The Rival Heirs; being the Third and Last Chronicle of AescenduneCrake, A. D. (Augustine David)
HistoryChristian
The Rival Heirs; being the Third and Last Chronicle of Aescendune
Crake, A. D. (Augustine David)
Great Britain -- History -- Roman period, 55 B.C.-449 A.D. -- Juvenile fiction
Etienne left the roof, burning with indignation, suspecting some
trick to cheat him of his vengeance.
"Come into this cell," said the soft voice of Lanfranc.
Etienne obeyed.
There lay his young rival, cold and pale. Etienne doubted no
longer; death was too palpably stamped upon the face.
"Canst thou forgive now?" said Lanfranc. "His last message was one
of forgiveness for thee."
"I know not. An hour ago I thought no power on earth could make me;
but we have each suffered wrongs."
"Ye have."
"I do forgive, then; requiescat in pace."
"So shall it be well with thee before God," said the good prelate.
So Wilfred was buried in the vaults of St. Frideswide's church. The
Archbishop Lanfranc celebrated the funeral mass. It was noticed
with surprise that Bishop Geoffrey absented himself from the
function and the subsequent burial rites.
The week ended, as all weeks come to an end. Lanfranc had gone to
Canterbury. The Conqueror, assured by trusty reporters of the death
of Wilfred, rejoiced that so satisfactory an accident had befallen,
sparing all publicity and shame to one he could but admire, as he
ever admired pluck and devotion.
Geoffrey alone remained a guest at a monastic foundation hard by
St. Frideswide's.
The midnight bell has struck twelve--or, rather, has been struck
twelve times by the sexton, in the absence of machinery.
All is silence and gloom in the church of St. Frideswide, and upon
the burial ground around.
Three muffled figures stand in a recess of the cloisters.
"This is the door," said the sexton; "but, holy St. Frideswide, to
go down there tonight!"
"Thou forgettest I am a bishop; I can lay spirits if they arise."
The sexton stood at the open door--a group of the bishop's
retainers farther off--that iron door which never opened to inmate
before.
Geoffrey and the Jew advanced to the grave, amidst stone coffins
and recesses in the walls, where the dead lay, much as in the
catacombs.
They stopped before a certain recess.
There, swathed in woollen winding sheets, lay the mute form of
Wilfred of Aescendune.
"Let him see thee when he arises. The sight of this deathly place
may slay him. He will awake as from sleep. Take this sponge--bathe
well the brow; how the aromatic odour fills the vaults!"
A minute--no result. Another.
"Dog, hast thou deceived me and slain him? If so, thou shalt not
escape."
"Patience," said the Jew.
A heavy sigh escaped the sleeper.
"Thank God, he lives," said the bishop.
"Where am I? Have I slept long?"
"With friends--all is well.
"Cover his face; now bear him out to the air."
. . . . .
A barque was leaving the ancient port of Pevensey, bound for the
east. Two friends--one in the attire of a bishop, and a youth who
looked like a recent convalescent--stood on the deck.
"Farewell to England--dear England," said the younger.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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