"Alas! it is only too true! My dear lord also says that all will be leaders, and that none will be led. But he adds at the same time, that, whether they follow his counsels or not, he will never desert the true cause from any personal pique. Oh! my own true noble lord!" she exclaimed, looking up with tearful yet beaming eyes; "there spoke your own high soul! The king in all his army has not another spirit, disinterested, uncompromising as yours!" Then resuming her letter, she continued, "My lord says that, notwithstanding all the Earl of Mar's confident hopes and assertions, he cannot find that the Duke of Ormond has landed yet. 'Tis strange! it seems as if all aid from foreign shores were spell-bound. He loves his cousin of Ormond! methinks if he were with them, my lord would have more heart and hope in what he undertakes!" Then, as she proceeded in the perusal of the letter: "Nay, did I say that there was not another noble spirit in all the king's army? Shame on my lips for uttering such treason! for here my lord writes that he and the Earl of Derwentwater think and feel alike on all things; and that were it not for his friendship, his support, he should indeed find himself alone. May Heaven bless the good Earl of Derwentwater, if it is only that my lord finds comfort in him! and moreover, I know full well that he is as brave and as kind a gentleman as ever trod this earth." "And what is to become of us, madam, if my lord and all the army are gone into England?" "We must e'en wait, as we have done, my good Amy; and abide the result, as we have done." "And must I still see you pine, and pine, and grow thinner and thinner? Alas! alas! these are weary times! I almost think it would be best to let King George alone upon his throne, and see if we cannot be as happy under him as we were under Queen Anne." "Amy! you would not be a turncoat, would you? You, Rachael Evans's daughter!" answered Lady Nithsdale, in a tone of half-playful, half-serious reproof. "Indeed, my lady, I would fain be loyal, for you, and my master are so, and my poor mother was loyal also to the last; but I can never love any king, whether a Stuart or no, as I love my own dear lady, who has been to me as mother, sister, friend, and mistress!" and the warm-hearted Amy kissed the countess's hand with devoted affection. "You are a good girl, dear Amy; and I do not know how I should bear my present anxiety, and the sorrows that may await me, did I not feel assured I should ever have one true friend to lean upon in every exigency. Let what will come to us, Amy, I think I may count on your affection as long as I live." "While there is breath in this body, while the pulses beat in this heart, my lady, Amy Evans shall be true to you and yours, through woe and through weal, for life and for death!"