Duke William of the Long Sword was buried the next morning in high pomp
and state, with many a prayer and psalm chanted over his grave.
When this was over, little Richard, who had all the time stood or knelt
nearest the corpse, in one dull heavy dream of wonder and sorrow, was led
back to the palace, and there his long, heavy, black garments were taken
off, and he was dressed in his short scarlet tunic, his hair was
carefully arranged, and then he came down again into the hall, where
there was a great assembly of Barons, some in armour, some in long furred
gowns, who had all been attending his father's burial. Richard, as he
was desired by Sir Eric de Centeville, took off his cap, and bowed low in
reply to the reverences with which they all greeted his entrance, and he
then slowly crossed the hall, and descended the steps from the door,
while they formed into a procession behind him, according to their
ranks--the Duke of Brittany first, and then all the rest, down to the
poorest knight who held his manor immediately from the Duke of Normandy.
Thus, they proceeded, in slow and solemn order, till they came to the
church of our Lady. The clergy were there already, ranged in ranks on
each side of the Choir; and the Bishops, in their mitres and rich robes,
each with his pastoral staff in his hand, were standing round the Altar.
As the little Duke entered, there arose from all the voices in the
Chancel the full, loud, clear chant of _Te Deum Laudamus_, echoing among
the dark vaults of the roof. To that sound, Richard walked up the Choir,
to a large, heavy, crossed-legged, carved chair, raised on two steps,
just before the steps of the Altar began, and there he stood, Bernard de
Harcourt and Eric de Centeville on each side of him, and all his other
vassals in due order, in the Choir.
After the beautiful chant of the hymn was ended, the service for the Holy
Communion began. When the time came for the offering, each noble gave
gold or silver; and, lastly, Rainulf of Ferrieres came up to the step of
the Altar with a cushion, on which was placed a circlet of gold, the
ducal coronet; and another Baron, following him closely, carried a long,
heavy sword, with a cross handle. The Archbishop of Rouen received both
coronet and sword, and laid them on the Altar. Then the service
proceeded. At that time the rite of Confirmation was administered in
infancy, and Richard, who had been confirmed by his godfather, the
Archbishop of Rouen, immediately after his baptism, knelt in solemn awe
to receive the other Holy Sacrament from his hands, as soon as all the
clergy had communicated. {8}
When the administration was over, Richard was led forward to the step of
the Altar by Count Bernard, and Sir Eric, and the Archbishop, laying one
hand upon both his, as he held them clasped together, demanded of him, in
the name of God, and of the people of Normandy, whether he would be their
good and true ruler, guard them from their foes, maintain truth, punish
iniquity, and protect the Church.
"I will!" answered Richard's young, trembling voice, "So help me God!"
and he knelt, and kissed the book of the Holy Gospels, which the
Archbishop offered him.
It was a great and awful oath, and he dreaded to think that he had taken
it. He still knelt, put both hands over his face, and whispered, "O God,
my Father, help me to keep it."
The Archbishop waited till he rose, and then, turning him with his face
to the people, said, "Richard, by the grace of God, I invest thee with
the ducal mantle of Normandy!"
Two of the Bishops then hung round his shoulders a crimson velvet mantle,
furred with ermine, which, made as it was for a grown man, hung heavily
on the poor child's shoulders, and lay in heaps on the ground. The
Archbishop then set the golden coronet on his long, flowing hair, where
it hung so loosely on the little head, that Sir Eric was obliged to put
his hand to it to hold it safe; and, lastly, the long, straight,
two-handed sword was brought and placed in his hand, with another solemn
bidding to use it ever in maintaining the right. It should have been
girded to his side, but the great sword was so much taller than the
little Duke, that, as it stood upright by him, he was obliged to raise
his arm to put it round the handle.
He then had to return to his throne, which was not done without some
difficulty, encumbered as he was, but Osmond held up the train of his
mantle, Sir Eric kept the coronet on his head, and he himself held fast
and lovingly the sword, though the Count of Harcourt offered to carry it
for him. He was lifted up to his throne, and then came the paying him
homage; Alan, Duke of Brittany, was the first to kneel before him, and
with his hand between those of the Duke, he swore to be his man, to obey
him, and pay him feudal service for his dukedom of Brittany. In return,
Richard swore to be his good Lord, and to protect him from all his foes.
