by A. D. Crake
floor of the hall, sweet flowers and aromatic grass forthat of the royal bedchamber; and it was not till a flourish of trumpetsannounced the approach of the cavalcade that all was ready, and themaidens and men servants, arrayed in their best holiday attire, stoodgrouped without the gate to receive their king.
At last the glitter of the departing ray upon pointed lances announcedthe approach, and soon the whole party might be seen--a hundred horseaccompanying the king's person, and one or two nobles of distinction,including Redwald, riding by his side.
When the train first reached the spot from which the castle was visible,a strange thing occurred. The king's eyes were fixed upon Redwald, and,to the royal astonishment, the whole frame of that worthy seemed shakenby a sudden emotion. His countenance became pale, his lips werecompressed, and his eyes seemed to dart fire.
"What is the matter, my Redwald?" asked the king.
"Oh, nothing, my lord!" said he, resuming his wonted aspect withdifficulty, but at last becoming calm as a lake when the wind has diedaway. "Only a sudden spasm."
"I hope you are not ill?"
"No, my lord; you need not really feel anxious concerning me.
"The hall of Aescendune appears a pleasant place for a summerresidence," he added.
"I have been there before," said the king. "Spent some weeks there. Yes;I thought it a great change for the better then, after the musty odourof sanctity which reigned in the palace of my uncle the monk, but allthings go by comparison. I might not relish a month there now."
"Yet it looks like a place formidable for its kind, and it might not beamiss to persuade the worthy old thane to receive a garrison there, sothat if the worst came to the worst we might have a place of refuge,otherwise the Mercians would soon have possession of it."
"Ella is one of themselves."
"But the rebel Edgar may not forgive him for entertaining us!"
"He can hardly help himself. Still, the smoke of those fires, which, Itrust, betokens good cheer; and the peaceful aspect of that party comingout to meet us, in the midst of whom I recognise old Ella and his sonAlfred, Elwy's brother, does not look much like compulsion."
"Making the best of a bad bargain, perhaps."
"I prefer to think otherwise."
At this moment the two parties met, and Edwy at once dismounted from hiscourser with that bewitching and kingly grace which became "Edwy theFair." He advanced gracefully to the old thane, and, presenting thecustomary mark of homage, embraced him as a son might embrace a father--"For," said he, "Elfric has taught me to revere you as a father evenif Aescendune had not taught me before then. I robbed you of your son,now I offer you two sons, Elfric and myself."
The tears stood in the old man's eyes at this reception, and the mentionof his dear prodigal son.
"He is well, I hope?" said he, striving to speak with such sternness anddignity as sell-respect taught in opposition to natural feeling.
"Well and happy; and I trust you will see him in a day or two, when weshall have chastised our rebels; justice, mingled with mercy, must firsthave its day."
"Where is he now?"
"With the main body of the army; in fact, he is my right hand. It is myfault, not his, that he is not here now; but we could not both leave,and he preferred that I should come and proffer my filial duty first,and perhaps that I should assure you of his love and duty, howeverappearances may have seemed against him."
Then the eye of Edwy caught Alfred. It must be remembered that Elfrichad kept the secret of his brother's supposed death, even from the king.
"And of Alfred, too, I have ever been reminded by his brother; your namehas seldom been long absent from our conversation."
Alfred reddened.
"I trust now," he continued, "that I may profitably renew anacquaintance suspended for three years. I am but young, only in myeighteenth year, and I have no father; let me find one in the wisest ofthe Mercians."
So bewitching was the grace of the fair speaker that he seemed to carryall before him. Ella began to think he must have misjudged the king.Alfred alone, who knew much more of the relations between the king andthe Church than his father, still suspended his belief in these mostgracious words.
Leaning upon the still powerful arm of Ella, his young agile formcontrasting strongly with the powerful build of the old thane--powerful even in decay--they came in front of the hall, where theserfs and vassals all received them with joyful acclamations, and amidstthe general homage the king entered the hall.
