WULF'S SUSPICIONS.
Beyond the fact that the name of the king had changed, the death of Edward
and the accession of Harold made no sensible difference in the government
of the southern half of England. Harold had practically reigned for years,
and the fact that he was now able to give his orders direct instead of
having nominally to consult Edward, had only the effect that the affairs of
the state moved somewhat more promptly. Such of the Norman favourites of
Edward as desired to leave were permitted to do so, and were honourably
escorted to the coast, but many remained. The Norman prelates and abbots
retained their dignities undisturbed, and several of the court officials of
Edward held the same positions under Harold.
A fortnight after the coronation a party of Norman barons arrived, bearing
a summons from Duke William to Harold to fulfil the oath he had sworn to be
his man, and also to carry out his engagement to marry one of William's
daughters. They were received with all honour, and Harold informed them
that he would, without delay, reply to the duke's summons. A few days
later three thanes of high rank started for Normandy with Harold's reply.
Wulf accompanied them.
"I would that you should go with them, Wulf," Harold had said to him. "You
are too young to be one of my embassy to Duke William, but it would be well
that you should form one of the party. The duke knows you and has a liking
for you, and possibly may speak more freely to you than to my official
messengers. Moreover, you have many acquaintances and friends there, and
may gather valuable news as to the feeling in Normandy and the probability
of William's barons embarking in a desperate war for his advantage."
"I shall be glad to go, my lord."
"The duke knows well enough what my answer must be. He is aware that were
I ready either to resign my kingship to him, or to agree to hold my crown
as his vassal, the people of England would laugh to scorn my assumption so
to dispose of them, and would assuredly renounce and slay me as a traitor
who had broken the oath I swore at my coronation. It is a mere formal
summons William makes, as one summons a city to surrender before
undertaking its siege. It is but a move in the game. That he will, if he
can, strike for the kingdom, I doubt not in any way, but it may well be
that his barons will refuse to embark in a war beyond the seas, which is
altogether beyond the military service they are bound to render. At any
rate, we have breathing time. Vast preparations must be made before he can
invade England, and until he is ready we shall have messengers passing to
and fro. A few of my chief councillors, the earls and great thanes, refuse
to believe that William will ever attempt by force of arms to grasp the
crown of England, but for myself I have no doubt he will do so. I shall at
once prepare for war; and the first step of all is to unite England from
the northern border to the southern sea, so that we may oppose the Normans
with our whole strength. This must be my personal work, other matters I
must for a time intrust to the earls."
The train was not a large one. One ship bore the thanes and their
attendants from Southampton to Rouen. They were received with all honour at
their landing, conducted to a house that had been assigned to their use,
and informed that they would be received by the duke on the following day.
They had brought their horses with them, and as soon as they were housed
Wulf mounted, and attended by Osgod rode to the castle of the De Burgs.
Three years had past since he had last been there. He had from time to time
received letters and greetings from Guy de Burg by the hands of Normans who
visited the court, and knew that although he had gained in health and
strength the predictions of the surgeons had been fulfilled, and that he
would never be able to take part in knightly exercises or deeds of arms.
The warden at the gate had sent in Wulf's name, and as he alighted a tall
young man ran down the steps and embraced him.
"I am overjoyed to see you, Wulf," he exclaimed. "When we heard that Harold
would send over an English embassy to answer the duke's demands, I hoped
that you would be among the number. Harold would be likely to choose you,
and I felt sure that you would come over to see me. I had a messenger
waiting at Rouen to bring me tidings of the arrival of your ship, and it is
scarcely an hour since he rode in with the news that, by inquiries among
the servants as they landed, he had learned that you were indeed of the
party. But I had hardly looked to see you until to-morrow morning, and had
indeed intended to ride over on my palfrey at daybreak."
"I would not delay, Guy, for the answer we bear will not be to the duke's
liking, and for aught I know he may pack us off again as soon as the
interview is ended. Therefore, I thought it best to lose not a moment."
