by G. A. Henty
Chapter XX
The Heiress of the Kerrs
While Archie was speaking Marjory had sat down on a fallen tree. Shehad not slept the night before, and had been anxious and agitatedthe whole day. The excitement had kept her up; but she now feltcompletely worn out, and accepted without protest Archie's decisionthat a halt must be made.
The men were already gathering sticks, and a bright fire soon blazednear the spot where she had seated herself. Ere long some venisonsteaks were broiled in the flames. At Archie's earnest requestMarjory tried to eat, but could with difficulty swallow a fewmorsels. A bower of green boughs was quickly made for her, and theground thickly piled with fresh bracken, and Marjory was in a veryfew minutes sound asleep after the fatigue and excitement of theday.
With the first dawn of morning the men were on their feet. Freshsticks were thrown on the fire and breakfast prepared, for themarch would be a long and wearisome one.
"Breakfast is ready, Mistress Marjory," Archie said, approachingthe bower.
"And I am ready too," the girl said blithely as she appeared atthe entrance. "The sleep has done wonders for me, and I feel braveand fresh again. I fear you must have thought me a terrible cowardyesterday; but it all seemed so dreadful, such a wild and wickedthing to do, that I felt quite overwhelmed. Today you will find meready for anything."
"I could never think you a coward," Archie said, "after you facedthe anger of that terrible uncle of yours for my sake; or rather,"he added, "for the sake of your word. And now I hope you will eatsomething, for we have a long march through the forest and hillsbefore us."
"Don't fear that I shall tire," she said. "I am half a mountaineermyself, and, methinks, can keep on my feet as long as any man."
The meal was hastily eaten, and then the party started on theirway.
"I have been wondering," the girl said, as with light steps shekept pace with Archie's longer strides, "how you came to know thatI was in the convent."
Archie looked surprised.
"How should I know, Mistress Marjory, but through your own messenger?"
"My own messenger!" Marjory exclaimed. "You are jesting, Sir Archie."
"I am not so, fair lady," he said. "Surely you must remember thatyou sent a messenger to me, with word that you were captive at St.Kenneth and needed my aid?"
The girl stopped for a moment in her walk and gazed at her companionas if to assure herself that he was in earnest. "You must be surelydreaming, Sir Archie," she said, as she continued the walk, "forassuredly I sent you no such message."
"But, lady," Archie said, holding out his hand, "the messengerbrought me as token that he had come from you this ring which Ihad given you, vowing that should you call me to your aid I wouldcome immediately, even from a stricken field."
The blood had rushed into the girl's face as she saw the ring.Then she turned very pale. "Sir Archibald Forbes," she said ina low tone, after walking for a minute or two in silence, "I feeldisgraced in your eyes. How forward and unmaidenly must you havethought me thus to take advantage of a vow made from the impulseof sudden gratitude."
"No, indeed, lady," Archie said hotly. "No such thought ever enteredmy mind. I should as soon doubt the holy Virgin herself as to deemyou capable of aught but what was sweet and womanly. The matterseemed to me simple enough. You had saved my life at great perilto yourself, and it seemed but natural to me that in your trouble,having none others to befriend you, your thoughts should turn toone who had sworn to be to the end of his life your faithful knightand servant. But," he went on more lightly, "since you yourselfdid not send me the ring and message, what good fairy can havebrought them to me?"
"The good fairy was a very bad one," the girl said shortly, "and Iwill rate him soundly when I see him for thus adventuring withoutmy consent. It is none other than Father Anselm; and yet," sheadded, "he has suffered so much on my behalf that I shall have toforgive him. After your escape my uncle in his passion was wellnigh hanging the good priest in spite of his holy office, and drovehim from the castle. He kept me shut up in my room for many weeks,and then urged upon me the marriage with his son. When he foundthat I would not listen to it he sent me to St. Kenneth, and thereI have remained ever since. Three weeks ago Father Anselm came tosee me. He had been sent for by Alexander of Lorne, who, knowingthe influence he had with me, begged him to undertake the missionof inducing me to bend to his will. As he knew how much I hatedJohn of Lorne, the good priest wasted not much time in entreaties;but he warned me that it had been resolved that unless I gave waymy captivity, which had hitherto been easy and pleasant, would bemade hard and rigorous, and that I would be forced into acceptingJohn of Lorne as a husband. When he saw that I was determined notto give in, the good priest certainly hinted" (and here she colouredagain hotly) "that you would, if sent for, do your best to carryme off. Of course I refused to listen to the idea, and chided himfor suggesting so unmaidenly a course. He urged it no further, andI thought no more of the matter. The next day I missed my ring,which, to avoid notice, I had worn on a little ribbon round myneck. I thought at the time the ribbon must have broken and thering been lost, and for a time I made diligent search in the gardenfor it; but I doubt not now that the traitor priest, as I kneltbefore him to receive his blessing on parting, must have severedthe ribbon and stolen it."
