long and thick eye-lashes, which she could drop with the most -skilful coquetry.</p> - -<p>The face and eyes of Murielle, though less striking, had a strange -charm, as they brightened, deepened, and seemed to <i>grow</i> in beauty, -one knew not why or how; but it was the indescribable charm of -<i>expression</i>.</p> - -<p>The old abbot, finding his efforts to amuse his fiery and feudal -friends a somewhat arduous task (as they were all inspired by jealous, -ambitious, or angry thoughts), came in despair to Murielle, who was his -favourite, and who loved him as a daughter would have done.</p> - -<p>"Your harp is here; sing us something, my lady daughter," said he; "a -song of our wild Galloway hills—or a Lowland ballad, if you prefer -it; but do so, I pray you, for clouds are gathering in your kinsmen's -faces, and I know that your sweet voice can best dispel them."</p> - -<p>Murielle assented with a kind smile, and in a moment, Gray, -anticipating Lord David Douglas, handed the harp to her, and in doing -so, contrived, quick as lightning, to touch and press her hand, which -made her colour slightly, as she bent over the instrument, and ran her -rapid little fingers among the strings.</p> - -<p>It was a clairsach, or harp of the old Scottish form, being only thirty -inches or so in height, and furnished with thirty string holes. In -front of the upper arm was the crowned heart (the Douglas cognisance), -formed of precious stones, and surrounded by minute inlaying of -mother-of-pearl.</p> - -<p>"I thank you, child, for your readiness," said the abbot, patting her -pretty shoulder, "and in my turn, though I may not sing now at my -years, I shall tell you a legend of the olden time, which was told me -by an aged monk of Tongland, now asleep with his fathers in the abbey -kirkyard."</p> - -<p>"A bribe, my lord, to make me hasten with my song," said Murielle, -smiling in the old man's face.</p> - -<p>"And to make it as brief as possible," added the impatient Margaret.</p> - -<p>"Say not so, countess," said the abbot, "we will not tire readily of -Lady Murielle's voice."</p> - -<p>"A churchman turned a gallant in his old age!"</p> - -<p>"Your sister is fortunate, lady, in the best gifts of heaven," -continued the abbot, "and must have been born—"</p> - -<p>"Under a fortunate star, you would say?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, countess, if such things exist."</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Murielle, laughing, "I had a kind fairy for a godmother, -like the good princesses of the old romance."</p> - -<p>Then in the chaunting cadence adopted by the singers of those days, -she sang the four-and-thirty verses of the old ballad of "Sir Hugh le -Blonde," a knight of the Mearns—but with these we will not inflict the -reader.</p> - -<p>It told of how the subtile Rodinghame made love to a fair coquette, who -was queen of Scotland; and how, when she repelled him, in revenge he -put a leper man in her bower chamber. Then came the proud and jealous -king, who, on finding him in such a place, ordered the queen to be -burned at a stake, unless she could find a champion to do battle with -Rodinghame, her traducer, but such was the terror of his prowess that -none appeared; the day of doom came; the hapless queen was bound to a -stake, and the torch was about to be applied, when Sir Hugh le Blonde, -in his armour, sprang forward, and lifted the gage of Rodinghame.</p> - -<p>They fought long and desperately, but Sir Hugh slew the accuser, after -forcing him to confess his treachery. Thus the queen was restored once -more to favour and honour, to the joy of her husband and all his court.</p> - -<p>In gratitude to her preserver,</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Then said the queen unto the king,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">"Arbuthnot's near the sea;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Oh yield it to the northern knight</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Who fought this day for me!"</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">"Yes," said our king, "and thou, Sir Knight,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Come, quaff this cann of wine;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Arbuthnot's but a baronie,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">We'll to it Fordoun join."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Thus the descendants of Sir Hugh became lords of Arbuthnot and Fordoun; -the sword with which he defended the queen was long preserved by the -viscounts of his family, and his helmet was hung in the church of -Garvoch, which, in 1282, he bestowed upon the monks of Arbroath for the -safety of his soul, and in memory of his victory.</p> - -<p>"How like you the song?" asked Abercorn of the countess.</p> - -<p>"Well," she replied, with a dark smile; "because it acts as bird-lime."</p> - -<p>"Bird-lime," said he, with a perplexed smile; "how?"</p> - -<p>"For the king's popinjay," replied the countess, waving her fan towards -Sir Patrick Gray; but the ballad was suited to the fashion and spirit -of the age, and as Murielle's voice was soft and low, it mingled -sweetly with the rippling notes of her little harp.</p> - -<p>In the olden time, by ballads and stories the nights were usually -passed before bed-time; and thus, after some well-bred compliments had -been uttered on her performance, Murielle relinquished her harp to Sir -Patrick (who achieved one more pressure of a pretty hand), and turned -to claim from her venerable friend the fulfilment of <i>his</i> promise.</p> - -<p>"My story," said the abbot, smoothing his cassock over his ample -paunch, "relates to a time when the Spirit of Evil, he whom I hope to -turn one day to a spirit of goodness and purity (here the earl gave -a sigh of impatience), had more power in the land even than he hath -now. Yet he was conquered and put to flight by our blessed apostle St. -Andrew; and now I shall proceed to show you how the cross on which the -latter was martyred became the symbol of the Scottish nation, and why -it has been borne on our breasts and on our banners in many a righteous -battle."</p> - -<p>"'Tis well, Lord Abbot," said Earl James the Gross, bluntly; "I like -your ending better than your beginning, which savoured somewhat of a -sermon, and the night waxes apace."</p> - -<p>Then the abbot related the following miraculous story, which we give -more correctly than it will be found in the Bollandists, in the -"History of the Blessed Regulus," which was written at St. Andrew's -in 1140, in the "Golden Legend," or even in the old Gothic "Legenda -Sanctorum, post Longobardicam Historiam," because we had it from the -writings of the abbot himself.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> - -<small>THE LEGEND OF ST. ANDREW'S CROSS</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Some seek the Edens of the east,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Some Carrib isles explore;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The forests of the far-off west,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And Afric's savage shore.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;"><i>Still</i> charms of native speech and spot,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And native springs for aye,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Will band like brothers Scot with Scot</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Upon St. Andrew's day!—<span class="smcap">Scottish Song.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>In the year 370, St. Regulus, or Rule, a holy Greek monk, who dwelt in -Petræa, a city of Achaia, and who had preserved in secret the reliques -of St. Andrew the apostle and martyr, was strangely warned by a vision, -which was repeated three nights in succession, to secure them from the -Emperor Constantius, who was coming to deprive him of his charge, and -Regulus was commanded to take them elsewhere.</p> - -<p>A deep and melodious voice, that seemed to come from afar, desired him -to go to the shrine wherein the reliques lay, to take therefrom an arm, -three fingers of the right hand, a tooth, and a kneebone; these he was -carefully to preserve, and to convey into a distant land in the west, -"<i>a region situated in the uttermost part of the world</i>."</p> - -<p>After the third vision St. Regulus obeyed.</p> - -<p>He placed the reliques in a box, and embarked in a small ship, taking -with him Damianus a priest, and Gelasius and Tubaculus, two deacons, -eight hermits, and three devoted virgins.</p> - -<p>After great toil and suffering, and after encountering many storms, -they passed Melita, where, as the Scripture tells us, St. Paul had been -of old, thence between the Pillars of Hercules, along the coasts of -Gaul and Celt-iberia; and, after traversing the sea of Almainie, were -cast on a bleak and rocky promontary of Caledonia, near where now the -spires of the fair and stately city of St. Andrew form a landmark to -the mariner.</p> - -<p><i>Then</i> the coast was wild and desolate, and was named by the painted -Picts, who dwelt there, Muick-rhos, or "peninsula of fierce boars."</p> - -<p>Wild woods, pathless and dense, covered it, and a stormy sea beat -drearily on its rocky shore.</p> - -<p>But these pilgrims having now reached, as they thought, "the -<i>uttermost</i> part of the world," built their cells, and began to preach -and baptize, uniting their labours with those who had landed elsewhere -on Scottish ground, and so, in the fulness of time, that peninsula -became a bishopric.</p> - -<p>In the beginning of the ninth century, Adrian, a holy man, became first -bishop of this see of St. Andrews, where in days, then long passed -away, St. Regulus and his kuldees had founded a cell dedicated to the -Holy Virgin, about a bowshot westward from the shore, upon a sea-weedy -rock named unto this day, Our Lady's Craig. But no vestige of the -edifice remains, and the wild waves of the German Sea sweep over it -with every rising tide.</p> - -<p>There, in his own chapel, did St. Regulus serve God devoutly for -two-and-thirty years, and there also died Constantine III., King of -Scotland, after spending the last five years of his life as a kuldee of -Kirkrule, for so the place was also named.</p> - -<p>In those, the days of Adrian, Hungus, the Pictish king, granted to -God and St. Andrew that the place where the bones of the latter lay -"should be the mother church of all the churches in his kingdom," which -comprehended the entire Lowlands of Scotland, and much of what is now -called England. He laid, in proof of his gift, a <i>turf</i> of the ceded -territory upon the high altar, and it was the <i>first</i> instance of the -symbolical transfer of land by enfoffment in Scotland.</p> - -<p>Adrian, the bishop, was a man full of goodness and holiness; none -excelled him in devotion to St. Andrew, and when not preaching to the -people, he usually secluded himself on the little Isle of May, at the -mouth of the Forth, and there he always spent the forty days of Lent, -living on herbs, pure water, and fish, which he caught from the rocks -overhanging the sea.</p> - -<p>There he said so many prayers daily, that when he had attained his -fortieth year without having committed a single sin, the devil -spitefully resolved to work him some mischief, if such were possible; -but the entire isle whereon he dwelt had become as it were so holy, -that all the powers of hell could not prevail against him.</p> - -<p>Ere long the fallen angel had an opportunity, when fires were lighted -on the hills of Fife and Lothian, summoning the people to arms, when, -in the year 870, Athelstan, king of the western Saxons, a savage -warrior, who had cloven the head of his father by a single stroke of -his sword, and had committed many other inhuman atrocities, but to whom -Alfred the Great had ceded the territory of Northumberland, marched -northward with a mighty host of barbarians, intent on conquest.</p> - -<p>Athelstan had placed his dagger on the altar of St. John of Beverley, -as a pledge that if he conquered in the north he would enrich that -church, in testimony of his belief in the saint's patronage; and so, -after laying waste the southern portion of the Pictish territories, he -halted on the banks of the Tyne, near Haddington.</p> - -<p>After long vigils in the Ocean cave, where the humble and rude altar -of St. Regulus is still to be seen, the holy Adrian joined the host of -King Hungus, which numbered thirty thousand warriors, a thousand of -whom wore torques of beaten gold. He came to add the influence of his -presence, and by his prayers and ministry to propitiate heaven that -these yellow-haired invaders might be repelled.</p> - -<p>By a blow of the same sword with which he slew his father, Athelstan -cleft a rock near the castle of Dunbar, as a symbol that he would -conquer all the northern land; the mark, a yard in width, remains there -to this day, and was oddly enough referred to by Edward I. before Pope -Boniface, as his <i>best</i> claim to the kingdom of Scotland!</p> - -<p>For aid, Hungus applied to Achaius, king of the Scots, who sent his son -Alpine with ten thousand warriors, to assist in repelling the dangerous -invaders who had now possessed themselves of all South Britain, and -founded the petty kingdoms of the Heptarchy; and thus, on the 29th -of November, the eve before St. Andrew's day, the three armies came -in sight of each other, on the banks of a little stream which flows -through a narrow, deep, and stony vale, near the pastoral hills of -Dirlton.</p> - -<p>There, on the eastern slope of these hills, Adrian, the bishop, set -up an altar, and said mass solemnly, with supplications for victory, -while the wild bands of King Hungus, and the wilder warriors who came -from the western mountains of the Dalriadic Scots, all clad in hauberks -and byrnes of ringed mail, were hushed in prayer, as they knelt with -bare knees on their bucklers or on the green sward, bowing all their -helmeted heads when Adrian stretched forth his hand and blessed them in -the name of his master who was in heaven.</p> - -<p>So night closed in, and, worn with toil, the bishop retired from the -tumultuary camp to a lonely house which was near, and there sought -repose.</p> - -<p>And <i>now</i> the master of evil thought his time was come to attempt the -good man's downfall.</p> - -<p>Assuming the form of a beautiful woman, he appeared at the house of St. -Adrian, and sent in a messenger, saying, "there was one without who -desired to make confession."</p> - -<p>St. Adrian, who was at supper, sent one of the little boys who served -at his altar to say that "Killach, the Penitencer, would hear her, -having full power from himself to hear all confessions, to loose, or to -bind."</p> - -<p>But, although Killach was a man of great sanctity, who afterwards -succeeded Adrian in his see, she said loudly that she would reveal the -secrets of her soul to none but his master.</p> - -<p>St. Adrian therefore desired her to be admitted.</p> - -<p>On entering she, for so we must style the spirit for the time, fell -at his feet, and on being blessed by him trembled in her guilty soul; -but, on raising her veil, Adrian could not repress an exclamation of -surprise at her marvellous beauty. Her skin had the purity of snow, her -eyes were of the deepest blue, and shaded by long dark lashes, though -her hair was of a wondrously bright golden tint, and glittered like -a halo round her head. Her face and form were faultless, her stature -tall, and her motions full of grace.</p> - -<p>"Whence come you, daughter?" asked the saint,</p> - -<p>"From the land of the western Saxons," replied the spirit, in an accent -that was very alluring.</p> - -<p>"And <i>who</i> are you?"</p> - -<p>"I am the daughter of Athelstan," she continued, weeping.</p> - -<p>"Of Athelstan the wicked king!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," and she bent her lovely face upon her hands.</p> - -<p>"He whose host we are to combat on the morrow?" continued the saint -with growing surprise.</p> - -<p>"The same."</p> - -<p>"How and why came you to me?"</p> - -<p>"He proposes to bestow me in marriage upon one of his chiefs, who is -a Pagan; but I have devoted myself to the service of Heaven, and, -escaping from his camp in secret, have cast myself upon you, as a man -of holiness and of God, to succour and to protect me against the evils -and perils of the world."</p> - -<p>She wept bitterly, and as she seemed faint and almost famished, the -kind bishop led her to a seat, and pressed her to join him in his -frugal supper, to take food and refreshment, and thereafter repose.</p> - -<p>Then the evil spirit, perceiving the advantages so rapidly won, cast -aside her head-gear, and appeared only in the long flowing weed of a -Saxon woman, with loose sleeves, which revealed the singular whiteness -of her arms and bosom; and, as supper proceeded, and the conversation -became animated, she clasped again and again to her beating heart and -her warm lips the wrinkled hand of St. Adrian with a fondness which, -with the growing splendour of her beauty, bewildered him; Adrian -became troubled, he knew not <i>why</i>, his soul seemed to tremble within -him in unison with the heart that beat in the snowy bosom beneath his -fingers, and he prayed inwardly to God and to St. Andrew, his patron, -against this new temptation, but apparently without avail.</p> - -<p>He had a silver cup, the gift of King Hungus, and each time, say the -legendaries, he signed the cross above it, red wine of Cyprus filled -it to the brim, but of this miraculous cup his fair guest declined to -drink, affirming that she "preferred pure water."</p> - -<p>Incited by her, the saint filled and emptied his cup more frequently -than was his wont; till, dazzled alike by her beauty, which seemed -strangely to increase in radiance, her wit and helplessness, he felt -as if madness were coming over him, for his inward prayers availed him -nothing, and ere long he seemed to lose the power of remembering them.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a loud knock rang on the door of the house, and Killach, the -Penitencer, came hastily to announce that an aged pilgrim, who had come -from afar, desired to speak with the bishop of St. Andrew's.</p> - -<p>"How far hath he come?" asked the lady, laughing.</p> - -<p>"From Bethsaida, a village by the sea of Galilee, where he and his -brother Peter were fishermen."</p> - -<p>On hearing the birth-place of the apostles named, the evil spirit -trembled; but the bewildered bishop said, while turning to his -beautiful guest—"Tell the palmer I shall see him at some other time; -after so long a journey he must need rest."</p> - -<p>But again the pilgrim knocked and became more importunate; then Adrian, -fired by the wine he had taken, and dazzled by the beauty at his side, -seemed to lose alike his charity and humility amid the snares of the -devil, for he commanded the insolent pilgrim to be cast forth upon the -highway.</p> - -<p>"Nay, nay," said the golden-haired damsel, running her white fingers -through his snowy beard, "let us amuse ourselves with him, for these -palmers are quaint fellows."</p> - -<p>"Is it your pleasure, fair lady," said Adrian, taking her hand in his, -"that I should permit him to interrupt us?"</p> - -<p>"No—but let us jest with him; for I know well that these palm-bearing -pilgrims are sad rogues at times. Ask him some puzzling questions, and -if he answers them, admit him."</p> - -<p>"Agreed," said the bishop, draining another goblet, and as her laughter -seemed very infectious, he joined her in a peal of such merriment, -that old Killach, the Penitencer, trembled in his cassock; "propose a -question, sweet lady, for you surpass all in wit as well as in beauty."</p> - -<p>"Inquire of him what is the greatest marvel in the smallest space made -by God."</p> - -<p>Killach went forth and propounded this strange question.</p> - -<p>"The faces of mankind and the leaves of the trees; for no two of either -are alike in the world," replied the poor pilgrim, who stood without -the door of the chamber, bending wearily on a knotted staff, and -shivering in the night air, though clad in a long blackweed, his cowl -hung over his eyes and his white beard flowed over his breast.</p> - -<p>"A fair response," replied the beautiful lady, gaily, caressing more -tenderly the bishop's hand with her velvet-like fingers, while her -bright eyes beamed into his, and the night currents blew her perfumed -hair across his face; "pray ask him next, what is higher than heaven."</p> - -<p>"He who made it," replied the pilgrim, bowing low. Then the evil spirit -trembled, but again asked merrily:</p> - -<p>"What is the distance from heaven to the base of the bottomless pit?"</p> - -<p>"Ask that question of <i>thyself</i>, who hast measured the distance to the -full, which <i>I</i> never did—thou accursed spirit!" replied the pilgrim -furiously, beating thrice on the door with his staff, whereupon, with -a shrill shriek, the Devil vanished from the side of the terrified -bishop; but his conqueror remained for a time unmoved, and then quietly -disappeared, seeming to melt away before the eyes of those who saw him.</p> - -<p>Then Adrian fell upon his knees and returned thanks to heaven, and to -his patron, St. Andrew, for escaping this last and most subtle snare of -the evil one.</p> - -<p>But now he found that the morning was far advanced; that already the -combined armies of the Northern kings were meeting the hordes of -Athelstan in the shock of battle; and so the sainted bishop came forth -with a more than usually humble and contrite heart, and, attended by -his crossbearer and followers, ascended an eminence in view of the -field, and then he knelt down to pray for victory over the Saxons.</p> - -<p>There in the hollow, through which the Peffer flowed among groves of -oak towards the sea, the roar of battle rang—the tumultuous shouts -and yells of triumph or agony, as Scot and Pict, or the yellow-haired -Saxon, closed in mortal strife; the twanging of bows, the trampling of -horses, the clash of axes, swords, and maces swung on ringing bucklers; -or, as the ghisarma of the Saxon, the long tuagh of the Celt, clove -hauberk of rings, or helmet of steel; and amid the carnage, wherever -death and slaughter were deepest, rode the royal parricide, the -terrible Athelstan; "of earls the lord, of heroes the bracelet giver," -as the harpers who sang his praises styled him; but he was fated never -again to hear their adulous strains, or see his wooden halls of Jorvik, -or York as it is named now.</p> - -<p>Despite the valour of King Hungus and his auxiliaries, the Saxons, -among whom were many thousand southern Britons, forced to military -service and slavery, were gradually gaining the victory, and the Scots -and Picts were giving way, when lo!</p> - -<p>Across the eastern quarter of the blue firmament there suddenly came -a thunder cloud, the hues of which alternated between deep black and -brilliant purple, though its ragged borders gleamed with golden tints. -Lightning was seen to flash behind it, while hoarse thunder hurtled -athwart the noonday sky, and sank growling into the estuary of the -Forth, beyond the Isle of May.</p> - -<p>Then the cloud opened, and amid a blaze of such light as that which -dazzled Saul on his way to Damascus, there shone above the Scottish -host, with an effulgence that made their serried helmets outshine the -rays of the sun, the figure of St. Andrew the Apostle, on his cross, -the two trees tied like the letter X, to which he had been bound, when -scourged to death at Petræa, in Achaia.</p> - -<p>Then St. Adrian lifted up his eyes, and knew in him the pilgrim of the -blackweed; the same stranger who on the preceding night had saved him -from the snares of the evil one, and falling on his knees, he bowed his -silver hairs in the dust.</p> - -<p>When he looked again, cloud, figure, and cross had passed away; but -inspired by this miraculous omen of victory, the Scots and Picts rushed -with new vigour on the Saxons, who were soon defeated, and with -dreadful slaughter.</p> - -<p>Athelstan was unhorsed by King Hungus, who slew him on the north bank -of the Peffer, at a place named unto this day <i>Athelstansford</i>. The -Picts buried him on the field; but his head was borne upon a spear to -an islet of the Forth, where it was fixed for a time, and the place was -long named, from that circumstance, Ardchin-nichun, or "the head of the -highest."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>From that day St. Andrew became the patron of the Scots and Picts, who -put his cross upon their banners, and the badges of the former, the -<i>thistle</i>, and of the latter, the <i>rue</i>, were interwoven in the collar -of the Knights of the most Ancient Order of the Thistle, instituted in -honour of this victory; and in memory of the apostles their number is -restricted to the reigning sovereign and twelve companions.</p> - -<p>Upon the cathedral of St. Andrew, Hungus bestowed "a case of gold for -preserving the reliques of the saint, many chalices and basons, the -image of Christ in gold, and those of the apostles in silver," and -the bishop Adrian toiled more than ever in the service of God and -his patron, until the year 882, when some Danish rovers attacked his -hermitage on the Isle of May, and barbarously slew him with all his -followers.</p> - -<p>His coffin, of stone, is still lying there, and the fishermen of the -Forth aver that at times a wondrous light shines from it. He passed -away in the odour of sanctity, and Killach the Penitencer succeeded him -as second bishop of the see.</p> - -<p>Such is the legend of the cross of St. Andrew, and how it became the -cognizance of the Scottish nation.</p> - -<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Now Inchgarvie. Athelstan's grave was opened in 1832. His -coffin was composed of five large pieces of freestone, and his bones -measured six feet in length. The coffin was thirty inches in breadth, -but only four in depth. The farm of Miracle, corrupted into <i>markle</i>, -indicates where the vision is said to have appeared; and, with the -adjacent lands, it was assigned to the culdees of St. Andrew's in -gratitude for the victory.</p></div> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> - -<small>I LOVE YOU</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 34%;"> -I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire,<br /> -But qualify the fire's extreme rage,<br /> -Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.<br /> -</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>By the time when the garrulous old abbot had concluded his story the -night was far advanced. The lights in the sconces and the fire had -burned low, while the ladies looked pale and weary, and all who were -not in immediate attendance upon the earl and countess of Douglas, -prepared to seek their habitations in the city.</p> - -<p>As these were paying their several adieux, Sir Patrick Gray came close -to Murielle, and tenderly pressed her hand; but she gazed upon him with -a sad and foreboding expression.</p> - -<p>"Courage, Murielle, courage!" he whispered; "with strength and bravery -on my side, with equal love and goodness on yours, our mutual stedfast -faith and hope, we may yet overcome everything."</p> - -<p>"Even the prejudices of my sister?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, even the hatred, for such it is, of your sister,—the sombre pride -and wrath of that fierce boy her husband."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that it may be so!" she whispered, breathlessly; "but there are -times when I have strange fears."</p> - -<p>"Murielle, tide what may, remember that while life lasts I love you!"</p> - -<p>All they could desire to say was comprised in these three very little -words. Little they are, yet how much do they contain! The essence of -all the love speeches, love-letters, and sonnets that have been written -since the invention of letters,—since Cadmus brought his alphabet from -Phœnicia into Greece. When two lovers have said these words they can -only repeat them.</p> - -<p>"<i>I love you!</i>" They have nothing more to say. The countess, ever -watchful, had observed this brief conference, and though anger sparkled -in her deep, dark eyes, she veiled it under a bright smile, and, -closing her fan, gave her pretty hand to Gray, who bowed and kissed it, -though the petulant earl coldly turned from him, saying:—</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick, fare you well until to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"<i>Until to-morrow</i>," added the earl of Abercorn, with one of the -strange smiles which curled his thin white lips at times, as Gray and -MacLellan retired together, after gaining golden opinions in the ranks -of the enemy,—to wit, the ladies of the hostile faction.</p> - -<p>The young Captain of the Guard had the art of pleasing all—the ladies -especially; and at such a time, when family feuds, pride, and hatred, -were rampant passions, the art was one of no small value, though in -Scotland few cared to cultivate it, for chivalry was already on the -decline.</p> - -<p>In society such as that in which we introduce him to the reader, he -contrived to be, or appeared to be, friendly with those who were -most averse to each other in politics and ambition; yet he neither -condescended to flatter nor dissemble, but often was prudently silent, -where to differ would have brought swords from their scabbards; and he -assented with grace and pleasure wherever he could do so with honour.</p> - -<p>By this system, acquired amid the dark intrigues of a turbulent court, -rather than in the camp, Sir Patrick Gray was a general favourite, -especially of the young king, who was then, as before-mentioned, in his -eleventh year, and whose preceptor he became, in all military exercises -and the sports of the field. Gray had natural tact, a knowledge of -the then limited world, and the great art of occasionally conquering -himself.</p> - -<p>Murielle was the stake he played for, and he never lost sight of her.</p> - -<p>The moon had waned, and not a star was visible in the dark November -sky, as he and MacLellan proceeded through the gloomy city towards the -fortress.</p> - -<p>"A moonless night, but a fine one," said Gray, wrapping his velvet -cloak about him.</p> - -<p>"For shooting bats or owls," added MacLellan, as he stumbled over the -rough and unpaved street. "Ay, and a night to try men's mettle if there -be witches abroad."</p> - -<p>"Soho!" said Gray, gaily; "we have left the most perilous witches -behind us, with old Abbot John, of Tongland; but assuredly one is safer -in a gaberlunzie's canvas gaberdine than a velvet pourpoint to-night, -when so many Douglas troopers and Annandale thieves in Johnstone grey -are abroad; and the sky is so dark that the devil, were he here, could -not see his own tail behind him."</p> - -<p>Unmolested, however, they reached the castle, where the portcullis was -down and all the gates secured; and where the garrison, which was -almost entirely composed of the lord chancellor's vassals, kept watch -and ward as warily as if a foreign army, and not the Douglases, had -been in the sleeping city below.</p> - -<p>As they entered a man passed out: he was muffled in a cloak, with -an iron salade on his head—a species of helmet, which effectually -concealed the face, but had a horizontal slit for the eyes.</p> - -<p>Recognizing the voice of Gray, he rubbed his thin hands together, and -smiled maliciously; for this nocturnal rambler was James Achanna, who -had just been depositing the four coffins in the vault of David's -Tower, and who seemed still to see before him, as the unconscious lover -passed gaily into the fortress, a gilt plate inscribed: "<i>Murielle -Douglas, qui obit 23 Novembris, A.D. 1440</i>."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> - -<small>THE TWENTY-THIRD OF NOVEMBER.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Now like a maiden-queen she will behold</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">To her high turrets hourly suitors come;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The East with incense and the West with gold,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Shall stand like suppliants to receive her doom.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The silver <i>Forth</i> her own majestic flood</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Shall bear her vessels like a sweeping train;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And often wish, as of their mistress proud,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">With longing eyes to see her face again.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>In sunny beauty, the 23rd of November, 1440, dawned on the green hills, -the old grey city of the Stuarts, and on the distant sea; and, as the -morning advanced, a man, who by his pale and anxious face seemed to -have passed a sleepless night, walked slowly to and fro on the paved -bartizan of King David's Tower.</p> - -<p>He was Sir William Crichton of that ilk—the lord chancellor of -Scotland—no sinecure office, under James II.</p> - -<p>The first object on which his keen eyes rested, was the slated roof -of the abbot of Tongland's lofty mansion. There pretty Murielle was -doubtless still asleep, and dreaming perhaps of her lover.</p> - -<p>As the time drew slowly, but surely on—the time when Crichton's -terrible project, the destruction of the leading members of the house -of Douglas by a formal yet mock trial, after luring them from their -distant stronghold into a royal fortress—his soul, though it felt -neither remorse nor wavering, could not fail to be appalled, on a full -contemplation of what <i>might</i> be the sequel to the banquet of blood, -which he and the regent would that day hold in the great hall of the -king's principal castle. To him it seemed as if the live long night, -the wild shriek of</p> - -<p class="center">"The owle eke that dethe and bode bringeth," -</p> - -<p>(as old Chaucer has it) had rung about the castle rocks, filling the -minds of those who heard it with unpleasant forebodings—and of this -emotion Crichton was especially sensible.</p> - -<p>A civil war might rage around the throne, and by weakening the nation -would lay it open to the aggressive spirit and ambitious designs of the -English, who were ever wakeful to take advantage of their neighbour's -troubles. Crichton's own power, his old baronial family and numerous -kinsmen, might perish in the contest; but still the king's authority -and the dignity of the crown, which the overweening power of the earl -of Douglas, and the evil advice of his friends, endangered, would be -secured, and a final blow might be struck at the terrible Red Heart for -ever.</p> - -<p>As the chancellor thought of these things, his hands trembled under his -furred robe, and crystal-like beads of perspiration gathered on his -pale and prematurely-furrowed brow; but the grim preparations had been -made, even to the most minute particulars. Douglas, with his formidable -train, was already in the capital, and all parties had gone too far in -the desperate game to recede now; so Crichton prayed in his heart that -the great <i>end</i> he had in view might sanctify the awful measures he -was about to take; and, seating himself on a stone bench, he seemed to -sink into reverie—almost prayer—while, turning to the east, where the -sun, through alternate bars of saffron and dun yet shining clouds, was -ascending in all his morning glory from the sea.</p> - -<p>From time to time the pale chancellor glanced at a piece of green sward -called the Butts, where the archers and the king's guard were wont to -shoot, and which was inclosed by the cordon of towers and walls which -girt the summit of the castle rock.</p> - -<p>On that sward a tall lady, wearing a long robe, with tabard sleeves, -and a horned head-dress, which added to the effect of her great -stature, promenaded to and fro, with her missal and rosary, while -watching a little boy, who was clad in a bright-green velvet pourpoint, -laced with gold, and whose yellow hair glittered in the morning -sunshine, as he alternately tormented and played with a pretty goshawk, -which had silver bells at its head.</p> - -<p>Let us, for a time, suppose ourselves there.</p> - -<p>That tall lady is Isabelle Ogilvie, of Auchterhouse, wife of Patrick -Lord Glammis, master of the royal household, whose son, Alexander, has -married Crichton's youngest daughter, and her young charge is James -II., king of Scotland, who laughs with boyish glee as he tosses and -plumes his pet hawk, and, all unwitting of the dark thoughts which -agitate the soul of his faithful but scheming chancellor, trains it to -pounce upon and rend a lure—a toy like a stuffed bird—which, ever and -anon, he casts into the air with a shout of merriment.</p> - -<p>The morning draws on apace; bells ring in spire and tower, and the -little city below (for, though a capital, it was a <i>little</i> city then) -awakens into general life and bustle; but the chancellor still sits -there.</p> - -<p>Let us look, with him, over the rampart of this great tower, where his -eyes survey a scene so different from what is there to-day; and yet -Arthur's rocky cone, the hills of Fife, the fertile shores, the sandy -bays and green islets of the Forth, are all unchanged as when the first -Celtic settlers so truly named the great ridge that overlooks them -all, <i>Scealla-bruach Craig</i>, or "the rock of the beautiful view," now -corrupted into Salisbury Craigs.</p> - -<p>The month is November.</p> - -<p>The last leaves have fallen from the oak woods of Bristo, of Coates, of -Inverleith, and Drumsheugh; but the voice of the antlered stag, "the -wild buck bell," is borne at times on the passing wind that whirls the -red leaves along the grassy hollows.</p> - -<p>In the glen below the castle rock lie the royal gardens, where -tournaments are held, and where, in after ages, the railway train -shall send up its shriek to the ear of the sentinel five hundred feet -above. There comes no sound from it now, save the note of the plover, -or amorous coo of the cushat dove. On the long ridge, where a new city -shall spring in the eighteenth century, the farmers are finishing their -ploughing; the lowing cattle are in their yards; the sheep in their -pens, and the pigeons are clustering on the dovecots.</p> - -<p>Allhallow mass has been said and sung in the great cruciform church of -St. Giles the Abbot, and of St. Cuthbert in the pastoral glen below the -castle wall; and in every thatched grange and farmtown, apples have -been duly bobbed for and nuts cracked about the blazing ingle; and now -it is the vigil of St. Catharine.</p> - -<p>Turn with me still eastward; there, the same as ever, is the backbone -of old Edina, the High Street, covering the long ridge which terminates -at the three square Gothic spires of Holyrood Church—a broad line of -fair stone mansions, as yet undisguised by the quaint Flemish fronts -and timber galleries which came into fashion about the time of Flodden -Field. Southward descends the narrow Bow, and its tall dwellings, with -their dovecot gables and clusters of smoky chimney-stacks, many of -them bearing the iron cross of the Temple and St. John, its doorways -incrusted with legends, dates, and coats armorial of races past and -gone; its iron door-risps, with here and there a cloth tied round them, -to show that there was illness, or a woman "in travail" within.</p> - -<p>That grated and fortified edifice which occupies the centre of the main -street is the Prætorium of Edinburgh—a rallying point for the citizens -in time of war and tumult; and on its vaults shall arise the grim -Tolbooth of future ages.</p> - -<p>The bare-headed and bare-legged children that nestle on the steps -of the cross are stringing necklaces and rosaries of the red rowan -berries (that whilom grew in St. Giles's churchyard), to save them -from fairies and elves; and now they all rise in reverence to yonder -cowled friar, who hastens down to see the train of Douglas pass from -the abbot's house.</p> - -<p>That green slope on the south of the great church is the burial-ground -of St. Giles's:—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;">"There lie</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Those who in ancient days the kingdom ruled,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The councillors of favourites of kings;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">High lords, and courtly dames, and valiant chiefs,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Mingling their dust with those of lowest rank</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And basest deeds, and now unknown as they."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>There sleep the great, the good, the peaceful and the turbulent, the -faithful and the false, all bent together in their quaint old coffins -and flannel shrouds, with money in their dead hands, and crosses or -chalices on their breasts. Old citizens, who remembered the long-haired -King David, passing forth with barking hound and twanging horn, in that -Rood-day in harvest, which so nearly cost him his life; and how the -fair Queen Margaret daily fed the poor at the castle-gate, "with the -tenderness of a mother;" those who had seen Randolph's patriots scale -"the steep, the iron-belted rock,"—Count Guy of Namur's Flemish lances -routed on the Burgh-muir, and wight Wallace mustering his bearded -warriors at midnight by the Figgate-burn, ere he marched to storm -Dunbar.</p> - -<p>That white spot above the gate of the Portsburgh is the bleached -skull of Sir Robert Graham, who was the first to plunge his dagger in -the heart of James I. It has been there since 1436, when those awful -tortures took place before the Roman legate, and filled even him with -horror.</p> - -<p>The lofty old mansion on the south side of the long street down which -we look from the ramparts, is the residence of the princely abbot of -Cambus Kenneth; the gilt vanes in the distance are those of a similar -edifice where dwells John Fogo, abbot of Melrose, author of a work -against the heresy of Paul Crawer, who, in 1432, was sent hither from -Bohemia, by John Huss, to preach the gospel, undeterred by the flames -to which Fogo had consigned Resby, the Englishman, thirty-two years -before.</p> - -<p>In the centre of the street are wooden booths, where the country folks, -in their canvas gaberdines and hoods of hodden grey, or the burgesses -in their pourpoints of good Flemish cloth, may "cheapen" ale at -sixteenpence per gallon; otherwise, the brewster or tapster shall have -a hole punched in their measures at the market-cross, where now the -women of the adjacent villages and farms are arranging their baskets -of butter and poultry for sale; and see! there, at this moment, come -the town officers, with their halberts and helmets, and the common -headsman, in the provost's livery, with a cresset full of blazing -coals. Now a crowd gathers: the halberts flash as they are swayed to -and fro by the pressure of the people. Then a shriek rises!</p> - -<p>They are publicly branding on the cheek a poor woman, a leper, who -has rashly ventured within the burgh; though yesterday, by sound of -trumpet, at this same old market-cross, the people of the city, and the -villages called Leith and Broughton, were forbidden to attend the fairs -of Anster and St. Monance, under pain of pit and gallows, as the plague -called the <i>het-sickness</i>,—the same disease of which Archibald earl of -Douglas died at Restalrig,—rages in Fife.</p> - -<p>If the reader, in fancy, can realize all this, he will see the quaint -old Edinburgh of 1440 clustering on the steep ridge,—</p> - -<p class="center">"Piled deep and massy, close and high;" -</p> - -<p>the same city over which the haggard eyes of Crichton wandered, and -through which, preceded by trumpet and banner, the haughty young lord -of Douglas and Touraine was passing to his—doom!</p> - -<p>Edinburgh, a village then in size and opulence, was, nevertheless, a -capital city. <i>Now</i>, when in aspect and magnitude it is one of the most -magnificent in Europe, by a strange anomaly it is, in reality, when -its narrowness of spirit, in religion, politics, and patriotism are -considered, the most provincial village in her Majesty's dominions, -perhaps in the world.</p> - -<p>By the time the trumpets were heard, the sun was at its zenith, and -Crichton, with a shirt of mail under his velvet pourpoint, came forth -to meet the regent in the court-yard.</p> - -<p>Livingstone had assumed a similar steel shirt under his shortcoat, -which was of red damask, laced with silver, and over which he wore a -long flowing gown with open sleeves, revealing those of his ringed -defence, which, being a man of more open character than his compatriot, -he cared not to conceal, especially in these perilous times.</p> - -<p>These two statesmen met, sternly and gravely, without a smile or bow.</p> - -<p>"Is all prepared?" asked Livingstone of the chancellor, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"All," was the brief and emphatic reply.</p> - -<p>"Your men-at-arms?"</p> - -<p>"I have a hundred concealed in the tiring-room, which opens off the -great hall."</p> - -<p>"Only a hundred! Are you not most rash?"</p> - -<p>"But they are men whose forefathers for ages have eaten the bread of -mine."</p> - -<p>"You, then, deem them stedfast?"</p> - -<p>"Stedfast and true as Rippon steel; unyielding as flint. They are to -rush forth under Achanna, when the signal appears."</p> - -<p>"Achanna," said the regent with contempt; "always Achanna. I know not -how it is, but that man makes my blood to curdle."</p> - -<p>"He is a faithful——"</p> - -<p>"Villain," interrupted the regent, with irritation.</p> - -<p>"True—but such villains are useful," said the chancellor quietly.</p> - -<p>"And the signal is the black bull's head; but does not Achanna dine -with us?"</p> - -<p>"Dine!" reiterated the chancellor, with a flashing eye and a quivering -lip. "He will share the banquet at all events."</p> - -<p>"And the four bodies," said Livingstone, gnawing the ends of his grisly -moustache, and looking aside, "how mean you to dispose of them?"</p> - -<p>"Under that green turf, where even now the king is playing with his -goshawk, they will sleep as soundly as if below a ton of marble in -Melrose Abbey Kirk, among their lordly kin," replied the chancellor in -a low whisper, and with a ghastly smile; "but hark! I hear trumpets in -the streets; and here comes Gray, the Captain of the Guard."</p> - -<p>Accoutred as we saw him yesterday, in his plumed bassinet, with its -camaile and chaplet, and his rich mail with its hanging sleeves of -scarlet and yellow silk, Sir Patrick Gray, happily ignorant of the -dire preparations of the two statesmen, and the mine they were about -to spring, made a low bow to each, with some passing remark on the -auspicious beauty of the day—for the weather was as common a topic in -the time of James II. as in that of his descendant, Queen Victoria.</p> - -<p>"A cloud is coming anon, that may darken its close," said the regent, -thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>The Captain of the Guard looked upward, but the sky was cloudless, then -his eye swept the horizon in vain.</p> - -<p>"Yea, Sir Patrick," added the chancellor, who is reported to have used -the same figurative language, "have you never observed that there are -periods—times of our existence, when past, present, and future hopes -seem to culminate in one?"</p> - -<p>"Under favour, my lord, I do not comprehend," replied the puzzled -soldier, as he played with the buckle of his belt, and thought of -Murielle Douglas.</p> - -<p>"Yes—when we seem to hold them all—the past, the present, and more -especially <i>the future</i>, in our grasp, and yet may throw them all away. -Now dost comprehend?"</p> - -<p>"Do you mean in affairs of love, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"Love!" reiterated the chancellor, scornfully, "nay, I think but of -<i>death</i>," he added in a voice so stern and hollow that the soldier -started, "but ere long you may, nay you <i>shall</i> know all I mean. Till -then, God be wi' you—adieu."</p> - -<p>And with his hands behind his back, and his eyes bent thoughtfully on -the ground, Crichton slowly followed the regent into David's Tower, -while the Captain of the Guard, bewildered by their strange remarks, -hurried to join his hundred pikemen, who were drawn up in two ranks at -the gateway which opened under the Constable's tower.</p> - -<p>Sir John Romanno of that ilk, who commanded the fortress, had now all -the king's garrison at their posts, with bills and crossbows, and the -cannoneers by their guns, with lintstocks lighted.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> - -<small>FOREBODINGS</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">She was mounted on a milk-white steed,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And he on a dapple grey;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And a bugle-horn hung by his side,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">When he lightly rode away.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Lord William looked over his right shoulder,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">To see what he could see;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And lo her seven bauld brethren</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Came riding owre the lee.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><span class="smcap">The Douglas Tragedie.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>"How often is a straw, wafted by the wind, the turning point in our -destiny!" says an author; "a stone cast into the water causes a ripple -on the most distant shore; so the most trivial event of our lives, -after a thousand ramifications, leads on to some great climax."</p> - -<p>When the train of Douglas mounted in the court-yard of the abbot's -house, Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld came hastily from his -chamber, clad in complete mail, with his helmet open; thus it revealed -the pallor of his face, with the sombre gloom of his dark grey eyes, -whose restless and wandering expression bore evidence of a sleepless -night.</p> - -<p>"How now, Cumbernauld," said the earl of Abercorn, "is this thy -dinner-dress—art going to dine with all this old iron about thee?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—when I dine with enemies."</p> - -<p>"Soho, man—go to! we have no enemies," said the sneering noble; "we -are all friends now, and must drink to-night to the extinction of all -feuds."</p> - -<p>"Do the countess and Lady Murielle go to this banquet?" asked the old -knight, with a voice rendered husky by sorrow and surprise, as Margaret -and the ladies of her train came forth with all their gorgeous dresses -glittering in the sunshine.</p> - -<p>"Of a surety they do. James Achanna bore them each a special message -from the Lord Regent in the young King's name; but what in the name of -old Mahoun ails thee, Sir Malcolm Fleming—art ill?"</p> - -<p>"Ill indeed at heart, lord earl."</p> - -<p>"And wherefore?" asked Earl James, angrily.</p> - -<p>"Come this way apart," replied the other, drawing Abercorn aside from -the throng, while his voice and expression became more sad, his lips -more pale, and his manner more excited. "Listen. Last night I was -in my chamber disrobing for bed; my mind was full of the doubts and -misgivings that have oppressed me since we left the walls and shelter -of Thrave; and just as Silver Mary—that great bell which hangs in the -tower of St. Giles—tolled the last stroke of the hour of twelve, I -heard a deep sigh near me."</p> - -<p>"A sigh!" repeated the earl, becoming interested in spite of himself; -"was it not the wind in an arrow-hole?"</p> - -<p>"A sigh, loud almost as a sob! I turned—there was no one near me; -but the old and gloomy arras which covered the walls was violently -agitated and shaken, so that the brown moths flew out of it. The sigh -was repeated; and though I know myself to be brave as most men, I -felt—yet knew not why—the life-blood curdling in my heart, and, as -the Scripture hath it, the hair of my flesh stood up. Then an emotion -which I could not resist, like the strong power we obey in a dream, led -me on. I raised the old mouldy arras—and then—then—oh what a sight -saw I there!"</p> - -<p>"What?" asked the earl, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>The perspiration rolled in bead-like drops from the pale forehead of -the old baron upon his white beard and polished cuirass, as he replied -in a solemn and husky whisper, "As I live by bread which the blessed -God yields, and hope to die in the faith of our fathers, I beheld a -decapitated corpse, the head of which rolled past me, with winking -eyes, with chattering teeth, and with features livid and convulsed, as -when the headsman's axe has just severed the neck! I knew those ghastly -features—knew that curly hair—I knew that comely form——"</p> - -<p>"And," said Abercorn, growing very pale in spite of himself; "and this -head was——"</p> - -<p>"Your kinsman's—the earl of Douglas!"</p> - -<p>"Pho!" replied Abercorn, seeming suddenly to experience great relief; -"by St. Bryde, I thought you were about to say 'twas <i>mine</i>. Did this -grim vision speak to you!"</p> - -<p>"No—but straightway vanished—melted away, and I was left in the -chamber to solitude, to fears and prayers, but not to sleep."</p> - -<p>"'Tis well you did not see any <i>more</i> heads roll past in this odd -fashion," said Abercorn, jibingly.</p> - -<p>"Lord James of Abercorn," said Fleming, solemnly, "I was long your -father's comrade and most trusted friend. For forty long but stirring -years there came no jar between us, though ever engaged in war and -tumult. Together we were wounded and taken prisoners at Homildon; -together we defended this castle of Edinburgh against Henry IV. of -England, and repulsed him; together we fought in France, and fell -wounded side by side at Verneuil—but he, alas! mortally, when -attempting to save <i>me</i>, and now he sleeps the sleep of death in -St. Gratians of Tournay—for there I closed his eyes, and laid his -well-notched sword beside him——"</p> - -<p>"All this, and much more, have I heard a hundred times, by the winter -fire, at Douglas, at Thrave, and in your own hospitable house of -Cumbernauld," said Abercorn haughtily and impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Then hear it once again, to fire your lagging zeal, mistaken man!" -said Sir Malcolm, with growing excitement in his tone and suspicion -in his heart; "hear it once again, to bear witness of my faith, when -I feel assured that this day no banquet, no wassail, no honour or -hospitality, but death and life are in the balance!"</p> - -<p>"What a-God's name seek you?" asked James of Abercorn, through his -clenched teeth; for this animated and protracted discussion had drawn -about them the abbot, their host; the earl of Douglas; little Lord -David, his brother; even the Countess, Murielle, and other ladies, who -threw up their veils, and listened with surprise. Sir Malcolm resumed:—</p> - -<p>"Ay, ay, young lord; since first I learned to make the sign of the -cross at my auld mother's knee in the hall of Cumbernauld, among the -wilds of Dunbarton, true have I been, Abercorn, to Douglas and his -race; so listen to me, if you can, without that cold sneer in your eye, -on your lip, and in your heart! Trust not Crichton, and trust not -Livingstone, or dool and woe will come on thee and thine! Oh, if you -have one drop of warm blood in your heart, join with me in urging your -kinsman and chief to share my doubts of these men."</p> - -<p>"What in the name of Mahoun am I to say?" exclaimed Abercorn, whose -eyes glared with anger, while he tugged his black beard in his vexation.</p> - -<p>"Beware ye all!" resumed the earnest old laird of Cumbernauld! "I -know what a city and a court are, with their rakes and high-born -harlots; their carpet-knights and fawning cut-throats; their bullies -and swashbucklers—with servile bows and smiling faces—their black, -bitter, false, and cowardly hearts! So here, at the eleventh hour, -as it were, I, Sir Malcolm Fleming, of Biggar and Cumbernauld, the -soothfast friend of Douglas, say unto ye all, go not this day to the -castle of Edinburgh."</p> - -<p>Lord Abercorn listened to all this with rage in his eye, a sneer on his -lip, and perplexity on his brow; and these mingling emotions deepened -when the usually haughty countess requested the old knight to rehearse -the story of the midnight vision. It certainly had a serious impression -upon all, for the age was full of superstition, of omens, spectres, and -supernatural terrors, when the bravest men would occasionally tremble -at their own shadows. Thus for a few minutes even the young earl of -Douglas seemed silent and oppressed, while Murielle burst into tears, -and drew down her veil.</p> - -<p>"It is as great a pity to see a woman weep as a goose go barefoot," -said Abercorn, furiously and coarsely, using an old proverb: "by our -Lady of Whitekirk! I think you are all demented. Lord abbot, talk to -this old ghostseer, and assure him there can be no such thing in nature -as the spectre of a living man."</p> - -<p>"But there are wraiths," said Sir Alan Lauder; "and who can deny their -existence, when Scotland is filled with tales of them."</p> - -<p>"Lord abbot," resumed Abercorn, more irritated than ever, "speak and -say, I charge you, that no such things can be."</p> - -<p>"I can assure him of no such fallacy," replied the pedantic abbot, with -displeasure, as he adjusted his long-flapped calotte cap over his thin, -white, silvery hair. "History, ancient and modern, teems with tales -of terrible appearances. Does not Pliny the younger, in his letters, -affirm, as an incontrovertible fact, that Athenodorus the philosopher, -the disciple of Zeno and keeper of the royal library at Pergamus, once -saw a dreadful spectre?"</p> - -<p>"When—how?" asked the countess, impressed by the strange names which -the abbot used so glibly.</p> - -<p>"Pliny relates that Athenodorus purchased an old house in Athens, -which many had refused to occupy, because it was haunted by an unquiet -spirit. So Athenodorus waited courageously to see it."</p> - -<p>"What—the house?" asked Abercorn.</p> - -<p>"No—the spectre. Dragging a massy chain, it came at length in a -shapeless and dreadful form, and commanded him to follow it. The -philosopher, who, though trembling in his soul, affected to be busy at -that moment, said 'Wait a little;' but the spirit rattled its rusty -chain furiously, so Athenodorus arose and followed it to the marble -court near which his villa stood, and, on reaching a certain spot, -the apparition vanished. Athenodorus, saith Pliny, marked the place -that he might know it again. On the following day he assembled the -magistrates of Athens, and on digging up the soil the bones of a man -with a rusty chain were found. They were publicly interred elsewhere, -and from that hour his mansion was disturbed no more. Shall we question -that which such men as Plutarch and Pliny have asserted to have been? -Like the foul heretic Paul Crawar of Bohemia, dare you impugn that -which you cannot comprehend and which you know not? Can you deny or -doubt the existence of a spirit, when you cannot prove your <i>own</i>? -In all past times, in all lands, among every kind of people, however -highly civilized or however lowly savage, apparitions have been seen as -warnings for good or for evil; and such will be permitted until that -fell spirit whose hapless state I shall one day lay before our Holy -Father be forgiven, and fear and hate and war shall be no more."</p> - -<p>Enraged by this pedantic rebuke, the earl of Abercorn twisted his -moustache, and spurred and checked his horse till it almost sprang into -the air.</p> - -<p>"Then what do you advise, my lord abbot?" asked the countess, in -evident perplexity.</p> - -<p>"That my lord your husband should hearken unto the advice of his -counsellors, whom his father never slighted, but ever held with -reverence."</p> - -<p>"I thank you, lord abbot," said Fleming, pressing the abbot's hand. -"Let the earl at least leave behind him the two ladies of his house, -his brother Lord David, Earl James of Abercorn, and Hugh of Ormond."</p> - -<p>"To what end?" asked the earl of Ormond.</p> - -<p>"To gratify the prayer and anxious heart of an old friend, and that the -house of Douglas may not be in an evil hour laid open to the stroke -of fortune,—your father's last injunction when he lay dying at -Restalrig," added Fleming to the young earl.</p> - -<p>His marked energy and anxiety, together with the entreaties of Sir -Alan Lauder and those of the Douglases of Pompherston, Strabrock, and -Glendoning, made the chief pause and waver in his purpose. He said,—</p> - -<p>"Shall I return now after having ridden to his very gates, as it were? -Impossible! And the young king—what will he, what will the people say? -and then the chancellor's letter flattered so suavely."</p> - -<p>"The greater reason to distrust him," muttered the bearded knights to -each other under their lifted helmets.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore, why?" said Abercorn, burning with a rage which he could -no longer dissemble, as a long-projected and carefully-developed plot -seemed on the point of dissolving into air.</p> - -<p>"Take counsel of your own brave heart, and good, my lord, run not your -chief and his brother too into the lion's den. Crichton flatters to -deceive!" replied Sir Malcolm Fleming.</p> - -<p>"It may be wise, when so many seem to think so, that you should -remember the last words of your father at Restalrig," said Murielle, -softly touching the hand of Douglas.</p> - -<p>"True, sweet cousin. My brother David——"</p> - -<p>"Will go wheresoever you go," replied the brave boy, with a hand on his -jewelled dagger; "neither imaginary nor real danger shall cow me."</p> - -<p>"And I too shall go," added the earl of Ormond; "but as policy seems -necessary here, let our kinsman, James of Abercorn, remain behind with -the countess and Lady Murielle. Then, come what may, we leave a man -able and willing to avenge us."</p> - -<p>"Ormond speaks well and wisely," said the abbot, while a close observer -might have seen the gleam of joy which passed over Abercorn's white, -malignant face, on hearing a proposal so exactly to his secret wishes.</p> - -<p>"So be it, then; I am weary of this loitering; let us begone, or the -chancellor's good cheer will be chilled by the November air," said -Douglas.</p> - -<p>"'Tis well to jest," began Abercorn——</p> - -<p>"But if Crichton wrongs me, woe to him!" cried the fiery young earl, -shaking his clenched hand aloft; "he dare not—<i>he dare not!</i> If he -doth, by my father's grave in Melrose kirk I shall level his castle of -Crichton to its ground-stone!"</p> - -<p>"William Douglas," said the countess, who had been conferring for a -moment with Abercorn, "you speak as your father would have spoken; yet -act warily, as he would have acted. We know not what may be the issue -of a day which has commenced so ominously, and, if swords are drawn, -women would but encumber you. Murielle, Lady Ormond, and I will tarry -here until the banquet is over. Make fitting excuses to the regent and -chancellor—say we are indisposed by our long journey, or what you -will; and now let it be known, gentlemen, kinsmen, and friends, that -in this matter I yield neither to the advice of my loving lord and -husband, who is ever rash; nor to the advice of Sir Malcolm Fleming, -who is so wary; nor to that of our lord abbot, who is ever good and -true; but to the wish of Earl James of Abercorn."</p> - -<p>Whether these words were spoken heedlessly as a sneer at the ready -manner in which that noble agreed to remain behind, or in mere -politeness, none could then divine; but there came a <i>time</i> when they -were remembered by many to the disadvantage of the proud and wilful -young beauty.</p> - -<p>At that moment a man in armour with a closed helmet rode hurriedly -through the archway. He was James Achanna.</p> - -<p>"Lord earl," said he, "the chancellor awaits you without the castle -gate."</p> - -<p>"Enough, then—let us go; we should have been ringing glasses and -exchanging kissing-comfits with our <i>beloved</i> friend the chancellor an -hour since," said Douglas, lifting his plumed bonnet as he courteously -kissed the hands of his wife and her sister.</p> - -<p>He then put spurs to his horse and rode off, accompanied by his brother -David, Sir Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, the abbot, and five -hundred men led by the earl of Ormond—all completely armed and horsed.</p> - -<p>As the clatter of their hoofs died away, a foreboding sigh came from -Margaret's breast; but there was a cold though courteous smile on the -lips of Lord Abercorn, as he gave her his ungloved hand and led her, -with Murielle, back into the almost deserted house of the abbot.</p> - -<p>Why was it that Margaret's heart upbraided her? She seemed still to -see before her the face of that proud and handsome, noble-hearted -and high-spirited cousin with whom she had shared her heart and the -revenues of her princely house!...</p> - -<p>Why was it that, as the day passed slowly on and the November sun sank -in masses of foggy cloud, the earl of Abercorn, pale, excited, and -abstracted, shunned his friends and paced to and fro in the abbot's -garden, casting his eyes ever and anon to the summit of the fortress, -which was visible above the adjacent streets?</p> - -<p>He started! a distant hum became a confused clamour of many voices; -then the galloping of horses and a rush of feet were heard.</p> - -<p>He looked again to David tower, and from its rampart the national cross -had disappeared. A <i>black</i> banner was floating there, and only half -hoisted on the staff,—a double symbol of death!</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XI<br /> - -<small>THE VIGIL OF ST. CATHARINE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The nobles of our land were much delighted then,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">To have at their command a crew of lusty men;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Who by their coats were known of tawny, red, or blue,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">With crests their sleeves upon, when this old cap was new.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">The Roxburgh Ballads.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>At the outer gate of the fortress of Edinburgh (a barrier which then -crossed the narrow street of the Castle-hill) the lord chancellor was -on horseback, attended by a brilliant retinue of men-at-arms, with many -lacqueys and liverymen on foot, wearing cloth hoods of the same fashion -then worn in England, buttoned under the chin, and having deep capes, -with scolloped edges, falling over the shoulders. These hoods were -usually of scarlet cloth, and were worn with a cock's feather, placed -jauntily on the left side as indicative of some pretension to gentility.</p> - -<p>The gaberdines of these liverymen were of blue Flemish cloth, and all -had embroidered on their breasts, on escutcheon, <i>argent</i>, charged with -a lion rampant <i>azure</i>, the arms of Crichton, with his motto "God send -grace;" and all were accoutred with swords, daggers, and partisans.</p> - -<p>On foot beside the chancellor were his pages; one bore his sword, the -other held his horse's bridle, a third his cap of maintenance upon a -velvet cushion.</p> - -<p>A little way within the barrier were Sir Walter Halyburton, lord of -Dirltoun, who was then high treasurer; John Methven, the secretary -of state; Sir James Crichton of Frendraught, great chamberlain and -third officer of the crown; with Patrick Lord Glammis, master of the -household. All these, like their immediate followers, were well armed; -but that circumstance excited no notice, as it was always the custom -to be so in Scotland; and a gay group they formed, as the noonday sun -streamed through the old archway, whose front was blackened by smoke -and time, upon their tabard-like jupons and hanging sleeves, the -heraldic devices on their breasts, their glittering bassinets, waving -feathers, rich sword-hilts, jewelled daggers, and gold neck-chains.</p> - -<p>Beyond these were the hundred pikemen of the king's guard, under Sir -Patrick Gray and Sir Thomas MacLellan; and high over all this array -towered the castle rock, crowned by its old <i>enceinte</i>, or wall of -defence, and its bastel-houses, in the <i>three</i> greatest of which, to -wit, the Royal Lodging, King David's Tower, and that of the constable, -originated the heraldic triple-towered fortress which, from time -immemorial, has formed the arms of the city.</p> - -<p>As Douglas and his train approached, bombarde, moyenne, and culverin -thundered from the ramparts; loud and shrilly twanged the trumpets and -horns, and the great crowd assembled in the narrow street made an -immediate and simultaneous movement towards the guarded archway.</p> - -<p>When the earl's train came near, the quick eyes of the chancellor, as -readily as those of our lover, detected the absence of the countess and -Murielle. Gray could scarcely repress his anxiety and natural surprise -at a circumstance so unexpected; but the chancellor bit his nether lip -with vexation, for Margaret, as heiress of Galloway, was the second -head of that mighty house which he had sworn to humble for ever. Then -a strange smile flitted over his usually impassible face when next he -missed the sardonic visage and stealthy eyes of James Douglas, earl of -Abercorn.</p> - -<p>"Traitor lordling," he muttered, "thou too, in time, shalt dree thy -destiny!"</p> - -<p>At the distance of thirty paces from the gate the earl of Douglas -alighted from his horse, and relinquishing the bridle to a page, -advanced bonnet in hand towards the chancellor, who also dismounted, -and approached in the same manner, while all present who were not -men-at-arms also quitted their saddles, or as the abbot of Tongland -says in his MSS. "<i>lichted down</i>."</p> - -<p>They greeted each other with a cold formality, over which Crichton, the -elder by many years, and the more politic, endeavoured to spread the -shallow veil of friendly warmth and courtly dissimulation.</p> - -<p>"Welcome, lord earl, most welcome; or shall I say, duke of Touraine?"</p> - -<p>"I am prouder of my father's name of Douglas than of any foreign duchy, -Sir William," replied the haughty boy as he presented his hand with -cold politeness. "Here I am but a Scottish earl."</p> - -<p>The chancellor bowed, and stifled his indignation, for in this -reply three things offended him; the earl's avowal of family pride, -addressing him plainly as Sir William instead of lord chancellor, and -then presenting his hand <i>gloved</i>—a token of mistrust.</p> - -<p>"And this young gentleman," began the chancellor,—</p> - -<p>"Is my brother Lord David Douglas," said the earl.</p> - -<p>"Most welcome too; but the countess, once the Fair Maid of Galloway," -said Crichton, with a bland smile; "will she not grace our young king's -board to-day?"</p> - -<p>"The king's grace, and you, Sir William Crichton, must hold the -countess, her sister, and likewise the Lady Ormond, excused to-day; the -ways are rough and the journey long from Thrave to Edinburgh."</p> - -<p>"True; but the measure of—of my happiness (he had almost said -<i>vengeance</i>) will be incomplete without them."</p> - -<p>"There are Douglases enough here to supply their places," said the -earl, glancing at his mail-clad followers with a significant smile; and -Crichton said,—</p> - -<p>"Enter, lord earl, the king's grace and the regent await you in the -great hall."</p> - -<p>After each declining to precede the other, the wily chancellor, while -making a sign previously agreed upon and understood by James Achanna -and Romanno of that ilk, constable of the garrison, gave a hand to each -of the brothers, and led them within the gate.</p> - -<p>There was an immediate rush among their rough and tumultuary followers -to press in after them, but the king's guard and the chancellor's -vassals, with levelled pikes, bore back alike the excited multitude of -citizens and the wild Scots of Galloway, bare-kneed and bare-armed, -with their habergeons of jangling iron rings, and the strong -barrier-gate was closed with haste and difficulty. Lord Ormond, Sir -Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and a few others, in virtue of their -rank, being alone permitted to enter.</p> - -<p>This <i>coup</i> was the more easily effected, as at the moment of the -earl's entrance Douglas of Pompherston, his purse-bearer, cried -"largesse! largesse!" and to add to the incidental popularity of his -lord, scattered several handfuls of silver coin among the people, who -scrambled in pursuit of them, and rolled over each other in heaps, -while the reckless young earl and his brother laughed and threw more, -to increase the uproar and merriment.</p> - -<p>Then the portcullis, a massive iron grille, was lowered slowly down in -its stony grooves, and when its iron spikes reached the causeway, James -Achanna, the double tool of Abercorn and the chancellor, exchanged with -the latter one of those deep and rapid smiles by which courtly villains -can read each other's hearts and convey a volume of subtle thoughts.</p> - -<p>Unheeding, or unobservant of all these circumstances, the earl and -his brother accompanied the chancellor into the fortress, and as -they slowly proceeded up the steep steps and winding path, which led -in a north-westerly direction, to the summit of the rock, Crichton -expatiated on the joy this meeting occasioned him, as being the -precursor of domestic peace, of good will and unity, between his master -the king and the great house of Douglas; but while speaking he could -perceive the haughty young peer exchanging secret smiles with his -brother; so, nothing daunted, the chancellor continued to flatter, and -secretly smiled in his turn.</p> - -<p>"Great as the house of Douglas has been——"</p> - -<p>"<i>Is</i>, my lord," interrupted the earl, haughtily.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me," stammered Crichton, reddening with anger to find himself -thus addressed by a boy; "I was about to say, that in ages past, its -chief glory was ever in its obedience to the crown, from whence its -greatness and its honours sprung."</p> - -<p>"Well?" observed the boy-noble impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Enemies have accused you of treason——"</p> - -<p>"Yourself, for instance, Sir William."</p> - -<p>"True—as first officer of the crown," continued the chancellor, with -a severity that increased with the bitterness that grew in his heart, -"I have blamed you deeply and frequently; but this day will free you of -all those suspicions which that unwise embassy to France occasioned."</p> - -<p>"Sir William Crichton!"</p> - -<p>"I am a man four times your age, lord earl," interrupted the -chancellor, speaking very fast to avoid explicit or excited answers, -"so pray excuse my grey hairs if they permit me to assume a monitory -tone and venture to yield advice. I would but pray you to execute -justice on your vast estates of Galloway, Annandale, and Balvenie with -impartiality and gentleness; and not to protect from the just vengeance -of the king, our lord and master, those lawless barons who levy feudal -war and destroy each other's towers, villages, and territories, and -by so doing impoverish the realm and oppress the people. Disobedience -to the king has been the ruin of the most ancient and noble families; -thus, I would pray you, my lord, to content yourself with the splendour -attained by your house, and the glorious name it has borne for ages in -peace and in war, nor seek to raise it above that throne in defence of -which so many of the Douglas name have died in battle. <i>Ave Maria!</i> -If you would surpass your king in anything, let it be in religion, -in bounty and charity to your countrymen; surpass him thus, and I, -whom you have long deemed your enemy, will pray with my latest breath -for the glory and prosperity of the lordly line of Douglas, and that -Scotland may long have cause to remember with joy the vigil of St. -Catherine."</p> - -<p>To all these remarks, which so well became the station and superior -years of the chancellor, the petulant young earl disdained to reply, -save by a cold and disdainful smile or so forth; and as Crichton -concluded, they found themselves in the banquet-hall of the castle, and -in presence of the king and the regent of Scotland.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> - -<small>THE BLACK BULL'S HEAD.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Edinburgh castle, town, and tower,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">God grant ye sinke for sin;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And yat even for ye black dinour</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Erle Douglas gat therein.—<span class="smcap">Old Rhyme.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The hall in which this banquet was given, was the upper chamber of -David's Tower.</p> - -<p>Our novel of "Jane Seaton" contains a description of this gigantic -edifice, which was the chief of the bastel-houses which crowned</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;">"The height</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Where the huge castle holds its state;"</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>but the MSS. of the abbot of Tongland throw some additional light upon -its history.</p> - -<p>This tower rose to the height of more than seventy feet above the -summit of the steep rock. It contained a great hall and many lesser -chambers, and was founded by David II., about 1360, upon the basement -of a still older tower, perhaps the same edifice which vulgar tradition -ascribes to the painted Picts, who are alleged to have conveyed from -hand to hand the stones from the sandy quarry of Craig-mohl-ard (or the -rock of the plain),<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and at the gate of which the first David—the -Scottish Justinian—was wont to sit, as his biographer, St. Ælred, -tells us, dispensing justice, and hearing the complaints of the poor, -even as St. Louis of France sat under an oak in the wood of Vincennes.</p> - -<p>All the masons who built this tower died in the year it was completed; -as if, says the abbot of Tongland, fate ordained that the secrets of -its stairs and construction should die with them; and within it hung a -bell, which, when a king of Scotland died, tolled of its own accord, -like that great bell of Arragon, which always announced when "fate was -nigh" the line of Ramiro.</p> - -<p>In this old tower dwelt a brownie, who was believed to come at night -to sleep near the embers of the hall fire, after plaiting the frills, -pinners, and ruffs of the queen and her ladies. Some alleged that the -cannon of the siege in 1573 put this useful household spirit to flight; -others, that he was baptized by the priest of St. Cuthbert's Kirk, -who concealed himself in the dusk within the hall ingle, where, when -the brownie, in the form of a lean and withered little man, wearing a -short yellow cloak, and red hosen (the royal livery), came at midnight -to resume his nocturnal avocations, a handful of holy water was dashed -in his face by the priest, who cried with a loud voice,—"In nomine -Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti! Amen."</p> - -<p>On this, the brownie wept bitterly, and vanished, to return no more.