am nowise ashamed of it," said the brave youth, in a tone which,
without being defiant, was yet manly; "but I deny, as base and
wicked lies, the other charges made against me."

"Thou ownest thy rebellion?"

"I own that I have fought against thy people and thee; but I have
never sworn allegiance. Thou art not my rightful sovereign, and
hence I do not acknowledge the guilt of rebellion."

There was a general murmur of indignation, which William repressed.

"Peace, my lords; peace, churchmen. We are not moved by a boy's
rhetoric. The facts lie on the surface, and we need not enquire
whether one is truly a rebel who was taken red-handed in the
so-called 'Camp of Refuge;' nor do we deign to discuss those
rights, which Christendom acknowledges, with our subjects. The
question is this: Does the youth simply merit the lighter doom of a
rebel, or the far heavier one of a parricide and a sacrilegious
incendiary?"

"Parricide!" exclaimed the indignant prisoner. "My father, more
fortunate than I, died fighting against thee at Senlac."

"Hugo of Aescendune and Malville was nevertheless thy father by
adoption; and by the law of civilised nations, carried with that
adoption the rights and prerogatives of a sire. But we waste time.
Herald, summon the accuser."

"Etienne de Malville et Aescendune, enter!" cried the herald of the
court.

And Etienne appeared, dressed in sable mourning, and bowed before
the throne. He was pale, too, if that sallow colour, which
olive-like complexions like his assume when wrought upon, can be
called pale. He cast upon Wilfred one glance of intense hatred, and
then, looking down respectfully, awaited the words of the
Conqueror.

"Etienne de Malville, dost thou appear as the accuser of this
prisoner?"

"I do."

"Take thine oath, then, upon the Holy Gospels, only to speak the
truth; my Lord Archbishop will administer it."

Lanfranc administered the oath, much as it is done in courts of
justice nowadays, but with peculiar solemnity of manner.

Etienne repeated the words very solemnly and distinctly. No one
doubted, or could doubt, his sincerity.

"Of what crimes dost thou accuse the prisoner?"

"Parricide, in that he hath compassed the death of his adoptive
father; sacrilege, in that he burnt the priory of St. Wilfred with
all the monks therein, and later the Priory of St. Denys, from
which the inmates had happily escaped, and in support of this
accusation I am ready to wager my body i