To this end,
she became willing to bribe Soulis' participation, by the hand of
Helen. She knew that her daughter-in-law abhorred his character, but
love, indifference, or hatred, she now thought of little consequence in
a marriage which brought sufficient antidotes in rank and wealth. She
had never felt what real love was, and her personal vanity being no
longer agitated by the raptures of a frantic rivalry, she now lived
tranquilly with Lord Mar. What then was her astonishment, what the
wild distraction of her heart, when she first beheld Sir William
Wallace, and found in her breast for him, all which, in the moment of
the most unreflecting intoxication, she had ever felt for her lord,
with the addition of feelings and sentiments, the existence of which
she had never believed, but now knew in all their force! Love for the
first time penetrated through every nerve of her body, and possessed
her whole mind. Taught a theory of virtue by her husband, she was
startled at wishes which militated against his honor, but no principles
being grounded in her mind, they soon disappeared before the furious
charge of his passions, and after a short struggle she surrendered
herself to the lawless power of a guilty and ambitious love.
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