Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest Read online

  CHAPTER VI

  RELEASE OF THE EARL

  In a few minutes the three horses were brought out. Wulf and Beornwere much pleased with the animals that had been placed at theirservice. They were powerful horses, which could carry a knight inhis full armour with ease, and seemed full of spirit and fire. Theywere handsomely caparisoned, and the lads felt as they sprang onto their backs that they had never been so well mounted before.

  "You would have made the journey more quickly and easily if you hadhad these horses three days ago," young De Burg laughed.

  "Yes, indeed. There would have been no occasion to hide in the woodsthen. With our light weight on their backs they would have madenothing of the journey."

  "You must not expect to see a castle," De Burg said presently,"though I call it one. In his early days the duke set himself todestroy the great majority of castles throughout Normandy, for asyou know he had no little trouble with his nobles, and held thatwhile the strength of these fortresses disposes men to engage eitherin civil war or in private feuds with each other, they were of noavail against the enemies of the country. My father, who is justthe age of the duke, was his loyal follower from the first, and ofhis free will levelled his walls as did many others of the duke'sfriends, in the first place because it gave the duke pleasure, andin the second because, had only the castles of those opposed to theduke been destroyed, there would have been such jealousy and animosityon the part of their owners that matters would never have quieteddown in the country. Thus it is that throughout the land you willfind but few castles remaining. The nobles felt it strange at firstto be thus dwelling in houses undefended against attack, but theysoon learnt that it was far more convenient than to be shut upwithin massive walls, and the present dwellings are much larger andmore comfortable than those of former days. The duke said rightlythat the abolition of fortresses well-nigh doubled his fightingpower, for that so many men were required to garrison them as togreatly diminish the number their lords could take with them intothe field. You do not have castles in England, do you?"

  "No, we live in open houses, and hold that it is far better andmore pleasant to do so. There is no fighting between neighbourswith us. The great earls may quarrel and lead their forces into thefield, or may gather them against Danish and Norwegian pirates, butexcept on these occasions, which are rare, all dwell peaceably intheir homes."

  The horses were fresh, and the five miles quickly passed over.

  "There is the house," De Burg said, pointing to a large buildingstanding on an eminence. It was castellated in form, and much ofthe old building had been incorporated with the additions, but theouter wall had been pulled down and the moat filled up. Broadcasements had replaced the narrow loopholes, and though the flagof the De Burgs still waved over the keep, which stood a littleapart from the rest, the family no longer dwelt in it.

  "It is chiefly used as a storehouse now," Guy De Burg explained;"but there, as you see, the old loopholes still remain, and in caseof trouble it might be held for a time. But of that, however, thereis little chance; the duke's hand is a heavy one, and he has shownhimself a great leader. He has raised Normandy well-nigh level withFrance, and so long as he lives and reigns there is no fear ofdomestic trouble."

  The gate stood open and they rode into a courtyard, when severalmen came out and took the horses. Guy de Burg ran up a broad staircaseto the entrance of the house itself, and passed beneath a nobleentrance with a lofty pointed arch supported by clustered pillars.Inside was a spacious hall paved with stone, and from this De Burgturned into an apartment whose walls were covered with rich hangings.Here a lady was at work embroidering, surrounded by several of hermaids similarly engaged. A girl some fourteen years old was readinga missal, while the master of the castle was sitting in a chairwith low arms, and was playing with the ears of a hound whose headwas lying on his knee.

  "Well, Guy, what is your news?" he asked as his son entered. "Halfan hour since I received a message from the duke desiring me toappear with ten men-at-arms in their best trappings to ride withhim to Eu. Is Conrad of Ponthieu giving trouble again, and who arethese young gentlemen with you?"

  Guy went down on one knee to kiss his father's hand, and then didthe same to his mother, then he said, "I will with your permissionanswer the last question first, father. My friends are young Saxonthanes, pages to Earl Harold, and at present guests of the duke."

  "You are bearers, doubtless, of some message from the king to ourduke?"

  "No, my lord," Beorn said, "we were bearers of a message from EarlHarold."

  "It is to meet him, father, that we are to ride to Eu to-morrow.He has been wrecked on the shores of Ponthieu, and has been foullyimprisoned and even fettered by Count Conrad. Beorn and Wulf escapedfrom the prison and brought the news to the duke, who this afternoondispatched Fitz-Osberne and Warren at full speed to bid the countat once free his prisoners, and deliver them over to him at Eu underpain of his direst displeasure."

