The Scottish Chiefs

by Jane Porter

  Chapter XXXIX.

  Stirling Castle and Council Hall.

  The countess' chivalric tribute from the window gave Wallace reason toanticipate her company in his visit to Lady Ruthven; and on finding theroom vacant, he dispatched Edwin for his mother, that he might not bedistressed by the unchecked advances of a woman whom, as the wife ofLord Mar, he was obliged to see, and whose weakness he pitied, as shebelonged to a sex for which, in consideration of the felicity oncebestowed on him by woman, he felt a peculiar tenderness. Respect thecountess he could not; nor, indeed, could he feel any gratitude for apreference which seemed to him to have no foundations in the only truebasis of love--the virtues of the object. For, as she acted againstevery moral law, against his declared sentiments, it was evident thatshe placed little value on his esteem; and therefore he despised, whilehe pitied, a human creature ungovernably yielding herself to the swayof her passions.

  In the midst of thoughts so little to her advantage, Lady Mar enteredthe room. Wallace turned to meet her; while she, hastening toward him,and dropping on one knee, exclaimed, "Let me be the first woman inScotland to acknowledge its king!"

  Wallace put forth both his hands to raise her; and smiling, replied,"Lady Mar, you would do me an honor I can never claim."

  "How?" cried she, starting up. "What, then, was that cry I heard? Didthey not call you 'prince,' and 'sovereign?' Did not my Lord Buchan-"

  Confused, disappointed, overpowered, she left the sentence unfinished,sunk on a seat, and burst into tears. At that moment she saw heranticipated crown fall from her head, and having united the gaining ofWallace with his acquisition of this dignity, all her hopes seemedagain the sport of winds. She felt as if Wallace had eluded her power,for it was by the ambition-serving acts of her kinsman that she hadmeant to bind him to her love; and now all was rejected, and she weptin despair. He gazed at her with amazement. What these emotions andhis elevation had to do with each other, he could not guess; but,recollecting her manner of mentioning Lord Buchan's name, he answered,"Lord Buchan I have just seen. He and Lord March came upon the carseat the time I went thither to meet my gallant countrymen; and these twonoblemen, though so lately the friends of Edward, united with the restin proclaiming me regent."

  This word dried the tears of Lady Mar. She saw the shadow of royaltybehind it; and summoning artifice, to conceal the joy of her heart, shecalmly said, "Do not too severely condemn this weakness; it is not thatof vain wishes for your aggrandizement. You are the same to Joanna Marwhether as a monarch or a private man, so long as you possess thatsupremacy in all, excellence which first gained her esteem. It is forScotland's sake alone that I wish you to be her king. You have taughtme to forget all selfish desires--to respect myself," cried she; "and,from this hour I conjure you to wipe from your memory all my folly--allmy love-"

  With the last word her bosom heaved tumultuously, and she rose inagitation. Wallace now gazed on her with redoubled wonder. She sawit; and hearing a foot in the passage, turned, and grasping his hand,said in a soft and hurried tone, "Forgive, that which is entwined withmy heart should cost me some pangs to wrest thence again. Only respectme and I am comforted." Wallace in silence pressed her hand, and thedoor opened.

  Lady Ruthven entered. The countess, whose present aim was to throw thevirtue of Wallace off its guard, and to take that by sap, which shefound resisted open attack, with a penitential air disappeared byanother passage. Edwin's gentle mother was followed by the same youthwho had brought Helen's packet to Berwick. It was Walter Hay, anxiousto be recognized by his benefactor, to whom his recovered health hadrendered his person strange. Wallace received him with kindness, andtold him to bear his grateful respects to his lady for her care of hercharge. Lord Ruthven with others soon entered; and at the appointedhour they attended their chief to the citadel.

  The council-hall was already filled with the lords who had broughttheir clans to the Scottish standard. On the entrance of Wallace theyrose; and Mar coming forward, followed by the heralds and otherofficers of ceremony, saluted him with the due forms of regent, and ledhim to the throne. Wallace ascended; but it was only to take thence apacket which had been deposited for him on its cushion, and coming downagain, he laid the parchment on the council-table.

  "I can do all things best," said he, "when I am upon a level with myfriends." He then broke the seal of the packet. It was from thePrince of Wales, agreeing to Wallace's proposed exchange of prisoners,but denouncing him as the instigator of the rebellion, and threateninghim with a future judgment from his incensed king for the mischief hehad wrought in the realm of Scotland. The letter was finished with ademand that the town and citadel of Berwick should be surrendered toEngland, as a gauge for the quiet of the borders till Edward shouldreturn.

