"But," added he, "my word must be my bond, for by the honor
of Scotland I will give no other."
"Then," answered Baron Hilton, with an honest flush passing over his
cheek, as if ashamed of what he had next to say, "I am constrained to
lay before you the last instructions of the Prince of Wales to Earl de
Warenne."
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 of
Scotland. If that arch-rebel, William Wallace, who now assumeth to
himself the rule of all our royal father's hereditary dominions north
of the Cheviots, refuseth to give unto us the whole possession of the
town and citadel of Berwick-upon-Tweed, as a pledge of his faith, to
keep the armistice on the borders from sea to sea: we command you to
tell him, that we shall detain under the ward of our good lieutenant of
the Tower in London, the person of William the Lord Douglas, as a close
captive, until our prisoners, now in Scotland, arrive safely at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This mark of supremacy over a rebellious people
we owe as a pledge of their homage to our royal father; and as a
tribute of our gratitude to him for having allowed us to treat at all
with so undutiful a part of his dominions.
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