"
"And what said you, my lord, if I may be so bold as to ask?"
"I said but little, lad. I am a prisoner, and I am well assured that I
shall never return to England until William thinks that he can depend upon
me. It is needful that I should return, and that quickly, for I hear that
there is fresh trouble in Wales, and I have received an urgent message from
the king to hasten to his side. It is hard to see what it is best to do."
Four days later a grand ceremony was announced to take place, but few knew
what its nature was to be. That it was something beyond the ordinary was
certain by the number of barons and knights that were bidden to attend. A
dais was erected in the courtyard of the palace, and on this a table
covered with a cloth was placed.
"I don't like this business," Wulf said to Beorn, as with the other Saxons
they took their place near the dais. "There is something very mysterious
about it, and I believe that at last we are going to see what William's
full intentions are."
A religious ceremony was first held, and then the duke rose to his feet and
addressed the barons. He first recalled to them the promise that Edward of
England had made to him, and then went on: "The saints have worked in my
favour," he said, "by sending here as my guest my well-beloved
brother-in-arms, the great Earl of Wessex. Between us there is the closest
friendship, and to cement and make even closer the bonds between us, he has
become betrothed to my daughter, and through the lands I shall bestow upon
her he will become a baron of Normandy.
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