</p> - -<p>The hall was hung with banners and trophies. The noonday light of the -November sun, varied by many a passing cloud, poured through its arched -windows upon the long table, which was spread with all the plenty and -massive magnificence of the olden time; upon the rows of high-backed -chairs for the guests; upon the throne for the young king, with its -steps and purple velvet canopy; on the rich liveries of the trumpeters -who were to announce the feast; and on the steel armour of the guards, -who stood near the royal seat in honour of the guests; on each and all -fell the slant rays of the sun lighting up many a glittering ornament, -for the walls of the hall were entirely covered by yellow Spanish -leather, stamped by alternate thistles and <i>fleurs-de-lis</i> in gold, -while in the great fireplace there burned a fire of coals, mingled with -pleasantly <i>perfumed</i> wood; a curious luxury not uncommon then.</p> - -<p>The royal cupbearer, and six soldiers of the guard armed with -partisans, were posted near a recess, or ambre, under the carved stone -canopy of which glittered the king's service of plate. Amid it was a -long slender flask of potters' ware, beautifully fashioned by the fair -hands of Jacqueline, countess of Hainault and Flanders, the boldest and -loveliest woman of her time, who, after abdicating in 1433, during her -seclusion in the castle of Teylingen, near Leyden, employed the weary -hours in making flasks of clay, and one of these she sent to the royal -minstrel, James I. of Scotland, in care of the Dyck Graf of Bommel.</p> - -<p>Now the brass trumpets sent their sharp ringing notes along the vaulted -roof; spurs of gold and steel jangled on the tiled floor, while, -preceded by all the combined pomp and mummery of ancient royalty, James -II., a fair-haired and handsome boy, clad in a glittering doublet, -fashioned like a herald's tabard, having the lion <i>gules</i> within the -double tressure on the back, breast, and sleeves thereof, was led to -the throne by the tall and sombre regent, while the crafty Crichton -placed the young earl of Douglas on his right-hand. Again the trumpets -sounded, and the guests, in succession, were marshalled to their places -by Glammis, the master of the household, who executed this delicate -matter—for delicate it was in that age of fierce punctilio—with -scrupulous exactness, as to rank and precedence.</p> - -<p>The boy-earl, with his dark eyes, his swarthy face and black curly -hair, his bold bearing and defiant expression, formed so marked a -contrast to the boy-king, who was fair-skinned, with fair hair and -gentle eyes, that many present remarked the difference of their aspect -and character.</p> - -<p>On the young king's left cheek there was a small red spot, or -fleshmark, which caused the people to name him in after years, "James -with the Fiery Face."</p> - -<p>"Why tarries the countess?" asked Gray, in a hasty whisper, of Lord -David Douglas.</p> - -<p>"She is not to be here," said the lad, smiling.</p> - -<p>"Nor the Countess of Ormond?"</p> - -<p>"No; nor Murielle, either," added David, playing with the gold tassels -of his mantle.</p> - -<p>"Why?"</p> - -<p>"I am not in her secrets."</p> - -<p>"But Lady Murielle——"</p> - -<p>"Came not, because there were none here whom she <i>cared</i> to meet," said -the spiteful little lord, with a grimace.</p> - -<p>The abbot of Tongland invoked a blessing; and after they had all -discussed platters of good Scottish broth, which they supped with -massive old spoons, that might have served at the spousal feast of -King Robert and Marjorie Bruce, and very probably did so, the clatter -of knives began, as the servers, pages, and pantrymen sliced down -the chines of beef, the roasted pigs and brawns, or unroofed the -huge pasties of pigeons and venison, and rushed here and there with -trenchers of stewed hares, roasted ducks, buttered crabs, salads and -salmon, manchets of flour, and confections of honey and sweetmeats, all -of which were eaten pellmell, without order or course.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the wines of France and Spain flowed freely, and brown ale -frothed up in tankards and flagons, in which the long moustaches of -the guests floated, as they quaffed to each other's health, and a -long continuance of this sudden good fellowship, at which, in many -instances, by their eyes and whispers, they seemed to scoff in secret.</p> - -<p>Then a band of bearded minstrels and musicians, with harp and pipe, -tabor, flute, and trumpet, in the gallery, played "Pastance with Gude -Companie," and other old airs, which have been long since forgotten; -or, if extant, are now known under new names.</p> - -<p>Amid all this the pale chancellor, and the grave, but soldier-like -regent, were abstracted and nervous; and the emotion of the former -increased as the banquet proceeded, and the <i>fatal moment</i> drew near: -yet, animated by a sentiment of duty to be performed to their king and -country, no thought of pity or remorse found admission in the bosoms of -either.</p> - -<p>The young king and his young noble spoke of dogs, of hawks, of horses; -and archery; of hunting and tilting; but the earl seemed to disdain -the puerile conversation of the yet-secluded sovereign, treating him -coldly, and with an air of lofty patronage, amusing enough in one of -his junior years, but sufficiently apparent to all.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray felt that on this day the kinsmen of Murielle Douglas -treated him more coldly than ever, as they deemed themselves in the -zenith of their power and fantastic pride, lording it alike over the -king and all his court.</p> - -<p>"You see there my Captain of the Guard?" he heard the king say, with a -kind smile, to the earl, who knit his brows, and contemptuously asked:—</p> - -<p>"<i>Who</i> is he?"</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray," replied the little monarch, whose eyes dilated with -surprise.</p> - -<p>"Of what—or where?"</p> - -<p>"Of Foulis."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!"</p> - -<p>"A brave and noble gentleman," said James II., with an enthusiasm that -made the poor soldier's heart expand with the purest joy; "lord earl, -do you not know him?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Douglas, frigidly; "but what of him?"</p> - -<p>"He gave me a goshawk as a gift last New Year's-day, and I have killed -with it every corbie in the woods of Bristo."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!"</p> - -<p>"And then at Lady-day he gave me two such noble hounds of St. Hubert's -breed!"</p> - -<p>"St. Bryde! how came such as <i>he</i> by dogs so rare?"</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick bit his nether lip with suppressed passion at this -continued insolence of tone, while the young king replied:—</p> - -<p>"We sent him with a message to Jacqueline of Hainault—at least the -Regent Livingstone did so, last year,—an errand of courtesy, for -the countess was my father's friend. In passing through the forest -of Ardennes, he tarried for a night at the Benedictine abbey of St. -Hubert, and bought from the monks these two black hounds, the lineal -descendants of those which accompanied the saint when he hunted with -St. Eustace. They have silver collars, and despite my lady Glammis, -sleep every night at the foot of my bed!"</p> - -<p>"Laus Deo!" said the earl, shrugging his shoulders; "doubtless they -must have somewhat of the odour of sanctity about them."</p> - -<p>At this remark Sir Thomas MacLellan laughed, and the petulant earl -turned almost fiercely to him, saying:—</p> - -<p>"Sirrah, dare you laugh?"</p> - -<p>"Saints and devils, my lord," retorted the Lieutenant of the Guard, -"may not a man laugh?"</p> - -<p>"No!"</p> - -<p>"And why not, my lord earl?"</p> - -<p>"Because to laugh is at times to assume a superiority, or a bearing of -approval, which I would not permit even in our liege lord the king!"</p> - -<p>The eyes of the chancellor met those of the regent, whose pale forehead -flushed with anger at this insulting remark, though it illustrated how -dangerous was the spirit they were about to crush.</p> - -<p>"By St. Jude, Douglas, I laughed not at thee, but at thy saying," -exclaimed MacLellan, breaking the momentary silence which had ensued.</p> - -<p>"Then beware, lordling," said Douglas, who knew there was an old -jealousy between the MacLellans and his people.</p> - -<p>"I am no lord or earl either," replied MacLellan, flushing with anger -in turn.</p> - -<p>"What then?"</p> - -<p>"One whom you know well to be a gentleman of Galloway, my lord. The -king may gift coronets or titles, and <i>attaint</i> them, too; but God -alone can make or unmake a loyal Scottish gentleman!"</p> - -<p>The little king seemed almost scared by this angry outburst; but the -regent and his adherents exchanged glances of approval, and they -started involuntarily, for at that instant the great bell of David -Tower announced the hour of three.</p> - -<p>The fatal time had come!</p> - -<p>Then the king's master-butcher entered, bearing aloft a vast covered -platter, which, by its size, attracted the attention and excited the -surprise of all; and passing deliberately round the great apartment, -while many jests were made as to what new fare it contained, he placed -it before the young earl of Douglas.</p> - -<p>"Remove the cover!" said the regent, whose voice was hollow, as if it -came from a coffin.</p> - -<p>The master-butcher did so, and there was grimly revealed the old Celtic -symbol of death, a black bull's head of great size, with its square -nostrils, its grey polished horns, and curly forehead.</p> - -<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Craigmillar.</p></div> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> - -<small>THE BLOCK</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;">I must have</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">A more potential draught of guilt than this,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">With more of wormwood in it.—<span class="smcap">Firmilian.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>A simultaneous cry burst from all on seeing this sure and terrible -forerunner of a sudden death; all sprang from the table, and -instinctively did so, sword in hand; for at the same moment the door -of the 'tiring room was thrown violently open, and a chosen party -of Crichton's vassals, led by Romanno of that ilk, constable of the -castle, Andrew Gray of Balgarno, and others, rushed forward, and with -levelled partisans, separated the earl of Douglas and his brother David -from their more immediate friends.</p> - -<p>"To your swords and defend yourselves, my brother and friends; we are -lured—tricked to death!" cried the young earl, with prompt bravery, -hewing right and left at the partisans; "A Douglas! a Douglas! cut me a -passage to the king—to the throne—it is at least a <i>sanctuary</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Hold, my lord!" exclaimed the chancellor, in a voice of thunder, as he -stood with one foot on the lower step of the king's chair, and firmly -interposed his drawn sword, "it is no sanctuary for thee or thine! and -dare you——"</p> - -<p>"Slay a chancellor? Yes, if I can, and this dog regent, too, -like false hounds and fell traitors as ye are!" replied the brave -youth, with a scornful but heartrending smile; while, by the press -of partisans levelled in a dense rank, he and his brother, with -Sir Malcolm Fleming, Sir Alan Lauder, and all others disposed to -resistance, were thrust close to the wall, yet they shouted resolutely, -"a Douglas! a Douglas!" The chairs and banquet-tables were overthrown, -and all became a scene of confusion, destruction, and dismay, from -which many fled by the doors, not knowing how the brawl would end.</p> - -<p>"Guards and gentlemen!" exclaimed the tall grim regent, as he towered -above the armed throng, and roughly but firmly grasped the left arm -of the bewildered king, who thought he was about to perish, like his -father, by the hands of regicides, yet, like a brave boy as he was, -had rushed forward to save Douglas; "guards and gentlemen, disarm this -traitorous peer and all who have drawn their swords by his side in the -royal presence. Put up your blade, I command you, William, earl of -Douglas—the king is here, and this is his royal castle!"</p> - -<p>"Dishonour blight it for this day's deed," exclaimed old Sir Malcolm -Fleming, "and may its roof-tree be the gallows of all thy race, -accursed Crichton! thou cogging villain, thou cheat and assassin! And -as for <i>thee</i>, Lord regent—hah! the sword that knighted thee was never -notched in battle!"</p> - -<p>"A very carpet squire!" said Lauder, scornfully.</p> - -<p>"Liars are both; the blade that knighted me was our Scottish sword of -state; a king's hand gave me the accolade—a king murdered by traitors -false as you! Now hearken to me, Douglas. Fate has this day placed the -destinies of your rebellious and overweening house in the hands of -a justly-offended king and his resolute ministers, so prepare for a -doom upon which a short but ample career of evil actions has hurried -you—that fatal doom which incensed justice is about to mete out to -you and the adherents of your father. Disarm them, guards I say; by -<i>my</i> voice the king commands it!"</p> - -<p>Seeing the futility of resistance, the venerable laird of Cumbernauld -tossed his sword disdainfully to the Captain of the Guard, and Sir Alan -Lauder broke his blade across his knee, and flung the fragments down in -sullen silence; but the earl and his brother hacked and hewed at the -shafts of the partisans, inflicting many severe wounds on the hands -and arms of their assailants, before they were beaten down, disarmed, -when mad with fury, and secured by silken cords, torn from the curtains -of the hall windows. Achanna, while pretending to save the earl, -hung treacherously upon his sword arm till he was captured, and the -sorrowing and bewildered Captain of the Guard had to interpose his own -sword between the furious boy Lord David and Romanno, who had drawn his -dagger, having been exasperated by a slash across the face. Prior to -this the abbot of Tongland, the earl of Ormond, Douglas of Pompherston, -and others, had all been dragged from the hall and forcibly expelled -into the city, where they spread alarm and consternation through every -street and alley.</p> - -<p>The poor little king, who, with the six princesses his sisters, had -been given up completely to the care of Livingstone and Crichton, -since his mother Queen Jane had contracted her foolish marriage with -the handsome Sir James Stewart, usually known as the Black Knight of -Lorn, surveyed this terrible scene with the bewilderment of a startled -boy; but, on beholding the two brothers manacled with cords, bruised, -bleeding, and faint, after their brave but futile struggle, he burst -into tears, and clutching the robe of the lord chancellor, besought him -"to spare them."</p> - -<p>Then, according to Balfour, in his "Annals of Scotland," and other -writers, the chancellor replied sternly:—"You are but a child, and -know not what you demand, for to spare them would be the ruin of you -and your whole kingdom!"</p> - -<p>"Forgive them; oh, forgive them!" continued the princely boy, wringing -his hands, and appealing next to the regent; but he too replied -grimly:—"Your grace knows not what you ask."</p> - -<p>"I <i>do</i> know what I ask, and what I command. Am I not a king?" was the -passionate response.</p> - -<p>"Well, rather than obey," replied Crichton, through his clenched teeth, -"I would walk barefoot over seven burning ploughshares, or over the -seven times heated furnace of hell," he added, with terrible energy; -"our time for vengeance has come!"</p> - -<p>But the little monarch continued to sob and say:—"Lord regent, lord -regent, I am a king."</p> - -<p>At last he appealed to Sir Patrick Gray, commanding him to draw his -dagger and cut the cords which bound the brothers and their two -faithful friends; but the unfortunate captain, confounded by the -suddenness of the catastrophe, impelled by his love for Murielle on one -hand, his duty to the two highest officers of the crown on the other; -his regard for the young king, and a remembrance of how insolently -these Douglases had ever treated himself, leaned on his sword, and -covered his face with his hand, to hide the emotion that warred in his -breast.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he approached Crichton, to unite his entreaties to those of -his young monarch; but was roughly repelled.</p> - -<p>"Oh, chancellor," he exclaimed, "is this my meed—this my reward for -faithful service as the king's liege man?"</p> - -<p>"If such you be, I command you, peace, Sir Patrick—guard the king, -and leave the punishment of his rebels to us."</p> - -<p>Now the voice of the regent was heard above the throng, as he shook his -clenched right hand aloft.</p> - -<p>"I arrest you, William, duke of Touraine, earl of Douglas, lord of -Annandale, Longueville, and Galloway, on charges of foul treason; -and you, Lord David Douglas; you, Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar and -Cumbernauld; and you, Sir Alan Lauder of the Bass, captain of the -castle of Thrave, on the same serious accusation."</p> - -<p>"Treason?" reiterated the young earl, as he proudly raised his head; -"in what have I been guilty of treason; and who dare accuse me?"</p> - -<p>"I—the chancellor of Scotland," replied Crichton.</p> - -<p>"Read the charges," said the regent, sternly.</p> - -<p>"They are here," replied Crichton, unfolding a document, while all -leaned on their unsheathed weapons, and listened breathlessly. -"Treason, in the daily oppression of the king's subjects, at the head -of two thousand horsemen, most of whom are outlawed moss-troopers and -thieves of Annandale, who sorn on the king's lieges, and commit every -outrage; and this ye do, though the parliament held at Perth, in 1424, -ordained that <i>no</i> man should travel abroad with more followers than he -could maintain. Treason in dubbing men as knights who are but sorners, -limmers, and masterful rogues. Treason, in holding <i>cours plénières</i> -after the fashion of parliament; and treason, in sending two gentlemen -to France as your ambassadors to Charles VII."</p> - -<p>"It is false, as all the rest!" exclaimed the earl. "I did but send -them as my father desired me, when he lay dying at Restalrig, to renew -his oath of fealty for the duchy of Touraine, the fief of Longueville, -and other lands we hold in France; and to fix the yearly rental of the -former at ten thousand crowns."</p> - -<p>"He speaks most truly," exclaimed Sir Malcolm Fleming and Sir Alan -Lauder in the same breath.</p> - -<p>"Well, all this, though too little for a king, was too great for a -subject," said the regent, haughtily.</p> - -<p>"The extent of your power and the misuse thereof," resumed the -chancellor, "with the lawless character of your followers, are pretexts -enough, without others, on which to arraign you. No religion, no -threats, no prayers or pretended reformation, no oaths or promises, can -alter the inborn character we inherit with our blood; and what have -<i>you</i>, Douglas, thus inherited? Pride, treason, contumacy, and the love -of open rebellion against the crown; and these evil qualities will -remain true to the fount from whence they spring; so, my lord regent, -to the block, I say, with this viperous brood. If the boy is thus -dangerous, what would the man be?"</p> - -<p>"We demand to be tried by our peers," said the earl, firmly; "arraign -us before the Estates."</p> - -<p>"You have got nearly all the trial and shrift we mean to give you," -said the regent, bluntly. "Romanno, away with them to the castle Butts."</p> - -<p>The trial, if it can be called so, proceeded rapidly, for the judges -had long ago resolved on the sentence, and, as one historian says, -"were determined to make no allowance for the youth and inexperience -of the parties—for the artifices by which they had been lured within -the danger of the law, and for their being totally deprived of -constitutional or legal defenders."</p> - -<p>So, without counsel, jury, or written documents of any kind, these grim -proceedings went on; but never once did the brave boys sue for pity, -for mercy, or even for one hour of life.</p> - -<p>From the hall, where the king, amid the <i>débris</i> of the banquet and -combat, sank weeping on his canopied seat, the unfortunate earl and his -brother were hurried down the back stair of David's Tower, and dragged -to the greensward of the Butts, where the new barracks were built -in 1796, and there, in the presence of the regent, the chancellor, -Sir Walter Halyburton, the lord high treasurer, and other officers -of state, after being barely permitted to embrace each other, they -were thrown down on the block in succession, forcibly held there, and -beheaded!</p> - -<p>This terrible deed was scarcely done ere all the friends of the regent -and chancellor, save their garrison, hastily quitted the castle; even -as those who <i>now</i> witness an execution disperse rapidly as if it were -a relief to get rid of emotions so deep as those which are excited by -beholding a violent death, however judicially done.</p> - -<p>For two days Sir Malcolm Fleming (ancestor of the earls of Wigton) was -respited only because he had wedded Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of the -old duke of Albany; but ultimately he too was beheaded on the same -block that was yet crimsoned with the blood of those he loved so well.</p> - -<p>Sir Alan Lauder, through the friendship of Romanno, effected his -escape; while Fleming was interred in the coffin which bore the name of -Murielle Douglas.</p> - -<p>In a wild spot on the north-western slope of the castle rock, where the -wall-flower and thistle flourished, and where at times the grass was -spotted by the <i>witch-gowans</i>, those yellow flowers which are filled by -pernicious sap, and are supposed to cause blindness, grew luxuriantly, -they were all interred in one deep grave.</p> - -<p>In 1753, when the foundations of an arsenal were being dug there, some -human remains were exhumed, with several coffin-handles, and three -inscription-plates of pure gold. With these relics were found the skull -and horns of a bull, thereby identifying them with those victims of -misrule who perished on the vigil of St. Catharine, in 1440.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> - -<small>THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF NOVEMBER.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Playing at the tables, he</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">There was murder'd. At his shrine</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Many a noble lady wept;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Many a knight of valiant line:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">One mourn'd more than all the rest,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Daughter of the Genovine.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><span class="smcap">Poetry of Spain.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>In the horror and bewilderment which were naturally excited by this -terrible and unexpected catastrophe—this double execution which had -taken place under his own eyes, and in which he felt himself thereby -almost implicated, the unfortunate Captain of the King's Guard knew not -what to do.</p> - -<p>How would the powerful and hostile Douglases, and how might Murielle -view him <i>now</i>?</p> - -<p>He shrunk from the contemplation, and felt such an abhorrence of the -regent and chancellor, that, although his bread and subsistence were -derived from his post at court as Captain of the King's Guard, he -was tempted to cast the office from him and leave the country. But -to pass into exile was to lose all hope of Murielle, to relinquish -her for ever; and he lived in an age when love was perhaps a more -<i>concentrated</i> passion than it may be even in one of greater -civilization.</p> - -<p>To lure her with him into France,—in those old times the Scotsman's -<i>other</i> home,—would be fraught with danger; for the Douglases would -have interest enough with Charles VII. to procure their separation, and -his commitment for life to some obscure bastille, where he would never -be heard of again,—if their emissaries did not cut him off in the -light of open day.</p> - -<p>Then, on the other hand, his patron and friend, the late King James I., -had made him promise to be a faithful subject and mentor to his son and -heir; and, with one hand on that dead monarch's body as he lay murdered -in the Black Friary at Perth, he had recorded the promise again in -presence of his mourning widow.</p> - -<p>That a terrible vengeance would be planned by the Douglases and their -adherents for that <i>black dinner</i>,—as it was named,—he felt assured; -for all who hated the regent or dreaded the chancellor had for years -found security in the numerous strongholds of the slaughtered earl, -and had there bid defiance alike to king, law, and parliament. All -the lawless moss-troopers; all broken, idle, and mischievous persons, -professed themselves vassals of this powerful house, which was rapidly -aiming at the erection of a separate and independent principality in -the southern and most fertile district of Scotland.</p> - -<p>By the stern chancellor's wisdom, and merciless decree, the headsman's -axe had struck a fatal blow at this most daring and ambitious scheme: -but what might the sequel be to public as well as private interests?</p> - -<p>And Murielle!</p> - -<p>She knew all the perils of the age in which she lived; the daily—yea, -hourly dangers to which her lover as Captain of the King's Guard was -exposed; she knew, too, how many interests were hostile to their -union, and that their love seemed the hopeless passion of a romance or -a harper's song; yet she had still continued to love, and trust, and -hope, though vaguely, for some turn of the wheel of Fortune, as loving -women always do in the hours of trouble and adversity; but of what -avail would all this trust and hope be <i>now</i>?</p> - -<p>All these thoughts rushed like a flood through the mind of Gray, as he -stood next morning beside the newly-heaped mound where the dead were -buried.</p> - -<p>How was he to excuse to Murielle that he was present at the butchery of -her nearest kinsmen? and, <i>why</i> that he still adhered to those who so -basely slew them under truce and tryst?</p> - -<p>A shadow fell across the large earthen mound. He looked up, and his -eyes met those of the inflexible chancellor.</p> - -<p>"Good morrow, Sir Patrick!" said the latter, with a keen glance. "Art -moralizing on the mutability of human things, or the vanity of human -greatness?"</p> - -<p>"Nay; my mind was full of neither."</p> - -<p>"What then?"</p> - -<p>"I was but thinking that it was a foul deed, my lord; this slaughter of -two helpless youths, amid the festivity of a royal banquet."</p> - -<p>"Foul!" reiterated the Chancellor, with a louring brow and flashing -eyes.</p> - -<p>"As foul as if the heart of Judas planned it; a deed at which all -Scotland, if not all Europe, will cry aloud," replied Gray, stoutly.</p> - -<p>"Then let them cry, if it pleases them to do so. By our Lady! I believe -the howl you fear will not go far beyond Galloway and the Douglas -lands. Of yesterday's act, I take upon myself the entire odium and -responsibility, if such there be. Those who know me, and chiefly He who -reads the secrets of every soul, know the great end I had in view when, -in the persons of these misguided boys, I laid the heads of a viperous -brood in the dust. Sir Patrick Gray!" added the chancellor, turning and -stamping on the grave with his spurred heel, "better it is to have the -heart of Douglas lying cold below us, than exulting that his banner -could cast its shadow on the throne, and that he could rend Scotland in -twain, to become the easier prey of its ancient, bitter, and grasping -enemies. Nay, man, never scowl at me, but ponder well upon my words; -and remember the promise you made to the king when living, and to the -same king when dead, on that terrible night in the Black Friary, at -Perth."</p> - -<p>And with a significant glance, this stern statesman turned and left -him, as if disdaining further defence of himself.</p> - -<p>Gray supposed that the vast train of Douglas would assemble and depart -at once, on learning the tidings of the execution: thus, if he would -see Murielle, he must visit her without delay. But such a visit was -fraught with danger, so great was the excitement which reigned in the -city, where an assault of the castle was considered imminent.</p> - -<p>Carefully divesting himself of everything by which he might be -recognized, he put on a shirt of fine mail, which fitted him like a -kid-glove. Over this he buttoned a pourpoint of plain black cloth; a -steel gorget protected his neck; and a salade effectually did the same -office for his head, while at the same time it completely concealed his -face; and, armed with his sword and dagger, he sallied forth into the -streets, where the shops and booths were closed, and at the Cross, the -Butter Tron, the doors of St. Giles's Church, and other places, sullen -and excited groups of citizens were mingled with the wild and unruly -billmen, pikemen, and archers, who had come from the banks of the Nith -and the Annan; or with armed knights, who rode hurriedly to and fro, -briefly questioning each other, or gathering for angry conference. Many -yet averred that the story of the execution was false, and that the -earl and his brother with Sir Malcolm Fleming were merely imprisoned -in the vaults of that grim fortress towards which many an angry eye -was turned, and towards which many a gauntleted hand was clenched and -shaken.</p> - -<p>But James Achanna spread the truth industriously; and then a dreadful -shout, or many shouts commingling into one, rang along the streets from -mouth to mouth.</p> - -<p>"Horse and spear! A Douglas! a Douglas! Fye, fye! Vengeance on the king -and the pack of sworn traitors who surround him! Down with his lurdane -burgesses and silken lords! Death to the regent and chancellor!"</p> - -<p>Such were the cries heard on every hand.</p> - -<p>"Oh, had the legate of Rome but listened to me!" exclaimed the abbot of -Tongland; "oh, had his holiness but favoured me, than had Sathanas been -forgiven; evil had departed from us, and we had not seen this day of -woe!"</p> - -<p>On one hand the great common-bell of the city was rung by order of -Sir Thomas Cranstoun, the provost, to summon the people to arms, for -their own protection and that of the king; on the other, the bells of -the churches were tolling, to call them to prayer; so that as many as -possible, especially "wives and bairns," might be kept from danger. -The blare of trumpets, the twanging of horns were heard in wynd and -alley, with the clatter of iron hoofs and clinking of steel, as Ormond, -Abercorn, Pompherston, Glendoning, and other feudatories mustered -their "followings;" and amid all this hubbub and dismay, this rushing -to and fro of armed, pale-faced, and excited men in search of sure -intelligence, our anxious lover passed through the city, and reached, -unquestioned and unannounced, the outer gate of the abbot's mansion.</p> - -<p>Just as he was about to enter, a man passed out of the archway.</p> - -<p>This person was fully armed in a chain shirt, with a steel helmet, from -the rim of which a camaile, or tippet of fine steel rings, closely -interwoven, fell upon the shoulders to protect the neck. His gauntlets -were of brass; he carried a dagger at his girdle, and a ghisarma in his -hands. Through the open helmet, Sir Patrick Gray at once recognized -the malevolent eyes of James Achanna, the follower of the Douglases, -and the paid spy of Crichton, a thorough Scottish utilitarian of the -fifteenth century.</p> - -<p>"Grant me mercy, Sir Patrick," said he, with well-feigned concern, -"what make you here, at such a time as this? Do you bear a charmed -life?"</p> - -<p>"You <i>know</i> me, then?" exclaimed the soldier, somewhat disconcerted.</p> - -<p>"When you wish to be unknown, you should leave this golden chain at -home," said Achanna, lifting the links of one worn by Gray above his -gorget.</p> - -<p>"How, sir,—what do you infer?" asked the latter, biting his lips -with undisguised annoyance, for the chain in question was a gift from -Murielle.</p> - -<p>"I have seen it on a fairer neck, but at such a time are you safe -beyond the castle gate?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, heed me not, my good man," replied the soldier, contemptuously; -"my hands could always keep my head—be sure that yours can do the same -for you."</p> - -<p>"That we shall prove," muttered the other with his malignant smile, as -he passed out, and they separated.</p> - -<p>In the adjacent wynd, or alley, he met James of Avondale and Abercorn, -riding down hastily with a troop of armed followers, all excited almost -to madness by the conflicting statements circulated in the city, while -at the gate of the fortress, where Abercorn had gone, being anxious to -learn the <i>truth</i>, the sole reply was the pointed crossbow or hand-gun, -levelled at all who approached.</p> - -<p>The subtle earl of Abercorn and Avondale knew well by the advices of -his creature, Achanna, that both his nephews were effectually and -for ever removed from his path, and that as next of kin, the vast -possessions of the house of Douglas—their titles, lands, manors, -and fortresses were his—<i>his beyond recall</i>! But as yet he found it -prudent to affect to doubt the terrible story; and thus he had been -swaggering over all the city in his armour, threatening with vengeance, -fire and sword, the king, the regent, the chancellor, and all their -adherents.</p> - -<p>"Achanna," he exclaimed, curbing his horse, "the common rumour says my -kinsmen <i>were slain</i> yesterday,—foully murdered by the chancellor and -his minions under form of law."</p> - -<p>"Alake, my lord," whined Achanna (who had detailed to him all the -transaction most circumstantially, on the preceding evening), "I fear -the rumour is but too true; woe worth the day! woe worth the day!"</p> - -<p>On this the armed horsemen clenched their mailed hands, or shook their -spears aloft, and muttered deep oaths in the hollow of their helmets.</p> - -<p>"By St. Bryde of Douglas, I would give a year's rental of Touraine for -the head of Livingstone, of Crichton, or even of the wretch who acted -as their doomster!" exclaimed Abercorn, still acting as if inspired by -grief and indignation.</p> - -<p>"A year's rent of Touraine is a pretty sum," said Achanna, musingly.</p> - -<p>"Ay, ten thousand crowns," added the earl, grimly.</p> - -<p>"How freely he spends his new-won property," thought Achanna, adding -aloud, "the headsman was masked, 'tis said."</p> - -<p>"By whom?"</p> - -<p>"The common rumour."</p> - -<p>"Masked was he?" said the laird of Pompherston; "a wise precaution, as -there is not a Douglas in the land but will be ready to whet a dagger -on his breast bone!"</p> - -<p>"Well, sirs, this perilous carle is even now within arm's length of us."</p> - -<p>"Hah! <i>here</i>, say you, Achanna?" said Abercorn.</p> - -<p>"Even so,—Sir Patrick Gray."</p> - -<p>"The Captain of the Guard! Was it he?"</p> - -<p>"None else," was the villainous response.</p> - -<p>"And he—he," cried twenty voices.</p> - -<p>"Is now in the Abbot's House, at the feet of Lady Murielle, or, -perhaps, at the feet of the countess; I know not which he loves, for -there be some in Galloway who aver he affects them both."</p> - -<p>"In the house here—art thou sure, Achanna?" hissed the earl, through -his teeth, while a livid gleam lit his dark and sinister eyes, for he -bitterly hated Gray, and had <i>other</i> views for Murielle than she had -yet foreseen. Moreover, a ready victim was required to appease the fury -which inspired the turbulent followers of his slaughtered nephews, and -none could be so fit for his purpose as the Captain of the Guard. "Art -thou sure," he added, "that Gray is here?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, as that the breath of Heaven is in my nostrils!"</p> - -<p>"By the God of my kin, our task of vengeance is beginning!" cried -Earl James, rising in his stirrups, and brandishing his sword; "a -rope, a rope! A Douglas! a Douglas! Ho, Pompherston, Glendoning, -Cairnglas,—let us hang this king's minion at the Market Cross! Gather -a band—beset the house, and watch every avenue. Achanna, is there a -secret stair?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Then beset it too," exclaimed the earl.</p> - -<p>"Be that my task," replied Achanna, who with six armed men repaired -to an angle of the abbot's garden, where, among a mass of ivy which -shrouded the wall, he knew there was concealed a little arched postern, -which formed the external avenue of one of those secret escapes with -which all houses were furnished in those times of war and tumult.</p> - -<p>Abercorn remained in his high-peaked, crimson velvet saddle, while -posting his followers round the mansion; but Pompherston, Glendoning, -and other armed gentlemen, with a tumultuous party of retainers, -Lanarkshire pikemen, crossbowmen, and wild, half-naked Galwegians, -who brandished axes, swords, and daggers, rushed up the stone stairs, -and spread through the wainscoted apartments, in eager search of the -object of their vengeance, for they were in such a mood for blood and -slaughter, they would have slain the household cat had it, unluckily, -fallen in their way.</p> - -<p>But we must return to our luckless lover, who, suspecting nothing of -all this, had long since passed into the house, where no one accosted -or introduced him, so great was the confusion which already reigned -there.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> - -<small>A SECRET STAIR.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Bluidie was the braid saddle lap,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And bluidie was the crupper;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Sae bluidie as my true love's hands,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">When we sat down to supper.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">"There's water in the siller dish,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Gae wash thy hands so bluidie;"</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">But my love wash'd in the water clear,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And never made it ruddie.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;"><span class="smcap">Cromek.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray reached the wainscoted hall, or chamber of dais, the -arched roof of which was covered, as already described, with frescoed -legends of the Abbey of Tongland.</p> - -<p>There yet stood the little Scottish harp of Murielle, and a sense -of her sweet presence seemed to linger about it, with the memory of -her song—"Sir Hugh le Blond." There stood the seat of her sister, -the dark and beautiful Margaret, with the velvet tabourettes of her -bower-maidens grouped around it. There was the chair of the young -earl, with one of his leather gloves, and beside it his little Bologna -spaniel asleep.</p> - -<p>The gay groups of the other night seemed to rise before the troubled -eye of Gray, as he surveyed the chamber. He sighed bitterly, and could -recall with painful distinctness the faces of the unfortunate earl and -the petulant boy, his brother. He forgave poor little David all his -petulance now.</p> - -<p>How difficult to realize the conviction, that within an hour he had -stood by their bloody tomb—poor victims of misguided ambition, of -feudal pride, and political misrule! Yet an age seemed to have elapsed -since last he had seen their faces.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he heard a light step and the rustling of a dress; a small -hand drew rapidly aside the arras which covered a door, and Murielle, -with bloodshot eyes and her sweet little face pale with tears and loss -of sleep, rushed towards him.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Patrick Gray, Patrick Gray!" she exclaimed, throwing herself in -all the abandonment of grief into his arms, and laying her cold cheek -upon his breast; "Oh my love, my heart—what new miseries, what new -crimes and dangers, are these that come to cast their gloom and horror -upon us?"</p> - -<p>He endeavoured to calm and soothe her; but suddenly quitting him, she -besought him to leave her, and return instantly to the castle.</p> - -<p>"Leave you, Murielle?" he reiterated, "think of the time that has -elapsed since I have seen you, conversed with you—since I have been -with you alone; and think of the time that may elapse ere we meet -again."</p> - -<p>"Yet go—go," she added, clasping her hands, "if you love me, go!"</p> - -<p>"<i>If</i>—ah! Murielle——"</p> - -<p>"Leave me—shun me! this love will end in your destruction," she -exclaimed with wild energy.</p> - -<p>"I am almost inclined to stay, Murielle, and risk everything, were it -but to prove how much I do love you."</p> - -<p>"By making me miserable for ever, by seeing you perish before me—oh, -even as my poor kinsmen perished!" she added in a piercing accent, -while wringing her pretty hands, and half withdrawing from him.</p> - -<p>"You are right, dear Murielle," replied the soldier gloomily: "I am -in the king's service. To brave a useless danger and inevitable fate, -would serve no end; yet, dearest Murielle, this interview may be our -last."</p> - -<p>"It may be—I know it in my aching heart; yet go—go, for the love of -God and St. Bryde, lest some fresh crime be committed, and here. Alas! -you know not Hugh of Ormond, or James of Abercorn, as I do. But why -were our beloved William and David slain?"</p> - -<p>"Blame not me, dear Murielle," said Gray, kissing her pale cheek with -affectionate sorrow.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Patrick, I do not blame you," replied Murielle, in a tone of -misery.</p> - -<p>"Indeed! Yet you see him before you, and clasp him to your heart like a -wanton, while he has on his hands the blood of my husband!" exclaimed -a clear and ringing voice. It was that of the scornful, the lovely and -revengeful, yet superb Margaret, as she burst upon them through the -parted arras, her pale cheek flushing and her dark eyes sparkling, -but with more of anger than grief. "Vile assassin! come you here, -stained with the blood of my Douglas—my brave, young, handsome lord -and kinsman—of his poor boy-brother, and that hoary-headed baron, -old Malcolm Fleming, whose sword was never idle when Scotland or her -king required its service! Did it require three such heads to glut -the hatred ye bear to the house of Douglas and Galloway? Speak!" she -added, stamping her pretty foot imperiously on the rush-covered floor; -"speak, thou king's minion and Falkland-bred loon!"</p> - -<p>"Peace, sister," moaned Murielle, "oh peace——"</p> - -<p>"Now, grant me patience, God!" exclaimed the furious countess, -stretching her white hands upward—and supremely lovely that dark-eyed -girl seemed, in her mingled grief and rage. "Go hence, I say, Murielle -Douglas; let not that man contaminate you by his touch."</p> - -<p>"Oh, sister Maggie, you know he loves me dearly, and I him."</p> - -<p>"I know that he has been tutored well in the conventional hypocrisy -of a court; and that you, Murielle, educated as you have been in our -secluded castle of Thrave, are no match in art for such as he."</p> - -<p>"Maggie," implored Murielle, beginning to writhe under her sister's -severity, "he is generous as gentle, and gentle as brave!"</p> - -<p>"But save him if you can," said Margaret, bitterly.</p> - -<p>"There is, then, danger, madam?" said Gray, loosening his poniard in -its sheath.</p> - -<p>"Do you hear that growing clamour in the street?" exclaimed Margaret. -"Sir Patrick Gray, away, I warn you. James of Abercorn, Pompherston, -and others, all our most faithful followers, are around the house; if -you tarry here a moment longer, they will hack you joint from joint."</p> - -<p>"But, madame—countess—Murielle," said Gray, whose heart was swollen -almost to bursting by the vituperative bitterness of Margaret, "I -cannot go without a word of explanation or defence."</p> - -<p>"We seek neither. It is enough for us to know that you stood by, in -yonder royal shambles on the rock, and saw Douglas foully murdered, -under tryst—<i>stood idly by</i>, with your sword in its sheath, and -neither by word or blow sought to save the life of him whose cousin you -profess to love. But doubtless, as captain of the king's hirelings, it -was your duty to stand aloof, or guard the treble murder!"</p> - -<p>"Sister," said Murielle imploringly, while her tears fell fast and -hotly, "have we not heard the Abbot of Tongland and the Prior of St. -Mary's Isle both preach, that man was born to evil, even as the sparks -fly upward; but that with fortitude, patience, and resignation, we -should bear our cross—the destiny assigned us; and what are we, to set -ourselves in opposition to what they, the men of God, teach, preach, -and practise?"</p> - -<p>"Such cowardly precepts may suit their droning monks, but not the -Douglases of Thrave," responded her fiery sister. "We have been foully -wronged, and I have sworn by our Lady of Whitekirk—by her son and St. -Bryde—to have a vengeance on this boy-king and his chancellor,—a -vengeance so sure and deep, that every king in Christendom shall feel -his heart tremble within him, if he dares to wrong a subject as they -have wronged me. Ha!—hear ye <i>that</i>?" she added, as a strangely -malignant gleam passed over her dark eyes.</p> - -<p>"<i>Death to Gray—bring him forth—a rope! a rope!</i>"</p> - -<p>"'Tis the voice of Achanna," said Sir Patrick, starting; while -Murielle, on hearing the roar of men's voices and the clatter of arms -without and within the house, uttered a low cry of terror, and clung to -his breast.</p> - -<p>By a hasty glance from the window, Gray saw that the court-yard was -full of armed men, who, with drawn swords and bent cross bows, were -crowding into the staircase. He saw James of Abercorn, who was on -horseback, and who shook his gauntleted hand towards him; he saw that -the garden, the gate, the wynd, and every avenue to escape were beset -by glittering pikes and partisans, and a cold perspiration burst over -his brow at the sudden prospect of helplessly suffering a cruel and -violent death. His heart was almost too full for words; but he kissed -Murielle tenderly.</p> - -<p>"Long, long, it may be," he said, with a foreboding sigh, "ere that -dear kiss can be repeated—it may be <i>never</i>; but oh, Murielle, tide -what may, let no other efface it from your beloved lips!"</p> - -<p>The voices and clatter of arms came nearer.</p> - -<p>"Save him, sister—save him, Maggie. You may and <i>can</i> do it!" -exclaimed Murielle, rushing to the door of the large chamber, which she -closed, and drew across into the stone socket the massive oak bar by -which it was secured. She had barely achieved this ere the din of blows -from mailed hands, from sword-hilts, and the butts of crossbows and -partisans, rang upon it in a shower.</p> - -<p>Many fierce voices summoned those who were within to open; otherwise, -that fire would be applied to force an entrance.</p> - -<p>Drawing his sword and dagger, Gray was about to unclose it, and attempt -to hew a passage through them—an attempt which would inevitably have -ended where it began, as there were a legion of foes without, all -thirsting for vengeance, eager for outrage and homicide—all men inured -to daily turbulence, peril, and bloodshed.</p> - -<p>The clatter and uproar increased rapidly, as the numbers outside seemed -to multiply. The door, though of solid oak, was yielding fast, and -already the blades of several swords were repeatedly passed through -it, and withdrawn to give place to others.</p> - -<p>"Save him, Maggie dear—dear sister, save him, in mercy to me, if not -to himself," implored Murielle, clinging to the waist of Margaret, who -stood haughtily erect, like a tragedy-queen, with a sneer upon her -proud lip, while undisguised alarm was now expressed in her fine eyes, -at the prospect of seeing Gray butchered in her presence, though she -hated him in her heart; "save him, sister, save him!"</p> - -<p>"Am I an armed man?" she asked coldly. "In what fashion am I to save -your minion?"</p> - -<p>"Ha!—by the stair—the secret stair. Oh God, how that door shakes—in -another moment it will yield!—the secret stair—the abbot gave you the -key."</p> - -<p>"True," said Margaret, as she drew a key from her bosom, and tossed it -contemptuously on the floor.</p> - -<p>With a cry of joy Murielle picked it up, and, seizing Gray by the hand, -said,</p> - -<p>"You are saved—quick—come this way."</p> - -<p>At the side of one of the deeply-embayed windows she withdrew the -arras, and unlocked a little door which gave access to a narrow -passage, formed in the thickness of the ancient wall.</p> - -<p>"Descend here. There are twenty-one steps; the passage at the foot -leads to the garden, and the wall there is low. Push open the door at -the lower end among the ivy, and you are free. Heaven, in its goodness, -be your guide!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, that I had but twelve pikes of my guard to scatter this rabble -like winnowed chaff! Adieu, Murielle; I shall live and escape, if I -can! If not, look from your window, my love—my dear, dear love—and -you shall see how toughly a brave and loyal gentleman can <i>die</i>!"</p> - -<p>With these words, and full of desperate thoughts, Gray rushed down the -secret stair, while Murielle, with a sigh almost of rapture, locked the -door. Then, with a prayer of thankfulness, she thrust the key into her -bosom; but, fearing it might not be quite safe even there, she cast it -into the great fire of coals and oak roots which burned on the hearth.</p> - -<p>At that moment the door was burst open, and the tall grim laird of -Pompherston, with his helmet open and his sword drawn, rushed in, with -a confused mob of pikemen and archers at his back.</p> - -<p>On seeing only the countess and her sister, he and his flushed -followers seemed perplexed, and turned away to prosecute their search -elsewhere. But soon the clash of weapons and shouts of exultation and -ferocity in the garden drew all there to join the fray.</p> - -<p>Murielle sprang to the nearest window, and oh, what a sight she saw -there!</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray issuing from the doorway of the secret passage, -covered with blood and wounds; his pourpoint rent and torn; his sword -and dagger bloody, after a combat maintained in the dark against -Achanna and six others, who, as already related, had beset the way -and attacked him, with terrible advantage, in the obscurity, which -concealed alike their number and their deadly purpose.</p> - -<p>Undismayed, with his sword in his right hand and a long Scottish dagger -in his left, Gray rushed upon his assailants, and they quickly parted -before him; but only to close in his rear, while fresh foes met him in -front.</p> - -<p>What a sight for Murielle to gaze upon, while, gasping and shrieking, -she clung to the iron bars of the hall window, and surveyed the -terrible scene below, where one poor human life was struggling so nobly -and so desperately for existence against so many!</p> - -<p>Brave heart! he will sell that life dearly, for it is doubly valuable -now. Youth and love—the love of Murielle—are his, and for both he has -to live and to conquer!</p> - -<p>No slogan or shout, entreaty or threat, are uttered by him, as, with -teeth clenched, brows knit, and every nerve and fibre strained, he -stabs and shreds and hews about him, trampling underfoot those who fall -beneath his hand.</p> - -<p>He casts one brief and despairing glance at the window, for he knows -that <i>she</i> is there; and to the horror of being thus helplessly -butchered by the kinsmen of Murielle, is added the bitter consciousness -that she beholds it, alike unable to assist or save him.</p> - -<p>He is the aim of a hundred flashing weapons and infuriated men, who, in -their blind eagerness to destroy him, impede and inflict severe wounds -on each other.</p> - -<p>His pourpoint hangs from his shoulders in rags, and more than one long -arrow dangles by its barbed point from his shirt of mail. Now his -helmet is struck from his head; an exulting cheer rises from the rabble -that surge around him; but still he towers above them like a rock, and -hews another, another, and another down!</p> - -<p>Now, as he concentrates all his energies, the crowd parts before him; -he has reached the outer gate, and then a cry for "rescue" rises in the -street beyond.</p> - -<p>He reels, he staggers to his knee!</p> - -<p>Yet up he springs again. Heavens! there is a long and bloody streak -across his pallid face; and now his sword-blade breaks; but he wrests -another from an assailant, whom he hurls to the earth and treads under -foot, lest he should rise and fight again!</p> - -<p>On, on yet, and now he has fought his way through the gate, beyond -which, on horseback, sits grim Earl James of Abercorn, like a mailed -statue, surveying with fierce eyes this appalling scene; and now, faint -with wounds and loss of blood, Gray staggers like a dying man towards -him, and clutches his stirrup-leather.</p> - -<p>"James of Abercorn," he cries, "by your knighthood, by God's mercy and -the honour of your name, save me!"</p> - -<p>But, with the smile of a demon, James the Gross raises his ponderous -ghisarma, and strikes him twice on his bare head and upturned -despairing face, which in a moment are covered with blood.</p> - -<p>"Murielle! Murielle!" exclaims Gray, as he sinks, to all appearance, -lifeless in the street; and then the wild rabble sweep over him like a -human flood, to complete his destruction.</p> - -<p>On beholding this last barbarous act, a shriek burst even from the -countess, and she turned to her sister; but, alas! poor Murielle had -long since sunk insensible on the cushioned window-seat.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> - -<small>THE CASTLE OF THRAVE.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Sad airs like those she heard in infancy,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Fell on her soul and filled her eyes with tears;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And recollections came of happier years,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Thronging from all the cells of memory.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;"><span class="smcap">Barry Cornwall.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>More than a year had elapsed since the terrible scene with which the -preceding chapter has closed.</p> - -<p>It was the sweet season of summer. A soft wind was passing over the -pastoral uplands of Galloway, and rippling the black water of the Dee -where it swept round the green islet on which stands the great feudal -fortress of Thrave. It rippled, in some places, the growing cornfields, -in others, the greener wild grass, bearing with it the freshness of -the dew that loaded the leaves of the wayside flowers (for a shower -had just fallen), with the perfume of the honeycomb, of the mountain -bee that hummed over the yellow broom or purple heather-bells, on the -rugged braes of Balmaghie; or over the crimson cups of the wild roses -overhanging the brawling burn that rushed through bank and scaur to -Woodhall Loch.</p> - -<p>It was a summer noon; the sunny shower had passed away, and the -rose-linnet, the wild mavis, and the gold-spink sang merrily on every -bush and bank; and the bright sun cast the great shadow of the castle -of Thrave upon the Dee, which moats it round.</p> - -<p>There now dwelt Murielle, and others who have borne a part in our -story, though a change had come over their position in life.</p> - -<p>The Lord Chancellor Crichton had scarcely foreseen the immediate -consequences of that "black dinour" in the castle of Edinburgh—a -deed of detestable cruelty, though deemed politic in the spirit of -the time. It naturally excited the deep-rooted hatred and fierce -indignation of the numerous vassalage and powerful friends of the -house of Douglas; while the youth of the noble victims on one hand, -with the age and valour of Sir Malcolm Fleming on the other, together -with the cold-blooded treachery which lured them all to a doom so -disastrous—a mock trial and execution in the young king's presence, -despite his tears and entreaties—all conduced to excite a strong -sympathy among the people, who only remembered the worth and loyalty of -their ancestors, and forgot those excesses, or were ignorant of that -mad ambition, which had filled with jealousy the ministers of James the -Second.</p> - -<p>But while treasuring this deed of blood in their resentful hearts, and -scheming for the downfall of the regent and chancellor, the Douglases -were too wary now to trust themselves out of their own fastnesses, or -to take immediate revenge.</p> - -<p>The dukedom of Touraine and the county of Longueville had reverted -to the crown of France; but James the Gross, earl of Abercorn and -Avondale, through whose connivance the trial and execution of his -kinsmen took place, succeeded quietly to all their Scottish estates. -Then, to prevent the dismemberment of a territory so princely, and to -preserve to the house of Douglas the Countess Margaret's portion, which -comprehended Galloway, Wigton, Balvenie, Ormond, and Annandale, on the -promise of obtaining a papal dispensation, through the good offices of -the abbot of Tongland, she consented to espouse Earl James, that they -might the better plot their vengeance and unite their power against -the regent and chancellor, who, by this unexpected consolidation, saw -their views baffled, and the family of Douglas, within six months, -restored to its former strength and splendour.</p> - -<p>Thus, twice before her twentieth year, had the Fair Maid of Galloway -worn a wreath of roses and lucky four-leaved clover, which formed then -the bridal chaplet. The young lord of her great fortress by the Dee had -passed away; yet it seemed strange he had left no vacancy of heart or -hearth behind him: for his place had been rapidly filled by another; -and none knew Margaret's secret thoughts.</p> - -<p>In the vast but solitary castle of Thrave, Murielle had long wept for -her lover, and mourned him as one who was dead. Whether he had been -slain outright, or been simply but barbarously mutilated, she had no -means of ascertaining, as the countess and her armed train had taken -their departure from Edinburgh within an hour after the fatal conflict; -and since then she had resided in Thrave, the most remote and strong of -all her many fortresses.</p> - -<p>Since that fatal day, Murielle had felt as if her little heart had been -crushed by a hand of steel; while the society of the stern, malevolent, -and gloomy Earl James, who was now lord of all their heritage, and as -such assumed to be the master of <i>her</i> hand and destiny—a mastery -in which he was joined by her proud, fiery, and, at times, cruel -sister—made her long for a refuge among the Benedictine nuns of -Lincluden; and she as often wished, in the sorrow and bitterness of -her soul, that she were at rest among the graves of her forefathers, -in Melrose or Dundrennan. She never saw the earl without experiencing -a shudder of horror and aversion, for the memory of that terrible day -in Edinburgh was ever before her; her lover's upturned face, with its -despairing eyes, imploring pity from the fierce noble who smote him -down with his bloody ghisarma, as he would have done a reptile.</p> - -<p>In that age there were no newspapers; no posts or telegraphs; no books -or printing, for it was twenty years before Caxton set his <i>first</i> -types for Raoul le Fevre; thus the library of the great countess was -limited to her missal, and a little whity-brown volume in which she -engrossed recipes and so forth. Save a few games of hazard, there were -no in-door amusements, or food for the mind. How wearily and drearily -must the days have been passed by the dwellers in those old Scottish -castles, secluded in roadless and mountain districts, when there was -peace (which was seldom), and no fighting, burning, or hanging going on!</p> - -<p>No tidings came from the court or capital to Thrave, save the strange -and floating rumours brought by a passing harper on his way towards -Ireland or the south; or by a cunning pardoner, travelling with his -holy wares and relics to Tongland, Dundrennan, or St. Mary Isle; or by -an armed mosstrooper, in his steel cap and vambraces; or a bein-bonnet -laird, or gudeman (<i>i.e.</i> one who holds his land from a baron), on -his Galloway cob, passing to or from the next burgh town, who, after -bartering his beef, butter, and eggs, for a bilbo or suit of harness, -tarried at lordly Thrave, belated or storm-stayed.</p> - -<p>Men travelled little then by night in Scotland. Vast districts were -almost roadless; and deep rivers, the fabled abode of the mischievous -kelpie and dreadful water-horse, were bridgeless, and the fords were -few and precarious. Lawless moss-troopers, broken men, and wandering -gipsies rendered the paths insecure; nor were supernatural terrors -wanting, in the shapes of bogles, spunkies, wraiths, and fairies, to -render the ingle-lum of the nearest farm, the refectory of a monastery, -or the hall of a baron or landholder an acceptable refuge after dark.</p> - -<p>Of the old abbot of Tongland the inhabitants of Thrave had seen little. -He had secluded himself in his abbey, which lay in a deep and woody -hollow formed by the Dee, and adjoining the <i>clachan</i> which slopes down -to the verge of the stream—for so they named their villages in Celtic -Galloway. There he spent day after day entrenched among illuminated -manuscripts and yellow parchments, searching, writing, quoting, -collating, and preparing anew his application to Pope Eugene, that the -Prince of Darkness might be forgiven, so that evil and discord in the -world might cease for ever.</p> - -<p>On the eccentric, but kind old abbot, Murielle rested all her hope for -succour, information, advice, and assistance; but he failed to obtain -authentic tidings of her lover's fate. Thus, in that great castle, -which was crowded by armed men, she pined and sorrowed in secret, -without a friend.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile quantities of armour, helmets, corslets, spurs, and bridles, -that came in hampers by ships from Holland, bundles of arrows and -spears brought on horseback from Dumfries to the arsenal in the -barbican, indicated the events that were on the tapis. Many couriers, -such as Pompherston, Glendoning, Achanna, and Sir Alan Lauder, were -dispatched in all directions under cloud of night, while others were -arriving with secret parchments, and slips of paper concealed in the -lining of their doublets, the sheaths of their daggers, and the tops of -their gambadoes; missives from the turbulent John, earl of Ross, lord -of the isles; from Sir Magnus Redmain, the English governor of Berwick; -from Robert, the exiled and intriguing duke of Albany; from John Garm -Stewart, of Athole; from Christian I., count of Oldenburg and king of -Norway: and all these signs filled Murielle with anxiety and alarm, as -they indicated the magnitude of the schemes and intrigues in which the -fierce and subtle Earl James and her bold and ambitious sister were -engaged, and the designs they were forming against the regent, the -chancellor, the unfortunate people, and the young and innocent king.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> - -<small>THE BOWER CHAMBER.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The summer brook flows in the bed</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">The winter torrent tore asunder;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The skylark's gentle wings are spread</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Where walk'd the lightning and the thunder:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And thus you'll find the sternest soul,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">The gayest tenderness concealing;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And minds that seem to mock control</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Are order'd by some fairy feeling.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Poems by Thomas Davis.</span></span><br /> -</p> - -<p>It was, as related, a summer noon.</p> - -<p>Earl James of Douglas, whilom of Abercorn and Avondale, still in half -rebellion against a king and court from both of which he kept sullenly -aloof, was hawking on the bank of the Carlinwark Loch, with Sir Alan -Lauder, Achanna, and other friends, while the countess was in her -bower-chamber with Murielle and other ladies of her household.</p> - -<p>As a reward for his services, Achanna, that worthy Scottish liberal -and utilitarian of the year of grace 1441, had received a purse of -gold from the chancellor, and from Abercorn the office of seneschal of -Thrave. Like many of his countrymen in more modern times, master James -Achanna was a noisy professor of religion, and never missed a mass or -service of his church; he wore an enormous rosary, and crossed himself -at least a hundred times daily when any one was present. Scotland has -always been peculiarly unfortunate in producing such pretenders; and -doubtless, had James Achanna lived now, the same cunning and coldness -of heart, the same selfishness of purpose and anti-nationality which he -possessed, would have brought him fortune, place, or power, political, -and assuredly provincial fame; but, under James II., he was merely a -hireling swordsman, a smooth-tongued intriguer, and occasionally a -"rowdy" in a suit of armour.</p> - -<p>The windows of the bower chamber were open, and afforded an ample -view of the far-stretching pastoral landscape, through which the Dee, -between banks shrouded by groves of beech and willow, the fragrant -hawthorn, or those old oaks which, ages ago, had echoed to the horn of -the great crusader, Alan, lord of Galloway, wound to pour its waters -in the Solway Firth. Through the deep and arched embayments in the -old castle wall, the summer sunshine shed a flood of radiance upon -the arched necks, the white hands, and glossy tresses of the group -of handsome girls who drew their tabourettes around the chair of the -Countess Margaret, who had just entered; for, with few exceptions, -these damoiselles in silk and costly attire were the same who had -attended her on that unhappy visit to Edinburgh in the November of -1440.</p> - -<p>They were all the daughters of barons and knights—Maud Douglas of -Pompherston, a lovely girl with black hair, dark hazel eyes, and a -queenly bearing; Mariota Douglas of Glendoning, whose auburn hair won -her the name of the <i>Caillean Rua</i> among the Galwegians; Lady Jean of -the Cairnglas, and the three daughters of Sir Alan of the Bass, all -lassies with "lint white locks," and others, to the number of twelve, -were plying their needles busily; but Murielle sat apart, and, with her -cheek resting on the palm of her hand, gazed listlessly upon the hazy -landscape that spread in the summer sunshine far away from below the -castle wall.</p> - -<p>The work on which those ladies were busy was one of those huge pieces -of tapestry in the manufacture of which the fair ones of those days -delighted, and, when completed, it was to be a donation to the abbot -of Tongland on New Year's Day, 1442, as it represented the life and -miracles of St. Bryde (or Bridget), the patron of the house of Douglas; -and this great web spread over all the knees and daintily-slippered -feet of the fair workers, as it fell in waves along the floor of -polished oak.</p> - -<p>Therein their needles had depicted the saint in her little cell under a -large oak at Kildara, in Munster, where the wild ducks that swam in the -Bog of Allen and the birds that flew over the Curragh, alike obeyed her -voice, and went and came at her command; and there, too, was shown how, -at her desire, the milk of the cows on the Wicklow hills became butter, -and how, when she prayed, it was multiplied threefold for the use of -the poor; and other miracles long since forgotten.</p> - -<p>This year had been memorable for prodigies. On the 17th of March, -says Sir James Balfour, there appeared "three suns in the firmament -at the noontyde of the day; and in Auguste a fearfull comett, having -a crowned sword hanging from it." Where one sun is seldom seen, -<i>three</i> must have produced an unusual effect; so these and similar -matters formed the staple topics for discussion among the ladies of -the countess, who unanimously came to the conclusion that "something -terrible and startling would certainly ensue; but <i>what</i> that might be -none could say—a murrain among the cattle, a famine in the Merse, a -royal raid into Galloway, an invasion by the English—perhaps the death -of the chancellor!"</p> - -<p>"The last is not likely," said Maud of Pompherston, throwing back her -heavy black braided hair behind the whitest and smallest of ears.</p> - -<p>"Why?" asked all.</p> - -<p>"I mean, if the tidings be true which my father heard yesterday at the -cross of Dumfries."</p> - -<p>"What did he hear?" asked the countess sharply, while the workers -paused, and all their eyes were bent on Maud.</p> - -<p>"That the heralds had proclaimed at the crosses of Edinburgh, Stirling, -and Scone, that—that the king—"</p> - -<p>The poor girl hesitated, for the bold flashing eye of the countess fell -darkly on her, and its expression at times was rather bewildering.</p> - -<p>"A boy of thirteen years," said Margaret bitterly. "Well, that the -king——"</p> - -<p>"Has been pleased——"</p> - -<p>"Deluded, you mean."</p> - -<p>"To create the chancellor Lord Crichton of Crichton in Lothian. -Rumour added that his youngest son, George, would soon be made earl -of Caithness, in place of the forfeited Earl Alan, who was killed ten -years ago at the battle of Inverlochie."</p> - -<p>"Anything more?" asked Margaret, beating the floor with her foot.</p> - -<p>"The regent is to be Lord Livingstone of Callendar."</p> - -<p>"Did the heralds not add that he granted them a coat of augmentation to -their arms?" said Margaret, with hate in her eye, and the smile of a -devil on her lovely lip;—"a headsman's axe and block, all bloody and -proper! Well, well; so be it. We'll powder these new-fangled coronets -with tears and the dust of death ere another yule be past—please -Heaven, we shall!"</p> - -<p>"'Tis said, too, that the king is about to be married to a fair lady of -Flanders."</p> - -<p>"This child!—who—who?" asked the ladies together.</p> - -<p>"I wot not," said Maud; and the girls laughed loudly.</p> - -<p>"Little Maggie Lauder of the Bass would suit him better, in years at -least," said the countess, as she caressed the lint white locks of Sir -Alan's youngest daughter, a girl of some nine years or so. "In sooth, -cousin, you have a rare stock of news."</p> - -<p>"Countess, I have more still."</p> - -<p>"More?"</p> - -<p>"The heritable sheriff of Perth, Sir William Ruthven of that ilk, -accompanied by a party of the king's guard, have marched into Athole, -and there captured John Gorm Stewart."</p> - -<p>"A friend and ally of my husband, who had a message from him not ten -days ago—he captured him, say you?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, and slew him."</p> - -<p>"John of Athole slain?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, on the north Inch of Perth, with thirty of his followers; but -Ruthven was also killed, and MacLellan and Gray, the commanders of the -King's Guard, were wounded."</p> - -<p>"The fools! to fight each other, when both were allies of ours; -for this sheriff of Perth has a daughter wedded to George Douglas, -of Leswalt, here in Galloway. So Gray was wounded—and the jesting -MacLellan, too?"</p> - -<p>On first hearing these names, the hitherto listless Murielle started, -and turned to Maud Douglas; but feared to ask the question that seemed -to burn her tongue.</p> - -<p>"Is aught wrong, sister, that you start thus?" asked Margaret, half -contemptuously.</p> - -<p>"No—why do you ask?" said Murielle timidly.</p> - -<p>"I thought a gnat had stung you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it was Andrew Gray, of Balgarno, who was wounded," said Maud -good-naturedly, as she turned in haste to Murielle, whose anxiety she -wished to relieve.</p> - -<p>"Was your father sure of this?" asked the countess.</p> - -<p>"The Provost of Dumfries had the surest tidings."</p> - -<p>Margaret smiled bitterly at her pale sister.</p> - -<p>"Alas!" thought the latter, in her heart, "<i>he</i> is not spoken of. Oh, -can he be dead, that others have led where he was wont to lead?"</p> - -<p>After a pause,</p> - -<p>"Murielle," said the countess, with some asperity, "if you will not -work with us, take your harp, and sing. Occupation will at times divert -the mind, even from its most bitter thoughts. Please to give us the -ballad of 'Sir Hugh le Blonde.'"</p> - -<p>The ladies urged her to do so, but she replied briefly and wearily,—</p> - -<p>"Under favour, I cannot sing."</p> - -<p>"You cannot sing?" reiterated the countess, pausing in her work, and -gazing at Murielle with her full black eyes, above which hung the wavy -fringe of her absurdly lofty horned head-dress.</p> - -<p>"I cannot sing that ballad—at least, just now."</p> - -<p>"And wherefore?"</p> - -<p>"I have forgotten it," said she, turning to the window.</p> - -<p>"Do you remember when last you sang it?" asked Maud Douglas kindly, in -a low voice.</p> - -<p>"Oh yes, dear Maud," said Murielle, as her soft eyes filled with -tears at the recollection of that night in the house of the abbot at -Edinburgh, where—outwardly, at least—they all seemed so happy, and -where her lover hung over her, as she played and sang <i>for him</i>, and -him only.</p> - -<p>The impetuous young countess, a little despot in her own household, -grew weary of her sister's silence and reserve, for Murielle's -attachment was no secret to the family; she tossed aside the tapestry, -and desired Mariota, the <i>Caillean Rua</i>, to summon her pages and a -musician, that they might dance and practise the <i>pavan</i>, which was a -slow and stately measure then in fashion, and which took its name from -the peacock, because it was danced by knights in their mantles and -ladies in their trains; but Murielle said gently, but firmly, as she -withdrew to a corbelled stone balcony, upon which the windows of the -bower-chamber opened,—</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, dear Maggie, I pray you; but I am not in the mood either to -dance or sing."</p> - -<p>Irritated still more by this, Margaret followed, and found her with her -face bowed upon the parapet, and weeping bitterly.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> - -<small>THE BALCONY.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The nymph must lose her female friend,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">If more admired than she;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">But where will fierce contention end,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%">If flowers can disagree?—<span class="smcap">Cowper.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>"Is it so with you?" said the countess, roughly grasping her arm; -"is it so—still mourning for that scurvy captain of the king's -morris-pikes?"</p> - -<p>"Morris-pikes! Oh, sister, can you compare to mummers, the men who -formed the van at Piperden?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, where a Douglas routed Piercy—a service, like others, committed -to oblivion now," was the bitter response.</p> - -<p>Murielle wept in silence, while her haughty sister continued to regard -her with an expression in her eyes very much akin to disdain.</p> - -<p>The poor girl had frequently been fretted and galled by hearing -a much-loved name—alas! it might only be a much-revered -<i>memory</i>—reviled; yet she bore it meekly, hoping daily for a change. -But weeks became months, and months became seasons, yet no change came -in the bearing of her sister; which, always haughty, turned at times -violent and tempestuous.</p> - -<p>The proud Margaret felt that she had done a wrong action by her second -espousal, which had raised doubts in her mind that even the papal -dispensation might fail to dispel; and while she writhed under this -conviction, and longed for vengeance on the slayers of that handsome -lover and boy-husband—whom she secretly mourned, even when in the -arms of the subtle Earl James, she felt—she knew not why—irritated, -and at times exasperated, by the meek, quiet, and passive tenor of -Murielle's existence.</p> - -<p>"Tears still," she resumed, "always tears; but beware how the earl -finds you thus."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Margaret, I have studied to conceal my living sorrow from -him—from you—from all."</p> - -<p>"But in vain, for <i>all</i> have seen it. There is not a trencher-boy in -the kitchen, or a groom in the stables, but knows of it as well as I -do."</p> - -<p>"Have you never considered, sister, what a terrible thing it is to have -to forget—to strive at crushing all memory of the past—all hope for -the future; to rend from the heart a love it has cherished for years?"</p> - -<p>"Years!" reiterated Margaret, with an angry laugh; "you are but -eighteen, Murielle."</p> - -<p>"And you not twenty."</p> - -<p>"Yet I have wept for a dead husband."</p> - -<p>"And been consoled," was the unwise reply.</p> - -<p>Margaret's cheek grew white with suppressed passion at the inference -which might be drawn from this casual remark; but she said, -emphatically,—</p> - -<p>"Enough of this; my husband, to strengthen his house, has resolved that -you shall become the bride of one who is second to none in Scotland; -and he has sworn it on the cross of his sword, by God and St. Bryde, -that it shall be so, even should he chain you to the altar-steps, in -Tongland Abbey kirk."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Maggie," said Murielle, in a piercing voice, "do not talk to me -thus. I have given my heart into the keeping of Patrick Gray, and death -itself cannot restore it to me, or rend it from him. Trustingly I gave -it, dear sister, yonder—yonder, at the three auld thorns of the -Carlinwark; so be merciful to me, for no better, fonder, or purer love -than his, was ever offered up to woman."</p> - -<p>"A king's minion!" said the countess, spitefully; "but it is the will -of God you shall never be this."</p> - -<p>"Never! Say not so; it sounds like a prophecy. Never——"</p> - -<p>"But as the earl, my husband, has sworn——"</p> - -<p>"Oh, impiety!"</p> - -<p>"The bride of a nobler and better."</p> - -<p>"A better, say you?" exclaimed Murielle, with an angry laugh.</p> - -<p>"Dispute it if you can—Robert, duke of Albany."</p> - -<p>"An outlawed traitor," said Murielle, warming in her turn; "is this -your husband's scheme?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, a scheme formed for your honour."</p> - -<p>"It is a bold one."</p> - -<p>"Most of his schemes are so," replied Margaret, quietly.</p> - -<p>"Duke Robert is contracted to a daughter of Charles VII. of France," -said Murielle, taking courage.</p> - -<p>"The same power that permitted <i>my</i> second marriage, can annul his -contract, and give him back his troth, from Mademoiselle Radegonde."