"God bless him!" Archie said fervently. "Should he ever come toAberfilly the warmest corner by the fire, the fattest capon, andthe best stoop of wine from the cellar shall be his so long ashe lives. Why, but for him, Lady Marjory, you might have worn outmonths of your life in prison, and have been compelled at last towed your cousin. I should have been a miserable man for life."
The girl laughed.
"I would have given you a week, Sir Archie, and no more; thatis the extreme time which a knight in our days can be expected tomourn for the fairest lady; and now," she went on, changing thesubject, "think you we shall reach the pass across the Grampiansbefore night?"
"If all goes well, lady, and your feet will carry you so far,we shall be there by eventide. Unless by some chance encounter weneed have no fear whatever of pursuit. It will have been daylightbefore the news of your flight fairly spread through the country,though, doubtless, messengers were sent off at once in all directions;but it would need an army to scour these woods, and as they knownot whether we have gone east, west, north, or south, the chance isfaint indeed of any party meeting us, especially as we have takenso straight a line that they must march without a pause in exactlythe right direction to come up with us."
At nightfall the party camped again on the slope of the Grampians,and the following morning crossed by the pass of Killiecrankie andmade toward Perth.
The next night Marjory slept in a peasant's cottage, Archie and hiscompanions lying down without. Wishing to avoid attention, Archiepurchased from the peasant the Sunday clothes of his daughter, whowas about the same age and size as Marjory.
When they reached Perth he bought a strong horse, with saddle andpillion; and with Marjory behind him, and his band accompanyinghim on foot, he rode for Stirling. When he neared the town he heardthat the king was in the forest of Falkirk, and having consultedMarjory as to her wishes rode directly thither.
Bruce, with his followers, had arrived but the day before, andhad taken up his abode at the principal house of a village in theforest. He came to the door when he heard the trampling of a horse.
"Ah! Sir Archie, is it you safely returned, and, as I half expected,a lady?"
"This, sire," Archie said, dismounting, "is Mistress MarjoryMacDougall, of whom, as you have heard me say, I am the devotedknight and servant. She has been put in duress by Alexander of Lornebecause in the first place she was a true Scots woman and favouredyour cause, and because in the second place she refused to espouse hisson John. I have borne her away from the convent of St. Kenneth,and as I used no force in doing so no sacrilege has been committed.I have brought her to you in all honour and courtesy, as I might adear sister, and I now pray you to place her under the
protectionof the wife of one of your knights, seeing that she has no friendsand natural protectors here. Then, when she has time to think, shemust herself decide upon her future."
The king assisted Marjory to dismount.
"Fair mistress," he said, "Sir Archibald Forbes is one of the bravestand truest of my knights, and in the hands of none might you moreconfidently place your honour. Assuredly I will do as he asks me,and will place you under the protection of Dame Elizabeth Graham,who is now within, having ridden hither to see her husband but thismorning. But I trust," he added, with a meaning smile, "that youwill not long require her protection."
The king entered the house with Marjory, while Archie, with hisband, rejoined the rest of his party, who were still with the king.After having seen that the wants of those who had accompanied himhad been supplied he returned to the royal quarters. The king methim at the door, and said, with a merry smile on his face:
"I fear me, Sir Archie, that all my good advice with regard toMistress Mary Kerr has been wasted, and that you are resolved tomake this Highland damsel, the niece of my arch enemy Alexander ofLorne, your wife."
"If she will have me," Archie said stoutly, "such assuredly, ismy intent; but of that I know nothing, seeing that, while she wasunder my protection, it would have been dishonourable to have spokenof love; and I know nought of her sentiments toward me, especiallyseeing that she herself did not, as I had hoped, send for me to cometo her aid, and was indeed mightily indignant that another shouldhave done so in her name."
