"Yes," said Gray, with a bitter sigh.
"It is not unlikely," replied the lieutenant, carelessly, while polishing his cuirass with a leather glove.
"How—why do you say so?"
"Nay; I did but echo your own thoughts."
"I have none; I am full of sorrow and bewilderment."
"Earl James and his countess are leaving nothing undone to strengthen their hands for some great enterprise. All men in Galloway say so, from the Brig of Dumfries to the Point of Kirkcolm; for the black dinner is yet fresh in their minds, and the marriage of Lady Murielle to a powerful lord might—might——"
"Say on."
"Add a few thousand men to their strength, should the Douglases make a Raid out of Galloway."
"Oh, how many secret tears must all this have cost her! She believes me dead: dear Murielle! I could joyously die for her—"
"Joyously to live for her, would be to act the wiser part," said the other, with a loud laugh.