</p> - -<p>"Well, rather than <i>break</i> mine, and be his bride, sister, you shall -see me stretched in Tongland Abbey kirk, as cold as the marble tombs -that lie there!"</p> - -<p>"We shall see," replied Margaret, biting her cherry-like nether lip, -and stamping her foot in growing wrath; but Murielle threw her white -arms round her neck, and said plaintively,—</p> - -<p>"You do not, you cannot mean all you say, Maggie. Ah, do not scold, -when you should guide and aid me."</p> - -<p>"Is it not my desire to see you happy?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," sobbed Murielle; "I know, I hope that it is."</p> - -<p>"And my husband's?"</p> - -<p>"My kinsman, the earl, is a fearsome man!" said Murielle, with an -ill-repressed shudder.</p> - -<p>"Have I not striven for years to be your guide, your friend, your -comforter, and now——"</p> - -<p>"You would undo all the past, by making me the wife of the exiled -Albany, that your husband's terrible aims and ends may be furthered, -his feudal power and splendour increased."</p> - -<p>"By raising you, perhaps, to"—the countess paused—"to a throne, -little fool!"</p> - -<p>"A throne?" reiterated Murielle, in absolute bewilderment.</p> - -<p>"Yes, a throne," said Margaret, in a low voice, as she bent her black -flashing eyes close to her startled sister's face; "where can all this -leaguing and combination with Henry of England, Christian of Oldenburg, -John of the Isles, and with so many discontented barons, end, but in -the destruction of Livingstone, of Crichton, and of that boy-king, in -whose name they slew the earl of Douglas?"</p> - -<p>"Saint Mary keep us, sister; but this is murder, treason, regicide!" -said Murielle, in terror and incredulity.</p> - -<p>"I am speaking in our castle of Thrave," said the countess, -significantly, as she patted the strong rampart with her white jewelled -hand; "but I am unwise in talking to you of schemes, the magnitude of -which you cannot comprehend, and the daring of which appals you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Maggie, all this can end but in one way."</p> - -<p>"How?"</p> - -<p>"Destruction, forfeiture, and death!"</p> - -<p>"We shall see," replied the countess, calmly smoothing back her silky -hair; "but to resume about this Patrick Gray—<i>who</i> is he, that he -should aspire to love my sister, the daughter of a line of powerful -earls?"</p> - -<p>"He is a gentleman of stainless reputation, the trusted subject of the -late king and of his son; a loyal soldier, whom, if I choose, I might -marry to-morrow, and defy you all!" said Murielle, angrily.</p> - -<p>Margaret now laughed in good earnest at her sister.</p> - -<p>"Defy us?" she exclaimed; "lassie, you have gone crazy! I speak not -of Ormond, of Pompherston, of Glendoning; but know you not that the -smallest laird who bears our name could muster lances enough to harry -his father's nest at Foulis, level his tower to the ground-stone, and -swing his whole generation on the nearest tree?"</p> - -<p>Murielle knew fully the truth of this, but she felt an increasing -emotion of anger at the injustice and control to which she was so -bluntly subjected, and now her haughty sister spoke again.</p> - -<p>"Bear this in mind, that thrice has Earl James sworn by his most sacred -oath, God, and his father's bones 'that our heather lintie, Murielle, -shall be the bride of Albany, and sib to the throne, if not one day -<i>upon</i> it;' so cease to think more of this lover of yours, who, by the -bye, I believe, once loved <i>me</i>."</p> - -<p>"Loved you!" exclaimed Murielle, in a breathless voice; "<i>you</i>, -Margaret?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," continued the imperious beauty, with confidence.</p> - -<p>"He ever admired you, and as <i>my</i> sister, felt a friendship for you; -but be assured that his dear heart never wandered from me," was the -equally confident reply.</p> - -<p>"You are a child!" retorted the countess.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I am, to endure all this petty tyranny; but a day may -come—there are times when even a poor worm may turn."</p> - -<p>"But think no more of him, I command you, for he is better as he is, -dead, than living to be the rival of Robert, duke of Albany."</p> - -<p>"Do not tell me, sister, that he was slain," said Murielle, in an -imploring voice, while, her tears again fell fast; "he is not dead. I -know that he is <i>not</i> dead!"</p> - -<p>"You <i>know</i>?" said Margaret, changing colour.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Indeed—how?"</p> - -<p>"Because I am living still!" replied Murielle, with divine confidence -and hope.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> - -<small>A FEUDAL LORD.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 45%;">And joy is mine</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">When the strong castles besieged shake,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And walls uprooted, totter and quake,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">And I see the foemen join,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">On the moated shore all compass'd round</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">With palisade and guarded mound.</span><br /> - -<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><span class="smcap">Lays of the Minnesingers.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The result of this conversation, the wild and daring schemes of -ambition and revenge it unfolded,—schemes of which she was to be made -the tool and the victim, filled Murielle with alarm, and made her more -than ever resolve to seek refuge in a convent; but an escape from the -guarded castle of Thrave was not a matter to be easily accomplished, -as its garrison, formed of the earl's most faithful "retainers, was (as -we are told in the third of volume of 'Caledonia'), never less than -<i>one thousand armed men</i>."</p> - -<p>A recent writer says, "in Scotland, but a hundred years ago, the head -of a family was paramount, and household discipline was wielded without -mercy." If such was the case a hundred years ago, it was exercised with -greater rigour in the days of the second James.</p> - -<p>So poor little Murielle found Thrave with all its splendour, a -veritable prison, and the earl, her brother-in-law, a haughty and -exacting tyrant.</p> - -<p>Thrave, his greatest stronghold, was built upon an island of twenty -acres in extent, formed by the rough and rapid Dee, situated about ten -miles above its estuary, and thirty from its source, which is among the -wooded hills of Minnigaff.</p> - -<p>There on that islet the crusader Alan IV., lord of Galloway and -constable of Scotland, had a fortress, and thereon, in after times, the -Black Knight of Liddesdale, the comrade of Wallace and Bruce, reared -the present castle of Thrave, a vast pile, the donjon of which is yet -seventy feet in height, with walls eight feet in thickness, built of -common stone from the adjacent moors.</p> - -<p>The first story of this great pile consisted of the larder, the -arsenals, and the dungeon, where many a chained wretch has wept during -the hours that intervened between time and eternity.</p> - -<p>In the second story were the apartments of the men-at-arms, the -warders, grooms, and pages.</p> - -<p>The third contained the apartments of the baron, his family, their -guests, and the ladies' bower-chamber, with one apartment long -secluded, that in which Archibald, earl of Douglas and lord of -Galloway,—he whose second son won by his valour the titles of duke of -Spruce and prince of Dantzig, died on the 3rd of February, 1400. Small -Gothic windows gave light to these upper chambers, and narrow slits and -loopholes to the lower.</p> - -<p>A square barbican and four round flanking towers, with a deep fosse -and drawbridge, formed the external barrier. After passing these, the -only entrance to the keep was by a door placed so high in the wall that -it opened on the <i>second</i> floor, and this strange mode of access was -farther secured by a small portcullis, grooved into the solid stone, -the work of "the Brawny MacKim," the hereditary smith of the family.</p> - -<p>To victual this stronghold each of the twenty-eight parishes which form -the stewardry of Kirkcudbright had to contribute a <i>Lardner-mart-cow</i> -at Martinmas, for winter provisions; and the last attempt to levy these -twenty-eight cattle was made in 1747, by William Maxwell, of Nithsdale.</p> - -<p>In the front wall of the great tower, and immediately above the -gateway, which bore all the armorial achievements of the proud and -lordly owners, there still projects a large granite block, named the -<i>gallows knob</i>, or hanging-stone, which, in the olden time, was seldom -without its <i>tassel</i>, as the moss-troopers phrased it.</p> - -<p>"Lest this barbarous emblem of feudal power should be minus its -usual decoration," says a local historian, "when putrefaction became -offensive before the corpse was cut down, if a malefactor was not in -custody to be tucked up, it was replenished by some unoffending vassal. -The charnel into which these victims were thrown is to this day named -the 'gallows slot,' and notwithstanding the time that has elapsed since -the downfall of the house of Douglas in Galloway, human bones in -abundance were turned up when the present highway was made through it -there in the year 1800."</p> - -<p>Such was the grim feudal dwelling where now Murielle Douglas found -herself an inmate,—almost a prisoner,—foredoomed to be the tool, -perhaps the victim, of the dark plots and of the ambition and pride of -its lord and owner, whose general character the following anecdote will -amply illustrate.</p> - -<p>As Steward of Kirkcudbright and Lord Warden of the Western Marches, he -ordered James Achanna, with a strong and well-armed band, to apprehend -Sir Herbert Herries of Terregles, a gentleman of ancient family, who -had large possessions in the stewardry, and bring him prisoner to -Thrave, despite the tears of his daughter, Lady Maxwell, of Carlaveroc, -and the entreaties of his youngest son, who was rector of Kirkpatrick.</p> - -<p>He was oddly charged with "daring to recover a portion of his <i>own</i> -property, which had been appropriated by Achanna and other lawless -followers of the house of Douglas, and further, of resisting them in -arms."</p> - -<p>Sir Herbert was a man of high courage and probity, who had given -himself as a hostage to England for the ransom of James I. He had been -a commissioner for the trial of Murdoch, duke of Albany, father of that -Duke Robert who was now the <i>bête noir</i> of Murielle; and he had lately -been one of the ambassadors who had gone to France to arrange the -marriage of the gentle and unfortunate Margaret of Scotland with the -Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI, the French Nero, of terrible memory.</p> - -<p>When brought before Douglas, in the hall, he was surveyed with stern -and haughty malevolence.</p> - -<p>"Your little blockhouse of Terregles," said the earl, mockingly, as he -lounged in his canopied chair, "in common with other fortlets of the -petty barons of Galloway, is only occasionally decked with a dangling -villain, whereas our gallows knob of Thrave has not been without <i>a -tassel for fifty years</i>, and so it shall be while Dalbeattie wood grows -and the Urr water runs!"</p> - -<p>"True," replied Terregles; "and one who was my henchman, my -foster-brother, and my most faithful friend, taken by your ruthless -wretch Achanna, is hanging there at this moment."</p> - -<p>"And having hung the usual time, he shall now be removed to make way -for his master."</p> - -<p>"Earl Douglas, you dare not!" exclaimed Sir Herbert, starting forward.</p> - -<p>"Dare not! ha! ha! and why?"</p> - -<p>"I am the king's liege man, and a baron of parliament!"</p> - -<p>"Is that all you can urge?" asked Douglas, still mocking.</p> - -<p>"No——"</p> - -<p>"What more?"</p> - -<p>"Even now a royal herald is at the gate, with an express order for my -release."</p> - -<p>"Mahoun! its coming has sealed your doom. Achanna, tear off his ruff, -and replace it with a hempen cravat," was the stern order of Douglas; -so the unfortunate Sir Herbert was instantly hanged in his armour from -the gallows knob, while the king's herald was ignominiously expelled.</p> - -<p>Yet this fierce and unscrupulous lord paid large sums to the Church -for masses for the souls of his ancestors, and had periodical fits of -prayer and fasting, which were very troublesome, alike to his cooks -and hungry retainers. At times he trembled for bad news if he saw a -crow in his path, and crossed himself if he saw the new moon for the -first time through a window. He smeared himself, like Achanna, with -ashes on Ash Wednesday, and ate hot cross-buns with due reverence on -Good Friday; and to him the abbot of Tongland, as keeper of the avenue -to heaven, or the <i>other</i> place, was alternately a demigod to worship -or a bugbear to avoid. Yet, withal, he had connived with Crichton -and the regent in the destruction of his kinsmen, and wedded the -wealthy widow of Earl William, but consoled himself with the solemn -dispensation of Pope Eugene IV., who, however, was then <i>deposed</i> by -the Council of Basle.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XX.<br /> - -<small>THE MISSION</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Of this great voyage which you undertake,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Much by his skill and much by my advice</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Hath he foreknown, and welcome for my sake</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">You both shall be, the man is kind and wise.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;"><span class="smcap">Fairfax's Tasso.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Though left by the Douglases as dead upon the street, Sir Patrick Gray -survived the horrors of the tumult at the Abbot's Gate; and though -covered with severe wounds, inflicted by swords, daggers, and pikes, -he grew well and hale again; but only after a year of suffering, -convalescence, and confinement to a sick chamber, during which his -fiery and energetic spirit writhed in inactivity—for there are some -men whom it is alike difficult to subdue or kill.</p> - -<p>Death long disputed with life and youth for the victim; but men did not -die easily in these old times of brawl and battle; yet he had upon his -person, as the abbot of Tongland records, "three and twentye woundis," -and recovered them all.</p> - -<p>"Men," says some one, "are unaware what toil, pain, or suffering they -are capable of until they have been put to the test."</p> - -<p>The wound inflicted by the ghisarma of Earl James was not his least -annoyance, as it had laid open both cheeks; thus a cicatrized slash -traversed his face, which so completely altered its expression, that -after a little difference in the trimming of his hair and beard, few -would have recognized him; but the lady of the chancellor, like all the -thrifty dames of those turbulent and homely days, was a famous leech, -and by the lotions and cosmetics she prepared for him, and applied -daily with her own hands, was not without hope that within "a year and -a day, or perhaps within a few months more," it would be obliterated; -and all the young ladies about the young king's court, even the -charming princesses his sisters, had an interest in this process, and -the progress of his recovery, for the Captain of the Guard was one of -the handsomest men of the time, and a favourite with them all.</p> - -<p>He had been conveyed to the chancellor's apartments in St. Margaret's -Tower, within the castle of Edinburgh, and there for many months he had -been tended with every care, till the period at which we now return to -him.</p> - -<p>The wily chancellor was not unjust. He felt that Sir Patrick Gray had -suffered much in the king's service; loss of health, almost of life, -and the loss perhaps of a beautiful mistress, were hard things to -encounter, for he knew that the bloody events of the 23rd and 24th of -November had opened up an impassable chasm between Gray and the family -of Douglas.</p> - -<p>Crichton loved all who loved the king, and this was the great tie -between him and Gray, whose friendship he strove sedulously to -cultivate and preserve, though the more open soldier detested the mode -by which the regent and chancellor had striven, so futilely, to crush -the mighty house of Douglas.</p> - -<p>Gray's weak state after his many wounds, combined with his grief, -at what he deemed the loss for ever of Murielle, affected him so -much, that during the severe winter of 1440 he nearly sank under his -sufferings. He rallied, however, by youth and inborn strength, though -good St. Giles, of Edinburgh, to whose altar, in the spirit of the -times, he devoted several pounds of wax and silver, got the whole -credit of the change.</p> - -<p>Lady Agnes of Crichton and the courtiers said he was "dying of love." -The chancellor could believe in a stout man-at-arms dying of a slash -from Earl James's battle-axe, but <i>not</i> of love for Murielle, his -kinswoman, however beautiful and gentle she might be; so he only smiled -at their surmises, and when Gray was able to ride a little every day -on a quiet horse led by his page, Crichton resolved to find him some -active employment so soon as he was stronger.</p> - -<p>So Gray, as we have said, writhed in inactivity when his friends and -kinsmen, MacLellan and Andrew Gray, of Balgarno, had marched from -Stirling to Athole to capture the great freebooter, John Gorm Stewart. -He had heard from Andrew Gray of the conflict on the north Inch of -Perth, where the sheriff had been cloven down by the two-handed sword -of Stewart, who, in turn, had been slain by MacLellan, but not until -he had so severely wounded the latter, that he had been compelled to -return for a time to his castle of Raeberry, on the shore of the Solway -Firth.</p> - -<p>And during this long period of seclusion and inactivity Gray had longed -with all a lover's restless longing for some tidings of Murielle; but -those about the chancellor were either unwilling or unable to afford -him any.</p> - -<p>So the time rolled wearily on.</p> - -<p>One afternoon he was sitting dreamily in the recess of a window of St. -Margaret's Tower, which stood upon the western verge of the castle -rock, but was demolished during the long siege of 1573.</p> - -<p>It was a somewhat gloomy apartment (it was <i>then</i> three hundred and -eighty years old), built in the Saxon style, with grotesquely-carved -heads and zig-zag mouldings round the arches, and hung with long -russet-coloured tapestry, which had been worked by the hands of -Annabella, the queen of Robert III., to hide the bare, rough walls. -This tapestry was old now; its tenter-hooks were rusty, and it swayed -in the currents of wind, which passed through the fireplace, on the -shelf of which, in memory of the good queen who once dwelt there, was -inscribed the pious request,—</p> - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/147.jpg" alt="ora pro nobis"/> -</p> - -<p class="center"> -<small>Sancta Margarita, ora pro nobis.</small> -</p> - -<p>Beneath the windows was the verdant slope whereon three mounds, of -solemn aspect, were traceable. The coarse dog-grass, the white gowan, -and pink witch-thimbles (or foxglove), grew there in rank luxuriance -now, and as they swayed in the evening wind, were all that marked where -lay the three victims of that terrible vigil of St. Catharine.</p> - -<p>The autumnal sun was sinking. The vast and fertile plain of wood -and wold which stretches from the foot of the castle rock for fifty -miles to the westward, was steeped in warm light; and the sun's -diverging rays of ruddy gold, as he sank behind the rugged ridges of -Corstorphine, filled all the western sky with a shining glory, which -threw forward, in strong, black outline, the intervening woods and -rocks, hills and knolls.</p> - -<p>Gray's eyes were apparently fixed upon the dark mountains and the -beautiful plain, all brightness and fertility; but they dwelt on -vacancy, for he saw, instead, a graceful head, with a mass of wavy -hair, long-lashed, gentle eyes, of a violet blue, a soft face, with a -brilliant complexion, and a slightly rose-tinted cheek.</p> - -<p>There was a sound in his ear too.</p> - -<p>It was the voice of Murielle, conjured up with all a lover's memory -in an age of poetry, romance, and enthusiasm, when knightly faith and -purity, and even somewhat of fading chivalry, were lingering in the -northern land.</p> - -<p>A hand was laid on his shoulder; he started, and on turning met the -keen eyes, the thoughtful face, and tall thin figure of the chancellor, -who was clad in his fur-trimmed gown, which was girt at the waist by -an embroidered girdle, whereat hung, as usual, his tablets, pouch, and -dagger.</p> - -<p>"You did not hear the servitor announce me, Sir Patrick," said he; -"were you dreaming of Elf-land, or some far-off day of happiness?"</p> - -<p>"Your pardon!—though not much given to flights of fancy," replied Sir -Patrick, starting, "I <i>was</i> in a dreamy mood."</p> - -<p>"Nay, do not rise, but rest—and say how fare you,"</p> - -<p>"Ill enough, my lord," replied the captain, passing a thin wan hand -across his pale brow with a troubled air; "ill enough, and weary too."</p> - -<p>"In body?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—and in spirit."</p> - -<p>"That is a matter beyond the skill of such a leech even as my good wife -Agnes."</p> - -<p>"Her kindness and care are only equalled by my gratitude; and see," -added Sir Patrick, smiling, "she has hung at my neck her own miraculous -pomander-ball, lest the plague that rages now in Fife might here infect -me. But I am weary of resting and of idleness; yet alas! and alake! Sir -William, I fear me this arm will never curb a horse's head again; and -as for handling my sword, a child might twitch it from me at the third -pass! Here an arrow-head was wedged between the bones of the right -forearm; but I gave the archer a notch on the knuckles that will mar -his shooting for life."</p> - -<p>"Well, there is some comfort in that," replied the chancellor, "and -greater had there been, could you have notched the head of Abercorn, or -Douglas as he is entitled now."</p> - -<p>A hectic flush crossed the face of Sir Patrick, who replied, huskily: -"After what had taken place on the preceding day, I would not have -struck a blow at <i>her</i> kinsman, even to save my life!"</p> - -<p>"After <i>what</i> had taken place?" reiterated the chancellor, gloomily.</p> - -<p>"Ay, on the vigil of St. Catharine," continued Gray with firmness, and -something of reproach in his tone.</p> - -<p>"Enough of that," said the other, hastily, as he passed his -handkerchief over his brow, and replaced it in his embroidered pouch; -"I have other things to speak of than those which are past and beyond -all human remedy. But was it not a cruel act and merciless deed in -Earl James to smite down a poor gentleman, who clung to him, bleeding, -faint, and despairing——"</p> - -<p>"It matters not, Sir William—it matters not; I have made up my mind to -leave Scotland."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" exclaimed Crichton, with astonishment.</p> - -<p>"For some—it may be for many, many years,—perchance I may return no -more."</p> - -<p>"How—what mean you?"</p> - -<p>"That Charles VII. of France wants soldiers to aid him in his wars -against the English and Burgundians, and I shall seek his camp for -knight-service; or it may be, that I shall go further off, to the -distant East, where the Greek empire, under the Emperor Constantine, is -now threatened by the accursed pagans of the Sultan Mahomet, and where -brave hearts and sharp swords are wanted to defend Christian women and -the altars of God from desecration; and so there are times, chancellor, -when I think I shall even find a stranger's grave on the banks of the -Bosphorus."</p> - -<p>The chancellor, who had no wish that the king should lose so faithful -and valiant a soldier as Sir Patrick Gray, whom he knew to be resolute, -and somewhat obstinate in purpose, listened to this bitter outburst -with some concern; but, patting him on the shoulder as he might have -done a restive horse, he replied, smiling, "Leave Greek and Turk to -fight their own battles; abide you by your king; and when the time -comes, as come it must, let your grave be dug, not in the land of the -sun-burned and God-abandoned pagans, but in the old kirk of Foulis, -where your Scottish forefathers lie. Moreover, can it be, that you have -forgotten your promise to King James—that you would be a faithful -friend and mentor to his son?"</p> - -<p>"True—true—I have," replied Gray, biting his nether lip till the -wound in his face made him wince; "but you know, chancellor, that I am -pledged to Murielle Douglas, and that I cannot bide in Scotland without -her."</p> - -<p>"I may find a way to let you leave it, and yet preserve your promise to -King James,—a way that shall suit your restless humour; but speak no -more to me of Murielle Douglas," said the chancellor, as his brows knit -and his eyes loured. "Listen: I have other views for you; it may be a -royal alliance itself."</p> - -<p>"Royal?" was the perplexed reiteration.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>Here Sir Patrick Gray, who knew that he was really loved by this -unscrupulous statesman, gazed at him with a curiously-mingled -expression of surprise, amusement, and grim disdain; but being a poor -soldier and loyal gentleman, with no heritage but his sword and spurs, -he felt himself compelled to listen, though almost degraded by having -to do so.</p> - -<p>"You are aware, Sir Patrick, that the king has several fair sisters?" -began the chancellor.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick bowed.</p> - -<p>"Each is lovely, though still in girlhood—and, under favour, lovelier, -it may be, than the little lady who dwells among the king's rebels in -Thrave—for rebels are they to the heart's-core, though not yet in -arms."</p> - -<p>Gray's pale face flushed, and for a moment the scar upon his face grew -nearly black; but he merely said, "Well;" and the chancellor, while -playing with his pouch and dagger, resumed, in an easy conversational -tone.</p> - -<p>"All the crown-lands, the king's rents, castles, baronies, mills, -mails, and fishings, cannot find dowers royal enough of these six -dames, his sisters, at present. Do you understand me?"</p> - -<p>"Not exactly. You must be more plain, my lord chancellor."</p> - -<p>"'Tis not the first time that a king's daughter has wedded a simple -knight."</p> - -<p>"In old ballads, Sir William; and I would be a <i>simple</i> knight indeed -to cast my eyes so high."</p> - -<p>"The queen-mother is now the wife of the Black Knight of Lorn," said -Crichton, with the air of one who finds a convincing argument.</p> - -<p>"But he is a different man from the poor captain of the king's paid -pikemen! St. Mary! a sorry figure would I cut, riding up to my father's -tower-gate, with my princess behind me on a pillion, and settling there -to become a scrape-trencher, while she assisted my mother in brewhouse -and bakery! Take heed, chancellor; I need not be dazzled thus, to keep -me faithful to my king. So, enough of this! I am not ignorant that all -these princesses are promised, not to simple knights, but to foreign -princes."</p> - -<p>"Not <i>all</i>," said the chancellor, with an air of annoyance; "the -Princess Margaret is, I know, contracted to Louis, the dauphin of -France."</p> - -<p>"A troublesome brother-in-law he might prove to the younger son of the -laird of Foulis," replied Gray, laughing outright.</p> - -<p>"The Lady Elizabeth——"</p> - -<p>"Is contracted to the duke of Brittany; and in a month Eleonora will be -the bride of Sigismund le Debonnair, archduke of Austria, and duke of -all the dukes in Almaynie; while the Lady Mary will be wedded to the -lord of Campvere."</p> - -<p>"I knew not that you were so well versed in state secrets," said the -chancellor coldly, with an affected smile.</p> - -<p>"You forget, my dear Sir William, that your good lady has been my -nurse."</p> - -<p>"There is the Lady Annabelle."</p> - -<p>"A child," said Sir Patrick, laughing louder to conceal the annoyance -that rankled in his heart; "oh! oh! Sir William, I should have to wait -ten years at least till my wife grew up. Dost take me for a fool, -a very mooncalf, though I have listened to you? But to the point: -say what service you seek of me, as I have made up my mind to leave -Scotland in a month. Believe me, I need no bribe for faith and service -to my king; and, as to Murielle Douglas, the wealth of Prester John of -the Indies, if such a man there be, with the love of an empress, would -not win me from her, though it may be that, with this gash on my face, -she—she might shrink from me now."</p> - -<p>"Did I not say that I might suit your humour and also serve the king?" -asked the chancellor.</p> - -<p>"How?"</p> - -<p>"Hearken," said Crichton, placing a hand on the arm of Gray.</p> - -<p>"Say on," said the latter impatiently.</p> - -<p>"In two years from this, the king will take upon himself the government -of the nation, and I shall retire me to my old castle of Crichton, in -the Glen of Tync, beyond the Esk, and spend there my latter days in -peace."</p> - -<p>"The government—in 1444—this boy?"</p> - -<p>"The boy will then be fifteen, and he is a manly boy withal. The time -is coming when he must be contracted to a foreign princess, and, -through the lord of Campvere, Duke Arnold of Gueldreland has made -overtures on the part of his daughter Mary, now in her ninth year. To -these overtures the regent and myself, with the consent of the lords -of council, have thought it meet to respond, and you shall bear our -missives to the duke, who is now either in Gueldreland, in Brabant, or -Burgundy, I know not which; and in due time I, with a fitting train, -will set out for his capital. But promise me to be secret as you are -faithful in this matter, and remember it is in the service of <i>the -king</i>."</p> - -<p>"In this embassy I promise to do all that may become a loyal man—save -wed the Lady Mary of Gueldres herself; for, after all you have -proposed, by the mass! I knew not where your generosity might end."</p> - -<p>"Good!" replied Crichton. "To-night I ride for Stirling, to see the -regent and Queen Jane; when I return, you shall have your sealed -letters of credence, and Dirltoun the treasurer shall pave the way with -gold."</p> - -<p>The chancellor shook his hand with kindness, and retired, leaving -the frank and single-hearted soldier to consider the journey before -him; the yet greater separation by land, water, and time, it would -make between himself and Murielle, and also to surmise whether the -proposal merely veiled some deeper and more distant object; for, since -that fatal 24th of November, Gray had ever a doubt of the regent, the -chancellor, and their projects.</p> - -<p>"He overshot the butt—his cunning hath outdone itself," muttered Gray. -"Did he not think a ward of the crown would content the king's poor -soldier for a bride? but a princess—ha! ha!" And he uttered a merry -but scornful laugh.</p> - -<p>As the twilight deepened, and the shores of the Forth blended in -the distance with its darkening waters, he thought over all that -had passed; but was not left long to his own reflections, for a -grey-bearded pikeman of his guard drew back the moth-eaten arras, and -announced his kinsman, Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> - -<small>GRAY'S DEPARTURE.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Awake, awake! lover, I bring, I bring</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Most gladsome news, that blissful are and sure</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Of thy comfort; now laugh, and play, and sing.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Full soon thou shalt achieve thine adventure,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">For in the heaven decretit is thy cure.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><span class="smcap">Remains of James I. of Scotland.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>"Welcome, my good and merry friend!" exclaimed Gray, starting forward -to greet him;—"lights, wine, and a jolly greybeard of usquebaugh," he -added to his servant;—"and you have returned."</p> - -<p>"'Tis but an hour since I alighted at an hostelry, with two hackneys, -a sumpter-nag, and my best suit of armour, packed on the saddle of my -black horse—you remember it—with the curtal tail."</p> - -<p>"Your wounds——"</p> - -<p>"Are well and whole, though, sooth to say, the two-handed whinger of -John Gorm was somewhat heavy for one's patience, and cut through my -chain-shirt and jack-wambeson, as if they had been pie-crust. But I -am recovered now. The pure breeze that comes over the broad Solway -and whistles round the turrets of old Raeberry has made me a hale man -again."</p> - -<p>"Would that I could say the same," sighed Gray.</p> - -<p>"That slash on the face——"</p> - -<p>"Won't please a woman's eye now, I fear me."</p> - -<p>"But to wed one who objected thereto would be to throw one's ace in the -game of matrimony," replied MacLellan, tossing upon a settle his sword, -jewelled dagger, and laced mantle; "yes—even were she a princess."</p> - -<p>"Soho, man! talk not of princesses—I have just had my choice of six."</p> - -<p>"Six!—daughters of the queen of Elphen?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, six of flesh and blood, and declined them all," said Gray, -laughing.</p> - -<p>"What riddle is this?—or has a fairy indeed been with you?"</p> - -<p>"You shall hear."</p> - -<p>Lights had now been brought, and the candles, in the brass sconces -which hung on the tapestried wall, cast lines of steady radiance across -the otherwise gloomy old chamber. The arras was drawn across the -windows, in the gratings of which, as well as through the battlement -of the tower overhead, the wind was whistling. Red and white wine, -in flasks of Venetian silver, glittered on the table; and to these -was added usquebaugh, in one of those stone jars which came from -Flanders, and had in front a bearded mask; whence the Scottish name of -"greybeard" for a whisky-jar to this day.</p> - -<p>The friends drew their seats close to the table.</p> - -<p>MacLellan carefully wiped the dew from his sword, a short weapon, -the steel of which was embrowned—a fancy of the time (whence, -perhaps, the "berry-brown blades" of old songs)—and in it were little -flutes, to permit the blood to run off when used in mortal strife; -for our Scottish sires studied all these little matters to a nicety. -MacLellan's handsome and athletic figure was displayed to advantage -in his steel cuirass and gorget, his hanging sleeves, and long black -riding-boots, the tops of which were strapped to his girdle. His face -was ruddy and sunburnt; his black curly hair was closely cropped, in -the fashion of the time; he had a moustache, though then military men -wore it seldom, and none but the old indulged in beards.</p> - -<p>With considerable animation, he related his adventures among the hills -and forests of Athole,—the capture of the great freebooter,—the -sudden resistance offered by him and his followers at Perth,—and the -conflict on the north Inch, without the city wall. To all this Gray -listened with some impatience, nor did he begin to evince any interest -until the lieutenant, at the conclusion of his narrative, detailed his -sojourn at his castle of Raeberry, in Galloway.</p> - -<p>"What news bring you from that part of the country?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"The burden of the old song—rief and stouthrief, oppression, -hamesücken, and outrage, on the part of the Douglases, who make all bow -to their rule; so that no man, of whatsoever rank he be, or however -strong his dwelling, can lie down to sleep with the certainty of being -a live man at the dawn of day."</p> - -<p>"And what of dame Margaret?"</p> - -<p>"Well," replied MacLellan, holding a glass of red wine between him and -the light, to watch the gossamer beeswing as it floated to and fro, -"you have heard, of course, how loosely the wedding-ring hung on her -fair finger?"</p> - -<p>"How—how?" asked Gray, impetuously.</p> - -<p>"Is it possible that you do not know?" asked MacLellan, with surprise.</p> - -<p>"What? I have heard nothing here."</p> - -<p>"That she is wedded to James, earl of Abercorn, who is also now of -Douglas."</p> - -<p>"Wedded!" reiterated Gray, with unfeigned astonishment in his eyes and -voice, as he now heard of this strange and formidable alliance for the -first time; "wedded to the widow of his nephew?"</p> - -<p>"Exactly—the poor boy who lies below the castle wall without; and a -strong alliance our regent and chancellor may find it prove."</p> - -<p>"But what says the church to this?" asked Gray, after a pause.</p> - -<p>"The Countess Margaret is heiress of Galloway, Wigton, Balvenie, -Ormond, and Annandale—a good slice of braid Scotland," replied -MacLellan, in a bantering tone, as he hated the Douglases; "James, -umquhile only of Abercorn and Avondale, is a mighty lord; so the -most reverend father in God, Alexander—by divine permission bishop -of <i>Candida Casa</i> (so run the pastorals to his pretty flock, the -moss-troopers)—put a good round sum in gold nobles in his pouch, dozes -away in his episcopal chair, and troubles not his mitred head about the -matter; for is not Abbot John of Tongland, the keeper of the earl's -conscience, a Douglas? By St. Paul, it is hardly wise or pleasant to -call oneself by a different surname on the other side of the Nith, and -I have some thoughts of getting permission from the king-of-arms, to -call myself Archibald or Sholto Douglas—they are all one or other—as -a surer warrant for a whole skin."</p> - -<p>"Truly, we live in strange times!" pondered Gray; "and Murielle—Lady -Murielle—you have not spoken of her?"</p> - -<p>"Men say she is the same little moping, mooning nun, as ever."</p> - -<p>"Beloved Murielle!" thought Gray in his heart, "And say, kinsman, how -does she look?"</p> - -<p>"Lovelier than her wont. She improves as she grows older, like this -wine of Alicant; but there is a pensiveness about her——"</p> - -<p>"A pensiveness?"</p> - -<p>"That must be very flattering to you."</p> - -<p>"Jesting again," said Gray, with annoyance.</p> - -<p>"Under favour, not in the least."</p> - -<p>"Then you really saw her, MacLellan?"</p> - -<p>"How could I have judged of her beauty or pensiveness else?"</p> - -<p>"Often?"</p> - -<p>"Once only, my friend."</p> - -<p>"At Thrave?"</p> - -<p>"No, faith!" replied Sir Thomas, laughing and shrugging his shoulders; -"I have a wholesome dread of that ugly gallows knob above the castle -gate. But I did see her, however, and so closely, that her cramasie -skirts rustled against my leather gambadoes, as she passed me."</p> - -<p>"Where—where?"</p> - -<p>"In the Lady Chapel of Tongland. I would have helped her to holy water -from the font, but it was frozen hard and fast; for it was Candlemas -day, and the Dee below the abbey wall was a sheet of ice, from rock to -rock."</p> - -<p>"You saw her," said Gray musingly, with a soft smile, as if he conjured -up her face and form; "you saw, and yet did not speak with her?"</p> - -<p>"By St. Cuthbert, 'twere as much as my life is worth to have done -so, begirt as she was by Earl James's surly swashbucklers and rusty -helmetted moss-troopers; but, from all I can learn in Galloway, she -believes you dead."</p> - -<p>"Oh—impossible!"</p> - -<p>"Why so? Did she not see you stricken to the earth by the swords and -mauls of more than a hundred wild Galwegians, Douglases, and devils?"</p> - -<p>"True, she must have seen it—if, indeed, she could have looked upon -it."</p> - -<p>"Be assured that curiosity will conquer alarm—even love, at times," -responded the sceptical MacLellan.</p> - -<p>"A fatal mistake may result from all this."</p> - -<p>"What mean you by a fatal mistake—a marriage?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Gray, with a bitter sigh.</p> - -<p>"It is not unlikely," replied the lieutenant, carelessly, while -polishing his cuirass with a leather glove.</p> - -<p>"How—why do you say so?"</p> - -<p>"Nay; I did but echo your own thoughts."</p> - -<p>"I have none; I am full of sorrow and bewilderment."</p> - -<p>"Earl James and his countess are leaving nothing undone to strengthen -their hands for some great enterprise. All men in Galloway say so, from -the Brig of Dumfries to the Point of Kirkcolm; for the <i>black dinner</i> -is yet fresh in their minds, and the marriage of Lady Murielle to a -powerful lord might—might——"</p> - -<p>"Say on."</p> - -<p>"Add a few thousand men to their strength, should the Douglases make a -Raid out of Galloway."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how many secret tears must all this have cost her! She believes me -dead: dear Murielle! I could joyously die for her—"</p> - -<p>"Joyously to <i>live</i> for her, would be to act the wiser part," said the -other, with a loud laugh.</p> - -<p>"Ever mocking, MacLellan. It is enough to madden me, this doubt and -fear; these bold schemes on one hand, her gentleness and ignorance -of my fate on the other; while I am under pledge to leave Scotland -for Flanders on the king's service, and may not—nay, I cannot return -sooner than half a year hence, having a voyage to Sluys by sea, and -a journey to Gueldres on horseback before me. I would give this gold -chain for a trusty messenger to Galloway."</p> - -<p>"You should add for a <i>bold</i> one; as some courage is required to convey -<i>billets-doux</i> under the gallows knob of Thrave."</p> - -<p>"Jesting again, kinsman," said Gray, reproachfully.</p> - -<p>"Nay, I do not jest," said MacLellan, suddenly becoming serious. -"Within a month from this, I return to my house at Raeberry, which I -am strengthening by new walls and towers, as I know not what mischief -James the Gross may be hatching; and I give you my faith as an -honourable man, that I will see Murielle Douglas, and bear to her your -farewell messages. This I will do, if the act should cost me liberty -and life. I have often, ere this, perilled both for a less matter."</p> - -<p>Little did the brave Lieutenant of the King's Guard foresee that these -were no idle words, and that this rash promise to his friend would cost -the exact penalty he so heedlessly named, and would send down his -story among the many dark episodes of the Scottish annals; but of this, -more anon.</p> - -<p>Gray's heart was filled with gratitude by the offer, and after -MacLellan retired, he began to look forward with more confidence, and -even pleasure, to his projected mission into Flanders, as a scene -of new adventures, and an agreeable change after the sufferings and -monotony of the past year.</p> - -<p>Within a month after the conversation just detailed, Sir Patrick Gray -had embarked at the old Timber Holfe of Leith, and sailed from Scotland -on board the <i>St. Regulus</i>, a caravel belonging to the monks of St. -Mary, at Pittenweem, who were great traders and shipowners in those -days.</p> - -<p>At the same time MacLellan, faithful to his promise, contrived to -convey a letter from him to Murielle, who was so worn out by the -daily persecution she experienced, and being assured of her lover's -death (indeed, Achanna swore to have seen his tomb in the church of -St. Giles), that she was on the point of consenting in the desperate -longing for peace, to receive the addresses of the duke of Albany, who -was then in exile on the Continent. But now, suddenly hope revived in -her heart; the bloom came back to her cheek, and the light to her eye; -strength of purpose returned to her, and she resisted so strenuously, -that the subtle earl and his imperious countess found their schemes -completely marred for the time.</p> - -<p>As a proof that he still lived, she displayed Sir Patrick's treasured -letter, which had fallen at her feet attached to an arrow, shot, she -knew not by whom, as she walked one day by the margin of the isle on -which the castle stands; but her sister tore the missive from her -hands, stigmatized it as a vile forgery, and rent it to fragments, -which she trampled under foot in presence of her bower maidens.</p> - -<p>Then the sombre earl swore his deepest oath that, if the bearer could -be discovered, he would soon be dangling from the gallows knob above -the gate.</p> - -<p>So Murielle, in new happiness, prayed for the safety of her lover, -while his ship bore merrily across the summer sea towards the coast of -Flanders.</p> - -<p>Meantime the earl, to perfect his political intrigues with Albany, to -make his sure peace with Pope Eugene IV., who had privately disapproved -of his marriage while publicly dispensing him, resolved to visit Rome. -He was not without hope, by change of scene and distance from home, to -divert the mind of Murielle, and bend her to his purpose.</p> - -<p>He prepared a brilliant train of knights and followers, and took with -him the abbot of Tongland, who volunteered to smooth over all difficult -matters at the Vatican, and who hoped, moreover, as he displayed a -mighty parchment, that, "before he returned to the wilds of Galloway, -the master of lies and iniquity, the father of all evil and evil -devices, should once more have become a pure spirit, clad in a shining -raiment."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> - -<small>THE LOWLANDS OF HOLLAND.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">To Norroway, to Norroway,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Out owre the saut seas' foam;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The King o' Norroway's daughter,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">'Tis thou maun bring her home!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Old Ballad.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Though the season was summer, the <i>St. Regulus</i> of Pittenweem did not -cross the German Ocean without peril; for one night, and during the -following day, there blew a tempest from the south-east, which drove -her so far from her course, that the tacking to and fro of a whole week -were required ere she could regain the lost distance; for the reader -must bear in mind that the high-pooped, high-prowed, and low-waisted -craft of those days, were very different from the screw-propellers and -iron clippers of the present age; and heavily they lumbered along, with -Dutch lee-boards, basketed tops, their spritsail-yards, jack-staffs, -and other ponderous hamper.</p> - -<p>So, when the gale abated, the <i>St. Regulus</i> was off the coast of -England, and the tall, surf-beaten cliff, with the old castle of -Scarborough, were seen in the distance, as the red rays of the morning -sun fell on them from the eastern sky.</p> - -<p>And now, as the <i>St. Regulus</i> squared her yards to bear up for Sluys, a -new danger presented itself.</p> - -<p>A great ship of England, which had hitherto been concealed by a bank -of mist, was seen bearing down towards her, with St. George's ensign -flying, and a large white rod or pole lashed to her bowsprit. This -was the sign of <i>amity</i> on the seas in those days, and it was by -this token that Sir Andrew Barton, in after years, was lured by Lord -Howard to destruction in the Downs; but, as all shipmen were generally -addicted to a little piracy, the captain of the <i>St. Regulus</i>, who was -a douce native of the East Neuk, and a lay brother of St. Mary, of -Pittenmeen, having a valuable cargo consigned to the famous merchant -John Vanderberg of Bruges (who two years before had discovered the -Azores), deemed discretion the better part of valour; so, hoisting all -the canvas he could spread aloft, he squared his yards and bore right -away before the wind.</p> - -<p>Immediately on this, the crew of the English ship blew their trumpets, -and fired several stone shot from their culverins; thus plainly -indicating that though both countries were at peace, they did not deem -that the treaty extended into blue water, and that they would make a -prize of the Scotsman if they could.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick, who had donned his armour, and appeared on deck with his -two-handed sword, was not without fear that the ship might have been -dispatched to intercept <i>him</i>, and spoil his embassy by the influence -the earl of Douglas possessed in England—a country which in all ages -left nothing undone to break the political ties, which then existed -between Scotland and the continent.</p> - -<p>But the <i>St. Regulus</i> sailed like an arrow before the wind; and thus, -long ere mid-day, her pursuer was far distanced and hull-down in the -ocean.</p> - -<p>With this single incident she had a prosperous voyage, and on -Lammas-day in August made the low flat coast of Flanders, and came -to anchor in the then fine harbour of Sluys, close to the strong old -castle, where the Duc de Bouillon was kept after his capture at Hesdin; -but since those days the sea, which has gradually been washing away -the isle of Cadsand, has almost filled up the basin of Sluys.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray landed with his horse, armour, and cloakbags, and -presented his credentials to Hervé de Meriadet, the burg graf, who -commanded a body of Walloons, in the castle, "where," says the abbot of -Tongland, "he was honourably entertained for three days, after which -he set out for the court of the duke of Gueldres," which lay about one -hundred and fifty miles distant, in the land beyond the Maese.</p> - -<p>Though Flanders had been the scene of many bloody battles, and -disastrous wars, the people were industrious and peaceful; and then -it was not necessary, as in turbulent and warlike Scotland, to travel -armed to the teeth; yet, to be provided for any emergency, Sir Patrick -Gray wore an open helmet, a gorget, a chain shirt, and gloves of fine -mail, with his sword and dagger.</p> - -<p>In his cloakbag was a round sum in the current coin of the day, such -as Henry nobles valued at twenty-two shillings; salutis, riders, and -dauphines, at eleven shillings; and Rhenish guilders at eight, issued -to him, in goodly canvas bags, by the treasurer depute, from the rents -of the king's lands in Ettrick forest and Gosford in Lothian, which -had then been due. Moreover, he had ample letters of credit upon John -Vanderberg of Bruges, and two Scottish merchants in Campvere.</p> - -<p>Though far from Murielle Douglas, he felt his heart grow light as he -surveyed the flat green fields where the sleek cattle browsed, the -sandy isles of the Scheldt, where the brown windmills tossed their arms -in the breeze; the dull sedgy streams, where great lubberly barges -were dragged to and fro by horses of equally lubberly aspect; the -taper church spires seen at a vast distance across the far stretching -heaths; or the old castles amid the thick primeval woods of Flanders. -Health and strength had returned to him amid the bracing air of the -German Sea. His purse was well lined; he had a good horse under him; a -sharp sword by his side; an honourable commission to execute; and so -he rode cheerfully on, with an almost boyish emotion of novelty and -longing for adventure, making his heart expand and its pulses quicken, -he knew not why.</p> - -<p>He was now in Flanders—"the lawlands o'Holland," so famed in many a -Scottish song—and whose name is so interwoven with the annals of our -exiles and soldiers of fortune.</p> - -<p>On the first day of his solitary journey he passed through Ardenburg, -which is a league from Sluys, and was <i>then</i> the capital of maritime -Flanders; and from thence proceeding along the left bank of the Scheldt -he reached Hulst, a small but very ancient town in Dutch Brabant, where -he took up his quarters at a Benedictine monastery, whose superior -was brother of the burg graf of Sluys, by name Benoit de Meriadet of -Burgundy.</p> - -<p>When he set forth next morning he saw plainly in the distance the -magnificent spire of the great cathedral in the marquisate of Antwerp, -reddened by the dun morning sun, standing like a slender pillar of -flame, above the vast extent of level pastures which border the -Scheldt, and rising far above the dense white motionless mist which the -heat of the August morning was exhaling, from the fens and marshes, -through which the river flowed so turgidly and slowly towards Zealand -and the German Sea.</p> - -<p>After a twenty miles' ride through a green and fertile but most -monotonous country, he found himself in busy Antwerp, and under the -shadow of that colossal spire, which was then one of the wonders of the -world, and which was visible alike from the laceworks of Mechlin, the -ramparts of Ghent; the plains of Louvain; and the sandy shores of the -distant Zealand isles.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> - -<small>OUR LADY OF ANTWERP.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">In her did beauty, youth, and bounty dwell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">A virgin port and features feminine;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Far better than my feeble tongue can tell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Did meek-eyed wisdom in her features shine;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">She seemed perfay, a thing almost divine.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">James I. of Scotland.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Antwerp was then in the zenith of its commercial glory, and to a -traveller like Sir Patrick Gray, who had never seen a larger city -than the little Edinburgh of James II. clustering on its rocky ridge, -surrounded by forests of oak and pathless hills, the great Flemish -town, in the splendour of its mercantile prosperity, with a population -of more than two hundred thousand souls, presented a scene of varying -wonders, amid which he was almost disposed to forget his embassy, and -to linger for a time.</p> - -<p>Nor was this desire lessened, when Maître Baudoin, a garrulous little -Frenchman, who was keeper of the hostelry at which he lodged—the -"Grille of St. Laurence"—informed him that, "by recent rains, all the -roads between the Scheldt and Maese were impassable; that the sluices -of several of the barrier fortresses had given way; that the rivers had -overflowed their banks; and that the Peel Morass, which lies between -Brabant and Gueldreland, was, for the time, an actual sea. Moreover," -he added, "it is but a few days until the 15th of the month, when the -Feast of the Assumption will be held in the cathedral of our Lady of -Antwerp, with a splendour never before witnessed in the city; people -are arriving from all quarters, and Monseigneur l'Evêque de Mechlin -has found a young lady of great beauty and high rank, to appear as our -patroness in the procession."</p> - -<p>"Though this may be no inducement to a lover, it may be one to a -storm-stayed traveller," replied Gray; "but who is this lady, Maître -Baudoin?"</p> - -<p>"Ah—who indeed, messire!" replied the hosteller shrugging his -shoulders; "who indeed!"</p> - -<p>"What—is she the Princess Mary of Gueldres?"</p> - -<p>"Pardieu! no one can tell who the lady may be, save herself and -Monseigneur l'Evêque; it is always kept secret."</p> - -<p>"Why—how?"</p> - -<p>"You see, messire, secrecy and mystery enhance the charm of her -appearance. It is very droll."</p> - -<p>"And she is sure to be beautiful?"</p> - -<p>"Superbe, messire!"</p> - -<p>While the master of the hostel ran on thus, and then proceeded to -enumerate all the great personages, such as Monseigneur the prince of -Ravenstein, MM. the marquises of Berg and Anvers, the count of Nassau, -and others who were sure to be present with their ladies, esquires, -and men-at-arms, Gray mentally resolved to tarry for a day or two and -witness the spectacle, prior to which he could see all the marvels of -this great Flemish capital.</p> - -<p>A vast city it was, with its long and quaint streets of old and -steep-roofed houses, built of painted brick and carved wood, with a -stork's nest on every chimney; the pavement full of life and bustle, -and swarming with ruddy-cheeked young fraus, each having a dozen -petticoats; and bulbous-shaped Flemings wearing the old proverbial big -red or brown trunk-hose, bombasted with sawdust or tow, and bedecked -with rows of shiny buttons at the side; its booths, its shops and -stores, crammed with treasures and merchandise from all parts of -Christendom and the East—the mysterious realms of Prester John; while -boats and barges, all glittering with brown varnish paint and gilding, -plied to and fro under the bridges of the Scheldt or its canals, laden -with boxes, barrels, and bales, or with ruddy fruit, green vegetables, -or ponderous cattle, or with men, women, and children, long-robed -priests, and mail-clad soldiers, all gabbling and laughing in the -guttural <i>patois</i> of the old Lotheringian kingdom. Then there were the -long and stately rows of linden trees and the ramparts of the citadel; -while, with scores of little shops nestling between its countless -buttresses, high over all towered the mighty cathedral, the glory of -Antwerp, with its sixty-six chapels, its roof that springs from one -hundred and twenty-five pillars—its altars, statues, and pictures, -with that gorgeous steeple which seems to pierce the sky, and the -carvings of which are so exquisite that Charles V. said, "it should be -put into a case and shown only on holidays."</p> - -<p>On its summit, four hundred and fifty feet above the busy streets, -there hung, in those days, four great copper pans, in which the -burghers were wont to kindle fires on the approach of an enemy; for -the Gueldrians, Lorainers, Burgundians, and even the Frieslanders -from beyond Utrecht and the waveless Zuider Zee, worked the wealthy -Antwerpers sore mischief in time of war and tumult.</p> - -<p>In this vast city Gray resided unnoticed and unknown, and spent several -days pleasantly enough; so the great festival came to pass before the -waters subsided on the frontiers.</p> - -<p>On the night of the 15th August, after vespers, when the brilliant -procession was to issue from the cathedral, Gray armed himself, and, -guided by Maître Baudoin, of the <i>Grille de Ste. Laurence</i>, obtained a -good place near the porch of the cathedral; within, without, and all -around which were assembled the thousands of Antwerp to witness the -procession, in which so much of a religious pageant with civic mummery -were to mingle. The excitement was increased by the wide-spread rumour -that a young foreign girl of high rank—a princess at least—had been -chosen on this occasion to represent our Lady of Antwerp; thus all the -city were on tiptoe in honour of the occasion, the patroness of their -cathedral, of the city, and of all Christian women.</p> - -<p>The armed vassals of the powerful and wealthy bishop of Mechlin formed -a lane, with their partisans parting the crowd before the cathedral -gate. Each soldier bore a torch, and the lurid glow of these fell -fitfully on their bearded visages, their steel caps and breastplates, -or tipped with seeming fire the points of their partisans. Beyond, the -wavering gleam lighted partially the sombre and dusky masses of the -people, who crowded all the thoroughfares like a human sea.</p> - -<p>The thirty-three bells of the cathedral were tolling, and from the -depths of its long-drawn aisles and echoing arches strains of the -sacred music within came forth and floated over the bowed heads of the -hushed and expectant multitude.</p> - -<p>At last the bells rang out a merrier peal; the gilded gates revolved, -and, when more torches were lighted, a glow of sudden splendour seemed -to fill the great portico of the church, and all the white marble -statues of saints, kings, and warriors seemed to start from their -canopied niches into life.</p> - -<p>There was a palpable vibration among the people—a heaving to and fro -of the human tide—as the glitter of the coming pageant appeared in the -arched depths of the church; but the heaving was steadily repressed -by the steel points of the levelled partisans, while here and there -a half-stifled shriek from a woman, or a gruff Flemish oath from a -man, announced that the pressure was greater than their patience could -endure. But now the procession was seen slowly descending the steps of -the portico, and exclamations of pleasure and astonishment burst from -time to time in front of the masses; and these, as usual, served but to -excite the curiosity and irritate the temper of the less fortunate who -were too far off in the rear, or were hopelessly crushed against the -adjacent houses.</p> - -<p>First came the twenty-eight corporations of the city, clad in gowns -of fine cloth, with their banners and insignia; the nine nobles, with -their swords and coronets borne by pages; the nine masters of the -streets, with their swords and keys; the two burgomasters, and a giant -eight feet high (on heels of cork), bearing the banner of Antwerp, -heraldically charged with two human hands.</p> - -<p>Maître Baudoin informed Gray, in a hasty whisper, that, in ancient -times, a giant named Antwerpen had lived there amid the swamps, and was -wont to cast into the Scheldt all who displeased him, having previously -cut off their hands; and this was the legend of the city's coat -armorial.</p> - -<p>"And see, messire," added the little Frenchman, "by St. Louis here -comes one of his teeth!"</p> - -<p>As he spoke, an <i>echevin</i> passed, bearing on a silver platter this -palladium of Antwerp—a gigantic <i>human</i> tooth, said to be "a -handbreadth long and sixteen ounces in weight."</p> - -<p>The shouts of wonder and laughter excited by the giant, with his shaggy -black hair and beard, his red, pimpled nose and mighty scimitar, were -hushed when, preceded by choristers and boys swinging silver censers of -incense, the dean of the cathedral, with his twenty-four canons and the -confraternity of the Holy Circumcision, in all the splendour of their -full canonicals, were seen descending into the street and passing on -amid the flare of a thousand uplifted torches, a mass of muslin, lace, -and embroidery.</p> - -<p>Next came the twelve apostles, with their respective badges, each -represented by a handsome young man, and all clad in flowing robes of -brilliant red, blue, or yellow serge: St. Peter, with his keys, and -St. Paul, with a sword; St. Andrew, with a cross-saltire; St. James -Minor, with a fuller's pole; St. John, with a cup, out of which an -ingeniously-contrived winged serpent strove to fly; St. Bartholomew, -with a knife; St. Philip, with a cross-staff; St. Thomas, with a goodly -Flemish partisan; St. Mathias, with a battle-axe; St. James Major, with -a pilgrim's staff and gourd; St. Simeon, with a saw; and St. Jude, with -a club.</p> - -<p>Then came an effigy of Judas, with a red beard, dragged by the headsman -of the city, and surrounded by a score of merry imps, with horns and -tails, all whooping and dancing, as if eager to convey his soul to -the shades below; and their tricks and gambols filled the crowd with -laughter.</p> - -<p>The princess of Ravenstein, robed in pure white, with a diadem -sparkling on her brow, a palm-branch in one hand and a flaming sword in -the other, was borne past as St. Catherine upon a car, the wheels of -which were concealed by flowing drapery.</p> - -<p>Preceded by his banner, next came the abbot of St. Michael, an edifice -founded by a son of the Palatine, Count Herbert of Picardie; and then, -under a canopy borne by the marquises of Antwerp and Berg, the counts -of Bommel and Nassau, came the bishop of Mechlin, with his crozier -and mitre, his vestments glittering with precious stones and massive -embroidery, and all the clergy of the diocese following, with their -hands crossed on their breasts, and their eyes lowered on the earth, in -token of Christian piety and humility.</p> - -<p>But now the excitement reached its height, while something of awe was -mingled with the hushed curiosity of the people, and every mailed -soldier held his streaming torch aloft, when twelve stout monks of -St. Michael's Abbey, all marching slowly in their black cassocks, -approached, with a species of throne upon their shoulders, and on that -throne sat a female, who represented our Lady of Antwerp.</p> - -<p>This chair seemed a veritable blaze of precious stones, as the ladies -of the city yearly contributed their jewels to decorate it. Little -children, dressed as seraphs, with snow-white wings, nestled at its -base, and over it there seemed to float a curiously-contrived silver -cloud, amid which shone thirteen stars, that sparkled in the light of -the torches.</p> - -<p>The lady who personated the Virgin in this strange procession was said -to be very beautiful, so Gray pressed vigorously forward to obtain a -glimpse of her; and his resolute aspect, his scarred face and athletic -form, his long sword and shirt of mail, repressed even the officious -petulance of the men-at-arms, who would have thrust him back as a -stranger, or one who was unknown to them; and little Maître Baudoin -profited by this influence to secure a good place, and rubbed his hands -with nervous ecstasy.</p> - -<p>On came the marching monks with the glittering throne, and Sir Patrick -Gray could see that they bore up a beautiful female figure, clad in -robes of the greatest value—for gold, silver, and precious stones -were lavished in their adornment, while a glory, composed of diamonds, -sparkled and blazed around her sweet young face, which expressed, -alternately, alarm, awe, and pleasure at the scene below, and the part -she felt so honoured by enacting before so vast a multitude.</p> - -<p>Maître Baudoin, who clung to the skirt of Gray's pourpoint, uttered -loud exclamations of rapture; but the Captain of the Guard was -voiceless as one whom Heaven had stricken dumb; for how great was his -bewilderment, how deep were his emotions, how profound his surprise, -on recognizing in the damsel who was borne past on that brilliant -throne, as our Lady of Antwerp, the features of Murielle Douglas—his -own Murielle—whom he fondly believed to be far away in the wilds of -Galloway!</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> - -<small>MAÎTRE BAUDOIN.</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">This wide and universal theatre</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Presents more woeful pageants than the scene</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Wherein we play in.—<span class="smcap">As You Like It.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray so entirely lost his self-possession, that he was -rapidly swept away, jostled, tossed and pushed here and there, by a -rush of the crowd, who were making off to another part of the city -where the procession would again be seen as it passed; so, after -futilely struggling, and even fighting in some instances, he found -himself in a dark street near one of the many bridges of the Scheldt, -which flows through Antwerp by no less than eight channels, and there -he paused, alone and breathless, with one hand pressed on his brow and -the other on his sword.</p> - -<p>Was it a dream, or a phantom raised by his nerves or organs of vision -being disturbed by the terrible wounds he had received, and by the long -and feverish hours of illness and agony he had endured in the castle of -Edinburgh?</p> - -<p>Again and again he asked this question of himself, without being able -to resolve the matter satisfactorily.</p> - -<p>He heard the bells of the cathedral still tolling; he saw the -variegated lamps that glittered on its glorious spire; he heard even -the hum of the distant multitude; but he dared not return and trust -himself to look again, lest he might become mad, for already his brain -felt weak and giddy, and he cast a haggard glance at the dark, still -water that flowed with mud and slime under the quaint old bridge of the -Scheldt, as strange wild thoughts occurred to him, but he thrust them -aside with shame.</p> - -<p>He looked back to the cathedral, and again he seemed to see that fair -young face with its diamond tiara, and the almost ethereal form, with -the finest and snowiest of Mechlin lace floating like a cloud of -frostwork, cold and pure, about it. In a foreign city, amid more than -two hundred thousand inhabitants, his chances of discovering <i>who</i> this -lady was, and how she bore a resemblance so marvellous, became very -slender, if she were known alone to the bishop, who made it part of his -sacred drama or mystery to preserve her incognito from all—even from -his clergy.</p> - -<p>Had he been less a lover—had he waited, he might have seen <i>other</i> -faces nearly as familiar as that of Murielle, though less startling and -bewildering; but, swept away as he had been by the crowd, and having -neither power nor presence of mind to regain his place, he saw no more -of the procession; and, after long wandering, he thought of returning -home.</p> - -<p>The night was now considerably advanced; the cathedral bells had ceased -to toll; the lights had disappeared amid the delicate traceries of its -spire; there were neither moon nor stars, and there came not a breath -of wind to disperse the frowsy vapour that overhung the city, and which -rose from the many branches of the Scheldt. Sir Patrick had lost his -way; his ignorance of the language and of the vast old city forced him -to wander to and fro, vainly searching for his hostelry, "the Grille -of St. Laurence;" but day dawned before he discovered it and presented -himself, to the joy of Maître Baudoin, who feared that he had become -embroiled with some of the bishop's men-at-arms, or the Marquises -Brabanciones, in the citadel—a surmise which naturally led the maître -to ponder upon the value of Sir Patrick's horse and its housings, and -also of his cloakbag, which might thereby fall into <i>his</i> possession.</p> - -<p>"How came you to leave me, messire, in such a hurry and at such a -time?" asked the little Frenchman.</p> - -<p>Gray frankly told him that he thought—indeed that he was almost -certain—he had recognized a dear friend in the damsel who appeared as -our Lady of Antwerp.</p> - -<p>"<i>Ah, Mère de Dieu!</i> do you say so?" exclaimed Maître Baudoin, with -sudden interest, "then <i>who</i> is she?"</p> - -<p>"That is exactly what I wish to know; and shall know, too, ere noon be -past."</p> - -<p>"<i>Ay, ay, pardieu!</i> but no one can tell you."</p> - -<p>"None!"</p> - -<p>"Save Monseigneur l'Evêque himself."</p> - -<p>"The bishop of Mechlin?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, messire."</p> - -<p>"I will fly to him!"</p> - -<p>"But he left the city after the show was over. I saw him myself, as -with all his knights and men-at-arms, and with several ladies——"</p> - -<p>"Ladies, say you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, in horse-litters; he passed out by the gate of St. James."</p> - -<p>"For where?" asked Gray, starting up.</p> - -<p>"I know not."</p> - -<p>"Do none in Antwerp know?" asked Gray, impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Some say for Mechlin—others for Breda."</p> - -<p>"Get me a fleet horse, Maître Baudoin—I can pay you well—I must see -this bishop—"</p> - -<p>"Horses?—do you mean to ride to <i>both</i> places at once?"</p> - -<p>"No—to the nearest first."</p> - -<p>"Vain, vain, messire," said the hosteller, shrugging his shoulders, "be -assured that he will not tell you."</p> - -<p>"Not if I implore him to do so?"</p> - -<p>"Not if you dashed out your brains—<i>morbleu</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Where did the lady go after the procession dispersed?"</p> - -<p>"Back to the cathedral—it is the custom."</p> - -<p>"Oh! she may be there yet."</p> - -<p>"<i>Ouf</i>, messire! would you have a pretty girl to sleep all night among -these cold marble knights and dead bishops? She has left it, of course; -but amid the thousands who have left or are leaving the city, and the -great trains of the prince of Ravenstein, the counts of Nassau, Bommel, -and others, now departing by all our gates and bridges, the task of -tracing and discovering her would be no sinecure."</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick stamped his right foot with vexation.</p> - -<p>"If I had your devil of a bishop on Scottish ground, I would soon -wrench the secret out of him."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps so, messire; but he has at Mechlin an ugly wheel whereon folks -are sometimes broken alive; and that is not pleasant. Is messire <i>sure</i> -that he recognized the lady?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, Maître Baudoin, as that I now speak to you. Oh! I would know -that sweet face among ten thousand."</p> - -<p>"Sweet—hum;" the little Frenchman began to get quite interested; "is -she a countrywoman of messire?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"A sister?" persisted the hosteller, who burned with curiosity.</p> - -<p>"No—no."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps she is the mother of messire?"</p> - -<p>"Prater, how thou talkest! she is my best beloved—my betrothed wife!" -said Gray, with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"<i>Diable! Bon Dieu!</i>" exclaimed Baudoin, making a pirouette. "Messire -must not despair."</p> - -<p>"I do not despair, Maître Baudoin; but I am sorely bewildered," said -poor Gray, passing a hand across his scarred forehead.</p> - -<p>"Messire, with your permission, I shall tell you a little story."</p> - -<p>"Say on, my friend."</p> - -<p>"Have you perceived near the church of Jesus—just about thirty paces -from it—a well, covered with curious ironwork?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; what about it?"</p> - -<p>"The branches from which the pulley hangs are rich with foliaged -work of iron, and are deemed a miracle of skill. They were the <i>chef -d'œuvre</i> of a famous young smith of Antwerp who dearly loved the -daughter of a great painter, and desired greatly to win his esteem; so -he lavished all the energies of his soul, and all the cunning of his -hands, all his skill and experience, upon that piece of ironwork; but -when it was finished, monsieur the painter viewed it coldly, and said, -crustily,</p> - -<p>"'I cannot agree to have you for a son-in-law.'"</p> - -<p>"'I am rich, young, and skilful,' urged the unfortunate lover. 'I am a -smith.'</p> - -<p>"'For <i>that</i> very reason you shall not have my daughter; for she shall -wed a painter, and a painter only!'</p> - -<p>"Our smith did not lose heart, but he threw his beloved hammer into the -well, where it lies to this day; he assumed the pencil and palette, and -after working assiduously, he rapidly became a master in the art; he -excelled even the surly old painter who had disdained him; he won for -himself a high position in our city, and with it his beautiful young -mistress; and all this you may see graven on the brass plate of their -tomb, near the gate of the cathedral. But does messire hear me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; but, prythee, Maître Baudoin, what the devil has all this story -about painters and smiths, palettes and draw-wells, to do with me?"</p> - -<p>"Everything."</p> - -<p>"How? I am not in a humour for jesting."</p> - -<p>"It is a homily," said the Frenchman, with a low bow.</p> - -<p>"Leave homilies to monks and friars; but for what is yours meant?"</p> - -<p>"To teach you to hope much and to persevere long; even as that poor -lover persevered and hoped."</p> - -<p>Three days longer Gray lingered in Antwerp, searching and inquiring -everywhere in vain, till at last, in despair of unravelling the -mystery, on the subsidence of the waters of the Maese, he ordered his -horse, bade adieu to the gossiping Maître Baudoin, and set out for the -court of the duke of Gueldres; having at last all but convinced himself -that the face which he had recognized in our Lady of Antwerp was the -creation of his own imagination, or at most some very remarkable -resemblance.</p> - -<p>Yet it was <i>no</i> vision he had seen during the night of that -festival—but Murielle Douglas herself—the veritable object of all his -hope and love.</p> - -<p>We have already stated that the earl of Douglas had left Scotland -ostensibly to visit Pope Eugene IV., taking with him the countess, -Murielle, and a brilliant train.</p> - -<p>The latter, says Tytler (in his "History of Scotland"), consisted -of six knights, with their own suites and attendants, and fourteen -gentlemen of the best families in the realm, with a retinue of eighty -men-at-arms on horseback. Among these were Sir John Forrester, of -Corstorphine; Sir Alan Lauder, of the Bass; William Campbell, thane -of Cawdor and constable of the castle of Nairne—"all knights," adds -Lindesay, of Pitscottie, "whose convoy maid the earle so proud and -insolent, that he represented a kingis magnificence wherever he went. -Out of Flanderis he passed to France, and out of France to Italie, and -so forwardis to Rome, where the Romanes having knowledge of his cuming, -mett him with an honourable companie, and veri princelie receaved him -within the toun."</p> - -<p>In this quotation, however, we are somewhat anticipating the course of -events, for Gray and Murielle were yet to meet before the earl and his -retinue left Flanders to visit the court of Charles VII. of France.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXV.<br /> - -<small>SNICK AND SNEE.</small></h2> - -<p class="blockquot"> -Murder, madam! 'Tis self-defence. Besides, in these skirmishes -there are never more than two or three killed; for, supposing they -bring the whole body of militia upon us, down with a brace of them -and away fly the rest of the covey!—<span class="smcap">The Lying Valet.</span> -</p> - - -<p>Gray had been repeatedly warned by the friendly hosteller, Maître -Baudoin, to beware of travelling in the dusk after passing the boundary -of the marquisate of Antwerp, as hordes of disbanded Brabanters and -Walloons, the refuse of the wars between Charles of France and the -duke of Burgundy, were lurking among the thick woods that lay about -Endhoven, and in the then great swampy wilderness, known as the Peel -Morass; and these outlaws were led by a kind of leader whom they all -tacitly acknowledged, Count Ludwig of Endhoven, who had been expelled -from the Burgundian army for his barbarous and outrageous conduct, -after having his spurs hacked from his heels, and his coat of arms -publicly riven and defaced, by order of Philip the Good.</p> - -<p>Gray thanked Maître Baudoin for his friendly warning, and rode on his -way, like a soldier and a careless fellow as he was, thinking no more -about it.</p> - -<p>Refreshed by the halt at Antwerp, his horse carried him with great -speed next day. He passed Nonne Kloster, and towards evening, found -himself approaching Endhoven, in Brabant, after a fifty-miles' ride.</p> - -<p>At the verge of the flat horizon, the sun was setting, but through the -evening haze, its light shed a golden lustre upon everything,—the -quaint farmhouses, the summer woods, the sluggish canals and browsing -cattle,—casting far across the fields the shadow of every village -spire and poplar tree; but now here and there rose little hills or -swelling eminences to relieve the tedium of the scenery, for tedious it -was to a Scottish eye, though the fruitful soil was cultivated like a -garden, for he was in the land of cheese, milk, and butter.