Page:Walter Scott - The Monastery (Henry Frowde, 1912).djvu/85

RV 17 (Rh) 'Mother,' said the elder boy, 'I will not say amen to a prayer for a Southern.'

'Mother,' said the younger, more reverentially, 'is it right to pray for a heretic?'

'The God to whom I pray only knows,' answered poor Elspeth; 'but these two words, Southern and heretic, have already cost Scotland ten thousand of her best and bravest, and me a husband, and you a father; and, whether blessing or banning, I never wish to hear them more. Follow me to the Place, sir,' she said to Brittson, 'and such as we have to offer you shall be at your disposal.'

report soon spread through the patrimony of Saint Mary's and its vicinity, that the Mistress of Glendearg had received assurance from the English captain, and that her cattle were not to be driven off, or her corn burned. Among others who heard this report, it reached the ears of a lady, who, once much higher in rank than Elspeth Glendinning, was now by the same calamity reduced to even greater misfortune.

She was the widow of a brave soldier, Walter Avenel, descended of a very ancient Border family, who once possessed immense estates in Eskdale. These had long since passed from them into other hands, but they still enjoyed an ancient Barony of considerable extent, not very far from the patrimony of Saint Mary's, and lying upon the same side of the river with the narrow vale of Glendearg, at the head of which was the little tower of the Glendinnings. Here they had lived, bearing a respectable rank amongst the gentry of their province, though neither wealthy nor powerful. This general regard had been much augmented by the skill, courage, and enterprise which had been displayed by Walter Avenel, the last baron.