Chapter LXVII.
Scotland.
The eighth morning from the day in which the Red Reaver's ship wasrelaunched from the Norman harbor, Wallace, now the representative ofthat once formidable pirate, bearing the white flag of good faith,entered between the castled shores of the Frith of Tay, and cast anchorunder the towers of Dundee.
When Bruce leaped upon the beach, he turned to Wallace and said withexultation, though in a low voice, "Scotland now receives her king!This earth shall cover me, or support my throne!"
"It shall support your throne, and bless it too," replied Wallace; "youare come in the power of justice, and that is the power of God. I knowHim in whom I bid you confide; for He has been my shield and sword, andnever yet have I turned my back upon my enemies. Trust, my dearprince, where I have trusted; and while virtue is your incense, youneed not doubt the issue of your prayers."
Had Wallace seen the face of Bruce at that moment, but the visorconcealed it, he would have beheld an answer in his eloquent eyes whichrequired not words to explain. He grasped the hand of Wallace withfervor, and briefly replied, "Your trust shall be my trust!"
The chiefs did not stay longer at Dundee than was requisite to furnishthem with horses to convey them to Perth, where Ruthven still boresway. When they arrived, he was at Huntingtower, and thither theywent. The meeting was fraught with many mingled feelings. Helen hadnot seen her uncle since the death of her father; and, as soon as thefirst gratulations were over, she retired to an apartment to weep alone.
On Cummin's being presented to Lord Ruthven, the earl told him he mustnow salute him as Lord Badenoch, his brother having been killed a fewdays before in a skirmish on the skirts of Ettrick Forest. Ruthventhen turned to welcome the entrance of Bruce, who, raising his visor,received from the loyal chief the homage due to his sovereign dignity.Wallace and the prince soon engaged him in a discourse immediatelyconnected with the design of their return; and learned that Scotlanddid indeed require the royal arm, and the counsel of its best andlately almost banished friend. Much of the eastern part of the countrywas again in possession of Edward's generals. They had seized on everycastle in the Lowlands; none having been considered too insignificantto escape their hands. Nor could the quiet of reposing age elude thegeneral devastation; and after a dauntless defense of his castle, theveteran Knight of Thirlestane had fallen, and with him his only son.On hearing this disaster, the sage of Ercildown, having meanwhileprotected Lady Isabella mar at Learmont, conveyed her northward; butfalling sick at Roslyn, he had stopped there; and the messenger hedispatched to Huntingtower with these calamitous tidings (who happenedto be that brave young Gordon whose borrowed breastplate had been thatof Bruce's, in his first battle for Scotland!), bore also informationthat besides several parties of the enemy which were hovering on theheights near Roslyn, an immense army was approaching fromNorthumberland. Ercildown said he understood Sir Simon Fraser washastening forward with a small body to attempt cutting off theseadvanced squadrons; but, he added, while the contentions continuedbetween Athol and Soulis for the vacant regency, no man could have hopeof any steady stand against England.
At this communication, Cummin bluntly proposed himself as theterminator of this dispute. "If the regency were allowed to my brotheras head of the house of Cummin, that dignity now rests with me. Givethe word, my sovereign," said he, addressing Bruce, "and none thereshall dare oppose my rights." Ruthven approved this proposal; andWallace, deeming it not only the best way of silencing the pretensionsof those old disturbers of the public tranquility, but a happyopportunity of putting the chief magistracy into the hands of aconfidant of their design, seconded the advice of Ruthven. Thus JohnCummin, Lord Badenoch, was invested with the regency, and immediatelydispatched to the army, to assume it as if in right of his being thenext heir to the throne in default of the Bruce.
Wallace sent Lord Douglas privately into Clydesdale, to inform EarlBothwell of his arrival, and to request his instant presence with theLanark division and his own troops on the banks of the Eske. Ruthvenascended the Grampians, to call out the numerous clans of Perthshire,and Wallace, with his prince, prepared themselves for meeting theauxiliaries before the towers of Roslyn. Meanwhile, as Huntingtowerwould be an insecure asylum for Helen, when it must be left todomestics alone, Wallace proposed to Edwin that he should escort hiscousin to Braemar, and place her under the care of his mother and thewidowed countess. "Thither," continued he, "we will send Lady Isabellaalso, should Heaven bless our arms at Roslyn." Edwin acquiesced, as hewas to return with all speed to join his friend on the southern bank ofthe Forth; and Helen, aware that scenes of blood were no scenes forher, while her heart was wrung to agony at the thought of relinquishingWallace to new dangers, yielded a reluctant assent, not merely to go,but to take that look of him which might be the last.
The sight of her uncle, and the objects around, had so recalled theimage of her father, that ever since her arrival a foreboding sadnesshad hung over her spirits. She remembered that a few months ago shehad seen that beloved parent go out to battle, whence he neverreturned. Should the same doom await her with regard to Wallace! Theidea shook her frame with an agitation that sunk her, in spite ofherself, on the bosom of this trust of friends, when Edwin approachedto lead her to her horse. Her emotions penetrated the heart againstwhich she leaned.
"My gentle sister," said Wallace, "do not despair of our final success;of the safety of all whom you regard."
"Ah! Wallace," faltered she, in a voice rendered hardly audible bytears, "but did I not lose my father?"
"Sweet Helen," returned he, tenderly grasping her trembling hand, "youlost him, but he gained by the exchange. And should the peace ofScotland be purchased by the lives of your friends--if Bruce survives,you must still think your prayers blessed. Were I to fall, my sister,my sorrows would be over; and from the region of universal blessednessI should enjoy the sight of Scotland's happiness."
"Were we all to enter those regions at one time," faintly repliedHelen, "there would be comfort in such thoughts; but as it is--" Hereshe paused; tears stopped her utterance. "A few years is a shortseparation," returned Wallace, "when we are hereafter to be united toall eternity. This is my consolation, when I think of Marion--whenmemory dwells with the friends lost in these dreadful conflicts; andwhatever may be the fate of those who now survive, call to remembrancemy words, dear Helen, and the God who was my instructor will send youcomfort."
"Then farewell, my friend, my brother!" cried she, forcibly tearingherself away, and throwing herself into the arms of Edwin; "leave menow; and the angel of the just will bring you in glory, here orhereafter, to your sister Helen." Wallace fervently kissed the handshe again extended to him; and, with an emotion which he had thought hewould never feel again for mortal woman, left the apartment.