Then followed Bernard the Dane, and many another, each repeating the same
formulary, as their large rugged hands were clasped within those little
soft fingers. Many a kind and loving eye was bent in compassion on the
orphan child; many a strong voice faltered with earnestness as it
pronounced the vow, and many a brave, stalwart heart heaved with grief
for the murdered father, and tears flowed down the war-worn cheeks which
had met the fiercest storms of the northern ocean, as they bent before
the young fatherless boy, whom they loved for the sake of his conquering
grandfather, and his brave and pious father. Few Normans were there
whose hearts did not glow at the touch of those small hands, with a love
almost of a parent, for their young Duke.
The ceremony of receiving homage lasted long and Richard, though
interested and touched at first, grew very weary; the crown and mantle
were so heavy, the faces succeeded each other like figures in an endless
dream, and the constant repetition of the same words was very tedious.
He grew sleepy, he longed to jump up, to lean to the right or left, or to
speak something besides that regular form. He gave one great yawn, but
it brought him such a frown from the stern face of Bernard, as quite to
wake him for a few minutes, and make him sit upright, and receive the
next vassal with as much attention as he had shown the first, but he
looked imploringly at Sir Eric, as if to ask if it ever would be over.
At last, far down among the Barons, came one at whose sight Richard
revived a little. It was a boy only a few years older than himself,
perhaps about ten, with a pleasant brown face, black hair, and quick
black eyes which glanced, with a look between friendliness and respect,
up into the little Duke's gazing face. Richard listened eagerly for his
name, and was refreshed at the sound of the boyish voice which
pronounced, "I, Alberic de Montemar, am thy liegeman and vassal for my
castle and barony of Montemar sur Epte."
When Alberic moved away, Richard followed him with his eye as far as he
could to his place in the Cathedral, and was taken by surprise when he
found the next Baron kneeling before him.
The ceremony of homage came to an end at last, and Richard would fain
have run all the way to the palace to shake off his weariness, but he was
obliged to head the procession again; and even when he reached the castle
hall his toils were not over, for there was a great state banquet spread
out, and he had to sit in the high chair where he remembered climbing on
his father's knee last Christmas-day, all the time that the Barons
feasted round, and held grave converse. Richard's best comfort all this
time was in watching Osmond de Centeville and Alberic de Montemar, who,
with the other youths who were not yet knighted, were waiting on those
who sat at the table. At last he grew so very weary, that he fell fast
asleep in the corner of his chair, and did not wake till he was startled
by the rough voice of Bernard de Harcourt, calling him to rouse up, and
bid the Duke of Brittany farewell.
"Poor child!" said Duke Alan, as Richard rose up, startled, "he is
over-wearied with this day's work. Take care of him, Count Bernard; thou
a kindly nurse, but a rough one for such a babe. Ha! my young Lord, your
colour mantles at being called a babe! I crave your pardon, for you are
a fine spirit. And hark you, Lord Richard of Normandy, I have little
cause to love your race, and little right, I trow, had King Charles the
Simple to call us free Bretons liegemen to a race of plundering Northern
pirates. To Duke Rollo's might, my father never gave his homage; nay,
nor did I yield it for all Duke William's long sword, but I did pay it to
his generosity and forbearance, and now I grant it to thy weakness and to
his noble memory. I doubt not that the recreant Frank, Louis, whom he
restored to his throne, will strive to profit by thy youth and
helplessness, and should that be, remember that thou hast no surer friend
than Alan of Brittany. Fare thee well, my young Duke."
"Farewell, Sir," said Richard, willingly giving his hand to be shaken by
his kind vassal, and watching him as Sir Eric attended him from the hall.
"Fair words, but I trust not the Breton," muttered Bernard; "hatred is
deeply ingrained in them."
"He should know what the Frank King is made of," said Rainulf de
Ferrieres; "he was bred up with him in the days that they were both
exiles at the court of King Ethelstane of England."
"Ay, and thanks to Duke William that either Louis or Alan are not exiles
still. Now we shall see whose gratitude is worth most, the Frank's or
the Breton's. I suspect the Norman valour will be the best to trust to."
"Yes, and how will Norman valour prosper without treasure? Who knows
what gold is in the Duke's coffers?"
There was some consultation here in a low voice, and the next thing
Richard heard distinctly was, that one of the Nobles held up a silver
chain and key, {9} saying that they had been found on the Duke's neck,
and that he had kept them, thinking that they doubtless led to something
of importance.
