"Forgive, generous Gloucester, the distraction of a severely
wounded spirit!"
This pardon was immediately accorded; and Bruce impetuously added:
"Lead me to these dear remains, that with redoubled certainty I may
strike his murderer's heart! I came to succor him. I now stay to
die--but not unrevenged!"
"I will lead you," returned the earl, "where you shall learn a
different lesson. His soul will speak to you by the lips of his bride,
now watching by those sacred relics. Feeble is now her lamp of life;
but a saint's vigilance keeps it burning, till it may expire in the
grave with him she so chastely loved."
A few words gave Bruce to understand that he meant Lady Helen Mar; and
with a deepened grief when he heard in what an awful hour their hands
were plighted, he followed his conductor through the quadrangle.
When Gloucester gently opened the door, which contained the remains of
the bravest and the best, Bruce stood for a moment on the threshold.
At the further end of the apartment, lighted by a solitary taper, lay
the body of Wallace on a bier, covered with a soldier's cloak.
Kneeling by its side, with her head on its bosom, was Helen.
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