Matters were in this good train in the camp when intelligence was brought that Knut, with the whole of his mighty fleet, had returned to the Wash. The Danish faction, or all those Saxon lords who counted more upon Danish assistance than upon their own valour and the valour of their countrymen, were greatly rejoiced at these tidings, and would not allow any man to doubt that Knut, having made good seizings and spoils, was now come to co-operate with the English warriors and their great captain the Lord of Brunn; and these unwise lords, being partly guided or misguided by traitors, outvoted the Lord Abbat, and sent down a deputation to Lynn to salute and welcome the royal Dane, and to invite him and escort him to Ely. And this time Knut was nothing loth to come: and he came up the river with a part of his fleet of ships and with many of his jarls and most famed warriors. Crowned kings had visited the great house of Ely before now, and kings of the Danish as well as of the Saxon line, but to none of them had there been given a more splendid feast than was now given to Knut, who as yet was but a jarl and a king’s son. The Saxon dames of high name and beauty came in from the Camp of Refuge, or from houses in the township of Ely, or in circumjacent hamlets, to welcome the princely stranger and adorn the festival; and fairest among these fair was Alftrude, the young wife of the Lord of Brunn. The Lord Hereward himself was there, but much less cheerful and festive than was his wont; for on his last sally from the fens he had heard more than he knew before of the evil doings of the Dane; and, moreover, he had ever suspected their good faith. When the feasting was over, the cunning old Dane, that had come up to Ely before as envoy from the prince, began to relate what great mischief Knut had done to Duke William, and what great service he had rendered to the House of Ely and the Camp of Refuge, and the whole fen country, by the diversion he had made with his ships; and before any of the Saxon lords could reply or make any observation upon these his words, the astute Dane asked whether the festivals of Saint Sexburga and Saint Withburga had been well attended by pilgrims, and whether the shrine-boxes had had a good replenishing? The chamberlain, who ought not to have spoken before his superior the Lord Abbat, said that the festivals had been thronged, and that, considering the troublesome times, the donations of the pilgrims had been liberal. “That is well,” said the old fox, “for our ships have had much wear and tear, and stand in need of repairs; and the prince wants some gold and silver to pay his seamen and his fighting men, who are growing weary and dissatisfied for want of pay.”