with raised carved work all round it like a box (the approved f

nic of linen (called dormitorium in the Latin of that time, and night-rail in the Saxon tongue) in which his lord was to robe his formidable limbs for repose 62,-Taillefer, who

sympathy on his large face, "my news is such as is best told briefly: Bunaz, Co

the Duke, clen

ith the rebel, and stirring up mutiny in

and his lip quivere

such espousals are incestuous, both as within the forbidden degrees, and inasmuch as Adele, the lady's mother, was betrothed to thine uncle Richard; and Mauger menaces excommunication if my liege pursues his suit! 63 So troubled is the realm, that I, waiting not for debat

have I wooed and waited; and lo, in the seventh, does a proud priest say to me, 'Wrench the love from thy heart-strings!'-Excommunicate me-ME-William, the son of Robert t

; thou knowest how I have aided thee in this marriage with the lady of Flanders, and how gravely I think that what pleases thy fancy will gua

om like an enraged lion in his den,

de my realm-let them; princes conspire against me-I smile in scorn; subjects mutiny-this strong hand can punish, or this large heart can forgive. All these are the dangers which he who governs men should prepar

lm of the Norman, and owned in Rou but the feudal chief of free warriors; vassals are not villeins. And that which we hold our duty-whether to Church or chief-tha

le thoughts 64, since the day when the last Athenian covered his head with his mantle, and mutely died: and far from being the most stubborn against his will, it was to Fitzosborne's paramount influence with the council, that he had often owed their submission to his wishes, and their contributions to his wars. In the very tempest of his wrath, he felt that the blow belonged to strike on that bold head would shiver his ducal throne to the dust. Be felt too, that awful indeed was that power of the Church w

d speak thus to his kinsman and brother in arms, in the hour of need

, exclaimed, while the tears rolled down his swarthy cheek, "Pardon, pardon, my liege! when thou speakest thus my hear

his wrath was only concealed, not stifled, and yearned for its vent-his eye fell upon the delicate and thoughtful face of the priest, who had watched this short and stormy conference in profound silence, despite Taillefer's whispers to hi

n three legs, and all lame on the fourth. Thus mounted, I met thee on my road. I saluted thee; so did the beast, for his head well nigh touched the ground. Whereon I did ask thee, in a Latin play of words,

or some other of my gentle clergy; and thou comest, as doubtless, with soft words and whining homilies. It is in vain. I hold the Church in holy reverence; the pontiff knows it. But Matilda of Fland

repent me of my first unconsidered obeisance to Mauger as my spiritual superior; that since then I have myself examined canon and precedent; and though the letter of the law be against thy spousals, it co

ual bluffness, and laughing with great glee, "

thine." And here William, deeply versed in the science of men, bent his eyes keenly upon the unchanging and earnest face of the speaker. "Ah," he burst out, as if

should be thus bold. In birth I am noble, and my kindred stand near to the grace of our ghostly pontiff; to the pontiff I myself am not unknown. Did I des

give thee all my trust, and place my very heart in thy hands. Why, if thou desirest not rewards, shouldst thou thus care to ser

r in plain words. But first p

is chin on his hand, listened to the ecclesiastic, not more with devotion to his calling, than wonder at t

d of Breteuil, lovest thou no

e-yes!" sai

instrel, lovest thou not s

nstrel. "More gold in one ringing rhyme

I own, was more given to the prince than to the lover. It was natural that I, priest and foreigner, should obey at first the orders of Mauger, archprelate and spiritual chief, and the more so as the law was with him; but when I resolved to stay despite thy sentence which banished me, I resolved to aid thee; for if with Mauger was the dead law, with thee was the living cause of man. Duke William, on thy nuptials with Matilda of Flanders rests thy duchy-rest, perchance, the mightier sceptres that are yet to come. Thy title disputed, thy principality new and unestablished, thou, above all men, must link thy new race with the ancient line of kings and kaisars. Matilda is the descendant of Charlemagne and Alfred. Thy realm is insecure as long as France undermines it with plots, and threatens it with arms. Marry the daughter of Baldwin-and thy wife is the niece of Henry of France-thine enemy becomes thy kinsman, and must, perforce, be thine ally. This is not all; it were strange, looking round this disordered royalty of England-a childless king, who loves thee better than his own blood; a divided nobility, already adopting the fashions

iled all the intricate meshes of that policy with which he himself had interwoven his pertinacious affection for the Flemish princess,

iest c

ed men and filled treasuries. I believe in that power. I am ready for the test. Pause, judge from what the Lord of Breteuil hath said to thee, what will be the defection of thy lords if the Pope confirm the threatened excommunication of thine uncle? Thine armies will rot from thee; thy treasures will be like dry leaves in thy coffers;

ct of thy traitor uncle, and rest assured that the Pope shall send thee his dispensation to thy spousals, and his benison on thy marriage-bed. And when this be done, Duke Wil

iest with his vast arms; he kissed his cheeks, he kissed his fore

been born, framed, and reared as thou. And, verily, when I hear thee, I blush for the boasts of my barbarous pride, that no man can wield my mace,

foot he scanned the delicate, slender form, a

not ashamed of thyself? The day is coming, I see it afar, w

and stopped before the crucifix, and image of th

enigmas; there view the symbol of all-enduring power; there, learn its ends below-compr

, as he spoke, and, with a grave obei