I will not repeat the fooleries with which she sought to detain him at Bute.

And that some new fancy respecting him is now about to menace his patience.

I am convinced; for, on my way hither, I met her hurrying along, and as she passed me she exclaimed, 'Is Lord Buchan arrived ?' I answered.

'Yes.' 'Ah, then he proclaimed him king ?' cried she; and into the great gallery she darted." "You do not mean to say," demanded Helen, turning her eyes with an expression which seemed confident of his answer, "that Sir William Wallace has accepted the crown of Scotland ?" "Certainly not," replied Edwin; "but as certainly it has been offered to him, and he has refused it." "I could have sworn it!" returned Helen, rising from her chair; "all is loyal, all is great and consistent there, Edwin!" "He is, indeed, the perfect exemplar of all nobleness," rejoined the youth; "and I believe I shall even love you better, my dear cousin, because you seem to have so clear an apprehension of his real character." He then proceeded, with all the animation of the most zealous affection, to narrate to Helen the particulars of the late scene on the Carse of Stirling.

And while he deepened still more the profound impression the virtues of Wallace had made on her heart, he reopened its more tender sympathies by repeating, with even minuter accuracy than he had done to his mother, details of those hours which he passed with him in retirement.