"
In the confusion of his thoughts, the earl turned his eye on Lord
Montgomery, who had only arrived that very morning from an embassy to
Spain. He had heard with unutterable horror the fate of Wallace; and
extending his interest in him to those whom he loved, had arranged with
Gloucester to accompany him that very evening to pledge his friendship
to Bruce. To Montgomery, then, as to the only man acquainted with his
secret, he turned; and taking his spurs off his feet, and pulling out a
purse of gold, he said aloud, and with as easy an air as he could
assume, "Here, my Lord Montgomery, as you are going directly to
Highgate, I will thank you to call at my lodge; put these spurs and
this purse into the hands of the groom we spoke of; tell him they do
not fit me, and he will know what use to make of them." He then turned
negligently on his heel, and Montgomery quitted the apartment.
The apprehension of this young lord was not less quick than the
invention of his friend. He guessed that the Scottish prince was
betrayed; and to render his escape the less likely to be traced (the
ground being wet, and liable to retain impression), before he went to
the lodge he dismounted in the adjoining wood, and with his own hands
reversed the iron on the feet of the animal he had provided for Bruce.
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