rd thee from the Welch, the
last be thy rampart against the Scot. In a word, thou must ally thyself
with the blood of these young earls; thou must wed with Aldyth their
sister."

The Earl sprang to his feet aghast.

"No--no!" he exclaimed; "not that!--any sacrifice but that!--rather
forfeit the throne than resign the heart that leans on mine! Thou
knowest my pledge to Edith, my cousin; pledge hallowed by the faith of
long years. No--no, have mercy--human mercy; I can wed no other!--any
sacrifice but that!"

The good prelate, though not unprepared for this burst, was much moved by
its genuine anguish; but, steadfast to his purpose, he resumed:

"Alas, my son, so say we all in the hour of trial--any sacrifice but that
which duty and Heaven ordain. Resign the throne thou canst not, or thou
leavest the land without a ruler, distracted by rival claims and
ambitions, an easy prey to the Norman. Resign thy human affections thou
canst and must; and the more, O Harold, that even if duty compelled not
this new alliance, the old tie is one of sin, which, as king, and as high
example in high place to all men, thy conscience within, and the Church
without, summon thee to break. How purify the erring lives of the
churchman, if thyself a rebel to the Church? and if thou hast thought
that thy power as king might prevail on the Roman Pontiff to grant
dispensation for wedlock within the degrees, and that so thou mightest
legally confirm thy now illegal troth; bethink thee well, thou hast a
more dread and urgent boon now to ask--in absolution from thine oath to
William. Both prayers, surely, our Roman father will not grant. Wilt
thou choose that which absolves from sin, or that which consults but thy
carnal affections?"

Harold covered his face with his hands, and groaned aloud in his strong
agony.

"Aid me, Gurth," cried Alred, "thou, sinless and spotless; thou, in whose
voice a brother's love can blend with a Christian's zeal; aid me, Gurth,
to melt the stubborn, but to comfort the human, heart."

Then Gurth, with a strong effort over himself, knelt by Harold's side,
and in strong simple language, backed the representations of the priest.
In truth, all argument drawn from reason, whether in the state of the
land, or the new duties to which Harold was committed, were on the one
side, and unanswerable; on the other, was but that mighty resistance
which love opposes ever to reason. And Harold continued to murmur, while
hi