I call on you
all here to witness this promise that I have made, and should there
be need, to recall it to my memory."
The Normans above all things admired valour, and when Wulf, after
kneeling and kissing the duke's hand, retired shamefacedly to a
corner of the room, where he was joined by Beorn, one after another
came up to him and said a few words of approbation.
"You have done well, young sir," Fitz-Osberne, one of the duke's
most trusted councillors said to him. "The duke is not given to
overpraise, and assuredly no one of your age has ever won such
commendation from his lips. After making so fair a commencement,
it will be your own fault indeed if you do not make a great name
for yourself in the future. There is not one of us who was in the
duke's camp that evening but feels that he owes you much for the
few minutes' delay that saved us from being taken altogether by
surprise. You are young, and may think but little of the promise the
duke has given you this evening, but the day may come when you will find
it stand you in good stead."
Harold said nearly the same thing to Wulf when he saw him the next morning.
"But there is no chance of the duke ever having power in England, my lord,"
Wulf said.
"I trust not, Wulf, but there is no doubt that his whole mind is bent upon
obtaining the throne of England. He has spoken to me openly about it, and
has more than hinted to me that I, if married to his daughter, would still,
as Earl of Wessex, be the foremost man in the land next to its sovereign
should he ever gain the kingdom.
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