"Oh, yes!" said Richard, eagerly, "I know it. He told me it was the key
to his greatest treasure."
The Normans heard this with great interest, and it was resolved that
several of the most trusted persons, among whom were the Archbishop of
Rouen, Abbot Martin of Jumieges, and the Count of Harcourt, should go
immediately in search of this precious hoard. Richard accompanied them
up the narrow rough stone stairs, to the large dark apartment, where his
father had slept. Though a Prince's chamber, it had little furniture; a
low uncurtained bed, a Cross on a ledge near its head, a rude table, a
few chairs, and two large chests, were all it contained. Harcourt tried
the lid of one of the chests: it opened, and proved to be full of wearing
apparel; he went to the other, which was smaller, much more carved, and
ornamented with very handsome iron-work. It was locked, and putting in
the key, it fitted, the lock turned, and the chest was opened. The
Normans pressed eagerly to see their Duke's greatest treasure.
It was a robe of serge, and a pair of sandals, such as were worn in the
Abbey of Jumieges.
"Ha! is this all? What didst say, child?" cried Bernard the Dane,
hastily.
"He told me it was his greatest treasure!" repeated Richard.
"And it was!" said Abbot Martin.
Then the good Abbot told them the history, part of which was already
known to some of them. About five or six years before, Duke William had
been hunting in the forest of Jumieges, when he had suddenly come on the
ruins of the Abbey, which had been wasted thirty or forty years
previously by the Sea-King, Hasting. Two old monks, of the original
brotherhood, still survived, and came forth to greet the Duke, and offer
him their hospitality.
"Ay!" said Bernard, "well do I remember their bread; we asked if it was
made of fir-bark, like that of our brethren of Norway."
William, then an eager, thoughtless young man, turned with disgust from
this wretched fare, and throwing the old men some gold, galloped on to
enjoy his hunting. In the course of the sport, he was left alone, and
encountered a wild boar, which threw him down, trampled on him, and left
him stretched senseless on the ground, severely injured. His companions
coming up, carried him, as the nearest place of shelter, to the ruins of
Jumieges, where the two old monks gladly received him in the remaining
portion of their house. As soon as he recovered his senses, he earnestly
asked their pardon for his pride, and the scorn he had shown to the
poverty and patient suffering which he should have reverenced.
William had always been a man who chose the good and refused the evil,
but this accident, and the long illness that followed it, made him far
more thoughtful and serious than he had ever been before; he made
preparing for death and eternity his first object, and thought less of
his worldly affairs, his wars, and his ducal state. He rebuilt the old
Abbey, endowed it richly, and sent for Martin himself from France, to
become the Abbot; he delighted in nothing so much as praying there,
conversing with the Abbot, and hearing him read holy books; and he felt
his temporal affairs, and the state and splendour of his rank, so great a
temptation, that he had one day come to the Abbot, and entreated to be
allowed to lay them aside, and become a brother of the order. But Martin
had refused to receive his vows. He had told him that he had no right to
neglect or forsake the duties of the station which God had appointed him;
that it would be a sin to leave the post which had been given him to
defend; and that the way marked out for him to serve God was by doing
justice among his people, and using his power to defend the right. Not
till he had done his allotted work, and his son was old enough to take
his place as ruler of the Normans, might he cease from his active duties,
quit the turmoil of the world, and seek the repose of the cloister. It
was in this hope of peaceful retirement, that William had delighted to
treasure up the humble garments that he hoped one day to wear in peace
and holiness.
"And oh! my noble Duke!" exclaimed Abbot Martin, bursting into tears, as
he finished his narration, "the Lord hath been very gracious unto thee!
He has taken thee home to thy rest, long before thou didst dare to hope
for it."
Slowly, and with subdued feelings, the Norman Barons left the chamber;
Richard, whom they seemed to have almost forgotten, wandered to the
stairs, to find his way to the room where he had slept last night. He
had not made many steps before he heard Osmond's voice say, "Here, my
Lord;" he looked up, saw a white cap at a doorway a little above him, he
bounded up and flew into Dame Astrida's outstretched arms.
How glad he was to sit in her lap, and lay his wearied head on her bosom,
while, with a worn-out voice, he exclaimed, "Oh, Fru Astrida! I am very,
very tired of being Duke of Normandy!"