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But those who watched her, marked her frequent shudder, the convulsive sob, the tiny hands pressed closely together, and then upon her eyes, as if to still their smarting throbs; and Isoline, who sat in silence on a cushion at her feet, could catch such low whispered words as these "Nigel, Nigel, could I but know thy fate! Dead, dead! could I not die with thee?
"Whither?" demanded Sir Amiot, as he gave the required orders. "Where meet we the king?" "In the Glen of Auchterader, south of the Erne. Lady Campbell and Isoline await us there, with the troops left as their guard at Dumbarton.
Agnes had tacitly accompanied her mother and Lady Mary to the royal boudoir, but she had turned in very sickness of heart from all her companions, and remained standing in a deep recess formed by the high and narrow casement, alone, save Isoline, who still clung to her side, pale, motionless as the marble statue near her, whose unconscious repose she envied.
She did not weep when other eyes than those of Nigel, or the Lady Campbell, or the gentle Isoline were on her, but that deadly pallor, that quivering lip, and heavy eye spoke all that she endured. A large cavern, divided by Nature into many compartments, was now the temporary shelter of the king and his friends.
This is the chief charm of all her writings, and in 'The Days of Bruce' the reader will have the pleasure of viewing this skillful portraiture in the characters of Isoline and Agnes, and Isabella of Buchan." Literary Gazette. "What a fertile mind was that of Grace Aguilar! What an early development of reflection, of feeling, of taste, of power of invention, or true and earnest eloquence!
Even the king, her brother, sought not to dissuade her; but all persuasions to induce Agnes to accompany them were vain; bitter as the pang of separation was to her already aching heart for Lady Campbell and Isoline were both most dear to her she steadily resolved to remain with the queen and her attendants, and thus share the fate of her betrothed. "Did not my mother commend me to thy care?
Behind them, on raised seats, which were divided from the body of the church by an open railing of ebony, sate the ladies of the court, the seat of the queen distinguished from the rest by its canopy and cushion of embroidered taffeta, and amongst those gentle beings fairest and loveliest shone the maiden of Buchan, as she sate in smiling happiness between the youthful daughter of the Bruce, the Princess Margory, and his niece, the Lady Isoline, children of ten and fourteen, who already claimed her as their companion and friend.
"Thou a true knight, and speak thus; were there not other work to do, I would e'en run a tilt with thee, to compel thee to forswear thy foul treason against the fair." "Better spend thy leisure in wooing Isoline; trust me, she will not be won ere wooed.
Half an hour passed thus, when the listless suffering on the lovely face of Agnes was observed by Isoline to change to an expression of intense attention. "Hearest thou no step?" she said, in a low, piercing whisper, and laying a cold and trembling hand on Isoline's arm.
Come hither, Isoline; thou lookest verily inclined to envy thy sweet friend her office, and nothing loth to have a loyal knight thyself. Come, come, my pretty one, no blushing now. Lennox, guide those tiny hands aright."
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