"I see you have brought your tall retainer with you, Wulf. I am glad to
see the stout fellow again. But come in, they will chide me for keeping you
so long at the entrance."
Wulf was warmly received by the baron and his wife. "You are just what I
thought you would grow up, Wulf," the former said. "Indeed your figure was
so set and square before, that there was little chance of great alteration.
We have heard of you from time to time, and that you distinguished yourself
greatly in the war against the Welsh, and stood high in the favour and
affection of Harold. Guy has overshot you, you see, in point of height,
though he is scarce half your breadth," and the baron looked with a
suppressed sigh at the fragile young fellow, who stood with his hand on
Wulf's shoulder.
"He looks better and stronger than I expected, my lord," Wulf said. "You
must remember when I last saw him he could scarce walk across the room, and
in my heart I scarce hoped to ever see him again."
"He gains strength very slowly," De Burg said wistfully; "but although he
has to be careful of himself, he has no ailment."
"He could hardly gain strength while growing so fast," Wulf said; "but now
that he has gained his full height he will, doubtless, gather strength, and
as three years have done so much for him, another three years will I hope
do far more. The Lady Agnes is well, I trust?"
"She is well, and will be here anon," the baroness said.
Guy laughed with something of his former heartiness. "She was here when the
man brought news of your arrival, Wulf, but she fled away like a startled
deer, and has, I suppose, gone to put on her best kirtle in your honour."
As he spoke Agnes entered the room. Considerable as was the change that
three years had wrought in the young men, it was still greater in her case,
for she had grown from a pretty young girl into a very lovely maiden, whose
cheek flushed as she presented it for Wulf's salute.
"Would you have known her again, Wulf?" Guy asked with a smile.
"I should certainly have known her, though she has so greatly changed,"
Wulf replied. "I thought that you would be grown up and altered, but I
scarcely looked for so great an alteration in her, though I might of course
have known that it would be so."
"And now tell me, Wulf," the baron said, abruptly changing the
conversation, "how go things in England--are people united in choosing
Harold as their king?"
"The South, the East, and West are as one man," Wulf said. "Mercia, which
comprises the midlands, has accepted the choice. Northumbria has as yet
held itself aloof, although its earl has sworn allegiance and its primate
has placed the crown on Harold's head; but in time, I am well assured, the
North will also accept him. As I said when we spoke about it after Harold
had been tricked into taking an oath to be William's man, he had no more
power to pledge himself for England than I had. Englishmen are free to
choose their own king, and as Harold has long been their ruler, their
choice naturally fell on him.
"Harold is about to marry the sister of the Earls of Northumbria and
Mercia, the widow of Griffith of Wales, and this will, I hope, bind these
two powerful nobles to him. The only trouble is likely to come from Tostig,
who is, as you know, at the court of Norway. But as he is hated in
Northumbria, and the earl and his brother of Mercia both have personal
enmity against him, he can gather no following there, while Anglia and
Wessex are devoted to Harold. Still he and the King of Norway may cause
trouble."
"The answer of Harold's ambassadors is, of course, a refusal?"
"Assuredly," Wulf said. "I do not know the exact import of the reply, as,
although I have accompanied them, I am not a member of the embassy, being
too young to be intrusted with so weighty a matter. But there can be but
one answer. Harold is powerless to carry out his oath. He had the choice of
becoming King of England, and thus defending our rights and freedom, or of
refusing the crown, in which case he must have fled here, and could have
given no aid whatever to William, as he himself would be regarded as the
worst of traitors by the English. The duke must be perfectly well aware
that a king of England could not, without the assent of the people, accept
a foreign prince as his liege lord."
De Burg nodded.
