by Jane Porter
Chapter XXXVII.
Snawdoun Palace.
Owing to the multiplicity of affairs which engaged Wallace's attentionafter the capture of Stirling, the ladies of Mar had not seen him sincehis first visit to the citadel. The countess passed this time inwriting her dispatches to the numerous lords of her house, both inScotland and in England; and by her subtle arguments she completelypersuaded her husband of the cogency of putting the names of Lord Atholand Lord Badenoch into the list of noble prisoners he should request.
When this was proposed to Wallace, he recollected the conduct of Atholat Montrose; and, being alone with Lord Mar, he made some objectionsagainst inviting him back into the country. But the earl, who wasprepared by his wife to overcome every obstacle in the way of herkinsman's return, answered, "That he believed, from the representationshe had received of the private opinions both of Badenoch and Athol,that their treason was more against Baliol than the kingdom; and thatnow that prince was irretrievably removed, he understood they would beglad to take a part in its recovery."
"That may be the case with the Earl of Badenoch," replied Wallace, "butsomething less friendly to Scotland must be in the breast of the manwho could betray Lord Douglas into the hands of his enemies."
"So I should have thought," replied the earl, "had not the earnestnesswith which my wife pleads his cause convinced me she knows more of hismind than she chooses to intrust me with, and therefore I suppose hisconduct to Douglas arose from personal pique."
Though these explanations did not at all raise the absent lords in hisesteem, yet to appear hostile to the return of Lady Mar's relationswould be a violence to her, which, in proportion as Wallace shrunk fromthe guilty affection she was so eager to lavish upon him, he was averseto committing; wishing, by showing her every proper consideration, tolead her to apprehend the turpitude of her conduct; by convincing herthat his abhorrence of her advances had its origin in principle, ratherthan from personal repugnance to herself; and so she might see thefoulness of her crime, and be recalled to virtue. He was therefore notdispleased to have this opportunity of obliging her; and, as he hopedthat amongst so many warm friends a few cool ones could not do muchinjury, he gave in the names of Badenoch and Athol, with those of LordDouglas, Sir William Maitland (the only son of the venerable knight ofThirlestane), Sir John Monteith, and many other brave Scots.
For these, the Earls de Warenne, De Valence, and Montgomery, the BaronsHilton and Blenkinsopp, and others of note, were to exchanged. Thoseof lesser consequence, man for man, were to be returned for Scots ofthe same degree.
In arranging preliminaries to effect the speedy return of the Scotsfrom England (who must be known to have arrived on the borders, beforethe English would be permitted to cross them); in writing dispatches onthis subject, and on others of equal moment, had passed the timebetween the surrender of Stirling and the hour when Wallace was calledto the plain, to receive the offered homage of his grateful country.
Impatient to behold again the object of her fond machinations, Lady Marhastened to the window of her apartment, when the shouts in the streetsinformed her of the approach of Wallace. The loud huzzas, accompaniedby the acclamations of "Our protector and prince!" seemed already tobind her brows with her anticipated diadem, and for a moment, vanitylost the image of love in the purple with which she enveloped it.
Her ambitious vision was disturbed by the crowd rushing forward; thegates were thronged with people of every age and sex, and Wallacehimself appeared on his white charger, with his helmet off, bowing andsmiling upon the populace. There was a mild effulgence in his eye; adivine benevolence in his countenance, as his parted lips showed thebrightness of his smile, which seemed to speak of happiness within, ofjoy to all around. She hastily snatched a chaplet of flowers form herhead, and threw it from the window. Wallace looked up; his brow andhis smile were then directed to her! but they were altered. The momenthe met the congratulation of her eager eyes, he remembered what wouldhave been the soft welcome of his Marion's under the like circumstance!But that tender eye was closed--that ear was shut, to whom he wouldhave wished these plaudits to have given rapture--and they were now asnothing to him. The countess saw not what was passing in his mind, butkissing her hand to him, disappeared from the window when he enteredthe palace.
