He told her, if the
nation chose to make their benefactor king, he should not oppose it;
because he thought that none of the blood royal deserved to wear the
crown which they had all consented to hold in fee of Edward; yet he
would never promote by intrigue an election which must rob his own
posterity of their inheritance. But when she gave hints of her
becoming one day the wife of Wallace, he turned on her with a frown.
"Cousin," said he, "beware how you allow so guilty an idea to take
possession of your heart! It is the parent of dishonor and death. And
did I think that Sir William Wallace were capable of sharing your
wishes, I would be the first to abandon his standard. But I believe
him too virtuous to look on a married woman with the eyes of passion;
and that he holds the houses of Mar and Cummin in too high a respect to
breathe an illicit sigh in the ear of my kinswoman."
Despairing of making the impression she desired on the mind of this
severe relative, Lady Mar spoke to him no more on the subject. And
Lord Badenoch, ignorant that she had imparted her criminal project to
his brother and cousin, believed that his reproof had performed her
cure.
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