Edwy the Fair or the First Chronicle of Aescendune Part 31

"They put him on board an open boat, and sent him out to sea, at the mercy of winds and waves; but not alone; he had married amongst the people who had adopted him, and his boy would not forsake his sire, for he had one boy--the mother was dead. This boy besought the hard-hearted executioners of a tyrant's will to let him share the fate of his sire, so earnestly, that at last they consented."

"The boat, as it pleased fate, was driven by wind and tide on the sh.o.r.e of Denmark, and there the unhappy exile landed; but he had been wounded in the battle, and his subsequent exposure caused his early death; before he died he bequeathed one legacy, and only one, to his son--

"Vengeance."

Elfric was pale as death, and trembled visibly.

"Then you are--"

"Elfric, I am your cousin, and the deadly foe of you and yours!"

"Then my poor father; but if you must find a victim seek it in me; spare him! oh, spare him!"

Redwald smiled; but such a smile.

"At least let me see him now, and obtain his forgiveness. Redwald, he is my father; you were faithful to your father; let me atone for my unfaithfulness to mine."

"You believe there is another world, perhaps?"

Elfric. only answered by a look of piteous alarm.

"Because, in that case, you must seek your father there; although I fear Dunstan would say there is likely to be a gulf between you."

Elfric comprehended him, and with a cry which might have melted a heart of stone, fell back upon the bed. For a moment he lay like one stunned, then began to utter incoherent ravings, and gazed vacantly around, as one who is delirious.

Redwald seemed for one moment like a man contending with himself, like one who felt pity struggling with sterner emotions; yet the contest was very short.

"It is of no use--he must die; if hearts break, I hope his will break, and save me the task of shedding his blood, or causing it to be shed; there must be no weakness now; he has been sadly wounded; if he is left alone, he will die; better so--I would spare him if I were not bound by an oath so dread that I shudder to think of it. The others have escaped: he must die."

Still he walked to and fro, as if pity yet contended with the thirst for vengeance in his hardened breast: perhaps it was his day of grace, and the Spirit of Him, Who has said "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,"

pleaded hard with the sinner. Yet the gentle Voice pleaded in vain; still he walked to and fro, until his resolution seemed firmly made; and he left the chamber, fastening it on the outside.

CHAPTER XXI. "UNDER WHICH KING?"

It will be remembered that one of the theows who had borne Elfric home from the field of battle had become alarmed by the suspicious aspect of things at the hall, and had escaped, by prompt evasion, the confinement which awaited his companions. Oswy, for it was he, thus showed his natural astuteness, while he also conferred the greatest possible obligation upon Elfric, since he bore the news of his ill-timed arrival at once to the priory.

Here his worst suspicions were confirmed; and the faithful thrall heard for the first time of the death of his late lord, and that he had given his young master into the hands of his bitter foes. Alfred was at once summoned; and a conference was held, in which Father Cuthbert, his brethren, and the chamberlain and steward of the hall, took part.

"It is now generally believed," said Father Cuthbert, "that Redwald is the bitter enemy, for some reason, of the house of Aescendune. Has any one here suspected that reason?"

No one could give any reply.

"I fear what I am about to say," he continued, "will startle you all.

Redwald is a member of the family himself."

"A member of the family!"

"Yes. Is there any one present who remembers the unhappy brother of our late lamented lord--Oswald, the son of Offa?"

"Yes," said the old chamberlain, "I remember him well; and I see now what you mean."

"Is not the expression of the face identical? Are they not the same features, as one might say?"

"Yet Redwald is much darker."

"Because his mother was Danish, and he has inherited some of her peculiarities, that is all."

"Still," said the steward, "every one supposed that the unhappy Oswald perished at sea with his son. Never shall I forget the grief of the old thane Offa, when inquiring for the son, he learned that he had gone with the father to his death. He would have adopted him."

"And do we not," added a Benedictine. "say a ma.s.s daily at St. Wilfred's altar for the souls of Oswald and his son Ragnar?"

"Oswald may be dead; Ragnar yet lives in Redwald. The name alone is changed."

"But where are the proofs? We cannot wholly trust an imaginary resemblance."

