"
"How?" cried she, starting up. "What, then, was that cry I heard? Did
they 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 her
anticipated crown fall from her head, and having united the gaining of
Wallace with his acquisition of this dignity, all her hopes seemed
again 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 had
meant to bind him to her love; and now all was rejected, and she wept
in despair. He gazed at her with amazement. What these emotions and
his 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 carse
at the time I went thither to meet my gallant countrymen; and these two
noblemen, though so lately the friends of Edward, united with the rest
in proclaiming me regent."
This word dried the tears of Lady Mar. She saw the shadow of royalty
behind it; and summoning artifice, to conceal the joy of her heart, she
calmly said, "Do not too severely condemn this weakness; it is not that
of vain wishes for your aggrandizement.
Pages:
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559