  Kirkpatrick scoffed at the audacious menace of the young prince. "Heshould come amongst us, like a man," cried he; "and we would soon showhim who it is that works mischief in Scotland! Ay, even on his back,we would write the chastisement due to the offender."

  "Be not angry with him, my friend," returned Wallace; "these threatsare words of course from the son of Edward. Did he not fear both ourrights and our arms, he would not so readily accord with ourpropositions. You see every Scottish prisoner is to be on the bordersby a certain day; and to satisfy that impatient valor (which I, yourfriend, would never check, but when it loses itself in a furor toonearly resembling that of our enemies), I intend to make your prowessonce again the theme of their discourse. You will retake your castlesin Annandale!"

  "Give me but the means to recover those stout gates of our country,"cried Kirkpatrick, "and I will warrant you to keep the keys in my handtill doomsday."

  Wallace resumed: "Three thousand men are at your command. When theprisoners pass each other on the Cheviots, the armistice willterminate. You may then fall back upon Annandale, and that night,light your own fires in Torthorald! Send the expelled garrison intoNorthumberland, and show this haughty prince that we know how toreplenish his depopulated towns!"

  "But first I will set my mark on them!" cried Kirkpatrick, with one ofthose laughs which ever preluded some savage proposal.

  "I can guess it would be no gentle one," returned Wallace. "Why, braveknight, will you ever sully the fair field of your fame with anensanguined tide?"

  "It is the fashion of the times," replied Kirkpatrick, roughly, "Youonly, my victorious general, who, perhaps, had most cause to go withthe stream, have chosen a path of your own. But look around! see ourburns, which the Southrons made run with Scottish blood; our hillocks,swollen with the cairns of our slain; the highways blocked up with thegraves of the murdered; our lands filled with maimed clansmen, whopurchased life of our ruthless tyrants, by the loss of eyes and limbs!And, shall we talk of gentle methods, with the perpetrators of thesehorrors? Sir William Wallace, you would make women of us!"

  "Shame, shame, Kirkpatrick!" resounded from every voice, "you insultthe regent!"

  Kirkpatrick stood, proudly frowning, with his left hand on the hilt ofhis sword. Wallace, by a motion, hushed the tumult, and spoke: "Notrue chief of Scotland can offer me greater respect, than frankly totrust me with his sentiments."

  "Though we disagree in some points," cried Kirkpatrick, "I am ready todie for him at any time, for I believe a trustier Scot treads not theearth; but I repeat, why, by this mincing mercy, seek to turn oursoldiers into women?"

  "I seek to make them men," replied Wallace; "to be aware that theyfight with fellow-creatures, with whom they may one day be friends; andnot like the furious savages of old Scandinavia, drink the blood ofeternal enmity. I would neither have my chieftains set examples ofcruelty, nor degrade themselves by imitating the barbarities of ourenemies. That Scotland bleeds every pore is true; but let peace be ouraim, and we shall heal all her wounds."

  "Then I am not to cut off the ears of the freebooters in Annandale?"cried Kirkpatrick, with a good-humored smile. "Have it as you will, mygeneral, only you must new christen me to wash the war-stai
n from myhand. The rite of my infancy was performed as became a soldier's son;my fount was my father's helmet and the first pap I sucked lay on thepoint of his sword."

  "You have not shamed your nurse!" cried Murray.

  "Nor will I," answered Kirkpatrick, "while the arm that slewCressingham remains unwithered."

  While he spoke, Ker entered to ask permission to introduce a messengerfrom Earl de Warenne. Wallace gave consent. It was Sir Hugh le deSpencer, a near kinsman of the Earl of Hereford, the tumultoryconstable of England. He was the envoy who had brought the Prince ofWales' dispatches to Stirling. Wallace was standing when he entered,and so were the chieftains, but at his appearance they sat down.Wallace retained his position.

  "I come," cried the Southron knight, "from the lord warden of Scotland,who, like my prince, too greatly condescends to do otherwise thancommand, where now he treats; I come to the leader of this rebellion,William Wallace, to receive an answer to the terms granted by theclemency of my master, the son of his liege lord, to this misledkingdom."

  "Sir Knight," replied Sir William Wallace, "when the Southron lordsdelegate a messenger to me, who knows how to respect the representativeof the nation to which he is sent, and the agents of his own country, Ishall give them my reply. You may withdraw."

  The Southron stood, resolute to remain where he was; "Do you know,proud Scot," cried he, "to whom you dare address this imperiouslanguage? I am the nephew of the lord high constable of England."

  "It is a pity," cried Murray, looking coolly up from the table, "thathe is not here to take his kinsman into custody."