</p> - -<p>Two miles from the town of Endhoven, stood a wayside hostelry, of -quaint aspect, overshadowed by a gigantic oak-tree, on one of the lower -branches of which swung its signboard, and under which were placed a -rough table and benches for the accommodation of those who choose to -loiter there, and refresh them in the open air.</p> - -<p>Weary and athirst, Gray alighted from his horse, and knocking with -his dagger hilt on the table, brought forth the tapster, who had been -observing his approach, from the ivy-covered porch of the hostelry, -which seemed to be literally a mass of green leaves, with quaint -gablets, and chimneys sticking up in all directions, and curious little -windows, peeping out, without order, regularity, or architectural -design.</p> - -<p>In a jargon, half Flemish and partly French, "eked" out with a word or -two of Scottish, Gray ordered a flask of wine for himself, and a feed -of corn for his horse, which was led into the stables.</p> - -<p>While drinking his wine, and pondering whether he should halt there -for the night, or push on to Endhoven, the evening bells of which were -ringing in the distance, the sound of voices at an open window made him -aware that several fellows of a very rough aspect were observing him -from a room, where they seemed to be drinking and playing with dice, -and, doubtless, they would have been smoking too, had that useful mode -of spending time and money been discovered.</p> - -<p>On turning from them, his attention was next arrested by perceiving a -knife, formed somewhat like a dagger, dangling at the end of a string, -from the lower branch of the tree under which he sat, and there it -swung to and fro in the wind.</p> - -<p>Each time he raised his eyes to this knife, he heard loud laughter, and -a clapping of hands among those who were evidently observing him; and -though resolving, if possible, to avoid all brawls, his brow flushed, -and his heart beat quicker, on finding himself, as he conceived, -insulted by a rabble of Flemish boors.</p> - -<p>But in his ignorance of the customs of the country, he knew not that -the knife was hung thus as a challenge to snick and snee, as it was -named, a combat then common among the lower classes in Flanders, as it -was in Holland, in later years.</p> - -<p>The bravest or most rash bully of a village or district, usually -hung up his knife thus, in some conspicuous place, as the knights of -chivalric days were wont, in a warlike fit, to obstruct the high roads, -by hanging their shields on a bridge, or by the wayside, to invite all -comers, and whoever touched or took the weapon down was compelled to -fight the proprietor, or be branded as a coward.</p> - -<p>Before engaging, the combatants sometimes tested their strength of arm, -by driving their knives into a deal board, and then they were only -permitted to use so much of the blade as had penetrated; others broke -off the points. On closing, each used his cap or hat as a shield, to -protect his face; but such encounters seldom ended until one, sometimes -both duellists, had their cheeks, noses, and foreheads slashed and -disfigured.</p> - -<p>The knife in question, a long, sharp, and assassin-like weapon, -continued to swing to and fro within arm's-length of Gray, who, on -perceiving something engraved on the buckhorn haft of it, took it in -his hand for examination; on this a shout of exultation, too boisterous -to pass unnoticed, came from the topers in the hostelry.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick had only time to perceive that a coronet and the letter E -were engraven on the handle, when he tore it down, and dashed it right -through the latticed window where it fell among those whose mirth -seemed so easily excited.</p> - -<p>After the silence of a moment, a storm of oaths and threats, mingled -with shouts and drunken laughter, greeted this act of hostility, and -from the door of the tavern there issued six men, all tattered in -dress, bloated by drinking, ruffianly in aspect, and all variously -armed with swords, daggers, and mauls. Three of them had rusty helmets -and breastplates, which had evidently seen much service.</p> - -<p>On the approach of this unexpected rabble, Gray quietly drained the -last of his wine, threw down the price thereof, and then starting up, -laid his hand on his sword, as one who seemed to be the leader, came -boldly and brusquely up to him.</p> - -<p>Tall, strongly made, and athletic in form, this personage presented a -curious combination of character in his features, which were naturally -noble and handsome, but disguised by the masses of his uncombed hair, -distorted by ferocity, and bloated by drunkenness. He wore a pair of -enormous moustaches, which were twisted up almost to his ears; his -attire, which had once been richly laced, was full of rents and holes. -He wore a cuirass and back-plate, on each of which a coat of arms was -engraved; his neck being destitute of gorget, revealed by its bareness -that he was not proprietor of a shirt; a battered helmet, from which -the barred vizor had been struck in some battle or brawl, covered his -head; his gauntlets and boots were of different fashions; he carried -a short battle-axe in his right hand, and in his left the knife which -Gray had just tossed through the window.</p> - -<p>"Sangdieu!" he exclaimed, in French; "do you know the penalty incurred -by what you have done, messire?"</p> - -<p>"I neither know nor care," replied Gray, coolly; and then turning to -the hosteller—a fat old Flemish boor, who had also come forth, and -was trembling at the prospect of a fray upon his premises—he added, -"Maître, please you to bring my horse—and do so instantly, as I have -no desire to cross my sword with this fellow and his <i>coquinaille</i>."</p> - -<p>At this epithet, which signifies "a pack of rascals," they uttered a -simultaneous shout, and raised their weapons, but Gray confronted them -resolutely with his drawn sword.</p> - -<p>"My horse, I tell you, fellow, lest I cut you in two!" he reiterated to -the loitering hosteller. On this, his roan, the same horse ridden by -him when Earl William entered Edinburgh, was brought at once towards -the tree, but the armed rabble placed themselves between it and the -proprietor.</p> - -<p>"Does messire mean to fight me, whom he has insulted and challenged by -touching <i>this</i> knife," demanded the leader; "or der Teufel, does he -mean to——"</p> - -<p>"What!" said Gray, "be wary of your words, sir."</p> - -<p>"To fly like a coward?" said the other, with a German oath.</p> - -<p>"I do not fight with every ignoble ruffian I may meet; there are some -whom I would disdain to chastise, and thou, fellow, art one! Yet, if -the hosteller would but bring me a good heavy whip, I would make you -dance to a tune of your own."</p> - -<p>"Sangdieu! do you know to whom you are speaking?" cried the other, -whose rage completely sobered him.</p> - -<p>"Some robbers or outlaws, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"A robber—yes, for misfortune has made me so; an outlaw—yes, for -tyrants made me so; but I am <i>your</i> equal, and perhaps superior, for -all that!"</p> - -<p>"Indeed! Then who the devil are you, that thus molest peaceful people -on the open highway?"</p> - -<p>"I am Ludwig, count of Endhoven!"</p> - -<p>Gray started on hearing the name of the very personage against whom -Maître Baudoin had so solemnly warned him; but, inspired with an -emotion of pity for nobility fallen so low, he took his purse from his -girdle, and said, "Rumour says you have been a soldier: I am one, and -will share what I have with you; but first you must stand aside from -between me and my horse, as I can brook no intimidation."</p> - -<p>The other laughed scornfully, and said, "In the first place, messire, -it was from being a soldier that Philip of Burgundy made me a thief, -and changed my cote d'armes into a beggar's gabardine. In the second, -I do not ask for that which I can take by force; in the third, I obey -no man's orders—yours least of all, when horse and purse, and all you -possess, are my lawful spoil."</p> - -<p>As he spoke, he made a sudden rush forward, with the intention of -tearing away the purse from Sir Patrick, who, quick as thought, sprang -back, and received him right upon the point of his sword, with a force -which made the iron corslet ring, and stretched its wearer on the earth.</p> - -<p>With a shout of rage, he sprang to his feet, swinging his axe in both -hands, and, with his five companions, surrounded Gray. Sharp was the -conflict that ensued, and most likely it would have terminated fatally -for him; for although he dealt many a severe wound, it was long since -he had thus used his sword; and since that fatal day, after "the Black -Dinner," his wrists had been weak and stiff: but now the distant tramp -of horses was heard, and the hosteller, to scare the combatants from -his premises, exclaimed, "Gott in Himmel! Herr Count, here comes the -burg graf of Gueldres, with his banner and escort!"</p> - -<p>On hearing this, Count Ludwig, whose face was streaming with blood from -a slash Gray had given him, accompanied by his five companions, sprang -over a hedge close by, and, taking to flight, sought refuge where -horsemen dared not follow them, among the recesses of a swampy forest.</p> - -<p>They had scarcely been gone three minutes, and Sir Patrick had just -recovered his breath and equanimity, when a grey-bearded cavalier, all -armed save the head (for his helmet hung at his saddle-bow), rode up, -attended by three knights, who each wore the jewel and mantle of the -Golden Fleece of Burgundy, and by twenty men-at-arms on horseback, one -of whom, an esquire, carried a long lance with a square banner, charged -with the lion of Gueldres.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /> - -<small>THE ROYAL LETTER</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">O mony a mile Sir Patrick rode</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Throughout the border land;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">To gie that letter braw and braid,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Into the earlis hand.—<span class="smcap">Old Ballad.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Reining in his horse, while all his party did the same, the elder -gentleman, who was without the helmet, but wore a plumed cap, and -who appeared to be the leader, hastily addressed Gray in German, but -finding that he did not reply, repeated his question in French.</p> - -<p>"There has been fighting here, messire?"</p> - -<p>"As you may plainly see," replied Gray quietly, while carefully wiping -his sword-blade, for the lofty bearing of the speaker displeased him.</p> - -<p>"About what did you quarrel?"</p> - -<p>"Faith, I can scarcely tell you."</p> - -<p>"Speak, messire!" said the other, authoritatively.</p> - -<p>"A knife that hung from the branch of a tree, it would seem. You have -strange fashions among you here in Gueldres," said Gray, with returning -anger.</p> - -<p>"You are not yet in old Gueldreland, but in Brabant," replied the -other; "you appear to be a stranger?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, messire, I am a stranger," replied Sir Patrick, who had now -mounted, gathered up his reins, and had his horse fully in hand, ready -for any emergency, and resolved to admit of no molestation.</p> - -<p>"May I ask what object takes you towards Gueldreland?"</p> - -<p>"You may, messire, but what if I decline to reply?"</p> - -<p>"I can prove that I have the right to ask such questions, and to -enforce answers."</p> - -<p>"I am come from the court of Scotland to visit old Duke Arnold—is he -in Gueldres?"</p> - -<p>"No; in Brabant."</p> - -<p>"That is unfortunate."</p> - -<p>"Not so much so as you suppose. But with whom were you fighting?"</p> - -<p>"Those who fought with me: some outlaws, to all appearance, but they -got more than they gave."</p> - -<p>"Outlaws!" reiterated the armed horseman with displeasure.</p> - -<p>"A rabble led by one who called himself Count Ludwig of Endhoven."</p> - -<p>"Ha!" exclaimed the other, while all his followers uttered exclamations -expressive of surprise and interest.</p> - -<p>"Is it thus," said Gray, "your lords of Gueldres amuse themselves upon -the highway?"</p> - -<p>"I tell you, messire, that you are in Brabant. So these were Ludwig and -his Brabanciones? I would give a thousand guilders for his head! But -there was blood upon your sword?"</p> - -<p>"I laid Count Ludwig's cheek open from eye to chin."</p> - -<p>"Then beware you, messire: he is cruel as a pagan, and revengeful as an -Italian; and he will track you and seek you day and night while you are -among us, to work you mischief, unless, in the interim, he is broken -alive upon the wheel by some burg graf or burgomaster. You are going, -you say, to the court of the duke of Gueldres?"</p> - -<p>"Where I am not likely to arrive soon if I remain chattering here," -replied Gray coldly, as he disliked the inquisitorial manner of his -questioner, who laughed and said,—</p> - -<p>"Are you seeking knight-service? If so, you had better turn your -horse's head towards Burgundy, where Duke Philip III. is putting his -sword to the grindstone."</p> - -<p>"Nay, messire," replied Gray, with increasing displeasure; "I have come -on a mission from the court of Scotland, where I have the honour to be -Captain of the King's Guard."</p> - -<p>"Your name?"</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray, younger of that ilk."</p> - -<p>"And this mission?" said the other hastily.</p> - -<p>"Concerns not you, messire, but the marriage of the Princess Mary -d'Egmont," replied Gray, moving his horse away.</p> - -<p>"To your young king?—good. You have, then, a letter for—for the -duke?" said the other, following him.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Permit me to see it. Excuse me, messire, but I have both reason and -authority for my request."</p> - -<p>Gray, who thought he had been rather unwise in stating the object of -his mission to a total stranger, reluctantly opened a pocket in his -saddlelap, and drew forth a large square letter, which was covered with -a silken wrapper, tied with white ribbon crosswise, and sealed with -yellow wax, the colour used by the kings of Scotland and France.</p> - -<p>"Messire, you will perceive that it is correctly addressed," said Sir -Patrick; "and it is my best credential for being reserved."</p> - -<p>"Exactly; I thank you," replied the other, taking the letter in his -gauntletted hand, and deliberately tearing it open.</p> - -<p>"Messire!" exclaimed Gray, furiously, as he drew his sword; "are you -mad, or weary of life, that you dare to open a letter——"</p> - -<p>"For Arnold d'Egmont, count of Zutphen, and duke of Gueldres, you would -say?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, surrender it, messire, or by every saint in heaven, I shall kill -you where you stand!"</p> - -<p>"Beware—beware!" exclaimed some of the attendants, lowering their -lances.</p> - -<p>"And why beware?" demanded the sturdy Scot.</p> - -<p>"Because I am Arnold himself," replied the old duke, with a hearty -laugh, in which the three knights of the Golden Fleece joined.</p> - -<p>"You, monseigneur?" said Gray, sinking the point of his sword, and -reining back his horse.</p> - -<p>"Behold my banner and escort, with Ravenstein, Berg, and Nassau, my -three most faithful friends."</p> - -<p>"Pardon me," said Gray, sheathing his sword, and reining back his horse.</p> - -<p>"I have nothing to pardon, Sir Patrick Gray," replied the duke; "we -shall all ride forward together, but this letter, which you have -travelled so far to lay before me, is written in the young king's name, -and announces, that so soon as affairs are peaceful in his kingdom, his -lord chancellor, accompanied by John, bishop of Dunkeld, and Messire -Nicholas Otterbourne, official of Lothian, with a suitable train, will -visit our court at Gueldres, to receive the Princess Mary, and conduct -her to her new home. Poor child! she is very young and tender, to be -trusted among your unruly mountaineers. The letter shall be laid before -the duchess and council. Meantime, messire, I thank you for the care -with which you have brought hither the missive of your king, and the -valour with which you were ready to defend it, at all hazards, even -against four-and-twenty mounted men."</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick bowed low, and kissed the hand which the duke extended -towards him.</p> - -<p>"You will ride on with us, Sir Patrick," he resumed. "I have a -hunting-lodge near Vlierden, on this side of Peel Morass, seventeen -miles distant. There we shall halt for to-night, and to-morrow depart -for the capital."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /> - -<small>THE CASTLE OF ENDHOVEN</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">I behold the pageants splendid</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">That adorned those days of old;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Stately dames like queens attended,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Knights who wore the Fleece of Gold.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The three knights who wore the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, proved to be -the prince of Ravenstein, the marquis of Berg, and Englebert, count of -Nassau, who was hereditary burg graf, or governor of Antwerp, and who, -when a mere boy, in 1404, had espoused the heiress of Loeke and Breda. -The prince of Ravenstein's territory lay between Gueldres and Brabant; -it is now merged in the duchy of Cleves, but his castle still stands -near the Maese.</p> - -<p>Gueldres was an ancient and then very powerful dukedom, though it -shrank to a petty state after the declaration of independence by the -maritime provinces of the Netherlands in 1579, when it lost Nimeguen, -the county of Zutphen, and Arnheim, and afterwards Ruremond, which was -made over to Prussia; and since then, these portions have frequently -changed their masters and form of government.</p> - -<p>In the days of Arnold d'Egmont the duchy contained sixteen cities, two -hundred and thirty villages, five great fortresses, and a vast number -of castles.</p> - -<p>The old duke treated Gray with great condescension, and conversed -freely with him as they rode on together.</p> - -<p>He inquired in what battle Gray received the severe wound the mark of -which yet remained upon his face; and for the first time since he had -left Scotland, our hero felt his heart glow with petty anger, in having -to acknowledge that he had gained it in a mere street brawl with the -enemies of the king,—the adherents of the turbulent and unruly house -of Douglas.</p> - -<p>"Tête Dieu!" said the duke; "that is the family which gives the king, -your master, so much trouble. By Saint Louis, <i>I</i> would make quick work -in disposing of them."</p> - -<p>"They can bring twenty thousand men into the field," urged Sir Patrick.</p> - -<p>"The great lord of Douglas is now in Flanders."</p> - -<p>"Here—here in Flanders!" exclaimed Gray.</p> - -<p>"Not in my territories; but on the other side of Brabant, and when last -heard of he was travelling with a brilliant train of knights towards -Breda, for the purpose of visiting that city, after which he passes -forward to France. He was at the Feast of the Assumption in Antwerp, -but proudly and haughtily kept aloof from all."</p> - -<p>This unexpected intelligence filled Gray with emotions of a varied -character, and solved a great mystery, the recollection of which had -greatly troubled him.</p> - -<p>It was, then, really Murielle Douglas whom he had seen, and no -visionary or fancied resemblance; and he felt a glow of pleasure at the -conviction that he had looked upon her face so recently, that he had -breathed the same air with her; and that even now she was separated -from him, not by the stormy German Ocean, and many a league of hill and -glen; but only by a few miles of level land, and he mentally resolved, -at every hazard and danger, that on leaving the duke of Gueldres, he -would follow the Douglases to Breda, and that if they had departed, he -would track them elsewhere; so powerful a noble, with so brilliant a -retinue, would be easily traced in Flanders.</p> - -<p>Pleasure, anticipation, and excitement, made him alternately gay and -abstracted; thus he could barely attend with becoming reverence to the -kind old prince who, being anxious to make a favourable impression on -one who seemed the trusted subject of his intended son-in-law, drew his -attention to the various castles, spires, and other features of the -country, beguiling the way by many a story and legend, as they rode -towards his hunting-lodge, at which they were to pass the night.</p> - -<p>It stood upon the Gueldrian side of the Peel Morass. The latter -included great tracts of land now dry and fertile, which were then -deep swamps; and strange old stories lingered there, of broken dykes -and bursting sluices—of overflowings from the Waal and Maese, with -inundations from the Zuider Zee, by which whole farms were swept away, -strong castles overthrown, and villages submerged; and of mermaids and -mermen being swept by the retiring waters to flounder in the slough -until they were captured; and the duke averred that in the days of -his ancestor, Reinold II., duke of Gueldres, two had been instructed -in Christianity and taught to make reverence to a crucifix,—a story -corroborated in later times.</p> - -<p>The "History of the Seven United Provinces," published at London in -1705, tells us, that "one day, when the sea had broken the banks and -overflowed one part of the country, some young damsels of Ednam, going -in a boat to milk their cows, found a nymph, or sea-woman, who lay -half-covered in the mud, after the waters had been drained off. They -drew her out and carried her to Ednam, where they taught her to spin -and dress herself like other women; but they could not teach her to -speak, nor lose the inclination which she had to return to her former -element. There is an author who pretends that they imprinted in her -some knowledge of a God, and that she made her reverence as she passed -a crucifix. But it was not in Holland only," adds the historian, "that -they found mermen in those days. There were some taken on the coast of -Norway, which had on them the cross, the mitre, and all the pontifical -habits of a bishop; but they only sighed after they were taken, and -died very quickly."</p> - -<p>Night had closed when the party reached the hunting-lodge, which was an -old castle of some extent and considerable antiquity.</p> - -<p>"This," said the duke, "is the hereditary mansion of the counts of -Endhoven; and under its roof Count Ludwig, the last of that line, was -born."</p> - -<p>"Where he is not likely to die," added the count of Nassau.</p> - -<p>"Since his attainder it has been mine."</p> - -<p>"There is a strange story connected with it—or rather with the parents -of Ludwig," said the count of Nassau, a noble with a long grave and -pleasing countenance.</p> - -<p>"His father was a cruel passionate and vindictive man, who used his -countess so barbarously that she was wont to carry a dagger in her -boddice, for her protection. Six months after Ludwig was born, she -died of a broken heart, and the dagger, as she requested with her last -breath, was buried with her. For a few weeks the count drank deeply, -gamed and hunted, it seemed to all, as if to drown thought; but after -a time he recovered, and to lighten the old castle, which seemed so -grim and gloomy now, he carried off a beautiful peasant girl from the -neighbourhood of Endhoven. Long and bitterly did the girl weep, on -finding herself in his power, and earnestly she prayed to be permitted -to return to her parents and to her lover, with whom she had been on -the point of marriage; but the wild count only laughed, and forced her -to drink cup after cup of Rhenish wine, and to sing and play on her -ghittern.</p> - -<p>"One day, when he was caressing and endeavouring to console her in his -own rough way, he swore a terrible oath that he would love her till -death, and no one else!</p> - -<p>"Believe him not!" exclaimed a hollow voice behind—a voice like that -of the dead countess. At the same moment a lean and wasted arm and -hand, grasping a dagger, came out of the stone wall, and the count fell -dead, stabbed to the heart!</p> - -<p>"In his breast was found the countess's dagger—the same weapon that -had been buried with her!"</p> - -<p>As the count of Nassau concluded this strange story, they rode through -the dark archway into the barbican of the castle, which seemed old and -gloomy, even to Gray, who had come from a land of grim and guarded -fortresses.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /> - -<small>THE COURT OF GUELDRES</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Here he saw the king approaching,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">And he ended gallantly;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Left the crowd of knights about him,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Bending to the king his knee.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Poetry of Spain.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>As we have much to narrate, we must hasten over the mere diplomacy in -which the captain of the guard was concerned.</p> - -<p>Next day the duke's party traversed the marshes of Peeland, and reached -the city of Gueldres. A fleet horseman having been sent on before, Gray -was received with considerable state at the ducal castle, in honour of -the king, his master.</p> - -<p>The capital city of Gueldres was then surrounded by marshes which added -materially to its security, by making all approaches to it difficult -and dangerous to invaders or strangers. It was girt by ramparts and -deep trenches, through which flowed the river Niers, and thus it was -deemed the strongest place in Flanders.</p> - -<p>It was a curious little town of narrow streets, overshadowed by -galleried houses of quaint aspect, with projecting eaves and steep -roofs; old churches, grim and mysterious in architecture; and convents -with high and sombre walls. The mass of the population seemed to -be industrious Flemish artisans, mingled with the usual number of -peasants, who brought their wares to market; cowled monks, dozing at -the gates in the sunshine; and helmeted men-at-arms dicing and drinking -in the hostelries.</p> - -<p>Twenty great bombards were fired from the ramparts of the ducal -castle, as a salute in honour of Sir Patrick's arrival, and the great -banner of the duchy, <i>azure</i> a lion <i>or</i> crowned, for Gueldres; with a -lion <i>gules</i> for Zutphen, was displayed on the keep, while a body of -knights, archers, and well-mounted men-at-arms stood in military array -within the gates. Gueldres was then famous for its cavalry, and for -the spirit of its people, who were deemed so warlike, that to lessen -their military genius and secure the possession of that province in -his family, Charles V., in after times, excluded its natives from his -armies.</p> - -<p>The great ducal fortress, a portion of which was built in 878 by -Wichardus a Ponte, the first lord of Gueldres, on his marriage with a -daughter of the count of Zutphen, was deemed the strongest castle in -the Netherlands, till its demolition by the Prussians in 1764.</p> - -<p>There, in that old castle, situated amid the thick woods and rushlands, -through which the Niers flows towards the Maese, Gray was presented to -the duchess, Katherine of Cleves; to her daughter, the future queen of -Scotland; the little princess Mary, then in her ninth year; and to her -brother, prince Adolphus, by whose wickedness in after years the house -of Gueldres was ruined, and its possessions merged into the line of -Burgundy.</p> - -<p>For when Adolphus rebelled against his father, old Arnold d'Egmont, -and shut him up in a close prison, he was disinherited, and his title -and patrimony sold in 1473 to Charles the Terrible, Duke of Burgundy, -for a yearly pension of fourscore and ten thousand golden crowns of -the Rhine; but no thought or anticipation had they then of those dark -days that were coming, when civil war and misrule would rend the land -asunder; and so old Duke Arnold feasted royally the knight who had -come from the Scottish court, in presence of all his peers, the knights -of the duchy, the governors of the country districts, and the deputies -of Nimeguen, Arnheim, Ruremond, and Zutphen, his four great counties or -provinces.</p> - -<p>He presented him with a cassock, embroidered with gold and precious -stones, worth a thousand ducats. The Duchess Katherine in the name of -the princess, her daughter, entrusted him with a valuable ring for the -young king, her future son-in-law, to whose ministers letters were -prepared, expressive of the pleasure with which the coming ambassadors -would be received.</p> - -<p>Four days Sir Patrick remained at the castle of Gueldres, and then, -leaving with impatience to overtake the Douglases about Breda, he bade -adieu to the ducal court, and was convoyed, as the abbot of Tongland -relates, twelve miles on his way, as far as Wees, by Prince Adolphus, -the counts of Bommel and Nassau, with forty gentlemen on horseback "in -cassocks of brocade, each with a gold chain at his neck."</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick rejoiced when all this ceremony and state were over; when -he was once more alone, and at liberty to pursue his own way towards -Breda, which, however, he was fated never to reach.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.<br /> - -<small>A STRANGE RENCONTRE</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 30%;"> -"I wake to sad reality, the days of youth have fled—<br /> -The flower, the shrub, the velvet turf have long ere now been dead;<br /> -The brook that ran so merrily has ceased to bubble by,<br /> -The pebble bed whereon it flowed is broken up and dry."<br /> -</p> - - -<p>As Sir Patrick Gray had no desire to traverse again the swampy wastes -of the Peel Morass, with the chance of perhaps encountering, when -alone, Ludwig of Endhoven, and his ruffianly Brabanciones, he took the -way which led towards the principality of Ravenstein, intending to -cross the Maese and travel to Breda through Dutch Brabant.</p> - -<p>Eagerness to see, to meet, to rejoin Murielle, or to make his presence -there known to her, made him travel without delay; but in his ignorance -of the route, through a flat country, destitute of those strong natural -features, to which his eyes were accustomed at home, caused him -frequently to make mistakes and detours; thus the evening of the first -day found him only at the town of Grave, which had a fortress, situated -by the margin of the Maese, and of such strength that it was deemed -the Key of Gueldreland, and had thus been the object of many a bloody -contest between the dukes of Brabant and the earls of Holland.</p> - -<p>As the town was small, he soon found an hostelry, and delivered his -horse to the groom and his sword to the tapster, according to what was -then, and for long after, the custom in all places of entertainment; -but retained his chain shirt and dagger while he sat at supper in the -large public room, or chamber-of-dais, in which were two gentlemen, -apparently travellers like himself, and similarly employed, in deciding -upon the merits of broiled fowls and a stoup of Burgundy.</p> - -<p>Full of his own thoughts and of Murielle, reckoning the miles of flat -and monotonous Flemish scenery that lay between them, the hours that -must intervene ere he could see her; the mode in which he should -discover himself, the promises he would exact, and the vows he would -repeat, Gray took no notice of the strangers, who conversed freely, and -somewhat noisily, over their wine, their brusquerie of manner appearing -to increase as the twilight deepened with their potations; so that when -Gray was at last roused from his reveries and looked towards them, the -dusk was so great that he could scarcely discern their features.</p> - -<p>They were talking of the proceedings of the great ecclesiastical -council, which was then sitting in the Swiss archbishopric of Basle, -and of the laws it was framing for the extirpation of heresy—topics -upon which all men were beginning to question, or rather to <i>sound</i> -each other, as such questions, in those days of the stake and faggot, -were fraught with danger. They conversed in French; but finding that -Gray sat resolutely silent, one turned and said to him abruptly, "Pray, -sir, what think you of Procopius?"</p> - -<p>"Of—who?" said Gray, with hesitation.</p> - -<p>"Procopius, the Shaved."</p> - -<p>"The leader of the Hussites?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—the protesting heretics."</p> - -<p>"I think him a bold Bohemian captain," was the cautious reply.</p> - -<p>"What think you of his disputation at the holy council of Basle?" -continued the other.</p> - -<p>"I am not capable of judging."</p> - -<p>"Peste! Did he not bear hard on the monks?" persisted the querist.</p> - -<p>"I am not aware," replied Gray, with increasing reserve, "as I have not -heard; but what said he?"</p> - -<p>"At the head of two hundred gentlemen of his party, the valiant -Procopius came before the council, and stoutly maintained that monkery -was an invention of the devil.</p> - -<p>"'Can you prove this?' asked Cardinal St. Julien, while his face -flushed red as his stockings.</p> - -<p>"'Yes!' replied the Bohemian, stoutly.</p> - -<p>"'How?' thundered the cardinal, knitting his brows.</p> - -<p>"'Thus; will you deny that the Saviour did <i>not</i> institute it?'</p> - -<p>"'We do not.'</p> - -<p>"'Then,' quoth Procopius, ''tis plainly an invention of the devil,' -whereat Ænies Sylvius Piccolomini——"</p> - -<p>"He who was in Scotland?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; burst into a fit of laughter, which however did not prevent him -from committing several poor devils to the flames in the course of the -evening, where they spluttered and burned bravely for the amusement of -all good Catholics."</p> - -<p>"We have had some such work at home, where John Resby and Paul Crawar -have perished at the stake, for preaching doctrines which some term -false and others simply new."</p> - -<p>"How do <i>you</i> term them?" asked the second traveller.</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied Gray, "I am a soldier, and, being neither priest nor -clerk may not know the difference."</p> - -<p>"So you are of Scotland?" said the first stranger, suddenly -relinquishing his French for the old dialect then spoken by the upper -classes of the northern kingdom; "we bid you welcome, as countrymen. -Pray join us—and harkee, tapster, let us have lights and more wine—we -too, sir, are of Scotland."</p> - -<p>More Burgundy was promptly brought, and on four torch-like candles of -yellow wax being lighted in four great brass sconces, Gray was enabled -to observe the aspect and bearing of his fellow travellers, or rather -sojourners at the hostelry.</p> - -<p>Both had their hair cut closely round above their ears, in the -unbecoming fashion of twenty years before. They were moustached, but -had their beards and whiskers shaved off in what was then the Scottish -mode; they wore armour, with skirts composed of horizontal steel bands, -called taces, with circular epaulets, to protect the armpits from sword -thrusts, with spikes on the oriellets of their helmets.</p> - -<p>The tallest and most handsome forcibly recalled to Gray's memory -the late King James I.; he seemed to have something of that unhappy -monarch's voice too, but his air and manner, though soldierly and -stately, were reckless and blasé, and at times even abrupt and rough, -yet not altogether unpleasing.</p> - -<p>The other had pale grey cunning eyes, which were either bloodshot -by dissipation, or reddened by the fire of innate cruelty, and they -twinkled so far apart from his nose that it appeared almost impossible -for him to see an object with <i>both</i> at once, for each seemed to be -looking at the ear which adjoined it, and his hair and beard were a -fiery red. But what were the emotions of Gray, and how firmly did he -grasp his dagger, while a gust of fury filled his heart—a fury which -he had great difficulty in repressing—when, in this person we have -just described, he recognized that venal wretch, James Achanna!</p> - -<p>By the light of the sconces the latter and his companion had a full -view of Gray, but they seemed not to recognize him, for, as already -stated, the ghisarma of Earl James had laid both cheeks open, thus a -hideous wound traversed his whole face like a livid bar sinister. It -was slowly passing away, however, for the old duchess of Gueldres had -given him a rare balsam, which she said would effectually efface the -scars; but as yet they, and a new curl which Gray had fancifully given -his moustache, had so effectually altered his appearance, as to conceal -his identity from this ruffianly swashbuckler of the earl of Douglas.</p> - -<p>"So you are of Scotland, sir?" resumed the other traveller.</p> - -<p>"I am come from thence but lately," replied Gray; "and may I ask your -names?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly," replied our old acquaintance, with perfect confidence; "I -am James Achanna, a gentleman of the Lord Douglas, a name at which men -prick their ears in Nithsdale, whatever they may do in foggy Flanders."</p> - -<p>"And I," said the other, "am the Lord Rosse."</p> - -<p>"Rosse!" reiterated Gray; "pardon me, sir, but, under favour, we have -no such lord in Scotland."</p> - -<p>"Not when I am <i>out</i> of it," said he, laughing.</p> - -<p>"I know not the title," added Gray, coldly.</p> - -<p>"Indeed! one seems to be soon forgotten then. Shall I state to you more -fully that I am Robert Stewart, duke of Albany and earl of Rosse."</p> - -<p>"The son of Duke Murdoch!" exclaimed Gray, starting from his seat with -mingled surprise and respect.</p> - -<p>"Yes; son of that Duke Murdoch, who, with his second son, and Duncan, -earl of Lennox, was foully butchered at the Lady's Rock, before the -castle gates of Stirling. Vengeance has a long and bitter memory! and -by that extrajudicial murder, for such I will maintain it to be in the -face of Europe, I have been since boyhood an exile, a wanderer, and -now, when little more than thirty years of age, my hair is greyer than -my poor old father's was, when his venerable head rolled in the sand -beneath the doomster's axe."</p> - -<p>Gray bowed low, for respect to the royal blood was strongly graven then -in the hearts of the Scots, in none more than his, and Albany, though -exiled and outlawed, in consequence of the malpractices of his father -(who had been regent during the detention of James I. in England), was -the cousin of King James II.</p> - -<p>"And <i>you</i>, sir?" asked Albany, loftily.</p> - -<p>"I am your grace's most humble servant," replied Gray pausing, as he -dreaded to tell his name before Achanna, lest it might reveal to the -Douglases his royal mission, and blight his hope of meeting Murielle.</p> - -<p>"But your name, sir," said the duke, with growing displeasure; "your -name?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," added Achanna, imitating him, "we must have your name."</p> - -<p>"I am the laird of Luaig," replied Gray, with ready wit, taking the -name of a little obscure loch, which lies in a narrow glen near his -father's castle of Foulis.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXX.<br /> - -<small>BOLD SCHEMES</small>.</h2> - - -<p class="blockquot"> -Many have ruined their fortunes; many have escaped ruin by -want of fortune. To obtain it the great have become little, and -the little great.—<span class="smcap">Zimmerman.</span> -</p> - - -<p>"Luaig, laird of Luaig," said Albany, ponderingly; "I do not recognize -the name."</p> - -<p>"Lairds are plenty as heather hills in the far north country," said -Achanna, sneeringly.</p> - -<p>"And I have been long enough in France and elsewhere to forget even my -mother tongue, as well as my dear mother's face; yet she was Isabel of -Lennox," said Albany, sadly; "but lairds in the north are plenty, I -know."</p> - -<p>"And poor as plenty," added Achanna.</p> - -<p>"True, sir," said Gray, "and hence my mission here in Flanders."</p> - -<p>"How; I was just about to inquire," observed the duke; "seek you -knight's service?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; fortune has made me a free lance."</p> - -<p>"And ready to follow any banner?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; provided it find me in food, horse, and armour."</p> - -<p>"Then follow <i>me</i>," said Albany, "and ere long, my friend, I may find -work for your sword at home."</p> - -<p>"At <i>home</i>; do you mean in Scotland?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, in Scotland; how now, Achanna, why the devil dost twitch my -sleeve?"</p> - -<p>"As a warning that your grace should be wary."</p> - -<p>"Here thought and speech are free. True, we have not eaten a peck of -salt with our new friend, the laird of Luaig, but at this distance -from that bloody rock which lies before Stirling gate, we may trust -him nevertheless," said the reckless Albany, draining his wine cup at -a draught; "wilt follow me, Luaig—is it a bargain?" he added, holding -out his hand.</p> - -<p>"But whither goes your grace?"</p> - -<p>"To tread the same path my hapless father trod," replied the duke, with -something of dignity and pathos in his manner.</p> - -<p>"It may lead, alas!—--"</p> - -<p>"To the same bloody doom, you would say?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; I would pray your grace to be wary."</p> - -<p>"I care not; I shall live and die, Robert Stewart, duke of Albany and -earl of Rosse, if I die not something better."</p> - -<p>A cunning smile twinkled in the hawk-like eyes of the unfathomable -Achanna.</p> - -<p>"Sit with us, Luaig," said Albany; "my heart ever warms to my -countrymen, though cold as ice to my little cousin their king; and -there are times when I hope to close my eyes peacefully in the same -place where they first saw the light, the old castle of Rothesay by the -sea—the waves that flow through the bonnie kyles of Bute, and past the -hills of Cowal; but of all that more anon. Sit with us, sir, the more -the merrier."</p> - -<p>"With this poor stoup of wine?" said the prosaic Achanna, peering into -the tankard with one of his cunning eyes.</p> - -<p>"True, the old saw did not add that," said Albany, rattling the purse -at his girdle; "but gibe me not about it. What can be worse than having -too much liquor?"</p> - -<p>"Having none at all," returned the thirsty parasite.</p> - -<p>"<i>Laus Deo!</i> you are right, Achanna. Hallo, tapster! more wine, and -quickly too. Think of Robert of Albany having for a server that -slipshod varlet, who is all breeches and horn buttons! But you seem to -have been severely wounded, laird of Luaig?"</p> - -<p>"Almost to death," said Gray, and while Achanna, as if inspired by -some undefinable suspicion, surveyed him keenly, he writhed at having -to falsify so much, and trembled for the next question; but, on the -wine being placed on the table, the careless Albany filled their cups -to the brim, saying, "Drink, my friend, drink of this, it comes from -the land of old Duke Philip the Good, and you will find it better than -arquebusade," he added, referring to a medicinal lotion then famous for -gun-shot wounds.</p> - -<p>"May I ask in what direction your grace is travelling?" inquired Gray, -who had some anxiety in the matter.</p> - -<p>"The direction that suits our fancy," replied Achanna.</p> - -<p>"I spoke to the duke of Albany," said Gray, with a flash in his eye, -and a gush of fury through his heart.</p> - -<p>"True, and Albany can answer for himself," said the duke; "we are -travelling with all speed to overtake the earl of Douglas and his -friends."</p> - -<p>"Who are now at Breda?" said Gray, eagerly.</p> - -<p>"No; they are at—how name you the place, Achanna?"</p> - -<p>"Where?" asked Gray, as the latter hesitated.</p> - -<p>"At Bommel."</p> - -<p>"Is it distant?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, 'tis thirty miles nearer than Breda, and we shall reach it -to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"And to-morrow, perhaps, I may see <i>her</i>," thought the lover in his -heart.</p> - -<p>"To the great Earl James of Douglas, Abercorn, and Avondale, and to our -happy meeting," exclaimed Albany, draining another large cup of wine.</p> - -<p>Rendered reckless by years of disappointment, by dissipation, and -the mortifications incident to exile and dependence, the unfortunate -young duke, the victim of circumstances and the treasons of his -father, drank, as seemed to be his wont, deeply; and, as he did so, -unfolded unwittingly no doubt to Gray (and to the great discomposure -of Achanna), the extent and daring of the designs entertained by the -Douglases; and he continued to do so, regardless of their more wary and -more subtle follower, who, with one eye glistening apparently on each, -listened impatiently, and seemed to scrutinize Gray as if he would have -read his soul.</p> - -<p>That Albany should be plotting with Douglas to subvert the king's -power, or to usurp his crown, did not excite Gray's wonder; but his -heart almost died within him, when the duke, in a half-serious and -half-bantering way, mentioned incidentally, the proposed firmer and -more lasting alliance between the great earl and himself, by marriage -with Murielle Douglas; and had it not happened that the worthy master -James Achanna's dagger fell from its sheath upon the floor, and that -he had to stoop beneath the table to pick it up, keen and sharp as he -was, he could not have failed to remark the pallor which overspread -the lover's face, and the wild light that flashed in his eyes, at -this crushing information. However, rallying all his energies to seem -collected and cool, after a pause, Gray said,</p> - -<p>"But, under favour, is not your grace contracted to a daughter of -Charles VII. of France."</p> - -<p>"Yes; I believe my father, poor duke Murdoch, made some such -arrangement ere his head was cut off—when I was a child, and his -captive nephew, James I., was twangling on his ghittern to Jane -Beaufort in the gardens of Windsor."</p> - -<p>"Believe! are you not certain?" said Gray earnestly.</p> - -<p>"Since I have been among Hussites, Parisians, Bohemians, and -Germans, I have been certain of nothing my friend—not even of my -own existence—for this is a land of fog and philosophy; but I would -have been much more certain of that spousal contract, had Monseigneur -Charles the Victorious been a little more liberal with his French -crowns, and a little less so with his French compliments, as I could -live on the first, but not on the second. Moreover, I think my little -princess Radegonde is not quite pleased with me, since my affair with -Madame d'Armagnac."</p> - -<p>"Who is she?"</p> - -<p>"A woman more beautiful than Agnes Sorel—the lady of beauty. I have -seen them both together. And then, as the devil would have it, I got -embroiled with Madame la Marchale de Loheac, while her patriotic -husband was fighting those insolent English last year in Bretagne and -Anjou."</p> - -<p>"But—but, your grace," stammered Gray, who felt as if he was on the -eve of losing his Murielle for ever, "you are solemnly betrothed to -Mademoiselle of France."</p> - -<p>"I am—and what then?"</p> - -<p>"Such a contract cannot be broken."</p> - -<p>"Save by the pope, so the earl of Douglas is now on his way to Rome -with Dame Murielle; I mean to accompany them, and so may you, if you -care for attaching yourself to my fortunes, or misfortunes rather. That -contract, moreover, was made when my father was regent of Scotland, and -the king was a prisoner of war in England—and Mademoiselle of France -considers me but as an outlaw now." Then after humming a lively French -air, Albany said, "'tis said Murielle Douglas sings like a throstle, -when winging its way aloft on a beltane morning. The throstle!" he -added, letting his chin drop on his breast with an air of tipsy -sadness, "Ah! that makes me think of poor old Scotland, which, despite -these desperate plots, I may never see again, and my heart is wrung -within me, when I think of the bonnie birken woods that shed their -autumn leaves upon my mother's grave."</p> - -<p>After a pause Albany suddenly raised his head, and Gray was moved to -perceive that his fine dark eyes were full of tears; but he again -filled and drained his cup of wine, and it had the effect of completely -intoxicating him.</p> - -<p>"It has been arranged that your grace was to meet the earl on his -travel?" asked Gray.</p> - -<p>"Yes; and he sent our good friend Achanna, with a message inviting me -to join him and my intended little duchess at Bommel," replied Albany, -laughing; "and so I have been travelling so fast, that my horses must -have discovered an impatient lover was in the saddle; but what the -devil dost think was master Achanna's first information for me?"</p> - -<p>"I cannot guess," said Gray, not much interested in the matter.</p> - -<p>"That she has a lover already."</p> - -<p>"A lover!" exclaimed Gray, in a very different tone.</p> - -<p>"Aye, a lover here in Flanders," hiccuped Albany, while Gray sat -breathless, and toyed with his dagger in the shade.</p> - -<p>"His name?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray, captain of my dear cousin's royal guard. <i>Laus Deo!</i> -if I discover him, he is extremely likely to rot in Flemish earth, -while his papers may be of service to us."</p> - -<p>"How so?"</p> - -<p>"Because he is on a mission from the earl's three enemies—my cousin, -his regent Livingstone, and the chancellor Crichton—aid me to -discover—to kill him, and in Lennox, I will more than double your -lands of Luaig."</p> - -<p>"And object of this mission—"</p> - -<p>"Ah! that is just what we want to know, though many say, 'tis but to -Arnold d'Egmont of Gueldres, anent a royal marriage. But I'll brook no -lovers, no rivals, near my throne—<i>Laus Deo</i>, no! and I would give all -I have—not much certainly—to be as near this Sir Patrick Gray as I am -to <i>you</i> at this moment. But a friend of mine is on his track already, -I believe—one whom he cannot hope to escape."</p> - -<p>"A friend?" said Gray.</p> - -<p>"An unfortunate and valiant Count of Flanders."</p> - -<p>"Who?"</p> - -<p>"Ludwig of Endhoven, a captain of Brabanciones; by St. Christopher -our lover is not likely to escape <i>him</i>—eh, Achanna! but now let us -to bed—to bed; for we must be in our saddles by cockcrow to-morrow. -Achanna, your arm," said the poor young duke, staggering up; -"Lua-Luaig—fare, sir—fare you well."</p> - -<p>"Good night to your grace, and God be wi' you!" said Gray, opening and -closing the door as they separated.</p> - -<p>After the duke and Achanna were gone, he sat long and late, full of -anxious and bitter thoughts that came thick and fast upon him. He felt -agony at the idea of Murielle being about to be sacrificed to the wild, -ambitious, and revengeful schemes of the earl of Douglas and the duke -of Albany; and he actually trembled lest her heart might have changed -or her fancy have been dazzled, for he now remembered with pain the -banter of his comrade and kinsman, MacLellan. He pitied and despised -the outlawed duke, yet he trembled for the trouble, which he, with the -earl, when combined, might give the young king James, their master. He -was filled with wrath at the resolution, so fully expressed, to destroy -himself, and starting to his feet, he was about to get his sword from -the tapster, and summon Achanna forth into the moonlight, which shone -brightly, to upbraid him with his villany, and then kill him on the -spot; and in doing so, he would not have committed a crime, but have -acted simply in the spirit of the age. However, cooler reflection -showed that he might serve Murielle, the king, and himself better, by -preserving his incognito. So master Achanna, that utilitarian Scot, -who would have sold his own father and his mother to boot, without -compunction, slept that night without a yard of cold iron in his body.</p> - -<p>Yet, as it was impossible for Gray to travel with Duke Robert and this -scurvy companion to Bommel, he resolved to set forward alone. Thus, -after a restless night, he was up and mounted an hour before sunrise, -and while the frowsy haze hung thick and yellow over the pale-green -willow-copse of the Maese, veiling all Grave and the quaint old castle -of Otho, lord of Cuick and Haverale, he was far on his journey to -Bommel.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.<br /> - -<small>BOMMEL</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%"> -What mad jest is this, my masters?<br /> -I know not where the damsel lives, not I;<br /> -But see to it, that ye molest her not!—<span class="smcap">Old Play.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>After passing Alphen, Sir Patrick crossed an old stone bridge, and -found himself in the Bommelerwaard, a fertile island, formed by the -Waal and the Maese; and about noon, he reached the object of his -destination, the quaint and ancient town of Zalt-Bommel, which stands -upon the left bank of the former river.</p> - -<p>The ducal banner of Arnold d'Egmont was waving on the castle built by -Otho III. of Nassau, count of Gueldres, who walled the city in 1299, -and therein dwelt Jacques de Lalain, the governor, then named the -Dyck Graf, who kept the town in awe with his cannon, but more by his -sluices, by opening which, he could lay the whole district under water, -and drown every citizen in five minutes.</p> - -<p>While riding forward, Gray had revolved in his mind, a hundred plans -for making himself known to Murielle, but none seemed practicable; and -then, with no other conviction, than the double necessity for being -wary, and procuring a disguise, with a heart that beat lightly though -anxiously, he passed through the wide and busy streets of Bommel, -along the quays of its now choked-up harbour, and found quarters at an -hostelry, that stood near the gardens of the ancient college of Canons, -which was founded in 1303, by Reinold the warlike count of Gueldres.</p> - -<p>Here he sent for the keeper of a frippery, as a clothing establishment -was then named, and obtained the dress of a Muscovite merchant, a long -gown of brown cloth trimmed with red braid and sables, a cap of black -wolf's skin, and a short crooked sword, which he slung in front by a -brass chain, in the oriental fashion. He laid aside all his military -trappings, save his chain shirt, which the disguise he had adopted -completely concealed, and after dinner he sallied forth into the city -in quest of adventure and of Murielle.</p> - -<p>It was fortunate that he had obtained so complete a disguise and so -readily, for at the corner of a street he was overtaken by three -reckless horsemen, who passed at a hard gallop, and so closely, that he -was nearly ridden down.</p> - -<p>They were the very persons he wished to avoid—the duke of Albany, -count Ludwig of Endhoven, and James Achanna. He endeavoured to follow, -and see whither they went; but they rode rapidly, and were soon out of -sight.</p> - -<p>The masses of the population, their bustle, and the business they -seemed to transact, with the wealth and luxury he saw on every hand, -excited the astonishment of Gray, who had come from a land that was -simply warlike and pastoral; for in that age Flanders was the central -point of European commerce—the market of all the products of the -south, the north, and the Levant.</p> - -<p>"As in the course of human affairs," says Schiller, "here a licentious -luxury followed prosperity. The seductive example of Philip the Good -could not but accelerate its approach. The court of the Burgundian -dukes was the most voluptuous and magnificent in Europe, Italy itself -not accepted. The costly dress of the higher classes, which afterwards -served as patterns to the Spaniards, and eventually with the Burgundian -customs, passed over to the court of Austria, soon descended to the -lower orders, and the humblest citizen nursed his person in velvet -and silk. The pomp and vanity of dress were carried by both sexes to -extravagance. The luxury of the table had never reached so great a -height among any other people. The immoral assemblage of both sexes at -bathing-places, and others of reunion for pleasure and enjoyment, had -banished all shame."</p> - -<p>This state of society was new and bewildering to the plain soldier, who -had come from the hardy and frugal land of the "rough-footed Scots," as -he strolled along the thoroughfares of Bommel, disguised as a merchant -from Muscovy, without a word of the Muscovite language, and as ignorant -of whether he should pretend to import tallow, tar, hogsbristles, iron -and flax, or the preserved fruits and luscious wines of the sunny -Levant. Thus fearing that his disguise might lead him into a scrape -or predicament, he avoided the harbour and mercantile portions of the -city, and sought those in which he was most likely to meet some of the -earl's train, or discover his locality.</p> - -<p>After two days of hopeless inquiry, as the most prudent people are -at times the most rash, he conceived the idea of relinquishing his -disguise, of resuming his former attire, and applying to the Dyck Graf, -who was a Gueldrian noble, and by birth a Burgundian of high rank, when -luckily chance threw in his way the most fortunate person he could have -met.</p> - -<p>He had visited all the churches in time of mass and vespers, hoping to -see the earl, or some of his numerous retinue, and on the third day, -just as he was leaving, with a heavy heart, the gorgeously-carved porch -of St. Genevieve, he heard a familiar voice say—</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes, it is all very bad and wicked of the Burgundians no doubt; -but are not all the world so? When, through my humble efforts and the -agency of our Holy Father, the great master of evil is purified and -restored to the place he fell from, such things shall be no more. -<i>Veritas mea et misericordia mea cum ipso; et in nomine meo exaltabitur -cornuejus!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Oh, by good St. Genevieve, this can be no other than my worthy friend -and kinsman, the abbot of Tongland!" said Gray, joyously, as he pressed -through a crowd of bubous-shaped Flemings, towards where the old abbot, -who wore a travelling cassock and calotte cap, with long flaps, stood -near a pillar conversing with one whom he knew to be the chaunter of -the abbey, an official who conducted the choir and had charge of the -library, to increase the MS. stores of which, he had accompanied the -earl to the Continent.</p> - -<p>"Oh that I were now at Rome, instead of loitering here in Flanders," -resumed the abbot; "how many souls might yet be saved!"</p> - -<p>"The devil hath been long at his work, father abbot, since that -tempting day in the Garden of Eden," said Gray, laughing, as he took -the abbot's hand in his.</p> - -<p>"Good morrow, sir," said the churchman, coldly, as he scrutinized the -strange costume and scarred face of the speaker.</p> - -<p>"You do not know me?" exclaimed Sir Patrick.</p> - -<p>"Nay, sir, not I."</p> - -<p>"'Tis well," said Gray, with a bitter smile, as he remembered his -wound, "I seem a Muscovite, but the cowl does not make the monk. I -crave a word apart, lord abbot—I have that to say, which you must hear -alone."</p> - -<p>When they withdrew a pace or two back, Sir Patrick lifted his fur cap, -and displayed his features more fully.</p> - -<p>"Heaven grant us its peace," exclaimed the abbot, with astonishment; -"'tis my kinsman, Gray of Foulis!"</p> - -<p>"Hush," said Gray, placing a hand upon his mouth.</p> - -<p>"Rash boy, and bold as rash, what seek you here in Flanders?" asked the -abbot, with gloom, alarm, and almost anger expressed in his face.</p> - -<p>"I came on the king's service; but now I seek Murielle Douglas—and -Murielle I shall see, father!"</p> - -<p>"Beware, lest you find death instead."</p> - -<p>"I know the penalty, if discovered," said Gray carelessly; "but in this -disguise, and with a face so altered, I may escape, as I have already -eluded, the penetrating eyes of the villain Achanna."</p> - -<p>"But the earl—he whose projects are so high—so deep—so terrible!" -urged the priest in a whispered voice of agony.</p> - -<p>"He will not dare to touch me here in a fortified town—"</p> - -<p>"What! You expect Earl James to be a saint in Gueldreland, though he is -a devil in Galloway? What saith Horace—that those who cross the seas -change their climate but <i>not</i> their mind."</p> - -<p>"I know with what intention <i>he</i> has crossed the seas, and for what -object he will return."</p> - -<p>"You do!" said the abbot, in a husky whisper.</p> - -<p>"Aye, as well as you, father abbot, who are the keeper of that pretty -burden, his conscience. I have seen, yea, and supped with, Robert, duke -of Albany."</p> - -<p>"Hush!" said the abbot, glancing at his chaunter.</p> - -<p>"Ah—'tis your turn to say <i>hush</i> now."</p> - -<p>"You have seen him—this poor outlawed prince?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and spent an evening with him—an interesting, if not a jovial -one, certainly; and in his cups, he unfolded some very pretty schemes, -concerning which, I shall be silent, until I tread again the streets of -Edinburgh."</p> - -<p>"Oh, be wary, kinsman—be wary!" said the abbot, in a voice that -betrayed increasing alarm.</p> - -<p>"The duke modestly asked me to aid in a little plot against my <i>own</i> -life, and made me several fair offers to lure me to his service against -the king."</p> - -<p>"Offers, of what?"</p> - -<p>"Lands and titles."</p> - -<p>"He is liberal, as that Fell Spirit, who took our Lord unto the -mountain top, and offered Him cities and empires, when he had not an -inch of land to give—not even the mud that adhered to his cloven hoof. -Oh, that I were now at Rome!"</p> - -<p>"But Murielle is to be made the tool—the victim of these desperate -plotters—and you know it, father, you know it!"</p> - -<p>"Ah," said the abbot, with a groan, "there you sting my inmost heart."</p> - -<p>"Then how must <i>mine</i> be stung? but you will enable me to meet—to -console her?"</p> - -<p>"I—impossible!"</p> - -<p>"There is nothing impossible in it," continued Gray, with earnestness; -"you must—you shall! Ah, I do not threaten you—I implore. Think -of all we have suffered for each other; think of what we may yet be -condemned to suffer, by those, whom Evil Fortune seems to have made the -arbiters of our destiny."</p> - -<p>"'Tis very sad, and very true," replied the abbot, slowly, "but I -<i>dare</i> not."</p> - -<p>"You are a priest, and may dare anything," exclaimed</p> - -<p>Gray, passionately, "and here I swear, that if you do not take me to -Murielle, or bring her to me—in short, if you do not enable us to -meet, by all that we revere in heaven and on earth, and by the bones of -St. Genevieve, I will cast myself in the earl's path, and brave him and -his followers to the last; and you know what is sure to ensue <i>then</i>."</p> - -<p>"Your instant destruction."</p> - -<p>"Promise me—promise," urged Gray, in whose eyes the tears were -starting as he pressed the hands of the old abbot.</p> - -<p>The latter was kind and gentle hearted, and loved his young kinsman too -well to withstand his entreaties long; he felt his resolution waver, -and strangely enough became a little irritated.</p> - -<p>"By St. Bryde, of Douglas, I would we had never met," he exclaimed; -"although Sir Patrick, the sequel might have been the worse for you."</p> - -<p>"Where does she reside?"</p> - -<p>"With the earl and countess," replied the abbot, briefly.</p> - -<p>"Of course," said Gray, impatiently, "but, where are they?"</p> - -<p>"In a house belonging to the Dyck Graf, and adjoining the great church -and the college of canons. I am to-night to bring her—"</p> - -<p>"Where, father—where?"</p> - -<p>"To this church of St. Genevieve."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how happy was the chance that brought me hither! You will allow me -to go with you?"</p> - -<p>"Impossible—never; by my habit, my order—"</p> - -<p>"Why—why?"</p> - -<p>"Your relations with her, and my office—"</p> - -<p>"Your office will protect us; it is ordained that you should succour -those in distress, and Murielle and I are both in need of succour. -Father Abbot—dear kind friend, you agree."</p> - -<p>"Be then silent and wary, and meet me at the porch here, at the hour of -seven this evening," replied the abbot, suddenly giving way.</p> - -<p>"God will reward you—I never can—adieu, adieu!" said Gray, in the -fulness of his heart, and in a voice which became husky with emotion, -as he hastened into the street, with a giddy head and a light heart, -muttering: "I shall see her—to-night I shall see her! but ah, by the -dial, it lacks five hours of the time!"</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.<br /> - -<small>THE CHURCH OF ST. GENEVIEVE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">When stars are in the quiet skies,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Then most I pine for thee;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Bend on me then thy tender eyes,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">As stars look on the sea!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">For thoughts, like waves that glide by night,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Are stillest when they shine;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Mine earthly love lies hush'd in light,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 36%;">Beneath the heaven of thine.—<span class="smcap">Bulwer.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>To Gray it appeared as if the day would never pass, and he spent the -hours of it in thinking over all he would say to Murielle, and all she -might probably reply. He glanced at his mirror—would the scar on his -face shock her? Doubtless, but she would love him the more for it, -and then it would wear away in time. Then he consulted the gnomons of -the sun-dials at the street corners, and the clocks of the numerous -churches, and to the eyes of an impatient lover, the shadows of the -former, and the hands of the latter, seemed alike to stand still.</p> - -<p>Yet inevitable Time, which may neither be anticipated or withheld, -passed slowly, and surely on. The shadows of the quaint streets, of the -carved and traceried steeples, and of the battlemented castle, with its -grey old walls and muddy sluices, fell far to the eastward, along the -grassy meadows of the Bommelerwaard; the storks were already in their -nests on the steep old gables, and long before the appointed hour, Gray -was at the porch of St. Genevieve, where, with anxious eyes, he scanned -the passengers, and the thoroughfares in every direction.</p> - -<p>At last <i>seven</i> tolled from the spire, and every stroke reverberated -in his heart. They had not yet come, and just as a sigh of impatience -escaped him, a hand was laid upon his shoulder; he turned, and beheld -the abbot of Tongland, and standing behind him, on the upper step of -the porch, a pace or two within the church, was a lady, wearing a -Flemish hood and veil. Gray's heart rose to his lips, as he sprang -towards her, and pressed in his the hands of Murielle.</p> - -<p>"Beware, Sir Patrick," said the abbot, "we cannot permit such -transports here, and in view of the passers, too! Retire into the north -aisle, while I betake me to the south, for I have still some leaves of -my daily office to read; and when that is over, I shall rejoin you. Be -secret—be wary!"</p> - -<p>With this advice, the politic old Churchman left Gray and Murielle to -themselves, being perfectly well aware that his presence, could in no -way enhance the joy of this sudden interview.</p> - -<p>The quiet tenderness of Murielle moderated the ardor of Gray; both -trembled with the depth of their emotions, and the girl's eyes were -full of tears of affection and fear, for she felt as if Gray had been -restored to her from the tomb, and sometime passed before she could -speak with coherence.</p> - -<p>"Ah, that I should miss your presence here for a moment," said Gray, -"but I was watching the passers in the streets."</p> - -<p>"While I watched <i>you</i> from the church!"</p> - -<p>"And how did you enter it—I have been an hour at the porch."</p> - -<p>"We came by the postern, which adjoins the great garden of the Dyck -Graf's mansion."</p> - -<p>"Where you reside?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"And the earl, too?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—but he is hunting with the Dyck Graf. Oh, these wounds on your -face," said Murielle, stroking his cheek with her pretty hands, and -kissing it; "oh, mother of God, what must you have suffered?"</p> - -<p>"More than tongue can say, Murielle, and more in mind than in body; but -these scars are the relict of that dreadful day, when Earl James so -mercilessly struck me down, as I besought mercy or quarter—not for my -own sake, but for <i>yours</i>."</p> - -<p>"And when I thought to have died—great is my wonder that I did not, -for strenuously the earl, the countess, and all in Thrave strove to -convince me of your death."</p> - -<p>"But you received my letter, by Sir Thomas—my good and brave -MacLellan?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—and it restored me to hope, to life as it were, by the assurance -that you lived—you, whom all about me wished should die."</p> - -<p>Gray drew her close to his heart, and a soft sweet smile overspread -the childlike face, while he pressed to his again and again the little -rosebud mouth. At that moment he heard something like a cough or snort; -Gray looked round, but saw only the shadows of the pillars that lay in -long lines across the tessalated floor of the church.</p> - -<p>"I thought, Murielle, I should have gone mad with perplexity when I saw -you at Antwerp," said Gray.</p> - -<p>"At Antwerp—you saw me there?" replied Murielle, a little beam of -gratified vanity lighting up her eyes.</p> - -<p>"In the procession of the assumption; but the strange part you -bore—how came that about?"</p> - -<p>"Through the desire of the earl and the bishop of Mechlin (or as some -name him, Malines), whom he knew in Scotland as secretary to the Legate -Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini; but, believe me, I had no desire to appear -as I did."</p> - -<p>"And how long do you remain in Bommel?"</p> - -<p>"A week."</p> - -<p>"Thank heaven! then we shall meet often. Have—have you yet seen the -outlawed duke of Albany?" asked Gray; hesitating with the question, -while burning with impatience for the answer.</p> - -<p>"No," said Murielle, blushing in spite of herself; "I have declined."</p> - -<p>Gray pressed her to his breast.</p> - -<p>"You know then, dearest, of what the earl is capable," said he; "of -forcing you to become the bride of another, who will further his -designs and strengthen his power at home and abroad."</p> - -<p>"Yes—yes," replied Murielle, weeping; "I knew it—already has he -broadly hinted as much."</p> - -<p>"Already!"</p> - -<p>"And commanded me to obey; ah, pardon me for making this admission!" -said she imploringly.</p> - -<p>"Pardon you?" reiterated Gray.</p> - -<p>"Yes; but the earl rarely condescends to hint."</p> - -<p>"Oh my beloved heart!"</p> - -<p>"I meant not to add to your griefs, dearest, by naming a rival whose -rank renders him so formidable,—but—but—" tears choked her utterance.</p> - -<p>"And this rival is the duke of Albany—a French minion—an outlaw; the -son of a traitor who plotted for the lawless detention of James I., in -England; a roué and swashbuckler, who consorts with the robber, Ludwig -of Endhoven!"</p> - -<p>"'Tis indeed he, to whom they would sacrifice me," said Murielle, -clasping her poor little tremulous hands, and weeping bitterly. Gray -remained silent for some moments, while love, pity, and alarm wrung his -heart by turns.</p> - -<p>"I know it—I know it," said he gloomily, "for Albany's own lips -informed me."</p> - -<p>"You see, dear Gray, to what lengths Douglas and my sister will go in -their thirst for vengeance. The young king dethroned or slain; his -banished cousin crowned by English aid as Robert IV., the house of -Douglas would become more powerful than ever, and thus attain in the -land a strength which none could crush, and before which Livingstone -and Crichton assuredly must fall."</p> - -<p>The vista these projects opened up, when thus plainly stated, startled -even the gallant heart of Gray!</p> - -<p>"But Albany dare not," said he huskily, while grasping his dagger; -"<i>this</i> should end his treason long ere it reached the mature length -his father's did."</p> - -<p>"Douglas and Albany will dare anything," sobbed Murielle; "alas, poor -me! I am, my sister says, but a child, and a very weak one in their -iron hands."</p> - -<p>"Then be a woman—let us escape and seek safety by flight together. We -are but thirty miles from the sea, where we can soon find a ship for -Scotland, and ere the earl's return we may be ready to defy him."</p> - -<p>"Oh to what would you tempt me?"</p> - -<p>"To save yourself and me. Once wedded, once again in Scotland, under -the protection of the king, a boy though he be, we might defy your -kinsman and all his followers."</p> - -<p>"Oh no—no!" said Murielle, shaking her head mournfully.</p> - -<p>"To Gueldres then. Duke Arnold will succour and protect us," urged Gray -vehemently.</p> - -<p>"Worse still!"</p> - -<p>"Oh Murielle, in pity to yourself and me——"</p> - -<p>"Nay, nay, this must not be," said the abbot of Tongland angrily, as -he came suddenly forward; "Sir Patrick Gray, this is a breach of faith -with me. In friendship to her, and you my kinsman—for I dearly love -you both—I permitted this meeting; but have no intention that it shall -take a turn so startling—so dangerous for the honour of Lady Murielle, -and for the lives of us all perhaps! Come—come with me lady, we must -return at once."</p> - -<p>"But we shall meet again,—good Father Abbot, say we shall meet again?" -urged Gray.</p> - -<p>"Once, I promise you, once ere we leave Bommel, on the <i>third</i> evening -from this, at the <i>same</i> hour," said the abbot, hurrying Murielle away, -for at that moment several Flemish ecclesiastics entered the church.</p> - -<p>As Gray wished to avoid every one, he withdrew; but resolved that, come -what might of it, in his next interview with Murielle, to save her from -the perils that were impending. She still loved him truly, and there -was every consolation in the knowledge that she did so; yet her love -would not save her from Albany when Douglas chose to play the tyrant.</p> - -<p>But the abbot's <i>protégé</i>, the serpent, was abroad, and there were many -mischiefs to be plotted and many to be worked ere Murielle could be -saved from her persecutors.</p> - -<p>As she and the abbot passed through the postern door which opened from -one of the aisles into the garden of the Dyck Graf—a door over which -there may be seen to this day, a strange sculpture of a mitred cat -preaching to twelve little mice—a man who had evidently been listening -shrunk back into the shade. This person was the somewhat ubiquitous -James Achanna, who, inspired alike by impatience and malevolence, -repaired immediately to his lord and chief the earl.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br /> - -<small>HOUSE OF THE DYCK GRAF</small>.</h2> - -<p class="blockquot"> -With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate -amount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible -individual to do indescribable mischief.—<span class="smcap">Washington Irving.</span> -</p> - - -<p>While the lonely Sir Patrick Gray, full of sombre and exciting -thoughts, retired to his hostelry to consider and to plan the -deliverance of Murielle from her own family, the house of Messire -Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf or hereditary governor of Bommel, -which had been assigned as a temporary residence to the powerful -Scottish noble and his retinue, became brilliantly lighted up.</p> - -<p>In the principal chamber were grouped together many of the personages -whom we last saw together, at the abbot's house in Edinburgh, on that -eventful evening of November, 1440. It was noble in aspect, loftily -ceiled, and floridly decorated in the Flemish fashion of that age -of profusion, the walls and roof being covered with quaint devices -and heraldic blazons, by Jan Van Eyck, a native of Maeseyk, who, in -1410, attained great perfection in the mixing of oil colours. Within -a fireplace, lined with Dutch tiles, blazed a pile of logs across the -massive bar of the and-irons. On an oaken buffet stood a gigantic lion, -formed entirely of Delft ware, the crest of Gueldres, as it sprang from -a ducal crown. From the ceiling hung a gilded chandelier, a veritable -pyramid of candles, which shed a flood of light upon the guests below.</p> - -<p>And striking groups they formed, the ladies having long veils of the -richest white lace, falling from the summits of their lofty horned -head-dresses; while their other garments, cote-hardies and skirts, were -of the finest silk, taffeta, and gauze, covered with pearls, jewels, -and embroidery; the hues and fashion of the attire of all these noble -demoiselles making them resemble the queens of clubs and spades, just -as we may see them on a pack of cards.</p> - -<p>The apparel of the gentlemen was much of the same material—gay in -colour, and gorgeous as embroidery and jewels could make it, with -here and there a richly engraved cuirass of Milan plate, a gorget of -burnished steel, or a diamond studded dagger-hilt, to impart a military -character to the wearer.</p> - -<p>An old cavalier, with a high bald forehead, a beard so long that -Ferdinand of Toledo might have envied it, and who wore the mantle and -jewel of the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, was conversing in French with -the earl of Douglas. He was Jacques de Lalain, a noble Burgundian -knight, hereditary Burg Graf of the town and castle of Bommel. While -seeming to converse with the earl, who was speaking of King Charles -VII. and Duke Philip the Good, and what might result from a war between -France and Burgundy, with the adverse parts which Scotland and England -were certain to take therein, he was gazing with pleasure on a group of -Scottish girls, who by the fine carriage of their heads, their general -bearing, and more than all by the whiteness of their hands, evinced -that they inherited the best blood and highest breeding in the land.</p> - -<p>They were, in fact, the Countess Margaret and Murielle, her sister; the -countess of Ormond; dark-eyed Maud Douglas, of Pompherston; Mariota, of -Glendoning; the golden-haired Caillean Rua; Lady Jean, of Cairnglas; -and the three daughters of Sir Alan Lauder. The gentlemen who conversed -with them, and played at chess with some, at tables (an old name for -backgammon) with others, were the knights and esquires of the earl's -retinue.</p> - -<p>Amid these were two persons already introduced to the reader—Robert, -duke of Albany, and Ludwig, count of Endhoven, whom as a simple -Burgundian knight, he had, with his usual recklessness, dared to -introduce to this high circle.</p> - -<p>It was not without secret emotions of pleasure and satisfaction, -that the <i>blasé</i> royal outlaw beheld the girlish beauty of Murielle. -Though in no mood for marrying, and long since used to consider women -only as tools or playthings, to be cast aside when no longer needed, -he conceived that he might find such a wife, for a time, the reverse -of a tedium or an encumbrance; and, that on the simple condition of -wedding her, he could enter with ardour into those daring schemes which -promised vengeance to Douglas and a throne to himself.