A Legend of Montrose Page 24

  CHAPTER XXII.

  I am as free as nature first made man, Ere the base laws of servitude began, When wild in woods the noble savage ran. --CONQUEST OF GRANADA

  The Earl of Menteith, as he had undertaken, so he proceeded toinvestigate more closely the story told by Ranald of the Mist, which wascorroborated by the examination of his two followers, who had assistedin the capacity of guides. These declarations he carefully compared withsuch circumstances concerning the destruction of his castle and familyas Sir Duncan Campbell was able to supply; and it may be supposed he hadforgotten nothing relating to an event of such terrific importance. Itwas of the last consequence to prove that this was no invention ofthe outlaw's, for the purpose of passing an impostor as the child andheiress of Ardenvohr.

  Perhaps Menteith, so much interested in believing the tale, was notaltogether the fittest person to be intrusted with the investigation ofits truth; but the examinations of the Children of the Mist were simple,accurate, and in all respects consistent with each other. A personalmark was referred to, which was known to have been borne by the infantchild of Sir Duncan, and which appeared upon the left shoulder of AnnotLyle. It was also well remembered, that when the miserable relics of theother children had been collected, those of the infant had nowherebeen found. Other circumstances of evidence, which it is unnecessary toquote, brought the fullest conviction not only to Menteith, but to theunprejudiced mind of Montrose, that in Annot Lyle, an humble dependant,distinguished only by beauty and talent, they were in future to respectthe heiress of Ardenvohr.

  While Menteith hastened to communicate the result of these enquiriesto the persons most interested, the outlaw demanded to speak with hisgrandchild, whom he usually called his son. "He would be found," hesaid, "in the outer apartment, in which he himself had been originallydeposited."

  Accordingly, the young savage, after a close search, was found lurkingin a corner, coiled up among some rotten straw, and brought to hisgrandsire.

  "Kenneth," said the old outlaw, "hear the last words of the sire ofthy father. A Saxon soldier, and Allan of the Red-hand, left this campwithin these few hours, to travel to the country to Caberfae. Pursuethem as the bloodhound pursues the hurt deer--swim the lake-climb themountain--thread the forest--tarry not until you join them;" and thenthe countenance of the lad darkened as his grandfather spoke, and helaid his hand upon a knife which stuck in the thong of leather thatconfined his scanty plaid. "No!" said the old man; "it is not by thyhand he must fall. They will ask the news from the camp--say to themthat Annot Lyle of the Harp is discovered to be the daughter of Duncanof Ardenvohr; that the Thane of Menteith is to wed her before thepriest; and that you are sent to bid guests to the bridal. Tarrynot their answer, but vanish like the lightning when the black cloudswallows it.--And now depart, beloved son of my best beloved! I shallnever more see thy face, nor hear the light sound of thy footstep--yettarry an instant and hear my last charge. Remember the fate of our race,and quit not the ancient manners of the Children of the Mist. We are nowa straggling handful, driven from every vale by the sword of every clan,who rule in the possessions where their forefathers hewed the wood, anddrew the water for ours. But in the thicket of the wilderness, and inthe mist of the mountain, Kenneth, son of Eracht, keep thou unsoiled thefreedom which I leave thee as a birthright. Barter it not neither forthe rich garment, nor for the stone-roof, nor for the covered board, norfor the couch of down--on the rock or in the valley, in abundance or infamine--in the leafy summer, and in the days of the iron winter--Son ofthe Mist! be free as thy forefathers. Own no lord--receive no law--takeno hire--give no stipend--build no hut--enclose no pasture--sow nograin;--let the deer of the mountain be thy flocks and herds--if thesefail thee, prey upon the goods of our oppressors--of the Saxons, and ofsuch Gael as are Saxons in their souls, valuing herds and flocks morethan honour and freedom. Well for us that they do so--it affords thebroader scope for our revenge. Remember those who have done kindness toour race, and pay their services with thy blood, should the hour requireit. If a MacIan shall come to thee with the head of the king's sonin his hand, shelter him, though the avenging army of the father werebehind him; for in Glencoe and Ardnamurchan, we have dwelt in peacein the years that have gone by. The sons of Diarmid--the race ofDarnlinvarach--the riders of Menteith--my curse on thy head, Child ofthe Mist, if thou spare one of those names, when the time shall offerfor cutting them off! and it will come anon, for their own swords shalldevour each other, and those who are scattered shall fly to the Mist,and perish by its Children. Once more, begone--shake the dust from thyfeet against the habitations of men, whether banded together for peaceor for war. Farewell, beloved! and mayst thou die like thyforefathers, ere infirmity, disease, or age, shall break thyspirit--Begone!--begone!--live free--requite kindness--avenge theinjuries of thy race!"