  "Harold in Normandy and a prisoner! This is strange news indeed.We shall surely make him welcome, for he is in all respects a greatman, and save our own duke has a reputation second to none inEurope."

  Wulf thought as he looked at the speaker that at least he had nosecond thought in his mind. It was a frank honest face, martial inits outline, but softened by a pleasant smile.

  He had spoken in a genial tone of affection to his son, and Wulfthought, that although no doubt he was ready to take the field atthe summons of his lord, he preferred a quiet life in this statelyhome.

  "This is news for you, wife," he went on. "You will have to furbishup your gayest attire, for we shall be having grand doings in honourof this great English earl, and our dames will have to look theirbest in order that he may carry home a fair report of them to theSaxon ladies. And how did you manage to escape, young sirs, andwhen did you arrive with the news?"

  Beorn, who as the elder was specially addressed, shortly relatedthe story of their escape and journey.

  "You have done well," the baron said when he had concluded. "Guy,you may learn from these young Saxons that even pages may be calledupon to do work of more importance than handing wine-cups andstanding behind their lord on state occasions. Had it not been fortheir readiness and courage Harold might have lain weeks in prison,maybe months, while the count was striving to wring the utmostransom from him. The lads would doubtless have been slain had theybeen detected in making their escape or overtaken on the way, andthe attempt was therefore one that required courage as well asdevotion to their lord. I doubt not that you would exhibit bothqualities did opportunity offer, but I question whether you couldhave walked the distance they did, and that on such scanty fare.We Normans are too apt to trust wholly to our horses' legs to theneglect of our own, and although I have no doubt that you couldride as far as a horse could carry you, I warrant that you couldhardly have performed on foot the journey from Beaurain in twicethe time in which they did it. They must have exercised their legsas well as their arms, and although in a campaign a Norman nobledepends upon his war horse both on the march and on the day ofbattle, there may often be times when it is well that a knightshould be able to march as far as any of the footmen in the army.Well, Agnes, and what have you to say to these Saxon youths? Methinksyour eyes are paying more attention to them than to your missal."

  "I can read my missal at any hour, father, but this is the firsttime that I have seen young Saxon nobles. I thought there wouldhave been more difference between them and us. Their hair is fairerand more golden and their eyes bluer, but their dress differs inno way from our own." She spoke in a matter-of-fact and seriousair, as if it were a horse or a dog that she was commenting upon,and both Beorn and Wulf smiled, while Guy laughed outright.

  "It is little wonder that their attire is like ours, Agnes," hesaid, "seeing that they were furnished with it by the duke's orders.You do not suppose that after being tossed about on the sea andwell-nigh drowned in landing, and being made prisoners, and thentravelling through the country and sleeping in the
woods, Beorn andWulf would arrive here with their garments new and spotless. Thatwould indeed have been a miracle."

  "But, indeed," Beorn said, "our garments differ not greatly fromthose we now have on, for Norman fashions are prevalent at KingEdward's court, and we had no choice but to conform to them. Yourlanguage is always spoken there, and methinks that were you to visitWestminster you would see but little difference between King Edward'scourt and that of your own duke."

  "And your sisters, do they too dress like us?"

  "Queen Edith's ladies dress like her in Norman fashion, but awayfrom the court the attire is different and more simple. Sisters,Wulf and I have none; we are orphans both, and wards of Earl Harold,who holds our estates until we are of age to take the oaths to himand to lead our men in battle."

  "And will you be barons like my father, or counts, or simple knights?"

  "We shall be none of these things, Lady Agnes. We have our greatearls as in France you have your great dukes, but below that wehave no titles. We are thanes, that is land owners, who hold theirland direct from our earls. Some have wider lands than others, butas free thanes we are all equal. As to knights, we have not inEngland the titles and ceremonies which are so much thought of inFrance and in other courts."

  "That is a pity," the girl said gravely, "for the vows of knighthoodmake a knight courteous and gentle to enemies and friends alike."

