You are but a boy, and
one cannot expect that you will behave as a prudent man; but remember,
lad, even a boy's words may do mischief, especially when placed as
you are. There may come a time when you shall show by deeds and not
by words your feelings against the Normans, but till then bear
yourself prudently. We Saxons are over given to hasty words, and
this is a fault. I myself, as all men know, have no love for the
Normans, but no one has heard me speak against them. The king loves
them, as is but natural, seeing that he was brought up amongst them,
and I have not withstood his wishes in the matter, trying only that
a certain amount of preferment in the land should be bestowed upon
those who are its owners and not strangers to it and its tongue.
You will ride this afternoon for Steyning, Wulf, but I hope it will
not be long before you are back again. If I had my own way in the
matter, I should think that sufficient had already been said and
done in so trifling a matter as a boys' quarrel; but as it has been
brought before our king by a bishop, it is in the king's eyes a
serious business, for assuredly he himself would have borne a reproof
from William of London more meekly than you did, and having therefore
become a church matter, it is altogether beyond my power to interfere.
At any rate, a short sojourn on your estate will do you no harm;
it is sometime since you were there, and it is a good thing that
the lord of the soil should be well known by those over whom he is
placed.
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