</p> - -<p>Gay, handsome, and richly dressed, he leaned upon the high back of her -chair, and insisted on conversing with her, flattering himself that -he was making considerable progress, though the memory of Gray's sad -loving eyes, and of his lover's kiss, yet lingered in her mind; but she -was too well bred to treat the duke as he deserved; too gentle and too -timid to repel him; and, moreover, too proud to acknowledge the footing -upon which he affected to place himself with her—a position on which -she was daily rallied by the countess and her ladies of the tabourette, -until her little heart waxed wroth.</p> - -<p>There were times also, when Albany, piqued by a coldness and reserve -that were new to him, actually nursed himself into the conviction that -he was desperately in love with this little beauty—if love in a heart -so <i>roué</i> were a possibility.</p> - -<p>Near them sat Count Ludwig, affecting to be entirely occupied with a -bloodhound, which the Dyck Graf had presented to the countess. It was a -spotless dog, of "Black St. Hubert's breed," but <i>white</i> as snow, and -was named Souyllard, after that famous hound of the prince of Lorraine, -which is thus extolled in the "Noble Art of Venerie:"</p> - -<p class="center"> -"My name first came from holy Hubert's race;<br /> -Souyllard my sire, a hound of singular grace." -</p> - -<p>The reckless Ludwig, as he gazed on the beauty of Murielle, began to -conceive some very daring schemes on his own account, as his armed -Brabanciones, to the number of some hundreds, lurked in the Peel morass -and woods on the other side of the Waal. He allowed his imagination -to run riot, and while affecting to caress the powerful hound on the -one hand, and converse with the abbot of Tongland on the other, he saw -before him only the sweet girl's gentle eyes, which drooped, and her -little coral mouth, which paled, whenever his bold glance fell on her.</p> - -<p>The abbot and she exchanged smiles from time to time. He was full -of commiseration and alarm for Sir Patrick Gray, whose preceptor he -had been, and he was thinking of that peaceful and pleasant time in -Tongland Abbey, when he was wont to take him once daily to read the -works of St. Augustine, or a page of the Gospels in old monkish Latin. -Each of these stood under an iron grating in the church, where a leaf -of them was turned daily for the behoof of the learned or the pious; -but Gray and MacLellan, like wayward boys, to get rid of the task which -bored them, stole the key of the grille, and threw it into the Dee.</p> - -<p>The poor old abbot had very little idea of the real character of the -personage with whom he was conversing; and the reader may imagine the -astonishment with which the robber count listened to him, and the -undisguised merriment with which he treated his great project regarding -the restoration of the Man of Sin. In short, Count Ludwig deemed our -worthy abbot neither a well-deserving divine nor eccentric pedant, but -a veritable madman, and so often muttering several times, "Der Teufel -hole dich!" or "Sangdieu!" and so forth, he ceased to listen, and -continued to gaze covertly at Murielle.</p> - -<p>The recent interview with her lover gave a brilliance to her beauty, -and a radiance to her expression; her slight but finely rounded form, -being clad in cloth of silver under a robe of white gauze, seemed to -stand forth in brilliant relief from the dark tapestry of the room. A -silver caul confined her hair; her ornaments were all Scottish pearls, -and everything about her appeared pure, girlish, and angelic—and so -thought both the <i>roué</i> duke and the ruffian count.</p> - -<p>Her eyes wandered frequently to the latter, though he terrified her, -and she knew not why; but she pitied him for having such a terrible -scar on his face, and it made her think of Patrick Gray. Little -dreaming that <i>his</i> sword had inflicted it, she timidly inquired of the -duke where that wound was received.</p> - -<p>"In a battle with the Burgundians," replied the others readily, "a -desperate one, when he slew all their men-at-arms."</p> - -<p>"But is not he of Burgundy?" said Murielle with surprise.</p> - -<p>"Ah, true; I meant to say with the French—but they fight so many," -added the unabashed duke.</p> - -<p>After this Murielle relapsed into silence, for she listened to Albany -rather than conversed with him. Hitherto she had steadily refused to -meet him; but she was too little in stature and too gentle in spirit -to be a <i>heroine</i> either in romance or history; and perceived now the -futility of resisting further to receive him, as it had been arranged -that the duke was to accompany the earl to Rome, to the end that during -the journey he might ingratiate himself with her, and that <i>there</i> the -marriage would be performed, after his betrothal to Mademoiselle of -France had been cancelled by the Vatican—a measure which the French -king, since Albany's change of fortune and position, most earnestly -desired.</p> - -<p>And now James Achanna entered, with a smile spreading over his cat-like -visage, when he saw how this goodly company were grouped.</p> - -<p>He wished to gain the ear of the earl, but that formidable personage -was conversing with the Dyck Graf.</p> - -<p>When approaching he passed close to Murielle, who, while seeming to -listen to Albany, was lost in reverie, and was unconsciously drawing -from her pretty finger a pearl ring which Gray in happier times had -given her. At that moment it suddenly slipped from her hand, and rolled -among the rushes of the floor.</p> - -<p>Quick as his wicked thought, Achanna let his handkerchief drop in the -same place, and adroitly picked them up together.</p> - -<p>"Good," he muttered, "this may prove useful."</p> - -<p>We shall soon see what use he made of this ring.</p> - -<p>Cautious in action, stealthy in step and eye, sharp in question -but vague in answer—his eyes and ears ever open, and his tongue -always prepared to speak in an age when men were slower in word than -deed,—James Achanna was indeed a fitting tool for an unscrupulous -feudal lord. Taking the opportunity of the Dyck Graf addressing a few -words to the countesses of Douglas and Ormond, he said to the earl in -a whisper,—"Would it please you, my lord, to play a game with me at -tables?"</p> - -<p>Then perceiving that the earl glanced at him with some disdain in his -eye and hauteur in his manner, the politic Achanna added in a low -voice,—"I have that to say which must be said instantly, and which -none must overhear."</p> - -<p>"Oh, we are to play a double game!" replied the earl with a sudden -glance of intelligence; "bring hither the tables, the men, and the -dice."</p> - -<p>Achanna and he withdrew into the recess of a window. The tables were -speedily opened, the men were marshalled, and the game began; but -Achanna waited until his lord should make the first move.</p> - -<p>"Proceed," said the latter impatiently.</p> - -<p>"I am, then, to make the first move?"</p> - -<p>"If it please you—begin."</p> - -<p>They bent their heads near, as if interested in the game, and proceeded -to push their men about vaguely, but vigorously.</p> - -<p>"I told you, my lord, that I had met a certain Laird of Luaig," -commenced Achanna.</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes, at Grave."</p> - -<p>"Well, I had my suspicions that the pretended laird of Luaig was no -other than he we all wot of."</p> - -<p>"Whom mean you—Gray?"</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis, captain of the king's guard; and now my -suspicions are confirmed."</p> - -<p>The earl started, and his eyes flashed with dusky fire, but controlling -his emotion he simply asked,—"How?"</p> - -<p>"I discovered him by watching the Lady Murielle. Cogsbones! I knew that -the cock bird would soon find the hen."</p> - -<p>"Sirrah," said the earl frowning, "you speak of a sister of the -countess of Douglas—quick to the point, lest I hang you from that -window by one of the curtain ropes!"</p> - -<p>"Your pardon, Lord Earl; my speech is ruder than my thoughts," cringed -the other.</p> - -<p>"Quick!" continued the earl, almost grinding his teeth.</p> - -<p>In a few words Achanna rapidly related the interview, which, <i>by -chance</i>, he had overheard, in the church of St. Genevieve, and the -earl was filled by such a tempest of anger that he became all but -speechless; yet by a great effort of self-control, an effort the more -painful that such exertion was quite unusual—he contented himself -by glaring from under his black bushy eyebrows at poor unconscious -Murielle with an expression as if he would have annihilated her.</p> - -<p>"Think you the abbot took her there to meet him?" he asked in a hoarse -whisper.</p> - -<p>"Where?"</p> - -<p>"Thou ass! to the church of St. Genevieve?"</p> - -<p>"Heaven forfend! no; 'twas he who saved her from Gray," whined the -sycophant vassal.</p> - -<p>"It is well," said the earl in a quiet voice, but with fury still -kindling in his eye and quivering on his lip; "were it otherwise, by -St. Bryde, I'd unfrock and scourge him through these streets of Bommel -with a horse halter, a mitred abbot and my confessor though he be!"</p> - -<p>"Who, think you, my lord, brought to Lady Murielle at Thrave, the -tidings that Gray still lived?"</p> - -<p>"I would give this golden chain to know."</p> - -<p>"I overheard——"</p> - -<p>"His name—his name?"</p> - -<p>"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie."</p> - -<p>"Gray's kinsman, the lieutenant of the guard?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, my lord," said Achanna, sweeping into his girdle pouch the gold -chain which the earl quietly passed to him; "and long ago I had further -proof that it was he."</p> - -<p>"But for the assurance she received, by letter, of Gray's existence, -she would now, I doubt not, have been duchess of Albany, and might have -spared us this journey to Rome."</p> - -<p>"You remember, my lord, that the letter was tied to an arrow, which -struck the turf at her feet as she walked by the side of the Dee?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I remember to have heard so."</p> - -<p>"I found that arrow, and a week after, Malise MacKim, the smith, -found a quiver full lying among the rushes. The two chevrons <i>sable</i> -of MacLellan were painted on it, and the letter which bore the arrow -was one of the same sheaf, the same shaft, notch, and feather; for, -but a week before, Sir Thomas had bought them in the Friars Wynd, at -Dumfries, as he passed south from Edinburgh."</p> - -<p>"So, so!" said the earl, grinding his teeth; "if God and St. Bryde of -Douglas permit me once again to cross the bridge of Dumfries I shall -have a vengeance on MacLellan, so sure and deadly, that all Scotland -shall ring with it from sea to sea."</p> - -<p>And terribly the earl kept his vow.</p> - -<p>"But where," he added, "is our lover at present?"</p> - -<p>"That I have yet to discover."</p> - -<p>"The Dyck Graf," began the earl, starting up; but Achanna caught his -sleeve, saying, "Nay, nay, my lord, he will be certain to protect him. -We cannot make a raid in Flanders as we might in Nithsdale."</p> - -<p>"True, we must be secret. Oh, that I had them both, this Gray and -MacLellan within ten Scottish miles of our gallows knob at Thrave, I -would soon mar the interference of the one and the wooing of the other. -I would summon all the Corbies in Deeside to his spousals."</p> - -<p>"Leave the sequel to me, lord earl," said Achanna, in a low impressive -whisper, "and Sir Patrick shall be punished even to <i>your</i> heart's -content."</p> - -<p>"Assure me but of that, Achanna, and thou shalt pocket a thousand -silver crowns," said Douglas, pressing the hand of his trusty vagabond.</p> - -<p>With his natural ferocity of disposition, and being usually in the -habit of giving full vent to every gust of fury, the earl found great -difficulty in preserving an aspect of external composure during the -remainder of the evening; but immediately on the Dyck Graf's departure -for the castle of Bommel, the company broke up, and Douglas prepared to -retire, with a scowl on his brow, and bitterness in his heart.</p> - -<p>"God—den to you, father abbot; art still labouring hard to ruin the -empire of the prince of darkness? Oh, if ever thou shouldst fall into -<i>his</i> hand!" said he with a mocking laugh, as he passed the worthy -churchman, who started at the sound, for Douglas seldom laughed, and -<i>never</i> in merriment.</p> - -<p>Achanna and Count Ludwig, who had been extremely ill at ease in the -vicinity of the Dyck Graf, now withdrew together to plot mischief and -to discover Gray.</p> - -<p>"James Achanna," said Albany, as they were bowing themselves out, -"remember that I am to see you to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"At Carl Langfanger's auberge, <i>The Forester</i>."</p> - -<p>"Yes, at noon."</p> - -<p>"I am at the disposal of your <i>highness</i>," said Achanna, using the -title by which kings were then addressed in Scotland and England.</p> - -<p>Albany started, and the colour mounted to his usually pale temples as -he said, "Sir, I desire that you will not address me thus."</p> - -<p>"Why!" asked the earl with surprise as he paused in the doorway.</p> - -<p>"Because I consider it premature, and as such unlucky."</p> - -<p>"Your grace, perhaps, is right," replied the earl, gloomily, and -somewhat contemptuously; "however, time will show."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br /> - -<small>NOON—THE PLOT</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -'Twas thus these cozening villains laid their scheme<br /> -Against his life, his youth, and comeliness:<br /> -Woe worth the end!—<span class="smcap">Old Play.</span> -</p> - - -<p>Three miles from the southern gate of Bommel, on the road which led to -Ameldroyen, there stood a solitary auberge, or wayside tavern. It was -named <i>The Forester</i>, from the circumstance that on a signboard it had -a hideous representation of a hunter sounding a horn, and this passed -for a likeness of Liderick du Bucq, the first forester of Flanders.</p> - -<p>The signboard, moreover, informed the passers, in tolerably-spelt -Flemish, that there was entertainment for man and horse, with good -German beer within; while a green <i>bush</i>, which hung over the door in -the more ancient fashion, announced that there also could be had the -good wines of Alicant and Burgundy, with perhaps the strong waters of -Anjou and Languedoc, <i>i.e.</i>, brandy.</p> - -<p>The country in its vicinity was lonely, and thinly populated. Save -a wind-mill or two, and a gibbet on an eminence, with a man hanging -thereon between the spectator and the sky, there was little to be seen -but the dense forest, which then spread for miles along the banks of -the river Waal, and away towards Bois-le-duc and Ravenstein.</p> - -<p>This auberge, a rickety old house, the roof and walls of which some -masses of ivy and woodbine alone seemed to hold together, was kept by -Carl Langfanger, an old Brabancione, or disbanded soldier; and it was, -in fact, one of the many secret rendezvous of Count Ludwig's military -outlaws.</p> - -<p>On the day after the night just described, three horsemen arrived at -the auberge about noon, and within ten minutes of each other. They -placed their horses in a shed behind the edifice, where a Brabancione, -named Gustaf Vlierbeke, a very "ragged robin" indeed, acted as groom. -They then met in an upper room, on the bare and dirty table of which -wine, unasked for and unordered, was placed; and, we may mention, that -their swords and daggers were <i>not</i> required by the slipshod tapster, -though such was the custom in those days in all well-ordered taverns -throughout Christendom.</p> - -<p>These three personages were the exiled duke of Albany, the outlawed -count of Endhoven, and that "Scottish worthy," Master James Achanna.</p> - -<p>Their greetings were more brief than courteous, and after imbibing each -a long horn of wine, they drew their chairs close to the table, as if -to confer confidentially.</p> - -<p>"More wine now, that we may not be interrupted hereafter," said Albany, -as a preliminary.</p> - -<p>"Have we not had enough?" asked Achanna, warily.</p> - -<p>"Bah! I am not a hermit, and have no need of endeavouring to resemble -old Anthony of Padua."</p> - -<p>"Der teufel! our fair ones would not esteem you the more for seeking to -do so," said Ludwig.</p> - -<p>The duke smiled complacently, caressed his well-pointed moustache, and -played with the tassels of his velvet cloak.</p> - -<p>"Duke," said Ludwig, "you have sworn to love this lady?"</p> - -<p>"Love her?" reiterated Albany, ponderingly.</p> - -<p>"Yes; whether she will or not."</p> - -<p>"Whom do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"Teufel! who but Murielle Douglas!" said Ludwig, with surprise.</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course, I swore it," said Albany, suddenly seeming to remember.</p> - -<p>"Ah, there are moments in life when a man swears anything to a woman so -pretty," replied Ludwig, burying his red nose in his wine-pot.</p> - -<p>To elude discovery, as he knew well that the soldiers of the Dyck -Graf and the halberdiers of the burgomaster were somewhat solicitous -about his movements, Count Ludwig had adopted a new disguise. He was -dressed like an Italian fantasin, in a jacket and pantaloons formed of -long stripes of cloth of the Douglas colours, and wore on his breast -a scutcheon, charged with those three stars which formed the paternal -coat of the earl, for one of whose followers he wished <i>pro temp</i>. -to pass. For this purpose he had smoothed over his usual ruffianly -exterior, cut off his long bravo <i>lock</i> of hair, and, to enhance the -respectability of his appearance, wore a large rosary.</p> - -<p>"We have met, duke," said he; "so to the point. What have you to -propose?"</p> - -<p>"Simply, that we must get rid of our troublesome lover," replied Duke -Robert, mixing two kinds of wine, Burgundy and Alicant, and draining -them at a draught.</p> - -<p>"But first, we must discover his residence," suggested Achanna.</p> - -<p>"Carl Langfanger, our worthy tavernier, will soon do that for us," said -Ludwig.</p> - -<p>"I am not unskilful in the use of my sword," said the misguided duke of -Albany; "I have already been victor in four duels, three in Paris and -one in Flanders, and might be victorious in a fifth. Why should I not -challenge and fight him? Count Ludwig, wouldst bear my glove to this -man?"</p> - -<p>"What, your highness—grace, I mean!" stammered Achanna, with one of -his hateful smiles, "would you commit <i>all</i> that is at issue to the -chance of an unlucky sword-thrust? Nay, nay, I'll to the earl—this -must not be."</p> - -<p>"So say I, sangdieu! Der teufel hole dich!" growled Count Ludwig, whose -oaths were alternately French and Flemish; "I have a bone to pick with -our traveller, and, by Gott in himmel! I will have satisfaction for the -slash he gave me on the face."</p> - -<p>"Please yourselves," said Albany, with a bored air, applying again to -the wine, as if he was in haste to intoxicate himself; "only rid the -earl, Lady Murielle, and me of him."</p> - -<p>"We will arrange a most lover-like rendezvous, and as sure as the devil -hath horns, we shall catch our amorous traveller," said Ludwig; "what -say you, Messire Achanna, and you, Monseigneur, Mein Herr, or how der -teufel am I to address you?"</p> - -<p>"A rendezvous," repeated Achanna, "where?"</p> - -<p>"Here."</p> - -<p>"At this solitary auberge?"</p> - -<p>"Der teufels braden! what would the man have? The more solitary the -better, and where can a fitter place be found? My trusty Brabanciones -all within call, and close by the wood with its wolves, ha! ha!" and -Ludwig burst into a loud laugh, which expressed cruelty and ferocity, -but <i>not</i> merriment.</p> - -<p>"As for the snare, it is easy when we have this to bait our trap with," -said Achanna, displaying the pearl ring, for the loss of which poor -Murielle was then breaking her little heart. He then related how he -became possessed of it, and with what intention.</p> - -<p>"Good, good! ter teufel! it is admirable," shouted Ludwig, striking the -rickety table with his clenched hand. "But after luring him here with -this, what do you propose to do?"</p> - -<p>Achanna glanced at the duke of Albany, who was already dozing off to -sleep, with his flushed forehead resting on his hands, and said, "What -do <i>you</i> propose—a combat at snick and snee?"</p> - -<p>Ludwig ground his teeth with rage, at the recollection of that affair -at Endhoven, and said, with a strange smile, "Listen: my Brabanciones -are all very good fellows, but are very irritable and very excitable; -and so, in a moment of their excitement and irritability, they may -burn out our prisoner's eyes with <i>this iron</i>, when red hot," said the -bantering ruffian, suddenly displaying a curious steel instrument, -fashioned apparently for the express purpose of blinding, as it had the -form of a spur, or the letter U with a handle, the points for entering -the eyes being about two inches apart.</p> - -<p>"He will die, and in torment!" exclaimed Albany, with an expression of -disgust on his handsome, but tipsy face; "and if I engage in aught so -rascally, may the Devil twist my neck!"</p> - -<p>"I fear that is a task reserved for one of less rank," muttered the -rash count of Endhoven, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"Say you, sir!" thundered Albany, starting to the full height of his -tall figure, and turning the buckle of his belt <i>behind</i> him. As this -was a challenge in those days, Ludwig changed colour.</p> - -<p>"I pray your grace," urged Achanna, starting forward.</p> - -<p>"Dost think I will permit this Flemish flouting-jack to make a jest of -me?" said the duke furiously.</p> - -<p>"Nay, mein Herr—Gott in himmel! I made no jest of you," said Ludwig, -unwilling by a brawl to frustrate his own private objects, and future -profit.</p> - -<p>"Very well—very well—carbonado him if you please, but trouble me not -on the subject," replied Albany, with an air of <i>ennui</i>, as he drained -his cup again.</p> - -<p>"This process of yours will certainly kill our man," said Achanna, in a -low voice, as Albany sank his head on the table, already overcome with -wine.</p> - -<p>"Not immediately," replied the count, with a diabolical grimace. "My -Brabanciones will tie him naked on an old bare-backed horse—place a -blazing brand under its tail, and then set it loose, mad with pain and -fear in the forest among wolves. Der Teufel! a rare thought! but not -a word of all this to your soft-hearted duke of Albany," whispered -Ludwig; "I do not think he would admire my rough mode for disposing of -a rival. He would be for measuring swords with him quietly, and getting -run through the body. But I—der Teufels braden! I have this slash on -the face to avenge, and with the assistance of my friends, the wolves -of the Waal, I shall do it amply! When Ludwig of Endhoven shows his -teeth the wolves laugh!"</p> - -<p>The singular cruelty of this proposal almost exceeded the malevolence -of Achanna, who had no other idea than having Gray cut off by violent -means; but as the victim stood in the path of his lord the earl, and a -thousand crowns were the price of his removal, Achanna considered it a -somewhat secondary matter <i>how</i> it was effected.</p> - -<p>Carl Langfanger was despatched into the city of Bommel, with an -accurate description of Gray, and of his Muscovite disguise, and with -instructions to inquire at all the hostelries, to discover his present -quarters. He was also entrusted with the ring of Murielle, which he -was to deliver as his credential, and armed therewith, to request Sir -Patrick to meet her near the auberge, named <i>The Forester of Flanders</i>, -on the Ameldroyen road; and old Carl, a practised plotter, and most -careful rascal, departed with confidence to discover their victim, and -arrange the rendezvous.</p> - -<p>"Are we safe in trusting this man, Carl?" asked Achanna.</p> - -<p>"He is sure as he is secret," replied Ludwig; "I would have gone on -this mission myself, but I must beware of that old devil the Dyck Graf; -for Duke Arnold of Gueldres has sworn to punish me in the same fashion -that Count Peter of Orscamp was punished by Baldwin With-the-Hatchet."</p> - -<p>"How was that?"</p> - -<p>"The poor count was frequently put to his shifts, as I am, and having -fancied two bullocks, which belonged to a widow at Vandal, Baldwin -ordered him to be cast in his armour into a cauldron of boiling oil, -in the market-place of Bruges, where he perished miserably, before a -mighty multitude."</p> - -<p>"And Duke Arnold has set a price upon you?"</p> - -<p>"A thousand guilders. So you see, my friend, I am of some value to the -state."</p> - -<p>So Achanna thought, and he began to conceive, that these guilders, -if he could earn them, would form a very seasonable addition to the -thousand crowns from the earl.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, he had no suspicion that the subtle outlaw with whom he -plotted had conceived the idea of luring Murielle to a rendezvous there -or elsewhere, by means of the same ring, after her lover had been -disposed of; and thus, if the snare proved successful, he resolved -to delude alike the duke and the earl, and bear her off for his own -purposes to one of those wild forests with which that part of Flanders -then abounded; and with all the secret paths, strengths, ruined -castles, and lurking-places of which, his predatory life had long -rendered him familiar.</p> - -<p>Drowsily and tipsily the unfortunate duke of Albany slept, half -reclined upon the table. While he was in this position, and during the -absence of Achanna for more wine, Ludwig took care of his purse, and -some other little matters of value, which he might otherwise have lost; -and so night closed in upon the solitary auberge, while Langfanger, its -proprietor, was pursuing his inquiries amid the busy streets of Bommel.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.<br /> - -<small>NIGHT—THE SNARE</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -'Tis not so. Slowly, slowly dies the night,<br /> -And with it sinks my soul down from the point<br /> -Where late it stood a-tiptoe.—<span class="smcap">All the Year Round.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Longing for the next evening—the <i>third</i> appointed by the abbot, as -the time when he was to meet Murielle again, Sir Patrick Gray sat at -the latticed window of his room, gazing listlessly down one of the long -and picturesque streets of Bommel, then darkening in the twilight and -haze, amid which the lamps were beginning to twinkle in the shops and -booths. Seven was tolled from the college bell of the Canonry close by. -He started at the sound, and with a glow of pleasure, reflected, that -at the same hour to-morrow, he should see and be with her he loved.</p> - -<p>While this idea occupied him, the tapster announced a visitor, and -Carl Langfanger was introduced. On perceiving a stranger, Sir Patrick -experienced some uneasiness, as he believed that his presence in Bommel -was unknown to all, save Murielle Douglas and the abbot of Tongland.</p> - -<p>In addition to the profits of his wine and beer house, and the little -pickings which his secret relations with Count Ludwig enabled him to -have, our worthy Carl Langfanger, was ostensibly a farrier and horse -doctor, who, by painting and patching up old nags, made them—though -the veriest Rosinantes—pass for chargers of spirit and mettle; thus he -was so well known at all the hostelries in Bommel, that a short time -enabled him to discover the temporary residence of Sir Patrick Gray.</p> - -<p>This cunning boor had attired himself in a dark suit of respectable -broad-cloth, with a clean white ruff round his neck, and a wooden -rosary of portentous size at his right wrist; thus he had all the air -of a worthy citizen, though his scrubby black hair was brushed straight -down to his small stealthy eyes, and cut off squarely above his long -and pendant ears.</p> - -<p>"You wish to speak with me?" said Gray, in French.</p> - -<p>Langfanger, who had served in several countries, replied readily in the -same language: "I have a message to monsieur!"</p> - -<p>"From whom?"</p> - -<p>"A fair demoiselle," replied Carl, in his most insinuating voice, and a -glitter in his cunning eyes.</p> - -<p>"Indeed—then carry your message elsewhere—you have come to the wrong -quarter, my friend," replied Gray, curtly, as he detected something of -the bravo in the air of his visitor.</p> - -<p>"But the demoiselle is in distress," urged Carl, with some alarm lest -his errand might fail.</p> - -<p>"I am not the burgomaster, and knights errant are out of fashion, my -friend; but <i>who</i> is she?"</p> - -<p>"I know not her name, messire," stammered Carl, who had omitted to -inform himself of this rather important particular.</p> - -<p>"By whom—and in what manner is she wronged?"</p> - -<p>"Mademoiselle said that this ring, which I have the honour to present, -would inform monsieur of everything," said Carl, stepping forward.</p> - -<p>"This ring," reiterated Gray, becoming suddenly interested and -perplexed, on recognizing the trinket he had given to Murielle in other -days, at the Three Thorns of the Carlinwark, near Thrave; and he kissed -and placed it on his finger, for it was a signal with which he could -neither delay nor trifle.</p> - -<p>What might this summons portend?</p> - -<p>Carl Langfanger, who was smoothing down his obstinate forelock, while -estimating the value of the victim's habiliments, replied, that by the -safety of his sinful soul, he knew not.</p> - -<p>Was she in immediate danger?</p> - -<p>He did not know that either; but she seemed in great tribulation.</p> - -<p>"You have seen her, then?"</p> - -<p>"Within an hour, messire."</p> - -<p>"Where—and where does she now await me?"</p> - -<p>"Near an auberge—<i>The Forester of Flanders</i>—three miles from Bommel; -an auberge of the best character, messire."</p> - -<p>"In what direction, my good friend?"</p> - -<p>"Ah—I am messire's good friend now!—the way to Ameldroyen."</p> - -<p>"Among the forests?" said Gray, with increasing alarm.</p> - -<p>"Exactly, messire."</p> - -<p>It seemed most unaccountable that Murielle should anticipate the -evening fixed by the abbot, and appoint a wayside auberge as a place of -meeting; but the presence of her betrothal ring could not be doubted; -and she was in danger, or tribulation, as this apparently suave and -honest fellow admitted. What lover could linger or doubt?</p> - -<p>"You will come, messire?" entreated Carl.</p> - -<p>"Come—instantly! my sword and cloak——"</p> - -<p>"Nay, messire, I have the honour to mention," said the sleek Carl, -"that mademoiselle does not expect you until the cathedral bells have -rung the hour of nine, and when the lamps are hung in the spire."</p> - -<p>To Gray this information was more perplexing than ever.</p> - -<p>"Near the auberge," continued Carl, "is a stone cross, one hundred -paces to the right of the road, where a votive lamp burns—there she -will meet you."</p> - -<p>"Grace guide me!" exclaimed Gray, "what mystery is this? Is not that -district a perilous one after nightfall?"</p> - -<p>"There are certainly some clerks of St. Nicholas in the woods at -times," said Carl, with pretended hesitation.</p> - -<p>"What manner of clerks are they?"</p> - -<p>"Disbanded Brabanters, who are their own paymasters."</p> - -<p>"Robbers, in fact," said Gray, sharply.</p> - -<p>"Ay, robbers, and all kinds of wild fellows."</p> - -<p>"Come! this is pleasant for one who will be alone."</p> - -<p>"Messire shall not be alone," said Carl, "for I shall be there as a -guide."</p> - -<p>"Thanks and largesse to you, most worthy varlet," said Gray, -gratefully, though feeling more and more bewildered. He then put some -money into the hands of Carl, who, glad that his mission was over, -hurriedly withdrew, and within an hour duly reported his progress to -the count of Endhoven, who still remained at the auberge, though Albany -and Achanna had returned to the house of the Dyck Graf, to wait the -event of the night.</p> - -<p>Gray sat in a turmoil of thought after Carl had retired. The idea of -a snare never occurred to him. The presence of Murielle's ring lulled -every suspicion, if he had one; and he kissed it again and again, for -it had been on her finger since that night when first she admitted that -he might love her, when the summer moon was wading the fleecy clouds -above the Galloway hills that slept in her silver sunshine, which cast -the towers of Thrave in sombre shadow on the black waters of the Dee.</p> - -<p>As it did not suit the purpose of master Carl Langfanger to have any -outrage committed <i>in</i> his auberge—a place on which the officials of -the Dyck Graf had more than once cast eyes of suspicion—it had been -arranged that Gray should be waylaid at the solitary cross, and there -disarmed, mutilated in the horrible manner suggested by the barbarous -count of Endhoven, who is recorded to have treated more than one of his -prisoners thus, especially, a poor pilgrim from Antwerp and a merchant -of Bruges.</p> - -<p>This votive wayside cross had been erected by the eldest son of -Reinald, the warlike duke of Gueldres, as a propitiation for his -unnatural conduct, in making a captive of his father, who died in 1325.</p> - -<p>It stood in a wild and solitary place, among heath and gorse, midway -between the highroad which led to the auberge, and the forest that -spread along the banks of the Waal. After the gates of Bommel were shut -for the night, the vicinity of this cross was a place avoided by all -belated people, in consequence of the lawless nature of the district, -and of those terrible wolves, whose lair was also the forest.</p> - -<p>As the night drew on, Count Ludwig, Carl Langfanger, Gustaf Vlierbeke, -and some ten or twelve other outlaws all Brabanciones, and well, but -variously armed, issued from the auberge, and repaired to the vicinity -of Duke Reinald's Cross, where they concealed themselves in a hollow, -close to the path, among some thick willows and alder trees.</p> - -<p>"Der Teufel!" grumbled the count, "I hope our lover won't keep us long -waiting, for the night breeze that comes from the Waal is cold enough -already; so what will it be an hour hence!"</p> - -<p>"For that reason I have brought with me, herr count, a jar of Languedoc -brandy," said Carl Langfanger.</p> - -<p>"Thou art a priceless fellow!" exclaimed the count, with unfeigned -ardour, as he took a long draught from the stone bottle, and then -passed it round; "and now, Carl, light the brazier—hast got any -charcoal?"</p> - -<p>"A little sack full; and we have plenty of dead branches hereabout."</p> - -<p>"Right! Place it under the bank, where the glow will be hidden by the -willows. Set it a-light, I say; 'twill serve to keep us warm, and to -heat our branding iron at the same time. Who watches on the roadway?"</p> - -<p>"Gustaf Vlierbeke," replied two or three at once.</p> - -<p>"Bon! he has the eyes of a mole."</p> - -<p>The charcoal, with the addition of some dried branches, was soon -glowing in the iron brazier, and it shed an uncertain glow on the -patched and parti-coloured garments, the rusty weapons, the pieces of -battered armour, the squalid and dirty visages of the ruffians who -crouched together, waiting for the coming prey, with watchful ears -and stealthy eyes, that had became bloodshot, haggard, and wild in -expression, with years of cruelty, lust, debauchery, and rapine; and -which brightened only as Carl's long jar of French brandy came round to -each in turn.</p> - -<p>"Herr Count, there are the lights now, in the cathedral spire," -exclaimed Carl, who descended from the top of the grassy bank, whither -he had crawled to listen.</p> - -<p>"Then the gates of Bommel are being closed; der Teufels braden! where -tarries our lover? he should be here by this time!" muttered Ludwig, -thrusting the fatal iron deeper in the charcoal, and playing nervously -with the haft of his dagger; "is the old mare from the tan-yard ready?"</p> - -<p>"All ready for her rider," replied Carl, with a cruel grin; "Gustaf -Vlierbeke," he added in a husky whisper, "hear you aught on the -roadway?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing, but the wind and the tossing leaves."</p> - -<p>Mutterings of impatience followed this reply.</p> - -<p>"Gustaf has only one eye," said a Brabancione.</p> - -<p>"The other was knocked out by the boll of a crossbow at Briel."</p> - -<p>"Then, why the devil make him scout?" said a third lurker, in a -growling tone.</p> - -<p>"Because he has the eye and the quickness of a bloodhound," said the -count; "ay, of Souyllard himself. It begins to seem that we shall -have a great deal of trouble with this teufel of a Schottlander! Carl -could easily have disposed of him at the hostelry, as I did yesterday -with the rich pilgrim who was on his way to Strasbourg, and who died, -unfortunately, just after sharing with me the contents of his bottle -and wallet."</p> - -<p>"Died! how?"</p> - -<p>"By the severing of the thyroid cartilage."</p> - -<p>"What the henckers is that, herr count?"</p> - -<p>"The hump in the wind-pipe, where the apple stuck."</p> - -<p>"In plain words——"</p> - -<p>"Exactly," said the count, passing a finger round his throat, a piece -of pantomime which excited the ferocious laughter of his followers; yet -they waited with great impatience, and the time seemed to pass the more -slowly, that they were without watches or other means of marking it. -Gustaf Vlierbeke was withdrawn from the post of scout, and replaced by -Carl Langfanger when the lights in the cathedral spire were reduced to -two.</p> - -<p>"Two lights, der teufel!" exclaimed the count; "they indicate the hour -of ten: He must have been warned of our snare, and—hark! what is that?"</p> - -<p>"The bay of a wolf, herr count."</p> - -<p>"Yes, the moon is rising now, and our charcoal is smouldering fast."</p> - -<p>Time passed on slowly; the slower that they waited with fierce -impatience, and the night became colder as the stars increased in -number and brilliance overhead. Some of the Brabanciones sat idly -gnawing their shaggy moustachios; others whiled away the lagging -minutes by putting an edge on their swords and daggers, with some of -the stones which lay near. It seemed weary work for them at best, for -the stone jar was empty now.</p> - -<p>At last only <i>one</i> light remained in the great spire of Bommel, and it -twinkled like a planet in the distance.</p> - -<p>"Eleven!" exclaimed the count, starting to his feet, and, amid muttered -oaths of rage and disappointment, they were rising to disperse, when -Carl Langfanger crawled back, with tidings that a horseman was coming -rapidly along the highway. Again the charcoal was blown up by Gustaf -Vlierbeke, who made a bellows of his lungs; again the spur-shaped iron -was inserted deeper, teeth were set, fierce eyes sparkled, and weapons -were grasped and drawn.</p> - -<p>On came the solitary rider—on and on. His horse's hoofs rang louder -with every bound as he drew nearer, and all held their breath when he -suddenly reined up abreast of the cross, in a little niche of which an -oil lamp was flickering in the gusty wind.</p> - -<p>"Der teufel—'tis he at last!" said the count, as the rider turned his -horse to the right and cautiously approached the cross. Then springing -from their ambush, with loud yells of exultation and ferocity, the -Brabanciones rushed upon him! His horse's bridle and his stirrups were -grasped on both sides; and before a cry could escape his lips, the -victim was dragged from his saddle, struck to the earth under a shower -of blows, and manacled by a strong cord.</p> - -<p>"Light a torch, and drag him into the hollow," cried Count Ludwig, -whose order was roughly and promptly obeyed.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.<br /> - -<small>DUKE REINALD'S CROSS</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 30%;"> -He wrapp'd his cloak upon his arm, he smote away their swords,<br /> -Striking hard and sturdy buffets on the mouths of those proud lords;<br /> -Snapping blades and tearing mouths, like a lion at his meal,<br /> -Laughing at the stab of dagger, and the flashing of their steel.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 53%;"><span class="smcap">All the Year Round.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Great was the impatience of the earl and of his satellite, James -Achanna, to learn the result of the snare they had laid for Sir Patrick -Gray. If successful in its cruelty, the first felt assured that a -formidable obstruction to his plans would be removed for ever; and the -latter flattered himself that he would be a richer man by a thousand -silver crowns of the Rhine. Then he had his plans to mature for turning -Count Ludwig into as much ready money as the Dyck Graf would pay for -him. Our utilitarian felt that he was on the eve of making his fortune!</p> - -<p>That the ill-fated Sir Patrick Gray had left his hostelry punctually, -Achanna had already ascertained, and duly reported to the earl.</p> - -<p>"It is easier," says Goldsmith, "to conceive than to describe the -complicated sensations which are felt from the pain of a recent -injury and the pleasure of approaching vengeance," but in the present -instance, it was the mere delight of cruel and wicked hearts in a -lawless revenge (without the sense of real injury) that fired the -hearts of the earl and Achanna.</p> - -<p>They had not an atom of compunction!</p> - -<p>Albany was aware, by the recent interview at the auberge, that his -more favoured rival was to be removed; how, he scarcely knew (he -had been so tipsy), and <i>how</i>, he little cared; but he pitied—for -this exiled and outlawed prince was not quite destitute of -generosity—Murielle, as the poor girl, in joyous anticipation of -the morrow's meeting with her lover, had assumed her cithern, and -all unconscious of the horrors impending, sang one or two sweet old -Galloway songs; but they failed to soothe either the savage earl, or -his more unscrupulous follower, who, from the recess of a window, -surveyed her with gloomy malignity in his cat-like eyes, which, as -already described, were situated singularly far apart in his head, from -the conical top of which his red hair hung in tufts.</p> - -<p>When the hour of ten was tolled from the spire of the cathedral (where -time was regulated then by great hour-glasses), the curiosity of -Douglas and Achanna could no longer be repressed.</p> - -<p>"You have an order from the Dyck Graf to pass the gates," whispered the -earl.</p> - -<p>"Yes; at any hour."</p> - -<p>"Then set forth; seek that fellow whom you name: what is it they call -him?"</p> - -<p>"Count Ludwig of Endhoven."</p> - -<p>"A rare noble, by the Mass! Seek him and bring me sure tidings of what -has transpired."</p> - -<p>Within twenty minutes after this, Achanna had mounted and left Bommel, -after duly presenting to the captain of the watch his pass, signed by -Jacques de Lalain. Taking the road to Ameldroyan, he rode slowly—very -slowly at first, listening to every sound; but all seemed still by the -wayside, and coldly and palely the waning moon shone on the waters -of the Waal, and of the sluices and marshes which there intersected -the level country. The windmills—unusual features to a Scotsman's -eye—stood motionless and silent, like giants with outstretched arms.</p> - -<p>Now a sound came upon the wind at times, and he reined up his horse to -listen. Anon he rode forward again, for that sound made him shudder. It -was the wild weird cry of a wolf in the forest, baying to the moon.</p> - -<p>Feeling alternately for his sword and his crucifix (just as a Spaniard -of the present day would do), he neared the appointed spot, and his -keen eyes detected a lurking figure which withdrew at his approach. -This was Carl Langfanger the scout.</p> - -<p>A cruel joy filled Achanna's heart with a strange glow, and his large -coarse ears quivered like those of a sleuth-bratch in his eagerness to -catch a passing sound.</p> - -<p>Was it all over—were the thousand crowns his? Had Gray been blinded -by the burning iron, manacled, stripped and bound to the goaded horse -which was to bear him to the wild forest, and to the wolves' jaws? Did -the baying he had heard in the distance announce that the chase was -over, and their repast begun—that horse and rider had been torn limb -from limb?</p> - -<p>He asked these questions of himself as he rode on. Soon he saw the -votive lamp that flickered before Duke Reinald's cross. Then he -detected a red gleam that wavered under some willow trees. It came -from the brazier in which Ludwig had heated the blinding iron. He -spurred impatiently forward. There was a shout, and amid cries of, "Der -Schottlander, donner and blitzen, der Schottlander!" he was struck from -his horse and pinioned in a moment, before he could utter a cry for -mercy or for explanation.</p> - -<p>The wretch had fallen into his own trap.</p> - -<p>His clothes were roughly rent from his body, and if he opened his -mouth the point of a sword menaced his throat. Covered with blood and -bruises, and screaming like a terrified woman for mercy, he was dragged -into the hollow where Count Ludwig was seated before the brazier, with -the brandy-jar by his side.</p> - -<p>Amid shouts of ferocious laughter and imprecations his head was grasped -by several of the ruffians, while Carl Langfanger drew forth the -gleaming iron from the brazier. Achanna uttered a last scream of terror -and agony on beholding it, and then his voice seemed to leave him. The -cold bead-drops burst upon his throbbing temples; his eyes started from -their sockets as if to anticipate their doom, and the pulses of his -heart seemed to stand still—he could only sigh and gasp.</p> - -<p>He felt the hot glow upon his cheek—already it seemed to burn into -his brain, and he gave himself over for lost, when there was a sudden -shout and a rush of horses' hoofs; he saw the flashing of swords above -his head, and heard the rasp of steel on steel as the blades emitted -red sparks. There was a sudden shock, and a conflict seemed to close -over him as he fell to the earth on his face fainting, and some time -elapsed before he became sufficiently conscious to understand that he -was free, and rescued by the valour of a single horseman, who was clad -in a helmet and chain shirt, and whose sword was dripping with the red -evidence of how skilfully he had used it in the recent fray.</p> - -<p>But what were the emotions of James Achanna when by a sudden gleam from -the expiring contents of the brazier, as the night wind swept through -the hollow, he recognized in his preserver, Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis!</p> - -<p>Astonishment with craven fear prevailed; but not the slightest emotion -of gratitude. He felt rather a glow of rage and bitterness that Gray, -by a mistake, or by loitering so long, had been too late for his own -destruction!</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick, as Achanna learned, had left his hostelry in sufficient -time to be at the false rendezvous; but being without an order from the -Dyck Graf to pass the gates, (a document with which he had not provided -himself, lest a knowledge of the application for it might lead to his -discovery by the Douglases) he had been refused egress by the guards; -and after spending an hour in attempting every gate of Bommel—an hour -of impatience and fury—during which he strove in vain to corrupt by -gold the trusty Walloons who watched them, he swam his horse at last -through the Waal, and having thus to make a great detour, arrived -at a most critical time for the fate of Achanna, who gazed at him, -speechlessly and helplessly, afraid to utter a word lest Gray might -recognise his voice, and pass through his body the sword which had just -saved him.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick, however, <i>did</i> recognise him as he cut his cords, but not -immediately; though there was no mistaking his hideous visage and green -cat-like eyes, or the red hair and beard that mingled together.</p> - -<p>"So it is thee, James Achanna," said he; "dog and son of a dog, had I -met you mounted and armed as I now am I would have slain you without -remorse or mercy. As it is, go, and remember that you receive your -miserable life at the hand of one who spares it rather from profound -disdain, than that you may have time for repentance—a time that may -never come to you!"</p> - -<p>With these words Gray smote him on the cheek, sheathed his sword, -remounted his horse, and, bewildered by the whole affair, rode rapidly -off, leaving Achanna to find his way back to Bommel as he best could.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick was filled with rage, but he knew not against whom to -direct it. He half suspected that a snare had been laid for him, and -then dismissed the idea, believing that the circumstance of his being -in Bommel, or even in Flanders, was unknown to all save the abbot and -Murielle, the mission on which Crichton had sent him being almost a -secret one: for these reasons he did not make himself known to Achanna -<i>by name</i>.</p> - -<p>It was not until dawn, when the gates were open to admit the boors -and peasantry to the markets, that the rescuer and the rescued made -their way, but by different routes, into Bommel; and a scurvy figure -the latter made when he presented himself at the residence of the -Douglases, minus horse, arms, and clothing, with an ill-devised tale -of his having been assaulted by Brabanciones, while the fierce jibes -of the earl, and the narrow escape from a dreadful death, inspired -him with more hatred than ever against Gray and Murielle, for he had -learned to combine them in one idea.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII.<br /> - -<small>THE THIRD EVENING</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Good fortune and the favour of the king<br /> -Smile upon this contract; whose ceremony<br /> -Shall seem expedient on the new-born brief,<br /> -And be performed to-night.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20%;"><span class="smcap">All's Well that Ends Well.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>After what had occurred at Duke Reinald's cross, and being -bewildered by the whole affair of the ring—an affair which seemed -so inexplicable, Gray armed himself with more than usual care, and -covering his fine, flexible chain shirt, gorget and sleeves of tempered -Milan plate, by the ample brown and red-braided Muscovite gown, he -repaired punctually at seven o'clock to the church of St. Genevieve. He -entered with an anxious heart, and kept a hand on his sword, as he knew -not by whom, or in what fashion he might be greeted; but, to his joy -found Murielle and the abbot awaiting him in the appointed place.</p> - -<p>Murielle was smiling and happy; but the abbot was sombre, gloomy, and -abstracted.</p> - -<p>A recent conversation which had passed between him and the earl of -Douglas had revealed more of the latter's terrible political, or rather -insurrectionary projects, than the abbot conceived to be possible. -The poor old man was dismayed; his very soul shrank within him at -the contemplation of his lawful and anointed king dethroned, and his -native country plunged in civil strife, to gratify the proud ambition -and guilty vengeance of a turbulent and predatory noble. A wholesome -fear of that ugly architectural feature, the gallows knob of Thrave, -might have prevented him from daring to think of circumventing the -plans of the earl had he been in Galloway; for Douglas, though slavish -in superstition and in ritual observances, was sternly severe to all -who marred his purposes, or crossed the path of his ambition, or even -of his most simple wish: thus he who hanged the good lord of Teregles -in his armour, might not hesitate to hang an abbot in his cassock. -But here in Flanders, far from local feudal influences, the superior -of Tongland felt himself more free to act, and he had been all day -revolving in his mind the means of putting the lord chancellor and -other ministers of James II. in possession of facts which would enable -them to guard the interests of the throne and of the people from -confusion, from invasion, and an anarchy like that which followed the -demise of the good king Alexander III., and in the person of Gray he -had the means of immediate communication.</p> - -<p>Anxious to solve a mystery, Gray said hurriedly, "You have lost a ring -Murielle?"</p> - -<p>"My ring—ah, yes, and an omen of evil I deemed that loss to be; for it -was the betrothal ring you gave me at the Thorns of the Carlinwark. It -was lost two nights ago—or abstracted from me——"</p> - -<p>"The latter most likely—but permit me to restore it," said he, -tenderly kissing her pretty hand; "it nearly lured me to my death, for -now I verily believe that a deadly snare was set for me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, what is this you tell me?" she asked with alarm.</p> - -<p>"Sad, sad truth, my own love."</p> - -<p>"A snare? Oh, it is impossible, since none know that you are here, but -our lord the abbot and I."</p> - -<p>"But others, Murielle, <i>do</i> know," replied Gray, and he briefly related -the affair of the preceding evening; the visit of Carl Langfanger with -the ring and the message as from herself; the delays which had happily -occurred, and how he had reached the Wayside Cross too late for the -purpose of his secret enemies, but strangely enough in time to save -Achanna from a mutilation and death, which were no doubt intended for -another. Murielle was stupefied.</p> - -<p>"Achanna—say you this man was James Achanna?" sobbed Murielle, -becoming very pale and trembling.</p> - -<p>"Certainly 'twas he; oh, there is no mistaking that hateful visage of -his."</p> - -<p>"Then you are indeed lost!" said she, clasping her hands; but the abbot -who had hitherto remained silent and gloomy, patted her head kindly, -and said—"My own good daughter, hearken to me; trust in Heaven and -hope—hope, the friend of happiness."</p> - -<p>"But hope, Father Abbot, will desert us, unless——" said Gray, -hesitating, as he turned imploringly to Murielle.</p> - -<p>"Unless what?" said the abbot.</p> - -<p>"Murielle becomes my bride—my wife!"</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray——"</p> - -<p>"Her ring is here; a betrothal ring it is, and a wedding-ring it shall -be," continued Gray with increasing vehemence, as his voice with his -emotion became deeper. "Good father abbot, my kinsman and my friend, -you who knew and loved my father and mother well, you who were the -guide and mentor of both, even as you are of me, will not hear me now -in vain! The dangerous schemes of this ambitious earl——"</p> - -<p>"Enough, enough," interrupted the abbot gloomily, as he waved his hand; -"to my sorrow and fear I know them all, and own they terrify me."</p> - -<p>"Then, to save our young king from many deadly perils, and our -country from civil war—to save this miserable Duke Robert from the -block on which his father perished—to save the house of Douglas from -destruction, and, more than all, to save herself from misery, Murielle -must wed me!"</p> - -<p>Murielle opened her tremulous lips to speak, but Gray added -impetuously,—"To-day—to-night—now, instantly!"</p> - -<p>"Now?" reiterated the abbot.</p> - -<p>"Now, or it may be never!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, what is this you say?" said Murielle, shrinking closer to the -abbot.</p> - -<p>"The solemn, the sad, the earnest, but the loving truth, dear -Murielle," urged Gray, his eyes and heart filling as he spoke with -passion and tenderness.</p> - -<p>Much more followed, but they spoke rapidly and briefly, for time was -precious.</p> - -<p>"You will end all this by wedding me, my beloved," said Gray in her -ear, as he pressed her to his breast, and stifled her reply by kisses. -"Then at midnight we shall leave Bommel together for the sea-coast, -from thence to Scotland and the king! Say that you will become my -wife—here are the altar, the church, the priest, and his missal—here -even the ring. Oh, say that you will, for with life I cannot separate -from you again!"</p> - -<p>"My love for you," sobbed Murielle, "is stronger than my destiny——"</p> - -<p>"Nay, 'tis destiny that makes you love me."</p> - -<p>Her tears fell fast, but her silence gave consent.</p> - -<p>The abbot felt all the force of his kinsman's arguments, and the more -so that they were added to his own previous fears and convictions. He -wisely conceived that the marriage of Murielle to Gray would prove the -most irremovable barrier to the proposed matrimonial alliance between -Douglas and the duke of Albany. He was aware that by the performance of -such a ceremony, he would open an impassable gulf between himself and -his lord and chief; but he felt that he owed a duty to the king, James -II., in saving him from a coalition so formidable as a union between -the adherents of the outlawed prince and rebellious peer; a duty to -Murielle, in saving her from becoming the hapless tool of a conspiracy, -the victim of a <i>roué</i> husband and a ruinous plot; and a duty to his -kinsman and friend, whom he had every desire to protect and serve.</p> - -<p>Thus he suddenly consented, and summoning his chanter, and a curé of -the church, whom in his writings he names "Father Gustaf Dennecker, of -the order of St. Benedict," he drew a missal from the embroidered pouch -which hung at his girdle, and before our poor bewildered Murielle knew -distinctly what was about to ensue she found herself a bride—on her -knees before the altar, and the marriage service being read over her.</p> - -<p>It proceeded rapidly. Murielle felt as one in a dream. She saw the open -missal, from the parchment leaves of which some little golden crosses -dangled; she saw the abbot in his purple stole, and heard his distinct -but subdued Latinity, as he addressed them over the silver altar rail. -She was aware of the presence of Gray, and her little heart beat -tumultuously with awe and love and terror, while reassured from time -to time by the gentle pressure of his hand—that strong and manly hand -which had grown hard by the use of his sword-hilt. She heard the ring -blessed, and felt it placed upon her marriage finger!</p> - -<p>She heard the muttered responses of Father Gustaf and of the old -chanter of Tongland Abbey, who, in his terror of the earl, was almost -scared out of his senses; and then came the sonorous voice of the -abbot, as he waved his hand above her, and concluded with these -words:—"Deus Israel conjugat vos; et ipse sit vobiscum, qui misertus -duobus unicis: et nunc Domine, fac eos plenius benedicere te."</p> - -<p>She arose lady of Foulis, and the wedded wife of Sir Patrick Gray, from -whom death only could separate her; but she reclined her head upon his -breast, and sobbed with excitement, with joy, and alarm.</p> - -<p>After a pause the abbot closed his missal, and as he descended from the -altar his eye caught a pale grim face behind the shadow of a column. It -vanished, but as the blood rushed back upon the heart of the startled -abbot, he thought the features of that face were those of James -Achanna, and <i>he was right!</i></p> - -<p>"You must now separate; the future depends upon your secrecy and -discretion, as a discovery will ruin all, and we have not a moment to -lose," said the abbot, who felt more dismay in his heart than at that -moment he cared to communicate.</p> - -<p>"What a time to separate!" exclaimed Gray almost with anger.</p> - -<p>"You separate but to meet again," said the abbot imperatively, but in -a low voice, lest there might be other eavesdroppers; "away to your -hostelry, Sir Patrick, get horses, and make every arrangement for -immediate flight. If you leave Bommel at midnight, by riding fast you -may both reach the coast of Altena long before day-break, and there -find a ship for Scotland."</p> - -<p>"Let us escape now; why delay a single hour?"</p> - -<p>"That may not be; your flight would be discovered, and the followers -of the earl would be aided in a pursuit by those of De Lalain the Dyck -Graf. The time to choose is when all are abed and asleep, or ought to -be, and I will provide the order to pass you through the gates of the -city. The doors of our residence are secured every night by Sir Alan -Lauder, who keeps the keys with care, as if he were still in Thrave, -and feared the thieves of Annandale. You know the window of Murielle's -sleeping apartment?"</p> - -<p>"It overlooks the garden above an arbour."</p> - -<p>"Be within the arbour when this church bell strikes twelve; keep your -horses in the street, and I myself, as far as an old man may, will aid -your flight together. You will pass through the church by the postern, -and then God speed ye to the sea! Till then, farewell, and my blessing -on ye! Ah, well-a-day! all this toil, all this trouble, all this peril -had been saved us, if—if——"</p> - -<p>"What, my Lord?"</p> - -<p>"The master of evil and of mischief had been but forgiven and restored -to his place—but the time shall come," said the abbot, remembering -his pet crotchet, as they hastily separated; "that blessed time shall -come!"</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br /> - -<small>A WEDDING NIGHT</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">"Their swords smote blunt upon our steel,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And keen upon our buff;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">The coldest blooded man of us</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Had battering enough;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">'Twas butt to butt, and point to point,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And eager pike to pike;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">'Twas foin and parry, give and take,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">As long as we could strike."</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Gray seemed to tread on air—he felt as one in a dream—but a dream -to be realized—as he hurried through the streets of Bommel to his -hostelry, to pack his mail (a portmanteau), to order his horse to be in -readiness, and to procure one for Murielle; while his emotions of love -for her, and gratitude to the abbot, left no room in his honest heart -for exultation that he was about to outwit his enemies, and by bearing -her away avenge the wrongs they had done him.</p> - -<p>While he is busy with the hosteller, his grooms, horses, and -arrangements, let us return to one who was quite as busily taking -measures to circumvent them—the inevitable Achanna.</p> - -<p>In less than half an hour after his disappearance from the church, he -was closeted with the earl, who had just risen from his knees, having -been on a <i>prie-dieu</i> at prayer before a crucifix and case containing -some crumbs of the bones of St. Bryde—the chief palladium of the house -of Douglas.</p> - -<p>"What tidings now," said he, "for thou art always abroad in the night, -like an owl or a rascally kirkyard bat? <i>Miserere mei Deus!</i>" he -added, concluding his orisons.</p> - -<p>The earl was in a good humour; the formula of his prayers and his -adoration of the relics had partially soothed his ferocious spirit; -but on hearing what had occurred his fury was on the verge of taking a -very dangerous turn, for, snatching a dagger from his girdle, he seized -Achanna by the throat, and tearing open his collar and pourpoint, -threatened to stab him for not having prevented this secret and—so far -as some of his plans were concerned—most fatal marriage from taking -place by killing Gray on the spot.</p> - -<p>"At the steps of the altar?" gasped Achanna, struggling to free himself.</p> - -<p>"Anywhere; what mattered it, wretch, where you slew my enemy?" -thundered Douglas, hurling him in a heap against the wainscot.</p> - -<p>"But—but, my lord—bethink you—'twere a sacrilege, and the Dyck Graf -would have broken me alive on the wheel, even were I, like yourself, a -belted earl."</p> - -<p>"True; we are not now within a day's ride of Thrave," said the earl -almost with a groan, as he sank into a chair, and, overwhelmed by what -seemed a sudden and irremediable catastrophe, gave way to undignified -fury and abuse. He dared not trust himself in the presence of Murielle, -lest he should commit some fatal violence, or in that of Albany, lest -he might betray the source of that unbecoming discomposure, which -filled his proud heart with shame at himself; and a rage at Gray, which -words cannot describe. Thus a long time elapsed before he could arrange -his thoughts after hearing Achanna repeat at least twice all he had -seen and overheard in the church of St. Genevieve.</p> - -<p>Desiring his pages to admit none (even the countess), he turned to -Achanna with his usually swarthy visage turned white and livid by the -fierce emotions that filled his heart.</p> - -<p>"We must dissemble, Achanna," said he in a husky voice; "we must -conceal this from Albany—from all; but we must nevertheless destroy -Sir Patrick Gray—yea, this night, within a few brief hours, shall -Murielle Douglas be maid, wife, and widow! and as for my lord the -abbot, may the curse of the souls of my kindred and of St. Bryde be on -him, for a meddling mock friar! If I had him as near the Nith as we -are near the Waal, I would set him a-swimming with a millstone at his -neck for his handiwork to-night! Yet, <i>laus Deo!</i> I dare hardly address -him, for, as it is, he withholds absolution from me for many, many -sins already committed. Torture! men call me a tyrant, yet I am the -slave of a tyrant—of a priest;—and Lady Murielle, she means to escape -to-night?"</p> - -<p>"By the window which overlooks the arbour in the garden; oh, I heard -all planned very distinctly."</p> - -<p>"I shall be there with my sword; then woe to our new-made husband," -said Douglas, with a cruel smile.</p> - -<p>"Nay, my lord, I can propose a better plan than having recourse to -steel," said Achanna, with one of his wicked leers, as his plotting -brain was again at work; "Gray's bones seem made of malleable iron, but -fire will conquer even that."</p> - -<p>"Your last scheme," said the earl, with a withering glance, "did not -prove very successful; but what is your new one?"</p> - -<p>"Bethink you, Douglas, of the old story of the castle of Kirkclauch."</p> - -<p>"At Girthavon, in Galloway, or Girthon, as folk name it now?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Douglas," replied Achanna, who, in the old Scottish fashion, -called his leader by his name as frequently as by his title.</p> - -<p>"What of it? Speak quickly, for time is precious."</p> - -<p>"It belonged to a desperate mosstrooper, named Græme," said Achanna, -in his most insinuating voice (while adjusting his habiliments which -the earl had torn in his wrath), and speaking in his native Gaëlic, -which was the language of Galloway till after the reign of Mary, and, -while he spoke, he seemed to purr like a pleased cat, and pleased he -certainly was, when any wickedness was to be done. "This Græme had -plundered, in open raid, the lands of the laird of Muirfad, who, in -revenge, drew him into an ambush and slew all his men. Full of rage -and shame at his defeat, Græme fled to his old tower at Kirkclauch -and vowed to have a terrible vengeance; but lo, ye! Gordon of Muirfad -appeared suddenly before the closed gates with his exulting followers, -and summoned the almost lonely man to surrender. They had a long -parley, in which Græme, while piling oiled faggots, straw, and other -combustibles against the wooden barrier, offered Gordon a sum in gold -as black mail. The offer was accepted, and the money was to be handed -through an eyelet-hole in the top of the gate, where the warder was -wont to sit watching the roadway with his arblast. Standing upon his -horse's saddle to reach this shot-hole, Gordon passed through his -right hand, over which Græme, with a laugh of derision, threw an iron -chain, and thus noosed him hard and fast to the stone arch above. He -then fired the pile below, and retired, saying, 'You're welcome to -your black mail, Muirfad, but by my soul you will find it rather hot!' -The flames rose fast, and the fettered man shrieked in vain, for even -his own kinsmen failed to rescue him, while Græme escaped by a secret -postern, leaving the tower of Kirkclauch and all who were in it a prey -to destruction. Muirfad was roasted in his armour like a buttered crab, -and sorely would the Gordons have revenged this, had they dared; but -Græme fled to Girthavon, 'the sanctuary by the river,' and became a -monk."</p> - -<p>"Thou chattering dunce, what have I to do with all this?" asked the -earl, who had listened to the story with an impatient and sombre -countenance.</p> - -<p>"Does it not give you an idea, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"No; but what is yours?"</p> - -<p>"That we burn Sir Patrick Gray in his boots, and in the same fashion."</p> - -<p>"At Kirkclauch?"</p> - -<p>"No; here in Bommel, and this very night too."</p> - -<p>"How? Speak quickly, for I am not in a mood for trifling," said -Douglas, examining the point and edge of a beautiful Parmese poniard -which dangled at his girdle, as if it were the readier means of ridding -him of his enemy.</p> - -<p>"Be pleased to listen to me with a little patience, lord earl," whined -Achanna, "and I shall yet win those thousand crowns of the Rhine. My -plan is very simple. Lady Murielle proposes to escape at midnight from -the window above the arbour in the garden, which lies between this -house and the church of St. Genevieve. Instead of the bride, I shall be -at the window——"</p> - -<p>"To stab this new and most precious brother-in-law of mine?"</p> - -<p>"No; to secure him, as Græme secured Gordon, by an iron chain, and -then fire the faggots with which the arbour below shall be previously -filled. By St. Bryde! he will roast in his armour like a nut in its -shell."</p> - -<p>"A rare vengeance!" said the earl, rubbing his hands, and almost -laughing at the prospect of a punishment so signal and so terrible. "He -will be deemed a Brabancione or housebreaker; at all events, we shall -leave Bommel by day-break on our way towards Paris. Tell our master -of the horse and the duke of Albany to prepare. Send hither Sir Alan -Lauder, and to you, Achanna, I commit the care of this matter. You -failed me once——"</p> - -<p>"If I fail again, trust me no more," replied Achanna, as he retired to -put his plans in operation, and felt with regret that by this suddenly -projected departure from Bommel, he would lose the thousand guilders he -had hoped to obtain by the capture of Count Ludwig.</p> - -<p>The earl concealed his recently acquired information from all, even -from the countess, as he mistrusted her discretion. He contrived to -meet even his father confessor with a bland smile at supper, though he -trembled with suppressed passion on perceiving the timid, constrained, -preoccupied manner of Murielle; and then he laughed inwardly as he -thought of the grim tragedy about to ensue.</p> - -<p>After supper, he suddenly and emphatically desired the countess to -remove Murielle from her present sleeping chamber, to one in a more -distant part of the mansion, and there to lock her in for the night.</p> - -<p>His will, immutable as the laws of Draco, was immediately obeyed, and -thus, at the time when Murielle expected to join her lover, she found -herself terrified, bewildered, and weeping in a solitary room, the -grated windows of which faced the high black wall of the old Canonry.</p> - -<p>Achanna meanwhile had filled the arbour with wooden faggots, dry -branches, straw, and other fuel, on which he poured more than one jar -of oil. He procured a strong chain bridle, and stationed himself at -the window of the apartment, which Murielle had hitherto occupied, and -there awaited his prey.</p> - -<p>"What do these changes mean?" asked the countess.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow you shall know all," replied the earl, with one of his -crafty smiles, as he turned and left her.</p> - -<p>Slowly passed the hours, and they were hours of agony to Murielle. -She knew not how much, or how little, was known to her family of late -events, but that they suspected something her sudden seclusion fully -evinced. What would be the sequel?</p> - -<p>The hours were tolled in succession from the spire of the church of St. -Genevieve—ten, eleven, and at last twelve—<i>midnight</i>. So certainly as -these hours struck, Gray would come and find himself deluded. He would -<i>now</i> be in the garden—now at the arbour—with his eyes anxiously -fixed on her window, and she—a sudden emotion of rage filled her -heart—rage that they should arrogate such power over her, and dare -to treat her like a child; but this gust did not last long, and was -followed by a shower of tears.</p> - -<p>She rushed to the iron gratings of her windows, and strove to shake -them with her tender little hands. There was no escape, no hope, no -succour, and as the last stroke of twelve reverberated in her heart and -died away, life seemed to die with it.</p> - -<p>Then came a sound upon the night wind. It was the clamour of voices, -mingled with the clash of weapons; and next there spread upon the -darkness a red and lurid light, that wavered on the gloomy walls of the -Canonry, that lit up the buttresses of the Church of St. Genevieve, -and the wainscoting of her room. What did all this portend? Where was -Patrick Gray, her world, her all, now more than ever her Alpha and -Omega? Was he beset by the Douglases? Oh, if so, she would soon learn -to abhor her own name.</p> - -<p>She muffled her face and ears in her skirt, to shut out sight and -sound, for both seemed to portend but death and woe.</p> - -<p>When she looked up again the light had disappeared, all was dark, and -all was still, save the beating of her heart, and the throbbing of her -temples.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Let us return to Sir Patrick Gray.</p> - -<p>He made all his arrangements with the prudence and rapidity of a -soldier. He had his horse (his favourite roan) prepared, and carefully -saddled; he had procured a stout nag, with a lady's pad, for Murielle, -and he acquainted himself thoroughly with the route to be pursued by -Op Andel and Alm Kerque to Altena. Then he waited with impatience for -midnight, the time that would give him freely and for ever his bride, -his wife, his long-loved Murielle, despite the wiles, the overweening -power, and the unrelenting treachery of Douglas and his adherents.</p> - -<p>Brightly shone the moon in the clear blue sky; the church spires, snowy -white, with all their carvings and tracery, their painted windows, and -glittering crosses, stood sharply up from the sea of pointed roofs -which covered the city of Bommel, but Gray wished for darkness and -obscurity. A small cloud came from the flat horizon, and anxiously he -watched its progress; but it was of fleecy whiteness, and passed over -the moon's yellow disc like a gauze veil. He prayed that she would go -down before the appointed time, and being on the wane, she luckily did -so—at least, ere half-past eleven, fair Luna was hidden by the thick -woods that grew near Ameldroyen, and by the yellow haze exhaled from -the sedgy banks of the Waal.</p> - -<p>The time was near! He could count the minutes now; before he had -reckoned by hours.</p> - -<p>His heart beat quicker; he felt athirst, and drank a last cup of wine, -as he bade adieu to his hostelry for ever, and mounting his roan, took -the palfrey by the bridle, and forgetting all about the closed gates of -Bommel, and that he was without an order from Jacques de Lalain (unless -the abbot had procured it), turned his steps towards the church of St. -Genevieve.</p> - -<p>The padlocked chains which closed the ends of the streets were a -serious obstruction in the dark, but he made his horses clear them by -a bound, and each time they did so, he dreaded that the patrols of the -Burgher Guard, or night watch, might hurry after him, to discover what -horseman was abroad so late, and on what errand. But unseen he reached -the church, and securing the horses in a dark recess, between two deep -buttresses, by fastening their bridles to the carving of a niche, he -hastened through the north aisle, and issued by the postern into the -garden of the Dyck Graf's house. Then he saw the trellised arbour, and -above it the window of Murielle's apartments.</p> - -<p>A light was burning there; a shadow crossed it—it was she, and his -heart leaped! All around was still and dark and sombre as he could have -wished.</p> - -<p>As he approached the window, a female figure in a hood and veil -appeared. Gray hurriedly clambered to the roof of the arbour, the -trellis-work of which formed a most efficient scaling-ladder, and -reached the window, which was about twelve feet from the ground.</p> - -<p>"Murielle—your hand—we have not a moment to lose!" he whispered, and -held up his arms to receive and assist her.</p> - -<p>At that moment he felt his right hand strongly grasped and seemingly -fettered, as a chain was thrown round his wrist. He attempted to -withdraw, but was firmly held.</p> - -<p>"Murielle!" he exclaimed, in astonishment. There was a mocking laugh, -and as the hood fell off, his eyes met those of James Achanna, -glittering far apart like those of a huge bird.</p> - -<p>"Pray to St. Simon that he may lend you his saw, or to St. Jude for -his club, to break this fetter," said Achanna, as he secured the chain -to an iron staple in the window-sill; "but the flames will be here, -hot and red, before either of them," he added, suddenly brandishing -a lighted torch, in the bright glare of which his flushed face and -protruding green eyes now resembled those of a devil. Astonishment and -rage trebled the great natural strength of Gray. He grasped Achanna by -the throat with his left hand, and though the would-be assassin strove -to free himself, by savagely thrusting the blazing torch in the face -of his victim, the latter dragged him over the window: down they came, -battling together—the chain and staple parted, and the two enemies -fell crash through the frail arbour, upon the heap of combustibles -below. These, by their previous preparation, the torch ignited in a -moment. A fiery blaze at once lit all the garden, while Sir Patrick -Gray and Achanna rolled over each over, struggling to get at their -daggers, each to despatch his antagonist.</p> - -<p>Achanna was below and Gray above, and as the dagger was worn far back -on the right side in those days, the first could by no means get at -his weapon, as it was completely under him. Gray's strong left hand -clutched his throat with deadly tenacity, and his chest was also -crushed; but Gray searched in vain for his dagger. It had dropped from -his belt in their fall, and his sword was broken in three places by the -same circumstance, but with the heavy hilt and a fragment of the blade -which adhered to it, he rained a torrent of blows upon the head and -face of his adversary, whom he resolved to despatch as he would have -done a snake, or a viper, for it was now a combat to the death between -them.</p> - -<p>All this terrible episode occurred in a few moments, and Gray in his -fury, would inevitably have destroyed Achanna, had there not rushed -from the house, the earl of Douglas, the lairds of Pompherston, -Glendoning, and Cairnglas, with Sir Alan Lauder, and several other -persons, some of whom were in their breeches and shirts, others in -helmets and cuirasses; but all with torches or candles, and drawn -swords.