  "Or rather, Agnes," her mother put in, "they should do so; but intruth, looking round at the cruel wars we have had in Normandy, Ido not see that men have been more gentle or courteous than theywould have been had they never taken the vows or had knightly spursbuckled on; and in truth it seems to me from the news of what hastaken place beyond the sea, that in the civil troubles they havehad in England men are much more gentle with each other, and foesare far more easily reconciled than with us in Normandy, who aresupposed to be bound by the laws of chivalry. Had our duke beencast upon the shores of England as Harold has been cast upon thatof Ponthieu, I think that he would not have been so dishonourablytreated by one of the English thanes as Harold has been by CountConrad. When Godwin and his sons returned from the exile into whichthey had been driven, and again became all powerful, there was not,as I have heard from your father, a single drop of blood shed, norany vengeance taken upon the men who had brought about their exile.It would have been very different had such things happened here."

  "You speak rightly, wife. The English are of a more gentle dispositionthan we are, though nowise backward in battle. But now, Guy, itis time that you were returning. You have already made a longerstay than usual. I shall see you again to-morrow when we start forEu. Young sirs, I hope that on your return you will often ride overhere when your lord does not require you. We shall always be pleasedto see you, and although the forest lies some miles away, Guy canshow you good hunting, though not so good as that which, as I hear,you can get in England, where the population is not so thick as itis in this part of Normandy."

  The horses were brought round, and the three lads rode into Rouenjust as night was falling.

  Long before daybreak there was a stir in the streets of the city,as parties of knights and nobles rode in with bodies of theirretainers in obedience to the orders of the duke. All in the palacewere awake early. A hasty breakfast was eaten, while just as thesun rose the duke mounted his horse, and at the head of an array,composed of some twenty barons and knights and four hundredmen-at-arms, rode out of the city.

  "There is a good deal more pomp and show here than there was whenwe rode with Harold from London," Wulf said. "In truth these Normannobles make a far braver appearance in their armour and robes, andwith their banners carried behind them, than we do. Were the kinghimself to ride in state through London he would scarce be so gailyattended."

  "Duke William does not look as if he cared for show," Beorn said.

  "Nor does he," Guy, who was riding beside them, put in. "For himselfhe is simple in his tastes, but he knows that the people are impressedby pomp, and love to see a brave cavalcade, therefore he insistson the observance of outward forms; and his court here on stateoccasions vies, as they tell me, with that of Henry of France."

  "Where shall we rest tonight?" Wulf asked. "Methinks from theappearance of the sky that we shall have rain, and unless we sleepunder shelter, many of these fine robes that we see are like to beas much dabbled in mud as were those in which we arrived."

  "We shall sleep in no town, for there is no place on the road betweenthis and Eu that could receive so large a party; but soon after werode out yesterday a train of waggons with tents and all else needfulstarted from Rouen, and half-way to Eu we shall find the camp erectedand everything in readiness for our reception."

  This was indeed the case. The camp had been erected in a shelteredvalley, through which ran a stream that supplied the needs of manand horses. The tents were placed in regular order, that of theduke in the centre, those of his chief nobles in order of rank oneither side. Behind was a line for the use of the court officials,pages, and knights of less degree, while the soldiers would sleepin the open. As the party rode up a chamberlain with three or fourassistants met them. Each was provided with lists containing thenames of all the duke's following, and these were at once conductedto the tents alloted to them, so that in a few minutes all werehoused without the slightest confusion or trouble. The squires ofthe knights and nobles and the attendants of the officers and pagesat once took the horses and picketed them in lines behind the tents,rubbing them down and cleaning them with the greatest care, andthen supplying them with forage from the piles that had that morningbeen brought in from the neighbouring farms. Fuel in abundance hadalso been stacked. A number of cooks had come on with the tentequipage, and supper was already prepared for the duke and hisparty, while animals had been slaughtered and cut up, and themen-at-arms soon had the joints hanging over their bivouac fires.

  "This is all wonderfully well managed, Beorn," Wulf said. "I doubtwhether it could be done so well and orderly with us at home."

  "What does it matter?" Beorn said contemptuously. "It makes nodifference whether one sups five minutes after arrival or an hour."