  The young savage stooped, and kissed the brow of his dying parent; butaccustomed from infancy to suppress every exterior sign of emotion,he parted without tear or adieu, and was soon far beyond the limits ofMontrose's camp.

  Sir Dugald Dalgetty, who was present during the latter part of thisscene, was very little edified by the conduct of MacEagh upon theoccasion. "I cannot think, my friend Ranald," said he, "that you are inthe best possible road for a dying man. Storms, onslaughts, massacres,the burning of suburbs, are indeed a soldier's daily work, and arejustified by the necessity of the case, seeing that they are done in thecourse of duty; for burning of suburbs, in particular, it may be saidthat they are traitors and cut-throats to all fortified towns. Hence itis plain, that a soldier is a profession peculiarly favoured by Heaven,seeing that we may hope for salvation, although we daily commit actionsof so great violence. But then, Ranald, in all services of Europe, it isthe custom of the dying soldier not to vaunt him of such doings, orto recommend them to his fellows; but, on the contrary, to expresscontrition for the same, and to repeat, or have repeated to him, somecomfortable prayer; which, if you please, I will intercede with hisExcellency's chaplain to prefer on your account. It is otherwise nopoint of my duty to put you in mind of those things; only it may be forthe ease of your conscience to depart more like a Christian, and lesslike a Turk, than you seem to be in a fair way of doing."

  The only answer of the dying man--(for as such Ranald MacEagh might nowbe considered)--was a request to be raised to such a position that hemight obtain a view from the window of the Castle. The deep frost mist,which had long settled upon the top of the mountains, was now rollingdown each rugged glen and gully, where the craggy ridges showed theirblack and irregular outline, like desert islands rising above the oceanof vapour. "Spirit of the Mist!" said Ranald MacEagh, "called by ourrace our father, and our preserver--receive into thy tabernacle ofclouds, when this pang is over, him whom in life thou hast so oftensheltered." So saying, he sunk back into the arms of those who upheldhim, spoke no further word, but turned his face to the wall for a shortspace.

  "I believe," said Dalgetty, "my friend Ranald will be found in his heartto be little better than a heathen." And he renewed his proposalto procure him the assistance of Dr. Wisheart, Montrose's militarychaplain; "a man," said Sir Dugald, "very clever in his exercise, andwho will do execution on your sins in less time than I could smoke apipe of tobacco."

  "Saxon," said the dying man, "speak to me no more of thy priest--I diecontented. Hadst thou ever an enemy against whom weapons were of noavail--whom the ball missed, and against whom the arrow shivered, andwhose bare skin was as impenetrable to sword and dirk as thy steelgarment--Heardst thou ever of such a foe?"

  "Very frequently, when I served in Germany," replied Sir Dugald. "Therewas such a fellow at Ingolstadt; he was proof both against lead andsteel. The soldiers killed him with the buts of their muskets."

  "This impassible foe," said Ranald, without regarding the Major'sinterruption, "who has the blood dearest to me upon his hands--to thisman I have now bequeathed agony of mind, jealousy, despair, and suddendeath,--or a life more miserable than death itself. Such shall be the
lot of Allan of the Red-hand, when he learns that Annot weds Menteithand I ask no more than the certainty that it is so, to sweeten my ownbloody end by his hand."

  "If that be the case," said the Major, "there's no more to be said; butI shall take care as few people see you as possible, for I cannotthink your mode of departure can be at all creditable or exemplary toa Christian army." So saying, he left the apartment, and the Son of theMist soon after breathed his last.

  Menteith, in the meanwhile, leaving the new-found relations to theirmutual feelings of mingled emotion, was eagerly discussing with Montrosethe consequences of this discovery. "I should now see," said theMarquis, "even had I not before observed it, that your interest inthis discovery, my dear Menteith, has no small reference to your ownhappiness. You love this new-found lady,--your affection is returned. Inpoint of birth, no exceptions can be made; in every other respect,her advantages are equal to those which you yourself possess--think,however, a moment. Sir Duncan is a fanatic--Presbyterian, at least--inarms against the King; he is only with us in the quality of a prisoner,and we are, I fear, but at the commencement of a long civil war. Is thisa time, think you, Menteith, for you to make proposals for his heiress?Or what chance is there that he will now listen to it?"

