_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 nobleness 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, noble lady.
_Lady Seton_.--Away! I'll hear thee not, nor let my ears
List to the accents of a traitor's tongue. [_Exit_ ELLIOT.