"May it indeed be blessed!" cried Lord Mar; "for this night it has made
the Southrons feel there is yet one man in Scotland who does not fear
to resist oppression, and to punish treachery."

"What treachery?" inquired Lady Wallace, her alarmed spirit still
hovering about her soul's far dearer part; "is any meant to my husband?"

"None to Sir William Wallace, more than to any other brave Scot,"
replied the earl: "but we all see the oppression of our country; we all
know the treachery by which it was subjugated; and this night, in my
own person, I have felt the effects of both. The English at Lanark
dispatched a body of men to Bothwell Castle (where my family now are),
on a plea, that as its lord is yet absent, they presume he is adverse
to Edward, and therefore they must search his dwelling for documents to
settle the point. Considering myself the representative of my
brother-in-law, Lord Bothwell, and suspecting that this might be only a
private marauding party, I refused to admit the soldiers; and saw them
depart, swearing to return next day with a stronger force, and storm
the castle. To be ascertained of their commission, and to appeal
against such unprovoked tyranny, should it be true, I followed the
detachment to Lanark.

"I saw Heselrigge the governor. He avowed the transaction; but awed by
the power which he thinks I possess in the country, he consented to
spare Bothwell while I and my family remain in it. It being nearly
dark, I took my leave, and was proceeding toward my servants in the
courtyard when a young man accosted me. I recognized him to be the
officer who had commanded the party I had driven from the castle.
Heselrigge having told me that he was his nephew, I made no hesitation
to go back with him, when he informed me that his uncle had forgotten