Kings of Carrick

178 THE KINGS OF CARRICK.
of revenge. You know the motto it bore that day my brother
was carried to his grave — ' Revenge my cause, Lord.' "
" I do not forget it. But why not leave the revenge to
God ? Vengeance is His, and He will repay," said Lady Bar-
gany, unconsciously repeating almost word for word, the
language of the Countess of Cassillis to her husband, months
before.
" Yes, and vengeance is mine, and I, too, will repay," replied
Bargany, rising from his seat and pacing the floor. " Yes,
mother, vengeance is mine, too ; and if the Earl of Cassillis
come to his grave in peace, it will not be because Thomas
Kennedy has forgotten his duty."
Lady Bargany braced herself for an effort. She knew well
the fiery, impetuous temper of her boy ; but she knew,
besides, the better side of his nature, and to that she ap-
pealed.
" Thomas," she said, " try for a little to forget the death of
the Master of Stair. Remember that the Earl of Cassillis is
ignorant of your desire for peace and friendship. He has no
reason to think that you do not harbour your old feelings of
revenge against him. You and your friends took captive his
wife and his brother. You took them prisoners on his own
land ; you fired the house of one of his tenants ; you all but
killed the Master of Cassillis. Can you wonder, then, that he
has come hither under cover of the evening, or when his spies
told him the coast was clear, to ascertain what he might ?
Did you expect him to sit quietly in Cassillis House and
lament the loss of his wife, until she was sent back to him ?
What else could you imagine but that he would bestir
himself ? The Master of Stair was with you when you took
the Countess prisoner — he followed your brother on the day
that he was slain near Maybole ; and he filled up the measure
by shooting John Dick, by whose hand your brother died.
Dick deserved his death, Thomas, for he was a traitor. But
do you expect the Earl of Cassillis, as I say, to mope at home