--Lioness of Scotland, go
forth and conquer! and if the prayers of a devoted votaress can avail
thee, they will rise in many a land, and from many a distant shrine. I
will glide like a ghost from land to land, from temple to temple; and
where the very name of my country is unknown, the priests shall ask
who is the Queen of that distant northern land, for whom the aged
pilgrim was so fervent in prayer. Farewell! Honour be thine, and
earthly prosperity, if it be the will of God--if not, may the penance
thou shalt do here ensure thee happiness hereafter!--Let no one speak
or follow me--my resolution is taken--my vow cannot be cancelled."
She glided from their presence as she spoke, and her last look was
upon her beloved grandchild. He would have risen and followed, but the
Queen and Lord Seyton interfered.
"Press not on her now," said Lord Seyton, "if you would not lose her
for ever. Many a time have we seen the sainted mother, and often at
the most needful moment; but to press on her privacy, or to thwart her
purpose, is a crime which she cannot pardon. I trust we shall yet see
her at her need--a holy woman she is for certain, and dedicated wholly
to prayer and penance; and hence the heretics hold her as one
distracted, while true Catholics deem her a saint."
"Let me then hope," said the Queen, "that you, my lord, will aid me in
the execution of her last request."
"What! in the protection of my young second?--cheerfully--that is, in
all that your majesty can think it fitting to ask of me.
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