In vain Kirkpatrick thundered forth his indignant soul; he was
unheard in the tumult; but going up to the countess, he accused her to
her face of falsehood, and charged her with a design from some really
treasonable motive to destroy the only sure hope of her country.
"And will you not speak?" cried Edwin in agony of spirit grasping
Wallace's arm; "will you not speak before these ungrateful men shall
dare to brand your ever-honored name with infamy! Make yourself be
heard, my noblest friend! Confute that wicked woman, who too surely
has proved what I suspected--that this self-concealing knight came to
be a traitor."
"I will speak, my Edwin," returned Wallace, "at the proper moment; but
not in this tumult of my enemies. Rely on it, your friend will submit
to no unjust decree."
"Where is this Knight of the Green Plume?" cried Lennox, almost
startled in his opinion of Wallace by the consistency of the countess'
narrative. "No mark of dishonor shall be passed on Sir William Wallace
without the strictest scrutiny. Let the mysterious stranger be found,
and confronted with Lady Strathearn."
Notwithstanding the earl's insisting on impartial justice, she
perceived the doubt in his countenance, and eager to maintain her
advantage, replied--"The knight, I fear, has fled beyond our search;
but that I may not want a witness to corroborate the love I once bore
this arch-hypocrite, and, consequently, the sacrifice I make to loyalty
in thus unveiling him to the world, I call upon you, Lord Lennox, to
say whether you did not observe at Dumbarton Castle the state of my too
grateful heart?"
Lennox, who well remembered her conduct in the citadel of that
fortress, hesitated to answer, aware that his reply might substantiate
a guilt which he now feared would be but too strongly manifest.
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