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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7676.txt b/7676.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f922a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/7676.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1487 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Harold, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Book 5. +#104 in our series by Edward Bulwer-Lytton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: Harold, Book 5. + The Last Of The Saxon Kings + +Author: Edward Bulwer-Lytton + +Release Date: March 2005 [EBook #7676] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 8, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAROLD, BY LYTTON, BOOK 5 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by Tapio Riikonen +and David Widger + + + + + +BOOK V. + + +DEATH AND LOVE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Harold, without waiting once more to see Edith, nor even taking leave +of his father, repaired to Dunwich [124], the capital of his earldom. +In his absence, the King wholly forgot Algar and his suit; and in the +mean while the only lordships at his disposal, Stigand, the grasping +bishop, got from him without an effort. In much wrath, Earl Algar, on +the fourth day, assembling all the loose men-at-arms he could find +around the metropolis, and at the head of a numerous disorderly band, +took his way into Wales, with his young daughter Aldyth, to whom the +crown of a Welch king was perhaps some comfort for the loss of the +fair Earl; though the rumour ran that she had long since lost her +heart to her father's foe. + +Edith, after a long homily from the King, returned to Hilda; nor did +her godmother renew the subject of the convent. All she said on +parting, was, "Even in youth the silver cord may be loosened, and the +golden bowl may be broken; and rather perhaps in youth than in age, +when the heart has grown hard, wilt thou recall with a sigh my +counsels." + +Godwin had departed to Wales; all his sons were at their several +lordships; Edward was left alone to his monks and relic-venders. And +so months passed. + +Now it was the custom with the old kings of England to hold state and +wear their crowns thrice a year, at Christmas, at Easter, and at +Whitsuntide; and in those times their nobles came round them, and +there was much feasting and great pomp. + +So, in the Easter of the year of our Lord 1053, King Edward kept his +court at Windshore [125], and Earl Godwin and his sons, and many +others of high degree, left their homes to do honour to the King. And +Earl Godwin came first to his house in London--near the Tower +Palatine, in what is now called the Fleet--and Harold the Earl, and +Tostig, and Leofwine, and Gurth, were to meet him there, and go +thence, with the full state of their sub-thegns, and cnehts, and +house-carles, their falcons, and their hounds, as become men of such +rank, to the court of King Edward. + +Earl Godwin sate with his wife, Githa, in a room out of the Hall, +which looked on the Thames,--awaiting Harold, who was expected to +arrive ere nightfall. Gurth had ridden forth to meet his brother, and +Leofwine and Tostig had gone over to Southwark, to try their band-dogs +on the great bear, which had been brought from the north a few days +before, and was said to have hugged many good hounds to death, and a +large train of thegns and house-carles had gone with them to see the +sport; so that the old Earl and his lady the Dane sate alone. And +there was a cloud upon Earl Godwin's large forehead, and he sate by +the fire, spreading his hands before it, and looking thoughtfully on +the flame, as it broke through the smoke which burst out into the +cover, or hole in the roof. And in that large house there were no +less than three "covers," or rooms, wherein fires could be lit in the +centre of the floor; and the rafters above were blackened with the +smoke; and in those good old days, ere chimneys, if existing, were +much in use, "poses, and rheumatisms, and catarrhs," were unknown, so +wholesome and healthful was the smoke. Earl Godwin's favourite hound, +old, like himself, lay at his feet, dreaming, for it whined and was +restless. And the Earl's old hawk, with its feathers all stiff and +sparse, perched on the dossal of the Earl's chair and the floor was +pranked with rushes and sweet herbs--the first of the spring; and +Githa's feet were on her stool, and she leaned her proud face on the +small hand which proved her descent from the Dane, and rocked herself +to and fro, and thought of her son Wolnoth in the court of the Norman. + +"Githa," at last said the Earl, "thou hast been to me a good wife and +a true, and thou hast borne me tall and bold sons, some of whom have +caused us sorrow, and some joy; and in sorrow and in joy we have but +drawn closer to each other. Yet when we wed thou wert in thy first +youth, and the best part of my years was fled; and thou wert a Dane +and I a Saxon; and thou a king's niece, and now a king's sister, and I +but tracing two descents to thegn's rank." + +Moved and marvelling at this touch of sentiment in the calm earl, in +whom indeed such sentiment was rare, Githa roused herself from her +musings, and said, simply and anxiously: + +"I fear my lord is not well, that he speaks thus to Githa!" + +The Earl smiled faintly. + +"Thou art right with thy woman's wit, wife. And for the last few +weeks, though I said it not to alarm thee, I have had strange noises +in my ears, and a surge, as of blood, to the temples." + +"O Godwin! dear spouse," said Githa, tenderly, "and I was blind to the +cause, but wondered why there was some change in thy manner! But I +will go to Hilda to-morrow; she hath charms against all disease." + +"Leave Hilda in peace, to give her charms to the young; age defies +Wigh and Wicca. Now hearken to me. I feel that my thread is nigh +spent, and, as Hilda would say, my Fylgia forewarns me that we are +about to part. Silence, I say, and hear me. I have done proud things +in my day; I have made kings and built thrones, and I stand higher in +England than ever thegn or earl stood before. I would not, Githa, +that the tree of my house, planted in the storm, and watered with +lavish blood, should wither away." + +The old Earl paused, and Githa said, loftily: + +"Fear not that thy name will pass from the earth, or thy race from +power. For fame has been wrought by thy hands, and sons have been +born to thy embrace; and the boughs of the tree thou hast planted +shall live in the sunlight when we its roots, O my husband, are buried +in the earth." + +"Githa," replied the Earl, "thou speakest as the daughter of kings and +the mother of men; but listen to me, for my soul is heavy. Of these +our sons, or first-born, alas! is a wanderer and outcast--Sweyn, once +the beautiful and brave; and Wolnoth, thy darling, is a guest in the +court of the Norman, our foe. Of the rest, Gurth is so mild and so +calm, that I predict without fear that he will be warrior of fame, for +the mildest in hall are ever the boldest in field. But Gurth hath not +the deep wit of these tangled times; and Leofwine is too light, and +Tostig too fierce. So wife mine, of these our six sons, Harold alone, +dauntless as Tostig, mild as Gurth, hath his father's thoughtful +brain. And, if the King remains as aloof as now from his royal +kinsman, Edward the Atheling, who"--the Earl hesitated and looked +round--"who so near to the throne when I am no more, as Harold, the +joy of the ceorls, and the pride of the thegns?