Another eye beside Lady Mar's had witnessed the triumphant entry ofWallace. Triumphant in the true sense of the word; for he came avictor over the hearts of men; he came, not attended by his captiveswon in the war, but by the people he had blessed, by throngs callinghim preserver, father, friend, and prince! By every title which caninspire the soul of man with the happy consciousness of fulfilling hisembassy here below.
Helen was this witness. She had passed the long interval, since shehad seen Wallace, in the state of one in a dream. The glance had beenso transient, that every succeeding hour seemed to lessen the evidenceof her senses that she had really beheld him. It appeared impossibleto her that the man whom her thoughts had hitherto dwelt on as thewidowed husband of Marion, as the hero whom sorrow had wholly dedicatedto patriotism and to Heaven, should ever awaken in her breast feelingswhich would seem to break like a sacrilegious host upon the holyconsecration of his. Once she had contemplated this idea with thepensive impressions of one leaning over the grave of a hero; and shecould then turn as if emerging from the glooms of sepulchral monumentsto upper day, to the image of her unknown knight! she could thenblamelessly recollect the matchless graces of his figure! the noblesoul that breathed from his every word and action; the sweet, thoughthoughtful, serenity that sat on his brow! "There," whispered she toherself, "are the lofty meditations of a royal mind, devising thefreedom of his people. When that is effected, how will the perfectsunshine break out from that face! Ah! how blest must Scotland beunder his reign, when all will be light, virtue, and joy!" Blisshovered like an angel over the image of this imaginary Bruce; whilesorrow, in mourning weeds, seemed ever dropping tears, when anycircumstance recalled that of the real Wallace.
Such was the state of Helen's thoughts, when in the moment beholdingthe chief Ellerslie in the citadel she recognized, in his expectedmelancholy form, the resplendent countenance of him whom she supposedthe prince of Scotland. That two images so opposite should at onceunite; that in one bosom should be mingled all the virtues she hadbelieved peculiar to each, struck her with overwhelming amazement. Butwhen she recovered from her short swoon, and found Wallace at her feet;when she felt that all the devotion her heart had hitherto paid to thesimple idea of virtue alone would now be attracted to that gloriousmortal, in whom all human excellence appeared summed up, she trembledunder an emotion that seemed to rob her of herself, and place a newprinciple of being within her.
All was so extraordinary, so unlooked for, so bewildering, that fromthe moment in which she had retired in such a paroxysm ofhighly-wrought feelings from her first interview in the gallery withhim, she became altogether like a person in a trance; and hardlyanswering her aunt, when she then led her up the stairs, onlycomplained she was ill, and threw herself upon a couch.
At the very time that her heart told her in a language she could notmisunderstand, that she irrevocably loved this too glorious, tooamiable Wallace, it as powerfully denounced to her, that she haddevoted herself to one who must ever be to her as a being of air. Noword of sympathy would ever whisper felicity to her heart; no--the flamethat was within her (which she found would be immortal as the vestalfires which resemble its purity) must burn there unknown; hidden, butnot smothered.
"Were this a canonized saint," cried she, as she laid her throbbinghead upon her pillow, "how gladly should I feel these emotions! For,could I not fall down and worship him? Could I not think it a world ofbliss, to live forever within the influence of his virtues; looking athim, listening to him, rejoicing in his praises, happy in hishappiness! Yes, though I were a peasant girl, and he not know thatHelen Mar even existed! And I may live thus," said she; "and I maysteal some portion of the rare lot that was Lady Marion's-
to die forsuch a man! Ah! could I be in Edwin's place and wait upon his smiles!But that may not be; I am a woman, and formed to suffer in silence andseclusion. But even at a distance, brave Wallace, my spirit shallwatch over you in the form of this Edwin; I will teach him a doublecare of the light of Scotland. And my prayers, also, shall follow you;so that when we meet in heaven, the Blessed Virgin shall say with whathosts of angels her intercessions, through my vigils have surroundedthee!"