She was the calmest of the two,
it is said, and was the first to speak connectedly.
'William, I have come to you,' said she, 'but not to save myself as
you suppose. Why, oh, why do you persist in supporting this
disloyal cause, and grieving us so?'
'Say not that,' he replied hastily. 'If truth hides at the bottom
of a well, why should you suppose justice to be in high places? I
am for the right at any price. Anna, leave the Castle; you are my
sister; come away, my dear, and save thy life!'
'Never!' says she. 'Do you plan to carry out this attack, and level
the Castle indeed?'
'Most certainly I do,' says he. 'What meaneth this army around us
if not so?'
'Then you will find the bones of your sister buried in the ruins you
cause!' said she. And without another word she turned and left him.
'Anna--abide with me!' he entreated. 'Blood is thicker than water,
and what is there in common between you and your husband now?'
But she shook her head and would not hear him and hastening out,
mounted her horse, and returned towards the Castle as she had come.
Ay, many's the time when I have been riding to hounds across that
field that I have thought of that scene!
When she had quite gone down the field, and over the intervening
ground, and round the bastion, so that he could no longer even see
the tip of her mare's white tail, he was much more deeply moved by
emotions concerning her and her welfare than he had been while she
was before him.
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