[LADY SETON _advances forward_.
_Lady Seton_.--Spoke like thyself, my husband!
Out on thee, slave! [_To_ ELLIOT.
Or shall I call thee traitor? What didst thou, On finishing thy _funeral service_, whisper In my Lord Percy"s ear?
_Elliot_.--I whisper, lady?
_Lady Seton_.--You whisper, smooth-tongued sir!
_Percy [aside]._--Zounds! by the coronet of broad Northumberland, Could I exchange it for fair England"s crown, I"d have my bodyguard of woman"s eyes, And make the whole s.e.x sharpshooters!
_Provost Ramsay_.--Wae"s me! friend Elliot, but you have an unco dumfoundered-like look after that speech o" yours in defence o" liberty, and infants, and fair bosoms, maiden screams, and grey hairs, and what not.
_Sir Alex_.--Percy, we hear no terms but death or liberty.
This is our answer.
_Percy_.--Well, cousins, be it so. The wilful dog-- As runs the proverb. Lady, fare-ye-well. [_Exit_.
_Sir Alex_.--On with me, friends--on to the southern ramparts!
There, methinks, they meditate a breach. On, Scotsmen! on-- For Freedom and for Scotland! [_Exeunt_.
SCENE II.--_Town Ramparts_.
_Enter_ SIR ALEXANDER, RICHARD, HENRY, PROVOST RAMSAY, HUGH ELLIOT, _and_ Populace.
_Sir Alex_.--To-day, my townsmen, I shall be your leader; And though my arms may lack their wonted vigour, Here are my pledges [_pointing to his sons_] placed on either side, That seal a triumph youth could never reap.
To-day, my sons, beneath a father"s eye, Oh give such pride of feeling to his heart As shall outshame the ardour of his youth, And nerve his arm with power strong as his zeal!
[_Exeunt all save_ HUGH ELLIOT.
_Elliot_.--Thanks to my destiny!--the hour is come-- The wished-for hour of vengeance on mine enemy!-- Heavens! there is neither n.o.bleness nor virtue.
Nor any quality that beggars boast not, But he and his smooth sons have swallowed up; And all the world must mouth their bravery!--- I owe a debt to Scotland and to him, And I"ll repay it--I"ll repay it now!
This letter will I shoot to Edward"s camp; And now, ere midnight, I"m revenged--revenged!
[LADY SETON _appears from the window of the castle_, as ELLIOT _is fixing a letter on an arrow_.
_Lady Seton_ [_from the window_].--Hold, traitor! hold, Or, by the powers above us, this very hour Your body o"er these battlements shall hang For your fair friends to shoot at!
[ELLIOT _drops the bow_.
_Elliot_ [_aside_].--Now fleet destruction seize the lynx-eyed fiend-- Trapped in the moment that insured success!
Thank fate--my dagger"s left!--she has a son!
_Lady Seton_.--Go, worthless recreant, and in thickest fight Blot out thy guilty purpose: know thy life Depends on this day"s daring; and its deeds And wounds alone, won in the onset"s brunt, Secures my silence.
_Elliot_.--You wrong me, n.o.ble lady.
_Lady Seton_.--Away! I"ll hear thee not, nor let my ears List to the accents of a traitor"s tongue. [_Exit_ ELLIOT.
SCENE III.--_An Apartment in_ KING EDWARD"S _Tent._
_Enter_ EDWARD _and_ PERCY.
_Edward_.--Well, my Lord Percy, thou hast made good speed.
What say these haughty burghers to our clemency?
_Percy_.--In truth, your Grace, they are right _haughty_ burghers.
One wondrous civil gentleman proposed To write his answer on your servant"s tongue-- Using his sword as clerks might do a quill-- Then thrust it on an arrow for a post-boy!
_Edward_.--Such service he shall meet. What said their governor?
_Percy_.--Marry! the old boy said I was no gentleman, And bade me read my answer in the eyes Of--Heaven defend me!--such a squalid crew!
One looked like death run from his winding sheet; Another like an ague clothed in rags; A third had something of the human form, But every bone was cursing at its fellow.
Now, though I vow that I could read my fate In every damsel"s eyes that kissed a moonbeam, I"ve yet to learn the meaning of the words Wrote on the eyeb.a.l.l.s of his vellum-spectres, But the old man is henpecked!
_Edward_.--Prythee, Lord Percy, lay thy fool"s tongue by, And tell thy meaning plainly.
_Percy_.--Nay, pardon me, your majesty; I wot Your servant is the fool his father made him, And the most dutiful of all your subjects.
_Edward_.--We know it, Percy. But what of his wife?
_Percy_.--Why, if the men but possess half her spirit, You might besiege these walls till you have counted The grey hairs on the child that"s born next June.
_Edward_.--And was this all?
_Percy_.--Nay, there was one--a smooth-tongued oily man-- A leader of the citizens; and one Who measures out dissension by the rood: He is an orator, and made a speech Against the governor: the people murmured; And one or two cried out, "Behold an Antony!"
But he"s a traitor; and I"d hang all traitors!
_Edward_.--Ha!--then doth the devil, Disaffection, With his fair first-born, Treason, smooth our path.
So we have friends within the citadel.
Sent they no other answer?
_Percy_.--I did expect me to have brought the whole, Like half-clothed beggars bending at my heels, To crave your Grace"s succour; but, behold, Ere I could bid them home for a clean shirt, That they might meet your majesty like Christians, Out stepped her ladyship, and with a speech Roused up the whole to such a flood of feeling That I did well "scape drowning in the shout Of Scotland and Seton!--Seton and Scotland!--Then did she turn and ask me, "Are you answered?"
I said I was!--and they did raise a cry Of _Death or Liberty_!
_Edward_.--They shall have it--death in its fullest meaning.
Haste, ply our cannon on the opening breach.
Forth!--they attack the camp! Now, drive them back, Break through their gate and guards, Till all be ours! [_Exeunt_
SCENE IV.--_The Ramparts_.