--he whose tongue never +falters in the Witan, and whose arm never yet hath known defeat in the +field?" + +Githa's heart swelled, and her cheek grew flushed. + +"But what I fear the most," resumed the Earl, "is, not the enemy +without, but the jealousy within. By the side of Harold stands +Tostig, rapacious to grasp, but impotent to hold--able to ruin, +strengthless to save." + +"Nay, Godwin, my lord, thou wrongest our handsome son." + +"Wife, wife," said the Earl, stamping his foot, "hear me and obey me; +for my words on earth may be few, and while thou gainsayest me the +blood mounts to my brain, and my eyes see through a cloud." + +"Forgive me, sweet lord," said Githa, humbly. + +"Mickle and sore it repents me that in their youth I spared not the +time from my worldly ambition to watch over the hearts of my sons; and +thou wert too proud of the surface without, to look well to the +workings within, and what was once soft to the touch is now hard to +the hammer. In the battle of life the arrows we neglect to pick up, +Fate, our foe, will store in her quiver; we have armed her ourselves +with the shafts--the more need to beware with the shield. Wherefore, +if thou survivest me, and if, as I forebode, dissension break out +between Harold and Tostig, I charge thee by memory of our love, and +reverence for my grave, to deem wise and just all that Harold deems +just and wise. For when Godwin is in the dust, his House lives alone +in Harold. Heed me now, and heed ever. And so, while the day yet +lasts, I will go forth into the marts and the guilds, and talk with +the burgesses, and smile on their wives, and be, to the last, Godwin +the smooth and the strong." + +So saying; the old Earl arose, and walked forth with a firm step; and +his old hound sprang up, pricked its ears, and followed him; the +blinded falcon turned its head towards the clapping door, but did not +stir from the dossel. + +Then Githa again leant her cheek on her hand, and again rocked herself +to and fro, gazing into the red flame of the fire,--red and fitful +through the blue smoke,--and thought over her lord's words. It might +be the third part of an hour after Godwin had left the house, when the +door opened, and Githa, expecting the return of her sons, looked up +eagerly, but it was Hilda, who stooped her head under the vault of the +door; and behind Hilda came two of her maidens, bearing a small cyst, +or chest. The Vala motioned to her attendants to lay the cyst at the +feet of Githa, and that done, with lowly salutation they left the +room. + +The superstitions of the Danes were strong in Githa; and she felt an +indescribable awe when Hilda stood before her, the red light playing +on the Vala's stern marble face, and contrasting robes of funereal +black. But, with all her awe, Githa, who, not educated like her +daughter Edith, had few feminine resources, loved the visits of her +mysterious kinswoman. She loved to live her youth over again in +discourse on the wild customs and dark rites of the Dane; and even her +awe itself had the charm which the ghost tale has to the child;--for +the illiterate are ever children. So, recovering her surprise, and +her first pause, she rose to welcome the Vala, and said: + +"Hail, Hilda, and thrice hail! The day has been warm and the way +long; and, ere thou takest food and wine, let me prepare for thee the +bath for thy form, or the bath for thy feet. For as sleep to the +young, is the bath to the old." + +Hilda shook her head. + +"Bringer of sleep am I, and the baths I prepare are in the halls of +Valhalla. Offer not to the Vala the bath for mortal weariness, and +the wine and the food meet for human guests. Sit thee down, daughter +of the Dane, and thank thy new gods for the past that hath been thine. +Not ours is the present, and the future escapes from our dreams; but +the past is ours ever, and all eternity cannot revoke a single joy +that the moment hath known." + +Then seating herself in Godwin's large chair, she leant over her seid- +staff, and was silent, as if absorbed in her thoughts. + +"Githa," she said at last, "where is thy lord? I came to touch his +hands and to look on his brow." + +"He hath gone forth into the mart, and my sons are from home; and +Harold comes hither, ere night, from his earldom." + +A faint smile, as of triumph, broke over the lips of the Vala, and +then as suddenly yielded to an expression of great sadness. + +"Githa," she said, slowly, "doubtless thou rememberest in thy young +days to have seen or heard of the terrible hell-maid Belsta?" + +"Ay, ay," answered Githa shuddering; "I saw her once in gloomy +weather, driving before her herds of dark grey cattle. Ay, ay; and my +father beheld her ere his death, riding the air on a wolf, with a +snake for a bridle. Why askest thou?" + +"Is it not strange," said Hilda, evading the question, that Belsta, +and Heidr, and Hulla of old, the wolf-riders, the men-devourers, could +win to the uttermost secrets of galdra, though applied only to +purposes the direst and fellest to man, and that I, though ever in the +future,--I, though tasking the Nornas not to afflict a foe, but to +shape the careers of those I love,--I find, indeed, my predictions +fulfilled; but how often, alas! only in horror and doom!" + +"How so, kinswoman, how so?" said Githa, awed yet charmed in the awe, +and drawing her chair nearer to the mournful sorceress. "Didst thou +not fortell our return in triumph from the unjust outlawry, and, lo, +it hath come to pass? and hast thou not" (here Githa's proud face +flushed) "foretold also that my stately Harold shall wear the diadem +of a king?" + +"Truly, the first came to pass," said Hilda; "but----" she paused, and +her eye fell on the cyst; then breaking off she continued, speaking to +herself rather than to Githa--"And Harold's dream, what did that +portend? the runes fail me, and the dead give no voice. And beyond +one dim day, in which his betrothed shall clasp him with the arms of a +bride, all is dark to my vision--dark--dark. Speak not to me, Githa; +for a burthen, heavy as the stone on a grave, rests on a weary heart!" + +A dead silence succeeded, till, pointing with her staff to the fire, +the Vala said, "Lo, where the smoke and the flame contend--the smoke +rises in dark gyres to the air, and escapes, to join the wrack of +clouds. From the first to the last we trace its birth and its fall; +from the heart of the fire to the descent in the rain, so is it with +human reason, which is not the light but the smoke; it struggles but +to darken us; it soars but to melt in the vapour and dew. Yet, lo, +the flame burns in our hearth till the fuel fails, and goes at last, +none know whither. But it lives in the air though we see it not; it +lurks in the stone and waits the flash of the steel; it coils round +the dry leaves and sere stalks, and a touch re-illumines it; it plays +in the marsh--it collects in the heavens--it appals us in the +lightning--it gives warmth to the air--life of our life, and the +element of all elements. O Githa, the flame is the light of the soul, +the element everlasting; and it liveth still, when it escapes from our +view; it burneth in the shapes to which it passes; it vanishes, but +its never extinct." + +So saying, the Vala's lips again closed; and again both the women sate +silent by the great fire, as it flared and flickered over the deep +lines and high features of Githa, the Earl's wife, and the calm, +unwrinkled, solemn face of the melancholy Vala. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +While these conferences took place in the house of Godwin, Harold, on +his way to London, dismissed his train to precede him to his father's +roof, and, striking across the country, rode fast and alone towards +the old Roman abode of Hilda. Months had elapsed since he had seen or +heard of Edith. News at that time, I need not say, was rare and +scarce, and limited to public events, either transmitted by special +nuncius or passing pilgrim, or borne from lip to lip by the talk of +the scattered multitude. But even in his busy and anxious duties, +Harold had in vain sought to banish from his heart the image of that +young girl, whose life he needed no Vala to predict to him was +interwoven with the fibres of his own. The obstacles which, while he +yielded to, he held unjust and tyrannical, obstacles allowed by his +reluctant reason and his secret ambition--not sanctified by +conscience--only inflamed the deep strength of the solitary passion +his life had known; a passion that, dating from the very childhood of +Edith, had, often unknown to himself, animated his desire of fame, and +mingled with his visions of power. Nor, though hope was far and dim, +was it extinct. The legitimate heir of Edward the Confessor was a +prince living in the Court of the Emperor, of fair repute, and himself +wedded; and Edward's health, always precarious, seemed to forbid any +very prolonged existence to the reigning king. Therefore, he thought +that through the successor, whose throne would rest in safety upon +Harold's support, he might easily obtain that dispensation from the +Pope which he knew the present king would never ask--a dispensation +rarely indeed, if ever, accorded to any subject, and which, therefore, +needed all a king's power to back it. + +So in that hope, and fearful lest it should be quenched for ever by +Edith's adoption of the veil and the irrevocable vow, with a beating, +disturbed, but joyful heart he rode over field and through forest to +the old Roman house. + +He emerged at length to the rear of the villa, and the sun, fast +hastening to its decline, shone full upon the rude columns of the +Druid temple. And there, as he had seen her before, when he had first +spoken of love and its barriers, he beheld the young maiden. + +He sprang from his horse, and leaving the well-trained animal loose to +browse on the waste land, he ascended the knoll. He stole noiselessly +behind Edith, and his foot stumbled against the grave-stone of the +dead Titan-Saxon of old. But the apparition, whether real or fancied, +and the dream that had followed, had long passed from his memory, and +no superstition was in the heart springing to the lips, that cried +"Edith" once again. + +The girl started, looked round, and fell upon his breast. It was some +moments before she recovered consciousness, and then, withdrawing +herself gently from his arms, she leant for support against the Teuton +altar. + +She was much changed since Harold had seen her last: her cheek had +grown pale and thin, and her rounded form seemed wasted; and sharp +grief, as he gazed, shot through the soul of Harold. + +"Thou hast pined, thou hast suffered," said he, mournfully: "and I, +who would shed my life's blood to take one from thy sorrows, or add to +one of thy joys, have been afar, unable to comfort, perhaps only a +cause of thy woe." + +"No, Harold," said Edith, faintly, "never of woe; always of comfort, +even in absence. I have been ill, and Hilda hath tried rune and charm +all in vain. But I am better, now that Spring hath come tardily +forth, and I look on the fresh flowers, and hear the song of the +birds." + +But tears were in the sound of her voice, while she spoke. + +"And they have not tormented thee again with the thoughts of the +convent?" + +"They? no;--but my soul, yes. O Harold, release me from my promise; +for the time already hath come that thy sister foretold to me; the +silver cord is loosened, and the golden bowl is broken, and I would +fain take the wings of the dove, and be at peace." + +"Is it so?--Is there peace in the home where the thought of Harold +becomes a sin?" + +"Not sin then and there, Harold, not sin. Thy sister hailed the +convent when she thought of prayer for those she loved." + +"Prate not to me of my sister!" said Harold, through his set teeth. +"It is but a mockery to talk of prayer for the heart that thou thyself +rendest in twain. Where is Hilda? I would see her." + +"She hath gone to thy father's house with a gift; and it was to watch +for her return that I sate on the green knoll." + +The Earl then drew near and took her hand, and sate by her side, and +they conversed long. But Harold saw with a fierce pang that Edith's +heart was set upon the convent, and that even in his presence, and +despite his soothing words, she was broken-spirited and despondent. +It seemed as if her youth and life had gone from her, and the day had +come in which she said, "There is no pleasure." + +Never had he seen her thus; and, deeply moved as well as keenly stung, +he rose at length to depart; her hand lay passive in his parting +clasp, and a slight shiver went over her frame. + +"Farewell, Edith; when I return from Windshore, I shall be at my old +home yonder, and we shall meet again." + +Edith's lips murmured inaudibly, and she bent her eyes to the ground. + +Slowly Harold regained his steed, and as he rode on, he looked behind +and waved oft his hand. But Edith sate motionless, her eyes still on +the ground, and he saw not the tears that fell from them fast and +burning; nor heard he the low voice that groaned amidst the heathen +ruins, "Mary, sweet mother, shelter me from my own heart!" + +The sun had set before Harold gained the long and spacious abode of +his father. All around it lay the roofs and huts of the great Earl's +special tradesmen, for even his goldsmith was but his freed ceorl. +The house itself stretched far from the Thames inland, with several +low courts built only of timber, rugged and shapeless, but filled with +bold men, then the great furniture of a noble's halls. + +Amidst the shouts of hundreds, eager to hold his stirrup, the Earl +dismounted, passed the swarming hall, and entered the room, in which +he found Hilda and Githa, and Godwin, who had preceded his entry but a +few minutes. + +In the beautiful reverence of son to father, which made one of the +loveliest features of the Saxon character [126] (as the frequent want +of it makes the most hateful of the Norman vices), the all-powerful +Harold bowed his knee to the old Earl, who placed his hand on his