"That is plainly so, Wulf; and although the duke professes intense
indignation against Harold, he himself has, over and over again, broken his
own oaths of allegiance to the King of France. Breaches of oaths go for
little, except they serve as pretexts for war. It would have been the same
thing if Harold had never taken the oath, except that his breach of it will
be an aid to William in a war against him. We northmen came to France and
conquered a province, simply by the right of the strongest. The duke has
doubled his dominions by the same right. He deems himself now strong enough
to conquer England; whether he is so remains to be seen. At present
methinks that but few of us are disposed to follow him in such an
enterprise, but there is never any saying how things will go at last. When
war is in the air men's minds become heated. There will be dignities,
estates, and titles to be won, and when many are ready to go, few like to
hang back. More than once already William has embarked on a war against the
wishes of the majority, but he has finally carried all with him, and it may
be so again, especially if he can win over the pope to excommunicate Harold
for the breach of an oath sworn on the relics."
"His excommunication will go for little in England," Wulf said sturdily.
"Many of our prelates, and almost all our clergy are Englishmen, and hold
in very small respect the claim of the pope to interfere in the affairs of
England."
"And if Harold died who would be likely to succeed him?"
"I have never thought of that," Wulf said, "and I should think that few
Englishmen have done so. If such a misfortune should happen, methinks that
England would be rent in two, and that while Wessex and Anglia would choose
one of his brothers, Mercia and the North would take Edwin or his brother
Morcar as their king, but assuredly no foreign prince would be chosen."
"No, but with England divided the chance of conquest would be easier. You
are about the king, Wulf. Keep a shrewd guard over him. I say not for a
moment that the duke would countenance any attempt to do him harm, but
there are many rough spirits who might think that they would gain his
favour greatly did they clear his path of Harold, and who would feel all
the less scruple in doing so, should the pope be induced to excommunicate
him. Such things have happened again and again. Mind, I have no warrant for
my speech. Methinks the honour of De Burg is too well known for anyone to
venture to broach such a project before him, but so many kings and great
princes have fallen by an assassin's knife to clear the way for the next
heir or for an ambitious rival, that I cannot close my eyes to the fact
that one in Harold's position might well be made the subject of such an
attempt. The history of your own country will furnish you with examples of
what I say."
"Thank you, my lord," Wulf said gravely. "The thought that an assassin's
knife might be raised against Harold, who is of all men the most beloved in
England, has never once entered my mind, but I see there may be indeed a
danger of such an attempt being made. I do not greatly trust Morcar or his
brother, and the danger may come from them, or, as you say, from one
desirous of gaining favour with your duke. I will lay your warning to
heart."
The conversation now turned on other topics, on the Welsh war and the life
Wulf had been leading since they last met, and upon what had happened to
the many acquaintances Wulf had made in Normandy. They talked until long
past the usual hour for retiring to rest; Wulf slept at the chateau, and
rode into Rouen at an early hour in the morning.
The audience next day was a public one. William was surrounded by his
officers of state, and by a large number of his barons. The English envoys
were ushered in, and the duke asked them in a loud voice what answer they
brought to his just demands on the part of his sworn liegeman, Harold.
"The king of England bids us state, duke, that he holds an oath taken by a
prisoner under force to be invalid, especially when taken in ignorance of
the sanctity of the concealed relics; secondly, he says that he has been
elected by the people of England, and that he has no power whatever to
transfer the rights that they have conferred upon him, and which he has
sworn to maintain, and that they would absolutely refuse to be bound by any
act on his part contrary to the welfare of the kingdom, and to their rights
as freemen; thirdly, as to your demand that he should carry out his promise
to marry your daughter, he points out that the lady whose hand was promised
to him has since that time died; and lastly, that although as Earl of
Wessex he might transfer that engagement to another of your daughters, as
king of England he is unable to do so, as the will of the people is that
their king shall marry no foreign princess, but that the royal family shall
be of unmixed English blood."
William frowned heavily. "You hear, my lords," he said, after a pause, to
the Norman barons, "this English earl who was here as my guest refuses to
carry out the engagements to which he swore upon the holy relics. I cannot,
however, bring myself to believe that he will really persist in this foul
perjury, and shall persevere in my endeavours to bring him to a sense of
his duty, and to show him the foul dishonour that will rest upon him should
he persist in this contempt alike of our holy church and his honour as a
knight and a Christian, conduct that would bring upon him eternal infamy
and the scorn and contempt of all the princes and nobles of Europe, and
draw upon his head the wrath of the church." Then he abruptly turned on his
heel and left the audience-chamber, while the English envoys returned to
their house and made preparations for immediate departure.