  "It matters nothing, Beorn; but what is but a question of an hour'swaiting in a small party is one of going altogether supperless tobed when it is a large one. The Normans have been constantly fightingfor the last twenty years, and you see they have learned how importantit is that everything should be regular and orderly. If they managematters with a large force as well as they do with a small one, asit is probable that they do, see what an advantage it gives to them.Were two armies to arrive near each other with the intention offighting in the morning, and one knew exactly what to do, and couldget their food in comfort and then lie down to rest, while the otherwas all in confusion, no one knowing where he should go or whereto bestow himself, and, being unable to obtain food, forced to liedown supperless, the first army would obtain a great advantage whenthey met the next morning, especially if it had breakfasted wellwhile the other went into the fight still fasting. Look at ourselveshow weak we were that morning when we had lain down hungry and gotup fasting, while on the morning when the woman gave us that food,simple as it was, we stepped out boldly and in spirits."

  "That is true enough, Wulf, but you know that among us it is saidthat Earl Harold is always most careful for the comfort of hissoldiers."

  "Yes, the earl always thinks of those around him. As I have neverbeen in the field I know not what the arrangements are, but I cannotthink they would be so well ordered in a great gathering of Englishmen,or that we should manage matters as well as the Normans with alltheir experience have learnt to do."

  "Well, Wulf," Beorn laughed, "you had best study the matter, andthen ask the earl to appoint you to take charge of the arrangementswhen he takes the field."

  "One could hardly have a more useful office," Wulf said earnestly;"but it would need a man of experience and of high rank and position,for our Saxon thanes are not accustomed to discipline as are theseNorman barons, and only on
e of great authority could induce themto observe regulations and carry out any plan in due order."

  Beorn nodded. "That is true enough, Wulf, and it is therefore clearthat a good many years must pass before you can properly fill thepost of chief chamberlain to the army. For myself, I shall be wellcontent to do what fighting is required, and to leave all thesematters in your hands."

  "Yes; but it can't be left in the hands of one officer," Wulf saidwarmly, "unless all give their aid willingly to carry out his plans."

  "Well, you need not be angry about it, Wulf. There will be timeenough for that when you get to be grand chamberlain. You knowwhat the Saxon thanes are--how ease-loving, and averse to troublethemselves with aught save the chase. I would as soon marshal aflock of sheep in military order and teach each to keep its placeas get the thanes to conform to strict orders and regulations."

  "And yet, Beorn," said Baron De Burg, who had just entered the tentunnoticed by them in order to speak to his son, who with anotherpage shared it with them, "unless all will conform to strict ordersand regulations an army is but a mere gathering of armed men,animated not by one will, but by as many wills as it contains men.Such an army may be valiant; every man may be a hero, and yet itmay be shattered to pieces by another which gives itself up whollyto the direction of one will. That is why we Normans have so badlybeaten the French. Every mail has his place in battle. He chargeswhen he is ordered to charge, or he is held in reserve the wholeday, and the battle ended without his ever striking a blow. We mayfret under inaction, we may see what we think chances of fallingupon the enemy wasted, but we know that our duke is a great leader,that he has a plan for the battle and will carry it through, andthat disobedience to his orders would be an offence as great asthat of riding from the field. Hence we have learned to obey, andconsequently we have always been victorious against men as braveas ourselves, but each obeying his own feudal lord, and so fightingin detached bodies rather than as a whole. Your young companion isin the right. In a duel between two men strength and skill iseverything; in a struggle between two armies obedience to ordersis a virtue even higher than bravery and skill at arms. Where isGuy?"

  "He is in attendance on the duke, my lord," Beorn said. "We presentedourselves also at his tent, but he told us that he required no dutyfrom us."

  "Let him come to my tent when he returns," the baron said; "thatis as soon as he has finished supper. I shall be glad if you willalso come, unless the duke sends for you, which methinks he is notlikely to do. He is in thoughtful mood to-day, and will probablybe alone."

  Two or three other knights were assembled in Baron de Burg's tentwhen the three lads went in. De Burg said a few words to hiscompanions, explaining who they were, and then continued hisconversation with the others. Beorn and Wulf, as they stood behindthe chairs and listened to the talk, could not help being struckwith the difference between it and the conversations they had heardat the houses of Saxon thanes.