"Poor Sir Archie!" the king laughed. "Though a man, and a valorousone in stature and in years, you are truly but a boy yet in thesematters. It needed but half an eye to see by the way she turnedpale and red when you spoke to her that she loves you. Now lookyou, Sir Archie," he went on more seriously; "these are troubleddays, and one knows not what a day may bring forth. Graham's toweris neither strong nor safe, and the sooner this Mistress Marjoryof yours is safely in your stronghold of Aberfilly the better forboth of you, and for me also, for I know that you will be of nomore good to me so long as your brain is running on her. Look younow, she is no longer under your protection, and your scruples onthat head are therefore removed; best go in at once and ask herif she will have you. If she says, 'Yes,' we will ride to Glasgowtomorrow or next day. The bishop shall marry you, and I myself willgive you your bonny bride. This is no time for wasting weeks withmilliners and mantua makers. What say you?"
"Nothing would more surely suit my wishes, sire," Archie said; "butI fear she will think me presumptuous."
"Not a bit of it," the king laughed. "Highland lassies are accustomedto sudden wooing, and I doubt not that when she freed you lastautumn from Dunstaffnage her mind was just as much made up as yoursis as to the state of her heart. Come along, sir."
So saying, the king passed his arm through that of Archie, anddrew him into the house. In the room which they entered Marjorywas sitting with Lady Graham. Both rose as the king entered.
"My Lady Graham," the king said, "this my good and faithful knightSir Archie Forbes, whose person as well as repute is favourablyknown to you, desires to speak alone with the young lady underyour protection. I may say he does so at my special begging, seeingthat at times like these the sooner matters are put in a straightcourse the better. Will you let me lead you to the next room whilewe leave the young people together?"
"Marjory," Archie said, when he and the girl were alone, "I fearthat you will think my wooing rude and hasty, but the times mustexcuse it. I would fain have waited that you might have seen moreof me before I tried my fate; but in these troubled days who cansay where I may be a week hence, or when I can see you again wereI once separated from you! Therefore, dear, I speak at once. Ilove you, Marjory, and since the day when you came like an angelinto my cell at Dunstaffnage I have known that I loved you, andshould I never see you again could love none other. Will you wedme, love?"
"But the king tells me, Sir Archie," the girl said, looking up witha half smile, "that he wishes you to wed the Lady Mary Kerr."
"It is a dream of the good king," Archie said, laughing, "and heis not in earnest about it. He knows that I have never set eyes onthe lady or she on me, and he was but jesting when he said so toyou, having known from me long ago that my heart was wholly yours."
"Besides," the girl said hesitating, "you might have objected towed Mistress Kerr because her father was an enemy of yours."
"Why dwell upon it?" Archie said a little impatiently. "MistressKerr is nothing in the world to me, and I had clean forgotten hervery existence, when by some freak or other she sent her retainersto fight under my command. She may be a sweet and good lady for whatI know; she may be the reverse. To me she is absolutely nothing;and now, Marjory, give me my answer. I love you, dear, deeply andtruly; and should you say, 'Yes,' will strive all my life to makeyou happy."
"One more question, Archie, and then I will answer yours. Tell mefrankly, had I been Mary Kerr instead of Marjory MacDougall, couldyou so far forget the ancient feud between the families as to sayto me, 'I love you.'"
Archie laughed.
"The question is easily answered. Were you your own dear self itwould matter nought to me were your name Kerr, or MacDougall, orComyn, or aught else. It is you I love, and your ancestors or yourrelations matter to me not one single jot."
"Then I will answer you," the girl said, putting her hand in his."Archie Forbes, I love you with my whole heart, and have doneso since I first met you; but," she said, drawing back, as Archiewould have clasped her in his arms, "I must tell you that you havebeen mistaken, and that it is not Marjory MacDougall whom you wouldwed, but Mary, whom her uncle Alexander always called Marjory,Kerr."
"Marjory Kerr!" Archie repeated, in astonishment.
"Yes, Archie, Marjory or Mary Kerr. The mistake was none of mymaking; it was you called me MacDougall; and knowing that you hadreason to hate my race I did not undeceive you, thinking you mighteven refuse the boon of life at the hands of a Kerr. But I believedthat when you thought it over afterwards you would suspect thetruth, seeing that it must assuredly come to your ears if you spokeof your adventure, even if you did not already know it, that SirJohn Kerr and Alexander of Lorne married twin sisters of the houseof Comyn. You are not angry, I hope, Archie?"