A few minutes after his arrival there one of the duke's pages brought word
to Wulf that the duke desired to speak to him in private. He at once went
across to the palace. The duke received him cordially.
"I marked you were with the other thanes, and was glad to see one whom I
count as my friend. Tell me frankly, what think the people of England of
this monstrous act of perjury on the part of Harold?"
"To speak the truth, my lord duke," Wulf replied, "they trouble their heads
in no way about it. They hold that the right of electing their king rests
wholly with them, and that Harold's promise, to do what he had no more
power to do than the lowest born of Englishmen, was but a waste of words.
Harold himself feels the obligation far more than anyone else, and had
there been any other Englishman who could have united the people as well as
he could himself, he would gladly have stood aside; but there is none such,
and he had no choice but to accept the decision of the Witan, and, for the
sake of England, to lay aside his own scruples. The late king, too,
nominated him as his successor, and although his voice had no legal weight,
he is now regarded as almost a saint among the people. The fact, therefore,
that he, full of piety and religion as he was, should have held that
Harold's oath in no way prevented the people from choosing him, has gone
very far to satisfy any scruples that might have been felt."
"Edward at one time named me as his successor," the duke said shortly.
"So I have heard, my lord duke; but as he grew in years and learned more of
English feeling and character he became fully aware that the people would
accept no foreign prince, and that only the man who had for thirteen years
governed in his name could be their choice."
"And the great earls and thanes are likewise of that opinion?"
"Assuredly in Anglia and Wessex they are so. I know not the minds of Earls
Morcar and Edwin, but they were at the Witan and stood by his side at the
coronation, and doubtless felt that they could not rely upon their own
people if they attempted any open opposition to Harold."
"And you will support this usurper against me, Wulf?"
"I shall fight, my lord duke, for the king chosen by the people of England.
Should that choice some day fall on you I should be as faithful a follower
of yours as I am now of Harold."
"Well answered, young thane. You have twice done me loyal service, and I at
least do not forget my promises. As yet my mind is not made up as to my
course, but should fate will it so, William of England will not forget the
services rendered to William of Normandy."
A few minutes later Wulf rejoined his companions, and before nightfall the
ship was far on her way down the river.
"Shall we go back to Steyning, my lord, when we return home?" Osgod asked
as they stood by the bulwark together watching the passing shores.
"No, Osgod. I mean for a time to remain with the king. Baron de Burg
yesterday hinted to me that he thought it possible that some of the duke's
followers might endeavour to remove the obstacle between him and the throne
of England. There are in every country desperate men, who are ready for any
crime or deed of violence if they but think that its committal will bring
them a reward. We have had English kings assassinated before now, and it
has been the same in other countries. Moreover, there are many Normans who
were forced to fly from England when Godwin's family returned from exile.
These having a personal grudge against him would be willing to gratify it,
and at the same time to earn a place in William's favour. Harold is so
frank and unsuspicious that he will never think of taking precautions for
his personal safety. You and I, then, must serve as his watch-dogs. It may
be a difficult task, for we have no idea from what quarter that danger may
come, and yet by chance we may discover some clue or other that will set us
on the right track At any rate, if we are near him, and keep a watchful eye
on any strangers approaching him, we may save him from a treacherous blow."
"Good, my lord. Methinks that Harold was wrong in not sending every Norman
across the seas, and every man with whom I have spoken thinks the same. But
at any rate we can, as you say, keep a sharp look-out, and although I
cannot be always near his person, I shall go about and listen; and it will
be hard if anything is on foot without my hearing some whisper of it. You
will tell him no word of your suspicions, I suppose?"