There he reverentially saluted the lady Edith.
"The mother of my friend, my brother, Elfric, is my mother also," said he.
Then he was conducted to his chamber, where the bath was provided forhim, and unguents for anointing himself, after which, accepting the loanof a change of clothing more suitable than his travelling apparel, hereceived the visit of Ella, who came to conduct him to the banquet.
All this while his followers had been received according to theirseveral degrees; and a board was spread, of necessity, in a barn, forthe due feasting of the soldiers of Edwy and the vassals of Aescendune;while the officers and the chief tenants of the family met at the royaltable in the great hall once before introduced to our readers.
It boots not to repeat an oft-told tale, to describe the banquet in allits prodigal luxury, to tell how light the casks in the cellars ofAescendune seemed afterwards, how empty the larder; suffice it to saythat in due course the banquet was ended, the toasts were drunk, and,with an occasional interlude in the gleeman's song and the harper's wildmusic, the conversation was at its height. Wine and wassail unloosedmen's tongues.
Redwald sat near the king, who had introduced him to Ella as a dearfriend both to him and his son--"a very Mentor," he said, "who, sincethe unhappy quarrel into which my counsellors forced me--yes, forcedme--with Dunstan, has done more to keep Elfric and me straight in ourmorals than at one time I should have thought possible for any man to do.
"Redwald, you need not blush; it is true, and your king is proud to own it."
Redwald was not exactly blushing; he had spent the interval before thebanquet in looking eagerly and wistfully all round the house, and nowhis countenance had a cold composure, which made it seem as if he hadnever known emotion; still he answered fittingly to the king's humour:
"Alack, my lord, such credit is due only to the blessed saints,especially St. Wilfred, whom you first learned to love at Aescendune, asyou have often told me."
"Yes," said Edwy; "you remember, Ella, how I used to steal away evenfrom the chase, and visit his chapel at the priory which your worthyfather founded. Truly, I mused upon the saint so much that I marvel heappeared not to me; I think he did once."
"Indeed!" exclaimed his auditors.
"Yes; I had been musing upon my condition as a poor orphan boy, deprivedof my brave father--he was your friend, Ella!--when methought afigure in the dress of a very ancient bishop, stood beside me, yetimmaterial as the breeze of evening. 'Thy prayer is heard' said he tome; 'thou hast brought many gifts to St. Wilfred; he shall send theeone, even a friend.' It was fulfilled in Elfric."
"Truly, it was marvellous," said Father Cuthbert, who listened with openmouth. "I doubt not it was our sainted patron."
Alfred said nothing; his recollections of Edwy's days at Aescendune didnot embrace many hours in the chapel of St. Wilfred.
The great wonderment of Ella may be conceived: he had always mournedover Edwy as a headstrong youth, dead to religion, and now he was calledupon to contemplate him in so different a light. The reader may wonderat his credulity, but if he had listened to the sweet voice of thebeautiful king, had gazed into that innocent-looking face--those eyeswhich always seemed to meet the gaze, and never lowered themselves orbetrayed their owner--he would, perhaps, have been deceived too; yetEdwy was overdoing it, and a look from Redwald warned him of the fact.He took the other line.
"Alas!" he said, "I have been very very unworthy of St. Wilfred's fondinterest in me, and may have done very rash things; but some day thesaint
may rejoice in me again, and then he shall not find in me arebellious son."
Further than this he was not disposed to go, for in truth he felthimself sickened by his very success in deceit, although half disposedto be proud of it at the same time. But Redwald had taken up theconversation.
"These halls of yours seem old, venerable thane; has your family longdwelt under this hospitable roof?"
"My remote ancestor fought by the side of Cynric in the victories whichled to the foundation of Mercia."
"Ah! many a sad yet glorious tale and legend for the gleeman's harp,doubtless, adorns your annals."
"Not many; we have our traditions."
"For instance, is there one connected with the