we listened to Godwin, he should
disband his men, and submit to the judgment of the Witan. The Earl hath
sent to me to say, that he will put honour and life in my keeping, and
abide by my counsel. And I have answered as became the man who will
never snare a foe, or betray a trust."

"How hast thou answered?" asked the King.

"That he abide by the laws of England; as Dane and Saxon agreed to abide
in the days of Canute; that he and his sons shall make no claim for land
or lordship, but submit all to the Witan."

"Good," said the King; "and the Witan will condemn him now, as it would
have condemned when he shunned to meet it."

"And the Witan now," returned the Earl emphatically, "will be free, and
fair, and just."

"And meanwhile, the troops----"

"Will wait on either side; and if reason fail, then the sword," said
Siward.

"This I will not hear," exclaimed Edward; when the tramp of many feet
thundered along the passage; the door was flung open, and several
captains (Norman as well as Saxon) of the King's troops rushed in, wild,
rude, and tumultuous.

"The troops desert! half the ranks have thrown down their arms at the
very name of Harold!" exclaimed the Earl of Hereford. "Curses on the
knaves!"

"And the lithsmen of London," cried a Saxon thegn, "are all on his side,
and marching already through the gates."

"Pause yet," whispered Stigand; "and who shall say, this hour to-morrow,
if Edward or Godwin reign on the throne of Alfred?"

His stern heart moved by the distress of his King, and not the less for
the unwonted firmness which Edward displayed, Siward here approached,
knelt, and took the King's hand.

"Siward can give no niddering counsel to his King; to save the blood of
his subjects is never a king's disgrace. Yield thou to mercy, Godwin to
the law!"

"Oh for the cowl and cell!" exclaimed the Prince, wringing his hands. "Oh
Norman home, why did I leave thee?" He took the cross from his breast,
contemplated it fixedly, prayed silently but with fervour, and his face
again became tranquil.

"Go," he said, flinging himself on his seat in the exhaustion that
follows passion, "go, Siward, go, Stigand, deal with things mundane as ye
will."

The bishop, satisfied with this reluctant acquiescence, seized Siward by
the arm and withdrew him from the closet. The captains remained a few
moments behind, the Saxons silently gazing on the King, the Normans
whispering each other, in great doubt and trou