This was not the only effort made by the unhappy countess.
She subsequently went to the lobby of the House of Peers, accompanied by the Countess of Nithsdale, Lady Nairn, and many other ladies of distinction, but their petition was refused.
The Countess of Derwentwater was filled with despair when she had to communicate this sad news to the earl, but he bore it firmly.
“I am sorry you knelt to the usurper,” he said.
“I am the guiltiest of all the insurgent lords in his eyes, because I am most attached to King James, and because King James is most attached to me. You have promised too much for me, sweetheart. I have never sworn allegiance to the Hanoverian usurper, and never will. I might engage not to conspire against him, but I refuse to serve him.”
“What is to be done?” cried the countess, despairingly.
“Nothing,” replied the earl. “I forbid you to make any further appeal to the tyrant. My death is resolved on.”
“I cannot think otherwise, daughter,” observed Father Norman, who was present.
“Perhaps your escape may be accomplished?” cried the countess eagerly.
“That is wholly different,” said the earl. “If you can aid in my deliverance, I shall rejoice. But I fear the attempt will not be successful.”
“Wherefore not?” said the countess.
“Because I believe that my destiny is otherwise,” rejoined the earl.
“Yield not to such fancies, my son,” said Father Norman. “Nor let any scruple hinder you from freeing yourself, if you can, from the tyrant’s power. Break his bonds I counsel you, and escape from captivity and death. You may still be able to serve King James, and the great services you have rendered him, and the sacrifices you have made for him, may be rewarded.”
“Whatever is done, must be done quickly,” said the earl. “The time approaches when escape will no longer be possible-unless,” he added, with a strange smile, “I could walk, like Saint Denis, with my head off.”
Though the earl never quitted the Devereux Tower except for the scaffold, two remarkable escapes occurred from adjoining fortifications, to which we shall refer.
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III
The Earl of Nithsdale’s Escape
HAVING vainly solicited a pardon for her husband, the Countess of Nithsdale, a woman of great courage, as well as of great personal attractions, resolved to make an attempt to liberate him.
Before putting her project in execution she found a place of refuge, where the earl might remain safely concealed till he could embark for France.
This done, on the last day it was thought he had to live, she drove to the Tower gate in a hackney-coach, and dismissed the vehicle.
She was accompanied by two female attendants, and seemed so utterly prostrated by grief, that she needed their assistance.
Her attendants wore hoods and cloaks, but not in such a manner as to appear like a disguise.
The earl was confined in a distant fortification situated in the north-west angle of the inner ward, and it seemed certain that the countess would never have got there without support.
A sentinel was stationed at the entrance of the prison-lodging, but as the party were preceded by a jailer they passed without question.
When the massive door of his prison-chamber was unlocked, Lord Nithsdale came forth from a small inner room, or cell, and perceiving his wife uttered a cry, and clasped her to his breast.
Shortly afterwards, the jailer who was stationed outside, was summoned by one of the female attendants. She told him her services were no longer required, and after a very slight scrutiny he suffered her to depart.
But this active confidante had stayed long enough to divest herself of an additional dress with which she was provided.
This dress was meant as a disguise for the earl, while it was intended that her fellow-servant should personate the afflicted countess.
The exchanges of attire were quickly made.
The earl, whose slight figure and small stature suited the part he had to play, was transformed into a lady’s maid; and the representative of the countess was duly prepared for the part she had to enact.
All was now ready, but it was deemed prudent to wait nearly an hour, and it will be guessed what anxiety was felt in the interval.