head +in benediction, and then kissed him on the cheek and brow. + +"Thy kiss, too, dear mother," said the younger Earl; and Githa's +embrace, if more cordial than her lord's, was not, perhaps, more fond. + +"Greet Hilda, my son," said Godwin, "she hath brought me a gift, and +she hath tarried to place it under thy special care. Thou alone must +heed the treasure, and open the casket. But when and where, my +kinswoman?" + +"On the sixth day after thy coming to the King's hall," answered +Hilda, not returning the smile with which Godwin spoke,--"on the sixth +day, Harold, open the chest, and take out the robe which hath been +spun in the house of Hilda for Godwin the Earl. And now, Godwin, I +have clasped thine hand, and I have looked on thy brow, and my mission +is done, and I must wend homeward." + +"That shalt thou not, Hilda," said the hospitable Earl; "the meanest +wayfarer hath a right to bed and board in this house for a night and a +day, and thou wilt not disgrace us by leaving our threshold, the bread +unbroken, and the couch unpressed. Old friend, we were young +together, and thy face is welcome to me as the memory of former days." + +Hilda shook her head, and one of those rare, and for that reason most +touching, expressions of tenderness of which the calm and rigid +character of her features, when in repose, seemed scarcely +susceptible, softened her eye, and relaxed the firm lines of her lips. + +"Son of Wolnoth," said she, gently, "not under thy roof-tree should +lodge the raven of bode. Bread have I not broken since yestere'en, +and sleep will be far from my eyes to-night. Fear not, for my people +without are stout and armed, and for the rest there lives not the man +whose arm can have power over Hilda." + +She took Harold's hand as she spoke, and leading him forth, whispered +in his ear, "I would have a word with thee ere we part." Then, +reaching the threshold, she waved her hand thrice over the floor, and +muttered in the Danish tongue a rude verse, which, translated, ran +somewhat thus: + + "All free from the knot + Glide the thread of the skein, + And rest to the labour, + And peace to the pain!" + +"It is a death-dirge," said Githa, with whitening lips, but she spoke +inly, and neither husband nor son heard her words. + +Hilda and Harold passed in silence through the hall, and the Vala's +attendants, with spears and torches, rose from the settles, and went +before to the outer court, where snorted impatiently her black +palfrey. + +Halting in the midst of the court, she said to Harold, in a low voice: + +"At sunset we part--at sunset we shall meet again. And behold, the +star rises on the sunset; and the star, broader and brighter, shall +rise on the sunset then! When thy hand draws the robe from the chest, +think on Hilda, and know that at that hour she stands by the grave of +the Saxon warrior, and that from the grave dawns the future. Farewell +to thee!" + +Harold longed to speak to her of Edith, but a strange awe at his heart +chained his lips; so he stood silent by the great wooden gates of the +rude house. The torches flamed round him, and Hilda's face seemed +lurid in the glare. There he stood musing long after torch and ceorl +had passed away, nor did he wake from his reverie till Gurth, +springing from his panting horse, passed his arm round the Earl's +shoulder, and cried: + +"How did I miss thee, my brother? and why didst thou forsake thy +train?" + +"I will tell thee anon. Gurth, has my father ailed? There is that in +his face which I like not." + +"He hath not complained of misease," said Gurth, startled; "but now +thou speakest of it, his mood hath altered of late, and he hath +wandered much alone, or only with the old hound and the old falcon." + +Then Harold turned back, and, his heart was full; and, when he reached +the house, his father was sitting in the hall on his chair of state; +and Githa sate on his right hand, and a little below her sate Tostig +and Leofwine, who had come in from the bear-hunt by the river-gate, +and were talking loud and merrily; and thegns and cnehts sate all +around, and there was wassail as Harold entered. But the Earl looked +only to his father, and he saw that his eyes were absent from the +glee, and that he was bending his head over the old falcon, which sate +on his wrist. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +No subject of England, since the race of Cerdic sate on the throne, +ever entered the courtyard of Windshore with such train and such state +as Earl Godwin.--Proud of that first occasion, since his return, to do +homage to him with whose cause that of England against the stranger +was bound, all truly English at heart amongst the thegns of the land +swelled his retinue. Whether Saxon or Dane, those who alike loved the +laws and the soil, came from north and from south to the peaceful +banner of the old Earl. But most of these were of the past +generation, for the rising race were still dazzled by the pomp of the +Norman; and the fashion of English manners, and the pride in English +deeds, had gone out of date with long locks and bearded chins. Nor +there were the bishops and abbots and the lords of the Church,--for +dear to them already the fame of the Norman piety, and they shared the +distaste of their holy King to the strong sense and homely religion of +Godwin, who founded no convents, and rode to war with no relics round +his neck. But they with Godwin were the stout and the frank and the +free, in whom rested the pith and marrow of English manhood; and they +who were against him were the blind and willing and fated fathers of +slaves unborn. + +Not then the stately castle we now behold, which is of the masonry of +a prouder race, nor on the same site, but two miles distant on the +winding of the river shore (whence it took its name), a rude building +partly of timber and partly of Roman brick, adjoining a large +monastery and surrounded by a small hamlet, constituted the palace of +the saint-king. + +So rode the Earl and his four fair sons, all abreast, into the +courtyard of Windshore [127]. Now when King Edward heard the tramp of +the steeds and the hum of the multitudes, as he sate in his closet +with his abbots and priests, all in still contemplation of the thumb +of St. Jude, the King asked: + +"What army, in the day of peace, and the time of Easter, enters the +gates of our palace?" + +Then an abbot rose and looked out of the narrow window, and said with +a groan: + +"Army thou mayst well call it, O King!