"Good," said the chancellor, striking his long cane on the oak floor; "a soldier's word is his bond for weal or woe."
"In the cause of our king and kindred, I will do all that MacLellan would, were he free. Oh! your highness, write at once; furnish me with due credentials; time in this is precious, and the waste of it perilous!"
"When shall you depart on this mission?"
"So soon as I can get my horse and armour; within an hour, I shall have left these new walls of Edinburgh many a mile behind me."
"'Tis well—good service is ever promptly done."
"I am the subject and soldier of your majesty," replied Gray, bowing with modest confidence.
"And a faithful one!" added the king, giving his hand to his favourite, who was now in his thirty-fifth year, with a fine martial face, a clear bright eye, and a heart that was brave as it was tender and true. "But know you the language of these wild men among whom you are venturing—the fremit Scots of Galloway?"
"I know but little more than our Lowland tongue, with a smattering of Flemish and French, picked up when I had more leisure than desire to learn them—the castle of Bommel; yet I can make a shift to use others, too, that are more universally known."
"How?"
"I can make love to the women and show my purse to the men," said Gray, with a gaiety that was half assumed; "I'll warrant they will both understand me."