Lady R. Oh, fate! I fear thee still. Thou riddler,

speak

Direct and clear; else I will search thy soul.

Anna. "Permit me, ever honour'd! Keen impa tience,

"Though hard to be restrain'd, defeats itself."Pursue thy story with a faithful tongue,

To the last hour that thou didst keep the child. Pris. Fear not my faith, though I must speak my shame;

Within the cradle where the infant lay,

Was stow'd a mighty store of gold and jewels;
Tempted by which, we did resolve to hide,
From all the world this wonderful event,
And like a peasant breed the noble child.
That none might mark the change of cur estate,
We left the country, travell'd to the north,
Bought flocks and herds, and gradually brought forth
Our secret wealth. But God's all-seeing eye
Beheld our avarice, and smote us sore.
For one by one all our own children died,
And he, the Stranger, sole remain'd the heir
Of what indeed was his. Fain then would I,
Who with a father's fondness lov'd the boy,
Have trusted him, now in the dawn of youth,
With his own secret: but my anxious wife,
Foreboding evil, never would consent.
Meanwhile the stripling grew in years and beauty;

And, as we oft observ'd, he bore himself,

Not as the offspring of our cottage blood;

For nature will break out: mild with the mild,
But with the forward he was fierce as fire,
And night and day he talk'd of war and arms.
I set myself against his warlike bent;

But all in vain; for when a desperate band
Of robbers from the savage mountains came-

Lady R. Eternal Providence! What is thy name? Pris. My name is Norval; and my name he bears. Lady R. 'Tis he! 'tis he himself! It is my son! 160 Oh, sovereign mercy! 'Twas my child I saw !

No wonder, Anna, that my bosom burn'd.

Anna. Just are your transports: "ne'er was woman's heart

“Prov'd with such fierce extremes. High fated dame !” But yet remember that you are beheld

By servile eyes; your gestures may be seen

Impassion'd, strange; perhaps your words o'erheard. Lady R. Well dost thou counsel, Anna: Heav'n be

stow

On me that wisdom which my state requires.

"Anna. The moments of deliberation pass,
"And soon you must resolve. This useful man
"Must be dismissed in safety, ere my lord
"Shall with his brave deliverer return."

Pris. If I, amidst astonishment and fear,
Have of your words and gestures rightly judg'd,
Thou art the daughter of my ancient master;
The child I rescu'd from the flood is thine.
Lady R. With thee dissimulation now were vain,
I am indeed the daughter of Sir Malcolın;

The child thou rescu'dst from the flood is mine. 180 Pris. Blest be the hour that made me a poor man, My poverty hath sav'd my master's house !

Lady R. Thy words surprize me: sure thou dost not feign!

The tear stands in thine eye; such love from thee Sir Malcolm's house deserv'd not; if aright

Thou told's the story of thy own distress.

Pris. Sir Malcolm of our barons was the flower; The fastest friend, the best, the kindest master. But ah! he knew not of my sad estate.

After that battle, where his gallant son,

Your own brave brother, fell, the good old lord
Grew desperate and reckless of the world;
And never, as he erst was wont, went forth
To overlook the conduct of his servants.
By them I was thrust out, and them I blame :
May Heav'n so judge me as I judge my master!
And God so love me as I love his race!

Lady R. His race shall yet reward thee.

faith

Depends the fate of thy lov'd master's house.
Rememb'rest thou a little lonely hut,

That like a holy hermitage appears

Among the cliffs of Carron?

Pris. I remember the cottage of the cliffs.
Lady R. 'Tis that I mean:

There dwells a man of venerable age,
Who in my father's service spent his youth:
Tell him I sent thee, and with him remain,

On thy

200

'Till I shall call upon thee to declare,

Before the king and nobles, what thou now
To me hast told. No more but this, and thou
Shalt live in honour all thy future days;

Thy son so long shall call thee father still,
And all the land shall bless the man who sav'd
The son of Douglas, and Sir Malcolm's heir.
Remember well my words; if thou shouldst meet
Him whom thou call'st thy son, still call him so;
And mention nothing of his nobler father.

Pris. Fear not that I shall mar so fair an harvest,
By putting in my sickle ere 'tis ripe.

Why did I leave my home and ancient dame ? 220 To find the youth, to tell him all I knew,

And make him wear these jewels in his arms,

Which might, I thought, be challeng'd, and so bring To light the secret of his noble birth,

[Lady RANDOLPH goes towards the Servants. Lady R. This man is not th' assassin you suspected, Though chance combin'd some likelihoods against. him.

He is the faithful bearer of the jewels

To their right owner, whom in haste he seeks.
'Tis meet that you should put him on his way,
Since your mistaken zeal hath dragg'd him hither.

[Exeunt Stranger and Servants.

My faithful Anna! dost thou share my joy?

I know thou dost. Unparallel'd event!
Reaching from heav'n to earth, Jehovah's arm

Snatch'd from the waves, and brings to me iny son !

2

Judge of the widow, and the orphan's father,
Accept a widow's and a mother's thanks
For such a gift! What does my Anna think
Of the young eaglet of a valiant nest?

How soon he gaz'd on bright and burning arms,

Spurn'd the low dunghill where his fate had thrown

him,

And tower'd up to the region of his sire!

240

Anna. How fondly did your eyes devour the boy! Mysterious nature, with the unseen cord Of pow'rful instinct, drew you to your ownLady R. The ready story of his birth believ'd Supprest my fancy quite; nor did he owe Το any likeness my so sudden favour : But now I long to see his face again, Examine every feature, and find out The lineaments of Douglas, or my own. But most of all I long to let him know Who his true parents are, to clasp his neck, And tell him all the story of his father.

Anna. With wary caution you must bear yourself In public, lest your tenderness break forth, And in observers stir conjectures strange. "For, if a cherub in the shape of woman "Should walk this world, yet defamation would, "Like a vile cur, bark at the angel's train."To-day the baron started at your tears.

26.0

Lady R. He did so, Anna! well thy mistress knows. If the least circumstance, mote of offence, Should touch the baron's eye, his sight would be