--and foes to us and to thee +head the legions----" + +"Inprinis," quoth our abbot the scholar; "thou speakest, I trow, of +the wicked Earl and his sons." + +The King's face changed. "Come they," said he, "with so large a +train? This smells more of vaunt than of loyalty; naught--very +naught." + +"Alack!" said one of the conclave, "I fear me that the men of Belial +will work us harm; the heathen are mighty, and----" + +"Fear not," said Edward, with benign loftiness, observing that his +guests grew pale, and himself, though often weak to childishness, and +morally wavering and irresolute,--still so far king and gentleman, +that he knew no craven fear of the body. "Fear not for me, my +fathers; humble as I am, I am strong in the faith of heaven and its +angels." + +The Churchmen looked at each other, sly yet abashed; it was not +precisely for the King that they feared. + +Then spoke Alred, the good prelate and constant peacemaker--fair +column and lone one of the fast-crumbling Saxon Church. "It is ill in +you, brethren to arraign the truth and good meaning of those who +honour your King; and in these days that lord should ever be the most +welcome who brings to the halls of his king the largest number of +hearts, stout and leal." + +"By your leave, brother Alred," said Stigand, who, though from motives +of policy he had aided those who besought the King not to peril his +crown by resisting the return of Godwin, benefited too largely by the +abuses of the Church to be sincerely espoused to the cause of the +strong-minded Earl; "By your leave, brother Alred, to every leal heart +is a ravenous mouth; and the treasures of the King are well-nigh +drained in feeding these hungry and welcomeless visitors. Durst I +counsel my lord I would pray him, as a matter of policy, to baffle +this astute and proud Earl. He would fain have the King feast in +public, that he might daunt him and the Church with the array of his +friends." + +"I conceive thee, my father," said Edward, with more quickness than +habitual, and with the cunning, sharp though guileless, that belongs +to minds undeveloped, "I conceive thee; it is good and most politic. +This our orgulous Earl shall not have his triumph, and, so fresh from +his exile, brave his King with the mundane parade of his power. Our +health is our excuse for our absence from the banquet, and, sooth to +say, we marvel much why Easter should be held a fitting time for +feasting and mirth. Wherefore, Hugoline, my chamberlain, advise the +Earl that to-day we keep fast till the sunset, when temperately, with +eggs, bread, and fish, we will sustain Adam's nature. Pray him and +his sons to attend us--they alone be our guests." And with a sound +that seemed a laugh, or the ghost of a laugh, low and chuckling--for +Edward had at moments an innocent humour which his monkish biographer +disdained not to note [128],--he flung himself back in his chair. The +priests took the cue, and shook their sides heartily, as Hugoline left +the room, not ill pleased, by the way, to escape an invitation to the +eggs, bread, and fish. + +Alred sighed; and said, "For the Earl and his sons, this is honour; +but the other earls, and the thegns, will miss at the banquet him whom +they design but to honour, and----" + +"I have said," interrupted Edward, drily, and with a look of fatigue. + +"And," observed another Churchman, with malice, "at least the young +Earls will be humbled, for they will not sit with the King and their +father, as they would in the Hall, and must serve my lord with napkin +and wine." + +"Inprinis," quoth our scholar the abbot, "that will be rare! I would +I were by to see. But this Godwin is a man of treachery and wile, and +my lord should beware of the fate of murdered Alfred, his brother!" + +The King started, and pressed his hands to his eyes. + +"How darest thou, Abbot Fatchere," cried Alred, indignantly; "How +darest thou revive grief without remedy, and slander without proof?" + +"Without proof?" echoed Edward, in a hollow voice. "He who could +murder, could well stoop to forswear! Without proof before man; but +did he try the ordeals of God?--did his feet pass the ploughshare?-- +did his hand grasp the seething iron? Verily, verily, thou didst +wrong to name to me Alfred my brother! I shall see his sightless and +gore-dropping sockets in the face of Godwin, this day, at my board." + +The King rose in great disorder; and, after pacing the room some +moments, disregardful of the silent and scared looks of his Churchmen, +waved his hand, in sign to them to depart. All took the hint at once +save Alred; but he, lingering the last, approached the King with +dignity in his step and compassion in his eyes. + +"Banish from thy breast, O King and son, thoughts unmeet, and of +doubtful charity! All that man could know of Godwin's innocence or +guilt--the suspicion of the vulgar--the acquittal of his peers--was +known to thee before thou didst seek his aid for thy throne, and didst +take his child for thy wife. Too late is it now to suspect; leave thy +doubts to the solemn day, which draws nigh to the old man, thy wife's +father!" + +"Ha!" said the king, seeming not to heed, or wilfully to misunderstand +the prelate, "Ha! leave him to God;--I will!" + +He turned away impatiently; and the prelate reluctantly departed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Tostig chafed mightily at the King's message; and, on Harold's attempt +to pacify him, grew so violent that nothing short of the cold stern +command of his father, who carried with him that weight of authority +never known but to those in whom wrath is still and passion noiseless, +imposed sullen peace on his son's rugged nature. But the taunts +heaped by Tostig upon Harold disquieted the old Earl, and his brow was +yet sad with prophetic care when he entered the royal apartments. He +had been introduced into the King's presence but a moment before +Hugoline led the way to the chamber of repast, and the greeting +between King and Earl had been brief and formal. + +Under the canopy of state were placed but two chairs, for the King and +the Queen's father; and the four sons, Harold, Tostig, Leofwine, and +Gurth, stood behind. Such was the primitive custom of ancient +Teutonic kings; and the feudal Norman monarchs only enforced, though +with more pomp and more rigour, the ceremonial of the forest +patriarchs--youth to wait on age, and the ministers of the realm on +those whom their policy had made chiefs in council and war. + +The Earl's mind, already embittered by the scene with his sons, was +chafed yet more by the King's unloving coldness; for it is natural to +man, however worldly, to feel affection for those he has served, and +Godwin had won Edward his crown; nor, despite his warlike though +bloodless return, could even monk or Norman, in counting up the old +Earl's crimes, say that he had ever failed in personal respect to the +King he had made; nor over-great for subject, as the Earl's power must +be confessed, will historian now be found to say that it had not been +well for Saxon England if Godwin had found more favour with his King, +and monk and Norman less. [129] + +So the old Earl's stout heart was stung, and he looked from those +deep, impenetrable eyes, mournfully upon Edward's chilling brow. + +And Harold, with whom all household ties were strong, but to whom his +great father was especially dear, watched his face and saw that it was +very flushed. But the practised courtier sought to rally his spirits, +and to smile and jest. + +From smile and jest, the King turned and asked for wine. Harold, +starting, advanced with the goblet; as he did so, he stumbled with one +foot, but lightly recovered himself with the other; and Tostig laughed +scornfully at Harold's awkwardness. + +The old Earl observed both stumble and laugh, and willing to suggest a +lesson to both his sons, said--laughing pleasantly--"Lo, Harold, how +the left foot saves the right!