"When does the army march?" she asked anxiously as she entered.
"The day after to-morrow, lady."
"And my lord goes with it?"
"He does. I myself think that Gurth's counsel was good, and that it were
best for England that he remained at Westminster; and yet I can understand
well that he himself would feel it a shame did he remain behind."
"I feel sore misgivings," Edith said, bursting into tears. "When he
marched north against the King of Norway and Tostig I felt no doubt he
would return victorious; but night after night I have had evil dreams, and
though I pray continually my spirit has no relief. I have never feared for
him before. I have always felt sure that whoever died Harold would be
spared for the sake of England, but I have no such feeling now. It seems to
me that I sacrificed him and myself in vain when I bade him leave me and
marry the sister of the Northern earls. No good has come of it. They are
behaving now as traitors, and he has lost his life's happiness. And yet I
did it for the best."
"It was a noble sacrifice, lady, and come what may you have no cause to
regret it."
"The queen is not with him," Edith said bitterly.
"No, she is at Oxford. You must not think, lady, that the king has been
unhappy since he came to the throne. He has been so incessantly occupied
with work that he has had no time for domestic happiness, even if it had
been within his reach. His thoughts are ever on England, and he has no
thought of self.
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