  Passion, an ingenious, as well as an eloquent advocate, supplied theyoung nobleman with a thousand answers to these objections. He remindedMontrose that the Knight of Ardenvohr was neither a bigot in politicsnor religion. He urged his own known and proved zeal for the royalcause, and hinted that its influence might be extended and strengthenedby his wedding the heiress of Ardenvohr. He pleaded the dangerous stateof Sir Duncan's wound, the risk which must be run by suffering the younglady to be carried into the country of the Campbells, where, in case ofher father's death, or continued indisposition, she must necessarilybe placed under the guardianship of Argyle, an event fatal to his(Menteith's) hopes, unless he could stoop to purchase his favour byabandoning the King's party.

  Montrose allowed the force of these arguments, and owned, although thematter was attended with difficulty, yet it seemed consistent with theKing's service that it should be concluded as speedily as possible.

  "I could wish," said he, "that it were all settled in one way oranother, and that this fair Briseis were removed from our camp beforethe return of our Highland Achilles, Allan M'Aulay.--I fear some fatalfeud in that quarter, Menteith--and I believe it would be best that SirDuncan be dismissed on his parole, and that you accompany him and hisdaughter as his escort. The journey can be made chiefly by water, sowill not greatly incommode his wound--and your own, my friend, will bean honourable excuse for the absence of some time from my camp."

  "Never!" said Menteith. "Were I to forfeit the very hope that has solately dawned upon me, never will I leave your Excellency's camp whilethe royal standard is displayed. I should deserve that this triflingscratch should gangrene and consume my sword-arm, were I capableof holding it as an excuse for absence at this crisis of the King'saffairs."

  "On this, then, you are determined?" said Montrose.

  "As fixed as Ben-Nevis," said the young nobleman.

  "You must, then," said Montrose, "lose no time in seeking an explanationwith the Knight of Ardenvohr. If this prove favourable, I will talkmyself with the elder M'Aulay, and we will devise means to employ hisbrother at a distance from the army until he shall be reconciled to hispresent disappointment. Would to God some vision would descend upon hisimagination fair enough to obliterate all traces of Annot Lyle! Thatperhaps you think impossible, Menteith?--Well, each to his service; youto that of Cupid, and I to that of Mars."

  They parted, and in pursuance of the scheme arranged, Menteith, early onthe ensuing morning, sought a private interview with the wounded Knightof Ardenvohr, and communicated to him his suit for the hand of hisdaughter. Of their mutual attachment Sir Duncan was aware, but he wasnot prepared for so early a declaration on the part of Menteith. Hesaid, at first, that he had already, perhaps, indulged too much infeelings of personal happiness, at a time when his clan had sustainedso great a loss and humiliation, and that he was unwilling, therefore,farther to consider the advancement of his own house at a period socalamitous. On the more urgent suit of the noble lover, he requested afew hours to deliberate and consult with his daughter, upon a questionso highly important.

  The result of this interview and deliberation was favourable toMenteith. Sir Duncan Campbell became fully sensible that the happinessof his new-found daughter depended upon a union with her lover; andunless such were now formed, he saw that Argyle would throw a thousandobstacles in the way of a match in every respect acceptable to himself.Menteith's private character was so excellent, and such was the rank andconsideration due to his fortune and family, that they outbalanced, inSir Duncan's opinion, the difference in their political opinions. Norcould he have resolved, perhaps, had his own opinion of the match beenless favourable, to decline an opportunity of indulging the new-foundchild of his hopes. There was, besides, a feeling of pride whichdictated his determination. To produce the Heiress of Ardenvohr to theworld as one who had been educated a poor dependant and musician in thefamily of Darnlinvarach, had something in it that was humiliating. Tointroduce her as the betrothed bride, or wedded wife, of the Earl ofMenteith, upon an attachment formed during her obscurity, was a warrantto the world that she had at all times been worthy of the rank to whichshe was elevated.

  It was under the influence of these considerations that Sir DuncanCampbell announced to the lovers his consent that they should be marriedin the chapel of the Castle, by Montrose's chaplain, and as privately aspossible. But when Montrose should break up from Inverlochy, for whichorders were expected in the course of a very few days, it was agreedthat the young Countess should depart with her father to his Castle, andremain there until the circumstances of the nation permitted Menteith toretire with honour from his present military employment. His resolutionbeing once taken, Sir Duncan Campbell would not permit the maidenlyscruples of his daughter to delay its execution; and it was thereforeresolved that the bridal should take place the next evening, being thesecond after the battle.