--so one brother, thou seest, helps the +other!" [130] + +King Edward looked up suddenly. + +"And so, Godwin, also, had my brother Alfred helped me, hadst thou +permitted." + +The old Earl, galled to the quick, gazed a moment on the King, and his +cheek was purple, and his eyes seemed bloodshot. + +"O Edward!" he exclaimed, "thou speakest to me hardly and unkindly of +thy brother Alfred, and often hast thou thus more than hinted that I +caused his death." + +The King made no answer. + +"May this crumb of bread choke me," said the Earl, in great emotion, +"if I am guilty of thy brother's blood!" [131] But scarcely had the +bread touched his lips, when his eyes fixed, the long warning symptoms +were fulfilled. And he fell to the ground, under the table, sudden +and heavy, smitten by the stroke of apoplexy. + +Harold and Gurth sprang forward; they drew their father from the +ground. His face, still deep-red with streaks of purple, rested on +Harold's breast; and the son, kneeling, called in anguish on his +father: the ear was deaf. + +Then said the King, rising: + +"It is the hand of God: remove him!" and he swept from the room, +exulting. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +For five days and five nights did Godwin lie speechless [132]. And +Harold watched over him night and day. And the leaches [133] would +not bleed him, because the season was against it, in the increase of +the moon and the tides; but they bathed his temples with wheat flour +boiled in milk, according to a prescription which an angel in a dream +[134] had advised to another patient; and they placed a plate of lead +on his breast, marked with five crosses, saying a paternoster over +each cross; together with other medical specifics in great esteem +[135]. But, nevertheless, five days and five nights did Godwin lie +speechless; and the leaches then feared that human skill was in vain. + +The effect produced on the court, not more by the Earl's death-stroke +than the circumstances preceding it, was such as defies description. +With Godwin's old comrades in arms it was simple and honest grief; but +with all those under the influence of the priests, the event was +regarded as a direct punishment from Heaven. The previous words of +the King, repeated by Edward to his monks, circulated from lip to lip, +with sundry exaggerations as it travelled: and the superstition of the +day had the more excuse, inasmuch as the speech of Godwin touched near +upon the defiance of one of the most popular ordeals of the accused,-- +viz. that called the "corsned," in which a piece of bread was given to +the supposed criminal; if he swallowed it with ease he was innocent; +if it stuck in his throat, or choked him, nay, if he shook and turned +pale, he was guilty. Godwin's words had appeared to invite the +ordeal, God had heard and stricken down the presumptuous perjurer! + +Unconscious, happily, of these attempts to blacken the name of his +dying father, Harold, towards the grey dawn succeeding the fifth +night, thought that he heard Godwin stir in his bed. So he put aside +the curtain, and bent over him. The old Earl's eyes were wide open, +and the red colour had gone from his cheeks, so that he was pale as +death. + +"How fares it, dear father?" asked Harold. + +Godwin smiled fondly, and tried to speak, but his voice died in a +convulsive rattle. Lifting himself up, however, with an effort, he +pressed tenderly the hand that clasped his own, leant his head on +Harold's breast, and so gave up the ghost. + +When Harold was at last aware that the struggle was over, he laid the +grey head gently on the pillow; he closed the eyes, and kissed the +lips, and knelt down and prayed. Then, seating himself at a little +distance, he covered his face with his mantle. + +At this time his brother Gurth, who had chiefly shared watch with +Harold,--for Tostig, foreseeing his father's death, was busy +soliciting thegn and earl to support his own claims to the earldom +about to be vacant; and Leofwine had gone to London on the previous +day to summon Githa who was hourly expected--Gurth, I say, entered the +room on tiptoe, and seeing his brother's attitude, guessed that all +was over. He passed on to the table, took up the lamp, and looked +long on his father's face. That strange smile of the dead, common +alike to innocent and guilty, had already settled on the serene lips; +and that no less strange transformation from age to youth, when the +wrinkles vanish, and the features come out clear and sharp from the +hollows of care and years, had already begun. And the old man seemed +sleeping in his prime. + +So Gurth kissed the dead, as Harold had done before him, and came up +and sate himself by his brother's feet, and rested his head on +Harold's knee; nor would he speak till, appalled by the long silence +of the Earl, he drew away the mantle from his brother's face with a +gentle hand, and the large tears were rolling down Harold's cheeks. + +"Be soothed, my brother," said Gurth; "our father has lived for glory, +his age was prosperous, and his years more than those which the +Psalmist allots to man. Come and look on his face, Harold, its calm +will comfort thee." + +Harold obeyed the hand that led him like a child; in passing towards +the bed, his eye fell upon the cyst which Hilda had given to the old +Earl, and a chill shot through his veins. + +"Gurth," said he, "is not this the morning of the sixth day in which +we have been at the King's Court?" + +"It is the morning of the sixth day." + +Then Harold took forth the key which Hilda had given him, and unlocked +the cyst, and there lay the white winding-sheet of the dead, and a +scroll. Harold took the scroll, and bent over it, reading by the +mingled light of the lamp and the dawn: + +"All hail, Harold, heir of Godwin the great, and Githa the king-born! +Thou hast obeyed Hilda, and thou knowest now that Hilda's eyes read +the future, and her lips speak the dark words of truth. Bow thy heart +to the Vala, and mistrust the wisdom that sees only the things of the +daylight. As the valour of the warrior and the song of the scald, so +is the lore of the prophetess. It is not of the body, it is soul +within soul; it marshals events and men, like the valour--it moulds +the air into substance, like the song. Bow thy heart to the Vala. +Flowers bloom over the grave of the dead. And the young plant soars +high, when the king of the woodland lies low!