  Le de Spencer fiercely half drew his sword; "Sir, this insult-"

  "Must be put up with," cried Wallace, interrupting him, and motioningEdwin to lay his hand on the sword; "you have insulted the nation towhich you were sent on a peaceful errand; and having thus invited theresentment of every chief here present, you cannot justly complainagainst their indignation. But in consideration of your youth, andprobable ignorance of what becomes the character of an embassador, Igrant you the protection your behavior has forfeited. Sir AlexanderScrymgeour," said he, turning to him, "you will guard Sir Hugh le deSpencer to the Earl de Warenne, and tell that nobleman I am ready toanswer any proper messenger."

  The young Southron, frowning, followed Scrymgeour from the hall, andWallace, turning to Murray, "My friend," said he, "it is not well tostimulate insolence by repartee. This young man's speech, though aninsult to the nation, was directed to me, and by me only it ought tohave been answered, and that seriously. The haughty spirit of this manshould have been quelled, not incensed; and, had you proceeded one wordfurther, you would have given him an apparently just cause of complaintagainst you, and of that, my friend, I am most sensibly jealous. It isnot policy nor virtue to be rigorous to the extent of justice."

  "I know," returned Murray, blushing, "that my wits are too many for me;ever throwing me, like Phaeton's horses, into the midst of some fierymischief. But pardon me now, and I promise to rein them close, whennext I see this prancing knight."

  "Bravo, my Lord Andrew!" cried Kirkpatrick, in an affected whisper, "Iam not always to be bird alone, under the whip of our regent; you havehad a few stripes, and now look a little of my feather!"

  "Like as a swan to a vulture, good Roger," answered Murray.

  Wallace attended not to this tilting of humor between the chieftains,but engaged himself in close discourse with the elder nobles at thehigher end of the hall. In half an hour Scrymgeour returned, and withhim Baron Hilton. He brought an apology from De Warenne, for thebehavior of his embassador; and added his persuasions to the demands ofEngland, that the regent would surrender Berwick, not only as a pledgefor the Scots keeping the truce on the borders, but as a proof of hisconfidence in Prince Edward.

  Wallace answered, that he had no reason to show extraordinaryconfidence in one who manifested, by such a requisition, that he had nofaith in Scotland; and therefore, neither as a proof of confidence, noras a gauge of her word, should Scotland, a victorious power, surrenderthe eastern door of her kingdom in the vanquished. Wallace declaredhimself ready to dismiss the English prisoners to the frontiers, and tomaintain the armistice till they had reached the south side of theCheviots. "But," added he, "my word must be my bond, for by the honorof Scotland I will give no other."

  "Then," answered Baron Hilton, with an honest flush passing over hischeek, as if ashamed of what he had next to say, "I am constrained tolay before you the last instructions of the Prince of Wales to Earl deWarenne."

  He took a royally sealed roll of vellum from his breast, and read aloud:

  "Thus saith Edward, Prince of Wales, to Earl de Warenne, Lord Warden ofScotland. If that arch-rebel, William Wallace, who now assumeth tohimself the rule of all our royal father's hereditary dominions northof the Cheviots, refuseth to give unto us the whole possession of thetown and citadel of Berwick-upon-Tweed, as a pledge of his faith, tokeep the armistice on the borders from sea to sea: we command you totell him, that we shall detain under the ward of our good lieutenant ofthe Tower in London, the person of William the Lord Douglas, as a closecaptive, until our prisoners, now in Scotland, arrive safely atNewcastle-upon-Tyne. This mark of supremacy over a rebellious peoplewe owe as a pledge of their homage to our royal father; and as atribute of our gratitude to him for having allowed us to treat at allwith so undutiful a part of his dominions.

  "(Signed)

  Edward, P.W."

  "Baron," cried Wallace, "it would be beneath the dignity of Scotland,to retaliate this act with the like conduct. The exchange of prisonersshall yet be made, and the armistice held sacred on the borders. But,as I hold the door of war open in the interior of the country, beforethe Earl de Warenne leaves this citadel (and it shall be on the dayassigned), please the Almighty Lord of Justice, the Southron usurpersof all our castles on the eastern shore shall be our hostages for thesafety of Lord Douglas."

  "And this is my answer, noble Wallace?"

  "It is; and you see no more of me till that which I have said is done."

  Baron Hilton withdrew. And Wallace, turning to his peers, rapidly madedispositions for a sweeping march from frith to frith; and having sentthose who were to accompany him to prepare for departure next day atdawn, he retired with the Lords Mar and Bothwell to arrange affairsrelative to the prisoners.