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'But
. . . Traquair? We understood that the Earl of Traquair, the
Treasurer, was now your High Commissioner?'

'My
Commissioner in Scotland, yes. When I am not present. And my lord of
Hamilton . . . otherwise occupied. Had I come, he would of course
have stood down. But, after today, I fear, that is not possible. I
can by no means attend an Assembly where the Crown is like to be
insulted. As it has been today. This you must perceive.'

Montrose
spoke. 'Sire - I pray that you reconsider. We knew nothing of your
possible royal attendance. It would greatly rejoice and encourage
your loyal Scots subjects.
If...if...'

'If
Your Majesty acted somewhat other than did your Lord High
Commissioner at the last!' Henderson ended for him, grimly.

King
Charles rose to his feet, once more. 'My lords, gentlemen - I
cannot, will not, be harried and assailed thus. I think that you
perhaps forget yourselves, in your pride. I counsel you to beware of
that sin, that deadly sin. You, my lord of Montrose, at least I
thank for your courtesy. I bid you all God-speed. You may retire.
This audience is now ended.'

Bowing,
they backed out - although Montrose would have waited to say more,
if he might. But such royal dismissal was not to be questioned.

His
colleagues eyed him not a little askance, and less than kindly, as
they left the presence.

PART
TWO

15

I
t
was almost a year later, and in very different
circumstances,
before Montrose was near Berwick again. He alone of the party of six
who had so displeased King Charles now considered the fast-flowing
Tweed and wondered. His companions now were soldiers, not great
nobles and emissaries and churchmen; and although he was much
more at ease in their company, still he wondered. Indeed this
wondering, doubt, questioning of self and of others, so unlike
the man's basic character, had become ever more part of James
Graham's life these many months. He seemed to be forever being
carried along on a tide, a flood, so much more dark, swift and
daunting than this Tweed, carried where he would not, questioning
the direction, fearing the outcome, suspicious of others and himself
suspect. Quite gone were the days of enthusiasm, faith, hope. He was
still a Licutenant-General of the Covenant forces - but more, he
imagined, that he and his Grahams and friends might be kept under
the keen and stern eye of the Commander-in-Chief, Alexander
Leslie, than for any trust in himself.

For
it was war again, of a sort. The Covenant army was remustered and
encamped at Duns Law once more, with actual invasion of England
imminent. And crazily, Montrose and his 2500 personally raised men,
Grahams, vassals, allies and friends from Strathearn, Stirlingshire
and the Mearns, were to form the van, to lead the way in an exercise
of which he disapproved. To invade England - how could that be
called necessary for the freedom of worship in Scotland? Which was
his concern, all that he had joined this cause to achieve. Even
though the main object of the expedition was not battle, but to
arouse the dissident English, the Puritans and parliamentarians, to
rise and so bring pressure to bear on the King.

This
invasion, however, was only one of a long line of Montrose's
disagreements with the main Covenant leadership. The Edinburgh
Assembly of the Kirk had taken place last August. No bishops had
dared to show their faces, despite the King's refusal to withdraw
his summons to them to appear. But, under David Dickson's
Moderatorship this time, the proceedings had degenerated into little
more than an anti-King demonstration of snarling vehemence. Charles
had held to his decision not to attend, appointing Traquair, a weak
man, as his Commissioner; but he had sent a statement of his
case, written by the same Dr Balcanquhal, Dean of Durham - and this
was read amidst hootings, and rejected with a violence and contumely
most derogatory to the monarch. And it was ordered that every
citizen of Scotland
must
sign
the Covenant. Montrose had objected to much, especially the arrogant
declaration that episcopacy, even in England, was unlawful and to be
rooted out.

Thereafter
a parliament, the first in Scotland for many a year, had been held.
And here the Earl of Argyll at last moved out into the open,
dominating the proceedings, not so much by his strangely shrinking
presence as by his influence, his cunning manipulation of the more
extreme elements, his willingness now to become the focus and centre
of the anti-Charles forces which were becoming ever more vociferous.
That parliament of 1640, in effect, reduced the monarch, in
Scotland, to a mere symbol, a name, without power. Montrose had
fought against the whole trend of it, but without avail. Whispers
had begun to circulate in Scotland ; one, that Argyll was
seeking the Scots throne for himself - he could claim descent
from Bruce's sister; and the other, that Montrose had been seduced
by the King from his allegiance to Covenant and Kirk.