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The sun rose, and the stairs and passages without were filled with the +crowds that pressed to hear news of the Earl's health. The doors +stood open, and Gurth led in the multitude to look their last on the +hero of council and camp, who had restored with strong hand and wise +brain the race of Cerdic to the Saxon throne. Harold stood by the +bed-head silent, and tears were shed and sobs were heard. And many a +thegn who had before half believed in the guilt of Godwin as the +murderer of Alfred, whispered in gasps to his neighbour: + +"There is no weregeld for manslaying on the head of him who smiles so +in death on his old comrades in life!" + +Last of all lingered Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia; and when the +rest had departed, he took the pale hand, that lay heavy on the +coverlid, in his own, and said: + +"Old foe, often stood we in Witan and field against each other; but +few are the friends for whom Leofric would mourn as he mourns for +thee. Peace to thy soul! Whatever its sins, England should judge +thee mildly, for England beat in each pulse of thy heart, and with thy +greatness was her own!" + +Then Harold stole round the bed, and put his arms round Leofric's +neck, and embraced him. The good old Earl was touched, and he laid +his tremulous hands on Harold's brown locks and blessed him. + +"Harold," he said, "thou succeedest to thy father's power: let thy +father's foes be thy friends. Wake from thy grief, for thy country +now demands thee,--the honour of thy House, and the memory of the +dead. Many even now plot against thee and thine. Seek the King, +demand as thy right thy father's earldom, and Leofric will back thy +claim in the Witan." + +Harold pressed Leofric's hand, and raising it to his lips replied: +"Be our Houses at peace henceforth and for ever." + +Tostig's vanity indeed misled him, when he dreamed that any +combination of Godwin's party could meditate supporting his claims +against the popular Harold--nor less did the monks deceive themselves, +when they supposed that, with Godwin's death, the power of his family +would fall. + +There was more than even the unanimity of the chiefs of the Witan, in +favour of Harold; there was that universal noiseless impression +throughout all England, Danish and Saxon, that Harold was now the sole +man on whom rested the state--which, whenever it so favours one +individual, is irresistible. Nor was Edward himself hostile to +Harold, whom alone of that House, as we have before said, he esteemed +and loved. + +Harold was at once named Earl of Wessex; and relinquishing the earldom +he held before, he did not hesitate as to the successor to be +recommended in his place. Conquering all jealousy and dislike for +Algar, he united the strength of his party in favour of the son of +Leofric, and the election fell upon him. With all his hot errors, the +claims of no other Earl, whether from his own capacities or his +father's services, were so strong; and his election probably saved the +state from a great danger, in the results of that angry mood and that +irritated ambition with which he had thrown himself into the arms of +England's most valiant aggressor, Gryffyth, King of North Wales. + +To outward appearance, by this election, the House of Leofric--uniting +in father and son the two mighty districts of Mercia and the East +Anglians--became more powerful than that of Godwin; for, in that last +House, Harold was now the only possessor of one of the great earldoms, +and Tostig and the other brothers had no other provision beyond the +comparatively insignificant lordships they held before. But if Harold +had ruled no earldom at all, he had still been immeasurably the first +man in England--so great was the confidence reposed in his valour and +wisdom. He was of that height in himself, that he needed no pedestal +to stand on. + +The successor of the first great founder of a House succeeds to more +than his predecessor's power, if he but know how to wield and maintain +it. For who makes his way to greatness without raising foes at every +step? and who ever rose to power supreme, without grave cause for +blame? But Harold stood free from the enmities his father had +provoked, and pure from the stains that slander or repute cast upon +his father's name. The sun of the yesterday had shone through cloud; +the sun of the day rose in a clear firmament. Even Tostig recognised +the superiority of his brother; and after a strong struggle between +baffled rage and covetous ambition, yielded to him, as to a father. +He felt that all Godwin's House was centred in Harold alone; and that +only from his brother (despite his own daring valour and despite his +alliance with the blood of Charlemagne and Alfred, through the sister +of Matilda, the Norman duchess,) could his avarice of power be +gratified. + +"Depart to thy home, my brother," said Earl Harold to Tostig, "and +grieve not that Algar is preferred to thee. For, even had his claim +been less urgent, ill would it have beseemed us to arrogate the +lordships of all England as our dues. Rule thy lordship with wisdom: +gain the love of thy lithsmen. High claims hast thou in our father's +name, and moderation now will but strengthen thee in the season to +come. Trust on Harold somewhat, on thyself more. Thou hast but to +add temper and judgment to valour and zeal, to be worthy mate of the +first earl in England. Over my father's corpse I embraced my father's +foe. Between brother and brother shall there not be love, as the best +bequest of the dead?" + +"It shall not be my fault, if there be not," answered Tostig, humbled +though chafed. And he summoned his men and returned to his domains. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Fair, broad, and calm set the sun over the western woodlands. Hilda +stood on the mound, and looked with undazzled eyes on the sinking orb. +Beside her, Edith reclined on the sward, and seemed with idle hand +tracing characters in the air. The girl had grown paler still, since +Harold last parted from her on the same spot, and the same listless +and despondent apathy stamped her smileless lips and her bended head. + +"See, child of my heart," said Hilda, addressing Edith, while she +still gazed on the western luminary, "see, the sun goes down to the +far deeps, where Rana and Aegir [136] watch over the worlds of the +sea; but with morning he comes from the halls of the Asas--the golden +gates of the East--and joy comes in his train. And yet then thinkest, +sad child, whose years have scarce passed into woman, that the sun, +once set, never comes back to life. But even while we speak, thy +morning draws near, and the dunness of cloud takes the hues of the +rose!" + +Edith's hand paused from its vague employment, and fell droopingly on +her knee;--she turned with an unquiet and anxious eye to Hilda, and +after looking some moments wistfully at the Vala, the colour rose to +her cheek, and she said in a voice that had an accent half of anger: + +"Hilda, thou art cruel!" + +"So is Fate!" answered the Vala. "But men call not Fate cruel when it +smiles on their desires. Why callest thou Hilda cruel, when she reads +in the setting sun the runes of thy coming joy!" + +"There is no joy for me," returned Edith, plaintively; and I have that +on my heart," she added, with a sudden and almost fierce change of +tone, "which at last I will dare to speak. I reproach thee, Hilda, +that thou hast marred all my life, that thou hast duped me with +dreams, and left me alone in despair." + +"Speak on," said Hilda, calmly, as a nurse to a froward child. + +"Hast thou not told me, from the first dawn of my wondering reason, +that my life and lot were inwoven with--with (the word, mad and +daring, must out)--with those of Harold the peerless? But for that, +which my infancy took from thy lips as a law, I had never been so vain +and so frantic! I had never watched each play of his face, and +treasured each word from his lips; I had never made my