"It was while we were yet in the chapel that I heard De Valence and
Soulis at high words in the courtyard. The former, in a loud voice,
gave orders that, as Lady Helen Mar could nowhere be found, the earl
and countess, with their two infant children, should not be separated,
but be conveyed as his prisoners to Dumbarton Castle."
"That is a comfort," cried Helen; "my father will then be consoled by
the presence of his wife."
"But very different would have been the case, madam, had you appeared,"
rejoined the soldier. "One of Lord de Valence's men told me, that Lord
Soulis intended to have taken you and the countess to Dunglass Castle,
near Glasgow, while the sick earl was to have been carried alone to
Dumbarton, and detained in solitary confinement. Lord Soulis was in so
dreadful a rage, when you could not be found, that he accused the
English commander of having leagued with Lady Mar to deceived him. In
the midst of this contention we descended into the vaults."
Helen shuddered at the thought of how near she was to falling into the
hands of so fierce a spirit. In his character, he united every quality
which could render power formidable; combining prodigious bodily
strength with cruelty, dissimulation, and treachery.
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