And
that was not the worst. The Tables were reconstituted by parliament
a more official Committee of the Estates; and though Montrose still
sat upon it he was in a permanent minority now. Argyll, oddly
enough, did not let himself be nominated a member; but he had a
faithful group of supporters thereon, led by Loudoun, who
served him well. The Campbell had had himself appointed to
Montrose's own previous duty of ensuring that the Gordons and other
North-East clans did not trouble the Covenant's rear in any future
activities; and very differently from the Graham he went about his
task. With 5000 of his own clansmen, he proceeded in person on what
was nothing more than an old-fashioned and savage clan-feuding foray
against his hereditary enemies, leaving a terrible trail of
ferocity, slain and tortured men, burned homes and domestic
disaster, right across Scotland's North, from Argyll, through Atholl
and Lochaber, to the Angus glens. The Ogilvys of Airlie were
long-standing foes of the Campbells; and concerned to prevent
further savagery, Montrose had persuaded the young Lord Ogilvy - his
father, the Earl of Airlie, was in England with the King - to hand
over Airlie Castle to local Covenanters, "in the public
interest"; and had sent urgent message of the fact to the
advancing Argyll. But the Campbell was not to be balked of his prey.
He descended upon the Airlie country with redoubled fury of fire and
sword, and burned not only Airlie Castle but the lesser and more
remote castle of Forter, in which Lady Airlic had taken refuge, with
unrelenting ferocity, driving the Countess into the hills, a
pathetic refugee.

All
this while Montrose was raising his regiments in Stirlingshire
and Strathearn.

So
now the Graham was prospecting the fords of Tweed, over which, in
due course, he would lead the van of the Scots army into England -
and doing so a prey to doubts indeed. Even the river was adding to
his problems. It had been another deplorably wet season, and all the
waters were running high, the mighty Tweed no exception. Royal
forces still held the bridge at Berwick - although the King, of
course, no longer was there. There was no other bridge. Montrose had
decided on the Coldstream area, some fifteen miles from Berwick. Not
that there was much choice; fords were few and far between on that
wide, swift-running stream; and even hereabouts, unless the weather
much improved, any crossing was going to be difficult for
cavalry and impossible for foot.

Black
Pate came spurring back from an investigation farther upstream,
having discerned no improvement. So Coldstream it must be - where
King James the Fourth had crossed, 127 years earlier, before
Flodden. Might that be no ill omen.

Returning
to Duns, twelve miles to the north, Montrose found the great camp in
a stir. The Earl of Argyll had arrived, from the North.

The
inevitable clash was not long in coming. When Montrose repaired
to the Commander-in-Chiefs tent, to report his findings, it was to
find the Campbell closeted with Leslie.

The
older soldier pinched his bony chin, looking from one to the other.
'Here's a pleasant meeting, my lords,' he said, grinning.
'Convenient, is it no' ?'

'I
do not esteem it either pleasant or convenient,' the Graham
answered, stiffly for him. 'My business is with yourself. I
interrupt. I will return, with word of the fords, at a better
moment.'

'Tush,
man - not so hasty! My lord of Argyll and yourself will have much to
discuss. The entire fate o' this Scotland, belike! Say on, say on !'

'My
lord of Montrose will be weary with travel,' Argyll said in the
softly lisping yet grating voice. 'After refreshment, no doubt,
we can speak together more kindly.'

'I
am not weary. And I cannot conceive of converse between us as being
kindly, in this pass!'

The
Campbell spread his hands, wordless.

'Come,
come, my lord!
MacCailean
Mor
has
come all this road of set purpose to see you. Here's no way to greet
him.'

'To
see me ? I cannot conceive why!'

‘
You
are too modest, my lord,' Argyll said thinly. 'I have a paper, which
requires your signature. Yours, and Master Henderson's. His I have
obtained.'

'Ah.
Then it must be important. To bring you, in person.'

'The
Committee conceives it to be so. The Committee of the Estates.
Requiring signature before you leave for England.'

'To
what end?'

'A
matter of administration. During the absence of yourselves and
the army. The country will be much . . . impoverished. It is
the appointment of myself, my unworthy self, as responsible for the
peace of part of the country.'

The
peace? You! What part? Other than your own Argyll?'

That
part, my lord, lying north of the Rivers Forth and Clyde.'

'Dear
God! Forth and Clyde? That is . . . that is more than half
Scotland!'

The
stony half!' Argyll agreed dryly.

'I'll
not believe it! This - this would make you, one man, master of half
the land!'

'Not
master - servant. My task to preserve the peace and see to good
governance.
At
your backs, gentlemen. In the name of the Committee of the Estates.
Its servant."

'As
you have just kept the peace in Angus! In Atholl. In Badenoch and
Lochaber!'

'As
you say, my lord. As I did, on the authority and the behalf of the
said Committee.'

'Did
the Committee authorise you to burn Airlie Castle? After it had
surrendered to the said Committee, on my command?'

'I
had full authority to take all steps as appeared to be necessary. As
had you, my lord Montrose, when you were Lieutenant-Gcneral amongst
that nest of vipers!' The Campbell raised his consistently
down-bent, diffident gaze for a moment, to shoot a venomous glance
at the younger man. Of that glance there could be no doubt -
although most of the time it was hard to say just where Argyll
looked, on account of his squint