quent on the execution
of the sentence of condemnation of her husband--a swelling shout, as of
a completed triumph, came on the wind; and, unable to bear this
consummation of all her woes, she ran forward, and threw herself down
with her head in the line of the cascade, that the roar of the waters
might drown the dreadful sound.

How long she lay in that extraordinary predicament, she was never able
to tell; but the sound of the roaring waters rang in her ear for many an
after day. When she ventured to raise her head, everything seemed quiet
at Henderland Tower; and the silence now appeared to her more dreadful
than the former excitement. The storm, which had been gradually ceasing,
was lulled, and the morn had now attained to a grey daylight. She knew
not what step to pursue. She would remain, and she would not remain; she
would return to the Tower, and she trembled at the thought. Starting up,
she began to retrace her steps slowly back through the wood, stopping at
every interval of a few moments, to listen if she could hear any sound.
Looking around, she saw, disappearing from an old road that led away to
Tushielaw, the last of the king's troops; and she omened sadly that they
had completed their work. She hesitated again, whether she should
proceed to a place where she would inevitably behold a sight that might
unsettle her reason. But whether could she fly? What could she do? Her
little children were there; it was still her home, and the dead body of
her beloved husband was also there. But judgment might vacillate
according to its laws; her feet had an impulse forward, which philosophy
might not explain. She was hastening towards the Castle, and she
scarcely knew that she was occupied in that act, in the absence of
distinct volition. Looking up, she saw an old domestic running towards
her; who, on coming up, wished her to relinquish her determination to go
towards the Castle, and requested her to sojourn for a time in the
woods, or wait till she sent for a jennet, to carry her to some house.
She would give no explanation of her reasons for this advice; but looked
terrified and confused when Marjory put to her some broken words of
interrogation. Marjory could abide no parley, and, gently pushing the
old attendant aside, hurried forward to the Castle, and entered the
postern. The ballium was empty; the retainers of her husband had been
marched off before the forces of the king; and any domestics that were
left had fl