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for Gray, twelve soldiers of the burgher guard, whom the -uproar had alarmed, came up at the same moment, with their ponderous -Flemish partizans, or our story and his life had ended there together, -for the Douglases would infallibly have cut him to pieces.</p> - -<p>Intent now on escaping, and preserving both his life and his -<i>incognito</i>, Gray fought with the vigour of despair. Wrenching a -partizan from a Waloon soldier, he struck right and left to hew a -passage through his assailants. He knocked down Douglas of Pompherston, -and severely wounded two of the night watch, by piercing their -cuirasses of boiled bull-hide; but being pressed furiously by their -comrades, he was soon beaten to the ground, disarmed, dragged away -through the streets, and carried to the castle of Bommel, where he was -thrust into a common dungeon and left to his own reflections, which -were neither very lucid nor lively.</p> - -<p>His horses, his leathern mail or portmanteau, and papers became the -spoil of the Douglases; his rich cassock coat, the gift of Duke Arnold, -and the ring which he was commissioned by Katharine, the duchess of -Gueldres, to convey to the young king, her future son-in-law, became -the prey of James Achanna, who openly appropriated and wore both, and -whom the earl sent to Messire Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf, to -request that Gray, "as a notorious outlaw and consorter with Ludwig of -Endhoven, should be broken alive upon the wheel, by noon next day."</p> - -<p>All his papers were gone; thus he could afford no written or -satisfactory account of himself, and obstinately refused to say what -object brought him into conflict with Achanna, as he was determined -that the name of Murielle—his wife—should not be compromised, even in -a foreign country.</p> - -<p>It was soon known and proved by the evidence of the officious and now -terrified keeper of the hostelry, at which he lately lodged, that he -had assumed at times, if not constantly, the dress and character of a -Muscovite merchant.</p> - -<p>"For what reason?" asked De Lalain; but Gray declined to answer.</p> - -<p>Was he a spy of Philip of Burgundy, or of Charles of France? was the -next surmise. But the latter at that time had no thought of war or -politics, and was forgetting everything in the arms of Agnes Soreau -(commonly called Sorel), a beautiful demoiselle of Touraine. The fact -of disguise looked very suspicious, but none knew exactly of what.</p> - -<p>Again Douglas urged that he should be executed without delay; but grief -and despair threw Gray into a burning fever, "ane het sicknesse," -the abbot, his kinsman terms it; so the Dyck Graf declined to be -precipitate, but kept him a close prisoner, and on the day after this -affair, the earl of Douglas, with all his retinue, accompanied by the -duke of Albany, left Bommel, and took the road by Ameldroyen, towards -the frontier of France.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.<br /> - -<small>A GLANCE AT HISTORY</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Visions of the days departed,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Shadowy phantoms fill my brain;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">They who live in history only,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Seem to walk the earth again.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 44%;"><span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The spring of 1443 was ripening into summer around the Scottish -capital. The green corn was sprouting in the fields; the April gowans -and the budding whins made gay the upland slopes and braes.</p> - -<p>Many months had elapsed since Sir Patrick Gray should have returned -to court with an account of his mission. The Regent Livingstone and -the chancellor became impatient, and despatched Patrick Lord Glammis, -Master of the Household, to the court of Gueldres, from whence he soon -returned, with a duplicate of the letters entrusted to Gray, of whom no -trace had been discovered, since Prince Adolphus and his retinue had -separated from him at Wees, when on his way to the coast, and at the -distance of twenty miles from the castle of Gueldres.</p> - -<p>This was somewhat perplexing; the old chancellor, who had a strong -friendship for Gray, now really mourned for him as one who was no -more, believing that he had been slain in some mysterious manner, and -the young king wept before the Lords of the Secret Council, to whom -Glammis made his report. Crichton knew that the earl of Douglas had -been in Flanders, with all his chosen followers, and their unscrupulous -character made the friends of Sir Patrick fear the worst.</p> - -<p>In those days, posts there were none, letters were few, travellers -fewer, and one half of Europe knew nothing of the other; but, -nevertheless, distant rumours informed the regent and chancellor of -Scotland that Douglas and his train, with the forfeited duke of Albany, -after a brief sojourn at the court of Charles the Seventh, had passed -on towards Rome.</p> - -<p>In his rage at the abbot John, the earl vowed "to raze Tongland -Abbey to its ground-stone," and to do many other absurd and -impossible things; but one threatening wave of the abbot's hand, and -a denunciation from his otherwise good-natured lips, brought the -superstitious noble on his knees, grovelling, and in prayer, which was -invariably replaced by fury and maledictions as soon as his mentor -retired. He promised to forgive Gray, and within the hour despatched -Achanna with one of his many letters to the Dyck Graf of Bommel, urging -his secret execution. He then ordered the abbot to return to Scotland, -and in the same breath begged he would accompany him to Rome; and the -abbot, being most anxious for a personal interview with the sovereign -pontiff, silently consented to do so, though despising in his heart the -titled penitent he followed.</p> - -<p>John Douglas, abbot of the Premonstratensian monks of Tongland, held -for the haughty earl, the keys of heaven and of hell, and made him -writhe in his superstitious soul at the terrible conviction.</p> - -<p>In 1444, as Crichton had arranged, the king took into his own hands the -government of the nation, in a convention of the Three Estates, which -met within the castle of Stirling, and at the same time, the papal -legate came from beyond the sea, in great pomp and bravery, to exact a -solemn oath of fealty to Rome from all the Scottish Bishops. Such oaths -were beginning to be requisite now, for already had the smoke of those -funeral fires, to which they had consigned Resby the Englishman, and -Crawar the Bohemian, "infected all on whom it was blown."</p> - -<p>The poor chancellor had his hands full of troublesome business, for the -Scottish lords were again at their old hereditary occupations, rapine -and slaughter.</p> - -<p>Patrick Galbraith, a follower of the earl of Douglas, quarrelled with -Robert Semple, of Fulwood, about who should command in the royal -fortress of Dunbarton, where one was governor of the upper, and the -other of the lower castle. The sword was speedily resorted to; Semple -was slain, and a strong garrison of Douglas-men occupied the place. The -Lindesays and Ogilvies fought the disastrous feudal battle of Arbroath -to decide whose chief should be bailie of that regality; and there fell -on that bloody field, Alexander, earl of Crawford, six knights, and -six hundred men-at-arms.</p> - -<p>Then Robert Boyd, of Doughal, ran his sword through Sir James Stewart, -of Auchminto, at a lonely place near Kirkpatrick, where the summer -woods grew thick and green, and carried off his wife to the castle of -Dunbarton, where she brought forth a child prematurely, and died of -grief and terror in two days after. Archibald Dunbar stormed the great -castle of the earl of Hailes, slew the inmates, and gave it up to the -Douglases, while the moss-troopers of Annandale, lest their weapons -should rust, kept all the western marches in hot water by their raids -and devastations, which were seldom confined to their own border.</p> - -<p>The sisters of the king were actually considered in danger, so daring -or so enterprising were the younger knights of the Douglas faction; -thus the princesses Jane and Eleonora departed to visit their sister, -the unhappy dauphiness of France, but arrived too late to see her. -She had died of a broken heart, having sunk under the cruelty of -her husband (afterwards Louis XI., of infamous memory) and shame at -the false charges of Jamet de Tilloy. Eleonora became the wife of -Sigismund, archduke of Austria; but the princess Jane returned to her -first love, who was the Scottish earl of Angus.</p> - -<p>"All the mischiefs at home," says Buchanan, "were imputed to the earl -of Douglas, who did all he could to conceal the misdemeanour of his -followers, while he studied to afflict the men of different parties; -in consequence of the vastness of his power, it was almost a capital -offence to call aught he did in question. His influence compelled Sir -James Stuart, of Lorn, the king's uncle, to fly the realm, because -he spoke freely of the desperate state of the people; and his ship -was taken at sea by Flemish pirates, among whom he ended his life in -misery."</p> - -<p>Such was the hard fate of the Black Knight of Lorn, the husband of the -Queen Dowager of Scotland—Jane Beaufort, the fair flower of Windsor.</p> - -<p>The English, as usual, took advantage of these turmoils to enter -Scotland and burn the tower of Dumfries; so in return for this piece -of attention, the Scots, under Lord Balvenie, burned Alnwick, and laid -waste to Northumberland, reducing it almost to a desert; and soon after -fifteen thousand English, under the Lord Piercy, were cut to pieces on -the frontier, as they were about to cross a second time.</p> - -<p>The Cheviots, said by a modern writer, to be "a clasp riveting Scotland -and England together," were then deemed, like the Tweed and Solway -elsewhere, but a natural barrier placed by the hand of God between two -rival kingdoms. War brought famine and disease in her ghastly train, -and so closed the year 1448.</p> - -<p>Previous to this, the chancellor taking advantage of the lull caused by -the defeat of the English and the capture of their leaders, the earls -of Northumberland and Huntingdon, assembled a suitable train and sailed -for Flanders, to bring home the young king's betrothed bride, for whose -reception, great preparations were made at court.</p> - -<p>Crichton was long absent, as he went by the way of Tours, to renew -the ancient league with France, which was again ratified by him and -other Scottish ambassadors for James II.; and by Thibaud, bishop of -Maillerais, the Sieur de Pretigni and Messire Guillaume Cousinat, on -the part of Charles VII.</p> - -<p>After this the lord chancellor rode towards Gueldres.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XL.<br /> - -<small>THE PRISONER</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">It might be months, or years, or days,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">I kept no count—I took no note;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">I had no hope my eyes to raise,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And clear them of their dreary mote.—<span class="smcap">Byron.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Meanwhile, during the occurrence of all these stirring events where was -Sir Patrick Gray?</p> - -<p>A prisoner of state in the castle of Bommel, detained there, to all -appearance, hopelessly, by order of Jacques de Lalain, the Dyck Graf.</p> - -<p>This official knew not whether to believe the information and -reiterated statements of Sir Patrick, or those of the vindictive earl -of Douglas. The secret manner in which Gray had resided in Bommel, and -the disguise he had assumed, were denounced by the burgomaster, as -unworthy the character of an envoy and the captain of a royal guard; -they were declared suspicious, though no one could exactly say of -what bad errand or object. Then, in that unexplained midnight brawl, -concerning the origin of which Sir Patrick maintained an obstinate -silence, he had wounded almost to death two citizens of good repute; -and he was totally without papers or property to verify the account he -gave of himself, as all he possessed had fallen into the hands of the -Douglases, who had destroyed the former and appropriated the latter.</p> - -<p>The hatred displayed by a noble so powerful as the earl and by his -brilliant train of followers towards him, and their urgent demands for -his execution, with or without a trial, convinced Jacques de Lalain -that some great mystery was involved; that his prisoner was a man of -considerable importance; and that it would be alike impolitic to hang -or to release him. Hence he ordered, that he should be well attended, -and comfortably lodged in the fortress of Bommel, but closely guarded -and confined to the tower of Otho III.</p> - -<p>Arnold d'Egmont, duke of Gueldres, had already begun to be embroiled by -his unnatural son, Prince Adolphus, and was absent at the ducal court -of Burgundy; thus to numerous letters on the subject of his unfortunate -prisoner, the Dyck Graf received no explicit answer, so time rolled -wearily and drearily on.</p> - -<p>And what of Murielle? was the constant thought of Gray.</p> - -<p>She was now his, irrevocably his, and while aware of his existence -could not, either by force or fraud, become the wife of another. -Amid all the misery of a protracted captivity, there was comfort in -his conviction, till after-thoughts suggested how heartless was the -existence to which their precipitate marriage had perhaps condemned her!</p> - -<p>But might not their enemies, by forgeries and false statements, delude -her into an idea of <i>his</i> death, as they had attempted to do before? -Douglas dared not trifle with the power and terror of the Church; so -Gray drew consolation from his memory of the earl's superstition, if -not of his religion.</p> - -<p>Yet there were times when his mental agony became great; for no news -from Scotland or of the external world ever reached his prison.</p> - -<p>Was Murielle still living? Had the wild schemes of Douglas and Albany -prospered? Was the latter on the throne as Robert IV., with the -terrible earl for his lieutenant-general, his ally in council and his -right arm in war—crowned like Baliol of old, by domestic treason and -foreign treachery? Was the young king dead, a prisoner, or an exile in -France or England? Was Albany's betrothal to Mademoiselle Radegonde, -the eldest daughter of Charles VII., annulled? What changes were taking -place in his secluded mountain home? Who were dead—who living, and who -wedded? Was he quite forgotten there?</p> - -<p>Such were the questions ever in his heart and on his tongue.</p> - -<p>Slowly passed the weary days till they became months, and then season -succeeded to season. Five times had Gray, from his barred window -in that old tower of Otho count of Gueldres, seen the golden grain -gathered on the flat and distant fields; five times had he seen the -land ploughed, and sown, and reaped; and five times covered with the -white mantle of winter, when frost locked the waters of the Waal, and -moored, harder than ever hempen cable and iron anchor did, the great -brown-varnished barges in the sedge-bordered canals, when the storks -forsook their nests on the snow-covered gables, when the holy water -froze in the stone fonts of the churches, and when the bulbous-shaped -Flemings put on at least six pairs of additional breeches. At such -a season as this, the poor prisoner pictured in fancy the crackling -yule-log that blazed in his father's hall at home—the old kirk of -Foulis all bedecked with green bays and greener holly—his mother -mourning by the winter hearth for the loss of her absent son; and then -his heart grew sick as he thought of his blighted love, his wasted -life, and all the thousand memories of his native land.</p> - -<p>He thought, too, of what he had seen in more than one Flemish -market-place, in Antwerp, at Gueldres, Endhoven, Bommel, and -elsewhere; the cruel and periodical exhibition of a long-secluded -prisoner, in whose heart hope, and even the memory of the outer world, -were long since dead; "for there on particular days," says a certain -writer, "these victims are presented to the public eye, upon a stage -erected in the open market, apparently to prevent their guilt and -punishment from being forgotten. It is scarcely possible to witness a -sight more degrading to humanity than this exhibition:—with matted -hair, wild looks, and haggard features, with eyes dazzled by the -unwonted glare of the sun, and ears deafened and astounded by the -sudden exchange of the silence of a dungeon for the busy hum of men, -the wretches sit like rude images fashioned to a fantastic imitation of -humanity rather than like living and reflecting beings. In the course -of time we are assured they generally become either madmen or idiots, -as mind or matter happens to predominate, when the mysterious balance -between them is destroyed."</p> - -<p>Gray remembered to have seen these miserable captives thus exhibited, -and his heart died within him with terror, lest such might be the fate -reserved for himself.</p> - -<p>So the year 1448 was in its spring when he reckoned that Murielle -was no longer a girl—that in fact she would be about her -four-and-twentieth year. He strove to picture what the girl would be -now, when expanded into a woman! Would he ever see her more, or be free -to tread his native soil again? Alas! there were times when he feared -his brain would turn.</p> - -<p>Count Ludwig had long since been taken in the adjacent forest, after a -hard conflict between the soldiers of De Lalain and his Brabanciones, -many of whom, including Gustaf Vlierbeke, and the industrious Carl -Langfanger, were slain, and gibbeted on the trees. The wretched count -was broken alive on the wheel, before the Church of St. Genevieve. He -survived the torture for three days, before the public executioner gave -him the final <i>coup</i> with an iron bar, and his head on a spike now -rendered the market-place of Bommel horrible to its frequenters.</p> - -<p>Gray heard of this barbarous execution in his prison, and he almost -envied the reckless robber, for death seemed a triumphant release from -tyranny, misery, and mental suffering.</p> - -<p>In February, 1448, on a dull morning, when the yellow winter fog hung -like a pall over the level scenery of the Bommelerwaard, Gray was -roused from sleep by the roar of twenty great bombards, the concussion -of which shook the old castle of Count Otho to its foundations as they -exploded in a salvo.</p> - -<p>Had an enemy, the French or Burgundians, attacked it suddenly? His -heart leaped with joy at the desperate hope. He rushed to the grated -window of his room, and saw in the court-yard beneath, the Dyck Graf, -with his sword and mantle, his knightly girdle and collar, mustering -and arraying his garrison in their armour, pikemen, crossbowmen, -arquebusiers, all steady Walloons and German lanzknechts. Then came -the clangour of the church bells, and cheers of a multitude without, -who seemed to be rushing through the streets towards the gate of the -fortress, while still the great brazen bombards continued to belch -forth flame and thunder from the battlements.</p> - -<p>"What has happened?" asked Gray, as he rushed half dressed from his -room to the court-yard. "Oh, Messire," he added to the Dyck Graf, "in -pity tell me?"</p> - -<p>"Only a salute, messire," replied the governor curtly, in French; but -as Gray observed, with more politeness than usually was accorded to him.</p> - -<p>"To whom?"</p> - -<p>"A demoiselle of the highest-rank."</p> - -<p>"But her name, Messire?" urged Gray.</p> - -<p>"The young queen of Scotland, who comes this way with her train," -replied the Dyck Graf.</p> - -<p>Gray almost gasped with joy.</p> - -<p>"The daughter of duke Arnold?" he inquired.</p> - -<p>"Yes; of Monseigneur the duke of Gueldres; she has been married to your -king at Brussels, and is now on her way to Scotland."</p> - -<p>"I am saved—saved at last!" exclaimed Gray, in a burst of happiness, -so genuine that even the grim De Lalain was impressed by it. "Oh, my -God, I thank thee! (oh, my Murielle!)—and—and, messire, is the king -here?</p> - -<p>"Tonnere de ciel! how inquisitive you have become."</p> - -<p>"Messire, after all I have endured you may excuse me, for many a sun -has risen and set—many a tide has ebbed and flowed since I became a -prisoner here, spending years, whose agony is known to Heaven and to -myself only!"</p> - -<p>"Well—the king is not here; the princess was married to him by -proxy—the chancellor of Scotland being his representative, before the -altar of St. Gudule."</p> - -<p>"Sir William Crichton?"</p> - -<p>"I think that is his name, messire; and by St. Genevieve!" he added -as the clanking iron gates were rolled back by the warders, "she -hath a brave retinue of lords and knights, and, as many of them are -your countrymen, we shall <i>now</i> be able to verify the truth of your -statements."</p> - -<p>Within an hour after this, Sir Patrick Gray found himself a free man, -and surrounded by his countrymen and friends, all loyal gentlemen of -the court, who knew him well. He was cordially embraced by the old -chancellor, who presented him to the young Queen Mary, and placed him -by her side, as the captain of her husband's Royal Guard.</p> - -<p>Messire Jacques de Lalain, on perceiving the turn matters took with his -prisoner, began to fear that in the zealous execution of his office he -had made a mistake. He offered innumerable apologies to Gray, and as -he was not ungenerous, he presented him with a rich suit of Flemish -armour, a fine Toledo, a Spanish gennet, and a catella or chain, having -fifty links of fine gold, as an <i>amende</i> for all he had endured.</p> - -<p>Of all who accompanied the chancellor, he inquired about the Douglases; -but could only learn that they were at Rome, and probably would not -return until after the great jubilee, which took place then every -fiftieth year, in honour of the foundation of Christianity.</p> - -<p>The young queen's train embarked at Sluys, in Scottish ships, and -crossed the German sea in safety.</p> - -<p>On the 1st of April, 1448, she landed at Leith, and as an illustration -of "how dull and common-place fiction is when compared with truth," the -Dyck Graf of Bommel, and Sir Patrick Gray, who had been so long and so -hopelessly his prisoner, rode side by side, as she proceeded towards -Edinburgh, and they bore over her head a canopy of cloth of gold upon -the points of their lances.</p> - -<p>Gray's noble horse and gorgeous armour were now as conspicuous as his -soldierly bearing and manly beauty; for both had now returned, and in -his five years of captivity the scars inflicted by the ghisarma of -Douglas had disappeared, or nearly so.</p> - -<p>Patrick Cockburn, of Newbigging, now provost of Edinburgh and governor -of the castle, received the queen at the head of the magistrates and -all the men of the city, in armour—"boden in effeir of weir," as it -was then termed.</p> - -<p>Mary was accompanied by the lord chancellor Crichton, John Raulston, -bishop of Dunkeld, who was lord privy seal, and Nicholas Otterburn, a -canon of Glasgow. The prince of Ravenstein, the marquis of Berg, and -Englebert, count of Nassau, hereditary Burg Graf of Antwerp, who were -each followed by a brilliant train of attendants, wore the collars and -mantles of the Golden Fleece. The prince bore the banner of the bride's -uncle, Philip III., surnamed the Good, duke of Burgundy.</p> - -<p>Then came the bishops of Liege and Cambrai, riding upon white mules, -with long footcloths.</p> - -<p>The king's two brothers-in-law came next, Francis, duke of Brittany -(a prince who slew his brother Giles), and the Archduke Sigismund of -Austria, each attended by knights, banners, squires, and pages, in -glittering costumes. With them came Louis II., duke of Savoy, prince of -Piedmont, and husband of the princess royal of Cyprus, with his banner -borne by the duke of Montferrat, who wore a scarlet tabard, with the -silver cross of Savoy.</p> - -<p>The lord of Campvere, a handsome and black-bearded man, the husband of -Mary of Scotland (fifth sister of James), came next in a suit of armour -glittering with gold carvings and precious stones. He bore a great -banner—<i>azure</i>, with the lion <i>or</i>, crowned for Gueldreland, and -<i>azure</i> a lion <i>gules</i> for Zutphen, impaled, with the lion of Scotland, -within its double tressure of <i>fleur-de-lis</i>.</p> - -<p>Herré de Meriadet, hereditary Burg Graf of the castle of Sluys, bore -the banner of the count of Nassau, <i>azure</i> sprinkled with crosses -<i>argent</i>. Meriadet, a tall and stately man, was then famous as one -of the best knights in Europe, and the people received him with -acclamation. He wore a silver helmet of great beauty and remarkable -form, which he had struck in battle from the head of an emir of -Granada, when he served the king of Castile in his wars against the -Moors, and its snow-white plumes drooped upon his shoulders, and were -reflected on the dazzling surface of his armour, which literally blazed -in the noonday sunshine.</p> - -<p>Bombards were fired, and bells were loudly rung in many a sacred -edifice now numbered with the things that were; and so "with a grate -traine of knights and ladeys" (as Balfour has it), the queen was -conducted to the church of Holyrood, and there solemnly married to -the young king, then in about the nineteenth year of his age, and in -the bloom of youthful strength and comeliness; and Mary his bride -charmed the people by her girlish loveliness. They were never tired of -extolling her fair hair, which fell in golden masses on her snowy neck -and shoulders; her violet-coloured eyes, and her full yet curved lip, -which expressed the softness of love, with that firmness of character -so needed in a queen of the turbulent Scots.</p> - -<p>This was the second time that the houses of Scotland and the then -powerful and independent dukedom of Gueldres had been connected by -marriage.</p> - -<p>Alexander, son of Alexander III., espoused Margaret, daughter of Guy -de Dampierre, earl of Flanders; and had he lived, and she been queen -of Scotland, the disastrous wars of the Edwards and the victories of -Wallace and Bruce had never been heard of; but he died at Roxburgh, in -1283, when in his twentieth year. Margaret interred him at Lindores, -in the old abbey church of St. Mary, and soon after became the wife of -Reinald, the warlike duke and count of Gueldres.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLI.<br /> - -<small>CRICHTON</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">The towers in different ages rose,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Their various architecture shows</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The builders' various hands;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">A mighty mass, that could oppose</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">When deadliest hatred fired its foes,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The vengeful Douglas bands.—<span class="smcap">Marmion.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Amid all the rejoicings on the occasion of this royal marriage the -heart of Gray was sad.</p> - -<p>Time had not lessened his love for Murielle Douglas, and he grew -sick at heart when contemplating the apparent hopelessness of his -separation from her: yet she was his wife, whom no man could take from -him, while life remained; but so broken did he become in spirit, that -notwithstanding all the barbarity and wrong he had endured from the -Douglases and their chief, there were times when he resolved to seek -the presence of the latter, and, divested of sword, dagger, and armour, -make the desperate attempt of offering his ungloved hand, "which," as -the chancellor told him with a grimace, "he might as safely thrust into -the mouth of a hungry tiger."</p> - -<p>The young monarch, who loved Gray and pitied him for his story, heaped -favours upon him, such as fine horses, rich armour, purses, and swords, -enabling him to appear to the best advantage among the brilliant -foreign chivalry by whom the Scottish court was then crowded—knights -who were the flower of France, Bretagne, Gueldres, and Burgundy—men -whose sons were to win the great battles of Charles the Bold, and to -die by his side on the field of Campo Basso.</p> - -<p>To all whom he trusted the manner of James II. was most winning; it was -the old hereditary charm of his family, who seemed never to forget the -maxim,—the higher the head the humbler the heart.</p> - -<p>For his diplomatic services in this marriage and other matters, -Crichton, as already mentioned, had been created a peer of the realm; -and when the beauty of the young queen and the dowry she brought are -considered, he had some reason to congratulate himself on a result so -successful.</p> - -<p>Philip of Burgundy bound himself to pay his niece, the bride, sixty -thousand pounds in gold, as a portion merely of her dower, while James -settled upon her ten thousand crowns, secured on land in Atholl, -Methven, Stratharn, and Linlithgow; and he relinquished all claim to -the duchy of Gueldres, after which a league offensive and defensive was -concluded between that province, the kingdoms of Scotland, France, and -the dukedom of Burgundy.</p> - -<p>A series of brilliant tournaments were held in honour of these events; -and the Dyck Graf of Bommel, with his brother, Messire Simon de Lalain, -with Messire Herré de Meriadet, Burg Graf of Sluys, three Burgundian -lords of high descent and esteemed valour, challenged "an equal number -of Scottish chivalry to joust with lance and sword, battle-axe and -dagger."</p> - -<p>This defiance was promptly responded to by a knight named Sir James -Douglas, James Douglas, Lord of Lochlevin, and Sir John Ross of -Halkhead, constable of Renfrew. The latter was attended by Sir Patrick -Gray, while Sir Thomas MacLellan and Romanno of that Ilk attended the -other two, ready to take part in the <i>mêlée</i> if the strife became a -bloody one. A space near the castle rock of Stirling was selected for -the lists, and gaily-decorated galleries were erected for the king, the -queen, and court, the lords and barons of parliament.</p> - -<p>On the appointed day, the six champions, after hearing mass, presented -themselves, clad in velvet and cloth of gold, before the king, and -after each had made a low reverence, they retired to six painted -pavilions to arm; after which, lanced, horsed, and in full and splendid -armour, with closed helmets, they entered the lists at opposite -extremities; and when twelve brass trumpets made the summer sky and -castle rock re-echo to their united blast, the knights rushed on each -other, three against three.</p> - -<p>"For Scotland!" shouted Ross and the Douglases.</p> - -<p>"Vivat Burgundie!" replied Meriadet and the De Lalains.</p> - -<p>Such were the war-cries on each side.</p> - -<p>Their tough ash spears were splintered in an instant, the fragments -springing high in air from the ringing coats of tempered steel. -Panting and quivering, with flashing eyes and snorting nostrils, the -gaily-trapped horses recoiled upon their straining haunches, till -wheeled round, and urged forward again, by spur and knee, by voice and -bridle, and fiercely the combat was renewed, as the six knights closed -up, hand to hand, with flashing swords and swaying battle-axes.</p> - -<p>Sir James Douglas and Sir John Ross, and the Dyck Graf and Simon de -Lalain, were so equally matched that not one of them could obtain the -least advantage over the other, though they fought till all their -armour was defaced, and, save Douglas's dagger, all their weapons were -broken; but Herré de Meriadet, by one blow of his battle-axe, unhorsed -the lord of Lochlevin, as he had formerly done the emir of Granada, and -hurled him to the ground.</p> - -<p>On seeing this, and fearing the conflict might have a disastrous -termination, the king, at Crichton's request, threw down his truncheon, -and the jousts were ended, just as Gray, MacLellan, and Romanno were -about to join in the <i>mêlée</i> with the three Burgundian squires.</p> - -<p>So passed this year, and then came the next, in which rumour reached -the Scottish court of how the turbulent earl of Douglas and his -warlike followers comported themselves in the Eternal City, during -the festivities which opened with the year of the Jubilee, 1450; for -there the Scottish knights, who wore the red heart on their helmets -and surcoats, became involved in a brawl with the Roman populace on -the crowded bridge of St. Angelo, and betook them to their lances, -swords, and mauls as freely as if they had been in the High Street -of Edinburgh, or the Broad Wynd of Stirling, and played the devil in -the capital of his holiness, spearing and trampling the people under -foot; and they it was who caused that tremendous pressure by which, as -history records, ninety-seven persons were killed at the end of the -bridge, by being simply crushed to death.</p> - -<p>Pope Nicholas V., who had lately succeeded the unfortunate Eugene, was -so inspired by indignation, that all hope of a fuller dispensation for -the earl and his countess was at an end. There too were dissipated -all the poor abbot of Tongland's expectations of having the prince of -darkness restored to favour, for, as he records in his papers, the -very name of "Douglace gart ye paip to scunner;" so, in despair, he -committed to the flames the memorial he had prepared on behalf of his -ubiquitous protégé, and abandoned his pet project for the time.</p> - -<p>Then, to the infinite satisfaction of Murielle, the earl, separated -from the duke of Albany, and hearing how high his rival Crichton stood -in favour at the Scottish court, and that, under Romanno, troops had -been sent into Galloway to ravage the Douglas lands, and punish their -disorderly occupants, he returned secretly and with all speed homeward, -for the express purpose of cutting off the chancellor by the strong -hand, and more than ever determined on carrying out his old schemes of -vengeance.</p> - -<p>Passing through England in the spring of the year, after some -treasonable correspondence with Henry VI., he arrived in Scotland, -and, unknown to Crichton, secretly ensconced himself at Dalkeith, the -castle of his kinsman, James, third lord of Dalkeith, while Achanna -and another follower, bribed by the proffer of a gauntlet filled with -silver crowns, watched the movements of the chancellor, who was then -suffering from ill health, his advanced years, and the cares of the -state, and who resided in the castle of Edinburgh. An opportunity for -mischief soon presented itself.</p> - -<p>It chanced that on Lady Day, in March, the chancellor left his -residence to visit his own house of Crichton, which stands about -twelve miles south from the city. He was accompanied by Sir Patrick -Gray, Sir Thomas MacLellan, Romanno, constable of Edinburgh Castle and -master of the king's ordnance, Patrick Lord Glammis, and about twenty -gentlemen, all well mounted and armed.</p> - -<p>The day was fine and clear, the sharp March winds blustered through -the hollows and swept the last year's leaves before it over the -uplands, where the fresh soil glittered in the sunshine, and where the -hoodie-crow searched in the furrows for worms; the birds were singing -in the hedgerows, where the buds were springing into greenness; the air -was mild and cool, the fields were assuming a verdant hue, though the -brown spoil of the departed year lay damp and rotting in the mountain -runnels, and along the sedgy banks of loch and stream. The rich aroma -of the land came on the passing breeze, that shook the old woods of -Drumshelch and Dalrigh.</p> - -<p>Over miles of land now covered by the "modern Athens," for ages into -times unknown and far beyond the knowledge or record of man, the -oaks of these old woods shook down their autumn leaves upon the lair -of the elk, the snow-white mountain bull, and of those ferocious -Scottish bears, which in after-days, as Martial tells us, were used -by the pagan Romans to increase the torture of those Christians who -perished on the cross. Drumshelch was one of those old primeval -forests, from which the first dwellers in the land named themselves -Coille-dhoinean—<span class="smcap">Caledonians</span>, or the men of the woods.</p> - -<p>Though the month was March, the season having been moist, the peasantry -were consigning the whins to the flames, though such was contrary to -the law of James I., and the white smoke of the muir-burn, as it was -named, rolled along the hills of Braid and the more distant slopes of -the Pentlands like a mimic conflagration.</p> - -<p>It was spring, and one of the most delightful days of the season, when -men's hearts grow buoyant, they scarcely know why. Even Gray felt its -influence, for it gave him new emotions of pleasure and of hope. It was -little more than the commencement of a new year; but it was one the -end of which none could foresee. He had heard that the Douglases were -returning. How little could he imagine that Murielle was then only six -miles distant from him, where the strong old castle of Dalkeith, from -its wooded slope, overlooked the lovely Esks.</p> - -<p>He conversed gaily with the knights and gentlemen of the chancellor's -train, as they rode down the steep winding street, named the Bow, and -passed to the eastward along a narrow way between hedgerows, which -bordered the city on the south in the long deep hollow, on the opposite -bank of which then stood only one edifice—the solitary church of St. -Mary-in-the-Field, surrounded by its burying-ground. It was a lonely -bridle-road this path through the hollow—a place where the birds -carolled by day, the glow-worms glittered by night, and the brown -rabbits started from side to side at all times.</p> - -<p>Three crow-stepped and gable-ended edifices, then standing far apart, -were there. One belonged to Richard Lundy, then a monk, and afterwards -abbot of Melrose; another was a little chapel of Holyrood which stood -at the foot of St. Giles's churchyard; the third was an old farmhouse.</p> - -<p>This narrow and solitary hedgerow was then the southgate and the future -Cowgate of Edinburgh.</p> - -<p>As the chancellor and his train issued from it into the more open -country, they took no heed of two armed horsemen—for all men in -Scotland went armed—who left the city before them, and who, after -frequently looking back, as if reckoning their number and watching -their route, disappeared at full speed to the southward.</p> - -<p>At a rapid pace our friends crossed the ridge of Kirk-Liberton, -passing between the fortlet of the Winrams and the holy well of St. -Catherine. They crossed both the wooded Esks, and ascended the long -line of cultivated hill, then an open waste, known as the Roman camp -of Agricola, where the mounds and trenches which his warriors dug -in the year 80 may still be distinctly traced; and then southward -in the distance, the chancellor's retinue could see his castle of -Crichton on the western slope of a green eminence, where its walls and -towers, a glorious relic of Scotland's stormy days, all built of red -coloured freestone, glowed ruddily in the light of the evening sun. -And this feudal fortress appeared to rise higher on its steep as the -proprietor's train descended into the deep and marshy valley which it -overhangs.</p> - -<p>Crichton is a vast quadrangular fortress, exhibiting in its stone -staircases and arcaded court, wonderful architectural beauty and great -strength, as it adjoined that part of the wild and lawless border-land -which lay nearest to the Scottish capital. Toned down by time, its -corroded carvings, so rich and so florid in their details, impress with -astonishment the wanderer who comes suddenly in view of its mouldering -remains, as they stand in a lonely glen, remote and secluded alike -from road and railway, from tourist and traveller. A fallen tower has -now choked up the terrible <i>massy-more</i> or secret dungeon, and the -chambers where Mary Stuart and Bothwell held high revelry—where the -lady of Hailes wept for the slaughter of her lord and all his kindred -at Flodden, and where the wily old chancellor wove his plans for the -downfall of the Douglases, are now roofless and windowless—the abode -of the fox and the fuimart—the ravenous gled and the hoodie-crow.</p> - -<p>As the chancellor's train, all of whom being men of rank were in bright -armour, rode by the narrow bridle-path, between the green pastoral -hills, and entered Crichtondean, through which flows a sluggish -streamlet, known as the Scottish Tyne, but which becomes a rushing -river when it reaches the ocean at Dunbar, they were soon visible to -the inmates of the castle, several of whom waved their handkerchiefs -from the keep, where the great bell was rung and a banner displayed, -while the Milan plate and steel of the visitors were seen to glitter in -the sunlight, between the masses of alder tree which <i>then</i> clothed the -now bare and desolate sides of the narrow valley.</p> - -<p>Those white handkerchiefs were waved by the chancellor's lady, who -had so kindly nursed Sir Patrick Gray, his daughters, Agnes, wife of -Alexander, master of Glammis, and Elizabeth, afterwards Countess of -Huntly, two of the most beautiful women of the time, who were on the -bartizan with several of their friends and attendants. But as their -father, with his retinue, banner, and horsemen, disappeared where the -alder-woods grew thickest, they heard a tumultuous shout, the sound of -a trumpet, and the clamour of many voices, ascending to their ears on -the breeze of the valley.</p> - -<p>Conversing merrily with Sir Patrick Gray, the old chancellor rode -his ambling nag at an easy pace, with a favourite hawk, the gift -of his neighbour, the Knight of Locharwart, perched on his bridle -hand. Trusting in the strength and character of his retinue, in his -diplomatic rank, to his many ripe years, and the supposed absence -of his enemies, he was without armour, and wore a long black velvet -cassock-coat, which was sufficiently open to show an undershirt -of white satin slashed with red, and secured at the waist by an -embroidered baldrick, at which hung a heavy sword and Parmese dagger, -the hilt of which was composed of a single crystal. His long white hair -escaped from under his Scottish bonnet of black velvet, and floated on -the tippet of miniver which covered his shoulders and was clasped at -the throat by a jewel.</p> - -<p>He pointed to the great column of smoke which ascended from the chimney -of the kitchen-tower, and laughed while reminding his friends of the -good cheer which awaited after their ride over the hills on a clear -March day; but something less easy of digestion in the shape of cold -iron awaited them; for at the narrow part of the road, where it took an -abrupt turn, and where, as already stated, the alderwood grew thickest, -there arose a sudden shout, in front and on both flanks, while a band -of men-at-arms, lanced, horsed, and with closed helmets, rushed upon -them from an ambush.</p> - -<p>"Jamais arrière! a Douglas! a Douglas! Revenge for the Black Dinner!"</p> - -<p>These shouts made all acquainted with whom they had to deal. Gray, -MacLellan, Romanno, and others, shut down their helmets, and betook -them to sword, axe, and "morning star," as those ponderous maces borne -by knights at their saddle-bows were named.</p> - -<p>Two of their unexpected assailants had coronets of jewels upon their -helmets, and all had their coats-of-arms, but chiefly the terrible <i>Red -Heart and three stars</i>, painted on their breastplates. All knew their -foes in an instant, as heraldry was a science in which every gentleman -was then well versed.</p> - -<p>"To your swords, gentlemen; forward, and break through this pack of -knaves!" exclaimed the old chancellor, tossing his hawk into the air, -as he knew it would wing its way straight home. Then drawing his sword, -he added, "Help yourselves, sirs, and Heaven will help you!"</p> - -<p>There was a tremendous shock in the rough and narrow pathway, a -clashing of swords, and the dull, dinting crash of iron maces and mauls -on steel casques and shoulder-plates; several men fell to rise no more, -and many were severely wounded. The chancellor was the aim of all the -Douglases. Gray and MacLellan stood nobly by his side, yet he received -many severe wounds, till he became almost maddened by pain and the -prospect of a cruel death at the hands of his bitterest enemies.</p> - -<p>"Then," says Buchanan, "the Lord Crichton, though an aged peer, slew -the first man who assaulted him, passed his sword through a second, and -leading a charge of his retinue, broke right through the Douglases;" -but just as he was sinking with fatigue and loss of blood, Sir Patrick -Gray, by his battle-axe, broke the arm of one assailant, clove the -helmet of another, and drew the chancellor across the saddle of his -own charger, a powerful Clydesdale war-horse, presented to him by the -king, and calling to MacLellan, Lord Glammis, and Romanno, to "cover -his retreat, and keep the foe in check," he galloped up the steep and -winding path which led to the castle, and deposited his now senseless -friend in the arms of his terrified daughters. Pell-mell up the grassy -slope, fighting every foot of the way, but in full flight, their -friends were now driven by the victorious Douglases, who were more -than a hundred strong, till they reached the chancellor's fortress, -when its gates received them, and then a shot or two skilfully -discharged from a culverin by Gray and Romanno drove them off, -brandishing their weapons and shaking their mailed hands in token of -future vengeance. Ere they went one opened his helmet and displaying -the dark and swarthy face of the great earl, exclaimed hoarsely, "Hark -ye, my lord chancellor: I have drawn once more my father's sword, and -by St. Mary, and St. Bryde of Douglas, I will not leave James Stuart -one foot of Scottish ground—nay, not even the moat-hill of Scone. By -our blessed Lord, before whom this relic of St. Bryde is holy, I swear -it! so judge what shall become of <i>thee!</i>"</p> - -<p>And with these terrible words, after kissing an amulet which hung at -his neck, he galloped away, and with his followers disappeared down -Crichtondean.</p> - -<p>In this rough mode did Gray, for the first time, learn that the -Douglases were again in Scotland, and that Murielle must now have -returned.</p> - -<p>He had now ample scope for thought, reflection, and for daring schemes, -which he knew not how to put in operation.</p> - -<p>After this rash escapade, the Earl of Douglas retired to Thrave, in -Galloway, and for some time the chancellor remained in his stronghold, -until his wounds were healed and he could return to court.</p> - -<p>By this epoch the reader must have begun to perceive what a pleasant -time a Scottish statesman must have had of it in those old feudal days.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLII.<br /> - -<small>KING JAMES II</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Oh, men of Scotland, though you cannot raise</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Your long past monarchs from the silent bier;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Their deeds are worthy of your highest praise,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And simple gratitude demands a tear.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Let no base slander on their memory fall,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Nor malice of their little faults complain;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">They were such men as, take them all and all,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">We ne'er shall look upon their like again!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 44%;"><span class="smcap">Written in 1771.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>James II. was one of that old race of kings whom the now forgotten -bard, above quoted, called upon posterity to remember. At this period -of our story he had reached his twenty-first year, but experience -had already made him older. The sole blemish to his very handsome -countenance was that small red spot which won him the sobriquet of -James with the fiery face. He was considerably above the middle height, -and was firmly knit in form; his eyebrows were strongly marked, and a -dark glossy moustache, curling round his finely cut mouth, mingled with -a short peaked beard. His rich brown hair hung, in the profusion of the -time, over his ears, in thick masses called "side locks." He was rapid -in thought, bold in speech, and prompt in action, fiery and impetuous -in temper; resolute and even desperate in avenging a wrong; and of his -wild impulsive nature, his most unruly subject, the Earl of Douglas, -was, ere long, to have a terrible proof; but yet, like the Moorish -knight of Granada, James was said to be,</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Like steel amid the din of arms,<br /> -Like wax when with the fair.<br /> -</p> - -<p>Some weeks after the outrage which closes the last chapter, on a day -when the sun of June, by its golden light and genial heat, was ripening -the young corn in many a fertile haugh, and on many a swelling eminence -where now the modern city spreads its streets and squares, James was -seated in one of the upper chambers of David's Tower, in the Castle of -Edinburgh. It was the same in which King David died on the 7th May, -eighty years before, and in memory of him there still hung above the -fireplace the mail shirt and barrel-shaped helmet which he had worn at -the battle of Durham.</p> - -<p>The vaulted apartment was gloomy, and through the basket-shaped -gratings of the windows which faced the east the rays of the summer sun -came slanting in, filling one portion with strong light, and leaving -the other involved in dusky shadow.</p> - -<p>Clad in a long scarlet dressing-gown, trimmed with miniver, the king -was reclining in an armed chair, with his feet on a velvet tabourette. -In his hand, bound in painted vellum, and elaborately clasped with -silver, was one of those old French metrical romances which had been -translated into Scottish for him by Sir Gilbert the Haye, who was -chamberlain to Charles VII. of France; but his thoughts ran not upon -its lines, nor the fighting giants, cunning dwarfs, wandering knights, -and castles of burnished steel which filled its pages; neither was -he attending to the mass of yellow parchments and papers which the -high treasurer, and Lord Glammis, the master of the household, were -arranging for his inspection; nor was he heeding the occasional remarks -of his favourite, the Captain of the Guard, who, clad in half armour, -lounged in the recess of a window; but the king's face confessed, by -the sadness of its expression, that his thoughts were at Stirling, -where his beautiful young queen—his golden-haired Mary d'Egmont, of -Gueldres—was confined to her chamber, sick and ill and weary, after -the premature birth of her first baby, which died two hours after it -came into the world, to the great disappointment of the king and nation.</p> - -<p>The great battle of Sark had been recently fought on the borders, -and there fifty thousand English, led by "the stoute Earl of -Northumberland," had been routed by less than thirty thousand Scots, -with the loss of Sir John Pennington and Sir Magnus Red Main, two of -the most celebrated soldiers of Henry VI.; and now, from the window at -which Gray stood in David's Tower, he could see far down below, where -several thousand labourers were daily and nightly at work, enclosing -the capital by its <i>first</i> walls, with embattled gates upon the south, -east, and west; and, for defence on the north, others were converting -the old royal gardens in the valley into a sheet of water—the -Nor'loch of future times; these protections for the city being among -the earliest measures of the young and politic monarch, "in dread of -the evil and skaith of oure ennemies of England," as he states in his -charter to the citizens, who loved him for his valiant conduct and -fatherly care of them.</p> - -<p>"I am well nigh sick of hearing so many petty items," said the -king, wearily, interrupting Andrew, abbot of Melrose, the lord high -treasurer, a tall, pale-visaged, and sharp-eyed man (on whose white -head time had long since marked a permanent <i>tonsure</i>), who had been -reading over several papers for his information; "yet I suppose I must -hear them: say, lord abbot, how stands our privy purse?"</p> - -<p>"I have disbursed to-day to foreign heralds one hundred and fifty -pounds," replied the treasurer.</p> - -<p>"Heralds! On what errand?"</p> - -<p>"They came on the part of Henry of England, to ransom Lord -Northumberland's son, who was wounded and taken prisoner at Sark by -Sir Thomas MacLellan; who had already ransomed him for the value of -his horse and armour," replied the abbot. "Shall I read on?" The king -nodded, and the abbot proceeded in this manner, jumbling all kinds of -items strangely together. "'Item: for your highness's new suit of Milan -harness 20<i>lb.</i>' 'For eight score and eighteen runlets of wine from a -Fleming of the Dam, to wit, Master Baudoin of Antwerp, 500<i>lb.</i>' For -silken stuffs, furs, minivers, spices, and sweetmeats, for the queen's -household, paid to John Vanderberg of Bruges at the fair of Dundee, -800<i>lb.</i>'"</p> - -<p>"Good, my lord—and the total?" said the king.</p> - -<p>"Maketh 1480<i>lb.</i>," replied the treasurer after a pause.</p> - -<p>"By St. Andrew! we shall have but little left to keep those Douglases -in check on the one hand, and those pestilent English on the other, if -our household accounts go thus," said James, with a dubious smile.</p> - -<p>"'To your highness's chamberlain in Mar, for driving all your brood -mares from Strathavon to Strathdon, 5<i>sh.</i>'" resumed the treasurer, -reading very fast to avoid interruption; and then followed innumerable -other items, all written in obsolete Scottish (which, like our -dialogues, we translate), such as twenty-nine weeks' pay to the king's -falconer; to the master gunner of Lochmaben, for stone and iron cannon -balls, and for repairs; to Sir John Romanno for a thousand bowstaves; -to Henry, the smith, for dies for the new coinage; to the keepers of -the balefires along the borders; for garrisons there, and for the -hanging of those who supplied the English with horses or cattle; to the -driver of the oxen when the ten bombardes of the wine of Gascony came -from Perth for the court's summer drink——</p> - -<p>"And were intercepted by the earl of Douglas, or some of his reivers, -and drunk in Thrave," commented the king.</p> - -<p>"To the hunter of wolves in Stirling Park, for three wolves' heads laid -at the outer gate, 18 pennies, according to the act of parliament. This -closes the record; but the monks of Holyrood have sent your majesty a -thousand silver crowns."</p> - -<p>"That is well," said the king, who had long since relinquished his -romance in despair; "but the lord abbot hath twenty-seven parish -churches, and might, at this emergency, have lent me a trifle more."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps; but even with all the altar-offerings, lesser tithes, pasque -presents, and dues for baptism, marriage, and funerals, there is but -little left to give after the yearly expenses of so great a monastery -are paid."</p> - -<p>"There spoke a brother abbot, and <i>not</i> a treasurer," said the king -laughing, while the churchman coloured as he tied up his rolls with a -ribbon. "Laus Deo! I am thankful we have come to an end; but we shall -need all the money we can collect, my lord."</p> - -<p>"True; for evil tidings are on the wind," said Lord Glammis, -approaching a single pace and pausing.</p> - -<p>"Of what—or whom?" asked James, with a louring eye.</p> - -<p>"The Douglases again."</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray started from his reverie to listen.</p> - -<p>"What of them now?" asked the king impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Sir Alan Lauder and a man named James Achanna, both followers of the -earl, have slain a king's vassal within the Holy Gyrth of Lesmahago."</p> - -<p>"Treason! But that is a mere nothing now," said James bitterly.</p> - -<p>"And worse than treason, for it is sacrilege!" added the abbot of -Melrose, with gathering wrath. "When your highness's sainted ancestor, -King David I., in the pious times of old, granted that cell unto the -monks of Kelso, he wrote, that 'whoso escaping peril of life and limb -flies to the said cell, or cometh within the four crosses around it, in -reverence to God and St. Machute, <i>I grant him my firm peace</i>.'"</p> - -<p>"And so they violated this holy sanctuary?" said James.</p> - -<p>"Yes; and hewed the poor man to pieces with their Jethart axes."</p> - -<p>"His offence?"</p> - -<p>"Was wearing the royal livery,—being the gudeman of your majesty's -mills at Carluke."</p> - -<p>The king started up, and was about to utter some hasty speech, when a -smart little page, clad in a violet-coloured doublet, with long hose of -white silk, drew back the tapestry which overhung the arched door, and -announced that the lord chancellor craved an audience in haste.</p> - -<p>"Admit him," said James, advancing a step, as the old statesman, pale -and thin from the effect of his recent wounds and by the advance of -years, entered, propped upon a long silver-headed staff. "You look -grave, my lord," added the king; "but I pray you to be seated."</p> - -<p>"I have evil tidings," began the chancellor, hobbling forward and -coughing violently.</p> - -<p>"The very words of my Lord Glammis," said the king; "can aught else -come to the ear of him who wears a Scottish crown?" he added, biting -his nether lip.</p> - -<p>"Say not so, after our late glorious victory at Sark!" exclaimed the -chancellor; "but, nevertheless, I <i>have</i> evil news," he added, taking -from the velvet pouch which hung at his embroidered girdle several -letters, folded square, and tied with ribbons, in the fashion of the -time. "I have two grave matters to lay before your majesty. We are more -than ever humbled and insulted by this overweening earl of Douglas, -and, through you, the entire nation! The king of Scotland," continued -the chancellor, warming and striking the floor with his cane, "is the -fountain of Scottish honour, and thus I maintain, that if the king -is insulted so are <i>we</i>; for if a stream be polluted at its source, -every rill that flows from it becomes so too; but we must end these -matters by the sword—we must wipe out our wrongs in blood, and regild -our tarnished blazons in the reddest that flows in the veins of our -enemies, the men of Douglas-dale and Galloway!"</p> - -<p>"These wild men are yet untamed," said the tall thin treasurer, shaking -his bald head.</p> - -<p>"But <i>not</i> untameable," responded the fiery old chancellor, with a -spark of rage in his hollow eyes.</p> - -<p>"To the point, my lords, under favour of the king," said Sir Patrick -Gray, gnawing his moustache in his impatience.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIII.<br /> - -<small>A LADLEFUL OF GOLD</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loon,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Nor shalt thou yield to me;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">But yield thee to the braken bush</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">That grows on yon lilye lee.—<span class="smcap">Old Ballad.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>"What more have I to hear of this false noble and his followers?" said -the king, after briefly, and to Gray's great annoyance, rehearsing the -whole story of the murder of his vassal, the miller of Carluke, in the -sanctuary of Lesmahago.</p> - -<p>"The earl has lawlessly seized, and ignominiously imprisoned, in his -hold of Thrave, a good and loyal servant of your majesty."</p> - -<p>"That is nothing new; but what is his name?" asked James, grasping the -arms of the chair, and thrusting aside the tabourette with his foot, -while his hazel eyes flashed fire with anger, and his dark brows were -knit.</p> - -<p>"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie," replied the chancellor, with grave -energy.</p> - -<p>"My friend—the Lieutenant of my Guard!"</p> - -<p>"My brave kinsman!"</p> - -<p>Such were the exclamations of the king and of Sir Patrick Gray, who had -come from the sunny recess of the window, and in deep anxiety stood -near the chancellor's chair to listen. In his anger, James snatched -from the table his amber rosary and dagger of mercy, as if about to -utter some vague threat or malediction, and then cast them from him, -though the latter was the gift of his brother-in-law, Sigismund of -Austria, and was hilted by a single agate.</p> - -<p>"Sir Thomas MacLellan, of Bombie," resumed the chancellor, gravely and -earnestly, "your majesty's steward of Kirkcudbright, is now a prisoner -in the castle of Thrave manacled with the heaviest chains MacKim, the -earl's smith, can forge, and hourly is menaced with death."</p> - -<p>"And wherefore has this been done?"</p> - -<p>"The whole of this new outrage is detailed to me in a letter from the -abbot of Tongland, who has at <i>last</i>—the pedantic fool! the very -dunce!—(excuse me, my lord abbot of Melrose)—abandoned the earl, his -chief, and has secluded himself in his abbey, despairing, I presume, of -the reformation of Douglas, as of that of the devil himself, concerning -whom he so lately visited Rome."</p> - -<p>From the letters of the abbot, the lord chancellor then proceeded to -relate that there were three reasons for this capture and imprisonment -of the Steward of Kirkcudbright. The <i>first</i> was, that Sir Thomas, who -was chief of a powerful Celtic tribe, possessing all the peninsula -between the Dee and the Solway, had taken part with the late Sir -Herbert Herries, of Terregles, his kinsman, against the Douglases, and -had thereby excited the ready wrath of the earl. The <i>second</i> cause of -hatred was, that he had borne a letter from the Captain of the King's -Guard to the Lady Murielle Douglas, and had shot it to her feet by an -arrow, as she was walking near the castle wall of Thrave. The <i>third</i>, -that he had refused to join a league, and sign a bond for levying war -against the king. For these three causes the earl, taking advantage of -MacLellan being at his own castle of Raeberry, whither he had retired -in consequence of a sword-wound received from Lord Piercy at the battle -of Sark, despatched three hundred men-at-arms under James Achanna to -bring him dead or alive to Thrave, after sacking and demolishing his -residence.</p> - -<p>Achanna marched on this lawless mission; but true to his infamous -nature, he preferred fraud to force. Raeberry, of which there now -remains but a deep fosse, overhung a dreadful precipice, on the bluffs -of which the united waves of the Solway Frith and the Atlantic pour -their fury. It was deemed impregnable, and was protected on the north -by a strong rampart, a drawbridge, and a deep trench. Achanna, aware -of these difficulties on one side, and perils on all the rest, seduced -one of the warders—a man in whom MacLellan trusted most—by promising, -that if he would leave the secret postern open, "for a single hour, -upon a certain night, he should have a ladleful of gold."</p> - -<p>The wretch agreed. The wicket was left unbarred, Achanna and his band -rushed in, overpowered the inmates of Raeberry, and dragged Sir Thomas -from bed, severely wounding his nephew, William MacLellan, a brave boy, -who fought to save him. On finding that he had been betrayed by his -most trusted servant, and to the Douglases, Sir Thomas exclaimed in the -bitterness of his heart,—</p> - -<p>"Wretch—oh, wretch! mayest thou live to feel the despair that wrung -the heart of Judas when he flung to the accursed Jews their thirty -pieces of silver."</p> - -<p>At these words, the abashed warder shrunk back, but the hireling -Achanna laughed loudly, and ordering his prisoner to be bound with -cords, conveyed him on horseback to Thrave, where the imperious -Douglas, after loading him with fetters, insults, and opprobrium, -thrust him into the dungeon.</p> - -<p>"All these outrages, to a steward of our stewardry—a loyal knight and -baron—the Lieutenant of our Guard!" exclaimed the king, in mingled -tones of regret and rage; "verily the time has come for me to exchange -my crown either for a helmet, or for the tonsure of a shaven friar. -And this dog of a warder——"</p> - -<p>"Met with the stipulated reward of his treachery, and in a manner -little to his liking, on presenting himself next evening at Thrave to -receive the promised bribe."</p> - -<p>"'Thou shalt have it, false limmer,—every farthing,—yea, godspenny -and principal,' said Douglas, sternly; 'though in a way, I trow, but -little to your advantage.'"</p> - -<p>"'How, my lord?'" asked the trembling wretch.</p> - -<p>"'Molten hot, and poured down your dog's-throat, to warn my warders of -Thrave what they may expect if they so betrayed <i>me</i>, and not to sleep -with their doors unlatched. Away with him to the kitchen, and let this -be his doom!'"</p> - -<p>"In vain did the wretch shriek for mercy on his bended knees; he was -dragged to the kitchen of the castle, and there the commands of the -earl were literally and awfully obeyed. The skimming-ladle of the great -pot was filled with new gold <i>lions</i> (each of which had the image of -St. Andrew on one side, and a lion rampant on the other); after being -molten to a seething mass, they were poured down the throat of the -warder, and in ten minutes after, his mutilated corpse was flung into -the gallows slot."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The metal was molten by the command of Douglas, and poured -down his throat; and thus he received both his reward and punishment at -the same time.—"History of Galloway," 1841, vol. i.</p></div> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIV.<br /> - -<small>THE BOND</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Let never man be bold enough to say—<br /> -Thus, and no further, shall my passion stray;<br /> -The first crime past compels us into more,<br /> -And guilt grows <i>fate</i>, that was but <i>choice</i> before.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 44%;"><span class="smcap">Aaron Hill.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>The silence of a minute was, perhaps, the most severe comment which -followed this story of more than Oriental barbarity. Indignation made -the fiery young king almost speechless. He snatched from the table -one of those Beauvais goblets, which were then greatly esteemed and -were mounted with silver-gilt. It was full of water, and he drank it -thirstily.</p> - -<p>"My brave kinsman—so young, so faithful, and so merry!" exclaimed Sir -Patrick Gray, with more of grief than anger in his tone; "I would give -my life to save his; for it must be in imminent peril."</p> - -<p>"No such sacrifice will be necessary," said the king; "we shall -write to this daring lord, commanding him at once, on peril of -his allegiance, to yield up Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie to our -messenger, and set him forth of Thrave."</p> - -<p>"But who," asked the chancellor, "will be daring enough to bear such a -message into the wilds of Galloway, beyond the land of the Annandale -thieves?"</p> - -<p>"That will I, and blithely, too: MacLellan would do as much for me," -replied Sir Patrick, with energy.</p> - -<p>"Reflect, my friend; a royal herald were safer," said the king. "You -are the enemy of Douglas in more ways than one."</p> - -<p>"How, your highness? I am not wont to reflect much in time of peril."</p> - -<p>"True, Sir Patrick; but this mission becomes doubly one of life and -death, and of many perils to you; for loyalty to me is, perhaps, your -smallest crime in the eyes of Douglas," said the king.</p> - -<p>"Then I have reflected. Douglas shall release my father's sister's son, -or I shall cleave him to the beard in his own hall!" exclaimed Gray, -with a sudden burst of passion.</p> - -<p>"That would not mend the matter much; and I should only be in thee but -one faithful subject the less, and faithful subjects are rather scarce -at present. Alas! my valiant friend, this strong traitor is likely to -hang thee like a faulty hound—even as he hanged the gentle and noble -Herries of Terregles."</p> - -<p>"I have given my word to ride on this perilous errand, and, with your -majesty's permission, go I shall," said Gray, resolutely.</p> - -<p>"Good," said the chancellor, striking his long cane on the oak floor; -"a soldier's word is his bond for weal or woe."</p> - -<p>"In the cause of our king and kindred, I will do all that MacLellan -would, were he free. Oh! your highness, write at once; furnish me -with due credentials; time in this is precious, and the waste of it -perilous!"</p> - -<p>"When shall you depart on this mission?"</p> - -<p>"So soon as I can get my horse and armour; within an hour, I shall have -left these new walls of Edinburgh many a mile behind me."</p> - -<p>"'Tis well—good service is ever promptly done."</p> - -<p>"I am the subject and soldier of your majesty," replied Gray, bowing -with modest confidence.</p> - -<p>"And a faithful one!" added the king, giving his hand to his favourite, -who was now in his thirty-fifth year, with a fine martial face, a -clear bright eye, and a heart that was brave as it was tender and -true. "But know you the language of these wild men among whom you are -venturing—the <i>fremit</i> Scots of Galloway?"</p> - -<p>"I know but little more than our Lowland tongue, with a smattering of -Flemish and French, picked up when I had more leisure than desire to -learn them—the castle of Bommel; yet I can make a shift to use others, -too, that are more universally known."</p> - -<p>"How?"</p> - -<p>"I can make love to the women and show my purse to the men," said Gray, -with a gaiety that was half assumed; "I'll warrant they will both -understand me."</p> - -<p>"I fear me, Sir Patrick, you may have to show your sword more -frequently, on a king's errand though you be; but within an hour a -letter shall be prepared."</p> - -<p>"And within that time, with the permission of your highness, I shall be -armed and mounted," said Gray, bowing low again and retiring in haste.</p> - -<p>There was a momentary silence after this, for the mission on which -Gray was departing was one of great peril to himself. Indeed, as Lord -Glammis observed, "he was the last man in Scotland who should have -undertaken it."</p> - -<p>"Chancellor," said the king suddenly, "you spoke of a bond, or league, -as a <i>third</i> cause for the hatred of Douglas against Sir Thomas -MacLellan. What is this document?"</p> - -<p>"A matter so formidable, so seriously affecting the welfare of the -realm, and the honour of your crown, that I know not in what language -to approach it; but the abbot of Tongland has sent me a copy of the -actual deed."</p> - -<p>The manner of Crichton became so grave and earnest that the king -changed colour, and the master of the household and the abbot of -Melrose, who remained silent and somewhat apart, exchanged glances -expressive of interest and alarm.</p> - -<p>"Say on," said James briefly, and striking the floor with his heel.</p> - -<p>"The earl of Douglas, for the aggrandisement of his power and family, -has formed a league offensive and defensive with the earls of Crawford -and Rosse—a league by which he hopes to bid complete defiance to -your royal authority, and to bring <i>forty thousand men at a day's -notice</i> into the field against it; and to this compact they have bound -themselves by rebellious and sacrilegious but solemn and terrible -oaths, that each shall aid and assist the others and their friends -against the <i>whole world</i>."</p> - -<p>The chancellor then handed to James a duplicate of this remarkable -bond, which was signed and sealed by Douglas; by Alexander (with the -long beard), earl of Crawford, who was surnamed the Tiger, and was -sheriff of Aberdeen, and bailiff of Scone; Donald, earl of Rosse and -lord of the Isles; Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond; James Dunbar, earl of -Murray; Douglas, Lord Balvenie; James Hamilton, lord of Cadzow, and -many others of the highest rank.</p> - -<p>On beholding this terrible bond, James felt for a moment as if the -crown which had come to him from a long line of monarchs was about to -be torn from his head. He grew very pale, then perceiving that the -keen and deeply-set eyes of his stern, faithful, and uncompromising -chancellor were fixed upon him, he rallied his spirits and said, "This -must be crushed in the bud, lest in its bloom it crush us."</p> - -<p>"And to crush it we must first dissemble, and take these rebels in -detail—break the rods separately which while in a bundle might defy -our efforts."</p> - -<p>"I must have a <i>personal</i> interview with this daring earl of Douglas," -said the king, "even if I condescend to ride to Thrave for it. But -meanwhile Gray shall bear to him three documents——"</p> - -<p>"Three?" reiterated Crichton, looking up.</p> - -<p>"He shall be written to intreating, rather than demanding, the release -of Sir Thomas MacLellan, who refused to join this infamous league. -I shall entrust Gray with a second missive containing a summons to -a conference, and assuring Douglas of a restoration to favour, and -forgiveness for the past, provided he break this bond, and as a -guarantee——"</p> - -<p>"Yes—yes," interrupted the old chancellor, grinding his almost -toothless gums; "he will require something of that kind, while the -memory of that 23rd of November, 1440, is fresh in Galloway."</p> - -<p>"Then as a security the earl shall have a letter of safe conduct, to -and from the castle of Stirling, signed by our own hand. Let this be -seen to at once," and the king, as if weary of the morning, but in -reality crushed and overwhelmed by its terrible revelations, retired to -another room, muttering as he did so, "Oh, my poor father, who perished -by the swords of regicides! how happier would I be if seated with you -at the feet of God, than on this throne of Scotland?"</p> - -<p>So thought James II. in 1450; how many of his descendants had better -reason to utter the same bitter prayer, ere throne, and crown, and -sceptre passed away from them.</p> - -<p>Exactly one hour after the king retired, Sir Patrick Gray, carefully -armed and splendidly mounted, departed on perilous, and—considering -the state of the country, the lack of fords, roads, bridges, and -hostelries—distant journey of ninety old Scottish miles. Over his suit -of mail he wore a surcoat, on which the royal arms were embroidered -to show that he rode on the special service of the king, and that to -molest him involved the penalties of treason.</p> - -<p>His departure was viewed with deep interest by the court and his -soldiers. All expressed doubt and pity, for the unscrupulous character -of Douglas inspired all men with terror, and as he rode off, the old -warder at the castle gate shook his silvery head while saying, "By my -faith, Foulis, ye'll come back faster than ye gang, gif ye e'er come -back ava—but God speed ye the gate, man!"</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLV.<br /> - -<small>SIR PATRICK GRAY'S JOURNEY</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Oh, name the mighty ransom; task my power;<br /> -Let there be danger, difficulty, death,<br /> -To enhance the price.—<span class="smcap">Tamerlane.</span> -</p> - - -<p>It may easily be supposed that, with all his anxiety for the fate of -his kinsman, Sir Patrick's desire to see, or be near Murielle, was also -near his heart; and inspired by this double object, he rode rapidly, -and tasking the speed of his horse, passed through districts the -features of which have long since been changed by time and cultivation: -for rivers that were then broad and deep have shrunk to mere rills, and -rills have disappeared; stone bridges have superseded dangerous and -subtle fords, where the luring kelpie lurked for the drowning wayfarer; -lochs and morasses have become fertile fields; dense forests, where -the wild bull bellowed, and the savage boar whetted his tusks on the -gnarled oak, have been cleared away; populous towns have sprung into -existence, where whilom the thatched hamlet stood; churches, wherein -generations had worshipped God in fervour and holiness, and where -Scotland's best and bravest men were laid under tombs of marble and -brass, have been ruined and desecrated, as if by the hands of sikhs or -sepoys; but hills whereon the mosstrooper drove herd and hirsel, and -where the wild furze and whin grew in luxuriance, have been rendered -arable to their steepest summits, and fertile, even, as the most -fertile parts of Lothian.</p> - -<p>By many an old Roman road formed by the warriors of the adventurous -Agricola, and those of the discomfited emperor Severus—old ways, where -the rank grass grew among the causeway stones, he travelled, and soon -reached the wild heathy uplands of Stobo that look down on the green -vale of the Tweed, and then the steeps of Hells Cleuch, which are -furrowed by a mountain torrent that rushes red and foaming to join the -broader waters of the Forth. On by the wild morasses of Tweedsmuir, -where an ancient Celtic cross that stood amid the rough obelisks of -a Druid Temple of the Sun, was the only landmark for that savage and -solitary pass, which was overlooked by the barred and battlemented -tower of many a rude mosstrooping laird.</p> - -<p>On—on yet past Moffat, secluded in its lovely vale amid its almost -inaccessible hills, above the dim summits of which the pale blue mist -was floating, and the black eagles were soaring, past its naked or -heathy mountain gorges, through which the yellow rays of the setting -sun were falling on the moss-covered shealing, and the browsing herd -and hirsel; and on the old square castles of red sandstone, built with -seashell mortar, the abode of many a turbulent baron.</p> - -<p>He was now amid the tremendous scenery of the Southern Highlands; and -there, after a ride of fifty miles from Edinburgh, he tarried for -the night with the priest of the village church, as he wanted rest, -seclusion, and secrecy. There, as at one or two other places, he -arranged for a relay of horses, as he knew not what might be the issue -of his expedition; and ere it was over, he had reason to thank Heaven -for his foresight.</p> - -<p>Refreshed and newly horsed, he departed next day with the rising sun, -and soon saw the moors of Kirkmichael and the mossy monolith of the -six corpses, where Wallace slew Sir Hugh of Moreland and five other -Englishmen; and ere long Dumfries, so red and sombre, with its spires -of St. Michael and of many a convent and friary, rose before him, and -with its long bridge of the thirteenth century—then considered the -rival of that of London—spanning by thirteen carved Gothic arches -the broad blue waters of the lovely Nith, where, between green and -undulating shores, they rolled, glittering in the sunshine, towards the -Solway Firth.</p> - -<p>The ruined castle of the false Comyns yet overlooked the river; and the -jangle of the convent-bell at Nunholm came and went on the noonday wind.