"Angry!" Archie said, taking the girl, who now yielded unresistingly,in his arms. "It matters nothing to me who you were; and truly Iam glad that the long feud between our houses will come to an end.My conscience, too, pricked me somewhat when I heard that by thedeath of your brother you had succeeded to the estates, and thatit was in despite of a woman, and she a loyal and true heartedScotswoman, that I was holding Aberfilly. So it was you sent theretainers from Ayr to me?"
"Yes," Marjory replied. "Father Anselm carried my orders to them.I longed to know that they were fighting for Scotland, and was surethat under none could they be better led."
"And you have told the king who you are?" Archie asked.
"Yes," the girl said, "directly we entered."
"And you agree that we shall be married at once at Glasgow, as theking has suggested to me?"
"The king said as much to me," Marjory said, colouring; "but oh!Archie, it seems dreadful, such an unseemly bustle and haste, tobe betrothed one day and married the next! Whoever heard of sucha thing?"
"But the circumstances, Marjory, are exceptional. We all carry ourlives in our hands, and things must be done which at another timewould seem strange. Besides, what advantage would there be inwaiting? I should be away fighting the English, and you would seeno more of me. You would not get to know me better than you donow."
"Oh! it is not that, Archie."
"Nor is it anything else," Archie said smiling, "but just surprise.With the King of Scotland to give you away and the Bishop of Glasgowto marry you, none can venture to hint that there is anything thatis not in the highest degree orthodox in your marriage. Of courseI shall have to be a great deal away until the war is over andScotland freed of her tyrants. But I shall know that
you are safeat Aberfilly, which is quite secure from any sudden attack. You willhave my mother there to pet you and look after you in my absence,and I hope that good Father Anselm will soon find his way there andtake up his abode. It is the least he can do, seeing that, afterall, he is responsible for our marriage, and having, as it were,delivered you into my hands, ought to do his best to make you happyin your captivity."
Marjory raised no further objection. She saw, in truth, that,having once accepted Archie Forbes as her husband, it was in everyway the best plan for her to marry him without delay, since she hadno natural protectors to go to, and her powerful relations mightstir up the church to view her evasion from the convent as a defianceof its authority.
Upon the following day the king moved with his force to Glasgow,which had already been evacuated by the English garrison, andthe next morning Marjory--for Archie through life insisted uponcalling her by the pet name under which he had first known her--wasmarried to Sir Archibald Forbes. The Bruce gave her away, andpresented her with a splendid necklet of pearls. His brother Edward,Sir James Douglas, and other companions of Archie in the field alsomade the bride handsome presents. Archie's followers from Aberfillyand the contingent from Marjory's estates in Ayr were also present,together with a crowd of the townspeople, for Archie Forbes, thecompanion of Wallace, was one of the most popular characters inScotland, and the good city of Glasgow made a fete of his marriage.
Suddenly as it was arranged, a number of the daughters of the wealthiestcitizens attired in white attended the bride in procession to thealtar. Flowers were strewn and the bride and bridegroom were heartilycheered by a concourse of people as they left the cathedral.
The party then mounted, and the king, his brother, Sir James Douglas,and some other knights, together with a strong escort, rode withthem to Aberfilly. Archie had despatched a messenger to his motherwith the news directly the arrangements had been made; and allwas prepared for their coming. The tenants had assembled to give ahearty welcome to their lord and new mistress. Dame Forbes receivedher as she alighted from the pillion on which she had ridden behindArchie, and embraced her tenderly.
It was the dearest wish of her life that Archie should marry; andalthough, when she first heard the news, she regretted in her heartthat he should have chosen a Kerr, still she saw that the unionwould put an end to the long feud, and might even, in the eventof the final defeat of Bruce, be the means of safety for Archiehimself and security for his possessions.
She soon, however, learned to love Marjory for herself, and to becontented every way with her son's choice. There was high feastingand revelry at Aberfilly that evening. Bonfires were burned in thecastle yard, and the tenants feasted there, while the king and hisknights were entertained in the hall of the castle.
The next morning the king and his companions again mounted androde off. Sir James Douglas was going south to harry Galloway andto revenge the assaults which the people had made upon the king.There was a strong English force there under Sir Ingram Umfravilleand Sir John de St. John.
"I will give you a week, Sir Archie, to take holiday, but can spareyou no longer. We have as yet scarce begun our work, for well nighevery fortress in Scotland is in English hands, and we must take asmany of them as we can before Edward moves across the Border again."
"I will not outstay the time," Sir Archie said. "As we arrangedlast night, I will march this day week with my retainers to joinSir James Douglas in Galloway."