"Certainly not. I have fears rather than suspicions, and Baron De Burg
certainly spoke as if he regarded it as likely that such an attempt might
be made, and he knows his own people better than I do. He expressly said
that he had no special reason for giving me the warning, but he may have
heard some angry remark or some covert threat against Harold; and although
the duke would not, I feel sure, openly countenance his slaying, I think
that the slayers might confidently look for a reward from his gratitude did
they by their daggers open a way for him to the throne of England."
On the return of the embassy to London King Harold said to Wulf: "I have no
further occasion for your services at present, Wulf, and I suppose you will
return home and increase the number of your housecarls. It is not with
undisciplined levies that the Normans, if they come, must be met. It is no
question this time of Welsh mountaineers but of trained warriors, and
should they land they must be met by men as firm and as obedient to orders
as themselves. I am trying to impress this on all our thanes, but most of
them are hard to move, and deem that all that is necessary on the day of
battle is that men shall have strength and courage and arms."
"With your permission, my lord, I would rather abide near you, and leave
the training of my men to the officer who taught those who fought by my
side in Wales."
"I thought you did not care for the gaieties of the court?" Harold said, in
some surprise.
"Nor do I, my lord. For its gaieties I care nothing, but in times like
these there is much to be learned, and I would not bury myself in Steyning
when there is so much of importance going on in London."
"Then stay, Wulf, I shall be glad to have you here. I have but little time
to myself now, but it is a relief to put aside grave matters sometimes. I
will appoint a room for you near my own chamber. You have heard no news of
her, I suppose?"
"In truth, my lord, I know not how to set about the task, and it seems to
me that my only chance is to run against one of her serving-men in the
street."
"That is but a slight chance, Wulf; but even I, with all the power of
England in my hands, am equally at a loss. I cannot send round to all the
thanes of Wessex to ask if a strange lady has taken a house in their
jurisdiction, nor to all the parish priests to ask if a new worshipper has
come to their church. However, I believe that sooner or later she will
herself advise me where she has hidden. It may be that your stay here will
not be a long one, for I purpose journeying to the North."
"To Northumbria!" Wulf said in surprise.
"Yes; the people there refuse to recognize me, and I would win them by
going among them rather than by force. My dear friend Bishop Wulfstan will
accompany me. I shall take with me a body of my housecarls, partly as a
guard, but more because I cannot now travel as a private person. It is very
many years since an English king has visited Northumbria, and it is not
strange that these northern men should object to be ruled by a stranger
from the South. I shall take with me two or three of my thanes only, but
shall be glad for you to ride with me. Young as you are, you have a quick
eye and ready wit, and in case trouble should arise, I can rely upon you
more than upon many men far older than yourself."
The palace of Westminster was not an imposing edifice. London had not yet
become the capital of England, Oxford being the seat of government of most
of the kings, so that the palace was built on a simple plan, and had been
altered by Edward until the interior arrangements more nearly resembled
those of a convent than of a palace. Below was the great banqueting-hall,
and beyond this the chamber where the king heard complaints and
administered justice. Leading from this were the king and queen's private
chambers, where the one sat and read or received his chief councillors, and
the other worked with her maids, and listened to the music of the harpers
or the tales of war and love sung by bards.
Behind was the chapel. On the floor above a corridor ran from one end of
the building to the doors which separated the royal sleeping-rooms from the
rest. On either side of the corridor were small bed-chambers, where the
officers of the household and guests at the court slept, their attendants
lying in the corridor itself or in the kitchens, which with other offices
were contained in a separate building. The room assigned to Wulf, and which
Harold had ordered was henceforth to be retained for him, was that on the
right hand of the corridor, next to the door leading to the royal
apartments. Like the others it was a mere cell, with the straw pallet
covered with sheep-skins, with some rugs for covering. This constituted the
whole of the furniture. In the morning water was brought in brass ewers and
basins, either by the pages or servants of the guests.
"Nothing could be better, my lord, than this," Osgod said. "I am a light
sleeper, and lying across your door I am sure that no one could enter the
king's apartments without my hearing those heavy doors move."
