s, and blessed its banners on the day
of the great victory."

"Heaven grant we may not have done wrong; but the sheep are
scattered abroad, as when a wolf entereth the fold."

"Thou mayest yet be the means of reconciling the conquerors and the
conquered--the Church is their natural mediator."

"God helping me, I will do justice between them; but the task is a
heavy one--it is hard, nay, terrible, to stand against the will of
this Conqueror."

"For this cause, perhaps, thou, who fearest not the face of man,
art chosen of Heaven."

A low knock at the door interrupted them.

"Enter," cried Lanfranc; and a monk of the Benedictine order, who
discharged the duty of chamberlain, appeared.

"A brother of our order craves an audience."

It must be remembered that Lanfranc was the abbot of a Benedictine
monastery ere he was called to Canterbury {xxiii}.

"Is he English or Norman? Hath he told thee his errand?"

"English. He hath travelled far, and says that his errand is one of
life or death."

"Let him enter," said the primate.

A man in a faded Benedictine habit, evidently spent with travel,
appeared at the door. His beard was of long growth, his hair was
uncombed, and his whole appearance that of a man who had passed
through perils of no small difficulty and danger.

Lanfranc gazed fixedly at him, and seemed to strive to read his
character in his face.

"Pax tibi, frater; I perceive thou art of our order. At what
monastery hast thou made thy profession?"

"At the priory of St. Wilfred, Aescendune," said Father Kenelm, for
it was he, as he bent the knee to the primate.

"A pious and learned home, doubtless, but its fame has not reached
my ears."

"But it has mine," said Geoffrey, who started and listened with
great attention.

"It was founded and enriched by Offa, thane of that domain, in the
year of grace 940, and burnt in the second year of our misery, now
three years agone. In its place stood for a short time the priory
of St. Denys."

"Thou mayest well say 'stood,'" interrupted Geoffrey, "for I hear
that it has also been destroyed by fire."

"By fire also?" said the astonished Lanfranc.

"It is a sad and tragical story," replied Geoffrey, "and it would
weary you and sadden me to relate it now. Bloodshed and all the
horrors of midnight rapine and warfare are mingled in it, and there
is a deep mystery yet unsolved. Tell me, my brother, wert thou an
inmate of St. Wilfred's priory when it was so my