Oblivious of the oration he had come to hear, of the magnificent manner in which the church was decorated, and of the attentive crowds that filled it, Redhall leaned against a column not far from the king's, and watched attentively the group which knelt beside the countess. When Father St. Bernard prayed, Jane and Vipont read from the same missal, and their heads were so close that her forehead touched his ear. Redhall ground his teeth; and when they turned to each other and smiled (for they could sympathize without speaking), he felt his heart swell with suppressed passion. His attention, however, soon became divided between Jane and her lover's attendant, who had placed his long sword against the king's pillar, and while affecting to be listening to the panegyric on St. Giles, was in reality studying intently the vast assemblage, and dealing covert glances of hostility, for everywhere he recognised the colours, the crests, and badges of the Hamiltons. "Despite that voluminous beard, and these painted eyebrows, yonder fellow is either the Earl of Ashkirk or the devil!" thought Redhall; "but let me be wary, for he is slippery as an eel. So, so! our good Sir Roland Vipont, the king's favourite minion, is a resetter of rebels--hah! I have it now." He almost said this aloud, so bright, or rather so dark and so devilish, was the thought that flashed upon his mind. Beckoning to his henchman and factotum-- "Nichol," said he, "thou seest that valet in the livery of Sir Roland Vipont?" "He wi' that beard like a colt's tail?" "The same. I would fain have him committed to sure ward--privately though; not in the castle, for there every one would hear of it an hour after, but quietly, in the vault of my own house here. Dost thou understand me?" "Wi' ease can we do so, my lord," replied Nichol, with a grin on his mastiff mouth, "for by the use o' my long lugs I have just learned that he is to attend the Lady Seton on a visit to St. Katherine's convent to-night." "'Slife! dost thou say so? And that captain of the ordnance, doth he go too?" "No." "Ah! and wherefore?" "Because it seems that the captain of the king's guard and that gay buckie, Leslie of Balquhan, are to sup with him to-night." "Thou art sure of this?" said Redhall, whose heart glowed, and whose eyes sparkled. "Sure as I am a born man." "Watch well, then, and learn more, if you can. Oh, Nichol Birrel, thou art worth thy weight in gold to me--yea, gold trebly refined! Continue to watch them strictly while I go to his eminence the cardinal concerning a raid against the Douglases; for, mark me, both the Lady Seton and yonder valet of her squire must be safe within our bolts and bars to-night. I have suspected that long beard concealed something for these some days past." "And so have I, your lordship." "Indeed--remarkable! and you think----" "As your lordship doth." "That he is no other than the Earl of Ashkirk?"