</p> - -<p>He advanced along the bridge, the passage of which was barred by an -iron gate and portal of old red sandstone. It was quaint and time-worn, -having been built by the Lady Devorgilla, of Galloway, the mother of -the mock-king, John Baliol. Above it were the arms of the burgh—a -chevron with three <i>fleurs-de-lys</i>; St. Michael winged and trampling -on a serpent, with the motto, "a' at the Lower Burn," the slogan and -the muster-place of the inhabitants. At this gate a toll on corn, -merchandise, and passengers was collected for the benefit of the -Franciscan monastery, which the pious Lady Devorgilla had founded -for the salvation of her soul, and of the souls of her ancestors and -posterity, in the full-flowing Christian charity of an age which is -branded as the dark and superstitious simply because we know little -or nothing about it. After this gate was passed, and its iron grille -had clanked behind him, the heart of Gray beat faster, for he was now -completely in Galloway—the land of his love and of his enemies.</p> - -<p>The warder or loiterer, who looked across the Nith from the old castle -of Dumfries, saw the flashing of armour in the noonday sunshine, as -our solitary horseman rode furiously on, and, from his speed, supposed -that some warden-raid or invasion was at hand; and the old Franciscan -who dosed on a seat by the friary wall woke up from his dreams, and, in -dread of either, muttered an <i>Ave Maria gratia plena</i>, &c., and dosed -off to sleep again.</p> - -<p>The peasant on the rigs of Teregles saw him passing like a whirlwind, -and thought, with an angry sigh, that he might soon have to exchange -his blue bonnet and grey maud for a breastplate and bourgoinette; for -such speed never betokened an errand of peace, but of tumult and war.</p> - -<p>Evening saw the messenger traversing the uplands of Tracquair, where -the heaths are dark, the rocks are bleak, and where the black cattle -browse in the grassy haughs; and past "the Bush" so famed in song; it -was then a thicket of birchen-trees, through which a mounted trooper -could ride unseen, even with his Scottish lance, six ells long, -uplifted at arm's length.</p> - -<p>Here, by the side of a lonely bridle-path which crossed a waste -moorland, he found a man lying dead. His breast was exposed and -exhibited a deep spear-wound, in which a sprig of thorn was inserted, -and around which the last drops of blood had grown black and -coagulated. A grey-robed priest was near the body on his knees, engaged -in prayer. Gray reined in his horse, and, waiting until the churchman -had ended, said,</p> - -<p>"What does this slaughter mean, father?"</p> - -<p>"It is the thorn-twig," said the monk, with a bewildered air.</p> - -<p>"Explain?" said Gray, impatiently; "I have no time to read riddles."</p> - -<p>"It is the cognisance of the Laird of Pompherston."</p> - -<p>"And what does it mean, now?"</p> - -<p>"Art so dull, or come from such a distance, as not to know?" asked the -monk, throwing back his cowl and looking up with surprise in his grim -and bearded visage.</p> - -<p>"I confess that I am."</p> - -<p>"Well, it signifies that this unfortunate, Donacha MacKim, the gudeman -of Bourick, has been slain by the Douglases, for having been in arms -against them at Raeberry; so Pompherston took a twig from his helmet -and placed it where you see—in that bloody lance-wound. And now, sir, -for our Blessed Lady's sake, aid me to convey him to Tracquair, that he -may have the rites of a Christian burial."</p> - -<p>"Under favour, good father, that I cannot do, as I ride for life and -death on the king's service," replied Gray, in a tone of regret.</p> - -<p>"A perilous errand here, while the Douglases are all abroad," replied -the monk, shaking his shaven head.</p> - -<p>"In arms?" said Gray, starting.</p> - -<p>"No—hunting, and they have ridden over all the countryside, from the -Bush aboon Tracquair to the Carlinwark at Thrave."</p> - -<p>The setting of the sun found Gray beyond the waters of Urr, which he -crossed near that mysterious mound known as the Moat of Urr, and on his -left saw the Dub o' Hass, where many a foreign galliot and Scottish -caravel were at anchor, and the banks of which were then and for long -after, according to local tradition, the haunt of the Mermaid of -Galloway, whose wondrous beauty was such that no man could behold her -without a love that became madness, and whose hair was like shining -gold, through the links of which her white shoulders and bosom shone, -as she floated on the crystal water, inspiring men with passion that -ended in death.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Her comb was o' the whitely pearl,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Her hand like new-won milk;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Her breasts were like the snowy curd</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">In a net o' seagreen silk.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>But, thinking more of armed men than of alluring mermaids, Gray rode -to where stood a little hostelry, kept apparently by a vassal of the -kirk, as the signboard bore the papal crown and cross-keys; so he -tarried there to refresh himself and horse again. He was received -with profound respect, but with a curiosity the suppression of which -seemed difficult, as the royal blazon which he wore upon his surcoat -was seldom seen on <i>that</i> side of the Nith, though the hostelry was -established as a halting-place for the wealthy abbots of Tongland, -Newabbey, and the priors of St. Mary and Lincluden, when passing that -way with their retinues.</p> - -<p>The edifice was simply a large thatched cottage, divided in two by a -partition named the <i>hallan</i>; beyond it was the principal fireplace, -the lintel of which projected far over the hearth, and was wide enough -to show the row of hams hung there to be smoked, and the iron bar -whereon the kail-pot swung. Within this apartment—for the fireplace -was really one—lay a whinstone seat, called the <i>cat-hud</i>, and a stone -bench, the place of honour for strangers, and thereon Sir Patrick -seated himself, by the gudeman's request.</p> - -<p>Above the mantelpiece hung the black iron morion and two-handed -whinger of the latter—with kirn-cuts of corn gaily ornamented with -ribbons—the trophies of the last year's harvest home. The floor was -of sanded clay; the ceiling showed the open cabers of the roof; while -a long dresser laden with shining utensils, a few wooden creepies or -stools and meal-arks, formed the furniture of this Scottish hotel of -the fifteenth century.</p> - -<p>The adjacent Moat of Urr was alleged to be full of fairies who danced -in the moonlight round its strange concentric circles; and they were -further said to be great bibbers of the good wine kept for the use of -the before-mentioned abbots and priors; thus "mine host" of the papal -tiara and keys had always a fair red cross painted on the ends of his -runlets when they were landed at the Dub o' Hass; but the green imps -nevertheless found a key to his cellars, and used gimlets of mortal -mould to draw off the Canary and Alicant.</p> - -<p>The gudewife of the house had just increased the number of King -James's subjects and Earl Douglas's vassals by a male child, when Gray -arrived; and near him, in the ingle, the nurse was administering to -it the <i>ash-sap</i>, with due solemnity, by putting an ash-stick in the -fire of peats and bog-pine that blazed on the hearth, and receiving in -a horn spoon the juice which oozed from the other end. This was the -<i>first</i> food of the newly-born children of the Gael, and when older -they received their first flesh on the point of their father's sword or -dagger.</p> - -<p>With half his armour off, listless and weary, Sir Patrick Gray sat by -the rustic fire on the ingle-seat, and some time elapsed before he -became aware that the eyes of a stranger, who reclined on an oak settee -in a shaded corner, were fixed with calm but firm scrutiny upon him.</p> - -<p>This personage wore a scarlet cloth hood, which was buttoned from his -chin to his breast, having a cape that covered his back and shoulders. -His massive frame, which was of herculean proportions, was cased in a -doublet of black bull's hide, having the hair smoothly dressed, and -it was tied with a succession of thongs and little iron skewers. A -kilt of coarse tartan, with hose of untanned deerskin, revealed his -sturdy knees, which seemed strong as oak knots, and hairy as those of a -gorilla. Secured by a square steel buckle, a broad buff belt encircled -his waist, at which hung a double-handed sword and poniard of mercy. -His great brawny hands were crossed upon the shaft of a ponderous iron -mace, having a chain and "morning star," and as he rested his chin -thereon, his vast black beard hung over them, while he surveyed the -Captain of the Guard with his wild, keen, and fierce dark eyes, the -natural expression of which, under their black and shaggy brows, seemed -a scowl.</p> - -<p>Everything about this man seemed expressive of colossal proportions and -brutal strength. As if danger might not be distant, with an air that -in another would have seemed bravado, but in him was quite natural, he -drew his mighty sword, examined the point, tested the spring of the -blade, and smiled with a grim satisfied air, as he sheathed it again.</p> - -<p>In most of the incidents of our story we have been compelled to follow -and to portray the course of events with the care of an historian -rather than of a romancer; and thus must we detail, or rather -<i>translate</i>, the conversation which ensued between Sir Patrick Gray -and this burly Celtic giant, as it was maintained in a strange mixture -of old Doric Scottish and the Celtic language then spoken by the -inhabitants of Galloway.</p> - -<p>"What may the last news be among you here?" asked Sir Patrick.</p> - -<p>"What could they be but of sorrow?" growled the other.</p> - -<p>"I doubt it not where Earl James abides."</p> - -<p>"You are a bold man to say so," replied the Galwegian.</p> - -<p>"I am in the king's service, my friend, and a good cause gives courage; -but, beside the storming of Raeberry, and the lawless capture of Sir -Thomas MacLellan, what is there new in Galloway?"</p> - -<p>"The foul slaughter of the laird of Sandwick, whom the Douglas troopers -fell upon in Kirkandrews, and killed when at his prayers,—and this was -yesternight."</p> - -<p>"Another act of sacrilege?"</p> - -<p>"Air mhuire! so my lord the abbot of Tongland terms it; but they were -dainty gentlemen who followed the laird of Glendoning," said the -other, with bitter irony; "they cared not to stain the floor or altar -of God's consecrated church with blood; so they dragged old Sandwick -forth, though he clung to the iron altar-rail, and drew him to the -louping-on-stane at the grave-yard gate, and there hacked him to -pieces."</p> - -<p>"It was like these men of Thrave," said Sir Patrick; "but a day of -vengeance for these continued atrocities must come, and speedily too."</p> - -<p>As he said this the host, who was making a posset of Alicant on the -hearth, looked up with terror; but the strong man with the mace laughed -bitterly, and added, as he struck the floor with his mace,</p> - -<p>"Dioul! the sooner the better for me."</p> - -<p>"And who are you?" asked Sir Patrick.</p> - -<p>"Would you be a wiser man for knowing?" was the cautious and not -over-courteous response; "yet I care not if I tell: I am Malise -MacKim,—"</p> - -<p>"What—Malise, the hereditary smith of Thrave—MacKim the Brawny?" -exclaimed Gray, with something of alarm in his tone.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the other through his clenched teeth.</p> - -<p>Gray, by a twitch of his belt, brought his dagger conveniently to his -hand; MacKim saw the movement, and smiled disdainfully.</p> - -<p>"Has the earl wronged you?" asked Sir Patrick.</p> - -<p>"To the heart's core," was the emphatic reply. "Oh, mhuire as truidh! -mhuire as truidh! that I should ever have it to say—I, whose fathers -have eaten the bread of his race for generations—ay, since the -<i>first</i> handful of earth was laid there to form the Moat of Urr—yea, -yea, since first the Urr waters ran, and leaves grew in the wood of -Dalbeattie!"</p> - -<p>"What has happened?"</p> - -<p>"His people have this day slain my brother Donacha MacKim, near the -Bush aboon Tracquair, and have carried off his daughter, who was the -love of my youngest son; but I have seven—<span class="smcap">SEVEN</span> sons, each -taller and stronger than myself, and I will have sure vengeance on -Douglas, if he grants it not to me; and this I have sworn by the cross -of St. Cuthbert, and by the soul of her I love best on earth, my wife -Meg."</p> - -<p>The black eyes of the gigantic smith glared with genuine Celtic fury -and hate as he said this; he beat the floor with his roughly-shod feet, -and his strong fingers played nervously with the shaft of his mace, the -chain and morning-star of which (a ball a pound in weight, furnished -with four sharp iron spikes) lay on the floor. Gray, as he surveyed -him, reflected that it was extremely fortunate that the smith's fealty -to Douglas had been broken, otherwise he might have proved a very -unpleasant companion for the night in that small and solitary hostelry, -situated, as it was, in a hostile and lawless district. This meeting, -however, taught Gray to be wary, and thus, though knowing the country -well, he affected to be a stranger.</p> - -<p>"Is the abbot of Tongland at Thrave?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No; the earl, in sport, poured a ladleful of gold down the throat of -the Raeberry warder; so his father confessor pronounced a malediction -upon him, and retired to the abbey at Tongland, in disgust and despair -at his cruelty."</p> - -<p>"How far is it from hence to the clachan?"</p> - -<p>"About ten miles."</p> - -<p>"And to the abbey?"</p> - -<p>"It is beside the clachan."——"Good."</p> - -<p>During that night Gray slept with his door and window well secured, -with his sword drawn under his head, and his armour on a chair by -his bedside, to be ready for any emergency. The lassitude incident -to his long journey on horseback by such rough roads—for then they -went straight over hill and down valley, through forest, swamp, and -river—made him sleep long and late on his bed of freshly-pulled -heather; thus the noon of the next was far advanced before he set out -once more.</p> - -<p>Malise MacKim, his sullen acquaintance of the preceding evening, -conducted him for some distance beyond the Urr, and told him, what Gray -already knew well, that if he wished to reach the clachan of Tongland, -he must pass the Loch of Carlinwark on his right, and pursue the road -that lay through the wood on the left bank of the Dee.</p> - -<p>"And whither go you, my friend?" he asked, as the gigantic smith was -about to leave him.</p> - -<p>"To join my seven sons, and scheme our vengeance; yet what can mortal -vengeance avail against the earl of Douglas?"——"How?" said Gray; "in -what manner?"</p> - -<p>"Know you not that he wears a warlock jacket, against which the -sharpest swords are pointless?"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" asked the soldier, keeping his horse in check.</p> - -<p>"I mean a doublet made for him by a warlock in Glenkens, woven of -the skins of water-snakes caught in a south-running burn where three -lairds' lands met, and woven for him under the beams of a March moon, -on the haunted Moat of Urr."</p> - -<p>Gray laughed and said, "I should like to test this dagger, my poor -MacLellan's gift, upon that same doublet."</p> - -<p>"Moreover," said the smith, lowering his voice, while a deeper scowl -impressed his grisly visage, "it is said in Galloway here, that when -Earl James, a child, was held by his godmother at the font in Tongland -Abbey Kirk, the blessed water, as it fell from the hand of Abbot John, -hissed upon his little face as upon iron in a white heat."</p> - -<p>"Peace, carle! can a stout fellow like thee be moonling enough to give -such stories credence?"</p> - -<p>"'Tis folly, perhaps, to think of them, betouch us, too! so near the -Moat of Urr," said the smith, with a perceptible shudder, as he glanced -covertly over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"And why here more than elsewhere?"</p> - -<p>"Know ye not?" asked the smith, in a whisper.</p> - -<p>"You forget that I am a stranger."</p> - -<p>"True. Then it was on <i>this</i> spot that James Achanna, the earl's sooth -fast-friend and henchman, sold himself to Satan, after conjuring him up -by performing some nameless rites of hell."</p> - -<p>"Adieu, and God be wi' you," said Gray, laughing, yet nevertheless -making the sign of the cross, for the place was savage and solitary, -and he was not without a due share of the superstition incident to his -age and country. Turning his horse, he rode rapidly off.</p> - -<p>As he did so, a cunning smile passed over the swarthy face of Malise -MacKim, who swung his mace round his head as if he were about to brain -an enemy.</p> - -<p>The day was far advanced, when, at Kelton, Gray crossed the Dee by -a flat-bottomed boat, near a place where a group of peasants were -assembled under a gallows-tree. Thereon hung a man, and there, -by paying a fee to the doomster of Thrave, persons afflicted by -wens, or similar excrescences, came to obtain the benefit of the -<i>deid-strake</i>—a touch of the dead hand being deemed a certain cure.</p> - -<p>When Gray saw the poor corse swinging in the wind, he remembered the -fate of Sir Herbert Maxwell, and reflected how easily Douglas might -release Murielle from her marriage-ties by putting him to death, as he -had done that powerful baron; yet his heart never trembled, nor did he -swerve from his resolution of attempting to save MacLellan, in spite of -every danger.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVI.<br /> - -<small>AN UNEXPECTED GUIDE</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -And a good evening to my friend Don Carlos.<br /> -Some lucky star has led my steps this way:<br /> -I was in search of you.—<span class="smcap">The Spanish Student.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Before Gray crossed the Dee at Kelton, there came over the scenery a -dense white mist, which rolled like smoke along the hills, and hung in -dewdrops on his horse's mane and bridle, dimming the brightness of his -armour and the embroidery of his surcoat. In this obscurity he lost -his way amid the waste muirlands which the road, a mere bridle-path -destitute of wall or fence, traversed. Then a sharp shower of hail -fell, the stones rattling on his steel trappings as on a latticed -window; and through the openings in the haze, the far-stretching dells -and pastoral hills of Galloway seemed wet and grey and dreary.</p> - -<p>The country was singularly desolate; he met no person to direct him; -thus, amid the obscurity of the mist and the approaching evening, he -knew not where he was, but continued to ride slowly and vaguely on.</p> - -<p>Anon a breeze came, and the grey clouds began to disperse; the hail -ceased, and the haze rolled away like finely-carded wool along the -sides of the hills. The setting sun of August beamed forth in his -farewell splendour, the mavis and merle chorused merrily in the sauch -and hawthorn trees; for a time the hill-tops became green, and the -high corn that waved on the upland slopes seemed to brighten with the -partial heat and moisture. After a time, Sir Patrick found that he -had penetrated to the border of Glenkens, then the wildest and most -savage part of Galloway. Wheeling round his horse, he rode fast in the -direction from whence he had come, and just as the sun's broad disc -began to dip behind the grassy hills, and to shed its warm light upon -the windings of the Dee, from an eminence he could see afar off the -vast square keep of Thrave looming black and sombre, with the dusky -smoke ascending from its great chimney-stalks into the calm sky in -steady columns, unbroken by the breeze.</p> - -<p>Soft was the evening light, and softer now the air, and no sound but -the occasional lowing of the black cattle, or those nameless country -noises which seem to come from afar, broke the stillness of the vast -pastoral landscape.</p> - -<p>The Dee has all the characteristics of a Scottish stream: now gliding -stealthily and sullenly through deep pools and dark rocky chasms, where -the wiry pine, the crisp-leaved oak, and the feathery silver birch cast -their shadows on the darting trout or the lurking salmon; now chafing -and brawling in white foam over a precipitous ledge of red sandstone, -then gurgling down a bed of "unnumbered pebbles;" and now sweeping -broad and stilly past a thatched clachan, a baron's moated tower, a -ruined chapel, where bells were rung and masses said when Alan was lord -of Galloway and constable of Scotland; then round some statelier fane -like Tongland, or a vast feudal strength like Thrave of the Douglases.</p> - -<p>After seeing the latter, Gray rode slowly and thoughtfully, for it -brought the face, the form, the voice, the smile, and all the image of -Murielle more vividly before him. The scenery, the place, the very air, -seemed full of the presence of her, his loved and lost one.</p> - -<p>And now the moon arose, but not brilliantly; it shot fitful gleams -between weird masses of flying cloud, with a pale and ghastly effect -which made the gnarled trunks of the old trees seem like spectres -or fantastic figures. Erelong, Gray entered a long and narrow glen, -clothed on each side by a thick fir forest, where the density of the -wiry foliage was such that the darkness became quite opaque.</p> - -<p>Here he suddenly found himself joined by a horseman, who came either -from the wayside thicket or out of the ground—it might have been -either, so unexpected was his appearance. A gleam of the moon, as it -came down a ravine, showed that this man and his horse were of great -strength and stature. He wore a hunting suit, with a sword, bugle, and -small steel cap which glittered in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>"Under favour, I presume, we may travel together?" said he, bluntly.</p> - -<p>"Provided the road be broad enough," replied Gray in the same manner, -for there was something in this man's voice which strangely affected -him, causing his hair to bristle up, his pulses to quicken, and the -almost obliterated wounds on his face to smart.</p> - -<p>Whence was this emotion? Where had he heard that voice before? Where -seen that grim and sturdy figure? Each looked from time to time at the -other, and seemed anxious to make out <i>who</i> or what he was.</p> - -<p>"Go you far this way?" asked the stranger.</p> - -<p>"No," replied Gray, curtly.</p> - -<p>"May I ask how far?"——"I am bound for Thrave."</p> - -<p>"Indeed," said the other, looking fixedly at Gray, as they walked -their horses side by side; "have you made a long journey?"——"From -Edinburgh," replied Gray, briefly.</p> - -<p>"You are a bold man to pass through the Johnstones of Annandale and the -Borderland at this time."</p> - -<p>"How bolder at this time than at any other?"</p> - -<p>"That you may soon learn," replied the stranger, laughing at Gray's -tone of displeasure.</p> - -<p>"I am Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis, captain of the king's guard, and am -bound to ride wherever he may order, and woe to those who dare obstruct -me," said Gray, peering forward to discern the speaker, who started -visibly at this reply, and after the silence of a moment said, "I too -am bound for Thrave. For two days past I have been abroad hunting, but -have missed or outridden my friends. Well, what may the news be from -the good town of Edinburgh? and how fare the king, his carpet knights, -and cock-sparrow courtiers, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Were I not riding on the king's errand, which makes my life more -precious than if I were riding on my own, I would find you a more -fitting reply than words," said Gray, who could scarcely repress his -rising wrath, for the tone of the other chafed him.</p> - -<p>"You have chosen a perilous time, assuredly, to enter Galloway on the -king's service," observed the stranger, loftily; "and if my words -displease, I can give full reparation when your errand is sped."</p> - -<p>"'Tis enough, sir," said Gray, hoarsely; "on the morrow I <i>shall</i> have -sure vengeance. No man shall slight the king in my presence, and live."</p> - -<p>"By my sooth, his last messenger—the Rothsay herald, who came hither -anent the laird of Teregles—left Galloway faster than he entered it. -We are about to teach this James Stuart, that the realm of Scotland was -not made for <i>his</i> especial use. What? after fighting for centuries, -and defeating Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans—in short, all the -invaders of England—we are now to tremble before this boy-king and his -little Gueldrian wife? Has he forgotten how his father died?"</p> - -<p>"How—what mean you?" asked Gray, making a vigorous effort to control -his passion.</p> - -<p>"In the Black Friary at Perth," said the other, grinding his teeth, -"with the swords of Grahame and Athole clashing in his heart."</p> - -<p>"Be assured our king has <i>not</i> forgotten it—but hush—be wary."</p> - -<p>"And wherefore hush?" was the fierce response.</p> - -<p>"Because they who did that deed, the most foul murder of God's anointed -king, perished miserably on the scaffold more than twenty years ago. -Their ashes have long since mingled with the earth, for fire consumed -and the wind of heaven scattered them; but their names exist in the -execration of all good men and true."</p> - -<p>"Hard words," said the other, scoffingly; "hard words, sir, for us, who -are on the eve, perhaps, of a most just rebellion against his son, if -he and his Flemish princess, with that old fox, Crichton, push us too -severely; and then I think his dainty Falkland knights, and well-fed -Lothian infantry, may find it perilous work to march through Nithsdale -and penetrate among the wild hills of Galloway."</p> - -<p>Gray did not answer; they had now emerged from the wood, and the Loch -of Carlinwark was shining like a mirror in the full splendour of the -moonlight. At some distance he could discern the three old thorn-trees, -where, on a similarly calm and lovely moonlit night, he had first -plighted love, life, and hope, to Murielle; and now, as then, he could -see Thrave, her home and her prison, casting its long black shadows on -the Dee.</p> - -<p>"Here is Thrave," said the stranger, reining up his powerful horse -beside the barbican-gate.</p> - -<p>"And you, sir?——"</p> - -<p>"I am James, earl of Douglas," replied the other, sternly and loftily; -"you are on the king's errand, Sir Patrick Gray—'tis well; I bid you -welcome; but remember, save for that tabard which you wear, by the -bones of St. Bryde, I would hang you by the neck from that stone knob -above the gate!"</p> - -<p>Gray bowed and smiled bitterly, as they rode into the court-yard, and -he found himself inclosed by the gates and surrounded by the followers -of his mortal enemy.</p> - -<p>He had shuddered on passing under the barbican-gate, for a man was -hanging at the gallows-knob above it. Gray knew the dread custom -there—that each culprit or victim was replaced by another, and he knew -not <i>who</i> the next "tassel" might be.</p> - -<p>The night-wind lifted the dead man's hair at times as the body swung -mournfully to and fro. Beneath this ghastly object, in the blaze of -the torches which were upheld by a crowd of liveried serving-men -and savage-looking kilted Galwegians, there shone a great shield of -carved and painted stone. It bore the arms of the ancient lords of -Galloway—azure a lion rampant, <i>argent</i> crowned with an imperial -diadem, impaled with the countless quarterings of the Douglases.</p> - -<p>The moon was waning now; but the number of torches, as they flared on -the walls and grated windows of the vast keep, made the court-yard seem -light as if the night was noon.</p> - -<p>As Gray dismounted, a familiar voice reached his ear, saying, "Thanks, -brave friend and kinsman—you have perilled much to save me!"</p> - -<p>"Thou art right, MacLellan—I come by the king's orders, so take -courage!" replied Gray, looking about him; but from <i>which</i> of the -black gratings of that lofty edifice the voice came his eye failed to -discover.</p> - -<p>A cruel smile passed over the grim face of the earl, as he said, "Sir -Patrick Gray, it is ill speaking between a full man and a fasting; -so get you to bed for to-night; after breakfast to-morrow, we will -consider your errand from the king; and you have my knightly word for -your safety while within the walls of Thrave."</p> - -<p>"And how, when I leave them, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"That is as may be," said the other, turning on his heel.</p> - -<p>With these dubious, or rather ominous words, the earl retired, and -within an hour, Gray, after partaking of some refreshment alone, found -himself lying on a couch with his armour on and his drawn sword by his -side, endeavouring to court sleep, with his mind full of the terrible -novelty of his situation; and not without a sense of charm, for he knew -that Murielle was near him, and that the same roof covered them both.</p> - -<p>On a tabourette by the bedside were placed a night-lamp, a cup of sack -posset, and the earl of Douglas's dagger as a symbol of peace and -protection—that he had armed his unwelcome guest against even his -<i>own</i> household; for such was the custom of the age and country.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVII.<br /> - -<small>HUSBAND AND WIFE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">First rose a star out owre the hill,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And next the lovelier moon;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">While the bonnie bride o' Galloway</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Looked for her blythe bridegroom;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Lythlie she sang as the new moon rose,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Blythe as a young bride may,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">When the new moon lights her lamp o' love,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And blinks the bride away.—<span class="smcap">Cromek.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray sprang from a couch, where dreams, rather than sleep, -had pressed thick and fast upon him. He rose while yet the summer sun -was below the green Galloway hills, and while the dark waters of the -Dee were veiled by the white mists of the early morning.</p> - -<p>His mind was full of Murielle, and he was not without hope, that while -all the numerous household and powerful feudal garrison were yet abed, -he might find some means to communicate with her—to see, to speak -to one so beloved—one from whom he had been so long, so wickedly -separated—his seven years' wedded wife!</p> - -<p>It seemed to Gray, while thinking of this, that some one had been -softly and timidly tapping at his door.</p> - -<p>Gently drawing back the numerous bars of wood and iron, with -which the doors of all bed-chambers in old Scottish mansions were -furnished in those days and for long after, he stepped into an arched -corridor; then, on looking along its dusky vista, he saw a female -figure approach, and what were his emotions on beholding the sudden -realization of his dearest wish—Murielle, who had left the room thus -early on the same errand and with the same desperate yet tenderly -loving hope, had been watching the door of <i>his</i> chamber.</p> - -<p>She seemed pale and wan, as one who had been sleepless; but though more -womanly and more full in figure, she was otherwise unchanged as when -he had seen her last, on that happy and yet unfortunate night, in the -church of St. Genevieve, in Flanders.</p> - -<p>"At last, my Murielle!"</p> - -<p>"At <i>last</i> we meet—but oh! for a moment only."</p> - -<p>They clasped each other in a tender embrace—heart to heart, and lip to -lip. His face was bent on hers, and her tears of joy and fear fell fast.</p> - -<p>"You love me still, Murielle?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Still!</i>" she reiterated reproachfully—"oh, with all my life and -strength."</p> - -<p>"But to what a hopeless love and aimless life have my passion and its -selfish ties consigned you!" said he; "we are the slaves of others and -of destiny."</p> - -<p>"Such have we ever been, since that fatal day on which my cousins, -William and David, were slain. That was in 1440, <i>ten</i> long, long years -ago; but—"</p> - -<p>"A crisis in our fate is coming now, dear Murielle."</p> - -<p>"But say why—oh, why are you here—here in Thrave, here, where your -life is in peril so deadly?"</p> - -<p>"I am come, in our good king's name, to demand MacLellan's release, and -to invite the earl, under cartel, to meet the council at Stirling, that -all these evils may be peacefully ended."</p> - -<p>"I pray to the kind Father of all, and to his Blessed Mother, who is -in heaven, that it may be so," sighed poor Murielle. "But oh, I am so -weary, weary—so sad and weary here! They keep me quite a prisoner, -though not so cruelly as they keep Sir Thomas MacLellan; for I am told -by Marion Douglas that he is confined in the pit."</p> - -<p>"Mahoun! say you so, dearest—in that horrid vault?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; but hush—we may be overheard."</p> - -<p>"Ah! my brave and noble kinsman—such a doom! Was it not in that -dungeon that Earl Archibald, the first duke of Touraine, kept -MacLellan, the laird of Borgue, chained, like a wild beast, till he -became a jabbering idiot, and when found by the prior of St. Mary's -Isle, he was laughing as he strove to catch the single sunbeam that -fell through the grated slit into his prison—yea, striving fatuously -to catch it with his thin, wan, fettered hand—the same hand that -carried the king's banner at the battle of Homildon!"</p> - -<p>"Do not frown thus, my dearest heart," said Murielle, weeping; "I have -little need to add to the hatred that grows apace in every breast -against the name of Douglas."</p> - -<p>"Do not say in <i>every</i> breast, sweet Murielle—sweet wife," he added, -pressing her close and closer still in his embrace; "for my heart is -wrung with anguish and with love for you, and of this love God alone -knoweth the depth and the strength!"</p> - -<p>Murielle continued to weep in silence.</p> - -<p>"My love for you," resumed Gray, "and my duty to the king, whom my -father, old Sir Andrew Gray, taught me to love, respect, and almost -worship, are impulses that rend my heart between them. At the risk -of my life I have ridden here on the king's service, alone, with no -protection but my sword, my hand, and, it may be, this royal tabard—a -badge but little respected on this side of the Nith or Annan."</p> - -<p>"And you came——"</p> - -<p>"To see you, and to save MacLellan from the fate of Sir Herbert -Herries. God wot, though, I would give the last drop of my blood to -serve my kinsman. A king's herald might have borne the mandate as well -as I; but the hope of seeing you—of hearing your dear voice, of -concerting some plan for your escape and future freedom from a tyranny -that is maddening,—chiefly, if not alone, brought me into the wilds of -Galloway—the very land and stronghold of the enemies of the throne."</p> - -<p>"Say not the enemies," said Murielle mournfully. "I hope that men -misjudge us sorely."</p> - -<p>"I hope they do; yet there are strange whispers abroad of a rebel -league with the earls of Ross and Crawford, with Henry of England, and -the lord of the Isles—a league to dethrone the king and plunge the -land in ruin. But let us speak at present of escape—of flight——"</p> - -<p>"My disappearance would be your destruction; all Galloway, with hound -and horn, would be upon your track."</p> - -<p>"True—Douglas gave me his word for safety only while <i>within</i> the -walls of Thrave," said Gray, bitterly.</p> - -<p>"The most sunny summer-day may have its clouds, dear Patrick; but here, -in this dull residence, with me it is ever cloud, and never sunshine—I -mean the sunshine of the heart. My time is passed, as it were, in -perpetual winter. I have no solace—no friend—no amusement, but my -cithern and the songs you loved so well——"</p> - -<p>"And love <i>still</i>, Murielle, for the sake of you!"</p> - -<p>"So cheerlessly I live on without hope or aim, a wedded nun, amid -councils of fierce and stern men, whose meetings, debates, and thoughts -are all for opposition, and revenge for the terrible deed of 1440."</p> - -<p>"In other words, Murielle, men who are ripe for treason and rebellion."</p> - -<p>"Why <i>will</i> you speak or think so harshly of us?" she asked so -imploringly that Gray kissed her tenderly as his only or best reply.</p> - -<p>"And that spiteful beauty your sister—what says she of me -now?"——"That you are the king's liege man," was the cautious answer.</p> - -<p>"She is right, my beloved one—I am his till death——"</p> - -<p>"And our enemy!" said a sharp voice close by them, like the hiss of a -snake.</p> - -<p>They turned and saw Margaret, the countess of Douglas, standing at the -entrance of her bower-chamber, the tapestry covering the door of which -she held back with one hand. She was clad entirely in black, with a -long veil of fine lace depending from the apex of her lofty head-dress, -enveloping her haughty head and handsome white shoulders. She was -somewhat changed since Gray had seen her last, for angry passions were -lining her young face prematurely; her marvellous beauty remained in -all its striking power; but it was the beauty of a devil—<i>diavolessa</i>, -an Italian would term it. Ten years of feud and anxious hostility to -the crown and its adherents had imparted a sternness to her fine brow, -a keen boldness to her black eyes, and a sneering scorn to her lovely -lip that made her seem a tragedy queen.</p> - -<p>"And so another errand than the king's message, anent his minion's life -or death, has brought you hither, scurvy patch!" said she scornfully; -"but by St. Bryde I shall rid our house and my sister of such intrusive -visitors!"</p> - -<p>"Madame," Gray began, with anger.</p> - -<p>"Varlet—would you dare to threaten me?" she exclaimed, holding up a -clenched hand, which was white, small, and singularly beautiful; "but, -my gay moth, you will flutter about that poor candle until your wings -are burnt. I have but to say one word to Douglas of this clandestine -meeting and he will hang you in your boots and tabard above our gate, -where Herbert of Teregles and many a better man has hung."</p> - -<p>"Oh, sister Margaret," urged Murielle, trembling like an aspen-leaf.</p> - -<p>"Ha—to speak that word would remove the only barrier to your being -duchess of Albany—and why should I <i>not</i> speak it?" she continued -fiercely and with flashing eyes; "Why should I not speak it?"</p> - -<p>"Because, dear Maggie, you have still some gentle mercy left, and -Heaven forbids you," said Murielle, clinging to her pitiless sister.</p> - -<p>"Begone, madam," said the latter imperiously; "your instant obedience -alone purchases my silence. But here comes Sir Alan Lauder."</p> - -<p>So ended abruptly, as at the abbot's house in Edinburgh, this -unexpected meeting. Terror for her lover-husband's life made Murielle -withdraw instantly with her sister, just as Sir Alan Lauder of the -Bass, who was still captain and governor of Thrave, approached with -an undisguised sneer on his lips to say that the earl would receive -Sir Patrick Gray at brekfaast, in his own chamber, and there give his -answer to the king's message.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII.<br /> - -<small>DOUGLAS AND GRAY</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 38%;">And darest thou, then,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">To beard the lion in his den,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The Douglas in his hall?—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Clad in a robe of fine scarlet cloth, which was lined with white fur, -and fastened by a brooch or jewel at the neck, and which was open just -enough to show an undershirt and long hose of buff-coloured silk, the -earl of Douglas was seated in a high-backed easy-chair, which was -covered with crimson taffety. His feet were placed on a tabourette, and -close by, with his long sharp nose resting on his outstretched paws, -crouched Souyllard, the snow-white bloodhound, uttering deep growls -from time to time.</p> - -<p>Breakfast, which consisted of cold beef, partridge-pie, flour cakes, -wheaten bread, honey, ale, and wine, was spread upon the table, which, -like the rest of the carved oak furniture, and like the castle itself, -seemed strong enough to last twenty generations of Douglases. The -equipage was entirely composed of the beautiful pottery of Avignon, -which was all of a dark-brown metallic tint, like tortoise-shell, but -perforated and in relief.</p> - -<p>At the earl's hand, in the old Scottish fashion, stood a flat-shaped -pilgrim-bottle of usquebaugh. It was from Beauvais, and bore a Scots -lion, with the three <i>fleurs-de-lys</i>, and the name of <i>Charle Roy -VII.</i>, for it was a personal gift from the then reigning monarch of -France to Douglas, when last at his hunting-castle in the wood of -Vincennes.</p> - -<p>A painted casement, one half of which stood open, admitted the warm -rays of the summer sun through the deep embrasure of the enormously -thick castle-wall, and afforded a glimpse without of the far-stretching -landscape and the windings of the Dee, and, nearer still, the green -islet it formed around Thrave, on the grassy sward of which some noisy -urchins and pages belonging to the feudal garrison were gambolling, -playing at leapfrog, and launching stones and mimic spears at an old -battered quintain, or carved figure of an armed man, which stood there -for the use of those who practised tilting.</p> - -<p>As Gray entered in his armour, with his surcoat on and his helmet open, -readier for departure than a repast, the earl, without rising or -offering his hand, bowed with cold courtesy, with a sardonic smile on -his white lip and hatred in his deep-set eyes. He made a signal to a -page who was in attendance to withdraw, and they were immediately left -together. "I said last night that it was ill speaking between a full -man and a fasting," said he; "we are both fasting this morning, so, Sir -Patrick, let us eat, drink, and then to business."</p> - -<p>As they were both anxious to come to the point at issue, after a few -morsels of food and a draught of spiced ale, the grim earl spoke -again:—</p> - -<p>"I have read the king's letters—that anent the laird of Bombie, and -that which invites me to a conference at Stirling, with a safe conduct -to me and all my followers. By my faith, Sir Patrick, I think their -number, in horse, foot, and archers, will be their best safe conduct. -The first letter demands——"</p> - -<p>"The release, the instant release of my kinsman, Sir Thomas MacLellan, -of Bombie, and of that ilk, steward of Kirkcudbright, whom you -unlawfully and most unworthily detain here a prisoner," said Gray, whom -the cool and insolent bearing of Douglas exasperated beyond the point -of prudence. "What if I refuse," asked the latter with an icy smile.</p> - -<p>"That the king and council will consider."</p> - -<p>"What if he be dead?"</p> - -<p>"He is <i>not</i> dead," exclaimed Gray with growing excitement; "last night -I heard his voice, for he addressed me as we entered the barbican."</p> - -<p>"Ha!" said Douglas sharply, with a furious glance.</p> - -<p>"But dead or alive, lord earl, in the king's name I demand his body!"</p> - -<p>"That shall I grant you readily," replied Douglas grimly, as he blew on -a silver whistle which lay on the table. The arras of the doorway was -raised, and there reappeared the page, to whom the earl gave a ring, -which he drew from his finger, and said, "Tell James Achanna to lead -forth the laird of Bombie from the vault, and to obey my orders."</p> - -<p>The page bowed and retired; and he observed, if Gray did not, the -terribly sinister expression which at that moment filled the earl's -eyes.</p> - -<p>"You said <i>lead forth</i>, my lord; hence my kinsman lives, and I thank -you," said Gray with more composure.</p> - -<p>"Some men die between the night and morning, others between the morning -and the night;—but now about this conference at Stirling: what boon -does the king hold out as an inducement for a Douglas to risk so much -as an acceptance of royal hospitality?"</p> - -<p>"Boon, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"By St. Bryde, I spoke plainly enough!"</p> - -<p>"'Twas said the restoration to you of the office of Warden of the -Marches towards England, the seat at the Privy Council, and the -commission of Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom."</p> - -<p>"In short, all of which I was unjustly deprived, by Crichton's -influence, during my absence in France and Italy," said the earl, -removing the breast from a partridge.</p> - -<p>Gray did not reply, for at that moment the castle bell was tolled -slowly, and a strange foreboding seized him. "With the recollection -of the Black Dinner of 1440 before me, by the Devil's mass! I would -require some great boon to tempt me, assuredly," said the earl, with a -laugh which had something diabolical in its sound.</p> - -<p>"My lord, there will be the king's safe conduct."</p> - -<p>"King's memories are precarious. Since the day of the bloody banquet at -which my kinsman perished, I have been, as it were, a man of granite in -a shirt of steel—immoveable, implacable—and feeling no sentiment but -the longing for revenge!"</p> - -<p>The earl, with a sparkling eye and a flushing cheek, spoke as feelingly -as if he had <i>not</i> had a secret hand in the execution of his nephews, -nor won anything by it.</p> - -<p>"King James," he added, "has yet to learn what a ten years' hatred is!"</p> - -<p>"Ten years?" reiterated Gray, as he thought of Murielle.</p> - -<p>"Ten years—we are in the year 1450, and for the ten which have -preceded it, my armour has scarcely ever been off," said the earl; "and -even in my own hall the sword and dagger have never been from my side."</p> - -<p>"For the same reason, my lord, you have kept other men's armour on, and -others' weapons on the grindstone," replied Gray; "but endeavour to be -as good and loyal as your fathers were, earl of Douglas—renounce your -evil leagues, and bonds for rebellion, else you may find the king alike -more wise and powerful than you imagine."</p> - -<p>"I seek not advice from you, laird of Foulis," said Douglas, with proud -disdain. "Within sound of the bells of Holyrood, or those of St. Giles, -your king may be both powerful and wise; but on this side the Moat of -Urr, I have my doubts of his power or wisdom."</p> - -<p>"How, my lord?"</p> - -<p>"He would scarcely be wise to venture into the wilds of Galloway, -even with all the forces he and that fangless wolf, his chancellor, -may collect; and never powerful enough to do so, with the hope of -success."——"Daring words, when said of one who is king of all -Scotland."</p> - -<p>"But I am lord of all Galloway, and I shall uphold its ancient rights -and laws in battle, as stoutly as Earl Archibald did in Parliament."</p> - -<p>"An old story, my lord," said Gray, rising.</p> - -<p>"True; in the days of Robert II.," added Douglas, rising also.</p> - -<p>"In 1385," observed Gray, with a scarcely perceptible smile.</p> - -<p>"I forget."——"Though you forget many things, my lord," said Gray, -rashly and impetuously, "do not imagine that you or they are forgotten."</p> - -<p>"Does this imply a threat, my cock-laird of the north country?" asked -Douglas, with profound disdain.</p> - -<p>"As you please—I am a plain soldier."</p> - -<p>A ferocious expression darkened the earl's face; but Gray drew back a -pace, and laid a hand significantly on his tabard.</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray, I advise you to get your horse and begone!" -thundered Douglas, starting to his feet. "Without there! Order Sir -Patrick's horse to the barbican-gate!"</p> - -<p>"But your answer to the king?" said Gray, tightening his waistbelt, and -preparing for a sudden start.</p> - -<p>"That I shall convey in person to Stirling."</p> - -<p>"And my kinsman——"</p> - -<p>"Dead or alive?" said Douglas, with a sullen glare in his eye. Alarmed -by the expression of the earl's face, Gray said earnestly:—</p> - -<p>"Lest you might not obey the king's commands, proud lord, or might -scoff at my humble request, I bring you a mother's prayer for her son."</p> - -<p>"A mother's?" said Douglas, pausing as they descended the staircase -together.</p> - -<p>"The prayer of my father's sister, Marion Gray, for her son's -release."——"It comes too late," muttered the earl under his black -moustache, as they issued into the sunny court-yard of Thrave.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIX.<br /> - -<small>THE FATE OF MACLELLAN</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Lift not the shroud! a speaking stain</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Of blood upon its sable seen,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Tells how the spirit fled from plain,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">For there the headsman's axe hath been.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 54%;"><span class="smcap">Ballad.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>"The king's demand shall be granted, but rather for <i>your</i> sake—come -hither," said the earl.</p> - -<p>There was a cruel banter in his manner, a bitter smile on his face, -and Gray grew pale, and felt the blood rush back upon his heart with a -terrible foreboding as they crossed the court-yard.</p> - -<p>Then his eye at once detected something like a human form stretched at -full length upon the ground, and covered by a sheet. About it there -could be no doubt—it was so cold, white, angular, and fearfully rigid. -Upon the breast was placed a platter filled with salt—a Scottish -superstition as old as the days of Turpin—and close by lay an axe and -bloodstained billet, about which the brown sparrows were hopping and -twittering in the warm morning sunshine. With a choking sensation in -his throat, Gray stepped resolutely forward.</p> - -<p>"Remove this cloth," said the earl to some of his people who were near; -and on their doing so, there was seen the body of a headless man—a -body which Gray knew too well to be that of his friend and kinsman, for -on the breast of the soiled and faded pourpoint was embroidered a gold -scutcheon, with the three black chevrons of MacLellan.</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick, you have come a little too late," said the sneering -earl; "here lies your father's sister's son; but, unfortunately, he -wants the head, and a head is an awkward loss. The body, however, is -completely at your service."</p> - -<p>Grief and indignation almost choked Gray's utterance. He knelt down and -kissed the cold right hand, which yet bore the mark of an iron fetter, -and then turning to the earl, said, "My lord, you may now dispose of -the body as you please; but the head——"</p> - -<p>"Behold it on the battlement above you!"<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>Gray mounted his horse, which was at that moment led to the outer gate -by the earl's grooms; and mistrusting them, though feeling as one in -a terrible dream, before putting his foot in the stirrup he carefully -examined his bridle, girths, and crupper. Then, says Sir Walter Scott -in his history, "his resentment broke forth in spite of the dangerous -situation in which he was placed":—</p> - -<p>"My lord," said he, shaking his gauntleted hand close to the earl's -beard, "if I live you shall bitterly pay for this day's work; and -I—Patrick Gray of Foulis—tell thee, that thou art a bloodthirsty -coward—a disgrace to knighthood and nobility!"</p> - -<p>He then wheeled round his horse, pressed the sharp Rippon spurs into -its flanks, and galloped off.</p> - -<p>"To horse and chase him!" cried the earl, furiously. "I will ride to -Stirling, false minion, with <i>your</i> head at my saddle-bow! To horse and -follow him—this venturesome knight must sleep beside his kinsman!"</p> - -<p>"But he came on the king's service," urged Sir Alan Lauder, as he -put his foot in the stirrup of his horse, when some twenty or thirty -mounted moss-troopers came hurriedly from the stable court.</p> - -<p>"Bah! love-lured and destiny dragged him hither. Let slip Souyllard the -sleuth-bratch. Horse and spear, I say, Lauder and Achanna—a hundred -crowns for the head of yonder minion! I swear by St. Bryde of Douglas -and Kildara, by the Blessed Virgin and her son, never to eat at a -table, sleep in a bed, to rest under a Christian roof, or to lay aside -sword and armour, till I have passed my dagger through the heart of -Patrick Gray, dead or alive!"——"If you break this terrible vow," said -Sir Alan, aghast at the earl's fury, and the form it took in words.</p> - -<p>"Then I pray Heaven, at the judgment day, to show such mercy to me as I -shall show my enemies," was the fierce response.</p> - -<p>It was fortunate for the earl that he soon found a friar to release him -from a vow, the fulfilment of which must have entailed a vast deal of -trouble, fuss, and discomfort upon him and his followers.</p> - -<p>"A hundred crowns and St. Bryde for Douglas!" was the shout of the -moss-troopers, as they dashed through the outer gate, and with their -light active horses, their steel caps, jacks, and spears, they -clattered over the drawbridge; but Gray, after escaping six or eight -crossbow bolts, was already three miles before them, and spurring in -hot haste along the road towards Dumfries.</p> - -<p>It was a fortunate circumstance for him that he was well mounted on -a fleet, strong, and active horse; for he was a muscular man, and -heavily mailed, while his pursuers, being Border Prickers, wore but -little armour, and their wiry nags were used to scamper on forays in -all weathers and seasons by day and night, over moor, and moss, and -mountain sides.</p> - -<p>Gray knew well that if taken his death was certain; for Douglas, -reckless, ruthless, and bloodthirsty, by nature, was certain now to -give full scope to his long-treasured hatred.</p> - -<p>He no longer heard the whooping of his pursuers; he had either -distanced them, or they were husbanding their energies for a long -chase; but there came after him at times, upon the hollow wind, the -grunting bark of the sleuth-bratch, by which he was surely and savagely -tracked, Souyllard, the earl's favourite white bloodhound, and the -heart of the fugitive swelled anew, with grief and rage, and hatred of -his unrelenting tormentor.</p> - -<p>He was far from shelter or succour, for until he reached the Lothians, -all the land belonged to his enemies, or to those who dared not protect -him. For miles and miles before him stretched flattened hills and open -plains covered with waving heather, the purple tints of which were -glowing in the noonday sun, and these tints deepened into blue or black -on the shaded sides of the glens. The whirr of the blackcock was heard -at times, as it rose from the pale green or withered yellow leaves of -the ferns that grew among the rushes, where the trouting burn brawled, -or by the lonely ravine, the red-scaured bank, or stony gulley, which -Gray made his foam-covered horse clear by a flying leap.</p> - -<p>Louder and nearer came the savage bay of the sleuth-bratch, and Gray, -as he looked back, could see it tracking him closely and surely; while -about three miles distant the border spears of his pursuers glittered -on the summit of a hill.</p> - -<p>He had swam his horse through the Urr and spurred on for miles, and now -before him lay Lochrutton, with its old peel-house, named, from its -loneliness, the castle-of-the-hills; then, as he was about to cross a -foaming tributary of the loch—a stream that tore, all red and muddy, -through a stony ravine—the bounding sleuth-bratch came upon him, and -sprang at his horse's flanks, just as the terrified animal rose into -the air to cross by a flying leap.</p> - -<p>Clenching his gauntleted hand, Gray struck the fierce brute on the -head, and it fell into the rushing torrent; but gained the other side -as soon as he, and sent its deep, hoarse bay into the air, as if to -summon the pursuers. Now, the terrible sleuth-bratch was running -parallel with his horse's flanks, and vainly he strove to strike at it -with his sword. His temples throbbed as if with fever, and now, for -air, for coolness, and relief, he drew off his barred helmet; then he -tossed it into a bush, for the double purpose of staying the hound and -concealing it as a trace of his flight. Spurring on—he redoubled his -efforts to escape; he called to his horse—he cheered and caressed it, -while the perspiration of toil oozed through the joints of his armour, -from his gorget to his spurs.</p> - -<p>The terrible white hound was preparing for a final, and, doubtless, a -fatal spring, when a man, whose head and shoulders were enveloped in a -scarlet hood, suddenly rose from the whin bushes amid which Gray was -galloping, and, by a single blow from his ponderous mace, dashed out -the brains of the dog, killing it on the spot.</p> - -<p>Gray had just time to perceive that his preserver was Malise MacKim, -the smith of Thrave, when he passed on like a whirlwind; and now he saw -before him, in the distance, the lovely and far-stretching valley of -the Nith, the long bridge, the red-walled town, the spires, and the old -castle of Dumfries. He dashed through the portal of the bridge, and -pushed on by the way for Edinburgh; but, owing to the rough and devious -nature of the roads, night overtook him among the wilds of Tweedmuir. -If he drew bridle for a moment, he still heard the tramp of hoofs in -his rear, for now fresh horsemen had joined in the pursuit; and, but -for the relays he had so wisely provided, and of which he only once -availed himself, he had assuredly been taken and slain.</p> - -<p>At Moffat, he obtained his own favourite horse from the priest of the -village church.</p> - -<p>"Will you not, for safety, have your charger's shoes reversed?" said -the churchman, as Gray mounted.</p> - -<p>"Like King Robert of old; but there is no snow to reveal the track."</p> - -<p>"But there is mud, and the ways are deep and soft."</p> - -<p>"True; but who is here to do it for me?"</p> - -<p>"The smith at the forge."</p> - -<p>"Nay, nay, good father," said Gray, shortening his reins; "hear you -that!" a whoop and a bugle blast, came together on the night breeze; -"I must even trust me to my good Brechin blade and Clydesdale nag; for -both are our good king's gift," and he set forth with renewed speed.</p> - -<p>He had good reason for declining to loiter, for just as he rode off, -the mountain pass, which opens into the valley, rang with shouts and -the rush of many iron hoofs, as the laird of Hawkshaw and the Hunters -of Palmood, with Sir Alan Lauder and a band of Douglas moss-troopers, -came galloping down.</p> - -<p>On, on, rushed the fleet horse, with its small head outstretched, and -cutting the night air, as the prow of a ship cleaves the water. The -taper ears lay flat on its neck, the mane streamed behind like smoke -from a funnel, and the quivering nostrils shot forth white puffs of -steamy breath at every bound; while foam and blood mingled together on -its flanks, as the sharp Rippon spurs of the daring rider urged it fast -and furiously on.</p> - -<p>This flight of Sir Patrick Gray from Thrave suggested to Scott the -escape of Marmion from the future chief of the Douglases—the earl of -Angus, at Tantallan.</p> - -<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> One account states that the body of MacLellan was interred -in the church of Kirkconnel, and some old inscription is quoted in -proof; another, that he was conveyed to the abbey church of Dundrennan, -where a monument was erected to his memory; but it is much more -probable that he would be interred in the church of Kirkcudbright.</p></div> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER L.<br /> - -<small>WILL HE ESCAPE?</small></h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Black is my steed as a cloud of rain,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">There's a star of white on his brow;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">The free gales play with his feathery mane,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">And lightnings gleam round his feet of snow.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 54%;"><span class="smcap">Polish Poetry.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>Dark foliaged glens and heathy hills, furrowed fields and wayside -cottages, with the pale smoke curling through their roofs of yellow -thatch and emerald moss; rock-perched towers, with corbelled -battlements and grated windows; deep fordless rivers, pathless woods, -and uncultivated wolds, seemed to fly past, and still the steed with -its bare-headed rider rushed on at a frightful pace, as if it was -enchanted, or bestrode by an evil spirit, like that of Lenore in the -ballad of Burger.</p> - -<p>The moon was shining brightly now.</p> - -<p>Near Stobo the pursuers came so close upon Gray that he began to fear -escape was impossible—the more so, as fresh blood-hounds were baying -on his track. On reaching the Tweed, instead of crossing it by a -ford—the river was deeper everywhere then than now—he waded or swam -his horse up the current for about a hundred yards, and <i>backed</i> it -into a low-browed fissure or cavern which he discovered amid the rocks.</p> - -<p>Dismounting, he drew his sword and dagger, threw the bridle over his -left arm, and stood at the cavern mouth to confront all or any who -might come near, and resolved if they discovered his lurking place -to sell his life dearly; but he felt how much the long ride in heavy -armour over rough ground had impaired his natural strength. His sinews -were stiffened, his overtasked muscles were swollen with pain, and his -mind was as weary as his body.</p> - -<p>On the silver current of the Tweed, as it brawled over its broad bed of -pebbles, the moon shone bright and clearly; close by, a tributary from -the hills rushed over a brow of rock, and formed a feathery cascade, -which plunged into a deep pool. There the peasantry affirmed that a -kind fairy was wont to appear at times, and to bend over the cascade, -mingling her white arms and floating drapery with the foam, as she -sought to save those wayfarers whom the evil kelpie in the darksome -linn below sought to drown and devour.</p> - -<p>Nor hideous kelpie, nor lovely fairy were visible to-night; but now -came the hoarse grunting bark of four large sleuth-bratches, as they -leaped with heavy plunges to the margin of the stream: there the scent -was lost, and they were once more, as at every running water, at fault, -so they ran snorting and sniffing to and fro among the leaves, reeds, -and water-docks, with the breath curling up from their fierce red -nostrils like white steam in the clear moonlight.</p> - -<p>Then came furious surmises and angry oaths as a dozen or more -moss-troopers galloped down to the bank of the stream, and rode in an -excited manner hither and thither, seeking to put the dogs upon a track -or trail. Through the leafy screen of his hiding-place, Gray could see -their fierce and sun-burned faces, their rusty helmets and battered -trappings, their long reed-like lances that glittered in the moonshine; -for those moss-troopers, in their well-worn and half-barbaric -accoutrements, were the very Cossacks of the Scottish borders.</p> - -<p>James Achanna now came up and spurred his horse across to examine the -ford, and uttered a shout of exultation on discovering the trace of -horses' hoofs recently impressed in the soft mud.</p> - -<p>Gray drew a long breath, and felt the edge of his sword, for he -thought the critical moment was at hand! But now a trooper, with an -oath expressive of disappointment, drew the attention of all to the -circumstance that the marks were those of a horse which had gone -<i>towards</i> the ford and must have crossed it for the south, and that, if -they were made by the hoofs of the fugitive's nag, he must have doubled -like a hare. On hearing this, Gray blessed his own foresight in having -backed his horse upward from the stream.</p> - -<p>The moment this hint was given to the rest, who had no particular views -of their own on the subject, they put spur to their horses and galloped -away, almost in the direction from whence they had come. As soon as -they were gone, Gray came forth from his lurking-place, mounted, and -rode off towards the north leisurely and at an easy pace.</p> - -<p>He was soon on the border of the fertile Lothians; the far-stretching -range of the Pentlands rose upon his left, with their heathy summits -tipped by the rising sun; the long ridge where the trenches of -Agricola's camp overlooked the woods of Dalhousie, the Dalkeith of the -Douglases, and the vale of the two Esks, was soon surmounted, and afar -off, "piled deep and massy, close and high," he could see old grey -Edinburgh rising in the distance.</p> - -<p>Haggard, wan, and wild in aspect, weary and torn,—minus a helmet -and with his dark hair streaming behind him; his armour rusted with -perspiration, and by frequent immersion in the rivers he had forded or -swam; his spurs dripping with blood, and his sinking horse covered with -foam and quivering in every fibre; his embroidered surcoat frittered by -brambles and thorns—the Captain of the King's Guard passed through the -streets of Edinburgh, and reached the castle, thus actually returning, -as the old gate-ward had shrewdly predicted, "faster than he gaed awa."</p> - -<p>The Master of Crichton (the chancellor's eldest son), the favourite -page of James, conducted him at once to the latter, who was in the -same apartment of David's Tower, and occupied with the same translated -romance of Sir Gilbert the Haye.</p> - -<p>"What of MacLellan?" said he, starting up.</p> - -<p>"MacLellan is dead, sire," replied Gray in a scarcely audible voice, -and in a burst of grief and excitement "My kinsman—my friend—he has -gone to heaven; but he was foully murdered, and in cold blood, by the -base Lord Douglas, and I shall avenge him—yea, fearfully, I swear it -by Him at whose throne he is now perhaps kneeling!"</p> - -<p>"And I will aid your vengeance, Gray," added the king, pressing his -hand.</p> - -<p>Then, when Sir Patrick had related his story, James vowed deeply in his -heart, if he could not conciliate Douglas, to <span class="smcap">CRUSH</span> him and -break his terrible bond, or let himself be crushed in the contest.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LI.<br /> - -<small>STIRLING</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Ye towers within whose circuit dread,<br /> -A Douglas by his sovereign bled;<br /> -And thou, oh sad and fatal mound,<br /> -That oft has heard the death-axe sound.—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>To Gray it seemed as if Heaven or fate had conspired with Douglas to -keep him and Murielle separate for the period of their natural lives; -though King James assured him that his day of retribution, if not of -happiness, must soon come now.</p> - -<p>The king of Scotland was most anxious to avoid the horrors of a civil -war with those obnoxious peers, who openly boasted, that on a day's -notice, by the Fiery Cross, they could array forty thousand men against -his throne and authority. He was really, and naturally so, alarmed by -the bond or league of the Douglases and their confederates; but the -summer passed, and the spring of the next year drew on, before the -haughty earl would agree to meet his sovereign in solemn conference at -Stirling. Then James promised Gray that all disputes would be ended, -and that the wish which lay nearest his heart—the surrender of his -wife to him—would be granted.</p> - -<p>How vain were the hopes of the good young king; and how little could -he or any one foresee the terrible sequel to that long-wished-for -interview!</p> - -<p>An ample letter of safe conduct was sent to the earl of Douglas, in -custody of Sir William Lauder of Hatton, a knight of Lothian, one of -his chief friends and followers; and thus armed and, as he deemed, -protected, he entered the quaint and beautiful old town of Stirling, -where James was then residing; for then, and for five generations -after, Stirling was the Aranjuez, or Versailles of the Scottish kings, -and on its decorations they were unsparing of treasure and of care.</p> - -<p>It was on the morning of Shrove Tuesday, the 20th of February, 1451, -that the earl arrived, accompanied by Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond; -Dunbar, earl of Murray; James, Lord Hamilton of Cadzow; Sir Alan -Lauder; the lairds of Pompherston, Glendoning, Cairnglas, and, of -course, James Achanna,—in all they were many hundred horsemen. They -made no parade or show, save of war; for all these nobles, knights, and -their followers, were mounted, mailed, and armed to perfection, so as -to be in readiness for any emergency; and they were all men of approved -and even reckless valour.</p> - -<p>The early winter was past; the vast valley or plain, through which -the wondrous links of Forth wind like a silver snake towards the -German Sea, was assuming that brilliance of green which is the first -indication of reviving nature.</p> - -<p>The notes of the woodlark and throstle-cock were heard in the woods of -Craigforth; the moles were busy on the fallow uplands, and the gnats -swarmed in the sunshine about the budding hedgerows; in the park below -the castle walls of Stirling, the bare-legged urchins of the town were -busy "throwing at cocks" tied to stakes—a barbarous custom by which -Shrovetide was always celebrated in Scotland, as well as in south -Britain; others were playing at foot-ball, or shooting at the butts -with little arblasts; and the shouts of their merriment rang upward -in the clear and almost frosty air, to where Mary of Gueldres and her -ladies were seated at the windows of the royal dwelling, many hundred -feet above the grassy glen. But all left their sports, and hastened to -the gate which opened towards the old Druid oaks of the Torwood, when -the brass bombardes of the fortress rolled their thunder on the still -atmosphere, and made the Ochil mountains echo in salute to the doughty -earl of Douglas, while the clarions and trumpets of his train rang -before the barrier-porte of the ancient burgh.</p> - -<p>His family banner, twelve trumpets, with a royal herald and pursuivant, -preceded him; and as he passed up the quaint streets, where the -burghers at their windows, galleries, turrets, and forestairs, hung out -pennons, tapestry, and garlands, and received him with acclamations, -he deemed it all a tribute to his rank, and to his mighty feudal and -mightier political power; although this display was merely the joyous -outpouring of their hearts at the prospect of an amicable end being -put to the jealousy and hate which had separated the chief of the -Douglases—that line of glorious old historic memory—from a brave and -high-spirited monarch whom they loved. It was all in the spirit of the -old ballad—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">God save the king, and bless the land</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">In plenty, joy, and peace;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">And grant henceforth that foul debate</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">'Twixt noblemen may cease.</span> -</p> - -<p>The earl's cuirass was of Milan steel, magnificently damascened, -studded with gilt nails, and furnished at the armpits with little -espalettes of gold. From under his open helmet, which was surrounded by -a coronet, he looked around him with a smile of surly satisfaction; but -his most powerful friend, Sir James, the lord Hamilton of Cadzow, said, -solemnly and sternly,</p> - -<p>"Let not all this delude you, Douglas, to forget on this day the wrongs -of your race."</p> - -<p>"Forget?" reiterated the other, grimly; "forget, said ye, Cadzow? If I -forget my father and my kinsmen, so may God, his blessed Mother, and -St. Bryde of Douglas, forget me! No, Hamilton, never shall I forget the -good and doughty Douglases who have gone before me, for their lives -were lives of danger, and their mail-clad breasts were Scotland's best -bulwarks in the stormy days of old."</p> - -<p>"I know all that; but our bond—and the king"—said Hamilton, -hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>"Well, he is neither priest, philosopher, nor exorcist, like that old -knave of Tongland, who has left me to my own sins and devices; so what -can he make of the matter?"</p> - -<p>"When we are within yonder castle on the rock, he may perhaps term it -treason."</p> - -<p>"He dare not!" was the bold reply.</p> - -<p>"I beseech you to beware, my lord earl," said Lord Hamilton; "I have -a strange foreboding in my heart, and I warn you now—even as the -good Sir Malcolm Fleming warned Earl William—to remember that before -the gate of Stirling lies a mound, on which have rolled the heads of -Murdoch of Albany, of his two sons, of Duncan, earl of Lennox, and many -others."</p> - -<p>"What of that?" asked the earl impatiently, as if he disliked the -subject.</p> - -<p>"In one minute more, you will be at the mercy of the king," said -Hamilton, who was alike bold and wary.</p> - -<p>But the earl laughed scornfully and rode on, while the majority of his -vast retinue separated to seek quarters in the town, as the castle -could not have held them.</p> - -<p>"There is yet time to pause—even to return," resumed Hamilton, as he -all but seized the earl's rein.</p> - -<p>"I know not what you mean, Cadzow; but I care not, and <i>he dare not</i>," -said Douglas, as he reined up his horse and dismounted at the gate of -the castle.</p> - -<p>Before it was a strong palisade, within which the soldiers of the -king's guard were under arms, with their helmets, corslets, plate -sleeves, and partisans glittering in the sun. At their head were Sir -Patrick Gray, and his kinsman, Gray of Balgarno, clad, not in state -dresses, but complete armour, as if for battle.</p> - -<p>Sir Patrick and the earl exchanged angry and hostile glances as they -passed each other. There was a considerable pressure about the gate, -as the chief followers of Douglas crushed after him through the narrow -outer wicket; and there a strange fracas took place between Cadzow and -the grim old Sir Alexander Livingstone of Callender, who, after he -had relinquished the regency, had been appointed justice-general of -Scotland, with a peerage in perspective.</p> - -<p>Sir Alexander snatched a partisan from the hands of his son, Sir James -Livingstone, who was captain of the castle of Stirling, and when -Hamilton (his own kinsman and friend) attempted to enter, he placed the -shaft across the wicket, and roughly thrust him back.</p> - -<p>Inspired by a sudden fury, Hamilton shut down the visor of his helmet, -and, sword in hand, was rushing upon Livingstone; but the strong and -determined old knight resolutely held him back till the gates were -shut, and thus he, with many more of the earl's train who might have -proved troublesome from their number and disposition, were excluded.</p> - -<p>"Sir James Hamilton," says history, "was very angry at this usage at -the time; but afterwards learned that Livingstone acted a friendly -part in excluding him from the probable danger into which Douglas was -throwing himself." It was a conference the end of which none could -foresee.</p> - -<p>It is somewhat remarkable that, after a brawl which seemed so -significant of perils yet to come, Douglas (unless he was ignorant of -its occurrence) should have passed through the embattled porch of the -fortress; but now all the barriers were closed, and no course was open -but to <i>dree his weird</i>—to follow his destiny!</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LII.<br /> - -<small>HOW THE KING BROKE THE BOND</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Little honour it won thee</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">For smooth was thy greeting;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Thou wast bid to the feast,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">In the hall was your meeting.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">In the hall was your meeting,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">But thou stained it with slaughter;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">When there's blood on the hearth,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Who can wash it with water?</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 54%;"><span class="smcap">From the Gaelic.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>Veiling his just indignation under a bland exterior, King James II. -received the turbulent earl kindly and with condescension; and after -some amicable expostulations on the subject of the men he had so -lawlessly put to death in Thrave and elsewhere—the ravages he had -committed upon the lands of his enemies—the towns he had burned and -the castles he had stormed, all seemed to become cordiality between him -and his much-too-powerful subject.</p> - -<p>Of these startling acts they conversed as quietly and easily as modern -men may do of an election, a bill before parliament, or any ordinary -and everyday affair; yet they were dangerous topics to comment upon -at such a time, for by the king's side were still the Lord Chancellor -Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingstone of Callender, the Lord Glammis, -Sir Patrick Gray, and others; while near Douglas were the Earls of -Crawford, Murray, and Ormond, with Pompherston, Glendoning, and others, -all, more or less, involved personally; but now, on looking round, the -earl missed the powerful chief of the house of Hamilton.</p> - -<p>"Is not Cadzow here?" he asked, changing colour.</p> - -<p>"He remains in the town," said Sir Alexander Livingstone with a smile -which there was no analyzing; "but if it please you, lord earl, I shall -send him a message."</p> - -<p>"Do so, Laird of Callender," replied the earl, "and for the first time -in my life I shall thank you."</p> - -<p>"We shall see," replied Livingstone as he withdrew to an antechamber, -where he disengaged the gold spur from his right heel, and giving it to -James's page, the Master of Crichton bade him "see the Lord Hamilton, -of Cadzow, and give him this spur, with a kinsman's best wishes for its -speedy use."</p> - -<p>The spur was duly delivered—the hint was accepted, and the brawl at -the gate seemed explained; for within an hour, Hamilton and <i>his</i> -followers were far on the road to Clydesdale and the castle of Cadzow.</p> - -<p>At the hour of seven, the king, Douglas, and their retinue sat down -to a banquet, or rere-supper, in the castle-hall. It was sumptuous, -and what it lacked in genuine hilarity was made up in rude and antique -splendour. At that banquet friends and foes seemed united for the -time—though like Scotsmen in general, the moment it was over, and -while the hall yet echoed with the flourish of trumpets as the king -rose, they drew into cliques and coteries, who talked and scowled at -each other. The king, Crichton, and Livingstone earnestly desired a -compromise and coalition with Douglas.