“Angry!” Archie said, taking the girl, who now yielded unresistingly, in his arms.  “It matters nothing to me who you were; and truly I am glad that the long feud between our houses will come to an end.  My conscience, too, pricked me somewhat when I heard that by the death of your brother you had succeeded to the estates, and that it was in despite of a woman, and she a loyal and true hearted Scotswoman, that I was holding Aberfilly.  So it was you sent the retainers from Ayr to me?”

“Yes,” Marjory replied.  “Father Anselm carried my orders to them.  I longed to know that they were fighting for Scotland, and was sure that under none could they be better led.”

“And you have told the king who you are?” Archie asked.

“Yes,” the girl said, “directly we entered.”

“And you agree that we shall be married at once at Glasgow, as the king has suggested to me?”

“The king said as much to me,” Marjory said, colouring; “but oh!  Archie, it seems dreadful, such an unseemly bustle and haste, to be betrothed one day and married the next!  Whoever heard of such a thing?”

“But the circumstances, Marjory, are exceptional.  We all carry our lives in our hands, and things must be done which at another time would seem strange.  Besides, what advantage would there be in waiting?  I should be away fighting the English, and you would see no more of me.  You would not get to know me better than you do now.”

“Oh! it is not that, Archie.”

“Nor is it anything else,” Archie said smiling, “but just surprise.  With the King of Scotland to give you away and the Bishop of Glasgow to marry you, none can venture to hint that there is anything that is not in the highest degree orthodox in your marriage.  Of course I shall have to be a great deal away until the war is over and Scotland freed of her tyrants.  But I shall know that you are safe at Aberfilly, which is quite secure from any sudden attack.  You will have my mother there to pet you and look after you in my absence, and I hope that good Father Anselm will soon find his way there and take up his abode.  It is the least he can do, seeing that, after all, he is responsible for our marriage, and having, as it were, delivered you into my hands, ought to do his best to make you happy in your captivity.”

Marjory raised no further objection.  She saw, in truth, that, having once accepted Archie Forbes as her husband, it was in every way the best plan for her to marry him without delay, since she had no natural protectors to go to, and her powerful relations might stir up the church to view her evasion from the convent as a defiance of its authority.