"There is but little chance, Osgod, of an attack being made on him in that
fashion. Doubtless some of the royal servants sleep on the other side of
the door. No, if any design be attempted against his life it will be when
he is travelling, or when he is abroad amid a crowd."
"I saw Walter Fitz-Urse to-day, master, in the train of William of London."
"Then he must have returned within the last day or two, Osgod, for he has
been absent for more than a year, and I know that when we sailed for
Normandy he was still absent, for I inquired of one of the court officials
if he had been here of late. What should bring him back again, I wonder.
He has long been out of his pageship, and he can hope for no preferment in
England while Harold is king. He has, I know, no great possessions in
Normandy, for I asked Guy about him, and learned that his father was a
knight of but small consideration, either as to his state or character, and
that the boy owed his place as page to William of London, to the fact that
he was a distant relation of the prelate.
"I would say harm of no man, but I should think he is as likely as another
to be mixed up in such a plot as we are talking of. He is landless,
hot-tempered, and ambitious. He owes no goodwill to Harold, for it was by
his intervention that he was sent away in disgrace after that quarrel with
me. At any rate, Osgod, since we have no one else to suspect, we will in
the first place watch him, or rather have him looked after, for I see not
how we ourselves can in any way keep near him. He knows me well, and has
doubtless seen you with me, and having seen you once would not be likely to
forget you."
"I think I can manage that," Osgod said confidently. "My father has a small
apprentice who well-nigh worries his life out with tricks and trifling. I
have more than once begged him off a beating, and methinks he will do
anything for me. He is as full of cunning as an ape, and, I warrant me,
would act his part marvellously. My father will be glad enough to get him
out of the forge for a while, and when I tell him that it is in your
service he will make no difficulty about it. He is fifteen years old, but
so small for his age that he would pass for three years younger than he
is."
"I think it is a very good plan, Osgod. You had best see your father in the
morning, and if he consents to your having the boy, bring him down to the
river-bank behind the abbey, where I will be awaiting you, and can there
talk to him without observation. You are sure that he can be trusted to
keep silence regarding what I tell him?"
"He can be trusted, my lord. In the first place he will enjoy playing his
part, and in the second he will know well enough that I should nearly flay
him alive with my stirrup-leather if he were to fail me, and that his life
in the forge would be worse than ever."
The next morning Wulf strolled down to the river-bank after breaking his
fast, and it was not long before Osgod joined him with the boy.
"Have you told him what he is required for, Osgod?" Wulf asked, as the boy,
doffing his cap, stood before him with an air of extreme humility.
"I am not good at the telling of tales, as you know, my lord, and I thought
it better that you should tell him just as much or as little as you chose."
"You don't like your work at the forge, Ulf?" for that Wulf had learned was
the boy's name.
"I think that I like it better than it likes me," the boy replied. "When I
get to do the fine work I shall like it, but at present it is 'fetch this
tool, Ulf, or file that iron, or blow those bellows,' and if I do but smile
I get a cuff."
"No, no, Ulf," Osgod said. "Of course, at present you are but a beginner,
and at your age I too had to fetch and carry and be at the bidding of all
the men; and it is not for smiling that you get cuffed, but for playing
tricks and being away for hours when you are sent on a message to the next
street, and doing your errands wrongly. My father tells me you will be a
good workman some day. You will never be strong enough to wield a heavy
hammer or to forge a battle-axe, but he says your fingers are quick and
nimble, and that you will some day be able to do fine work such as clumsy
hands could not compass. But that is not to the point now."
"You will be glad to be out of the forge for a bit, Ulf?" Wulf asked.
"That should I, but not always."
"It will not be for very long. I want a watch set upon a Norman in order to
know where he goes, and whom he meets, and what he purposes. Osgod tells me
that he thinks you could play the part rarely, and that you would be
willing for his sake to do our bidding."
The boy looked up into Osgod's face with an expression of earnest
affection.