  With Harold they had been accustomed to hear matters of state touchedon. The church and the struggle going on between the Norman prelatesand monks on the one hand and the English clergy on the other wasone that was frequently talked over, as were also the projectsHarold had at heart for encouraging the spread of education andraising the condition of people generally. At the houses of thethanes, however, the evenings were passed in feasting and song, andit was seldom that there was anything like discussion upon generalaffairs. Indeed, between men heated with wine and accustomed tostate their opinions bluntly anything like friendly argument waswell nigh impossible. De Burg and his companions made no allusionat all to public affairs, but discussed gravely and calmly, andwith a courteous respect for each other's opinions, questionsconnected with the art of war, hunting, the changed conditionsbrought about by the demolition of castles, the improvements graduallybeing introduced in armour, and other kindred topics. The othernobles were men of about the same age as De Burg, and although thelatter's page from time to time carried round wine the goblets wererarely emptied.

  Certain topics were touched upon only to be dropped at once, andWulf saw that subjects upon which there was any disagreement amongthem were carefully avoided.

  When the boys returned to their tent Wulf said, "Their talk remindsme of the evenings I spent with the prior, his almoner, and two orthree other monks, rather than of those at the houses of Saxonthanes."

  Beorn nodded. "I am not so much against our customs of feasting andmerriment as you are, Wulf, and should not care to spend my eveningsoften in listening to such grave talk, but truly these Norman baronsand knights are far more courteous in their speech than our ownthanes, and seem to care but little for the wine cup. I admit thatsuch men must be far wiser advisers for a king than are our Saxons,saving of course Harold and his brothers."

  "The Normans are not all so abstemious as my father and those yousaw with him," Guy laughed. "Listen. You can hear songs and loudlaughter from many of the tents, ay, and might hear quarrels toodid you listen long enough. But those you saw were all men high inthe confidence of the duke. They have fought together under hisbanner in many a field, and are all powerful barons. They are contentto hold their own, and have nothing to gain at the expense of others.Their value is well established, and I believe that all of themwould be well pleased were they never called upon to set lance inrest again. Methinks this evening they avoided all public questionschiefly because we were present; and you see no word was spoken ofthe unexpected accident that has thrown Harold on our shores,although it must have been in all their minds; and doubtless theytalked it over as they rode hither to-day. I should not be surprisedif my father had us in his tent for the very reason that your beingthere would prevent more being said about it. I do not suppose anyof them know exactly what is in the duke's mind--possibly he hasnot even made it up himself; and it is assuredly wise here inNormandy to express no strong opinion until the duke's own mind ismanifest."

  "I daresay you are right, Guy. I rather wondered why your fatherhad asked us as well as you to his tent when he had others withhim; but it is like enough that he thought our presence would preventany discussion on delicate topics."

  The next morning the cavalcade mounted early, and in the afternoonrode into the fortress of Eu. It stood upon the river Bresle, andhad, previous to the conquest of Ponthieu, been the frontier guardof Normandy on the north. It lay only some ten miles from the spotwhere the Saxon galley had been wrecked. A messenger had arrivedthere early in the day from Fitz-Osberne saying that Conrad ofPonthieu had assented to the demand of the duke for the surrenderof his captives, that these had been at once released from theirconfinement, and were now honourably entertained. They would starton the following morning from Beaurain, and would be accompaniedby Conrad, who desired to come to Eu to pay his respects to theduke.

  Although it had been certain that Conrad would not venture to refusethe command of his powerful over-lord, Wulf and Beorn were greatlydelighted to hear that Harold and his companions had at once beenreleased from their imprisonment, and that they would so speedilyarrive at Eu. In the afternoon of the following day a messengerarrived stating that the cavalcade was but an hour's ride away, andpreparations were at once made to receive it with all honour. Thegarrison of the castle in their bravest attire lined the courtyard,hangings brought from Rouen were disposed round the walls of thegreat hall, two chairs of state were placed on the dais, themen-at-arms who had come from Rouen were drawn up on either sideof the great entrance, and here William with his nobles assembledwhen the cavalcade approached the castle.

  The procession was headed by the Norman men-at-arms of Fitz-Osberneand Warren. After them rode Conrad of Ponthieu with Harold by hisside. Both carried hawks on their wrists, and were, apparently, onthe most amiable terms. Behind them rode Harold's brother and nephewand the two Norman barons; they were followed by the Saxon thanesand the officers of the count's household. Behind these came onfoot the Saxons of inferior degree who had been left at St. Valery,and who had by Conrad's orders been sent to join the cavalcade wh
ereit crossed the Somme at Abbeville; the procession was closed by astrong body of the count's men-at-arms. They rode through the doubleline of spearmen until they reached the entrance. Then as Harolddismounted, the duke descended the steps and embraced him with thewarmest expressions of satisfaction at thus meeting the mostillustrious of Englishmen.

