heard his last confession,
when, to remove the stain of guilt from the innocent, he made me
write this statement, and signed it as best he could."

"How didst thou get hold of this, brother?" said the Bishop of
Coutances, feeling himself, to use the expression of the writer,
"sick with horror."

"Thou hast heard, my lord, of the destruction of Baron Hugo in the
Dismal Swamp?"

"Surely; I was at Abingdon when his son Etienne brought the news."

"Only one who entered that swamp, so far as I know, escaped. Half
burnt, he dragged himself out, on our side, from the awful
conflagration, and hid himself till eventide in the woods,
suffering greatly.

"That day I had guided young Etienne de Malville from his
concealment in our midst, to liberty and safety, and as I returned
I heard the groans of a man in severe pain, but which seemed a long
distance away, borne on the night winds which swept the forest.
Guided by the sound, I found Guy, son of Roger, and tended him as I
had tended the son of the wicked baron. He lingered a few days, and
then died of his injuries, leaving me this confession, as his last
act and deed, with full liberty to divulge it when a fitting day
should arrive."

"But why hast thou not done so before?"

"Because it was not needed; nor could I leave my refuge in the
woods, where I had my own little flock to attend to, the few poor
sheep saved from the Norman wolf. Pardon me, for ye are Normans."

"We are Benedictines," said Lanfranc, reprovingly; "English or
Normans, the children of our father Benedict are brethren, even as
there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, in Christ."

"But why hast thou now come?" said Geoffrey.

"Hast thou not heard that the Camp of Refuge has fallen?"

"And what then?"

"Wilfred of Aescendune was a refugee therein."

"And is he taken?"

"He was sent, together with Egelwin, Bishop of Durham, as prisoner
to Abingdon, and will be brought to trial, when William arrives
there next week, and, unless thou savest him, will undoubtedly die
the death."

"He shall not die," said Geoffrey, "if we can save him. William
must acquit him if he hear all."

"Acquit him, yes," said Lanfranc, "of sacrilege and parricide; but
not, I fear, of the guilt of rebellion against his lawful king
{xxiv}."

"At least, if he must die, let him die freed from the supposed
guilt of such awful sacrilege, and let men know to what kind of
father King William committed the innocent Engl