“It gets beyond me, your majesty. Thieving is not right unless it’s done under cover of law, which these reiving lads to the South seem to take small account of. On the other hand, to destroy them root and branch may be leaving Scotland naked to her enemy. I admit I’m fairly in a corner.”
Sir David Lyndsay laughed.
“You’re as bad as I am, cobbler,” he said.
“There is one point,” commented the king, “that no one seems to have taken any notice of, and that is this: Those who speak against the Border marauders are those who know little of them except by hearsay; while the lords in their neighbourhood, who should know them well, stand up for them, and even threaten to draw sword on their behalf.”
“That certainly speaks well for the villains,” admitted the cobbler.
“Then what is your verdict,” demanded the king.
“Well, I kind of think I should leave them alone,” said Flemming cautiously.
“Do you agree with him, David?”
“I’m not sure but I do. It seems a choice of two evils.”