"
The name of his accuser made Wallace start; and the sight of her
unblushing face, for she threw aside her veil the moment she was
addressed, overspread his cheek with a tinge of that shame for her
which she was now too hardened in determined crime to feel herself.
Edwin gazed at her in speechless horror; while she, casting a glance at
Wallace, in which the full purpose of her soul was declared, turned
with a softened though majestic air, to the regent, and spoke:
"My lord," said she, "you see before you a woman, who never knew what
it was to feel a self-reproachful pang till an evil hour brought her to
receive an obligation from that insidious treacherous man. But as my
first passion has ever been the love of my country, I will prove it to
this good assembly by making a confession of what was once my heart's
weakness; and by that candor, I trust they will fully honor the rest of
my narrative."
A Clamor of approbation resounded through the hall. Lennox and
Loch-awe looked on each other with amazement. Kirkpatrick,
recollecting the scenes at Dumbarton, exclaimed--"Jezebel!"--but the
ejaculation was lost in the general burst of applause; and the countess
opening a folded paper which she held in her hand, in a calm, collected
voice, but with a flushing cheek, resumed:
"I shall read my further deposition.
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