only asks to be set in the place that was
her father's."

So said Arngeir, plainly, and I could see that the thanes thought the
words good.

And Alsi answered, "Has this matter been put before the Witan of the
East Angles?"

I suppose that he thought to hear Arngeir say that there had been no
time for so doing at present, but my brother was readier than I should
have been.

"Doubtless it has," he said, "for that was your own promise to Goldberga
on her marriage."

At that Alsi flushed, and his brows wrinkled. He had said nothing to the
Witan at all, but had waited in hopes that he should hear no more of his
niece, telling the tale that we had heard.

"I have had no answer from them," he said at last, for Arngeir was
looking at him in a way that he could not meet. "It was her saying that
she would do this for herself."

"Then they do not refuse," said Arngeir quietly, "nor did I think that
they would do so. It only remains therefore, that you, King Alsi, should
do your part. Then can the queen speak to the Witan, even as she said,
concerning her husband."

Now it must have been clear to the king that nothing short of a plain
answer would be taken, and he sat and thought for a while. One could see
that he was planning what to say, as if things had not gone as he
expected. Maybe he hoped to put off the matter by talk of asking the
Witan, and so to gain time, for we had certainly taken him unawares.

At last he said, "How am I to know that you are here with full power to
speak for Goldberga? For this is a weighty matter."

Arngeir held out his hand, and on it was the ring of Orwenna the queen,
which Alsi had last seen here on the high place.

"There is the token, King Alsi, and it is one which you know well," he
answered.

"Ay, I know it," answered the king with a grin that was not pleasant.

And then he said, "I will speak with my thanes, and give you word to
carry back in an hour's time, now that I know you to be a true messenger."

"There should be no reason for waiting so long as that, nor do I think
that the matter of the throne of East Anglia is a question for Lindsey
thanes," answered Arngeir at once. "All this is between you and the
princess."

Thereat one of the thanes rose up and said, "If a kingdom has been
handed over to our king, it is not to be taken again without our having
a good deal to say about it. I do not know, moreover, if we can have a
foreigner over any part of our land."

"Gold