life but part +of his life--all my soul but the shadow of his sun. But for that, I +had hailed the calm of the cloister--but for that, I had glided in +peace to my grave. And now--now, O Hilda--" Edith paused, and that +break had more eloquence than any words she could command. "And," she +resumed quickly, "thou knowest that these hopes were but dreams--that +the law ever stood between him and me--and that it was guilt to love +him." + +"I knew the law," answered Hilda, "but the law of fools is to the wise +as the cobweb swung over the brake to the wing of the bird. Ye are +sibbe to each other, some five times removed; and therefore an old man +at Rome saith that ye ought not to wed. When the shavelings obey the +old man at home, and put aside their own wives and frillas [137], and +abstain from the wine cup, and the chase, and the brawl, I will stoop +to hear of their laws,--with disrelish it may be, but without scorn. +[138] It is no sin to love Harold; and no monk and no law shall +prevent your union on the day appointed to bring ye together, form and +heart." + +"Hilda! Hilda! madden me not with joy," cried Edith, starting up in +rapturous emotion, her young face dyed with blushes, and all her +renovated beauty so celestial that Hilda herself was almost awed, as +if by the vision of Freya, the northern Venus, charmed by a spell from +the halls of Asgard. + +"But that day is distant," renewed the Vala. + +"What matters! what matters!" cried the pure child of Nature; "I ask +but hope. Enough,--oh! enough, if we were but wedded on the borders +of the grave!" + +"Lo, then," said Hilda, "behold, the sun of thy life dawns again!" + +As she spoke, the Vala stretched her arm, and through the intersticed +columns of the fane, Edith saw the large shadow of a man cast over the +still sward. Presently into the space of the circle came Harold, her +beloved. His face was pale with grief yet recent; but, perhaps, more +than ever, dignity was in his step and command on his brow, for he +felt that now alone with him rested the might of Saxon England. And +what royal robe so invests with imperial majesty the form of a man as +the grave sense of power responsible, in an earnest soul? + +"Thou comest," said Hilda, "in the hour I predicted; at the setting of +the sun and the rising of the star." + +"Vala," said Harold, gloomily, "I will not oppose my sense to thy +prophecies; for who shall judge of that power of which he knows not +the elements? or despise the marvel of which he cannot detect the +imposture? But leave me, I pray thee, to walk in the broad light of +the common day. These hands are made to grapple with things palpable, +and these eyes to measure the forms that front my way. In my youth, I +turned in despair or disgust from the subtleties of the schoolmen, +which split upon hairs the brains of Lombard and Frank; in my busy and +stirring manhood entangle me not in the meshes which confuse all my +reason, and sicken my waking thoughts into dreams of awe. Mine be the +straight path and the plain goal!" + +The Vala gazed on him with an earnest look, that partook of +admiration, and yet more of gloom; but she spoke not, and Harold +resumed: + +"Let the dead rest, Hilda,--proud names with glory on earth and +shadows escaped from our ken, submissive to mercy in heaven. A vast +chasm have my steps overleapt since we met, O Hilda--sweet Edith; a +vast chasm, but a narrow grave." His voice faltered a moment, and +again he renewed,--" Thou weepest, Edith; ah, how thy tears console +me! Hilda, hear me! I love thy grandchild--loved her by irresistible +instinct since her blue eyes first smiled on mine. I loved her in her +childhood, as in her youth--in the blossom as in the flower. And thy +grandchild loves me. The laws of the Church proscribe our marriage, +and therefore we parted; but I feel, and thine Edith feels, that the +love remains as strong in absence: no other will be her wedded lord, +no other my wedded wife. Therefore, with heart made soft by sorrow, +and, in my father's death, sole lord of my fate, I return, and say to +thee in her presence, 'Suffer us to hope still!' The day may come +when under some king less enthralled than Edward by formal Church +laws, we may obtain from the Pope absolution for our nuptials--a day, +perhaps, far off; but we are both young, and love is strong and +patient: we can wait." + +"O Harold," exclaimed Edith, "we can wait!" + +"Have I not told thee, son of Godwin," said the Vala, solemnly, "that +Edith's skein of life was inwoven with thine? Dost thou deem that my +charms have not explored the destiny of the last of my race? Know +that it is in the decrees of the fates that ye are to be united, never +more to be divided. Know that there shall come a day, though I can +see not its morrow, and it lies dim and afar, which shall be the most +glorious of thy life, and on which Edith and fame shall be thine,--the +day of thy nativity, on which hitherto all things have prospered with +thee. In vain against the stars preach the mone and the priest: what +shall be, shall be. Wherefore, take hope and joy, O Children of Time! +And now, as I join your hands, I betroth your souls." + +Rapture unalloyed and unprophetic, born of love deep and pure, shone +in the eyes of Harold, as he clasped the hand of his promised bride. +But an involuntary and mysterious shudder passed over Edith's frame, +and she leant close, close, for support upon Harold's breast. And, as +if by a vision, there rose distinct in her memory a stern brow, a form +of power and terror--the brow and the form of him who but once again +in her waking life the Prophetess had told her she should behold. The +vision passed away in the warm clasp of those protecting arms; and +looking up into Harold's face, she there beheld the mighty and deep +delight that transfused itself at once into her own soul. + +Then Hilda, placing one hand over their heads, and raising the other +towards heaven, all radiant with bursting stars, said in her deep and +thrilling tones: + +"Attest the betrothal of these young hearts, O ye Powers that draw +nature to nature by spells which no galdra can trace, and have wrought +in the secrets of creation no mystery so perfect as love,--Attest it, +thou temple, thou altar!--attest it, O sun and O air! While the forms +are divided, may the souls cling together--sorrow with sorrow, and joy +with joy. And when, at length, bride and bridegroom are one,--O +stars, may the trouble with which ye are charged have exhausted its +burthen; may no danger molest, and no malice disturb, but, over the +marriage-bed, shine in peace, O ye stars!" + +Up rose the moon. May's nightingale called its mate from the +breathless boughs; and so Edith and Harold were betrothed by the grave +of the son of Cerdic. And from the line of Cerdic had come, since +Ethelbert, all the Saxon kings who with sword and with sceptre had +reigned over Saxon England. + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAROLD, BY LYTTON, BOOK 5 *** + +******* This file should be named 7676.txt or 7676.zip ******* + +This eBook was produced by Tapio Riikonen +and David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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