  Harold replied in suitable terms, and the duke then turned to Conradand thanked him warmly for having acceded to his request.

  Ponthieu was but newly conquered, and might yet be a thorn in theside of Normandy in the event of a renewal of war with France. Itwas therefore to William's interest to treat Conrad's obedience tohis orders as if it had been a voluntary submission, and to ignorehis discourteous treatment of his captives. In order to eradicateall sense of injury on the part of his vassal, he not only paid himthe ransom for Harold but gave him a considerable grant of territory.The duke now presented his nobles and principal officers to Harold,and then with his arm placed familiarly on his guest's shoulder ledhim into the hall, and placed him in the chair of state beside hisown, other seats being placed for Wulfnoth and Hakon and for someof the principal Norman barons, while the rest mingled with theSaxon thanes in the body of the hall. As soon as the reception wasover Wulf hurried out into the courtyard to speak to Osgod.

  "Right glad am I to see you again, Osgod; I have been troubled asto how you were faring."

  "In truth we have fared badly enough, master; we have been workinglike beasts of burden, without having food that would suffice foran ass. However, it was not for long, and will do us no harm, thoughthere are more than one of those fellows at St. Valery with whom Iwould gladly have ten minutes play with cudgel or quarter-staff.You may guess how surprised we were yesterday evening when we weresuddenly called out from the shed where we were sleeping, and withmany professions of regret and apology for our treatment conductedto better quarters, where a good honest meal was set before us, andwe were then told that the duke himself had just arrived at Eu, andthat Harold and all his following were there to be given up to him.We had fresh rushes for our beds, and a hearty breakfast thismorning, and were then placed in boats and taken up to Abbeville.We had been there but an hour when the earl arrived with the thanes,and glad were we, as you may imagine, to see his face again. Theystopped there for an hour to rest their steeds and to dine, andthen we marched hither as you saw. I had missed you and Beorn fromHarold's party, and made shift to approach the earl and humbly askhim what had become of you. 'No harm has befallen your master andhis friend, good fellow,' the earl said. 'They have indeed done megood service, for they made their escape from Beaurain and carriedthe news of our detention to Duke William, and it is thus that wehave all obtained our liberty.' You seem to have fared bravely,Wulf, judging from your attire."

  "Yes, we were in sore plight when we arrived at Rouen, but the dukesaw that we were provided with clothes and with horses for ourjourney here."

  At this moment an attendant came out from the hall and informedWulf that the duke desired speech with him. Beorn was already atthe entrance, and they were conducted on to the dais.

  "Here are your two pages," the duke said to Harold. "I hold myselfto be greatly their debtor for having carried me the news that hasbrought about this meeting, and given me the pleasure of having youas my guest. They are faithful lads and quick-witted, for no mencould have carried out the mission better or more promptly thanthey did."

  "Still more am I indebted to them," Harold said as he held out hishand to the two lads, who bent on one knee while they kissed it."I knew not of their going until I learnt from your barons thatthey had reached Rouen with the news. They are wards of mine, andalthough at one time my pages they have ceased to be so for morethan a year, and have both been down upon their estates learningthe duties of their station, which I deemed better for them thanwasting their time and getting into mischief at court."

  The duke nodded. "The result shows that your course was a wise one.At court youths learn but little good. The atmosphere is not healthyfor men still less for boys, and these youths will shortly be ofan age when they will be fit to render men's service, as indeedthey have already done." The lads now retired from the dais.

  "It has been a fortunate week's work for us," Beorn said. "We haveobtained the freedom of our lord and have gained his approbationand that of Duke William; though, indeed, it matters not greatlyas to the duke."

  "I don't know, Beorn; one cannot look into the future, and thereis no saying what may happen. Anyhow, even now it may be of advantageto us. Honourably as the duke is treating Harold, the earl is stillwholly in his power, and until we hear something of his intentionswe are all just as much prisoners as we were to Conrad, although Iadmit the captivity is a very much more pleasant one."