</p> - -<p>On one hand the latter wished to scare them by a display of his power, -and on the other to fathom their ulterior plans without revealing his -own; thus during the banquet he carefully avoided the perilous subject -of his rebellious <i>bond</i>.</p> - -<p>Gray, as he leaned on his partizan, at the back of the king's chair, -kept the visor of his helmet half closed, to conceal the emotions of -his heart, which his face might have betrayed. Not even the image of -Murielle, pale, gentle, and sad-eyed, could soften at that time the -bitterness that burned within him. His long separation from her; his -wounds inflicted by the hands of the earl and his followers; his many -wrongs; the snares of Achanna; the long captivity in the Flemish castle -of Bommel; his kinsman's murder, and the terrors of that desperate -flight from Thrave, all swelled up like a flood of fiery thoughts -within him, and he actually conceived the idea of smiting Douglas on -the face with his iron glove in the king's presence, and challenging -him to mortal combat in the hall.</p> - -<p>Night had set in—a dark and gusty night of February, when the wind -howled loudly and drearily round the towers of Stirling, and when -the moon cast its fitful gleams with the shadows of the fast-flying -clouds, on the wide vale of Forth, and the mighty masses of the Ochil -Mountains. The pages were lighting the sconces and chandeliers in the -great hall, while the yeomen of the cellars were supplying the guests -with more wine, when James, impatient to broach the subject of the -bond, privately invited the earl to accompany him into a closet, which -is still shown in the north-western corner of the castle—the same -quarter of the royal residence in which he first saw the light. In -golden letters, on its cornice, may yet be seen his name:</p> - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/372.jpg" alt="jacobus rex" /> -</p> - -<p class="center"> -<small>Jacobus II. Rex Scottorum.</small> -</p> - -<p>Its walls were then covered with gilded Spanish leather; a fire of -perfumed wood burned cheerfully on the hearth; but the poker and tongs, -though each surmounted by an imperial crown, were chained to the jambs, -as if in the house of a simple citizen.</p> - -<p>After trimming the lights, the pages, on a sign from the king, withdrew -backwards, bowing at every step, and he was left with the earl, who -found himself alone, or unattended, and in the closet were the Lords -Crichton, Glammis, Sir Patrick Gray, a gentleman of the bedchamber, -named Sir Simon Glendinning, and one or two others, who were the chosen -friends of James.</p> - -<p>Aware that their sovereign was about to take the earl calmly but -severely to task, they all drew somewhat apart, and Gray, with -soldier-like instinct, leaned in silence on his partizan near the door. -On perceiving these little movements, a smile of disdain crossed the -earl's swarthy face, and he played significantly with his jewelled -dagger.</p> - -<p>James resumed the subject of his general conduct, and if Master David -Hume of Godscroft, the historian of the house of Douglas, can be -credited, the earl answered submissively enough, and craved the royal -pardon, often alleging that the slaughter of Sir Herbert Herries of -Teregles, Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie, and others, were <i>not</i> acts -against the crown, but lawful raids against his own personal enemies.</p> - -<p>"But how came you to slay the Gudeman of my mills at Carluke?" asked -the king."——Carluke—ha! ha!"</p> - -<p>"The death of a good man is no laughing matter," said James, with a -frown on his handsome face.</p> - -<p>"He was accused of having weeds on his land."</p> - -<p>"Weeds!" was the perplexed rejoinder.</p> - -<p>"Yes, your highness—weeds. It was statute and ordained by Alexander -II., that he who poisoneth the king's lands with weeds, especially the -corn marigold, was a traitor."</p> - -<p>"By my faith! that should make clean garden-work in the realm of -Scotland," said the old chancellor, bitterly; "but the law says, that -he who hath a plant of this kind found on his lands may be fined a -sheep, or the value thereof, at the goul-court of the baron; whereas -the miller died, or was found murdered—hewn to pieces by Jethart axes, -within the Holy Gyrth of Lesmahago—a crime against the Church as well -as State."</p> - -<p>"I came not here to talk of peasant carles and their modes of dying," -said Douglas, with a terrible frown at Crichton, his hatred for whom -he cared not to conceal; "and since when, my lord chancellor, has a -slaughter, committed in the form of <i>Raid</i>, been termed a <i>murder</i> in -Scotland?"</p> - -<p>"Enough about the poor miller," resumed the king, with growing -severity; "my lord, I have another complaint; you have lawlessly -separated a faithful subject, the captain of our guard, from his wedded -wife, and thus have torn asunder, for many long years, those whom your -own father-confessor united before the altar with every due solemnity."</p> - -<p>"I hope to separate them yet more surely," replied the earl, with a -glance of unutterable hate at Gray.</p> - -<p>"This, in my presence?" exclaimed the king; "thou heart of iron!"</p> - -<p>"In any man's presence, and to any man who mars or meddles with my -domestic affairs; but I beseech your majesty to change the ungracious -subject."</p> - -<p>"Be it so," replied the king, with a gentleness he was very far from -feeling, as his temper was fiery in the extreme. "All these are matters -for after consideration; but what say you to that most treasonable -confederation, into which you have entered with the earls of Crawford, -Ormond, Ross, the lords Hamilton, Balvenie, and many others? By that -bond you seek to array one half my kingdom against me—a kingdom over -which my dynasty has ruled in strength for so many generations."</p> - -<p>"So much the worse," sneered the insolent peer; "for all dynasties -begin in strength and end in weakness."</p> - -<p>"I pledge my royal word," continued the king, trembling with suppressed -passion, "that when I first heard of your league, and of its terrible -tenor, I could scarcely give it credence."——"Possibly, your -grace—but what then?"</p> - -<p>"Simply, that bond must be broken."</p> - -<p>"Must!" reiterated the earl, incredulously.</p> - -<p>"Yes must, and <i>shall</i>, by the soul of St. Andrew! No such leagues can -be tolerated in a realm, without the express sanction of its sovereign; -and by abandoning this confederacy, Douglas, you will remove every -suspicion from my mind."——"Suspicion!—of what?"</p> - -<p>"Secret motives, whose aim we cannot see."</p> - -<p>"Sire!" began Douglas, loftily, but paused.</p> - -<p>"Notwithstanding all that has passed, I am unwilling to believe the -evil which men impute to you," said James, with a most conciliating -manner; "but you must expect neither favour nor mercy from me if you -continue to show such examples to my people, and teach them to live as -if there were neither law nor justice in the kingdom."</p> - -<p>Douglas heard this bold remonstrance (in which we follow the words of -history) with surprise; but recovering himself, replied plausibly; and -in the pauses of this conference the sounds of laughter, hilarity, and -the clinking of cups and goblets came from the adjoining hall, with the -notes of the harps in the gallery.</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty's favour I shall certainly endeavour to preserve," said -the earl. "You are aware that I have the honour to command many who -obey me faithfully and fearlessly, and I trust you are also aware -that I know well how to render dutiful obedience to you. None of your -subjects in Scotland possess higher rank or greater power than I, the -Earl of Douglas, do; nor is there one who will more freely peril life -and fortune in defence of your majesty's throne and honour. But," -he added, suddenly relinquishing his adopted suavity, and glancing -malignantly at Crichton, Gray, and others; "<i>those</i> who lay snares for -my life—even as they snared my kinsmen in 1440—are now your majesty's -constant attendants, friends, and advisers, so that I dare not trust -myself in your royal presence, without a letter of safe conduct, as if -I were an Englishman, or any other subject of a foreign king."</p> - -<p>"And without an army of followers," added the chancellor, who, -remembering the ambush in which he had so nearly perished before his -own gate, was confounded by the stolid effrontery of his enemy.</p> - -<p>"But the bond," said the king; "the bond, my lord!"</p> - -<p>"As for that league of mutual friendship, formed by certain nobles and -myself, I can assure your majesty, that, for any purpose which pleased -us, we should adhere together quite well <i>without</i> its existence."</p> - -<p>"Did friendship alone produce the bond?" asked James with an eagle -glance in his keen hazel eyes.</p> - -<p>"No—we were driven to seal and sign it,—not with intent to attack our -enemies, but to defend ourselves against them."</p> - -<p>"Lord Earl," said the king, gravely, "deeds, not words, evince the -affection and submission of a subject; and there can be no greater -security for him, than the justly administered laws of the realm. -Such men as you, my lord of Douglas, have ever raised those factions -which have subverted the authority of your kings and the laws of your -country; and now I am resolved to tolerate no subjects of any rank or -condition who dare to form leagues, offensive and defensive, against -all persons."</p> - -<p>"My ancestors——" began the earl furiously.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my lord," said James; "what is all your mad pride of ancestry, -when compared——"</p> - -<p>"With yours, your majesty would say!"</p> - -<p>"No," replied the king, with a bitter smile, while growing pale with -rage.</p> - -<p>"What then?"——"With <i>personal worth</i>."</p> - -<p>The daring Douglas gave his young monarch a glance of profound disdain; -and during this species of altercation, it was with difficulty that -Crichton, Gray, Glammis, and Sir Simon Glendinning restrained the -desire for falling on the earl sword in hand. "Proceed," said the -latter with a sigh of mock resignation.</p> - -<p>"The objects of your bond are to disclaim all rule, to do what you -please, to commit treason, and by your own swords to justify your -ultimate views, until you rush upon the throne itself. So I, as a king, -whose power comes direct from God and the people, demand that this most -dangerous league, with Ross, with Crawford, Ormond, and Balvenie, be -instantly broken!"</p> - -<p>"The bond was formed with the mutual consent of many; and unless they -meet for consultation, which they may do on <i>a day's notice</i>, it cannot -be renounced without dishonour by any one of us."</p> - -<p>James, who knew their boast, that "on a day's notice" they could array -forty thousand men in their helmets against him, gave the crafty peer -a withering glance as he replied, "My lord, the first example of -renunciation shall be set by <i>you</i>. No man—not even though earl of -Douglas and lord of Galloway—dare disclaim my authority, and you shall -not stir a single pace from this chamber until, in presence of these -loyal lords and gentlemen, you retract your adherence to this treason."</p> - -<p>"Your grace must remember that I came hither upon the public assurance -and letters of safe conduct."</p> - -<p>"No public letter can protect a man from the punishment due to private -treason!"</p> - -<p>Then, says history, "as this last reply of James implied a threat -of personal violence, the native pride of Douglas betrayed him -into the most imprudent passion. He broke into a torrent of -reproaches, upbraiding the king for depriving him of the office of -lieutenant-general of the kingdom, declared that he cared little for -the name of treason, with which his conduct had been branded; that, as -to his confederacy with the earls of Ross and Crawford, he had it not -in his own power to dissolve it, and that if he had, he would be sorry -to offend his best friends to gratify <i>the boyish caprices</i> of a king. -James, naturally fiery and impetuous, became furious with rage at this -rude defiance, uttered in his own palace by one whom he regarded as -his enemy." He drew his dagger, and, animated by a gust of temper far -beyond his control, exclaimed, "False traitor! if thou wilt not break -the bond, <span class="smcap">THIS SHALL</span>!"</p> - -<p>With these words he drove the weapon into the earl's breast—the keen -and glittering blade passing between his cuirass and the gold espalette -at his left armpit. Choking in blood, the fierce and fearless earl -fell back for an instant. Then, maddened by pain, and perhaps by the -prospect of immediate death, he unsheathed his own poniard, and was -rushing upon James, when—as we are told by Buchanan—Gray interposed -and struck him down by a blow on the head with his partisan. "This for -MacLellan!" he exclaimed, in a hoarse voice.</p> - -<p>"Villain!" sighed the earl, as he sank on the rush-covered floor, and -struggled vainly to rise again.</p> - -<p>"I struck but to save my king, lord earl," said Gray, bending over him, -"and for no private wrong of my own, nathless my words, so Heaven be my -judge! but say, shall Murielle, my wife, be surrendered to me?"</p> - -<p>The earl gave Gray a ghastly smile as the blood flowed darkly over his -bright armour, and a livid pallor overspread his swarthy face.</p> - -<p>"Speak, I conjure you," urged Gray; "speak, ere it be too -late—Murielle—"</p> - -<p>"Shall never be thine," muttered the dying earl, with quivering -lips and uncertain accents; "for when this news reaches Thrave, -Achanna—James Achanna—has—has my orders—orders to—to——"</p> - -<p>"What?" implored Gray, bending low his ear; "what?"——"<i>To strangle -her!</i>"</p> - -<p>These terrible words were scarcely uttered, when many who were the -earl's enemies rushed in with their swords and daggers, and, holding -back the king, Gray, Crichton, and Glendinning, who—now that their -first gust of fury was over, would have saved him—speedily ended his -life by the infliction of six-and-twenty wounds.</p> - -<p>They then opened the window, and flung the yet warm and sorely mangled -corpse of that mighty earl, who was the rival of his king, into the -nether baillerie of the castle; and from the terrible deed of that -night of Shrove Tuesday, the 20th of February, the apartment in which -it took place is still named the "Douglas Room."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As a sequel to it, the Edinburgh newspapers of the 14th of October, -1797, have the following paragraph:—</p> - -<p>"On Thursday se'nnight, as some masons were digging a foundation in -Stirling Castle, in a garden adjacent to the magazine, they found -a human skeleton, about eight yards from the window over which the -earl of Douglas was thrown, after he was stabbed by King James II. -There is no doubt that they were his remains, as it is certain that he -was buried in that garden, and but a little distance from the closet -window."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LIII.<br /> - -<small>THE SIEGE OF THRAVE</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Well, then, to work; our cannon shall be bent<br /> -Against the brows of this resisting town;<br /> -Call for our chiefest men of discipline<br /> -To cull the plots of best advantages:<br /> -We'll lay before this town our royal bones,<br /> -Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood<br /> -But we will make it subject to this boy.—<span class="smcap">King John.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>The unfortunate Sir Patrick Gray knew the atrocities of which the -castle of Thrave had been the scene during the late earl's lifetime; -and he also knew the cruelty of which Achanna, his tool and minion, was -capable; thus the dying words of Douglas made his soul tremble with -terror for the safety of Murielle, in such butcherly and unscrupulous -hands. But how was she to be saved?</p> - -<p>All the vassals of the crown were not numerous enough to penetrate into -Galloway and storm Thrave, amid a land of pastoral wilds and pathless -forests, swarming with freebooting lairds, fierce moss-troopers, and -half-savage Celts. Of venturing there <i>alone</i>, like a knight-errant, -his recent expedition had fully illustrated the danger, and after the -last terrible deed in Stirling the peril would be greater than ever.</p> - -<p>That stern deed of the young king filled the Douglases with rage; but -it was not without a salutary effect upon their adherents, as it -evinced that he would no longer brook their insulting and rebellious -conduct.</p> - -<p>Posterity can have little sympathy for the fate of Douglas, "whose -career from first to last," says Mr. Tytler, "had been that of a -selfish, ambitious, and cruel tyrant, who, at the moment when he was -cut off, was all but a convicted traitor, and whose death, if we except -the mode in which it was brought about, was to be regarded as a public -benefit."</p> - -<p>His friends and his adherents, however, were not disposed to take this -calm view of the matter. His younger brother succeeded to his titles -and estates, and was styled "Earl of Douglas and Duke of Touraine;" and -he, with the earls of Murray, Ormond, Lord Balvenie, and others, all -Douglases, proposed to storm the castle of Stirling, and put all within -it to the sword, not even excepting James and his young queen, Mary of -Gueldres; but a little reflection convinced them of the peril of such -an enterprise, and, moreover, that they were without cannon or other -resources to attempt it.</p> - -<p>However, six hundred nobles, barons, and gentlemen, of the house -of Douglas, mustered in full array, with all their vassals, within -the town of Stirling, on the 25th day of March—the feast of St. -Benedict—and dragged through mud and mire the king's safe conduct, -which they nailed on a wooden truncheon, and tied to the tail of a -sorry old jaded cart-horse. They then burned it publicly at the Market -Cross, where after four hundred horns and twenty brass trumpets had -proclaimed defiance, they stigmatized "the king, the lord Crichton, Sir -Alexander Livingstone, Sir Patrick Gray, and all who adhered to them, -as false and perjured traitors!"</p> - -<p>They bade formal defiance to the royal garrison. Then, after completely -pillaging the town, they set it on fire in every quarter, and, leaving -it in flames and ashes, retired through the adjacent country, which -they filled with tumult and outrage. Having thus expended their fury on -all that came in their way, they retired each to his own fortress, to -prepare for what might follow.</p> - -<p>Not long after this, the new earl, with his brothers, friends, and -kinsmen, daringly fixed on the doors of the parish churches a document, -in which they solemnly renounced their allegiance to the king "as a -perjured traitor, a violator of the laws of hospitality, and an ungodly -thirster after innocent blood."</p> - -<p>The parliament now resolved to aid their justly-incensed monarch in -punishing these contumacious nobles, and in a short time he found -himself at the head of thirty thousand carefully-selected men, who -assembled on Pentland Muir, and with them he resolved to advance -against the Douglases. Sir Patrick Gray and the royal guard, of course, -accompanied him on this expedition.</p> - -<p>The king had with him, William, the lord high constable, whom he -had just created earl of Errol, and leader of feudal cavalry; Lord -Crichton's son, whom he had created earl of Caithness and lord high -admiral of the kingdom; the lords Hailes, Fleming, Boyd, and many other -loyal nobles, with all their followers.</p> - -<p>He had a fine train of artillery (as artillery was viewed in those -days), under Romanno of that ilk, the principal cannon being <i>the -Lion</i>, a great gun cast in Flanders and shipped at Bruges, for -Scotland, by order of his father, James I., in 1430. It was of polished -brass, covered by beautiful carvings and ornaments, and bore the -following inscription:—</p> - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/382.jpg" alt="cannon" /> -</p> - -<p class="center"><small> -"Illustri Iacobo Scottorum, principe digno,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Regi magnifico, dum fulmine castra reduco,</span><br /> -Factus sum sub eo, nuncuper ergo Leo."</small> -</p> - -<p>The white or gaudily-striped and bannered tents of the royal army -covered all the great tract of land known as Pentland Muir, and -clustered by the margin of lonely Logan Burn, which flows through a -green sequestered vale, the solitude of which was now broken by the hum -of the camp, the hourly din of horn and trumpet, the clanging of the -hammers and anvils of the farriers and armourers; thus, the shepherd on -the Pentland slopes could see the red glow of many a forge and watch -fire reddening the sides of the hills by night, and in his shealing -he could hear the unwonted sounds, that scared his herds and hirsels -from their pasture, the eagle from its eyrie in Torduff, and broke the -silence of the pastoral waste:—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">The armourers accomplishing the knights,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">With busy hammers closing rivets up,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Give note of dreadful preparation.</span> -</p> - -<p>The wiry music of the harp might also be heard at times amid the camp, -for many minstrels accompanied the king's army. The <i>last</i> time its -notes were heard in a Scottish host was when Argyll marched to the -battle of Benrinnes, in 1594.</p> - -<p>After hearing solemn mass said in the old rectory kirk of Pentland, -where whilom was a settlement of the <i>Gillian Chriosd</i> (followers of -the Lord)—whence comes the name of Gilchrist—the order was issued -by James to strike the tents, and then the whole army marched against -the Douglases. The king wore at his helmet the glove of his beautiful -Mary d'Egmont, and a knot of her neck-ribbons decorated his lance. The -task his troops had undertaken was somewhat arduous, as they had to -penetrate into wild districts destitute of roads, where every laird and -peasant, every yeoman and hind, felt it his duty to defend his chief -against all mankind, even the king, if he came in a hostile guise.</p> - -<p>With the ghastly smile of the dead earl yet before him, and the -terrible words he had uttered yet lingering in his ear, Sir Patrick -Gray longed to be at Thrave; and his heart sickened with impatience -during the tardy passage of the king's army through Ettrick Forest -and Annandale, the home of powerful and predatory Border clans, into -Galloway; for malcontents and marauders were to be punished on every -hand; the growing cornfields were swept by fire; towers were stormed -and castles dismantled, by having their gates unhinged and their -battlements thrown down.</p> - -<p>Many of the Douglas adherents, on seeing the determination of James and -the number of his host, implored forgiveness; and he, being by nature -too fiery and impetuous to be vindictive, pardoned them; but the young -earl had fled, no one knew whither save his own friends.</p> - -<p>At last the king approached the banks of the Dee, and saw before him -the famous stronghold of Thrave. The vanguard of his army, the vassals -of Lord Glammis, gave a shout when they first came in sight of it, -and that shout found an echo in the heart of Gray, as it did in the -hearts of the Douglas garrison; for in Thrave, at least a thousand men, -under Sir Alan Lauder, prepared to defend themselves to the last, and -literally to fight with ropes around their necks.</p> - -<p>When the vanguard halted, and the army began to encamp, the king, -accompanied by Sir Patrick Gray, Lord Crichton, and others, rode -forward to examine this strong and spacious castle, on which the -Douglas banner was waving, and all the ramparts of which, from the -outer barbican wall to the summit of the keep, seemed full of armed -men, glittering, moving, and instinct with animation, all save one who -hung from the gallows knob, and he was still enough.</p> - -<p>The mighty fabric, with its moat and bridge, its grated windows -and battlements bristling with steel pikes, brass sakers, and long -arquebuses, was as grim, as gloomy, as dark and stern as ever, and its -shadow was cast by the evening sun far along the surface of the Dee. -A white puff of smoke floated suddenly from the keep in the sunshine, -and with the sharp report of a culverin, souse came an iron ball, which -struck the earth beneath the forefeet of Sir Patrick's horse, causing -it to rear wildly.</p> - -<p>"A narrow chance of death," said he, with a dark smile.</p> - -<p>"There are some chances that do not happen <i>twice</i> in a man's -lifetime," said the king laughing; "so we had better change our ground."</p> - -<p>As they rode towards the three thorn trees at the Carlinwark (one of -which still survives, though gnarled, knotted, and old, with the lapse -of, perhaps, ten centuries), a shout rose from the half-formed camp, -and the soldiers began to rush to their standards, for now a large -body of troops were seen debouching from the woods in their rear, and -a rumour instantly spread that they were English forces under the -young earl of Douglas, advancing to raise the siege. But the momentary -alarm was soon quelled on the return of Lord Glammis and the Master -of Crichton, who, by the king's order, had advanced to meet them and -reconnoitre.</p> - -<p>"They are fresh troops from Ayr, who are come to join your highness," -said Glammis, "the men of the three Baileries of Kyle, Carrick, and -Cunningham."</p> - -<p>"Under whom?"</p> - -<p>"The Lord Montgomerie of that Ilk and Sir Robert of Kilmaurs, who -request permission to kiss your hand."</p> - -<p>"Good—'tis well."</p> - -<p>"And better still, there have come in with them, the three Wards of -Etterick, Yarrow, and Tweed."</p> - -<p>"The archers of our old Royal Forest of Selkirk! Thank Heaven, despite -this Douglas war, there are loyal and true hearts in Scotland yet!" -exclaimed the king. "And now to summon this devil of a fortress. Who -will ride forward with the sign of truce?"</p> - -<p>"That will I, readily," said Gray.</p> - -<p>Others who were of higher rank might have claimed the perilous service; -but all knew how Sir Patrick was situated, or connected with the family -then in rebellion against the throne, so none came forward to dispute -the errand with him.</p> - -<p>"I thank you my faithful friend," said James. "You know the terms I -offer; instant surrender, and that if the garrison resist, every man -found within the walls shall suffer by the edge of the sword."</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LIV.<br /> - -<small>THE DEFIANCE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Thou a young king art, Alfonso,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">New thy sceptre in the land;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Establish well at home thy power,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">Ere thou drawest forth the brand.—<span class="smcap">The Cid.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>Sir Patrick Gray laid aside his helmet and gauntlets, and with a -freshly peeled willow rod, the old Scottish symbol of peace and truce -in his right hand, rode boldly forward, and while scanning every window -with eager eyes for one beloved face and form, he found himself before -the formidable gate of Thrave. No faces but those of armed and helmeted -men were visible.</p> - -<p>At his approach the drawbridge was lowered and the gates were unclosed; -but the portcullis, which was composed of iron bars welded together -in harrow-fashion by the ponderous hammer of Malise MacKim, remained -closed, and within, or beyond it, he saw the Lairds of Pompherston, -Cairnglas, and Glendoning, with James Achanna, and Sir Alan Lauder, who -was governor of Thrave, and as a symbol of that office wore a silver -key suspended at his neck by a chain of the same metal. All were in -complete armour, but wore their helmets open. Anxiety and anger, but -also resolution, were expressed in all their faces.</p> - -<p>"In the name of his majesty the king!" exclaimed Gray, reining in his -horse.</p> - -<p>"Well—what ware bring you here, sir, in the name of his majesty the -king?" asked Lauder, sternly but mockingly.</p> - -<p>"I, Patrick Gray, of Foulis, knight, commander of the royal guard, -summon you, knights, gentlemen, and others, adherents of the umquhile -and forfeited Earls of Douglas, Murray, Ormond, and of the Lords -Hamilton and Balvenie, to yield up this strength unto the king, or -otherwise to abide our cannon, and the fate in store for all who are -guilty of treason and rebellion!"</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray," replied Lauder, a grim old man with a long silver -beard and a severely knitted brow, "you have come to the wrong quarter -to offer such hard terms. My name is Alan Lauder, of the Auld Craig -o'Bass; my shield bears a double treasure, to show that I and mine -have been faithful to our trust, and my motto, as the monks have it, -is <i>Turris prudentia custos</i>, and by it shall I abide. The garrison of -Thrave believe in their patron, St. Bryde of Douglas, and, perchance, -rather more in their arblasts and arquebuses; and this house shall we -defend to the last, so help us God!" he added,</p> - -<p>"Reconsider your words, rash man! The wise may change their minds on -reflection, but fools never."</p> - -<p>"Begone, lest a ball from an arquebus end this parley," replied Lauder, -whose grey eyes sparkled with anger.</p> - -<p>"Be it so," said Gray, gathering up his reins and turning his horse; -"but the king desires me to add, that the Countess of Douglas, the Lady -Murielle, their ladies, and all women and children now here in Thrave, -may depart in peace to Tongland Abbey, or the College of Lincluden. -If not, that they should repair to the quarter of her bower-chamber, -whereon, if a white pennon be displayed, our cannon shall respect it."</p> - -<p>"Good—for that small boon; as I have a fair daughter, I, in the name -of my brother outlaws, thank this most clement king," said Douglas of -Pompherston, bitterly.</p> - -<p>"Is the Lady Murielle with the Countess?" asked Gray, with too visible -anxiety.</p> - -<p>They all exchanged cold smiles, but no one answered. Then a page, a -pretty boy, to whom Murielle had frequently been kind, was about to -speak, when Achanna suddenly put a drawn sword across his mouth, saying -sternly: "One word, ye false gowk, and it is your last!"</p> - -<p>Gray was about to address Sir Alan again, when a voice exclaimed: -"Place for the Countess of Douglas!"</p> - -<p>Then, through the rusty <i>grille</i> of the portcullis, Gray saw the -countess approach, attended by the fair-haired daughters of Sir -Alan Lauder. His emotion increased on seeing this twice-widowed -dame—widowed so young and so prematurely; she who was whilome the Fair -Maid of Galloway, the sister of Murielle, and <i>his</i> most bitter enemy; -yet, withal, he instinctively bowed low at her approach.</p> - -<p>Full in stature, and magnificently formed, she was a woman whose -natural grace and the tragic character of whose beauty were greatly -increased by her dress, which, though all of the deepest black, was -richly jewelled with diamonds, and the same stones sparkled on the hilt -of a tiny dagger that dangled at her girdle. Her dignity was enhanced -by the amplitude of her skirts, the satin waves of which filled up the -eye; but her pale and lovely face, her short upper lip and quivering -nostrils, expressed only scorn and aversion for poor Gray, while with -one white hand, after throwing back a heavy braid of her jet hair, -which she knew well to be one of her greatest beauties, she swept up -her flowing train, and with the other pointed towards the camp of the -king, as a hint for his envoy to begone, and as she did so, her bright -black eyes flashed with latent fire.</p> - -<p>"Countess of Douglas——"</p> - -<p>"<i>Dowager</i> Countess," she interrupted Gray, with a derisive bow, and -with a voice that almost hissed through her close white teeth.</p> - -<p>"Madam, King James has now assumed the sword—"</p> - -<p>"Of <i>justice</i>?" she asked bitterly, interrupting him again; "you should -say the dagger of the assassin, Sir Patrick Gray, as it better becomes -his hand; but we hope to test the temper of both his weapons. Twice has -he widowed me—"</p> - -<p>"He, madam?"</p> - -<p>"Yea, even he; this James Stuart, who comes hither to waste our lands, -to dishonour our name, to raze our castles, and to quench our household -fires," she continued, in a voice which though piercing was singularly -sweet, and reminded Gray of the gentler accent of Murielle. "Not -content with slaying my husband cruelly and mercilessly under tryst, he -has sworn by his royal crown and the Black Rood of Scotland, that the -plough-share shall pass under the ground-stone of Thrave, and that the -place where it stands shall be salted with salt."</p> - -<p>"I came not hither to threaten you, madam, neither was I desired to -confer with you, but with Sir Alan Lauder and those misguided men who -are now in arms here; and my answer——"</p> - -<p>"Shall be this—from <i>me</i>, Margaret, countess dowager of Douglas, -umquhile duchess dowager of Touraine, and lady of Longueville, -Annandale, and Galloway, that James Stuart and the Gueldrian his wife -may reign where they please, but I shall be queen on this side of the -Nith, and woe to the man, be he lord or loon, who says me nay!"</p> - -<p>Her glance of flame, her lovely little lip that curled with hate and -scorn; her proud face, with its unearthly wrath and beauty—so fair in -its proportions, yet so fearful in its aspect of passion—haunted the -Captain of the Guard long after they had parted.</p> - -<p>"Enough of this," said old Sir Alan Lauder, coming brusquely forward -and taking her hand; "away, Sir Patrick—back to him, or them who sent -you, and say, that though our lord the earl was foully slain under -tryst in Stirling, his spirit is with us here in Thrave, and shall -inspire us in resisting to the last of our breath and the last of our -blood, a king who has falsely wronged us!"</p> - -<p>"And in every particular <i>shall the earl's last orders be obeyed</i>," -added Achanna, with an malignant glance at Gray, whose head grew giddy -with rage, while his blood ran cold at the terrible inference he drew -from these words; and the bars of the portcullis alone prevented him -from cleaving the wretch to the chin. So ended the conference.</p> - -<p>In this exasperated mood he rejoined the king, who, with many of the -nobles, awaited him at the three thorns of the Carlinwark.</p> - -<p>The siege now began with great vigour.</p> - -<p>On the 8th July, James wrote to Charles VII. of France, announcing that -all the fortresses of the Douglas family had surrendered to him except -Thrave, which his troops were then besieging; but August came, and -still the defiant banner with the bloody heart waved from the vast keep -that still overshadows the Dee.</p> - -<p>The season was a lovely one.</p> - -<p>The oak, the ash, and the beech were still in full foliage of the -richest green; the white blossoms of the hawthorn were past, but the -bright scarlet berries of the rowan hung in thick bunches over the -trouting pools of the Dee in many a copsewooded glen. The grain, where -not burned by the king's troops, was ripening on the sunny upland -and lowland, contrasting in its golden tints with the dark-green of -the thickets, the purple of the cornflower, and the gaudy scarlet -of the poppies. The gueldre-rose and the sweet-briar filled the air -with perfume; the wild pansies and wallflowers, the pink foxglove and -bluebell, grew by the old fauld-dykes on many a Galloway muir and -lea; and the gorgeous cups of the long yellow broom waved on the wild -hill-side, and by the wimpling burn that gurgled through the rushy -hollows, and under many an "auld brig-stane," in farmtown and clachan; -but still the brass culverins of King James, from the three great -thorns of the Carlinwark, thundered against Thrave, while old Sir Alan -Lauder and his garrison replied with carthoun, arquebuse à croc, and -crossbow bolt; and now the black gled and the ravenous hoodiecraw kept -high aloft on the blue welkin, watching for the inhuman feast that -usually followed such unhallowed sounds.</p> - -<p>The troops of James had invested the castle on every side; tents -covered all the vicinity; trenches and mounds, where spears and armour -glittered, crossed all the roads and approaches. Supplies, succour, and -hope, seemed all cut off together. More than a month had elapsed since -the siege began, and still the vigour of the besieged was undiminished; -and in the royal ranks the loss of life by their missiles was very -great.</p> - -<p>The balls of the king's artillery—even those of the boasted Lion -of Flanders—were rained in vain upon the solid face of that vast -donjon-keep, for they were too light. The great art of projectiles -seemed yet in its infancy, and Sir John Romanno of that ilk, the -general of the ordnance, rent his beard in despair.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LV.<br /> - -<small>MOWAN'S MEG</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Seven orbs within a spacious round they close,<br /> -One stirs the fire, and one the bellows blows;<br /> -The hissing steel is in the smithy drown'd,<br /> -The grot with beaten anvils groans around.<br /> -By turns their arms advance in equal time;<br /> -By turns their hands descend, and hammers chime.<br /> -They turn the glowing mass with crooked tongs,<br /> -The fiery work proceeds with rustic songs.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Virgil</span>, <i>Æneid</i> viii.</span> -</p> - - -<p>For many days salvoes (<i>i.e.</i>, discharges of heavy ordnance fired in -concert by sound of trumpet) were sent against Thrave without success, -and yells of triumph and derision, when the balls of iron and whinstone -rebounded from the massive walls—the <i>triple yells</i> of the Galwegians, -the same terrible war-cry which their forefathers raised amid the heart -of the Saxon host at the Battle of the Standard, were borne upward on -the wind to the king's battery at the Carlinwark.</p> - -<p>"This devil of a tower is invulnerable!" said Romanno, casting down his -truncheon in anger; "it is a veritable maiden castle—strong in virtue -and unassailable."</p> - -<p>"Virtue, said ye?" growled the old chancellor, under his barred -aventayle; "ah, but our court-rakes aver that even the most virtuous -woman has always one weak point, if we can only find it out."</p> - -<p>"Out upon thy white beard, chancellor!" said the young king, laughing; -"what mean you to say?"</p> - -<p>"That, like a fair court lady, this castle of Thrave may have a weak -point too."</p> - -<p>"But, unless we attempt an escalade, the capture of the place is -impossible by battering," said the general of the ordnance.</p> - -<p>"Impossible!" reiterated the young king, his face and eyes glowing -together, while the red spot on his cheek assumed a deeper hue.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, your highness," said Sir John Romanno; "but I humbly think -so."</p> - -<p>"Think; but you <i>said</i> impossible."</p> - -<p>"Under favour, yes."</p> - -<p>"There is no such word in a soldier's vocabulary," replied the spirited -monarch; "and while our hearts beat under our breastplates there is -hope."</p> - -<p>"But the idea of an escalade," said Gray, "with the Dee to cross, and -a wall to mount, exposed to a fire of cannon and arqubuses à croc, -with long bows and arblasts to boot, and thereafter mauls, lances, and -two-handed swords in the <i>mêlée</i>, is not to be thought of—at least -until, by dint of cannon, we effect a breach."</p> - -<p>"A breach!" exclaimed Sir John Romanno; "by my forefathers' bones ye -are little likely to see that, sirs, when the shot of our heaviest -culverins, even those of the Lion, our chief bombarde, rebound like -silken balls from the stone rampart, and our cannoniers seem no better -than court-ladies at palm play."</p> - -<p>A loud and somewhat hoarse but hearty laugh close by made all turn -towards the offender. They perceived a man of vast and herculean -proportions, with a shock head of black hair, which the absence of his -scarlet hood (as it hung down his back) displayed in all its shaggy -amplitude, a swarthy visage, with lurid black eyes, and a long beard. -He wore a doublet of black bull's hide, a rough kilt dyed with heather, -and he leaned upon the shaft of a ponderous iron mace, which, with a -long buck-horn-hilted dagger and fur pouch or sporran, formed his only -appurtenance.</p> - -<p>"Art thou the knave who laughed?" asked Romanno, furiously, with his -hand on his sword.</p> - -<p>"And in this presence!" added the chancellor, whose wrath was also -kindled.</p> - -<p>"Dioual! I did laugh," replied the man, in a strong and guttural -Galloway accent; "is it a crime to laugh at the folly or bewilderment -of others?"</p> - -<p>"Thou base varlet!" began Romanno, in a towering passion, clenching -his gauntleted hand, when Sir Patrick Gray interposed, saying, "By my -faith, it is my friend, the strong smith of Thrave, who saved me from -the white sleuth-bratch. Come hither, carle, and remember that you -stand in the presence of the king."</p> - -<p>Malise MacKim was too much of a primitive Celt to be abashed even -before a king, though he had frequently quailed under the eye of -Douglas, and the tongue of his own wife, Meg, who was proverbial in -Galloway as a fierce virago; so he came boldly forward and stood erect, -with an inquiring expression of eye, as if waiting to be addressed.</p> - -<p>"Whence is it that your king's perplexity excites your laughter?" asked -James, gravely.</p> - -<p>"Speak quickly, carle," added the chancellor, pointing ominously to a -branch of one of the thorn trees under which they stood.</p> - -<p>"Threats will not force me to speak; but I answer the king, <i>not</i> you, -my lord," replied the unabashed Galwegian.</p> - -<p>"We are not used to be laughed at, sirrah," said James; "therefore, if -you do not give us a fair reason for your untimely merriment, by the -holy rood! I shall begin to threaten too."</p> - -<p>"I am Malise MacKim, surnamed the Brawny, and I am the father of seven -sons, each a head taller than myself——"</p> - -<p>"Thou art a lucky dog, would I were the same," said the king; "but is -this a reason for laughter?"</p> - -<p>"What the devil is all this to us, fellow?" asked Romanno.</p> - -<p>"This much; they are all smiths, and can each wield a fore hammer forty -pounds in weight, as if it were a kettle-drum stick. Ochoin! Mhuire as -truadh! Ochoin! There was a time when we never thought to swing our -hammers in the service of mortal man, save Douglas. But vengeance is -sweeter than bread in famine; so, if your grace will give us but iron -enough, I will be content to forfeit my head, or to hang by the neck -from that thorn tree, if, within the space of seven summer days, my -seven brave bairns and I fail to fashion you a bombarde which, at the -first discharge, will pierce yonder wall like a gossamer web, so aid us -Heaven and St. Cudbrecht?"</p> - -<p>"This is a brave offer," said the general of the ordnance, mockingly; -"and what weight may the balls of this proposed cannon be?"</p> - -<p>"Each one shall be the weight of a Carsphairn cow," replied the smith -slowly, as if reflecting while answering; "and if each fails to shake -Thrave to its ground-stane, the king's grace may hang me, as I have -said, on that thorn branch, as a false and boasting limmer."</p> - -<p>"You speak us fairly, good fellow," said the king, who seemed pleased -and amused by the burly smith's bluntness and perfect confidence. "We -are not in a position to reject such loyal offers. Fashion this great -gun for me, and if it does the service you promise, by my father's -soul! you shall have a fair slice of yonder fertile land between the -Urr and Dee."</p> - -<p>As he spoke, James drew off his gauntlet, and presented his hand to -the gigantic smith, who knelt and kissed it respectfully, but with the -clownish air of one alike unused to kneeling and to courtesy.</p> - -<p>On MacKim requiring material, each of the principal burghers of -Kirkcudbright contributed a <i>gaud</i> or bar of iron, in their anxiety -to serve the king, and to have the death of Sir Thomas MacLellan more -fully avenged. As a reward for this contribution, King James made the -town a royal burgh, and in memory of it, his gallant grandson, on the -26th of February, 1509, granted the old castle of the MacLellans as a -free gift to the corporation.</p> - -<p>At a place named the Buchancroft, a rude but extensive forge was soon -erected, and there, stripped to their leathern girdles, the brawny -MacKim and his seven sturdy sons, like Vulcan and the Cyclops, plied -and swung their ponderous hammers on great resounding anvils, while -welding the vast hoops and forming the long bars that were to compose -the great cannon which was to demolish the famous stronghold of Thrave.</p> - -<p>Seven days and seven nights these muscular smiths worked almost without -cessation, and the lurid glow of their great forge was nightly seen -from the doomed fortress to redden the sky above, the waters of the -Dee below, and the tented camp of the besieging army; and only a few -years ago, when the new road was made past Carlinwark, a vast mound -of cinders and ashes, which formed the <i>débris</i> of their work, was -discovered and cleared away.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, a band of artificers, with hammer and chisel, were -fashioning the balls, which were quarried on the summit of the Binnan -hill; these when finished were permitted to roll thundering to its -base; and it is remarkable that the great stone-shot for this gun, -which yet remain in the castle of Edinburgh, are of Galloway granite -from the same eminence.</p> - -<p>At last the vast bombarde or cannon was complete in all its bars, -hoops, and rivets; it weighed six tons and a half, exclusive of the -carriage, and measured two feet diameter in the bore.</p> - -<p>During its formation, Sir Patrick Gray endured an mount of mental -torture and anxiety which temporary inaction rendered greater.</p> - -<p>Would Achanna dare to put in execution the terrible order of the -ferocious earl? Would her sister, unrelenting as she was, permit it? -He feared that the deed might be done when the castle surrendered, and -his feverish and active imagination pictured the gentle, timid, and -delicate Murielle writhing in the grasp of an assassin.</p> - -<p>But if some dark deed had not been <i>already</i> done, why did Achanna -place his drawn sword across the mouth of the page, who was about to -speak of Murielle, during the parley at the portcullis.</p> - -<p>Had knighthood and common humanity fallen so low among those outlaws, -that her life would be no longer safe in her sister's household; or -were the last words of the dying earl a falsehood, merely meant to -sting and embitter the soul of one whom he hated with a tiger's hatred?</p> - -<p>Gray afflicted himself with thoughts and surmises such as these, and -while the siege was pressed by the king and his troops, his days and -nights were passed in misery.</p> - -<p>On viewing the great piece of ordnance, James II. promised again that -if it proved more successful than the Lion and his other culverins, -he would nobly reward the artificer, who, with his seven sons and the -royal cannoniers, dragged Meg—for so MacKim named the gun, after his -own wife, whose voice, he affirmed, "her roar would resemble"—to -the summit of an eminence which, unto this day, is named from that -circumstance Knockcannon. Royal heralds with their glittering tabards, -and pursuivants with their silver collars of SS, marched in front, -while trumpets were blown and kettle-drums beaten; pipers blew, -and minstrels played upon their harps; the king's jester swung his -bladder and cracked his jokes; and thus, amid music, merriment, and -acclamations, the mighty cannon was dragged up the slope and brought -into position.</p> - -<p>It was then loaded with an old Scottish peck of powder and one of its -granite balls, and thereafter was levelled at the fortress of the -rebellious Douglases.</p> - -<p>"Now—now," exclaimed Malise MacKim, in grim triumph, as he wiped the -beads of perspiration from his swarthy brow; "unless my lady of Douglas -can fly through the air like an eagle, or swim down the Dee like a -grilse, she and the false brood who slew my kinsman and stole his -daughter shall exchange their steel gloves for steel fetters!"</p> - -<p>All in the king's host were eager to observe the effect produced by -this mighty engine of destruction, the first discharge of which, when -Sir John Romanno applied the match, seemed to split the welkin, and the -recoil of the wheels tore deep ruts in the turf, while many averred -that they could trace the course of the ball like a great globe of -stone in the air, through which it hummed and whistled.</p> - -<p>Be that as it might, when the smoke was blown aside, a great breach or -opening (now called the cannon-hole) was visible in the face of the -keep, where the side of one of the windows was partly torn away. The -masonry was seen to fall in a crumbling mass into the barbican, and the -shout of consternation which arose from the garrison was borne on the -morning wind to the king's camp, and far beyond it.</p> - -<p>The cannoniers now cast aside their helmets, cuirasses, and cuisses, -that they might work with greater facility at the laborious task of -reloading this great gun, which was discharged several times with equal -success; and Sir Patrick Gray watched with agony the result of every -shot; for the deep, hoarse boom of each explosion that seemed to rend -the hills and sky found an echo in his heart. They seemed like the -knell of her he loved.</p> - -<p>The warlike James II. was in ecstasy with the success of this new -piece of ordnance, and summoning the fabricator to his tent, he then, -in presence of the chancellor, the constable, and the principal -nobles, granted to him and his heirs for ever, the forfeited estate of -Mollance, which lies between the rivers Urr and Dee.</p> - -<p>Mollance was locally pronounced Mowans, hence the name of the -great gun which he fashioned, and which is now in the castle of -Edinburgh—<i>Mowan's Meg</i>; though unsupported assertion has assigned her -origin to the town of Mons, in Flanders—an origin of which there is -not a vestige of documentary proof.</p> - -<p>Hastening from the king's tent, Sir Patrick Gray arrived at Knockcannon -in time to see another mass of masonry beaten down; and this time the -feeble shout from Thrave was drowned in the tumultuous cheer that rang -along the slopes, which were covered by the camp of the royal army.</p> - -<p>"<i>Cor Jesu, in agonia factum, miserere morientum!</i>" prayed the voice of -one beside him.</p> - -<p>He turned, and saw his old friend the abbot, who had just left his -secluded abbey of Tongland and arrived in the camp.</p> - -<p>"Ha, father abbot," said Sir John Romanno, while six of the sturdiest -cannoniers, bare armed and all begrimed by perspiration, smoke, and -gunpowder, swung another granite ball into Meg's capacious muzzle; "how -are you? By the mass! if he you wot of were in Thrave, this would make -him shake his horns and cry <i>peccavi</i>."</p> - -<p>"He—who?" asked the abbot, in a tone of displeasure.</p> - -<p>"Thy old friend—Mahoun—the fiend himself."</p> - -<p>"Shame on thee, Sir John."</p> - -<p>"I am but a plain soldier, good abbot," replied Romanno, who was in -excellent humour with himself and every one else; "each man to his -trade: thou to thy massbook and missal—I to my lintstock and quoin."</p> - -<p>"A truce—a truce!" cried a hundred voices, as a white flag was -displayed at the summit of Thrave, where a man waved it to and fro, -though the Douglas banner was not yet drawn down. Then came the faint -and distant sound of trumpets craving a parley.</p> - -<p>The abbot immediately offered himself as a mediator; and, on obtaining -the permission of the king, who was now weary of this protracted and -destructive siege, and was anxious to return to his beautiful Fleming -at Stirling, he left the camp for Thrave, accompanied by Sir Patrick -Gray, whose anxiety for the safety of Murielle was now irrepressible.</p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LVI.<br /> - -<small>THE PARLEY</small>.</h2> - -<p style="margin-left: 32%;"> -Peace, lady; pause, or be more temperate:<br /> -It ill beseems this presence to cry aim<br /> -To these ill-timed repetitions.<br /> -Some trumpet summon hither to the walls<br /> -These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak,<br /> -Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p>Of this interview, during which there occurred one or two painful -episodes, the old abbot has left a minute account in the MS. records of -Tongland Abbey.</p> - -<p>As he and Sir Patrick approached the castle-gate, they could perceive -a great circular breach yawning in the face of the keep, where -Meg's shot had beaten in the masonry. In many places the corbelled -battlements were demolished or mutilated. The barbican wall had -suffered considerably, and many dead bodies, with their armour buried -or crushed by the cannon shot, were making the place horrible by their -ghastly aspect, while great purple pools and gouts of blood indicated -where others who had been removed had fallen, or where the wounded had -crawled away.</p> - -<p>For the first time the terrible gallows-knob was without a victim, the -cord which had sustained the last having parted during the concussion -of the ordnance.</p> - -<p>Through the open gate of the fortress the abbot and captain of the -guard were able to see all these details. The grating of the portcullis -was raised, and in the archway beneath it stood Sir Alan Lauder, the -lairds of Pompherston, Cairnglas, Glendoning, James Achanna, and -others, all as usual in their armour, which was dimmed and dinted now -by daily and nightly wear. The soldiers of the garrison, who crowded -about them with their pikes, axes, crossbows, and arquebuses, seemed -hollow-eyed, wan, and pale. Hunger appeared to have become familiar -to them as danger and death; thus it was evident to the captain and -abbot that the famous larder of Thrave, with its twenty-eight cattle, -contributed by the twenty-eight parishes of the surrounding stewardry, -was becoming exhausted; for the garrison and other inmates had far -exceeded a thousand persons at the commencement of this protracted and -destructive siege.</p> - -<p>"We have come in the name of mercy and humanity," said the abbot, -pausing at the gate.</p> - -<p>"It is well," replied Douglas of Pompherston, in the hollow of his -helmet; "we feared you had come simply in the name of the king, and we -consider him a poor representative of either."</p> - -<p>"In whosesoever name you have come," said Sir Alan Lauder, "I can treat -but with my lord abbot alone."</p> - -<p>"And why not with me who am captain of the king's guard?" demanded Gray -haughtily, while throwing up his barred visor.</p> - -<p>"Because the blood of Douglas is on your hands, as on those of your -master."</p> - -<p>"To save whom that blood was shed, else your earl of Douglas had died a -regicide, as well as an outlawed traitor. But, whatever terms are given -or accepted, I, Patrick Gray, of Foulis, here, in my own name, demand, -that the ruffian named James Achanna be excepted therefrom, for I have -resolved to slay him without mercy, and, I hope, without remorse, at -kirk, at court, at market, or wherever I come within sword's point of -him, so help me the holy Evangels, and Him who ever defends the right!"</p> - -<p>Achanna grew pale at these threatening words, and on seeing the fierce -and resolute aspect with which Gray spoke them; but recovering, he -resumed his malignant smile, and uttered a scornful laugh.</p> - -<p>"Thrave has not yet surrendered," said Sir Alan Lauder; "and while that -white flag waves on its wall, even Achanna's life must be respected. -He has been loudly recommending a surrender for some days past, if -the young earl, our new chief, came not to our succour," added the -white-bearded knight with an angry glance. "Perhaps he may be less -eager now, when he learns that the avenging sword of Sir Patrick Gray -awaits him."</p> - -<p>"Sir Patrick Gray's hostility is nothing new to me, neither are his -injustice and falsity," replied Achanna through his clenched teeth, -while darting one of his covert glances full of hate at Lauder; "so be -assured that I value his wrath as little as you may do, Sir Alan——"</p> - -<p>"Then, as old Earl Archibald of Douglas said of Crichton and the -Regent, 'twere fair sport to see a couple of such fencers yoked -together," interrupted the old knight bluntly, "so please you to step -forth six paces from this gate, and meet him hand to hand, on foot or -horseback, and I shall be your umpire."</p> - -<p>"Thanks from my soul, Sir Alan!" exclaimed Gray with stern joy; "for -these words I pledge my honour that your life, fortune, and family -shall be saved and protected, tide what may with Thrave."</p> - -<p>Achanna bit his nether lip, and without advancing a pace towards Gray, -who had reined back his horse and drawn his sword as if inviting him, -replied doggedly:</p> - -<p>"I have not forgotten the last orders of the earl, ere he rode to -Stirling; among <i>others</i> we were to defend this stronghold to the last, -should it ever be attacked, and to be wary how we risked our lives; but -I can now see that if yonder devil of a great gun continues to pound -and punch us thus we shall be forced to surrender, lest the roof of -stone descend upon us."</p> - -<p>"Well, and what then?" asked Lauder bitterly.</p> - -<p>"To surrender is to hang."</p> - -<p>"Well?"</p> - -<p>"By my soul thou takest it very coolly, Sir Alan Lauder," said Achanna, -glad to change the subject, and elude Gray's unanswered challenge.</p> - -<p>"I do so, Master Achanna, because I foresaw that when King James -entered Galloway, with the royal banner displayed, it would end in -hanging for some, and beheading for others—hanging especially for -thee."</p> - -<p>"And beheading for <i>thee</i>, so I care not whether we surrender to-night -or a week hence."</p> - -<p>"You play but ill the jovial desperado," said the Castellan with -contempt, as he turned from him.</p> - -<p>"Yet he fights for his own hand and commoditie, as Hal o' the Wynd -fought," said the abbot of Tongland.</p> - -<p>"I am weary of this," exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray; "coward, will you not -advance to meet me?"</p> - -<p>"And fight with a flag of truce flying; I am not so ignorant of the -rules of war," replied Achanna, who felt that the crowd of brave and -reckless men about the castle-gate viewed him with derision; "My -courage has never failed me, sirs, though I knew the fate in store for -me, as—as——"</p> - -<p>"As what, fellow?" demanded Lauder.</p> - -<p>"A follower of the conquered Douglas and his outlawed adherents."</p> - -<p>"Conquered—outlawed!" muttered those who heard him.</p> - -<p>"Well, sir, doth not that breach in the castle wall look as if we shall -soon be the first, as surely as we are the second."</p> - -<p>"Jibing villain," exclaimed Lauder, "beware lest I spare the doomster -all trouble, by passing my sword through thee!"</p> - -<p>The Scots of those days had but vague ideas on the subject of homicide, -so Achanna became alarmed, and said:</p> - -<p>"Sir Alan Lauder, remember my years of faithful service."</p> - -<p>"And what have those years done for you?"</p> - -<p>"Converted me from a boy to a man."</p> - -<p>"From a rascal of one age to a rascal of one more mature; but thou -shalt hang, if Sir Patrick wills it," said the castellan, with growing -wrath; for in fact Achanna, perceiving that matters were going against -his friends, had found Thrave less comfortable for some time past, and -was anxious to escape or make his peace with the king.</p> - -<p>"Enough of this, sir," said Sir Patrick, sheathing his sword; "let us -resume the subject of a capitulation."</p> - -<p>"The countess—here comes the countess!" exclaimed several voices, as -the crowd of armed men divided and drew back; and Margaret, leaning -on the arm of Maud Douglas of Pompherston, approached. Eagerly and -anxiously Gray looked beyond them, but in vain.</p> - -<p>"Oh," thought he in his heart, "where is Murielle?"</p> - -<p>The hateful Achanna seemed to divine the thought; for a cold smile -curled his thin white lips, and a colder still as he surveyed the -countess, and remembered the proud derision with which she had long ago -repelled his boyish affection. The lovely face of Margaret was deadly -pale—white as the ruff or tippet of swansdown, which guarded her -delicate throat and bosom. She was muffled in a long black dule-weed, -or mourning habit, the folds of which fell to her feet, and on the left -shoulder of which was sewn a white velvet cross. In many places this -sombre garment was spotted by blood!</p> - -<p>Her beautiful black eyes were bloodshot, and an unnatural glare shone -in them. She seemed scarcely able to stand; thus old Sir Alan Lauder -hurried to her side, and tenderly placed a mailed arm around her for -support.</p> - -<p>"Well, Monk, thou who forsook, in his sore extremity, thy chief and -master," she sternly said to the abbot, "what seek you here?"</p> - -<p>"Douglas was my chief, but <i>not</i> my master. He is in Heaven," replied -the abbot calmly, pointing upward.</p> - -<p>"Well, shaven juggler, who hast added his precious prayers to the cause -of the strongest," continued the imperious beauty, "say what you would, -and quickly. What errand brings you here?"</p> - -<p>"Peace and good will. Oh, madam—madam," exclaimed the meek old abbot, -stretching his withered and tremulous hands towards her, "in the name -of Heaven and of mercy end these horrors—an aged man, a priest of God -implores it of you! James and his soldiers have sworn to take the keys -of Thrave at the point of the sword; but our young king is a knight, -alike gentle and generous, and from your hands I am assured he will -take those keys in peace, if peacefully bestowed."</p> - -<p>"From <i>my</i> hands," she reiterated, in an unearthly voice; "alas——"</p> - -<p>"What <i>can</i> she mean?" thought Gray, as a dreadful idea flashed upon -his mind; "is this sad, this wild and stern bearing the result of -remorse? can she have attempted——"</p> - -<p>He thrust aside the thought, and listened attentively.</p> - -<p>"From my right hand—never!" added Margaret, with bitter emphasis.</p> - -<p>"From the hands of whom, then?"</p> - -<p>"My youngest bower-maiden; she deserves the honour, for her father, Sir -Alan, has made a valiant and vigorous defence."</p> - -<p>"The king would prefer them from the hands of the Lady Murielle," said -Gray, with more anxiety than caution.</p> - -<p>"Speak not to me of Murielle!" exclaimed the countess, with a shriek, -as her head drooped; and she fainted in the arms of Lauder.</p> - -<p>"What has happened—speak for mercy, sirs! what horror do you conceal -from us?" exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray and the abbot together.</p> - -<p>"Look here," said the old knight, in whose keen grey eyes there mingled -a curious expression of commiseration and ferocity. He drew aside the -countess's dule-weed, and then the Captain of the Guard and the abbot -perceived that her white neck was stained with blood, her shoulder -covered with hideous ligatures, and that her right hand and arm were -gone—<i>gone</i> from the elbow!</p> - -<p>"Who—what has done this?" asked Gray, as his sun-burned cheek grew -pale.</p> - -<p>"See you, sirs, what the first shot from yonder hellish engine hath -achieved?" replied Lauder, reproachfully.</p> - -<p>"The first," reiterated Gray.</p> - -<p>"And I would give the last blood in my heart to have the seven makers -of it hanging in a bunch from yonder gallows knob!"</p> - -<p>Local history records that this terrible mutilation occurred when the -countess was seated at table in the hall, through one of the windows -of which the great bullet passed; and some years before the battle -of Waterloo, when Thrave, like several other Scottish castles, was -undergoing repair, as a barrack for French prisoners, a favourite gold -ring which the countess wore upon the forefinger of her right hand, -inscribed <i>Margaret de Douglas</i>, was found among the ruins, with one of -Meg's granite balls beside it; and the old peasantry in Galloway yet -aver, that in this terrible mutilation "the vengeance of Heaven was -evidently manifested, in destroying the hand which had been given in -wedlock unto <i>two near kinsmen</i>."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>By a strange coincidence, or an irresistible fatality, at the same -moment that the countess was borne away, it came to pass that the -man-at-arms who held the white flag let it drop from the summit of the -keep into the barbican below. Then Sir John Romanno and his impatient -cannoniers, perceiving that the flag was gone, and that some commotion -had ensued about the gate of Thrave, supposed (in those days there -were no telescopes), that the parley was broken, and that violence -was offered to the envoys, so a shot was fired from the great brass -bombarde named the Lion of Flanders.</p> - -<p>With a mighty sound, between a whiz and a boom, it passed betwixt Sir -Patrick Gray and the abbot, entered the archway, and, by a singular -combination of retributive justice and fatality, struck James Achanna -just at the girdle, and doubling him up like a crape scarf, literally -plastered his body, armour and all, a quivering mass of blood, bones, -steel plates and splints, upon the wall of the keep, into which it was -imbedded.</p> - -<p>The white pennon was again hoisted; but this terrible episode and -appalling spectacle hastened the conclusion of the truce and the siege.</p> - -<p>"Bid King James ride to the gate of Thrave, and a woman's hand shall -give him the keys—withered be mine in its socket ere it shall do so!" -said the sturdy old laird of the Bass, as he broke his sword across his -right knee, and cast the glittering fragments into the moat, just as he -had done after the seizure of Earl William, in the castle of Edinburgh.</p> - -<p>"What terms seek you?" asked the abbot.</p> - -<p>"The lives, the liberties, and fortunes of all."</p> - -<p>"The king is merciful, and in his name we promise these shall be given -to you," replied the two envoys, as they returned with all haste -to Knockcannon, where the king was still on horseback, attended by -Crichton, Glammis, and the principal lords of his council and army.</p> - -<p>"You have promised over much, my good friends," said he, on hearing -the terms and the relation of what had passed at the castle gate; "yet -it would ill become me to bruise the bruised. I cannot restore this -gallant dame's dainty right arm; but by the Black Rood of Scotland, I -can wed her to a more loyal husband, with the hand she still possesses!"</p> - -<p>And King James kept his word.</p> - -<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> This ball is still preserved by a gentleman in the -neighbourhood, and corresponds exactly in size and quality with those -shown in the castle of Edinburgh, as appertaining to the celebrated -Meg, which are of Galloway granite (from Binnan Hill), the component -parts of which, as geologists are aware, differ in several particulars.</p></div> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER LVII.<br /> - -<small>THE FALL OF THRAVE</small>.</h2> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Song sinks into silence,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The story is told;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">The windows are darken'd,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The hearthstone is cold.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Darker and darker</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 34%;">The black shadows fall;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 32%;">Sleep and oblivion reign over all.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 50%;"><span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>"When your majesty's ancestor, Malcolm III., of valiant memory, -received the keys of the castle of Alnwick, remember what occurred," -said the wary and suspicious old chancellor.</p> - -<p>"Malcolm was slain," replied the king.</p> - -<p>"By foul treachery. The Saxon garrison yielded, and the keys were to be -presented on the point of a knight's lance; but at the moment of doing -so, the knight, like a mansworn traitor, pierced King Malcolm's eye and -brain with his weapon and slew him on the spot. He escaped, but from -the deed assumed a name—hence comes the Pierce-eye of Northumberland."</p> - -<p>"But what of all this? I do not think I have much cause to fear our -poor countess now."</p> - -<p>"She has one hand left, and it can hold a dagger, I doubt not."</p> - -<p>"Oh, good my lord, I shall not be unprepared for any emergency," said -James laughing, as, accompanied by Sir Patrick Gray and fifty selected -men-at-arms of his guard, he rode forward to Thrave, the earl of Errol -following closely with at least a thousand knights and gentlemen, -mounted and armed in full panoply.</p> - -<p>The armour of the young king was beautifully engrained with gold. He -wore a casquetel, which in lieu of visor had two oriellets, or oval -plates, to protect the ears. It was encircled by a gold coronet, and -had a crenel, or spike, in which a plume of scarlet and yellow feathers -waved, and to which the queen's glove was tied. The hanging sleeves -of his surcoat were richly embroidered by Mary's hands; and his whole -arms, costume, and horse-trappings glittered with singular brilliance -in the sunshine of the evening, as he caracoled over the green sward -towards the embattled gate of Thrave.</p> - -<p>On his breast sparkled the collar and jewel of the Golden Fleece of -Burgundy, which Duke Philip the Good had just sent to him, in charge -of Messire Jacques de Lalain, Dyck Graf of Bommel, who with his train -had reached the camp only on the preceding evening. This order had been -instituted by Philip himself in 1429.</p> - -<p>When the king was within twenty paces of the gate of Thrave, it -was unclosed, and a lady, attended by a group of the countess's -bower-maidens, the tall and dark-eyed Maud of Pompherston, the Caillean -Rua, and the fair-haired daughters of Sir Alan Lauder, the castellan, -all clad in dule-weeds of black cloth with white crosses on their -breasts in memory of the late earl, and all wearing hoods and veils, -came slowly and timidly forward, like a procession of nuns.</p> - -<p>On seeing them, James at once sprung from his horse, the reins of -which he gave to the Master of Crichton, his page. Gray, and other -attendants, immediately dismounted, and leading their horses by the -bridle, kept near the king, before whom the principal lady, after -advancing a pace or two in front of her companions, knelt, saying in a -low and broken voice, "In the name of mercy and St. Bryde of Douglas, -receive these keys."</p> - -<p>She bowed her graceful head, at the same time upholding, with hands of -charming form and whiteness, the three great iron keys of the castle of -Thrave.</p> - -<p>"And in the name of good St. Bryde, and of gentle mercy, sweet lady, -we accept of them," said the king, handing them to his master of the -ordnance; "and once again we pledge our royal word for the promised -terms—life, liberty, and fortune—to all who have withstood our cannon -here in Thrave. But rise, madam," added the king, "it ill becomes a -gentleman to receive a lady thus."</p> - -<p>With one hand he raised her, and with the other lifted up her long -black veil,—for James II. was not devoid of that admiration of beauty, -which was one of the chief characteristics of his chivalrous family.</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Murielle!</span>" exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray, starting forward on -beholding her face.</p> - -<p>"Your long-lost wife?" said James, with surprise.</p> - -<p>"My wedded wife—Oh, Murielle——"</p> - -<p>"Then to your wardship, Sir Patrick, I must consign this rebel Douglas, -but on one condition——"</p> - -<p>"Oh name it, your majesty!" said Gray, who was almost speechless with -emotion.</p> - -<p>"That you keep her for life, either at court or in your tower of -Foulis," replied the king, laughing, as he placed Murielle's hand in -that of Gray, amid murmurs of applause and satisfaction, in which all -the knights, nobles, and even the grim old chancellor joined.</p> - -<p>Murielle Douglas was beautiful as ever; but the pure breeze of early -autumn that came down the vale of the Dee, the exciting scene, and -the great presence in which she stood, alike failed to impart a red -tinge to her pale cheek, and even her rosebud lip had lost its usual -carnation hue.</p> - -<p>In short, poor Murielle had evidently suffered much in mind and body; -for the years of blight and anxiety she had spent in gloomy Thrave had -not been without a natural influence upon a spirit so timid and gentle; -and now, as she wept upon her husband's breast, she neither heard nor -heeded the acclamations which rose from the king's camp, with the roar -of culverins from Knockcannon and the Carlinwark, as they greeted the -appearance of the royal standard which Sir John Romanno hoisted on the -great keep of Thrave, the now humbled stronghold of her forefathers, -the mighty lords of Galloway.</p> - - - - -<h2>EPILOGUE.</h2> - - -<p>Not long after these events the new earl of Douglas was reconciled -to James II., and though both parties were insincere—their mutual -injuries being too deep and too recent—there was peace in the kingdom -for a time.</p> - -<p>Inspired by a sentiment of revenge for the death of their chief in -Thrave, the MacLellans long refused to lay aside their swords, and for -years continued to commit such dreadful outrages upon the Douglases and -their adherents that James outlawed the new laird of Bombie and all his -followers; but during his reign they re-won their possessions in the -following remarkable manner.</p> - -<p>A band of outlaws or wild rovers, said by some authorities to have -been Saracens or Moors, but who were more probably Irishmen, as their -leader was named Black Murrough, landed in Galloway and committed -such devastations that the king, by a royal proclamation, offered -the forfeited lands of Bombie to any knight or man, however humble, -who could kill or capture this terrible stranger, of whose stature, -strength, and ferocity the most startling stories were told, for the -marvellous was a great element in those days.</p> - -<p>In a wild place, near where the old castle of Bombie stood, there -is a spring which flows now, as perhaps it flowed a thousand years -before the epoch of our story. The bare-kneed and bare-armed Celts of -Galwegia, and the helmeted and kilted warriors of Rome, have drunk of -it. With its limpid waters, St. Cuthbert, whose church was built close -by, baptized the first Christians of the district in the name of Him -who died on Calvary; and in later and less-peaceful times, the fierce -Lag and Claverhouse have drunk of it, with their gauntleted hands, when -in pursuit of the persecuted Covenanters, by hill and loch and the -shores of the Solway.</p> - -<p>It chanced that Sir William, the outlawed nephew of Sir Thomas -MacLellan, was wandering near this well, on a day when the banks of -the Dee were changing in tint and aspect under the genial sunshine and -warm showers of spring, when the trees were putting forth their young -and fragrant blossoms, and when the blackbird and the rose-linnet sang -among the thickets that overhung the river.</p> - -<p>Full of those sad and bitter thoughts which were naturally induced by -the outlawry and proscription of his family, the young heir of Bombie -approached the spring to drink, and lo! near it there lay, fast asleep, -a rough and gigantic man, whose form exhibited wondrous strength and -muscle, and by his side lay an Irish war-club, the knotty head of which -was studded with sharp iron spikes. He was the leader of the strange -devastators,—he, for whose life King James had offered the castle and -heritage of Bombie.</p> - -<p>MacLellan drew near, and by a single stroke of his double-handed sword, -shred off the great head of the terrible sleeper, and grasping it by -its thick black locks of matted hair, he conveyed it without delay to -the king, who, in terms of his proclamation, immediately restored to -him the forfeited lands of Bombie, and from that day the MacLellans -assumed as a crest, the head of a savage on the point of a sword, with -the motto—"Think on." The scene of this episode bears to this day the -double name of Bombie's Well, and the Wood of Black Murrough.</p> - -<p>Broken in spirit, the proud Countess Margaret, whilom the Fair Maid of -Galloway, condescended at last to seek the forgiveness and protection -of King James II., after which, as she was still the loveliest woman of -her time, he bestowed her in marriage upon his half brother, John, earl -of Athole, son of the late Queen Jane and of the Black Knight of Lorn, -who perished so miserably in Flanders.</p> - -<p>Robert, duke of Albany, died in exile, and no man in Scotland ever -knew where he found a grave; but Sir Patrick Gray and Murielle lived -long and happily. We know not which survived the other. He was created -a peer of the realm by the title of Lord Balronald, and received the -captaincy of the royal castle of Lochmaben, which he defended valiantly -against the English in the year 1460, during that war in which James -II. perished by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh, when -standing by the side of Sir John Romanno, near the old Thorn Tree, at -Fleurs.</p> - -<p>William Lord Crichton, the wily and somewhat unscrupulous old -chancellor, died in peace in 1455, at his own stately castle in -Lothian, and lies interred in the old church near it.</p> - -<p>His aged compatriot, Sir Alexander Livingstone, died about the same -time, after securing a peerage for his son, the captain of Stirling, -who was created Lord Livingstone of Callendar, and Great Chamberlain of -Scotland.</p> - -<p>We need scarcely inform the reader that the worthy abbot of Tongland -never succeeded in his great project concerning the Master of Evil, -whom he wished to destroy as an enemy by making him a friend; though in -after-years a poor Capuchin of Venice revived the idea, by petitioning -the states of that republic, and also the pope, on the same subject, -and had the reward of being viewed by both as a—madman.</p> - -<p>The beautiful young queen, Mary d'Egmont of Gueldres, only survived her -husband three years.</p> - -<p>It was our strange fortune to behold her remains, previous to their -re-interment at Holyrood, in May, 1848, when nothing remained of those -charms which she inherited from the houses of Cleves, Burgundy, and -Gueldres, save her teeth, which, after having been three hundred and -eighty-five years in the grave, were singularly white and regular.</p> - - -<p>THE END.</p> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain of the Guard, by James Grant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD *** - -***** This file should be named 52078-h.htm or 52078-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/7/52078/ - -Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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