"To set out for Trochrie as soon as this paper of renunciation is drawn up," he replied; "and then transplant my wild rose to Dirleton."
"Take my advice, and do no such thing," answered Beatrice. "Depend upon it, Gowrie, she's safer where she is. You do not know the king as well as we do. With him the sunshine often prognosticates worse weather than the clouds; and I very much doubt his motives in this matter. That you have got his written consent is a great step, certainly; and we may well be joyful thereat; but he is famous for baiting traps; and if he once got her into his power, think what a hold he would have upon you. It would cost him more men and more money than he can collect, to take her by force from Trochrie; and he has no excuse for attempting it; but if once she were at Dirleton, he would soon find means of bringing her to Edinburgh, and then your freedom of action would be gone."
"You are a wise counsellor, Beatrice," replied her brother; "and I like your advice well. 'Tis only that Trochrie is such a lonely and desolate solitude for the dear girl, that makes me hesitate."
"You can easily render it less solitary," said Alexander Ruthven, laughing. "Go up there yourself, and keep her company."
"If you will come with me, Alex," replied his brother.
The young man coloured and looked embarrassed. "I cannot do that now, John," he answered. "I was a long time absent from my post in the winter."
"The truth is, Alex," said Gowrie, frankly, "from all I hear, it seems to me that it would be better if you were more frequently absent--nay, if you were to give up this office altogether."
"What! and have they poisoned your mind, too, Gowrie?" cried the other, impetuously. "I will not go; for by so doing I should only confirm the falsehoods they have spread. I will not abandon my own cause, or show a shame of my own conduct, whatever my friends and relations may do."
"You speak too warmly, Alex," said the young earl. "Your relations have no inclination to abandon your cause; and I trust and believe you would never give them occasion to feel ashamed of your conduct; but I only advise you for your own good. Suspicion is a dangerous thing in the mind of a king, and, whether justly or unjustly founded, is to be avoided by all reasonable means. Besides, were your royal master and lady entirely out of the question, no man has a right to furnish cause for dissension in any family."
"Oh, if I were out of the way, it would be some other to-morrow," answered the young man. "The king's suspicion must have some object upon which to fix."