"I would do anything for him," he said, "even if I were to be cut to
pieces."
"Osgod is as much interested in the matter as I am, Ulf; and as he has
assured me that you are to be trusted, I will tell you more as to the man,
and my object in setting you to watch him."
"You can trust me, my lord," the boy said earnestly. "I will do your
bidding whatever it is."
"You know, Ulf, that the Duke of Normandy desires the crown of England?"
"So I have heard men say, my lord."
"Were King Harold out of the way, his chances of obtaining it would be
improved."
The boy nodded.
"I am sure that the duke himself would take no hand in bringing about
Harold's death, but there are many of his people who might think that they
would obtain a great reward were they to do so."
The boy nodded again.
"The man I wish you to watch is Walter Fitz-Urse, who is in the train of
the bishop. I have no particular reason for suspecting him, beyond the fact
that he has but just come over here, and this is scarcely a time a Norman
would come to London; though as the bishop is a relation and patron of his
he may have come merely to visit him. Still he has, as he thinks, a cause
for enmity against the king. He is needy, and, as I know, somewhat
unscrupulous. All this is little enough against a man; still it seems to me
that his coming bodes danger to the king, and this being so I desire that
he shall be watched, in order that I may find out what is his real object
in coming over here. I want you to post yourself near the gate of the
bishop's palace, and whenever he comes out to follow him save when he is in
the train of the bishop--most of all if he sallies out alone or after dark.
"It will not do for you to be always dressed as an apprentice. Osgod will
procure for you such clothes as you may require for disguises. One day you
can be sitting there as a beggar asking alms, another as a girl from one of
the villages with eggs or fowls. You understand that you will have to
follow him, to mark where he goes in, and especially, should he be joined
by anybody when out, to endeavour to overhear something of what they say to
each other. Even a few words might suffice to show me whether my suspicions
are true or not. Do you think you can do that? Osgod tells me that you are
good at playing a part."
"I will do it, my lord, and that right gladly. It is a business after my
own heart, and I will warrant that those who see me one day will not know
me when they see me the next."
"Osgod will go with you now, and will stay near the bishop's palace until
the man you are to watch comes out, and will point him out to you. In a day
or two I may be going away with the king; when we return you will tell us
what you have found out. Till we go, Osgod will meet you here each morning
as the abbey bell rings out the hour of seven. You can tell him anything
that you have learned, and then he will give you such further instructions
as may seem needful; and remember you must be cautious, for Walter
Fitz-Urse would not hesitate to use his dagger on you did he come upon you
eaves-dropping."
"I will give him leave to do so if he catches me," the boy said.
"Very well, then; Osgod will go with you to buy such clothes as may be
necessary, and remember that you will be well rewarded for your work."
"I want no reward," the boy said, almost indignantly. "I am an apprentice,
and as my master has bid me do whatever Osgod commands, he has a right to
my services. But this is nothing. There is not one in London who would not
do aught in his power for Harold, and who would scorn to take pay for
it. As this is a matter in which his very life may be concerned, though I
am but a boy, and a small one at that, there is nought that I would not do,
even to the giving of my life, to spoil these Norman plots."
Osgod was about to chide the boy angrily for this freedom of speech, but
Wulf checked him.
"You are right, lad; and I am sorry I spoke of a reward. I myself would
have answered the same at your age, and would have died for Harold then as
I would now. I should have bethought me that the feelings of Englishmen,
gentle or simple, are the same towards the king, and I crave your pardon
for treating your loyal service as a thing to be paid for with money."
The boy's eyes filled with tears; he dropped on one knee, and seizing
Wulf's hand placed it to his lips, and then without a word sped away,
halting a hundred yards off till Osgod should join him.
"You have made a good choice," Wulf said; "the boy is wholly trustworthy,
and unless his face belies him he is as shrewd as he is faithful. My only
fear in the matter is, that he may be over rash in his desire to carry out
the trust we have given him. Warn him against that, and tell him that
should he be discovered and killed it would upset all our plans."