"I know not," replied his sister; "she sat behind me, and I knew
nothing of her disorder till she fell as you see."
Murray instantly supposed that she had discovered the unknown knight;
and looking from countenance to countenance, amongst the train, to try
if he could discern the envied cause of such emotions, he read in no
face an answering feeling with that of Helen's; and turning away from
his unavailing scrutiny, on hearing her draw a deep sigh, his eyes
fixed themselves on her, as if they would have read her soul. Wallace,
who, in the pale form before him, saw, not only the woman whom he had
preserved with a brother's care, but the compassionate saint, who had
given a hallowed grave to the remains of an angel, pure as herself, now
hung over her with anxiety so eloquent in every feature that the
countess would willingly at that moment have stabbed her in every vein.
Lady Ruthven had sprinkled her niece with water; and as she began to
revive, Wallace motioned to his chieftains to withdraw; her eyes opened
slowly; but recollection returning with every reawakened sense, she
dimly perceived a press of people around her, and fearful of again
encountering that face, which declared the Bruce of her secret
meditations and the Wallace of her declared veneration were one, she
buried her blushes in the bosom of her father.
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