"It is not imaginary; and these are the proofs in question. The night after the murder" (all looked at each other as if a sudden inspiration struck them), "as I was going to the chapel from the lady Edith's apartments, I pa.s.sed through a pa.s.sage little used, but leading past the chamber allotted to Redwald, and only separated by a thin wainscoting. I was startled as I pa.s.sed it by the sound of a pacing to and fro; an incessant pacing; and I heard the inmate of the room soliloquising with himself as in a state of frenzied feeling. I caught only broken words but again and again I heard 'Avenged;' and once 'Father you are avenged;' and once 'Little do they know who is their guest;' once 'It is a good beginning,' and such like e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns. I remained a long time, because, as you will all see, the murderer stood revealed."

"Then why did you not tell us before?" exclaimed all, almost in a breath.

"Because it would have been of no avail. Had there been the least chance of calling him to account, I should, you may be sure, have proclaimed his guilt. But early in the morning fresh forces began to arrive to his aid. My only endeavour was to get the lady Edith and her remaining children safe from the castle; and it was only by dissembling my feelings, by talking face to face with the man of blood, by pretending to trust him, that I could succeed. Had he not thought us all perfectly satisfied, he would never have left the hall to go foraging in person; and now all would be well, but for this sad, sad chance, which has placed the poor lad Elfric in his power."

"But," said Alfred, "this makes the case worse than ever. Poor Elfric!

they will kill him. Oh, can this be Ragnar?"

The Benedictines expressed themselves convinced, because the supposition explained the present circ.u.mstances so clearly, and accounted for that hitherto unaccountable circ.u.mstance--the murder. The steward and chamberlain both fancied they recognised the family likeness; and so the solution at which Father Cuthbert had arrived was accepted by all.

The question was now what course to adopt, for the night was fast wearing away.

"Two things are to be done," said Father Cuthbert. "The first is to secure the safety of the lady Edith and her children from any sudden attack from the castle, to which effect I propose holding all the va.s.sals in arms; and, in case of any force leaving the hall, I purpose giving the lady Edith and her daughter instant sanctuary in the priory, while the va.s.sals gather round its precincts; for, I fear me, this Ragnar is a heathen, and would but little respect the house of G.o.d."

"Could we not attack the hall and release Elfric? Think of Elfric," said Alfred.

"It would be madness; Redwald has more than a hundred and fifty men of war within it. The place is full; we could not attack with the least chance of success. No: the second thing I meant to propose was this, that we should send an instant message to King Edgar, who is near at hand, and explain the whole circ.u.mstances to him. He has many causes of enmity against Redwald, and would probably come to our aid at once, as the safety of his realm would require him to do eventually."

"Let me be the messenger; he will surely listen to the pleadings of a brother for a brother."

"I had so designed," said Father Cuthbert; "and in order that no chance may be thrown away, I will adventure myself in the lion's den, and threaten with the penalties of excommunication this vindictive Redwald or Ragnar."

"No, father; you will never come out alive. No, no!" said they all.

The last proposal was universally discouraged. Redwald had already special cause of enmity against Father Cuthbert, who had robbed him of part of his destined prey; and it was ultimately settled that Father Swithin, another of the order, should be charged with the mission, with the power to make conciliatory offers, or to act on the other course as he should see fit; in short, to use all his wit for Elfric.

Alfred did not delay a moment unnecessarily, but in the dawning light set forward to seek Edgar, of whom he had no definite information, but who was believed to linger in the neighbourhood of the battlefield, holding council with earls and thanes as to the further steps to be taken, and receiving the submission of the whole Mercian, East Anglian, and Northumbrian n.o.bility.

Therefore, mounted upon a good steed, and accompanied by Oswy, he rapidly traversed the country over which his brother had been so painfully borne; slowly, however, in places, for here and there large tracts of swamp obstructed the way, and in other places the thickets were dense and impervious; even where the country was cultivated the unpaved roads were rough and hazardous for riders.

It was past the hour of nones, the ninth hour of the day, when the riders reached the battlefield, which still bore frightful traces of the recent combat; reddened with blood, which had left its dark traces on large patches of the ground, and enc.u.mbered with the bodies of horses and men which had not yet found sepulture, although bands of theows from the neighbouring estates were busily engaged in the necessary toil, excavating huge pits, and placing the dead--no longer rivals-- reverently and decently in their last long home. Several wolves could be discerned, hanging about under the skirts of the forest, but not daring to come out into the plain while the day lasted and the men were about; whole flocks of ravenous birds flew about the scene, now settling down on the spots where the strife had been hottest, now soaring away when disturbed in their sickening feast.