"Let him wander his way," said he--"let those leech his wounds for whose

sake he encountered them. He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of

the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English

ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his

country."

"If to maintain the honour of ancestry," said Rowena, who was present,

"it is sufficient to be wise in council and brave in execution--to be

boldest among the bold, and gentlest among the gentle, I know no voice,

save his father's---"

"Be silent, Lady Rowena!--on this subject only I hear you not. Prepare

yourself for the Prince's festival: we have been summoned thither with

unwonted circumstance of honour and of courtesy, such as the haughty

Normans have rarely used to our race since the fatal day of Hastings.

Thither will I go, were it only to show these proud Normans how little

the fate of a son, who could defeat their bravest, can affect a Saxon."

"Thither," said Rowena, "do I NOT go; and I pray you to beware, lest

what you mean for courage and constancy, shall be accounted hardness of

heart."

"Remain at home, then, ungrateful lady," answered Cedric; "thine is the

hard heart, which can sacrifice the weal of an oppressed people to an

idle and unauthorized attachment. I seek the noble Athelstane, and with

him attend the banquet of John of Anjou."

He went accordingly to the banquet, of which we have already mentioned

the principal events. Immediately upon retiring from the castle, the

Saxon thanes, with their attendants, took horse; and it was during the

bustle which attended their doing so, that Cedric, for the first time,

cast his eyes upon the deserter Gurth. The noble Saxon had returned from

the banquet, as we have seen, in no very placid humour, and wanted but a

pretext for wreaking his anger upon some one.

"The gyves!" he said, "the gyves!--Oswald--Hundibert!--Dogs and

villains!--why leave ye the knave unfettered?"

Without daring to remonstrate, the companions of Gurth bound him with

a halter, as the readiest cord which occurred. He submitted to the

operation without remonstrance, except that, darting a reproachful

look at his master, he said, "This comes of loving your flesh and blood

better than mine own."

"To horse, and forward!" said Cedric.

"It is indeed full time," said the noble Athelstane; "for, if we

ride not the faster, the worthy Abbot Waltheoff's preparations for a

rere-supper [25] will be altogether spoiled."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024